Femto Forum launches apps initiative

The Femto Forum launched an initiative targeted at driving the development of femtocell applications since femtocells can serve as a valuable source of information about users, including location, presence and context.

The forum plans to work with standards bodies to create a standardized set of application programming interfaces (APIs) to support femtocell applications. Airvana, ip.access and Ubiquisys announced support for the open API initiative.

Several vendors have already shown off potential femtocell applications. Motorola has demonstrated a VoIP call over an EV-DO network in the U.S. using a SIP softphone and its CDMA femto embedded in a digital picture frame. In partnership with Mobica, Ubiquisys has shown an app that automatically downloads users' latest podcast to their mobile phones as soon as they return home. The femtocell's detection of when a user arrives home triggers the download to begin automatically.

Dave Nowicki, vice president of product management and marketing with Airvana, proposes that femtocell apps could have their own app store.

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