Tethering and the iPhone: The beginning of a beautiful friendship?

Ever since the introduction of the ciPhone over two years ago, it has been evident that its major strengths are the ability to bring the whole Internet to the palm of your hand and 24/7 connectivity. In his introductory keynote in January 2007, Steve Jobs referred to it as a “breakthrough Internet communications device” and Apple has insisted from day one that Internet connectivity is one of the device's three primary pillars.

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But despite that, you can't hook up the iPhone to a computer and share its cellular network connection, a curious deficit in its functionality. This ability, sharing a phone's EDGE or 3G connection with a computer via Bluetooth, USB, or Wi-Fi, is referred to as "tethering."

Using a phone that supports tethering, you’d be able to get your computer onto the Internet anywhere you have a cellular signal. That's handy on those occasions when you find yourself needing an Internet connection on your computer when you've only got it on your phone.

Whereas the older EDGE network is only capable of theoretical speeds of up to 236.8Kbps—in practice, quite slow even for china cell phone use, let alone a Mac or PC—AT&T’s newer 3G network currently boasts of theoretical speeds of up to 1.7Mbps, which is pretty fast whether you're on a phone or a computer. AT&T also claims that it has been able to achieve speeds of 7.2Mbps in its labs and plans to upgrade its network to support speeds of up to 20Mbps by the end of 2009, though it's unknown whether or not existing hardware will be compatible.

As great as tethering sounds, there are several potential reasons why both Apple and AT&T may have been hesitant to bring it to the iPhone until now. First and foremost, it's quite evident that keeping Bluetooth or Wi-Fi turned on and transmitting data over the 3G network for extended periods of time can kill the battery life of the phone, perhaps necessitating that you charge it every couple of hours or keep it plugged in while tethering.

Furthermore, it’s well known that AT&T doesn’t have the most robust network in the business and its recently upgraded 3G network sometimes falls to its knees when a lot of iPhones are gathered in one area. It's hard to say how tethering will impact network performance, but the additional volume of data could have a negative impact.

However, it is evident that both Apple and AT&T are indeed working to bring tethering to the iPhone. Apple executives said during the question-and-answer session at the end of the iPhone 3.0 Sneak Peek special event that the upcoming version of the iPhone OS would imbue the device with tethering capabilities. They also added that it required cooperation on the part of the company's various carrier partners around the world, and that Apple was working with those carriers.

Likewise, at the Web 2.0 Summit in November 2008, AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega also said that tethering would soon be available on the iPhone. As with all things Apple, it’s difficult to predict when the service will actually be available for iPhone users, but it certainly won't be before the iPhone OS 3.0 update is available to the public this summer.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the announcement that tethering would be supported in iPhone 3.0, developer Steve Troughton-Smith accidentally enabled the feature on his iPhone running a beta version of OS 3.0 and reported that he got it working via USB, though not over Bluetooth. Although he wasn’t sure exactly how he'd activated the feature, that chink in the armor has since led to detailed tutorials that show how to alter the carrier configuration file on your iPhone running OS 3.0 beta to get tethering working.

Although Apple will tell you otherwise, iPhones running OS 2.2.1 are capable of supporting tethering, although it requires you to jailbreak your phone in order to get it to work, and the experience is not as elegant and polished as the official solution will presumably be. Applications that allow you to do this include iPhone Modem and PDANet, both of which are available through Cydia, one of the central repositories of applications for jailbroken iPhones.

Another application called NetShare, which would let you do the same thing, briefly made it onto the App Store last summer. It retailed for $10 and was downloaded by a few people who were lucky enough to notice it before it was summarily yanked off the store. Although people who bought it then can use it successfully even today, the app never returned to the store after its one-day stint.

Given the state of the telecom industry in the U.S., it shouldn’t come as a surprise that carriers charge extra for the ability to tether your phone to your computer. AT&T hasn’t specifically announced any plans for the iPhone, but it usually charges about $30 per month for tethering in addition to the existing voice, data, and texting charges. It also generally enforces a 5GB data cap on its tethering plans, although that may change for the iPhone, which already has a $30 per month unlimited data plan.

If you do decide to tether your iPhone to your computer, or are doing so already, I should remind you that tethering isn't currently supported by either carriers or Apple and could have unforeseen consequences for you, such as a foot-long monthly bill for having overshot your data limit. Although AT&T currently offers an unlimited data plan with the iPhone, we’re not sure the same rules would necessarily apply if you were to tether your iPhone to your computer and it was somehow detected.

Once all is said and done, it’s clear that tethering is an important feature and one in demand among iPhone users. Clearly, both Apple and AT&T are actively trying to bring it to the masses. Of course, any discussion about when that will happen and how much it will cost falls firmly under the heading of speculation and we’ll only know the actual details when Apple and its partners are good and ready.

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Pace for iPhone

About 30 years ago, the first mass-marketed running diaries appeared on the scene in tandem with the running boom of the 1970s. I still have mine—spiral bound, slick cover, photos, and inspirational quotes—and just enough space to record each day’s runs, times, weather conditions, and a few lines of free-form notes. I loved those yearly journals, because they were the closest thing to a diary I kept in high school and college, and because they were, for the most part, a record of sustained achievement.Product:
Pace 1.6.0
Rating

Company
Ron Forrester
Price as rated
$5



And I Ran: Pace allows you to view lots of summary information and data for four separate runs on one screen.


You can still pick up a few different running journals at Amazon.com or your local bookstore. I tried to rejuvenate my paper-bound journaling habit a few years ago, but it didn’t stick for more than a few weeks. The reason, I think, is that there was a crucial disconnect: I was running with my iPod and relying on Nike+ to measure (and remember) each day’s run, and rewriting those details on paper seemed superfluous. I realize this isn’t very logical: after all, the Nike+ simply records time and distance and your pace at each mile or kilometer interval. It doesn’t record weather, take note of the course you ran, the shoes you wore, who you ran with, how you felt. It’s not well-suited to recording splits and other details about interval workouts. But there it is—I wasn’t being logical.

Pace, a running journal app for the ciPhone, may get me into the habit of keeping notes on my daily runs again. I currently sync my run information to the Nike+ Web site, which preserves the simple information—time and distance—and serves up some nice eye candy bar graphs. But Nike+ is very limiting—you can’t hand-enter or edit run information, unless you register for a separate (and distinct) account. You can’t export data. You can only slice and dice your data in a few very limiting ways (by run, day, week, and month).


Ron Forrester’s Pace, on the other hand, requires you to enter some basic run information that Nike+ doesn’t accommodate. For each run, the Pace template requires you to enter your course, run length, time, and the shoes you wore (crucial if you’re careful about replacing worn shoes every 300 to 400 miles, as recommended). There’s also space to type in additional notes. You can enter course and shoe information only once, and subsequently select it from a list, a terrific convenience.

You assign each course a name and default length, but you can change the distance manually. I liked this capability a great deal, as I frequently tack on an extra mile or two after covering one of four or five standard courses. I have no name for these add-ons, and their lengths vary, depending on many factors.

Pace also enables you to set multiple distance goals, and track progress via simple bar graphs. You can tap a button at the top of the screen and quickly view how many miles you’ve put in for the day, week, month, and year. The transitions are consistently smooth and logical when you switch screens to enter different types of information. If you touch the wrong part of your iPhone screen by mistake and exit your journal, what you’ve entered is preserved, a feature that came in very handy when I tapped in a few weeks worth of data in one session.

