Business News Holding

Tag: apple

  • T-Mobile to launch first Android smartphone

    Google’s Android operating system to be offered on HTC phone

    T-Mobile is to be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software.

    The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world, and is expected to go on sale in the United States before Christmas, according to reports.

    Google is making the Android operating system software available free to an alliance of companies, including mobile phone carriers and manufacturers who have agreed to provide devices which, like personal computers, allow users to decide which applications run on them.

    Google thinks that many consumers will want to personalise their mobile phones with unique applications and services.

    The mobile Web is seen as vital to the long-term growth of Google’s digital advertising business.

    Flagged as a worthy rival to Apple’s 3G iPhone, the HTC smartphone will have a touch screen.
    But the screen can slide out to expose a full five-row keyboard.

    While other carriers and manufacturers have plans to offer phones based on Google’s software, the T-Mobile-HTC phone is expected to be the only Android phone available in the US this year.

    Some makers of mobile software programs have complained that creating applications for Android has been difficult.
    They claim Google has continued to make changes to the operating system and at times has been too busy to provide support to developers.

  • Garmin delays smartphone launch

    The GPS maker Garmin has delayed plans to launch its Nuvifone smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2008 until the first half of 2009.
    Obstacles in dealing with the various individual needs of each cell phone carrier were cited as the reason for the delay.

    Shortly before announcing its decision on the Nuvifon, Garmin posted weak second-quarter results and slashed its outlook for 2008.
    The company has been hurt by slower growth in the personal navigation device (PND) market.
    It results and the delayed launch of its smartphone sent its shares down more than 22 per cent.
    The biggest US maker of navigation devices said the PND market, which it dominates with Dutch rival TomTom, has not been growing as fast as expected.
    It said consumers were being more cost-conscious.

    The outlook cut follows a difficult year for Garmin, as macroeconomic difficulties, competition and several new entrants have affected its prices and margins.
    The stock has lost 70 per cent of its value since last October.
    Garmin has not yet disclosed pricing and carrier details for the Nuvifone, which will compete against Research In Motion’s BlackBerry Pearl 8110, Nokia’s N95 and N82 multimedia phones and Apple’s iPhone.

  • iPhone breathes life into mobile gaming market

    Touchscreen handset could have a potentially revolutionary impact on mobile gaming, according to a report by Screen Digest.
    In particular, Apple’s iPhone 3G is expected to drive the growth of the North American market raising it to the leading global market by revenue next year.

    The media analyst’s study says that the world’s top four games publishers are taking an ever bigger share of the market for mobile games.
    EA Mobile, Gameloft, Glu and THQ Wireless have seen their global market shares increase from 11 per cent to 22 per cent in 2007 and the figure is rising, particularly in Western Europe.

    From the perspective of both games developers and mobile users, touchscreen phoness have the potential to be the number one device for mobile gaming.
    The Screen Digest report says this is supported by recently released retail sales figures that show 10 million applications were downloaded from the Apple online store in the three days after the iPhone 3G went on sale on July 11.
    However, it cautions that the handset presents technical challenges for developers, limiting the sophistication of the games on offer which in turn restricts audience retention.

    Ronan de Renesse, senior mobile analyst, said:

    “Whilst the current demand for games that can be played on the iPhone is giving the mobile gaming industry a much needed boost, there are a number of issues that will need to be addressed by games developers"
    “They need to overcome technical challenges to deliver more enticing games to a wider audience of gamers – and they need to do this fast"
    “So whilst in the short term the iPhone is boosting sales of mobile games, the favour won’t be returned until the iPhone can support a major blockbuster title – or two.”

    Screen Digest anticipates that the mobile games market will generate an extra US€1bn in the next five years to reach a total value of US€2.6bn by 2012.

    Historically, Asia has been the biggest market in terms of industry revenues with over 37 per cent market share in 2007, but Screen Digest predicts that from 2009 onwards, North America will become the largest market.

    North America has been experiencing continued growth, generating an average of US€125m every year for the past four years.
    The report forecasts this this revenue growth to continue and double the market value to just over US€1.1bn by 2012.

  • Smartphone demand undented by economic woes

    Global demand for mobile devices still expected to reach 1.3 billion units in 2008 despite financial uncertainties, according to ABI Research

    The fact many global economies are teetering on the brink of recession doesn’t appear to have diminished consumer demand for top-end mobile phones.

    As the recent launch of the 3G iPhone demonstrated, the public appetite for the latest, most sophisticated smartphones is strong.

    Now a report by ABI Research suggests that while handset sales in developed markets were flat, those that did purchase were willing to pay more for the newest smartphones.

    As a result of this, it estimates that the mobile device market will deliver 13 per cent growth to take 2008 annual shipments to 1.3 billion units.

    It shows that in the second quarter of 2008, Tier One handset vendors enjoyed year-over-year unit shipment growth of between 15 and 22 per cent.

    An estimated 301 million units were shipped during the quarter, according to the analysts.

    Jake Saunders, vice president of ABI Research, said: “If there is an economic slowdown, no one bothered to tell the mobile device buying public.

