Saturday, May 5, 2012

Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 Shows Up In Fresh Press Photos

Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 Shows Up In Fresh Press Photos 
















Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 was first spotted weeks ago, but now we’ve got some official press pics to check out, showing the luxury device up close. No info on its launch date, but at least we can declare ourselves charmed by the gold-plated back cover of the handset.

This phone packs a 3.1 inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 5 megapixel camera, a microSD card slot (up to 16GB) and support for Bluetooth, DMB TV and HSDPA connectivity.

Samsung Giorgio Armani W820/W8200 also features an alphanumeric keypad and we still haven’t figured out if we’ll ever see the phone outside of Korea or not.

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Friday, May 4, 2012

Google Voice Challenger Ribbit Mobile Launches

The company is not yet positioning its cloud-based phone messaging service as an enterprise offering

Ribbit Mobile has launched a cloud-based service that enables users to combine multiple phone numbers, make calls from the Internet, and receive transcribed voicemails.

Like Google Voice, Ribbit lets calls ring multiple phone numbers and can transcribe voicemails as searchable text files. Upon receiving a call, Ribbit Mobile can ring various landline, mobile, and soft phones services such as Skype and Google Talk, and users can answer and initiate calls from a PC.

Unlike Google's offerings, Ribbit Mobile users don't have to adopt a new number, as it works with existing mobile phone numbers.

Ribbit described the offering as a form of personal customer-relationship management (CRM). Users will also be able to see a caller's Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn messages when receiving a call. Ribbit said this "caller ID 2.0" gives context to verbal conversations. An online backup service is also offered.

Ribbit's service will be open to third-party developers, which is why the company is not yet positioning its service as an enterprise offering. The company said it is focused on building a solid communications platform that can be used by developers for consumers and businesses alike. iPhone and BlackBerry application are on the way, and Ribbit says it envisions multiple enterprise-focused apps eventually emerging from the developer community.

The company will also be rolling out a developer rewards program which will compensate content creators based on how much their apps are used.

This is aimed at making Ribbit's app process more of a meritocracy than other app environments, the company said.

The service is currently in beta. It includes unlimited automated voicemail transcriptions and calls. Ribbit Mobile will have tiered pricing that ranges from free to $30 a month when it comes out of beta. Users can sign up at Ribbit's Web site for an invitation.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Nokia launches five new Ultimate mobile phones


Nokia Life Tools, the service which gives consumers in small towns and rural areas the ability to get a range of livelihood and life-improvement services on their mobile phones, will launch in Indonesia in early December 2009. Nokia also announced five new affordable and easy-to-use phones which will support Nokia Life Tools, and these phones will also be available globally.

“Following the successful launch of Nokia Life Tools in India, where people are getting the benefits of vital information sent directly to their mobile phones, we are pleased to bring this service toconsumers in Indonesia,” said Dieter May, Vice President, Emerging Markets, Nokia. “Inform, Involve, Empower -- the vision of Nokia Life Tools -- applies no matter where it’s implemented. With the number of devices that Nokia Life Tools supports, including the five new phones we are announcing today, we are giving people the solution that suits them the most.”



 


Five new mobile phones designed for consumers in emerging markets

With affordability and ease of use as the cornerstones of solutions for emerging markets, the five new Nokia phones -- Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616, Nokia 1800, Nokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 -- support Nokia Life Tools, and bring with them all the features that consumers around the world have come to expect.

