Sanyo SCP-2700

Sanyo SCP-2700

Just the way it goes with new Sanyo mobile phone dubbed as SCP-2700 with Full QWERTY keyboard. Specification is somewhat fine on a not so specs hunter individual.

The SCP-2700 offers:
1.3 Megapixel camera with 12-step digital zoom and 2x magnification, SMS Voice Messaging-capable,Built-in tools, including calendar, scheduler, to-do list, world clock, calculator, stopwatch and alarm clock, rear-ported speaker with dedicated key, 2.2-inch 65K color TFT LCD, Integrated Bluetooth wireless technology.

The new phone will be available on two colors, the Impulsive Pink, with a subtle floral overlay, and Deep Blue, has a tactile square designer pattern on its back.

“Mobile messaging has quickly become the de facto mode of communication for millions and, whether it’s for kids and grandparents or the seasoned texter, this phone has the ideal combination of usability, style and affordability,” said Andy Kodera, president of Kyocera SANYO Telecom, Inc. (KSTI). “Many associate messaging with teens or ‘tweens,’ but it’s become increasingly popular with all age segments. The SCP-2700 addresses a distinct need for a texting-focused QWERTY device at an entry-level price point.”

Motorola Evoke QA4 mobile phone

Motorola Evoke QA4 mobile phone now official.

We first saw this phone around blogosphere waiting for an official announcement from Motorola almost two months ago, now Motorola finally made it in public with Motorola Evoke QA4 embracing social media right at the touch of your finger tips. The new slider handset comes with 2.8 -inch touch screen WQVGA 240×400 display with on screen QWERTY keyboard combined with the normal keypad on slide. This also features a 2.0 Megapixel camera phone with 5x digital zoom, CDMA 800/1900/1700/2100, Diversity 1900MHz and 2100 MHz EVDO Rev A network bands and modes, internal 256 MB memory expandable via microSD, aGPS and Bluetooth.


“We understand the importance of having a mobile phone that helps you stay connected simply and seamlessly with your friends and family, whether you prefer to talk, text or network,” said Mark Shockley, corporate vice president and general manager, Motorola Mobile Devices. “Motorola Evoke offers the cutting-edge convenience and instant gratification of a full touch-screen, intuitive online browsing and the ability to stay plugged in on your terms.”

Asus P835 PDA phone

The P835 also enables users to switch between 12-key, half-Qwerty and full-Qwerty virtual keyboard modes, allowing them to choose an input method that best suits their current task. A responsive tracking ball significantly improves scrolling, and the phone’s large 3.5” display ensures every webpage is displayed crisply and vividly.

Targeting business-tech savvy as what Asus calls it for their new phone launch, the Asus P835 PDA phone comes with large 3.5 inch touchscreen phone running at WVGA or 800 x 480 pixel resolution. Include that HSUPA 7.2 download speed and Asus owned Glide streamlined user interface makes this PDA phone a choice for the next gen smart phone.

The P835 has the additional ability to function as a Wi-Fi Access Point. It can share its high-speed HSPA cellular data or Internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to 10 devices, such as laptops or other PDA phones. Connecting devices is a simple affair thanks to the P835’s user-friendly interface, and dropped connections are automatically restored.

Networks : HSPA (DL: 7.2Mbps, UL: 2Mbps), UMTS 900/1900/2100
EDGE/GPRS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900, Class 12
Operating System : Microsoft Windows® Mobile 6.1™ Professional
Display : 3.5” TFT, 65K-color Touchscreen, WVGA (800 x 480 pixels)
Processor : Qualcomm 7201A 528MHz
Memory : 4GB Internal Storage + 288MB SDRAM + 256MB ROM
feature:
Opera browser, Wi-Fi Access Point, YouTube, Flickr, ASUS Virtual Keyboard, Anytime Launcher, ASUS Today, EziMusic, EziPhoto, Google search and RSS Reader.

the all new LG Viewty II GC900

LG just about to launched a new phone, a new version of LG viewty KU990.

With all those touchscreen feature mobile launch from LG like LG Arena KM900, here is another phone reported with only the spec sheet revealed, the LG Viewty II GC900.

With an addition of 3D S-Class user interface, like the image above and a copy features on previous phone like
8.0 Megapixel camera with Xenon flash, Quadband GSM, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, 1.4 Mbps HSUPA connectivity, aGPS, Wi-Fi, DivX and XVID playback and up to 32GB microSDHC support.

LG Viewty II GC900
* Quadband GSM, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, 1.4 Mbps HSUPA connectivity
* 3” full WVGA (800 x 480 px) touchscreen display
* S class 3D interface
* 8 megapixel camera with Xenon Flash, manual and auto focus, image stabilizer, face tracking, burst mode , high speed video recording, ISO1600 and geo tagging
* DivX and XVID playback
* microSDHC support, up to 32GB
* Built-in Wi-Fi
* A-GPS
* Accelerometer

US mobile - wireless trend of 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Move over fancy, pricey cell phones. The buzz ahead of the annual CTIA wireless show next week is all about cheaper data plans and mobile software stores, where a few dollars can get you a game or other cool application to impress your friends.