    “In particular, consumers in emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America shrugged off inflation fears to sign up as mobile phone users.

    “These healthy gains in net subscriber additions are stimulating replacement and upgrade sales.
    “In developed markets handset purchases tended to be flat, but those consumers who did purchase dug deeper and paid out more for coveted higher-end handsets and smartphones.”

    In terms of market share, the report Mobile Devices Market Sizing and Share, shows that Nokia has passed the 40 per cent threshold for the first time (40.3%).

    Samsung secured second place with 15.2 per cent, while Motorola barely managed to keep ahead of LG with its 9.3 per cent versus LG’s 9.2 per cent, and both edged out Sony Ericsson (8.3 per cent).

    There is a distinct possibility that LG might overtake Motorola by the end of 3Q 2008, putting Motorola into fourth place.

    “There is admittedly turmoil in the global economy, but the mass market’s fascination with getting the latest and greatest handset shows no sign of abating,” said ABI’s research director Kevin Burden.

    However, even with the expected 1H 2008 success of Tier One handset vendors – with Apple’s latest iPhone leading the charge – Nokia’s overall market share is likely to hold.

    This is in large part down to it refreshing its portfolio in the mid-tier and high end categories and pretty much cornering the ultra-low cost handset market.

  • Verizon gets a bite of Apple's success

    iPhone credited with spurring Verizon’s smartphone sales as Q2 earnings exceed predictions

    Verizon Wireless has exceeded analysts’s predictions and posted impressive second quarter earnings of US$1.88 billion.
    A key factor in the results was increased smartphone sales, which now account for 30 per cent of the US carrier’s device sales.

    Denny Strigl, Verizon’s president and COO, even went as far as to give the build up of interest for the 3G iPhone’s launch earlier this month some of the credit for his company’s results.

    Verizon, currently the number two phone service provider, is fighting the Apple handset’s exclusive carrier, AT&T, for the market leadership slot.
    “As we saw with the initial introduction, the iPhone has actually stimulated smartphone sales,” he said.

    Verizon Wireless’s revenue for the second quarter was US$24.12 billion, up from US$23.27 billion in the first quarter and a 3.7 per cent increase compared with second quarter 2007.

    Shrugging of a sluggish economy, the company attributed strong growth in wireless services and demand for data services as the primary stimulators in the results.

    Businesses or individual smartphone users don’t appear to be switching off services, pulling back on data services or putting off handset upgrades.

    Verizon Wireless added 1.5 million subscribers in the second quarter bringing its total subscriber base to 68.7 million.
    Last week AT&T reported adding more than a million subscribers.

  • US iPhone 3G launch sales double first version

    Stocks of iPhone 3G still scarce as more than 500,000 sold in first week by AT&T

    A fortnight after the iPhone 3G was launched many Apple retail stores have no handsets in stock and lengthy queues form outside those that do.

    Now AT&T has provided frustrated buyers with further evidence that Apple’s latest handset is popular – the carrier has sold twice as many Apple iPhone 3G units upon launch as they did a year ago with the first generation iPhone.

    The company also noted that it had more than doubled its smartphone users year-on-year since June 2007, from 8 per cent to 18 per cent.

    Although official numbers have never been published by AT&T, it is generally estimated that 270,000 first generation iPhones were sold in the opening weekend after launch.

    Based on AT&T’s latest comments suggest at least 500,000 iPhone 3G units have been sold in the US by AT&T.
    That will be little consolation to many potential purchasers who have so far not been able to buy a 3G iPhone.

    AT&T also reported that they added 1.3 million new subscribers, pushing its user base to 72.9 million, making it the largest carrier in the US over Verizon.

    Apple will continue its iPhone 3G roll-out next month by releasing the touchscreen smartphone in 20 more countries.

    The second-generation iPhone has so far been launched in 22, with an estimated 1 million iPhone 3Gs sold globally in the first weekend after its release.

    With another 20 markets opening next month, Apple to take its tally up to 70 countries by the end of the year – with the goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.

  • Motorola sues former executive now with Apple


    Motorola has sued a former executive for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement and threatening to reveal its trade secrets by taking a job with Apple’s iPhone division, the mobile phone maker said in a lawsuit.

    Michael Fenger accepted “millions of dollars in cash, restricted stock units, and stock options” in exchange for agreeing not to join a competitor for two years after leaving Motorola, where he oversaw mobile devices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the lawsuit said.

    According to the lawsuit filed in Illinois last week he took the iPhone job on March 31, less than a month after leaving Motorola.
    Fenger, who now serves as vice president of global iPhone sales, also employed two high-level Motorola employees who have access to Motorola’s trade secrets and customer relationships, the suit said.

    An Apple spokeswoman said the company had no comment on the lawsuit. Fenger could not be reached for comment.
    Motorola, based in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, is asking the Cook County court to stop Fenger from working for Apple for two years and to bar him from soliciting or hiring Motorola employees or disclosing Motorola’s confidential information.
    It is demanding damages and repayment of stock options given to him in exchange for signing the non-compete agreement.

