Disney begins mobile service in Japan

Disney launched a mobile phone service in Japan on Saturday in cooperation with Softbank Corp, entering the tough Japanese cellular phone market following its withdrawal from the the United States.

Walt Disney Japan, the local unit of Walt Disney Co., released three types of mobiles, made by Sharp, all covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse.

They also have a special online feature that allows subscribers to jump to Disney websites, while Disney's iconic characters can be used on standby screens and to decorate e-mails free of charge.

Walt Disney Japan has teamed up with Softbank, an Internet conglomerate and one of the nation's three mobile giants, leasing part of the networks and outlets owned by the Japanese firm.

Disney has become Japan's first so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), or a company that buys capacity from another firm to provide cellphone services.

In the US Disney Mobile marketed itself as a family-friendly mobile phone service that would allow parents to talk easily to children. But the MVNO with Sprint shut down after only 18 months, with Disney finding it more profitable to sell its content through other service providers.

Japan, a nation of 127 million people, has more than 100 million mobile phones in operation -- which translates into a major challenge for service providers to achieve growth.

A Walt Disney Japan official said the firm was confident of success here as Disney already had a strong following in Japan, where Tokyo Disneyland receives tens of millions of visitors every year.

Disney had already been a major content provider for mobile phones in Japan, the official said, adding that its tie-up with Softbank would also help bolster profitability of the service, named "Disney Mobile"

Source : http://afp.google.com/

Vodafone Launches Vodafone Branded 227 and 228

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator, occasionally releases handsets under its own brand, which allows Vodafone to build its recognition among consumers. The newly-launched Vodafone 227 and 228 are both entry level handsets designed to appeal to price-conscious consumers looking for a stylish handset.

The 227 is a clamshell, while the 228 comes in the slider form factor. Both cell phones offer basic voice and text services, along with a color display and included wired handsfree headset. Both phones will be made available throughout Vodafone's Europe and emerging markets.

Vodafone launched seven handsets in 2007 under its own brand, and these handsets make up 1/6th of the total handsets it shipped in 2007. Vodafone uses a consistent design across its own handsets, including the keypad layout and user interface, to build brand recognition among consumers.

Source : http://www.mobileburn.com/

LG CU515 review

The LG CU515 phone is a clamshell, about two and a half inches tall and about one and a half inches wide when closed, and not very thick, making it about the size and shape of the popular Motorola RAZR. (With the CU515’s mainstream features, this probably was not an accident.) There is a bright, colorful screen that takes up most of the top half. The bottom half is a flat circular dial for quick access to email, phone, PC connection and file areas, as well as general menu navigation. The dial is surrounded by two traditional menu keys, call start and call end buttons, and other keys for quick access to the camera and other functions. A large number pad is below the dial. The keys are not raised, but the considerable size and slight indentations between buttons makes it easy to dial numbers fast.

Close the clam shell and a small black-and-white screen shows the current time and date as well as the email, battery and music status. A small pinhole above the screen is the camera lens. On the left side of the phone are the volume buttons and the Push To Talk key. the right side are two holes: one for the optional headphones and one for the microSD card.

Things are equally simple, if not decent on the inside. The LG CU515 hums on AT&T’s 3G network. AT&T’s MEdiaNet is like the internal Internet information hub, and from it you can quickly access the latest news. Most impressive are the minute-plus video clips available on the spot. A 90-second highlight of last night’s game could be downloaded in a few seconds. You can also press a button to turn the video widescreen (literally, as it requires holding the phone to its side like a toothbrush), which is a nice, if unnecessary perk. The real Internet was almost as fast, as we were able to zoom from URL to URL pretty efficiently. There isn’t much internal memory, but it is compatible with most, if not all microSD cards.

The LG CU515 comes with a power plug… and that’s it. No headphones, microSD card or other items are included. There also isn’t a USB transfer wire, despite the fact that the box touts the CU515 as a music phone.


