January 2008 Archives

Sprint announced that it will continue to support Nextel Direct Connect, the world’s largest and fastest push-to-talk service and the only such service with international capabilities.

“Nextel Direct Connect provides a differentiated experience for our customers,” said Dan Hesse, president and CEO, Sprint Nextel. “The Nextel National Network (iDEN) is key to delivering Nextel Direct Connect. Sprint has invested significantly during the past two years and the network is performing at best-ever levels. Customers can expect to see continued investment and the introduction of new handsets to utilize the network’s unique capabilities.”

Sprint customers made nearly 90 billion push-to-talk connections in 2007.

There has been a class action law suite filed against T-Mobile for charging customers for text messages who did not want text messages.  The suit filed in Seattle, Washington, claims that T-Mobile charges  for text messages regardless of whether customers want them or not.

The plaintiffs contend that  T-Mobile USA’s texting policy violates federal telecom law and Washington state’s consumer protection-unfair business practices act. The suit did not contain a dollar figure for alleged damages. T-Mobile USA is based in Bellvue, Wash.

Garmin International announced its entrance into the mobile phone market with the nuvifone, an all-in-one, touchscreen device that combines a premium phone, mobile web-browser, and cutting-edge personal navigator.

“The nuvifone is an all-in-one device offering unmatched integration of utility and function in a single mobile device,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and COO. “This is the breakthrough product that cell phone and GPS users around the world have been longing for — a single device that does it all.”

The nuvifone has a wide range of advanced yet easy-to-use features. The all touchscreen device is the first of its kind to integrate premium 3.5G mobile phone capability with an internet browser, data connectivity, personal messaging, and personal navigation functions in one device. When powered on, the 3.5-inch touchscreen display reveals three primary icons — “Call,” “Search,” and “View Map” which allow the user to effortlessly master the nüvifone’s functions.

The nuvifone is the ultimate multi-tasker. Calls are easily initiated by tapping the “Call” button and selecting a name from the contact list or by using the on-screen keypad. When the user is trying to juggle talking on their phone while entering their vehicle to start a trip, the nuvifone makes the transition simple. When the nuvifone is docked onto the vehicle mount, it automatically turns on the GPS, activates the navigation menu, and enables hands-free calling so that the user never misses a beat in the conversation and is able to begin routing to their destination with ease.

Garmin anticipates that the nuvifone will be available in the third quarter of 2008. Specific details about pricing and sales partners will be announced in the future.

Mio Technology Corporation, maker of mobile GPS devices, and Qualcomm announced a collaboration to develop connected personal navigation devices (PNDs). These new connected PNDs will leverage Qualcomm’s technology with the QST1100 chipset to deliver industry-leading GPS performance and cellular connectivity for real-time traffic updates, voice call capabilities and more.

With this new collaboration, Mio looks to offer consumers a next-generation GPS device that goes beyond traditional point-to-point navigation. With real-time content, search capabilities and more, Mio’s connected PNDs will provide a uniquely dynamic navigation experience that can be customized for any lifestyle. Whether for leisure travel, business travel or the daily commute, Mio’s cutting-edge connected PNDs will enable people to explore their environment.

Nearly four years ago, Verizon Wireless said that a wireless directory would be a “dumb idea.” Now, as another company leaks its plans to sell the cell phone numbers of private citizens, Verizon Wireless today called on that company to halt the mining and sale of these numbers.

“Stop it. This is a violation of Americans’ privacy. People expect their cell phone numbers to remain private,” said Steve Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless. He added that Verizon Wireless intends to take whatever steps might be necessary, including litigation, to protect its customers’ numbers and privacy.

According to its website, Seattle-based Intelius says that it will charge consumers a fee to find a number that is “unlisted or unpublished” and will identify a consumer’s wireless service provider. This information is mined from the Internet, personal Web pages and other sources, and has not been authorized by individuals to be sold for this purpose.

“Trolling the Internet, using data mining techniques and simply buying lists to create a directory are actions that clearly violate a consumer’s right to privacy,” Zipperstein continued. “Verizon Wireless has long refused to release our customers’ numbers and we call on legislators and policy makers to ensure that what a consumer wants to be private stays that way.”

Google is testing 2D bar codes for cell phone cameras on print ads.  The plans is to make advertising more useful for readers and more measurable for advertisers. 2D barcodes allow readers to “click” on interesting print ads with their cellphones and seamlessly connect to relevant online content.

