Posts tagged World
NEC Medias: World’s Slimmest Smartphone Tops Japanese Cell Phone Sales Charts
Apr 1st
The NEC Medias is not only “the world’s slimmest smartphone”, it’s also selling really well. The handset, which we have shown you last month, was the best-selling cell phone in Japan between March 14 and March 20, according to market research firm Gfk Japan [JP].
To recap, the NEC Medias is just 8.7mm thick and features a 4-inch LCD touchscreen with 480 x 854 resolution, Android 2.2, a 5.1MP CMOS camera, a digital TV tuner, e-wallet function, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Version 2.1+ EDR, a microSDHC card slot etc.
Here’s the full top 10:
- NEC Medias
- iPhone 4 / 16GB
- Sharp IS05
- iPhone 4 / 32GB
- Samsung Galaxy S
- Sharp SH009
- Toshiba IS04
- Panasonic P-07B
- Kyocera Kantan Keitai K005
- Sharp IS03
Via IT Media [JP]
From www.mobilecrunch.com
Europe is the most connected, but mobile phone use is rising around the world
Mar 30th
Nokia has created a graphic that shows the penetration rates of mobile phones around the world. Europe leads the pack, but the Americas aren’t far behind.
Wonder how many mobile phones are floating around your country? Well, Nokia has taken official numbers from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and plotted them on a big, colorful world map. Unfortunately, the Finnish handset maker didn’t translate the numbers to make sense to anyone outside of the industry, but hey, that’s what we’re here for.
Europe and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) are the most connected with about 12.5 mobile phones for every 10 people, followed by The Americas with about 9 phones for every 10 people. Worst is Africa with only 4 phones for every 10 people. The full list is below.
What the numbers mean:
- Europe: 12.5 phones for every 10 people
- CIS: 12.5 phones for every 10 people
- Americas: 9 phones for every 10 people
- Arab States: 7.7 phones for every 10 people
- Asia & Pacific: 6.7 phones for every 10 people
- Africa: 4 phones for every 10 people
It should be noted that if you remove old people and kids from the equation, all of these numbers likely rise dramatically. It also varies by location greatly and this graphic is very broad. To check out other cool infographics, head here.
From www.digitaltrends.com
Coming Soon Phones : Phones to rock your world with great features
Mar 8th
Almost all the mobile phone manufacturing companies come up with new models every day. They are intended to satisfy the needs of the modern mobile user of today. They take care of not just the communication needs, but also the need to stay connected online. These coming soon phones are made available to the user by the leading network providers with some great incentives and gifts.
The mobile phone industry is the most dynamic one. Since the last few years, the popularity of mobile phones has risen unexpectedly. Almost all the phone manufacturers such as Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson and so on keep coming up with advance and stunning models every now and then. They promise the users to give maximum benefits with affordable rates so that it can reach up to every class of people.
Comong soon phones come incorporated with technologies such as GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to allow the users to browse the web and exchange files with ease. They promise to come up with very nice solution for their expectations for better handsets. The users are very keenly waiting for the coming soon phones of 2011 such as N97, Samsung G400, Sony Ericsson K630iand Motorola U3.
The online Mobile Phone Shops in UK come out with very exciting deals and offers for the mobile users who are keeping an eye on the coming soon phones which would satisfy their needs and requirements. Here, one can compare the various deals offered by the leading network providers of UK and grab the offers on all coming soon phones. One can buy best coming soon phones with plenty of incentives and free offers through cheap contract deals provided by the service providers of UK. Every brand comes up with advance handset from time to time and the users eagerly wait for the launch of new handsets.
For getting coming soon phones with fabulous offers, one can search various portals online, compare the deals and choose the deal which suit him the most. The customers get to know well in advance as to which mobile phones are going to hit the shelves soon and their specifications. The various networks provide lucrative deals and amazing free gifts on coming soon mobile phones. If you are looking for handset which suits your requirements and your budget, then just wait for a few days and catch the best deals online on the coming soon phones.
