April 2008 Archives

NMS Communications today unveiled the NMS Partner Network, a new partner program aimed at enhancing new product innovation, broadening efficient support services to customers and growing the company's global sales channel. The network establishes a community of technology and channel partners working together to further the development and adoption of both traditional and new value-added services. These services range from voicemail and audio conferencing to self-service speech automation interactive voice response (IVR) systems, ringback tones, voice short message service (SMS), and interactive mobile video.

The NMS Partner Network is designed for two types of NMS partners: technology partners, known as Telecom Innovators; and channel partners. Telecom Innovators include systems integrators, who develop and manage services on NMS technology for enterprises and service providers; telecommunications equipment providers, whose products interoperate within an NMS technology environment; and solutions developers, who design in NMS technology as an integral part of their applications and systems.

FierceWireless has named it’s top 15 of the most innovative and smart emerging companies in the wireless industry, FierceWireless’ annual Fierce 15 list.

1. Bluepulse - a free mobile social messenger.
2. Carrier IQ - the only company embedding diagnostic software in the phone.
3. Celltrust - enables enterprises to connect, exchange and transact mobile data securely
4. Cequint - provides technology that enables wireless carriers to offer enhanced Caller ID services which includes city ID.
5. ChaCha - “mobile answers” text message service.
6. DeviceAnywhere - database of devices for developers.
7. Firetide - 70 Mbps wireless backhaul for data, VoIP, and real-time video.
8. Loopt - LBS coupled with social networking.
9. mFoundry - mFoundry is becoming the platform for mobile banking: Motorola and PayPal are among its investors.
10. Pelago - Pelago’s first product, Whrrl, allows you to discover the world through the eyes of your friends and other people you trust..
11. Sequans Communications - WiMAX silicon provider.
12. SkyCross - specializes in advanced antenna technology.
13. Ubiquisys - femtocell innovator.
14. uLocate - LBS specialty and the proud owner of www.where.com.
15. vLingo - voice recognition engine.

“One thing all our Fierce 15 companies have in common is a bright executive team and the potential to advance the wireless industry. Here are the firms that we think will become great success stories.” wrote editor Sue.

Hands-On Mobile and Marvel Entertainment, announced the availability of the mobile game and personalization content around the forthcoming big-screen adaptation of Marvel’s legendary Super Hero, Iron Man. The game and content is currently available on select carriers around the world, and will continue to roll out to additional carriers in the coming weeks.

In the vertically scrolling shoot-‘em-up Iron Man mobile game, players take control of the invincible Iron Man while fighting through four levels of nonstop action based on the upcoming movie starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard. Equipped with repulsor rays and the devastating unibeam, players will visit many locations, including those from the movie, while at the same time blasting away at enemy forces equipped with the weapons Tony Stark had himself developed. Iron Man must collect power-ups to increase the effectiveness of each weapon and destroy relentless waves of enemy units en route to a climactic confrontation with the world’s greatest new foe: Iron Monger!

Iron Man is set to be released by Paramount Pictures in theaters May 2. For information and other exciting Marvel Mobile content, visit www.MarvelMobile.com. Iron Man the mobile game may be downloaded in the U.S. by text messaging IRON to 46966.

AdMob announced the introduction of AdMob Mobile Analytics. AdMob Mobile Analytics delivers a solution for understanding user behavior and makes it easy to measure the usage of mobile websites and advertising campaigns.

AdMob Mobile Analytics, which runs independent of the company’s other services, can be set up in less than 10 minutes and does not require advertising spend or publishing activity with the company’s flagship product, the AdMob mobile advertising network. AdMob Analytics will offer businesses a free, simple solution to maximize commerce, advertising and content on the mobile Internet and to improve the overall user experience.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications announced plans to release a new technology that, for the first time, bridges the Abobe®Flash Lite and Java ME development platforms. The new technology and tools, referred to as Project Capuchin, make it possible to combine the richness of Flash Lite and Java ME technologies allowing developers to utilize the best attributes of both software stacks to create content-rich mobile applications.

Sony Ericsson has plans to make the technology available during the second half of 2008 and will demonstrate Project Capuchin enabled applications at the JavaOne Developer Event in San Francisco, May 6 - 9, booth 718 in the Pavilion.

Project Capuchin will allow pure Flash Lite content to be encapsulated in Java ME applications with the help of Sony Ericsson Developer World tools, making content created by Adobe Flash technology appear as Java ME applications.

Project Capuchin will provide developers with an intuitive tool to create applications with a cleaner user interface (UI) without sacrificing the strong, feature rich and widely deployed Java ME infrastructure, including secure, well-developed content distribution. Project Capuchin’s bridging software will empower two distinct developer communities to leverage their respective expertises to create the next generation of highly engaging and immersive mobile content.

More advanced capabilities will allow Flash Lite technology to handle an entire presentation layer and make it possible to create Java ME applications where some or all UI components are defined in Flash.

Verizon Wireless, builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, today announced the enV2 by LG will be available on April 30 at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores across the nation. The new phone, revealed at CTIA WIRELESS 2008, features a redesign of the original enV by LG and will also be sold at Circuit City and online at www.verizonwireless.com.

The enV2 is geared towards on-the-go texters and music and video fans. In addition to its pocket-sized good looks, the phone is available in two sleek finishes - black and maroon.

Check out Wireless and Mobile News Review of Reviews of the LG enV2.

The Associated Press announced that wireless customers with video-capable phones will be able to view video on the soon-to-be launched Mobile News Network. To deliver this capability, The Associated Press has selected Transpera, a leading provider of mobile video services, which provides the first comprehensive platform to monetize Web video.

The Mobile News Network, scheduled to launch later this quarter, provides mobile users with a single point of access to local, national and international news. The multimedia news service is the first product released by AP’s Digital Cooperative, an initiative aimed at finding new digital outlets for the news and information produced by its members. AP announced the creation of the Mobile News Network at its annual meeting.

The Mobile News Network will include local news specifically contributed by AP members as well as national, international and content from the AP, such as sports, entertainment, business news, photo galleries and video clips. The network offers participating AP members the ability to generate revenue through local and national advertising.

For the first time, mobile phone users across the United States and Canada now have the ability to provide anonymous crime fighting tips through the power of SMS text messaging. mBlox,, and Anderson Software, LLC,  have joined together to provide this service which allows citizens to send anonymous tips by sending a text message from a mobile phone.

Using TipSoft SMS, tips may be anonymously received and securely replied to with complete confidence. Anderson Software has built this service specifically to allow text messaging informants to remain anonymous by encrypting the text messages and routing them through several secure servers, protecting the personal details of the informant.

TipSoft SMS also allows police to respond by text message to the originating cell phone without ever knowing the identity of the individual who left the tip. The user’s information is always given an alias and a unique ID before being sent. This secure application allows the tipster and the investigator to have two-way dialog while always keeping the user’s identity completely anonymous.

TipSoft is currently launching in 32 cities in the United States and will soon be available throughout the UK. Sixteen cities in Canada have already launched the program. Additional information on TipSoft SMS can be found on the Web site at http://www.smscrimetips.com.

Verizon Wireless and Vodafone announced they are teaming up to deliver the first ever live global mobile simulcast, with performances from Madonna’s exclusive up-close and personal show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City where she will debut songs from her new “HARD CANDY” CD. On April 30 (morning of May 1 in the UK).

Verizon Wireless and Vodafone will broadcast four songs live from Madonna’s historic performance. Available exclusively in the U.S. to Verizon Wireless V CAST Music customers.

This mobile broadcast will reach hundreds of millions of Madonna fans via their mobile phones, celebrating the release of Madonna’s 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records, “HARD CANDY.” The mobile broadcast is currently scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. EST via Verizon Wireless V CAST Performances and 3 a.m. GMT on May 1 on Vodafone Live. The four songs will be archived on the V CAST Performances channel so fans that are unable to join live can enjoy this exclusive performance for 30 days.

Nearly 1.3 billion mobile users - 30% of the subscriber base - are expected to utilize local mobile search services by 2013, according to a new report from industry analysts, Juniper Research.

The report argues that the best equipped regions for the delivery of mobile local search are currently Western Europe and North America, as all countries within these regions have good local digital information suppliers (yellow and white pages, city guides, restaurant and entertainment guides, traffic information, etc.) and also good mapping data (both on and off road) with good coverage of points of interest (POI).

Advertising supported local search will be the key to driving this sector according to Juniper Research, but the firm cautions that the effectiveness of advertising in this sector will vary widely according to local conditions. The availability and quality of locally based directories and content will be a key factor, as well as the presence of the necessary location based infrastructure. In the end it will be the quality of the user experience that will be of paramount importance, the report states.

BlackBerry’s and iPhones are the major contenders in the smartphone market and ChangeWave Research is trying to figure out why they are liked and disliked. ChangeWave  looked at the features users love and hate about their iPhones and BlackBerrys as part of their March 2008 survey of 864 smartphone owners.iPhone users loved the Web/iPod functionality of the phone while BlackBerry users loved their push email. iPhone users hated EDGE speeds and BlackBerry users disliked their Internet browsing.

The Apple iPhone

By far the most lauded feature of the iPhone among owners is its seamless integration of a Phone, iPod and Internet browser (36%). One respondent puts it, “The feature I use most is the iPod, but it’s the integrated whole that makes it so much fun to use. “

Another respondent adds, “I love the iPhone. It is revolutionary. I love being able to jump on the Internet, send email, get maps, weather forecasts, instant message, and make phone calls.”

The second most popular feature is the iPhone’s touch screen interface, followed by its ease of use.

The market for premium mobile content platforms grew almost 20% in 2007, resulting in a $3.4 billion share of the $18.5 billion of revenue generated by the mobile premium content market, according to recent research by MultiMedia Intelligence (http://www.MultiMediaIntelligence.com). As cellular subscribers worldwide increasingly look for personalization and enhanced entertainment content on their mobile handsets, subscribers are continuing to purchase more premium content, such as ringtones, music, mobile games and video. Mobile content platform companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, Ericsson, Motricity NMS Communications and Qualcomm provide key systems and tools to in-take, catalog, store, and deliver content.

“Many industries would be thrilled with 20% growth. While the mobile content platform and digital commerce services companies find it disappointing, much of the issue is out of their hands,” according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer with MultiMedia Intelligence. “The ringtone market is softening while other content categories are failing to live-up to expectations. Additionally, the mobile content platform and digital commerce services companies sit in the mobile content ecosystem stuck between the more powerful operators and content owners. The operators have tremendous power as they own the subscriber. The content companies have power as they own the content that individuals want. The revenue distribution among the different industry segments reflects this power imbalance.”

Wireless customers who subscribe to plans that offer additional services such as in-network calling and unlimited text and picture messaging are typically more satisfied and exhibit greater loyalty than subscribers without unlimited plans, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 U.S. Wireless Contract Regional Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) StudySM-Volume 1.

The study finds that more than 25 percent of current wireless customers purchase plan upgrades, which typically offer unlimited use of text messaging, downloads, and picture and video services for a flat rate. Overall customer satisfaction with wireless carriers is notably higher among these customers, compared with those whose plans have usage limits. On average, unlimited messaging plan customers are 33 percent less likely to switch service providers in the next year compared with limited plan customers.

comScore, Inc. in the results of a study evaluating the behaviors and attitudes of wireless phone subscribers. found that price is important.

The study - conducted from February 29 to March 5, 2008 - found that price has become an increasingly important factor in the purchasing decision and that the use of Mobile Internet among existing subscribers continues to grow, with of the majority of these users accessing the Web at least once a day.

“Overall study results indicate that cellular phones are quickly transitioning from being viewed by consumers as a simple communication device to a multi-functional media and entertainment consumption device,” said Serge Matta, senior vice president of comScore Telecommunications Solutions. “There is a significant opportunity for mobile carriers, advertisers and product developers to capitalize on the industry’s continued trend toward consumer dependence on cell phones.”

A source (Apple Inc employee), who chose to remain anonymous, told Palluzxo that senior executives of the two companies had already met.

Wacom announced a major innovation in capacitive touchscreen technology, called Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC™) touch, that will be publicly unveiled at the International Society for Information Display Exhibition, booth #1129, May 20 to 22, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

Wacom’s patent-pending technology employs newly designed low-power circuitry and r reversing ramped electro-static fields to deliver pinpoint precision and drift-free performance to touchscreen users. The technology can be integrated into platforms that require only a finger touch interface.

“Wacom’s latest capacitive touch innovation is truly another technology breakthrough for Wacom,” said Masahiko Yamada, President and CEO of Wacom Company Ltd. “It demonstrates our calling and commitment to bringing human interface products to market that make computing more natural, easy and fun.”

Intuitive Integration
Wacom’s RRFC touch technology overcomes many limitations that are inherent in surface capacitive touchscreens available today. For starters, Wacom employs new static field engineering for increased stability and drift-free performance. With advanced ASIC design and high resolution signal processing, RRFC touch is effectively immune to noise. It is also the only surface capacitive touch technology that can demonstrate excellent accuracy, stability and sensitivity even when working on battery power. As an additional benefit, both Wacom’s RRFC touch and EMR pen input technologies can work together off of a single ASIC and MCU pair, significantly reducing overall bill of materials and manufacturing costs.

Nokia unveiled a trio of minimalist lmobile devices: the Nokia 6600 fold, the Nokia 6600 slide and the Nokia 3600. The devices are expected to start shipping during the third quarter of 2008.

"There is a strong consumer demand for mobile handsets that blend elegant looks with modern features," said Mikkel Drucker, Director, Connect Devices. "Each of the three devices introduced today offers a slightly different take on a core design language. We believe they are both beautiful to use and beautiful to behold - and offer a range of choice."

Greystripe, ad-supported mobile games and applications distributor, announced the results of a mobile advertising campaign with New Line Cinema for the film, “The Golden Compass”.

The users exposed to “The Golden Compass” ads on the Greystripe network exhibited the following: 

• Significant increases in awareness of and interest in film — a +19.3 percentage-point increase in awareness
  of the film’s title
• Increased interest — exposure resulted in a +9.5 percentage-point increase in interest in seeing the
  film among overall respondents
• Intent to see the movie in theaters increased by +14.5 percentage points among respondents ages
  18-24

The concept of mobile social networking is catching on in the U.S., as all tier-I and tier-II operators now offer social networking applications. Support from mobile operators expects to directly impact application discoverability, provide marketing support, and drive growth in the U.S. mobile social networking markets.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.mobileandwireless.frost.com), An Insight into U.S. Mobile Social Networking Markets, finds that revenue from on-deck mobile social networking services in the U.S. expect to reach $ 412 million in 2012. Additional revenues can also be expected from mobile advertising.

