Snap Sun decision launches Java at iPhone

Less than a day after Apple unveiled its much-discussed iPhone SDK, Sun Microsystems has told the world it will build a Java Virtual Machine for Steve Job's handheld status symbol.

"We're very excited," Eric Klein, Sun's vice president of Java marketing, told the The Reg. "We've spent the last 24 hours furiously looking through what information was made publicly available, and we feel comfortable enough at this point on the information we have to commit the engineering resources to bring the JVM over to the iPhone and the iTouch as fast as our schedules and Apple's release schedule will allow."

That means the Jesus Phone JVM will arrived sometime after June, when the official iPhone App Store opens its virtual doors. You see, Steve Jobs has allowed third-party applications onto his phone, but each and every one must be funneled through his own private software market.

That said, Apple has allowed developers to set their own prices. And this made Sun happy. "We of course chose to set the price of the JVM at... free!" Klein told us with a chuckle. Or two. Or more. "Apple explicitly said developers can chose to put free applications through the App Store and - heck - we're doing it!"

Klein had no other details to share. Because there aren't any. "We're just 24 hours into this," he said. "We have a lot of learning to do, as do all the developers who just got access to the SDK. We just thought it was really important that our development community has the opportunity to write a Java app and have it run on the iPhone."

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

New Palm smartphone Centro released

Manufacturer Palm has unveiled a new black smartphone called Centro designed to help people manage their social and professional lives together.

Centro has voice, text, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a full-colour touch screen and full keyboard.

Users can keep track of social engagements, check sports results, stay on top of the latest news, access music and get directions on Google Maps.

‘The combination of keyboard, touch screen and Palm’s trademark ease of use makes Centro intuitive to use,’ said vice president Roy Bedlow.

‘Consumers who are thinking about stepping up to use a smartphone will find Centro the perfect first choice, offering so many ways to keep in touch.’

Centro’s touch screen and full qwerty keyboard, combined with the simplicity of Palm OS, make it easy to use, with key features such as one-touch speakerphone, conference calling, ignore a call with text messaging and Bluetooth connectivity.

The full keyboard makes typing complete messages fast and easy when sending text, pictures, audio and video clips. Plus, Centro keeps all conversations in a chat-style view, just like Instant Messaging, so users can see the entire conversation unfold.

Pocket Tunes on Centro lets users sideload songs and manage music, audio books and videos easily.

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

Owner of T-Mobile may buy Sprint, analysts say

Sprint Nextel may be a takeover target, according to one of the nation’s largest investment banking firms.

Deutsche Telekom, owner of T-Mobile and the world’s sixth largest phone company, may consider acquiring Overland Park-based Sprint to block a price war in the mobile phone industry, analysts for Merrill Lynch speculated in a report Thursday.

Merrill Lynch, which advises its clients to sell Sprint shares, said it is not aware of any acquisition discussions.

Sprint, as a matter of policy, doesn’t comment on market rumors and speculation.

Merrill Lynch said Sprint’s operational problems and shaky position in the U.S. wireless industry may force the company to cut prices even further to attract customers.

“In such a price war scenario, we think T-Mobile would face the most pressure, and Deutsche Telekom would see the increased urgency to drive market repair,” according to the Merrill Lynch report.

T-Mobile generally is considered to be the low-cost alternative among the top five U.S. mobile phone companies. Last week, Sprint introduced an unlimited voice and data wireless plan that undercut other U.S. companies.

A Deutsche acquisition is possible now because of Sprint’s depressed share price, according to Merrill Lynch. The plunging value of the U.S. dollar also makes a potential acquisition by a foreign buyer cheaper than it otherwise would be.

Investors on Wall Street didn’t put much stock in Merrill Lynch’s speculation. Sprint shares closed Thursday at $6.80, down 20 cents. Shares of the company have fallen more than 48 percent since the beginning of the year.

Sprint reported last week that it lost $29.5 billion, or $10.36 a share, on sales of $9.8 billion during fourth-quarter 2007. Sprint also suspended dividends for investors and said it expected the first-quarter loss of an additional 1.2 million subscribers.

Sprint, the nation’s third largest wireless company, after Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless, has about 54 million customers.

Based in Germany, Deutsche Telekom has about 120 million subscribers worldwide.

