Analyst Reports
IDC - The Benefits of Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) Technology in the Automotive Industry
As the amount and the complexity of software inside cars increase, so does the need to update the software in order to keep up with new functionality and improvements, not to mention the inevitable software defects that have to be rectified. To help streamline these activities, OEMs can use firmware over-the-air (FOTA) technology to provide software updates throughout a program launch, right up to delivery, and supply perpetual software upgrades and add-ons, either remotely or through dealerships, to enhance the driving experience and build consumer loyalty. This IDC Executive Brief, published August 2011, discusses the benefits the automotive industry can achieve through the use of FOTA.
IDC - Mobile Virtualization Technology Assessment
This IDC study looks at the use cases and benefits of Mobile Virtualization technology for chipset makers, device OEMs, mobile operators, enterprises and consumers. Published in May 2011, this is the first analyst report to cover using mobile device virtualization for: achieving sub-$100 smartphones; isolating trusted services on open operating systems; and enabling enterprise IT administrators to securely manage corporate data and applications on employee-liable smart devices, known as BYOD (bring your own device).
VisionMobile - Smart's Netphone: Telco Innovation in the Software Era
This case study, published by VisionMobile in June 2011, presents how Smart Communications of the Philippines – one of the world’s top 20 mobile network operators (MNOs) – is creating an innovative user experience that combines services and applications from Smart and its partners on the first Android mobile devices built on the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) specification. A key part of the Netphone user experience is a software update technology from Red Bend Software that allows the Netphone platform and applications to be updated continuously over the air (OTA). The OTA software management solution allows Smart and its partners to push new services and applications to the entire installed base of Netphones, rather than waiting for users to discover them. This provides Smart and its partners with faster time to revenue.
VisionMobile - 100 Million Club (2H 2010 Update)
The 100 Million Club is the watchlist of software companies whose products have been embedded in more than 100 million mobile handsets. This edition, published April 2011, features cumulative shipments through the end of 2010. Red Bend Software's vRapid Mobile® is recognized for being embedded in more than 1 billion mobile devices.
Strategy Analytics - Red Bend, Others, Tout Vehicle Security Solutions
Strategy Analytics highlights Red Bend's device management capability in a new report, published March 2011, on securing wireless connections in all types of vehicles.
The 451 Group - Red Bend Looks to Drive Mobile Virtualization by Acquiring VirtualLogix
Analysts from The 451 Group offer their views on Red Bend's acquisition of VirtualLogix. They state that with the purchase, Red Bend now wants to also simplify the development and deployment of software and services on the front end by allowing vendors to virtualize software and firmware on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs and embedded devices.
Ovum - Support for Device Management in Mobile Handsets: 2008-2011
This is the eighth iteration of Ovum's quarterly study on Mobile Device Management, published in June 2010. Support for MDM technologies in mobile handsets gives mobile service providers a much-increased degree of control over the device fleet. Key applications of MDM include remote configuration, defect fixing, diagnostics, inventory retrieval, and software management. Ovum tracks three key MDM technologies: OMA client provisioning (OMA CP); OMA device management (OMA DM); and firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update.
The market for FOTA client technology is evolving; Ovum's research shows that previously most manufacturers worked with more than one vendor. However, manufacturers are now rationalizing FOTA support within their handset portfolios and increasingly selecting a single preferred vendor to work with.
Red Bend has continued to increase its market share, at the expense of other vendors. In addition, the company has replaced some OEMs' in-house FOTA technology. Red Bend increased its market share throughout 2009 and has continued this trend in the fourth quarter of 2009 by increasing its share of shipments to 71%, giving the company 64% of the installed base of FOTA-enabled handsets. Red Bend's FOTA client is now used by the top five handset vendors, as well as with a number of vendors in Japan.
InfoCom - Mobile software management: A growing trend providing valuable additional benefits to manufacturers and mobile operators
This report on Mobile Software Management from InfoCom finds that mobile phone manufacturers and mobile operators are starting to recognize the opportunities of a strategic management of mobile software updates, in particular to generate additional revenues and to improve brand loyalty. InfoCom has provided this excerpt of their MSM report, published in January 2010.
