Posts Tagged “gadget”
Mar
03
2010
 
Britons waste £52bn on gadgets they ‘cannot work’Posted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Technology-mad Britons are wasting £52 billion every year on gadgets they cannot operate properly, according to a survey. Read Full Story…
Mar
03
2010
Most smartphone users are disappointed, claims FanfarePosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
People are buying increasing numbers of smartphones, but are they living up to the media hype? Fanfare thinks not…. Smartphone sales are growing fast, but “57% of smartphone users are disappointed with handset and application performance,” claims a report from Fanfare (PDF: registration required). However, the results reflect a very small sample: “155 members of the public” and “the survey was conducted online and filled in anonymously,” so don’t bet your lunch on its applicability to the Great British Public. Most of the issues appear to be internet related, with streaming media, web browsers and social networking applications causing the most problems. And then there’s the part that could be important to Fanfare, which offers automated testing services:
Dissatisfied smartphone users typically tell their friends and family (57%) and social networking sites (58%), which could have a negative effect on sales. Indeed, it makes social networks much more of an influence on purchasing than “traditional media” (by 64% to 40%). Fanfare marketing man David Gehringer says: “The Apple App Store and Android Market have served up billions of app downloads, giving smartphone owners the ability to use their phones in new and exciting ways. But now that the novelty is wearing off, users want their applications to be more reliable.” The report says:
I’d like this to be true, but I can’t really see much evidence. It seems to me there’s a big fashion element to smartphone sales and (based on a much smaller sample than 155) people like being one of the first to own a sexy new gadget. How well they can make it work it is another matter. Nor is this a criticism of media darlings such as Apple’s iPhone, HTC and Google Android phones, various BlackBerry handsets and the odd Palm. All of these seem more reliable and usable than what I remember of the Nokia 7110 or 8110 (The Matrixphone), while disappointed iPhone owners seem to be a very rare breed indeed. So, are you happy with your smartphone, and if not, is the backlash about to start?
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Mar
03
2010
Britons waste £52bn on gadgets, they ‘cannot work’Posted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Technology-mad Britons are wasting £52 billion every year on gadgets they cannot operate properly, according to a survey. Read Full Story…
 Document sharing website Scribd to challenge Apple and Amazon in the mobile market Document sharing website Scribd is making a more direct challenge to Amazon and Apple by launching a mobile service that it hopes will make it easier for millions of people to read on the go. The move could put the well-regarded startup – described as “YouTube for documents” – into more direct competition with larger rivals such as Amazon and Apple, which is set to launch the iPad and its iBooks application next month. Scribd already offers more than 10m documents online, including books from major publishers such as Random House and Simon & Schuster, but from today will also begin offering users the chance to read their files on any smartphone or ebook reader. A simple system to send files to their device – regardless of what it is – may help erase complexity and give people easy access to much more content, said Trip Adler, Scribd’s co-founder and chief executive. “Right now people are confused about which e-reader to buy, they’re confused about how to get content onto their devices,” he told the Guardian. “This solves all of that by putting all these devices so you can read any content on Scribd on your device.” At the moment, most ebook readers acquire new titles through applications specifically built by the makers of their gadget – such as Amazon’s Kindle book catalogue. Adler suggested that providing a broad range of material across all devices was largely uncharted territory, but that it should boost the popularity of ebooks and downloads of other types of documents. “This should help increase sales, because if people can read things they buy on the web on their device, they are more likely to buy it,” he said. Amazon already offers access to its catalogue of books through the Kindle, as well as an iPhone application, but Scribd’s 50 million users will also be able to download other documents shared through its site – including how-to guides, research papers and self-published books. The move is part of a wider mobile strategy that the company says will help it tap into the huge mobile devices market. Over the next month, it plans to launch a range of applications for the Kindle, iPad, iPhone and Android handsets, as well as a number of other platforms. It is also launching developer tools that will enable programmers to create their own applications to search and link to any of the documents held in Scribd’s archive. “There are maybe a million ebook readers out there, but there are billions of smartphone users,” Adler said. The launch comes on the heels of a similar effort by Kobo Books, an American ebook retailer which earlier this week unveiled its own system aimed specifically at the UK market. Kobo has agreements in place with most major publishers – including Bloomsbury, Penguin and Faber & Faber – and says it will also offer many titles for free. But while the ebook industry has plenty of momentum, it has also been dogged by controversy. Some publishers have said they will delay ebook releases to protect hardback sales, and Macmillan recently found itself in a feud with Amazon over the price of digital texts. The outlook for sales, meanwhile, remains unclear. High street retailer Waterstone’s, which has its own ebook store, said that just 80,000 titles were sold in the run-up to Christmas and Amazon is still silent on Kindle ebook sales despite continuing to boast that they now make up a significant part of its business. Adler said that platform-agnostic selling was a significant step forward that would not only encourage more people to buy ebooks, but could also convince publishers to sell unprotected files, rather than encumber their products with anti-piracy locks. Scribd has raised almost $14m from investors since being founded in 2007, with backers including Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and former PayPal executive David Sacks.
