Cell Phone Feeds

Nokia Green Explorer service launched

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:18:01 PDT

Nokia Green Explorer is a new beta service launched by the Finnish handset maker, enabling “people dedicated to a sustainable lifestyle” to “explore and enjoy the world.”

The multi-channel service lets you share info, provide guidance and communicate with other people about eco-friendly traveling.

You can register for Nokia Green Explorer and get its S60 Web Runtime Widget if you visit the Beta Labs website.

Note that, although it’s optimized only for Nokia N96 and Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, the Widget should run on any WRT compatible phone from Nokia (like Nokia N78, Nokia N85, Nokia N95 etc.).

Because it’s still in beta, Nokia Green Explorer is not integrated with Nokia Accounts, so you’ll have to make a new account in order to use it.

A video about Nokia Green Explorer can be watched below:

Via Nokia Beta Labs Blog

Nokia Here and Now app available in beta

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:17:27 PDT

In its ongoing attempt to offer cool mobile applications, Nokia has just announced the upcoming availability of Nokia Here and Now.

The Here and Now app provides users with instant access to useful info, including local weather and events, directly from their phone’s web browser.

Several new Nokia handsets will have Here and Now preinstalled.

However, until said handsets get to be released, we can try the beta version of the application, which includes the Weather and Events services.

Nokia Here and Now can be downloaded from the Beta Labs website.

Before downloading, you might want to watch this short video presentation of the new app:

Via Nokia Beta Labs blog

LG GD900 Crystal comes to UK via Carphone Warehouse

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:16:31 PDT

LG GD900 Crystal, one of 2009’s most interesting phones, will be released in the UK via The Carphone Warehouse.

The giant retailer says the GD900 is expected to hit the shelves in mid-May, but, of course, the release date might be pushed back. No word yet on the price of LG GD900 Crystal. However, given its specs and its unique transparent keypad, I guess the handset will not be on the affordable side.

First showcased by LG during MWC 2009, the GD900 comes with a WVGA touchscreen display, S-Class Touch UI, an 8MP autofocus camera, Wi-Fi, HSDPA connectivity, TV out and Dolby Mobile audio technology.

On top of the above-mentioned stuff, both the display and the transparent sliding keypad of GD900 feature multi-touch input and handwriting recognition.

A video preview with the LG GD900 can be found here.

Via Pocket-lint

Samsung Trance officially announced by Verizon

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:15:04 PDT

As expected, today, Samsung Trance was officially announced by Verizon Wireless. The handset will be available for purchase as of tomorrow, April 24, in two color versions: Electric Red and Piano Black.

Samsung Trance is a slider presented by Verizon as a “high-powered music phone”, and that’s due to its Bang & Olufsen ICEpower amp that should provide an enhanced audio quality.

The handset also has a touch-sensitive navigation pad, stereo Bluetooth, 3.5mm headset jack and 1GB of internal memory.

Other specs include:

2.1 inch TFT display with 176 x 220 pixel and 262K colors
1.3MP camera
MicroSDHC card support, up to 16GB
Talk time: up to 270 minutes
Standby time: up to 300 hours
4.0 x 1.97 x 0.55 inches
3.53 ounces

The price of Samsung Trance? Only $49.99 with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Via Press release

Google Product Search now available for iPhone, Android

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:14:18 PDT

If you use Google Product Search on a regular basis and have an Android smartphone or an iPhone, you should be happy to find out that the feature is now available for both mobile platforms.

According to Google, Product Search for mobile provides users with the same product info that they would get via their PC or laptop. So when you’re in a store, buying something, you can quickly search the Web for additional info about the products you’re interested in.

To use Google Product Search for mobile you don’t have to download anything – just point your Android or iPhone browser to google.com, tap on the “more” tab and then on the “shopping” tab.

The video below should give you a better clue on why you should use the feature:

Unfortunately, Google Product Search for Android and iPhone is currently available only in the US and the UK.

Via the Google Mobile Blog

BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 announced by Alltel; Verizon still waiting

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:13:27 PDT

Today, Alltel announced the upcoming release of BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, thus becoming the second US carrier to offer the smartphone – after T-Mobile, which sells its GSM version (Pearl Flip 8220) since 2008.

Of course, Alltel’s Pearl Flip is a CDMA EV-DO device, but, other than that, there aren’t too many differences between it and T-Mo’s handset.

The Pearl Flip 8230 will be available from Alltel starting early May, for as low as $79.99 – with a 2-yr contract agreement and after a $70 mail-in rebate.

It’s a bit weird that Alltel announced the smartphone ahead of Verizon, as rumors about big V’s Flip Pearl have been around since February. Of course, Alltel is now owned by Verizon (although it continues to serve about 2.2 million customers), so it will probably not be long until the big red carrier launches the Flip Pearl 8230 too.

Via Press release

Criminals paying huge money for a discontinued NOKIA 1100 phone

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:30:26 PDT

One of the Nokia’s all time best-selling model, NOKIA 1100, has been suspected to be sold at a price as high as USD 32,143. Investigators claims that the discontinued version of Nokia’s 1100 can be used to hack online bank accounts.

