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  • T-Mobile to take G1 into continental Europe


    Various countries on the European continent are in line to get the HTC G1 following its October launch in the UK and US.

    T-Mobile is continuing the roll-out of the handset – the first to run Google’s Android operating system – with a launch in Germany on 2 February.

    That follows the arrival of the touchscreen device in the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Austria before the end of 30 January.

    It will also hit Poland sometime in February.

    T-Mobile chief executive Hamid Akhavan said the G1 had sold "several hundred thousand" units in the US, where it retails for USD $179 with a two-year contract.

    In Germany the phone will sell from USD €1 on a two-year contract.

    The Android operating system is expected to appear on a number of smartphones in the next 12 months, having won support from major manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, LG, Huawei and Motorola.

  • G2 Software Issues Delay Launch


    There has been plenty of speculation that the launch of the next Google Android-powered handset is just days away.

    That appears to be premature according to BGR, which claims the launch has in fact been delayed until April due to "software issues".

    Among the other unconfirmed details gleaned are that the T-Mobile G2 will actually launch on another global carrier as well.

    Since the "G" names are trademarks of T-Mobile the other carrier will use its own name for the device.

    BGR also reports that the new handset will be full touch without a physical QWERTY keyboard and will have a trackball at the bottom.

  • Motorola Commits To WinMo And Android


    Motorola is to discontinue making phones for Symbian and will instead concentrate on two new platforms: Windows Mobile and Android.

    Sanjay Jha, CEO of the Mobile Devices group at Motorola, confirmed what had until now been rumors to Michael Oryl of MobileBurn.

    Motorola’s stake in Symbian was in UIQ, a part of the OS being cut following Nokia’s decision to move to an open platform.

    A leading force in the US smartphone market, Motorola has seen it position threatened of late.

    In November, Apple’s iPhone overtook Motorola’s Razr to become the best-selling consumer cellphone in the US in the third quarter of 2008.

    Motorola is now expected to postpone any product launches until the end of 2009 to allow it to prepare its new Android devices.

  • OnePhone Seeks To Benefit From Shift To Open-source

    smartphone.biz-news spoke to Christoph Wernli, business development manager at Devoteam, about the convergence market and the opportunities offered by open-source operating systems.

    Devoteam is to release a Blackberry version of its VoIP client OnePhone that runs on mobile platforms enabling voice calls over an IP network.

    It is expected to be available for the RIM handset in the first quarter of 2009.

    The application, which effectively turns mobile devices into extensions of employees’ desk phones, is also being made ready for Android and the iPhone.

    Christoph Wernli, business development manager at Devoteam, said the application would have to be modified to comply with Apple’s legal requirements for services such as VoIP functionality.

    That aside, he said the aim was to expand beyond the current offering for Symbian and Windows Mobile handset to provide its clients – and in particular operators – with a wider choice of devices on which OnePhone can be used.

    "What we are aiming to do is create this same kind of convergence platform for all operating systems out there," he said.

    Convergence Is The Future

    OnePhone is a SIP-based, dual mode GSM-WiFi solution that is able to interwork with public and private WiFi hot spots, and with mobile networks.

    It was first released in 2004 – before the advent of smartphones – in an internal Bluetooth version.

    Wernli said they had anticipated the growth of WiFi and sophisticated handsets, and the application had evolved for use with 3G and WiFi.

    "The vision we had is that it’s not going to be a mobile world but a converged one," he said.

    From an infrastructure access point of view, this entails a plethora of wireless options – WiFi or GSM/GPRS/UMTS.

    Wernli said this meant that a device has to be agnostic in regards to the access methods it uses.

    Devoteam had also to consider the gamut of services required for mobile devices, including:

    • Traditional voice
    • Messaging – SMS, email, instant messaging
    • Location Based Services (LBS)
    • TV
    • Video calls

    "All these should be accessible seamlessly by whatever means is available, without having to choose different WiFi access points or UMTS, if you are in the field. That should be transparent," said Wernli.

    He said OnePhone has been set up based on these requirements. As a result, it sits on top of the different stacks for accessing GSM or WiFi but beneath the user interface.

    "That means that on one hand the OnePhone is not necessarily visible to the user, but can translate any kind of user action towards different access stacks," he said.

    "So, if you place a voice call, then of course you couldn’t care less if you are in the office or in range of WiFi access or outside on GSM.

    "You place the call, OnePhone intercepts it and depending on the parameters, processes the call over GSM or, if WiFi is available, it will transform this user action into a VoIP call."

    Wernli said that ability to seamlessly communicate via the best possible wireless option at any given moment was one of the fundamental concepts of OnePhone.

    He said it was this that gave it a huge advantage over other applications that were often separate add-ons that sat on top of the user interface.

    "OnePhone is structured so that it can be used by my grandmother – it’s point and click," he said.

