June 2008 Archives

Remember what happens on July 1 in California.

1. Drivers under the age of 18 may not use a wireless telephone, pager, laptop or any other electronic communication or mobile services device to speak or text while driving in any manner, even "hands-free." EXCEPTION: Permitted in emergency situations to call police, fire or medical authorities (VC §23124).
2. Drivers 18 and over will be allowed to use a "hands-free" device to talk on their wireless telephone while driving.
3. The new law does not prohibit dialing, but drivers are strongly urged not to dial while driving. You can use a Bluetooth earpiece however you cannot have BOTH ears covered.
4. The law does not specifically prohibit texting by adults,  but an officer can pull over and issue a citation to a driver of any age if, in the officer's opinion, the driver was distracted and not operating the vehicle safely. Sending text messages while driving is unsafe at any speed and is strongly discouraged.
5. The base fine for the FIRST offense is $20 and $50 for subsequent convictions. With the addition of penalty assessments, the fines can be more than triple the base fine amount.
6. The violation is a reportable offense, however, DMV will not assign a violation point.

For more information go to the CA Department of Motor Vehicles.

Your hands free device doesn't have to be Bluetooth, you can buy a cheap headset or get one for free. Until you get your hands free device just turn off the phone for now.

CSR, and Skyhook Wireless maker of the Wi-Fi Positioning System and XPS 2.0, the hybrid positioning system, announced a partnership that will bring advanced location capabilities to CSR’s Wi-Fi silicon.

Skyhook Wireless’ core technology, the Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS), is software that produces accurate location information by detecting Wi-Fi access points and comparing them against a known database of geo-located points. By combining CSR’s UniFi, embedded Wi-Fi chips, and GPS location solutions with Skyhook’s positioning capabilities, this partnership will enable device makers to more easily support and launch location based services that satisfy consumer location needs.

The technology provided by CSR and Skyhook will capitalize on the emergence of Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices and provide greatly enhanced positioning availability and accuracy for the growing location-based services market. This technology will enable device makers and application developers to provide consumer-ready location technology that works quickly and accurately, indoors or outside. The system will benefit consumers by enabling them to more quickly and reliably perform tasks such as planning a trip, finding friends nearby or locating the closest restaurant.

Kiwibox, teen social networking destination, announced the launch of a new WAP service designed to expand their online community to mobile users. WAP, or wireless application protocol, is an open international standard for applications that use wireless communication to enable access to the Internet from a mobile phone or PDA.

The extension into the mobile market will allow Kiwibox’s 1.8 million teen users the flexibility to communicate on-the-go. Kiwibox’s WAP site will translate the innovative social networking features currently found on the Web site to the mobile handset.

Kiwibox partnered with Quattro Wireless to mobilize the existing Kiwibox.com web site. Using Quattro’s Juicing technology, the site content rapidly develops into a dynamic format suited to a mobile presence with the layout and intuitive navigation specifically adapted for all types of handsets.

Tele Atlas, announced that Google has signed a long term license agreement with the company that gives Google access to Tele Atlas maps and dynamic content in more than 200 countries around the world.

The agreement spans Google's current and future map-based services and navigation offerings across mobile, online and desktop environments. These include the Google Maps and Google Earth services and mobile applications such as Google Maps for Mobile. The agreement also gives Tele Atlas access to edits for its maps from Google's community of users, whose suggested changes can help the company further increase the quality and richness of Tele Atlas maps.

Verizon Wireless and Rhapsody, the digital music service from RealNetworks  and MTV Networks, launch V CAST Music with Rhapsody. Combining Verizon Wireless' over-the-air mobile music service with Rhapsody's  desktop solution, V CAST Music with Rhapsody delivers unlimited monthly access to music on up to three Rhapsody-compatible mobile phones and players and online on multiple PCs and seb browsers

Customers who purchase music over-the-air are able to download the master copy of the songs or albums to their PCs free of digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts how and where music can be played.

When customers download the V CAST Music with Rhapsody Software to their PCs and sign up for the monthly subscription, they have the ultimate music management service, including:

• Unlimited subscription syncing with access to more than 5 million songs
• Creating and accessing playlists, viewing playlists of other users, including celebrities
  
• Burning, importing and converting CDs to play anywhere
  
• Managing an existing digital music collection for free and syncing it to their mobile phones
  
• Buying non-protected MP3s of songs on the PC for 99 cents per song
  
• Buying songs on the phone, over-the-air - get two copies of the song for just $1.99 (one is over-the-air, the second master copy is the file customers download onto their PCs)

Verizon Wireless customers who simply want to manage or buy music can download the V CAST Music with Rhapsody software for free at www.verizonwireless.com/music. Customers interested in a subscription may sign up for $14.99 monthly subscription

Alltel Wireless, announced the addition of “texting” to its exclusive “My Circle” offer. “My Circle” customers with a “My Circle” message pack starting at $7.99 can send and receive unlimited text/video/picture messages to anyone in their “Circle,” as well as other Alltel Wireless customers.

In addition to the “My Circle” message packs, Alltel is also introducing new “My Circle” Family Choice Plus plans. For $84.99 per month, customers will receive two lines with 1,000 shared minutes and the ability to call any 10 numbers on any network. Also, customers can receive two lines with 2,000 shared minutes and unlimited calling within their “Circle” of 20 numbers for $114.99.

Besides, the unlimited calling within their “Circle,” Family Choice plan customers will receive unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls and unlimited nights and weekends. Customers will also have the ability to choose either free evening calls starting at 7 p.m. or 1,000 text/picture/video messages the plans include unlimited texting to their “Circle of Friends” and other Alltel customers.

Alltel Wireless was the first carrier to offer Anytime Plan Changes, giving customers the flexibility to change their calling plans at any time, without extending their current contract.

Today marks the first commercially available rollout of Mobile WiMAX Internet service by DBC (DigitalBridge Communications) offered over Alvarion's BreezeMAX  2.5 GHz solution. The network is already up and running with broadband Internet to businesses and homes across Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 

he US 12-17 teen cellular subscribers surpassed 16 million in 2007, according to market research and consultancy firm MultiMedia Intelligence. This is up 12% from 2006. By 2012, the number of teen subscribers will reach 17 million, a delta of only 1 million subscribers from 2007. Wireless penetration rates for teens are reaching saturation, resulting in stagnating growth. Since the teen market is not a multiple handset demographic, subscriber growth is forced to slow.

"The teen market has been the 'golden child' for cellular providers in the US," according to Frank Dickson, Chief Research Officer for MultiMedia Intelligence. "In addition to growing subscribers, teen ARPU has been growing higher than that of the overall market. Teens simply use their phones to do more, from text messaging to purchasing premium content. However, pricing pressures and teen cellular saturation are bringing an end to the teen cellular gold rush."

Key findings regarding teen wireless subscribers include:

1. Subscriber growth is seasonal, with Q3 and Q4 the stronger quarters.
2. Over half of teens are cellular subscribers by age 13.
3. On average, girls mature cellularly earlier than boys. Even at the higher age groups, teen female subscribers outnumber male subscribers. However, the gap among those in the 17-year-old age group has narrowed greatly.
4. The Hispanic teen market has become significant, projected to approach 3 million subscribers by 2012.

GyPSii, the leading geo-location and mobile social networking provider, announced it has entered into a multi-year worldwide agreement with Garmin

Under the terms of the agreement, GyPSii will provide technology, products, worldwide data center infrastructure, development licenses, and GyPSii branding rights to Garmin, on a worldwide non-exclusive basis for a range of Garmin products. Garmin anticipates that future products will include friend finding applications that support the GyPSii-powered location-based social networking services platform.

The agreement provides development licenses to Garmin, to leverage the GyPSii location-based geo-social networking services infrastructure for internal development and integration with its products. The agreement also has provisions for revenue sharing between GyPSii and Garmin.

GyPSii uniquely incorporates a wide range of location-specific functions and mobile lifestyle services - including mobile search, user generated content-sharing and social networking - in a single platform.

Worldwide mobile subscriptions will rise from 3.9 billion in 2008 to 5.6 billion in 2013, according to a new Strategy Analytics report, “Worldwide Cellular User Forecasts, 2008-2013.” Discounting for people with more than one subscription, more than half of the world’s population will be using mobile phones by early 2010, up from 40% at the start of this year.

Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa (MEA) are responsible for the current surge in mobile subscriptions. Those areas will remain the engines for growth in the wireless market in the medium term, contributing to 80% of subscription growth through 2013.

“These two regions may be driving the subscription count, but they contribute much less to global revenues,” comments Phil Kendall, Director Global Wireless Practice. “Asia-Pacific and MEA account for nearly 60% of worldwide subscriptions, but less than 40% of revenues. Their increasing significance will reduce average revenues per subscription by 15% over the next five years”.

3G networks will account for half of all mobile subscriptions by 2013. Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, Senior Analyst, Wireless Network Strategies, adds, “3G technologies will reach critical mass in more regions in 2008, driving worldwide subscriber numbers close to 500 million by year end. Next year, more than one third of all service revenues will be generated by 3G technologies, even though 3G accounts for only one in six subscribers.”

On Monday, June 30 from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. on the North Steps of the California State Capital Building, typically conservative lawmakers are getting “glammed” with the latest mobile phone accessories as they prepare to set an example for the new Hands Free Driving Law taking effect July 1. Motorola and Nectar Accessories have teamed up to give elected officials a fashionable and safe option for using their phones while driving.

“These lawmakers will have the newest accessories before their kids do,” said Renee Cleary of Nectar Accessories.

<p>
  Motorola and Nectar Accessories will be providing California lawmakers 
  with Bluetooth headsets and stylish Nectar headset holders. Nectar<span id="bwanpa3">'</span>s 
  award-winning headset holders, BlueNECK and BlueCLIP, allow users to 
  keep their headset secure and convenient without wearing a headset in 
  their ear all the time.
</p>
<p>
  From 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. on the Capitol Building North Steps, Motorola and 
  Nectar Accessories will be offering members of the public the 
  opportunity to enter for product giveaways, including cutting-edge 
  Bluetooth headsets and Nectar<span id="bwanpa4">'</span>s BlueNECK and 
  BlueCLIP headset holders.
</p>
<p>
  On-site demonstration topics include:
</p>
<ul><li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom">
    charging, pairing and using Bluetooth<span id="bwanpa5"></span> 
    headsets; and
  </li><li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom">
    using Bluetooth with Nectar<span id="bwanpa6">'</span>s BlueNECK and 
    BlueCLIP to safely answer calls while driving.</li></ul><b>Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:<br /></b>If the lawmakers get glammed don't they have to report it on their income tax?<

Nokia today unveiled 4 new Nokia Supernova phones.The new Nokia 7610, 7510 and 7310 Supernova devices give people a choice of exchangeable Xpress-On covers in striking colors and glamorous surfaces.

MasterCardannounced an agreement with Obopay, Inc. to offer a fully-integrated on-demand person-to-person mobile payment service in the United States. The service, offered via MasterCard MoneySend, will give new and existing MasterCard issuing customers the ability to provide an innovative mobile payments service to their MasterCard cardholders on all credit, debit and prepaid MasterCard-branded products.

LG Dare Rated 4 out of 5 by Wireless and Mobile News Review of Reviews Revised July 1, 2008

Reviewers of of the LG Dare found most of the features impressive and called the LG Dare the "closest to the iPhone." Although some reviewers liked the web browser for its fast access, many did not like like it as much as the iPhone web browsing experience.

The best reviewed features of the LG Dare include the media capabilities such as music playing, uploading files via Bluetooth, high speed video recording with bright flash and slow motion playback, photo enhancements, face detection, Schneider-Kreuznach certified camera lens, auto-detection of portrait/landscape modes by an accelerometer, admirable messaging and great sound/call quality. The LG Dare uses the 3G Verizon EV-DO Rev. A network for fast data.

One reviewer called the web browsing snappy while another thought that it lacked true HTML rendering. Features that you should notice about the LG Dare are expandable MicroSD, GPS, Chat, and the drawing pad to draw pictures or take notes. There is a proximity sensor that turns off the touch capabilities when it close to ears.

The LG Dare costs $199.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract. For Verizon customers who don't want to change networks, the LG Dare could act as an iPhone surrogate. We dare you to try it out (pun intended.)

Chrysler will bundle a bunch of entertainment and communication technologies under one umbrella name - “uconnect.” The featues are named, uconnect phone, uconnect tunes, uconnect gps, uconnect studios and uconnect web.

It includes Bluetooth hands-free, hard-drive stored media( 30GB that can handle up to 6,700 songs in a variety of formats) Sirius TV & Radio, GPS and the ability to turn your car into a WiFi hotspot. It will be available on most Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles starting in August.

UConnect Web, will be available as a dealer-installed Mopar accessory. The technology delivers uninterrupted, secure Internet connectivity for all passengers in and around the vehicle. a wireless router, connects to a 3G cellular data allowing passengers to connect to the Internet and any Wi-Fi capable device in the car can in turn connect to the via the auto-hotspot to the Internet.

The U.S. manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of UConnect Web is $449. Dealer installation is estimated at approximately $35 to $50. Autonet Mobile offers wireless Internet account service at $29 a month.

Quattro Wireless  announced today it has signed deals to add a variety of leading entertainment sites to its fast-growing  mobile Ad Network. The sites include Cracked.com, Savvy.com, TheInsider.com (a division of CBS Interactive), Fandango.com, Hollywood.com,  and MovieWeb.com.

Quattro will deliver mobile ads for the sites which feature a range of entertainment content, including: movie listings, video humor, gossip, community forums, entertainment news and men's lifestyle information. According to recent research conducted by Quattro Wireless, entertainment related sites are among the best performers within its Network consistently delivering high page views per user and click-through rates on advertisements.

Crisp Wireless and the Sports Illustrated announced the launch of SI’s new off-deck mobile website. The new ad-supported, interactive SI Mobile website offers form analysis and reporting from famed SI writers such as Peter King, Tom Verducci, Jack McCallum and Michael Farber, as well as hundreds of other stories and sports images produced exclusively for SI Mobile. T

he “Truth and Rumors” section provides users with the latest buzz on potential moves, hirings, firings and news in sports. The site will also feature a new live Game section where users can check scores, standings, stats, and the schedules of their favorite teams. SI Mobile covers every sports genre and level from football to horseback riding, professional to high school. The mobile site can be found at m.si.com.

Crisp Wireless will work with Sports Illustrated’s ad sales department and partner mobile ad networks to offer advertisers a wide variety of marketing opportunities on SI Mobile

Worldwide mobile gaming revenue is expected to total $4.5 billion in 2008, a 16.1 percent increase from 2007 revenue of $3.9 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. While mobile gaming revenue will continue to lag behind other value-added entertainment services - such as music and adult content - the market still has much potential.

Gartner predicts that mobile gaming revenue will experience a compound annual growth rate of 10.2 percent between 2007 and 2011 with worldwide end-user spending reaching $6.3 billion in 2011. Analysts said mobile operators and other game providers should build usage by offering game demos or advertising-funded games.

The Asia/Pacific region (including Japan) represents by far the largest market for mobile gaming, with end-user spending forecast to total $2.3 billion in 2008 and reach $3.4 billion by 2011. The mobile-game market has outshone the PC and console game market in the emerging territories of Asia largely because of the low penetration of PCs compared with that of mobile devices. India is expected to lead among Asian countries in terms of total mobile gaming revenue generated, with the 2007 figure at approximately $80 million. This is forecast to reach $450 million by 2012.

The mobile gaming market in Western Europe is expected to grow from $701 million in 2008 to $862 million by 2011. The North American market is projected to grow from $845 million to approximately $1.2 billion in 2011. The gap between North American and Western European mobile-gaming revenues is expected to widen over the forecast period as more users in North America adopt mobile data services in general.

Microsof announced it intends to acquire MobiComp, supplier of backup and restoration of mobile data and mobile posting of social content to websites such as Facebook. The acquisition would combine MobiComp’s expertise building imobile data protection and sharing services with Microsoft’s platforms across mobile phones, the web and PCs. Terms of the planned acquisition are not being disclosed.

The Portugal-based company is known for a variety of breakthrough mobile services including MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, and Active mTicker. These services help mobile operators and people round the world back up personal content stored on a phone, publish updates to online communities, and get entertainment and news content delivered to phones.

MobiComp will contribute to a rapidly expanding list of offerings from Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business while continuing to serve its existing partners and customers, which include 11 mobile operators worldwide.

Alltel Wireless is offering premium Wi-Fi access to more than 25,000 hotspots developed through Alltel’s relationship with Boingo Wireless.

Alltel Wi-Fi is available for purchase by anyone in the United States as a stand alone offer. Consumers can access unlimited Wi-Fi access for $19.99 per month or $3.99 per day with no contract commitment. In the past year, more than 15,000 additional hotspots have been added to Alltel’s nationwide service, which includes thousands of hotels, bookstores, coffee shops and fast food restaurants. Travelers can also take advantage of Alltel’s premium Wi-Fi service, which provides Internet access in more than 100 of the nation’s airports and thousands of hotspots across Canada, Mexico and Europe. Exact locations of Wi-Fi hotspots can be found at http://wifi.alltel.com and downloadable Wi-Fi software for laptops can be downloaded for free at http://software.alltel.com.