To read 2D barcodes, a phone must have a camera (ideally with a close-focus or macro mode) and the proper decoding software installed. The phone also must have  a web browser and data service to visit any encoded URLs.

Testing the waters right now are ads for jewelry retailer Blue Nile.

AT&T Yahoo! announced a new multi-year strategic alliance for portals, search and advertising revenue.

The new phase of the alliance includes the following features:

• A new look and feel for the att.net portal, “powered by Yahoo!,” beginning in the second quarter, for new customers. Later in the year, the att.net portal, which will run on the My Yahoo! and Yahoo! Mail platforms
• Yahoo! provides search and display advertising for AT&T consumers on mobile devices and the PC.
• Once the new att.net portal launches later this year, any AT&T customer - even those without AT&T Internet service - can access the new Web portal and e-mail services at no additional charge
• Access to co-branded versions of Yahoo!’s mobile Web properties and the Yahoo! Go application for AT&T’s 14.2 million broadband customers.
• AT&T’s YELLOWPAGES.COM becomes the lead local search experience on both the wireless and PC screens for AT&T customers.
• AT&T U-verse TVSM customers continue to have access to Yahoo! content through the service’s interactive AT&T U-bar feature, where available.

The agreement calls for revenue sharing, but detailed financial terms were not disclosed.

Greystripe, the leading distributor of ad-supported mobile games and applications, announced early results from its partnership with Opera, the world’s leading mobile web browsing software company to bring free mobile content faster and easier to consumers browsing on their mobile phones. Opera is the latest of 20 distribution partners to use Greystripe’s AdWRAP Catalog Platform, bringing ad-supported award-winning mobile games to users of its Opera Mini browser.

In the first month, Opera users downloaded over 1,600,000 games and applications. The Opera Mini homepage includes a GameJump bookmark, allowing users to access Greystripe’s freemobile game portal with one easy click.

FierceWireless lists the most popular devices for fourth-quarter 2007. Their compilation, was culled from a number of sources including carrier and handset maker 4Q earnings, online retailer best seller lists and anecdotal evidence:

• Apples' iPhone - over 2 million have been sold.
• BlackBerry Pearl - Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T and Wirefly all have shown success with this phone.
• Samsung BlackJack II -Wirefly and AT&T note its high sales.
• Motorola RAZR - it remained popular and also ranked high at Let's Talk and Wirefly.
• LG Voyager - Verizon noted its strong performance in its earnings report.

Guinness World Records certified the sale of the Most Expensive Cell Phone in the world - 'Le Million' Piece Unique which was bought by a Russian businessman for his wife for 1 million Euros ($1.2 million) in September 2006.

Created by GoldVish SA, a Geneva based luxury communication goods company, the cell phone is made of 18-carat white gold, mounted with 120-carats of VVS-1 graded diamonds. It was designed by Emmanuel Gueit and made as an addition to the 'Illusion collection'. 'Le Million' Piece Unique is a limited edition item and is only available on special request.

Today, there were many announcements on the web stating,"GoldVish the "Le Million," has just been declared by The Guinness World Records as the most expensive cell phone in the world! "

We have no idea how the rumor started and can't locate any news releases for the source. In September 2006, $1.2 million was the most expensive phone and probably still is. An article ran in May 2007 in Phones Review that stated it was the most expensive phone in the world.  There was a Guinness TV show on recently, where the news may have resurfaced to public consciousness. With the deflation of the US dollar it may be worth even more or we wonder if it were sold used, if would be worth less.

At the DEMO 08 conference, Skyfire unveiled a new mobile browser that makes browsing on a smartphone just like browsing on a PC. Smartphone users can experience the “real web” to access and interact with any website built with any web technology, including dynamic Flash, advanced Ajax, Java and more - at the same speeds they are accustomed to on their PC. With this free downloadable browser, users can watch videos from the real YouTube, stay connected with their friends on the full-feature PC versions of Facebook and MySpace, and listen to any Web music service like Last.fm.

The power behind the service is accomplished by a proxy browser that translates all the web browser add-ons into a more mobile experience. Rafe Needleman at News.com wrote about Skyfire, “Although I think that proxied browsing is the right solution for mobile devices, I am not convinced that there’s a solid business behind it.”

Helio announced that Wonhee Sull, formerly Helio’s President and COO, has been elevated to CEO and founding CEO Sky Dayton has been named non-executive Chairman of Helio’s Board of Directors.