With consumers more cautious than before about shelling out for new smartphones, vendors are hoping applications will help sales. As a result they are turning to online stores to compete with Apple Inc, which sells downloadable software, ranging from the practical to the ridiculous.

Carriers in turn hope the new applications will increase interest in data services and boost revenue -- though with the economy in tatters, a big debate is brewing over whether phone operators need to lower the price of data plans.

"Last year (CTIA) was really focused on devices like Android and the iPhone. Now people are realizing the power of applications for these devices," said Gartner analyst Michael King. "I think this year it's going to be all applications."

The U.S. wireless showcase will take place in Las Vegas from April 1-3, with attendance expected to be down 15 percent from last year's 40,000 people due to the weak economy. Speakers include executives from Verizon Communications Inc, Research in Motion, Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA, Microsoft Corp and Clearwire Corp.

While there will be many new phones on display, applications have stolen the limelight in the battle to capture consumers' imaginations and their cash.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is expected to officially launch its mobile application store at the show and Microsoft is expected to talk up its applications marketplace due out later this year.

Sprint Nextel Corp will also demonstrate Palm Inc's widely anticipated Pre phone, which is designed to stand out by making it easier for consumers to use multiple applications simultaneously.

But some analysts are doubtful if these companies can attract the variety of software developers that were drawn to the hugely popular iPhone and Apple store.

"I think they're struggling to get the massive volume of developers Apple has," King said, referring specifically to RIM which is better known among corporate clients than consumers.

King expects a lot of attention at CTIA to go to new applications that put mobile users in a context, such as their location or if they are online and available.

DATA FEE DILEMMA

While Apple's App Store has proven popular, with over 800 million applications having been downloaded so far, it remains to be seen how many consumers can afford today's monthly data fees on top of voice rates.

Some analysts see data growth slowing unless carriers offer cheaper service plans. "Sixty dollars a month is a lot to ask in a recession," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin, referring to typical U.S. data service charges for wireless connections to portable computers. These are separate to phone data plans.

Monthly data plans for smartphones are cheaper -- usually about $30 for subscribers with contracts of two years -- but are still too high for many consumers, analysts say.

"There are only so many consumers willing to sign on upfront for data on top of voice plans with today's rates," said Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. "There are a lot of people who want smartphones who are held back by the cost of the data plan."

But Gartner's King said that carriers are not ready to budge on retail prices partly because many corporate clients are already renegotiating cellular contracts to cut costs.

One big concern is that big discounts could lure so many new users to a network that performance becomes visibly weaker for carriers, which want to cut capital spending this year.

"The mobile Internet has finally taken off. Now we need to cope with the traffic," said IDC analyst Scott Ellison. "I think carriers are going to be very leery of encouraging usage they can't support."

As a result, discussions about technology alternatives will abound at the show. One option involves installing Wi-Fi on more phones. The short-range wireless technology offers fast Web access but is independent of carrier networks.

Another option is an emerging technology known as femtocells, which boost network coverage indoors and alleviate the strain on carrier networks. But prices for femtocells may take time to reach the $99 or less level needed for mass adoption, Ellison said, compared to more than $200 now.

In the meantime, carriers could experiment with cheaper fees that limit a user's Internet access. As the price of phones and wirelessly connected computers fall, so must service fees, analysts said.

"If they're going to go with lower-priced devices, they'll have to have lower-priced services," said Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Tiffany Wu)

Sony Ericsson puts focus on camera phones in '09

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson is betting heavily on camera phones in the United States this year, hoping high-end photography will convince consumers to buy a new phone or replace digital cameras.

The Sony Corp and Ericsson venture has seen strong international sales of its Cybershot camera phones and Walkman music phones, but has yet to make big inroads in the U.S. market.

While some analysts are skeptical about the timing for such devices, Sony Ericsson plans to launch its C905 8 megapixel camera phone in the hope the boost in picture quality and carrier promotions will help it increase sales here.

"We're going to be really focused on this device starting in the second quarter," said Jon Mulder, the company's head of product marketing for North America. "We know that this device is going to be relevant to consumers in the second half."

Mulder estimated the device, which sold for as much as 400 euro ($538.79) in Europe, would cost $199 to $249 here after carrier subsidies, which typically tie customers into a two year contract in exchange for the discount.

The phone could work on the networks of either AT&T Inc or T-Mobile USA, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG. While Mulder said he was confident it would be sold by at least one of the carriers, he would not say which.

Sony Ericsson says consumers are be keener than ever to have a high-quality camera with them at all times in the form of a cell phone because of the trend for sharing everyday photographs on social networks such as Facebook.

But analysts worry consumers might not be willing to pay the premium price for a boost in picture quality during a recession and when Apple Inc's iPhone has already set a benchmark price of $200 for more powerful smartphones.

