Excitement about 3G mobile phones is ebbing away. "This is partly because the first of the much-delayed 3G phones now coming on to the market are not very impressive, and also due to the fact that existing phones can now perform many of the functions of 3G handsets more cheaply, thanks to recent advances. For some months, it has been possible to download software on handsets like Nokia's 7650 and 3650, enabling them to be used as video cameras. Vodafone and mmO2 are now in the throes of launching a full video messaging service, which will enable users to send video messages to similar phones.
Mobile phone fits on SD memory card "This Siemens CF45 card could well have a significant impact in the PDA sector. That's because virtually all Pocket PC machines don't have a PCMCIA slot but they do have an SD card interface. So you can take an ordinary Windows PDA and turn it into a true mobile Internet terminal."
Kansas City Star - Phone companies hope `instant memories' develop into long-term cash:Most of the 40 million to 80 million camera phones expected to be bought by consumers and businesses this year -- the industry estimates vary widely -- will be sold outside the United States. But 3 million to 4 million will be sold in the United States, and by 2004 that number could increase fivefold.
"They're going to be the most common picture-taking device on the planet," said Tony Henning, senior analyst with Future Image Inc., a research firm for the digital photography industry. "The adoption rate of camera phones is really stunning," Henning said.
Philippe Kahn of Lightsurf is even more bullish. "My prediction is that by the end of 2004, 50 percent of the handsets sold in America will have embedded cameras," he said.
Great to see news like this coming out of the USA. Once that market takes off the volume of sales, competition and economies of scale should push the price of phones down even more into commodity territory.
Infowave Software has joined Symbian's platinum partner program. "The companies will co-operate in developing and marketing solutions for mobile network operators and corporate customers globally based on Infowave's Symmetry suite of wireless solutions. Infowave will offer wireless E-mail solutions powered by Symbian OS, Symbian's advanced, open, standard operating system for data-enabled mobile phones."
This is primarily a Symbian/Smartphone/Intelliphone blog but it would be remiss not to mention two great new products from Palm - the Palm Zire 71 & the Palm Tungsten C. Fair play to Palm for not giving up without a fight. I still don't think they stand a chance of surviving in the long run but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be tempted to buy one of these beautiful gadgets!
infoSync World: TipicME 1.3 now out. "Now optimized for J2ME-capable devices including the Nokia 7650, Nokia 3650 and Sony Ericsson P800 as well as Pocket PC, Palm OS and Qtopia devices fitted with software enabling them to run J2ME applications, the new client lets users of these devices chat wirelessly with friends using a range of various popular instant messaging protocols."
ZDNet - AOL services to run on Symbian smartphones:"As part of the agreement, announced on Thursday, AOL engineers will create a one-size-fits-all version of AOL services that can be embedded into any Symbian phone. Handset makers that back the Symbian operating system, such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson, can build phones with AOL features more quickly if the development work already has been done, Symbian spokesman Peter Bancroft said."
This is more big news and indicative of the huge momentum building up around Symbian at the moment.
Visto joins Symbian Platinum Partner Program:"Visto Corporation
(http://www.visto.com), the leading provider of personal and corporate mobile access solutions that are easy to install, administer and use, today announced its participation in the Symbian Platinum Partner Program created to support the emerging market for Symbian OS(TM) advanced mobile phones. Visto's involvement in this alliance will extend its wireless email applications for both the enterprise and mobile professionals to the Symbian ecosystem of partners."
I remember there being a bevvy of Visto-like virtual office services built during the dotcom boom years, only for most of them to disappear without a trace. Visto's was always one of the best and the only one I stuck with after trying a number. So I, for one, am delighted with this news :)
Arima to launch 3G handset in September, smartphone by year-end. "The second-largest mobile phone maker in Taiwan also said that it will launch a smartphone by year-end at the soonest. In smartphone development, Arima said it will work with parent Arima Computer, leveraging its experience in wireless PDA development. Initially, they will use Microsoft’s smartphone operating system, but do not rule out evaluating the Symbian OS."