Source : http://www.kansascity.com/

New Phone Coaches, Monitors Heart Rate

Adidas and Samsung have teamed up for a new twist in training — a mobile phone that can coach.
The companies announced Thursday a mobile phone that works with Adidas shoes and apparel to plan, track and motivate users in training.

The device directs and motivates users during workouts by combining a mobile phone, heart rate monitor, stride sensor, MP3 player and the voice of an electronic "personal coach."

MiCoach hits retail stores in Europe this month and will roll out in the United States in 2009. It will cost $304 to $608 in Europe, depending on the service plan users select. U.S. pricing has not been set.

"This is the most advanced coaching system that is out there," said Andrea Corso, spokeswoman for Portland-based Adidas U.S.

The new Adidas-Samsung collaboration is the latest of several tech-sport partnerships. Most comparable is Nike Inc. and Apple Inc.'s Nike+, a wireless system that allows Nike running shoes embedded with a sensor to communicate with Apple's iPod Nano. An update this week allows users to plug their iPods into gym equipment and track their training there as well.

MiCoach is a bit more expansive because it includes a mobile phone and a camera. It also helps runners set goals and then reach them by monitoring their heart rates and telling them when to slow down or speed up to meet a goal for distance, fitness or calorie burn.

"This about getting to the next level, whether that is running a mile or running a marathon," Corso said.

Adidas will offer equipment and clothing for runners to attach miCoach and the heart monitor to themselves. The sensor can be attached to any shoe.

Source : http://ap.google.com/

Nokia's handsets to support Microsoft's Silverlight

Nokia's millions of handsets will support Microsoft's webvideo technology Silverlight, media reported Wednesday.

The Silverlight would first be available for S60 software platform, used in more advanced phones, but later also for S40, which is used in many of Nokia's cheaper phones.

The S60 is used in every second smartphone sold globally, and is in more than 150 million phones sold so far.

Nokia's S60 software, built on UK-based mobile phone software firm Symbian's operating system, is used extensively in Nokia's line-up, but also in advanced cell phones of LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

Its closest rival is Microsoft's own Windows Mobile, with just over 10 percent of the market.

In 2005 the two companies signed their first co-operation agreement to put Windows Media player on to Nokia phones, raising eyebrows as the two had been fierce competitors in the mobile software industry.

In 2007 Nokia also started to use Microsoft's copy protection software PlayReady and added access to Windows Live services to its cell phones.

Silverlight is a rival to Adobe System Inc's Flash technology. "We continue to support Flash and several other technologies," Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said.

source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Sony Ericsson T303 slider phone

March 5, 2008 Sony Ericsson has unveiled its new T303 handset. Pitched at a style conscious audience the compact (83 x 47 x 14.7 mm) slider phone design features a chrome finished metal housing and 1.8 inch mirrored screen as well as covering the stock-standard functionality bases with Bluetooth™, FM radio and media player, Internet and built-in camera (though the latter is a little light on megapixels - 1.3 - by today's standards).

Weighing in at 93 grams (3.3 oz), the T303 has 8 MB of on-board memory and although it supports USB there doesn't appear to be an expansion slot. Talk time is up to 9 hrs (GSM) or 400 hrs standby time. The media player is preloaded with Sony Ericsson’s TrackID™ feature which can track down the artist and title when you record a song.

The T303/T303c (GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 for Europe and China) and T303a (GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900 for the U.S) phone will be available in selected markets from mid 2008 in two colors - Shimmering Silver and Shadow Black. No word yet on pricing.

source : http://www.gizmag.com/

T-Mobile invests in 'home phone mast' technology

T-Mobile has invested in a Swindon-based, home-networking company called Ubiquisys, which also counts Google among its backers, as it prepares to test the potential of the company's in-home mobile masts in the UK later this year.

Femtocells are essentially a very low-powered mobile phone base station, which consumers can place in their home. There are no health risks as the device uses less power than a wii-fi connection. When connected to a broadband line, it greatly increases in-home mobile coverage and allows a mobile user to make free calls while at home from their existing handset.

The technology is being tested by mobile phone companies including O2 and Vodafone as a way of increasing take-up of their own residential broadband services and differentiate them from existing providers such as TalkTalk, Sky and BT.

T-Mobile, however, does not have a residential broadband offering in the UK and its tests suggest it is looking at the potential of tying broadband with its mobile phone service.

Several major technology names have already become interested in the potential of femtocells and invested in a series of start-ups. Several major telecoms equipment companies such as Alcatel-Lucent and China's Huawei are also developing femtocell technology.