Recently, Alltel Wireless began offering an Internet Anywhere Bundle, allowing Alltel customers to bundle their Wireless Internet plan with unlimited Wi-Fi access for their laptop. The $69.98 per month bundle gives customers the choice of connecting to either Alltel’s EVDO network or a Wi-Fi hotspot. More information about the bundle is available at www.alltel.com/internet.

Consumers can now activate their existing CDMA handsets on MetroPCS' Network and not have to buy a new phone when they switch to Metro PCS service.

MetroPCS announced the launch of MetroFlash, allowing consumers to bring their compatible CDMA handsets to be used on MetroPCS' network. Coupled with its low cost, flat-rate unlimited wireless service, MetroPCS is further broadening consumers' freedom to enjoy more cost efficient, flexible wireless options. MetroFlash will eliminate for many consumers the requirement of having to purchase a new handset when signing up for MetroPCS service.

Customers using MetroFlash  customer get the first month of service free plus unlimited local, long distance, voicemail and text messaging for $40 a month and pay a $30 fee. The service will be available at all MetroPCS company owned stores and select authorized dealers in all MetroPCS markets, excluding Las Vegas and Shreveport/Bossier City. Consumers can go to MetroPCS online or to a MetroPCS company owned store to determine if their phone is compatible with MetroFlash.

The ROKR E8 handset will be available in the U.S. exclusively from T-Mobile beginning July 7th. ROKR E8 is both a MP3 player that makes great phone calls with a morphing keypad, that looks like a music playser when it plays music and phone when you use it as a phone, called ModeShift technology.

ROKR E8 features:

• ModeShift technology transforms the device from phone to music player with the touch of a button
• Haptics provide tactile response when a virtual key is pressed
• FastScroll navigation wheel allows for scrolling through thousands of songs with the slide of a thumb
• Patented CrystalTalk technology for call clarity even in noisy environments
• Windows Media Player 11 compatibility enables easy transfer of tunes from the PC to the device
• Includes pre-loaded music tracks and album art from Interpol, The Starting Line and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
• Landscape 2.0" QVGA display
• 3Dl stereo feature that enhances two-channel audio and an on-board equalizer
• Bluetooth
• FM Radio
• Song ID
  

Sprint reports Samsung Instinct has become the fastest-selling EVDO handset in Sprint  history. Instinct was first available exclusively to current Sprint customers on June 19 breaking records for the initial launch of any Sprint product. Instinct became available to all customers on June 20; sales continued to be brisk with Instinct breaking Sprint’s record for the first week of sales for any device.

The record pace of Instinct sales has led to temporary shortages of the device at some locations across the United States. Sprint and Samsung say that they are diligently working around the clock to increase inventory in all sales channels. Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand.

Initial indications show extremely heavy use of the device for email access, web browsing and GPS navigation with Live Search for Sprint providing access to directory information on-the-go, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access. Instinct also offers the ability to quickly share pictures, watch live TV, listen to commercial-free radio and more as Sprint’s first EVDO Rev A consumer device.

Wireless and Mobile News coverage of Samsung Instinct:  iPhone 3G vs Samsung Instinct Features, Samsung Instinct in the Review of Reviews, Please note the contracts must include an unlimited data plan.

Apartment Guide announced an agreement with Mobile Accord to provide apartment listing content through participating wireless carriers. Subscribers to this service will be able to find apartments for rent by using mobile phones equipped with global positioning system (GPS) technology.

Properties that advertise with Apartment Guide and ApartmentGuide.com will have their listings uploaded for access by mobile subscribers.

Vlingo Corporation today debuted a new application for BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) , offering a complete voice-powered interface based entirely on vlingo’sspeech recognition technology.

Available free-of-charge, vlingo’s BlackBerry application lets users send emails and text messages, search the Web, open applications (BlackBerry Calendar, BlackBerry Maps, etc.), dial their phones, look up contacts and even send notes to themselves - all with the power of voice.

Vlingo is easy to use. BlackBerry smartphone users can simply press the side “convenience” key on their handset, which lets them speak commands into the phone.

The number of subscribers using mobile Internet services will rise from 577 million currently, to top 1.7bn by 2013, spurred by demand for collaborative applications known collectively as 'web 2.0', and greater 2.5/3G penetration.

Established mobile players face increasing competition from web-based brands and will have to adapt their commercial strategies to accommodate greater collaboration with other members of the value chain, if future revenue growth in the mobile web 2.0 space is to be achieved.

An Open Mobile Internet
According to a new report from Juniper Research, the emergence of applications such as: Social networking; User Generated Content (UGC); Instant Messaging (IM); Location Based Services (LBS); Search calls for delivery of the mobile Internet as it was originally conceived - i.e. an open environment in which users are able to share, collaborate and exploit content/information without any one party controlling the value chain.

This marks a fundamental shift for the industry towards the D2C (direct-to consumer) model and places growing pressure on mobile network operators (MNOs) and handset manufacturers in particular, to relinquish some of their control over the value chain, by opening up their networks/devices to third-parties.

Verizon Wireless, and Loopt announced today that Verizon Wireless customers can now access Loopt's interoperable location-based service.

Loopt allows friends who opt in to be located by other friends to show where the friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the go and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also choose to permit sharing of location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.

Loopt is available today on select Verizon Wireless phones for $3.99 monthly access in the Tools on the Go, Featured Applications and Community shopping aisles in the Get It Now virtual store. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled handset and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

According to a report in The Financial Times.Virgin Mobile USA will acquire  Helio,  owned by SK Telecom.

Verizon will launch its latest iPhonelisicious model - the 3G GPS LG Dare with video capture and photo editing on July 26.

The LG Dare is a touch screen phone loaded with multimedia functions.  The 3G V CAST-capable phone has VZ Navigator V CAST Music, and a 3.2 megapixel still and video camera that automatically adapts to low or unevenly distributed light for better quality pictures.

The LG Dare has a photo editing tool lets customers turn their photos into personal masterpieces with features that include borders, landscape and a fun doodle feature right on the screen. Customized photos can be uploaded to a social networking site directly from the phone.

The intuitive and graphical contact list allows customers to find the right number with the flick of a finger for speedy texting, e-mailing and phoning. Favorite contacts can be reached with a drag and drop photo interface. Review of Reviews rated the LG Dare 4 out of 5 .

Other iPhone-like features:

• An accelerometer for auto orientation changes.
• On screen touch keyboard (or use a stylus with handwriting recognition)
• HTML web browsing
• 3G fast network access
  

The LG Dare will go on sale online on June 26 for $199.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate and two-year contract.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a new home phone service that enables customers to make unlimited nationwide calls from their home phone via their broadband Internet connection for $10 per month. Beginning July 2, T-Mobile will breathe new life and value into the home phone by launching nationwide T-Mobile @Home. The service allows customers to keep their home phone number, ditch their high phone bill and save money by adding their home phone line to their T-Mobile service.

According to a 2007 Scarborough Research[1] report, families spend an average of $65 per month on home phone service. However, for just $10 per month, T-Mobile customers can add T-Mobile @Home service to a qualifying T-Mobile wireless plan2 and get unlimited nationwide long-distance calling, plus call waiting, caller ID, three-way conferencing, voicemail, call forwarding and other features. In addition, customers will have the opportunity to use features typically associated with wireless services-for instance, CallerTunesTM (ringback tones)-and port their existing home phone number so family and friends can continue to call them at the same familiar number.

To use the service, customers simply need the touch-tone corded or cordless phone they currently use, an existing broadband Internet connection, and the T-Mobile @Home HiPortTM Wireless Router with Home Phone Connection, available from T-Mobile for just $49.99 with a two-year service agreement. T-Mobile @Home is designed to be easy to set up and running in a matter of minutes. “Unlike VoIP, no special phone is required, allowing the family’s center of communications to stay in the kitchen,” Dotson added.

T-Mobile @Home is available exclusively for T-Mobile customers, and will be offered at T-Mobile retail stores nationwide and online at www.t-mobile.com. For more information visit www.tmobileathome.com.

BSG today announced at the American Public Communications Council (APCC), the launch of Bill2Phone Mobile Collect, an automated billing solution that enables cell phone users to add incoming collect call charges directly to their mobile telephone bill.

Unlike landlines, mobile phone numbers are typically blocked when collect call requests are made to them because most operators have no automated billing mechanism to charge the recipient. Those operators that could connect callers to wireless subscribers required the recipient to pay for the call via a credit card. In an increasingly mobile society, with more than 260 million mobile devices currently in use, the ability to charge collect calls to mobile phone subscribers is critical. BSG's new solution enables operator service providers to connect callers that would normally be blocked because recipients were only available via a mobile phone.

"We see thousands of collect call requests to wireless numbers that get blocked every month," said Milton Volz, President of American Roaming Network. "BSG is supporting a need that has been overlooked by the wireless industry for years."

Palm, Inc. announced that the popular Palm Centro smartphone is now available unlocked for U.S. customers.It also announced that Google( Maps for mobile with My Location on Centro is available for Centro starting June 24, giving customers faster access to local maps and driving directions.

The unlocked Palm Centro retains the smartphone's compact, modern design and is dressed in a new white color with grey accents. Centro offers customers more choices to stay in touch with friends, family and co-workers by using voice, text messaging, email or the web. Also available in 25 countries worldwide, Centro is Palm's smallest and lightest smartphone to date.

The unlocked Centro smartphone is available online at http://www.palm.com/centro for $299.

Nokia announced that it will purchase the remaining stock it doesn't own in Symbian and then migrate the solution to an "Open" platform.  ABI Researchers have some interesting comments on the move.
.

• ABI Research vice president Stuart Carlaw says, "There has been financial pressure on Nokia to move in this direction at some point. The sheer economics of the number of devices it ships with the OS versus the value it gets out of its historic shareholding clearly indicated that such a `rescue' was inevitable at some point."
  
  
• Also according to Carlaw, "The real spice in this announcement is that Nokia is stating that it will offer the OS in a more 'open' way. Perhaps this is an admission that the pressure from the Linux industry is really forcing Nokia and Symbian to change their game. Questions remain as to whether the solution will be truly open and what the cost of a Symbian Foundation membership will be."
  
  
• Research director Kevin Burden adds, "There are also questions on where the up and coming mobile Linux platforms would be today had Nokia taken care of this purchase several years ago. It's very possible that Nokia will eventually position the Symbian platform for mid-tier devices with another platform powering its high-end devices - a position that Sony Ericsson has already taken."

Starting today, American consumers can buy the Nokia N78. Combining advanced mobile features such as integrated A-GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and high-speed HSDPA connectivity on North American 850/1900 MHz networks, the Nokia N78 is perfect for enjoying new Nokia services such as Nokia Maps and Share on Ovi. Along with this full suite of data features, the Nokia N78 has also been engineered for maximum voice and messaging performance as well. Now available through select consumer electronics and wireless retailers, online retailers and at the Nokia Flagship Stores in Chicago and New York, the Nokia N78 retails for approximately $560. Specific information on retailers offering the Nokia N78 and other Nseries devices can be found at http://www.nseries.com.

Although the mobile communications market in North America is close to saturation, wireless data usage is likely to go up. Mobile service providers are expected to push for wireless networks as the primary means of communications, says Research in Markets.

 In 2007, this market was characterized by high-speed networks, the emergence of the prepaid segment, third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G), slowing subscriber growth rates, mobile advertising and search, mobile social networking, mobile banking and payments, location-based services, and mobile broadcasting. These trends are expected to continue in 2008 and beyond. The industry is now deploying technologies such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access/High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSDPA/HSUPA), and Cdma2000 1xEVDO Rev.A.

Even as service providers are using revenue-maximizing strategies such as providing mobile advertising and wireless data services, voice is likely to be the primary source of revenue. This is expected to lead to price competition in this market. 3G services are expected to increase and impact data revenues with more consumers owning 3G-capable devices. "Mobile data revenues are expected to increase in 2008," states the analyst of this research. "While messaging will continue being the primary contributor to the mobile data revenue pie, 3G services and premium mobile content will also be strong segments."

The iPod touch screen senses the electrical charge emitted by fingertips and their movement  So say if you have very long lovely nails or have a physical disability that keeps you from using your fingers, you won't be able to  use the functions of the iPhone.

Pogo Stylus simulates a human finger's capacitance and can be held like a pencil or attached to a mouth stick.  Last year we wrote about the iPhone problem for people with disabilities. A friend mentioned that he wanted a iPhone but because he could not move his hands and a regular stylus did not work, he couldn't use the iPhone or other Mac devices that used the technology. The Pogo stylus that costs between $20 and $25 could be a godsend for people with disabilities. It also has an adapter so that you can clip it on to the iPhone.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced a change in their early termination fees (ETFs) Beginning on June 28, 2008, the ETF for customers who choose a one-year or two-year service agreement with T-Mobile will decline during the course of their contract. The ETF decreases from $200 to $100 if customers terminate service with 91 to 180 days remaining on their agreement; and decreases again to $50 with fewer than 91 days remaining. If customers terminate in the last 30 days of their term, the ETF is $50 or their standard monthly charge, whichever is less.   

Virgin Mobile USA will unveiled its new "Totally Unlimited" calling plan for $79.99 on July 1, the lowest priced and first unlimited nationwide calling plan without roaming charges or an annual contract that can be purchased by cash or credit.

 
"'Totally Unlimited' for 79.99 per month is simply a better value than postpaid plans offer," said Bob Stohrer, Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin Mobile USA. "It is simply not necessary to sign a two-year contract to get real worth with your wireless plan. This offer surpasses the regional carriers' unlimited calling plans as well, as most add on roaming charges that can cost customers as much as 79 cents per minute. With 'Totally Unlimited,' Virgin Mobile USA is providing consumers unlimited talk without all the limitations."

 Consumers who opt for Virgin Mobile USA's new "Totally Unlimited" calling plan will be able to talk as much as they want each month across days, nights, weekdays and weekends.  The Totally Unlimited plan - like all Virgin Mobile USA calling plans - will be available for purchase with cash using Top-Up cards, or with credit/debit for maximum convenience.  For just $10.00 more per month, consumers can add Unlimited Text & Messaging, with texting, IM, email and picture messages.

Nokia and Plazes (www.plazes.com) announced an agreement for Nokia to acquire substantially all assets of Plazes, a privately-owned start-up company of 13 people with its principal operations in Berlin. Plazes provides a context-aware social-activity service that people can use to plan, record, and share their social activities: why they are at a given location at a given time, whether in the past, present or future.

Once geared towards enterprise usage, smartphones today have approximately 31% of U.S. small businesses (SBs, or companies with up to 99 employees) utilizing vendors such as RIM, Palm, Motorola for e-mail accessibility or mobile calendar and contact information on top of their every day cell phone features. According to the latest study by Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., a whopping 20% of SBs who currently use a smartphone have plans to purchase a new one in the next twelve months. Of the SBs who do not presently have a smartphone, 11% have plans to purchase one--equating to approximately 400K U.S. SBs.

MediaFLO USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, ESPN on ESPN Mobile TV, and NBC Sports on NBC 2Go will provide comprehensive live coverage of championship tennis from Wimbledon, one of the world's greatest sports events, on the award-winning FLO TV service, June 23 - July 6, 2008. Available to AT&T subscribers as AT&T Mobile TV with FLO, the FLO TV service will let sports fans watch in stunning clarity all of the excitement from London's All England Lawn Tennis Club, live on AT&T devices, including the LG Vu and the Samsung Access.

Just days after bringing mobile consumers five thrilling days of U.S. Open coverage on the FLO TV service, ESPN on ESPN Mobile TV and NBC Sports on NBC 2Go will provide MediaFLO USA with a combined 119 hours of live video coverage from Wimbledon starting with the opening match on Monday, June 23 and concluding with championship finals matches on Sunday, July 6 (all times Eastern):

Firethorn Holdings LLC, a Qualcomm company today announced that it has added BECU (formally known as Boeing Employees' Credit Union) to its growing roster of financial institution customers. The nation's fourth largest credit union, BECU plans on launching the Firethorn mobile wallet application in the first quarter of 2009. By collaborating with Firethorn, BECU will enable its members to check their account balances, transfer funds and view and pay bills through their mobile devices. Future service capabilities will include more advanced mobile transactions and mobile commerce.

With more than 550,000 members and more than $8.3 billion in assets, BECU is the largest credit union in Washington state and is one of the top five financial cooperatives in the country. BECU has more than 45 branches and more than 150 ATMs located throughout Western Washington.

Motorola and Kodak today announced MOTOZINE ZN5, that combines a high- quality phone and camera experience .

ZN5 is the first mobile phone to combine Motorola’s ModeShift Technology and KODAK Imaging Technology. Together, they redefine the quality, convenience and connectivity of mobile imaging devices. With KODAK EASYSHARE Software and easy access to KODAK Gallery or other web sharing sites,(pictures are easily moved off the device, allowing consumers to print, share and enjoy their favorite photos whenever they want.

According to The NPD Group, a consumer market research company for the wireless industry, there was a 20 percent decline in year-over-year mobile phone handset purchases made by consumers in the U.S. from January through April 2008; however, a survey of mobile phone owners conducted in June 2008 shows that wireless retailers may be able to make up for lost revenue by redoubling efforts to market and sell accessories. While carrier stores still make up the lion’s share of mobile phone sales, there is room for improvement when it comes to accessories sales. Nearly half of mobile phone owners are likely to look to other competing retail establishments, like mass merchants and electronics stores, when purchasing accessories for their phones.