Pace does have some drawbacks and would benefit from a few additional features. One significant drawback is that while you can export data, you do so to an unsecure Web site. Your URL is determined by your iPhone’s UUID, and once you navigate to the Web address, you click on a link to download your data in CSV format. This works well enough, especially if you don’t care about your data’s security, but other apps enable you to e-mail this type of information to yourself, and it would be nice if Pace added the same capability.

The developer promises to add statistical and graphing capabilities in future versions of the app; these will be welcome additions, as the iPhone is well suited to slicing and dicing data in a variety of ways. As is, Pace is a dependable app that’s been well thought out, and is enjoyable to use.

Pace is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.2 software update.

China Mobile Is Unaware of Investment Plans for MTN Assets

China Mobile Phone Communications Corp. isn’t aware of a plan to seek a partner to acquire assets of South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd. as reported by the South China Morning Post, a spokeswoman at the company’s unit said.

China Mobile Phone has approached or plans to approach companies with a strong presence in Africa and the Middle East to team up with it in bidding for MTN’s businesses in Iran, Syria and Sudan valued at about $2 billion, the newspaper reported, citing people it didn’t identify.

The Chinese carrier is “not aware” of the investment plans reported by the newspaper, said Rainie Lei, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong-listed China Mobile Phone Ltd., the world’s largest mobile-phone carrier. China Mobile Phone continues to seek suitable overseas acquisition opportunities, Lei said.

China Mobile Phone Communications, the parent company, has said it is interested in investing in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. China Mobile Phone doesn’t have a specific target, President Wang Jianzhou said March 19. The company will consider taking controlling stakes and minority holdings in overseas carriers, and is “cautious” about acquisitions, according to Wang.

In 2007, China Mobile Phone Communications bought Pakistan’s Paktel Ltd., its first acquisition outside Chinese territory, for about $460 million.

The Beijing-based company had sought to acquire minority stakes in the MTN units on its own before the plan was rejected, according to the South China Morning Post. The phone carrier aims to be a junior partner in any deal, the English-language Hong Kong newspaper said.

Johannesburg-based MTN is Africa’s largest mobile-phone company.

Ulysse Nardin and SCI Innovations Partner to Create World's First Hybrid Luxury Smart Phone

Ulysse Nardin, the leader in mechanical timepieces, and SCI Innovations, a pioneer in uniting leading technologies and elegant design into heralded consumer products, have come together to create the world’s first and finest hybrid-powered smart phone under the Ulysse Nardin brand.

Titled the Chairman, this innovative hybrid smart phone embodies Ulysse Nardin’s core values of expert craftsmanship, heritage and timeless style, while incorporating the world’s most technologically advanced applications. A marquis product for the heralded brand, this groundbreaking partnership is a first for Ulysse Nardin.

“Ulysse Nardin has resisted the many offers received over the years to produce other products under the Ulysse Nardin label. We have never found an opportunity that matched the prestige and standing of our brand,” said owner and President of Ulysse Nardin, Rolf W. Schnyder. “I am absolutely thrilled that Ulysse Nardin has partnered with SCI Innovations to release the first hybrid smart phone into the market. The resulting design is a perfect complement to our catalogue of historic timepieces. Many of the striking aesthetical and technical elements Ulysse Nardin is renowned for are incorporated in the Chairman.”

The Ulysse Nardin Chairman is the culmination of rigorous research and development to create the pinnacle in luxury phone design. This new hybrid smart phone is made from the finest materials available and is hand-assembled by some of the world’s best engineers. The Chairman visually shares many of Ulysse Nardin’s iconic elements including the symbolic anchor on the screw-mounted pusher and, most significantly, the customized Ulysse Nardin winding rotor located on the reverse side of the device.

“We are proud to partner with one of the most prestigious horological enterprises in the world,” said Morten Nielsen, co-founder of SCI Innovations. “I am confident the Chairman will transform the marketplace and how consumers regard their mobile devices.”

A first for the mobile phone industry, the Chairman features a functioning mechanical watch rotor that is also incorporated into its aesthetic design. This crucial component was specially designed by Ulysse Nardin for the Chairman smart phone. Similar to an automatic watch that receives power from the force of a rotor, the Chairman does the same: charging a built-in battery using the kinetic energy of the moving rotor to supply supplemental power to the Chairman.

“The incorporation of unsurpassed horological expertise with cutting-edge cellular technology truly sets the Chairman apart from any and all competition. In the more than twenty years that I have been in the jewelry and luxury industry, I have never been more excited about such an unprecedented partnership,” said Bobby Yampolsky, co-founder of SCI Innovations.

The Chairman is an open smart phone compatible with most GSM networks around the world. Built from the ground up with the C-Level executive in-mind, ease of use is a primary focus. The customized user-interface is easily navigated with a 2.8” touch-screen and oversized numeric buttons for quick reference and seamless typing. The Chairman is an advanced smart phone that incorporates a highly specialized fingerprint recognition security feature, only permitting the specified owner access. The Chairman also features a high-resolution digital camera and is capable of capturing digital videos.

Like a classic collectable, these new mobile devices are timeless. The Chairman and its various iterations will have limited production. Additionally, a first-rate service plan is included with the purchase of a Ulysse Nardin Chairman. This extensive product service agreement, unlike anything in the marketplace, includes internal and external repairs whenever necessary.

Similar to complicated timepieces, each Chairman is expertly assembled and rigorously tested before shipping to the buyer. SCI Innovations is committed to Ulysse Nardin’s strict quality control guidelines and therefore will only produce a limited number of the Chairman each year to meet these requirements.

The Ulysse Nardin Chairman hybrid smart phone will be introduced at BaselWorld 2009 and will be available for purchase in the fall of 2009. The Chairman will be offered in solid gold, steel/gold and steel versions. SCI Innovations has accepted pre-orders from its clientele base who wish to obtain the first Chairman.

For further information, please visit www.unchairman.com.

About Ulysse Nardin:
Since the manufacturer’s earliest days more than 160 years ago when its founder, Ulysse Nardin, began making marine chronometers from a mountainous location in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, the watch making powerhouse has continually proved that challenges present intriguing opportunities worthy of exploration. It is these explorations that have resulted in Ulysse Nardin’s unprecedented inventions in horology. Here, science, innovation and imagination are its muses and technological advancement combined with stellar artisanship is its beacon. From the time when Ulysse Nardin opened its doors in 1846 in Le Locle, it has been the recipient of 4,300-plus awards in watch making--eighteen of them gold medals--and has received the greatest number of patents in mechanical watch making.

About SCI Innovations, Ltd.:
Founded in 2007 by Morten Nielsen and Bobby Yampolsky, SCI Innovations has changed the corporate paradigm by adding new concepts to heralded brands and extending their product portfolios while maintaining their pedigree. SCI Innovations works with firms to enter new marketplaces in which the same craftsmanship, precision and care can be applied to a new genus of products.

Global and China Mobile Phone RF (Radio Frequency) Industry Report, 2008-2009

NEW YORK, Mar 26, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue.

