Is Monday D-Day For G-Phone?

Gphone From Google - A Revolution

Google may finally go public with its "Google Phone" plans Monday. Rumors have been swirling that Google plans to make an announcement of some kind soon with a few of the largest U.S. wireless carriers, including Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless.

A blog post in the Wall Street Journal's online edition, citing unnamed sources, said an announcement is expected Monday.

Google did not respond to a request for comment at press time. The company has been coy about its plans, declining to confirm if there is such as a thing as the rumored "G-Phone" or Google Phone, an actual device that would compete with the Nokia's of the world.

The more recent speculation is that the search giant intends to make software available to several different phone carriers that would open up more application development, including its own, to mobile devices from a variety of companies.

If it's also working on a phone, there's no indication its release is imminent. In fact, even the software platform is likely to be more of a pre-announcement; its actual release isn't likely till later in 2008.

Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, is in talks to put applications Google on its cell phones, according to recent reports. On Tuesday, sources told Reuters that the number two U.S. mobile service Verizon Wireless, a Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group venture, is also in talks with Google about putting applications on its mobile phones.

Sprint had already said in August it would offer Google Web search and communications services to customers using a new network it is building based on WiMax, an emerging high-speed wireless technology.

If and when the Google software is available it stands to shake up the mobile phone industry in general and software development in particular. The phone industry is still absorbing the impact of Apple's high profile iPhone, a device that already includes Google Maps software. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is also on Apple's board of directors.

"The Gphone if open and with all Google apps would represent a tremendous leap past rivals like MSN, Yahoo and AOL," said William Ho, an analyst with Current Analysis, in an email sent to InternetNews.com. "All the online guys are pining for future revenue growth in the wireless arena. It's no surprise that it's really an extension of their brands and services to keep the stickiness of the user to their companies."

Getting new applications on to mobile phones is far more difficult than traditional Web or PC distribution because developers usually have to work through or get the approval of carriers. Hyun Lee, a professor at Boston University's College of Communication, said it's inevitable consumers will want more options and flexibility in what software they can use on mobile devices that are quickly growing in compute power and network speed.

"Google will impact the mobile industry by pushing to open up platforms for third-party developers to create their own services," said Lee in an e-mail sent to InternetNews.com. "We can imagine the availability of services to be diverse. Carriers can take advantage of this diversity -- currently not all services fit the individual rather consumers try to fit into designed ways of managing and communication information."

Hyun said one possible direction is that consumers will be able to pick and choose from a virtual library of features depending on specific needs of the day or geographic location.

At its recent Analyst's Day, Google co-founder Sergey Brin did not discuss his company's phone plans but gave a clear indication Google would be supportive of moves to make the phone industry more open. "I love the iPhone, I use it all the time," he said, but he also noted the lengthy negotiations Apple had to engage in to cement its partnership with AT&T.

"Wouldn't the world be better if you didn't have to spend all this time and effort on negotiations with carriers?" said Brin, adding Jobs overcame obstacles that "shouldn't be there."

Google also is a likely bidder on the Government's auction of 700 MHz spectrum which Brin said also promises to open up a new wave of applications for mobile users.


Source: http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3709006

China's phone makers in speed dial mode

HONG KONG - Foreign cell phone giants such as Nokia and Motorola will face intensified competition by Chinese handset companies after last month's announcement by Beijing that government licenses will no longer be required to manufacture and sell mobile phones in the country.

Some industry experts said it's time for domestic brands to turn defeat into victory in the world's biggest mobile phone market which is dominated by foreign brands.

Because the license system, introduced in 1998, set a quota on mobile phone production, it often took a long time for a potential handset manufacturer or seller to win approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) before marketing its models. In the past nine years, only 90 mobile phone manufacturing licenses were issued, and in one case, Ningbo-based Aux Telecom in 2004 brought the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) to court after its application had been rejected five times.

Under the new policy, the NDRC is no longer involved in the process and handset vendors can sell phones after their new models have been sent to the MII for quality checks.

Industry experts and analysts welcome the government's move, saying it opens the gate for newcomers, some of which have been selling phones in the black market.

Li Xiaolong, marketing director of Aux Telecom, which finally secured a mobile handset license from the NDRC last year, said the lifting of restrictions on mobile phone production is good news and he welcomes the competition. "Domestic handset makers can turn defeat into victory in the country only if more new entrants are allowed to enter the market," he said.

"The licensing system was aimed at reining in the handset market and keeping it from getting overheated," Deng Weihang, manager of the planning department of TSD Electronic Company in Shenzhen said. "Now the market has matured and new handset manufacturers have to make rational investment decisions before entering it, so it's a ripe time for canceling the restrictions on mobile phone production."

Wu Zhizhong, chairman of Huizhou Qiao Xing Communication Industry, part of New York-listed Chinese handset maker Qiao Xing Universal Telephone, said he expects foreign handset brands to lose ground to Chinese brands after the former "overdraw their credit limits" in five to seven years in China.

