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Tag: launch

  • iPhone 3GS Enters Smartphone Wars


    Apple launched has its new iPhone 3GS with demand expected to be strong for the handset in the US and seven other initial launch countries.

    However, with a smartphone market also offering new handsets from Palm, RIM and Nokia, to name but a few, the landscape has changed considerably since the original iPhone hit the market two years ago.

    For the third consecutive year, lines formed outside stores as people waited for the chance to buy the newest iPhone.

    Unveiled earlier this month at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the iPhone 3GS is described by Apple as "faster and more responsive" than the original iPhone, with more battery life and close to double the storage.

    If the length of the lines was less than previous iPhone launches then Apple’s decision to allow for advanced iPhone 3G S orders with home delivery could have played a part in that.

    So too could the current economic climate – or maybe it’s just that people are spoilt for choice when it comes to buying a new smartphone?

    Among the iPhone 3GS’ rivals are Palm’s Pre, RIM’s BlackBerry Storm, Nokia’s N97 and upcoming phones powered by Google’s Android or Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating systems.

    But with the US smartphone market growing 68 per cent last year – and growth of 20 per cent projected for 2009 – consumer appetite for these high-end devices is still strong.

    A key differentiator is likely to be apps – and Apple already leads the field in that respect by a considerable distance.

    RIM captured a 55 per cent slice of the US smartphone market in the first quarter of this year, while Apple had around 20 per cent.

    However, Apple’s App Store has 50,000 applications available – far ahead of what’s on offer at BlackBerry’s App World, Palm’s App Catalog, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Catalog and Google’s Android Market.

  • RIM Crossing Categories and Borders With Blackberry Tour


    RIM is boosting its Blackberry range with a new 3G dual-mode handset aimed at both its core executive users and the wider consumer market.

    Candy-bar shaped and with a full keyboard, the Blackberry Tour will launch with Verizon and Sprint in the US and Telus and BCE’s Bell unit in Canada.

    Ever-mindful of the fact the line between corporate and pleasure smartphone use is blurring, RIM has pitched the Tour between the consumer-oriented BlackBerry Curve and the corporate-focused BlackBerry Bold.

    The smartphone is intended as a "world phone" – providing voice and data services on networks outside a user’s home operator network – which has great appeal to business travellers.

    For this reason it supports 3G EV-DO Rev. A networks in North America, as well as 3G UMTS/HSPA (2100Mhz) and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks abroad.

    For the consumer market, the Tour has all the multimedia features of the Curve, including a 3.2 megapixel photo and video camera with flash and media player.

    The phone is also preloaded with DataViz Documents to Go, allowing users to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset.

    RIM has been left in the shadows recently – as Palm and Apple grab the spotlight with the launch of the Pre and the iPhone 3Gs.

    It will be interesting to see how its latest Blackberry offering fares as its rivals continue to encroach on RIM’s traditional enterprise stronghold.

    The BlackBerry Tour is expected to be available this summer. Pricing still to be announced.

  • Palm Pre App Count Builds – Now More Handsets?


    Palm must be hoping it can quickly build on estimated opening weekend sales of 60,000 Pre smartphones – not least because Apple has cranked up the pressure with the launch of a new iPhone.

    While Palm’s Saturday launch has largely been judged a success, it was hampered by supply constraints which saw most Sprint Nextel stores get less than 50 phones to sell.

    The limited supply of handsets meant that the Pre sold out in hours at most locations.

    Sprint’s flagship Manhattan store had 200 units at launch. Its store in Boston’s Back Bay area had only 55, while one in San Francisco’s Mission district had 60.

    Palm and Sprint strenuosly denied they were limiting supplies deliberately, instead the restrictions were put down to manufacturing constraints.

    As expected, between 80-90 per cent of the first buyers were already Sprint customers – while about 60 per cent were prior Palm owners.

    Meanwhile, while one of the major concerns for the Pre has been the lack of apps for the phone there has been a flow of new software being announced by developers since Saturday’s launch.

    Among them are the WHERE and Photobucket apps.

    WHERE is a location based application that allows users to find different content based on their geographic position.