“While the extension of popular online social networking communities onto mobile phones is a major growth driver, it is unreasonable to expect the same level of functionality as is offered through the PC,” notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Analyst Vikrant Gandhi. “Mobile social networking services clearly need to be targeted toward mass-market phones in order to gain traction.”

Mobile social networking represents an additional monetization opportunity for the mobile communication value chain participants. The convergence of three main trends - emergence of popular social networking services on the Internet, increasing penetration of the mobile web, and emergence of mobile advertising - drives mobile social networking.

Sony Ericsson introduced two new HSDPA phones into its line-up; each clearly designed to take its range of web-enabled phones in a different direction. The Z780 expands the company’s range of devices for markets outside of Europe and the compact G502 brings the power of the web to a mainstream audience.

The Z780, a sister product to the recently announced Z770, is set to broaden the range of web-enabled phones into more markets across the globe. It packs tri-band 3G and HSDPA into its stylish clamshell frame, letting you receive email or browse the web at high speed in countries across the world. It also introduces built-in aGPS, giving users the opportunity to carry their navigation solution with them on their phone.

The new G502 is the latest in an established line of classic Sony Ericsson phones that cram a wealth of time-saving features into an affordable, pocket-sized phone.

The G502 is the first such model, however, to feature high-speed HSDPA capability. This means that more users can now benefit from faster browsing and downloading capabilities in a phone that has a feature-set that is impressive and incredibly easy to use - perfect for those who want to stay in control of their lives.

Following recent moves to extend Skype conversations to a wide variety of new mobile and wireless devices, Skype is taking another major step as it continues to merge its internet communications software with mobile phones. The company released a beta version of Skype for your mobile, a mobile “thin” client that works on about 50 of the most popular Java-enabled mobile phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The beta version of Skype for your mobile is available worldwide with a feature set that includes chat, group chat, presence (seeing when your contacts are online), and receiving calls from Skype users, and through SkypeIn.* Additional features, which include the making of Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls from the mobile handsets, are initially supported in seven markets: Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

There are two ways to get the beta version of Skype for your mobile: as a direct over-the-air download to a compatible mobile phone, or it can be downloaded to a computer and then transferred to the phone. For instructions, please visit www.skype.com/go/mobiledownload. This Web page also includes a directory of currently supported mobile phones and the list of markets where the full feature set is available. Additional phones and markets will be added over time.

AT&T and Starbucks today announced the beginning of the rollout of AT&T Wi-Fi service at company-operated Starbucks stores, kicking off a nationwide effort that will continue through 2008. At the 2008 AT&T Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders in San Antonio, chairman and chief executive officer Randall Stephenson announced that the companies have already started the deployment of AT&T Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations in San Antonio, making it the first market to deliver the complete AT&T Wi-Fi experience in the U.S.

Also, as of May 1, qualifying AT&T high speed Internet and Wi-Fi customers will have complimentary Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. For millions of AT&T customers, that means more speed in more places — and for free. Qualifying AT&T customers can connect to the Internet from Wi-Fi enabled company-operated Starbucks locations nationwide by simply selecting “ATTWiFi” after powering up their computers. Free AT&T Wi-Fi service is currently offered with AT&T’s three higher-speed residential broadband packages, all small business broadband packages and with all AT&T U-verse(SM) offerings with high speed Internet service.

For other customers, AT&T Wi-Fi service will reach company-operated Starbucks locations on a market-by-market basis throughout the year. The experience will include a mix of free and paid connection options for both frequent and occasional Wi-Fi users and qualifying Starbucks customers. Once AT&T Wi-Fi service is available, customers will be able to shop and surf both Starbucks’ and AT&T’s respective home pages for products and services.

According to several reports the new 3G iPhone (HSDPA) is expected to be launched June 9 during Steve Job’s keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. The iPhones should then arrive in stores a few months later.

“Operators and distributors continued to top up their inventories in 1Q 2008 after a particularly strong 4Q 2007,” says ABI Research vice president Jake Saunders. “Year on year, 1Q 2008 was up 13.7%, but 2Q 2008 is likely to be softer than in previous years.” Shipment volumes in the developed markets have softened slightly due to the credit crisis, but emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific, South America, and the Middle East/Africa are delivering growth rate percentages in the mid-20s. Mobile devices have proved to be a “lifestyle necessity,” rather than a mere luxury accessory.

Despite all the global concern about price inflation in food, rent, clothing, oil, and utility bills, device manufacturers are not benefiting. The ASP (Average Selling Price) has shown comprehensive price erosion for all manufacturers.

In the market-share stakes, Nokia increased its share to 39.9% while Samsung and LG were also net winners with 16% and 8.4%, respectively. Motorola continued to lose market share (falling 2.6%) to 9.5%, while it was more of a surprise that Sony Ericsson lost market share (down to 7.7%). It may be the case that that Sony’s Walkman and CyberShot lineups are in need of a substantial refresh.

Infineon Technologies AG  announced that Samsung Electronics, Inc., Seoul, Korea, has chosen Infineon’s HSDPA Platform XMM 6080 for their new family of HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) mobile handsets. Samsung is introducing a comprehensive family using the Infineon XMM 6080 platform. The platform includes the HSDPA/EDGE baseband, power management, single chip 3.5G RF transceiver and is complemented by Infineon’s protocol stack for HEDGE phones.

This  solution enables customers to significantly reduce their component count, footprint, complexity and cost of designs. The XMM 6080 platform will enable Samsung to introduce a wide range of new HEDGE (HSDPA/EDGE) phones reusing the proven Infineon core architecture.

Infineon has already started volume shipments of its platform. The Samsung HEDGE phones with the XMM 6080 are expected to be available in the second quarter of calendar year 2008.

New figures from analyst firm Juniper Research estimate that almost 3 billion mobile coupons will be issued to Mobile Users by 2011, with just under $7 billion of discounts redeemed.

The new Juniper study finds that mobile coupons are becoming an increasingly important tool for brand owners and retailers to provide a ‘push to purchase’ capability for mobile marketing and advertising campaigns. The key issues driving the move to mobile coupons include:

• Cost savings on campaigns
• An increase in ARPU
• One-2-one marketing opportunities
• An increase in customer retention for mobile operators — lower churn
• Higher conversion rates
• The expansion of mobile value added services
• Reduced fraud

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), (www.mmaglobal.com), which represents more than 600 companies across the mobile marketing ecosystem, today announced the release of its global Mobile Advertising Guidelines.

The first set of global guidelines issued by the association, are designed to encourage the uptake of mobile advertising by brands worldwide whilst enhancing and protecting the customer’s experience, by creating a framework for brands and media companies to deliver mobile advertising in a positive and consistent way. The guidelines have received industry endorsements from associations such as IAB UK and Mexico, dotMobi Advisory Group (MAG), ADMA and others.

Summary details of NextWave's U.S. spectrum licensed portfolio are contained in the table below.

Nokia announced an multimedia film production with Academy Award nominated director, Spike Lee. Nokia Productions will create the world’s first social film built entirely by everyday people using their mobile devices to generate and submit original content which will then be combined into one artistic multimedia film created by Spike Lee.

The program will evolve around a central theme of humanity, specifically the way music tells the story of humanity. The film will consist of three acts each of which will include an “assignment” for participants which Spike Lee will announce throughout the program. To participate in Nokia Productions, consumers can submit their original content consisting of any combination of text, music, video or images during certain time periods between now through August 21 at http://www.nokiaproductions.com.

Each act of the production will last for four weeks. Spike Lee will direct the collaboration digitally from the Web site, guiding and critiquing creative submissions throughout the production. There will also be online assistant directors that will personally help participants revise their entries and then repost for consideration. After each act closes, Nokia will choose the “Top 25” submissions, and visitors will vote for their favorite submission creating the “Top 10” from which Spike Lee will then choose the winning submission from each act to be integrated into the final film. Five randomly selected contestants from each act will win a Nokia N95 and the opportunity to travel to the film’s premier in Los Angeles and meet director Spike Lee.

There will also be weekly giveaways including a new Nokia device and free music download cards.

The final collaborative film containing the three winners’ submissions along with other contributed content, will premiere this fall at the soon to open Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

go2 Media (www.go2.com) announced the debut of its mobile website dedicated to providing basketball fans up-to-date information on the NBA Playoffs (NBA.go2.com). The mobile website offers users game and telecast schedules, up-to-the-minute scores of the entire 2008 NBA playoffs and links to purchase tickets to the games.

The go2 NBA Playoffs site is accessible through the main menu of go2 (wap.go2.com) or by visiting NBA.go2.com directly on a mobile phone. Visitors to the go2 NBA Playoffs mobile site will find content generated by go2 correspondents, including game previews and top stories of the week. Correspondents and site producers will also be sending SMS alerts embedded with a link back to the NBA site.

Revenue from mobile media and entertainment (MME) services in the US will more than double during the next five years, according to the latest research from Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and digital media (www.analysys.com).

US MME services (excluding messaging, and mobile browsing and data charges) generated US $3.1 billion in revenue in 2007, and Analysys Research forecasts that revenue will grow to $6.6 billion in 2012, at a compound annual growth rate of 16.3%. The strongest growth will not occur until after 2010, as the technical and market environment for MME services improves, according to the latest Analysys report, Mobile Media and Entertainment in the US: forecasts 2007-2012.

Key trends that are driving market growth include:
• Improvements to service accessibility: mobile Web browsing platforms will improve and facilitate access to off-deck content, and presentation of off-deck content will become more streamlined and user friendly.
• Wider availability of content, driven in part by higher-generation network and device penetration: “As 3G, 3.5G and Qualcomm’s MediaFLO network coverage increases, a greater range of services will become available to a wider audience, and off-deck content markets (both operator-billed and non-operator-billed) will develop,” said Katrina Bond, co-author of the report. “Non-operator-billed revenue from MME content and services will increase significantly during 2007-2012, and will account for $1.3 billion, or nearly 20%, of MME revenue by 2012.”
• Improvements to service usability: providers have not focused enough on the end­-user experience for MME services, and users’ frustration when the experience does not meet their expectations has inhibited the growth of some services.
• Simplified and more attractive pricing of MME content and applications, as well as mobile data access: complex pricing, high data charges, and unfavorable revenue­ sharing arrangements for content providers have inhibited growth in the MME market.

Using SnapTell's Snap.Send.Get mobile marketing technology, readers will snap a photo of any advertisement in the issue with their cell phone or photo-enabled mobile device to send (or short code) to SnapTell, where an immediate promotional bounce-back will be sent to their device. The initiative offers a great deal of flexibility for marketers to provide instant brand messaging, sales incentives such as product samples and discounts, sweepstakes information, and links to websites, photos and videos--at no cost to the advertiser. The technology is compatible with all cell phone providers and does not require special software for downloading advertiser images.

Verizon Wireless customers will also be able to view mobile shorts, red carpet coverage and celebrity interviews on their mobile phones.  Full-feature films will be made available on Verizon's FiOS TV VOD service.  Customers can learn more online at www.verizon.com/tribeca.

"Tellme believes in the power of voice to transform how people use devices," said Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme. "Tellme delivers an end-to-end experience. As opposed to Web-search services, Tellme focuses on specific tasks where the request leads to a specific answer -- like a movie show time, weather info or driving directions."

Mobile users surfing for information while on-the-go no longer need to type their location or starting point, Tellme uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to deliver local information right to the phone's screen. For example:

• Business Finder: Say the name of a business or business category, such as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or share the listing with a friend.
• Movies: Say the name of a movie theater and see theaters closest to you, movie show times, driving directions to the theater and the ability to buy tickets powered by Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination.
• Traffic: Say "traffic" and get a map with traffic conditions on major local routes, all using Live Search Virtual Earth.
• Weather: Say "weather" and see a five-day forecast for your local area or say a different city to see weather for any other U.S. city.
• Maps: Say "map" and, using GPS and Live Search Maps, see a map of the local area or say a new city and the map is automatically updated.
• Driving Directions: Say "driving directions" and speak or type a destination to see step-by-step directions from your current starting location.

Building on its leadership in voice services, history with 411 business search and 1-800-555-TELL voice access to content, Tellme provides the information people want when they are on-the-go. In the year ahead, the types of things people can use Tellme's service for will expand to include more mobile content and communication services.

AT&T and Research In Motion today announced the launch of the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone, which includes built-in global positioning system (GPS) support for location-based applications and services. Combined with navigation and mapping applications such as AT&T Navigator, the handset provides turn-by-turn voice and on-screen directions with colorful 3-D moving maps that can be used in vehicles or while walking. AT&T Navigator also alerts users through voice and on-screen prompts to traffic slowdowns and incidents along their programmed travel route, and it provides customers with the option to choose an alternative route.

The s BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone from AT&T measures 4.2 inches by 2.4 inches by 0.5 inches, weighs approximately 3.2 ounces and is available in a glossy titanium or rich red finish. It features the popular BlackBerry e-mail and messaging capabilities, including RIM’s SureType QWERTY keyboard system for easy typing and phone dialing — enhanced with word completion and a spell-checker with a user-customized dictionary. The smartphone features a display that supports more than 65,000 colors and automatically adjusts brightness based on surrounding light levels. The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 also is the first BlackBerry that enables users to wirelessly download AT&T’s popular — and free — YELLOWPAGES.COM Mobile application directly from an icon on the smartphone. Customers can easily find and map local businesses, save favorite listings and get step-by-step directions to or from any location.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 also features multimedia capabilities, including an advanced media player that is ideal for users who want easy access to music and videos while on the go. It also includes a 2-megapixel camera that supports video recording(1), a 3.5-mm stereo headset jack, externally accessible microSD(TM)/SDHC memory slot for additional storage, high speed USB and Bluetooth 2.0 with support for headsets, car kits, stereo headsets and other Bluetooth accessories.

Pricing and Availability

The new BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone from AT&T is available now at AT&T retail stores nationwide, via http://www.att.com and through AT&T’s business-to-business sales teams for as low as $149.99, with a two-year contract, unlimited data plan and $39.99 voice plan. Customers who want personal e-mail access and Web browsing with BlackBerry(R) Internet Service can choose the BlackBerry Personal Unlimited data plan for as low as $30 a month with a qualified voice contract. Unlimited corporate e-mail and data access via BlackBerry(R) Enterprise Server or BlackBerry(R) Professional Software are available for as low as $45 a month when a qualified voice plan is also chosen. Customers who travel overseas can select the BlackBerry International Unlimited data plan for as low as $65 a month with a qualified voice plan. AT&T Navigator requires a separate subscription of $9.99 a month.

In celebration the second anniversary of “My Circle,” Alltel Wireless is unveiling a special bonus number to customers, making the most cost-effective unlimited calling plan in the wireless industry even better.

