Sony Ericsson raises the bar with the K850i and W910i

With the release of the Sony Ericsson K850i – a CyberShot phone with a massive 5.0 megapixel camera, the company has put all doubts to rest. The Sony Ericsson K850i represents the cream of our technology in mobile and digital imaging. Although it is very important to have a high resolution camera, there are many other criteria that are important to shoot a great picture or video.

The Sony Ericsson K850i has most of them. The handset boasts of autofocus, digital zoom, an automatic Xenon flash, three LED video light for recording at night and many more such aids. Select the best out of nine stills shot in quick succession with its BestPic feature or improve underexposed pictures instantly with Photo fix – the Sony Ericsson K850i is not just a camera, but a whole studio. The handset shoots videos at thirty frames per second – double than the industry norm of fifteen. You can upload the stills and videos that you have shot with the Sony Ericsson K850i using the handset's preset for video and mobile blogging.

The latest music phone Sony Ericsson W910i delivers an unparalleled musical experience with a plethora of entertainment features. The handset supports a Disc2Phone music management software to get music from your computer into your phone.

This latest Walkman 3.0 media player produces a superb sound with features like TrackID, TrueBass and its killer app, shake control. The 2 megapixel camera comes with video recording skills. Connectivity features include GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth and USB. Focussed on music lovers, the Sony Ericsson W910i also offers messaging options like SMS, MMS and emails. The built in memory of 12 Mb is supplemented by a 512 Mb external memory card.

Both the Sony Ericsson K850i Cybershot phone, and the Sony Ericsson W910i Walkman phone are available now

Google Maps Mobile knows where you are

The latest version of Google Maps Mobile has a menu item which shows you where you are, without recourse to GPS or deals with network operators, but those with GPS will be asked to lend a hand in keeping the database up to date and improving its accuracy.

Google Maps Mobile version 2 is currently in Beta, but available for Symbian and Windows Mobile and can be downloaded from the Google mobile site. The application picks up the Cell ID of the local base station, along with some signal information, and sends that off to Google for comparison with their database of known locations.

If the handset has GPS, and can get a GPS fix, then both sets of information are sent to Google as a new entry in the database - making it more accurate for the next user.

Using the Cell ID is much, much faster than mucking about with orbiting satellites, and in many cases the accuracy is enough to start the user off scrolling to where they want to see. Some rough testing shows that in the Home Counties users can get a fix within a few hundred metres, while in the Highlands it's more like a few tens of miles.

It's always been possible for network operators to track mobile phones in this way, and in the UK they keep records of such location information for a year, but until now the link between Cell ID and location has been something the operators kept to themselves despite several attempts to create a public database.

Google's database is far from public, and a spokesman told us they've not yet got plans to sell access to the information - though that can't be far off. The same spokesman was eager to point out that while Google might be collecting GPS and Cell ID information, they have no way of linking that to a particular person or phone handset, so (for the moment at least) there's no significant privacy issue.

US mobile ad firm claims Vodafone and Telefonica as investors

Amobee Media Systems announced on Wednesday that European telecom powerhouses Vodafone and Telefonica have bought stakes in the US mobile advertising specialty firm.

Word of the investments comes as US Internet giants Google, Yahoo and Microsoft battle intensely for market share in the increasingly lucrative global arena of marketing to people on their mobile devices.

San Francisco-based Amobee launched its first consumer trial less than a year after it was founded in May of 2005.

Amobee specializes in software that supports digitized ad delivery to "all mobile content and communication types" including games, video, messaging and Internet browsing.

Britain-based Vodafone uses Amobee in Greece, Spain and the Czech Republic, according the US firm.

"Mobile internet is fast emerging as a mainstream information, entertainment and transaction source for people on the move," Vodafone director of strategic marketing Frank Boulben said in a written release.

"We see a tremendous opportunity for brands to target segments that traditional media reach less efficiently."

Vodafone and Spain-based Telefonica join a roster of Amobee investors that includes Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners and Globespan.

The moves are seen by industry insiders as an effort to establish a bulwark against Internet juggernaut Google and other online titans intent on seizing mobile advertising market shares.

Pyramid Research predicts that a billion new mobile phone subscribers will join the current base of 2.8 billion by the year 2010.

Industry tracker Informa estimates that worldwide mobile advertising revenues will rise to 11.35 billion dollars by 2011.

Source:http://afp.google.com

U.K. iPhone users complain of weak signal

Apple Inc. may be having teething problems with another iPhone rollout, this time in the U.K. Some people who have bought the iPhone since it went on sale there on Nov. 9 are complaining of a weak signal or no signal from O2 (U.K.) Ltd.'s network.