    Convergence Platform

    Wernli explained that behind the scenes OnePhone was a convergence platform providing voice call functions as well as others such as video calling and access to data (email, mapping etc).

    A key element was its ability to provide call continuity, switching between GSM and WiFi mid-call without calls being dropped or any loss of call quality.

    He said other solutions relied on special boxes to provide this functionality, increasing the burden on enterprises.

    "OnePhone implements the hand-over mechanism, which is entirely client-based," he said.

    "It senses when it is losing the WiFi signal and starts transferring a call over to GSM or whatever is available."

    Signal strength is continuously measured and based on a series of complex factors the application decides when it is necessary to start the hand-over procedure.

    "It’s a trade-off. On the one hand you want to remain on VoIP as long as possible because it costs less," he said.

    "On the other hand you don’t want to have dropped calls."

    Encryption Becoming Essential

    A recent feature added to OnePhone was the ability to encrypt voice calls, something that is required particularly by users handling sensitive information such as banks.

    Wernli said there was still a certain wariness that someone could eavesdrop on calls.

    "With GSM it’s usually taken for granted that no-one can drop in on your call," he said.

    "With VoIP that’s not the impression people have."

    Wernli said because Devoteam developed and controls the entire stack within the application it has the flexibilty to implement such user requests speedily – something he said was almost certainly not always the case.

    "We don’t have to tell the customer that we would like to provide this feature, but you will have to wait until someone in Microsoft or Nokia agrees," he said.

    Market Expanding

    Devoteam’s main market is currently Italy, where it has over 60,000 users but it signed up a UK operator earlier this year and is currently in talks with operators in Spain and France.

    Typically sales are to operators who are able to sell OnePhone’s mobility function as a complementary product to an IP PBX.

    Wernli said that while efforts were being focussed on the European market, they weren’t ruling out future operations in the US.

    "We have seen a lot of interest in the upper segment of the market where OnePhone is used to offer additional services to complement other corporate functions and broaden an enterprise’s offering."

    Open-source World

    Wernli said he expected the penetration of OnePhone to increase as the shift towards handsets being mobile computers rather than simple phones quickened.

    He said that in addition to improvements in hardware towards iPhone-like handsets, the shift to open-source operating systems such as Android, LiMo and iPhone was extremely positive.

    "Open-source gives so much more choice to enable new kinds of services," he said."We will see a huge explosion of applications and services in the same way we saw it on the Internet 10 years ago."

  • Sony Ericsson Among 14 Newbies To Open Handset Alliance


    It looks like 2009 could be an interesting year for Android following the announcement by the Open Handset Alliance that it has 14 new members.

    Topping the list of newcomers most likely to offer a handset to rival Google’s HTC-built G1 is Sony Ericsson.

    The list also includes ASUS and navigation systems manufacturer Garmin.

    ASUS has already announced its intention to build a Google smartphone and there has been much speculation about Garmin’s efforts to produce a phone.

    Sony Ericsson has so far used the Windows Mobile – most notably for its recent Xperia handset – and Symbian platforms.

    Now it is promising "consumer focused multimedia handsets" that draw on the successes of the Walkman and Cyber-shot sub-brands.

    Based on that its likely that Android-based Walkman and Cyber-shot handsets are in the offing.

    The Alliance said that new members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of
    Android-based devices.

    The full list of new members is: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUS, Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin, Huawei Technologies, Omron Software, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba and Vodafone.

  • Second Android Smartphone Arrives


    Australia-based Kogan Technologies has announced it is to begin selling two Android handsets from next month.

    The Agora and Agora Pro models will be the second phones to be launched – after T-Mobile’s G1 – with the open-source operating system.

    Similar in appearance to classic BlackBerry smartphones, the Agora’s will come with 3G connectivity, a 2.5-inch LCD, a 320×240-pixel touchscreen, a five-way central navigation key, a microSD slot, a QWERTY keyboard with backlighting, and Bluetooth 2.0.

    Functions include Google Search, Gmail, the YouTube video player, Google Maps, Google Talk, and Google Calendar, as well as support for a variety of video, audio and mail-attachment formats.

    The Pro version, which also has a two-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, and GPS, will work on networks around the world.

    Due for release on 29 January, both models can be preordered from Kogan’s web site. The standard Agora is priced at about USD $194, while the Pro version will cost about USD $399.

    Although with similar specs to the G1 and very reasonably priced, it remains to be seen whether consumers will put their faith in a little known brand.

    What is certain is that if Kogan can bring what appears to be a well put together Android handset to the market, others will be able to do so too.

    Hopefully that means 2009 will see more new Android smartphones coming online.

  • Opera Mini Updated And Working On Android


    The final release of the Opera Mini 4.2 browser is now available – and it works on Google’s Android phone.

    Opera Mini 4.2 is the first browser alternative for the Android platform, which comes preloaded with Chrome light.