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Feb
19
2010
Breakfast briefing: Microsoft and Yahoo canoodle while Sony Ericsson says no to GooglePosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
• It may be “full steam ahead” for Yahoo and Microsoft now that their tie-up has been given the green light by European regulators, but don’t expect anything revolutionary soon – the two companies say it’s unlikely that a Bing-powered, Yahoo-designed engine will roll out any time before 2012. • Here’s an interesting one picked up by Engadget – apparently Sony Ericsson boss Bert Nordberg said that Google had asked SE to build the Nexus One before it turned to HTC. Nordberg said he turned down the opportunity, though the company is building its own Android handset anyway. Strange. • I’ve mentioned Pictory before – a new online photo magazine that pulls together elements of the Big Picture and JPG into short narratives. The latest instalment, entitled The One Who Got Away, is beautiful. I’m just waiting for a good opportunity to contribute myself. On that bittersweet note, have a good weekend. You can follow our links and commentary each day through Twitter (@guardiantech, or our personal accounts) or by watching our Delicious feed.
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Feb
14
2010
From bricks to the iPhone: 25 years of the mobile phonesPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
They started life 25 years ago as carphones – because you needed a car to take the weight of the battery – and cost a fortune, but today there are more mobile phones in the UK than there are people. On the way to becoming ubiquitous, the mobile phone handset has gone through dramatic changes.
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The annual showcase of the latest games, marketing wheezes and software updates for the mobile telecoms industry is opening in Barcelona From tiny start-ups looking to get their games and gizmos in front of Google, Vodafone and Microsoft to veterans of the telecoms industry who will be glad-handing old contacts, this week’s Mobile World Congress will host a clutch of British technology firms hoping to turn back the tide sweeping in from the US and far east. UK Trade & Investment, the government body that supports British firms overseas, is helping out 120 companies at the show and part-funding the attendance of 50. The Cambridge-based Hypertag is typical of the firms being taken there. It has developed pioneering technology that makes it easy for advertisers to connect with consumers through poster sites that use short-range Bluetooth technology. Advertisers can use the technology to offer people anything from free music and game downloads to money-off vouchers direct to a phone. After being funded by the Technology Strategy Board, set up by the government three years ago to invest in innovative technologies, Hypertag has worked for 18 months with the billboard firm JC Decaux and PSI, the airport advertising part of Aegis. Having tested its technology in Luton airport, Hypertag is looking for partners in Barcelona. “We’ve got technology which we know companies want to use and now it’s all about sales,” said director Jonathan Morgan. UKTI is also helping Movirtu, which is targeting the billion people in developing countries who live on less than $2 a day and cannot afford a mobile phone but may spend 30% of their income on phone calls. Its MX Share service, already tested in Africa, allows people to make and receive calls and texts on someone else’s handset, without them needing their own expensive sim card, handsets or additional software. At the show, Movirtu will launch a new service that will give users easy access to information on healthcare, education or even agriculture through mobiles. It is also looking for network partners in developing countries, said the chief executive, Nigel Waller. “We would like to move forward with a number of operator agreements to give us scale.” Also eyeing the developing market is Synchronica, which will showcase two new low-cost MessagePhone handsets that offer all the functions of a BlackBerry, such as emails and texting, but at under $100. Other UK-listed firms include Intec, which specialises in billing systems for mobile networks, the Bluetooth-chip designer CSR, mobile marketing specialists 2ergo and mobile banking experts Monitise. But it’s not all about gadgets. Also plying their wares will be Foof Productions, the Gateshead-based mobile phone game creators, and the Middlesbrough-based developer, Fluid Pixel. They are the creative parents of Animentals, a mobile game that takes a twisted take on the virtual pets craze spawned by Tamagotchi in the 1990s. Already available on Nokia’s Ovi store and with an iPhone version due out soon, Animentals takes place in the hospital of Dr Foof, who must nurse a collection of crazed pets back to full mental health, partly through a series of challenges. The Animentals range from the depressed Goth penguin Pingoth to the highly unstable Furball. “What Dr Foof is offering is rehab for damaged digital pets,” says the game’s producer Andy Banks. After four days in the hothouse of the congress, it’s a need many of the attendees will recognise only too well.