About three dozen people have reported problems with reception, mostly when they are indoors, in threads at Apple's discussion board. Some said they have received a good signal when using different phones, also on O2's network, in the same location.

"My iPhone can barely pick up even the slightest signal, although on occasion can pick up 3 bars, only for it to drop out again. I have two other O2 phones, a Sony Ericsson and a Nokia n95, with no reception problems at all," wrote a person using the name Lawlbaker2.
It was difficult to gauge the extent of the problem. More than 5,000 people have viewed the threads on Apple's board. Along with the complaints, about 10 people wrote that their phones were working perfectly. A few users started a much smaller, similar complaint thread at O2's Web site.

Apple representatives in the U.K. did not return calls for comment today. A spokeswoman for O2 said there are "no problems whatsoever" with the O2 network. She said O2 is "aware" of the discussion thread at Apple's board, but she would not say whether O2 considers it a problem or whether it is investigating.
Source:http://www.computerworld.com

Hackers, tears and tantrums: the iPhone gets off to a bad start

Apple's iPhone has come under attack yet again but this time it is not the inflated costs of the handset or the risk of it being hacked that is causing problems, it’s the competition that is blighting Apple's newest addition.

Telecoms giant Vodaphone has taken Apple to court in order to overturn the iPhone exclusivity contract awarded to Deutsche Telecom's T-Mobile.

Now a preliminary injunction has been granted and T-Mobile has been forced to release a version of the iPhone in Germany that is not locked into a specific network or contract.

UK T-Mobile has stepped up to reassure customers that there is no indication that the case could be replicated in the UK. A Vodafone spokesman said: "This is particular to Germany. The regulatory situation is very different from the UK, so we won't be doing it here."

In addition, unlocked handsets are now flooding eBay as hackers unlock them before selling them on to people holding contracts with other service providers. And according to a recent survey by GfK NOP, UK consumers have been turned off buying the iPhone as it is too expensive, retailing at £269, and forces them into an O2 contract for a minimum of 18 months.

The research showed that only 2 per cent were even considering adding it to their Christmas list indicating that the iPhone is not quite hitting the mark for the average UK consumer. While O2 has refused to give precise figures for sales over the launch weekend of November 5, reports have suggested that they were far below the expected levels.

Source:http://www.fairinvestment.co.uk/

Apple's UK iPhone sales 'low'

Apple's iPhone may well be the most amazing mobile phone ever (if you ignore the poor camera and swallow the extraordinary price) but UK sales are apparently quite feeble.

Taking figures from the iPhone's UK resellers The Register estimates that 02, Apple's exclusive carrier, has activated a mere 26,500 iPhones since its launch on November 9.

Carphone Warehouse, which had a disastrous launch event, had brought in 50,000 iPhones, but sold only around 11,000 in the first weekend, says The Register.

The national press, meanwhile, has been claiming that a suspiciously round 100,000 iPhones were sold in the UK.

Apple claims it sold a million iPhones in the first 74 days in the US.

Queues at the Apple Store and outside Carphone Warehouse and 02 stores were minor compared to scenes at some US outlets on launch day.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but all indications are that Apple and 02 were rather optimistic that people would go for such an expensive handset and punitive 18-month contract. (That said, the UK/US price difference is surprisingly not too harsh, as Americans have to sign up to an amazing two-year $60/month minimum fee.)

As The Register points out, maybe Apple would have been better off marketing the iPhone as an iPod that does phone calls rather than a phone that can also play tunes. The British public still seems keen to shell out on the world's best MP3 player, whatever Apple charges.

Source:http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk

Qualcomm gets a win against Nokia

Qualcomm sure has a bit of legal good fortune to be thankful for today. The International Trade Commission (ITC) has just thrown out one of the lawuits brought against Qualcomm that would have barred the chipmaker’s chipsets from being sold in the US. Following on a Dutch court’s recent decision to throw out Nokia’s patent licensing case against Qualcomm, the ITC dismissed the US-based suit on grounds that Nokia and Qualcomm are currently in arbitration regarding the issue.

As far as the ITC is concerned, the Qualcomm v. Nokia case is shut and closed. “The case is finished at the ITC,” said ITC staffer John Greer. But, that doesn’t mean Qualcomm is out of the legal-woods just yet. The US chipmaker is facing a number of patent-infringement lawsuits in a handful of other countries. But, with the US mobile chipset market open for business, we’re sure Qualcomm’s legal department is having a Thanksgiving Day celebration of their very own

source:http://www.intomobile.com

AOL launches new web browser for phones

AOL has launched a new mobile web browser, which it hopes will provide users with "the most realistic interpretation of a full online experience" on a phone.

