Synergy Research Group (SRG) announces the availability of the Synergy Q2 2008 Mobile Handset Market Share report. Even in the face of a challenging economic environment, the US Smartphone market posted strong double-digit growth. This is good news for operators having a greater opportunity to increase revenues per subscriber in a market that is a leader in consumer voice usage.
Apple's iPhone continues to break records, shipping over a million units in 3 consecutive quarters. Even with Q2 shipments dropping in anticipation of the new 3G iPhone, Apple retained the second place spot for the first half of the year with Motorola a close third.
Motorola, who is currently the number one US Mobile Handset vendor with 25 percent share, is showing signs of difficulty in the lucrative and fast growing US Smartphone business. In Q2 2008, Motorola was the only vendor in our study posting double-digit drops for both sequential and annual growth.
In the first half of 2008, the US Smartphone market represented 12.2 percent of total Mobile handsets shipped. As a point of comparison, Smartphones represented fewer than 10 percent in the first half of 2007.
Q2 2008 US Smartphone Vendor Shipment Growth Q-Q Y-Y Apple -64.2% 125.6% RIM 8.1% 92.1% Sony Ericsson 9.4% 32.9% Samsung -1.1% 31.3% LG 10.5% 29.4% Motorola -28.6% -18.2% Nokia 43.6% -24.5% Source: Synergy Research Group
"Despite the rock star status of the Apple iPhone, the Blackberry (RIM) dominates the US market with a market share of 46 percent (first half of 2008) versus Apple's 15 percent," says Aaron Vance, Senior Analyst, Synergy Research Group. "But with iPhone's continued strong success, which only took Apple a year to achieve a number 2 ranking, it may be sooner than later that Apple is challenging the Blackberry, a notion that would have seemed impossible to many a year or two ago."
source: 3g.co.uk
Apple iPhone Second Place in US Smartphone Market
Thursday, August 14, 2008"Vacation" phone line + DSL = $10 + DSL cost?
Tuesday, August 12, 2008Apparently it is possible in some areas to put your phone line on "vacation" or "suspension" (half-price with 911-only or no-dial-tone) and still have DSL work:
said by »https://www.bellsouth.com/residential/su···src=mngd :
Suspending service lets you temporarily suspend your service for a month or more. Choose this option if you plan to return to your residence within a few months and want to keep your current telephone number.
During the suspension period:
* Your telephone number is reserved for you
* Your monthly local service rate is reduced while your service is suspended
* A message referring callers to another number is available at no charge
* Your BellSouth Long Distance service will be discontinued, and you will no longer be charged for this service
Please note: BellSouth FastAccess® DSL service will not be suspended. For assistance with your BellSouth Internet service, please call 1-888-321-2375.
This is a great option for VoIPers who have DSL. Why pay for a POTS line you don't use, just so the phone company will let you have DSL? (Note to moderators: Hopefully by now the relevance of this topic to VoIP is obvious-- VoIPers are the broadband group that are *least* likely to have any use for their required-by-the-phone-company POTS lines.)
However, it seems likely that this will NOT work with all phone companies. For example, SBC says they do not offer a vacation discount. (SBC does have a "vacation" service, but it's a $20 fee that prevents anyone from making inbound and/or outbound calls, and there is NO reduction in monthly costs.) Also, Commonwealth Telephone Company (in NE Pennyslvania) says they play a "very soft dial tone" when the phone line is suspended (911 and their CS department are callable, but other numbers get a fast busy signal), which suggests that DSL might not work on a suspended line in their system.
So if you've managed to keep your DSL while reducing your POTS bill by putting your POTS line on "vacation" (or other means), please post here (and name your phone company and city, so we'll know where this works and where it doesn't).
source: www.dslreports.com
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Samsung Messager Now from Cricket
Only a few days from its release via MetroPCS, Samsung Messager, the new and affordable QWERTY handset, has been launched by Cricket.
The Messager is available as of today on Cricket's official website and in its stores, for the same retail price that MetroPCS is offering it, namely $199.99. The good news for Cricket's customers (besides the phone's availability itself) is that the regional US carrier is giving the Messager in two color versions: green and navy blue. Moreover, those who buy it online are eligible for a $20 discount, so the device would actually cost only $179.99.