"International handset vendors such as Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are betting all of their global money on the mainland market which, has already matured, that's why their income and expense trends were disappointing ... I believe these handset giants will erode their profitability in five to seven years," he said.

He said the trend of disappointing performances among foreign vendors is partly caused by Chinese consumers' attitude of "love the new and loathe the old" towards mobile phones, which is in contrast to the brand loyalty on which foreign handset vendors rely.

"Besides, new Chinese brands are doing much better on brand name, research and marketing development and closing the gap with foreign brands," Wu said.

According to Gartner Inc, a US-based information-technology consulting firm, foreign handset vendors remain dominant in the mainland market, with combined market share of the top three foreign brands - Nokia, Motorola and Samsung - accounting for more than 50% of the total in the second quarter of the year.

Among the home-grown brands, Lenovo has the top position, followed by Bird.

Sandy Shen, a Gartner's telecommunications analyst based in Shanghai, does not think the cancelation of the licensing scheme will have any material impact on competition between local and foreign handset brands in the mainland market, even if some of the black market mobile phone manufacturers become legal.

"When calculating the market share of domestic handset vendors, we have already included phones in the black market, which is 20% of the total market," she said.

The "black phones" are the handsets sold in the market without government approval, some of which are smuggled from abroad, evading customs duties, others are knockoffs of famous brands, and the third local brands with their own designs.

From January to June, 23.43 million "black phones" were sold in China, compared with 71.47 million licensed handsets, according to CCID Consulting, a research firm under the MII.

However, Shen echoed Li's views, saying it's possible that the mainland handset market situation might change in five to seven years because domestic handset vendors have been increasing their share since the last December quarter.

"I don't think this trend is going to abate. Also, because of the declining global market share of foreign brands such as Motorola, some of their share in China's market could be captured by local handset vendors," she said.

Due to a lack of new product launches, Motorola's global share has declined and its China market share is no exception.

Shen said Samsung is likely to replace Motorola as the second-biggest foreign handset brand in China, with Nokia remaining on top in the third quarter of the year.

"Even though the top handset brands are strong in first or second-tier cities, the third- and fourth-tier cities are still very fragmented with many brands surviving. And a lot of new entrants start with rural areas and then push into urban areas," she said.

Rural China is emerging as a key battleground, where local brands are very competitive against foreign brands.

"People in the rural areas are more price-sensitive and don't have strong brand loyalty, so they buy things which can give them the best value. To cater to such values, home-grown brands pack more features into their phones, making people think they can get more value from these products," Shen said.

Among the new entrants of home-grown handset vendors, Beijing-based Tianyu is a rising star. It expects to sell 13 million mobile phone units in 2007, a 113.1% growth year-on-year to become the third biggest domestic handset vendor in China.

"Tianyu uses a very aggressive marketing strategy in second- and third-tier cities by offering high commissions to traders," said an official of a domestic handset vendor who asked not to be named.

To compete for the rural market, Nokia is expected to launch entry-level handset models which might be sold at 350 yuan (US$47) in the fourth quarter of the year. Its old Nokia 1100 model is available now for less than 400 yuan.

In terms of unit sales, the total market share of foreign handset brands was reduced to about 60% in the second quarter of this year from 73% in the last quarter in 2006, according to Shen.

China's mobile phone users exceeded 520 million by the end of September this year, with a monthly rise of 6.91 million on average, according to statistics from the MII.

By Olivia Chung
Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporter.

Source: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/IK03Cb01.html

Taiwan Tests Cell Phones for Subway, Shopping

A trial group of Taiwanese citizens are already using their mobile phones to pay for subway rides using a contactless payment system, and they will soon start testing handsets with credit and cash cards on board.

The subway system in Taipei already accepts contactless payment cards for all rides, but using mobile phones to make such payments is new.

The technology for the payments is built right into the SIM (subscriber identity module) cards inside the handsets, said Chiang Yen-hsu, a researcher on Chunghwa Telecom's ETC&IC card project.

The subway payment trial has already started, and a shopping trial will begin soon, he said.

In September, credit card company Visa announced a six-month public trial of a contactless payment system on mobile phones in Taiwan.

A total of 500 Chunghwa Telecom subscribers will use NFC (near field communication) equipped Nokia 6131i handsets to make contactless payments at 3000 stores that already accept Visa payWave contactless cards in Taiwan.

Taiwan was chosen because 1.4 million people here already use contactless payment Visa cards, the company said.

As part of the trial, advertisements and coupons will be sent to handsets over the airwaves. Users passing by posters or other media embedded with NFC tags in popular shopping areas will receive specific offers, including movie, restaurant and bar discounts.

For smart phones, RFID (radio frequency identification) or NFC tags will be used in the future to send signals connecting them to Web sites designed for small screen sizes and that contain useful information, such as movie times, bus, subway, train, airplane schedules, and more.

"If you're waiting for a bus, then an RFID signal installed at the bus stop could let you know exactly where your bus is and when it will arrive," said Chiang.

