Report: Dropped Calls More Frequent in Smartphones
February 22, 2010
Smartphone users are more likely to experience dropped calls and poor voice quality, according to a new report from J.D. Power and Associates.
The company’s 2010 Wireless Call Quality Performance Study found that smartphone customers are nearly three times more likely to experience dropped calls than traditional mobile phone customers. They also report that smartphone customers experience problems at a rate that is 6 per 100 calls greater than problems experienced by subscribers using lower-end handsets. Read more
Five Reasons Wireless Providers Should Fear Google
February 17, 2010
When Google chief executive Eric Schmidt took the stage at Mobile World Congress, it seemed that many of his remarks were meant to placate the mobile phone industry. And for good reason: Over the last year, Google has become a mobile powerhouse — this was Schmidt’s first keynote in Barcelona, after all – that, in many ways, competes with wireless service providers. The past year has seen a proliferation of Android phones and the debut of powerful mobile apps such as Google Voice and Maps Navigation. It’s a good thing in that Google’s driving sales, but it’s also a cause for concern. Here are five reasons mobile telcos should be worried about Google: Read more
Windows Mobile 7 is here
February 15, 2010
Microsoft today announced its next-generation mobile operating system Windows Phone 7 Series, which will bring together the Zune multimedia experience and Xbox Live gaming to mobile phones worldwide.
Manufacturers have already begun building phones featuring Windows Phone 7 Series with plans for release by the 2010 holiday season, according to Microsoft. Manufacturers on board include Dell, Garmin, Asus, HTC, Hewlett-Packard, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.
Carrier partners include AT&T, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, and Vodafone.
Microsoft did not announce its own phone hardware. However, the software giant is working more closely than it has in the past with manufacturing partners in the design process of their phone hardware. For example, each Windows 7 Series phone will include a dedicated hardware button to access Microsoft’s Bing search tool with one click. Read more
Motorola sets breakup for 2011
February 15, 2010
Motorola on Thursday said it will split into two separate companies in the first quarter of 2011, roughly a year from now.
The company had initially planned to spin off the mobile devices unit on its own. Now Motorola plans to spin off the mobile devices and home units into one company led by Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola. Jha will have a portfolio of mobile devices and home entertainment technology such as the company’s set-top boxes.
The second company will comprise Motorola’s enterprise mobility solutions and networks businesses (statement). That company will be led by Motorola co-CEO Greg Brown.
Brown and Jha will assume their roles as CEO of their respective divisions effective immediately.
Motorola shareholders will get shares of both companies via a tax-free stock dividend. Both companies will use the Motorola brand.
SOURCE: Cnet
It’s do or die for Microsoft at Mobile World Congress
February 15, 2010
It’s show time, Microsoft. At Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest cell phone trade show, Microsoft is widely anticipated to introduce Windows Mobile 7, which needs to knock the mobile world’s socks off.
If it in fact comes to pass, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7 won’t be the only announcement at the big show, held every year in Barcelona, Spain. But Windows Mobile 7, if it appears, will be the most important revelation.
Microsoft used to be a big player in PDAs, and they got a pretty good start out of the gate with smartphones. But to some extent, they let their Windows Mobile OS rot, adding features and improving the interface very slowly while competitors like Apple, Google and Palm moved much more quickly. Although Windows Mobile still has some strengths (such as terrific Exchange connectivity), that’s left Windows Mobile 6.5 looking like the lame old man of the mobile OS world. Microsoft has used MWC (and its predecessor, 3GSM) as the launch platform for their new mobile OSes for years; Windows Mobile 6, 6.1 and 6.5 were launched at the shows in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Sure, there are plenty of Windows Mobile phones on the market, but Windows Mobile 6.5 doesn’t have much positive buzz behind it anymore. To reclaim relevance, Microsoft needs to show something radical at their 9 AM ET press conference on Monday, Feb. 15 in Barcelona.
SOURCE: PC World
Feds push for tracking cell phones
February 12, 2010
Two years ago, when the FBI was cornered by a band of armed robbers known as the “Scarecrow Bandits” that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves.
FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The expansive records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually convicted the two of multiple bank robbery and weapons charges. Read more
Government calls on mobile industry to up theft protection
February 11, 2010
228 handsets reported stolen in the UK every hour
The mobile industry has been called upon by the Government to up protection against handset theft.
Mobile companies have ‘a social and corporate responsibility to tackle crime’, said Minister for Crime Prevention Alan Campbell.
Around 2% of British mobile users reported they have suffered a theft in the last year, with the figure for teenagers being three times higher. Figures suggest that 228 handsets are reported stolen in the UK every hour. Read more
Cellular South buys Corr Wireless
February 5, 2010
Today Cellular South announced that it has fully acquired Corr Wireless. According to Cellular South, Corr will continue to operate under the Corr brand, though Cellular South will gradually introduce its own products and services through Corr’s retail outlets. The acquisition adds about 1.3 million POPs to Cellular South’s coverage area, mostly in portions of Alabama and Georgia. Cellular South says the acquisition will help it continue to grow, and also help with it’s planned Long Term Evolution network. More info at Cellular South
Tough calls ahead for Google’s Nexus One plans
February 5, 2010
Google isn’t marching into consumer electronics; it’s tentatively dipping its toes.
For Google, the Nexus One is more than just a phone.
(Credit: CNET)
When word of the Nexus One smartphone broke, the consensus was that Google was about to challenge Apple for the high end of the mobile phone market. One month after its launch, it’s clear that an awful lot will have to change before Google can truly be considered a viable competitor.
It’s not that there’s anything lacking from the Nexus One. It’s easily the best Android phone produced to date, and CNET editors recently decided it outranked the iPhone 3GS, Apple’s best iPhone to date.
But making a great phone is only part of the puzzle. Google has given itself quite a task: It’s attempting to overthrow the established multibillion-dollar mobile phone business model. In a presentation in early January, Google rolled out the Nexus One and a Web store where it is selling the phone directly to the consumer, in the hopes that one day it can create an open market for phones and carriers.
Google’s Andy Rubin cautioned that day that revolutions take time, and that Google had to enter the game itself before it could start changing the rules. It’s hard to tell whether Nexus One customers are opting for the unsubsidized version of the phone or the T-Mobile two-year contract version, as Google declined to release sales data on the Nexus One this week. So it’s not clear yet whether consumers are interested in joining Google at the barricades. But if Google really wants to make this experiment work, it’s going to have to do a much better job explaining to people why its approach is better. Read more
Global cell phone sales on the rise
February 2, 2010
Sales of cell phones around the world rebounded in the fourth quarter, indicating that the recession may be over for the beleaguered mobile handset market, according to figures compiled by market research firms.
Global handset shipments were up 10 percent to 324.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to 293.8 million phones during the same quarter a year ago, said Strategy Analytics. This is the first quarter of growth the industry has seen since the third quarter in 2008.
Other research groups have also observed similar trends. ABI Research said it saw mobile handset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 grow about 15 percent compared to the third quarter of 2009. Read more
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