Beginning today, all customers celebrating their two-year anniversary with “My Circle” will automatically receive one free “bonus” number added to their current “My Circle” plan. In addition, on each subsequent two year anniversary on an eligible “My Circle” plan, another bonus number will be added at no additional cost.

Eligible customers who have 10 “circle” numbers on “My Circle 10” will now enjoy 11 numbers they can call for free on any network. “My Circle 20” customers will get a free 21st number. To receive the bonus number, customers can simply visit www.alltel.com/myaccount and insert the number of their choice.

First-quarter 2008 results included:

• Accelerated Wireless Revenue Growth -Total wireless revenues increased 18.3 percent versus the year-earlier first quarter to $11.8 billion


• Wireless service revenues, which exclude handset and accessory sales, grew 17.1 percent to $10.6 billion.


• Revenue growth was driven by strong subscriber gains and continued improvement in ARPU (average monthly revenues per subscriber).


• AT&T has now posted seven consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth in wireless service ARPU, which was $50.18 in the first quarter, up 2.0 percent versus the year-earlier first quarter. Retail postpaid subscriber ARPU growth was even stronger, up approximately 5 percent.

TapRoot Systems Inc., a developer of software for the smartphone market, today announced that it is providing free trial versions of its WalkingHotSpot solution to Wi-Fi enabled smartphone users.

In response to massive world-wide inquiries surrounding the recent announcement of TapRoot’s award-winning WalkingHotSpot solution, TapRoot is now providing free trial versions of this software to transform a Wi-Fi enabled smartphone into a hotspot providing access to the Internet. The free trial version, for selected Wi-Fi enabled smartphones using the Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile®6 Professional operating systems, can be downloaded by visiting the download page of www.WalkingHotSpot.com. Support for other major mobile operating systems is coming soon.

The carrier version of the WalkingHotSpot solution supports multiple devices simultaneously through secure connections. The application is specifically designed to be power-efficient, robust and end-user friendly. The solution is commercially available for immediate implementation in carriers’ networks.

V-ENABLE, local mobile search and directory assistance services announced the availability of a full-featured downloadable version of FreeMobile411 to Sprint customers. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the launch of the FreeMobile411 mobile internet site earlier this month.

Push “TALK” to Search FREELY This voice-enabled application allows users to simply speak what they are looking for by holding the talk key of their phone, and seeing the results displayed on the screen within seconds. FreeMobile411 not only gives access to 140 million residential and 14 million business, listings but it also allows users to browse by category, get maps, driving directions, see other businesses nearby and more, all for free. On top of all that, the user is also provided with the option to connect to an operator, if still needed, at any time during the process.

At the 10th anniversary commemoration of IBM’s India Research Lab, the company today unveiled a new initiative to bring even more features and functions to mobile devices as they continue to rival the PC as the primary tool for Web-based business, education, communication, entertainment and more.

The new IBM Research program will entail a number of efforts to bring simple, easy-to-use services to the millions of people in the world who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing technology, and are instead using their mobile phone to access the web, conduct financial transactions, entertain themselves, shop and more.

“The world is entering the ‘Era of the Mobile Web.’ In many countries, the mobile phone has become an electronic wallet, the window to the World Wide Web, an education device and more, and globally, mobile devices outnumber PCs, credit cards, and TVs,” said Dr. Daniel Dias, Director, IBM India Research laboratory. “Today, we are launching projects that will make a mobile device an even easier to use than the PC, allowing you to do everything you can with a PC and much more.”

The projects, which will be led out of India, but also are being incubated in IBM’s eight global labs in six countries, include: - The Spoken Web - Voice-enabled mobile commerce - Instant Translation - Real-time communication between multiple languages through mobile devices - SoulPad - Enabling any portable device to carry computing applications in your pocket - Social networking on-the-go - Good Samaritan - Mobile healthcare information made available in any emergency situation

Movida, the United State’s largest Latino-focused MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), was purchased by Cozac, LLC a subsidiary of APC Wireless. The acquisition of Movida and Liberty Wireless (acquired January 2008) enhances APC Wireless’s commitment to growing its MVNO strategy.

Backed by APC Wireless, Movida is now a stronger organization. Samuel Bahreini, COO, of APC Wireless stated, “APC Wireless is dedicated to Movida’s subscriber base and setting industry-wide benchmarks for superior service.” While the company, the rate plans, and subscriber contracts remain the same, the user experience will improve. Through its expertise in hand set fulfillment, software customization services, expansive buying power, and strong balance sheet; Movida subscribers can expect increased satisfaction in services dedicated to the Latin market. “Our strong growth plans for Movida in the Latino market should signify another vote of confidence in the MVNO market” says Samuel Bahreini.

Motorola, Inc. through Motorola Ventures, its strategic venture capital arm, announced today it made an equity investment in VirtualLogix, a maker of virtualization software for communications devices and infrastructure equipment. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

VirtualLogix is enables the mobility of applications from the desktop to devices, improves quality of service and security in an open mobile world, and will enable a new generation of dynamic individual user experiences. It is believed that it may enable mobile phones to switch between operating systems such as Windows and Android.

“As virtualization moves out from the datacenter and into everyday front-end connected devices, our connected world will require the delivery of efficient, secure and customizable user experiences,” said Peter Richards, CEO of VirtualLogix. “To meet this demand, leading electronics manufacturers are looking to leverage the VirtualLogix technology to create products with improved security, manageability and customization.”

Motorola joins VirtualLogix’s current investors Atlas Venture, Cisco Systems, DFJ Esprit, Index Ventures, Intel Capital and Texas Instruments.

Chrysler will be equipping the ChryslerTown & Country and the Dodge Caravan minivan with Wi-Fi and 4G in the 4th Quarter of 2008 and early 2009. This service will allow for Internet connections, email and music downloads.

“Mobile Service Providers” has emerged as the fastest growing industry category in terms of brand value growth, according to the 2008 BrandZ Top 100 Most Powerful Brands ranking released by global market research and consulting firm Millward Brown.

Led by China Mobile, the mobile service providers category as a whole increased by 35 percent over last year. The biggest influence on the growth of the market has been the advent of 3G technology, which enables video calling and game downloads. Competition is often fierce, as mature markets approach saturation. This makes strong brands and customer relationships even more important.

Mobile Brand Highlights:

• China Mobile, ranked first in the mobile category and ranked fifth among all brands in the BrandZ Top 100, with more subscribers than any other mobile provider, benefited from the rapidly growing Chinese market. The brand’s popularity allows it to charge a premium price over competitors.

• Vodafone, second in the category, which has a large worldwide subscriber base, did very well in Germany, Spain and Australia. The brand’s value increased significantly as a result of an acquisition, as well as strong growth in emerging markets like Egypt, India Turkey and South Africa.

• Verizon Wireless, third, benefited from its focus on wireless data, wireless broadband, DSL, optic fibre, and its sponsorships in the fields of sports, music and multicultural marketing.

fring became the world’s first mobile VoIP application to be made publicly available for the iconic apple iPhone, enabling users to talk, chat and interact with other fring users (“fringsters”) and all of their online communities, using their iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection.

A light, sneak preview R&D version of the phenomenally popular mobile VoIP application, developed in conjunction with the Holon Institute of Technology academic research labs in Israel, is now available for use on the iPhone from www.fring.com/fring_is/fringcubator. The pre-release version is designed to both answer demand from iPhone-owning would-be fringsters and at the same time enable fring to learn about user experience, benefit from early feedback and influence the R&D process of the full release version, due for launch later this year.

The special pre-release version will enable iPhone users to get an early taste of fring and discover the freedom of being able to take their fring contacts and buddies from their other favorite online communities mobile on their iPhones. They will also have the ability to make free and low cost mobile calls over Wi-Fi & enjoy rich, IM-style live chat with their online contacts, regardless of whether they are on their mobiles, PC’s or other internet devices.

All you need to start enjoying the pre-released fring for iPhone is an “opened” iPhone with the Istaller and W-iFi access. And, just like all other fring versions, fring on iPhone is free to download, free to use!

Cell phone users in San Diego can now access live television programming on the go with MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV service, which launched in San Diego today with Verizon Wireless as V CAST Mobile TV. A subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV service lets Verizon Wireless subscribers watch many of their favorite television shows from the convenience of their cell phones, wherever and whenever they want.

With MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV service, V CAST Mobile TV subscribers can flip from one channel to the next to watch popular, full-length programming on select Verizon Wireless mobile phones. MediaFLO USA’s dedicated multicast network brings top programming from some of the industry’s best entertainment brands, including CBS, CBS College Sports, CBS News, Comedy Central, ESPN, FOX, FOX News, FOX Sports, MTV, NBC, NBC Sports, NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, NickToons and Nickelodeon. V CAST Mobile TV subscribers also have exclusive access to two channels on the FLO TV service: MTV Tr3s and an ESPN Radio channel.

San Diego-area Verizon Wireless customers can get hands-on demonstrations of the VCAST Mobile TV service at Verizon Wireless Communication Stores throughout the region. For more information, please visit the V CAST Mobile TV Web site at http://www.verizonwireless.com/mobiletv.

Doing its part to help address the issue of nearly one-third of U.S. high school students dropping out, AT&T  announced the launch of AT&T Aspire, a $100 million philanthropic program, which includes job shadowing for 100,000 students nationwide, to help strengthen student success and workforce readiness.

“In the U.S., 1.2 million students drop out of high school every year. This has implications for individuals and for our nation’s global economic leadership,” said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, who will address the topic Thursday at the Economic Club of Chicago. “AT&T Aspire is about supporting the great work already underway to help our kids succeed in school, and helping students see the connection between education and their best future.”

Through the Aspire initiative, AT&T and the AT&T Foundation are committing $100 million (over four years, 2008 - 2011) toward high school success and workforce readiness. The platform includes four key elements:

• Grants to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on helping students graduate from high school and become better prepared for college and/or the workforce.
• A student job shadowing initiative, involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours, that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.
• The underwriting of national research that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.
• Support for 100 state and community Dropout Prevention summits, announced earlier this month by America’s Promise Alliance.

AT&T announced that the company has completed, through a subsidiary, the acquisition of Edge Wireless. Edge is a provider of wireless communications services in Oregon, northern California, Idaho and Wyoming.

AT&T says that addition of Edge’s wireless network will allow AT&T to deliver broader wireless coverage to customers in the Northwest, including Edge’s existing subscribers. Edge customers will also gain access to AT&T’s portfolio of products and services, as well as to the nation’s largest voice and data network, which covers more than 290 million people.

The two companies have a long-standing relationship as roaming partners, and AT&T expects a smooth customer transition. AT&T will immediately begin to implement a carefully planned process to integrate the AT&T and Edge Wireless networks, combine product portfolios and merge customer care initiatives.

The acquisition of Edge Wireless follows review and approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Total spending on mobile media services by consumers and advertisers, including web access, video and music products, will more than double from almost $47 billion in 2007 to over $102 billion by 2012 according to a new Strategy Analytics report, “Global Cellular Media Forecast 2007 - 2011.” Strategy Analytics also projects that the population of cellular users engaging in mobile content and applications delivered over cellular networks will ramp from 406 million to over 870 million across the same period.

Radio Disney,, launches a new Radio Disney Mobile website and texting program developed in conjunction with mDisney, a part of the Walt Disney Internet Group. The new Radio Disney Mobile Web site allows users of web-enabled mobile phones to receive fast delivery of Radio Disney information and services including the ability to listen to Radio Disney, see the last ten songs played on Radio Disney, find local Radio Disney stations, send shout-outs, request songs, view Radio Disney’s Top 30 and take a Radio Disney quick poll.

The new texting program will allow users to interact with Radio Disney via a shortcode 347639 (DISNEY). Listeners will now be able to text the following terms to 347639 for various entertainment options:

• RADIO - to visit the Radio Disney Mobile Web site
• SHOUT - to send a shout out
• LISTEN - to listen to Radio Disney
• REQUEST - to request a song
• TOP30 - to access the top 30 songs currently on Radio Disney

Evolution Robotics Inc., in partnership with Bandai Networks Co. Ltd, Japan’s leading mobile content provider, announced that KDDI Corporation is including the “ER Search” visual search engine on its new Spring 2008 “au™” line of camera phones, and has made it available for download for any KDDI customer with a prior “au”camera phone. This launch marks a dramatic expansion in the market for mobile visual search, which will enable millions of consumers in Japan alone to do online searches by taking pictures of everyday objects with their camera phone.

The deployment of this technology in the mass market also opens up an entirely new range of categories of services for mobile marketing, which is already projected to grow to $24 Billion worldwide by 2013. (Source: ABI Research)

ER Search is a mobile search engine operated by Bandai Networks and powered by Evolution Robotics’ ViPR visual pattern recognition system. It works essentially like using a traditional search engine, but without having to type any text or go through complicated menus. Instead, users simply snap a picture of something they’re interested in and immediately get back relevant content, all in the palm of the hands.

A free trial PC version of ViPR is available through Evolution Robotics.

In Western Europe, the male population is more inclined to browse and download content on the mobile Web. Fully a quarter of all male mobile phone users accessed mobile media, compared to just under 19 percent of women. This audience is also quite young: 28 percent of 13 to 17-year-olds consume mobile media, only 12 percent of those 55 and older do.

"Reaching the 18 to 34-year-old age demographic is a real challenge to advertisers, as this group is spending less time consuming print and broadcast media," observed Paul Goode, senior analyst. "According to TGI M:Metrics data, in Great Britain, young consumers are redirecting that attention to mobile, as 18 to 34 year olds comprise 56 percent of mobile media users, compared to only 29 percent of TV viewers."

Percent Reach of Mobile Media    Percent Reach of Mobile Messaging
usage, by Gender, EU5:           usage,by Gender, EU5:  February,
February, 2008                   2008
Age     Male  Female   Total     Age     Male  Female   Total
-----   ----  -------  ------    -----   ----  -------  ------
13-17   32.6%    24.3%   28.4%   13-17   85.6%    92.7%   89.2%
18-24   38.5%    27.2%   32.9%   18-24   90.5%    94.6%   92.5%
25-34   34.5%    23.7%   29.2%   25-34   89.9%    92.7%   91.3%
35-44   26.4%    19.3%   22.9%   35-44   83.6%    88.4%   86.0%
45-54   19.3%    13.3%   16.5%   45-54   74.9%    84.0%   79.3%
55+     12.3%    11.1%   11.7%   55+     64.6%    73.8%   69.3%
Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2008. Survey of mobile subscribers.
Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31st February
2008, mobile subscribers in EU, France, n = 12,973 Germany, n = 15,128;
Italy, n = 13,599; Spain, n = 12,446; United Kingdom, n = 16,459.