Chunghwa Telecom is Taiwan's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139202-c,cellphones/article.html

4G Mobile Phone - 4G Technology

4G (also known as beyond 3G), an acronym for Fourth-Generation Communications System, is a term used to describe the next step in wireless communications. A 4G system will be able to provide a comprehensive IP solution where voice, data and streamed multimedia can be given to users on an "Anytime, Anywhere" basis, and at higher data rates than previous generations. There is no formal definition for what 4G is; however, there are certain objectives that are projected for 4G.

These objectives include: that 4G will be a fully IP-based integrated system. This will be achieved after wired and wireless technologies converge and will be capable of providing 100 Mbit/s and 1 Gbit/s speeds both indoors and outdoors, with premium quality and high security. 4G will offer all types of services at an affordable cost.

4G Mobile Phone - 4G Technology

Objectives

4G is being developed to accommodate the quality of service (QoS) and rate requirements set by forthcoming applications like wireless broadband access, Multimedia Messaging Service, video chat, mobile TV, High definition TV content, DVB, minimal service like voice and data, and other streaming services for "anytime-anywhere". The 4G working group has defined the following as objectives of the 4G wireless communication standard:

* A spectrally efficient system (in bits/s/Hz and bit/s/Hz/site),
* High network capacity: more simultaneous users per cell,
* A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds relative to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions as defined by the ITU-R,
* A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world,
* Smooth handoff across heterogeneous networks,
* Seamless connectivity and global roaming across multiple networks,
* High quality of service for next generation multimedia support (real time audio, high speed data, HDTV video content, mobile TV, etc)
* Interoperability with existing wireless standards, and
* An all IP, packet switched network.

In summary, the 4G system should dynamically share and utilise network resources to meet the minimal requirements of all the 4G enabled users.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G

"I" Phone, "G" Phone, We All Need a New Cell Phone -- or Do We?

Apple Iphone vs Google Phone

Rumors of a so-called Google phone are getting stronger every day.

In a move likely to kick off an intense debate about the future shape of the cellphone industry, Google wants to make it easier for cellphone customers to get a variety of extra services on their phones -- from maps to social-networking features to video-sharing. To get its way, however, the search giant will have to overcome resistance from wireless carriers and deal with potentially thorny security and privacy issues.

If any company could steal some of the thunder from Apple's iPhone for a moment, it's Google.

But truly, Apple's strategy with its iPhone looks much the same. The starting point is an absolutely beautiful and easy to use phone; step two, expected early next year, is an open environment for developers to build new applications for the iPhone.

Google and Apple have a lot to offer cell phone users, including great new devices, better user interfaces and a break on the lock service providers have on the marketplace, affecting issues ranging from pricing to innovation.

But will small business users jump to the iPhone or "gPhone"?

If you're a communications-heavy business, it might be hard to resist the new capabilities and better user experience such phones represent.

But the iPhone is anything but cheap, and the Google Phone is likely to be driven by advertising, which could change how we deal with our phones.

Beyond that, if all you need is occasional on-the-go calling, cheap carrier-provided cell phones will continue to do the trick.

What do you think? Are you excited about today's iPhone and tomorrow's Google Phone? Let us know what you think.


Source: http://www.smartbiz.com/article/articleview/2300/1/62

Invention Of the Year: The iPhone

Apple Iphone & Apple Iphone Shuffle

Stop. I mean, don't stop reading this, but stop thinking what you're about to think. Or, O.K., I'll think it for you:

The thing is hard to type on. It's too slow. It's too big. It doesn't have instant messaging. It's too expensive. (Or, no, wait, it's too cheap!) It doesn't support my work e-mail. It's locked to AT&T. Steve Jobs secretly hates puppies. And—all together now—we're sick of hearing about it! Yes, there's been a lot of hype written about the iPhone, and a lot of guff too. So much so that it seems weird to add more, after Danny Fanboy and Bobby McBlogger have had their day. But when that day is over, Apple's iPhone is still the best thing invented this year. Why? Five reasons:

1. The iPhone is pretty
Most high-tech companies don't take design seriously. They treat it as an afterthought. Window-dressing. But one of Jobs' basic insights about technology is that good design is actually as important as good technology. All the cool features in the world won't do you any good unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart and attractive while doing it.

An example: look at what happens when you put the iPhone into "airplane" mode (i.e., no cell service, WiFi, etc.). A tiny little orange airplane zooms into the menu bar! Cute, you might say. But cute little touches like that are part of what makes the iPhone usable in a world of useless gadgets. It speaks your language. In the world of technology, surface really is depth.

2. It's touchy-feely
Apple didn't invent the touchscreen. Apple didn't even reinvent it (Apple probably acquired its much hyped multitouch technology when it snapped up a company called Fingerworks in 2005). But Apple knew what to do with it. Apple's engineers used the touchscreen to innovate past the graphical user interface (which Apple helped pioneer with the Macintosh in the 1980s) to create a whole new kind of interface, a tactile one that gives users the illusion of actually physically manipulating data with their hands—flipping through album covers, clicking links, stretching and shrinking photographs with their fingers.