Together with the full QWERTY keyboard that will surely allow users to input text with ease, Samsung Messager also brings the following features: a 2.1 inch TFT display with 176 x 220 pixels and 262K colors, Music player, stereo Bluetooth, Web and email capabilities, Instant Messaging, a 1.3 Megapixel camera, microSD card support and tri-band CDMA connectivity.
"Cricket customers want attractive devices that enhance their social lifestyles and we believe that the Samsung Messager strikes the right balance of features and functionality in a stylish device. Since the Samsung Messager allows users to quickly text message, swap photos, download applications, and listen to music, it should be a big hit with our customers. This array of features combined with Cricket's unlimited messaging and Mobile Web services make the Samsung Messager a must-have device for customers who use our value driven product offering," declared Scott Edwards, senior vice president of marketing for Cricket.
Samsung Messager (model name SCH-R450) weighs 4.58 ounces (130 grams) and, with the QWERTY keyboard not slid, it measures 4.4 x 2.0 x 0.7 inches (112 x 51 x 18 millimeters). Its battery is said to last up to four hours in talk-time mode or up to 250 hours in stand-by mode.
Gameloft to Launch Nine Mobile Games in Japan
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
EMOBILE, the newest Japanese mobile carrier, will soon offer its customers a wide range of games developed by Gameloft, the well-known mobile entertainment company headquarted in France.
For the beginning, Gameloft will provide nine of its latest successful installments. These include:
– Tokyo City Nights, the new title from the popular "Nights" series, which comes as one of the best social simulation mobile games. TCN is the first game to be created by the French company exclusively for Japanese users.
– Brain Challenge 2, a title that has five categories of cool mini-games: Memory, Visual, Logic, Focus and Math. The whole package is set to offer lots of fun moments while at the same time keeping your brain sharp.
– Real Soccer 2008 is a full 3D football game set to captivate all the fans of the genre. There are over 200 teams to choose from, as well as famous players like Robinho and Cannavaro.
– Megacity New York Tycoon - in this game, players have to rule and expand the famous North American metropolis. Worldwide known monuments like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building are included.
– Asphalt 4, an "urban racing" game that features famous cars and bikes like Bugatti, Ferrari, Nissan, Corvette and Ducati;
– Miracle Kôshien - the arcade baseball game which allows gamers to enter the famous Kôshien arena.
Talking about the upcoming Gameloft titles, Chikara Nakamura, General Manager, product Planning Department of EMOBILE, declared, "It is becoming extremely important for our customers to have mobile content that is innovative and unique. Gameloft is one of the perfect partners to do that".
Alexis Gresoviac, Country Manager at Gameloft Japan, added, "We are excited to offer our best titles for EMOBILE, the pioneer creating a new mobile broadband business. From action adventure to casual games, Gameloft has an eclectic catalogue of 250 plus titles, including 50 games that sold over 1 million copies worldwide. We are extremely proud to launch our distribution for EMOBILE".
All the above-mentioned new games will be available for EMOBILE's Japanese subscribers starting September.
Indosat Enhances its Network With Nokia Siemens
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Indosat, a leading Indonesian mobile operator, together with Nokia Siemens, will expand and enhance its nationwide wireless network in order to better respond to the "unprecedented subscriber growth" in the last months.
Nokia Siemens Networks will deploy a mobile softswitching solution, allowing Indosat to give its current and future subscribers the best possible services. Furthermore, Nokia Siemens guarantees for the new network's stability and efficiency, by offering services such as network design, equipment renewal, product maintenance and so on.
Talking about the collaboration with Nokia Siemens, Johnny Swandi Sjam, President Director of Indosat, declared, "Indosat acknowledges and continuously strives to address the challenge of improving our services for our loyal customers. We believe that with Nokia Siemens Networks, renowned for their efficient and reliable solutions, as our partner, we can meet this challenge. Thus, we are able to provide complete communications solutions to our customers and ultimately retain Indosat’s leadership in the market".
