Opinionated comments on mobile phone industry news
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All entries are written by Anders Borg, CEO and Consultant of Abiro, that has a long experience in strategic planning, developing embedded and Java software, usability aspects, and the mobile phone industry in general. You can also read the latest Mobile News entries on your phone via wap.abiro.com, and we provide many News Feeds from popular news services. For advertising and contribution queries, please use the feedback form. News feed (local) FeedBurner Feed
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Friday, April 29, 2005
No more Wi-Fi for Verizon
This is fun: "Everybody's trying to look for a business model around (Wi-Fi).... But the better business model in our mind is the EV-DO network."
My "interpretation": "We don't make money on Wi-Fi and it might cannibalize the revenue of EV-DO networks."
Verizon Pulling Plug on Free NYC Wi-Fi - Yahoo! News
My "interpretation": "We don't make money on Wi-Fi and it might cannibalize the revenue of EV-DO networks."
Verizon Pulling Plug on Free NYC Wi-Fi - Yahoo! News
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Nokia differentiates
New phones:
N70: smallest S60 phone
N90: focused on photo, Carl Zeiss optics, 2 Mp
N91: focused on music, 4 GB hard disk
"The market is going to segment into more specific devices aimed as particular groups along the lines of the traditional consumer electronics domain."
Nokia Phones Mark New Era of Differentiation - Yahoo! News
N70: smallest S60 phone
N90: focused on photo, Carl Zeiss optics, 2 Mp
N91: focused on music, 4 GB hard disk
"The market is going to segment into more specific devices aimed as particular groups along the lines of the traditional consumer electronics domain."
Nokia Phones Mark New Era of Differentiation - Yahoo! News
TV phones will start shipping this year
"Handset makers will sell 130,000 TV phones this year, rising to 83.5 million by 2010, research group Informa said."
"The difference between TV and streaming video services will be that the TV signals are broadcast to all users at the same time, while streaming video will be delivered on demand by mobile operators."
Survey: TV for Mobile Phones Set to Reach Masses - Yahoo! News
"The difference between TV and streaming video services will be that the TV signals are broadcast to all users at the same time, while streaming video will be delivered on demand by mobile operators."
Survey: TV for Mobile Phones Set to Reach Masses - Yahoo! News
Novatel first out with HSDPA notebook card
14 Mbps! Under what circumstances is not said.
Also supports GPRS and EDGE.
Novatel announces work on 3G HSDPA PCI Express modem for wireless broadband
Also supports GPRS and EDGE.
Novatel announces work on 3G HSDPA PCI Express modem for wireless broadband
Nokia goes for nano technology to cut cost
Initial use is said to be casings, which is odd considering the casing is not expensive compared to Flash memory, color LCD displays and cameras.
Nokia Says Nanotechnology May Help It Cut Costs
Nokia Says Nanotechnology May Help It Cut Costs
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
New press release from Abiro
Nokia aiming at iPod
Has integrated hard disk.
"Nokia unveiled new premium phones on Wednesday that included one with an MP3 music player that it said will outsell Apple's iPod and a camera phone that it forecast will surpass Canon, the world's top digital camera maker."
"The hard disk-based music phone would have been launched sooner but Nokia is still working with Microsoft and its online partner OD2 to develop a music download service for mobile devices, Vanjoki told Reuters in an interview."
Yahoo! News - Nokia Takes Aim at IPod with Premium Line of Phones
"Nokia unveiled new premium phones on Wednesday that included one with an MP3 music player that it said will outsell Apple's iPod and a camera phone that it forecast will surpass Canon, the world's top digital camera maker."
"The hard disk-based music phone would have been launched sooner but Nokia is still working with Microsoft and its online partner OD2 to develop a music download service for mobile devices, Vanjoki told Reuters in an interview."
Yahoo! News - Nokia Takes Aim at IPod with Premium Line of Phones
SMS usage still increasing
At least in the UK. Up 21% compared to March last year.
One new application: "As election fever mounts in the UK, SMS has become an essential tool in the communication mix for campaigners, and voters."
Digital Media Europe: News - UK text messaging up 21%
One new application: "As election fever mounts in the UK, SMS has become an essential tool in the communication mix for campaigners, and voters."
Digital Media Europe: News - UK text messaging up 21%
Friday, April 22, 2005
First 2D codes, now 2D color codes
The advantage of using different colors is that it's possible to also print readable text across the code without losing scanner (or rather camera) readability. In other words simultaneously both machine- and human-readable code. The described code contains only a URL, with the actual content on a server.