"It's a challenging case to make, particularly in this age where we're seeing standalone 8 megapixel cameras offered for $100 or less," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin, who noted that Cybershot is already a strong standalone camera brand.

Sony Ericsson has also announced a 12 megapixel camera phone, Idou, which it does not plan to sell in the U.S. market this year. But this device also faces analyst skepticism.

Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said that 2 megapixel cameras will make up about 35.8 percent of North America camera phone sales this year with only about 2 percent of sales generated by 8 megapixel camera phones. She sees demand growing to about 19 percent for these cameras by 2012.

"For the majority of consumers 5 (megapixels) is probably good enough and what should be improved is flash and zoom rather than pixels," she said.

Sony Ericsson will have to share the market with at least one bigger phone rival, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which has launched its 8 megapixel Memoir phone through T-Mobile USA for $249 a month.

But Mulder said there were many factors in favor of its high-end camera phone this year, not least the fact that when U.S. operators decide to promote a phone, it tends to do well.

And despite the hype around touchscreens, lead by iPhone, he noted that many people still want more traditional phones like Cybershot, which has easy to use physical buttons.

"There is a large consumer segment that is still very much interested in a feature phone," he said referring to phones with features such as cameras that are cheaper than smartphones.

And he said that, if customers who need to replace their phone and their camera are worried about splurging due to the weak economy, they may end up choosing a combined device.

"This is as close to a replacement (for a digital camera) as you'll ever get," he said, pointing to multiple features such as BestPic, which lets a user take several shots quickly from one button press, and Panorama, the ability to put a collage of photos together to make up a bigger picture.

Sony Ericsson was the No. 4 global handset provider in the fourth quarter with sales of about 24 million phones.

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

Nokia to shutter its "Mosh" success story

HELSINKI (Reuters) - To spearhead its push into Internet services, Nokia put users in charge when it opened in 2007 the networking site Mosh, which lets people post anything they want.

Less than two years later the world's top cell phone maker has decided to put an end to "people power", killing a site that attracted a wide audience around the globe, unlike most of Nokia's new fledgling services.

Mosh (http://mosh.nokia.com/) is a simple website customized for access from any feature phone or smartphone, but it can also be used from a personal computer.

It has been compared by users to the origins of the Internet, where people can access content and share it with others for free.

"We don't know where it exactly goes and we are not entirely in control," one of the founders of the site, George Linardos, told Reuters shortly after it was opened.

There is no official date for closing Mosh, but Nokia is expected to launch its Ovi store in May, merging its software Download! store with Mosh and widget service WidSets.

Like the Internet, Mosh attracted loads of pornographic content, and it also stoked tension between Nokia and record labels, with whom Nokia is in close cooperation for its music offerings.

Mosh has so far reached 137 million downloads. The takeup has been slower than Apple Inc's App Store, but there has been no marketing machine pushing Mosh.

"It was never going to last for ever, I'm surprised that it lasted this long," says artist Derrick Welsh, who goes by the name "moshing" on the site.

Welsh said he could not use Mosh from a public computer room of an art gallery in Newcastle, England, due to its explicit content.

Nokia is the first handset maker to move strongly into content space with services like its music store, gaming service N-gage and its upcoming online Ovi media and application store -- which will compete head-to-head against Apple's App Store.

The Apple store has proved the market for software supermarkets in the mobile world, with more than 500 million applications downloaded in only half a year.

David MacQueen from Strategy Analytics said Nokia has been able to learn a lot from Mosh -- how to run an open store, how to get developers products quickly to the market and how user recommendations should work.

"Mosh will die, but I would contend that in many ways the new Ovi Store is the child of Mosh rather than the child of Download," MacQueen said.

Nokia has not unveiled user numbers for its other new services, which are being slowly rolled out in various parts of the world.

The new Ovi Store is the official reason for closing Mosh, as the company is merging smaller services into one and starting to charge for their use.

"As a content provider, revenue from the downloads would be welcomed," said Welsh, who is investigating ways to expand messaging on phones from text to drawing.

"My wife likes what I'm up to, but she does want all this research to actually generate some cash one day," he said.

But gone will be the freedom of posting anything -- Nokia says it will screen all content before it is added to the Ovi store.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 8

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft is set to publicly launch Internet Explorer 8 early on Thursday, the latest version of its market-dominating Web browser.

The application, an integral part of Microsoft's eagerly awaited Windows 7 operating system, can be downloaded from Microsoft's website from 9 a.m. Pacific time, free for people using licensed Microsoft operating systems.

IE8, as it is commonly referred to, has been in public beta testing for about a year, but Thursday's launch marks its full public rollout.

Microsoft, the world's largest software company, said IE8 will run with Windows Vista, its latest operating system, and also Windows XP, the previous version which some users still prefer over Vista.

The application replaces IE7, which has a lock on the browser market. According to a recent survey by IT consultants Janco Associates, Internet explorer has a 72.2 percent market share, ahead of the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser with 17.2 percent. Google's new Chrome browser has only 2.8 percent of the market, while Apple's Safari has less than 1 percent.