"The Indonesian telecommunications market is seeing tremendous traffic growth," added Arjun Trivedi, Head of sub-region Indonesia for Nokia Siemens Networks. "Our future-proof technology is designed to meet a demanding mobile environment as users become more data-hungry. Our reliability, combined with a best-in-class services capability, will allow Indosat to meet market demand and work towards an all IP environment - the ideal platform for today and tomorrow."
With more than 26 million subscribers, Indosat is the second largest mobile carrier in Indonesia (after Telkomsel, which has about 50 million users). The Asian archipelagic country has a population of 234 million and only 118 million mobile subscribers; hence, the mobile penetration rate is only of about 50%. This allows all the current operators to easily enlarge their subscribers' base, and Indosat is getting ready to do so with the new networking solutions that Nokia Siemens will deploy.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Hits Mobile Phones
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Konami, the famous Japanese entertainment company, has unveiled the future release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 for mobile phones, which comes as a sequel of the 2008 edition of the game. Published by Glu Mobile, PES 2009 will be available starting this autumn, offering football fans the chance to enjoy the on-field excitement while on the go.
Built on the success of PES 2008 for mobiles, the new game will bring all the features of the previous one, plus many new ones. Most importantly, there will be a Bluetooth multiplayer mode, hence one-on-one matches should be easily played. Also, you will find enhanced animations, improved controls, new arenas, bonuses and so on.
The symbol of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is, officially, the Argentinean football star Lionel Messi. Thus, Barcelona's young striker will appear on the cover of all the PES 2009 versions.
The 2008 edition of Pro Evolution had another (and maybe more famous) football star on its cover: the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays for Manchester United. However, some local versions of PES 2008 featured other players: Michael Owen in the UK, Gianluigi Buffon in Italy, Didier Drogba in France, Jan Schlaudraff in Germany and Lucas Neill in Australia.
At the same time with the release for mobile phones, Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 will also be made available for desktop PCs, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP and Xbox 360. Moreover, there will be a Wii version too, but this is scheduled for a 2009 release, so die-hard Wii fans have to wait a bit longer.
Of course, besides Pro Evolution Soccer, there are various other football mobile games on the market, so gamers who like sports have a lot of options to pick up from. However, knowing that Konami's 2008 Soccer game was a good one, the 2009 edition is almost a sure bet.
iPhone Utility: Backup Disabler
Since the release of iPhone OS 2.0, the Internet has seen numerous complaints about the backup phase of the sync process with iTunes taking much longer than it took when using iPhone OS 1.x. If this has been a problem for you, a new free utility from TwelvePin for Mac OS X may be the answer.
Backup Disabler allows Mac users to enable or disable the backup phase of iTunes syncing at any time. This means you can enable backing up often enough to protect most of your data (say, once a day or once a week) while also syncing frequently without having to wait through the entire backup process during every sync.
For more information or to download Backup Disabler, please visit the official site.
Google Maps 2.2 for Windows Mobile has been released
Friday, August 1, 2008Version 2.2 of Google Maps for Windows Mobile smartphones has been released. If you’re always traveling from here to there, but don’t always know where ‘there’ is situated, you have to try Google Maps. In previous versions you would get driving directions from Google Maps on your phone whenever you would need them.
Now, in this new version Google added something extra to spice everything up. You get transit directions too. So if you’re in a busy city and don’t know your way around the subway system or the local transportation doesn’t make any sense to you yet, simply ask Google Maps 2.2 for directions.
Google Maps supports positioning through “My Location” via triangulation or GPS depending on what your smartphone can do. But there’s no turn-by-turn navigation support yet in this version either.
Getting Google Maps 2.2 is really easy. All you need to do is to access www.google.com/gmm from your phone’s Internet Explorer. Happy traveling then!
High Growth Reported for the Mobile Adult Content 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report related to the Internet Business industry is available in its catalogue.