Helio also announced usage statistics for its nearly 200,000 subscribers, which exceed many industry averages. Helio has an average revenue per user (ARPU) over $85, well above the industry average of under $501 and closed 2007, the company’s first full year since launch, with a revenue run rate of over $240M based on December actuals. Helio members are also voracious users of its data services:

• An average of over 550 text messages per member per month, many times the industry average.
• Instant Message penetration 3 times the industry average.
• 95% of Helio brand members access the Web through their mobile device versus an industry average of about 13%.
• Each month, 60% of Helio brand members access MySpace via their Helio and average nearly 500 page views.
• In December, Helio members uploaded photos from their device to the web at a rate 5 times the industry average.
• 57% of Ocean users downloaded Helio’s exclusive YouTube application within two weeks of its launch

T-Mobile USA increased mobile phone subscribers by nearly a million in the fourth quarter. T-Mobile USA announced it added 951,000 subscribers in October to December, giving it 28.7 million by the end of 2007 which is up 14.6 percent from a year ago.

T-Mobile USA CEO and president Robert Dotson said, “myFaves was a major contributor to this growth, with 5 million customers at year-end using the service to make unlimited calls to the people who matter most to them.”

K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., a company combining the research and development efforts of the National Federation of the Blind and Kurzweil Technologies Inc., unveiled a product line that will revolutionize access to print for anyone who has difficulty seeing or reading print, including the blind and learning disabled. The company’s reading software has been especially designed for and paired with the Nokia N82 mobile phone to create the smallest text-to-speech reading device in history.

This truly pocketsized Reader enables users to take pictures of and read most printed materials at the push of a button. Blind users hear the contents of the document read in clear synthetic speech, while users who can see the screen and those with learning disabilities can enlarge, read, track, and highlight printed materials using the phone’s large and easy-to-read display. The combination of text-to-speech and tracking features makes interpreting text much easier for individuals with learning disabilities.

Nokia announced that it will buy mobile-app developer Trolltech, ASA in

Trolltech makes the cross platform software program Qtopia used in mobile handsets

Qt is also used in af desktop software, including Skype, Google Earth, and Adobe Photoshop Album.

AT&T changed it data plans a week ago, cutting out their PDA Global, Smartphone Connect, and BlackBerry/PDA personal Max plan. 

New plans added include $5 and  $15 messaging bundles and two Media Net Unlimited plans.

The AT&T Mobility Media Max Unlimited Bundle price was reduced to $35 from $40.  The $80 Data Connected Plan is now limited to a 5 gigabyte cap.

Verizon Wireless profits and subscribers were up in fourth quarter 2007 while landlines decreased. Verizon had a 10.6 percent drop in consumer lines due to stiff competition. Verizon lost 875,000 phone lines in the quarter, including 476,000 primary home-phone lines, as customers switched to cable voice plans or began using wireless service exclusively.

Verizon Wireless wast  the most profitable domestic wireless company and the largest in terms of retail customers.  In the fourth quarter:

• Total customers increased to 65.7 million, up 11.3 percent year-over-year.

• 1.6 million of a total 2.0 million (retail and wholesale) net customer additions were retail post-paid customers.

• Verizon Wireless continued its industry-leading customer loyalty, with 1.20 percent total churn.  Churn among retail post-paid customers, 93 percent of all its customers, was under 1.0 percent for the quarter and the full year.

• Total revenues in the quarter were $11.4 billion, up 13.3 percent; service revenues were $9.9 billion, up 13.7 percent, driven by customer growth and demand for data services.  Full-year revenues were $43.9 billion, up 15.3 percent.

• ARPU (average monthly revenue per customer) levels increased year-over-year for the seventh consecutive quarter: retail ARPU of $51.49 was up 1.4 percent; retail data ARPU of $11.06 was up 36.0 percent.

• Wireless operating income margin was 26.2 percent.  EBITDA margin on service revenues (non-GAAP) was 43.6 percent.  (EBITDA is earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.)

• Customers sent nearly 45 billion text messages and 927 million picture/video messages.

• Customers completed 30 million music and video downloads. 

• Verizon Wireless continued to extend the reach of its nationwide high-speed wireless broadband network, powered by EV-DO Revision A (Rev. A) technology, making it available to more than 240 million Americans by year-end.  More than half of the company’s retail customers — 35 million — had broadband-capable devices by year-end.