This is, as engineers say, nontrivial. It's part of a new way of relating to computers. Look at the success of the Nintendo Wii. Look at Microsoft's new Surface Computing division. Look at how Apple has propagated its touchscreen interface to the iPod line with the iPod Touch. Can it be long before we get an iMac Touch? A TouchBook? Touching is the new seeing.

3. It will make other phones better
Jobs didn't write the code inside the iPhone. These days he doesn't dirty his fingers with 1's and 0's, if he ever really did. But he did negotiate the deal with AT&T to carry the iPhone. That's important: one reason so many cell phones are lame is that cell-phone-service providers hobble developers with lame rules about what they can and can't do. AT&T gave Apple unprecedented freedom to build the iPhone to its own specifications. Now other phone makers are jealous. They're demanding the same freedoms. That means better, more innovative phones for all.

4. It's not a phone, it's a platform
When Apple made the iPhone, it didn't throw together some cheap-o bare-bones firmware. It took OS X, its full-featured desktop operating system, and somehow squished it down to fit inside the iPhone's elegant glass-and-stainless-steel case. That makes the iPhone more than just a gadget. It's a genuine handheld, walk-around computer, the first device that really deserves the name. One of the big trends of 2007 was the idea that computing doesn't belong just in cyberspace, it needs to happen here, in the real world, where actual stuff happens. The iPhone gets applications like Google Maps out onto the street, where we really need them.

And this is just the beginning. Platforms are for building on. Last month, after a lot of throat-clearing, Apple decided to open up the iPhone, so that you—meaning people other than Apple employees—will be able to develop software for it too. Ever notice all that black blank space on the iPhone's desktop? It's about to fill up with lots of tiny, pretty, useful icons.

5. It is but the ghost of iPhones yet to come
The iPhone has sold enough units—more than 1.4 million at press time—that it'll be around for a while, and with all that room to develop and its infinitely updatable, all-software interface, the iPhone is built to evolve. Look at the iPod of six years ago. That monochrome interface! That clunky touchwheel! It looks like something a caveman whittled from a piece of flint using another piece of flint. Now imagine something that's going to make the iPhone look that primitive. You'll have one in a few years. It'll be very cool. And it'll be even cheaper.

Source: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678581,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-bottom

Locked vs. Unlocked: Opening Up Choice

Locked Mobile Phones VS Unlocked Mobile Phones

NOKIA, the world’s largest maker of cellphones, has been running ads that read, “Open to Anything” and “Unlock your potential.”

The company wants cellphone buyers to know that its phones can be used with whatever carrier they choose, unlike a certain other phone that has been getting considerably more attention lately: Apple’s iPhone. That phone is locked, meaning it is intended to be used with AT&T, the only carrier Apple chose in the United States.

A Nokia spokesman says that the advertising campaign is not aimed at the iPhone. “A lot of people interpreted it as a shot at another product,” said Keith Nowak, a Nokia spokesman. “It wasn’t its intention, to be honest.”

Indeed, most phones sold in the United States are locked into the carrier that sold them. Nearly all mobile phone providers discount the price of the handset in exchange for a fixed contract. But even some phones sold at full price without contracts remain locked.

But that has not stopped many from unlocking phones, either with the permission of the carrier or, as is more commonly the case, without it. Apple said that nearly one of every six iPhones sold in the United States was bought with the intention of unlocking it.

Apple has tried to thwart the practice by updating the operating system software, which rendered any updated and unlocked phone useless. But rogue programmers were quickly back at it, and they say they have created software that makes it possible to break the newly updated software lock on the iPhone. As this knowledge spreads across the Internet, more and more Americans are becoming aware of the issues surrounding locked phones in general.

Though there are questions about the legality of the practice, more carriers are offering customers the option, even though it means a customer can use that phone with another carrier. T-Mobile says it unlocks its phones after an account has been active 90 days.

AT&T said it would unlock a handset once the customer had fulfilled the terms of a contract. It will sell customers an unlocked phone at full price — with the exception of the iPhone. Sprint agreed in a class-action lawsuit settlement proposal last week that it would provide the unlock codes to customers after their contracts expired so the phones could be used with other carriers. Verizon says it does not unlock its phones.

All this locking and unlocking is most relevant to the type of mobile phone that is widely used around the globe: those on a Global System for Mobile communication system, or GSM network. In the United States, only AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM providers. The other major carriers, Verizon and Sprint, use a different standard known as CDMA, for Code Division Multiple Access, which is more common in Japan and South Korea.

The advantage of having an unlocked GSM phone is that the phone can easily be used in other countries at a fraction of the usual charge by buying a local prepaid SIM card, the microchip that contains the telephone number and other data. Otherwise, consumers are left paying exorbitant international roaming fees.

In the United States, however, some carriers — and in the case of the iPhone, a phone maker — say that unlocking the phone may violate the company warranty and thus the company will not repair or replace it if something goes awry.

Some imply that it is not legal to unlock a phone, but the legal issues are murky at best.

A subsection of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 could be interpreted as saying that anyone who unlocks a phone for someone else or tells others how to do it might face legal action.