Mobile Adult Content 2008 - Securing Revenue from Adult Entertainment
http://www.reportlinker.com/p090929/Mobile-Adult-Content-2008---Securing-Revenue-from-Adult-Entertainment.html
Adult content is a huge business and is one of the few entertainment industries to have withstood economic pressures which have led to sectors such as the music industry, witnessing a decline. On the internet, pornography has been one of the few success stories in terms of revenue generation. Pornography is increasingly becoming available on mobile around the world. Can you afford to ignore mobile adult content?
The technology on the handset continually allows improved service launches. Mobile adult content services are now a lot more appealing to consumers who can now access a range of products and services such as video, SMS, MMS and location based services. The evolution of mobile technology now means that adult services available are lot more attractive than poor quality black and white MMS services for example. How can you make the most out of mobile content?
Opinions on adult content will continue to differ, from person to person, from country to country. Nevertheless there is no doubting that mobile adult content can reap rewards for mobile operators, content producers, aggregators and distributors. There are though a number of moral issues that must be taken in to account such as content filtering and age verification. Laws and regulations in different countries are also having an effect on what services can be offered.
This latest visiongain report will provide you with information on all of the latest mobile services, laws and regulations that you need to know when entering in to the mobile adult content market. Can you afford to be left behind in what is an enormous and ever expanding market? Do your countries laws and regulations prevent you from offering any noteworthy services to the consumer?
Reading this report will provide you with answers to the following:
- What obstacles still remain for mobile adult content and can these be overcome in the future?
- What adult content is available on mobile?
- What types of content will be the most successful?
- Who are the leading content providers and distributors?
- Who will be the beneficiaries of new forms of mobile adult content?
The mobile adult content market will be a huge market, with those involved able to earn substantial revenues. It is therefore imperative that you take positive action if you have not already done so.
Apple sells 1 million next-generation iPhones in first 3 days following release
Friday, July 18, 2008Apple Inc. said Monday it sold 1 million iPhones in the first three days its newest model was on the market.
"IPhone 3G had a stunning opening weekend," said Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, in a statement.
However, Jobs did not address widespread software problems that plagued the launch.
On Friday, Apple's servers buckled as buyers tried to activate new iPhones in stores, while owners of older iPhones and the iPod Touch were updating and reactivating their devices.
In stores, employees who couldn't get the new iPhones working sent shoppers home to try again on their own later. At the same time, owners of the older phones were left with unusable units.
Reports of activation snags subsided over the weekend, as Apple's systems apparently recovered, and buyers were able to activate their phones through their home computers. As of Monday, the issues appeared to have been resolved, said analyst Charles Golvin of Forrester Research.
Apple did not respond to calls or e-mails requesting more information about the activation glitches.
Apple had sold about 6 million units of the first-model iPhone since it launched in the U.S. a year ago. The company has set a goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
Shares of Apple rose US$1.30 to close at $173.88. [AP]
Asia Underground iPhone Market Is Ready
Saturday, July 12, 2008the Asia's black market is ready to sell unlocked iPhone 3G at marked up prices. Hong Kong's iPhone comes unlocked but buyers still must purchase a two-year mobile contract; the 8-gigabyte phone goes for about $375, according to AP. Here is more info from AP news:
"As Apple Inc. (AAPL) rolled out its newest iPhone on Friday, dealers and buyers were anticipating the popular device in Asia's thriving underground marketplace in as little as a few days.
The iPhones are nothing new to Asia, where enthusiasts from Bangkok to Shanghai already sport fake and unlocked versions of last year's models - unlocked so they can work with any carrier, not just the Apple-authorized ones.
Now, electronics markets are preparing for an influx of iPhones capable of 3G, or third-generation, cell phone technology.
In the Chinese territory, ads pitching unlocked iPhones and services to unlock them were everywhere in a shopping mall with three floors of cell-phone stores."