Cisco and Intel have put money into Cambridge-based ip.access while US mobile phone-chip group Qualcomm is an investor in the Nasdaq-listed Airvana, which also has its research base in Cambridge.

T-Mobile Venture Fund said today that it is investing an undisclosed sum in Ubiquisys. It plans to trial Ubiquisys' femtocells in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in the Spring.

As well as Google, Ubiquisys, which manufactures its products in a former Sony plant in south Wales, has received funding from Accel Partners, Atlas Venture and Advent Venture Partners.

As well as cheap calls from home, T-Mobile said femtocells allow operators to bundle mobile and fixed broadband services, and to differentiate themselves by offering mobile applications based on home presence and sharing data with the home network.

For instance, one femtocell maker has suggested working parents could be notified of the return of their children after school as the femtocell would pick up their mobile signal when they come home and send an email or text alert.

"Femtocells are fundamental to the future of mobile," said Axel Kolb, fund manager at T-Mobile Venture Fund. "They pave the way for new mobile services that put the mobile phone at the centre of the connected home."

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

Nokia 6650 Introduced for T-Mobile European Markets

Today T-Mobile announced the Nokia 6650, an easy-to-use device optimized for T-Mobile services. Available exclusively for T-Mobile International customers, the 6650 is equipped with an integrated GPS and multimedia player, allowing customers access to a services such as web'n'walk, MyFaves, Mobile Jukebox and NaviGate.

The stainless-steel clamshell design is equipped with high-speed HSDPA data connectivity for fast web browsing and downloading. The 2.2-inch TFT QVGA color display can display up to 16 million colors, for comfortable browsing and viewing photos, videos and menus. T-Mobile MyFaves service keeps users in touch. Mobile Jukebox gives consumers access to music through dedicated keys for the music player. The Nokia 6650 has built-in AGPS (assisted GPS) for quick positioning with NaviGate route management.

The 6650 comes with a 2.0-megapixel camera with flash, 30 MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot, FM radio and many other features. Images and videos can be uploaded to the web, sent from phone to phone via a wireless Bluetooth connection, or viewed in full color on the device's large display.

The Nokia 6650 will be available from T-Mobile during the third quarter at T-Mobile sales points across Europe.

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

Nokia 6124 Classic

This brings us to the Nokia 6124 Classic, a device that actually is exclusive to the Vodafone network.. but one that is almost exactly identical to last year's Nokia 6120 Classic.

Well, when we say identical, we mean apart from the 6124's looks. It's a glossier, smarter looking device than the 6120 and it looks very similar to the upcoming Nokia 6220.

This is an HSDPA smartphone with a 2 megapixel camera plus flash, microSD expandable memory (up to 8GB), a 2" 240 x 320 pixel display, FM radio and Bluetooth. We would have hoped that Nokia could have improved the camera, but overall the 6124 is based on the well regarded 6120 and it will offer most of the features that anyone could want.

Nokia and Vodafone say that the 6124 Classic should be available during the second quarter of 2008.

source: http://www.mobilegazette.com/

LG showcases Future Mobile Phone Line-up at Mobile Asia 2008

LG Electronics made its presence felt at the ongoing Mobile Asia 2008 exhibition in Delhi, India by unveiling its future line-up of mobile products. On display was LG’s recently launched Viewty KU990, the KF600, the slim and stylish KF510 and the much-awaited KS20 smart phone.

The LG Viewty-KU990 happens to be LG’s first phone with a full 3-inch LCD touchscreen. It was launched sometime last year. Other notable features of this phone include a high-end 5 mega pixel digital camera with a manual focus option, an image stabilizer and an ISO up to 800 for indoor or night shooting. Further, this phone’s camera also records video at up to 120 frames per second, which can be uploaded directly onto YouTube.

The LG-KF600 handset is a newer handset which features an InteractPad that feeds forward commands to users, almost reading their minds! Other features of this phone include a 3 mega pixel camera, MP3 player, video recorder and an interesting high-gloss finish trapezoidal shape.

Next up is the ultra-slim LGK510 cell phone which provides animated feedback to users with its unique, touch-sensitive LED panel. It also features a dynamic touchpad with interactive touch lighting and emotional animation. Other salient features of this phone include a Smart Camera which has a startup time of around just 1 second, image stabilization, LED flash and red eye reduction, an MP3 player and the ability tp record and play back QVGA video.