Priced at EUR 20, EUR 24 and EUR 26 respectively (before taxes and subsidies), the Nokia 1280, Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1800 support FM radio, prepaid tracker, flashlight, anti-scratch cover and dust-resistant keymat, among other features. The long battery life, with up to 22 days of standby time, is vital for people in areas where access to electricity is limited.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones

The Nokia 2220 slide and the Nokia 2690, priced at EUR 45 and EUR 54 (before taxes and subsidies), also support email on the device through Ovi Mail, giving people in developing markets their first digital identity directly from their handsets. Ovi Mail accounts can be created on the device and people can start sending and receiving emails without ever needing a PC. Other device features include FM radio, VGA camera, GPRS and MMS support, phone books for up to 1,000 contacts, and Bluetooth. Standby times for theNokia 2220 slide and Nokia 2690 are about 20 days and 13 days respectively.
Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones Nokia launches five new affordable mobile phones

The first of the five new mobile phones will begin shipping before the end of 2009, with others expected to start shipping in the first half of 2010.

Nokia Life Tools in Indonesia

Nokia Life Tools will be available across Indonesia from early December 2009, with the Agriculture service available for Java and Sumatra at the first stage, and Education and Entertainment services available nation-wide.

Consumers will be able to subscribe to Agriculture, Education and Entertainment information and content. Nokia is collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture (Departemen Pertanian Republik Indonesia), the Center of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), Synovate and other industry partners to bring valuable agriculture information, prices, news and tips directly toconsumers.

The Agriculture service will be available for commodities beginning with crops, livestock, horticulture and fisheries. Consumers will be able to subscribe to three of the most commonly grown commodities in their region. Also included in the Agriculture component are weather services, price services, and frequent agriculture news and tips.

The Education service features Learn English, General Knowledge and Test Preparation. Learn English has three levels of expertise with focus on English language fundamentals. General Knowledge will be primarily related to the province where one lives, as well as containing information at the national and international levels. Test Preparation will offer services at the Junior High School and Senior High School levels.

The Entertainment service features a range of mobile entertainment content, including news, music, comics, jokes, astrology, movie news and reviews. The content will be available toconsumers via subscription and/or on-demand.

At launch, customers of Telkomsel, Indosat, XL and Hutch (3) will be able to subscribe to Nokia Life Tools services. Nokia Life Tools will first be available on the Nokia 2323 classic, Nokia 2330 classic and Nokia 2700 classic in Indonesia. Aside from the 11 handsets which will come pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools, the service will become downloadable on more phones later.

Nokia Life Tools services use an icon-based, graphically rich user interface that comes complete with tables and which displays information simultaneously in two languages. Behind this rich interface that comes out of the box on all Life Tools-enabled handsets, SMS is used to deliver the critical information to ensure that this service works wherever a mobile phone works, without the hassles of additional settings or the need for GPRS coverage.
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Upcoming Mobile Phones 2010 – New Gizmos Are About To Launch


The hunger of several modern handset enthusiasts will never lowered down to be the owner of an excellent quality handset. Even they are still pondering for the world class phones of big brands here and there. So, in order to accomplish user’s such demands many mobile phone merchants keep launching their latest mobile phones at regular intervals. Basically, the mobile phone market is flooded with large number of outlandish handsets of big brands like Sony Ericson, Nokia, LG, BlackBerry, Samsung etc. The devices manufactured by such merchants have got tremendous power to manipulate the user’s several communication and multimedia needs at lightening fast speed. Even the prices estimated by such brands for their latest devices are also under the approach of low budget handset user. As we know that its 2010 now, so users are deliberately awaiting for the upcoming mobile phones of 2010 of many big brands as well. The rumors are coming from several quarters that few big brands like Nokia, LG, Samsung, BlackBerry etc., are going to launch their wonderful handsets very soon. Few upcoming models of popular merchants are LG GX200, BlackBerry Curve 8530, Sony Ericsson Vivaz, Motorola MOTOROI, Samsung Omnia Lite, which are getting huge popularity these days. It has been supposed that these wonderful devices are going to public very soon for the users and their prices are also very reasonable. User can also find enough information about such upcoming handsets regarding their features on several online websites through the Internet. So, let’s have a look on the features of few upcoming handsets like Sony Ericsson Vivaz, BlackBerry Curve8530 and Motoroala MOTOROI.

