Archive for May 26th, 2008

In the following video, HTC's CMO John Wang goes over some hidden innovations which you might not have heard about the HTC Diamond. He shows capacitive touch buttons and how they're used in a camera app for approach sensitive auto-focus, how the accelerometer lets you mute the Diamond while ringing, how Diamond knows to pop up the notes application when you pull out a stylus during conversation, and finally to make things easier, the device will turn on as soon as you pull out a stylus. Nice moves HTC! Enjoy the video!

[Via: MobilityToday]


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Vodafone, O2 pick up the Secret

Vodafone and O2 recently announced that they'll launch the third of LG's black label series of devices, the KF750 also known as the Secret in the British market. The 5 megapixel camera equipped device has a slider form factor, and among other things sports the QVGA screen, HSDPA, Bluetooth, media player and a microSD memory expansion slot.

Interested buyers can already grab the stylish phone from both Vodafone and O2's web stores, with the pricing starting from free on a contract.

The device isn't exclusive to any carrier so we'll probably see it being launched by other mobile operators in the UK, as well. In addition, it's kinda safe to bet both Vodafone and Telefonica (O2's parent company) will bring the Secret to other markets where they operate in the near future.


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MO-CallMorodo recently announced that it is bringing its low-cost calling service, MO-Call, to the Apple iPhone users.

MO-Call is not a native third-party app like Fring, which we'll hopefully see hitting the daylight somewhere in June. It's more like Jajah and provides users with swift access to the low-cost callback service.

In order to use it, simply point Safari to mo-call.mobi and let the interface guide you through the simple process. While you're there, you can also find out how much they'll charge you, as all rates are available on the site, too.

Finally, before I let you go, you should know MO-Call is offering some free trial call credits. That's for iPhone users in the USA, Canada and Hong Kong, only. That's kinda strange, considering that out of the mentioned countries, Apple's handset is officially only available in the USA. ;)


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Berg InsightA new Berg Insight's research report argues that technologies such as NFC are enabling a totally new segment of mobile applications - proximity services or local services. However, Berg cautions the industry first needs to settle several critical technical and pedagogic issues. The market is still guarded and fragmented, but in the long term consumers will not accept to handle multiple devices, cards, accounts and passwords. Hence, a long-term pragmatic view and initial cooperation is necessary to enable the paradigm shift that’ll “morph the mobile phone into a terminal for communicating with intelligent objects in the environment.”

The research company's associate analyst Sabine Ehlers stated that local contact-less services are already available to over 50 million mobile users that can shop, travel and get information by just waving their phones over readers. For example, in Japan the service is well-established and has recorded a great success in terms of number of readers installed, service partners linked and subscriber terminals in use.

When it comes to actually applying the technology, however, the mass of consumers apparently need time to change deep-rooted behaviours. In Europe, the uncertainty about business models and the lack of coordination between different players are among the key factors that are holding back the further development. In addition, mobile operators regard the new business field with caution due to its lack of obvious revenues for network owners. Not that we won't see them co-operating with other industry players, it's just a matter of time or regulative orders. NFC is coming, care about it or not!

More information is available on Berg Insight's website.


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Japan seems to want to boost the MVNO market, as the country's regulator called for mobile operators to disclose their network leasing prices. The regulator has reportedly also asked smaller players like eMobile, Willcom, and UQ Communications to reveal their prices as well.

JapanThe move is designed to stimulate competition in the market, which continues to be dominated by three largest operators - NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank.

In most markets, however, the wholesale rates that mobile network operators charge MVNO partners on their network are not made public.

According to analysts spoken to by Reuters, the move could create a market for Internet service providers to launch mobile data services, a market that’s at the moment deemed as largely untapped. On the other hand, analysts are sceptical that the price disclosures will tempt foreign mobile firms to enter the highly-demanding Japanese market.

Disney Mobile, which launched in Japan earlier this year on Softbank's network, is one of the few MVNOs in the country to offer both voice and data services.