Read the story on AP site here: http://tinyurl.com/5gnvlz
Symbian Foundation Swells to 30 Members
Thursday, July 10, 2008Today Nokia said that nine more companies have joined the Symbian Foundation. The new companies are mobile operators 3, America Movil and TIM; chip firm Marvell; and software developers Aplix, Elektrobit, EMCC Software, Sasken and TietoEnator. The organization aims to consolidate the Symbian operating system to just one platform and organize developers for the platform to meet increased competition in the market.
more at Reuters
Nokia N95 in New Continental Diamond Edition
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Nokia N95, the highly popular Nseries smartphone released by Nokia more than one year ago (in the spring of 2007), now comes in a new luxury edition. Offered by Continental Mobiles, a UK-based company specialized in luxury products, the new N95 features a Sterling silver panel in the front, which is encrusted with lots of naturally mined 4.42 carat diamonds. This makes the handset look even bulkier than the original, but I guess rich people won't mind this aspect.
As Continental Mobiles puts it, the diamond-dressed N95 is "a true statement of luxury and extravagance." Well, it couldn't have been otherwise, as one unit of the exclusive Nseries smartphone costs no less than 10,000 GBP – the equivalent of $19,735 or 12,586 Euros. Every Continental N95 handset is hand tailored and can reach its owner only 21 days after the order has been made. And speaking of orders, these can be made directly on the Continental Mobiles website, found at this address.
Under the silver-meets-diamonds plate, the new luxury edition of N95 hides the same nice features packed by Nokia in the original and inexpensive version. Thus, the lucky users who can actually afford Continental's Nseries smartphone will get the following: GSM and HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, Nokia Maps, Symbian S60 3.1 Edition, 3D graphics accelerator, full HTML browser, email, Music player, a 3.5mm headset jack, stereo FM radio, TV out, document viewer, organizer, 160MB of internal memory, microSD card support and a 5 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, auto focus, flash and video recording.
Besides the N95, Continental Mobiles has lots of other luxury edition devices. For example, the British company has also dressed in precious clothes the Nokia 6500, Nokia Arte Sapphire, LG Secret, LG Prada, Apple's iPhone and even Apple's iPod.
T-Mobile rumored to be readying Android phone for 3G launch
Monday, July 7, 2008Word in the blogosphere is that T-Mobile USA will include a Google Android phone as part of its nationwide 3G wireless network launch later this year.
Several blogs reported Monday that T-Mobile is set to offer service in some 20-plus cities starting October 1. And the carrier plans to include the HTC Dream smartphone as one of its first 3G phones to launch with the network, according to reports.
T-Mobile started offering 3G service in New York City in May. And the company said at the launch it would roll out the service in other top markets by the end of the year. Separately, T-Mobile has said it will be offering an Android handset in the fourth quarter, which many believe will be the HTC Dream. But until now, the 3G network launch and the availability of the Android handset were not linked.
Now the rumor mill is churning that T-Mobile will offer the new Android phone along with three others including, the Sony Ericsson Z780, a high-end Samsung camera phone, and possibly the Motorola ZINE ZN5.
A T-Mobile spokeswoman reiterated that T-Mobile expects to launch the 3G service in 20 to 25 markets by the end of 2008, but she wouldn't specify when these cities would go live. As for the talk of the HTC Android phone launching with the 3G network, she said that T-Mobile doesn't comment on rumors.
T-Mobile, which is a distant fourth place in the U.S. wireless market with about 29 million customers at the end of December, spent more than $4 billion to buy spectrum in the 2006 Advanced Wireless Service auction held by the Federal Communications Commission. The new spectrum more than doubled the company's spectrum offering and finally gave it the necessary bandwidth to build a high-speed wireless network.
The nationwide roll-out should help the company compete more directly with other major carriers such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel.
Some of the other cities where T-Mobile is expected to offer its 3G service by the end of the year, include: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Memphis,Tenn.; Miami; Minneapolis; Long Island, N.Y.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, D.C.
Android is a new mobile operating system that's being developed by Google. Recently, a report in The Wall Street Journal indicated that the new software had hit some snags and phones using the operating system wouldn't be ready until the fourth quarter instead of being available in the third quarter.
A Nokia Aeon Wannabe, Named F168
Sunday, July 6, 2008Nokia's Aeon phone was presented almost two years ago, in the fall of 2006, as one of the best looking concepts to come from the Finnish company. Since then, we have not heard new things about it, thus we can't know whether Nokia is indeed working to transform the Aeon into a real device or this remains only a concept.