From www.prfrog.co.uk
Tablet Market Provides New World of Opportunity for Qualcomm Chipsets
Mar 5th
Qualcomm ( QCOM ) competes with players like Broadcom ( BRCM ), Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL), Infineon (now acquired by Intel ( INTC )) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) in the cellular baseband market. Qualcomm’s application processor named Snapdragon competes with Nvidia’s ( NVDA ) Tegra processor and Texas Instrument’s OMAP 4 processor.
Qualcomm primarily makes money by selling mobile phone chipsets and earning royalties from licensing CDMA-based technology to mobile phone vendors like Motorola Mobility (MMI), Samsung and LG. Qualcomm sells cellular basebands, which are the core chipsets used in mobile phones, to handle voice/data communication between wireless devices. The company also sells other chipsets used for power management, bluetooth connectivity and application processing.
See our full analysis and $53.82 price estimate for Qualcomm
Lately, Qualcomm has started to concentrate its effort on tapping the fast growing tablet chipset market. Although it is too early to tell whether Qualcomm can generate the same level of success in tablet chipsets that it did in mobile phone chipsets, the tablet market’s fast growth potential does provide an opportunity to boost top-line revenues.
We estimate that mobile phone chipsets and royalties account for 39% and 37% of our $53.82 price estimate for Qualcomm stock . Our price estimate stands roughly 8% below market price.
Qualcomm Starting to Focus its Efforts on Tablet Chipsets
According to management, Qualcomm has more than 150 Snapdragon devices in development, including more than 20 tablets. It also mentioned that it is designing a new dual-core chipset named MSM 8660 that would be well suited to both tablets and smartphones.
Another initiative that Qualcomm recently undertook was the acquisition of Atheros (ATHR) to diversify its product portfolio beyond mobile phones. Qualcomm had previously lacked the product range (particularly in Wi-Fi chipsets) necessary for non-handset devices like tablets – Wi-Fi is an important component for PCs and tablets. The Atheros acquisition plugs this gap for Qualcomm (see our article Atheros Acquisition Provides Immediate Upside for Qualcomm Stock ).
Tablets Expand Qualcomm’s Addressable Market
Success in tablet chipsets would tremendously expand the addressable chipset market for Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s addressable market has previously been centered around mobile phones, which we believe will increase from around 1.5 billion units in 2010 to around 2.1 billion by the end of our forecast period.
According to IDC, the tablet market is expected to grow from around 45 million units in 2011 to 71 million in 2012. If the tablet market is able to sustain this level of growth over the long-term, it would imply a market size of 400 million units by the end of our forecast period. This would increase our end-of-forecast-period estimate for Qualcomm’s total addressable market from 2.1 billion units to 2.5 billion. This scenario could spur 15% upside to our $53.82 price estimate for Qualcomm stock .
We also note that Qualcomm’s Mirasol technology is featured in display panels for tablets, as well as smartphones and e-readers. This technology is designed to create a better viewing experience in various environments ranging from dim indoor lighting to the brightest outdoor sunlight. It can display color videos at fast speeds, is energy efficient and consumes less battery power than alternative options.
From community.nasdaq.com
The World Cup is the oyster for bookies
Mar 2nd
Even as cricket fans cheer their favourite teams, exult over their wins and mourn their losses, bookies have been having a field run this World Cup. With the World Cup season on, crores of rupees are at stake and Delhi Police have their hands full nabbing these men. As many as 100 mobile phones, 10 laptops, six televisions, 57 calculators and data cards have been recovered since the start of the cricket World Cup.
All of these belong to bookies, who have been arrested from all over the city.
The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police has, in the last 10 days itself, busted five major betting rings. These operated from every part of the city.
On Wednesday, the Crime Branch busted a betting gang in Wazirpur village in Ashok Vihar while they were allegedly indulging in betting during the day-night match between Sri Lanka and Kenya.
“This is the fifth betting syndicate that has been busted in Delhi since the World Cup Matches began,” said Ashok Chand, deputy commissioner of police (Crime).
“The arrested have been identified as Navjeet Singh (29), Shailesh Payal (28), Kalu (34) and Karan Singh Chadha (28),” Chand added.
On February 28, five property dealers were arrested for allegedly running a betting racket in East of Kailash area. Bets were being taken on their behalf by 32 bookies at different places in Delhi.