Global and China Mobile Phone RF (Radio Frequency) Industry Report, 2008-2009

Mobile phone RF system consists mainly of transceivers, power amplifier (abbreviated as PA thereafter) and antenna switch. PA might be set in the Front-End-Module or FEM. In 2G, the cost of RF system was only about US $1.5, while In 3G, the cost was increased to between US$6.0 and US$8.0, and the cost will further increased to about US$8.0 to US$10.0 in 4G, obviously, FR system had the highest cost growth during the upgrading of mobile phones.
The receiver is a part of the mobile phone platform. Generally the mobile phone baseband vendors also provide the receivers, however, Nokia's baseband was from Texas Instruments, but its receiver was from ST Microelectronics or Infineon. ST Microelectronics has further enhanced its baseband ability through the consolidation between NXP and Ericsson mobile platform.
PA (Power Amplifier) is the most key component in a mobile phone, which decides the voice quality, connection time, standby time and signal strength. PA has been produced by compound semiconductor manufacturers all along, including RFMD, Skyworks, Triquint, Anadigics, Avago and Renesas. Renesas still relies on the previous products form Hitachi Semiconductor, launched none of any new products.
RFMD has always been the NO.1, but the gap between RFMD and Skyworks is shrinking gradually. RFMD relies much on Nokia and Motorola. 75% sales of RFMD are contributed by those two. On the other hand, above 90% PA of Nokia is from RFMD. Skyworks's main clients are Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG and Samsung. The world's first 4G FEM containing PA was from Skyworks.
As the world's largest GaAs OEM, Triquint is good at high-integration PA, as well as the PA packaging. The GSM PA with the smallest footprint and the world's first FC packaged PA were both produced by Triquint. The main clients of Triquint are Samsung, LG, RIM and Apple.
Anadigics has a close relationship with Qualcomm, which is focused on the PA development for CDMA and WCDMA. Especially it has a high market share in CDMA market. Since its establishment, Anadigics has been expanding continuously, but during the past five years, only one year is profitable.
Avago was previously the semiconductor department (Agilent) of HP. Avago was the first one engaged in the WCDMA development. Though its sales did not look good initially, with the increasing popularity of WCDMA, the sales turned to increase rapidly.
In 3G era, RF system becomes more complex. Some smart mobile phones have as many as five PAs, one is for all GSM frequency bands, one is for WLAN and the other three are for three 3G frequency band separately. Considering the high integration is the further development focus for PA, Skyworks and Triqunit have the biggest potential. 4G has much higher requirements to PA such as higher T/PR and higher efficiency. No matter in 2G or 3G, PA sector is always monopolized by compound semiconductor manufacturers; the traditional silicon semiconductors have no chances. PA was usually GaAs HBT in 2G , in 3G, new entrants tend to InGaP HBT, Skyworks had already acquired the PA department of Freescale. In 2009, Skyworks launched the world's first model FEM (SKY77445) focus on LTE/EUTRAN. Anadigics also has two models of PA for LTE/EUTRAN, both of them adopted InGaP.
Six Typical PA Models in 3G
Antenna switch is also has high entry barriers. Although its price is rather lower than PA and receiver, usually requiring SiP packaing and LTCC underlay. Globally, antenna switches are mainly supplied by Japanese vendors such as MURATA, Renesas and New JRC etc.
1. Global Mobile Phone Market Developments
1.1 Market Overview
1.2 Market Developments
1.2.1 The Mobile Phone Internet
1.2.2 Extensively Application of HSPA
2. China's Mobile Phone Market Developments
2.1 Market Overview
2.2 Mobile Phone Export
2.3 Smart Mobile Phone Market
3. Introduction of RF Semiconductors
3.1 RF Circuit Structure
3.2 Techniques
4. Global Mobile Phone RF Market Developments
4.1 Global Market Scale
4.2 Global Frequency Allocation Forecast
4.3 Global Market Share Distribution of Global Handset RF Vendors
4.4 RF in 4G
4.5 Receiver in 4G
4.6 PA in 3G and 4G
4.7 WLAN Mobile Phone
5. Mobile Phone vendors
5.1 Nokia
5.2 Motorola
5.3 Samsung
5.4 Sony Ericsson
5.5 LG
5.6 Platform Research of Chinese Mobile Phone Vendors
5.6.1 K-Touch
5.6.2 Lenovo
5.6.3 Gionee
5.7 RF Configuration of Smart Phones
5.7.1 BlackBerry BOLD
5.7.2 BlackBerry STORM
5.7.3 HTC TOUCH
5.7.4 Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1
5.7.5 T-MOBILE T1
5.7.6 MOTO KRAVE ZN4
5.7.7 Nokia N95
5.7.8 APPLE IPHONE 16GB
6. Global Mobile Phone RF Semiconductor Vendors
6.1 SKYWORKS
6.2 ST-Ericsson
6.3 INFINEON
6.4 Silicon Lab
6.5 RFMD
6.6 Freescale
6.7AVAGO
6.8 QUALCOMM
6.9 ANADIGICS
6.10 TRIQUINT
6.11 MAXIM
6.12 Sirific Wireless
6.13 Sequoia Communications
6.14 Tropian
6.15 RENESAS
6.16 SiGe Semiconductor
6.17 Airoha Technology Corp.
6.18 Beijing LHWT Microelectronics Inc.
6.19 Epic Communications, Inc. (Epicom)
6.20 Yuantonix, Inc.
6.21 Comlent Technology, Inc. (Comlent)
6.22 Rising Micro-Electronics Co., Ltd. (RME)
6.23 RDA Microelectronics
To order this report:
Global and China Mobile Phone RF (Radio Frequency) Industry Report, 2008-2009

China Unicom posts iPhone 3G images, specs

China Unicom did nothing to dispel rumors that it plans to be Apple's iPhone partner in China by posting images and specifications of the ciPhone 3G on Tuesday.

The details (in Chinese), spotted by IDG News Service, are perhaps the strongest sign that China's second-largest carrier has won the deal to supply the iPhone to the world's largest mobile phone market. At this point, some may wonder why China Unicom wouldn't just wait for the new iPhone that is almost universally expected to arrive sometime around the middle of this year, but Chinese media reports have suggested that China Unicom and Apple reached a breakthrough in their negotiations just last week, and China Unicom plans to launch a 3G network in May.

Apple and China Mobile phone, the country's largest carrier, have negotiated off and on for over a year about bringing the iPhone to China but have thus far failed to reach a deal. Part of the problem with the China Mobile talks was that the large carrier reportedly wanted some control over the App Store in China, as well as a version of the iPhone made to work with a homegrown 3G standard used only by China Mobile phone.

China Unicom has 130 million subscribers before which Apple can push the iPhone, as compared to AT&T's 77 million subscribers.

Washington-based Blackboard Releases CiPhone App

Blackboard, the Washington-based maker of software designed to help students stay in touch with their coursework assignments and their professors, is releasing an iPhone App today.

Blackboard's new software is designed to provide a mobile version of the same tools that students and teachers use at the company's Web site. "The CiPhone App lets a student see what's new since they last synced," said Jessica Finnefrock, senior vice president of product development at the company. "It's an efficiency tool designed to help students manage their time."

The company hopes to expand its offerings to other mobile devices, Finnefrock said. Though Blackboard doesn't have a solid number on how many of its 20 million users are iPhone owners, a Piper Jaffray study indicates that almost a third of high school students -- the students who might soon be Blackboard users, in other words --either have an iPhone or plan to own one soon.

