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| March, 2007 | Home| About us| Services| Contact | |
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Note from Jason Flick CEOs are on the move. I’m referring to the CEO of RIM stepping down after 200 million dollars in options were found posted dated (an issue plaguing many US companies) and Michael Dell coming back on as CEO of Dell. RIM has been an unstoppable force in the handheld market the past year yet Dell has not launched a new handheld product in nearly 2 years. Dell’s X51v is still the king of PDAs but it is well past the normal tech gadget life cycle now. I can’t say I know whether these two leadership changes are good or bad, but I am certain in the months ahead we’ll see the effects of this executive shuffle. I can certainly see Dell coming to market with a killer Smartphone—and the rumours abound—but RIM’s product is entering the space with more competitors that ever. Both of these companies have to be concerned about the pack of devices coming from HTC—and—who isn’t anxiously waiting to get there hands on the super-hyped iPhone?
Cheers, Jason Flick, |
HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger handset gets reviewed
Ready for HP's latest iPaq - that does not even resemble a
traditional iPaq? HP's new "iPaq Voice Messenger" device is just that -
a newer cellphone with a traditional numeric keypad.
Normal features from "smarter" phones are in there, like the new Windows Mobile 6 and of course
built-in WiFi. What is new about this baby, according to HP's marketing machine?
The 510 has HP's "Voice Commander" so that it can read
emails through the loudspeaker and respond to voice commands that control just
about anything on the unit itself - like those in cars that can't stop working
even while they are driving.
Now that's multitasking - and it's more safe than
navigating to your Outlook server while driving, even with the best d-pad there
is.
Philips unit to launch rollable-screen handheld
A division of Philips will show off what it claims is the world's first "rollable display" cellular device at the mobile technology exhibition 3GSM next week.
Polymer Vision's Readius device, which has a roll-out grayscale screen,
is being touted as a combination 3G-enabled PDA and
e-book reader. Telecom Italia Mobile is the first operator scheduled to
release it, with a commercial launch set for the end of the year. Polymer Vision
has not confirmed any discussions with U.K. operators.
The touch screen, which extends as far as 5 inches from the body
of the device, "offers a readability similar to printed paper" with high
contrast and high reflectivity.
Blackberry 8800 now on Cingular
Straighten your ties and button your suit jackets, RIM's promiscuous debutante - the Blackberry 8800 - is up and dancin' on on Cingular's website.
$500 list, or $300 after $50 mail-in rebate and 2-year contract, the 8800 brings everything we expected: quad-band EDGE, GPS, microSD expansion,
Bluetooth 2.0, push-to-talk support, and 5-hours talk / 24-days standby in a 0.55-inch device weighing just 4.73-ounces. 3G data? No. WiFi? Not this time.
For that we'll have to hold tight for the anticipated mid-year launch of the 8820.
Smartest Mobile Users? It Ain't Us
By David Needle
February 20, 2007
Is the mobile device glass half empty or half full? According to an global study of mobile users, there are plenty of consumer complaints about the latest
crop of wireless handheld devices.
But the Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience (FAME), which surveyed 14,000 consumers in 37 countries for its Global Mobile Mindset Audit,
sees the problems more as opportunities.
"Device manufacturers and service providers have a real opportunity to differentiate themselves to make the user experience simplified and the buying
experience more educational, and something that supports users," FAME Director Dave Murray told internetnews.com.
Many frustrated users would likely welcome improvements. While some complaints were more specific to certain geographies, "function fatigue" was a universal
complaint among respondents.
CNET editors' review
The good: Windows Mobile 6 features new shortcuts to make performing tasks easier, and there is added functionality to the Calendar and Contact apps.
E-mail improvements include a new search function and HTML support, and there's good Windows Live integration. In addition, the Standard Edition
(formerly Smartphone Edition) now includes Microsoft Office Mobile with editing capabilities.
The bad: Some of the improvements to e-mail and the calendar app require that you have Exchange Server 2007, and there were no notable enhancements
to the multimedia capabilities.
The bottom line: Though it doesn't offer earth-shattering new features and interface issues remain, Windows Mobile 6 brings a collection of
noteworthy improvements that makes its mobile devices easier to use and equips mobile professionals with more robust productivity tools.
Skype Takes on Wireless Operators
By Eric M. Zeman
February 23, 2007
Skype recently petitioned the FCC to force wireless network operators to unlock their data networks and allow third-party hardware and software
applications to access and use them…like its own.
Skype claims that the current network model, whereby the networks are closed systems that only permit approved devices and applications to access them,
stifles competition and limits consumer choice. In fact, Skype contends that wireless operators go so far as to prevent its software from using their networks,
even if the user is accessing a legitimate wireless data connection.
Calling on obscure laws, Skype wants to reduce the wireless networks to commodities such as the existing wireline networks.
It believes the carriers should be required to allow any phone to be used on their networks, for any application.
Apple and Cisco will both sell iPhones?
22 February, 2007
Cisco and Apple have agreed that both companies will used the disputed iPhone name
for different products - and trailed a possibility their iPhones may even work together.
The two companies said they would "explore opportunities for interoperability" in security and communications technologies for consumers and business users, in an announcement that clears Apple to launch its planned iPhone product. Other terms of the agreement, which heads off a lawsuit filed by Cisco over rights to the iPhone trademark, were not disclosed.
Cisco last month sued Apple in the US District Court for the Northern District of California for infringing its iPhone trademark with the announcement of a cellular handset that bears the same name. At that time, Cisco said it obtained rights to the iPhone name through its 2000 acquisition of Infogear, which had a product line called iPhone.
Phones Become Pocket-Size Banks
By Kathy Chu and Christine Dugas
February 16, 2007
People already use their cell phones to surf the Web, take photos and text
message -- besides making calls. Now, a growing number of banks are also letting
them pay bills and transfer money through their cell phones.
In December, Wachovia, the nation's fourth-largest bank, began allowing more
than 4 million online-banking customers to view account information and transfer
funds via cell phone.
The two largest banks, Bank of America and Citigroup, will soon unveil
similar services -- with the further ability to pay bills by cell phone. BofA
said Tuesday that it will offer cell phone banking next month to customers in
one state, Tennessee, and to other customers nationwide by midyear.
These rollouts mark the industry's first widespread launch of cell phone
banking. In the late '90s, Bank of America and others tested the technology with
a small number of consumers. But it never caught on. Banks are betting this time
will be different, since most consumers now carry cell phones, many of them
Web-enabled.
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Events |
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2007 Government Technologies |
The Ottawa wireless event |
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WiMAX Focus Rome |
CTIA WIRELESS 2007 |
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Mobile Content World Asia 2007 |
Mobile Eurasia |