Of the many Taiwanese companies developing mini-laptops for global markets, only Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) was prescient enough to build 3G (third-generation telephony) capabilities right into its offering, the G10IL netbook. Last week, I had a chance to try one out at ECSs offices in Wugu, Taiwan, just outside of Taipei. The ability to surf the Internet wirelessly over 3G airwaves via HSDPA...
Senin, 30 Juni 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in Vodafone (VOD.L) rose after the UK mobile operator announced a deal with News Corps (NWSa.N) MySpace under which footage from Vodafone-sponsored music events will be made available to users of the social networking website. The new service, Vodafone Music Reporter, will be offered in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and will also feature user-generated content, the...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - To Celeste Tyler and her teenage friends, text-messaging is as effortless as tying their shoes. The high school senior can text without looking, sending messages on her red Samsung "slider" while it's behind her back, in her purse or under her desk at school, where cell phones are banned. So why not do it while driving? Well, now the law. A state rule that takes effect Tuesday...
The first certified implementation of mobile WiMAX has gone live in a small deployment in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, through a partnership of Alvarions silicon and DigitalBridge Communications. DBC currently serves 3,000 homes and businesses in the area, and the company hopes to add the mobile capabilities to its 200,000-home footprint throughout the year, DBC said. On June 17, the WiMAX Forum certified...
After tackling cell phones, iPods, laptops, and desktops, the (RED) organization on Monday announced plans to launch an online music service that will feature original songs from participating artists. The offering will launch in September for $5 per month. Each week subscribers will receive an exclusive (RED) song from an established musician, a new song from an emerging artist, a "crackerjack...
Rhapsody on Monday partnered with MTV Networks to launch Music Without Limits. They want to accomplish three goals in the digital-music industry: Speed the migration from proprietary formats such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) music; empower music fans to stream full-length songs and buy MP3s from music sites and social networks on the Web; and integrate digital music directly with mobile phones....
Rhapsody America, the joint online music service of RealNetworks and MTV Networks, on Monday began selling songs from all major labels in the MP3 format and launched its mobile music service with Verizon Wireless. Rhapsody America will sell songs from all four main music labels and many independents as MP3 files not protected by DRM (digital rights management) technology, Real said on Monday. Buyers...
Google has expanded its licensing agreement with digital map provider Tele Atlas under undisclosed financial terms. The new license covers the entire range of Googles map-related services, from Google Maps and Google Earth services to newer applications that are expected to play lead roles on Googles Android mobile platform. The five-year agreement also gives Tele Atlas access to edits for its...
Imation has acquired "substantially all" of XtremeMac's assets, according to a company announcement. The deal is said to be worth at least $9 million, divided between $7 million in cash and a remaining amount in assumed liabilities; Imation may additionally pay as much as $10 million over the course of three years, depending on how profitable the acquisition becomes. In any case the company does not...
PDO has announced three new products for Apple's upcoming iPhone 3G, the TopSkin for iPhone 3G, the Flipp Leather Case for iPhone 3G and Screen Protector sets for iPhone 3G. All will ship in early July. The TopSkin for iPhone 3G is a play-through design that covers the power, volume, and home buttons, with cut-outs...
Apple is pushing its green initiatives with the iPhone 3G's packaging, using potato-starch based products and avoiding plastics altogether. According to Italian webnews site setteB.IT, the Dutch blog Bright is reporting that PaperFoam, a paper-based packaging company that specializes in carbon friendly packaging,...
Hutchison Telecom and T-Mobile on Monday announced pricing and plan information for the 3G iPhone for Hong Kong and The Netherlands, respectively, while Debitel unveiled plans for German distribution of the device. According to iLounge, Hutchison will offer the device at a price dependant on the plan chosen,...
NEW YORK - Cell phones are becoming more useful devices for listening to music. Verizon Wireless is introducing Rhapsody's subscription music service Monday, allowing its customers to download as much music as they want to their phones for $15 per month. The service will work with seven current handsets and three to be launched soon, including the third version of the popular music-oriented LG Chocolate....
PDO has announced three new products for Apple's upcoming iPhone 3G, the TopSkin for iPhone 3G, the Flipp Leather Case for iPhone 3G and Screen Protector sets for iPhone 3G. All will ship in early July. The TopSkin for iPhone 3G is a play-through design that covers the power, volume, and home buttons, with cut-outs...
Helped by the hype of iPhone 2.0 platform and a buzz over the pending iPhone 3G announcement, the iPhone generated huge traffic for internet search engines in April. ComScore, which provides market research for advertisers, says 1.3 million Americans conducted 6.9 million iPhone-related searches in April. The...
Minggu, 29 Juni 2008
SEATTLE - Driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on a cell phone is no longer an option for Washington state drivers. On Tuesday, they join more than 28 million others nationwide who have to hang up their cell phones or use hands-free devices. Violators can face a $124 ticket. "We'll continue to see more legislation as more devices go in a car," said Matt Sundeen, who has monitored cell...
PDO has announced three new products for Apple's upcoming iPhone 3G, the TopSkin for iPhone 3G, the Flipp Leather Case for iPhone 3G and Screen Protector sets for iPhone 3G. All will ship in early July. The TopSkin for iPhone 3G is a play-through design that covers the power, volume, and home buttons, with cut-outs...
NetCom, the iPhone 3G carrier in Norway has published its iPhone 3G plans, confirming that the 3G version will lack MMS, just as the original version did. The news, first reported by Italian website setteB.IT (English translation here), means that MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service), which provides media rich...
Sabtu, 28 Juni 2008
Virgin Mobile said Friday that it will buy Helio, the struggling high-end wireless carrier, for $39 million. Virgin Mobile will acquire Helios 170,000 customers, but whether Helios brand and unique services will continue is unclear. The two companies are both "mobile virtual network operators" who resell Sprint wireless service with their own exclusive phones, applications and plans. Along with...
In what the company claims is an industry first, Chrysler has announced uconnect web, a system that brings wireless Internet connectivity to any Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep vehicle. It essentially turns the car into a WiFi hotspot that provides secure, real-time entertainment and information to all vehicle passengers. According to Chrysler, the hotspot range will extend approximately 50 feet from...
Virgin Mobile bought Helio Friday for $39 million , but Virgin isnt throwing the small, high-end cell phone carriers technology away. Instead, Virgin Mobile plans to integrate Helios data services into their own offerings, Virgin Mobile USA CEO Dan Schulman said in a conference call Friday. "Starting to take those advanced data applications that Helio has and moving them into the rest of our base...
Inside the documentation for a pre-release version of iTunes 7.7, Apple has reportedly tucked a hint of an upcoming application that would enable the latest iPhone and the iPod Touch to remotely control playback on the music and video software. The application is mentioned in the Read Me document of the iTunes installer, according to the Apple enthusiast site MacRumors. The application would be...
Canadian wireless customers learned how much it will cost to use the upcoming iPhone 3G as Rogers Wireless unveiled a variety of voice and data pricing plans. The plans range from $60 to $115, will require a three-year contract, and Rogers did not say how much the handset will cost when it arrives July 11. The cheapest monthly plan costs $60, and it comes with 150 minutes of voice calling, with...
Jumat, 27 Juni 2008
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson warned Friday that it will just break even in the second quarter as worsening market conditions cut into sales. Shares of the Stockholm-based company tumbled nearly 10 percent to 60 kronor ($10.02). Ericsson cited "moderating demand" for mid-to-high end mobile phones, as well as delays in the quarter in the shipping of new products. The company...
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A quarter of European Union households surveyed by the blocs executive body have turned their backs on fixed lines in favor of mobile phones, with a fifth now making calls over the Internet. The European Commissions survey of 27,000 homes in the 27-nation bloc found that 24 percent were using mobiles only. The figure in the 10 ex-communist new member states was 39 percent...
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Europeans are increasingly shunning landlines for mobile phones and online calling, according to a European Union survey released Friday. The poll, carried out in November and December, found that 24 percent of European households have given up fixed landlines for mobile phones, up from 22 percent in a survey two years earlier. The Czech Republic, Finland and Lithuania had the...
BEIJING (AFP) - China Mobile said Friday the main obstacle keeping iPhone out of the worlds largest mobile phone market had been cleared now that Apple has dropped its revenue-sharing demands. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said this week he would like to see the device introduced in China later this year, and a senior China mobile executive confirmed the two companies were back in talks. "Weve...
NEW YORK - MetroPCS Communications Inc. has become the largest U.S. wireless carrier to say it will let customers bring cell phones from other carriers, which it will then reprogram for use on its own network. This week's announcement by the Dallas-based regional carrier is one of a series of moves in the industry that amount to a gradual opening of the U.S. wireless market, giving consumers more...
Virgin Mobile USA on Friday said it has agreed to acquire Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, for $39 million in equity. Strategically, the Helio acquisition allows Virgin to add a set of data applications to its suite of products and services. Entering into the postpaid market will also give Virgin access to about 140 million prospective new customers. Dan Schulman, CEO...
NEW YORK - Virgin Mobile USA Inc. is buying Helio LLC, a struggling cell phone carrier that was founded to bring the advanced features of South Korean phones to the U.S. market. Virgin Mobile said Friday it would pay $39 million in stock for Helio, which has 170,000 subscribers, down from nearly 200,000 at the beginning of the year. At the same time, British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin...
Following in the tradition of the Vu and the Voyager, Verizon Wireless customers now have another touchscreen alternative to the iPhone. The LG Dare is clearly aimed at the casual market, but its design and features may make some mobile professionals look twice. The 3-inch LCD touchscreen takes up most of the phones real estate, and it has many characteristics that are similar to the iPhones...
The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum on Thursday announced it will roll is activities and members into the Linux Mobile Foundation (LiMo) in an attempt to create a stronger entity for pushing mobile Linux. The groups hope the move will help bolster the mobile Linux developer community and increase the adoption of mobile devices in the face of increasing completion from open source competitors...
Microsoft on Thursday announced plans to buy MobiComp, a Portuguese company that makes software for the mobile world, including mobile posting to Web sites such as Facebook. Microsoft hopes the acquisition will further its mobile ambitions, particularly in building new mobile data protection and sharing services, the company said in a statement. The company also plans to use MobiComp to further...
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson warned Friday that its second-quarter results would be dented by a difficult commercial environment. "Difficult market conditions are going to have a (negative) impact on sales and profits in the second quarter," the group said in a statement. Sony Ericsson said it was likely to have sold 24 million phones in the April-June period, up from 22.3...
HENDERSON, Ky. - It was swift and chaotic, witnesses said, as the plastics plant worker with a determined look opened fire, killing five co-workers then himself in rural western Kentucky. Police said Wesley N. Higdon, 25, shot his supervisor outside the plant, then went inside and kept shooting. When the gunfire ended, one of Higdon's co-workers was dead, four others were dying and he had committed...
The European Commission unveiled the draft of a plan to force down termination fees for calls to mobile phones on Thursday, opening up the plan to a two-month consultation with the European Unions telecommunications industry. "Call termination markets in the E.U. need a regulatory plumber. Over the next 3 years, I expect greater consistency and coordination to bring the costs for mobile phone calls...
LISBON (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) has agreed to buy Portuguese mobile software company MobiComp in the U.S. software giants biggest-ever investment in Portugal, Microsofts chief in Portugal said on Thursday. Microsofts head in Portugal, Nuno Duarte, said Microsoft intends to turn MobiComp into a research and development unit in Portugal after the acquisition. He gave no financial details of...
Microsoft Taiwan, mobile phone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) and several other companies on Thursday announced a mobile Internet service station in Taiwan called Pl@net. The mobile Internet service platform puts a host of entertainment and shopping options in users hands via their mobile phone, including news, travel planning and purchase, as well as concert tickets and content from Warner Music....
SHANGHAI (AFP) - Almost one in two Chinese people now has a mobile phone, while the number of fixed-line subscribers has fallen, state media reported Thursday. The number of cellphone subscribers in the nation of 1.3 billion stood at 592 million at the end of May, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Ministry of Information Industry figures. The figure was up nine percent from 547.3 million at...
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