Find more highquality china moible phone or china cell phone news, please go to www.soundasia.com

UPDATE 1-Nokia says has stopped using phone subcontractors

tops using subcontractors for phone making


HELSINKI, March 26 (Reuters) - Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top mobile phone maker, has stopped using subcontractors in the assembly of its phones due to faltering demand for mobile handsets, a spokeswoman for the company said on Thursday.

"In engine making we have fully stopped (using subcontractors)," said a company spokeswoman, adding the firm was still using them in other functions like packaging or logistics.

In 2008 Nokia outsourced approximately 17 percent of the manufacturing volume of its mobile phone engines, which include the phone and software that enable its basic operations.

Nokia's key subcontractors have been Foxconn (2038.HK), China's BYD (1211.HK), Jabil Circuit (JBL.N) and Elcoteq (ELQAV.HE).

BYD shares slipped in afternoon trading in Hong Kong and were down 0.3 percent at 0815 GMT, even as the broader Hang Seng Index .HSI soared 3.6 percent.

Nokia said in January it aimed to cut annual costs at its key handset unit alone by more than 700 million euros to counter plunging demand. [ID:nLH416501]

The overall china cell phone market is expected to contract by about 10 percent this year, hurt as consumers rein in spending and handset sellers try to clear out unsold phones.

Shares in Nokia were 1.1 percent lower at 9 euros on a softer DJ Stoxx European Technology Index .SX8P.

China Mobile Phone Industry Growth Fell to 2% in 2008

BEIJING, Mar 23, 2009 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- Growth of China's mobile phone industry declined to 2% last year, due to the industry's high dependence on export and the withered overseas markets, noted an official for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Convergence in Telecommunication Learn more, download free white paper.



The country's electronics information industry, which highly depends on export, saw its trade delivery reach minus 19% in January-February 2009, said the official, adding that international trade barriers and the appreciation of Chinese yuan also increased mobile phone makers' costs and weakened their competitiveness in overseas markets.

China's cell phone output amounted to 79.6719 million in the first two months of 2009, dropping 11.2% from the period of the previous year. Its mobile phone output in February jumped 13.6% to 41.4602 million.



In addition, the nation is scheduled to accomplish CMMB service coverage in 377 cities this year; finish coverage in top 100 counties in 2010; and strive for over 500 million CMMB users in 2011.

New China Ciphone Could Offer Higher Speed, Video Features

A more sophisticated next-generation China Ciphone slated for release this summer will incorporate higher speeds and new video functionality, a Boy Genius report suggests.

A Monday BRG blog maintains that a source -- they can't say who -- at Ciphone carrier AT&T reported that the new device is scheduled for a June launch and will offer major improvements that include a faster and more seamless user experience. Rumors also suggest that the higher speed HSDPA 7.2 MBPS will be brought about by a new Infineon chipset that will result in a speedier 3G network access.

BGR also said that a new 800 Yuan 3G Netbook will also hit the market this summer, while maintaining that "the first one won't be a Windows OS."

BGR said that the possible summer China cell phone -- Ciphone launch, rapidly becoming a tradition at China, was initially reported by someone "pretty high up in AT&T's food chain," but also maintained that "Nothing official is being confirmed, but they said that people should prep for an exciting time this summer."

However, the most significant difference to China's new Ciphone will be one that adds automation tools allowing customers to use the AT&T U-Verse application -- AT&T's fiber optic service that offers home users high speed data, video and voice options -- to remotely play, record and pause their home DVRs, according to BGR.

An China Insider report suggests, however, that the video recording support functions will likely only be available through an upgraded rear-facing camera capable of taking higher resolution photos. "Though largely speculative at best, it's possible that China could market video recording capabilities as available only through a high-end model," China Insider reports.

However, China Insider says that the video function could likely include a 'movies" Ciphone app that would provide basic editing support enabling users to email movie clips to friends and family or send them via MMS messages.

Skyworks Unveils Line of Front-End Modules for Quad Band Cellular Phones

Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a developer of analog and mixed signal semiconductors, announced the introduction of a
suite of front-end modules (FEM) with power control performance for quad band cell phones.


The power control scheme is based on a coupler detector which adds to the total radiated power (TRP) performance. Skyworks said these small footprint and GSM, GPRS and EDGE solutions support Broadcom's, Infineon's and MediaTek's 2.5G and 3G platforms.

"Skyworks' highly integrated front-end modules utilize a small footprint and unique power control scheme to improve total radiated power performance - a key factor in today's advanced phones," said Thomas Richter, Skyworks' director of product marketing for front-end solutions. "Our complete transmission to antenna solution with integrated electrostatic discharge network is the perfect combination for today's mobile phone manufacturers as they look to reduce bill-of-materials and printed circuit board footprint."

The SKY77527 (8 x 6 x 1.12 mm) and the SKY77528 (8 x 6 x 1.1 mm) consist of a GSM850/900 and DCS1800/PCS1900 PA block, impedance matching circuitry for 50 ohm input and output impedances, a multifunction PA control (MFC) block, low pass harmonic rejection filters, and a single pole six throw (SP6T) antenna transmit/receive (T/R) switch. The MFC in the SKY77527 provides "pinout" for interoperation with an external power control loop. The external circuit uses the linear detector output to provide closed loop power control in EDGE and gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modes of operation.

With an integrated saturation, detection and correction circuit, the company said the SKY77528 also improves phone reliability with output radio frequency spectrum (ORFS) performance in voltage standing wave radio (VSWR) and low-battery condition.

The SPI controller, which offers digital control, accepts SPI telegrams with data fields that support PA and switchplexer-related functions. All FEM operating modes and switch states shall be determined by the SPI telegram. The MFC provides pinout for interoperation with a specified transceiver that will establish a closed loop power control mechanism. The external circuit uses the linear detector output to set a fixed bias point for 8PSK (EDGE) mode and a variable bias point for GMSK (GSM) mode.

Finally, the SKY77546 (7 x 6 x 1.0 mm) consists of an extended global system for mobile communications (EGSM900) PA block and a DCS1800 PA block, impedance-matching circuitry for 50 ohm inputs and outputs, a multi-function PA control block, low pass harmonic rejection filter, and a Tx/Rx antenna switch, the company noted in a release.

For full details on Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) click here. Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) has Short Term PowerRatings of 5. Details on Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.

Innovation key to HTC’s success

HTC Malaysia , a smart phone and PDA phone devices manufacturer, believes innovation is key to capturing market share.

Country manager SK Wong said HTC understood what consumers wanted and needed.

“We have always sought ways to improve our phone devices. We also enhanced and equipped certain programmes for our phones to meet users’ expectations,” he told StarBiz.

Although HTC has been around for only 1½ years in Malaysia, the company successfully launched 12 innovative mobile handheld devices in 2008.

SK Wong showing some of the smartphones

Wong said the company introduced 10 to 12 new devices on average in the local market with the latest being HTC Touch Diamond.

“Last year was a great year for us. We’ve launched the HTC Touch Diamond phone, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch 3G and HTC Touch HD and these devices have been well received,” he said.

“There will be new models every quarter,” he said, adding that HTC would continue to introduce about the same number of devices this year.