Mobile Messaging Audience defined as subscribers who sent one or more text
messages in month.
Mobile Media Audience defined as subscribers who browsed or downloaded in
any form in month.

San Antonio is the place for AT&T Wi-Fi at Starbucks and use of the super touchscreen table Surface in AT&T stores that works as a sales tool.

There have been several reports that the first AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot at Starbucks is up and running in San Antonio. The Surface experience also surfaced there.

Beginning April 17, visitors to AT&T stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio, and San Francisco can try to experience Surface in person.

AT&T is the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Users will be able to place two devices on Surface at once, comparing features and benefits. Even looking at coverage maps becomes an interactive experience when users navigate them by moving their hands across the display. This will give them a unique experience of using cutting-edge surface technology to help make purchasing decisions easier.

According to a new report from the telecom research firm Berg Insight, more than 100 million mobile subscribers in Europe will use location-based services by 2012. Mapping, navigation and search are believed to become the top applications, followed by social networking and tracking.

“All the pieces needed for successful LBS are more or less in place now”, said André Malm, telecom analyst, Berg Insight. “GPS is about to become a standard feature in mass-market handsets which are highly advanced and support third party applications. Many will try and a few players will most likely succeed in creating location-enabled mobile applications that will have the same impact on the mobile industry as MySpace and Facebook had on the Internet.”

High adoption rates will however not immediately translate into high revenues. LBS providers are going to have to depend on advertising sales in the same way as other online players. The mobile advertising eco-system is still undeveloped and needs many more years to become mature. “First there must be a critical mass of active users to work with, then someone must create a successful model for reaching out to these individuals via their handsets and after that the mobile media must be embraced by the top spenders in the advertising industry”, said André.

Epoq Multimedia has brought new meaning the word handset  a wristwatch mobile phone that runs Windows Mobile 5.0. The Epoq EGP-WP98B includes a 1.8-inch OLED (organic light emitting diode) screen, quad-band GSM telephony, Bluetooth, WiFi, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and music and video playback capabilities.

A new report by Juniper Research into the mobile financial services sector has found that the number of consumers accessing banking services and products via their mobile phones will reach 816 million by 2011, a tenfold increase on the number using such services in 2007.

The report found that financial institutions are delivering an increasing variety of products in the mobile environment including financial information services, funds transfer, bill payment and presentation, account management and customer service.

According to the report, the annual number of global mobile banking transactions will rise from 2.7 billion in 2007 to 37 billion by 2011, as a greater number of services are deployed worldwide. It adds that increased consumer confidence, due to the enhanced security measures that are being utilised in mobile financial services will be crucial to greater service usage levels.

However, the report cautioned that a number of hurdles to service deployment and user adoption have yet to be overcome, including financial regulation, payment transaction costs, revenue share issues and customer support difficulties.

Alltel Wireless has teamed with Ontela to bring their customers PhotoCopter, a service that saves every camera phone picture customers snap to their home computers and favorite web photo albums.

The PhotoCopter service is exclusively available to Alltel customers with the Motorola V3m, V3a, V9m and ROKR for $2.99/month, providing customers with unlimited picture transfer to their PC, email address, and web photo albums including Photobucket, Flickr, Blogger, and Snapfish.

The PhotoCopter service addresses a widespread problem for camera phone owners: it is often difficult to get pictures off of a camera phone. On a typical phone model, it requires 100 keystrokes to get ten pictures transferred to a PC. While a recent Ontela study reported that 93 percent of camera phone users want to save their pictures to their home computer, only 24 percent of camera phone users can actually do it.

More than 1,200 exhibitors showcased the latest in handsets, accessories, applications, content and infrastructure technologies that are driving the worldwide evolution of mobile services. Established and emerging companies on hand at CTIA WIRELESS introduced new products:

• Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.1 and IE Mobile 6
  
• Yahoo! Mobile launched oneSearch 2.0, with text and voice queries
  
• Handsets and Smartphones: Samsung Instinct; Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition; Kyocera E4600; Sony Ericsson Z750a and XPERIA 1X with Windows Mobile; HTC Touch Dual, Motorola, LG Vu, RIM Curve 8330 with GPS;
• Clearwire, Intel and Motorola demonstrated WiMAX - Velocity Mobile debuted and announced its Velocity 103 handset
  
• Nokia introduced the N810 tablet, WiMAX version

Verizon Wireless, the builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and VOCEL, publisher of premium branded mobile phone applications, today announced the availability of The Pill Phone, a new Get It Now application that provides Verizon Wireless customers with detailed drug information and automatic dosing reminders - right on their phones.

Verizon Wireless customers can purchase and download The Pill Phone from the Get Going or Tools on the Go virtual shopping aisle of the Get It Now virtual store by clicking on “Get New App” and then “Mind, Body & Soul.” The Pill Phone is currently available for a $3.99 monthly subscription on a number of popular Get It Now-capable phones, including the Chocolate and the enV by LG, the LG VX9400, the MOTORAZR maxx Ve, and the Alias by Samsung. Airtime or megabyte charges apply for sending and receiving data using Get It Now, depending on the plan. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled phone and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

First unveiled during CTIA WIRELESS 2008, the Verizon Wireless XV6900 is a stylish, compact and versatile touch-screen smartphone that gives busy professionals the high-speed connectivity of the Verizon Wireless broadband network.

CTIA, The Wireless Association and its member companies are urging Congress to pass legislation requiring a five-year hiatus on new discriminatory state and local wireless taxes. To achieve this goal, Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Chris Cannon (R-UT) introduced the “Cell Tax Fairness Act” today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The wireless sector of the technology industry continues to be an important driver for growth in our nation’s economy. Americans don’t just talk on their wireless phones anymore; they access the Internet, get information, pay bills and use wireless to be more productive at work and other every day activities, ” said Lowell McAdam, CTIA-The Wireless Association® Chairman and Verizon Wireless President and CEO. “With about 15 percent of each customer’s monthly bill already going to taxes and fees, increasing discriminatory and unfair taxes on wireless customers presents a clear and present danger to future growth. Policymakers should roll back taxes on wireless customers.”

According to analysis from a new study that examines trends of taxation on wireless service in the U.S., consumers continue to face a substantial, unfair tax burden, paying over twice the 7.1% rate imposed on other competitive goods and services subject to sales tax. Between 2003 and 2007, taxes and fees on wireless service increased four times faster than taxes on other goods and services.

IceBreaker Inc., announced a new interactive mobile advertising feature called Golden Ticket which is now an integral part of the Crush or Flush community. Crush or Flush is a social network where members meet people, chat and flirt by browsing real picture profiles and decide whether to ‘Crush’ or ‘Flush’ them.

Members average 100 page views per day in the Crush or Flush community and with the introduction of Golden Ticket, members can discover sponsored branded picture profiles while exploring other member profiles. More unique and engaging than traditional banner ads, Golden Ticket profiles gives marketers the ability to deliver high value brand impressions through an immersive experience that is targeted, relevant, exclusive and provides members the choice to engage directly with the brand or dismiss it.

“Mobile advertising has great growth-potential and we predict that advertising revenues within on-deck mobile social networking services can reach $102.6 million by 2012,” said Vikrant Gandhi, a senior analyst with Frost & Sullivan. “The model presented by Crush or Flush is innovative and promising by allowing people to interact with brands as if they were real profiles on the site while also opening a new revenue channel for online and mobile social networks.”

JuiceCaster, a mobile social-networking service, is set to launch on T-Mobile USA. The wireless carrier will make JuiceCaster version 6.0 available on 12 of its top handsets. T-Mobile joins Alltel, US Cellular and Cricket Wireless as the US operators who provide JuiceCaster to their mobile subscribers.

JuiceCaster instantly connects users to their online lives. It enables easy, one-touch sharing of pictures and videos directly from a camera phone to more than 20 top online social-networking and blogging sites, including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, the latest version of JuiceCaster, 6.0, now includes the ability for users to post and watch real-time video status updates on their mobile devices.

AOL today announced that it has acquired Sphere Source, Inc., a leading provider of contextual-search tools which offers related content to publishers. Sphere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL as part of the company’s Programming division, which is led by Executive Vice President Bill Wilson.

Founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, Sphere uses its contextual-search platform technology to make connections between content from blogs, video, media, photos and advertisements. These contextual results are then displayed in a pop-over window or an integrated widget that lets publishers enhance articles by incorporating related articles and blog posts from archived content and across the Web.

Nokia announced the availability of the Nokia 6212 classic featuring integrated Near Field Communication (NFC). The 3G handset allows consumers to conveniently share content, access services and information as well as conduct payments and ticketing with one tap of the device. The Nokia 6212 classic is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2008 in select markets in Europe and Asia with an estimated retail price of EUR 200 before taxes and subsidies.

Near Field Communication is designed for intuitive, simple and safe interaction between electronic devices. By tapping an NFC-enabled tag, consumers can receive new content such as weblinks, audio files or contact data directly to their phone. They can activate a profile in their handset or open applications such as FM radio or web browser. Photos and videos can be easily shared by tapping another NFC-capable phone and pairing with a Bluetooth NFC-enabled device, like the new NFC variant of the Nokia BH-210 headset, happens with just one touch. The lightweight Nokia BH-210 with NFC headset allows users to access all functions easily with a single multifunction key. The widely compatible headset can be used with a number of Nokia devices as well as other manufacturers’ phones.

The Nokia 6212 classic can also be used as a travel ticket or for mobile payments. Travel tickets can be charged over the air, so there is no need to wait at the service counter. Users can store their credit card information on the device and access their account online directly from the handset. Using the Nokia 6212 classic for payment and ticketing purposes requires a service subscription and the installation of an appropriate secure application. Security for transactions is assured as the handset can be set to allow payment only when the user expressly authorizes the transaction via an additional passcode.

Telsima Corporation, a global leader in WiMAX systems, announced today that is has successfully demonstrated a 50km (30mile) high capacity broadband connection using its Sub-GHz WiMAX system in a 3 MHz channel under near line of sight conditions in the 450 MHz frequency band. Telsima’s Sub-GHz solution is able to accommodate any carrier frequency from 400MHz to 1000MHz, enabling operators to rapidly deploy a tunable solution to suit their allocated frequency band.

The tests, conducted under over a period of several days in the months of February and March of 2008 in Slovenia, stimulated significant commercial interest for using 450MHz and other sub-GHz frequencies carrier grade frequency bands. The base station was located at Vir Domžale silos with a vertically polarized antenna with 10.15 dBi gain. The subscriber station, using a Yagi antenna with a 10.65 dBi gain, was installed in a car that drove across terrain that included dense foliage and wooded hills. At a distance of 50 km, at Javornik, the WiMAX system communication link yielded excellent results; modulating at 64QAM in the downlink and 16QAM in the uplink; providing over 6Mbps throughput over the wireless link.

Telsima’s mobile WiMAX product portfolio allows operators to offer mobile services, MIMO antenna diversity and ASN network control today while smoothly migrating to 802.16e-2005 and NWG ASN solutions once commercially available.

The development of a new product to deliver news to Apple’s iPhone and other smart phones was announced on Monday by Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley at the AP’s annual meeting. The Mobile News Network, which brings together top national and local news from members of The AP, is now in testing phase.

The not-for-profit news cooperative also announced a deeper reduction in its newspaper members’ basic service assessments for 2009, totaling up to $21 million — or 10 percent of their total AP service fees.

“The formation of the Mobile News Network positions members to capture opportunities on high-growth mobile platforms,” Curley said in his report to the AP membership at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

“The Mobile News Network will provide a national platform for smart phone users to access local content from brands they trust,” Curley said. “Members can participate by providing local news that will appear alongside their logos. Importantly, the network also offers a new outlet for members to sell local advertising to the mobile audience.”

The network will be the first product to be released by the AP’s Digital Cooperative, a program designed to find new digital outlets for the news and information produced by AP members. The network will provide the booming market of mobile users with a single point of access to news from hundreds of local publishers. It will also offer a national platform for local advertisers to reach a new generation of consumers.

Mobile streamed and broadcast TV services will become the most lucrative delivery channels for mobile advertising by 2010, according to a new report by Juniper Research. The report says that total annual adspend on the mobile will exceed $1 billion for the first time in 2008, reaching $1.3 billion by the end of the year and rising to nearly $7.6 billion by 2013.

While SMS campaigns currently account for the largest proportion of mobile advertising budget, the increasing popularity of mobile TV services mean that adspend in this area will rise from just $335 million in 2008 to more than $2.5 billion in 2013. Meanwhile, idle-screen advertising is expected to become a significant contributor to total mobile adspend in the medium term, with revenues rising from just $7m in 2008 to more than $500m in 2013.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “While adspend in the mobile environment is still extremely limited when compared to the budgets allocated to media such as magazines, television, cinema and the Internet, the opportunities it offers — personalized advertising with very high response rates, delivered to a device which is always in close proximity to the individual — will make it an increasingly attractive proposition for leading brands.”

Microsoft Corp. has completed its acquisition of Danger, Inc., the company announced today. Danger’s expertise in building great, intuitive client software for mobile handsets connected to powerful hosted back-end services fosters rich consumer experiences in communication, media sharing, entertainment and personalization. The combined force of Danger and Microsoft strengthens the company’s ability to provide innovative mobile experiences to more consumers.

Danger will become a part of the new Premium Mobile Experiences (PMX) team, a group within the Mobile Communications Business (MCB) of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. The PMX team focuses on consumer-facing mobile projects and is led by Roz Ho, corporate vice president of Premium Mobile Experiences, reporting to Andy Lees, senior vice president of the MCB. Danger co-founders Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt will join the new organization, reporting directly to Ho.

“We imagine a mobile experience that embraces sharing and celebrating relationships and personal moments,” Ho said. “Combining Danger and Microsoft talents together in the Premium Mobile Experiences team is how we’re going to deliver cool, new, fun mobile experiences to consumers. We want people to smile every time they look at their phone.”

In 2008, US ethnic communities will spend $59.8 billion on telecommunications services, accounting for over one-third of all residential telecom expenditures, according to a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation. The largest minority group, Hispanics, representing 14.8 percent of the total US population, will spend the most. The ability to tap into the increased spending power of the Hispanic-American, African-American, and Asian-American communities will be crucial to the survival of telecommunications providers over the next five years.

Insight Research’s market analysis study, US Hispanic Use of Telecommunications Services, 2008-2012”, takes a close look at the purchasing habits and telecom usage patterns of the Hispanic segment of the US population. The study emphasizes that the US Latino market is not one homogenous market; rather, it is made up of many markets. The study reports that 65.5 percent of all Hispanic respondents now have cell phones, that Hispanics’ average monthly household expenditures on cell phone service was more than 80 percent higher than the average household spend on wireline services, and of those Hispanics that own a cell phone, nearly four in five had a post-paid contract.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "2008 Global Broadband Market - Demand for Faster Networks" to their offering.