The Nokia 1100 was a candy-bar non-multimedia phone released in Q4 of 2003. However, the high prices are only being paid for the discontinued models that were manufactured in a factory in Bochum, Germany. Those models contain software version of 2002 which is apparently reported as vulnerable to tampering.

It appears that a known Russian and Moroccan cybercrime gang, as well as other Romanian gangs, are trying to obtain the Nokia 1100 with the vulnerable software, Engelsman said.

Investigators don't have a full know-how of the technical problem. However, Ultrascan's informant said the phones can be used to intercept one-time passwords needed to complete an online banking transaction.

The Bochum-made 1100 can apparently be reprogrammed to use someone else's phone number, thus intercepting the TAN(Transaction Authentication Number) code and enabling an illegal money transfer into a criminal's account. Ultrascan is trying to obtain the affected 1100 model to verify if the attack works as described.

Source - computerworld

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shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:08:01 PST

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MWC Wire: Universal Charger, Skype / Nokia, Dell Smartphones; Opera / Yahoo;...

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:33:03 PST

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MWC Wire: Universal Charger; Skype/Nokia; Dell Smartphones; Opera/Yahoo; MoSo Stats; Visto

via mocoNews.net by James Quintana Pearce on 2/17/09

—Universal Charger Planned: GSMA and 17 operators and manufacturers have signed an agreement to implement a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones by 2012. I think everyone can see the benefit here—aside from benefits to consumers it could eliminate 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers every year, and the deal aims for a higher energy efficiency. The initiative will mandate Micro-USB as the common interface. With the size of the companies involved this is likely to happen…they are: 3 Group, AT&T (NYSE: T), KTF, LG (SEO: 066570), mobilkom austria, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Orange, Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), Samsung, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC), Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD). (release)

—Skype On Nokia: Skype has signed a deal with Nokia to embed its VoIP service in some Nokia handsets, starting with the N-Series. Of course, Skype already has mobile apps but the deal with Nokia will see Skype being part of the address book, allowing users to see when their Skype contacts are online and also to use the instant messaging service. The N97 will be the first handset in the deal. Reuters has some quotes from Skype CEO Josh Silverman about the carrier's wariness to allow Skype on their networks: "3 had actually seen its average revenue rise by 20 percent for consumers using Skype phones…He said subscribers were encouraged to use their phones more by flat-rate data plans—boosting usage of 3's other services—and that customer loyalty increased. Skype also has deals with other operators but 3 is its most successful."

—Dell Smartphones: There's some stories floating around that the Dell Smartphone rumors have been confirmed. "At a panel at the Mobile World Congress today, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega just said, "Dell announced they're entering the smart phone market" writes PC Mag. So the confirmation isn't from Dell, but is from someone who could have inside knowledge and who is hopefully unlikely to mistake a rumor for a fact.

Much more after the jump...

—Opera Mini With Yahoo Mobile: Opera and Yahoo have signed a deal which will see Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) distributing Opera Mini via Yahoo Mobile (announced today).

—Social Network Stats: Openwave has released some statistics about mobile social network usage: The top two search terms on both Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! OneSearch were the major social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, but the two sites don't appear to be doing as well as they could. Users of mobile-focused social site Mocospace spent an average of 6.05 minutes online per session, while MySpace users spent 3.79 minutes online and Facebook 1.89 minutes per session. I would want to know total minutes per month though—for example, I suspect that a significant amount of Facebook sessions is simply updating status.

—Visto Supports Android: Mobile push synchronization platform Visto has announced that its service can now be used on Android handsets. That lets users send and receive messages from e-mail accounts and social networking accounts.

—Nokia & T-Mobile Collaborate: Nokia and T-Mobile have announced plans to promote together their respective offering for widgets, applications and other content to provide customers with easy access to a vast range of internet services. The customer can browse and download widgets from both the T-Mobile widget gallery and Nokia's Ovi Store using T-Mobile's web'n'walk widget platform. The integrated marketplace will be available during the second half 2009 on mass market Nokia Series 40 platform based phones. For a lot of info on Ovi read this interview. (release)

—End2End Gets Indonesian Deal: German company End2End has signed a deal with Cometa Mobile to manage a dedicated mobile games portal for Indonesian operators. (release)

Full coverage at our Mobile World Congress channel

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Foundations Announce Mobile Health, Banking Initiatives

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:59 PST

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Foundations Announce Mobile Health, Banking Initiatives

via mocoNews.net by James Quintana Pearce on 2/17/09

The United Nations, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), and the Rockefeller Foundation's mHealth Alliance has banded together with the intention of uniting existing mobile health projects, aiming to guide governments, NGOs and mobile firms on how they can save lives in the developing world. UN/Vodafone Foundation Partnership head Claire Thwaites said that the alliance is "looking at scaling up and bringing governments together with NGOs and corporations, and it will commission pretty rigorous research on what the market opportunity is for mHealth, answering the question: why should a business get involved in this area?" reports the BBC. Showing a value proposition to network operators could bring together individual, small-scale efforts into something larger. It not just phones, either: "In South Africa, the SIMpill project integrated a sensor-equipped medicine bottle with a SIM card, ensuring that healthcare workers were advised if patients were not taking their tuberculosis medicine…The percentages of people keeping up with their medicine rocketed from 22 percent to 90 percent."

