September 2007 Archives
Verizon Wireless and Motorola today announced the new MOTORIZR Z6tv MediaFLO phone. The slider phone is designed especially for V Cast Mobile TV and V Cast Music and Video. The LCD screen is 2 inches wide with 20 megabytes of on board storage.
The Phone features a dedicated TV key, Bluetooth, a 2 mega pixel camera, ability to be viewed in portrait or landscape modes, a fast USB connection and playlist features.
The MOTORIZR Z6tv will be available on Friday, October 5 for $179.99
after a $50 mail-rebate and new two-year contract.
A new study suggests the more you talk on your cell phone, the less you may actually be able to hear.
According to research presented at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation's Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO in Washington, DC, 100 people who had used mobile phones for over a year suffered increases in the degree of hearing loss over the span of 12 months.
Researchers found that people who used cell phones frequently, at least once a day, have a harder time hearing high frequency sounds, especially in their right ear and the sound of consonants, in particular.
Domino's Pizza now allows customers to place their orders from web-enabled cell phones to nearly half of their U.S. stores on mobile.dominos.com. Designed
for the small screen of a cell phone, mobile, dominos.com features a
streamlined interface for optimal speed. Designed for individuals and traditional mobile phone users looking for
a better way to manage their professional and social lives, Palm, Inc and Sprint day introduced the smallest Palm/phone so far, Palm®
Centro™ smart device, at $99.99 (with a two-year contract.)
It has voice, text, IM, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a
full-color touch screen and full keyboard, Centro brings Palm simplicity
and organization to customers who want to stay connected with
co-workers, friends and family. It offers broadband power at a standard phone price.
Centro will be exclusive through Sprint in the United States for 90 days and is available in onyx black or ruby red.
The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG), will
cease operations of its U.S.-based mobile virtual network (MVNO) phone
service later this year and will instead explore a new business model
for its content and services that might include offering its popular
Family Center product through a partnership with a major U.S. carrier.
The Family Center suite allows users the ability to display the location of a child's handset on a map, to limit when and how the child's phone is used, and to set limits on expenditures in terms of voice and data.
All service will end by December 31, 2007.
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
This could be good news for kids who have been tracked by their parents, and bad news for parents who need to know where their kids are.
This is the second MVNO to go under this year. The first was the now defunct bankrupt Amp'd Mobile. The MVNO was one of the top purveyors of content for the young and broke. The Hollywood Reporter reported, "The bankruptcy filing said that nearly 80,000 of its 175,000 subscribers were "non-paying."
It
is expected that the pricing for Sprint's WiMAX service Xohm will not
be like cellular plans but be based on customer needs with lots of
different offerings such as by the day, month or a year
without a contract tied to a phone or computer card. Sprnt's CTO Barry
West discussed the plan yesterday at WiMAX World in Chicago.According to RCR Wireless News, West said. "Xohm currently has 10,000 sites in preparation for WiMAX infrastructure, 1,750 base stations ordered for delivery this year, 20,000 antennas ordered, 2,000 backhaul links ordered from third parties and 8,000 Sprint backhaul links in deployment."
Vertu
(Nokia's luxury brand) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Ferarri is
selling only 60 special edition phones for the price of approximately
$25,000 US. The Vertu Ascent Ferrari 60 is made of Titanium and
uses the same screws as Ferrari cars. It is a tri-band phone with
Bluetooth, voice dialing capabilities, GPRS, multimedia messaging (MMS)
and short messaging (SMS).Tune-ups and service are included, along with the tune-up every six months the leather can be replaced. The phone is available in Vertu stores in London, Paris and Hong Kong.
A new larger screen Sidekick LX that swivles to reveal a keyboard will be offered by T-Mobile starting October 13, for $300 with a two year contract. Geared for older more sophisticated users the LX also has the ab
ility to send pictures with text messages.
Manufactured by Motorola, the new smaller text-oriented Sidekick Slide's screen slides instead of swivels. The Slide is priced at $200 with a two year contract.