On Tuesday, another betting racket was busted, in which the gang had received bets from punters to the tune of R1 crore. “This is a pan-Delhi phenomena. Starting from south, north, west, outer, east and other parts of the city, such rackets are cropping up everywhere. These people have regular businesses and jobs but during the cricketing season, they moonlight as bookies. As much as R6 crore was at stake in the last five times that gangs were busted,” Chand added.
Modus operandi:
The police added that booking rackets have differing modus operandi.
“The rate of the odds between the two cricket teams originates from outside India. On the basis of those odds, bets are taken during the match.”
Chand added, “After the match is over, profit and loss is calculated by a specially-generated software known as Back ‘N’ Lay PRO. The rates keep fluctuating with the fall of wickets and the runs scored.”
Laptops are used for data entry management while mobile phones are used for getting the rates of the odds on the match and for taking bets from the punters.
Police said the recording facility on the mobile phone is used for keeping records of the bets placed by the punters.
One set of mobile phones is specifically used for receiving the rates of betting, which fluctuates ball by ball.
For some, cricket may still the gentlemen’s game but for bookies in the city, the willow-wielding sport has degenerated into just another money-making opportunity.
From www.hindustantimes.com
Three Middle East telecom groups speak at GSMA Mobile World Congress
Feb 21st
The GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the largest yearly gathering in the mobile industry attracting close to 50,000 mobile leaders from 200 countries. The conference agenda, featuring world leaders from the mobile technology and cell phone market, is the must-see event showcasing the world’s most innovative companies that are transforming and shaping the future of the telecom industry.
Representing the Middle East’s fast growing market was regional telecom giant Saudi Telecom Company (STC), represented by Ghassan Hasbani, CEO for International. Also presenting was Etisalat, the UAE based regional telecom leader, represented by Chief International Investment Officer Jamal Jarwan. Additionally a presentation was done by Friendi Group, the only pan-regional Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) in the Middle East & Africa was represented by Mikkel Vinter, CEO and Founder.
STC and Etisalat have both diversified operations in 2010, moving towards regional and international markets with a focus on expansion of telecommunication services in low penetration and emerging markets. Since first launching in Oman in April 2009, Friendi Group has established a growing regional footprint, with a launch in Jordan in June 2010, and most recently a B-brand partnership with Zain in Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on honour of speaking at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Mikkel Vinter, CEO, Friendi Group, said, “As a up-and-coming company to showcase our strategy for the Middle East & Africa alongside two regional leaders such as STC and Etisalat is a testament to our long-term perspective and commitment to the region, and a source of pride for the entire Friendi Group team.”
The Mobile World Conference is the meeting place for world leaders in the mobile technology and cell phone market to gather, collaborate and network and was supported by the world’s top telecommunication leaders including key note speakers Eric Schmidt Chairman & CEO Google, Steve Ballmer CEO Microsoft, Stephen Elop President & CEO Nokia and Vittorio Colao Chief Executive Vodafone.
From www.ameinfo.com
Top in Tech: Mobile World Congress brings new phones and tablets
Feb 18th
Mobile World Congress At Mobile World Congress this week in Barcelona, Spain, mobile carriers and manufacturers came together to show off some of the newest phones, tablets, and innovations in the mobile industry. The iPhone picked up Best Mobile Device at the event this year, and HTC snagged the award for Device Manufacturer of the Year. Some of the highlights from this year’s MWC include:
Sony Xperia Play, the “PlayStation phone,” to debut on Verizon this spring- Windows Phone 7 will get multitasking and feature updates “later this year”
- Qualcomm reveals Netflix app for Android on the LG Revolution
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 revealed running Android Honeycomb
- HTC Salsa and Chacha Android phones add dedicated Facebook buttons
- HTC unveils the Flyer, a 7″ Android 2.4 tablet with a stylus
- Samsung Galaxy S 4G coming to T-Mobile on February 23
- Motorola Xoom gets new $600 wifi-only price tag
Obama meets with tech leaders President Obama met with technology leaders this week in San Francisco. On the guest list was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs. According to the White House, the meeting was called so leaders could discuss Obama’s goal of “promoting American innovation.”
Google Search gets social Now when you do a search using Google, your results may also contain results from your friends on social networks. For instance, a search for “kittens” might pull up a tweet from one of your friends talking about his or her furry friends as a top result. Previously, social results were available by clicking a social tab on the Google search page.