Another big problem is finance, which is being tackled by the GSMA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) will start with a $12.5 million grant from the foundation and work with mobile operators, banks, microfinance institutions, government and development organizations to encourage the expansion of reliable, affordable mobile financial services to the unbanked. The main target is the billlion or so people in emerging markets who have a mobile phone but not a bank account. The programme includes $5 million to "catalyse a new wave of mobile money innovation, encouraging mobile network operators to create new services for previously unbanked people in emerging markets". About 20 projects will be supported, focusing on Africa, Asia and Latin America with the goal of reaching 20 million previously unbanked people by 2012. (release)

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Nortel had a conversation HD-video over a network LTE

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:54 PST

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Nortel провела сеанс HD-видеосвязи через сеть LTE

via Mobile-Review.com - последние новости on 2/17/09

Компания Nortel провела первый сеанс потоковой HD-видеосвязи через сеть LTE в режиме TDD (Time Division Duplex - дуплексная передача с разделением по времени). Работа сети на территории Китая обеспечивается действующей на коммерческом уровне центральной LTE-станцией и прототипами устройств. Этот проект стал важным шагом в развитии беспроводных сервисов нового поколения для мобильных сетей, развертываемых в Китае на основе стандарта TD-SCDMA. Для поставщиков услуг это также новый этап в технологии развертывания LTE-сетей в TDD-спектре.

Потенциал технологий четвертого поколения для мобильного использования приложений с широкополосным доступом был продемонстрирован инженерами китайского центра НИОКР и передовых технологий компании Nortel. В ходе показа был выполнен сеанс передачи потокового видео высокого разрешения через центральную станцию LTE eNodeB от Nortel с прототипом LTE-TDD-устройства. Результаты испытания убедительно свидетельствуют о способности компании перейти к предоставлению на территории Китая высокоскоростного мобильного Интернета на базе LTE, что станет следующим этапом в развитии местных сетей на базе TD-SCDMA с использованием TDD-спектра.

Ранее в этом году правительство КНР одобрило предоставление лицензии на работу с технологиями третьего поколения трем ведущим операторам телекоммуникационных услуг. Компания China Mobile будет управлять сетью на базе стандарта TD-SCDMA, China Telecom – сетью на базе технологии CDMA 2000, China Unicom – местной сетью W-CDMA. Первый поставщик услуг (с самой крупной абонентской базой) намерен внедрить сервис четвертого поколения в ближайшие два года. Объявление о сотрудничестве с Nortel и сообщение о положительных результатах испытаний являются важнейшим шагом к предоставлению гиперподключенным китайским пользователям (число которых постоянно растет) услуг мобильной широкополосной связи. Для развития сети TD-SCDMA компании China Mobile будет использован стандарт LTE TDD. Помимо этого, Nortel совместно с операторами сетей GSM, CDMA и WCDMA/HSPA проводит по всему миру испытания LTE-решений на базе дуплексного разделения частот (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD). Решение разработано специально для перевода существующих сетей второго и третьего поколения на технологию LTE.

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Toshiba has updated Satellite and Qosmio Series

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:45 PST

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Toshiba обновила серии Satellite и Qosmio

via Mobile-Review.com - последние новости on 2/17/09

Обновленные ноутбуки Toshiba Satellite и Qosmio модельного ряда 2009 года уже добрались до Росии. В первом квартале 2009 года компания представляет более двадцати новых конфигураций ноутбуков в самой массовой линейке Satellite и несколько обновленных мультимедийных Qosmio. Основные изменения серии Satellite нацелены на повышение производительности. В сегменте 15.4'' большинство ноутбуков оснащены выделенными графическими адаптерами ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 и ATI Mobility Radeon 3650. Также Toshiba увеличила минимальный объем оперативной памяти, устанавливаемой в портативные компьютеры, до 2 Гб. При этом большинство моделей оснащены ОЗУ объемом 3-4 Гб.

Ряд моделей (Satellite A300-213, Satellite A300-216) получили повышенное разрешение экрана 1440x900. Также в первом квартале в серии Satellite появятся первые модели с диагональю экрана 16'' – Satellite A350 и Satellite A350D. Новый экран отличается соотношением сторон 16:9, что позволяет просматривать большинство современных фильмов с максимальным комфортом. Это новый для Toshiba форм-фактор ноутбуков, который унаследовал от моделей с диагональю экрана 15,4'' низкий вес (2.7 кг) и продолжительную работу от батареи.

Еще мощнее стали ноутбуки серии Qosmio. Игровой флагман Qosmio X300-14X теперь оснащен мобильным процессором Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 с тактовой частотой 3.06 Ггц, двумя быстрыми жесткими дисками общим объемом 640 Гб и двумя видеокартами Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS, работающими в режиме SLI. Кроме того, в Qosmio X300 реализована возможность выбора при первом запуске ноутбука как 32-битной, так и 64-битной версии Windows Vista Home Premium. До 720 Гб дискового пространства получили мультимедийные Qosmio F50 и G50.