T-Mobile USA, Inc., today announced the availability of the Nokia 6301 and Samsung SGH-t339, the newest additions to the growing lineup of phones that support T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service, which provides unlimited, nationwide calling over any accessible Wi-Fi connection in addition to great in-home coverage.

The Nokia 6301 and Samsung t339 bring two stylish phone options to the expanding T-Mobile HotSpot @Home family. With a stunning red finish and a thin flip form factor, the Samsung t339 is a Wi-Fi-enabled phone, outfitted with stereo Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video capture, a music player and instant messaging capability.   The Nokia 6301 provides the style of a home phone with the look of a mobile. The stainless steel bar phone comes with a standup charger so customers can conveniently dock their phone, similar to the design of a home cordless phone. The Nokia 6301 is also equipped with a robust feature set, including a 2.0 megapixel camera with video capture, stereo Bluetooth and a music player.  

The Nokia 6301 and Samsung t339 will be available beginning June 23, 2008, at select T-Mobile retail stores and online at www.t-mobile.com. For more information about the new phones, please visit www.t-mobile.com. For more information about T-Mobile HotSpot @Home, visit http://t-mobile.com/talkforever.  

In 2007, cellular modem shipments increased by more than 300% over 2006. Not only was the dramatic increase remarkable, but interestingly USB modems accounted for over half of the shipments. Growth drivers included continued expansion of 3G cellular networks, and the popularity of USB modems among retail sales staff. But probably the most significant drivers were the expansion of offers for mobile broadband access and the simultaneous reductions in price on the part of European operators. Europe accounted for a very high percentage of the cellular modem shipments in 2007.

 

Principal analyst Dan Shey of ABI Research says, "European mobile operators' aggressive mobile broadband pricing was striking. It released the pent-up demand for wireless broadband services and showed the possibilities for growth in other world regions."

Alltel Wireless today announced that it will continue expanding its wireless broadband network in 2008 with the launch of EVDO (evolution data optimized) Revision A technology, enabling customers to upload files five to 10 times faster than before.

Both versions of Alltel’s Wireless Internet service - EVDO and Rev. A - are available for $59.99 a month and do not require a voice plan in order to qualify.

Customers can add unlimited access to 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to any Alltel Wireless Internet plan for $9.99.

United guests may now reach cruising altitude with a new, personalized in-flight entertainment system. United is the first U.S. carrier to offer iPod and iPhone connectivity to its in-flight entertainment system, enabling customers to enjoy their individual content on a 15.4-inch personal television, all while the iPod or iPhone charges.

The first aircraft with iPod and iPhone connectivity is scheduled to depart at 5:40 p.m. from Washington, D.C. to Zurich as United #936, and it will fly primarily on trans-Atlantic routes. United's entire fleet of international, widebody aircraft are being reconfigured over the next two years with lie-flat seats, on-demand entertainment, and iPod and iPhone connectivity in first and business class.

Through a cable that supports iPod and iPhone via the 30-pin connector, customers may watch and enjoy their personal content on United's in-flight entertainment system. Technology for the connectivity was developed by Panasonic Avionics Corporation.

According to several reports AT&T will pay a subsidy of $325 for the new Apple iPhone 3G, according to Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner. He says the usual subsidy is about $200. The new iPhone 3G is priced at $199 for 8 GB of memory, or $299 for 16 GB.

Reiner also says that AT&T will pay Apple an extra $100 for subscribers who place contracts at Apple stores, making the  total commission of $425.

Cricket Communications, Inc, a leading provider of unlimited wireless services, has launched an over-the-air contact data backup program called My Backup. Asurion, the leading provider of enhanced services to the wireless industry, is supporting Cricket in this initiative via its Asurion Mobile Applications division.

English and Spanish-language versions of the My Backup handset application and website are available at launch.

“The value of the information stored in one’s mobile phone is priceless, “said Larry Atwell, director of product development for Cricket. “We want our customers to feel safe knowing that even if they lose their wireless device, their contacts can be easily recovered and they can continue on with their lives without any major hiccups.”

Cricket’s My Backup program will initially be launched on more than 20 different phones. Customers may subscribe to My Backup for a fee of only $2 per month, providing protection and peace of mind for only pennies per day.

Oxy Systems, Inc. (www.oxysys.com), a leader in the development of advanced platforms for mobile applications and services, today announced the Beta launch of the phling! MusicLounge Mobile Web App. This joins the phling! Phone App, a Java midlet application, in Oxy Systems' range of MusicLounge applications.

The phling! Mobile Web App lets a phling! subscriber stream music they already own to their mobile phone from their home PC as well as joining the global phling! community of mobile music lovers. phling! is the only mobile service that connects subscribers to the music they already own as well as to their circle of friends.

The phling! Mobile Web App is available free of charge for a limited time - register for the Beta at www.phling.com. To use the phling! Mobile Web App, users should sign up for an unlimited data plan from their mobile service provider.

Award-winning mobile media company Player X is readying to launch the exclusive mobile game based on the upcoming film, The Love Guru, starring Mike Myers.

The movie premieres in North America on June 20th and will be released internationally over the ensuing weeks as part of Paramount Pictures' summer line-up.

Player X produced a mobile game based on the movie that the company will publish across its distribution network of more than 140 carriers and a potential audience of more than 2.3 billion people. The game was released exclusively on Verizon Wireless on June 10th and will then roll out across the rest of the US networks over the following two weeks. In Europe it will be live on all networks according to the film's release date in each country.

23half Inc., a pioneer of technologies that extend the functionality of camera phones, announced the availability of Thrrum MMS Search to Sprint wireless subscribers. A service already available to AT&T subscribers.

Thrrum MMS Search enables camera phone users to find and browse information related to their physical environment using the Picture Messaging service integrated into their phones. Users can capture a picture of any text with their camera phone and send the picture as a picture message to m@thrrum.com. Relevant search results are then sent to the users' phones. The Thrrum MMS Search service is presently in beta and is available free of charge to Sprint wireless subscribers in the United States.

Thrrum MMS Search brings together visual recognition technologies and information search in the context of camera phones. Based on technology first demonstrated by 23half in 2005 in the "nThrum" technology demonstrator, Thrrum MMS Search presents a unique approach to hyperlinking the physical world with related information. The MMS Search technology is protected by an extensive suite of patents pending worldwide.

About 23half Inc.

Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:

We wonder how many pictures will be taken of Starbucks signs and Pizza boxes.....

Apple announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over five billion songs from the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). iTunes is the number one music retailer in the US* and features the largest music catalog with over eight million songs. Also, iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, making iTunes the world's most popular online movie store.

iTunes features movies from all of the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. Users can rent movies and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods**, iPhone^TM and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV®. iTunes Store customers can also purchase new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios on the same day as their DVD release

AT&T announced its encore performance as the presenting sponsor of Vans Warped Tour 2008, which kicks off today in Pomona, Calif. The popular summer music tour offers AT&T a chance to interact with music lovers and provide special VIP services to its wireless customers. Additionally, to support the Warped Tour’s Eco-Initiative, AT&T is encouraging all concert-goers to donate their used cell phones to support the Cell Phones for Soldiers program.

Sponsorship Includes: - AT&T Signing Stage - AT&T Backstage Acoustic Performances - AT&T Drop Inn - AT&T Supports Cell Phones for Soldiers - AT&T Reverse Daycare - Warped Tour Radio - Warped Tour Text Alerts

Shall we compare the Samsung Instinct to the iPhone 3G?  Let's count the ways they are similar and different.

Here are the results of the comparison so far, we will update more features as they are suggested.

Please also read full Reviews of Reviews of the Samsung Instinct and iPhone 3G.

Samsung Instinct vs iPhone 3G from Wireless and Mobile News
		iPhone 3G	Samsung Instinct
Network		3G HSDPA	EV-DO Rev A
Wi-Fi		Yes	No
Size		Height: 4.5 inches  Width: 2.4 inches Depth: 0.48 inch  Weight: 4.7 ounces	Height: 4.57 inches  Width: 2.17 inches Depth: 0.49 inch Weight: 4.5 ounces
Text Messaging		Yes	Yes
Picture Messaging		No	Yes
Video Recording		No	Yes
Enterprise Email		Requires mobileme @ $99 a year for indiviual users	Corporate & Outlook and Web
Voice Search		Not yet	Yes
Voice Commands		Not yet	For calling, texting, picture mesaging, traffic movies and sports
Mulittasking		Data and Voice	Can play music and surf net at same time
Carrier		AT&T	Sprint
Screen Size		3.2 320x 480	3.1 inches 240 x 432
Price w/contract & Rebate		$199 4G or $299 8G	$129.99 2G
Storage		4G or 8G	2G
MicroSD		No	Comes with 2G expandable to 8
Battery		1 Not replaceable by owner	2 Replaceable
Bluetooth		Yes	Bluetooth 2.0 plays music
OS		MAC	Java
Visual Voicemail		Yes	Yes
Camera		2 Megapixel /stills only	2 Megapixel with video
Contact Sync		Yes	Yes
Calendar Sync		Yes	No
Live Streaming TV		No	Yes
Sprint Sports		No	Yes
Landscape/Portrait Sensor		Yes	No
Radio		No	Yes
Charger		USB	External
Music Sideloadable?		No/ iTune Sync	Yes
Applications		New iPhone App Store	Not sure yet
Battery Life		5 Hrs 3G 10 Hrs 2G	5.2 Hrs
Scientific Calculator		Yes	No

Customers checking in at LaGuardia and traveling within the U.S. can now check-in on the go with Web-enabled devices. Delta Air Liness putting even greater convenience in the hands of its New York-LaGuardia customers by partnering with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to launch paperless mobile check-in for domestic travel on Delta and Delta Connection flights departing from Delta’s main terminal at LaGuardia Airport.

Customers will have the option of using their mobile device to check-in and receive an electronic boarding pass via their Web-enabled devices.

How it works:

• Customers traveling in the U.S., checking in at LaGuardia may simply download their boarding pass to their mobile devices via delta.com and proceed directly to the airport security screening area.
• Customers checking bags should drop their bags at the baggage drop counter location prior to proceeding to the security checkpoint.
• At the security checkpoint, TSA will scan the electronic boarding pass, check the customer’s ID and process the customer through security.
• Customers can then proceed to their departure gate, present their electronic boarding pass to the gate agent at boarding time and board with their designated zone.

Future enhancements include standby upgrades and same day, round trip check-in on delta.com, mobile and SMS check-in.

Adding to its list of prestigious awards, ChaCha announced today that it took home top national prize in the Best New Service category of the American Business Awards, presented at a gala event held in NYC last Thursday. Hailed as "the business world's own Oscars" (New York Post, April 27, 2005), The American Business Awards are the only national, all-encompassing awards program honoring great performances in business.

Stevie Awards were presented in over 40 categories including Best Overall Company, Best Executive, and Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program. More than 2,600 entries from companies of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration.

This award is the sixth notable industry accolade ChaCha has won since the company launched its groundbreaking mobile answers text service in January 2008 - including being named in May as one of the Top 15 Innovators in the GSMA Mobile Innovation Marketplace America's competition. ChaCha was also recently named one of the "Fierce 15" companies of 2008 by FierceWireless, the online news authority for the wireless industry, and won the prestigious AT&T Fast-Pitch Platinum Award in April for best consumer mobile application at the CTIA Wireless Association Convention in Las Vegas. In March, ChaCha took top prize in the "My Search is Better than Your Search" competition at the Search Engine Strategies conference in Manhattan, and was also ranked as the "No. 1 Alternative Search Engine" in February by Charles Knight of the blogging network, ReadWriteWeb.

Telecommunications professionals are split down the middle on whether increasing bandwidth demands are likely to break the Internet, according to a new survey released today. The survey showed half of respondents saying bandwidth demands will eventually break the Internet, with the other half saying they won't. Of the 51% who see trouble ahead, one out of four think it could happen within two years.

The industry is also increasingly green about energy costs. 69% think energy efficiency is more important than circuit costs when constructing a network.

Straight from the builders themselves

Tellabs and research firm IDC conducted the survey of 372 telecom industry professionals, which tracked respondents' views on Internet use, the challenges providers face, and how those challenges will affect tomorrow's networks. Broadband is integral to the way users work and play and is a vital part of everyday life.

Sprint Nextel plans to  launch its first commercial WiMAX service in the Baltimore/DC area in September according to a speech made by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse  at the NxtComm trade show in Las Vegas which will be before the Sprint/Clearwire merger.

Sprint will also launch WiMax service in two other cities, Chicago and Washington, before the end of the year, Hesse said, but he did not specify by what date.

Nielsen RingScan, a service of The Nielsen Company, has increased its mobile market ringtone data tracking and coverage with the addition of AT&T Mobility's weekly ringtone sales data. Through the expansion, Nielsen RingScan data will now represent ringtone sales of every major US mobile carrier. AT&T, in addition to providing sales data, will also provide weekly ringback sales results for inclusion in Nielsen RingScan's newest report, ringback tracking, scheduled to debut later this year.

2008 YTD Top 10 Mastertones (Through Week Ending: 06/08/2008)

Rank -Artist- Title

1. Lil Wayne - Lollipop
   
2. Flo Rida - Low
   
3. Usher - Love In This Club (Ft. Young Jeezy)
   
4. Chris Brown - With You
   
5. Ray J - Sexy Can I
   
6. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
   
7. Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
   
8. Webbie - Independent
   
9. Jordin Sparks - No Air duet (Ft. Chris Brown)
   
10. Rick Ross - The Boss (Ft. T-Pain)

Source: Billboard Hot RingMasters / Nielsen RingScan

Men outnumber women on the mobile web almost nine to one according to Opera's latest State of the Mobile Web report, published today. This edition provides demographic insight into the people browsing the web on their mobile phones. . Select highlights from the May report:

• Men use the mobile web most: 88.1 percent of people using the mobile web are male.
• Most people using Opera Mini are between the ages of 18-27.
• More than 14.7 million people used Opera Mini in May to browse 2.9 billion pages. The number of active users has risen more than 23 percent since March.
• Opera Mini served more than 43.2 million MB of data traffic in May, up 30.4% since March.
• As Opera Mini serves compressed data to handsets around the world, the actual amount of data requested by people using Opera Mini is more than 288 million MB.

Top 10 sites in the U.S. (# of unique users) United States

1. google.com
2. myspace.com
3. yahoo.com
4. wikipedia.org
5. facebook.com
6. nytimes.com
7. youtube.com
8. espn.com
9. cnn.com 
10. accuweather.com

User demographics in US: Male 80.6% Female 19.4%

Age : Less than 18 8.3% / 18-27 43.7% / 28-37 29.6% / 38-47 11.4% / 48+ 7.0%

Sprint customers can soon get mobile access to their corporate email accounts on select non-PDA Sprint phones such as the new Instinct by Samsung. Easy access to Microsoft Exchange Server and IBM Lotus Notes accounts will be available through Sprint Mobile Email Work, as an extension of Sprint Mobile Email's existing access to personal email accounts from popular web-based providers such as AOL, Gmail, Windows Live and Yahoo! Mail.

Sprint Mobile Email Work will allow users of the Instinct and other non-PDA phones, such as flip phones with more consumer-oriented features, to access both their corporate and personal email in one easy-to-use application, included at no additional charge in several Sprint pricing plans.

In addition to the Instinct by Samsung, Sprint Mobile Email Work will be available in the coming weeks on 11 other popular Sprint phones, including

• Rumor and Fusic by LG
  
• RAZR, RAZR2  KRZR by Motorola;
  
• A900, A900M and M500 by Samsung
  
• Katana, Katana II and 8400 by Sanyo
  

Sprint plans to extend the service to additional phones in the future.

Sprint Mobile Email Work is included at no additional charge in Everything plans starting at $69.99, Talk/Message/Data Share plans starting at $129.99 for two lines, and the $30 Sprint Pro Pack data plan. With all other plans, Sprint Mobile Email Work is available for $9.99 per month, in addition to voice and data charges (taxes and surcharges excluded).

dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi Internet address designed specifically for mobile phones, and AKQA Mobile, the mobile division of the global independent creative agency, announced the results of an extensive consumer study of mobile Internet usage and attitudes. Conducted by the AKQA's Research & Insights department in conjunction with dotMobi, the survey reveals key insights into the importance of a better mobile Web for consumers in the U.S. and U.K.

The survey findings indicated a strong consumer desire for practical mobile content on phones. Rather than basic entertainment and ringtones, consumers stated that their most-wanted mobile activities included phone-optimized banking and travel planning.

Further illustrating the desire for utility-focused mobile Web sites, nearly 90 percent of consumer respondents stated that they would be more likely to choose an airline with mobile check-in facilities over one that did not offer them.

Additionally, trust in the mobile Web was inherent throughout the results of the study. In demanding access to mobile banking and mobile commerce abilities for basic utilities such as groceries, plane tickets and books, Consumers said they trust the mobile Web to keep their personal information secure, as opposed to the PC-based Internet, where security remains of utmost importance.