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Feb
04
2010
Chinese e-tailer lights up ciggie-lighter phone for smokersPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Puff pieceOnline gadget retailer Chinavasion has launched a mobile phone with integrated… cigarette lighter.…
The power of collaboration within unified communications Read Full Story…
Feb
04
2010
Vodafone eager to become iPad wireless provider in the UKPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
• Chief executive “very interested” but refuses to say whether talks have taken place Vodafone has set its sights on selling the Apple iPad in the UK after its success with the iPhone, which it started selling in the UK last month. Speaking after the world’s largest mobile phone company by sales announced better-than-expected third-quarter results, chief executive Vittorio Colao said he was “very interested” in the iPad, which Apple boss Steve Jobs unveiled in San Francisco last week. “I have not, personally, touched one but I really look forward to it. I believe it is going to be another important piece of the [mobile] data experience.I think anything that improves the customer experience with mobile data is welcome and as such I would be very interested in having it.” He refused to say whether any talks have actually taken place, but Apple is understood to be scouting for UK wireless partners for the device. Earlier this week O2 UK chief executive Ronan Dunne said he is also interested in the iPad, but it is unclear exactly how it will be sold this side of the Atlantic. There is speculation that O2 and Orange have already put in an order for the micro-SIMs needed to provide 3G wireless connectivity in the iPad. Orange has already started talks with Apple to sell the iPad in the UK. The company, owned by France Telecom, was also the first British network to break O2’s exclusive hold on the iPhone. It started selling the handset last November and is understood to have sold over 200,000 by Christmas. Vodafone’s third-quarter results yesterday were boosted by sales of smartphones, which pushed the company’s revenues from mobile data services – such as internet browsing – over £1bn in the quarter for the first time in the firm’s history. In the three months to end December, 25% of all new phones sold by Vodafone across the world were smartphones, up from 20% in the second quarter of the year, with the bulk of those sales in Europe. Colao said he expects smartphones to make up between 30% and 40% of all the phones the company sells in its next financial year to end March 2011. The figures were warmly welcomed by the City as showing signs of recovery in some key European markets such as the UK and Germany, where the company has lost ground to rivals and been battling against the tough economic climate, while its cost-cutting programme is also bearing fruit. Shares in the company were up almost 5% after the company raised its forecast for free cash flow for this year by £500m to between £6.5bn and £7bn and forecast annual operating profits of £11.4bn to £11.8bn, rather than its initial forecast of £11bn to £11.8bn. On a like-for-like basis, revenues fell slightly in the quarter but the decline was far less than in previous quarters. Overall third-quarter revenues were up more than 10% to £11.5bn as the company benefited from currency fluctuations. Colao said he was conditionally optimistic about the group’s prospects. “I keep my feet on the ground; I see what I see. I see a few things going in the right direction. I see mobile data continuing to grow. I see a good performance in [fixed-line telecoms]. I see in some markets like the UK and Italy a good performance, but I still see a lot of price pressure in voice and I still see unemployment being a concern in Europe.” There had been some speculation, ahead of the results, that shareholders were pushing for a break-up of the company as it has consistently underperformed its publicly quoted peers. Colao, however, said the size of the company – which has operations from western and central Europe through to Turkey, India and South Africa as well its Verizon Wireless joint venture in the US – not only gives it scale in purchasing, but also an advantage in international roaming rates and helps it to attract business customers”There is a full set of opinions on how to structure Vodafone and we take due notice of all of them,” he said. “The board regularly reviews our corporate structure but there is unanimous consent now that in our opinion the current structure serves shareholders well.”
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Apple says it will not reveal UK pricing for iPad until its launch at the end of March Apple has surprised would-be buyers of its new iPad touchscreen computer, saying it will not announce UK prices before it launches at the end of March. Although it announced US prices for all six versions of the touchscreen “tablet” device with and without 3G connectivity at the launch on Wednesday night by Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs, the UK office said today that there will be no UK prices offered until the launch, expected in 60 days’ time – or 90 days for the 3G versions. However, the MacWorld magazine website takes an “educated guess” at UK pricing for the iPad, which it predicts will range from £388 to £591 for the Wi-Fi model, and £490 to £693 for the Wi-FI and 3G model. The iPad is a 9.7in tablet computer with a virtual keyboard which can surf the web, do email, display ebooks and play video. US prices start at $499 for a basic version with Wi-Fi wireless networking but no 3G connectivity, rising to $829 for a 3G version with 64 gigabytes of storage. However iPad users in the US will have to pay separately for 3G data plans being sold separately by Apple’s exclusive mobile partner there, AT&T, which already supplies the iPhone there. Mobile phone companies in the UK – O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone – are looking to strike similar deals in Europe ahead of a launch later in the year. The Guardian understands from multiple source that no choice has been made. Apple initially sold the iPhone through exclusive partners in the US, UK, France and Germany, but for the iPad the British mobile phone networks are not expecting Apple to offer exclusivity. None was willing to comment on the iPad. Andrew Harrison, UK chief executive of the Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, commented: “To me, the really interesting thing is what we are seeing is devices designed with how the consumer uses the internet very much in mind, rather than just a computer that was made for business use trying to fit the consumer.” Bloggers and commentators had mixed reactions to the device. It cannot run Adobe’s Flash software, used by many advertisers and games companies online to create eye-catching motion on web pages, which some see as essential to web browsing. Many women were dismayed by the name: the San Francisco Examiner pointed out that “for North American women the word ‘pad’ means but one thing, a sanitary napkin”. But Nick Carr, author of The Big Switch, about the move towards cloud computing, described the launch as “the day the PC died”, saying that Apple “wants to deliver the killer device for the cloud era, a machine that will define computing’s new age in the way that the Windows PC defined the old age.” Without a price ahead of the launch it may be difficult for retailers to judge the public’s interest – and so whether the device will sell in large or small numbers. Amazon’s Kindle, which includes mobile networking in the price, only launched recently in the UK, and Amazon has never disclosed sales numbers, though it is reckoned to have sold only about 500,000 to the end of last year. The decision to keep the UK price under wraps is unusual for Apple, which usually announces UK pricing simultaneously with any launch, and could either indicate concern about exchange rate fluctuations, or a desire to keep people intrigued about the device, or that non-US networks are seeking to sell it with some sort of subsidy. Already several UK mobile phone companies subsidise the cost of laptops to persuade customers to sign up for long-term mobile broadband contracts. Anyone signing up to a two-year mobile broadband deal with T-Mobile at £40 a month, for instance, gets a free Sony Vaio laptop worth £499. However, Apple has forced AT&T to give up persuading customers to sign long-term contracts in order to subsidise the iPad; instead, it will effectively be available on what in Europe would be seen as a 30-day rolling Sim-only contract such as those offered by O2 and Vodafone. “It does not look as though it has the traditional subsidy model,” said Harrison. “If you put Wi-Fi and 3G in it, it is actually more expensive not less expensive.” In a note relating AT&T’s financial prospects following the news, Jonathan Schildkraut, analyst at Jefferies & Co investment bank said the tariffs are “in line with the current data add-on options available with voice packages, and well below the roughly $60 plans currently offered by wireless carriers for a laptop card. The prepaid plan can be activated directly from the iPad and, because there is no contract, can be canceled at anytime.” Meanwhile anyone who already has a wireless broadband “dongle” under a long-term contract and is thinking about installing its SIM card into an iPad will be disappointed. The iPad is the first mass-market mobile device to use micro-Sim cards, which are smaller than the current range of Sim cards and were designed for small consumer gadgets such as Birmingham-based Lok8u’s range of wireless-enabled wrist watches. The iPad is also likely to prove a major headache for makers of similar devices, especially Taiwan’s Asus which recently announced plans for its own tablet, and Nokia which last year unveiled a “booklet” computer with built-in 3G. There are also understood to be several tablet computers running Google’s Android software in the works, with France’s Archos rumoured to be planning to release one in March.