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iPopetz Monkey for iPhone - Nice Idea, Terrible Execution

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:41 PST

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iPopetz Monkey for iPhone - Nice Idea, Terrible Execution

via Just Another iPhone Blog by PatrickJ on 2/17/09

I really liked the idea of this new app from iPopetz - called Monkey - and the look of it, when I noticed it amongst newly added iPhone apps earlier today. Sadly, this one is definitely filed under Big disappointment for now.

The app is supposed to be a 'true 3D vocal avatar that enables you to record and share your greetings, your songs, your jokes …'. I thought this would be good fun for creating funny clips - making the monkey character say funny stuff or just dance to favorite songs - to send to my daughter. A bit like the excellent 12seconds or Animoto apps, but featuring a funny mokey, and you can't beat funny 3D vocal avatar monkeys, right?

Read on for why I won't be sharing anything via this app …

(...)
Read the rest of iPopetz Monkey for iPhone - Nice Idea, Terrible Execution

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Nokia N86 8MP: Several steps forward, Must Look

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:32:32 PST

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Nokia N86 8MP: Several steps forward

via The Nokia Guide by Devin Balentina on 2/17/09

After teasing us with two sample images, found here and here, of a mysterious 8 megapixel Nseries device, Nokia has finally revealed the shooter behind the images: the N86 MP. Notice that it's called N86 8MP and not just N86. It's the first time that Nokia actually uses the Megapixel count in the device's name. Previous Nseries handsets used the storage capacity (N95 8GB, N91 8GB) or edition (N73 Music Edition) in their name, but this name time Nokia has made sure that everybody notices that the device sports an 8 Megapixel camera.

Judging by the specs, it seems Nokia got the specs just right, except for the flash.

A 1200 mAh battery

A 2.6″ AMOLED screen

Hardened glass on the screen and metal details on the sides

FM Transmitter

Kick stand

7 hours of Video/Gaming and 25 hours of audio playback

AGPS & Digital Compass

S60 3rd Edition FP2

Weighs 149g

103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm

It has the large battery, great AMOLED screen tech, kickstand and finally the use of metals and glass! One might argue that 2.6 screen is on the small side, but something I learned from Nokia designers at the N82 launch is that sometimes smaller screens are used for imaging devices to make it as compact as possible.

For a device just recently released, there's already a lot of discussion on the use of the dual LED instead of the Xenon flash found on the N82. Why not use both? While the use of dual LED technology is a bit of downer, it is important to know that this is just one piece of the puzzle and judging by the other pieces from a photographic point-of-view the N86 8MP is quite a few steps ahead. Take for example the ultra-wide 28mm that's perfect for tight indoor shots or panorama shots and is something that's typically found on digital camera, but not mobile phones. The shorter latencies (up to 1/1000 sec) is something that wasn't available on previous devices and should aid with action shots. Let's just hope that there's a burst mode to match.The N86 also has a variable aperture (F2.4/3.2/4.8), perfect for low light conditions.

It's almost certain that both the shutter speed and aperture will not be manually adjustable, but rather accessible via the usual preset scenes. But judging by these specs action shots, low light shots and shots that require a wide-angle should in theory be improved. The actual results still remained to be seen as a few question still remained unanswered: How noisy is the sensor once the ISO sensitivity is increased? How does this third generation dual LED compare against Xenon flash?

When it comes to the design the N86 8MP a lot like the N85, but with a few borrowed design elements from other devices like the N97. I do have to admit that the device looks very nice. Notice the different color of key pad on the white and black version? And also notice the raised and flattened chic let type keys?

The N86 8MP certainly stays away from the current trend of touch screen devices and or slide-out QWERTY for a the dual-slider form factor. Was it the right decision to use a dual slider instead of touch screen or QWERTY device? With other 8 Megapixel cameras on the market is there room for the N86 8MP? Or is Nokia too late?

Via: The Symbian blog

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Hands-On with the Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20, A Little Wonder

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:58 PST

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Hands-On with the Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20, A Little Wonder

via WMExperts by Dieter Bohn on 2/17/09

We grabbed some hands-on time with the first Windows Mobile phone of the Garmin-Asus alliance, the nuvifone M20. We gotta say, we're darn impressed. The styling is helped out by a multitude of color options, but in essence think "small," "wee," or "cute" — but in a good way.

The little guy has GPS down in its guts in exactly the way you'd expect from Garmin — maps are included in the 4 gigs of onboard storage, GPS location is added to photos, e-mails, texts, basically anything you'd like to add it, too. There's a special Garmin Car Mount that it ships with that will pass-through charge and holds the device in landscape. Better yet: When you get a call when the device is in the mount, it will automatically turn off your GPS direction audio (visual directions say) and go into speakerphone. Park the car and grab the phone to continue the conversation and the phone switches out of speaker automatically. Garmin-Asus also threw on a custom skin, which does the job but doesn't wow.