Computer wins Jeopardy A computer named Watson defeated 2 of Jeopardy’s all-time greatest contestants during the 3-day competition this week. The IBM computer ended Day 1 of the event in a tie with Brad Rutter, then pulled ahead with a $30,000 lead on Day 2, ending in a win for the supercomputer on third and final day of the event.
App store woes Apple announced a new program this week for in-app subscriptions. Now, applications such as magazines within the App Store can sell subscriptions directly inside their applications; however, 30% of the proceeds of that subscription purchase goes to Apple. Publishers can sell subscriptions outside of the app, but they have to offer the same or better deal inside it.
Later in the week, Google announced its own subscription service called One Pass, which gives publishers more control over content and a bigger cut of the profits from its sale. AT&T also got in on the discussions, suggesting that mobile phone users should purchase applications from carriers rather than mobile phone manufacturers.
Porsche says thank you Porsche said thank you to its 1 million Facebook fans in a way only Porsche could — it put their names on a 911 GT3 R hybrid. The car is painted in traditional Facebook colors and has the names of 1 million of Porche’s biggest fans painted on it. Curious if your name was included? The site offers a tool to see if you made the cut.
From www.tecca.com
‘Ultimate Cricket World Cup’ swings for mobile gaming market
Feb 17th
Mobile phone game Ultimate Cricket World Cup 2011 has launched just in time for the real Cricket World Cup which is due to start on February 19.
Accompany the tournament hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the mobile game has been developed by Mumbai’s Synqua Games, and will be available for BlackBerry and Nokia phones.
It’s even being offered as a free download to Blackberry owners in India.
The news came shortly after ESPN followed the official ICC Cricket World Cup iPhone App with its own dedicated ESPNcricinfo app for Android and iOS phones.
Mobile developer Apppli are just one among many companies distributing free Cricket World Cup 2011 news apps for the Android market.
For console gamers, International Cricket 2010 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 was one of six nominations in the British Academy Video Game Award’s sports category, announced on February 15. The International Cricket Captain series is aimed at PC players.
There’s an Ultimate Cricket World Cup 2011 trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaYpqpOyNuE.
From www.independent.co.uk
Facebook takes over the world, one SIM card at a time
Feb 15th
By Athima Chansanchai
Six-hundred million Facebook users isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A billion potential Facebook users — which is what may happen now that the social network has been built into a SIM card, which means you don’t need a smart phone to access it. Dumb phone users, rejoice! You too can now air out all your dirty laundry, share your random thoughts and your day on your status updates or organize social activism via text messages.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where not just smart, but brilliant phones are coming out left and right, digital security company Gemalto announced “Facebook for SIM,” which embeds Facebook on SIM cards. This provides a way for feature phone users (“dumb” non-OS phones that make calls and send SMS messages vs. “smart” ones that are Web-enabled and loaded with apps) to be a part of Facebook on the go.
As Gemalto explains:
The innovative solution provides mobile subscribers with simple and convenient access to core Facebook features such as friend requests, status updates, wall posts or messages. It also offers unique functions: people can sign up for this service and log in directly from the SIM application. Interactive Facebook messages pop-up on the phone’s screen so people can always share up-to-the-minute posts and events. One can also automatically search their SIM phonebook for other friends and send them requests.
Even though smart phone sales are booming, feature phones still account for the majority of the world’s 5 billion mobile phone users. Those who couldn’t get on Facebook through their phone before because they needed a data contract or app download can do so now.
This means a whole new world of potential users to immerse themselves in news feeds, likes and oversharing. SIM cards for Facebook also bring the social network to less developed parts of the world where mobile phones are much more plentiful than computers, and are the main method of communication.
More than 50 percent of Asian and African mobile Internet users, as well as more than 20 percent of users in developed markets, such as the UK and U.S., don’t access the Internet on a computer, according to On Device Research. In many developing countries, mobile-only users dominate, with the highest percentage in Egypt at 70 percent and India at 59 percent. We’ve already seen what Facebook can do through the protests and unseating of a dictator in Egypt, and no doubt, this will really help Facebook expand its reach in countries where it competes with other social networks.