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Jan
28
2010
Apple iPad: UK phone operators vie for dealsPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Several mobile phone carriers keen to sell Apple’s iPad in the UK Steve Jobs has fired the starting pistol in the race to bring the iPad to the UK, with several mobile phone operators and retailer Carphone Warehouse interested in selling Apple’s new tablet computer to consumers this side of the Atlantic. Jobs announced on Wednesday that a version of the device that can access 3G mobile phone networks as well as Wi-Fi will start shipping in the US in April under a deal with AT&T, which already supplies the iPhone in North America. Mobile phone companies in the UK – O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone – are looking to strike similar deals in Europe ahead of a launch later in the year. Andrew Harrison, UK chief executive of the Carphone Warehouse, welcomed news of the Apple device, adding: “To me, the really interesting thing is what we are seeing is devices designed with how the consumer uses the internet very much in mind, rather than just a computer that was made for business use trying to fit the consumer.” Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s largest independent mobile phone retailer, was Apple’s exclusive third party retail partner for the iPhone and Harrison obviously hopes to repeat the experience with the iPad. “Our perspective is we play in the world of connectivity and particularly mobile connectivity and this device fits well within that; we think there will be a whole range of them. This is an extension of a smartphone perhaps even more than it being a smaller PC. It is much more in the territory that we operate in,” he said “We have done a phenomenal job with the iPhone and smartphones in general and bringing connectivity is something we would be delighted to talk to Apple about.” But the AT&T deal shows that Apple may be approaching the involvement of mobile phone operators with the iPad in a very different way from the way that it uses them for the iPhone. Traditionally, mobile phone companies “subsidise” the up-front cost of hardware – usually mobile phones, but increasingly laptops – in return for persuading a customer to sign up to a long-term contract. The operator assumes it will make the subsidy back over the life of the contract. That is how the iPhone is sold in the US and Europe, while even Google followed this model with its Nexus One, signing a deal with T-Mobile in the US which sees the phone’s $529 price tag fall to $179 in return for signing a contract. Vodafone is expected to sell the Nexus One in the UK at roughly the same price point as the iPhone. Already several UK mobile phone companies subsidise the cost of laptops to persuade customers to sign up for long-term mobile broadband contracts. Anyone signing up to a two-year mobile broadband deal with T-Mobile at £40 a month, for instance, gets a free Sony Vaio laptop worth £499. But with the iPad, Apple has forced AT&T to give up on persuading customers to sign long-term contracts. Instead the iPad will effectively be available on what in Europe would be seen as a 30-day rolling SIM-only contract such as those offered by O2 and Vodafone. Customers have two pricing options in the US, a mere 250MB of data for $14.99 a month, or unlimited data for $29.99 a month. That means that while the basic version of the iPad – without wireless capabilities – will start at $499, the 3G version of the device will start at $629. Under the traditional operator model, the 3G version of the device would have been cheaper. “It does not look as though it has the traditional subsidy model,” said Harrison. “If you put Wi-Fi and 3G in it, it is actually more expensive not less expensive.” In a note on AT&T following the news, Jonathan Schildkraut, analyst at Jefferies & Co investment bank said the tariffs are “in line with the current data add-on options available with voice packages, and well below the roughly $60 plans currently offered by wireless carriers for a laptop card. The prepaid plan can be activated directly from the iPad and, because there is no contract, can be canceled at anytime.” “Given the prepaid nature of the service associated with this product, including the no contract/cancel at any time feature, we expect that AT&T would not have to subsidise the device. We would view this as a significant positive – given the large subsidy associated with the iPhone (estimated at up to $400). Additionally, this would imply better overall economics around the device (without the initial margin dilution of an iPhone sale),” he said “The flip-side, of course, is that the usage patterns of this type of device are unknown. However, given the multimedia capabilities, and the video functionality in particular, we would assume that iPad could be another network hog. This could drive incremental congestion issues on AT&T’s already strained network – leading to further network dissatisfaction, and potentially a need for ongoing higher levels of capital spending”. In other words, not getting people to sign a contract gives the operator very little chance to factor the potential cost of future infrastructure investment into its pricing plans. Then there is the worry that applications which allow internet telephony – such as Truphone and Skype, which are already available on the iPhone and will port to the iPad – will further erode the network’s profitable voice and text traffic. Apple initially sold the iPhone through exclusive partners in the US, UK, France and Germany, but for the iPad the British mobile phone companies are not expecting Apple to offer exclusivity. None of the mobile phone companies was willing to comment on the iPad. Incidentally, anyone who already has a wireless broadband “dongle” under a long-term contract and is thinking about buying an iPad and putting the SIM card from their laptop card into the iPad will be disappointed. The iPad is the first mass-market mobile device to use micro-Sim cards, which are smaller than the current range of Sim cards and were designed for small consumer gadgets such as Birmingham-based Lok8u’s range of wireless-enabled wrist watches. The iPad is also likely to prove a major headache for makers of similar devices, especially Taiwan’s Asus which recently announced plans for its own tablet, and Nokia which last year unveiled a “booklet” computer with built-in 3G. There are also understood to be several tablet computers running Google’s Android software in the works, with France’s Archos rumoured to be planning to release one in March.