According to ABI Research, removable memory cards will top $7 billion in revenue in 2007. Memory cards will continue to be the highest revenue-generating mobile phone accessory category over the next five years. Meanwhile, headsets, both wireless and wired, will generate about $5 billion.
WiMAX World attendees were treated to uninterrupted connections on the "WiMAX Love Boat" that cruised the Chicago River.The seamless service of web browsing, VoIP)calls, video streaming and MobiTV while moving past access point sites along the route of the cruise was provided by Motorola and Sprint. The system also worked on the streets and trains of Chicago.
Sprint plans on launching their Xohm mobile Internet in Chicago and D.C. markets by the end of this year.
If the phone is stolen and the theif replaces the SIM, a secret SMS is sent to three pre-set numbers containing the new phone number of the theif.
Read full information about Armani Phone.
Blyk, a new mobile network for 16 - 24s that's funded by
advertising launched Monday. Blyk links young people with advertising and gives
them free texts and minutes every month. It offers subscribers 217 free texts and 42 free minutes in exchange for
accepting MMS (picture messaging) and SMS (text) advertising after that it's 0.15 (BP) a minute.
In order to join users have to be 16-24 years old, live in
mainland Britain, own a phone with MMS and be invited. After
registering the teen gets a new SIM for his/her phone. Blyk
expects to launch in other parts of Europe in the future.
Comment from Mobile & Wireless News:
Knowing teens, those free minutes should run out in about 42 minutes after receiving the SIM.
DoubleClick is in the process of being acquired by Google but it has not be approved by the FCC yet.
According to a Rueters story AT&T plans to speed up it's data speeds when it upgrades to it network increasing upload speeds to a range of 500 to 800 kilobits per second from its current speed of
about 120 kbps. AT&T is comparatively slow to its rivals when it comes to data causing iPhone users to unlock their phones for better data speeds on other carriers.AT&T's recent study, proves that small business needs its wireless---four in 10 (42 percent) of small business owners surveyed said they could not survive -- or it would be a major challenge to survive -- without wireless technology.
According to PC World.: A group representing people with a hearing loss filed complaints with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last month, accusing Apple Inc. of not making its iPhone compatible with hearing aids.
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
The
iPhone is also not operable by physically disabled people. I have
been writing about technology for people with disabilities for some
time and recently wrote about new issues with touch technology on
Mobile Content Writers.
From the Blog at Mobile Content Writers:by Lynn Walford
I ran into Dr. David Rogers, a clinical geneticist whom I
wrote about in the Los Angeles Times
several years ago. Dr. Rogers was having trouble operating Mac
products with touchpads because he is a quadriplegic who uses a mouth stick.
Although
he can operate a Palm device such as a Treo that uses a stylus with a
mouth stick, he can not operate an iPod or the touchpad on the iMac.
The touchpads on the iPod, Mac and iPhone are capacitive and require a
change in electrical charge. A mouth stick does not have an
electrical charge like human fingers do.
Motorola today announced it will be showcasing its mobile WiMAX chipset modem
solution at WiMAX World USA. The chipset is part of
Motorola's new "controlled application centric architecture" that will support 3G and 4G mobile devices.
Dsigned to
deliver ultra-high-speed functionality through thin devices, this WiMAX
chipset modem solution is optimized for both size and low power
consumption to further connect consumers around the globe with mobile
wireless broadband. It is scheduled to be released in early 2008.
Apple warned iPhone owners that unlocking iPhones should be done at your own risk. Using software to unlock an iPhone, would "likely" result in the phone becoming "permanently inoperable" when future software updates were released. The damage caused by unlocking voids the Warranty.
It has been reported that that at least two unlocking programs, iUnlock and Anysim, can cause the iPhone to stop working once the software is updated.