Let’s talk firstly about Sony Ericsson Vivaz which is an elegant looking handset and will influence the users through its inbuilt 8.1 MP awesome camera. Through this camera user can easily capture excellent quality pictures with original colours. This gizmo is also furnished with a 3.5 inches colour touchscreen that is able to give a very clear display of video songs, wallpapers, screensavers and other outputs with colourful resolution. This fantastic device is also able to support latest technologies like GPS, Wi-Fi, and HSDPA etc. Even more, this handset is also able to run on Symbian S60 operating system.

Similarly, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is another upcoming mobile phone of 2010, which is also blessed with many interactive features as well. User will be pleased to see a QWERTY keyboard in this handset which is furnished with multiple numbered keys, which are very soft to press. This gizmo will also offers for 256 MB internal memory as well, which is quite enough space to store huge amount of data with ease. Beside it, user will also find the facility of a 2 MP camera in this handset that is capable to capture decent quality pictures with real colours. In addition, user will also get the profit of a Stereo Bluetooth as well in this gadget.

On the end, the Motorola MOTOROI, is also a gorgeous looking handset for the users and comes loaded with several dynamic features. This gizmo is blessed with 8 MP high definition camera, that is capable to capture elegant pictures with extremely bright colours. Beside it, this gizmo is also able to support 3G and Wi-Fi technologies, which let the user to experience high speed Internet connectivity in this device. Furthermore, this gadget will also fascinate the people through its 3.7 inches colour touchscreen. This elegant looking screen is good to display clearly all outputs at high resolution. With more profits, user will also get the benefit of 8GB memory in this handset that is good store large amount of data.

However, above described upcoming mobile phonesof 2010 would be furnished with several fantastic features and will be able to support latest technologies as well.
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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Nokia warns against growth expectations for handsets


Nokia sees profits drop 66% as competition and cost-cutting undermine its promise to strengthen market share


Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has warned that it will not increase its share of the handset market this year because of fierce competition. The Finnish technology company also said its profit margins will continue to come under pressure as it battles the impact of the global recession.

Nokia today announced a 66% drop in second quarter profits to €380m (£326m), sending shares down almost 10%. The company, which makes roughly four out of every 10 phones sold worldwide, had previously reassured investors that it would strengthen its dominance in the market this year.

Nokia also said it now expects profit margins in its mobile phone business in the second half of the year to be the same as the 10.3% recorded in the first six months. It had originally promised margins of at least 13%.

There was some relief, however, as Nokia reiterated its forecast that the overall mobile phone market will only fall 10% this year, to just over a billion devices, having cut its forecast twice in the past nine months.

Chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the company had "put in a solid performance" during a "tough quarter" and signalled that conditions show some signs of improvement as retailers and mobile phone networks have run down their stocks of phones and are ordering again. "Competition remains intense, but demand in the overall mobile device market appears to be bottoming out," he said.

The Finnish company, which is cutting jobs as it looks to reduce costs, has suffered as cash-strapped consumers hold on to their existing handsets and opt for cheap SIM-only deals, leading to a dramatic drop in sales of mid-range phones. Sales in emerging markets have also been falling as a result of the economic turmoil, with consumers looking for ever cheaper phones.

Businesses are also reining in their spending and laying off staff, which has had an impact on sales at Nokia as a major supplier to corporate customers. Meanwhile, many consumers in more developed markets who are willing to sign up to another long-term contract have been looking for a so-called smartphone such as the Apple iPhone or BlackBerry Storm in return.

Nokia said the average price of its phones in the second quarter was €62, down from €74 last year and €65 in the first quarter as a result of intense competition and higher sales of lower-priced products.
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The smartphone threat

Nokia has been playing catch-up in the smartphone category, where the iPhone has made touchscreens all the rage. Its first mass-market touchscreen device, the Nokia 5800, was launched last year and has been selling well and Nokia recently expanded its touchscreen range with the release of the N97, which comes with a slide-out qwerty keyboard. The company sold 3.7m 5800s in the second quarter, meaning more than 6.8m have shipped since launch. Nokia did not separate sales of the N97, saying only that total shipments of its N-series phones – which include other devices such as the N96 and N95 – were 4.6m in the quarter and it sold 4.7m of its E-series business devices, such as the E71 which is aimed at business people who are used to using a BlackBerry.