We're looking at dual-band 3G and tri-band GSM, so we may not see this thing in the states when it comes out "first half of 2009," and that would be a shame. The stats:

Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
Dual Band HSPA, Tri-Band GSM
WiFi, Bluetooth, Accelerometer
GPS (duh)
2.8" 640x480 Touchscreen
3MP camera
4 or 8 GB of internal storage
95.3 x 52.5 12.8 mm
99g (including battery)
528MHz Qualcomm 7200A
920 mAh battery (yes, that is small)

More photos and some of the official press stuff after the break.

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AT&T planning LTE for 2011

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:55 PST

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AT&T planning LTE for 2011

via WMExperts by George Ponder on 2/17/09

During all the excitement of the 2009 Mobile World Congress, AT&T has quietly acknowledged that it should have a fully ready Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in 2011. AT&T has pledged in the past to introduce the 4G Network in 2010 but, according to Senior Architecture VP Kris Rinne, will see the first phase limited to trials in 2010, with commercial services available the following year. This will put AT&T's 4G Network about a year behind Verizon's 4G network, which is for trials later this year with commercial services planned for 2010.

AT&T doesn't seem too worried about Verizon's time line, maintaining that it can rely on HSPA+ and have the advanced 3G networks reach 20Mbps sometime later this year through software upgrades. The LTE network theoretically is at least five times as fast in downloads, about 100Mbps and has a lower latency that should make multi-layer games, VoIP, and two way calling more practical than on 3G networks.

Speaking of time lines, it's probably safe to say that Apple's future plans for the iPhone could well be a factor here. On the other hand, it's entirely possible that AT&T has no idea what Apple's plans are.

[Read: Electonista.com]

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Sony Ericsson W995 Powerhouse Multimedia Phone

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:49 PST

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Sony Ericsson W995 Powerhouse Multimedia Phone

via MobileWhack.com by Mobilewhack.com on 2/17/09

When news of the Hikaru came out some days ago, this was actually the code name for the latest powerhouse multimedia phone by Sony Ericsson. Today that codename has been decoded and given the proper model name in the Sony Ericsson W995. This new phone aims to combine cyber-shot technology with the Walkman and become one of the high-end handsets for the company.

"With Media Go™ there's no need to worry about format, resolution and 'frame per second' anymore." said Alexandre Cardon, Global Marketing Business Manager at Sony Ericsson. "No longer will the video you transferred from your PC to your phone play in low resolution or bad quality. With Media Go™ and the W995 the experience is as good on your phone as it was on your PC."
"The W995 Walkman™ phone brings together the very best music experiences of any phone, augments this with best in class video and sharing capabilities to offer the most complete communication entertainment package to date." said Alexandre Cardon. "This powerful mobile phone delivers the best possible video resolution that can fit in your pocket and with enough battery stamina to watch two full length feature films. The W995 also comes complete with the award winning clear audio experience and an 8.1 megapixel camera for the highest quality picture and sound available in a mobile phone."

This promises to be a fantastic addition to Sony Ericsson's portfolio. An 8 megapixel camera, Clear Audio experience, 2.6-inch screen and Wi-Fi in one package makes this phone truly awesome. The phone will ship during Q2 this year in the colours Cosmic Silver, Energetic Red, and Progressive Black.

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Sony Ericsson Reese On Its Way?

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:44 PST

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Sony Ericsson Reese On Its Way?

via MobileWhack.com by Mobilewhack.com on 2/17/09

The swivel phone in the picture here is a Sony Ericsson new handset. But is it the Reese? Will we see it at the MWC?

The Reese comes with "a unique swivel design reveals a QWERTY keypad below the large portrait screen which allows you to view several messages of any one kind in high definition. It also comes with one-click access to your favorite networking sites. So now it's never been easier to keep up with your mates."

We don't have all the details about the Reese but we're counting on Sony Ericsson to announce it at the MWC.

via esato

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@ MWC: Nokia VP Opens Up On How Open The Ovi App Store Will Be

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:39 PST

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@ MWC: Nokia VP Opens Up On How Open The Ovi App Store Will Be

via mocoNews.net by Tricia Duryee on 2/17/09

At Mobile World Congress, where the ham is salted and the food mostly in bite-sized tapas, I got to dive in deep with Nokia's VP of Product Development for Media George Linardos, on the just-announced Ovi Store, which will serve as the app-distribution mechanism for developers on Nokia (NYSE: NOK) phones. Linardos, whose background includes working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, said he was the one who "lit a lot of things on fire" to make the Ovi Store happen. "A lot of things that happen in technology don't make a lot of sense to me. I see the opportunity for mobile content to go mainstream as a kind of media form."

More after the jump...

Briefly, what you need know is that the Ovi Store aspires to be like the Apple's App store, however, is advancing the concept in a number of ways. For instance, the store will recommend applications to users based on their interests, what their friends are downloading and where you are. Also different is that the Ovi Store will either sell apps to you through the carrier's billing mechanism or a credit card (vs. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), which uses iTunes, and BlackBerry, which will use PayPal and Google (NSDQ: GOOG), which uses Google Check-out). Here's an edited down version of my conversation with Linardos:

Did you want to do the App Store because of Apple? "No. We actually started this before that..We did it because Nokia has invested so heavily in building a phone out, but you really have to marry it with the right services. The thing that's always been in my head is how back in the day NBC grew out of radio. They wanted to sell radios, so they created NBC, and then that morphed into TVs. But now it's like, what's a TV without a network? I think we are headed toward the same union of devices and services."