  • "Iconic" new smartphone models will entice buyers

    Launch of latest smartphones by Apple, RIM, Nokia and Samsung will ensure handset markets enjoy strong end to 2008

    Some impressive mobile phone product launches between now and the year-end will help the world’s mobile handset markets finish 2008 with strong sales, according to ABI Research.

    Spurred on by the launch of Apple’s second-generation iPhone, rival handset vendors such as RIM, Nokia and Samsung are also expected to debut new models in the second half of 2008.

    Kevin Burden, director of ABI Research, said such “iconic” models generate a lot of interest around the handset industry and get consumers thinking about replacement.
    “2008 should still be a very good year for the global mobile phone market,” he said.
    “While Q2 performance figures are still preliminary until finalised at the end of July, early indications do not point to an aggressively weak quarter.

    “Historically, the second half of the year has always outperformed the first, and despite nearly global economic problems, a second half lift is still expected, although likely lower than the near 20 per cent increase the worldwide market has seen in recent years.”

    Burden said that greater simplicity in handset design had been a powerful driver in new adoption over the last two years.
    He said a lot of advanced technologies and applications hade been built into phones but there had often been technical or ease-of-use barriers that prevented wide adoption.

    “The trend now is about making better use of what we have rather than introducing a flood of new services and network features,” he said.
    “That’s going to go a long way towards ensuring users’ acceptance of new phones and new applications.”

    Burden was speaking after the release of the latest update to ABI Research’s Mobile Device Market Share Analysis and Forecasts.
    It reports that many usability issues will also be progressively worked out as the industry increasingly moves towards standardised operating systems.

    Proprietary real-time operating systems can be painful to manage for operators as well as for users.
    Open operating systems will continue to migrate down phone vendors’ product lines, increasing the penetration of devices using standardised and predictable platforms and boosting overall ease of use.

  • Smartphone isn't spelt A-P-P-L-E?

    As the iPhone notches up one million sales Palm and HP launch their latest smartphones with a little less fanfare

    With hardly a whimper Palm’s Treo 800w and Hewlett-Packard’s iPaQ 910 have been released on to a smartphone market still largely focussed on Friday’s iPhone launch.

    Sprint and Palm have unveiled the Treo 800w, a Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone targeted at business users.
    With integrated Wi-Fi, GPS, EV-DO Rev. A, and a slimmer design, the Treo 800w is available US$249.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts.

    Elsewhere, HP made available its new Windows Mobile smarthphone, the HP iPaQ 910, which is now available for US$499.99 from HP’s website.
    It’s loaded with high-end features, including a 2.4-inch touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA for connecting to the web at 7.2 Mbps, 3.0-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, built-in Google Maps and GPS, 128MB of RAM, and a 416 MHz Marvell PXA270 processor.

    Aimed at the business market, the iPaQ 910 runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and is loaded with various Microsoft programs including Office Mobile, Office Outlook Mobile and Internet Explorer Mobile.

    While Apple has made no secret of the fact that it would like a share of the corporate pie, no-one at the company will be complaining about its new handset’s initial sales figures.

    Three days after launching, the iPhone 3G is now available in 21 countries and will go on sale in France on July 17.
    Despite the outages, shortages, and related hand-wringing associated with the launch and release of the iPhone 2.0 firmware, Apple said there were nevertheless 10 million downloads from its new App Store in its first weekend of existence.

    Apple founder, Steve Jobs, said the 3G phone had got off to a ·great start” and described the App Store as a “grand slam”.
    “Developers have created some extraordinary applications, and the App Store can wirelessly deliver them to every iPhone and iPod touch user instantly,” he said.

  • Video, music and celebrity gossip on new app for iPhone

    Free vSNAX Videos application offers the latest from MTV Networks and more to iPhone and iPod Touch

    Rhythm NewMedia, a leader in mobile video, has announced the availability of the free vSNAX Videos native iPhone application on the Apple App Store.

    vSNAX Videos promises to deliver mobile video clips to iPhone and iPod touch users from more than 20 premium media partners including AccuWeather.com, Ford Models, Ripe TV, and MTV Networks’ VH1, Spike and GameTrailers.

    Refreshed throughout the day it will offer the latest celebrity gossip, TV show highlights, breaking news, national weather forecasts, fashion and comedy clips.

    Jim Morris, chief product officer of Rhythm NewMedia, which developed vSNAX Videos, said the iPhone allows for “significant improvement” in the way customers experience and consume videos on their mobile devices.

    “We’re excited to launch vSNAX Videos and fully expect users to continue to devour more and more snack size video clips on their iPhones,” he said.
    “vSNAX Videos brings mobile viewing to an entirely new level by using the iPhone’s groundbreaking Multi-Touch user interface so, for the first time, iPhone owners are able to continue to watch their video clip while simultaneously swiping through thumbnails to pick their next selection,” he said.

    vSNAX Videos will be available exclusively in the US and can be downloaded for free from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.

    Alice Kim, senior vice president, Digital Distribution and Partner Relations, MTV Networks, said: “With vSNAX, we’re expanding the industry-leading reach of our mobile video portfolio, serving up content to the consumer that is both engaging and free, on two industry changing devices.”