The .Net Compact Framework and Java ME top the list of platforms being targeted today by wireless developers, according to a survey of 384 professional developers working on wireless apps conducted last month. Forty-two percent were targeting each platform. Linux and Windows Mobile 6.0 trailed behind, while Android and Mac OS were being targeted by fewer developers than any other major platform with only 7% of wireless developers creating any apps for either of those platforms.

“Android is less than a year old, and interest in Mac OS for wireless only started with the iPhone, so those two platforms haven’t had the same time in market as most” said John Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data Corp. “But both .Net Compact Framework and Java ME are very strong and well entrenched in the wireless development community, so it’s hard to imagine any competing platform dislodging either of them any time soon.”

Sprint announced that the Samsung Instinct will sell for $129.99 after a $100 rebate with a two-year contract. Although it is not an iPhone The Samsung Instinct has many features an iPhone does not have.

Sprint, will spend more than $100 million to market the touch-screen Instinct, made by Samsung Electronics , in hopes the cellphone can help turn around its fortunes. This was about three times the marketing budget for the biggest phone launch in 2007 by Sprint,

In order for customers to experience the full capabilities of the device, Instinct must be activated on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Customers can choose from Everything plans for individuals starting at just $69.99 per month for 450 voice minutes or Talk/Message/Data Share plans for families starting at $129.99 per month for 1500 voice minutes to share between two lines. Instinct complements Sprint's signature Simply Everything Plan offering both unlimited nationwide voice and data services for just $99.99 per month. The Simply Everything Plan offers premium services, including GPS navigation, email, web surfing, Sprint Music Premier and Sprint TV Premier, while letting customers easily budget for phone expenses.

According to Nielsen Mobile, Google leads in mobile Internet search provider share followed by Yahoo!, together accounting for 79% of the mobile Internet search market.

 

Top 3 Mobile Internet Search Providers for Q1 2008 by Provider Share

1.  Google  (61%)

2.  Yahoo!  (18%)
3.  MSN  (5%)

Demographics and Usage Google and Yahoo! Mobile Searchers

• Google and Yahoo! mobile search skew male; 65% of Google search users and 63% of Yahoo! searchers are male.
• At 9.0 searches per month, Google users search more frequently than users of any other mobile Internet search provider.  Yahoo! is the third most frequently-used provider, with Yahoo! users searching 6.7 times per month.
  

With a focus on mobile and online applications, venture capitalists expect to increase their investment in content creation for the digital entertainment sector over the next two years, and see increased M&A activity in the coming year, according to a recent survey by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm.

In polling 300 venture capitalists, corporate executives, and investment bankers, KPMG found that 52 percent of respondents say venture capital investment in digital content creation will increase over the next two years. In fact, 25 percent of the respondents indicated that they believe investment will increase by more than 20 percent. Asked whether that investment would support user-generated content or professional content providers, respondents were evenly split, with each option receiving 50 percent of the responses.

Beyond investment, 59 percent of respondents indicated that they expect increased M&A activity, including 18 percent that expect an increase of more than 20 percent.

Myxer today announced they’ve surpassed 10 million users, 20 million downloads per month, and almost 150 million mobile downloads in total since launch, making them the largest free, ad-supported mobile community on the Internet today and one of the top 400 websites in the U.S. (Alexa). The company previously announced reaching the 1 million user mark in April 2007, and is now growing virally at an average rate of over 40,000 new users per day.

Myxer, which is both an online and mobile community as well as a mobile content delivery platform, also announced that McDonald’s, the U.S. Army, NBC, Friendly’s, ABC Family, and other major brands are now using their mobile platform to deliver branded mobile content and integrated digital ad campaigns to targeted audiences, spanning the web to mobile environments.

Myxer’s 10 millions users, made up primarily of teenagers and college students, are actively downloading millions of pieces of mobile content each month, at a rate of roughly 7 downloads per second. There are currently over 400,000 ringtones, wallpapers, games and videos available on the ad-supported Myxer website, from over 17,000 partners and content providers. Many of these content partners also leverage Myxer’s open APIs, widgets and other services to offer mobile content directly from their own websites, blogs and MySpace pages. By bringing the spirit and scale of the Internet to mobile, Myxer radically simplifies all aspect of mobile content access, sharing and delivery.

Instango is a new way of messaging on your mobile phone which they say saves costs. It is now available for BlackBerry It includes:

• Free instant messaging to other instango users and users of GoogleTalk, ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, GaduGadu, QQ and Jabber!
• Send photos, music and share files
• Free voice messages to other instango users
• Save up to 90% on SMS and international calls

Starter plans come with 40 free minutes and 10 SMS messages. This is service uses your data connection on a smartphone and is charged in Euros. With the downfall of the US dollar it may not be as cheap as it appears.

The Editor of Wireless and Mobile News has written Mobile-banking apps with mobile carriers, ATM networks up the ante for ATMmarketplace.com.  In the article you will find out who the top players are in the mobile banking downloadable application space. In the article Michael Lindsey, VP at BacorpSouth says,

"It's important to be innovative as a bank and work with new technology," Lindsey said. "We think that mobile banking will be able to do much more (such as payments) in the future. Debit and payments are important to us as a bank, and we wanted to make sure that companies like PayPal and Google don't dis-intermediate the bank out of the payment system."

If you are worried about the impending enforcement of hands free laws starting July 1, you can get a free compatible headset and just pay for shipping charges form FreeHeadset.org, offering free headsets to California drivers.

The FreeHeadset.org organization is a nationwide safe driving campaign which was founded in 2003. Since inception, the organization has distributed over 200,000 headsets to drivers across North America, and continues to ship thousands of headsets per month. The program provides motorists with a free hands-free headset for their cell phone. Participants only pay $3.94 to cover shipping costs.

"Many states have passed various laws that require the use of a hands-free device while driving, however these laws fail to provide any sort of assistance program to distribute the headsets required for compliance", said Matt MacAdams, Founder of FreeHeadset.org, . "Using a headset is an important safety issue that often gets overlooked. Our goal is to encourage people to use headsets by making it simple, affordable and convenient to obtain them. We would like to welcome all California motorists to visit our website to obtain a free headset for their cell phone."

The WiMAX Forum announced the first ten Mobile WiMAX products received the WiMAX Forum Certified Seal of Approval for the 2.5 GHz profile (titled MP05) at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress in Amsterdam. The WiMAX Forum also revealed its roadmap for 3.5 and 2.3 GHz equipment certification during the show, with plans for equipment in the 3.5 GHz band to achieve certification by the end of 2008.

Following months of rigorous testing to ensure that each product met the strict WiMAX Forum interoperability and conformance standards, the announcement included four base stations and six mobile station modules (also known as terminals) operating in the 2.5 GHz frequency band from eight WiMAX Forum member companies, including Airspan Networks, Alvarion Ltd., Beceem Communications Inc., Intel Corporation, Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd., Sequans Communications and ZyXEL. All of the newly certified 2.5 GHz mobile station modules passed the mandatory MIMO testing protocols.

The C905 is Sony Ericsson's first Cyber-shot slider and its most advanced camera phone yet. With an 8.1 megapixel camera and real camera flash amongst its cutting-edge capabilities, it offers easy photo-taking in a phone that derives its looks from a digital camera and offers the picture quality to match. In comparison the S302 Snapshot is for those who want it all at an affordable price - good looks, must-have features and a pocket-sized slim design.

C905 has all the functions needed for perfect pictures,smart contrast balances light and color. Face detection helps you focus on people. The C905, e comes with built-in GPS and Wi-Fi.  The C905 has support for picture and video blogging. The S302 is a 2 megapixel camera that can send photos to the computer via Bluetooth.

Sony Ericsson is putting gaming at the heart of its latest phone release. Targeted firmly at a youth audience, the F305 with Motion Gaming lets users control games with the flick of a wrist or the swing of an arm, and then see the results straightaway on the screen. Using advanced motion sensor technology, the phone can, for example, follow your actions to imitate bowling or casting a fishing line.

With the F305 your favorite game is only one-click away. Enjoy the full gaming experience with stereo speakers, which also come in handy for sharing the latest track on the media player. Add a 2.0” screen into this pocket-sized slider phone and the F305 takes playing games on your mobile to a whole new level.

To complement the F305 there is also now a handy new accessory available for the serious gamer. Although the F305 gives you up to 8 hours of gameplay, there is always now a back-up with the Power Pack CPP-100. Attach it to your keyring and when you need it, simply plug it into the phone to receive an instant battery power boost.

The F305 is about more than just gaming. Slide it open and find it packed with the latest Sony Ericsson features. Never miss a fun or unexpected moment with the phones 2.0 megapixel camera. Share your photos or music with friends via BluetoothTM or Memory Stick MicroTM (M2TM). It will also be possible to change the look of your phone with Style-upTM covers - two covers to choose from in box.

AT&T announced the launch of two new mobile applications — JuiceCaster 6.0 and Buzzwire — that keep customers connected to the online world.

JuiceCaster 6.0 enables you to use your AT&T wireless device to instantly share and post your mobile videos and photos with your favorite online communities — including exclusive mobile video postings to YouTube and Flickr. With Buzzwire, you can access and customize an extensive streaming media library that spans popular video and audio content, as well as live Internet radio, directly from AT&T phones.

JuiceCaster 6.0 is available for $2.99 a month on compatible 2G and 3G AT&T handsets. AT&T customers can simply text Juice to 386 to begin connecting and communicating in a rich social-networking environment that includes profiles, pictures, videos, friend lists, comments, ratings and personal status updates. For more information on JuiceCaster, visit http://www.att.com/mediamall.

Buzzwire

Launched last month, this innovative mobile media service from Buzzwire Inc. lets you use your AT&T mobile device to access a broad media library with more than 5,000 clips, including everything from your favorite Webisodes, unique user-generated video content and other video programming created specifically for the Web audience, such as news, sports and entertainment.

Today’s Buzz, which is a daily feature on Buzzwire, gives you a list of the top 10 most popular video clips on the Web. You also have the flexibility to create your own personal media channel — video, audio and live radio — and stream it to your phones with just one click. You can also bookmark any of the content in Today’s Buzz for viewing at a time more convenient for you. In addition, Buzzwire not only compiles and categorizes the popular video clips in one central library, but the content is also filtered and formatted so that the viewing experience is optimal for the mobile environment.

The Buzzwire mobile media application is $4.99 a month and is available today for download via the AT&T MediaMall at http://www.att.com/mediamall on many of AT&T’s most popular 3G handsets.

The Samsung Instinct will be released June 20.  Wireless and Mobile News' Review of Reviews of the Samsung Instinct has been updated. It is rated 4 out 5.  Although the Samsung Instinct received a lot of buzz at CTIA Wireless, the latest media blitz about iPhone 3G made the Samsung Instinct, loose some of its glimmer.

The Samsung Instinct has some features not found on the iPhone 3G which come with Sprint's everything plan.

Click here to read what reviewers liked about the features not found on the iPhone from the top reviews of the Samsung Instinct.
 

UCLA researchers unveiled a new tool this week to help people understand their relationship with the environment. The Personal Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) (http://peir.cens.ucla.edu/) lets users see online how their daily choices affect the environment and how the environment affects them, by providing personalized, daily estimates of measures like particulate matter exposure on roadways and carbon emissions due to driving. PEIR was developed by the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in collaboration with the Nokia Research Center, Palo Alto.

PEIR estimates impact and exposure using the actual travel patterns of its users, as uploaded from their GPS-equipped mobile phones. Accepted scientific models, like the California Air Resources Board's Emissions FACtors (EMFAC) vehicle emissions and Southern California Association of Governments traffic models, are used to calculate estimates specific to the user's travel. On the PEIR site, users can compare values for different trips and see how lifestyle changes affect their impact and exposure. They can also compare their averages with other PEIR participants in their Facebook social network.

By employing only the increasingly common location sensing capabilities of modern phones, CENS wants PEIR and projects like it to work on the devices that people already own and use. The project is part of the CENS urban and participatory sensing research program, which aims to make everyday mobile phones act as sensors and collect data for their owners. Applications for participatory sensing range from community "case-making" to systems like PEIR, which promote personal engagement and reflection.

The PEIR site is currently accepting inquiries from people who would like to join its beta testing in late summer. CENS recently released an explanatory video on the participatory sensing concept, available at: http://youtube.com/user/CENSVideo.

Social mapping service Loopt, ,announced today that the location- based service is now available for free to BlackBerry users on the Sprint, Alltel, T-Mobile and AT&T networks. BlackBerry users can now share their location information with friends across multiple devices and carrier networks.

Loopt shows users where friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive maps on their mobile phones. Loopt helps friends connect on the go and navigate their social lives by orienting them to people, places and events. Users can also share location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks, communities and blogs.

Loopt was designed with user privacy at its core and offers a variety of effective and intuitive privacy controls. For more information about Loopt or to download the Loopt for your Blackberry please visit www.loopt.com. Loopt for Blackberry is free to download and use. However, a data plan is required and standard data and messaging charges from your carrier may apply.

The new iPhone 3G will not work as tethered modem. According to iPhone Atlas, an AT&T rep said,  "AT&T will not be supporting a PAM plan for the iPhone 3G. The only available data plan for the iPhone will be the new $30 consumer unlimited data aand visual voice mail plan and the $45 business data plan."'

Please note if you are able to tether you iPhone, additional data charges may occur.  This kind of tethering has contributed to astronomical cell phone bills in the past, like the Canadian Oil Tester who racked up $85,000 C in data charges.

Nokia introduced today the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 - the latest email-optimized devices from the Nokia Eseries product range. The sleek Nokia E71 with full QWERTY keyboard has been called the "world's thinnest QWERTY phone" and is only 1 cm thin. The E66 has an accelerometer.

The phones mobilize a broad range of personal or professional messaging needs, including Microsoft Exchange, the world's most widely adopted corporate email solution. Both devices are expected to begin shipping in key markets in July. 

According to The Nielsen Company, Already, 9 million US mobile subscribers say they have used their mobile phone to pay for goods or services, and half of all data users (49 percent) say they expect to participate in mobile commerce in the future.

Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, presented an overview of the opportunities in mobile commerce today at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL. Among the findings presented:

• As of Q1 2008, 3.6 percent (9.2 million) of US mobile subscribers use their phone to pay for goods or services
• Men are more likely than women to use their phone for commerce: 4.5 percent (4.9 million) of men and 3.0 percent (4.3 million) of women say they have made a purchase using their phone
• Adults ages 25-34 are the most likely to have made a purchase using their phone: 5.4 percent (3 million) of adults ages 25-34 have made a purchase, compared to 3.6 percent of all mobile subscribers
• 49 percent of mobile data users, those subscribers who have used one or more data features on their phone such as text messaging or the mobile internet within the past 30 days, say that it is likely they will conduct mobile commerce in the future

Miles To Go by RiffWare (www.riffware.com) warns Verizon Wireless subscribers when their driving patterns will lead to an overage, allowing them time to adjust their habits and avoid expensive overages. Miles to Go can be downloaded for $2.99 from Verizon Wireless Get it Now compatible phones.

Most auto leasing companies charge between 10 and 25 cents per mile over the limit, meaning that drivers who put just 2500 extra miles per year on their cars over a five-year lease can pay more than $3000 in penalties when they return their vehicles. Miles To Go is the first application designed to help drivers use their mobile phones to reduce automotive costs due to lease overages.

 Miles To Go also helps save on gas consumption and reminds users about car maintenance.

Samsung announced two eco-friendly phones made from cornstarch.

The SCH-W510 is called the "Bio Cover Phone" beause it uses bioplastic material made from cornstarch and is manufactured using an environmentally-friendly metal finishing process. Samsung did not use any heavy metals, such as Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium, in the phone and applied water-soluble coating.

Samsung will also provide the SGH-F268 free of BFRs (Brominated flame retardants) and PVC in China later this month. BFRs and PVC are also excluded from accessories such as chargers and headsets as well as from the cell phone itself. There are alarms on the charger that go off when the battery is completely charged

Verizon is going to offer a bundle discount to wireless customers with Verizon DSL or FIOS.  The discounts will range from $8 to $21 a month, depending on the wireless contract.

The Associated Press reported that the discount applies to DSL service with downloads at 3 megabits per second, and to FIOS broadband at up to 20Mbps, other faster broadband options do not qualify.

Verizon starts selling the the LG Decoy today. 

The world's first mobile phone with a detachable Bluetooth wireless headset! This sleek slider has a mirror-like finish and five-way directional "joystick" on the front, and a , built-in headset on the back. In addition to enhanced Bluetooth capabilities, it also has entertainment features like a music player, 2.0 megapixel camera/camcorder and microSD memory port.

The headset charges through the phone. The Decoy also have Nuance's VoiceSignal voice command system.

Wireless and Mobile News has published a Review of Reviews of the LG Decoy on August 11.

Quattro Wireless announced it has launched nineteen mobile websites for Cox Newspapers, Inc. local properties around the country.

Cox Newspapers selected Quattro to provide a complete package of mobile services including site mobilization through Quattro's proprietary Juicing technology, ad operations and ad sales.

The new mobile websites cover regions from Texas to Ohio to Florida, and offer visitors access to breaking local and national news and Quick Search features for accessing local restaurants, events, music, and movie listings.