Source : http://i4u.digitaltrends.com/

Apple joins top 10 mobile phone vendors

Apple, Research In Motion and ZTE took places among the world's top 10 mobile phone makers in 2007, new research from Gartner Inc. claims.

Despite being available in only four markets — the U.S., U.K., Germany and France — the iPhone transformed Apple into the world's 10th largest handset maker in the fourth quarter of 2007, the analysts said.

RIM took sixth place, while low-cost handset manufacturer ZTE, which specializes in delivering devices to emerging markets, took seventh place.

Apple holds 0.6% of the world market, while RIM has 1.2%. Motorola saw its share fall to 11.9% from 21.5%. Nokia, at 40.4%, and Samsung, at 13.4%, continue to dominate global handset sales.

Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi observed, "The global mobile devices market will remain relatively immune to a recession in the U.S. and Western European economies, as the majority of growth in 2008 will come from emerging markets. The mature Western Europe and North America markets are driven by operator contract terms and replacement cycles and will account for just 30% of the global mobile devices market in 2008."

Source : http://computerworld.com/a

Global mobile phone sales increased by 16% in 2007 - Gartner

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end-users surpassed 1,15bn units in 2007, a 16% increase from 2006 sales of 990,9m, according to Gartner. Mobile phone sales at the end of the year were consistent with the yearly trend, as fourth quarter sales reached 330m units.

"Emerging markets, especially China and India, provided much of the growth as many people bought their first phone," says Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. "In mature markets, such as Japan and Western Europe, consumers’ appetite for feature-laden phones was met with new models packed with TV tuners, global positioning satellite (GPS) functions, touch screens and high-resolution cameras."

"After another strong year, we expect the growth in sales of mobile devices to end-users will decelerate in 2008 and fall to about 10% growth as mature markets become more saturated," adds Milanesi. "However, the global mobile devices market will remain relatively immune to a recession in the US and Western European economies as the majority of growth in 2008 will come from emerging markets. The mature Western Europe and North America markets are driven by operator contract terms and replacement cycles and will account for just 30% of the global mobile devices market in 2008."

Nokia achieved its long-term target of 40% market share in the fourth quarter of 2007 when it sold slightly more than 133m phones across the world. Despite some component shortages, Nokia increased its market share sequentially in all regions except North America, which remains a challenging market for the vendor. In emerging markets, products such as the 1110, the 1600 and the 2630 were in demand by consumers, while in mature markets such as Western Europe high-end phones like the N95, N82 and N73 were sought-after devices. In 2008, Nokia will need to continue to improve its portfolio, offering not only more applications and functions, but also novel designs and improved user interfaces.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Samsung maintained second position, and, although its market share slipped slightly, the gap widened between it and third-placed Motorola. Its success relied on its Ultra and Ultra II family of products. In 2008, Samsung needs to diversify its portfolio further with more form factors and colours so that single products stand out from the overall line-up.

The problems that beset Motorola in the third quarter of 2007 continued through the fourth quarter, and it recorded sales of 39m phones across the world, taking 11,9% of the market. It retained second place in terms of annual sales to end-users in 2007, largely thanks to the inventory it disposed of in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the extent of Motorola’s troubles can be seen in the 9,7 percentage-points market-share drop in its fourth quarter of 2007 result from the same period in 2006.

Sony Ericsson ended 2007 with another positive performance, growing its market share on a quarterly basis to 9% from 8,7%. Its Cyber-shot and Walkman products, such as the K850i, K610i, W910i, K550i and W300i, remained popular among consumers around the world. As Sony Ericsson widens its reach, adding features such as Wi-Fi and GPS, as well as more low-tier products, it will stay competitive in the coming quarters.