Fox Interactive Media (FIM), a division of News Corporation, today announced that MySpace, and several of the company's
other leading Web brands will launch a series of new, ad-supported
mobile Web sites that will be completely free to users on mobile
devices. The new MySpace Mobile Web beta service (http://mobile.myspace.com) will be available to consumers this week with a wider FIM rollout planned in the coming months.
"The MySpace Mobile Web significantly lowers the barrier of entry for all MySpace users to access their profiles on-the-go," said Amit Kapur, VP of business development for MySpace. "An
ad-supported MySpace offering is a major component of our mobile
monetization strategy and we look forward to broadly offering this
industry leading roll-out to advertisers."
Analysts are skeptical. The ads will have to be very tiny and it may take a while for mobile users to click on through, while driving or in the bank line.
Customers money will be refunded while they resolve the issue.
The controls allowed parents to block text messages and calls to and from specific numbers, disallow calling during certain times (school hours or late night) and also block wireless Web content.
Global Enterprises, Public Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations Honored for Creative Implementation of Efficient Mobile Broadband Solutions -
Qualcomm
Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) today unveiled its finalists for the 3G
A-List(TM) Awards 2007. Now in its fifth year, the 3G A-List Awards
have become the industry's preeminent recognition program honoring
organizations that have implemented innovative and successful
enterprise wireless data solutions based on 3G CDMA standards
(CDMA2000(R)/EV-DO and WCDMA/HSPA).
Publisher of casual and family-friendly games Sandlot Games(R), and digital entertainment services company RealNetworks(R), Inc. today announced the continued success of the smash hit casual game Cake Mania -- this time on the mobile platform, stating that their bakery game with over 45 fast-paced levels of baking is one of the most downloaded games in the U.S.
"With its success on the PC, we anticipated a similar performance for the mobile version. Those expectations were surpassed and we're proud to have teamed with Sandlot to deliver this hit casual title to gamers on their mobile handsets," said Matt Turetzky, vice president, non-PC platforms in the Games Division at Real.
At the end of second quarter, RealArcade Mobile moved into the top ten ranked mobile publishers, in part due to the success of Cake Mania. (Telephia, September 2007)
Giorgio Armani is working with Samsung to design a series of consumer electronics devices, beginning with a classy credit-card sized mobile phone that has a touch-sensitive screen, 3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. An added feature is a haptical UI, where users can feel an immediate mild vibration when they touch icons on the display.
The phone will be available first in Europe for 650 Euros, about US $915, In addition to working together on the phone, the two companies will design an LCD TV, to be unveiled in January.
On Wednesday, presenters at RFID World in Boston focused on using second-generation active and passive RFID tags to provide advanced security and authentication, as well as ways to broaden the reach of the technology.
Among the buzz from attendees was how the average wireless device could soon become an RFID reader, or perhaps a related radio-capable device for Near Field Communication, a short-distance radio technology to give a mobile user easy access to all kinds of data.Comments from Wireless and Mobile News:
Applications could include credit card payments for toll booths, fast food indulgences or coupons at the supermarket. If an RFID reader was embedded, a quick scan of the booth at th swap meet could reveal the inventory and what was sold or stolen.
Soon you can phone home by talking to your Bluetooth headset. Forget about pressing buttons, just tell your phone what to do. The software is ready to go, and awaiting chips and manufacturing. This wireless hocus pocus was developed by Sensory Inc. The headset speaks the number of an incoming call and ask if the user wants to accept it. The user can answer yes or no to accept the call.
Headsets using the technology will be able to understand the user in most cases except where there is lot of ambient noise such as inside a car or at Disco night.
While AT&T releases the BlackBerry 8820
today .The
BlackBerry 8820 is packed with incredible new features, such as
built-in GPS, Wi-Fi support, BlackBerry® Maps, a multi-media player,
expandable memory, Voice-Activated Dialing and trackball navigation. It also
offers email and text messaging (SMS and MMS), instant messaging,
organizer, web browser and advanced phone features. This smartphone sells for $300 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate
Verizon Wireless, announced that it has sold more than 3.4 million Chocolate by LG phones since its launch last summer. Exclusively available from Verizon Wireless, the Chocolate by LG is a fully-functional mobile music device that supports V CAST Music, giving customers access to more than 2.1 million songs they can download to a PC and sideload to their phones or over-the-air directly to their phones.