By employing its proprietary "Juicing" technology, an automated, real-time solution for adapting wired Web content for mobile on a handset-specific basis, Quattro has efficiently produced the almost twenty mobile sites for Cox Newspapers.

Gameloft, a leading developer and publisher of games for mobile phones and consoles, today announced they were named “Best-Ranked Mobile Game Publisher” in an independent study conducted by Pocket Gamer.

Considered to be the leading authority in mobile gaming, Pocket Gamer recently completed a comparison study reviewing game scores received by all game publishers. The analysis was based on 313 international game reviews made public between the months of January and March 2008. Game critique scores were compiled from such influential websites as Pocket Gamer, IGN Wireless, Mobile Game FAQs, AirGamer, and Midlet Review.

Seattle-based startup Knovolo announced its Real Estate Text Link product for real estate agents and independent home sellers. This service combines text messaging with specialized Mobile Web content to provide a powerful new avenue to communicate with buyers. Subscribers to the service receive a sign, to be affixed to the For Sale sign in front of property for sale, which reads”For more information: text DEMO to 732589 (REALTY)”

where “demo” is replaced by a unique keyword specific to that listing. Any potential buyer that follows these instructions will receive a text response in a matter of seconds with basic information about the listing, the seller’s phone number, and a Mobile Web link. The buyer can then click on the link to be taken to a Mobile Web page with several full-color photos, detailed specifications on the listing, and seller’s contact information.

The service is free to the potential buyer (aside from possible carrier text messaging fees). Knovolo charges the real estate agent a one-time fee, good for the life of the listing, which includes all the setup work (text message creation, keyword registration, Mobile Web design and publishing) and a sign rider to be displayed at the property.

Coupons, Inc., th, and Yahoo!,  their current relationship to enable consumers to discover and redeem coupons from their phones while on the go. Coupons, Inc. dominates the online coupon space, with more than 800 brand relationships, thousands of coupon campaigns and the world's leading online coupon distribution network. The company will make its mobile platform immediately available to all the brands in its network.

Leading brands like Papa John's Pizza are lining up to take advantage of the new platform and planning mobile coupon campaigns:

Verizon Wireless,, and Nokia announced the availability of the Nokia 6205 The Dark Knight edition mobile phone. Celebrating the upcoming July 18 theatrical release of "The Dark Knight," Batman movie,  the Nokia 6205 The Dark Knight edition will be available exclusively online at www.verizonwireless.com beginning, Sunday, June 15.

Clad in a mysterious black color and embellished with a subtle The Dark Knight emblem, this themed-edition flip phone comes pre-loaded with wallpapers, voice tones, animated screensavers inspired by the film, and a full movie trailer.

The Nokia 6205 The Dark Knight edition has a set of features designed to enhance the mobile lifestyle. Touch-sensitive external music keys make it simple to access tracks purchased from Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music service, while the crisp two-inch display that supports up to 262,000 colors, makes watching news, sports and entertainment content from V CAST Video more enjoyable.

Yahoo! Inc. announced  that it has reached an agreement with Google Inc. that will enhance its ability to compete in the converging search and display marketplace, advancing the company's open strategy. The agreement enables Yahoo! to run ads supplied by Google alongside Yahoo!'s search results and on some of its web properties in the United States and Canada. The agreement is non-exclusive, giving Yahoo! the ability to display paid search results from Google, other third parties, and Yahoo!'s own Panama marketplace.

Under the terms of the agreement, Yahoo! will select the search term queries for which - and the pages on which - Yahoo! may offer Google paid search results. Yahoo! will define its users' experience and will determine the number and placement of the results provided by Google and the mix of paid results provided by Panama, Google or other providers. The agreement applies to paid search and content match and does not apply to algorithmic search. The agreement also applies to current partners in Yahoo's publisher network.f
.

The winners of the Apple Design Awards 2008 in the iPhone categories are:

• Best iPhone Entertainment Application: AOL Radio - streams online radio to iPhone and iPod touch, making the iPhone work like an FM tuner.
  
• Best iPhone Social Networking Application: Twitterific - iPhone version of desktop application.
  
• Best iPhone Game: Enigmo - 3D puzzle game where players construct mechanisms to direct lasers, plasma, and water to toggle switches, deactivate force-fields, and eventually get them to their final destination.
• Best iPhone Web Application: Remember The Milk for iPhone & iPod touch - online task management service .
• Best iPhone Productivity Application: OmniFocus - information management tools.
• Best iPhone Healthcare & Fitness Application: MIM -medical imaging application with multi-planar reconstruction of fused data sets such as PET/CT, enabling physicians to retrieve patient images via iPhone or iPod touch.

Sprint says it is giving customers an easier way to budget for their monthly wireless expenses with the launch on June 15 of new simplified pricing plans. Building on the popularity of Sprint's $99 Simply Everything plan, new share plans for families will include unlimited messaging and data for one low price, so there's no calculator needed to figure out wireless costs for the whole family's favorite services.

For individuals, new voice-only Talk plans will be available for

• $39.99 for 450 minutes or
  
• $59.99 for 900 minutes.

Talk/Message/Direct Connect plans

• $49.99 for 450 minutes,
  
• $69.99 for 900 minutes or
  
• $89.99 for unlimited minutes;

 Everything Plans

• $69.99 for 450 minutes
• $89.99 for 900 minutes or
• $99.99 for Simply Everything with unlimited minutes.

The only way you can tell what plan is best for you is to compare apples to apples.  Sprint provided a chart which shows their share plan for 3000 minutes is by far cheaper with more features than AT&T and Verizon.  Unfortunately the FCC hasn't lowered Early Termination Fees yet, making changing carriers expensive.

Other features to note is that Sprint's umlimited night time minutes start at 7:00 pm while the others start at 9:00  pm. Sprint's 3000 minute plan for two lines include unlimited GPS, 50 free songs, free Sprint TV, NFL and  NASCAR  Cup.

More iPhone information from CNET iPhone 3G FAQ by Kent German

People who bought an iPhone last year and upgrade to an iPhone 3G can't use another SIM or give the phone to a buddy to activate it on AT&T.

According to Mark Siegel @ ATT

• Once an  iPhone user activates service for an iPhone 3G, their first-generation handset will be unusable as a phone. Another AT&T SIM card won't make it work.
• You can't buy an old iPhone on eBay and expect to activate it on AT&T's network.
• The old iPhone can be used as a media player and a Wi-Fi device for browsing the web.

Because phones contain precious and caustic metals, we' don't suggest you bury the old iPhone at sea or even in the ground. Funeral or memorial services, however, are to be given at the owner's discretion.  Be sure to book your room and caterer before the July 11th onslaught.

The FCC received over 3700 complaints about early termination fees. FCC Kevin J. Chairman Martin said that consumers should be protected, while early termination fees can be a legitimate means of recovering legitimate costs and they shouldn't be abused. in an opening statement at the FCC hearing today.

He suggested clear rules that guarantee the following consumer protections:

1. The early termination fee should be reasonably related to the cost of the equipment the consumer receives. For example, a $500 phone shouldn't have the same early termination fee as a $50 phone.
2. The early termination fee should be prorated over the life of the contract.
3. Any contract for service should be for a reasonable length of time.
4. When a consumer renews his contract without receiving new equipment, the early termination fee should not be extended.
5. Finally, consumers should be able to take the phone home and receive their first bill to make sure the service and bill are consistent with what they expected, before an early termination fee kicks in.

Martin believes this set of rules is important to protecting consumers. The issue is growing in importance as the practice of charging early termination fees spreads to other communications industries such as video and broadband.

Verizon Wireless announced that the Palm Centro smartphone will be available online and in stores beginning June 13.

Centro runs on Verizon Wireless’ high-speed data network, which gives customers the ability to quickly send and receive e-mail messages and attachments and browse rich Web content. Verizon Wireless customers can also use the Centro as a modem for their laptops when they subscribe to Verizon Wireless’ BroadbandAccess Connect service plan. The handset sports a vibrant color touch-screen, full QWERTY keyboard and a lightweight design.

Nokia announced the launch of the Nokia Advertising Alliance, which will simplify mobile advertising for brand advertisers. The program brings together leading mobile marketing solutions, including couponing, location-based targeting, image recognition, and other emerging technologies, to offer advertisers a simple way to increase consumer engagement. Now brands can work with Nokia to combine the reach of mobile advertising on the Nokia Media Network with the latest mobile technologies for more effective campaigns.

Members of the Alliance are integrated with the Nokia Media Network allowing brands to plan, execute and measure mobile advertising campaigns through a single Nokia interface. A range of companies have been initially certified as Members of the Alliance, including i-movo, Mobile Acuity, Mobiqa, and uLocate, with many additional members in testing. Leading brands from the automotive to entertainment industries have built campaigns using the Nokia Advertising Alliance.

Nokia Interactive Advertising provides:
- The Nokia Media Network which gives reach to millions of mobile consumers through advertising on more than 100 blue-chip mobile publishers, operator partners and Nokia properties.
- Nokia Interactive Solutions that creates end-to-end, high performance mobile campaigns for brands from banner ads, mobile internet sites and location finders to mobile coupons, click-to-call and other advanced mobile mechanics.

Verizon small-business customers will now be able to get wireless voice with unlimited calling between a Verizon Wireless phone number and up to five wireline phone numbers for a low monthly cost, announced Verizon. The new Verizon Wireless option is available to customers with Verizon Freedom for Business unlimited long-distance service.

Small businesses can combine new or existing Verizon Freedom for Business service with Verizon Wireless plans to get unlimited incoming and outgoing calls between a wireless phone and up to five business wireline telephone numbers for a fixed monthly fee of $4.99 per wireless line. Calls to these five wireline numbers will not be charged against the business customer’s Verizon Wireless plan minutes.

Mobile Digital Media (MDM), today announced it plans to bring many of its most popular software titles from the traditional mobile device and smartphone markets over to Apple's hugely popular iPhone.

MDM won't just port over existing product code, but rather will rewrite the applications from the ground up especially for the iPhone in order to take advantage of its advanced technologies and unique capabilities to ensure the ultimate user experience.

Mobile Digital Media's first product for the iPhone will be the extremely popular Advanced Brain Trainer Deluxe, followed by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary with Franklin Thesaurus. MDM has also slated the popular Atkins Carb Counter for release on iPhone during 2008, with other major titles to follow thereafter.

Bank of America, today announced that it has surpassed one million unique active Mobile Banking customers. Mobile Banking allows customers to check balances, pay bills, transfer funds, view posted and pending transactions and even locate banking centers and ATMs, accompanied by maps and directions. The service was introduced nationwide in May 2007 as part of Bank of America's suite of Online Banking services.

Nationwide, the mobile banking service is being widely adopted across the Bank of America footprint. Metro-locales that skew toward high mobile phone usage rank amongst the fastest adopters of Bank of America's mobile banking service:

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. Atlanta, GA
3. Washington DC
4. Dallas, TX
5. New York, NY
6. Houston, TX
7. Phoenix, AZ
8. Boston, MA
9. Miami, FL
10. Anaheim, CA

Over 4 million Mobile Banking Customer Sessions Monthly

Almost all customers use Bank of America's Mobile Banking service to view account balances, eight in ten review transactions, while four in ten use their handhelds to transfer funds or pay bills. Frequency of use by active users continues to increase monthly, with over 4 million account sessions in May 2008 alone.

Notably, two-thirds of Bank of America's mobile bankers are under 35 years old and four out of five are under 45 years old, as Gen Y and X consumers who have embraced mobile web technology are similarly driving mobile banking usage.

Sprint announced the coming availability of four new Nextel Direct Connect phones, powered by Qualcomm's QChat Push-to-Talk technology, to customers in 40+ markets across the country. The LX400 by LG, Z400 by Samsung, and PRO-200 and PRO-700 by Sanyo will be available June 15 for purchase by all new and existing customers in Sprint retail stores in the designated markets.

These new phones incorporate Nextel Direct Connect services, the speed of Sprint Mobile Broadband and Sprint's largest voice calling area, giving customers a wider selection of phones to meet their productivity needs with connection in less than one second to millions of existing Nextel Direct Connect subscribers nationwide.

Comment from Wireless and Mobile News: Their website states that the Pro-700 will get you "Through Heck and Back."  Where the hell is heck?

Phones

• LX400 by LG - The LX400  includes key features such as a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS capabilities and noise reduction capabilities. Available for as low as $79.99 with a two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.
• Hard-working and good-looking, PRO-200 by Sanyo -The clamshell Pro-200 by Sanyo delivers instant Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk services and key functionalities including Bluetooth, messaging capabilities and mobile email. Available for as low as $49.99 with a two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.
• Through Heck and  Back PRO-700 by Sanyo -  This rugged phone is certified to military standards for dust, shock and vibration and available for as low as $79.99 with a two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.
• Z400 by Samsung - Ultra-rugged push-to-talk choices expand with the Z400 by Samsung, which is certified to Military specification 810F for dust, shock and vibration. This clamshell handset has a 1.3 megapixel camera, Sprint Navigation and Bluetooth and is available for as low as $99.99 with a two-year service agreement and $50 mail-in rebate.

Verizon says that it told the Federal Communications Commission Thursday (June 12) that both consumers and the competitive wireless industry would fare better under an FCC-set national policy on early termination fees (ETFs) than under the confusing patchwork of inconsistent regulations and legislation being proposed in numerous states.

Testifying before FCC commissioners at a hearing on the fees consumers agree to pay if they terminate a cellular phone contract early, Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, said the wireless marketplace is functioning well and that his company acted early to expand consumers’ options.

“The bottom line is this: We listened to consumer concerns, and adjusted our policies,” Tauke said. “Customers can choose to purchase products and services with or without contracts that feature early termination fees based on their individual needs. And they have many choices — both from Verizon Wireless and our competitors — to meet their wireless needs.”

But, given the alternative of inconsistent state regulations, he suggested a list of ETF-related changes — many of which Verizon has already adopted — for FCC consideration, if the agency plans to take action.

Winwap Technologies Oy announced today that Neonode Inc, a world leading company specialized in optical finger based touch screen technology, will include Winwap Technologies Oy's WinWAP Browser in its uniquely designed touch screen mobile phone, Neonode N2.

Winwap's mobile Internet browser provides advanced browsing capabilities and the integrated browser adds full WAP capabilities as well as capabilities for browsing regular websites on the Internet. The Neonode N2 touch screen phone has no conventional hardware keys. Browsing with WinWAP is easily done by lightly sweeping a finger on the screen in the direction the page should scroll. To select and follow a link, the screen is tapped once.

Johan Eriksson, Director of Research and Development at Neonode said: "The integration of WinWAP in the Neonode N2 was performed in a short time and with great professionalism. For us it is imperative that neno, our user interface, is always utilized to the greatest extent. The WinWAP Browser adds benefits to both users and carriers and we are very pleased to present yet another exiting upgrade of our software."

Neonode is expected to release its new software on the Company web site, http://www.neonode.com, in mid July 2008. The

Nortel and Alvarion, two companies aggressively pursuing early market opportunities with WiMAX, announced that they will collaborate to create a new end-to-end WiMAX solution.

The Nortel and Alvarion mobile WiMAX solution is expected to combine industry-leading technologies from both companies to allow operators around the globe - including well-established service providers and new entrants to the wireless market - to simply and efficiently deliver high-speed wireless broadband for a variety of applications, mobile or nomadic, including VoIP, streaming music, and HD video.

This collaboration is allowing both companies to bring solutions to the WiMAX market - which experts say could be worth somewhere in the one to two billion dollar range by the end of 2009 and up to five billion by 2012 - faster and at a lower cost than either company could on it’s own.

For Nortel, this collaboration allows the company to bring WiMAX to market faster at a lower cost and focus R&D resources on bringing LTE to market. Nortel is accelerating its 4G strategy to bring both WiMAX and LTE to market faster.

The cell phone is practically universal, with more than 3.3 billion subscribers worldwide, yet 71 percent of all consumers surveyed in 14 countries will not consider using a mobile device to bank or shop online, according to a study released today by Unisys Corporation.

The research, conducted with the latest installment of the Unisys Security Inces, also reveals that more than half of all respondents (59 percent) do not trust their mobile devices to provide a secure transaction. Moreover, only 9 percent currently use these devices to conduct transactions involving credit-card payments, money transfers and deposits.

Unisys surveyed 13,296 consumers worldwide in March 2008 about their mobile-device habits and how secure they feel when conducting online transactions. The results indicate a widespread apprehension about the security of mobile devices and their ability to protect pertinent information relayed in a financial transaction.

Tele Atlas, a global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, unveiled Tele Atlas MultiNav the company’s newest digital map platform.

The platform is designed to:allow navigation application developers even greater speed and flexibility for building next generation mapping applications. It offers :

• A smaller data footprint to help decrease time-to-market, enable developers to spend less time in the development process and allow a smaller run-time format for their innovative applications for a competitive advantage.
• Map content that spans across 27.2 million kilometers in more than 70 countries, to the front doors of 1.9 billion people around the world.