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Jan
21
2010
Hard times turn us to gaming, but not everyone will be a winner | Victor KeeganPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Companies may look to cash in on the upcoming mobile market rather than invest millions in video games. Will it work though? Monopoly – the game – has had a long and complicated pedigree. It first gained traction in the 1930s, partially stimulated by a need to escape from the economic woes of the depression. If it has an equivalent today it is Farmville, available on the social website Facebook, which claims an astonishing 74 million regular users. It is the most successful of a number of similar games on Facebook which are themselves part of a wider boom in gaming during the recession. Farmville is like a real farm. If you don’t crop your harvest in time or feed your cartoony animals regularly then you face disaster. Like Monopoly it is power-driven to the extent that everyone wants to beat competitors and have the biggest farm. Like Monopoly its success has been generated by its users. Parker Brothers, who later acquired the rights, famously turned Monopoly down in 1934 as “too complicated, too technical … took too long to play”. They listed “52 fundamental playing errors”, and it was only later when they became of aware of huge demand spontaneously generated by the public – which the small company which then marketed it couldn’t cope with – that they changed their minds and bought the company and earlier patents. Gaming would probably be on a roll anyway but during a recession there is an added impetus to play video games you already own more intensively rather than spend money on entertainment or to savour some of the burgeoning free games on offer. The boom is difficult to quantify partly because aggregated statistics for all forms of gaming are difficult to find but also because so much of it is free. We are experiencing an explosion of games based on the “freemium” model whereby publishers give it away in the hope that at least 5% of players will trade up to a paid model or else trigger advertising revenue. The boom is being experienced everywhere except on the bottom line. Widespread redundancies among traditional publishers and developers are coinciding with a surge in demand in other sectors. The casual gaming site miniclip.com of Hatton Garden, London, was at one stage claiming 50 million unique users a month, while Getjar.com, another UK-based indie company, claims to be the biggest app downloader after Apple. Playfish.com, another big casual gaming site, was bought for $275m in November by the games giant Electronic Arts, which has experienced a sharp drop in profits. And Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 made $1bn in its first couple of months, which is a result comparable to the unprecedented success of the 3D blockbuster film Avatar. What seems to be happening, despite the huge success of some titles, is a switch from expensive video-based games to cheaper-to-produce ones residing on mobile phones, online, or on social networks – which is where all the eyeballs are anyway. It is reckoned that more than half of iPhone users are playing games. Morgan Securities says demand for online gaming will double annually for a few years, to $800m this year and $1.6bn next. It has been presumed that the centre of gravity for gaming will switch to Apple’s app store (which this month added a version of Grand Theft Auto to its growing games portfolio) but now the outlook is not so sure. The success of Facebook has raised the prospect that social networks could be the place people go to for games. The iPhone, for all its undoubted success is still a minority sport. The mobile guru Tomi Ahonen reminds us that “only 0.7% – yes less than 1% – of all who have a mobile phone on the planet, have an iPhone”, and in any case apps only work on smartphones which so far only account for about 14% of the installed base of mobile phones (but, of course, are growing fast). Developers are finding it increasingly difficult to make any noise among the avalanche of apps in the iPhone store, let alone any money. Apple’s disclosure that total downloads have exceeded 3bn is an amazing success story, though not as big as it looks once you have allowed for the fact that most downloads are free and the figures also include downloads of updates. Games embracing Google’s Android operating system – based, unlike iPhone apps, on open source – could offer serious competition to Apple; as could Nokia, which is still the biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world by a distance. Companies faced with investing millions in new video games or much smaller sums in the mobile market – towards which everything, including social networks, are migrating – may well take the cheaper option. Either way, a lot of companies are likely to go under before the wheat is separated from the chaff. In this market, the consumer is still king.