    It also highlights local content including weather, news, movie times, restaurant recommendations. You can also perform selective searches through WHERE and find out things like where to find the cheapest gas. WHERE will also have the ability to integrate with the Pre contact and calendar data.

    Photobucket allows users to send and upload photos directly from the phone. You can send any photo taken on the phone to a Photobucket album and shared through the website. You can also open a new Photobucket account directly through your Pre.

    Other applications include Zumobi’s Today Show and Sporting News Baseball apps for on-the-go news and sports updates, and LikeMe, which offers personal recommendations for restaurants, attractions, etc, based on your location.

    Beeweeb and Agile Commerce have also announced their plans to offer services to help developers create apps for the Pre and Palm WebOS.

    These new apps join the dozen or so programs that were available in the Pre App Catalog at launch, including Pandora and Fandango.

    According to Palm, more than 150,000 apps were downloaded on the first day the smartphone was available.

    Currently, the Palm App Catalog is in beta and the Mojo SDK is only available to a limited number of developers.

  • HDD Not Threatened by Virtualisation, Claims Western Digital


    Western Digital has dismissed the growing trend of virtualisation among enterprises as a possible threat – and instead emphasised the indispensable value of internal hard drives in businesses.

    Noel Timbol, business development manager at WD, said recent virtualisation efforts undertaken by companies have not made any dent on the sales of their Enterprise models.

    Speaking at the launch of WD’s new line of internal HDD (hard disk drive) products at Computerworld Philippines, he told TechWorld that "even if companies are migrating their data centre operations abroad, they’d still need hard drives for simple internal operations".

    WD is currently the second-largest hard drive manufacturer in the world, and currently leads the market for portable hard drives.

  • Palm Pre Passes First Hurdle – "iPhone Competitor"


    Palm’s Pre smartphone has received a pre-launch boost with a succession of (mostly) favorable reviews.

    And, in what must be the ultimate accolade in the highly competitive smartphone market, the device has even been described as a tough competitor to Apple’s iPhone.

    The handset, which goes on sale in the US on Saturday, was praised for features such as its removable battery, physical keyboard and the Web OS software.

    One of the key features coming in for criticism was the Pre’s apparently poor battery life.

    Also mentioned is state of Palm’s app store, which doesn’t have much in the way of applications to offer yet.

    That comes as little surprise since the company has yet to make an SDK widely available.

    Among the reviewers were Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times.

    Sprint,the operator with exclusive US rights to the Pre, even came in for some praise for the speed of its network.

    Dan Hesse, the CEO of Sprint, has said it will take around three months for the carrier to know how well the Palm Pre is doing in the market.

    He predicted it would sell "like crazy" initially but the real test would come after the initial euphoria.

    Palm and Sprint are under intense pressure to succeed – and with Apple expected to announce a new version of the iPhone on Monday, that will be no easy thing.

  • Pre Launch Kicks Off Smartphone Summer


    So the launch of the Palm Pre is June 6th – and the scene is all set for what is likely to be an exciting summer for the smartphone industry.

    Those joining Palm in announcing new – or updated handsets – over the next few months are Apple with an upgraded iPhone and new phones using the Android operating system from Google.

    The launch season has already begun in the US, with T-Mobile announcing the introduction of the Sidekick LX, while AT& T unveiled the Samsung Jack.

    But the peak time is the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day – a spell that will be a crucial one for the industry in the US, according to the New York Times.

    How the Pre fares is certain to determine the future of loss-making Palm.

    It is a little surprising, then, to hear that Dan Hesse, Palm’s CEO says he expects a shortage of Pre handsets at launch.

    If true, it will certainly lead to headline-making lines forming outside of stores on June 6th.

    But even if it is a sales tactic, it’s a risky one for a company in Palm’s financial situation.

    The stakes are also high for Sprint Nextel, which has exclusive rights to the Pre in the United States.

    Striking a positive note, the NYT comments that with only 100 million smartphones out of the four billion mobile devices in the world, the market is capable of sustaining more than one succesful handset.

    The summer launches will add spice to the general mood of optimism within the smartphone industry.