Are you saying Nokia could be like NBC? "No, I think there will be different services, but ultimately there has to be a seamless union between the hardware and the services. It's about building an integrated experience on the device. So, the Ovi Store begun because we had these services, these first-generation services (like Mosh, which was a user-generated application-like store, and other services). There were things that were tremendously successful with that, and then there was things that made it as a business very challenging for us over the long-term. More than anything, we needed a really simple, easy experience that integrates into the device, so you don't have to be the technology leader. It can be mainstream. There's a button. It opens, and you find stuff you want and it happens. It's very mainstream media stuff."

So, the Apple's App store must have been…

"Validating. It's very validating. It has absolutely shown that a strong user experience with an easy purchase experience and a viable business model for developers, you can really grow this opportunity in a lot of ways. This isn't jumping on the bandwagon because it's about evolving what we were already doing. But if we get this right across—100s of millions of devices—instead of 10s of millions of devices (like Apple), there's an opportunity to build a new media distribution network that can be pretty unprecedented."

Will Nokia's music store be wrapped up into the Ovi Store? "There's a long-term vision, where it's a seamless experience, but at the same time, there's a case for specific verticals. If you are a heavy music fan you don't want to go to a general environment…If you were looking for purely Ralph Lauren, you wouldn't go to the department store, you'd go to the Ralph Lauren flagship store. So, there's both this need for the Ovi Store to be a vertical for mobile content and also a horizontal to discover other Nokia experiences. For example, if I'm in the music store, and if I'm a Linkin Park fan, and I see all their music, but then I can be offered ringtones, applications and the information on their tours. With the Ovi Store, we integrate the single sign-on to give us the foundation to put together all these disconnected services."

How does the business model evolve? "Did you see the announcement today? T-Mobile International agreed to integrate the Ovi Store across a range of devices. Nokia devices? "Yes, initially." Initially? "We are doing Nokia devices now. That's a full time job for as long as I can foresee, but who knows in 10 years?"

Where do you rank compared to other App stores right now. If you are seven years old and can type, you can build an app for Google's Android Market, and then there's Apple, where maybe you'll get in, maybe not?" "I think because we have been doing this for four years, we've learned a lot from the inside out. We cover the range. Since we'll be launching with credit card and carrier billing in some of the markets, it's a very mature offering, and because we can go back and update some of the download clients OTA [Over-the-air], we'll have an initial base of 50 million potential users. So, when you talk to content providers, you aren't asking them to take the ride with us. We aren't showing them a slide with a hockey stick happening over the years and telling them to trust us. Instead, we are telling them there is a an opportunity today. Within that, I like to break it up in three tiers: First, there's the media guys who publish the global stuff, like the big global movie releases. Second, there's the category leaders. Within applications, you will have social networks, and if you open social networks, you'll expect to see MySpace. The third tier is innovation. This is the part that gets me most excited. The things that are really going to change the world of mobile, will likely come from the smaller more innovative shops…It will take some tweaking. There's the right Darwinism, where the good stuff rises and gets noticed, and the right stuff finds the right people.

So, do you lean more towards Android then? "I think we are squarely in the middle. We are a mature, professional offering. EA is there, Glu (NSDQ: GLUU) is there, so you have all of that, but at the same time there's an openness that allows innovation to emerge from developer community.

But are you going to make sure it's not a virus or that it's not using copyrighted materially illegally? "In the case of Mosh, it was a DMCA business [The Digital Millennium Copyright Act]. It means it is a user-generated service, and we are a service provider, not an editor. We were not hands-on. That's how YouTube operates. In this case, we are a moderated service. The first barrier is that you have to have a company in order to be a publisher. The main driver behind that is tax laws and reconciling payments, but it also offers a barrier of legitimacy; and then it will be virus scanned; and then passes by eyeballs to screen for pornography and things like that. Everything is QA'd (Quality Assured), so we actually load the applications and check them out, and then they have to be either Java verified or Symbian Signed. It creates a quality assurance for the end user. You can sign up now (at http://publish.ovi.com) and then you can start uploading stuff on March 2. The store will be live in early May, and once it's live the throughput will be a couple of days to a week, so from when you put it in to when you get it out and live. It's not going to be a month-long queue. But it's not also UGC (User Generated Content), where it just goes up.

Will you allow applications that are competitive, like RealNetwork's Rhapsody service? "We have this open policy, which is ultimately about consumers being able to have the best experiences for them. We aren't going to sit there and judge everything, but what we'll do is protect our partners. So for instance, if there was a music client that was enabling piracy, and something that was clearly objected to, we would disallow that."

"Well, yeah, that would be illegal…so what about totally 100 percent OK things, like Real's Rhapsody? Is that OK?" "Yes. and who knows, maybe we'll change that, but right now we are open. And right now we have dialogues going on with internal people with games and stuff because Nokia is fundamentally open at it's core. That's how we are approaching that."