But in case you want a handset that somehow looks like the Aeon, we've spotted one on the Web. Its name is F168 and its manufacturer is anonymous, but it surely comes from China - known for producing the widest range of "clone handsets" in the world.
Overall, the F168 doesn't look bad, but it's far from what Nokia had imagined the Aeon to look like. Moreover, the features of F168 unveil only a mid to low-end device, unlike the real Aeon which should be a futuristic phone with a full touch interface and lots of advanced specs.
The F168 brings a 2.2 inch non-touch TFT screen with 260K colors, an "invisible keyboard" that's actually quite visible, dual SIM technology, media player (with support for Mp3 and Mp4), a 3D stereo loudspeaker, Bluetooth 2.0 and a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording. The internal memory of the Aeon wannabe is not known, but we do know that it supports microSD cards.
The "Aeon that's not an Aeon" is available in two colors and supports six languages: English, French, Russian, Arabic, Thai and Vietnamese (apparently, the Chinese language is left out).
F168 can be bought from Alibaba, although its price is not listed. It must be a low one anyway - a few hundred bucks at most - as it's the case with all China-made handsets that try to look like something totally different.
Motorola A810 Coming to China Mobile
Motorola today released a series of device photos of the Motorola A810. The Linux-base phone with 2 megapixel camera and a touch screen will be on China Mobile network and comes in blue and white. Here are the product images released by Motorola today:
The First Xperia X1 Clone is Here
Friday, July 4, 2008
For those who have been impatiently awaiting the first clone of Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 to appear, that moment has come. Like Chuck Norris, the flourishing Chinese copycatting industry does not sleep and it has delivered a new masterpiece called SongLive X1.
Unlike other clones, which reproduce even the tiniest details of the original handsets they want to be like, SongLive X1 is not a full copy of the Sony Ericsson flagship handset. Still, the resemblance is striking, both when you look at the new handset's front case and at its back one.
While the real X1 is a Windows Mobile smartphone, the SongLive X1 is a mobile TV handset that doesn't seem to have an Operating System (or at least none that I know of).
Besides mobile TV capabilities, the features of the fake X1 are said to include: dual SIM capabilities, Music and Video players, FM radio, Bluetooth, USB, expandable memory (up to 4GB) and a 5 Megapixel camera, positioned on the back of the phone in the same manner that Sony Ericsson positioned the 3.15 Megapixel camera of Xperia X1. There's also a half of Sony Ericsson's logo on the back, plus a "TV Mobile" inscription that looks like T-Mobile's logo.
Although the SongLive handset does not have an arc slide design, its full QWERTY keyboard is also à la Xperia, save for the enter and the TAB keys.
Apparently, the SongLive X1 can be found across China for retail prices of around 1,000 yuan, which means only $145 or slightly over 90 Euros. Therefore, if you're in need of an Xperia X1 and want to get it sooner than it hits the market (sometime in September), you can try this other X1. Maybe you'll actually like it, although there are little chances for that to happen.
Nokia Supernova Cell Phones Announced For Release
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Symbian Operating system offers easy navigation, unfortunately that navigation often times comes with a high price tag. Luckily for the budget minded people Nokia today announced their new Supernova line of devices, units in the entry - mid level ranges that feature some nice attributes, with very nice pricing.
The units are expected to hit the market beginning in the second quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of the same year. I've included some of the known specs on the units below.
The first device the Nokia 7610 will feature the best camera of all the devices, a 3.15 MP offering with Auto Focus and flash. The unit supports Quad-Band GSM functionality and Edge/GRPS data. The device will also offer a MicroSD card Slot, TV out and FM Radio functions, and the ability to record video up to 15 frames per second. The coolest feature though in my own mind is the ability for the device to recognize colors and display the d-pad accordingly, definitely very cool!
The Next unit is the Nokia 7510, this particular unit features a 2 mega pixel camera with LED flash, however the expandable memory is much higher, offering up to 8GB of extra storage space. The unit will feature FM Radio abilities and offers a clamshell design. The unit is a Quad-Band device again with Edge/GRPS data abilities.