Saving the best for last is the updated LG-KS20 smartphone which offers full Internet browsing capabilities and music, video downloads and push email at the speed of 3.6 Mbps through HSDPA. Advanced features of this Windows Mobile 6 powered smartphone include video conferencing using the phone’s dual cameras, large LCD and touch input technology.

Speaking on the interesting line-up for the year, Mr. Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM, LG Electronics India said,”Our future line-up of GSM phones with “intuitive intelligence” based technology not only meet, but exceed our customers’ needs. The adaptability of touchscreens makes them a crucial element in creating more intuitive user interfaces. We see touchscreens as a growing trend in the mobile industry and are proud of our latest phones, which give us product leadership in this area.”

Source : http://www.techshout.com/

Virgin Mobile Service to Be Sold in India by Tata

Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile wireless services will be sold in India, the world's fastest- growing major mobile-phone market, by Tata Teleservices Ltd.

The Virgin Mobile brand will target customers aged between 15 and 30 years in the South Asian nation, Branson said today at a news conference in Mumbai. Branson's Virgin Group Ltd. plans to start selling six handset models, costing 2,000 rupees ($50) to 5,000 rupees each, in India.

Virgin joins Vodafone Group Plc, the world's largest mobile-phone operator by sales, in seeking subscribers in India, where about one in five people owns a wireless phone. Newbury, England-based Vodafone operates the third-largest wireless carrier in a market that added a record 8.77 million subscribers in January.

``It's the size of the market that is attracting so many foreign companies to India,'' said Harit Shah, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai. ``The growth is going to be here in the coming years, compared with the U.K. and the U.S., where it has plateaued.''

Virgin Mobile aims to have 5 million subscribers and become profitable in India within three years, Branson said.

India ended January with 242.4 million mobile-phone users, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The nation is the world's third-largest wireless market after China, which had 547.3 million mobile-phone users at the end of December, and the U.S.

The agreement extends Branson's wireless holdings beyond the U.K., the U.S., Canada, France, South Africa and Australia.

Virgin Mobile USA

In October, Virgin Mobile USA Inc., co-owned by Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel Corp., raised $412.5 million in an initial public offering. Since then, the shares have dropped 66 percent as the Warren, New Jersey-based company added fewer customers than analysts' forecast, disappointing investors.

Virgin Mobile targets younger consumers in the U.S. by offering games, music, news and ring tones in a partnership with Yahoo! Inc. and Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks.

``The estimated population in India of people between 15 and 30 years is 400 million,'' Branson told reporters today. ``So that is going to be a lot of fun.''

Branson's operations also include carrier Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., the Virgin Galactic commercial space-travel venture, Virgin Music and Virgin Money, which sells loans, credit cards and investment products.

Tata Teleservices is part of the Tata Group, which also controls the nation's largest maker of trucks and buses and the largest computer-services provider.

Mumbai-based Tata Teleservices ended last month with 22.5 million wireless customers, or a market share of about 9.3 percent, making it the nation's fifth-largest carrier.

Source : http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s mobile phone game market may reach 20 billion yuan by 2010

Professor Yang Jianzheng has long been engaged in e-commerce research at the Shanghai Institute of Technology. He recently pointed out in "The 2008 Report on Development of Advanced Technology" that with the support of mobile payments mobile e-commerce will provide personal information services, banking, business, shopping and entertainment. The era of mobile e-commerce has quietly emerged; and it is predicted that China's mobile phone game market will reach 20 billion yuan in 2010.

After going through a period of adjustment from 2002 to 2004, China’s e-commerce gradually stepped onto a track of practical development in 2005. It developed the fastest between 2006 and 2007.

In the next 2 or 3 years, one-third of the 500 million Chinese mobile phone users will upgrade to high-end mobile phones loaded with games. It is expected that by 2010, users of mobile phone game in China will reach between 150- 200 million. Based on the average annual consumption of 120 yuan per person, the annual scale of the mobile phone game market will break 20 billion RMB.

Source : http://english.people.com.cn/

Mitsubishi Electric says to exit mobile phone ops

Japanese electronics conglomerate Mitsubishi Electric Corp said on Monday that it planned to exit its loss-making mobile phone business.

The company said it expects a one-off pretax loss of about 17 billion yen ($164.1 million) in the current business year ending March 31 due to the withdrawal.

Source : http://www.reuters.com/