Some legal scholars, like Susan Crawford, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School and an authority on digital copyright law, have argued that interpreting the act that way has little to do with protecting copyrights, and more to do with limiting competition. The Librarian of Congress, the office that determines what things are covered under the copyright act, exempts the unlocking of mobile phones from the law.

Several recent cases support Professor Crawford’s view. In one of those cases, Lexmark, a printer manufacturer, tried to use the act to sue a company that made compatible ink cartridges. In another, a garage door opener manufacturer tried to sue a rival company for making a universal door opener.

In both instances, federal courts ruled that these cases were not about preventing copyright infringement, but rather about stifling competition, Professor Crawford said.

“Courts have said you shouldn’t use the D.M.C.A. to leverage your copyright monopoly into other markets,” she said.

Like the exclusive AT&T deal in the United States, Apple is currently pursuing deals with carriers overseas, and has announced exclusive agreements with O2 in Britain, T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France.

Some European lawyers, however, have noted that certain countries require mobile phones be sold in an unlocked state, which would eliminate Apple’s exclusivity. Antoine Gendreau, a French intellectual property lawyer, said in an e-mail message that a seller must offer the product without a service plan even if he can sell it with a service plan at a lower price.

“A purchase with a service plan that is locked on an operator’s network must be able to be unlocked so it can be used on any network at the request of the buyer, and must be done at no charge after six months,” Mr. Gendreau said. Orange has said it would sell an unlocked phone.

Short of booking a trip to France to get an unlocked cellphone, customers who want one will have to turn to the online gray market: Craigslist and eBay.

Today, there are plenty of vendors who will unlock phones or sell unlocked phones. Prices for an unlocked iPhone range from $400 to $700, depending on whether the phone has a four-gigabyte or eight-gigabyte storage capacity. Similar services are available online for unlocking nearly any GSM handset. Sometimes small and independent mobile phone retailers will even unlock certain models for a small fee, usually $50 or less. Some even openly advertise the phones or the service.

Unlocking an iPhone is something that anyone can do, says Kyle Matthews, the 25-year-old co-founder of ModMyiFone.com. He said that the whole process of installing various pieces of software takes a little less than an hour to complete.

“People that have no technological experience would be a little put off by it, because it’s a little bit of work, but for anyone who has basic computer knowledge it’s really easy to do,” he said. He has personally unlocked approximately 50 iPhones, he said.

For more popular handset models like BlackBerrys and Treos, various online guides exist at sites like unlockblackberry.net and 680unlock.com/. For other models, however guides may be more difficult to find on the Internet.

Professor Crawford thinks that the attention to unlocking the iPhone could help Americans realize that they may want to have more choice when it comes to mobile operators.

“There hasn’t been much consumer incentive in the past to challenge the wireless carriers controls,” she said. “This may lead consumers in the U.S. to rise up and demand that their phones be unlocked.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/technology/personaltech/01basics.html

Another Mobile Phone Revolution - Bang & Olufsen Serenata

Bang & Olufsen Serenata Mobile Phone

Bang & Olufsen isn't a name that comes up frequently if you ask the average man-on-the-street about mobile phone brands. Better known to audio enthusiasts as a name synonymous with high-end consumer electronics, the Serenata is the second brainchild born of a partnership between Samsung and Bang & Olufsen. If you remember the Serene, you'd probably recall that the designer phone was more of a showpiece than a practical, everyday gadget. So is this new iteration, positioned as a music device with phone capabilities, any better?

Design

The first thing we notice about the Serenata is that it looks nothing like a mobile phone. The only signs that would probably blow its cover are the green/red dots which are reminiscent of Call/End buttons on a phone. In fact, if we didn't refer to the user manual, we'd still be trying to figure out where to insert the SIM card.

Our next immediate thought is that the Serenata is a beauty to look at. Although it's a little bigger than what we imagined it to be, the build quality and soft matte-black fascia make handling a pleasant experience. A built-in aluminum stand props the Serenata at a 45-degree angle and the material used for both the stand and the hinge lends extra confidence to the construction of the device. The only minus point is that the stand clacks loudly when its returned to closed position.

If we rotate the Serenata upside down, it almost looks like an iPod. One problem with the rotary wheel, which doubles as a four-way directional control, is that it's above the 2.26-inch LCD screen. When our thumb is on the wheel, the fleshy part below the digit ends up obscuring part of the panel. Regardless of whether we use the device as a music player or a phone, it's still a problem, no matter how minor.

The Serenata is also an unconventional slider, and we don't mean that in a bad way. Instead of sliding up the top lid like what we usually do for mobile phones, the back piece slides up to reveal the hidden onboard stereo speakers.

There's only one connector port on the Serenata and it's at the bottom of the unit. A sliding cover protects the port from being exposed. Otherwise, it connects to either the charger or bundled earphones.

The Serenata is, in fact, a very basic device. It has only two callings (no pun intended): To play music and provide basic mobile phone capabilities. There are no signs of fancy camera tricks or features which people don't use everyday. To put it bluntly, there's only one reason anyone would be interested in paying a premium (we don't have local pricing details because the unit is not available yet, so we are gauging the tab on the previous Serene) for a music player/handset such as this: The lifestyle design associated with Bang & Olufsen.

Besides the wheel (we call it the nerve center since almost every action associated with the device requires us to roll the disc), the LCD panel also has active areas which are touch-sensitive. To switch between the music player and the phone modes, we tap the top left corner of the screen. The top right corner calls up additional menu options, while the bottom of the screen pulls up three shortcut options. Tapping the centre of the LCD once brings up the numeric dial pad. These areas are mapped to different functions depending on whether we are listening to music or using it as a phone.

As a mobile phone, the Serenata will test the patience of many people, especially those who text a lot. The wheel is a tad too sensitive for precise navigation. That said, the handset is not meant for that crowd anyway. So if you happen to have heavy texting habits, look elsewhere. Basic phone features such as Web browser, organizer functions, file manager including other miscellaneous applications are all available. While we managed to get up to speed typing text messages by using a combination of the scroll wheel and the bottom stretch of the touch-sensitive screen, sending a message on a phone with a hardware keypad would probably shorten the time taken by a considerable bit.

The menus on the Serenata are categorized with color codes. Phone-related functions are in blue whereas music-related functions are in red. Whether there's any real practicality is another story, but to the user it's clear when we switch between using it as a music player, or a phone.

Music on the Serenata is sorted alphabetically by artist, albums, tracks, covers, podcast and genres (no equalizer controls, though). There are also options to create playlists and favorites. What's slightly more interesting is the Pure Music option. When activated, incoming calls will be directed to a voicemail automatically and messages will be received in the background so it won't interrupt playback. Music navigation on the device has an iPod-ish feel to it, but we suspect that's because of the scroll wheel.

Although it's marketed primarily as a music player, the Serenata does miss out on some features. For example, the player doesn't show track time during playback and there's no option to fast forward music. Sonic-wise, the mids are clear and clean on our test tracks, though the bass is light and requires artificial bass boost to compensate. Besides lossless, the Serenata also support various formats including MP3, WMA and AAC.

The Serenata comes with 25MB of standard memory and 4GB of multimedia memory, which should be ample for most users. It would have been a bonus if there's an external expansion card slot.

A pair of EarSet 3 ear phones is bundled in the package which can be plugged into the bottom of the phone. It has a typical Bang & Olufsen style with a trendy and minimalist design, although the proprietary jack on the phone means only the company's buds can be used. Alternatively, you can make use of the unit's Bluetooth stereo support for wireless headphones.

According to the specifications, the Serenata has a rated talktime of 3 hours and 280 hours on standby with the 1,000mAh battery. When used solely as a music player (in offline mode), the onboard speakers are able to playback music for 5 hours straight and 13 hours when on headset. The unit is currently available in Europe with Asia still unknown, although our guess is it should land here some time in 2008.

Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/gadget/gadget.php?id=245&p=1

Is Secret Going To Reveal - Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' Goes Online

Leonardo da Vinci The Last Supper

MILAN — Can't get to Milan to see Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper?" As of Saturday, all you need is an Internet connection. Officials put online an image of the "Last Supper" at 16 billion pixels — 1,600 times stronger than the images taken with the typical 10 million pixel digital camera.

The high resolution will allow experts to examine details of the 15th century wall painting that they otherwise could not — including traces of drawings Leonardo put down before painting.

The high-resolution allows viewers to look at details as though they were inches from the art work, in contrast to regular photographs, which become grainy as you zoom in, said curator Alberto Artioli.

"You can see how Leonardo made the cups transparent, something you can't ordinarily see," said Artioli. "You can also note the state of degradation the painting is in."

Besides allowing experts and art-lovers to study the masterpiece from home, Artioli said the project provides an historical document of how the painting appears in 2007, which will be valuable to future generations of art historians.

Although there appeared to be problems with the Web site late Saturday, it was accessible earlier in day.

The work, in Milan's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, was restored in a painstaking effort that wrapped up in 1999 — a project aimed at reversing half a millennium of damage to the famed artwork. Leonard painted the "Last Supper" dry, so the painting did not cleave to the surface in the fresco style, meaning it is more delicate and subject to wear.

"Over the years it has been subjected to bombardments; it was used as a stall by Napoleon," Artioli said. The restoration removed 500 years of dirt while also removing previous restoration works that masked Leonardo's own work.

Even those who get to Milan have a hard time gaining admission to see the "Last Supper." Visits have been made more difficult by measures to protect it. Twenty-five visitors are admitted every 15 minutes to see the painting for a total of about 320,000 visitors a year. Visitors must pass through a filtration system to help reduce the work's exposure to dust and pollutants.

"The demand is three or four times higher, but we can't accommodate it because of efforts to preserve the painting," Artioli said.


Source: http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/27/1054687-da-vincis-last-supper-goes-online

T-Mobile's Shadow: A Windows Pearl

T Mobile Shadow

T-Mobile today announced the Shadow, a consumer-focused Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with an unusual hybrid keyboard similar to the BlackBerry Pearl's.

Like the Pearl, the sliding Shadow's keypad is five keys wide, with two letters on each key, and it uses predictive software (in this case, Tegic's XT9) to predict the next word in a sentence. Younger phone users who grew up with text messaging love hybrid keypads; they're faster and more accurate than typing out messages on a traditional phone's keyboard. Older users, however, tend to prefer QWERTY keyboards over predictive text on hybrids.

Trying to type out several text messages on the keypad, I found it accurate enough for everyday use. The XT9 predictive software is smart enough to learn anything you've typed once, such as my unusual name. Plus, T-Mobile softens the blow of entering a lot of contacts and appointments by offering two ways to enter information on your PC: either by locally syncing the phone using ActiveSync, or by using T-Mobile's Web site to beam data to and from the phone over the air.

The Shadow is a rather wide phone at 4.06 by 2.09 by 0.59 inches and weighs 5.29 ounces, but it surprisingly doesn't feel huge or heavy. Its appearance is luxurious, with its subdued gray and silver color and soft-touch back. The center of the scroll wheel lights up when you're using it, and the keys are backlit, too. The slide takes some effort to get going, but slides smoothly and quickly.

The Shadow has a cute, animated interface with a 2.6-inch, 320-by-240 rich color screen. T-Mobile and HTC, the Shadow's manufacturer, worked together to make Windows Mobile look cuddlier and less businesslike than it does on other devices. Slide the Shadow's screen up and it comes alive with an animated menu and eight main options arranged vertically: MyFaves, Notifications, Calendar, Message Center, Internet, Music, Photos and Settings. By turning the Shadow's scroll wheel, access sub-options, arranged horizontally, that pop up on the screen as large icons. For instance, scrolling right on Message Center lets you pick text messages, picture messages, or e-mail. The Shadow isn't a touch-screen device, but I found the combination scroll wheel and cursor pad easy to use and navigate between options.

Could this all have been more elegant? Sure. In a perfect world, we would get all of our messages in one inbox, not three. Alas, the Shadow can gussy up the Windows Mobile interface, but it's still working within the operating system's limitations.

The Shadow connects to the Internet using EDGE and Wi-Fi, and has a 2-megapixel camera with video recording on the back. The 201 Mhz processor isn't very powerful for a Windows Mobile phone, but the model we received seemed to respond quite well. The Shadow supports microSD memory cards up to 4GB for music and video playback, according to T-Mobile. Music should work fine, though I'd be skeptical of playing video in full screen with a 210 Mhz processor. Although the Shadow has a roomy 72MB of program memory to prevent those dastardly Windows Mobile out-of-memory errors, one good touch is a task manager for quitting programs in one of the main animated menus.

Other Shadow features include stereo Bluetooth for music, an integrated IM client that works with MyFaves (but for some bizarre reason doesn't show up on the Message Center options), a speakerphone, voice dialing, and quad-band support for world roaming.

The Shadow is a higher-end, messaging-oriented phone for people into e-mail and multimedia. As such, it goes up primarily against the BlackBerry Pearl and T-Mobile's new Sidekicks. Windows Mobile brings more multimedia power to the Shadow than the other guys have, especially for folks who use one of the Windows Media Player-compatible music services like Napster or Yahoo!, and want effortless syncing with Windows Media Player. The Shadow also works seamlessly with Exchange servers.

The Shadow's major hurdle is getting past Windows Mobile's added complexity and system instability over the BlackBerry and Sidekick's simpler interfaces. Will it manage to attract the younger set, or stick out like the guy in the business suit at a college party? We'll have a full review up on PCMag.com next week.

The T-Mobile Shadow will sell for between $149.99 and $349.99, depending on the contract. T-Mobile has also lowered its unlimited Wi-Fi and EDGE data plan to $19.99 per month, from $29.99 per month. The Shadow goes on sale on Wednesday, October 31.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2208078,00.asp

Apple vs Microsoft By the Numbers

In the past year, Apple stock has been +115%, vs Microsoft +7%. Over the last five years, Apple stock has been +2270%, vs Microsoft +21%. And in the last ten years, Apple stock has been +4314%, vs Microsoft +89%. Those extraordinary statistics emerged during the week as the blogger community discussed the relative merits of money invested in Apple versus the same amount invested in Microsoft.

Microsoft has 80,000 employees, +95% market share, and competes in businessesoutside of Apple, which only has 18,000 employees and ~3% worldwidemarket share.

However, Apple is bringing in more than a third of Microsoft's revenues and making more than a quarter of Microsoft's profits, and is selling new Macs - which eat up direct sales of WindowsPCs - four times faster than the industry.


Source: http://wireless.sys-con.com/read/450705.htm

I-mate is stepping into the spotlight

Over the years, the Seattle area has been home to a number of successful wireless carriers. More recently, it has developed an expertise in building software for the mobile phone.

But surprisingly, and more quietly, the industry has begun to carve out a small pocket on the Eastside for manufacturers that develop, design and market cellphones for markets around the world.

I-mate, a company with significant cellphone sales in the Middle East, has been working behind the scenes here for more than a year on plans to launch its phones in the U.S. market.

