WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

If you own a BlackBerry Tour, you'll be happy to know that there is update to your operating system available from Verizon. BlackBerry Tour OS 4.7.1.61 fixes many glitches, enhances features and has been reported to give the BlackBerry Tour an all-around speed tune-up.

Before you complete your BlackBerry Tour update make sure to backup your data. You can get the  BlackBerry Tour OS 4.7.1.61 through Desktop Manager.

To  Back Up Data:

Open up the Blackberry Desktop Manager Program and click on Backup and Restore.

There were previous reports of sticky trackball problems with the BlackBerry Tour. Other problems reported with the BlackBerry Tour were muffled voices with Bluetooth use as well as GPS and nav software appearing when not activated by the user.

According to Verizon here's what this BlackBerry Tour update does to make your life easier:

• Delete emails while composing messages, for greater efficiency.
  
• Save contacts with only a company name.
  
• Add email accounts in the simplified setup wizard at a moment's notice.
• Geotag your photos and find a GPS connection with our BlackBerry Tour GPS upgrade.
  
• Get music quickly and easily with V Cast Music with Rhapsody.
• Enjoy smooth playback of your music through your device.
  
• Enjoy crisp, vibrant video with the video player upgrade.
  
• Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road with simplified headset set up and removal.
  
• Make calls quickly and accurately with improved dialing from the home screen.
  
• Keep things organized more easily with recycle bin enhancements.
• Be on time every time with the improved alarm application.

Previously, RIM briefly released BlackBerry Tour Update 4.7.1.53 and then pulled it.

ARM has opened the  Solution Center for Android, a resource for designers and developers of ARM technology-based products running on Android, the open source platform from the Open Handset Alliance.

The ARM Solution Center for Android (SCA) offers developers new to Android or to ARM, the widest range of Android resources for ARM architecture.  SCA members come together to share their expertise, solutions and services, including:

• Development tools.
• Complete Android solutions.
• Android software components.
• Android services.
• Android training.

U.S. Cellular is now offering a text alert service "Overage Protection."Here's how U.S. Cellular's Overage Protection works:

Existing and new post-pay customers can sign up by visiting a retail store, contacting customer service or accessing their account at uscellular.com. New customers who activate service on uscellular.com can also request that Overage Protection be added on to their account.

The customer decides who will receive the alerts. Once set-up is complete, the service runs nightly, calculating their usage. If a predefined threshold is reached, a text alert will be sent the next day during normal business hours.

Before you head out for the holiday weekend here are ways mobile ways to access free Traffic.com alerts this holiday week and whenever you need it:

1. Connect to http://mobi.traffic.com - a free wireless website for mobile traffic hotspot reports. Traffic flow patterns are displayed as familiar color overlays, which indicate free-flow traffic (green), traffic congestion (red), and shades of yellow and orange in between

2. Text your CITY CODE (NY, CHIC, PHL, LA, etc.) to TRAFC (87232) to get instant traffic updates for the worst city area delays. NAVTEQ Traffic.com city codes can be found at: http://bhelp.traffic.com/city-codes-used-for-sms

3. Call 1-866-MY-TRAFC (1-866-698-7232), a free automated voice hotline for speed dial access to roadway updates.

The Samsung Omnia II has been rumored to be coming out for a while. Finally, leaked documents reveal that the the Samsung Ominia II will go on sale at  Verizon on December 2.

The Samsung Omnia II  will be running Windows 6.5 with an impressive feature list includes 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display, a 5-megapixel camera and 8GB of internal storage expandable up to 48 GB with a microSD card. Probably the most stunning feature of the Samsung Ominia II is the AMOLED display with DVD quality video viewing.

You can use the TouchWhiz interface or the Windows UI.  It comes with widgets and you can multi-task while using them. Users can also access and download content speedily while on the move thanks to the Omnia II's HSUPA 5.76Mbps, HSDPA 7.2Mbps and Wi-Fi capabilities

The price tag for the Samsung Omnia II is $199 for the  with a two year contract and two year agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. You can use the Mobile News' Verizon online coupon-link to get the rebate instantly with an online purchase.