Wireless.3Yen.com - QR codes are so 2004. Get ready for ColorCode - Wireless in Japan - Japanese Mobile Phones
Wireless.3Yen.com - QR codes are so 2004. Get ready for ColorCode - Wireless in Japan - Japanese Mobile Phones
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Lots of new mobile devices
A journalist's personal impressions of the following new products:
- Samsung SGH-I300 Hard-Drive Handset (3 GB; lots of media formats)
- Sony Network Walkman NW-HD5 Music Player (40 hours playback and USB)
- Pantech&Curitel PH-L4000V Camcorder Cell Phone (camcorder or phone? video up to 640x480)
- Pretech Digi Photo Multipurpose Card Reader (connects directly to a TV for viewing pictures)
- Panasonic D-snap SV-SD100V Music Player (square(cube?)-shaped; most formats; radio)
- Samsung SCH-B200 Entertainment Phone (slide&rotate LCD 320x240; DMB TV)
- Ezmax EZMP4200P Music Player With VoIP (VoIP works via PC/USB; kind of odd)
- Samsung SPH-M4300 Smart Phone (LCD 320x240; CDMA+WLAN; Windows Mobile)
Yahoo! News - Tokyo Edge: Hot Phones and Music Players
- Samsung SGH-I300 Hard-Drive Handset (3 GB; lots of media formats)
- Sony Network Walkman NW-HD5 Music Player (40 hours playback and USB)
- Pantech&Curitel PH-L4000V Camcorder Cell Phone (camcorder or phone? video up to 640x480)
- Pretech Digi Photo Multipurpose Card Reader (connects directly to a TV for viewing pictures)
- Panasonic D-snap SV-SD100V Music Player (square(cube?)-shaped; most formats; radio)
- Samsung SCH-B200 Entertainment Phone (slide&rotate LCD 320x240; DMB TV)
- Ezmax EZMP4200P Music Player With VoIP (VoIP works via PC/USB; kind of odd)
- Samsung SPH-M4300 Smart Phone (LCD 320x240; CDMA+WLAN; Windows Mobile)
Yahoo! News - Tokyo Edge: Hot Phones and Music Players
Mobile Fox News
The US market is interesting in that a simple thing like making a mobile version of an existing web service gets attention from the press (the press promoting the press; maybe I get it after all). I agree this is useful, but it's really the simplest thing to do, and there's no maintenance to talk about (same content, just a new auto-generated format). Due to that superlatives like the following sound very hollow: "This deal positions FOX News Channel to become a significant player in the wireless industry and is a great opportunity to expand the brand and reach our loyal audience outside their homes".
Yahoo! News - Sprint Phones Now Carry Fox News
Yahoo! News - Sprint Phones Now Carry Fox News
Skype coming to Symbian OS, Windows Mobile and Linux
Right about now mobile operators should start to worry about future voice revenues. At least when Skype is used over flat-rate UMTS. There's a lot of talk about Wi-Fi hot-spots, much more than there are hot-spots.
ITBusiness.ca
ITBusiness.ca
Number of WCDMA devices quickly growing
"There are now 150 WCDMA devices - phones and PC datacards, that have been launched on the market, an increase of 40 per cent since the beginning of this year, according to the latest figures from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)."
Digital Media Europe: News - 150 WCDMA devices on market - GSA report:
Digital Media Europe: News - 150 WCDMA devices on market - GSA report:
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Samsung P207 with speech-to-text
According to the article it actually works. It has to be trained though, but just once. Considering MS Speech is approx 40 Mbytes on the hard drive Samsung must have optimized the algorithms a bit.
"Samsung is onto something with this feature. Not only does the P207 represent a significant evolution for voice recognition—making text messaging far easier—it’s also easy to envision how this software will soon make sending emails and multi-step commands via mobile phones far more viable."
Om Malik on Broadband � Samsung�s P207 Speaks Out
"Samsung is onto something with this feature. Not only does the P207 represent a significant evolution for voice recognition—making text messaging far easier—it’s also easy to envision how this software will soon make sending emails and multi-step commands via mobile phones far more viable."
