It appears the US federal Government is bringing the current alert procedure up to par to work with existing mobile technologies, specifically through SMS messaging. The current system, which I must say I have not heard in quite a while (thank goodness) currently expands across television networks and AM radio stations. If all goes according to plan the program is expected to expand its reach to include mobile phones, websites and hand-held computers.
Juicy Berries
Well PSK is telling the tale about how difficult Ebay is being right now. It seems the Ebay doesn’t want to allow Google CheckOut in its mix of accepted and recognized methods of payment. As speculated this move shows a sign of fear on behalf of Ebay. I wonder what will Amazon do?
LG is said to be releasing both pink and white versions of the VX8500 a.k.a the “Chocolate”, of course for those of us who read EM we already knew that. What we didn’t know was that LG is going to be releasing premium versions of the phone with more features. LG was open with the color announcement but tight lipped on the features. We’ll just have to wait and see.
3.2 Megapixels for Verizon Wireless as the company has decided to give the go for the Samsung SCH A990. The A990 is not pretty in comparison to some of the other phones out there but it packs a punch. Speaking of punch (or lack of) Cingular needs to step their game up as it seems every other US carrier has something to write home to mother about. And those other carriers are waving their flags high. Speaking of promotion and advertising it’s so many JD Power & Associates badges I can’t tell if I’m buying a car or a phone.
Google Wants Better Search for Mobile
Google says it wants to step up and provide better search results for mobile phones. Mobile phones in many developing countries are more common than PC’s. In addition to expanding its reach Google wants to provide mobile users crisp, relevant results. Google’s Dipchand “Deep” Nishar, who heads the company’s mobile division understands that when on the go, users don’t have time to wade through bottomless pages of results. When searching for a movie they more than likely want tickets or theaters, not fan pages or the Internet Movie Database.
Nokia N70 wins Mobile Entertainment Award
The mobile Entertainment Awards otherwise known as the Meffys were held recently in London and the Nokia N70 walked away being named ‘Best Mobile Entertainment handset’. The Meffys are organized by the Mobile Entertainment Forum who selects top entries by an independent panel consisting of industry, media and analyst experts.
Quick Specs
GSM (900, 1800, 1900MHz)
WCDMA 2100
176 x 208 pixel 262k color display
2 megapixel camera (20 x zoom)
2nd VGA camera
RealPlayer Media
Bluetooth
USB 2.0
Expandable Hot swap MMC card
Weight: 126g
Size: 108.8 x 53 x 21.8mm
Google to offer Mobile Services in Russian
Russian mobile phone users are in for a treat as now Google is providing language services to Russian mobile phone and hand-held computer users in their native language. Google News and personalized home pages get the Russian treatment too.
NTT DoCoMo Data Storage Service has Nokia Intellisync backbone
Nokia’s Intellisync SyncML Server is being used by NTT DoCoMo. The company is using the Nokia server solution to power a new data storage solution being provided for NTT DoCoMo 902is Series phones. In fact every 3G phone going forward will take advantage of the new service, which allows customers over-the-air backup, restoration and editing of their personal address books, emails and pictures.
The data storage service has been put in place to provide customers a means of protecting their personal content and phone contact information in case of their mobile phones being lost, stolen or broken. The data storage service is the result of a collaborative effort between Nokia, NTT DATA, NTT DoCoMo and NEC. The optional service is priced at 100 Yen per month.
Sidekick 3 Auctioned on Ebay for $4050.00
Some lucky soul will be able to say they have a Sidekick 3 a few days before regular T-Mobile subscribers and about a week or so before the rest of the world. I guess they had the extra cash to spend. By the way that price ($4050.00) is without shipping and handling. For that the winning bidder must pay an additional $35. Let’s have a show of hands of who believes the buyer won’t pay.
Nokia this Week
This week as usual a lot of activity took place in the mobile world. Some news we covered and some we didn’t. Here is a partial list of activity that we thought to highlight from Nokia. In a totally random order.
Summary
Nokia Siemens Networks Announces Top Execs
Nokia + Sanyo is a No Go but Nokia Siemens is a Yes. Here are the top Execs announced for the Nokia Siemens Networks.
- Mika Vehviläinen, who will serve as Chief Operating Officer.
- Karl-Christoph Caselitz, who will serve as Chief Market Operations Officer.
- Peter Schönhofer, who will become Chief Financial Officer.
Nokia enters the Blogging Experience
Globe Telecom announces the ability to upload photos and videos directly from Nokia NSeries devices to G-Blogs, Globe’s mobile blogging service. Currently supported by the Nokia N93 and Nokia N73. Nokia users also have the option to post entries through Lifeblog.
Nokia demos 3.6Mbps HSDPA with MobileOne
During Nokia Connection in Singapore the first 3.6Mbps demonstration in Asia took place. Nokia is claiming DVD-like quality for video and music files downloaded in less than 10 seconds. The comapny says they expect 3.6Mbps speeds to be available commercially at the end of June.
Slingbox Headed to Japan
According to a recent press release the Slingbox from Sling Media will be available in Japan. Itochu Corporation and I-O Data Device are partnering with the company to make media slinging a realty. Itochu will serve as Sling Media’s distribution partner and I-O data will handle Japan’s Slingbox retail sales. Priced at 29,800 Yen, the Slingbox is expected to become available in Japan starting July 8th.
SuperMan Returns Lenovo i750 Music Phone
We won’t do any silly look it’s a bird, it’s a plane jokes because that’s cornball. We will mention that Warner Bros and Lenovo from what we’ve uncovered apparently have hooked up to market a limited edition Superman Returns mobile.
The phone itself a Lenovo i750 is a recent Beijing release. A standard fare mobile with the usually expected features on a camera and media player. The Lenovo i750 steps it up a few notches by providing TV-out and 128MB of intermal memory in addition to having a MiniSD card slot.