Microsoft has run afoul of U.S. and European antitrust regulators for bundling its browser with its operating system, which competitors say is an attempt to drive them out of the market.

Last month, Google joined Mozilla and Norway's Opera in protesting Microsoft's dominance in the browser market. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95 percent of the world's personal computers.

Microsoft has already announced that users of Windows 7 -- expected later this year or early next year -- will be able to turn key programs like Internet Explorer off, making it easier to use other browsers.

New features in IE8 include right-clicking on addresses or other Web features to go straight to a map or put into a blog or other website, which Microsoft calls an "accelerator". Users will also be able to put in keywords in the address bar to recall sites visited related to that word.

The new browser also has enhanced security protection, for example warning users if they are about to download something from a site known to be a source of malicious software, or "malware".

Samsung launches movies to mobiles service

LONDON (Reuters) - Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched a service allowing its customers to buy or rent movies and TV series to download to their mobile phones.

The breadth of Samsung's offering, which includes over 500 blockbusters from top studios Warner Bros MTWX.N, Paramount and Universal, makes it competitive with other mobile media offerings from Apple Inc and Nokia.

Samsung Movies, a dedicated virtual store for Samsung customers, launches initially in Britain and Germany and will extend to other key European markets later in the year, Samsung said in a statement.

The service, which features films such as "The Dark Knight" and TV series including "E.R." and "Friends," will be compatible only with video-enabled Samsung phones such as its new Tocco Ultra Edition.

Samsung plans to expand the service to notebooks, MP3 and MP4 portable music players and Samsung TVs.

Samsung Movies will use technology from privately owned digital movie retailer Acetrax, which holds agreements with film studios and music labels.

Prices start at 2.49 pounds ($3.55) for a 24-hour rental or 4.99 pounds to buy a movie.

Samsung said it would double its titles to 1,000 by the end of the first quarter and again to 2,000 movies and TV shows by the end of June.

UK-based research firm CCS Insight said in a note: "The move is tangible progress in (Samsung's) convergence strategy and a first step in delivering consumer services to rival those from the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by David Holmes)

Palm Inc grab back smartphone business from rivals.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Palm Inc on Thursday said its upcoming Pre phone needs "more polishing" but that it was on track to start selling the high profit device in the first half of the year as it looks to grab back smartphone business from rivals.

The company gave the update while it reported a wider loss and revenue that fell 70 percent from a year ago, in line with its recent warning for a weak fiscal third quarter.

Its shares fell 4.7 percent after the report as some investors may have hoped for a specific launch date for Pre.

The Pre is seen as Palm's best hope to fight rivals such as Apple Inc and Research In Motion, which have hurt Palm's smartphone sales in recent years.

It said it is working hard to have Pre ready for a launch before the middle of the year at its exclusive U.S. carrier partner Sprint Nextel.

"There's no showstoppers," said Chief Executive Ed Colligan in a call with analysts. "We plan on delivering on the time frame we said we would."

Colligan also told analysts that he already uses Pre as his personal device every day and that it works well but just needs some polishing before it can go on sale. The company also said it has enough money to support the phone's launch.

Pre, which will be up against Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry, is based on a new software system known as webOS and has touchscreen controls.

Colligan told analysts that the company has a whole set of future products planned for the system.

He said some of these webOS devices could be simpler than Pre and some of them more advanced so that it can target different parts of the market.

"There's certainly opportunity for going down stream and taking functionality out and clearly there's things we can do going upscale" he said, adding that carrier customers that had seen its future product plans were impressed.

PRE TO HELP MARGINS

Once these new products are on sale the company said it aims to be able to report non-gaap gross profit margins of 30 percent plus, similar to margins it had seen in the past for its Treo smartphone line up.

Palm said its gross profit margin was 5 percent in the third quarter, ended Feb 27 and 20 percent in the second quarter.

In the current quarter it still expects to be hurt by price pressure on its legacy products and weak consumer demand due to the recession.

Palm's loss widened to $98 million, or 89 cents per share for the third quarter ended February 27, from a loss of $57 million or 53 cents per share in the year ago quarter.

Excluding items such as stock-based compensation its loss would have been 86 cents per share, roughly in line with estimates from two analysts contacted by Reuters.

Revenue fell to $90.6 million from $312.1 million, very slightly ahead of Palm's March 3 warning that revenue would be in a range of $85 million to $90 million.

However, it was still well below the $155 million average analyst estimate prior to the early March warning.

The company had warned of a bad quarter as the poor economy aggravated already weak demand for its older phones, and shipments of its new Treo Pro phone were delayed.

"The quarter looks very much like what they said," said Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton. "I've a tough time seeing how many people care about this quarter because the story is about the Pre and fiscal 2010."

Palm's shares fell about 4.7 percent to $7.35 in late trade after closing down another 4.7 percent in the regular Nasdaq session on Thursday.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Qualcomm upbeat on smartphone market

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Qualcomm is seeing strong demand for higher-end smartphones despite a weak economy and expects promising growth from the issue of 3G licenses in China, a senior executive at the world's largest maker of cell phone chips said.