Om Malik on Broadband � Samsung�s P207 Speaks Out
Competition increases in the music download business
I believe they are right: "On the other are telecom companies, from Finland to South Korea to the U.S., that think the mobile phone can become the center of this emerging world. "The iPod is great," says Frank Nuovo, chief designer for Nokia, the world's largest handset maker. "But no one has a stranglehold. There's nothing that keeps the mobile phone from moving into that area.""
iPod Killers?: "lover / Sometimes wanna be your friend"
iPod Killers?: "lover / Sometimes wanna be your friend"
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Qualcomm shows off the new MSM6550 chipset
Aimed for EV-DO networks it sports audio, video, 3D and Java hardware acceleration. It also features an ARM9 CPU core and QVGA-sized displays.
Slingshot Concept Handset
MSM6550 Chipset Solution
Slingshot Concept Handset
MSM6550 Chipset Solution
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Mobile E-mail in all phones
It sounds like knocking in a non-existing door by saying that by 2008 all smartphones will have e-mail, considering most phones sold in Europe have e-mail already, including featurephones. It sure is tough to configure, but that's another story.
Yahoo! News - Here Comes E-Mail for Mobile Phones, Finally
Yahoo! News - Here Comes E-Mail for Mobile Phones, Finally
Lower-priced OMA DRM
Now $0.65 per device, yet still way too expensive.
OMA cellphone DRM cartel caves; lowers fees from ludicrous to laughable - Cellphones - cellphones.engadget.com.
OMA cellphone DRM cartel caves; lowers fees from ludicrous to laughable - Cellphones - cellphones.engadget.com.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Desired phone features
A new survey reveals somewhat odd user desires: WiFi, Skype, voice-to-text, mapping and traffic routing.
It's interesting that users want Skype and not Voice-over-IP in general. It shows clearly that users don't know (and don't care) how it's done, only want what Skype does: provides low-cost telephony.
Users Have Mixed Feelings on Phone Features - Mobile Phones/PDAs News - Designtechnica News
It's interesting that users want Skype and not Voice-over-IP in general. It shows clearly that users don't know (and don't care) how it's done, only want what Skype does: provides low-cost telephony.
Users Have Mixed Feelings on Phone Features - Mobile Phones/PDAs News - Designtechnica News
Positive outlook for 3G in 2005
"However, mobile phones for more data intensive applications, for instance for EDGE platforms, are expected to increase by 51 percent this year, to 60 million units."
"And 3G capable models will have an even greater uptake, albeit from a low base now. Those supporting W-CDMA networks are expected to grow by 165 percent, to reach 45 million units."
Yahoo! News - Huge growth seen for 3G phone shipments in '05
"And 3G capable models will have an even greater uptake, albeit from a low base now. Those supporting W-CDMA networks are expected to grow by 165 percent, to reach 45 million units."
Yahoo! News - Huge growth seen for 3G phone shipments in '05
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Mobile ball-and-chain
A small ankle bracelet that reports the GPS position of the individual.
The BluTag GPS ankle bracelet with built-in GSM - Wearables - wearables.engadget.com.
The BluTag GPS ankle bracelet with built-in GSM - Wearables - wearables.engadget.com.
Jamster gets in the jam
Finally Jamster/Jamba gets slammed for its so called "free" ringtone.
Their subscription-based business model is also quite arguable, considering it's hard to get out of the monthly subscription. Advertizing and info at the web site is not clear that signing up means monthly renewed subscription.
Maybe Verisign now regrets acquiring Jamba (an already very profitable company at the time), considering this could seriously tarnish its digital certificate business. Greed tends to turn a blind side to morale.
infoWorld - Jamster slammed for mobile selling practices
It seems Verisign has been in the hot seat before. Just search for hate Verisign...
Their subscription-based business model is also quite arguable, considering it's hard to get out of the monthly subscription. Advertizing and info at the web site is not clear that signing up means monthly renewed subscription.
Maybe Verisign now regrets acquiring Jamba (an already very profitable company at the time), considering this could seriously tarnish its digital certificate business. Greed tends to turn a blind side to morale.
infoWorld - Jamster slammed for mobile selling practices
It seems Verisign has been in the hot seat before. Just search for hate Verisign...
Blackberry continues its success path
"total number of Blackberry subscribers in the quarter increase by 470,000 to approximately 2.51m total subscribers"
Digital Media Europe: News - Blackberry subscriptions up 135%
Digital Media Europe: News - Blackberry subscriptions up 135%
Mobile music growing in the UK
"will spend €220m (£150m) on ring-tones, ring-back tunes and downloading full songs directly onto their mobile phones"
"With the global market for ring-tones and mobile phone downloads to be worth in excess of €3bn (£2bn), the incentive is there for record labels and artists to develop music that will complement its release as a ring-tone or real tone"
The industry must be careful not mixing ringtones, which is what you've been able to use on phones so far, to full music player capabilities, which is a completely different story and use case.