LG’s mobile phone sales totalled 23,5m units in the fourth quarter of 2007, maintaining its 7,1% market share despite the increase of more than three million in sales volumes. The success of the Viewty, the Venus and the Voyager helped LG gain brand awareness across the world as well as improve its margins. Milanesi comments: "In 2008, LG will need to continue strengthening its high-end portfolio for mature markets as well as its mid tier. In the low tier, LG will increasingly be challenged by vendors such as ZTE, which has already been eroding its market share in key markets such as India."

The market saw three new entrants into the top ten in the fourth quarter of 2007. These vendors included Research In Motion (RIM), ZTE and Apple. "On one hand, we have aggressive pricing and a focus on emerging markets (ZTE), and on the other, RIM with targeted functions and Apple with brand and design," says Milanesi.

"Phone manufacturers need to continuously adapt their portfolios to respond to operators’ demands for open platforms, lower pricing and more personalisation," recommends Milanesi. "They should also try to meet consumers’ desires for fashionable, easy-to-use phones."

Source: http://www.computingsa.co.za/

SpinVox announces new BlackBerry plug-in

SpinVox, the founder and global leader in Voice-to-Screen messaging, is making its specially-developed SpinVox for BlackBerry.

Adding SpinVox to BlackBerry brings the advantages of email delivery and configuration to voicemail - improving the experience for mobile, email-dependent BlackBerry users. With SpinVox for BlackBerry they can now receive all their voicemail messages converted to text and delivered as an email direct to their device, allowing them to see who called and what they said, then reply with just one click. Uniquely, SpinVox converts any caller's voicemail into text - powered by the SpinVox Voice Message Conversion System (VMCS).

Importantly, SpinVox for BlackBerry ensures that the inbound caller's number links up with the user's address book to present the caller's name, and the ability to reply directly by email, as an alternative to calling or sending an SMS.

"BlackBerry email delivers business efficiency and personal productivity," says Christina Domecq, CEO and co-founder, SpinVox. "Adding SpinVox to the mix takes those benefits to the next level, eliminating the need to dial-in and check voicemail and making it simple and easy to check voice messages in the email format that BlackBerry addicts love."

The launch comes after RIM executives trialled the SpinVox Voicemail product on their own BlackBerry phones and immediately saw the benefits of receiving their voice messages converted to email.

Users of the BlackBerry solution around the globe will also benefit from the SpinVox service which is currently available in English, Spanish, French and German.

New SpinVox Voicemail customers who choose to download the software application from www.spinvox.com/BlackBerry will be charged GBP 5.00 per year.

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

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Review

With the announcement of the N770, Nokia created the new “Internet Tablet” class – small tablet-like devices, intended mainly for Internet usage. This idea evolved, and now we are reviewing the third model of this family, the N810. It upgrades the N800 to increase its functionality, and the Tablet now has integrated QWERTY hardware keyboard for messaging, GPS receiver, for using it also as navigator.

Although it has the typical form-factor for such device (landscape oriented, with large display), the design language is very different from the one of the N800. The polished metal front and battery cover help for the stylish look.When compared to its predecessor, the N810’s dimensions have been decreased in every aspect, but it still manages to pack the same 4.13” touch screen with 800x480 pixels resolution. The image reproduced by the display is slightly different from the one of the N800, but this can be noticed only in a direct A-B comparison. What is important is that it has excellent quality and previewing websites, images, or watching videos is a great experience.

As expected, everything comes at a price. The pop-up, swiveling camera is replaced with immobile one. There are Home and Back keys on the front, but the D-pad is missing. It is relocated on a slider that opens from the bottom. Here also is the 4-row QWERTY keyboard, which although a fast method for text input is not the best. There are a few drawbacks: it is flat, the keys are rather hard to press, and the top row is very close to the upper slider. If you input numbers often, the fact that there is no separate row for digits would be another drawback. We preferred to use the on-screen keyboard for short texts, but opened the slider when there was more text input.

On the top are situated the light indicator, and a few keys, including fullscreen, zoom out/in rocker and the power button in the middle. Added is a switch that locks the display, which acts similarly to the one of the N81 8GB we reviewed earlier, but doesn’t produce the same unpleasant sound. At the end is the stylus, which is now more comfortable to get in and out.