Developed with Tele Atlas’ comprehensive and advanced data collection processes, MultiNav is available immediately to offer partners broad, comprehensive worldwide coverage. Developers can leverage the MultiNav platform in concert with Tele Atlas’s suite of digital map content and enhancements products, including millions of points of interest (POIs), Tele Atlas(R) Digital Elevation Models, Tele Atlas(R) 3D Landmarks and Tele Atlas(R) Voice Maps. Tele Atlas plans to incorporate additional innovative functionality and content into the new MultiNav platform, including map data enriched with qualified community content.

Turtle Wireless is offering a novelty phone, I mean watch, no I mean phone…which brings a whole new meaning to the word handset, or shall we say wristset?

Just in time for the Get Smart movie Turtle offers a smarter alternative to phones in a purse or pocket, a wristwatch phone that would make Dick Tracy jealous.

The TW801is a Tri-band GSM phone designed to be worn like a wristwatch. This mobile device comes with a camera, Bluetooth, MP3/MP4 capabilities, touch screen, WAP/GPRS compatibility, and more. The TW 801 will be available to the North American market starting June 16th and retails for less than $249.00.

It includes Stereo Bluetooth Headset, Extra Battery, Car and Home Charger’s, Data Cable and a one year warranty.

Nuance Communications, a  provider of speech solutions, today unveiled a  prototype for voice search capabilities shown on the Apple iPhone.

Through Nuance speech recognition servers, mobile consumers with no training required can simply speak requests into their phone like, "Find Starbucks in Los Angeles 90010" Score of the Boston Celtics game, or Play Hannah Montana Best of Both Worlds" to quickly and accurately search the mobile web or in the future dictate an IM, SMS or e-mail message.

The prototype, code-named for open voice search, will allow mobile user to offer simple 'say anything' search capabilities and is search engine agnostic, able to link to any search engine of an operators choosing.

The Atlanta Business Journal reports that some customers who bought stores may be able to exchange the handset for the faster, less expensive new model and get a rebate, stating that AT&T, "said clients will get a refund for the price difference."

Customers who bought a 2.5G iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will be able to do so without incurring an additional handset charge for the new device. There will be a 10 percent re-stocking fee. Customers whobought 2.5G iPhones on or after May 27 will get a refund of the difference in price minus the 10 percent restocking fee.

More than 6 million iphones have been sold since last year with 8-gigabyte atr $399 and the 16-gigabyte for $499.

The latest iPhone 3G starts at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model.

MetroFi, a provider of free ad-supported and premium no-ad supptorted  WiFi services told subscribers in California and Illinois that it will be shutting down its service on June 20. Users are encouraged to remove the MSN SideGuide application from their computers.

There are reports that nodes are for sale for $135 in CA and other cities are up for sale. The nodes are on street lamps.

They refer former subscribers to http://www.wififreespot.com/ to look for other free options.

Nielsen Mobile announced some key iPhone findings before the iPhone 3G launch:

As of Q1 2008: Nielsen Mobile estimates that there are 2.3 million US mobile subscribers using an iPhone The iPhone accounts for 1% of all embedded mobile phone users in the US

Who is using the iPhone?

• 67% of US iPhone users are male

• Among users ages 18 and older:

  • 15.4% are ages 18-24
  • 33.0% are 25-34
  • 19.9% are 35-44
  • 13.3% are 45-54
  • 14.4% are 55-64
  • 4.0 % are 65+
• 39.3% of iPhone users have a household income of $100,000+, down from 43% in Q4 2007, but still higher than the average mobile consumer (20%)

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo  announced agreements with Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint to shut down major sources of online child pornography.  Three of the world's largest Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") have agreed to block access to child porn from two significant sources: newsgroup and child porn websites

The companies will eliminate access to child porn Newsgroups, a major supplier of these illegal images, and will also purge their servers of child porn websites. The agreements will affect customers not just in New York but throughout the country.

An undercover investigation by the Attorney General's office uncovered a major source of online child pornography known as "Newsgroups," an online service not associated with websites.  The Newsgroups act as online public bulletin boards where users can upload and download files.  Users access Newsgroups through their Internet Service Providers.  As part of the agreements, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint will for the first time completely block access to all child porn Newsgroups.

In addition to eliminating the Newsgroups, the ISPs have also agreed to purge their servers of all child pornography websites identified by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children ("NCMEC").  NCMEC regularly reviews and updates its registry of these illegal sites to ensure the list reflects the current presence of such websites on the Internet. 

Verizon, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint, as part of the agreements with Cuomo, will implement a new system to rapidly respond to user complaints about child pornography.  The three companies will also collectively pay $1.125 million to fund additional efforts by the Attorney General's office and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to remove child pornography from the Internet.  

The Attorney General's investigation into Internet Service Providers allowing child pornography to be distributed online remains ongoing. Negotiations are continuing with other service providers.

The New York Times reports, "After the companies ignored the investigators' complaints, the attorney general's office surfaced, threatening charges of fraud and deceptive business practices. The companies agreed to cooperate and began weeks of negotiations."

Digby, a leading mobile commerce service provider, announced the availability of Powered by Digby, a mobile commerce software platform that gives retailers the ability to deliver a superior mobile shopping experience to their customers. Powered by Digby uses the same proven infrastructure that powers the Digby Marketplace, an award-winning consumer service that allows smartphone users to effortlessly buy products from an array of leading merchants. Retailers utilizing Powered by Digby will enable their customers to purchase products anytime, anywhere, thus capturing additional sales and increasing customer affinity.

Godiva Chocolatier and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC. , recognized national brands, have both signed contracts to launch branded mobile storefronts using Powered by Digby. Godiva Mobile launched on April 30, 2008 and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM mobile storefront will launch later this summer. These mobile storefronts utilize the retailer's brand identity and deliver a streamlined shopping and checkout process to mobile users with smartphones. Powered by Digby also provides mobile-browser access which allows the retailer to reach any customer with access to the mobile internet. The combination of a rich application for smartphone users with broader access for mobile-browsers is unique to Powered by Digby and maximizes the return on the retailer's investments by delivering their mobile storefront to virtually all connected handheld devices.

Pricing and Availability

Powered by Digby is available immediately for BlackBerry smartphones, Windows Mobile smartphones and mobile-browsers. iPhone and Andriod are expected to be available during the last half of 2008. Pricing is based on a set-up fee and annual sales commitment and starts at $7,500.

Funambol Inc., provider of Mobile 2.0 messaging software powered by open source, announced it has enhanced its native open source wireless sync app for iPhone 2.0.

The app uses the new iPhone 2.0 SDK and enables users to wirelessly sync PIM data with a wide variety of consumer and enterprise email systems and clients.

The free open source software will be available when iPhone 2.0 ships and the App Store opens, scheduled for July. iPhone users will be able to access the sync software via the free myFUNAMBOL portal. In contrast to MobileMe announced yesterday, myFUNAMBOL provides free syncing of PIM data and mobile email for mass market users. When the new Funambol iPhone open source software ships in July, it will initially sync contacts, followed by a version that also syncs calendars and notes.

Funambol enables iPhone users to:

• Wirelessly sync contacts from other phones, over-the-air, to myFUNAMBOL. myFUNAMBOL would then contain the contacts from other phones.
• Wirelessly sync contacts from Outlook (or other email clients such as Mozilla Thunderbird) to myFUNAMBOL.
• Access and use these contacts on the iPhone .

Integrated Ad Platforms Extend Reach for Advertisers Across Mobile and on iPhone Smaato Inc., a pioneering provider for in-application mobile advertising solutions, and Ad Infuse, a leader in delivering highly personalized mobile ad experiences, today announced a new strategic partnership to provide advertisers, publishers, and operators broad in-application advertising solutions.

Ad Infuse and Smaato will enhance their reach in the growing “downloadable” mobile advertising business throughout U.S. and in European markets. Earlier this year, both companies announced iPhone advertising solutions, which are enhanced by this new partnership. Ad Infuse’s multi-format iPhone advertising solution will be integrated with Smaato’s iSOMA in-application mobile advertising platform for iPhone SDK developers, providing broader reach for advertisers and new monetization opportunities for content providers and application developers.

innerActive Smart Media, a global provider of ad-funded entertainment channels, is teaming up with Buongiorno, to offer its customersfree ad-supported content (e.g. Games, IM and Video).

HotSMS, part of Buongiorno Marketing Services, will offer this free ad-funded entertainment service directly to its members of HotSMS.com. innerActive’s solution also enables Buongiorno to offer it’s HotSMS.com subscribers the choice of free content, in return for viewing non-intrusive, contextual advertisements and product placements that are dynamically embedded in-content. The advertising sales will be handled by HotSMS.

Unfortunately, HotSMS is not available in English, yet.

Motorola announced that its first commercial release of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) solutions next year will include products for the 700MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands to help operators increase coverage and capacity of their networks as they strive to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband services.

Both the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and government regulatory bodies around the world are recognizing the need for more spectrum to support the arrival of wireless broadband technologies. Motorola intends to meet the needs of its network operator customers by incorporating both current and new frequency bands being considered for LTE into its product roadmap. The timing for commercialization of products in specific frequency demands will be based upon a combination of general 4G spectrum licensing trends globally as well as individual customer demands.

Motorola is engaged in LTE trials with operators in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. The knowledge gained from these LTE trials, coupled with Motorola's expertise in OFDM and experience as a leading vendor in deploying and managing WiMAX networks, will contribute greatly to the development and maturity of Motorola's LTE solutions portfolio.

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire filed a petition with the FCC saying it would would provide high-speed Internet access that rivaled wired-line broadband when it merged  It also said:

• The new merged company, Clearwire Corp. would reach 140 million people within 30 months.
• Clearwire Corp. would  provide high-speed access capable of 2-way video conferencing to police, firefighters and schools.
• Their service would be an alternative broadband platform, or 'third pipe."
• The service would be open and customers would have a choice and plans and they wouldn't have to buy equipment from the merged company.
• They could only provide the whole nation with combined forces.
• They said companies like Verizon and AT&T are ""likely loathe to deploy wireless broadband in a manner that would cannibalize their landline business."
  

Here's a quick summary of the differences between the iPhone 3G and Samsung OMNIA SGH-i900 : (more desirable featured phone is in bold)

In the camera department, the Omnia has 5 megapixels to the iPhone 3G's meager 2 megabytes.

In regards to screens, the Omina is 3.2 inches, smaller than the iPhones 3G's 3.5 inches.

Omnia supports 3.5 G super fast HSDPA (7.2 Mbps) while iPhone 3G is US 3G ---OMNIA is not USA 3G ready yet.

Omnia has video capture and editing.. The iPhone can't capture video, although playing video is fine.

An unlocked Samsung Omnia is selling in mid August for around $700. The iPhone is much cheaper.

Omnia has GPS,  iPhone 3G hast it too. The winner will be decided by GPS app availability.

The Omnia is made for world access. Omnia is a Windows app, it may be the Windows users choice outside the United States.  For full specs of the OMNIA please read OMG the Samsung OMNIA Is iPhonelisciou with 5 Mpx Camera and GPS.

A new Samsung Omnia Review of Reviews was posted on August 19.

Other interesting events at the WWDC:

Sega demonstrated a game that uses the accelerometer - Super Monkey Ball

Loopt demoed how to find your friends nearby.

eBay apps are ready for the iPhone 3G.

TypePad is iPhone 3G ready.

BAND-APP - There was a standing ovation for a application that played music by touching the phone, via a guitar, drums or piano

Modality medical apps show a kind of Gray's iPhone Anatomy, MIMvista  shows tools for doctors. He's showing CT scan showing anatomic data and a PET scan showing metabolic activity.

Contact Search is ready and working.

Here's more information about the new iPhone:
 
It's name is: iPhone 3G - Selling line, "Twice as Fast -Half the Price"

AT&T remains the exclusive U.S. carrier of the new iPhone, which will be available beginning July 11 at a starting price of $199 with a two-year contract. Unlimited data plans for iPhone3G customers will be $30/month while business users will have to pay $45/month.

Current iPhone customers can upgrade to the 3G iPhone by paying $199 for the 8GB or $299 for the 16GB model. They will need a new two-year contract.

Customers who purchased the previous iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will be able to do  without any additional chargers.. In order to do so, they must return their 2.5G iPhone.
Yes to SMS
SMS messages appear on your iPhone as an ongoing chat, so it's easy to pick up a conversation where you left off.

3G
3G HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) to download data fast over UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks. Since iPhone 3G seamlessly switches between EDGE, faster 3G, and even faster Wi-Fi, you always get the best speeds possible. Talk and browse. At the same time.

Worldwide iPhone 3G  you can make calls and surf the web from practically anywhere on the planet.

GPS with Geotagging and Keyword
GPS iPhone 3G finds your location via GPS or by triangulating your position using Wi-Fi and cellular towers. It also finds points of interest by keyword: Search for "coffee" and iPhone shows you every cafe nearby Get maps, directions and traffic.

Apple iPhone3G APPS Store
Applications are available anywhere. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it's accessible from just about anywhere.

File Syncing Service & Enterprise Support
 MobileMe - includes push email, syncing of calendar, contacts and files,  Called  "exchange for the rest of us." Individual price $99 a year, family plan $149 a year.  As we reported earlier the iPhone 3G has VPN and enterprise security features for file transfers, developed with Cisco.

Read the quick review of apps shown at the WWDC launch update.

To accelerate the widespread adoption and deployment of WiMAX technology and products, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Clearwire, Intel Corporation, Samsung Electronics and Sprint announced the formation of the Open Patent Alliance (OPA). The OPA will advance a competitive and open intellectual property rights model, thus stimulating a larger WiMAX industry that supports innovation through broader choice and lower equipment and service costs for WiMAX technology, devices and applications globally.

WiMAX is a 4G, IP-based broadband wireless technology that provides low-cost, multi-megabit speed and greater throughput for the mobile Internet era of video-rich content and bandwidth-intensive applications. It is based on the IEEE 802.16e standard.

To accomplish its goals, the OPA will form a WiMAX patent pool to help participating companies obtain access to patent licenses from patent owners at a predictable cost.

Volantis, announced the open beta launch of Ubik.com, a web tool that enables consumers and small businesses to build mobile websites without any technical knowledge or training. The service is available immediately, for free use, by visiting Ubik.com.

Volantis now provides two free solutions that address the challenges posed by the complexity of the non-PC device world: for large enterprises, Volantis offers its freely downloadable Mobility Server, and Ubik.com now provides a service for small businesses and consumers.

With a simple, step-by-step approach, Ubik.com leads even the novice through the process necessary to build a mobile-optimized site. Users can access dozens of templates developed by the Volantis design team to get their own mobile website up and running in a very short amount of time. Employing the industry-leading Volantis Framework and device library of more than 5,100 different mobile devices, Ubik.com mobile-optimized sites provide the best user experience on any mobile device available today.

Ubik.com provides all the tools necessary to deliver content to any wireless handset around the globe.

Quattro Wireless announced today the results of a first-of-its-kind study tracking audience interaction across the entire mobile web ecosystem on the 100+ premier mobile websites for which the company has built, hosted and served advertising for, as well as post-click behavior on over two dozen national, branded campaigns sold, built and served by Quattro.

One of the more significant findings of the study involved usage behaviors, showing that mobile usage is an “all day” pattern and that time spent per session, page views per session and visits per month on a mobile website are roughly equivalent to session length, page views and monthly visits on the corresponding wired (on-line) websites. The usage pattern findings demonstrate that properly mobilized websites with premium, dynamic content that update in real-time, are just as effective as a wired site in engaging viewers and growing a mobile following.

Additional findings include:

• Smartphones account for 60 percent of premium site traffic — With premium sites come premium handsets. Top smartphones in the Quattro Ad Network include handsets from the Blackberry family at 48 percent of all smartphone traffic, while the iPhone represents over 18 percent of US smartphone traffic. These findings mapped against the demographic breakdown of the sites strongly indicate that the smartphone is no longer the domain of the business traveler or power user. The big screen and keyboard device demand in the North American market is significant as it crosses most demographics, incomes and geographies. Big screens and keyboards in this market lead to strong interaction and engagement with mobile content and advertising.
• Post-click page views on the Quattro Network average three pages per ad microsite visit - Post-click page view numbers on the Quattro Network reinforce the premise that a properly mobilized Publisher site with premium content will create an engaged, lean-forward audience ready to explore a well-crafted, interactive mobile advertising message. Post-click page views ranged from 2 to 5 with movie related advertising microsites seeing the highest page views.

Crisp Wireless announced the introduction of the Crisp Wireless Index (CWI), a quarterly barometer of consumer activity online via mobile devices based on usage across sites of select publishers in the Crisp Network. According to the inaugural Crisp Wireless Index, Presidential candidate Barack Obama beats rival Hillary Clinton by more than 2012% to take the number one most searched term on mobile search engines.

Among the other top search terms the CWI identifies, Heath Ledger was fourth and Britney Spears was the sixth most searched term. “Sex” and “Porno” were the number 8th and 9th respectively, followed by “American Idol” at number 10. Hillary Clinton came in at number 14.

The CWI also shows that a majority of web traffic, 53%, is driven by on-deck carrier portals such as AT&T, Sprint/Nextel and Verizon. The AT&T portal accounts for 29.5% of that traffic, followed by Sprint/Nextel with 13% and Verizon with 12.5%. Visits via search engines are 7.5%, and the remaining 39.5% of traffic derives from users who type in URLs, use bookmarks or access sites from text-based links. The 39.5% of traffic has gained ground since Q4 2007.