T-Mobile has started offering T-Mobile Complete, a pre-packaged no-annual contract solution that offers the value of a monthly plan and the first pay-in-advance BlackBerry smartphone from a national U.S. carrier. Prepaid BlackBerry smartphones include the BlackBerry Curve 8520 for $299.99 and BlackBerry Pearl flip for $149.99.

With T-Mobile Complete, customers can choose from four handsets starting at $59.99, which includes first month free. Customers can also choose from a range of unlimited plans starting at $50 per month. T-Mobile Complete is currently available nationwide at Best Buy and at select  Walmart locations.

Bytemobile issued its first mobile data report for the industry. The Mobile Minute Metrics report anonymously sources the data traffic in a global cross-section of larger Bytemobile customers' wireless networks and provides insight into the current state of the mobile ecosystem.

What is most notable from the data gathered in this report is the impact that touchscreen smartphones - the Apple iPhone in particular - is having on operators' wireless networks. Accounting for 39% of the total volume on networks, video has already become the dominant form of mobile data traffic. Considering that only 1-2% of wireless users are currently using their devices to watch video, it will be critical to keep a close watch on mobile media consumption trends.

The Mobile Minute Metrics Report provides a view into the type of insight carriers will be able to leverage using the Bytemobile Analytics service, using a cross section of Bytemobile's global carrier client base to highlight current industry trends including:

• Mobile video consumption trends.
• How device type is driving data traffic.
• Data volume changes over the course of a day.

Other highlights from the Mobile Minute Metrics report include the following:

● Generally, there are 10-15 times more web users than video users. However, on average, video users generate an equal amount of network traffic - i.e., one video user produces the same amount of mobile data as approximately 10-15 web users.

Mplayit  unveiled its "playable" app store not on the web, but on Facebook. The social networking will help to build mobile app discovery among consumers in a way that can potentially challenge the App Store.

Mplayit introduces "playable discovery" for the iPhone today in its new Facebook app store and said it would add Android and Blackberry in the coming months.

Rather than hunting and pecking for reviews and top lists, the Facebook page shows real "apptivity" that is going on in app stores so users can see which apps are receiving the most downloads, reviews and plays. In coming weeks, mobile users will also be able to see the "apptivity" within their social network so they can clearly see which apps their friends and family are most interested in. Integrating the "playable discovery" experience within a mobile users social network is a powerful combination that could alter discovery and interaction in the face of skyrocketing numbers of mobile applications.

On the heels of the Xiam study that showed search as the top sites on mobile today, it looks like money will be tops in 2012. The top 10 consumer mobile apps in 2012 will include mobile money transfer, LBS,  search,  browsing, health monitoring, payments, NFC, ads, IM, and music reprots Gartner Inc.'s latest study.

No. 1: Money Transfer
This service allows people to send money to others using Short Message Service (SMS). Its lower costs, faster speed and convenience compared with traditional transfer services have strong appeal to users in developing markets, and most services signed up several million users within their first year. However, challenges do exist in both regulatory and operational risks. Because of the fast growth of mobile money transfer, regulators in many markets are piling in to investigate the impact on consumer costs, security, fraud and money laundering. On the operational side, market conditions vary, as do the local resources of service providers, so providers need different market strategies when entering a new territory.

No. 2: Location-Based Services
Location-based services (LBS) form part of context-aware services, a service that Gartner expects will be one of the most disruptive in the next few years. Gartner predicts that the LBS user base will grow globally from 96 million in 2009 to more than 526 million in 2012. LBS is ranked No. 2 in Gartner's top 10 because of its perceived high user value and its influence on user loyalty. Its high user value is the result of its ability to meet a range of needs, ranging from productivity and goal fulfillment to social networking and entertainment.

No. 3: Mobile Search
The ultimate purpose of mobile search is to drive sales and marketing opportunities on the mobile phone. To achieve this, the industry first needs to improve the user experience of mobile search so that people will come back again. Mobile search is ranked No. 3 because of its high impact on technology innovation and industry revenue. Consumers will stay loyal to some search services, but instead of sticking to one or two search providers on the Internet, Gartner expects loyalty on the mobile phone to be shared between a few search providers that have unique technologies for mobile search.