The primary driver behind users upgrading to broadband is simple - users want fast Internet connections. And as the popularity of Web 2.0 applications continues to grow, this demand will in turn continue to build. The opportunities high-speed services present are becoming apparent and Internet users are increasingly tiring of the problems and slow speeds associated with dial-up services. In 2008 broadband subscribers now account for roughly 30% of all worldwide Internet subscribers. 

Broadband and high-speed wireless penetrations will continue to increase, as will the growth of new applications that could exploit these higher speeds. Internet access is just one of many services that will be delivered over broadband infrastructure. Far more importantly, other services that depend on high quality broadband infrastructure include e-health, e-education, e-business, digital media, e-government, smart utility meter reading, etc. In countries where the national telco is lagging behind, local governments have no other choice than to take a leadership role - just as they have done with similar infrastructure over the last 100 years.

Key highlights:

• In early 2008 there were over 350 million broadband subscribers worldwide.
• During 2008 to 2013, worldwide fixed broadband services revenues are expected to grow by between 8-13%.
• Worldwide satellite broadband service revenues are also expected to grow on average around 8% in the coming years.
• DSL subscribers are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 13% through to 2011. 
• Broadband is seen as being vital to both the economy and the community. BuddeComm estimates that it will add over $100 billon to the Australian economy.
• In New Zealand Telecom's cabinetisation plan will see the incumbent replace 2,000 local exchanges when they roll out their FttN network. This could potentially make ULL investments in DSLAMs obsolete.
• As with the past decade, the coming decade will witness the Internet, underpinned by broadband, having dramatic impacts on the lives of North Americans.
• Eight new international submarine fibre projects are planned around Africa and expected to go online in 2008 and 2009.
• 3G mobile networks in South Africa are being upgraded to 7.2Mb/s and surpassing ADSL subscriber numbers. For more information, see chapter 5.4.1, page 123.
• The broadband market in Latin America has been growing steadily in most countries, and there is considerable room for expansion. Although the situation varies considerably from country to country, the region as a whole is a fertile ground for broadband investment

E-TEN Information Systems has announced the Glofiish M810 and M750, the first in a new series of Pocket PC Phones that put the focus on portable entertainment, dynamic social networking, and go-anywhere communications ideal for the web 2.0 generation.

E-TEN’s newest Pocket PC phones are designed to help the new breed of bloggers, podcasters, video makers, and chatters, stay online and updated wherever they are. Glofiish M810’s Wi-Fi and HSDPA or the M750’s Wi-Fi and EDGE connectivity give users a high speed feed of data an web surfing.

Checking email, chatting via instant messaging, and even posting an update to a blog is quick and convenient thanks to a full QWERTY keyboard.

AT&T announced it has deployed an exclusive, wireless system that provides network coverage along the entire Market-Frankford subway line including the underground section between 40th and 2nd Streets. Operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the Market-Frankford line is the busiest line in the system with an average weekday ridership of 178,715.

“Our customers want wireless coverage where they need it the most and that’s certainly true as they ‘ride the rails’ each day,” said Dan Lafond, vice president and general manager for AT&T’s wireless unit in Philadelphia. “AT&T customers can make a phone call, check e-mail on their BlackBerry or send a text message anywhere on the Market-Frankford line.”

The new underground wireless system is in addition to existing coverage already available from AT&T for the elevated section of the Market-Frankford line as well as Regional Rail stations at 30th Street, Suburban Street and Market East.

Since 2004, AT&T has invested nearly $500 million, adding 200 new cell sites throughout Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. AT&T also expanded the blazing-fast third generation (3G) wireless broadband network in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware enabling customers to quickly access streaming video, games, pictures, news and entertainment through MEdia Net, the company’s mobile Internet portal.

MobiTV revealed that it will be participating in and providing interactive capabilities for the consumer trials also announced today by the A-VSB Initiative. The consumer trials are planned for later in 2008 in one or more U.S. markets and will illustrate the business opportunities that A-VSB powered mobile TV can provide to the television ecosystem.

A-VSB is a proposed open standard and backward-compatible enhancement of the existing U.S. digital TV broadcasting system. It includes the A-VSB physical layer and global standard OMA BCAST application layer for mobile broadcasting, showing live local and national content as well as providing interactivity. A-VSB has been proposed to the ATSC for its upcoming mobile and handheld standard ATSC-M/H.

As a founding member of the A-VSB Initiative, MobiTV believes that a rich and ubiquitous interactive application framework will provide an unrivaled user experience for the ATSC-M/H system, allowing for the creation of elegant user experiences enhancing the broadcast video stream.

CSR  gave the first public demonstration of its Ultra Low Power (ULP) Bluetooth silicon.

CSR gave the successful demonstration at the Continua Health Alliance medical conference in Luxembourg. The demonstrations showed that CSR’s ULP Bluetooth silicon consumes 10 times less power than standard Bluetooth when connectable. Other participants in the medical conference included the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and Nokia.
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CSR’s ULP Bluetooth demonstrations consisted of two ICs successfully transferring ULP Bluetooth data packets 50-times faster than standard Bluetooth, meaning that the devices were consuming as little as 1/50th of the power. In addition, in establishing the connection, the ULP devices used 1/10th the power required by standard Bluetooth. CSR’s demonstration ICs employed both standard Bluetooth (v.2.1) and ULP Bluetooth radios. CSR calls these devices ‘dual-mode’ because they support both flavours of Bluetooth radio

With the new VZ Navigator (Version 4), customers in 75 cities from coast to coast will be able to access traffic incidents, traffic updates and find detours around traffic congestion and accidents; more cities are expected to be added in the coming year. In addition, VZ Navigator will offer 3D perspective view, a movie and events finder, weather reports and forecasts, and gas prices at nearby gas stations.

 Verizon Wireless E-mail and Web for Smartphone, available today, offers customers a host of features including an unlimited data allowance for e-mail and Internet browsing.

The plan supports up to 10 personal e-mail accounts, including those from popular Internet service providers such as Yahoo!® Mail, AOL®, Windows Live and Verizon.net. Customers will enjoy e-mail provider branded inboxes on select accounts creating a familiar, convenient and easy-to-use e-mail experience.

“Customers using E-mail and Web on their Smartphones can use these tools to stay on top of news from their favorite Internet sites or remotely and seamlessly interact with friends or clients via e-mail,” said Robert Miller, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless. “Customers will enjoy the convenience of using one device for personal e-mail and Internet browsing.”

E-mail and Web for Smartphone is available for $29.99 monthly access with a qualifying voice plan through business sales channels, at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, including those in Circuit City.

The plan is currently available on the Verizon Wireless SMT5800; the Verizon Wireless XV6800 and the MOTO Q9m. Other devices will be added within the next few months. An E-mail and Web for BlackBerry plan is currently available.

Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson have today announced a mutual commitment to a framework for establishing predictable and more transparent maximum aggregate costs for licensing intellectual property rights (IPR) that relate to 3GPP Long Term Evolution and Service Architecture Evolution standards (LTE/SAE). The companies support a single-digit dollar amount as the maximum aggregate royalty level.

The companies invite all interested parties to join this initiative which is intended to stimulate early adoption of mobile broadband technology across the communications and consumer electronic industries.

The framework is based on the prevalent industry principle of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms for essential patents. This means that the companies agree, subject to reciprocity, to reasonable, maximum aggregate royalty rates based on the value added by the technology in the end product and to flexible licensing arrangements according to the licensors' proportional share of all standard essential IPR for the relevant product category

Verizon Wireless announced the deployment of 19,500 internationally enabled BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphones to more than 56 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices worldwide. The devices are part of the agency’s Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) Mobility Program and provide FBI agents with mobile access to federal law enforcement information that was previously inaccessible from handheld wireless devices.

Verizon Wireless also conducted in-person training with agents, transferred phone book contacts directly to the new devices, and provided complete equipment set up that included fully-charged batteries, SIM card activation, and unit assembly to ensure a smooth transition from the FBI’s previous wireless devices to the new BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphones. All deployed devices feature asset tagging and tracking capability, ensuring that lost or stolen devices are easily recovered and the information on those devices remains secure. In addition, each field office can access account information online to manage and maintain the devices quickly and easily.

HipCricket, a pioneering mobile marketing company, launched the first-ever comprehensive Hispanic mobile marketing network. The network is composed of a family of Hispanic media properties that can be leveraged by brand marketers to deliver highly targeted and interactive mobile marketing programs directly to the handsets of opted-in, engaged mobile users who are part of the $860 billion Hispanic consumer market.

HipCricket, cited by CTIA and others for its innovation and ability to drive broadcast revenue and consumer engagement, also announced that major Hispanic media companies Bustos Media, Lotus Communications and Davidson Media Group are among the first to join the network. These companies and others collectively represent more than 50 radio and television stations, nearly one million listeners and viewers, 24 overall markets and reach into seven of the top 15 Hispanic markets.

While a large number of phones today still use browsers with very limited web browsing capabilities, many smartphones are incorporating browsers that support the latest capabilities such as AJAX and RSS, as well as websites optimized for viewing on a mobile device. ABI Research sees this segment of the mobile browser market accounting for the vast majority of growth over the next five years, as the open-Internet browser (OIB) segment for mobile grows from 76 million in 2007 to nearly 700 million browsers delivered in 2013.

“The focus today for mobile browser developers is to take advantage of the latest web standards while also developing solutions tailored towards the unique experience of using a browser on a mobile phone,” says research director Michael Wolf. “The most recent commercial solutions from Opera, Openwave and ACCESS, as well as those using open source solutions such as Webkit, are targeted towards allowing consumers to access content on the web without limitations due to browser constraints.”

Tesco Mobile has published a detailed media pack for agencies and brands based on a trial, which was managed by mobile services company, InfoMedia Services. They have confirmed Tesco Mobile’s WAP portal to be a responsive advertising medium for major brands assisted by a strong segment of female browsers, unique amongst UK mobile operators.

The trial campaigns, including advertising for Bee Movie, Nivea, ITV and Teletext were delivered and sold by 4th Screen Advertising. Banner advertising served up to the Tesco Mobile portal delivered a strong click through rate to specially created mini campaign WAP sites, of between three and seven per cent.

To complement the trial, Tesco Mobile engaged InfoMedia to conduct a WAP based survey to uncover which segments of its customer base were actively browsing the mobile site and their attitudes towards mobile advertising. The survey revealed that the MVNO has an active, loyal user base with a strong segment of female household budget owners, particularly valuable for FMCG brands. The survey produced impressive findings;

• Average age 36
• 60% female
• 60% visit the portal at least once a month
• 69% would click on a relevant advertisement

Samsung Electronics and CNN International announced their contract to offer Samsung mobile phone users an easier access to CNN multimedia news service.

Samsung host this new Java service, which was demonstrated in February at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. The partnership will be executed across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.

Starting from Samsung G810, a 5-megapixel camera phone with cutting-edge multimedia features and high-speed HSDPA connectivity, various other Samsung mobile phones will equipped with CNN’s mobile contents.

Samsung G810 will be available in the European market from May.

WirelessCareer.com announced the launch of a new and unique career network, exclusively servicing professionals in the wireless industry.

According to research by CTIA, it is estimated that 3.6 million jobs depend, directly and indirectly, on the U.S. wireless industry. That figure, which amounts to approximately 2.5% of all jobs in the U.S., is expected to increase significantly. Research shows that in the next 10 years the US wireless industry will create an additional 2-3 million new jobs.

We believe in keeping things simple, and the simplicity of the network we are creating is what makes WirelessCareer.com an indispensable service for every professional and company in the wireless industry. Despite the size of the industry’s workforce, there currently is no industry specific platform that enables efficient connections between job candidates and employers.

Today, only 21 percent of people earning less than $30,000 per year have broadband and the applications it makes possible in their homes; three times as many affluent households have high-speed access. One Economy believes that we need a profound and urgent national commitment to bring the power of information to all Americans--regardless of income, race, age, or geography. Bring IT Home America is a national call to action that responds to that the need for affordable Internet access, youth-led technology training, and public-purpose media, opening the doors of the 21st century to millions of Americans.

"One Economy has worked around the world to connect low-income people to 21st-century resources and information," said One Economy Chief Executive Officer Rey Ramsey. "Now, we are leading a national effort that will extend those opportunities to millions more Americans."

Hop-on, Inc.announced today that its low end GSM cell phone with no LCD screen was a big success during CTIA meetings in Las Vegas, resulting in an initial test purchase order of 10,000 phones. The phone sells for $20. The low cost 900/1800 MHz phone will utilize both Texas Instruments chip sets and Infineon chip sets.”

Cellfire today announced a McDonald’s promotion in Utah that offers consumers free iced coffee, when they use Cellfire mobile coupons at participating McDonald’s locations.

The McDonald’s free iced coffee promotion runs until through April 27, as part of the launch of McDonald’s new iced coffee beverage and is good at participating restaurants throughout Utah, western Wyoming and eastern Nevada (no purchase is necessary).

Consumers downloading Cellfire to their mobile phones will receive the free iced coffee offer and future offers by participating McDonald’s restaurants. Consumers can access Cellfire at www.cellfire.com or by texting “mcd” to 22888 using their mobile phone. The Cellfire discounts for McDonald’s are automatically uploaded to their mobile phone, and consumers save when they show the offer on their phone when ordering.

Opera Labs has developed  an Opera Mini version that will run on Google’s Android open mobile development platform available for download now. Although there is no hardware currently running Android, you can try it out on the Adnroid SDK.

Sixty-eight percent of the world's population is women and children who could benefit much from mobile technology, but the majority of mobile devices are designed by men, for men, according to Gartner, Inc. The user profile to which most mobile products are targeted is a western adult male (age 20 to 64), but this represents just 32 percent of the global population.

"Mobile products will have to address gender diversity and demographics, evolving and differentiating into a range of consumer products," said Monica Basso, research vice president at Gartner. "This trend, together with the consumerization of IT and progressive evolution of the worker population towards younger individuals and women will force user organizations to re-think their working structures, environments and processes."

At Gartner Emerging Trends Symposium/ITxpo 2008, in Las Vegas this week, Gartner analysts discussed the demographic and gender trends that will influence mobile technology adoption.

The Federal Communications Commission passed guidelines for mobile alerts during emergencies and disasters, named the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) .

Wireless carriers that choose to participate in the CMAS will transmit text-based alerts to their subscribers.

Consumers can expect to receive three types of messages via their cell phones and other mobile devices from participating wireless carriers, including:

•Presidential Alerts - national emergency-related alerts delivered to the American public that would preempt any other pending alerts;

•Imminent Threat Alerts - alerts with information on emergencies that may pose an imminent risk to people’s lives or well-being;

•Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alerts - alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation.

MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) accelerometers have hit the limelight in the past year, although most consumers are probably quite unaware that they make the Nintendo Wii’s motion-sensing remote control and the Apple iPhone’s self-orienting display possible. But according to ABI Research senior analyst Douglas McEuen, these popular products are only the high-profile advance wave of what will be a rising tide of new and innovative uses for the tiny motion sensors.

“Other major game console manufacturers are following Nintendo’s lead in seeking accelerometer applications for their next-generation products,” he says. “But games are only one use for these specialized devices. They are already widely used in automotive airbag systems (where the high sales volume has helped drive down prices.) They can measure vibration in industrial machinery; they are used in exercise step-counters, and we will see them in growing numbers of other phones and PDAs.”

Recently, in an effort to improve shock-reducing designs, researchers in the United States even fitted accelerometers to football helmets in order to measure the impact when players collide.

A relative handful of manufacturers share this high-potential market. A “big three” - Analog Devices, Freescale, and ST Microelectronics - are joined by just a few others, including OKI Semiconductor and Hitachi Metals America.

“In the very creative consumer electronics market,” adds McEuen, “the sky’s the limit. The growth rate of this market will be determined by the imaginations of designers as they think up innovative and unexpected ways to incorporate accelerometers into new devices. The arrival of another wildly popular consumer product that sells large numbers worldwide could give this market a significant boost.”

Americas, a wireless industry group announced the technology milestone of 3 billion GSM and UMTS/HSPA subscriptions worldwide, based upon research and projections by Informa Telecoms and Media. Today, 88% of the world’s 3.5 billion mobile wireless subscriptions are to the GSM family of technologies.

GSM mobile wireless technology continues to outperform most of the communications technologies ever invented. By comparison, there are only 850 million personal computers worldwide, forecast to reach 2 billion in the year 2015 (Forrester, June 2007). Three billion GSM/HSPA subscriptions is nearly triple the number of people accessing the Internet around the world, 1.1 billion. Fixed landline phones number just over this, at 1.3 billion globally. The closest technology in terms of number of electronic devices is the number of television sets. But even that number falls a full billion short of the 3 billion GSM/HSPA milestone, with an estimated 2 billion television sets in use today (Source: Communities Dominate Brands blog, Tomi Ahonen, January 2007).

Compiled through a survey of thousands of U.S.-based cell phone users (survey details below), the Wirefly.com research confirmed the rapid growth in text messaging usage, with 36% of respondents classifying themselves as heavy users - sending anywhere from one a day to hundreds per month. An additional 29% send fewer than 25 text messages a month, and the other 35% saying they never take advantage of text messaging capabilities.

Within the top-third heavy user category, the majority of respondents said that they send more than 100 text messages a month:

• 37% sent between 25-100 text messages a month;
• 23% sent 101-250;
• 20% sent 251-500; and,
• 20% sent more than 500.

The Wirefly.com survey shows that the growth of text messaging continues to be fueled by personal and non-professional uses. Of the 65% of customers who do send text messages, a huge majority use them only to contact friends, spouses or significant others. Just 8% of text message users report sending a 'text' to a co-worker or for professional reasons.

According to the survey, Wirefly.com discovered that texting takes place only within a small social circle:

• 48% - send messages to just 2-5 people;
• 21% - expand that pool to 6-10; and,
• 20% - spread their messages around to more than 10 recipients.

TripIt (www.tripit.com), announced the launch of TripIt Mobile, allowing travelers to access TripIt from popular mobile devices, including Apple iPhone, Palm Treo and RIM Blackberry.

TripIt helps travelers better organize their online travel plans—no matter where they’ve booked—by just forwarding their travel confirmation emails to plans@tripit.com. Like a personal travel assistant, TripIt automatically reads and organizes those travel plans, then automatically adds daily weather, local maps, driving directions, city guides and more to personalize their travel itinerary. TripIt does this all behind the scenes, quietly accessing websites like Google, Eventful, Flickr, Wikipedia, NOAA, SeatGuru, etc.

With TripIt Mobile, users now have a slimmed-down interface designed specifically for mobile phones. Travelers simply point their mobile device to m.tripit.com to easily access their travel plans, look-up a flight number, check a hotel address, or view a local map and driving directions.

TripIt and TripIt Mobile are free services. Travelers can get started by visiting www.tripit.com to learn more, or by simply forwarding a travel confirmation email to plans@tripit.com.

Nokia launched the worldwide Mobile Games Innovation Challenge, designed to encourage development of innovative game concepts to help propel mobile gaming with handheld devices into a new and exciting future.

Sponsored by Nokia Publishing, the Mobile Games Innovation Challenge invites developers to submit mobile gaming concepts to help drive mobile gaming to the next level, relying on the advanced features and functionalities of N-Gage compatible devices, and Java- or Symbian-based Series 40 or S60 devices from Nokia.

SoundBite Communications, Inc. announced that it has received approval from Sprint to deliver Free-to-End-User (FTEU) text messages on the Nationwide Sprint Network.

Organizations view FTEU text messaging as a service differentiator which allows them to deliver text messages without the recipient incurring any cost for the communication. SoundBite is currently the only provider to implement FTEU text messaging on all four major wireless carrier networks, reaching 81 percent of U.S. wireless subscribers. As a result, organizations that utilize SoundBite’s hosted, multi-channel communications platform are now able to deliver these messages to their customers using AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless networks.

“Organizations are adding text messaging as another delivery channel for important customer communications,” said Alan Berrey, Vice President of Market Development, Text and Mobile Messaging for SoundBite. “Through our relationships with the four major wireless carriers, our clients can deliver text messages to their customers at no cost, resulting in higher adoption and response rates that achieve their business goals. Only SoundBite can offer organizations this feature as part of a robust, multi-channel communications strategy.”

Digital sales of music represented 10% of the total worldwide music market in 2007, up from 6% in 2006, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). By 2012, digital music sales will represent an impressive 40% of all music purchased worldwide, the high-tech market research firm says. Factors contributing to this growth include the global expansion of broadband, continued demand for single-track downloads, and expanding music catalogues. Another key driver is the potential for market growth in full-track downloads to mobile handsets in markets other than Japan, which currently is the primary market for this type of digital music format.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Sales for online digital music reached $3.05 billion in 2007, up 48% from 2006.
• Revenue for worldwide full track mobile downloads will reach approximately $4.2 billion by 2012.
• The majority of respondents who accessed online video (72.3%) in 2007 did not pay for the video they saw from the Internet.

There have been reports that Nokia reps have been discussing a new touchscreen Nokia phone, code named “Tube.”
It is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 and include support for Java, and ability to upload photos using the Symbian S60 operation System.

Messaging International Plc,signed an agreement with Alltel Wireless, to provide itsText-to-Landline service. This application will allow Alltel Wireless subscribers to send text messages from a wireless phone to any landline phone and receive responses back to the wireless phone.

With the Text-to-Landline application, Alltel customers can create and send text messages which are converted to voice messages and retrieved by landline recipients. The recipient can then respond by voice to the wireless customer, who will receive the reply message as a text. Also, a status text message will be sent to inform the wireless customer that the message was either delivered to a live person or a voicemail system. Text-to-Landline is available for the cost of a standard text message.

“The Text-to-Landline application complements our existing Axcess Voice2TXT application, which quickly converts incoming voicemails to text messages in the customer’s inbox and also allows customers to store and forward converted voicemails as regular text messages,” said Craig Kirkland, director of messaging and voice services for Alltel Wireless. Now voicemail messages left by landline customers can be answered by replying to the text message enabling two-way data communication between landline and wireless phone users.

The new “PRO Series” line by SANYO expands Sprint’s portfolio of Nextel Direct Connect devices, adding new designs, advanced technology, and improved productivity features to the lineup. The PRO Series will offer instant call set-up times of less than one second and one to one interoperability with the world’s largest established push-to-talk community. These new devices are expected to be available for purchase through the Sprint direct sales force in limited markets later this month, giving customers a wider selection of phones to instantly meet their productivity needs with connection in less than one second to millions of existing Nextel Direct Connect subscribers.

Nextel Direct Connect services on the PRO-200 and PRO-700 utilize and access Rev. A-enabled portions of the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network. In addition, these devices will continue to provide industry-leading performance in the form of a rich feature set that includes a high-quality SANYO speakerphone, Bluetooth, web and email capabilities, and autonomous GPS for supporting advanced location, tracking and navigation applications. They both offer a large, high-contrast external LCD screen designed for legibility in bright outdoor environments, and a QVGA-resolution internal LCD screen that displays more text and exceptional detail for viewing web, messaging and data applications such as maps.

Both devices offer the renowned durability and ease of use that Nextel Direct Connect users have come to expect, while providing a new compact, streamlined shape. The PRO-200 is stylish yet practical for day-to-day business use while the PRO-700 is a rugged, durable handset that is certified to Military Standard 810F for dust, shock, and vibration, built for use in demanding outdoor conditions.

• Layer 1: Slide on the thermal formed protective clear membrane to safeguard screen and keyboard against scratching as well as dust and dirt* (layer optional depending on the level of ruggedization desired)
  
• Layer 2: Snap together the hi-impact polycarbonate shell
  
• Layer 3: Wrap the silicone skin over the device to absorb bump and shock

"We're proud to offer unique benefits beyond the basics of health, dental and vision insurance, and know our programs are contributing to our growth," says Verizon Wireless director of Human Resources, Christina Brysacz. "And for those interested in joining our team, we're holding three local job fairs in April."

Some of the creative benefits Verizon Wireless employees enjoy include:

• Education Reimbursement Program encourages employees to further education and helps lessen the burden of paying for school and working simultaneously
• Annual Winter open house invites families to get together on the Verizon Wireless campus and play games together, show off their children's art and mingle with one another
• The Verizon Foundation offers scholarships to employees' children for education
• Volunteer matching program will donate $750 to a non-profit organization of the employee's choosing for time spent volunteering
• An additional $1500 in pay to bilingual employees in key sales and customer service jobs.

At larger locations, like the company's Irvine, California campus, the company also offers:

• On-site health club with affordable dues and bathrobes for members
• Dietician-approved healthy lunches in the cafeteria to help employees maintain optimum health

Verizon Wireless holds regular open house career days with on-the-spot interviews in its never ending search for the next excellent Verizon Wireless employee. Upcoming job fairs in southern California are taking place at:

• Woodland Hills Marriott from 10am to 2pm on April 11, 2008
• Verizon Wireless headquarters in Irvine from 10am to 2pm on April 18, 2008 and April 25, 2008.

Apple has increased its share of the Internet browser market in the US by 64% between December and March according to StatCounter, which provides organizations and individuals with a free website visitor statistics tool.(1) Globally iPhone/iTouch has more than doubled its share of the Internet browser market from 0.03% to 0.08%.

In March iPhone and iTouch increased their share of the total browser market in the US from 0.14% in December to 0.23% according to StatCounter which tracks in excess of nine billion pageloads per month over its network of two million websites. If one excludes iTouch from the figures then iPhone’s market share of Internet browsing in the US (0.18%) is still well ahead of Nokia (0.01%). However, Nokia still maintains a significant lead over Apple in the global market with 0.25% to 0.08%.

“The key message is that iPhone is more than living up to its claims of being a user friendly Internet browser, unlike many other cell phones,” commented Aodhan Cullen, founder and CEO of StatCounter. He said that iPhone web browsing peaked in the US on Christmas Day at 0.07%. “Presumably this was due to people trying out their new Christmas present combined perhaps with not accessing their PCs that day.”

Technology workers looking to keep their skills out front of employers’ future needs would be wise to focus on wireless technologies, research commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) indicates.

A survey of more than 3,500 information technology (IT) managers reveals that wireless and RF mobile technology is the skill set expected to increase the most in importance over the next five years. In all but two of fourteen countries surveyed, IT managers said wireless skills will increase the most in importance over the next five years. Wireless skills ranked second in South Africa (behind security) and France (behind Web-based technologies).

Among specific industries, IT managers in healthcare (63 percent) and education (63 percent) were more likely to identify wireless technology as the skill that will be most important five years from now. IT managers in the auto/manufacturing sector (48 percent) were less likely to consider wireless important.

Other skills expected to grow in importance in the next five years include Web-based technologies (such as Web 2.0, Service Oriented Architecture, Software-as-a-Service, Rich Internet Applications, and AJAX) and specific programming languages.

Nokia launched the Nokia N-Gage mobile games service with more games, additional compatible devices, and an expanded online offering. Millions of Nokia device owners can now find, try and buy high-quality made-for-mobile games directly from their mobile device. Players can also connect with one another through the N-Gage Arena community. They canmeet friends, find others to play multiplayer games, discuss topics on the message boards and via live chat, and participate in tournaments and hosted events.

The N-Gage platform has exclusive titles that are among the most ambitious and graphically rich mobile games ever produced. From strategy and sport to arcade and action, games of all genres are being developed for N-Gage by leading games publishers. The first set of games include: Brain Challenge and Asphalt 3: Street Rules by Gameloft; World Series of Poker ™ Pro Challenge by Glu Mobile; and Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep and System Rush: Evolution by Nokia Publishing. These games will be followed closely by EA SPORTS™ FIFA 08, Tetris® and The Sims™ 2 Pets by EA Mobile; Block Breaker Deluxe and Dogz by Gameloft; and Snakes Subsonic, Space Impact: Kappa Base and Mile High Pinball by Nokia Publishing. Starting today, players will have access to a range of high-quality games, many of which are exclusive to the N-Gage platform. N-Gage games incorporate exclusive, industry defining online community features, and in many cases, graphical experiences never before seen on a mobile device.

With the N-Gage application on their device, people can create a Friends List, send and receive private messages, and take part in instant messaging style chat. N-Gage Points can be earned for playing games and participating in community activities. Moreover, the experience can take place via the N-Gage web portal on the PC. Here players can interact seamlessly with the N-Gage community or purchase new games and download them to their N-Gage compatible devices.

Today’s N-Gage compatible devices include: Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N82, Nokia N95, and Nokia N95 8GB.

Google Android has been successfully installed on the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet.

The Wiki page at elinux.org shows how to install it and get it to work. We tried to view the page and the server is either overloaded or down.

Rescue+Mobile is an extension of LogMeIn's award-winning Rescue platform - a web-based, on-demand remote support service that unifies support for multiple smartphone (Windows and Symbian) and computer (Windows and Mac) operating systems. LogMeIn Rescue is used by more than 10,000 customers globally.

LogMeIn Rescue+Mobile allows support technicians to simultaneously support smartphones and computers from a single console, and is easy for both the technician and the device owner to use.