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iPhone creator believed to be in talks with UK phone networks over subsidies for the much-anticipated tablet computer Apple is understood to have approached several UK mobile phone networks, including Orange, about selling its forthcoming tablet computer to British customers. The device, rumoured to be called the iSlate, has created a buzz among mobile phone operators not seen since Apple pitted several networks against each other in the race for the exclusive British rights to sell the iPhone in 2007. That deal was clinched by O2 at the last minute when it barged aside Orange and Vodafone. The Californian technology company is expected to unveil the iSlate at an event in San Francisco on 27 January and it is likely to be on sale in the US in March. British gadget fans will have to wait until much later in the spring, according to UK sources, but the price of the device could be reduced if Apple can persuade a mobile phone company to subsidise it. Rumours abound about the iSlate but it is expected to have a 10-inch touchscreen, no keyboard and allow users to surf the web, watch TV shows and read digitised magazines and newspapers. While it is expected to have short-range wi-fi access to connect to the web, it will also have the ability to connect to mobile phone networks, meaning users will have to sign up to a mobile broadband package to get the most out of the iSlate. Already several UK mobile phone companies subsidise the cost of laptops to persuade customers to sign up for long-term mobile broadband contracts. Anyone signing up to a two-year mobile broadband deal with T-Mobile at £40 a month, for instance, gets a free Sony Vaio laptop worth £499. Apple is looking for mobile partners willing to bundle a mobile broadband contract with the iSlate. The UK’s mobile phone networks, meanwhile, also have deals that allow their mobile broadband customers easy access to thousands of public wi-fi hotspots across the country. Any such tie-up with an operator, however, is unlikely to make the iSlate free because the basic price of the device in the UK is expected to be only slightly less than Apple’s cheapest MacBook laptop, which costs £816. Apple initially sold the iPhone through exclusive partners in the US, UK, France and Germany, but for the iSlate the company is not believed to be offering an exclusive deal. Orange is one of the networks talking to Apple about the iSlate but O2 and Vodafone are also believed to be interested. It is also expected to be available in Carphone Warehouse stores. Neither Apple, nor the networks, nor Carphone Warehouse would comment. A deal is by no means certain. Amazon has yet to sign up a British wireless partner for its Kindle e-reader. As a result, Amazon’s American network partner AT&T has been forced to thrash out roaming deals with four of the UK’s networks, which makes it more expensive for British users to download books on to the device.
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Jan
15
2010
Kodak launches lawsuit against iPhone and BlackBerryPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Kodak has launched lawsuits alleging that the iPhone and BlackBerry – two of the world’s most popular mobile phones – infringe its patents. The photographic pioneer said on Thursday that it had filed a case in the Western District of New York against Apple and Canadian handset manufacturer Research in Motion, as well as an extra one against Apple, amid claims that they that were unfairly using technology patented by Kodak Eastman. “We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars creating our industry-leading patent portfolio,” said Laura Quatela, the chief intellectual property officer of Eastman Kodak. The dispute revolves around a system for displaying previews of images that have been taken with a digital camera, which Kodak says it has patented. The second Apple case, meanwhile, involves the interaction between a camera and the software on a computer. Kodak said that it did not want to block sales of the iPhone or BlackBerry – which are among the most profitable and lucrative handsets in the mobile market – but instead sought “fair compensation”. “We’ve had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” said Quatela. “In light of that, we are taking this action to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and the existing licensees of our technology… Those devices use Kodak technology, and we are merely seeking compensation for the use of our technology in their products.” The company did not put a value on the damages it was seeking, but said it would enjoin the two companies – which could prevent in Apple and RIM But the case – filed in Rochester, New York – is not the first time that Kodak has launched a legal action to protect its intellectual property. A long-running case against Sun Microsystems, first started in 2002, was finally settled in 2004. More recently, Kodak won a case against Samsung for infringements by the Korean manufacturer’s mobile phones. The Kodak case is just the latest in a series of patent disputes surrounding the iPhone, most notably a bitter tit-for-tat conflict between Apple and the world’s largest mobile phone company, Nokia. In October, Nokia launched a legal attack on the Californian technology company, alleging that the iPhone infringed 10 of its “fundamental” patents relating to wireless technologies. Apple countered with its own lawsuit in December, accusing Nokia – which has lost significant market share in recent years – of copying its technology. “Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours,” said Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel and senior vice president, at the time. Since then Nokia has launched further legal actions, including one that claims that “virtually all” of Apple’s products infringe one or other of its rival’s patents. Kodak – which pioneered popular photography in the – has struggled in recent years as the rapid transition from film cameras to digital cameras to cameraphones has taken place. Five years ago it began a reinvention of its business – which started with 15,000 job losses – to try and remain relevant in the digital age, but a year ago it announced that 4,500 more jobs would go worldwide as losses mounted.
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Jan
10
2010
The future of consumer electronics is wireless, says the boss of Qualcomm, a wireless companyPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Dr Paul Jacobs entertained the audience, raised his company’s profile, promoted his company’s Snapdragon processor, and showcased smartbooks from HP and Lenovo in his first CES keynote speech — success all round Perhaps because it was his first keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show, Qualcomm’s chief executive Dr Paul Jacobs put on an excellent, if slightly overlong, show. He featured a string of chief executives with interesting new products using Qualcomm technology, and announced support for Google’s ChromeOS. Then, to end on a high, he gave 300 free FLO TVs to members of the audience. Jacobs’ guests included HTC boss Peter Chou, Lenovo boss Yuanqing Yang, Todd Bradley, who runs Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group, and D-Link boss Tony Tsao. These may not be household names, but HTC makes Google’s Android phones, including the Nexus One, Lenovo is the biggest PC maker in China and took over IBM’s PC business, and HP is now the world’s largest technology company. All of that should worry Microsoft. HTC has always been the largest manufacturer of Windows Mobile phones, while IBM’s PC division and HP have been two of Microsoft’s three most important supporters (the other one is Dell). And both HP and Lenovo showed smartbooks, a format that Qualcomm is promoting as an alternative to netbooks. When I suggested that CES would see the start of a battle between ARM-based smartbooks and Intel Atom-powered netbooks, I imagined that the smartbooks would come from a dozen or so small Asian suppliers. Instead, the most interesting smartbooks have been shown by two of the largest PC manufacturers. To be fair, Yuanqing Yang said the Skylight smartbook was about extending the PC’s reach, and HP’s Todd Bradley stressed that he wasn’t making a product announcement. But it won’t help Microsoft if these companies sell lots of smartbooks running Linux rather than netbooks running Windows. For all these gadgets, the Qualcomm connection is the ARM-based Snapdragon processor used in Google’s Nexus One phone. Jacobs believes that the chips used in smartphones will go into many other consumer electronics devices in the future. They might look different but they’ll all have mobile phone technology inside. One example is the ebook reader, and Jacobs showed one using Mirasol. “You’ve seen E Ink displays in devices like the Kindle, so this display technology does the same thing, except does it with full colour and with full-motion video,” he said. But the highlight of Jacobs’ keynote was the appearance of Eric Topol, who is, among other things, chief medical officer of the West Wireless Health Institute. He showed an impressive range of health gadgets including Zeo’s device for measuring sleep quality, a Corventis Piix heart monitor, and a small machine for doing echo cardiograms — a sort of high-tech stethoscope. Jacobs isn’t a big-name presenter and didn’t attract the capacity crowd that went to see Steve Ballmer’s opening keynote, but I’d bet more people ended up better informed, and happier.