No. 4: Mobile Browsing
Mobile browsing is a widely available technology present on more than 60 percent of handsets shipped in 2009, a percentage Gartner expects to rise to approximately 80 percent in 2013. Gartner has ranked mobile browsing No. 4 because of its broad appeal to all businesses. Mobile Web systems have the potential to offer a good return on investment. They involve much lower development costs than native code, reuse many existing skills and tools, and can be agile -- both delivered and updated quickly. Therefore, the mobile Web will be a key part of most corporate business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile strategies.

No. 5: Mobile Health Monitoring
Mobile health monitoring is the use of IT and mobile telecommunications to monitor patients remotely, and could help governments, care delivery organizations (CDOs) and healthcare payers reduce costs related to chronic diseases and improve the quality of life of their patients. In developing markets, the mobility aspect is key as mobile network coverage is superior to fixed network in the majority of developing countries. Currently, mobile health monitoring is at an early stage of market maturity and implementation, and project rollouts have so far been limited to pilot projects. In the future, the industry will be able to monetize the service by offering mobile healthcare monitoring products, services and solutions to CDOs.

Users rely on search engines to discover content but it often doesn't come up with the goods notes a new Mobile Content Discovery Report from Xiam Research by TNS Global. Users are  have having trouble accessing content, getting in quickly, search engines are preferred by mobile web browsers and they would buy more it was easier to get.

The study shows there are many indications that their mobile content usage is being limited by problems experienced. Here's the summary of problems experienced.

• 80% report some difficulty or problem when trying to access content.
  
• Most frustrated by time required to access the content they want - slow page loads, the need to click through too many pages, and having to navigate through irrelevant content.
  
• Overall, the provider's content store/portal is used less often than other methods to obtain content but is used more by downloader's and apps fans.
  

Carriers are becoming a significant channel for all Internet-connected mobile devices, including netbooks and mobile PCs, because of the revenue potential of the associated services.

In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com) anticipates that the number of devices sold through the carriers will continue to increase as services are bundled for multiple devices and service prices decrease due to increased bandwidth from new communications technologies and increased competition between carriers. By 2013, In-Stat anticipates that over 60% of all the Internet-connected mobile devices sold will be through carrier channels.

"In the US, carriers are charging up to $60 per month for a two year contract with the subsidized purchase of a netbook," says Jim McGregor In-Stat analyst. "While the subsidy costs the carrier $50-$100, it generates $1,440 or more in service fees over the life of the contract."

Carriers in the EU and Asia are also offering netbooks with a data contract, but typically at lower prices than in the US. As a result of the recent success of selling netbooks, carriers are now venturing into offering notebook PCs. Carriers in Asia have been offering MIDs and UMPCs for some time.

Recent research by In-Stat found:

• The total available market (TAM) for Internet-connected devices is projected to grow at a 22.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2013.
• 78% of Internet-connected devices will be using processors with integrated multimedia acceleration, including 85% of mobile PCs, by 2013.
• In-Stat projects that nearly 31% of notebooks will be sold through carriers in 2013.
• The innovation of the mobile market is being driven by four key factors: richer content, network access for communications and content, increased bandwidth to enable this access, and new technologies.

Today, CTIA-The Wireless Association® President and CEO Steve Largent issued the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve a "shot clock" for tower siting applications:

"On behalf of CTIA and the wireless industry, I would like to thank the Commission for moving ahead with this item. The Chairman's leadership and the efforts of the other Commissioners have given us a foundation for our continued deployment of wireless broadband.

"Tower siting is a vital piece of our industry. It enables mobile services, including voice and broadband, for consumers, public safety, and businesses. Both Congress and the Supreme Court recognized the importance of taking concrete steps to ensure that the zoning process does not become a barrier to the reasonable deployment of, and competition among, diverse wireless networks.

Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile phones is now available for immediate download on a smartphone near you. This version for Windows Mobile users elevates mobile browsing to a desktop-like experience, helping people to search, socialize and stay connected while on-the-go.

The Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile looks and feels similar to the Opera 10 desktop browser and Opera Mini 5 beta. Opera is creating more cohesion between its products by introducing a unified look across many of its platforms. Opera maintains its powerful arsenal of features in this beta, including Speed Dial, tabbed browsing, a password manager and its super, server-side compressor, Opera Turbo.

"We are unifying our products, so that users get the same experience, no matter the device or which particular Opera browser they are using," said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "With Opera Mobile 10, we are raising the expectations of how a a mobile browser should perform. Today, users require a browser as powerful as the Web, one that can handle their daily tasks as well as their computers. That's Opera."

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), a global organization leading the way in promoting the development and sustainability of mobile marketing, announced the winners of its Fifth Annual Global Mobile Marketing Awards during the Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony on November 17 at the Mobile Marketing Forum in Los Angeles.

As the MMA's highest honors, these awards recognize companies and their campaigns for spearheading the adoption of the mobile channel for marketing purposes.

"The MMA, its members and the entire mobile marketing community come together each year to honor our industry's exemplary campaigns and remarkable leaders throughout the world," said Mike Wehrs, president and CEO of the MMA. "We congratulate this year's winners and finalists on their outstanding achievements, and look forward to their continued success as they help advance the mobile marketing channel's evolution in the years to come."

Each year, the MMA's highly anticipated awards ceremony serves as the conclusion of the Mobile Marketing Forum (www.mobilemarketingforum.com). The MMA received hundreds of submissions in 12 categories from companies across the globe. Winners are selected by the MMA Awards Selection Committee comprised of global industry leaders from wireless carriers, technology and content providers, agencies and industry publications.

Verizon is now offering Social Beat, a free social media application that allows Verizon Wireless customers  to easily interact with  their mobile social networking with a single app on their LG enV , LG Chocolate or feature phones.

Social Beat makes it easy for Verizon Wireless customers to connect to popular social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.  Social Beat also displays more than 50 customer-selected feeds from the hottest names in news, sports and entertainment sources, which can be viewed in one central location. Customers can easily view and manage their social networks through live feeds and real-time notifications.

When customers sign in to Social Beat, they can easily view friends' activity, news feeds, status updates and new photos. Customers can even post new status messages and tweets, send comments and messages, and receive updates from their personalized news section through a single stream on their mobile phone in real time.

Social Beat is available now to Verizon Wireless customers as a free download on more than 20 feature phones, including the LG enV, enV2, enV3, the LG Chocolate, and Chocolate 3, as well as many other popular Verizon Wireless handsets. Customers can download Social Beat from their wireless phones by selecting Get Going in the Media Center/Get It Now®, by texting SOCIAL to APPS (2777) or by visiting the online media store at http://www.mediastore.verizonwireless.com or http://bit.ly/socialbeat.

Mobile web use and app use is growing.  Here's a quick summary of fun facts from the Millennial Media October SMART report :

• The U.S. Mobile Web: Grew to 1.1% to 64.8M users, according to Nielsen.
• Apple surpassed Android and RIM in the number of monthly downloads. Android apps out-performed both Apple and RIM in the Game category. RIM topped the average app time at eight minutes.
• Engagement: Average user session time was 4:46 (min:sec) and average page views were 106, down from 109. 
• New OS Report: The iPhone operating system was the top OS on the ad network, followed closely by RIM. Apple; however, was bumped back into the second spot behind Samsung, as the top manufacturer on our network.  Feature phones represented 64% of impressions versus smartphones, which accounted for 36% of impressions on our network.

Reach:

The U.S. Mobile Web grew to 64.8M users. Millennial Media's unique audience reach increased to 51.7M users, an industry-leading reach of 79.88% of U.S. Mobile internet users.

 Special Section - Mobile App Snapshot - provided by Mobclix:

Apple dominated the number of total apps year-to-date through November 1, for a total of 115,000 combined apps in the Games, Entertainment, Books and Utility categories, according to Mobclix. Apple also led Android and RIM with the number of monthly downloads, with 100M apps per month. Android and RIM followed with 20M and 300K respectively. Average in-app CTR's varied by app category -- Android out-performed both Apple and RIM in the Game app category.  RIM topped the average app time with eight minutes.