In the three months to end June, Nokia shipped a total of 103.2m phones, down 15% year on year and 11% on the first quarter, while the industry as a whole shipped an estimated 268m phones, down 12% year on year and a decrease of 5% on the first quarter. Nokia reckons shipments of smartphones – or "converged mobile devices" as the company calls them – increased to 41m units in the second quarter from 36m in the first quarter. Nokia shipped 16.9m smartphones compared with 13.7m in the first quarter of the year, giving it a 41% share of the market.

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Sony Ericsson struggles

The news came as ailing rival Sony Ericsson announced a loss for the same period – its fourth consecutive quarterly loss – as it continued to lose market share to rivals such as Samsung, HTC and Apple. The joint venture between Sweden's Ericsson and Sony of Japan made a loss of €213m for the three months to the end of June compared with a profit of €6m last year.

The company, which is looking to slash costs by cutting 2,000 jobs on top of the 2,000 that went last year, shipped 13.8m phones in the quarter, down 43% on the same period last year, giving it a 5% share of the market. That is down from 6% in the first quarter of 2009.

"As expected, the second quarter was challenging and we still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson," said the firm's president Dick Komiyama. "Our focus remains on bringing the company back to profitability and growth as quickly as possible, and our performance is starting to improve due to our cost-reduction activities."

The company also hopes that new devices to be launched this year will help it increase sales and raise its market share. Its recently launched W995 is selling well, but gadget fans are eagerly awaiting its first phone using Google's Android platform, a touchscreen device apparently codenamed 'Rachael'.

There is intense speculation that Nokia is also working on a phone that uses Google's Android operating system, although a spokeswoman for the Finnish company stressed that there is "no truth" to the rumours and Symbian, the software joint venture that Nokia bought out last year, remains its "platform of choice for smartphones".

There has also been a lot of buzz about another Sony Ericsson device – nicknamed Kiki – with pictures on the internet showing that the phone has a revolutionary see-through screen. One phone that definitely will be out later this year, however, is the Satio, which has a mammoth 12.1 megapixel camera and was unveiled earlier this year under the Idou code name.

But IHS Global Insight telecoms analyst Peter Boyland pointed out that the average selling price of Sony Ericsson's phones – at €122, up from €116 in the second quarter of 2008 – "is still well above that of its key rivals, and its smartphone portfolio has not gained enough traction to justify this".

"Sony Ericsson has been hit by a double whammy of a drop in consumer spend, and a loss of interest in the company's high-end, often niche handsets, which have seen particularly sluggish take-up in emerging regions such as Latin America," he added. "The joint venture has also been criticised for dragging its feet in its entry to the smartphone market, allowing key rivals such as Apple, Palm and RIM's BlackBerry to leap ahead."
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Thursday, April 26, 2012

iPhone Pushes Mobile Gaming To $5.4 Billion

Apple's smartphone is leading the pack, as developers and mobile gamers are attracted to the App Store and its business model, according to one research firm.
Mobile gaming was once simple games like "Snake" that were meant to kill time, but the market is rapidly becoming a lucrative business. Thanks to smartphones like Apple's iPhone 3G, mobile gaming rose 20% and hit $5.4 billion in 2008, according to a new report from JupiterResearch.

The report said overall game downloads were flat in the U.S. and Western European markets, but volumes rose in developing markets like India and China. While Java-based games saw a steep decline, those volumes were offset by a sharp increase of iPhone game downloads.

"The combination of iPhone and the Apple App Store has galvanized the mobile games industry," said report author Dr. Windsor Holden in a statement.