The browser - which can be downloaded from wap.aol.com/uk, or by sending a text entitled 'AOL' to 85885 - will act as a personalised portal, pulling in content from channels on the main AOL website and offering it in a format that is optimised for the small screens of mobile devices. The portal will allow users to easily access their AOL email account, and the company's search bar will be integrated into the portal homepage.

AOL says that the new browser will be able to "transcode" websites on-the-fly, automatically tailoring pages for viewing on your handset. It will use tabbed navigation and clear menu systems to simplify the process of scrolling around web pages and making it easier to get to important links. More than 6 million people currently access AOL's UK site from their computers each month.

But AOL faces stiff competition from a number of other technology giants, notably Yahoo! and Microsoft. Google, too, recently announced its entry into the mobile arena with the launch of Android, an open-source development program that Google hopes will bring the power of desktop computing to the mobile phone. Google is also expected to use the new platform to provide a mobile version of its lucrative AdSense advertising service.

Nokia is planning to launch 30 headsets in next 6 months

According to the report Nokia, which is planning to launch about 30 handsets in the next 6 months, expects its handset prices will decrease by 20 % every year.

Nokia and Samsung Continue Gains as Mobile Phone Volume Rises 13.8

The worldwide mobile phone market grew at a healthy pace during the third quarter of 2007 with vendors shipping a total of 289.1 million units, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Worldwide shipments were up 9.0% from the previous quarter and 13.8% from the same quarter a year ago. Growth was driven by a combination of high-volume shipments of affordable handsets into emerging markets and high-end, feature-packed devices into mature markets.

"On a worldwide scale, the mobile phone market continued to post positive results in the third quarter, even as vendors struggle to balance revenue and profitability," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "On the one hand, emerging markets have required vendors to provide low-cost handsets, which boost volume but reduce revenue and sometimes profit per device.

Nokia posted its second consecutive quarter of 100+ million units, and shipped more units than the next three vendors combined.
Samsung marked its second consecutive appearance in the number two spot worldwide, this time extending its lead over Motorola to 5.4 million units for the quarter.
Motorola kept the number three spot worldwide for the quarter, and was the only leading vendor to post a negative year-over-year shipment delta.
Sony Ericsson remained in fourth place for the sixth consecutive quarter, and continued its string of quarterly double digit operating profit margin even while more aggressively building its presence within emerging markets
LG Electronics took fifth place once again during the quarter, and closed the gap behind Sony Ericsson to just four million units

Source:http://www.manager.sk

China Mobile May Sell iPhone

China Mobile, the largest cell-phone carrier in the country, is in discussions with Apple about a potential iPhone deal, according to reports citing China Mobiles chief executive.

Wang Jianzhou told reporters at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress yesterday that the companies are still working out the details of revenue sharing.

Apple had previously said it plans to launch its combo iPod-smartphone device in Asia next year and that it was in talks with multiple operators in the region. Cupertino, California-based Apple launched the iPhone in the US on June 29 and has since sold more than 1 million of the devices. The iPhone went on sale in the UK and Germany last Friday.

source:http://uk.news.yahoo.com

Google Has Even Bigger Plans for Mobile Phones

Google Inc. made a big splash last week with its new software for cellphones. But that's far from the limit of the Internet giant's wireless ambitions -- which could include running its own mobile network.
The company is gearing up to make a serious run at buying wireless spectrum, a chunk of the airwaves that can be used to provide mobile phone and Internet services, in a Federal Communications Commission auction in January. Google is prepared to bid on its own without any partners, say people familiar with the matter. It is working out a plan to finance its bid, which could run $4.6 billion or higher, that would rely on its own cash and possibly some borrowed money. Google, meanwhile, already is running a test version of an advanced wireless network at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters, gaining operating experience that could come in handy if it wins the spectrum and decides to run a full-scale national mobile carrier, according to people familiar with the matter.
A STRONG SIGNAL
Google's wireless initiatives could eventually lead to a national network
• Developed Android software for mobile phones.
• Made Google applications -- including email, chat and mapping -- available on cellphones.
• Sells advertisements for certain Web sites accessed by cellphone
• Enables users to do Web and business searches with cellphone browsers, by text message or with a call.
• Is testing an advanced wireless network at Google headquarters
• Operates a free Wi-Fi network in Mountain View, Calif.
• Expected to bid for wireless spectrum in a January FCC auction.
source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119517445580795065.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks