News

Nokia acquisition of NAVTEQ cleared by EU

Paul Mah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:32:55 -0400

The European Commission has OKed Nokia's proposed $8.1 billion acquisition of digital map maker NAVTEQ. In a written statement, an EU executive said, "The commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area, or any substantial part of it."

As Nokia looks for new sources of revenue from the maturing mobile phone industry, the NAVTEQ acquisition will give it a stronghold in the navigation business, considered to be one of the fastest-growing segments in the technology industry. With the EU approval under its belt, Nokia expects the deal to be closed within the "next five business days."

For more on Nokia's acquisition:
- check out this Guardian article

New hands-free cell phone law takes effect in California

Paul Mah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:32:16 -0400

New regulations prohibiting drivers in California from talking on their mobile phones while driving took effect yesterday. Adult drivers will still be allowed to be on their phones if they use hands-free devices, though this exception is withheld from drivers younger than 18. A California Highway Patrol spokesman noted that efforts to publicize the law appeared to have worked, with many motorists spotted using hands-free headsets. It should be noted that certain countries, such as Singapore, have long since prohibited mobile phone use while driving in the absence of hands-free devices. It remains to be seen if other states will follow in enacting similar legislation.

For more on hands-free regulations:
- check out the SFGate article

Texting gets more expensive

Paul Mah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:31:37 -0400

The cost of sending text messages has gone up since 2005, from 10 to 20 cents per message. What is ironic here is that text messages cost carriers next to nothing to transmit. Now, let's assume for a moment that text messages are not carried in the reserved field of packet headers, and actually consume valuable data bytes. Even so, the 140 bytes of data taken by each text message is puny compared to the bandwidth (and protocol overhead) of transferring emails or downloading files such as mp3s over a cellular network. The question is: Why are users allowing mobile operators to get away with such blatant price hikes?

For more on the rising cost of texting:
- check out this CNET News article

Twitter worth $1 billion?

Paul Mah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:30:41 -0400

Could Twitter become a $1 billion company? There are some who believe it's possible, though not by making money off of advertising, as you might expect. Nate Westheimer thinks the answer lies in the P2P mobile payment space. While Twitter is hardly ubiquitous at the moment, its penetration and usage base of early adopters is what the doctor ordered (similar to when PayPal, with a core group of such people, managed to convince the world that sending money to an email address is the logical thing to do). Another thing that Twitter has going for it is that its users are comfortable with the rigid syntax needed to send payment on their way.

For more on Twitter and mobile payment:
- check out this Silicon Alley Insider article

iPhone with hardware keyboard on the horizon?

Paul Mah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:30:07 -0400

According to The Register, Apple has sent working prototypes of iPhones sporting hardware keyboards to senior executives at some wireless operators to garner their feedback. Undeniably, the lack of a hardware keyboard has made it a harder sell to certain groups of users, such as those hooked on to text messaging, as well as a fair portion of businessmen. Of course, there are those who are skeptical that Apple will ever come out with a hardware keyboard for the iPhone. Explaining, Tom Krazit over at CNET wrote, "But Apple has invested so much in the software that runs the iPhone that I would be surprised if it changed the game so early in the life of the product." What about you; what do you think?

For more on Apple's iPhone:
- check out this article from The Register

AOL releases beta 2 of AIM for Windows Mobile; More details emerge on the Palm Treo 800w;

Paul Mah — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:33:57 -0400

> Cerience releases beta of native PDF viewer for BlackBerry. Article
> AOL releases beta 2 of AIM for Windows Mobile. Article
> Microsoft buys Mobile Services firm MobiComp for undisclosed sum. Article
> Sony releases software update for its mylo COM-2 Internet tablet. Article
> More details emerge on the Palm Treo 800w. Article

And Finally... Forget about the electronic organizer: Plan your day on paper. Article

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta due by mid-July

Paul Mah — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:33:17 -0400

The Opera Mobile 9.5 beta is due to be released less than two weeks from today, on July 15. This version represents a considerable rewrite, and will be more aligned with Opera on the PC platform. Article

British Telecom workers to go on mobile blackout

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:36:43 -0400

Up to 13,000 British Telecom (BT) employees have opted to take industrial action to express displeasure over a deadlock in resolving disputes regarding pay and working hours. In a sign of the times, however, not only are they insisting on capping work hours to contractual terms of 36 hours per week, the activists will also render themselves incommunicado.

A spokeswoman said, "Once the 36 hours are up, we expect our members to go home and switch off their BlackBerries, mobile phones and PCs." The members hope to show the amount of lost productivity when an employee does not work outside of contracted hours.