Samsung announced the launch of Samsung OMNIA (model name: SGH-i900). .OMNIA, means 'everything' in Latin and 'wish' in Arabic, will be available to the market from June 2008.

The new Samsung OMNIA allows users to switch seamlessly between Microsoft Outlook email and productivity applications that replicate the look and feel of their PC - with a stroke of their finger on the touch screen and sync with Windows apps. The i900 is a quad-band phone that operates on both W-CDMA and GSM, and supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA data speeds.

Samsung OMNIA has wide 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD screen for viewing videos and slide shows in high-resolution and advanced audio capabilities. MultiCodec support for DivX, Xvid and other video formats eliminates the hassle of file format conversions. Users also have the assurance of a long-life detachable battery for extended playback.

Other features:

• 5-megapixel CMOS camera with the latest value-added features, which include auto-focus (AF), face and smile detection and auto-panorama shot.
• Internal memory (available in 8GB or 16 GB capacity options and extendable slot for additions)
• GPS, including navigation and geo-tagging capabilities.
• Network: HSDPA (7.2 Mbps), EDGE / GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Display: 3.2" WQVGA TFT LCD (240 x 400)
• Video recording: Video Editing: Trim video, Audio dubbing, Live dubbing, Add subtitle, Image capture
• Audio: FM Radio with RDS, MP3/ AAC / AAC+ / WMA / OGG / AMR
• Bluetooth Stereo Headset (A2DP)
• MS Office Document Viewer,
• Advanced PIM sync
•  Push Email,
• Auto Rotation
• TV Out
• Connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0 / USB 2.0 / Wi-Fi
• Memory: 8GB / 16GB Flash + External Memory slot : microSDHC™
• Size: 112 x 56.9 x 12.5
• Battery: 1440 mAh

The Samsung OMNIA will be unveiled at CommunicAsia, Singapore from June 17 to 20 and commercially launched in the Southeast Asian market starting from the same week. The phone will be available in the European market from July.

The new iPhone, announced today at the WWDC has 3G, GPS, longer battery life, push email and a major price decrease.

""The No. 1 reason why people didn't buy an iPhone...was that it was too expensive," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said.

3G GPS & Apps
Slightly thinner but still looking like its father, the new iPhone has  3G and GPS, for turn-by-turn directions. Battery life is improved to 5 hours of talk time or 5-6 hours of browsing. Apple also showed a suite of online applications, with email, calendar, contact list, and a photo gallery.

Enterprise Push Email
The new phone will  lets business users send and receive Microsoft Exchange email. Apple worked with Cisco Systems and built virtual private network (VPN) services into the iPhones for security of exchanging enterprise information.

A 16GB iPhone 3G will sell for $299, while the 8GB will go for $199. It also be available in white when it is released  July 11. Apple will sell the device in 70 countries. 

Greystripe released  statistics from their internal database of users, their catalogue partners and third party research studies. These statistics include consumer insights, demographics and click-through rates. The results provide an interesting, inside look into the advertising potential within mobile games.

According to Greystripe's results, a significant number of mobile gamers are part of a coveted demographic in the advertising world. No longer the territory of just middle-aged women, Greystripe's 800+ games are the most popular among the sought-after 18 to 34-year old age group. 68% of Greystripe's GameJump users in the United States, and 75% of users worldwide, fall between 18 and 34 years old. Additionally, Greystripe's users are split almost evenly amongst men and women. Consumers in the U.S. are split 60% male-40% female, confirming that mobile gaming does reach both men and women.

Zoho has rolled out a new design for Zoho on iPhone.

The new design introduces a tabbed interface for navigation between Zoho Apps. Currently, Zoho Writer, Sheet, Show & Creator are supported in this new interface. We plan to add more apps and more functionality to this new version.

Kmart has partnered with Universal Pictures, Marvel Entertainment and Burger King for a multichannel entertainment marketing promotion supporting the June 13 release of THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

Kmart is offering a text-to-win sweepstakes, giving consumers a chance to win a trip for four people to the Universal Studios Orlando theme park. Other prizes include Kmart gift cards and THE INCREDIBLE HULK merchandise.

Kmart will offer “Incredible Dad” Hulk-themed gift cards to coincide with the “Incredible Dads” Father’s Day Promotion. Consumers who purchase $50 in Kmart gift cards will receive “movie money” good for up to two general admissions to take their “Incredible Dad” to see THE INCREDIBLE HULK. A

dmedia System Co. aTaiwanese manufacturer of navigation and wireless devices, and NextWave Wireless Inc. a global provider of mobile multimedia and wireless broadband technologies, have teamed up to begin development on an advanced mobile WiMAX device that will debut in 1H 2009.

Leveraging NextWave’s Wave 2-ready “No Compromise” NW2000 WiMAX chipset, dmedia will integrate WiMAX into its WiMAX Mobile Internet Device, G400. By embedding WiMAX into the device, end-users gain greater service opportunities, including mobilization of the Internet to enhance connection, navigation and mobile multimedia services. Additionally, as NextWave’s NW2000 chipset is optimized to deliver outstanding performance, very low power and enhanced integration, dmedia’s device will offer robust feature-sets to enable bandwidth-intensive mobile multimedia applications, including NextWave’s MXtvTM mobile broadcast service, streaming video, video conferencing, and Voice-over-IP (VoIP).

Qik, Inc., the live mobile video streaming platform, announced its support of Windows Mobile phones. Qik is now available on the Motorola Q and Samsung BlackJack as well as the Nokia N-Series phones. The Qik service is now in limited availability through an invitation only alpha program.

With Qik's free live video streaming service, users can stream live video to the Internet in just two clicks from their mobile phone, and join others as they watch online and engage in live interactive chat. Everyone from journalists to politicians use Qik to be transparent in their reporting and campaigning on a global Web platform. Parents are using Qik to effortlessly share family experiences that are occurring in the moment. With a simple to use interface and site, any user is able to stream what they are seeing and interact with the world

With the imminent launch of its 3G iPhone, Apple has a window of opportunity to have a significant impact on the mobile TV market, according to the latest report from Analysys Mason, the premier advisers on telecoms, IT and digital media.

There is considerable speculation about what next to expect from Apple's iPhone ahead of CEO Steve Jobs' keynote at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco on Monday.

"The iPhone could become the mobile video delivery device of choice for many consumers, by providing a compelling mobile TV and video proposition before mobile broadcasting networks, such as DVB-H become widely available", says Mark Heath, co-author of the new Analysys Mason report iPhone Shows the Way for Mobile TV.

Many operators are offering mobile TV services, using 3G streaming, but these are constrained by lack of coverage, relatively poor quality of service and 3G capacity limitations (as 3G networks may only support relatively low penetrations of mobile TV users).

Virgin Mobile USA  announced results of the first "Virgin Mobile USA Election Issues Poll," a national SMS-based mobile survey that asked about the key contenders and issues in the run-up to November. Not surprisingly, considering Virgin Mobile USA's historical focus on the youth-oriented market, over half of the respondents were under the age of 25 and female -- and favored Democratic candidates over the lone Republican.

When asked whom they expect to vote for through the national poll, conducted in late May, a plurality of respondents (40 percent) selected Barack Obama as their top choice. Fellow Democratic contender Hillary Rodham Clinton took second place, at 18 percent and John McCain came in a distant third at 8 percent. Fewer than 5 percent reported themselves to be undecided.

Running Mate Not Much of a Factor

Mobile voters were lukewarm on how much a candidate's choice of vice presidential candidate impacts their vote. Over 51 percent said the choice was "somewhat important" -- with an even split at the extreme ends of the spectrum (18 percent said the choice of a VP will be "extremely important;" 15 percent said the VP choice is "not important").

57% of respondents would  be more likely to vote by text.

The survey, conducted by Vibes Media on behalf of Virgin Mobile USA, allowed Virgin Mobile customers to opt-in by texting "PREZ" free of charge to a mobile short code, and then answering questions via text message. Participants earned five free minutes of airtime from Virgin Mobile USA for sharing their opinions

The whole iPhone 2.0 secrecy thing is really getting reporter crazy.  Brain Caufield of Forbes is asking employees, suppliers and stalking the parking lot of suppliers to see what's going on.  We dub him a iPhonerazzi.  He got photos of "Piles of unmarked boxes sitting alongside boxes of iMacs in the parking lot of a Quanta distribution facility."

Fedex freight trucks were hustling in and out of the parking lot.   Employees are not saying much but imply that something is going on:

" Are the new iPhones inside? "No, no," he said, before flashing a grin and heading back into the building. "If so, I'm not at liberty to discuss it."

With only a few days to go iPhonerazzi are working day and night to try to catch a glimpse of this new cellular star.

Google Trends sheds even more light on who's searching for iPhone iPhone.  Here are the top ten cities from Google Trends for the search term "iPhone."

Cities
1.	Washington, DC, USA
2.	New York, NY, USA
3.	Hong Kong, Hong Kong
4.	Moscow, Russia
5.	San Francisco, CA, USA
6.	Miami, FL, USA
7.	Singapore, Singapore
8.	Irvine, CA, USA
9.	Zurich, Switzerland
10.	Los Angeles, CA, USA

Please also see other articles how the iPhone is out of stock at AT&T and selling for high prices on eBay. WWDC is also sold out. Continue for a chart of the Google search trend for "iPhone."

Not only is the WWDC sold out but now you can’t buy any of the phones from AT&T reports several sources.  16 Gig unlocked iPhones ($499 MSRP) are selling for $600 on eBay. “Buy it Now” prices are as high at $749.

The time may be right to sell the old iPhone before the new ones come out.  Then we don’t have an exact date when the new ones will be available.

Even though the iPhone is out of stock, it is not out of mind.  We just checked the term iPhone on Google Trends.

Itt is now possible for mobile phone hackers to bypass the security system of the S60 3rd Edition phones with a mobile application based on Symbian OS v. 9. The S60 3rd Edition is the market-leading open operating system for mobile phones.

The newly developed hack is a so-called privilege escalation hack. This means that hackers can get unauthorized access to the phone's file system, which is normally protected. With this access system modifications can be made. The new hack "makes modding an S60 phone as easy as jailbreaking an iPhone," says the F-Secure blog.

Hacks directed towards the S60 3rd Edition have been evolving for some time. What makes this case different is that the new hack can be carried out without external devices or system knowledge by installing just one mobile application that is downloadable from the web.

Because the application can be considered as a hacking application, it is classified by F-Secure as riskware. F-Secure Mobile Security software identifies this application and removes it.

The GSM Association (GSMA) announced the winners of the Americas leg of the 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition. The winners were announced at the Mobile Innovation Marketplace -in Atlanta, Georgia this week.

The Global Finalists for the 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition - Americas Tournament are:

• modu, Israel
• Ubidyne, Germany

And the five Global Semi-Finalists are:

Most Innovative Wireless Device-centric Technology

• CooTek, China

Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure or Platform

• Ubidyne, Germany

Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market

• Tagattitude, France

Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service

• Sharpcast, USA

Most Innovative ‘True Mobile Start-Up’

• modu, Israel

ETRADE Securities LLC introduced ETRADE Mobile Pro, a first-of-its-kind, integrated mobile software solution offering customers quick and easy wireless access to their E*TRADE accounts. The service is avaailable exclusively on BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion.

E*TRADE Mobile Pro gives customers many of the same interface, security, trading and banking features available on their desktops - with the added capability and convenience of accessing real-time information and transacting any time, anywhere, from their BlackBerry smartphones.

MediaFLO USA, ESPN on ESPN Mobile TV and NBC Sports on NBC 2Go will provide live video coverage of all four days of this year’s U.S. Open golf championship at Torrey Pines (June 12-15) on the award-winning FLO TV service. Available to AT&T subscribers as AT&T Mobile TV with FLO and to Verizon Wireless customers as V CAST Mobile TV, the service lets sports fans watch all the U.S. Open excitement unfold live on their mobile phones.

The Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) announced an initiative to examine the various technology models supporting mobile payments today and to make recommendations on an approach that would facilitate an interoperable mobile payments infrastructure in the future.

More than 25 organizations from banking, wireless carriers and technology providers are participating to provide a broad view of the current environment and best practices. Other organizations are encouraged to join. The initiative is sponsored by The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C. as well as the American Bankers Association, BITS Financial Services Roundtable, NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association, and PaymentsNation. The FSTC has engaged KPMG to provide project management.

The Apple World Wide Developers Conference next week is SOLD OUT and iPhone-fanatics await the the new iPhone expected to be announced Tuesday, June 10.

Macaholics can get all thet content from WWDC 2008. Session videos will be available to purchase on iTunes shortly after the conference.  There will probably be YouTube and blog entries during the event. Google Search Trends are also surging.

A Northeastern University study tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the U.S. via their cell phone usage (without the users consent) and tracking devices.  They found that people don’t move around that much. Most (almost 3/4) stayed within a 20-mile-wide circle for half a year.

According to the FCC this kind of non-consented tracking is illegal in the U.S.   The authors of the study said that they didn’t know what phone numbers were involved and randomly chose the 100.000 people, providing anonymity to the study.

The study  Understanding Human Mobility Patterns in appears in Nature does not disclose the location of the cell phone users.

Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:

It’s obvious to us that the study was not conducted in Los Angeles, because the amount of cell phones on the freeway and our distances would have skewed the study.

Verizon Wireless has entered into an agreement with Alltel Corporation and Atlantis Holdings LLC, to acquire Alltel Corporation in a cash merger.

Verizon Wireless will acquire the equity of Alltel for approximately $5.9 billion. Based on Alltel's projected net debt at closing of $22.2 billion, the aggregate value of the transaction is $28.1 billion. The deal will make Verizon Wireless the #1  wireless operator in the U.S. with nearly 80 million subscribers.

The merger should be completed  by the end of the year, subject to  regulatory approval.

Alltel and Verizon Wireless both use the same network technology - CDMA  using the Qualcomm's BREW platform for content delivery. Alltel also has recently said it plans to migrate to the LTE technology for its 4G path, the same technology Verizon plans to deploy.

HTC unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro. The HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the Touch Diamond and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements, including a 5-Row keyboard.Other Features include 3G web browsing with one-touch zoom,  a special YouTube app, TV, GPS and Wi-Fi.

HTC Introduces New Accessories
Also , HTC announced multiple accessories will be available for the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro including a similarly designed desktop cradle and travel charger accessory pack as well as an extended battery and slim collapsible case for the Touch Diamond.

A new ChangeWave survey reveals a still soft corporate IT spending environment, although Research In Motion remains a very big exception as it continues to dominate the smartphone market.

Corporate Market: RIM s. Palm vs. Apple Future Smartphone Buyers

The May survey of 2,049 respondents involved with IT spending in their organization shows highly upbeat results for the Canadian BlackBerry maker, with the company expanding its already vast lead (76%; up 3-pts) in the corporate smartphone market. Second-place Palm (PALM); 17% - down 1-pt) shows no signs of halting its long-term decline. Looking ahead at 3rd Quarter planned corporate purchases, RIM has overwhelming momentum, with 82% of respondents buying smartphones next quarter saying they’ll purchase BlackBerries — a 5-pt jump since the previous survey in February.

“When you’re hot, you’re hot, and the latest results for RIM are scorching,” said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave and editor of ChangeWave Investing. “If every product had such market dominance, it would be easy to pick the winners in each space,” added Smith.

There was also a solid move up for Apple (AAPL) and its iPhone (13%; up 2-pts), with the company now ranking second in terms of planned corporate purchases. However, Palm continues to languish going forward, with just 8% saying their company will purchase their smartphone devices.

(Detailed charts on corporate IT spending and smartphone trends, along with additional ChangeWave findings can be downloaded at changewave.com/corporate).

Advertising Age has partnered with Quattro Wireless' mobile ad network, to create a mobile platform for both users and advertisers.

The redesigned service, which now includes functionality designed specifically for the growing mass of iPhone users, contains more content than ever from the award-wining AdAge.com, including Latest News, AdAge Digital and MediaWorks updates, CMO Strategy, various blogs, video offerings, event updates and more.

Using Quattro's Juicing technology, the site content rapidly develops into a dynamic format suited to a mobile presence -- with the layout and intuitive navigation specifically adapted for all types of mobile handsets -- and creates sophisticated new opportunities for advertisers including special banner creatives and channel sponsorships. Yahoo has signed on to sponsor the site's re-launch.

Verizon Wireless announced it is introducing a text message polling program for moviegoers.

Starting in mid-June in 10 markets across the U.S. and during 3,500 show times, the interactive text message polling program asks moviegoers questions related to their music preferences and gives them an option to text their responses. After audience members submit their text messages, the actual audience results will be displayed on the movie screen in a bar chart.

The polling program was developed by Screenvision. The text message polling program will be part of the pre-movie entertainment and will be in conjunction with two short films produced by Verizon Wireless, which promotes the company’s V CAST services. The first short, titled “What’s that Song,” showcases Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Song ID service. The second short, titled “V CAST Street,” is an original two-minute content piece directed by Spike Lee and features leading music artists Chris Cornell and Timbaland.

Moviegoers attending select theater locations in the following markets will be able to participate in the text message polling program: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Houston and Detroit.