Some chipmakers and PC vendors are pinning hopes on fast-growing sales of feature-jammed smartphones to help insulate them from the worst effects of the global economic slowdown, which is sapping demand for personal computers and other hi-tech gadgets.

"Consumer demand for higher-end smartphones remains strong as the demand for wireless Internet, multimedia, and value-added services continues to grow," Jing Wang, a Qualcomm executive vice president, said on Friday in an e-mailed response to Reuters' questions on the outlook for the cell phone and cell phone-chip markets.

"While inventories have contracted, global 3G adoption is continuing to grow as subscribers migrate from second-generation to third-generation networks and manufacturers are shipping more 3G devices this year than last year," the executive said.

Credit Suisse said in a report in February the global smartphone market will grow to 204 million units in 2011 from 141 million units in 2008.

Wang, who is in-charge of Qualcomm's business in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, said Qualcomm will continue to support the growth of Chinese companies in the development of 3G CDMA networks, devices, and applications.

"The issuance of 3G licenses in China is a significant development that presents an exciting opportunity for growth," he said.

The number of CDMA subscribers (including CDMA2000, WCDMA and TD-SCDMA) in China is expected to increase to 211 million in 2013 from 30 million in 2008, he said, citing data from a research house.

China's government has worked hard to develop its homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G standard to promote its own industries and avoid hefty royalties demanded by companies behind the world's most widely accepted 3G standards, WCDMA and CDMA 2000.

Qualcomm currently has license agreements with more than 30 companies based in China, including 10 new agreements executed over the past 12 months, Wang said, without identifying them.

Qualcomm is a major client of TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, and its chips help power smartphones sold by Taiwan's HTC Corp, which expects sales in China to double this year.

When asked if Qualcomm will place more new orders to TSMC later this year, Wang said: "Any improvement in market conditions that would drive increased volumes of Qualcomm's chipset shipments would also be expected to drive increased volume for our suppliers."

(US$1=T$33.8)

(Reporting by Baker Li, Editing by Ken Wills and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

declining demand for handphone

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Sony Ericsson sparked fresh fear of crumbling consumer demand on Friday when the world's No 4 handset maker said it would sell barely half of the phones it sold last quarter.

Shares across the wireless sector dropped sharply on the news -- compounded by smaller rival Palm's overnight report of slumping quarterly sales -- and by 1229 GMT (8:29 a.m. EDT), Ericsson was down 8.7 percent and Nokia was down 5.5 percent.

Sony Ericsson said it expects to sell just 14 million phones in January-March, hit by weak demand and retailers cutting their inventories. Analysts polled by Reuters in January expected between 15.5 million to 21.8 million phones sold.

"Investors are questioning the whole market now, even though I think the issue for Sony Ericsson is more company specific," said Jari Honko, analyst with eQ Bank.

Overnight, U.S. rival Palm Inc reported a widening loss for the December-February quarter and said revenue sank 70 percent from a year ago.

The cellphone industry has entered its toughest year ever as consumers rein in spending and retailers try to clear inventories of unsold phones after bleak Christmas sales.

"The market, overall, continues to be very challenging," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Fears over the future of the mobile market also sent shares in chipmakers sharply lower, with Infineon down 6.6 percent and STMicro 5 percent lower.

VERY WEAK QUARTER

Sony Ericsson said it expected to make a pretax loss of 340-390 million euros ($459 million-$526 million) in the quarter as it heads into a second year of losses.

"It's a real catastrophe. Those are very big losses and they are probably losing a lot of market share," said Greger Johansson, from analyst firm Redeye.

"It's obvious that the volumes are much lower than the market had thought. And first and foremost, the losses are much, much bigger," he said.

Sony Ericsson, the no. 4 global handset maker after Nokia, Samsung and LG, said it expects gross margins to decline both year-on-year and sequentially.

"What is happening now is that everyone will be forced to cut their forecasts for Sony Ericsson and Ericsson," said analyst Hakan Wranne from Swedbank.

Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight said Sony Ericsson was suffering most from the weak portfolio and the challenging market conditions it faces in European markets.

"With competition intensifying it is going to be a tough task to regain momentum until new products appear and economic conditions improve," Wood said.

Sony Ericsson's success has been built on a strong offering of mid-range phones with high-quality cameras and music players, but this part of the cellphone market is seeing the sharpest fall this year as operators dole out subsidies to more expensive phones.

SMARTPHONES TO HOLD

Qualcomm, the world's largest cellphone chip maker, said on Friday it was seeing strong demand for higher-end smartphones in spite of the weak economy.

Analysts, on average, expect sales of feature-jammed smartphones to grow between 10 percent and 20 percent this year.

"Consumer demand for higher-end smartphones remains strong as the demand for wireless Internet, multimedia, and value-added services continues to grow," Jing Wang, a Qualcomm executive vice president, said in an e-mail to Reuters.