For more on this BlackBerry blackout of sorts:
- check out this UNI Telecom article

Related Article:
Does your BlackBerry stress you out?

Sybase enhances mobile security

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:36:04 -0400

Sybase iAnywhere announced that it has expanded its security portfolio to encompass antivirus and firewall capabilities for handhelds. Sybase iAnywhere president Terry Stepian noted that there are already more than 500 identified viruses that target business mobile phones. That number will likely increase dramatically with the proliferation of smartphones.

As part of its Afaria mobile security line, the antivirus will be the first for mobile devices that features heuristic technology in addition to standard automatic signature file updates. All files received by the mobile phone are subjected to a real-time scan, while Afaria's firewall manager allows both inbound and outbound communication to be filtered using black and white lists. The suite supports the key mobile operating systems, including Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the Symbian operating systems.

For more on Sybase iAnywhere:
- check out the InformationWeek article

Android phones faces delay

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:35:07 -0400

Smartphones designed to run Google's new Android operating system are facing potential delays that could push arrival dates to late 2008. To be fair, there is technically no slippage yet, though it is certainly unusual for products to be shipped at the tail end of any furnished timeframe. Google initially set the arrival date at the second half of 2008.

Strategically, the implications here would be that any splash made by the entrance of the new mobile operating system will not be noticed until 2009 or later. More urgently, however, is the impending release of the 3G iPhone as well as new 3G versions of RIM's BlackBerry. These events are certain to shift the competitive landscape against Android somewhat.

For more about the Android delay:
- check out this InformationWeek blog

Could the iPhone better the Kindle?

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:34:21 -0400

Greg Sandoval of CNET News.com posed this very interesting question. An avid reader of digital books, he had his eye on getting the Kindle, the cool ebook reader from Amazon that features E Ink technology that provides for a paper-like reading experience. However, temptation comes with the recently announced 3G iPhone, with its gorgeous 3.5-inch and 480 by 320 resolution display. Though the Kindle will probably still come ahead in terms of readability, it will be more than evenly matched against the plethora of software that will be written for Apple's Smartphone. So what do you reckon it will be: Amazon Kindle or Apple iPhone?

For more on the iPhone as a digital book reader:
- check out this CNET News.com article

Related Article:
Amazon's Kindle gets reviewed

Nokia to buy all of Symbian

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:33:24 -0400

Nokia has announced that it will offer to acquire the remaining 52 percent of Symbian Limited. Control of Symbian Limited, a software company formed to develop and license the Symbian OS, effectively gives Nokia sole control of the market-leading operating system for mobile devices.

Already, irrevocable undertakings have been secured from most of the other key owners--representing 91 percent of non-Nokia shares. Post-acquisition, Nokia intends to establish the Symbian Foundation, which will be instrumental to move the Symbian platform to open source over the next two years. You can read the press release announcing the Symbian Foundation here (pdf).

For more on Nokia's Symbian acquisition:
- check out this MobileMonday blog

Orange to introduce a dance-powered phone charger

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:30:40 -0400

Orange has co-developed a new device called "Dance Charge" that is worn on the arm. As the name suggests, moving around with it charges an internal battery, which can then be used to recharge your phone. Article

Palm launches unlocked Centro; RIM releases video of the new BlackBerry Bold;

Paul Mah — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:30:10 -0400

> Documents To Go for the BlackBerry arrives, but you can't install it just yet. Article
> ISuppli: New 3G iPhone costs just $173 to make. Article
> MailShadowG service synchronizes Outlook with Google's Gmail. Article
> RIM releases video of the new BlackBerry Bold. Article
> Palm launches unlocked Centro. Article

And Finally... Peeping Tom stuffs camera phone up his behind in bid to thwart police. Article

Toshiba unveils world's 'lightest' laptop

Paul Mah — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:24:31 -0400

Toshiba has unveiled a new ultraportable laptop it claims is the "world's lightest." Weighing a mere 2.4 pounds, the Portégé packs a transreflective 12.1-inch screen and a 128Gbyte solid-state drive in place of a hard disk. This compares favorably against Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's Thickpad X300, at 3 pounds and 2.93 pounds respectively.

Still, the Portégé is hardly cheap though, and will set you back by $2,999 for a model with an Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 processor clocked at 1.33Ghz and 2Gbytes of system RAM. Toshiba claims the laptop can run for eight-hours on a single charge. It will ship in the third quarter of the year.

For more on Toshiba's laptop:
- check out this New York Times article