Mobile content provider of infrastructure and services, Motricity,  announced that it has sold its smartphone and direct-to-consumer businesses to an entity owned by Motricity co-founder, former board member and executive 27 year-old Jud Bowman. The new company will operate going forward as PocketGear, Inc.

The sale includes Motricity's direct-to-consumer businesses PocketGear.com, SymbianGear.com, PalmGear.com, Smartphone.net, Mobile2Day.de, and smartphone application storefronts powered for partners including Palm, Sony Ericsson and AOL.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In conjunction with the closing of the transaction, Bowman has resigned his position on the Motricity board of directors.  The company announced layoffs earlier this year.

 A completely open platform, MOSH connects content creators ready to upload and showcase original content (applications, games, graphics and themes) with a global community of consumers who are looking for it. For more information: http://mosh.nokia.com or http://mosh.nokia.com/spotlight.

AT&T's 3G HSUPA is going to be ready by the end of June in time for the new iPhone launch.

AT&T  announced a more than 20 percent increase to the top end of the company's typical 3G network downlink speed range and a 50 percent increase to the top end of the typical uplink speed range for wireless laptop card customers(1). The upgrades are results of recent network enhancements, including the deployment of High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) technology across all existing 3G markets before the end of June.

The new typical wireless broadband speeds for LaptopConnect customers(1):

-- Downlink - Between 700 Kbps (kilobits per second) and 1.7 Mbps
(megabits per second), formerly 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps
-- Uplink - Between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps, formerly 500 to 800 Kbps

AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network is available in more than 275 major U.S. metropolitan areas. Later this month, AT&T will become the first U.S. carrier to have fully deployed High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology across its entire 3G network. By year-end, the company plans to offer 3G service in nearly 350 major metropolitan U.S. areas.

AT&T announced the launch of AT&T Net Reach, a bundle providing home and on-the-go high speed Internet services.AT&T Net Reach is available to new and existing residential and small business customers who subscribe to AT&T High Speed Internet and AT&T LaptopConnect services. Customers must also opt to combine their wireless and wireline services onto one billing statement.

Net Reach includes:

• AT&T High Speed Internet.
• LaptopConnect services,
• Free access to more than 17,000 hot spots with AT&T Wi-Fi(SM) service.
• New LaptopConnectsoftware that automatically detects the strongest available AT&T signal from a nearby network -- 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi or one's AT&T High Speed Internet connection at home.

AT&T Net Reach plans are now available, starting at $79.95 a month, and may be ordered by calling AT&T or by visiting a local AT&T retail location

T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced a new unlimited family plan. T-Mobile now offers unlimited nationwide calling (with nationwide roaming and long distance) and unlimited nationwide text, picture and instant messaging (SMS, MMS and IM), for a flat rate of $49.99 monthly access for each line added after the first line, after paying $99.99 for the first line.

To take advantage of this plan, new and existing T-Mobile customers would subscribe to the first line for $99.99 monthly access; customers can add up to four additional lines at $49.99 per line after the first line (plus taxes and fees). 

"Mobile phones are a lifeline for busy families today, and T-Mobile wants to be right alongside them whether at home or on-the-go to help them stay connected," said Robert Dotson, president and CEO, T-Mobile USA. "This new unlimited calling and messaging plan for families delivers great value, and frees families to connect the way they want to for all their important relationships." 

Now, you can stay connected with corporate e-mail using Verizon wireless phones with RemoSync, the latest out-of-the-box e-mail application available to Verizon Wireless customers.

Available on select Get It Now-capable phones, RemoSync allows customers who use Microsoft Exchange Servers for their businesses to manage their e-mail, calendar and contacts in real-time on their phones - all for less than $10 monthly access.

RemoSync, developed by Remoba, is ideal for small and medium business and enterprise customers who need the tools to manage their business activities, without purchasing separate smartphones or PDAs. The Direct Push Technology allows customers to automatically view their e-mail when they launch the application on their phones.

Customers need either access to a Microsoft Exchange Server or need to be using Verizon Wireless' Hosted Exchange solution to use RemoSync, but customers do not need to purchase a data plan in order to use the application. Customers without a V CAST VPak as part of their calling plan will be charged for airtime or $1.99 per megabyte when initially downloading or using RemoSync.

RemoSync is available for $9.99 monthly access in the Get New Applications category in the Get It Now virtual store on the following phones: LG VX9400, LG VX8700, Chocolate by LG, V by LG, enV(2) by LG, Venus by LG, and Voyager by LG; Verizon Wireless Gleam by Samsung, Verizon Wireless FlipShot by Samsung and Alias by Samsung; MOTORAZR maxx Ve, MOTORAZR(2) V9m, MOTORIZR Z6tv, and MOTO Z6c world edition.

The recent raft of announcements made by the LiMo Foundation and the Open Handset Alliance indicate that incumbent smartphone OS software vendors will soon face a serious challenge, deriving from two technically competent and coalesced Linux consortia. The LiMo foundation announcement of support from another major carrier in the form of Verizon, as well as the growing support for Android in the form of numerous global application developers coding innovative applications for the platform, categorically proves these are not a flash in the pan as many incumbents would have you believe.

ABI Research vice president and research director Stuart Carlaw states, "By 2013, we expect that Linux will take 23% of the smartphone market and will be the second most prevalent solution behind Symbian. And although LiMo and Android will take the lion's share of the market for Linux solutions, there will be opportunities for solutions such as Maemo which will be facilitated by the encroachment of the MID (Mobile Internet Device) form factor into the mobile devices landscape."

In a recent report, ABI Research found that Nokia's poor position in the Americas resulted in a 2007 share of only 4% for Symbian in the American smartphone market. It is imperative that Symbian looks to grow its share of the North American market by gaining more traction from other handset vendors that are performing well there. Otherwise, the company could face a situation whereby its leadership in the European markets is challenged by a combination of a resurgent Windows and emerging Linux, while simultaneously being locked out of the North American market.

TracFone is Florida's first prepaid wireless provider to be designated by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) as an eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) for the purpose of offering Lifeline. The designation was unanimously approved at today's PSC Agenda Conference. 

The Lifeline program helps low-income Floridians maintain essential telephone service through a monthly credit on their telephone bills. Under the Lifeline program, residents who participate in certain public assistance programs are eligible to receive a monthly discount of at least $13.50 - or more than $160 per year.

TracFone's Lifeline offering provides a free E911-compliant handset to eligible consumers and 68 minutes of airtime per month.  If a customer exceeds the first 68 minutes, TracFone provides an option to purchase additional minutes. TracFone will begin offering $2, $5, and $10 cards that are strictly for use by certified Lifeline customers. These prepaid cards will not expire, and customers will receive a $0.20 a minute rate. Any unused minutes will carry over to the next month.

Customers can apply for Lifeline through the Florida Department of Children and Families, the PSC, or by contacting a service provider directly.

BillShrink, Inc., a new, free online service to help consumers save money by making continuously updated, personalized, usage-based money-saving recommendations on everyday services, announced the appointment of Matt Coffin to its Board of Directors. A seasoned veteran of Internet technology, Coffin led LowerMyBills.com from concept through its 2005 sale to Experian for $380 million. Coffin, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007, is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, and visionary, who will be central in advancing BillShrink’s mission.

BillShrink aims to be the consumer’s personal advisor for managing everyday services — such as cell phone (http://www.billshrink.com/cell) plans and credit cards. For these services, which often lead to consumer frustration and complicated bills, BillShrink automatically monitors the market’s millions of continuously changing product combinations, as well as each person’s individual usage behavior. BillShrink then matches the up-to-date product information and terms against current usage patterns to deliver simple, apples-to-apples comparisons and personalized, actionable money-saving recommendations.

After a year in development and significant private testing, BillShrink released the beta of its free online service for cell phone (http://www.billshrink.com/cell-phone-advisor) users, finding users an average of $300 per month in savings. In the near future, BillShrink will introduce services for evaluating and monitoring rate plans from other complex products such as credit cards.

Pelago, creators of the mobile social discovery service Whrrl, announced new mobile support for the BlackBerry Pearl and Curve. Available for free to millions of BlackBerry users in the U.S., Whrrl provides a new mobile medium for discovering and sharing local information on people, places, events and experiences.

At the nexus of social networking, local discovery and user-generated content, Whrrl combines mapping and micro-blogging technology into a unique social discovery experience. Whether accessed via the Web or mobile device, Whrrl provides users with an entirely new discovery pathway for finding and sharing local knowledge with friends and communities.

The release of the BlackBerry mobile application coincides with expanded events and calendar features on Whrrl, giving users an unprecedented amount of relevant local information from their mobile device. Whrrl can be directly downloaded to a user’s BlackBerry for free at www.whrrl.com.

The Whrrl experience captures a person’s activities, cataloging an individual history of places visited and events attended through icons pinpointed on Whrrl’s built-in mapping application. User ratings and reviews of these places and events then determine how each is depicted on the Whrrl map, color-coded as either positive, neutral or negative-charged icons.

Motorola, Inc. announced the upcoming availability of Good Mobility Suite version 6.0 which includes a new managed-service virtual private network (VPN) as well as an enhanced device management and security platform. Good 6.0, which will include Good Mobile Connection, Good Administration Center and Good Mobile Messaging, will provide organizations with more secure, seamless, and manageable mobile access to enterprise information and applications.

The new Good Mobile Connection is a managed-service VPN that is capable of delivering a seamless, managed data connection from mobile devices to data and applications behind the corporate firewall. Good's existing trusted transport, which is currently used for Good Mobile Messaging, will now enable other enterprise applications and services, such as instant messaging, intranets and thick-client applications to securely connect with behind-the-firewall resources.

Good Mobile Connection provides a persistent network-agnostic connection via the Good Network Operations Center (NOC) to behind-the-firewall data and applications which improves the user experience for mobile workers. Organizations will now be able to deploy virtually any application leveraging standard TCP protocols over the Good Mobile Connection transport with no modifications or custom coding required. To guard against hacking or denial of service attacks, Good Mobile Connection allows IT to set granular restrictions on both the type and location of assets that can be accessed behind firewalls in addition to the device-level security capabilities provided in the Good Mobility Suite.

Starbucks announced new benefits with its Starbucks Card Rewards program.

Starbucks Card holders who join the rewards program online by July 14 will receive a complimentary beverage of their choice and all members can now enjoy up to two consecutive hours of complimentary AT&T Wi-Fi daily in Company-operated U.S. stores.  This new benefit joins other money saving offers that can be enjoyed every day, including:
• Select complimentary syrup and milk options;
• Hot and iced brewed coffee refills on the house during your visit;
• Complimentary tall beverage of your choice with the purchase of one pound of whole bean coffee.

To participate in the program, customers can load a new Starbucks Card with $5 or more or take an existing Starbucks Card and join the program by visiting www.starbucks.com/card. Customers must use their Starbucks Card for purchases to receive benefits.

A settlement has been reached with AT&T in class action litigation involving claims that third-party mobile content providers have placed unauthorized charges on the cell phone bills of customers throughout the country. The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by a Georgia court on Friday, entitles AT&T Mobility customers to receive refunds of unauthorized charges.

Third party mobile content refers to products such as ringtones, games, graphics and news or other alerts that generally are purchased over the internet and are charged directly to customers' cell phone bills. Although these products were not available in the United States as recently as five years ago, they have evolved to form a large and increasingly important industry. The lawsuits alleged that there were not adequate safeguards in place to ensure that customers are only billed for services they agreed to purchase.

Class members are encouraged to visit www.thirdpartycontentrefund.com to learn more details about the settlement and how to apply for refunds. Class members may also call the claims administrator directly at 1-877-465-4797.

Their website states:
Who is in the Settlement Class? You are a member of the Settlement Class and your rights are affected if you are a person (or entity) in the United States or its Territories with an AT&T Mobility account, and who was billed for third party mobile content from January 1, 2004 to May 30, 2008, and were not previously refunded for this charge.

Customers will be able to receive r refunds for charges that appeared on up to three of their monthly bills

Several sources report that an iPhone patent that was filed September 5, 2007 published last week.

The patent is titled Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Determining Commands by Applying Heuristics.

It includes all the features of the iPhone 1 plus lots of features not yet released such as:

• Instant messaging
• MMS picture and video messaging
• Java software downloads
• Inline Safari content, such as Flash and Quicktime movies
• A blogging client
• Voice-activated commands
  
• Audio capture
• An "optical sensor" on the top - for videoconferencing?
• A GPS module for mapping and geo-tagging

As rumors abound even more, it's suggested that the features not found in the actual first iPhone may be the new iPhone when it's announced.

In order to view the drawings from the US Patent Office you must have Apple QuickTime installed.

Yesterday, we contacted IDC and Ramon T. Llamas, Senior Research Analyst, IDC Mobile Technology and Trends was kind enough to send us all the smartphone figures that include not only the last quarter of 2007 but the first quarter 2007 before the iPhone existed.

US Smartphone Top Five Vendors by Market Share
	2007Q1	2007Q4	2008Q1
Research In Motion	48.7%	35.1%	44.5%
Apple iPhone	0.0%	26.7%	19.2%
Palm	23.0%	7.9%	13.4%
Samsung	9.3%	5.1%	8.6%
HTC	0.0%	7.9%	4.1%
Others	18.9%	17.4%	10.2%

Although Apple's iPhone cut a big chunk out of the pie quickly, RIM's BlackBerry products are still the major portion of the market.  Also note Samsung and Palm are making comebacks with their products.

It would be interesting to see the figures according to price because the buy-in for the iPhone is significantly higher.

NVIDIA Corporation ) introduced the Tegra family of processors, the world’s first single-chip computer capable of the rich high definition and internet experiences we’ve come to expect from our PCs, but on small pocket type devices. NVIDIA Tegra is a tiny computer-on-a-chip, smaller than a US dime (10-cent piece), designed from the ground up to enable the “visual PC experience” on a new generation of mobile computing devices while consuming the smallest amount of power. These chips will compete with the Intel’s Atom.

NVIDIA Tegra 650 also features:

• All-day media processing, for 130 hours audio, 30 hours HD video playback
• HD image processing for advanced digital still camera and HD camcorder functions
• Optimized hardware support for Web 2.0 applications for a true desktop-class internet experience
• Display support for 1080p HDMI, WSXGA+ LCD and CRT, and NTSC/PAL TV-Out
• Direct support for WiFi, disk drives, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals
• A complete Board Support Package (BSP) to enable fast times to market for Windows Mobile-based designs

The drop in price of the Palm Centro may account for its increase of market share from 7.9% at the end of 2007 to 13.4% of the market in Q1 this year. While the iPhone market share went from 26.7% to 19.2%. RIM grew to  44.5% up from 35.1%. These figures are from IDC and mistakenly quoted to be NPD by charts on ArsTechnica.

Tuesday, we received all the figures from IDC which we happily posted including figures from Q1 2007 b.i. before the iPhone.

On Monday we contacted NPD and was sent the following response:

You might be referring to the AP piece about IDC's recent numbers -- Ars Technica had a glitch and apparently accidentally cited NPD, when they meant IDC. If I'm mistaken, then please let me know & I'll try to track down what you're looking for.

From the NPD PR Department:

Yes, I posted something in the comments section (in case the reporter's reading?), but haven't had a chance today to look up the guy's email addy. (The bylines don't  link to email, crazily). Will do so shortly... Charles Jade wrote:

There is what appears to be bad news for Apple and the iPhone, according to NPD through the Associated Press.

Intera Group, Inc.announced its partnership with Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco to deliver special offers and promotions to visitors at PIER 39 directly to their mobile phones and devices. Offers are highly targeted to Bluetooth “zones” up to 200 feet in diameter. Since the offers are delivered via Intera’s Bluetooth Proximity Marketing network, independent of the wireless carriers, they’re absolutely free to consumers.

“Intera’s Bluetooth Proximity Marketing network has generated outstanding results for us,” said Bob Boemer, sales and marketing manager for Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco. “The results are expected to get even better as we add call-to-action signage to make more people aware of our mobile marketing campaign.”

Hard Rock’s special offers are available in a number of locations at PIER 39. Once Bluetooth is turned on and “discoverable” on the mobile devices, consumers are asked if they wish to accept an offer. If they agree, it is sent to their mobile devices in seconds. To redeem the offer, they simply go to Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco and show it to their server or at the cash register. The San Francisco cafe will also utilize Intera’s network to promote special events throughout the year.

“Intera’s Bluetooth Proximity Marketing network enables brands to reach consumers in a highly targeted and cost-effective manner,” said Kevin Thornton, CEO of Intera. “Our network is designed to reach people near the point of sale, while they’re most likely to be responsive to and act on an offer. We provide brands and their agencies a distribution channel that is highly effective, with measurable and compelling results, bringing online-style measurement to out-of-home marketing.”

Worldwide sales of mobile phones reached 294.3 million units in the first quarter of 2008, a 13.6 per cent increase over the first quarter of 2007, according to Gartner, Inc.  Sales of mobile phones in Western Europe decreased 16.4 per cent from the first quarter of 2007, the first decline in this region since Gartner began tracking the mobile devices market in 2001.

"While sales in emerging markets continued to be driven by strong net new subscribers' growth, mature markets felt the pressure of an uncertain economic environment," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. "Sales of high-end device