"WiMAX for mobile broadband is coming of age," says Berge Ayvazian, conference co-chair and chief strategy officer at Yankee Group.
Verizon Wireless, , and MediaFLO USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Qualcomm Incorporated, announced the fall lineup for V CAST
Mobile TV from Verizon Wireless, a service of MediaFLO USA.
More than
10 new fall shows are scheduled to debut on V CAST Mobile TV at the
same time as they air on traditional TV.
Brand new shows available on V CAST Mobile TV include "The Big Bang Theory" and "Viva Laughlin" on CBS Mobile; "K-VILLE" and "Back to You" on Fox Mobile; "Bionic Woman" and "Life" on NBC 2Go; and from MTV Networks, "iCarly" on Nickelodeon and "Kaya" on MTV. Other shows include "60 Minutes," "The Early Show," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Price Is Right" on CBS Mobile; and Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" on NBC 2Go.
"Sidekick users are often the hub of their circle of friends, and MySpace is the No. 1 Web site our users visit on their device," said Jeff Hopper, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile USA. "We've worked closely with MySpace and Danger to create a powerful MySpace Mobile experience that is uniquely tailored for the T-Mobile Sidekick. We think MySpace and Sidekick users are going to love having complete control over their MySpace universe right from the palm of their hand."
The MySpace Mobile software is tightly integrated with the T-Mobile Sidekick hardware, user interface, and all the applications on the device. The new MySpace Mobile for the T-Mobile Sidekick is designed to optimize the delivery of data to each user and preserve the features that MySpace users love on the PC. All aspects of the MySpace Mobile experience are tailored so users can simply navigate on the T-Mobile Sidekick screen and enjoy fast access to T-Mobile's robust wireless network.
London,
UK - Nokia today introduced the new Nokia E51smartphone. The slim Nokia E51 has VOIP functionality, email capabilities, an FM radio, and a 2-megapixel camera.An all-round device, Nokia E51 is ideal for business professionals who require reliable, real-time access to business and people, need to manage time effectively and value a single device that is easy to set up, maintain and use. Nokia E51 users with Nokia mobility solutions can experience mobile telephony, mobile email and messaging, office phone functionality, and cost savings - with the convenience of one phone number, one voice mailbox, one dial plan - in a single device.
MetroPCS Communications, Inc., provider of unlimited wireless communications service, today announced the launch of its flat rate unlimited wireless service in Los Angeles. MetroPCS will provide the people of Los Angeles with unlimited local and long-distance service.
With plans starting as low as $30 a month, MetroPCS offers the lowest unlimited wireless calling choices now available in the market. Already available in Northern California, including the San Francisco and Sacramento markets, the Los Angeles service launch means expanded wireless coverage and an added value for customers throughout California.
Google tested the system with a limited number of advertisers and publishers this year. Today, it will be available to mobile publishers in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, China and India.
Sprint and Microsoft Corp. anounced the two companies are providing Sprint customers with the industry's first fully integrated GPS location-aware mobile search service with entire Internet search on Sprint phones. Voice search by Live Search for mobile using Tellme technologies will also be available on select Sprint phones as a separate download. The new services enable people to find Web, local, and phone content easily using traditional input methods or voice.
Sprint is also the first mobile operator in the U.S. to launch GPS-enabled voice search capabilities, which are powered by Live Search for mobile. Customers can simply say the business listing and then see the search results on the screen. Speaking rather than typing makes it even easier for customers to find the results they are looking for. This feature uses award-winning voice user interface design from Microsoft's recent acquisition Tellme. Read more.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - September 18, 2007 - Cisco® today announced a definitive agreement to purchase Germantown, MD-based Cognio, Inc., the market leader in wireless spectrum analysis and management for wireless networks.