Mobile devices with touch screens were currently in trend and would continue to be so going forward, he said.

On the introduction of the Android-based operating system phone device, Wong said: “We are introducing it by stages and we have not confirmed if we will introduce it to the Malaysian market.”

Unlike the ciPhone, Android is an open source device where the basic code is free for phone manufacturers and available to other software developers who are encouraged to build applications to add on to it.

Wong said previously, HTC phones were perceived to be difficult to use, but that perception had changed.

“We have been coming up with a lot of free training, programmes and activities to guide users on how to use our devices,” he added.

Demand for database phone had been increasing, Wong said, adding that, people were becoming more knowledgeable and wanted “everything” in their phones.

“Our target market is young executives. We have been going on roadshows and expanding our channels in the southern and northern regions of Peninsular, and Sabah and Sarawak,” Wong said, adding that HTC was also expanding its after-sales services, HTC Care Authorised.

HTC recently opened its first authorised service centre in the Klang Valley. This was its second outlet as HTC had established a centre in Penang last October.

MERIDIIST - TAG Heuer Unveils Its Official Luxury Phone Website

The MERIDIIST, the first luxury phone created by watchmaker TAG Heuer, enters a completely new dimension with the worldwide launch of its official website: www.tagheuer.com/meridiist.

The global launch of the website www.tagheuer.com/meridiist precedes BASELWORLD, the World Watch and Jewellery Show that starts March 26th 2009 and during which the most recent MERIDIIST collections are to be presented as a preview.

Truly representing the performance of the MERIDIIST, the website highlights the sleek design and key features of this exceptional luxury phone through images and animated content intended to reflect the TAG Heuer universe of luxury, sports and masculinity.

Following an exclusive two month presentation for VIP clients, the website www.tagheuer.com/meridiist now enables the general public to discover the MERIDIIST as well as other available collections and allows customers to find the closest retail location by country. One section of the website is specially dedicated to preorders and enables customers to reserve the model of their choice without any financial obligation by completing a simple form that is automatically forwarded to the appropriate store.

The showcased MERIDIIST collection consists of seven models, all made of 316L stainless steel yet offering different kinds of keyboard finishing. A range of colors and materials (genuine calfskin leather, rubber and alligator skin) is available to customize the back of the phone and provides clients with the ultimate opportunity to design their phones according to their most luxurious tastes. Prices range from euro 3400 to euro 4500, although some diamond phone models with prices starting at euro 8500 are already on the horizon.

The successive MERIDIIST launches that have started last August within a selected international distribution network in London, Paris, Geneva, New York, Los Angeles, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore have been particularly impressive and herald a true success story for the Swiss brand that is the world leader in prestigious chronograph timepieces.

"The success of MERIDIIST surpasses our keenest expectations and manifests itself in the rapidly growing luxury phones category. This bears witness to the phone's incredible attractiveness: a subtle combination of performance with its autonomy of 28 days of stand-by time and attractive design based on precious materials such as stainless steel and sapphire crystal. Customers are in search of an object of differentiation and the MERIDIIST perfectly fits that mindset," says Steve Amstutz, TAG Heuer's Managing Director of Communications.

"With a Web presence, we are now hoping to attract an international client base that appreciates the quality of the services we provide as well as our responsiveness," adds Steve Amstutz.

PRESS CONTACT: Sarah Garcia +33(0)1-43-12-12-04 info.meridiist@modelabs.com
About TAG Heuer

TAG Heuer, the world leader in prestigious sports watches and chronographs since 1860, is currently the flagship brand of timepieces of the world leader in luxury goods: the LVMH group. The Swiss watchmaking legend draws upon its active engagement in the world of sports to create the most accurate measuring instruments and sports watches in the world. TAG Heuer is today the first watchmaker ever to master luxurious Chronographs with an unsurpassed precision of 1/10th, 1/100th and 1/1,000th of a second. TAG Heuer more than ever epitomizes Prestige and Performance!

How iPhone 3.0 May Revolutionize The Smartphone Industry

With a new business model for third-party software, peer-to-peer networking, and richer interfaces for third-party hardware, Apple's got a potential game-changer in iPhone 3.0.

It's easy to see why many people were underwhelmed by Apple's iPhone 3.0 sneak peek last Tuesday. Most of the attention focused on dull features like cut-and-paste and multimedia messaging -- capabiliites that have long been in demand by iPhone users, but which competitors have had for a long time now.

Eric Zeman sniffed that the announcement added features from 2007 to the iPhone. Ed Hansberry asked whether Apple pushed the mobile device forward with iPhone 3.0 and provided an answer: No.

I think I can see how Eric and Ed came to their conclusions. Early reports and blogging about the new ciPhone focused on Apple finally getting features, like cut-and-paste and multimedia messaging, where the device lagged far behind its competitors. Catch-up games are just plain boring.

iPhone 3.0, however, does have three features which will be game-changing, if Apple and its developers exploit those features to their full potential. Apple revolutionized the cell phone industry when it introduced the iPhone in 2007. The company did it again last year when it introduced the iPhone 3G and App Store. And now it looks like it will happen a third time when iPhone 3 software ships in the second half of 2009.

The three features that can revolutionize the smartphone industry are peer-to-peer networking, APIs for hardware add-ons, and sales within applications.

Let's take them one at a time.

Peer-To-Peer Networking


The iPhone 3.0 software will enable peer-to-peer connections between iPhones and iPod Touches over Bluetooth, if they're near each other physically. The demo Apple provided on Tuesday was dead simple -- anybody who's tried to pair a headset with a cell phone knows it can be mildly confusing, but the peer-to-peer networking on the iPhone 3.0 software doesn't require pairing. Simply press a button in any app enabled for peer-to-peer connectivity, and the device will search for nearby iPhones and Touches that are running the same app. The other person taps a button to accept an incoming connection, and you're linked.


These kinds of devices will be extremely appealing to Baby Boomers. Industry analyst Rob Enderle, in an interview a few weeks go for another Apple article, told me that Boomers are the core demographic of Apple's user base. Boomers are getting older, they need more medical care, and Apple is in a position to profit from that need.

More than that, custom hardware devices could make the iPhone the brains for a vast variety of machines. Use your imagination: The iPhone performs diagnostics on your car, the iPhone controls heating, lighting, and entertainment in your home, the iPhone is a remote control for your coffeemaker, Roomba, dishwasher, and so on and so on. Some of those things are already possible with the iPhone, the new APIs will just make them easier.

The new hardware APIs might even allow attaching an external keyboard and mouse to the iPhone, pushing it into the true realm of laptop replacement.

Sales Within Applications

When Apple introduced the App Store last year, it introduced a new business model for selling software and information. Developers enter into a revenue-sharing agreement where Apple handles credit-card transactions, hosting, distribution, and puts the company's mighty marketing machine behind third-party developers. In exchange, Apple takes a 30% cut of sales off the top, and pays the remainder to developers on a monthly basis. Apple emphasized that point several times during Tuesday's iPhone 3.0 announcement: Payments to developers will come in a regular, dependable payment stream.

With the introduction of sales-within-software in iPhone 3.0, developers will be able to sell an application once, then sell upgrades through the application itself. Apple used three examples of how that might work: Magazines could sell subscriptions to content downloaded over time, game developers could sell additional levels and add-ons for their games, and publishers of travel guides could sell information for individual cities.