Motorola Slashes Smartphone Development Time With Advanced Symbian OS: In the race to help manufacturers capture a larger share of the growing smartphone segment, the Semiconductor Products Sector at Motorola, Inc., is launching its most comprehensive, ready-to- customize, smartphone solution at the Symbian Exposium03 in London next week.
Symbian OS(TM) has been seamlessly integrated into Motorola's i.Smart reference design for consumer-driven GPRS products operating on the i.250 2.5G platform and its i.300 Innovative Convergence(TM) platform for 3G networks.
Permodia is a system that enables anyone equipped with an Internet connection and a "webcam" to access the webcam using an MMS device, such as a Nokia 7650 or 7250, Ericsson T68i, etc. It enables individuals, as well as commercial organisations, to set up their own MMS content, while enabling telecom operators to offer immediate access to MMS content.
Unlike regular webcams that transmit a continuous stream of data and use up a tremendous amount of bandwidth, the patent-pending Permodia system takes pictures only when requested - this means that the application can be run on any Internet connection running at any speed.
Get News [via RSS]on Your iPod integrated with iCal and iSync. Now that's what I call a hack and one we badly need for Series 60 / Symbian devices. I was really amazed to turn up a blank on my recent search for an RSS reader/aggregator for the Nokia 3650. C'mon developers, get to work!
Ion, "specializes in licensing and managing mobile content development based on film properties. Most recently, he was responsible for Vodafone's multi-year mobile content partnership with the James Bond movie franchise."
Europemedia.net: Worldwide shipments of high-end smartphones to reach 45m by 2007. "In 2002 high-end smartphone shipments accounted for 0.3 per cent of the total handset market and by 2007 this ratio is not expected to exceed five per cent. But the value attributed to this market segment could be as high as 20 per cent of the total handset market because high-end smartphones will offer extra features and functionality, and they will therefore remain more expensive than traditional handsets.
Symbian is currently the most used OS for high-end smartphones, with an overwhelming 60 per cent share in 2002. However, Symbian's worldwide share of this market is expected to decrease over the years, falling to around 39 per cent by 2007. Palm OS currently holds the second position in the market rankings with a share of 22 per cent. However with the emergence of the Pocket PC smartphone-edition in 2002, Microsoft OSs are likely to gain momentum and mainly eat into Palm's share."
Europemedia.net: GSM mobile standard is the unchallenged world leader. "The European 2G standard, with its global market share of 68 per cent, is by far the most widely used mobile telephony technology in the world. The CDMA technology used in the United States and Asia comes in second place with a market share of only 13 per cent. This is followed by TDMA, a technology that is primarily only used in South America, with just nine per cent."
Russell Beattie has done an excellent job of categorizing the variouslevels of mobile phone, either currently on the market or in the pipeline. The categories headings he used are - "Current Generation", "Current Plus", "Multimedia Mobiles", "Multimedia Plus", "Intelliphones", "Intelliphone Plus", and "Future Phones". That may seem a little obvious but check out the link for some great detail.
vnunet.com: Symbian looks to take on Microsoft. At the [Symbian] exhibition, to be held on 29 and 30 April at the Excel centre in London's Docklands, Symbian will be launching the new version of its phone operating system, OS 7.0s, and broadcasting a move to a more open development environment.
"This year the drivers for Symbian will be consumer-led," said Andy Buss, a senior analyst at Canalys. "Businesses aren't ordering smartphones in bulk and consumers are still driving the market."
Emm, I must admit I hadn't realised that. I had thought it was the other way around because of phones like the Nokia Communicator 9xxx which the average consumer was ever hardly aware of. However I can see that with a smartphone like the Nokia 3650, which is aimed at the mass consumer market, this the situation is certainly changing.
smh.com.au:Until now, popular interest in photography has been in the long-term preservation of memories in treasured family albums. But with camera phones, the focus is more on sharing than storing. "The images will be used to connect with one another, but they will be incredibly disposable. It is not about lasting memories," says Dr Palmer, of Melbourne University.
The article also carries a contrary view which strikes me as a particulary luddite one - Not everyone agrees. Chris Chesher, a lecturer in new media at the University of NSW, describes it as a "collision of two technology cultures, phone and photographs" and suspects they are too different in purpose to usefully meld.