Samsung BlackJack II SGH-i67 rated 4 out of 5 by Review of Reviews from Wireless and Mobile News

The BlackJack II received good reviews all around and has more power and features than the previous model including: 3G, GPS, a larger display, QWERTY keyboard, 2 megapixel camera and added battery life. Windows Mobile 6 allows for great Microsoft Office syncing and  the ability to edit Microsoft Documents but not create new ones. Call quality was good except when switching between areas covered by 3G and GSM networks.

The finish of the Samsung BlackJack II tends to smudge while one reviewer commented that the jog wheel felt loose and unresponsive.  Two reviewers commented on the poor photo quality and some noted the absence of Wi-Fi.

Bluetooth headsets worked well and all reviewers did not like the proprietary Samsung jack, making finding a headset more difficult. The microSD slot will accommodate 4GB. The BlackJack II comes in both black and burgundy.

The fast data speed alone makes it worthy choice for a winning hand full of emails and Office documents. Each smartphone has  its own unique keyboard, therefore, you should test it to see if it works well for you. The BlackJack II was priced at $149.99 with a two year contract and rebate when it first came out and is now part of a AT&T smartphone speccial making it $99.99 with a $100 rebate and a two year contract.  Wirefly offers a free BlackJack II from AT&T with a new AT&T account.

Please note: prices often change on phones, the price may be different when you buy. 

American Airlines has introduced a mobile version of AA.com that allows customers to access many of the helpful features of AA.com via a Web-enabled cell phone or other Web-enabled device at http://www.aa.com/mobile or mobile users will be detected and redirected from aa.com.

Now, customers using the mobile version of AA.com can check in for a flight, view their itinerary, check schedules, check the status of their flights, get information on destinations, weather or airports and contact American Airlines. Later this spring, further enhancements to the mobile AA.com Web site will enable travelers to book flights, change their reservations, view fare specials — even request upgrades and enroll in the AAdvantage program — all from their Web-enabled cell phone or other Web-enabled device. Many pages also will be viewable in Spanish.

Bonny Joy, Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global cellphone shipments rose to 1.12 billion units in 2007, up 12 percent from 1.00 billion in 2006. We expect the economic environment to be tougher this year and forecast slower growth of 10 percent, for 1.24 billion units worldwide in 2008.”

Other findings from the Strategy Analytics Q4 2007 Global Handset Market Share Update report include:

- Motorola registered 12.3 percent global share in Q4 2007, down sharply from 22.4 percent in Q4 2006. A failure to replace the popular Razr model has been the main cause of decline;

- Sony Ericsson continued to slow down. Its annual growth rate has plunged in recent quarters. Improved handset portfolios from Samsung, LG and Nokia are starting to have a competitive impact on Sony Ericsson.

- Apple shipped 2.3 million iPhone units worldwide, for a healthy 0.6 percent share in Q4 2007. We predict Apple to be among the world’s top ten vendors by the end of 2008;

Palm Inc., the company who first brought the smartphone to the public is closing its 35 retails stores including stand alone stores and stores in airports.

Palm also announced what to meet the terms of a class-action lawsuit, it will give rebates to Treo 600 and 650 owners whose handsets were replaced or repaired at least twice. Rebates include  $75 for a Treo 600 and $50 for a Treo 650.. Palm s will also repair any Treo 600 or 650 that hasn’t failed twice, but is outside of the original warranty.
More information and claim forms are available online.

Innovision Research & Technology, developer of the Near Field Communication (NFC) standard number one tag type, Topaz has announced the winners of its NFC Innovation Awards, the first UK-based competition to find the most innovative applications of NFC tags for the everyday mobile handset user. Winners included NFC tracking for “green exericse”, vehicle identification, and perscriptions.

Health Buddy

There were two joint winners. One was ‘Health Buddy’ from the Lancaster University team of Paul Coulton, Omer Rashid and William Bird. This uses NFC to encourage outdoor physical activity or ‘green exercise’, as a way of combating the increasingly sedentary lifestyle of the UK population. Health Buddy tracks the activity and progress of a user on a set exercise course, triggered each time the user scans an NFC tag at specific locations with an NFC-enabled phone. The location information provided by the NFC tags is linked to pre-calculated calorie-burning, timing and effort data for various physical activities, which could include walking, running and cycling. As well as providing an instant motivator during exercise, Health Buddy provides a historical view of activity, including distances covered and energy consumed.

YouTube announced that the latest enhancements to YouTube for Mobile will give users access to the largest repository of mobile video content available, expanding compatibility to over 100 million devices worldwide, and will give them more tools to personalize their experience.