[Via: Reuters]


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Just as we're all getting ready for Verizon Wireless and the other massive winners of the recent 700Mhz spectrum auction to light-up their newly acquired spectrum for wireless broadband duty, the Federal Communications Commission is considering auctioning another 25Mhz swath of spectrum in the AWS III spectrum.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin put forth a proposal to hold an auction for 25Mhz worth of wireless spectrum in the 2155-2180 MHz range - known as the AWS III (advanced wireless spectrum) frequency band. Mr. Martin said that the AWS III spectrum license would hold requirements requiring the winning bidder to provide some sort of free service through the wireless spectrum. The service would have to cover 50% of the US population within 4 years and would have to reach 95% of the US by the time the license expires.

FCC AWS III spectrum auction

The free wireless broadband access stipulations attached to the proposed auction echoes plans put forth by M2Z Networks Inc. - plans that were previously shot down by the FCC.

If the auction pans out, we could finally have a federally-sanctioned free wireless broadband network in the US. It's unclear whether there will be enough interest in the spectrum, given the stipulations. Further, it's not clear how a free wireless broadband network could be made to work - perhaps through an ad-supported model. We'll keep you guys up to date on the latest happenings in the AWS III space.

[Via: RCR News]


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Just as we're all getting ready for Verizon Wireless and the other big winners of the recent 700Mhz spectrum auction to light-up their newly acquired spectrum for wireless broadband duty, the Federal Communications Commission is considering auctioning another 25Mhz swath of spectrum in the AWS III spectrum.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin put forth a proposal to hold an auction for 25Mhz worth of wireless spectrum in the 2155-2180 MHz range - known as the AWS III (advanced wireless spectrum) frequency band. Mr. Martin stated that the AWS III spectrum license would hold stipulations requiring the winning bidder to provide some sort of free service through the wireless spectrum. The service would have to cover 50% of the US population within 4 years and would have to reach 95% of the US by the time the license expires.

FCC AWS III spectrum auction

The free wireless broadband access requirements attached to the proposed auction echoes plans put forth by M2Z Networks Inc. - plans that were previously shot down by the FCC.

If the auction pans out, we could finally have a federally-sanctioned free wireless broadband network in the US. It's unclear whether there will be enough interest in the spectrum, given the stipulations. Further, it's not clear how a free wireless broadband network could be made to work - perhaps through an ad-supported model. We'll keep you guys up to date on the latest happenings in the AWS III space.

[Via: RCR News]


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Not to be outdone by ROM leaks and unofficial duplicates of its Windows Mobile 6.1 update for HTC TyTn II handsets, HTC has gone official with their HTC TyTn II ROM-boosting update. HTC has delivered HTC TyTn II Kaiserthe ROM update to keep their flagship touchscreen handset at the top of its game, and at the same time appeased the masses complaining of crippled video performance.

Threaded SMS, “Getting Stated” wizard, improved video performance (finally), more efficient power draw (read: superior battery life), and overall faster performance are all pieces of the Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 package. And, seeing as how the update is free, there's no reason why anyone shouldn't hop on board the WM6.1-train.

HTC has made their Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM for the HTC TyTn II (Kaiser) available through their e-Club webpage. Unfortunately for AT&T Tilt customers, they'll have to wait for Massive Blue to get with the times and release an update for the AT&T-branded version of the HTC Kaiser.

Hit up the download page here.


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Hope you're all having an awesome weekend, for those Nokia E90 fans out there I just stumbled across some Black E90 photos I wanted to share with you all. Check out the link below for full gallery. They even made the hinges black!

e90_black_may.jpg

[Via: Mobile-Review]

Looks just as hot as it did when I first saw it at 3GSM MWC.


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Container ship delivers Apple 3G iPhones?Did Apple just take shipment of the 3G iPhone? Well, it depends on how you interpret the latest report from US customs-tracker ImportGenius.

Apple has apparently received 188 container-ship containers in a North American port. While the new shipments could just be Apple's continued supply of computers and iPods, there're rumblings that the containers could indeed hold as many as 40,000 next-generation iPhones each. Apple has historically marked their containers containing desktop personal as, well, “desktop computers. This latest rumor is based on the fact that these containers were marked as holding “electric computers.”

Could the “electric computers” within the 188 containers actually turn out to be new iPhones toting 3G radios? It's possible.

Whatever the case, we'll probably see the 3G iPhone in the flesh in just a matter of weeks. The wait continues

[Via: ImportGenius]


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