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Jan
08
2010
T-Mobile prescribes hub tablet for UK familiesPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
Like a Joggler, but biggerMore concrete details about the Android-based Vega touchscreen tablet have emerged, with T-Mobile set to sell the gadget into Blighty later this year.…
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Jan
08
2010
CES 2010: Ford plans to let drivers tweet from the roadPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
A century after it first revolutionised the car industry, Ford plans to make its vehicles more hi-tech – by letting drivers listen to internet radio, conduct web searches and even send Twitter messages straight from the dashboard. Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally unveiled the next generation of Ford’s in-car Sync entertainment system and said that it would be able to do everything they expected from a computer or mobile phone. “We are actually now bringing the internet to the car,” he said. “We’re going to bring all the applications you can get on mobile phones today, we’ll bring in the car – absolutely hands-free, voice activated, and focused on the road – but you can get access to all your cool stuff.” The system, called Sync MyTouch, is based around a pair of dashboard touchscreen computers that allow drivers and passengers to carry out a number of activities while they drive thanks to a wireless internet or 3G connection. The touch or voice activated systems can be synchronised with mobile handsets like the iPhone – they can use any one of hundreds of applications specifically designed for Sync, such as built-in satellite navigation and local search. The technology, which was developed in conjunction with Microsoft and was first unveiled in 2007, is currently only available in 12 of the company’s north American models – but Mulally said new Sync modules would be integrated into 80% of the company’s US cars within five years. Last year it said there were plans to launch the system in European models later in 2010, Despite concerns over safety, the company says that using Sync should be no more – as long as drivers to the same rules about using other in-car devices, such as satellite navigation systems and mobile phones. “The whole process of interface design is also more critical in a vehicle, because the driver is dealing with so many more inputs,” said Ford vice president Derrick Kuzak. “We have to keep interfaces simple and intuitive. And they have to minimize driver distraction.” The world’s fourth-largest car maker says it hopes that providing extras like internet connectivity can help boost its fortunes as the American auto industry struggles to cope with the effects of the recession. Although Ford suffered substantially during the depths of the financial crisis – posting record losses of $14.6bn (£9.1bn) in 2008 – the company appears to be on the up. Unlike its Detroit rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, the company did not file for bankruptcy and $2.3bn (£1.4bn) in profit for the second quarter of 2009. Mulally said that improving the technology inside its cars was an important part of turning around the company and making it a leader once again. “We believe these features have a place in every Ford vehicle, not just our luxury models,” he said.
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The screen is fantastic, it links superbly with your online Google account – but does it have what it takes to win over iPhone obsessives? At first glance, the Nexus One doesn’t look like a revolution waiting to happen. In fact, Google’s much heralded rival to the Apple iPhone looks remarkably similar to almost every high-end mobile phone released in the last two years: big black screen with small button at the bottom. But as soon as you switch on the handset and swipe your finger across the screen to unlock it, it is clear this is more than just another also-ran. The first thing that strikes you is how incredibly bright and clear the screen is. It’s a 3.7in, low-power, “organic LED” screen that doesn’t need backlighting and allows deep, clear blacks and vivid colours. In terms of visibility, it’s streets ahead of the competition: a gang of Nexus One users waving their prized gadgets in the air could probably send a signal into space. The second thing that leaps at your eyeballs is the animated background. Whether you’ve got rippling pools of water or computerised lights zipping around the screen, the constant movement whenever you’re using the phone breathes a strange sort of life into this static object. Above all, though, you are stepping through a portal into Google’s world. On first use, the phone prompts you to log into your Google account – within seconds it has synchronised your email, web searches, contacts book and any other information you happen to keep with the company. Convenient for you, but also – thanks to the constant stream of data being fed back to California – handy for Google. You’re now a satellite-tracked, walking, talking, web-surfing recruit into Google’s informationalised army. Despite this nagging feeling that you’ve stepped into the pages of Nineteen Eighty-Four, becoming one of Google’s disciples boasts some impressive benefits. Browsing the web is fast, the powerful five-megapixel camera-phone with built-in flash should make the all-important business of taking good photos a doddle. The really futuristic extra, though, is “voice search”. On other handsets, including the iPhone, this addition seems like a gimmick – hey, what kind of dimwit talks to their phone? – but the accuracy and speed of the Nexus One makes it feels like something from Star Trek. I asked for “toy shops in San Francisco” and it found me a (Google) map of local toy shops in a couple of seconds. Combine this with the phone’s simplified “in-car mode” display and ability to speak turn-by-turn directions, and it spells goodbye to satnav. The downsides are its appearance – sleek but bland, made from a dull, metallic-looking plastic – and the small, rubber trackball that sits under your thumb, which feels like an awkward afterthought (although it does glow in different