With “more than 200 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices,” (according to Facebook’s own statistics) Geamalto’s innovation may very well drive up those numbers. They’re counting on Facebook’s observation that, “People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users.”
It’s not the first time Facebook has shown up on feature phones, but Gemalto’s SIM card eliminates the need for an app download. Facebook came out with the Facebook for Feature Phones app in January, and it works on more than 2,500 devices from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG and other manufacturers.
After a free trial period, Gemalto’s SIM will be available through a subscription for unlimited passes for different durations.
As if this development won’t all but guarantee more FB’ers, Facebook phones, once denied, are now being unveiled in all their glory at MWC, including the HTC ChaCha and Salsa. Mark Zuckerberg gave a recorded message at the event that declared more “phones with a deeper social integration” coming in 2011, with “multiple devices” due and possibly even as many as a dozen, according to Gizmodo’s Gary Cutlack.
More Facebook and phone stories:
- Younger generation wises up to smart phones
- Rumor: Facebook phones are coming!!!
- Facebook phones may be in the works after all
Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who shares status updates on Facebook for Android.
From technolog.msnbc.msn.com
Smartphones set to jolt world mobile industry (Feature)
Feb 13th
Barcelona – A portentous number slipped past almost unnoticed last week when technology news concentrated on Nokia joining forces with Microsoft to develop platforms for mobile phones.
Sales of smartphones topped those of personal computers for the first time. According to research from the International Data Corporation, vendors delivered 101 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of 2010, well above the total of 93.5 million PCs – signalling an entry into a new age in computing.
At Mobile World Congress, an annual mobile phone expo running Monday to Thursday in Barcelona, Spain, there are likely to be some uncomfortable meetings between the losers and gainers.
Smartphones are in effect pocket-sized computers that just happen to also make phone calls. A world that carries its computers around in its pockets will come up with new varieties of advertising and money-making ideas.
About one in five mobile phones sold worldwide last year was a smartphone. Market analysts remain divided in their predictions about what will happen next, agreeing only that it depends on the price of tomorrow’s smartphones.
Carolina Milanesi at Gartner, a leading analyst, suggests smartphones could claim 35 per cent of the market within two years.
‘And that’s a conservative estimate,’ she said. If smartphones become cheaper, the share might range above 50 per cent. And if they become really affordable on all continents, maybe the share would be 70 to 80 per cent.
The sales figures in ‘mature’ markets such as Western Europe and North America, where already more than half the phones sold are smartphones, suggest the way ahead.
But invert the figures and one sees that worldwide, eight out of 10 mobile phones currently sold are not smartphones. The industry term for them is ‘dumbphones,’ made for phone calls only and economic to buy.
The prospects send a chill through Nokia of Finland, the company that makes hundreds of millions of ‘dumbphones’ per year and currently rules the roost. If the trend continues, Nokia could soon be a blast from the past, a maker of yesterday’s technology.
That is why Nokia announced Friday it was ceasing further development of its Symbian operating system and would adopt Windows Phone from Microsoft for its high-end phones.
The gainers from the smartphone boom are Google and Apple. Web search giant Google leads an alliance pushing the Android operating system for phones, while Apple has given the world its iPhone, running Apple’s proprietary operating system iOS.
With each iteration of their software, the two giants set the bar even higher for potential competitors. That was where Symbian lost out.
Their notable achievement has been to create ‘platforms’ that allow each user to turn a telephone into a ‘smart’ device by loading applications or apps to suit their needs. Selling apps has become a key revenue stream for big web companies.
Market analysts estimated last year that annual sales of apps brought in 5 billion dollars worldwide, and that the market could expand to more than 15 billion dollars in four years’ time.
That is revenue that the wireless companies operating networks, the big kids on the block in the ‘old system,’ largely miss out on.
Wireless companies can still decide what operating systems and what phone models to sell in their shops, but the platform model cuts them out of the business selling the money-spinning apps.
Gartner’s Milanesi said they have been degraded to service providers in the emerging system and forecasts they may not be able to escape from this niche. But Google and Apple are also well aware that a smartphone is nothing without a fast web connection.
From www.monstersandcritics.com