    Already known for its fast internet access, Opera claims this has increased in speed by more than 30 per cent for users in the US since the previous beta version launched.

    It says the improvemnt is largely due to the opening of a new Opera Mini server park in the US – the Java ME-based browser works by rendering pages on a server and then sending them to the device, so reducing the connectivity demands of the phone.

    As well as being available for the T-Mobile G1 – as a download from the Android Market – Opera Mini also works with some Blackberry and Windows Mobile handsets.

    Opera reports that 21 million unique users browsed five billion pages using the Opera Mini beta in October 2008 alone, totaling a 490 per cent increase since October 2007.

    Other improvements to Opera Mini 4.2 include:

    • More than 90 language versions, including the recently added Amharic, Armenian, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Kirghiz, Lingala, Marathi, Malayalam, Mongolian, Oriya, Punjabi, Pashto, Sinhala, Tajik, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Uzbek, Khmer, Kashmiri, Lao and Turkmen
    • Funky new skins for personalizing the look of Opera Mini
    • Opera Link support for notes, allowing users to sync their notes between the PC and Opera Mini
    • Improved real time streaming protocol (RTSP) handoff. This increases the number of phones with support for mobile video.

  • JAJAH Available For T-Mobile G1


    JAJAH has confirmed the availability of its service for owners of the newly released T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone.

    The announcement came as the IP communications company was named in the annual FierceVoIP "Fierce 15" list.

    Compiled by the editors of FierceVoIP, the list identifies the best-performing companies in the sector, following a review of hundreds of organizations.

    JAJAH has continued increasing its consumer business this year, while rolling out its JAJAH Managed Services platform for cable, telco and Internet companies.

    Earlier this year the company released its data-only EM-ONE ultra mobile device released in Japan, and JAJAH Babel, the world’s first free, real-time, English-Chinese translation phone-in service.

    Daniel Mattes, JAJAH’s co-founder, said its platform drives its own consumer business as well as many of the world’s most popular VoIP services, such as Yahoo! and Gizmo5.

    JAJAH’s is offering users of the G1 phone have a number of options for making a JAJAH call:

    • Option 1) JAJAH Mobile Web: On your mobile browser go to mobile.jajah.com, then type in the number you want to call or select the number in your JAJAH address book and your call will be connected. No WiFi or broadband connection required.
    • Option 2) JAJAH Direct: JAJAH provides a local number for each of your international contacts. Save these numbers to your G1 address book and dial them directly.

  • iSkoot is First VoIP Application in Android Market


    iSkoot has announced that its mobile application, iSkoot for Skype, is launching in the Android Market.

    It is the first VoIP solution available on Google’s new mobile application store.

    Available immediately for download, iSkoot for Skype also runs on nearly all major mobile platforms, including J2ME, S60v3, UIQ, Palm, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.

    iSkoot’s solution supports the Skype software, offering Android users on any cellular network the ability to make Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls on their mobile phone. Users can also receive Skype calls and use Skype text chat.

    Although the service offers greatly reduced prices, the calls are not free. See iSkoot’s website for pricing details.

    Jim Hudak, iSkoot vice president of business development, said: "iSkoot continues to work on delivering innovative products that give people a rich mobile experience so that they can cut the cord from their desktop."

    San Francisco-based iSkoot has built significant momentum during the past year with the recent acquisition of Social.IM, the social network IM client.

  • Android Smartphone To Sell 400k By Year-end


    You might expect sales to be intitially sluggish for a new smartphone with an unproven mobile operating system.

    But that was never going to be the case with the hotly anticipated first Google Android handset from T-Mobile and HTC, which is expected to be officially announced Tuesday.

    Research from Strategy Analytics suggests that the Android operating system will sell 400,000 units by the year-end.

    If accurate, that represents 4 per cent of all smartphones sold in the US during the fourth quarter of 2008.

    Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, said Android was a relatively late entrant and it will join an increasingly crowded smartphone market alongside Blackberry, Microsoft, Apple, Palm, Symbian and LiMo.

    But he added: "We forecast 10.5 million smartphones to be sold in the United States during Q4 2008.

    “We estimate smartphones with Google’s Android operating system, led by HTC of Taiwan, will reach 0.4 million units in the quarter, for a 4 per cent marketshare.”

    Chris Ambrosio, executive director at Strategy Analytics, said Google had the brand power in the US to make a big impact at launch.
    He said the main issue would be operator subsidies. The HTC handset is expected to have a USD $199 price tag.

    “As seen with the iPhone and smart devices in general, retail prices need to be well below USD $200 to be competitive,” he said.

    “Longer-term success will, of course, rest on Android vendor ability to create designs with wow factor and an intuitive user-interface.”

    Ambrosio said Google would do its part to drive growth, and he expected Android to eventually offer a compelling range of mobile applications emphasizing Google’s online assets, such as advertising, mapping and search.