YouTube for Mobile requires either a streaming capable (RTSP) phone as well as a 3G operator. This includes a majority of 3G phones from leading mobile phone manufacturers. YouTube worked closely with many mobile partners to improve the user experience on YouTube for Mobile, including Motorola, LG, Helio, Nokia, and more.

Not only will users and partners have access to the largest mobile video catalog, they also will be able to personalize their experience. Users will now have access to features regularly used on YouTube, including their YouTube accounts, Favorites, Videos, Channels as well as the ability to directly upload from mobile devices and share videos instantly. Users also will now have the ability to rate and comment on videos directly from their mobile phones.

Nokia had a very good year also reporting:

• 34% increase in revenue.
• 27% jump in handset shipments during the fourth quarter of 2007.
• 40% market share selling 135.5 million handsets.
• 44% increase in its fourth-quarter profit.
• Operating profit for the quarter was 2.49 billion euros, up 64% from 1.52 billion euros in the same period last year

AT&T had a very good year end:

• It added nearly 2.7 million wireless subscribers ending 2007 with 70.1 million subscribers.
• ARPU was up 2 percent to $50.28.
• 16.3 percent increase in total wireless revenues
• Data revenues increased 57.5 percent over the same period in 2006.
• There were 2 million AT&T iPhone users, 40 percent of whom were new to AT&T.
• The company posted net income of $3.14 billion.

For full financial information continue reading.

Alltel Wireless, nnounced that three new handsets - the LG Scoop, red BlackBerry Pearl 8130, and the Samsung Muse - plan to be available in Alltel retail stores and online at www.alltel.com/style during the first quarter of 2008.

Research In Motion is previewing BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections — a new software application that runs natively on BlackBerry smartphones to provide mobile users with access to Lotus Connections social software for business. The BlackBerry client application leverages the push-based architecture, security and administration features of BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which provides IT groups with the necessary controls for enabling mobile access to Lotus Connections in the enterprise.

Users will have the same benefits and functionality found on the desktop version of Lotus Connections directly from their BlackBerry smartphone, including the ability to collaborate on projects with teammates, locate internal subject matter experts by name or topic, as well as effortlessly share information and research to improve decision making.

Verizon Wireless announced that their Open Development Conference will be held in New York City on March 19-20, 2008.

News of the conference, which will focus largely on development for new devices to run on the Verizon Wireless network, comes just eight weeks after Verizon Wireless announced that later this year it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company.

AT&T announced that AT&T broadband subscribers will soon have free unlimited access to the company’s nationwide Wi-Fi network. The offer delivers an annual saving of $60 for AT&T broadband customers, and an annual saving of nearly $240 compared with AT&T Wi-Fi costs for consumers who do not have an AT&T broadband plan.

The free Wi-Fi offer will be available to new and existing customers who subscribe to any of AT&T’s broadband services with downstream speeds of up to 1.5 Mbps, 3.0 Mbps, or 6.0 Mbps. Free Wi-Fi access was initially provided to the company’s higher-speed broadband customers last year.

NextPhase Wireless , a nationwide developer of WiMAX-ready networks and provider of advanced wireless broadband solutions, announced that they have received confirmation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that their application for a nationwide license to provide WiMAX wireless services in the newly released 3.65 GHz band (3650-3700 MHz) had been approved.

“In late 2007, the FCC acknowledged the challenges faced in deploying WiMAX services in the US, and opened up the 3.65 - 3.7 GHz band for Wireless Broadband Services in an attempt to ‘encourage multiple entrants and stimulate the expansion of broadband service to rural and under-served areas’. Applications for nationwide licenses were accepted from November 12, 2007, and I’m happy to announce that our application to provide WiMAX wireless services in the newly released GHz band has been approved,” said Robert Ford, President and CEO.

Soon, you can read your phone just like you read a book, with a roll-out display that opens up to a wide 5" diagonal screen. Polymer Vision, the inventor of rollable displays announced the Readius mobile phone and reader known as the "cell-book" will launch by mid 2008. Along with the display and mobile phone, there is Bluetooth, up to 8GB microSD slot, music player and Internet portal - all operated by buttons.

"People are demanding greater choice and flexibility in having overall instant access to personal content and information" said Karl McGoldrick, CEO of Polymer Vision. "They do not want to be concerned with small screens, not being able to read in sunlight, a dead battery or a device being too bulky to carry in their pocket. Readius solves these worries and is generations ahead of anything else out there today".