The stereo speakers are symmetrically located on the left and right sides, and on the latter, there also are the 3.5mm jack and the charger input. When the stand integrated in the bottom is extended, the microUSB on this side is revealed, as well as the SD slot and the lock for the battery cover on the bottom. Unlike the N800, the N810 has only one slot for a full-sized SD.

Source : http://www.phonearena.com/

Vodafone Now Offering Satellite Navigation Service in UK

Through a partnership with Telmap, a navigation and mobile mapping company, Vodafone UK is now offering navigation solutions to its users. Vodafone Sat Nav is the first mobile navigation system offered by Vodafone on its cell phones in the UK.

The Vodafone Sat Nav service provides a full 3D map view of your route that turns, scrolls, and stops in unison with the driver or pedestrian. The software also provides instant live traffic alerts and points-of-interest such as restaurants, hotels, and major attractions.

Vodafone Sat Nav is available now on three of its GPS handsets: the Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia 6110, and the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. Costs for the service are set at 5 GBP with the first month free. For those looking to purchase a new BlackBerry 8100, the service is offered free of charge for the first year of service. Vodafone customers can apply for the service at any Vodafone retail store or direct from Vodafone live!.

Source : http://www.mobileburn.com/

Mobile Music Revenues Set to Reach $17.5 Billion by 2012

The total value of the global mobile music market is expected to rise to more than $17.5 billion by 2012, driven by rental music services and full-track downloads, according to a new report by Juniper Research.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "I think it's fair to say that 2007 marked the tipping point as far as mobile music adoption was concerned. Far more subscribers began downloading and subscribing to music content in developed markets, and it must be said that that the publicity surrounding the iPhone launch undoubtedly contributed to consumer awareness of mobile music services per se."

However, the Juniper report also argues that current prices for ringtones are unsustainable and that the market for such services may already have peaked in a number of developed markets, arguing that competitive pricing allied to a steady migration to ad-funded and/or self-generated ringtones will lead to a gradual decline in global ringtone revenues.

Other findings from the Juniper report include:

- The China/Far East region will remain the largest regional marketplace for mobile music services, accounting for around 43% of sales per annum over the next five years

- Ringtones, which accounted for 62% of the mobile music market in 2007, will account for just 38% by 2012

- The report argues that more operators should emulate the Vodafone model and introduce similar subscription-based music rental services

"With some operators now offering full-track downloads at a comparable price to iTunes, there is little justification for a ringtone retail price point that is in many cases two or even three times this level," said Holden. "Furthermore, those aggregators whose portfolios are largely dependent upon the polyphonic ringtone will be unable to survive in the medium term unless they both rethink their pricing strategies and substantially diversify their product portfolios."

source:http://www.mobiledia.com/

"ShifD" for PC-Mobile Data Transfer

We were among the first to report availability of Adobe AIR, a new cross-operating system application runtime that extends rich Internet applications to the desktop.

An early adopter of AIR, the New York Times Company, has gone ahead and announced the Beta launch of ShifD, an application that allows users to seamlessly shift content between PCs and mobiles using AIR.

The idea behind ShifD is to eliminate the need to separately save information to PCs and mobile devices. Users can simply update information by using the downloadable application on Adobe AIR else from any Web browser, via text message from their mobile phones, and through a mobile Web browser.

Information added through any of these methods is saved to the user's ShifD account, and is automatically updated on all devices. Beta users will be allowed to add and save content through ShifD in three categories; namely notes, links, and places.

The first category allows users to save everything from grocery lists to book titles, while the remaining categories allow saving links to news articles or sites and saving addresses with corresponding maps.