Another possible application: E-book readers like the Amazon Kindle app for the iPhone could sell books from directly within the application. Right now, users have to buy their books separately, from the Web.

I expect developers will find even more, innovative ways of generating revenue using subscription pricing.

The ability to sell within applications will help developers solve an ongoing problem with iPhone development: It's hard to make a living wage, because consumers demand their iPhone applications must be cheap or free. Of the top 100 paid apps currently on the iTunes Store, 44 are priced at 99 cents, only 11 are priced more than $5, and none is priced higher than $7.99. Developer Andy Fennell said in November that 99 cents is the sweet spot for iPhone app pricing.

While the iPhone technology is capable of supporting rich, powerful apps, the economic model is not. If developers can find users willing to pay more for their apps by selling the apps a la carte, the universe of iPhone apps will get even richer than it is already.

My colleagues Tom Claburn and Marin Perez discuss the impact of iPhone 3.0 for developers in greater depth.

Unknown at this point: Will developers be able to give away free trial versions of their software, and let users upgrade from within the program if they want to pay? That's the current business model for software downloaded over the Internet, but it's currently impossible on the iPhone. The best a developer can do is offer separate free and paid versions.

Even with the new business model, the App Store still isn't a perfect world for developers. Apple must approve every application that appears in the App Store, and developers have been complaining about inconsistent and seemingly arbitrary standards for approval, and about long delays in getting apps approved. For example, developers of Newber, a potentially revolutionary telephony app for the iPhone, decided to simply give up on their app, after waiting five months to get it approved. Apple needs to straighten out its approval process and make it predictable, so that developers can start work on projects with some assurance that they'll be able to sell the work when they're done.

The iPhone Revolution

The iPhone has revolutionized Apple. More than two years ago, Apple Computer dropped the word "computer" from its name, just after introducing the first-generation iPhone.

Two years later, that name change is showing itself to be more than symbolic. Mac sales were down year-over-year in February, to according to market researchers the NPD Group. Analysts at Piper Jaffray predicted Apple would sell 2.2 million Macs in the quarter ending this month, along with 10 million iPods. In the two years since the iPhone went on sale, the company sold 30 million iPhones and iPod Touches, including 13.7 million iPhones the past year.

Put the numbers together and that means that the iPhone and iPod Touch are becoming Apple's core product line, replacing the 25-year-old Mac as the company's main computing platform, according to Technology Business Research analyst Ezra Gottheil, when I interviewed him on the day of the iPhone announcement.

iPhone 3.0 will be available this summer, Apple says. It will be free to existing iPhone users, and cost $9.95 for the HiPhone Touch. A year from now, when it will have been marinating in the marketplace for a good while, we'll be looking at a mobile computer with a wealth of applications that connect peer-to-peer and a plethora of third-party hardware. The ecosystem of applications, which is already rich today, will be even richer with the new business models provided by 2009.

That sounds like a revolution to me.


That iPhone may be your next full-function computer. InformationWeek has published an independent analysis of this topic. Download the report here (registration required).

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Research Report on China's Mobile Phone Design Industry 2008

This report analyzes the development, supplies, demands, the operations of the major players and competitive strategies of the mobile phone design industry in China. It shows the whole mobile phone design industry in china as well as the developing trends.

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Executive Summary 1. Targets 2. The segments of China's mobile phone design market 3. Illustration on major technologies ? Supplies & demands of China mobile phone design industry 1. Production 2. Marketing 3. Imports & exports ? Market competition analysis 1. The shares of China's mobile phone design market 2. Analysis of competing strategies ? Key brands in China's mobile phone design market 1. SIM Technology 2. LongCheer 3. Techfaith Wireless 4. Ginware 5. Shanghai Sunplus Communication Selected Charts Chart 2004-2008 volume of sales of China mobile phone design market Chart 2004-2008 sales of China's mobile phone design market Chart 2007 analysis of occupancies of the sales of China's mobile phone design industry Chart General view on major projects which China's mobile phone enterprises participated in Chart Contacts of major mobile phone design manufactures in China To order this report

What iPhone 3.0 means for mobile games

With the Software Development Kit (SDK) for iPhone 3.0 unveiled Tuesday, Apple introduces more than 1,000 new Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for iPhone application developers to use. Front and center at Tuesday’s iPhone 3.0 event were some of the new API’s for game developers. Now that game developers have had an opportunity to digest some of what it means, they’re ready to talk.

One of the most sought-after features game developers have requested is what Apple calls In App Purchase. This lets developers create additional content for apps that users can buy after they’ve made their initial purchase. Known in game developer’s parlance as DLC, or downloadable content, In App Purchase promises to alter the way that people play games on their iPhone.

To demonstrate how the technology works, Apple had two leading publishers of games for the ciPhone, EA Mobile and Ngmoco, show off new titles currently in development that will make use of this feature. EA Mobile showed off the iPhone version of The Sims 3, with a virtual stereo that users can buy during the game to let their Sims listen to the music stored on the iPhone’s music library. Ngmoco showed off LiveFire—a first-person shooter currently in development—and its ability to let users buy new weapons to get the upper hand in multiplayer combat.

Ngmoco’s Chris Plummer explained in a recent blog post that while it’s still early in LiveFire’s development, the company has some specific ideals about how In App Purchase will work.

“Ngmoco will always give the highest priority to game balance and the integrity of the core experiences of our games,” Plummer wrote. “We won’t use In App Purchase in ways that break our games, but we do think there are a lot of interesting ways to use the feature to enhance our games over time.”

Producing add-ons for games that are meaningful could be a great value proposition for game developers, as long as they’re not fleecing the customer, says Colin Lynch Smith of Freeverse Software. Freeverse has had a string of iPhone game hits like Days of Thunder, Flick Sports Fishing, and SlotZ Racer.

“It would be nice if deeper content could be rewarded,” Smith said, “and this may be one way of enabling that. We’ll see. It’s too early to tell.”

Brian Greenstone, president of Pangea Software, thinks that In App Purchase is a great idea. Pangea’s iPhone games are largely made up of retreads of its hit Mac games, such as Enigmo, Cro-Mag Rally, and Otto Matic.

“It’s got me wondering how I could add it into some of our existing games,” said Greenstone, adding that it will take some trial and error to figure out what customers of existing titles are willing to pay for.

Another feature in the iPhone 3.0 SDK that has game developers’ tongues wagging is what Apple calls Peer to Peer Connectivity—a new way of adding multi-user capabilities to applications.

Specifically in terms of gaming, this provides a framework for game developers to create network connectivity for their games using Bluetooth as the medium. That way, iPhone or second-generation iPod touch users within close proximity to each other will be able to play games without needing to use a 3G network and without needing to be on Wi-Fi.

Greenstone heralds this as the return of Net Sprocket, a part of Apple’s “Game Sprockets” framework that was discontinued with the advent of Mac OS X. Net Sprocket made it much easier for game developers to integrate networking for their games, and its loss was keenly felt by long-time Mac game developers like Greenstone who made the transition to OS X.

“It definitely opens up new ways for us to create more social game experiences,” Freeverse's Smith agrees. He sees it as complementing other efforts like Facebook Connect, the social networking site’s recently introduced iPhone programming technology that lets game developers use Facebook as a way of sharing data like high scores.

