Jan 8, 2010

Here is a look at a number of the things that people are predicting for 2010 in terms of wireless phones & the industry surrounding them:
3D Holograms on Handsets

2010 sounds like such a futuristic year but the truth of the matter is that this date is right around the corner. Are the handsets of this future era going to be different from what they are today? Will the cell phone industry have changed a lot in the scant year-and-a-half it takes to reach this milestone year? Or will the wireless phones they see in 2010 be strikingly similar to the ones that are emerging on to the market today? While some people predict that phones will be projecting 3D holograms by 2010, others say that the industry is going to look like a slightly more grown-up version of what it looks like right now. Regardless of which side of the debate they are on, a lot of people are out there talking about the 2010 mobile phone market.

They are beginning to see a widespread interest in the development of open source wireless phone handsets with the upcoming release of Google’s Android. Open source handsets will allows users to access the applications & features that they need for their phones without being tied down to those things that are offered by the wireless carrier. People are increasingly interested in personalizing their mobile phones & open source handsets take that to the next level.

Seven of the more fun predictions that people in the industry are making is that 2010 is going to be the year that three-dimensional holograms are going to come to handsets. That’s because a tech company in India called Infosys has patented technology that makes it possible for 3D films, goods & images to be projected in high resolution through mobile devices. Seven prediction says that there will be seven million units in the global 3D screen market by 2010.
Open Source Handsets

The reason that 2010 is going to be a giant year for open source handsets is because that is the year when the Symbian Foundation’s first open source handsets are due to be released. Nokia has recently purchased Symbian & will be setting up the Symbian Foundation to generate an open source platform intended to compete against the Android platform. This will mean increased competition in the open source handset arena & therefore a lot of attention will be on this area of cell phone growth in 2010.
Giant Push By LG

2010 is the aim year that Korean handset maker LG has set for itself to gain an edge over the competition & to land in the “Top 3” of all global handset makers. Right now Motorola is in that number seven spot but LG believes it will only take a couple of years to move ahead of Motorola. LG has seen significant growth due to recent high sales of touchscreen phones, something that should get an added boost with the upcoming release of the LG Renoir, the company’s first 8-megapixel touchscreen camera phone.

lg-kc910-b.jpg
Touchscreens To Be The Norm

The same survey said that over eighty percent of respondents believed that GPS would be integral to the development of mobile phones by 2010. This is in line with predictions that the price of GPS-enabled phones is going to drop considerably so that fundamentally all phones except for the lowest-end models are going to come equipped with GPS. What is pointed out by that survey, though, is that the integration of GPS in to phones won’t be sufficient for the average user. What people need is full integration of all location-based services so that they can access location information at any time (which isn’t always possible with the faulty abilities of GPS on mobile phones today).

LG isn’t the only company that has completed well for itself with the release of advanced touchscreen phones. The iPhone is another obvious example of a touchscreen-based phone & there's numerous additional examples on the shelves & heading towards the market today. According to seven recent survey, over seven third of wireless phone users today believe that the demand for touchscreens is going to continue to the point where they are the norm among phones by 2010.
GPS As a Standard Feature

There has been an ebb & flow in the development of mobile TV services for the wireless phone. There was a surge in the service for awhile (& it remains a highly popular feature of mobile phones in Japan) but very few companies have found a way to make mobile TV viable & yet cost-effective for viewers. Advances in technology have finally taken place that are allowing mobile TV to start to get going again. A recent reduction in the cost of mobile digital TV chips has made it more likely that companies can afford to invest in this service. & some people are predicting that 2010 is the year when they are going to start to see widespread mobile TV viewing on cell phones.

What is likely to happen is that phones will integrate a range of different location-based services that are based on GPS. They are also likely to see a serious surge in the number of GPS applications that are available to users if it is true that they are going to be seeing a lot of those open source handsets that let us select the applications that they need. The recent winners of the Android Developers Challenge very all offered location-based services so they can see that this is something driving the forward-thinking cell phone market today.
Mobile TV Will Finally Take Off

mobile-tv-1.jpg
Additional Changes By 2010

Plenty of of the other changes that they can expect from out mobile phones by 2010 are not so much changes as they are improvements & increased adoption of services that people are interested in using today. For example, mobile social networking has taken off historicallyin the past year & is likely to continue to grow. There is also some belief that mobile VoIP is going to peak around 2010. It is possible that mobile video messaging & mobile instant messaging will both become more prevalent features of every day life for modern cell phone users over the work of the next seven years. & finally there is a giant demand for high-speed full-browser Net surfing to become standard on mobile phones .


Nokia mobile showcases it's new range for New Year 2010, which has many upcoming mobile phone to appeal to mobile users across the globe. Browse through our database of upcoming Nokia phones. Check specs, features, and functions, or read and share your reviews.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 7230 Slider Mobile Phone



The Nokia 7230 is a compact slider with stunning looks with 2.4-inch screen, 3.2-megapixel camera and FM radio. Memory is of the micro SD variety. The device comes with a 2GB card and the phonebook is good for a little-miss-popular 2,000 entries.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia X6 Touch-Screen Mobile Phone



Nokia X6 is the latest edition to Nokia's touch-screen device portfolio. Bursting with features for people who love music, socializing and entertainment on the move, the slim design makes carrying and listening to your favorite tracks a breeze.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 5235 Mobile Phone



Nokia 5235, a spec for spec copy of its elder brother, including the same 3.2-inch touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, and Symbian S60 5th edition.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition



Mobile phone navigation has just changed forever with the announcement of the Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition. With Nokia Maps pre-loaded, along with local maps for the region it's on sale in, this is the most affordable navigation device ever to come out of Nokia.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 6700 Classic Gold Edition



Nokia 6700 classic Gold Edition different from the well-loved Nokia 6700 classic. And no, it isn't the included natural leather carrying case and strap or the 8GB microSD card.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 7020 Folding Mobile Phone



The Nokia 7020 marries materials and technology to bring a new layer of style to design-conscious phone users.

Nokia Upcoming Mobile Phone for New Year 2010



Nokia 6316S Slider Mobile Phone



the Nokia 6316s brings elegant design and powerful functionality together in a compact sliding device. The stainless-steel Nokia 6316s achieves both style and ease of use with a 2.2" QVGA display, a 2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth 2.1.

2010: the year of the smartphone

Now is the time for predictions. From fashion trends to technology insights, the new decade has spawned a sea of blogs, articles and opinions on the subject. But what trends are Telstra’s product managers tipping in 2010? Richard Fink, Telstra’s Director Tool Management, takes a look at what’s set to be hot in the fast moving world of mobile tech.

First off it’s clear 2010 will be the year smartphones become a consumer must-have. Aussie businesses were fast to adopt email-capable mobiles like the BlackBerry. But 2010 will be the year mobile applications and exciting new devices push smartphones well and truly in to the consumer space.

Expect some impressive devices from all the top manufacturers in the first half of `10– as well as more features at lower price points as competition hots up.

Perhaps the most compelling thing about smartphones — other than getting your email on the go — is their ability to run apps downloaded to your phone.

Also expect 2010 to be the year the Android operating method becomes over a niche player with offerings from most of the major tool manufacturers. A mature operating method as well as a rapidly growing ecosystem of applications means Android is now a compelling consumer offering.
We’ll look at our mobiles as much as they speak on them

Apps are mini programs that run on mobiles. In 2010 more Aussies will download them than ever and head online on their mobiles.

Today there's over 100,000 iPhone apps on Apple’s iTunes store, up from 10,000 a year ago. That means you can set your iPhone up to do anything – be it order a pizza, watch Mobile FOXTEL from Telstra, or access your online banking account.

In 2009 leading handset and program makers set up their own app stores. These were giant name developers. BlackBerry App World, Nokia Ovi Store and Windows Marketplace all launched. Android Market (Google’s apps store that was launched over a year ago) already boasts around 20,000 apps.

So in 2010, expect to see a mass of useful, entertaining and simple fun apps – both free and charged-for – obtainable on a diversity of smartphones from all the major manufactures.
Socials media apps will be massively popular

Using your mobile to get online in general will boom . Mobile net is so popular with Telstra’s customers that traffic on our Next G mobile network is doubling every 8 months.

Social media apps in particular will take off with improved mobile experience, and convergence with your on-device contacts. We’re already seeing a huge appetite for social media sites on our Next G network. The number of users visiting Facebook alone over doubled between January and October. The availability of these apps across more tool types will spur further growth in the use of services like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Getting online on your mobile

In all it’s an exciting year ahead. Over to you, what are do you think is set to be hot in 2010?
Top 5 developments for mobiles in 2010

This year, mobiles that pack better web browsers, bigger screens, more intuitive touch controls and fast mobile net speeds will deliver the best mobile net experience on phones yet. Reading the news, catching up on sport and/or streaming YouTube clips on the go will be less hard than ever.

  1. Rise of the smartphone – three in three phones bought by Australians in 2010 will be smartphones
  2. Apps become popular across a range of tool types – social media apps
  3. Processing power of smartphones will double – with some matching the grunt of laptops obtainable a few years ago
  4. Mobile net use will boom as new devices pack better web browsers and use these faster processing speeds
  5. The range of phones powered by the Android operating method will expand dramatically

Jan 7, 2010

First it gave you new service plans, and now T-Mobile offers a new cell phone. We first saw a variant of the Sony Ericsson Equinox, aka the T717, at the CTIA show last April. Like its T707 sibling the Equinox has a thin design with a glossy skin, a hidden external display, and a circle design on its front face. Though the T707 comes in several colors--the green hue is the most unique--T-Mobile only has a black version of the Equinox.

The midrange feature set includes a 3.2-megapixel camera, a music player, stereo Bluetooth, an FM radio, a personal organizer, USB mass storage, PC syncing, a voice recorder, and a speakerphone. It also supports T-Mobile's 3G network and Sony Ericsson's gesture control feature, which allows you to control some calling functions and the alarm clock by waving your hand across a sensor.

The quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) Equinox will be available October 28 for $50 with service.

Spark Fun 2010

Wow that was fast! Free Day is over. Over $100k was given away in just under 1 hour and 45 minutes. We had over 1,000 orders and nearly over 70,000 unique visitors. Our servers barely stayed up!

Thank you all for checking us out! Our sincerest apologies to all who came but were not able to get the discount. We are going to have a ton of graphs, images, numbers, and funny comments from Free Day on a Friday Recap home page post just as soon as we can get it together. Please check back soon!

http://www.sparkfun.com/marcomm/Free_Day-secondblogpost.jpg


http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/news/free_day__checkout1.jpg


It will be vary obvious if you can checkout and get the discount. If not, the page will state that Free Day is over. What does 'may qualify' mean? Hit the Free Day submit button and your order will be tested. If approved, we'll tell you. If not, you'll be returned to the checkout page where you can edit your order or just submit the order like normal.

EDIT FROM FRENCIL:

Wow!

Our site has been up and down today from the unprecedented load we're seeing.  We're tuning our entire site, top to bottom and inside and out to handle this torrent.  We're also shaving off a few features of the website (temporarily) to make everything faster, such as rating comments.  After Free Day has passed we'll re-enable everything we've disabled to weather the storm.

2010 Internet Mobile.

Mobile Internet for the new year 2010





The number of PCs in use worldwide has surpassed 1 billion and there are one and a half billion internet users globally. At the same time there are more than 4 billion mobile subscribers, indicating the vast growth potential for mobile internet, especially considering that 58 percent of the world's installed PCs are in markets that account for only 15 percent of the world's population, meaning that for a majority of the potential users the handset is their main internet terminal. 
  • This report discusses significant trends and initiatives in usage and applications of mobile internet during 2008, and what development can be expected in the coming years. These are exciting times: the mobile web is coming of age, patterns and preferences in user behaviours and preferences are emerging and it is possible to start discerning market trends and with greater detail predict coming development. 
  • The global migration to 3G is also picking up pace and the base of WCDMA 3G subscribers more than doubled during both 2006 and 2007. By June 2008 there were more than 235 million WCDMA subscribers, representing a 6.4 percent penetration looking at all mobile subscribers worldwide, and 11 percent if only considering WCDMA markets. Furthermore the number of EVDO subscribers was about 100 million in mid-2008.
  • Faster networks alone are however not enough to stimulate the uptake of mobile Internet. Even among the 3G subscribers in the Western world, the share of mobile Internet users remains low. This confirms that it is vital that service providers, operators and handset manufacturers ensure that the overall experience of the first-time user is smooth, intuitive, reliable and confidence-inspiring. Berg Insight recommends that services are designed so that there is a straight-forward and guided way to access attractive contents for the first-time user, bypassing complex applications and advanced features until the user is ready for them. One way of achieving this is through free broadcasting services or widgets, making attractive contents available with one click on a running teaser-banner.

    Mobile surfers in Western markets are to a large degree fixed Internet users that use the mobile device as an alternative channel. There is a larger degree of mobile Internet users among the general population of internet users than there is in the general population of mobile users. It is therefore important for mobile service providers and operators to recognize that it is the PC and what users see and come across there that to a large degree inspires and motivates what they do on the mobile internet and what they expect from services there. The report discusses significant internet trends that application designers and providers need to consider regardless of from which terminal their users access their services. One such trend concerns how social services become more sophisticated and content sharing is evolving into content collaboration; another one is that information is increasingly becoming available for free while filtering and attention are value-added features that come with a price.

    When introducing mobile services that are established in the fixed world and marketed as such, customers will expect to find familiar content titles and similar features. As exemplified in the report, service providers should not be afraid to exploit cross-over recognition to attract fixed users to the portable net. Berg Insight believes that any operator trying to limit access and keep the user from his or her favourite Internet sites and applications will lose in the long run.