    Lee Williams, chief of the Symbian Foundation, has predicted smartphone sales will grow 12-15 per cent in 2009, while Marvell Technology Group’s chief executive Sehat Sutardja reckons smartphones will soon make up 50 per cent of the mobile market.

    And the latest figures for smartphone sales suggest demand in unflagging.

  • MyGlobalTalk Prepares Single-SIM Mobile VoIP Solution

    INTERVIEW: Larry Stessel, CMO of i2Telecom, talks to voip.biz-news about a new mobile VoIP solution being readied for launch.
    The new technology will allow users to make low-cost international calls from anywhere in the world using one SIM card.

    i2Telecom’s MyGlobalTalk was the winner of voip.biz-news’ Product of the Year Award 2008.

    i2Telecom’s MyGlobalTalk (MGT) launched in the US last June as a Beta version for BlackBerry and non-smartphones.

    It allows users to bypass their current phone providers’ high international rates and use i2Telecom’s low VOIP Digital Service rates for international calls.

    Since then, support for MGT has expanded and now works on most smartphones – Blackberry, Android, Symbian or Windows devices, with the iPhone expected shortly – plus any cell phone, land line or computer.

    Larry Stessel, CMO of i2Telecom, told voip.biz-news that the current version of MGT worked "perfectly" for international calls made from the US.

    But he said that within the next few months new technology is to be introduced that allows users to call from anywhere in the world using one SIM card.

    Larry Stessel, CMO i2Telecom

    MGT’s goal has been to duplicate the ease with which callers’ were able to phone anywhere within the US – regardless of which state they were in – simply by dialling the number and not worrying about high call rates or complicated call-back systems.

    i2Telecom is also preparing a widgets launch which will allow MGT to be used from Outlook, iGoogle or Facebook.

    "A lot of companies offer the ability to call from overseas for reduced rates," said Stessel.

    "But the technology is often based on call-back systems. We wanted to create something simple.

    "We don’t want people to be carrying a pack of SIM cards when they travel overseas.

    "What we wanted to do was figure out a way to duplicate the American system.

    "In the next couple of months we will be offering a single SIM card that allows users to make calls abroad at the lowest price."

    iPhone Support Soon

    When using a smartphone the application auto detects any international call being made and instantly reroutes it over the MyGlobalTalk Digital Network.

    Stessel, a 30-year veteran of the music industry, said they were still awaiting approval of their application to Apple’s app store.

    But he said the beta worked "phenomenally" on the iPhone, with really fast connection times and crystal clear call quality.

    When the solution is used on home or business lines, callers have to dial an access number, then the international number before being connected.

    Stessel said the seed for MGT came from another of i2Telecom’s products, a flash drive Internet phone service called VoiceStick.

    He said when users sign up for that service they receive a 10-digit DID number as part of the package.

    "We realised that we were missing out a bit on the DID number and over the course of one day we started talking about its possibilities," he said.

    "We realised we could give customers the ability to call from any phone to any number at reduced rates.

    "The more we talked about it, the more excited we became and by the end of the day we had come up with MyGlobalTalk."

    That was in October 2007. Stessel said that over the next year i2Telecom’s technicians created the code that enabled MGT to be a one-touch call on smartphones.

    Users simply go into their contacts, select the one to call and the call goes through.

    By the beginning of September 2008, the Blackberry and Windows versions were completed.

    "We wanted to remove the step of dialling 10-digit numbers and then an international number," said Stessel.

    Aggressive Marketing Campaign

    Marketing of the product has so far been low-key, largely because resources have been used to create the server system and customer services. Everything is housed in a technology park in Atlanta, Georgia.

    That is about to change, according to Stessel, who said an aggressive marketing campaign is being prepared for the roll-out of the new technology, which he forecast would be by the end of June.

    "We have been very careful not to rush out a product overseas that is not ready," he said. "We wanted to get it right first time."

    Key markets for MGT are:

    • SMBs – companies ranging from 1 up to 2000 employees
    • Immigrants
    • Military

    Stessel said the i2Telecom team really understood business users’ needs.