Today, I spent most of the day at the Mobile Marketing Forum in downtown, Los Angeles. It was a well-rounded event that covered almost everything anyone would need to know about mobile marketing. I will be posting the winners of the MMA awards later.

Maria Mandel, Senior Partner, Executive Director Digital Innovation at Ogilvy, and North America Board Chair of the Mobile Marketing Association, summed up the state of mobile marketing in her closing remarks. Here is the text of her presentation:

Is 2009 the year mobile marketing took off?

Consider the stats:

• 3 billion mobile phones = most widely used technology on earth.
• There are 3x more mobile phone users than PC users.
• There are 2x more mobile phone users than Internet users.
• Every four seconds a baby is born...and 15 mobile phones are purchased.
• More people have mobile phones than credit cards.
• The mobile phone is more important than TV to 16-24 year olds.
• Mobile media spend is up 40% versus year ago. Making mobile media the fastest growing media channel today.
• Mobile spend is predicted to reach $6.5 billion in 2012 in the US and $19 billion worldwide. With mobile phone penetration in the US near 90% and increased use of advanced phone capabilities, marketing opportunities abound. Now over half of the US population uses SMS on their phone and a quarter of the population accesses the internet. Verbal communication is starting to take a back seat to texting, e-mail, and web-based activity. A recent Nielsen study found that the average US mobile subscriber sends or receives 486 text messages per month, but makes just 182 calls.

Mobile marketing has moved beyond an emerging media channel with SMS and mobile web having mass penetration and usage.

Mobile advertising allows marketers to engage consumers in personalized, always-on, location-based dialogue. From simple text based messages to robust iPhone applications, there are mobile-based tactics that can help with any marketing objective.

Effective mobile marketing is available today; it is time to start using it. If 2009 hasn't been the year mobile marketing took off, lets make sure that 2010 is.

The Droid by Motorola has been well-reviewed but reviews of the camera were not so clearly positive.  Why we ask?  It may be because  the reviewers were taking photos  with a dirty lens.

There have been several camera rumors circulating about the Droid. One rumor propounds that a camera update was secretly uploaded (but not by aliens) that fixed the camera.  Another rumor contends that if you wipe off the lens which shipped with a oily protective film on it, the photos will get better. Then there's an autofocus on a cycle glitch.
 
The easiest rumor to check was the dirty lens theory. Since, we have a review unit of a Droid by Motorola and a cloth, we tested the dirty lens fix.

AT&T says it will sell the" best value in" its BlackBerry smartphones  the BlackBerryCurve 8520.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 has a full QWERTY keyboard and touch-sensitive trackpad for easy typing and navigation, built-in Wi-Fi and an advanced media player, plus dedicated media keys. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 also provides global connectivity via phone, email, text, IM, picture messaging and social networking, with Facebook and My Space apps preloaded.

This Curve also comes with a high-resolution 320x240 display a 512 MHz processor, 256 MB of Flash memory, and a 2 megapixel camera equipped with video recording.

AT&T users of the new BlackBerry Curve 8520 can enjoy access to the nation's largest Wi-Fi network with more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots -- including approximately 7,000 Starbucks locations.

The BlackBerry Curve 8520 smartphone will be available in the coming weeks for $99.99 after mail-in rebate. (Pay $199.99 and receive $100 AT&T Promotion Card. 2-year agreement on a min. $69.99 plan required.) AT&T smartphones require the purchase of a monthly data plan. New customers can use the Wireless and Mobile News $50 off online only coupon-link for new customers with an AT&T contract.

Samsung announced today the Samsung 3G Ubicell Personal CDMA Base Station, launching in 2010, will be the next product in the femtocell family. The 3G UbiCell, ideal for home or small office, is a small plug-and-play base station that works with users' existing mobile phones to provide secure, in-home cellular service over existing public broadband networks.

Samsung Mobiles 3G UbiCell benefits users by providing higher performance, lower cost coverage in a secure, easy to install solution for use at home. The 3G UbiCell will also allow carriers to provide a cost-effective solution to offload increasing 3G traffic from the Macro network, provide superior signal to address customer's needs for in-home coverage, help retain customers with excellent performance for all family members, and provide for new services such as home phone and incentives through bundled pricing.