Readius can last for 30 hours of continuous reading without battery charge. The 3G HSDPA tri-band phone allows worldwide calls and high speed instant updates from personally selected news sources, email and other services. Standard POP3 and IMAP is supported for ISP e-mail and others such as Yahoo!Mail, Google Gmail and Microsoft Exchange.

Samsung SCH-i760 Rated 4 out of 5 by Review of Reviews from Wireless and Mobile News

The Samsung SCH-i760 is a Windows slider phone with a touchscreen, dial keypad and full QWERTY keyboard. It supports many media formats, Microsoft Office, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and real-time email delivery.

In benchmark tests the processor did well for fast email, webpage, PDF and document viewing. Reviewers found the dial keypad and QWERTY keyboards easy to use except for the small send and end buttons on the front of the phone.

For business users, the ability to sync with Microsoft business applications was highly rated. The call quality ranged from mixed to excellent with special praise for the speakers for music. Battery life was fair to good with reviewers suggesting users use the extended life battery that ships with the SCH-760.  One reviewer thought that a scroll wheel was lacking and the phone was "bulky" while another called it poorly designed.

The SCH-i760 can be purchased for as low as $99 with a 2 year contract and an exclusive rebate for new subscribers who also buy other plans at Let's Talk or $299 with a rebate and contract from Verizon. It surely merits a test drive for business users who need a lot of power or functionality and for those who size does not matter. 

Verizon is expected to start selling the HTC Touch as the Verizon XV6900 Touch with sneak peaks appearing in the blogosphere.

The Verizon version comes in white and has the same touch capabilities of previous versions such as Windows Mobile 6 Professiona1, 256MB of flash ROM, EV-DO mobile broadband, Bluetooth 2.0 wireless, MicroSD slot and a 2MP digital camera.

Zumobi announced a partnership deal with Microsoft. Under terms of the business agreement, Microsoft will distribute the award-winning Zooming User Interface and mobile widget platform with Windows Mobile. This distribution agreement builds on the content partnerships Zumobi announced in December.

“Currently shipping on devices from more than 48 device makers with 125 mobile operators in 55 countries, Windows Mobile is one of the most accessible and familiar mobile computing platforms,” said Eric Hertz, CEO of Zumobi. “This strategic partnership benefits all of our constituencies — consumers, developers, content providers, carriers and advertisers — and enables us to continue building momentum quickly with our audience of techno-culturists and mobile business users.”

Verizon Wireless and SureWest Communications announced they have signed a definitive agreement for Verizon Wireless to purchase SureWest Communications’ wireless assets in northern California, operating as SureWest Wireless, for $69.0 million.

The purchase includes SureWest Wireless’ spectrum licenses, and network and operations assets in the greater Sacramento area. The licenses, which cover a population of 3.8 million people and overlap with areas currently served by Verizon Wireless, will expand the company’s capacity in that area. Verizon Wireless plans to begin serving SureWest Wireless’ more than 50,000 customers when the deal is finalized.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008 and is subject to federal regulatory approvals.

AT&T is now offering iPhone plans for business customers.The plans starting at $45 a month for unlimited data 200 text messages, $25 more a month than consumer plans.. It has been rumored that in the near future the iPhone will support IBM’s Louts Notes enterprise messaging platform.

iPhone business customers have to sign up for a 2-year service agreement or a renewed 2-year service agreement ifor existing AT&T wireless customer. for a Limited time offer. Qualified Corporate Responsibility Users and other corporate-liable users who activate an Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone by March 31, 2008 may be eligible to receive a service credit in the amount of $25 per month through December 31, 2008.

CSR announced that it has halved the cost of embedded GPS solutions through a collaboration with Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company (Samsung). The resulting products, based on CSR’s GPS software and Samsung’s module hardware, bring best in class location-based services to mobile phones, media players and personal navigation devices, while taking the guesswork out of GPS RF design and allowing OEMs an exceptionally short route to market.

The 9.8x9.8x2.15 mm Samsung module is based on the SiGe Semiconductor SE4120S GPS RF IC and is a complete GPS RF subsystem, including voltage regulation, RTC and TCXO, SAW filter and LNA. When combined with CSR’s GPS software running on a typical applications processor, the system achieves tracking sensitivity of -159 dBm and has a cold start acquisition time of under 40 seconds.