colours to let you know when the phone is charging or connected via Bluetooth). But a big “miss” is the feature that makes the iPhone so simple to use: multi-touch. While the Nexus One’s single-finger prodding works well enough, there’s none of the pinching action to zoom into maps and photographs that makes the iPhone feel so advanced, nor its realistic-feel friction. Google’s on-screen keyboard feels cramped, too, and won’t completely satisfy text freaks and heavy emailers. Also missing is the depth of downloadable applications that have turned the iPhone into something much more like a mini-computer. There are plenty of programs available through the Android Market (and Google is, of course, encouraging armies of coders to feverishly build more), but there is still nowhere near the volume you can get for Apple’s gizmo. Then, of course, there’s the price. Salivating British gadget fans can buy one now from Google’s US shop – without a sim card or contract – for £330, and Vodafone is scrambling to make it available on a contract here for significantly less. But even then, it’s unlikely to come cheap. What ultimately justifies the price, Google argues, is the phone’s sheer power. And the thing certainly is fast, with the memory and processing guts equivalent to a top-of-the-range laptop from eight or nine years ago. But will it beat the iPhone? This debut model falls short of the smooth and totally intuitive design that Apple came up with. Google prides itself on being a company of engineers, and – despite all its bells and whistles – the Nexus One still leaves behind an aftertaste of nerdiness.
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It’s the gadget you’ve been waiting for, the one that allows you to talk about your two favourite topics of conversation – the weather and your iPhone – at the same time! Yes, it’s an iPhone app that keeps your hands warm. It heats up your phone by turning it up to 100% of its power processing capacity, apparently, and you can control exactly how hot it gets with a little slider thingy on the front. Ingenious! Unless, of course, you forget you’ve turned the heat up and hold the phone to your ear when someone calls. We’re sure they’ve thought about that. And we’re not sure how long Monkey’s handset would last at full power. Seven minutes? Yours for just 59p. Also available: gloves.
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Jan
05
2010
The revolution will be televised in high definition 3DPosted by CompareMobiles.com in Mobile News
On eve of Las Vegas consumer electronics showcase, expectations grow for internet TVs and the tablet computer Televisions enhanced with direct internet access and 3D displays will be among the most anticipated products unveiled when the world’s biggest annual technology showcase kicks off in Las Vegas on Thursday. This year could see a revolution in televisions on high street sale as they converge with the web, allowing viewers to watch services such as the BBC’s iPlayer and YouTube more conveniently. Manufacturers including Sony, Panasonic and LG are expected to launch sets with a broad range of new capabilities at the Consumer Electronics Show, including High Definition TV (HDTV) screens with the internet telephony service Skype built in, so people can use their TVs for video chats with friends and family anywhere in the world. The BBC launched a limited trial last month of the iPlayer on some high definition Freesat boxes – the free-to-air satellite service is increasingly integrated into TVs – and is anticipating even more viewers being online when the next generation of sets emerges. There is a scramble to profit on the hype surrounding 3D after cinema hits Avatar and Up. A number of companies will be debuting their attempts at high-quality 3D screens. The Discovery Channel could even announce plans to launch a 3D TV channel next year. The Las Vegas show is where the world’s most powerful electronics brands fight for top billing: launches in the past include the DVD, the Xbox games console and the puzzle game Tetris. Last night’s launch of the Nexus One phone – Google’s rival to Apple’s iPhone – sought to upstage the start of CES and the next big moment will come tomorrow night with a keynote speech from Microsoft’s forceful chief executive, Steve Ballmer. The company has opened CES in the past by outlining a vision of where Microsoft believes the future is headed. Two years ago billionaire founder Bill Gates demonstrated a table with a built-in touch sensitive computer, the Surface, while last year Ballmer showed off Windows 7. Announcements likely this year include new mobile phones, concepts for home entertainment – perhaps even a launch date for Project Natal, the motion-sensitive video gaming system unveiled last summer. Whatever Ballmer has up his sleeve, he will have to compete with announcements from rivals such as Sony, Samsung, and Google. Microsoft is not alone in looking for wow factor. Others include Nokia, the beleaguered mobile phone maker whose chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, will attempt to excite Friday’s crowds with a new slate of gadgets. Alan Mulally, boss of car maker Ford, is expected to show off hi-tech concepts aimed at changing the future of driving. “We expect them to say something fairly significant,” said Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organises the show. “They are positioning themselves as a tech company rather than a car company.” It is on the show’s extensive floors that most surprises are likely. With more than 2,500 exhibitors and acres of floor space, weird and wonderful ideas have plenty of room to thrive. Exploding on the scene this year are tablet computers – touchscreen devices pitched between a laptop and a mobile phone. With Apple – which is not at CES itself – set to make an announcement later this month, rivals are hoping they can break into the market. Among these is Freescale, a US company which has announceda machine combining tablet and smartbook features. “We believe the tablet will emerge as a popular form factor for the next generation of smartbooks,” said Henri Richard of Freescale.
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