“Facebook Connect is powerful because so many people already have Facebook accounts that it leverages that whole ecosystem more from a marketing than a gameplay experience at the moment, but that will change over time,” Smith said. “From a pure gaming experience, I think the proximity and networking stuff will be more useful for us in the short run.”

Another developer looking forward to the changes in iPhone 3.0 is SGN, whose name is an acronym for Social Gaming Network. Its iBowl, iBaseball, and SGN Golf games have separated themselves from the pack by offering a Wii-like experience that immerses iPhone users in the game, encouraging them to swing their arms around as if they’re using a real baseball bat, golf club or bowling ball. Most recently, the developer released Agency Wars, a secret agent-themed game that leverages Facebook Connect technology and geolocation.

“Our vision for offering our engaged audience unique and immersive games is further being realized with this announcement from Apple,” said Shervin Pishevar, SGN’s president and CEO, in a statement.

The company sees efforts like In App Purchase and Peer to Peer Connectivity as in lockstep with efforts they’ve already made to encourage users to play socially and to add on content they’re interested in.

Diamond phone goes for an auction again in Mumbai

It was during 2008 that a diamond merchant from Mumbai gifted a diamond phone to the landmark Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, India. As reported in a local newspaper of Mumbai, the Siddhivinayak Temple Charitable Trust had placed the phone on auction, which was bought by Pratap Sarnaik, Nationalist Congress Party Corporator from Thane, for Rs.15.5 lakhs. He in turn had gifted this to a party leader and State Irrigation Minister Ajit Pawar, as a birthday gift.

Mr. Pawar in turn returned the phone to the temple Trust, asking the Trustees to again auction the handset for charity.

The Trust has placed the phone on auction again, but has not found a bidder so far. The recession seems to be weighing down the interest of buyers. The expected bid price of the phone was atleast Rs.10 lakh, but a suitable buyer is still awaited.

China Cell phone carrier expands data network to Europe

A unit of state-owned China Mobile Corp. said Tuesday it is expanding bandwidth in its cable network to Europe to meet growing demand for more data transmission.

China Mobile (Europe) Ltd. said it will expand service using the Transit Europe Asia and China Russia Number 2 cables. It said extensions to both routes are planned for the second half of this year to connect them with Asia-Pacific networks.

"Business, political and social links between Europe and China are growing rapidly," the managing director of the London-based unit, Yan Ou, said in a statement. "As ties between the two continents grow, so will the need for quicker, more integrated telecommunications."

Beijing-based China Mobile Phone is the country's dominant fixed-line carrier. It has expanded into data transmission and other services as mobile service rises in popularity and revenues for traditional fixed-line voice service fall.

China Mobile said it also plans to open a network access point in Dubai within the year to expand its presence in the Middle East. Its European arm has access points in London, Stockholm and Frankfurt.

The iPhone Is Gaining Some Editing Skills

CUPERTINO, Calif. — More than 40 years ago, computer researchers came up with the concept of cutting and pasting text in a computer document. Electronic organizers and sophisticated phones have had those basic functions for years.
Enlarge This Image

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press

Scott Forstall discussed on Tuesday the software upgrade for the iPhone, which Apple said would be available this summer.


On stage at its headquarters here on Tuesday, an Apple executive announced that the iPhone would at long last be joining the cut, copy and paste party.

The news, which garnered applause from an assembled crowd of analysts, journalists and Apple employees, was much anticipated by iPhone owners. They will be able to select a piece of information in one program — say, a FedEx tracking number in an e-mail message — and then paste it elsewhere — on FedEx’s site in the Web browser, for example.

Apple has said that those features were tricky to add to the iPhone in a way that would be secure and easy to use.

The announcement was one of several Apple made as it previewed a software upgrade, ciPhone OS 3.0, that it plans to release this summer.

The event was a shot across the bow of the other makers of mobile phone software, like Google, Palm, Research in Motion and Microsoft, which are bringing out their own smartphones in an increasingly competitive market.

“Apple wants to start reminding consumers of what is coming down the line and what they might expect from the iPhone,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with the research firm Interpret.

Among the new tricks of the updated software are features that will allow developers to create multiplayer games that work over a phone-to-phone wireless connection, and ways for iPhone applications to push messages to users even when they are not running.

That last improvement could unleash a new wave of creativity on the iPhone. Companies like ESPN can send scores to sports fans, and instant messaging can now become far more practical on the device.

The new software will also give developers new ways to make money on the iPhone, allowing them to do transactions within an application — for example, selling monthly subscriptions, new levels within a game or items in an online store.

Apple said the new operating system would be available to current iPhone users at no charge sometime this summer, when analysts expect the company to introduce new hardware and perhaps a less expensive version of the device. The new software will be sold for $9.95 to owners of the iPod Touch. The company says it now has a combined installed base of 30 million iPhones and iPod Touches.

Don't forget: ciPhone 3.0 live blog Tuesday

Apple's ready to start talking about the third major release of the iPhone's software, and we'll bring you the news as it happens Tuesday morning.

Make sure to come back to our News-Apple section tomorrow in time for Tuesday's iPhone 3.0 event, which starts at 10 a.m. PDT in Cupertino, Calif. Apple executives are expected to preview some of the features inside the iPhone 3.0 software as well as discuss a new software development kit, according to an invitation sent out last week.

If last year's ciPhone software event was any guide, the talk should run about an hour and a half, and consist of a series of demos and slides outlining the new software. Few people expect Apple to discuss new iPhone hardware at this event, but we might get a sense of when to expect a new iPhone if Apple provides any sort of guidance on when the iPhone 3.0 software will be ready.

In the meantime, check out the latest coverage regarding the wait for iPhone 3.0 and add your voice to the comments: what does Apple need to include in iPhone 3.0, and what would you like to see?

World’s first Vertu flagship store opens in Japan!

Nokia has just made good on their promise to deliver a high-end, super-glitzy Vertu flagship store to Japan’s luxury phone shopping haven in Tokyo. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) had just opened the doors to their first ever Vertu flagship store in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Japan. Nokia’s Vertu lineup of extra-luxurious (and ridiculously expensive) handsets caters to those with the wherewithal to splurge on a mobile phone with a five-figure price tag. So, it’s fitting that Nokia’s very first Vertu flagship store exudes the same hand-made quality, sleek elegance and flashy design that has come to define Vertu’s handset lineup.

Nokia is making a big push to peddle their high-end Vertu handsets to well-heeled Japanese elite. After pulling the Nokia brand out of Japan (for lack of success) Nokia has decided to market the Vertu brand as a lifestyle choice, complete with its own Vertu MVNO offered to Japanese consumers with a penchant for the finer things in life (read: expensive). The new Vertu phone store is a veritable statement from Nokia that asserts the Finnish handset maker’s commitment to penetrating the Japanese uber-luxury market.

But, with a troubled global economy dragging down high-end luxury sales, Nokia could be in for a bit of a rough ride with their Vertu flagship store.

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iPhone OS Preview

Apple on Tuesday will discuss new features for its iPhone software.

Apple has summoned the legions of journalists who cover the company for an advance look at the newest version of the iPhone operating system.
Extra lint rollers, presumably, will be on hand to clean up after detritus left by the geeky horde that will soon descend upon Apple's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) tidy Cupertino, Calif., campus Tuesday.