FON, the world’s largest Wi-Fi community, is calling on all residents of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood to join the FON community and bring comprehensive WiFi access to the Castro. Any qualifying resident or business owner of the Castro is eligible to receive a free La Fonera wireless router, including installation.

FON is turning the Castro into a free Wi-Fi zone by having individual neighbors share a small portion of their Internet connection. Everyone who shares gets free access to all hotspots created by the community. Castro residents can request their free router at SharetheCastro.com.

SANYO announced that it has reached a definitive agreement with Kyocera to transfer its mobile phone business to Kyocera for $467 Billion. The deal is expected to close April 1, 2008.

AT&T and The New York Times have partnered to allow wireless customers to access full-content of the newspaper’s site at no extra charge. AT&T wireless data customers will be able to read the latest news and entertainment articles at the New York Times’ mobile website.

Nokia announced that the Nokia N95 8GB had the distinction of being the first ever mobile phone to receive Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) certification. The DLNA is a body advocating the interoperability of wired and wireless consumer devices. For the consumer, this accolade translates into convenient and intuitive connectivity between your DLNA Certified home electronics devices, personal computers, and your Nokia N95 8GB.

DLNA technology enables multi-vendor home ecosystems of consumer devices by building a common connectivity platform for a variety of multimedia experiences. .

DLNA has certified the Nokia N95 8GB as a Mobile Digital Media Server, allowing the sharing of content, such as music, photos or videos, wirelessly on other devices in the home environment.

Alltel announced that it is the first U.S-based carrier to offer small business customers SalesNOW, a contact, activity and deal management software designed for the BlackBerry and the Web.

With the SalesNOW , professionals can track and manage their contacts, deals, activities and e-mails as well as access and share information with their entire sales team. Customers can perform these activities on their BlackBerry or on the Web through an individual, secure SalesNOW account. Changes the user makes within SalesNOW on the BlackBerry are automatically synced to SalesNOW on the Web and vice versa. The application also allows sales teams to provide up-to-date information on sales activity, view and print weekly activity reports, collaborate on team forecasts, track sale details and next steps on business deals.

The software is available for $25 per month for individual users or $40 per month for enterprise users with qualifying smart choice data plan on all Alltel Wireless BlackBerry smartphones.

HTCClassAction.org a newly launched consumer website claims that newer HTC smartphones are slower than previous models due to poor drawing drivers. They urge owners to contact HTC and complain. Although the site has gotten no official response from HTC, HTC is requesting information from owners. After press coverage, an HTC employer says that there is an internal apology email circulating that says that a fix in the works.

Sprint announced initial plans to streamline its business with reductions across the company including approximately 4,000 internal positions and reduced use of outsourced services. The company also expects to eliminate more than 4,000 third-party distribution points and to close approximately 125, or 8 percent, of its company-owned retail locations.

Sprint Nextel currently expects these actions to reduce its internal and external labor costs by an annualized rate of $700-$800 million by the end of 2008.

For the fourth quarter Sprint Nextel reported a net gain of 500,000 subscribers through wholesale channels, growth of 256,000 Boost Unlimited users and net additions of 20,000 subscribers within affiliate channels. These gains were offset by net losses of 683,000 post-paid subscribers and 202,000 traditional pre-paid users.

AT&T Tilt Rated 4 out of 5 by Review of Reviews from Wireless and Mobile News

The AT&T Tilt is a Windows mobile phone that has received excellent reviews for its full features including an innovative tilting screen, QWERTY keyboard, fast 3G data access,  GPS, push e-mail,  3-megapixel camera, and multimedia support for music and video.

It was lauded for working on networks all over the world and its ability to operate Microsoft Office applications. A majority of reviewers found that that features worked well including 3G, GPS, email, and camera. The processor is fast for most apps but can slow down with BlackBerry push email and large web pages. Laptop Magazine found fault with the XM radio and MobiTV.

The AT&T Tilt can be operated by touch, a stylus or the keyboard which has been called "roomy."  Some of the operating keys are placed where they can be hit by mistake. As with all smartphones we suggest you try before you buy to see how you like operating it.

Priced at $299 with a contract and rebate, the Tilt is a $100 less than the iPhone, it does have the added features of 3G, GPS, voice recogniiton, a keyboard, and multitasking. The Tilt has lots of bells and whistles, you can decide if it has the kind of ringing and whistling you like.

Please note there is an upgrade to the firmware for the AT&T Tilt.