According to Michael Zimbalist, vice president (Research and Development Operations) of the New York Times Company, the future is for device-independent media with convergence around the user experience and not any particular delivery platform. Therefore, developing services that allow users to access content wherever they are and on whichever device they choose is an important part of the company's strategy.

source:http://www.techtree.com/

Ofcom gives O2 3G deadline

O2's 3G coverage shortfall could see it lose 40 million pounds O2 could lose 40 million pounds if its 3G rollout does not reach 80 per cent of the population by June.

Ofcom last year requested each of the five networks with 3G licences to make 3G services available to at least 80 per cent of the population from December 31, 2007. An Ofcom assessment showed that O2 only reached 75.69 per cent of the population in the time given.

Ofcom has now issued O2 with a notice according to the Wireless Telegraphy Act for licence breaches. This proposes that if O2 has not met the rollout obligation by the end of June 2008, Ofcom will shorten the term of its 3G licence by four months to August 31, 2021.

O2 acquired its 3G licence in 2000 for just over £4 billion. Ofcom estimates that a reduction of the licence term by four months could see O2 lose at least £40 million.

O2 has until June 30 to meet its obligation.

source:http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/

'Critter Crunch' Wins the Award for Best Mobile Game Overall at the GDC

Capybara Games, an well-known developer of mobile games represented by Flashman Studios, took home two coveted Independent Games Festival (IGF) Mobile awards – one for Best Audio Achievement and one for Best Mobile Game overall – for their critically-acclaimed Critter Crunch title for mobile platforms. The IGF Mobile Awards were held at a recent ceremony during the 2008 Game Developer's Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.

"We're absolutely thrilled to receive this kind of recognition for Critter Crunch from such a well-respected organization such as IGF," said Capybara Games president Tom Frencel."These awards solidify our belief that people across the mobile gaming spectrum appreciate high-quality games."

Critter Crunch, an innovative and fresh take on the puzzle genre, lets players take the role of cuddly Biggs, a friendly, furry forest dweller whose home is under siege from an army of evil critters. Using his long tongue as his only weapon, Biggs must set the food chain in motion by launching smaller critters into the waiting mouths of larger ones, clearing the screen and saving his home.

But be careful, there's strength in numbers, if the critters reach the bottom before Biggs eats enough jewels to get full, they'll gobble him up like a swarm of cute piranhas. Original and fresh, Critter Crunch seems to be the perfect little snack for everyone.

Critter Crunch also took home the Wave Award for Mobile Game of the Year for Critter Crunch. The winners of the first annual Wave Awards (the Wireless Arts, Video and Entertainment academy) were announced in January, 2008.

With an incredibly successful and rewarding 2007 under their belts, look for even more from Capybara Games in 2008. The studio has already expanded onto the Nintendo DS and Wii gaming consoles as well as digital distribution platforms.

source:http://news.softpedia.com/

Sony Ericsson Changes the Way its Phones are Named - And brings new handset series

It looks like Sony Ericsson prepares (or already prepared?) a new naming scheme for its future handsets. At the moment there's nothing official, but the Swedish-Japanese joint venture might come up with new names and also new phone series. For example, there will be a G-series – Generation Web
(two handsets were already announced, G700 and G900), a Radio series – sub-division of the Walkman series (R300 and R306 have been announced) and a Snapshot series, part of the bigger Cyber-shot family.

Now, about the new naming scheme: there will still be the "letter and three numbers" format, and, of course, a name starting with C will be from a Cyber-shot phone, a name starting with R will be from a Radio phone and so on. The first number in the name will represent the range of the handset: 9 stands for a high-end device, while 1 for a low-end one. The second number will be the phone's "version", while the third number will stand for the handset's form factor: 0-2 is for candybar, 3-5 for slider, 6-8 for clamshell and 9 for "other form". See the the image from the left for more details.

For example, a future Sony Ericsson handset named C631 would be the fourth from a mid-end candybar Cyber-shot mini-series (C601 would be the first), while a SE named W925 would be the third from a high-end Walkman mini-series (W905 would be the first).