While Apple is playing it cool, last March it dumped a king-sized load of pain on the rest of the smart phone industry by detailing its App store software distribution service, unveiling a Kleiner Perkins-backed venture fund to pump dollars into ciPhone software startups and a plan to take on Research In Motion (nasdaq: RIMM - news - people ) for a chunk of the corporate market

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New Carrier Promises Unlimited 3G Data, VOIP

A brand-new mobile-phone carrier, Zer01 Mobile said Thursday that it can give you truly unlimited voice and data on smart phones for $69.95/month, without a contract, on a network as broad as the one owned by AT&T.


That's because, in many ways, the network is AT&T's. The company is using a form of roaming agreement to tunnel from AT&T's network into their own IP backbone.

Zer01 gets some of their savings by eliminating traditional circuit-switched voice calling. All calls on Zer01 phones go through a proprietary Voice-over-IP (VOIP) application, which right now runs only on Windows Mobile 6 phones but will work in the future on Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Java and even on jailbroken iPhones, Zer01 chief executive Ben Piilani said.

"No calls, period, go out over the GSM network," Piilani said.

The company's $69.95/month plan includes unlimited VOIP calling and data, and is month-to-month with no contracts or credit checks. For $10 more per month, you also get unlimited international calling to 40 countries.

Zer01's VOIP application uses several brand-new, proprietary technologies, Piilani said. It ties into phones' dialer apps to let you dial from the phone's keypad without launching a separate voice-over-IP application. It works with a phone's built-in microphone and earpiece. And Zero01 has some sort of quality-of-service mojo that lets VOIP run even over slow EDGE and GPRS networks.

Let me point out how unusual that is: I've never seen VOIP running over slow GPRS. Even on EDGE, which is faster, the network's latency typically hurts VOIP apps.

"We've developed specific algorithms in our technology that address latency issues across the GSM networks," Piilani said.

The phones run on GSM networks including AT&T's and T-Mobile's. But Zer01 isn't buying time wholesale from AT&T and T-Mobile, Piilani said. Instead, they have purchased their own IP backbone and are using interconnect (AKA roaming) agreements, the way Verizon and Sprint phones work on each other's networks. Each device on the Zer01 network gets a fixed IP address and opens a VPN tunnel to the company's servers, Piilani said.

"It's our own VPN, and we're actually providing the data the customer is using," Piilani said.

By using interconnect agreements, Zer01 can get around the carriers' 5GB/month data caps and offer truly unlimited data, Piilani said. The company's system does some traffic management to make sure that heavy users don't overload a local cellular system.

Zer01 is designed to work with unlocked phones that users bring in on their own, Piilani said, but they also plan to sell three HTC phones, the TyTnII (known on AT&T as the Tilt), the Touch Diamond phone and the Touch 3G. Zer01's software needs to be optimized for each individual phone model, but the list of acceptable devices is continually growing, Piilani said. Pharos' GPS-enabled Windows Mobile smart phones may be next on Zer01's list.

"Right now the initial push will be Windows Mobile devices, but immediately after launch we're going to announce several other OSes and devices," Piilani said.

Zer01 is a division of Unified Technologies Group, a company run by Piilani that also operates a land-line VOIP service and has had interests in broadband-over-power-line technology.

On the land-line side, Zer01's VOIP service is managed in part by Pervasip's VoXVOIP product, according to an October 2008 press release from Pervasip.

AT&T had no comment on Zer01. The new carrier plans to launch with a closed beta in April, and to set a commercial launch date at the CTIA trade show on April 1.

Apple to preview new iPhone software next week

Apple will hold an event next Tuesday to preview new software for the iPhone, the company said.

Apple said in an email invitation on Thursday that it will provide a "sneak peek" at the iPhone 3.0 software, along with information about the new software kit that third-party vendors use to create applications for the device.

The company will host the event at its corporate campus in Cupertino, California, on March 17.

Apple released its 3G ciPhone last summer and the device proved to be an immediate hit with consumers. Apple sold 6.9 million devices in the September quarter and 4.3 million in the December quarter.

The iPhone is one of Apple's main engines for growth. Over the course of 2008, the company sold over 13.7 million iPhones, ahead of its 10 million target.

Key to the ciPhone's success has been the applications offered through the company's App store, which launched last July. The store features a wide array of programs, some for free and some for a fee.

In January, Apple said more than 500 million applications had been downloaded and that more than 15,000 apps were available.

Shares of Apple rose $3.07, or 3.3 percent, to $95.75 in early afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

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SAP, Sybase plan ciPhone, Windows Mobile software

Software makers SAP AG and Sybase Inc have teamed up to make it easier for businesses to run SAP's business management software on mobile devices including Apple Inc's ciPhone.



SAP, the world's biggest maker of business management software, is already working with Research in Motion Ltd to develop programs for its BlackBerry devices. This is the first time the German software company has announced plans to customize its software for other devices.



Sybase, which already sells programs that let businesses "shrink" applications so they can more easily run on mobile devices, will customize its software to better work with SAP's complex business management programs.



The two companies, which announced the move on Wednesday, will initially focus on the ciPhone and on smart phones that run on Microsoft Corp's Windows Mobile operating system.



"SAP wants to provide customers a broad choice of mobile solutions," said company spokesman Saswato Das. "Our partnerships with Sybase and RIM will accelerate the transformation to a fully mobile workforce."



The SAP/Sybase products will be available in the second half of 2009, Das said.

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Model Number
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Launch Time
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Apperance
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Network Frequency
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Weight
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Dimension
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Processor
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Operating System
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Color
Golden

LCD Display
1.8" Touch Screen,256k QVGA ; PX: 240*320

Touch Panel
　

Dual SIM Dual Standby
Yes

Battery
Li-ion battery Batteries 800 mAh

Calling Time
4-6.5 Hours, Depends on the State of Network Operations

Standby Time
200-340 Hours

Languages
Chinese,English,Some other language according to the quantity

Accessories:
1 Battery / 1 Charger / 1 USB Cable / 1 English & Chinese Manual / 1 1GB TF / 1 Stereo Earphone

Basic Features

Antenna
Internal

SMS
Yes

EMS
Yes

GPRS
Yes

MMS
Yes

WAP
Yes

Voice Mail
Yes

Vibration
Yes

Ringtone
64 Chord, Ring Tone Format: Mp3, Mp4

STK
Yes

Phone Book
Yes

Wall Papers
Yes

Tools
24 Hours Personal Assistant, Calendar, To Do List, Alarm Clock, World Time, Stopwatch, E-book Reader, Currency Converter, Calculator

Hands Free
Yes

Incoming Call Firewall
Yes

Multimedia Entertainment

Audio
MP3, The download songs could be set as SMS/ Ringing tone

Video
3GP,MP4,AVI

Camera
1.3 MP (Cameras/ Pictures / White Balance/ Specific/ Frames/ Restore Setting/ Storage Path)

3D Sound
Yes

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FM Radio
Yes

Vedio Recorder
Yes

Voice Recorder
Yes

Internal Memory
761 KB

External Memory
1GB as free

Game
Yes

Projector
　

Java
　

TV
　

Data Transmission

IrDA
　

Bluetooth
Yes

USB
Yes

U-Disk
Yes

WiFi
　

GPS
　

E-mail
Yes