What's the roll-out schedule for the store? "In June, the N97 will be the first device that comes with it, and by the fall we are shipping across the range of series 60 devices, and will be able to be on three-fourths of the Series 40 devices. That's where we build the scale from there. We expect to be on 300 million devices by 2012."

Tell me about the 70/30 percent split: "We offer both credit card billing and operator billing. There's not anything that offers this level of maturity. On a credit card, it's 70 percent minus taxes and then on the operator bill, it's 70 percent minus taxes and an operator charge. It's fixed. We are just giving it a set amount, which is like 40 percent in some cases, and 50 percent at the lower price points. That allows developer to do simple math.

If carriers get 40 to 50 percent off the top, is that less than they previously were getting? "No, in fact, we may take the hit. The carriers take what they take. We've just tried to aggregate it."

So, Nokia isn't making much money on each download, is that what you are saying? "This is a service business for us. It's not just about selling applications, but also about building support for our platforms. We are looking at it over the longer-term. We aren't sweating the margins on every transaction. We have to build a service that's worthwhile and valuable to developers."
The app store has some really big critics, with people concerned that the prices are being driven down to the 99 cent level. How will you address that?: "We have like 15 different price points, so it's not like wide open. So you can't pick just any price. We'll translate that price point across regions, too. So, if it's $5.99 in the U.S., and if you choose to sell it globally, then in India we won't sell it for $5.99—that's unheard of. It eases the process of distribution.

One more question. If the application is being given away for free, do you allow for advertising, and if you do, do you require the developer to use Nokia's advertising network? "There is an answer for that one, but I don't know it off the top of my head. I'll have to get back to you." [Note: As of the time this post went live, I have not heard back from Nokia, but will update the post when I do.]

Mobile World Congress channel

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@ MWC: Nokia Unveils Ovi Store; "It Knows You And Adds The Things You Like"

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Huawei Secretive on its First Android-based Phone

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:32 PST

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Huawei Secretive on its First Android-based Phone

via PhoneReport v2.0 by Meraj Chhaya on 2/17/09

BARCELONA, Spain - Huawei had announced that it will display its first Google Android-based smartphone at the Mobile World Congress. It is currently showcasing it, but behind closed glass.

The phone, which is yet unnamed, is somewhat similar to the Apple iPhone in design, but it has a blue line on the lateral parts. Frog Design is the company contracted for the designing process of the hardware and user interface in conjuction with Huawei.

"Huawei is delighted to showcase its much anticipated first Android-powered smart phone. As a terminal solutions provider with all-round capabilities, Huawei has an acute insight into the drivers of the communications industry and in-depth understanding of operators," said Mr. James Chen, Director of Huawei Terminal Marketing Department., "A pioneer in mobile broadband devices, we look forward to expanding a compelling mobile communications experience for end-users whilst providing customized services to our operator partners via the Android smart phone."

There is no information whatsoever on the specifications, or regional availability at the moment.

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MWC: Palm Pre Review

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:25 PST

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MWC: Palm Pre Review

via PhoneReport v2.0 by Meraj Chhaya on 2/17/09

BARCELONA, Spain - Palm is showcasing the Pre at the Mobile World Congress. The company is displaying both the UMTS version, and the CDMA one, but access is still restricted for journalists wishing to handle it.

During the continuous presentations, spokespeople were not allowed to leave the devices unattended, or let anyone else besides them to touch them. The presentations were in-depth and clear of what one could expect from such a phone, and the corporate attendees were quite fascinated by the software and especially the keyboard.

The Palm Pre is a high-end device that sits on a business-looking design. It has a 3.1" multi-touch enabled display, and contains a QWERTY slide-out keyboard. The display has HVGA resolution (320x480 pixels).

Palm says that the Pre is engineered to feel natural in the hand and comfortably small in the pocket and that it has a smooth, rounded ergonomic design. It has a gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation; a ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch; and a proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touchscreen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear.

The phone also has A-GPS, Wi-Fi, a desktop-class web browser which runs on WebKit, Bluetooth, 8GB of internal memory with no further expansion option, and a 3.5mm jack for multimedia purposes.

The Pre has no on-screen keyboard, it relies on the hardware keyboard only. At the moment, there is no handwriting recognition either.

Its 3 megapixel camera contains autofocus, a LED flash, and a mirror.

The materials used are obviously glossy, which leaves numerous fingerprints on the phone. The spokesperson had to constantly wipe them before the press captured images. The look and feel of it were deemed "just right" by many who experienced the presentation and had a very short hands-on time with the phone. We have to agree with this affirmation, and add that the keys, even being small, felt better to type with than with the Nokia E71.

A software feature of the brand new Palm WebOS allows one to starting searching the web right away from the home screen, just after clicking on the center button.

The gesture pad is similar to that of the HTC Touch Diamond. In this case, it can be used for navigation functions.

The silence switch is used to silence the phone in one flick, rather than turning the device over, like in most phones which use the accelerometer (motion sensor). The Pre too has a motion sensor, which is mostly used for regulating the screen orientation.

User interface is a big challenge in this operating system. The current war in the smartphone industry dictates the winner by whoever has the most friendy and intuitive user interface. The Pre has it divided in "cards", and a quick launch menu, which gives one the feeling that everything is simply floating on the display.