There are about twenty naming possibilities for any new phone in any series (Cyber-shot, Snapshot, Walkman or any other), so it will be a long time until SE has to come with another naming scheme. This being said, let's wait for official details from Sony Ericsson and see what the company will bring in the future – maybe a P3 or a P5 handset, maybe the PSP phone, or the successor of the unreleased yet Xperia X1.

For those who don't know, the joint venture between Ericsson and Sony was established in 2001, in order to combine the Swedish company's technological leadership in the communications industry with the Japanese company's consumer electronics expertise. Of course, both companies have stopped producing their own handsets, which turned out to be a good thing. I can't help thinking how funny the old Ericsson and Sony phones looked like. Ericsson R310s, for example, when viewed from the front looks kind of like an... erotic toy (you can view the phone here). Sure, those were other times and, somehow, it's amazing what Sony Ericsson creates now, compared to the phones from a decade ago. No wonder it's one of the world's most loved mobile phone brands.

source:http://news.softpedia.com/

Sony Ericsson C902 has 5 megapixel camera

True to the Cyber-shot branding on its backside, the newly announced Sony Ericsson C902 has a definite focus on digital photography, thanks largely to its 5 megapixel camera.

And this isn't just any regular five megapixel image capturer either.

Revealed at Mobile World Congress (previously known as 3GSM), the Sony Ericsson C902 has a camera with face detection, auto focus, photo flash, and BestPic technology. This last bit enables the candybar handset to snap 9 pictures in quick succession. Thankfully, part of the back plate acts as a lens cover too.

Other features on the Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone include a music player with Mega Bass, TrackID, FM radio, music tones, Access NetFront browser, and RSS feed support. Expected launch date for this phone is sometime in the middle of this year. No word on pricing.

source:http://www.mobileguru.co.uk/

Nokia N96 Super Smartphone combines the best of both N81 and N95

Rumors have been swirling around on the Internet some time now about the Nokia N96, because it was supposed to meld the brawn of the N95 with the gaming goodness of the N81.

As far as we can tell, this glossy black wonder totally delivers on all fronts.

It really isn't much of a stretch to say that the Nokia N96 super smartphone marries the best of both worlds for the N81 and N95. On the one hand it has stuff like Symbian 60 and a 5MP camera like the N95, but it has more of the appearance of the N81, along with the N-Gage gaming platform. But the N96 brings more to the table too.

There's 16GB of internal memory in this puppy, which is double what the N95 8GB offers. What's more, the display is a glorious 2.8-incher, they've tossed in DVB-H for digital TV, a kickstand for desktop viewing, and funky backlit touch buttons that morph to suit the current needs. Music brings up the usual rewind and fast forward, whereas N-Gage brings up gaming controls.

Expect the Nokia N96 to launch with an asking price of about $800, but it probably won't have support for US 3G.

source:http://www.mobileguru.co.uk/

Nokia and University of Cambridge Launch the Morph - a Nanotechnology Concept Device

Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept, developed by Nokia Research Center (NRC) (NYSE: NOK - News) and the University of Cambridge (UK) - was launched today alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Morph features in both the exhibition catalog and on MoMA's official website.

Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: "Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible."

Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, commented: "We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The research we are carrying out is fundamental to this as we seek a safe and controlled way to develop and use new materials."

Professor Mark Welland, Head of the Department of Engineering's Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge and University Director of Nokia-Cambridge collaboration added: "Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together."

The partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge was announced in March, 2007 - an agreement to work together on an extensive and long term programme of joint research projects. NRC has established a research facility at the University's West Cambridge site and collaborates with several departments - initially the Nanoscience Center and Electrical Division of the Engineering Department - on projects that, to begin with, are centered on nanotechnology.

Elements of Morph might be available to integrate into handheld devices within 7 years, though initially only at the high-end. However, nanotechnology may one day lead to low cost manufacturing solutions, and offers the possibility of integrating complex functionality at a low price.

source:http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080225/ukm009.html?.v=101