Cognio's spectrum intelligence solution enables network managers to proactively manage their wireless spectrum and minimize RF interference for an optimal user experience.
T-Mobile USA, Inc. and SunCom Wireless Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:TPC) announced today that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for the acquisition by T-Mobile USA of all of the outstanding shares of common stock of SunCom, for an aggregate of approximately $2.4 billion in cash and assumed debt. This includes cash payment of approximately $1.6 billion and $0.8 billion net debt. T-Mobile USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE:DT).
The acquisition will further enhance T-Mobile's network coverage in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean through the complementary addition of SunCom's markets and customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. SunCom operates a GSM/GPRS/EDGE network and has provided roaming service to T-Mobile in these markets since 2004.
The Kelsey Group, the leading provider of strategic research and analysis, data and competitive metrics on Yellow Pages, electronic directories and local media, forecasts U.S. mobile search advertising revenues to grow from $33.2 million in 2007 to $1.4 billion in 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 112 percent.
"Advertisers in the U.S. are the most aggressive in terms of messaging to potential U.S. consumers," said Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group. "Given the relatively high spend levels, we believe advertisers will continue to look into innovative solutions, including mobile, that demonstrate a clear ROI on ad spend."
The Kelsey Group's mobile search advertising forecast covers:
- Ad-Sponsored Directory Assistance (Free DA) - Consumers dial a phone for free directory assistance and other local information (examples: 1-800-GOOG411, Jingle Networks).
- Mobile Internet Ads - Consumers use SMS, WAP, etc., to search or browse the Internet for information (examples: Google Maps, Apple iPhone).
- Multi-Modal Applications - Carriers and/or consumers opt to put voice-in and data-out products directly on the mobile device (examples: Tellme, V-Enable). Read more.
Seven semiconductor manufacturers have announced their commitment to the introduction of Universal Flash Storage (UFS) -- a new industry specification for removable memory cards and embedded memory chip products for use in next-generation mobile devices, personal media players, and digital cameras. The standard is being developed by the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, which creates open standards for the semiconductor industry.
UFS promises to offer high-speed access to large multimedia files, while consuming less power in consumer electronic devices. UFS's performance is expected to be much higher than is offered today by flash cards. The next-generation flash memory specification is expected to be completed in the first half of 2009, with a draft specification available in the first half of 2008.
Sep 14, 2007, from GovTech News Report
Thursday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 33 by Senator Joe Simitian which bans teenage drivers from using all electronic devices -- such as cell phones, pagers and laptops -- while behind the wheel.
Currently, fifteen states and the District of Columbia have laws restricting the use of wireless communication devices by new and inexperienced drivers. The National Transportation Safety Board has urged all states to enact legislation to prohibit inexperienced drivers from using cell phones and other mobile service devices while driving.
SB 33 takes effect on July 1, 2008 along with the ban on talking on cell phones without a hands-free device-- Read more.
According to MarketWatch: T-Mobile U.S.A. announced a $9.99 monthly plan for unlimited email service on all BlackBerry smartphones they sell. Analysts predict that the competition will spur a drop in prices for data services from other carriers. Web browsing is not included in the price.
This site was designed with the help of lots of software:
In
Corel Draw, I made the cellular tower from scratch so that it would be
a scalable vector graphic. I scanned a tower and then drew the vectors
over it with a trackball after measuring the angles with a protractor.
The
Plein-Air style was accomplished by first editing a photo and adding
the flares of light in Corel Photo Paint. Then it was made into a
Impressionist background. The tower was attached in Corel Draw. The
dry brush technique was added in Adobe Photoshop. Total hours spent
were uncountable, but I am pleased with the result.
Movable Type styles were edited in Dreamweaver. I was greatly assited by the Movable Type Forum users.