The support technician sends a text message to the device owner, which includes a link to download a small applet onto the mobile device and a connection code. The technician then connects to the mobile device and, with the user's permission, gains control of the device. At this point, technicians can make fixes, update software, conduct training sessions or configure settings - even view the display and use the keypad, as if the phone were in their hands.

Features include:

• Remote control Symbian smartphones from a web-enabled PC
  
• Transfer files between smartphones and PCs
  
• Install or update smartphone software remotely
• Remote support multiple platforms from one interface - PCs, Macs, Windows Mobile and now Symbian

Chetan Sharma Consulting conducted its semiannual study on the global mobile data industry. They studied wireless data trends in over 40 major countries - from developed and mature markets such as Japan, Korea, UK, and Italy to hyper growth markets such as China and India. This note summarizes the findings from the research. For some leading operators, data is now contributing up to 35% of the revenues however increase in data ARPU is not completely offsetting the drop in voice ARPU..

• India will shortly be the number 2 market in the world.

• The worldwide markets continue to grow at an explosive pace reaching 3.3B subscriptions by Q407 up 20% from 2006 levels. Significant growth is coming from India and China with both countries registering close to 8-9M net adds per month. India recorded 8.8M net adds in Jan 08 while China added 9.4M in Feb 08. Overall, the world market is at almost 50% penetration.

• US surpassed Japan as the most valuable mobile data market in service revenue with US adding $24.5B vs. $23.2B for Japan in 2007 mobile data service revenues. China with $12.5B was ranked number 3. US registered the highest growth amongst the top 3 with over 55% increase from 2006 levels followed by China at 37% and Japan at 18%. These top 3 markets account for over 50% of the global data service revenues.

• NTT DoCoMo continues to dominate the wireless data service revenues rankings with over $12.13B in service data revenues for 2007 however Q/Q growth has dropped to single digits. DoCoMo crossed 80% in 3G penetration and is expected to touch 90% by end of the year.

• Most of the major operators around the world have double digit percentage contribution to their overall ARPU from data services. Operators like KDDI, DoCoMo, 3 Italy, 3 UK, and O2 UK are topping 30%.

• Both India and China added a whopping 85 million new subscriptions (most of them prepaid). This week India edges past US to become the number 2 wireless market (by subscriptions) in the world. In last two years alone it added almost 150 million new subscriptions (in comparison China added 155 million and the US market added 44 million).

NTT Communications announced today that it will conduct a pilot test of its new Mobile Fragrance Communication (Kaori Tsushin Mobile) service, a mobile version of an existing service for enjoying downloaded audiovisual content together with specific fragrances that are emitted by a dedicated device. The pilot test will run from April 10 to 20.

First launched for home use in 2005, Fragrance Communication is now used by companies and individuals to enhance indoor environments with pleasing fragrances. The new mobile version offers the convenience of using mobile communication to download Fragrance Playlists, or files of recipes for specific fragrances together with visual (GIF animation) and audio (MIDI) content.

The Fragrance Playlists are downloaded from the “i-mode” mobile website of sister company NTT DoCoMo. Using the phone’s infrared port, the fragrance data is transferred to a device that has been loaded with a cartridge of essences, or base fragrances. The device, a smaller, lighter and more stylish version of the previous model, then mixes the specific fragrances and emits them as the user enjoys the A/V content played back on their phone.

The Fragrance Playlists also can be edited as well as shared with others who subscribe to the service. Also to be tested is a device controller, called the Service Gateway, which controls the operation of devices in the Mobile Fragrance Communication system. The gateway connects with the Internet, so instructions can be sent remotely from a mobile phone. For example, commands could be sent to the gateway to instruct the fragrance device to begin operating just before the user arrives home.

Dear Steve:

Our Board has reviewed your most recent letter with regard to the unsolicited proposal you made to acquire Yahoo! on January 31, 2008.

Our Board carefully considered your unsolicited proposal, unanimously concluded that it was not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders, and rejected it publicly on February 11, 2008. Our Board cited Yahoo!'s global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as its substantial unconsolidated investments, as factors in its decision.

At the same time, we have continued to make clear that we are not opposed to a transaction with Microsoft if it is in the best interests of our stockholders. Our position is simply that any transaction must be at a value that fully reflects the value of Yahoo!, including any strategic benefits to Microsoft, and on terms that provide certainty to our stockholders.

Motorola, Inc. and Carl Icahn today announced that they have reached an agreement under which William R. Hambrecht, and Keith Meister, a managing director of the Icahn investment funds and principal executive officer of Icahn Enterprises, will be nominated for election to Motorola’s Board of Directors at the 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and included in the Company’s 2008 proxy statement. In addition, Mr. Meister has been appointed to serve on the Board, effective immediately.

In connection with the nomination of Messrs. Hambrecht and Meister, the Icahn Group, which beneficially owns, in the aggregate 144,562,000 shares of Motorola common stock, representing approximately 6.4% of Motorola’s outstanding shares, has agreed not to solicit proxies in connection with the 2008 Annual Meeting and to vote its shares in support of all of the Board’s director nominees.

As part of the settlement agreement, all pending litigation between Motorola and Carl Icahn will be dismissed. In addition, Motorola has agreed to seek input from Mr. Icahn in connection with significant matters regarding the intended separation of the Mobile Devices business, including the search for a new CEO to head the Mobile Devices business. In addition Messrs. Hambrecht and Meister may communicate with Mr. Icahn, subject to certain confidentiality restrictions, regarding Board activities of Motorola, including with respect to the intended separation of the company into two independent businesses.

LG Vu  Rated 4 out 5 - Review of Reviews by Wireless and Mobile News (Revised 05/01/2008)

The LG Vu is the US Version of the LG Prada phone with the added capabilities of 3G/HSPA and Media Flo TV.  The TV feature is separate from the phone service and costs $15 a month for live TV and is the best reviewed feature of the LG Vu. Its haptical touchscreen is simple and works well.

Of course, reviewers compared to LG Vu the iPhone. Most liked the touchscreen and wrote that it was easy to use.  Although reviewers found the phone sexy with a stunningly beautiful screen, and light to the touch, it doesn't match the full web experience of the iPhone and lacks support to all email data types.  The side-loadable music feature makes it a decent music player, it takes good photos and web data access is speedy, even while using the phone as a PC modem.  It doesn't sync calendars and contacts with PCs making it a poor choice for the digitally connected types. Only one reviewer tried the XM radio and he couldn't get it to work.

If live TV is your thing then the LG Vu is for you, it even has picture in picture for browsing TV shows.  Ff you're sitting on trains and bus stops dreaming of TV the LG Vu is your hands-down choice.  However, if the web and 3G are you hearts desire, you may want to wait for the 3G iPhone.  The keyboard has gotten mixed responses and warrants a try before you buy.

The LG Vu from AT&T is being sold for $49 after a rebate with a contract. Add the Wireless and Mobile News $50 off online only coupon-link  and the LG Vu is virtually free. Wirefly has some great deals with the LG Vu CU920 Red Wine and LG Vu CU920 Black for free with a new account and contract.

Sprint Samsung Instinct Rated 4 out of 5 by Review of Reviews from Wireless and Mobile New (Updated June 17, 2008)

Samsung enV² VX9100 from Sprint Rated 4 out 5 by Wireless and Mobile News (Revised 05/01/2008)

The eV² by LG is now available. The first impressions of the phone are favorable for the large bright interior screen, texting/email capabilities, QWERTY keyboard, bigger external key pad, and added turn-by-turn directions. Reviewers have revealed minor weaknesses are of the enV².

Although it does not upgrade all the features of the original enV the new design has been called "chic" and "sexy." The outside numbers are easier to use and the music player can be activated without opening the phone. The email functions are text-only, causing some reviewers to comment that it is not as robust as it should be. But where all the reviewers agree that this phone is a texting powerhouse and has great call quality.

The enV²is priced at $129.99 with a contract from Verizon. As of November 2008,  Wirefly is offering the LG enV2 VX9100 for free to new Verizon customers with a contract.

• 90.34% of mobile malware targets the Symbian platform

• 4.14% targets Windows Mobile

• 3.35% targets Palm OS

• 2.07% targets J2ME.

Slingshot Communications Inc. today announced the availability of the first prepaid wireless broadband access product in the United States. With this service, companies and individuals who want to access the Internet through a wireless connection no longer need to be locked into an extended contract for services that often go unused. Slingshot provides wireless broadband access on a prepaid or pay-as-you-go basis, meaning users only pay for the Internet access they use.

“Rather than paying upwards of $75 a month for ‘unlimited’ wireless Internet access, Slingshot enables you to cut your costs and doesn’t require a long-term contract,” said David Vindici, chairman and CEO, Slingshot. “You’re free to access the Internet wirelessly and on your terms.”

Slingshot provides consumers and enterprise users with flexibility, reliability and the security of knowing they can connect to broadband Internet through a trusted source at a low cost. As consumers and business users alike increasingly require secure wireless Internet access, Slingshot is positioned to fill a void in the growing market. According to CTIA, the wireless data market is growing rapidly with revenues that topped $23.2 billion in 2007. In addition, the wireless data market is growing faster than both the DSL and cable modem markets combined.

“There is clearly demand for wireless Internet connectivity, but until Slingshot there wasn’t a solution that truly worked for consumers and businesses,” added Vindici. “Slingshot brings everything needed to accelerate the consumer adoption model of wireless broadband access.”

"We launched iTunes less than five years ago, and it has now become the number one music retailer in the world," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We are thrilled, and would like to thank all of our customers for helping us reach this incredible milestone."

Information is based on data from market research firm the NPD Group's MusicWatch survey that captures consumer reported past week unit purchases and counts one CD representing 12 tracks, excluding wireless transactions. The iTunes Store became the largest music retailer in the US based on the amount of music sold during January and February 2008.

"Google didn't win licenses in the auction. Nonetheless, partly as a result of our bidding, consumers soon should have new freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices.

Google's top priority heading into the auction was to make sure that bidding on the so-called "C Block" reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important "open applications" and "open handsets" license conditions. We were also prepared to gain the nationwide C Block licenses at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price; in fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder. But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher..."

Qualcomm announced that it has acquired eight licenses in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz spectrum auction at a total cost of $558.1 million. Qualcomm purchased licenses in the E block covering the Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco Economic Area regions. These licenses double Qualcomm’s 700 MHz spectrum holdings throughout a footprint of more than 68 million people in 28 individual markets for MediaFLO USA’s award-winning FLO TV service (21 of its top 100 markets) at a cost of $554.6 million. In addition, Qualcomm purchased three licenses on the B block at a cost of $3.5 million.

Qualcomm’s E block licenses cover five of the nation’s top seven Economic Area regions. These regions consist of large contiguous areas on the East and West Coasts, stretching from New Hampshire to Maryland and from Orange County to Northern California, respectively.

“This investment in new spectrum underscores our commitment to continue to deliver the most innovative technologies to a growing wireless industry,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm. “Our strategic purchase of E block licenses will enhance our efforts in the mobile TV space and further MediaFLO USA’s mission to bring world-class mobile entertainment to American consumers.”

AT&T completed successful bids for prime B Block spectrum in the FCC auction AT&T’s spectrum holdings position the company to further enhance the quality and reliability of existing wireless broadband and voice services that consumers are demanding, and set the foundation for more customer choices for new, more advanced wireless broadband technologies and 4G services.

AT&T’s 700 MHz spectrum will cover 100 percent of the top 200 markets and 87 percent of the U.S. population, enabling the company to better compete in a vibrant and dynamic marketplace.

“Results of the auction bidding demonstrate the B Block was the most attractive, most valuable spectrum available, and it was the best investment for AT&T and our customers,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T’s wireless unit.

“Our winning bids for B-Block spectrum, combined with the C-Block spectrum we acquired from Aloha Partners, significantly enhances AT&T’s spectrum portfolio, which is already one of the broadest, highest-quality and most efficient in the industry,” de la Vega said. The C-Block spectrum AT&T acquired from Aloha Partners is not subject to the same strict regulations imposed on the C Block spectrum that the FCC recently auctioned.

“With fewer costly and complex regulations, we have the certainty and flexibility needed to move faster in rolling out new mobile technology and more customer choices in devices and applications,” de la Vega said. “We will put our spectrum to work so that customers can do more with their wireless devices, the user experience is superb, and wireless connectivity can be embedded in more devices.”

Wireless broadband traffic on the AT&T network has quadrupled every year since 2004, as customers have taken advantage of faster broadband speeds and emerging wireless applications ranging from live video sharing to social networking and business applications.

Verizon Wireless said today that the spectrum it gained in the FCC’s recent 700 MHz auction is a critical piece of its overall broadband strategy to take advantage of the enormous opportunity for growth in data services in the future.

The spectrum will allow the company to capture the full potential of its announced plan to deploy a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and Open Development Initiative and the resulting next wave of wireless innovation. The company’s comments were made in a conference call with the investment community this morning.

Verizon Wireless was the winning bidder for a nationwide spectrum footprint (excluding Alaska) in the FCC-termed C-Block group of licenses, plus 102 licenses for individual markets around the country.

In all, the company will pay $9.36 billion for these licenses, which equates to $1.03 per MHz Pop, compared with the auction average of $1.20.

The new spectrum, which will not be completely cleared for use until mid- February 2009, will increase the company’s average spectrum depth per market to 82 MHz, from 52 MHz today.

Verizon Wireless plans to launch its LTE network in the 700 MHz spectrum in the 2010 timeframe. The company said the breadth of the national C-block spectrum footprint, all in a single band and with a depth of 22 MHz, provides a speed and performance advantage that will be ideal for connecting a variety of consumer electronics, from wireless phones to medical devices to gaming consoles. In addition, the 102 individual licenses in the A and B-blocks provide additional growth capacity in key markets.

After years of hype, mobile Location Based Services (LBS) are finally gaining traction among wireless subscribers. This growth is driven on the supply side by WCDMA and GSM handsets increasingly joining the many CDMA-based devices that incorporate GPS capabilities; and on the demand side by surging consumer interest in personal navigation functionality. According to a new report from ABI Research, LBS revenue is forecast to reach an annual global total of $13.3 billion by 2013, up from an estimated $515 million during 2007.

Personal navigation, although expected to remain the most popular consumer application over the next several years, won't be alone: friend-finder, local information searches, family tracker applications, and enterprise applications (including workforce tracking and fleet management), will all find niches under the LBS umbrella. Friend-finding is anticipated to be the next service launched for mass consumption.

ABI Research industry analyst Jamie Moss says, "Personal navigation and enterprise services are projected to be the highest revenue-generating services of the five LBS categories profiled, and are forecast to be worth about $4.3 billion and $6.5 billion respectively, per annum, by 2013."