With offices in Redmond, i-mate is the second phone manufacturer with a significant presence here. The other is Taiwan-based HTC, which has a regional headquarters in Bellevue.

Both of the phone makers are here to maintain close partnerships with Microsoft as they emphasize devices with the Windows Mobile operating system.

I-mate is planning to make a big splash this week in San Francisco at the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment show. Tuesday, it is expected to announce that its new line of phones, called Ultimate, will be sold in the U.S. within the next couple of weeks.

In addition to i-mate, dozens of local companies will participate in the annual show, which centers on wireless technology for the enterprise and the entertainment industry. Tuesday, events will kick off with a keynote address by Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer.

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz will take the stage Wednesday , and Atish Gude, senior vice president of Xohm, Sprint Nextel's wireless broadband division, will speak Thursday.

The Microsoft connection is key to i-mate. Nicole Buchanan, i-mate vice president of sales and marketing and head of the Redmond office, said the company was started by Jim Morrison, a telecom veteran from British Telecom, where he worked with Microsoft on early mobile devices running the Windows CE operating system.

Based on that experience, Morrison founded i-mate in 2001, specializing in Windows Mobile products. He established headquarters in Dubai, a country northeast of Saudi Arabia that's slightly smaller than Maine. Today, i-mate has about 200 employees, of which about 30 are in Redmond.

Morrison saw wealthy pockets in the Middle East where there could be strong demand for higher-end mobile phones. The Middle East, in fact, continues to be i-mate's largest market, along with Australia and Asia.

In the U.S., i-mate phones have been available for the past couple of years, but only on the company's Web site and with virtually no marketing.

I-mate is trying to change its image by establishing a brand identity here and not just in far-flung countries. So far, few in the wireless industry know much about i-mate.

The image many wireless people have stems from trade shows, where women trying to draw visitors to the i-mate booth wore T-shirts that read something like, "i-mate, do you mate?"

Novel route

The company is also taking a somewhat untraditional route to the U.S. market.

Buchanan said the phones will be sold on i-mate's Web site and through third-party distributors, but not through carriers — the way most people buy mobile phones today.

The i-mate customer will buy an "unlocked" phone that allows it to run on any GSM network, the technology that AT&T and T-Mobile USA use. It's up to the customer to find a cellphone plan.

Most carriers lock the phone because they subsidize the cost of the handset, which also makes it difficult for the consumer to leave one company and go to the next.

John Jackson, an analyst with the Yankee Group, said this sales approach will make things difficult for i-mate. Although many phones are sold this way in international markets, the business in the U.S. is mostly controlled by the carriers.

"Their challenge is obvious, and it's the channel," Jackson said.

"They don't have a tier 1 carrier lined up, so they're looking at an uphill distribution, marketing, branding and awareness-generation battle."

The one phone that recently began chipping away at this cycle is the iPhone. Although it was locked, its initial $500 to $600 price tag was not subsidized by AT&T.

Buchanan said her company thinks customers will start to buy phones this way in the U.S. so that they won't be limited to a carrier's offerings.

"We are going to see more and more of that now while people are looking for true freedom and flexibility."

Four new models from the Ultimate line are set to be launched this week, two of which are making their international debuts. The other two have been available in the Middle East.

All of the phones, which cost between $600 and $700, will run Windows Mobile 6, the latest operating system, and include cutting-edge hardware.

The phones run on the fastest GSM networks, called HSDPA, and have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera.

They also come with an advanced service called XGA, which allows the phone to connect to a projector, plasma screen or TV. With that hookup, images on the tiny mobile can be viewed on a full screen at a desktop-monitor resolution.

The video capability can replace the need for a laptop. A business user, for example, can connect her phone to a wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as a TV, to type out e-mail or connect to her office computer remotely.

In a demonstration, i-mate showed how a 3D-modeling application could be pulled up as if the user were at a desktop computer.

On the consumer side, the user could load a movie on the phone's external memory and play it on a full-size TV at a friend's house.

"No one is doing it. This is truly a differientator for us," Buchanan said.

Besides Windows Mobile, i-mate phones offer a layer of software that enables various services, including one called Custom i-Q.

It allows a user or the user's IT manager to configure the phone with Web tools. It can adjust e-mail settings, for instance, or call up individual applications.

Picture frames

Beyond the phones, the company sells a digital-picture frame called the Momento, a product of A Living Picture, a Seattle and United Kingdom company i-mate acquired.

The Momento has a wireless connection that enables the frame to display digital photos and has an online service called Momento Live.

I-mate partners with Microsoft to develop this product into a device that could be used as a remote control for futuristic services in the home.

Despite the feature-loaded devices, the company has a long way to go in the U.S. to build its identity. It didn't help that some of its products sold here over the past year proved to be poorly manufactured.

The company, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, said because of a product recall, i-mate lost $2.9 million on revenues of $195.5 million in the year ended March 2007. That compares with the year-ago period when it made $21.5 million on revenues of $206 million.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003966205_imate22.html