Continuing with the interface, the screen is clean on home screen, and every change in screen brings up a slick transition. Motion detection also counts with gestures such as flicking and pinching. These latter movements are possible thanks to the Pre's capacitive multi-touch display, one that has caused a verbal indirect fight between Palm and Apple, who holds the patents to this technology.

Small, but important features such as reminders have been given the right attention. These are non-intrusive and have clean icons.

The Touch Dome was also shown. It charges the Pre though inductive charging. A special cover is required for this, and is not included in the packaging.

The Palm Pre is rumoured to release to market either this month or the next. The confirmed market date range is the first half of 2009.

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MWC: i-Mate Centurion Overview

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:21 PST

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MWC: i-Mate Centurion Overview

via PhoneReport v2.0 by Meraj Chhaya on 2/17/09

BARCELONA, Spain - Long-gone corporate smartphone-vendor i-Mate has made a come back with three devices for the Mobile World Congress. The Project Centurion is the codename for possibly the smallest Windows Mobile 6.1-based smartphone in the world.

The phone runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, and does not incorporate a touchscreen, but a 2" display. The Centurion also has HSDPA, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel camera, 800mAh battery capacity, and possibly Wi-Fi.

Below the display, one can find the navigation keys, and the QWERTY keyboard. This is likely to be one of the world's thinnest QWERTY-incorporating devices. The keys felt usable, similar to the Nokia E71, but not as good as the Palm Pre.

The miniUSB port is located on the left side, while the Infrared port and volume rocker are on the right. The back side is completely black, and has a speaker next to the camera. This is rather bad positioning, as sound will not output efficiently.

Just like the Nokia E71, the Centurion also has dark brown and silver colours, portraying a silver strip outlining the front of the phone. The phone will also be available in white.

The credit card-sized is said to retail for US$550, and is due for later this year.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Panels showcase at MWC

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:16 PST

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Panels showcase at MWC

via SE-NSE News & Announcements on 2/17/09

Here is a nice video walk-through of the new CNN Xperia panel at MWC.

The new panels show just how robust and slick these mini-apps can be for the Windows Mobile-powered smartphone! It's taken Sony Ericsson some time, but I think that they are finally creating a set of Xperia panels that offer some really exciting functionality.

Omio is heading back to the Sony Ericsson stand tomorrow to look at the Skype panel in detail.

From the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog:
http://blog.se-nse.net/sony-ericsson-xperi...howcase-at-mwc/.

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Ma Bell's Roadmap to 4G Service

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:31:00 PST

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Ma Bell's Roadmap to 4G Service

via pocketnow.com by Chuong Nguyen on 2/17/09

Ma Bell, more formally known as AT&T and casually referred to as Big Blue, is fully committed to launching its next generation 4G wireless service in mid-2011. The 4G standard implemented will be LTE, short for Long-Term Evolution, and will be replacing AT&T's HSPA 3G networks.

In the meantime, according to Electronista, AT&T will push a software upgrade to its tower to enable HSPA+, which "should use the advanced 3G to reach a peak 20Mbps sometime this year."

Big Blue will initiate limited trials in 2010. Rival Verizon Wireless, now the largest US carrier after gobbling up Alltel, will begin its trial of LTE 4G late this year and plans a launch in 2010.

LTE will allow for faster download and upload speed than HSPA or EVDO 3G standards. Electronista states: "LTE is theoretically five times or more faster in downloads than AT&T's planned HSPA+, at about 100Mbps, and has lower latency that should make multiplayer games, VoIP and two-way video calling more practical than on 3G."

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MWC: The Comprehensive Applications Store Mall Directory

shivams18@gmail.com (Shivam Malani) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:30:56 PST

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MWC: The Comprehensive Applications Store Mall Directory

via pocketnow.com by Chuong Nguyen on 2/17/09

At MWC, many major players announced applications store, including Microsoft's announcement of Windows Marketplace for Windows Phone.

Here's the rundown, as seen posted from Fortune:

-Nokia's Ovi Store. An online app and media portal that comes "pre-integrated" on Nokia's (NOK) new N97, but will be available for download on a slew of existing Nokia phones come May.

-Windows Marketplace. Along with a new version of Windows Mobile, Microsoft (MSFT) announced Monday that it will open a new Windows Marketplace offering — you guessed it — 20,000 apps, some of which actually run on mobile devices.

-App Store for Symbian. PocketGear, which had previously built its own Palm App Store and an App Store for Windows Mobile, unveiled an App Store for Symbian, the operating system that runs Nokia's smartphones. How it will compete with the Ovi Store remains to be seen.

-Android Market. Google (GOOG) opened an application marketplace for the Android platform last October, but so far it has only accepted free apps. Look for an announcement from Google this week about how that's going to change.

-BlackBerry Applications Center. Research in Motion (RIMM) invited developers to submit programs to its forthcoming Applications Center in October. We may be hearing more this week about when that will open for business.

-Palm Software Store. This one went live in December with 2,000 apps and 1,000 free games available for download to both Palm (PALM) OS devices and Windows Mobile.

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