Another constant concern I have is that the awareness of technical quality will diminish, causing decently high quality CDs be replaced by very low quality MP3's or AAC's.
Digital Media Europe: News - UK youngsters increasing spend on mobile music
"With the global market for ring-tones and mobile phone downloads to be worth in excess of €3bn (£2bn), the incentive is there for record labels and artists to develop music that will complement its release as a ring-tone or real tone"
The industry must be careful not mixing ringtones, which is what you've been able to use on phones so far, to full music player capabilities, which is a completely different story and use case.
Another constant concern I have is that the awareness of technical quality will diminish, causing decently high quality CDs be replaced by very low quality MP3's or AAC's.
Digital Media Europe: News - UK youngsters increasing spend on mobile music
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Mobile banking in Korea
"Bank account data is encrypted on a smart-card chip."
"...mobile banking transactions cost Kookmin a tenth of the price of a face-to-face transaction."
"He said mobile banking services would need to be secure and easy-to-use, and would need to have support at government level."
CNN.com - Dialing up to do business - Mar 31, 2005
"...mobile banking transactions cost Kookmin a tenth of the price of a face-to-face transaction."
"He said mobile banking services would need to be secure and easy-to-use, and would need to have support at government level."
CNN.com - Dialing up to do business - Mar 31, 2005
Telematics market shift
Currently North America (#1) and Europe (#2) are the largest regions for fleet telematics, but Asia (especially China and India) will quickly move to second position
"The market segments poised for the greatest growth in the near future include long-haul trucking, public transit, and taxis."
"Taxis represent a huge addressable market, particularly in Beijing, as fleets gear up for the 2008 Olympics in China."
Digital Media Europe: News - Asia to overtake Europe as second-largest commercial telematics industry
"The market segments poised for the greatest growth in the near future include long-haul trucking, public transit, and taxis."
"Taxis represent a huge addressable market, particularly in Beijing, as fleets gear up for the 2008 Olympics in China."
Digital Media Europe: News - Asia to overtake Europe as second-largest commercial telematics industry
Monday, April 04, 2005
Expected fast growth of 3G in APAC
"Third generation (3G) mobile phone subscribers in the Asia Pacific region outside Japan are projected to soar to 142.6 million in 2009 from just 10.5 million in 2004"
Considering Korea is mentioned this must include both WCDMA and EV-DO.
Yahoo! News - 3G mobile phone services seen soaring in Asia Pacific by 2009
Considering Korea is mentioned this must include both WCDMA and EV-DO.
Yahoo! News - 3G mobile phone services seen soaring in Asia Pacific by 2009
Widened generation gap
Has used a camera phone in the last 3 months:
18 to 24: 72%
25 to 34: 55%
Total: 35%
Growth of MMS usage:
18 to 24: 30%
25 to 34: 17%
Digital Media Europe: News - MMS widens mobile generation gap - report
18 to 24: 72%
25 to 34: 55%
Total: 35%
Growth of MMS usage:
18 to 24: 30%
25 to 34: 17%
Digital Media Europe: News - MMS widens mobile generation gap - report
Phones replacing also watches
"Youngsters don't have a watch anymore today. If they want to know the time, they look at their mobile, which never leaves them..."
I'm not a youngster, but I haven't had a watch for several years, as my phone and my Windows PCs show time.
"However, sales of more profitable middle-to-top range watches are booming, it added. While overall volumes are dropping, revenue has picked up."
I guess the status of having an expensive-looking watch picks up here.
Yet: "Today people no longer tend to to offer a nice piece of jewellery for a wedding anniversary or another event ... Consumers prefer high tech presents, opting for a plasma screen television rather than a trinket..."
Yahoo! News - Watchmakers cast nervous eye on mobile phone challenge
I'm not a youngster, but I haven't had a watch for several years, as my phone and my Windows PCs show time.
"However, sales of more profitable middle-to-top range watches are booming, it added. While overall volumes are dropping, revenue has picked up."
I guess the status of having an expensive-looking watch picks up here.
Yet: "Today people no longer tend to to offer a nice piece of jewellery for a wedding anniversary or another event ... Consumers prefer high tech presents, opting for a plasma screen television rather than a trinket..."
Yahoo! News - Watchmakers cast nervous eye on mobile phone challenge
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Microsoft trying to outcompete RIM?