The 451 Group - 2010 Mobility Preview: OTA software updates provide stickiness
As smartphones become more and more like computers, with millions of lines of code interacting with advanced third-party applications, shipping a perfect product will continue to be very difficult. To protect themselves against bugs and errors, carriers and device vendors have turned to firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates to subscriber devices. While the need to fix bugs will generate many updates, so too will the need to keep subscribers happy. In The 451 Group's 2010 Mobility Preview, published in December 2009, analyts see carriers and device vendors more openly, and more often, issuing updates to keep subscribers happy and attached to their devices.
IDC - Beyond FOTA: Advancing Mobile Software Management to Next-Generation Services
In the rapidly advancing market for mobile phones, mobile software management (MSM) provides the means for new services and applications to be made available across a broad user base, states IDC. MSM provides updates to software components and manages tasks such as application installation and activation. Updates can be segmented and highly targeted, resulting in small update packages. In this research report published in December 2008, IDC focuses on defining MSM and how it benefits the main stakeholders: operators, OEMs, ISVs and consumers. IDC also explores how MSM is highly dependent on industry standards, including the new Software Component Management Object (SCOMO) specification by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). Lastly, this report delves into the market challenges and opportunities for MSM solutions.
IDC - Vendor Profile - Red Bend: Mobile Software Management for Mobile Operators and Device Manufacturers
In this vendor profile, IDC focuses on Red Bend’s Mobile Software Management solutions: vCurrent® Mobile for firmware updates, vRapid Mobile™ for software component management and vDirect Mobile™ for device management. Additionally, this seven-page vendor profile also highlights Red Bend’s company strategy and its future outlook as well as how it places in the mobile ecosystem and the market in Japan. The profile, published in August 2008, concludes with “Essential Guidance” advice for Red Bend.
Strategy Analytics - Vendor Profile: Red Bend in Machine to Machine Communications (Published by Octegra Limited)
Red Bend's FOTA software provides a cost-effective solution to the problem of updating handset software and correcting faults without the need to remove the device to a centralized service centre. It claims the machine-to-machine (M2M) market has many similarities to the mobile handset market, including: difficulty in recovering devices for repair, high cost of undertaking software upgrades, and increase in the software complexity and size. In addition, the longevity of many M2M devices, such as Automotive and Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), makes it more likely that the device will require a software upgrade at some point during its operational life. Red Bend believes that FOTA is the next enabler that will make M2M more complete. This report, published in April 2008, was created by Octegra Limited for Strategy Analytics.
VisionMobile - Mobile Software Management: Advances and Opportunities in Service Delivery
This report, published in July 2007, presents the advancements in the Mobile Software Management (MSM) market and the opportunities emerging for mobile operators, handset manufacturers and service providers in delivering services at any and every stage in the handset lifetime. The report is a must-read for business, marketing and technology managers needing to identify new revenue opportunities in mobile service delivery and needing to understand the various technical approaches to mobile software management.
ARCchart - Firmware Over-the-Air: From Hype to Market Reality
FOTA is the technology and process allowing embedded software (firmware) to be updated wirelessly, anywhere, and at any time. FOTA is normally associated with bug fixes, and with the typical handset containing as many as 10,000 software defects (most of them latent), FOTA can help accelerate time-to-market by allowing manufacturers to address non-critical software defects after the handset has shipped. Longer term, FOTA holds the promise of allowing operators to install new revenue channels by updating their customers' handsets with new features and mobile services, post sale.
The 451 Group - Red Bend Looks to Drive Mobile Virtualization by Acquiring VirtualLogix
Analysts from The 451 Group offer their views on Red Bend's acquisition of VirtualLogix. They state that with the purchase, Red Bend now wants to also simplify the development and deployment of software and services on the front end by allowing vendors to virtualize software and firmware on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs and embedded devices.