"While inventories have contracted, global 3G adoption is continuing to grow as subscribers migrate from second-generation to third-generation networks and manufacturers are shipping more 3G devices this year than last year," he said.

TSMC, which makes chips for Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, said on Friday it would end all unpaid leave for employees from April as orders have risen recently.

The move came after TSMC sharply raised its first-quarter sales and margin forecasts last week, due to rush orders from China, indicating a trend of falling sales that began six months ago had hit bottom.

($1=.7412 Euro)
By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent
Additional reporting by Baker Li in Taipei and Stockholm bureau; Editing by David Cowell and Simon Jessop

Nokia N96 smart Mobile Entertainment

Smartphone terbaru Nokia dari keluarga N-Series baru-baru ini diluncurkan di Indonesia, yaitu Nokia N96 yang mengandalkan fitur mobile entertainment seperti Video dan TV. Nokia N96 merupakan evolusi dan penyempurnaan dari N95.
Ponsel multimedia komputer berlayar besar 2,8 inch ini diklaim cocok untuk mereka yang suka dengan video klip atau video streaming karena dilengkapi memori internal 16GB. Jika kurang puas bisa diperbesar lagi kapasitasnya.

"N96 merupakan ponsel mobile entertainment. Salah satu kelebihan N96 adalah kapasitas memorinya yang sangat besar yang bisa ditingkatkan hingga 24GB," kata Goh Doh Hau, Head Go To Market Nokia Indonesia.

Aneka pilihan hiburan hadir dalam ponsel ini, mencakup TV digital live, GPS, kamera 5 megapiksel dengan optikal Carl Zeiss, navigasi suara langkah demi langkah, suara dan musik yang superior dan game-game dari koleksi N-Gage.

Ponsel ini mampu menyimpan hingga 40 jam konten video baik hasil transfer dari komputer maupun dari internet di Nokia Video Center melalui koneksi USB 2.0 dengan dukungan WLAN dan HSDPA.

Nokia Video Center menawarkan aneka ragam konten video mulai dari movie trailer, komedi hingga berita-berita dari penyedia konten dunia seperti YouTube, metacafe, Reuters dan Sony Pictures.

Nokia N96 mendukung format video MPEG-4, Windows Media Video dan Flash Video, untuk mempermudah pengguna ponsel menampilkan video. juga terdapat 1000 lagu dan video klip musik yang sebagian besar merupakan konten lokal yg bisa di download. Layanan ini diberikan Nokia Indonesia bekerja sama dengan Master Music hingga Desember 2008.

Samsung B2100 Xplorer anti air dan debu

Samsung secara resmi telah merilis ponsel candybar baru. Samsung B2100 yang telah diumumkan sejak bulan January lalu, kini resmi diberi nama Samsung Xplorer. Ponsel ini dilengkapi dengan fitur Military Standard 810F, tahan bantingan, anti debu dan kotoran, juga tahan dalam suhu yang ekstrim sekalipun.

Handphone Samsung B2100 Xplorer ini juga memiliki serifikat IP57, dan dapat bertahan selama 30 menit di dalam air yang berkedalaman lebih dari 1 meter, tanpa adanya kerusakan atau cacat apapun. Samsung B2100 Xplorer ini akan hadir di Eropa mulai bulan April mendatang, dan dijual ddengan harga perkiraan 100 Euro atau $136.

Spesifikasi utama handphone Samsung B2100 Xplorer :

Teknologi jaringan : quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Dimensi : 4.45 x 1.93 x 0.69 (113 x 48.9 x 17.4 mm)
Bobot : 3.63 oz (103 g)
Display : 1.77 inch, teknologi TFT, tipe layar dengan warna 262.144, dengan resolusi 120 x 160 pixel
Baterai : Li – Ion kapasitas 1000 mAh, dengan waktu bicara hingga 9 jam dan waktu standby hingga 600 jam atau 13 hari
Desain : bentuk candybar
Fitur : anti air dan debu, ada antenna internal, pemutar music, FM radio dengan RDS
Memory : internal 7MB, support MicroSD card
Camera : 1.3 megapixel dengan flash dan perekam video
Koneksi data : Bluetooth 2.1 dengan A2DP

Acer siapkan smartphone non windows

Acer berencana untuk meluncurkan ponsel pintar non Windows pertamanya di paruh kedua tahun ini. Rencana dari produsen PC terbesar ketiga di dunia itu diungkapkan oleh seorang juru bicara perusahaan dan VIVAnews kutip dari PCWorld, 18 Maret 2009.

Bulan lalu, produsen asal Taiwan tersebut mengumumkan Tempo, jajaran smartphone terbarunya. Semuanya menggunakan sistem operasi Microsoft Windows Mobile. Ketika itu Acer menyebutkan bahwa mereka juga akan menghadirkan smartphone berbasis sistem operasi lain seperti Google Android, meski belum memberikan informasi lebih lanjut.

Perwakilan Acer di Taipei menyatakan bahwa smartphone non Windows dari produsen itu akan tersedia di pasar dunia akhir tahun ini, meski begitu, mereka juga belum bersedia menyebutkan sistem operasi apa yang akan digunakan pada handsetnya. Meski berencana untuk membuat smartphone berbasis sistem operasi lain, Acer juga masih menyiapkan produk dengan Windows Mobile 6.5 untuk dirilis tahun 2009 ini.

Di pasar ponsel pintar, sistem operasi Google Android sendiri mulai mendapat tanggapan positif. Adapun produk pertama yang menggunakan sistem operasi tersebut adalah smartphone buatan High Tech Computer (HTC) yang beredar akhir 2008. Selain Acer, Asustek Computer juga dikabarkan akan membuat ponsel berbasis Android.

Acer sendiri bermain di pasar smartphone setelah mengakuisisi E-Ten Information Systems, tahun lalu.

(Sumber: VIVAnews.Com)

Telkomsel Resmi Luncurkan Apple iPhone 3G

Jumat, 20 Maret 2009 Telkomsel resmi menghadirkan Apple iPhone 3G di pasaran Indonesia. Operator seluler terbesar tanah air itu menjalin kemitraan eksklusif dengan Apple sebagai partner jangka panjang.

Apple minati pasar Indonesia karena negeri ini memiliki pasar yang unik. Potensi pasarnya juga sangat besar. "Kalau ada 24 kota besar di Indonesia dijumlah, total penduduknya melebihi penduduk Singapura, HongKong, bahkan Malaysia. Potensi ini yang dilihat Apple," kata Sarwoto Atmosutarno, Dirut Telkomsel pada jumpa pers peluncuran iPhone 3G Telkomsel.

"Telkomsel melihat potensi yang besar dalam pengembangan komunitas," kata Sarwoto. "iPhone di luar negeri memiliki komunitas yang sangat besar. Di Indonesia komunitas tersebut memang belum terlihat, tetapi trennya akan ke sana. Saya optimis akan hal tersebut," ucapnya.

Sekarang ini Telkomsel menjadi mitra ekslusif Apple di Indonesia. Sarwoto yakin kontrak kerjasama tersebut akan berlaku jangka panjang.

"Bila Apple menelurkan produk-produk versi terbaru, saya kira Apple akan tetap bekerjasama dengan Telkomsel di Indonesia," kata Sarwoto. "Saya tidak tahu menahu soal penjajakan kerjasama apple dengan operator lain," ucapnya.

(Sumber: VIVAnews.Com)

nokia 5800 express music masuki pasar musik digital

Nokia akhirnya meluncurkan ke pasaran ponsel terbarunya Nokia 5800 Express Music. Ini merupakan ponsel musik dan termasuk generasi pertama produk Nokia yang menggunakan layar sentuh sepenuhnya.

Nokia bukan yang pertama yang memproduksi ponsel musik dengan menggunakan layar sentuh. Sebelumnya sudah ada iPhone dari Apple dan T-Mobile G1 dari Google yang berbasis Android. Nokia 5800 diramalkan bakal menjadi pesaing utama iPhone yang diluncurkan tahun lalu dan berhasil menyedot perhatian banyak orang.

Pihak Nokia sendiri yakin, produk terbarunya ini akan sukses. Sejauh ini, Nokia telah berpengalaman menjual ponsel musik. Nokia telah menjual 300 juta perangkat yang menyediakan fitur musik dan 10 juta unit Nokia 5310 ExpressMusic, yang masuk kategori ponsel musik. Angka-angka penjualan itu membuat Nokia optimis bisa menggebrak pasar meski Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic datang belakangan.

Toko musik online

Langkah Nokia untuk masuk ke pasar musik digital tidak hanya dalam penyediaan perangkat namun juga mengembangkan model bisnisnya. Peluncuran Nokia 5800 diumumkan seiring dengan kehadiran Nokia's Comes With Music, yaitu jasa toko musik (Nokia Music Store) yang punya koleksi jutaan lagu. Kedatangannya bisa dibilang tepat, meski kalah start dengan Apple, karena dilakukan saat EMI, Universal, dan label musik besar dunia mulai bermain di pasar musik digital.

Toko musik online ini akan menjadi pesaing Apple yang saat ini menguasai pasar dengan layanan iTunes dan Google yang bekerja sama dengan toko MP3 Amazon. Sementara Nokia 5800 bakal membayangi iPhone-nya Apple dan ponsel-ponsel Android yang bakal keluar ke pasar mulai tahun depan.

Hanya dengan membeli Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic, orang diberi akses gratis selama setahun untuk mengunduh (download) lagu dari katalog yang tersedia di Nokia Music Store (http://www.musicstore.nokia.com). Setiap negara nantinya akan punya katalog tersendiri di Nokia Music Store. Untuk wilayah Asia baru Singapura yang sudah punya katalog (lihat http://music.nokia.com.sg). Orang dapat mengunduh lagu-lagu dari Nokia Music Store melalui komputer biasa atau perangkat nokia. Sinkronisasi dari komputer ke handset dengan mudah dilakukan dengan Windows Media Player 11.

Vice President Sales Nokia untuk wilayah Southeast- Asia Pacific, Chris Carr, di Singapura, pernah menyatakan, "Cara orang menikmati musik berbeda-beda di setiap daerah. Dengan menyadari hal itu, Nokia 5800 ExpressMusic memberi keluasaan kepada orang untuk menikmati musik yang mereka suka dalam cara mereka senangi."

Hebatnya lagi, semua koleksi yang berhasil diunduh menjadi koleksi si pengguna. "Kemerdekaan dan kesederhanaan dari layanan ini tidak terbandingkan. Comes With Music memberi Anda akses tak terbatas kepada jutaan koleksi di Nokia Music Store dan lagu-lagu itu kemudian menjadi milik (koleksi) Anda. Soalnya, bukan sebuah revolusi jika Anda tidak menjadikan (lagu-lagu) itu sebagai lagu koleksi Anda," kata Andrew Connel, Kepala Kategori Manajemen Enterteimen dan Komunitas, Nokia.

Setelah satu tahun, jika masih ingin mengunduh lagu lagi, orang harus membeli dengan sistem a la carte. Harga paket a la carte akan ditentukan kemudian. Koleksi lagu di Nokia Music Store berasal antara lain dari Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music, EMI Group, serta lagu-lagu indie. Dalam menentukan lagu yang layak masuk katalog, terutama untuk lagu-lagu lokal, Nokia antara lain akan berpatokan pada tangga lagu populer di radio-radio lokal.

Namun pengguna Nokia belum bisa menikmati akses gratis ke Nokia Music Store tersebut. Pengguna di wilayah Inggris menjadi yang pertama yang dapat menikmati fasilitas itu mulai 16 Oktober. Sementara itu, pengguna di wilayah Asia-Pasifik dijadwalkan baru bisa masuk ke fasilitas itu awal tahun depan.

Tidak sekadar musik

Nokia 5800 ingin menawarkan apa yang umumnya orang ingin nikmati dari sebuah ponsel yang menyediakan musik, seperti suara yang jernih, speaker yang powerful, memori yang besar, dan tentu saja sinkronisasi. Ponsel musik yang merupakan hasil inovasi terbaru Nokia itu memungkinkan orang bisa menikmati alunan musik dengan kualitas suara hampir setara MP3 player.

Sebagai ponsel musik, seri ini dilengkapi speaker stereo surround. Dengan menggunakan perangkat stereo headset, kualitas suaranya akan terdengar lebih maksimal lagi. Nokia 5800 memiliki memori internal 8 GB plus kartu memori microSD 16GB. Baterenya bisa bertahan 35 jam (kalau hanya menyetel musik) dan dalam kondisi standby bisa bertahan 17 hari.

Sebagai sebuah ponsel, produk ini pun terandalkan. Layarnya berukuran 3 inci, berteknologi TFT dengan 16 juta warna. Dimensi layarnya mencapai 640x360 piksel. Sistem operasi user interface menggunakan Symbian 60 edisi 5.

Meski fokusnya pada musik namun Nokia 5800 juga dilengkapi fasitas Wi Fi untuk browsing internet, kamera 3.2 megapixel dengan lensa Carl Zeiss, speaker telepon yang bersuara bening, bluetooth, A-GPS dan Nokia Maps. Ponsel ini juga dilengkapi perangkat koneksi yang powerful dengan 3G, HSDPA, dan WLAN.

Sementara untuk mengimput data ada beberapa pilihan cara yaitu dengan menggunakan alphanumeric keypad virtual, keyboard QWERTY dan pena stylus, dan plectrum.

Ponsel ini juga menambahkan menu Contacts Bar dan Media Bar. Menu Contacts Bar memungkinkan pengguna menempatkan empat kontak favorit pada home screen dan dengan satu sentuhan bisa menelusuri sejarah digital dari pesan teks terbaru, email, catatan panggilan telepon, foto-foto dan update blog. Layar juga menawarkan shortcut dari home screen ke item menu seperti kalender, profil dan jam.

Sementara itu, menu Media Bar memungkinkan pengguna mendapat akses langsung ke musik, video atau foto. Dengan Media Bar Anda dapat secara langsung terhubung ke website atau online sharing. Pengguna juga bisa berbagi gambar dan video hanya dengan satu sentuhan melalui komunitas online semacam Share on Ovi, Flickr, dan Facebook. Daftar musik dan judul lagu dapat pula bagi melalui bluetooth, MMS dan online sharing.

Munculnya Nokia 5800 menegaskan posisi Nokia bukan hanya sebagai produsen ponsel semata. Nokia 5800 menandai masuknya Nokia ke dalam pasar musik digital yang semakin besar nilainya. Mampukah Nokia 5800 express music ini menggeser dominasi apple i-phone yg terlebih dahulu memasuki pasaran di amrik dan eropa ??

Sumber: KOMPAS.COM