"Microsoft aims to kill BlackBerry," said one source familiar with the plans. "Every corporate type has a BlackBerry, and they all have Outlook. What is the cost going to be to RIM server when Exchange Service Pack and Magneto come out and they're not priced? Microsoft is giving it away for free."
"Microsoft recently licensed its ActiveSync technology to competitors to make Exchange the push server engine of choice."
"HP, Motorola, Samsung and others now are developing new smartphones with keyboards such as BlackBerry's Qwerty keyboard and larger displays."
A slight snag: There are hardly any phones running Windows Mobile, but phones running Series 60, proprietary systems etc might also support ActiveSync some day.
Internet Week > News > BlackBerry Killer? > April 1, 2005
"Microsoft recently licensed its ActiveSync technology to competitors to make Exchange the push server engine of choice."
"HP, Motorola, Samsung and others now are developing new smartphones with keyboards such as BlackBerry's Qwerty keyboard and larger displays."
A slight snag: There are hardly any phones running Windows Mobile, but phones running Series 60, proprietary systems etc might also support ActiveSync some day.
Internet Week > News > BlackBerry Killer? > April 1, 2005
DRM is too expensive, continued...
Snippets that say it all:
"The mobile phone industry's Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has developed an open standard for anti-piracy software, but the technology used by the standard is too expensive"
"The pricey anti-piracy technology is managed by the MPEG LA group, which pooled essential patents owned by InterTrust and ContentGuard, two small but powerful digital rights management companies, along with consumer electronics giants Sony Corp (SNE.N) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd from Japan, and Philips from the Netherlands."
"If handset makers had put anti-piracy protection software in all 684 million mobile phones sold last year, the $684 million in royalties would have exceeded total digital music sales on the Web for the year."
Yahoo! News - Mobile Carriers Seek Cheaper Anti-Piracy Software
"The mobile phone industry's Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has developed an open standard for anti-piracy software, but the technology used by the standard is too expensive"
"The pricey anti-piracy technology is managed by the MPEG LA group, which pooled essential patents owned by InterTrust and ContentGuard, two small but powerful digital rights management companies, along with consumer electronics giants Sony Corp (SNE.N) and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd from Japan, and Philips from the Netherlands."
"If handset makers had put anti-piracy protection software in all 684 million mobile phones sold last year, the $684 million in royalties would have exceeded total digital music sales on the Web for the year."
Yahoo! News - Mobile Carriers Seek Cheaper Anti-Piracy Software
Status of EDGE
GPRS has proven to be too slow for most information services and practically all media services except primarily ringtones and background pictures.
Bearer technology and multimedia correlation:
* SMS (primarily Nokia Smart Messaging): monophonic ringtones, black-n-white pictures
* GPRS (or at least what we tend to call GPRS) and cdma2000 1X: the above plus polyphonic ringtones, color pictures, Java games
* EDGE, UMTS, EV-DO: the above plus digital music, larger games, videos, productivity applications, media streaming
UMTS will down the road evolve beyond EDGE performance, but right now the difference is not very big, and EDGE is expected to have better coverage than UMTS.
Digital Media Europe: News - 100 GSM/EDGE handsets now on market
Bearer technology and multimedia correlation:
* SMS (primarily Nokia Smart Messaging): monophonic ringtones, black-n-white pictures
* GPRS (or at least what we tend to call GPRS) and cdma2000 1X: the above plus polyphonic ringtones, color pictures, Java games
* EDGE, UMTS, EV-DO: the above plus digital music, larger games, videos, productivity applications, media streaming
UMTS will down the road evolve beyond EDGE performance, but right now the difference is not very big, and EDGE is expected to have better coverage than UMTS.
Digital Media Europe: News - 100 GSM/EDGE handsets now on market
DRM is too expensive
Sure is: "$1 royalty per mobile device was too high a price just to protect digital music and video against illegal copying"
The problem overall is that most phone users will not generate any media-related revenue, so operators paying $1 extra for DRM per phone is a major cost (even though at first look it doesn't seem so much).
Mobile Carriers Want Cheaper DRM Fees - Mobile Phones/PDAs News - Designtechnica News
The problem overall is that most phone users will not generate any media-related revenue, so operators paying $1 extra for DRM per phone is a major cost (even though at first look it doesn't seem so much).
Mobile Carriers Want Cheaper DRM Fees - Mobile Phones/PDAs News - Designtechnica News