"The interesting thing about the LBS content-producing sector is that much of the information is already available," Moss continues. "It's a win-win situation for content providers: they already have established markets for their map and POI data (automotive and telematics), and LBS is yet another that could potentially provide them with considerable additional licensing revenue."

The Navteq LBS Awards were announced at CTIA.  The winning entries were:

Grand Prize Winner: Spotjots from N23

lst: Mediated Spaces Wildlab

2nd: heywhatsthat

3rd America's Emergency Network

He also suggested that AT&T may be opening up to the Android open source platform.

Choice Award winners were announced at the  18th Annual Andrew Seybold Wireless Dinner at the Venetian Hotel.. The evening's awards centered around the theme of this year's dinner, Embrace, Empower and Envision, and featured Rhythm and Hue, a performance art show by world renowned artist David Garibaldi.

Andrew Seybold Choice Awards were created to honor the most innovative wireless mobility products and concepts and their positive impact in the world of wireless mobility connectivity. The mission is to raise the profile of exemplary companies and organizations among the press, the wireless industry and the general public. Finalists were selected in six categories from more than 150 entries submitted worldwide.

The winners of the 2008 Andrew Seybold Choice Awards are:

Most Innovative Wireless Devices      
Research In Motion for BlackBerry Pearl 8130

Most Innovative Consumer Application
MobiMate for WorldMate Live

Most Innovative Business Application
Pacific DataVision for SkyMail

Most Innovative New Service by a Wireless Operator or MNVO
T-Mobile USA for HotSpot @Home

Most Innovative New Design Concept   
Qualcomm for Gobi Global Mobile Internet Technology

Best New Company   
SnapTell for SnapTell's Snap.Send.Get solution

CTIA WIRELESS 2008 announced the winners of the third annual Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards. The E-Tech awards honor the best products and innovations in a number of categories representing the wireless ecosystem, including mobile consumer electronics, consumer mobile applications, enterprise solutions, network infrastructure, mobile widgets and 4G. CTIA WIRELESS is taking place this week at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Best in Show award, chosen by CTIA WIRELESS attendees via text voting, goes to the Instinct by Samsung, exclusively from Sprint. The Instinct phone was unveiled during Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse's keynote address on Tuesday. Text voting capabilities were provided by iLoop, OpenMarket and NeuStar.

"This year's E-Tech award winners represent all facets of the mobile lifestyle - from the enterprise to the consumer," said Robert Mesirow, CTIA vice president and show director. "We'd like to thank each of the judges for giving their time and expertise to the process of choosing this year's top entrants. Congratulations to all of the winners."

Samsung Electronics today showed several innovative wireless solutions at CTIA Wireless 2008. The applications include 3D Second Life mixed blogging, LifeDiary, and Softboard.

The latest in a series of tools designed to enrich the Second Life Grid, the platform behind the popular 3D virtual world created by Linden Lab, Samsung brings the Second Life virtual world to Samsung mobile phones. With the Second Life client available on Samsung's mobile handsets, users can enjoy many services from the Second Life virtual world whenever and wherever. Unique features of the Second Life client on Samsung's mobile handsets include a mixed blogging platform that allows users to post their blog simultaneously in the real world and the virtual world of Second Life, and the Samsung Mixed Contact feature which allows users to have mixed world contact by communicating with avatar friends via voice or SMS. The Second Life client on Samsung's mobile handsets is compatible with Windows Mobile devices. Samsung developed its mobile application for the Second Life world based on the open source client from Linden Lab and has plans to allow mobile handsets in the U.S. to access the Second Life world before the end of the year.

Today, Yahoo! Inc. unveiled Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0. Key enhancements will allow users to initiate searches faster using text or voice. Yahoo! also plans to provide greater relevance through richer, more detailed search results by opening up Yahoo! oneSearch to publishers to integrate content, simplify search input with Search Assist and voice-enabled search, and make search instantly accessible on the idle screen of many phones.

"With the launch of Yahoo! oneSearch in 2007, we revolutionized mobile search by re-creating search specifically for the mobile phone, focusing on answers, not just Web links. In just over a year, we signed 29 partnerships with carriers across the globe, covering more than 600 million consumers under contract," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! "With Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, we are fundamentally changing the way consumers use the Internet on their mobile phones."

The CTIA Wireless convention on Tuesday, April 1- showed the diversity and new directions of the business. They are moving forward and upward with new devices and services to bring the Internet to the masses at faster speeds with ease of use.

• Nokia went up and up and away in their beautiful boardroom 180 feet in the sky to demonstrate their Nokia N810 Internet Tablet with Wi-Fi and WiMAX.
• Sprint, trying harder with their number 3 position, touted their iPhonesque Instinct and partnerships for WiMAX.
• Windows Mobile has been upgraded to 6.1 bringing more Internet functionality.
• HTC announced that their Dual Touch handset is coming to the US.
• Motorola showed the Z9 and V950.
• Kyocera showed some nifty thrifty new handsets.
• T-Mobile brought the BlackBerry Pearl to their line up of smartphones.
• Samsung debuted not only the Instinct, but Soul, miCoach, Touch F480, Music F400 & Wi-Fi G810.

WSprint announced further progress with the development of its Mobile WiMAX network ecosystem, citing application program, wireless device and services developments which collectively will enhance the XOHM customer mobile Internet experience.

"Sprint has taken a leadership role in the WiMAX network development arena and is working collaboratively with ecosystem partners to bring advanced mobile broadband services to reality," said Barry West, president of Sprint's XOHM business unit. Dan Hesse touted the beauty of the iPhone competitor at an expected cheaper price, the Samsung Instinct.

Sprint WiMAX will work with the news Nokia Internet Tablet N810 which was demonstrated in the boardroom in the sky.

Added to the mix is a WiMAX PC card coming from Samsung, embedded technology in UMPC, and a developer program.

These efforts are ultimately intended to allow Sprint customers to experience a nationwide mobile broadband network that is designed to offer faster speeds, lower cost, greater convenience and enhanced multimedia quality. The Sprint WiMAX mobile broadband network will use the company's extensive 2.5GHz spectrum holdings, which cover 75 percent of the households in the top 100 U.S. markets. Additional information can be found at www.xohm.com.

Today at CTIA in Las Vegas, Motorola, Inc.expanded its mobile
device portfolio in the US with the introduction of handsets and accessories that deliver must-have features and the style consumers' desire.  MOTO Z9 and MOTO V950 , available exclusively through AT&T and Sprint respectively, bring new feature phones
to the US. Motorola also added new accessories, including the great sounding H690 Bluetooth headset and MOTOROKR EQ3 mobile folding speakers.  Today's announcementsfollow ed yesterday's news of expanded MOTO Q availability with Verizon Wireless, Alltel and US Cellular.

MOTO Z9, available exclusively through AT&T, delivers the complete mobile device
package with clear calls and a rich, stylish experience. The sleek and durableslider lets consumers explore and share their world with features such as AT&T Navigator, Motorola's CrystalTalk audio enhancement technology and AT&T Video Share,all with lightning-fast 3G HSPDA speed. 

MOTO V950
Available exclusively through Sprint, MOTO V950 features a durable, yet stylish
exterior that creates a unique "modern rugged" design.  The MOTO V950 is slimmed
down and suited up to perform practically anywhere, in the elements, on the job and
on the go. The V950 also packs stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, a 2.0 megapixel camera and stand-alone GPS solutions to deliver a robust communications tool. Customers will also be able to enjoy Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV and the convenience of external music controls.

Microsoft Corp.announced. At CTIA Wireless 2008, the company unveiled the newest version of Internet Explorer Mobile, which adds desktop-grade Web browsing to Windows Mobile phones. In addition, Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.1, an update for its Windows Mobile software that includes new time-saving features, easier phone navigation and management, and increased security safeguards.

Sprint and Samsung Mobile today announced the upcoming availability of a new wireless device, Samsung Instinct, which offers full touch-screen functionality with fast speeds available on the nation's largest mobile broadband network.

Samsung Instinct, exclusively available from Sprint, has a high-tech look with a large touch screen featuring localized tactile feedback, called haptics, which allow the virtual QWERTY keypad and other operations to become a sensory experience. The device also offers a Voice to Action button providing many functions using voice activation including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search.

As Sprint's first EV-DO Rev A consumer-centric device, Samsung Instinct provides the ability to quickly browse the Web, access business or personal email, share pictures, listen to commercial-free radio and more at broadband speeds. Samsung Instinct also provides access to Sprint exclusive services and multimedia content, including:

• Sprint Navigation, powered by Telenav, with GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings
• Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information on-the-go, GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access
• Sprint TV(R), with an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming
• Sprint Exclusive Entertainment (SEE), the industry's only made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network
• Sprint Music Store, allowing users to browse and wirelessly download full-length songs directly to their phone for just 99 cents each
• Pocket Express(R), with up-to-date information on sports, weather, news, movie showtimes and other options customized to the user's zip code

Driving into Vegas on the Way to CTIA Wireless, amongst the cranes constructing mega massive hotel casinos, hanging from one crane was a bunch of blue-suited early adopters strapped on a flying mobile office.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a balloon? Nope it's the Nokia upwardly mobile boardroom in the sky!

Nokia demonstrated their every where any time capabilities of their Internet tablet. They strapped participants into chairs on a giant platform and hoisted the ultra mobile board room 180 feet into the air with a crane. The product demonstrated was the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, which is now WiMAX (802.16e) enabled. The tablet will swtich between WiMAX and Wi-Fi. It will support the Sprint WiMAX network coming later this year.

HTC Touch Dual Features Include:

• TouchFLO, a touch-screen technology that allows finger-touch scrolling, panning and photo zooming
  
• Slide-out 20-key keyboard for quick dialing, text messages and e-mail
  
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Microsoft Office Mobile for working on documents and getting your Outlook e-mail
  
• Live HTC Home™ featuring time and weather display, quick launcher, and one-touch ring-tone settings
  
• 2 megapixel camera for shooting photos/videos and a second camera for video calls uad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) and HSDPA (850/1900Mhz) connectivity

HTC also announced its support of the Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade, which provides new timesaving features, easier phone navigation and management, stronger security safeguards, and support for Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008. The Touch by HTC and Mogul by HTC from Sprint, AT&T Tilt, Alltel Wireless' HTC Touch and PPC6800, and the HTC TyTN II, will be among the first of many devices available for a Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade.

The announcement comes on the same day that KWC unveiled its first-ever GSM handsets and its parent company, Kyocera Corp., finalized its acquisition of Sanyo's mobile phone division. The transaction makes Kyocera the sixth largest wireless phone manufacturer in the world.

Kyocera Mako S4000

The Kyocera Mako S4000 answer has a clamshell design o with  color external display and tempered edges that make it easy to flip open. Inside is a large, graduated keypad and a vibrant 1.8-inch display. The phone features Bluetooth, a VGA camera, WAP 2.0 and Brew 3.1.5.

T-Mobile and RIM announced the availability of the BlackBerry Pearl 8120, a handset with the power of built-in Wi-Fi support. The newest Pearl provides consumers with a stylish way to stay connected by adding Wi-Fi connectivity for both voice and data as well as support for T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home™ service offering unlimited, nationwide calling over any Wi-Fi connection.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 builds on the success of the original BlackBerry Pearl 8100, while expanding its features to meet the growing needs of consumers. New features include:

• Wi-Fi support for both voice and data Updated visual interface with new font rendering technology and graphic enhancements
  
• Advanced media player with full-screen video playback, stereo Bluetooth® support and 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack.
• Ehanced SureType keyboard system with word completion, spell check and easier editing of misspelled words.
  
• 2-megapixel camera with video recorder
• An external microSD/SDHC memory card slot
• Support for High Speed USB for data transfers up to 10 MB/s.

The BlackBerry Pearl 8120 will be available April 14th.

Samsung Electronics is showcasing several of its newhandsets at CTIA Wireless 2008. These handsets are making their U.S. debut at the show and exemplify cutting-edge technology and design innovation.

The Samsung Soul is the completion of the Samsung’s renowned Ultra Edition line of handsets. Continuing in the line of the Ultra Edition’s minimalistic, slim design, the Soul has a full metal body with a premium finish and 12.9mm-thin form factor. With Magical Touch by DaCP, navigation indicators on the keypad of the phone change according to the user’s needs, making navigation of the menus simple and intuitive. The Soul is also equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), as well as a new series of graphic interfaces that provide three different options for users.

Samsung and German sportswear giant adidas have teamed up to launch the miCoach phone, the world’s first true sports music mobile phone. Designed for people with an active lifestyle, the miCoach allows users to enjoy music and other multimedia functions while they work out. The miCoach provides a comprehensive on-the-go personal training system fully equipped with a stride sensor and heart rate monitor, as well as training tips and time updates. The personal coach advises the user and provides instant updates during the workout, including time, heart rate, distance, speed and calories burned. The miCoach combines cutting-edge technology and an advanced interactive sport training system with multimedia features for the active mobile user.

Sinovo, makers of SiDiary, the most popular diabetes monitoring software, and Red Five Labs, providers of Net60, the .NET framework for Symbian mobile phones, announce the upcoming availability of SiDiary for the Nokia S60 3rd edition platform.

SiDiary was written for people suffering from Diabetes by people who are themselves suffering from the disease. By enabling accurate daily monitoring of key health metrics, both the patient and the healthcare professional can make the therapy more effective.

SiDiary was initially written for the Pocket PC and Windows Mobile Smartphone platforms using Microsoft’s .NET Compact Framework. Unfortunately, in Europe & Asia, the majority of Smartphones run the Symbian OS and the Nokia S60 user-interface which are not compatible with .NET applications like SiDiary. Therefore Sinovo was missing the potential to address the single largest Smartphone platform in these territories, unless a full, costly rewrite was undertaken.

By licensing Net60 from Red Five Labs, Sinovo are able to bring their flagship product SiDiary to the S60 market in a matter of days. This should translate into an estimated five to ten times increase in the number of SiDiary users, thus improving the daily life of thousands of people suffering from diabetes.

Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated announced that Inventec Corporation has chosen Qualcomm’s MEMS-based mirasol displays for upcoming portable devices.

Inventec will incorporate mirasol displays into high-end smart handheld devices for the worldwide markets, including Europe and North America. The mirasol display will act as a secondary viewing area as a means to offload power needs from the main display. The design and functionality of the smartphone device will be revealed at a later date.

Qualcomm’s mirasol displays are based on a reflective technology called interferometric modulation (IMOD), a phenomenon that mimics the mechanisms that naturally create vibrant colors in a butterfly’s wings. Based on this reflective technology, mirasol displays offer low power consumption and superior viewability, even in brightly lit areas.

Product launch dates and retail channels will be announced at a later date.