"Apple has provided an innovative device which enables developers to create smooth, compelling, visually attractive games for the mobile users, together with a business model offering a highly competitive revenue share for developers."

The touch input, robust hardware, and graphics capabilities have given the iPhone an advantage over its rivals on the mobile gaming front. Users of the iPhone also download apps at a higher rate than other phone users, and the platform has drawn high-profile developers like Electronic Arts and Sega.

One of the advantages the iPhone has over its competitors is the tight integration of the App Store. This makes browsing, buying, downloading, and installing games over the air easier than on most rival platforms. Additionally, users with an iTunes account already have a credit card on file, which makes buying games easier than on other platforms. For example, Google's Android Market uses Google Checkout, and Research In Motion will use PayPal for its BlackBerry App World.

The report also said that more than half of games downloaded by 2012 will be funded by advertising. This could drive additional business opportunities for the likes of Medialets, which has a rich media ad platform for iPhone apps.
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Motorola Phones: Mobile Phones With A Difference

In today's time, the youths quite surprisingly, outnumber the other age groups, specially in regard to the usage of mobile phones. Teens and youngsters can be rarely seen without a mobile phone these days. Mobiles phones have become a necessity for them. But they don't select any handset for them at random. Their taste demands, cool and attractive in looks along with funky features such as a good camera, music player qualities and great storage capacity. However, among the youngsters, the Motorola is the favourite brand without any second thoughts.

The Motorola handsets appeal a huge number of youngsters because of their smart and trendy looks and equally smart features. It's not that only youngsters who are attracted towards the Motorola mobile phones, even the adults drool over them. Of late, the latest Motorola handsets, which have become the eye candies for the mobile phone lovers are the Motorola Jewel and Motorola Rokr E8. Both these handsets come enhanced with unique styling and plethora of features.

The Motorola Jewel mobile phone, has been provided with superb styling. This handset is rightly named jewel because of its stupendous and glittering looks. The fine and clear finishing, further makes the appearance of this gadget very similar to a precious jewel. This device comes in a flip design with 90 x 48 x 16 mm dimensions. This gadget is also pretty easy to carry as it is light weight i.e., of 95 grams. The users are privileged with a smart external screen displays time, caller name, new message etc. This device also has some wonderful imaging features. The gadget is provided with 2 mega pixels camera supported by outstanding features like 8x digital zoom, multi shot, landscape mode and quality video recording. Quite interestingly, this widget is also capable of providing musical entertainment.

This handset has been powered with music related features such as music player, music library,
auto pause control and touch sensitive music keys. For network availability, this handset has quad band technology which enables it to access four different 2G network spectrum. This device can also connect you to high speed internet with the help of GPRS and EDGE technologies. The Motorola Jewel also has some other fantastic utility features which makes it a pretty useful device.

On the other hand, the Motorola Rokr E8 model is a state of the art music phone. This gadget has the potential to deliver crystal clear audio quality to the music lovers. This device even has the FM radio option along with music player and high end music management softwares. The gadget can also store large number of tracks with the help of external memory. The external memory can be expanded up to 4 giga bytes with the help of a microSD card. The mobile phone also has an embedded 2 mega pixels camera. The embedded camera comes complimented with extra features such as 8x digital zoom, camera setting and camera modes to capture best shots. For transferring music files, picture etc., this phone is provided with Bluetooth and USB port. The Motorola Rokr E8 handset is has been designed with perfection. This device has touch sensitive keypads and a navigation scroll wheel which would definitely add spice to your connectivity options. The widget has dimensions of 115 x 53 x 10.6mm and weighs 100 grams.

Both Motorola Jewel and Motorola Rokr E8 handsets have their own unique features and unique style. The choice is up to the users to select the one which would perfectly suit their requirements. Last but not the least, it would prove to be a tough decision to select anyone as both these motorola phones have qualities which are highly admired.
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