The Nokia 7310 is the next device in the line and features Quad-Band GSM connectivity with access to the Edge/GPRS networks, the unit again features a 2.0 mega pixel camera and offers a 2.5mm headset jack that can support video out. The front of the unit also features a very nice hidden display. The unit is Quad-Band GSM ready with Edge/GPRS functionality.
Finally the 7210 is the only tri-band unit in the mix (900/1800/1900)This monoblock phone again carries a 2MP camera with autofocus and dual LED Flash, and support FM Radio. Being the lowest end unit in the mix it features 2GB of expandable memory via the MicroSD card slot, it will also be the first unit released, a Q2 2008 date is expected.
With the exception of the 7210 all the remaining units are expected for Q3 2008.
BenQ E72 Smartphone Launched in the UK
I’ve never considered buying a BenQ phone. I have other brands I check out regularly when going for a new phone and very rarely do I go about checking out BenQ. Not that BenQ can’t make dependable phones or anything. To prove that I am going to show you what their last E72 smartphone is all about. After all they have just launched in the UK today.
Let’s take a look at E72’s specs:
• quad-band
• 128Mb of ROM
• 64Mb of RAM
• microSD card slot for extra storage
• 2 megapixel camera
• Bluetooth® 2.0 and WiFi 802.11b/g connectivity
• Windows Mobile 6
• 90g weight
• 13mm width.
There’s no touch screen and that’s a big minus as that’s the direction we are currently going in but maybe the next BenQ handset will get the touch screen capability. What’s interesting is that this E72 connects both via mobile and WiFi networks. That means more coverage for you and less missed calls. It will let you move from GSM to WiFi at any time without dropping the calls.
Internet browsing is really easy. You get Windows Live plus applications, Microsoft Outlook and Smart Traveler. There’s also text and voice, IM and email which will be more than useful while on the go.
The Instant Messenger software amazes me. From what I hear, the E72 has a build in IM software that will let you connect with any contacts of yours no matter what IM they are using. That means your BenQ will connect via IM to MSN, Google Talk, Yahoo, AOL and more.
So go on, head to BT Fusion if you are in UK to check this slim and smart BenQ E72, they’re the only ones selling it for now.
Nokia Siemens Extending Asiacell's Network
Nokia Siemens Networks announced it would expand the 2G network of Asiacell, a leading Iraqi mobile operator, following a new agreement that comes as an extension to an already fruitful collaboration.
With Nokia Siemens' advanced radio network solutions, Asiacell will be able to enhance its network reliability and coverage while at the same time reducing the overall operational costs. For the moment, Asiacell only offers GSM and GPRS services. Nokia Siemens will bring, thanks to its efficient Flexi Base Station, 2.5G (hence EDGE) technologies to the operator's Iraqi subscribers, allowing them to enjoy a faster network.
Dr. Diar Ahmed, CEO of Asiacell, said about the new agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks: "Operating in such a competitive environment, it is our priority to ensure that our network is of the highest quality, while maintaining operational efficiency. Nokia Siemens Networks offers state-of-the-art technology and understands our business objectives. With their solution, driving cost-efficiency and environmental values, and with their committed local team, we are able to offer best in-class services to our customers."
Luay Arabi, Head of Customer Team, Nokia Siemens Networks, added: "We look forward to extending our cooperation with Asiacell in Iraq and will give our best contribution to ensure that Asiacell’s network is well-positioned to strengthen their business in this market. As we introduce our latest technologies to the network, building on the existing network infrastructure supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks, Asiacell will be able to serve its customers with the latest services as cost efficiently as possible."
The new deal with Asiacell comes after another Iraqi mobile operator, Zain, closed a network expansion agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks, back in May.
Although Asiacell is the oldest mobile operator in Iraq, offering GSM services since 1999, it's only the second largest carrier in terms of subscribers, having almost 3 million users. The first carrier is the above-mentioned Zain (the former Iraqna), which currently serves about 7.7 million people.