    He said MGT could drastically reduce the cost of communications for enterprises – whether it was for calls abroad from the US or for employees who had to use their mobiles outside the US.

    "I don’t think we have a competitor," he said. "You can talk about Fring all day long, but there are complications with it. I think we are the best app on the market."

  • Nokia, Vodafone and Adobe Help Kick-off Mobile World Congress 2009

    Nokia, Vodafone and Adobe Help Kick-off Mobile World Congress 2009


    This year’s Mobile World Congress is now underway and already there has been a flurry of announcements and launches from some of the big names lining up in Barcelona.

    Vodafone has unveiled a raft of new mobiles, including its first own-branded consumer GPS phone – the Vodafone 835.

    The 3G candybar handset is to be available across Europe from spring on contract.

    Other newcomers to the 3G range include the Vodafone 735 and Vodafone 736 – a candybar and slider version respectively of the phone.

    Hot on Vodafone’s heels comes Nokia, with the news that it is launching its own online app and media portal – the Ovi Store.

    The Finnish telecoms giant has made its N97 smartphone the first device to be "pre-integrated" with Ovi Store, but existing S40 and S60 customers will be able to download the service from May.

    Not surprisingly, a developer site has been launched offering a 70 per cent revenue share.

    Adobe announced this morning that Flash Player 10 – the full version of Flash that runs on PCs – is to be available on smartphones running Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Nokia S60/Symbian, and the new Palm operating systems.

    Devices with Flash Player 10 are expected to hit the market starting in early 2010.

    Obviously, the glaring exception to the list of applicable devices is the iPhone – though Adobe executives do promise that it’s coming.

    Earlier, Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO and president of Ericsson, told delegates at MWC that 2008 had been a year of establishing mobile broadband.

    He talked about the impact investment in telecom infrastructure can have on societies and their prosperity – even in the current economic climate.

    "Mobile phones have had a profound impact on peoples’ lives all over the world," he said.

    "The mobile industry is now on the verge of another significant wave of investment, which will bring affordable mobile broadband services to all."

    Svanberg finished by stressing that the fundamentals of the telecoms industry were sound, as was demand.

    "The operators are generally in good shape and the networks are fairly loaded," he said.

    "As we move further into a financially turbulent 2009 our focus will be to manage our company for value creation. In this market environment there will be opportunities to strengthen our position and I am convinced that we are uniquely positioned to capture them."

  • Is The Glofiish DX900 Really Acer's First Smartphone?


    With anticipation growing about Acer’s entry into the smartphone market later this month, there are suggestions its first offering might simply be a rebranded Glofiish DX900.

    The Taiwanese computer giant acquired E-Ten in mid-2008 – maker of the DX900 – a handset that includes dual-SIM support, a 3-megapixel camera, a 2.8-inch VGA quality touchscreen display, GPS, Wi-Fi and runs Windows Mobile 6.1.

    Reports have also suggested that the new Acer smartphone will in fact be a totally new design and come with a rotating swivelling hinge for the keyboard.

    Whether this is the case or Acer is simply going to unveil the Glofiish smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with its own badge remains to be seen.

    If the latter were the case, it would be a little disappointing.

    But the MWC invite did specify there would be a "launch" – so hopefully that’s what we are going to get.

  • Acer Smartphone(s) To Be Unveiled in Barcelona


    Acer is to announce its entrance into the mobile phone market with the launch of at least one smartphone at next month’s Mobile World Congress expo in Barcelona.

    The company confirmed the move through press invitation that announced a "smartphones launch" – suggesting there could be more than one device released.

    Acer first mooted the ideal of a smartphone a year ago so its entry into the mobile market is not unexpected.

    Especially as the computer giant recently acquired the Taiwan-based mobile manufacturer E-Ten.

    The invitation shows that Acer’s president and CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, will be speaking.

    While no details are being given about the launch the expectation is that the Acer device(s) will run Microsoft’s as yet unannounced Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

    Last April, when Acer announced its acquisition of E-Ten, he indicated the phone would be Microsoft-based.

    Now we will just have to wait until 16 February in Barcelona to find out for sure.