    But to create new user behaviours it is not enough just to be present on both fixed and mobile with the same features and look-and-feel, but the fixed and mobile qualities should complement each other. Berg Insight believes that presence is a key feature that has the potential to transform mobile applications for communications, such as instant messaging and e-mail, as well as for example social networking and advertising. With presence and location information connected to e.g. the entries in the phone’s address book, we can imagine one single application to integrate all communications and social functions, which adapts to the availability of different contacts, selecting appropriate communications modes depending on context.

    Currently the mobile Internet market is fragmented between operators, Internet players and content aggregators trying to find a way to get on to the small screens, but in a not too distant future, handset-embedded browsers and automatic re-directs to mobile-adopted sites will make the surfing experience smooth regardless of terminal. Then the users will select and stay with mobile services that give them what they have come to expect from the Internet (browsing, e-mail, IM, media, networking…) with the addition of inherit differentiators of surfing-on-the-go - such as instantaneity, personalisation, location, efficiency in presentation - into added value. The challenge for service developers and providers will be to design, package and introduce these features so that they become a natural and easily accepted evolution of online communication, which will require a deep understanding of how users communicate and how they interact with mobile technology. It will be crucial that in an already complex networking environment, adding e.g. presence as a mobile feature increases control and simplifies, not the opposite.

    It is important to not overlook the emerging markets which comprise the majority of the world’s mobile users and is the fastest growing one. Surveys consistently show that the largest interest for data services over mobile handsets is found in emerging markets, where undersupplied fixed infrastructure makes the portable phone a viable utility for many practical applications, not just communication but also banking, entertainment, commerce and similar. However, since these users often do not come from a PC background, and often do not have PC-based internet experience or any fixed access alternative, their expectations are fundamentally different and the markets consequently behave differently.

    Similarly, there exists in all geographical markets a significant segment of mobile users without PC background or access. With the right easily understood, service-focused introduction, the familiar and non-intimidating mobile phone is well positioned to enable data services for communications, media sharing, information and similar. In areas with mature mobile usage this segment, comprising for example elderly, has generated a substantial market, not only in adapted mobile terminals and services, but also in peripheral mobile-centric equipment such as printers and speakers.

Windows Mobile 5.0

Hi friends, 
Just type "Windows Mobile OS vs Symbian OS" in Google Search and you will end up with a long list of articles which blame Windows Mobile OS for various reasons. The operating system from Microsoft has been accused of lack of stability. There are complaints that smart phones running Windows Mobile OS, hang in between operations. Random reboots of the device have also been reported. Managing contacts and sending group messages have been mentioned to be annoying and time consuming. These Windows mobile phones have been charged with not being user-friendly as well. Switching from one application to another seems to be a nuisance too. Even speed and browser experience appear to be causes of concern. Battery life is another important area of common qualms. Many consumers thus seem to prefer a smart phone with Nokia's Symbian OS to one with Windows Mobile OS.
Microsoft must have given serious thoughts to all these issues as they recently came out with a new Windows Mobile OS version - 6.5. This version offers a number of new features and utilities that might resolve many of the existing problems. This new operating system was given a grand welcome, when it was announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress held in February 2009, in Barcelona , the second largest city of Spain . HTC, Orange and LG partnered with Microsoft for the release of this new OS. Mobile Phones like LG GM7300, HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 will be featuring the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.
So what's new with Windows Mobile 6.5? Microsoft boasts of an enhanced user interface, enriched internet browsing facility and new networking features like My Phone and Windows Marketplace. Emails, text messages, appointments and calls are maintained well, to allow easy and quick access. The touch screen capability has also been upgraded to provide more convenience while operating touch sensitive display phones. The Mobile Internet Explorer Browser has been improved too, to present a better web-surfing experience.
The My Phone service that this OS offers provides web-based personal information storage. Contacts, calendar schedules, messages, photographs, video-clips and more can be stored in this My Phone service. Automatic syncing of the smart phone and this online storage is possible too. Access to this service is password protected. Hence personal data is secure on the internet. Upgrading the mobile phone or restoring information on losing the cell phone, are all made easy as well.
The Windows Marketplace is another attractive feature that is offered by the new OS. This makes the phone resonate with the needs of the user. Searching for applications, purchasing and installing them require just a few button clicks. The Marketplace has over 20,000 applications and software that make life easy with Windows mobile phones.
The Microsoft Recite is also one of the attention capturing features that the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS will possess. This utility was part of the Windows Mobile OS since the 6.0 version. It allows recording of the user spoken words and organizing them according to similar speech, also enabling easy retrieval when required.
Thus, Windows Mobile 6.5 OS seems to have addressed many of the issues seen with the predecessor versions. Microsoft aims at "breaking down barriers between people, applications and information, providing a rich mobile phone experience spanning all phases of life, at home and at work". Nokia's Symbian might have some tough competition in the days ahead.

Hi everyone :
On April2008 Microsoft unveiled its latest update for the Windows Mobile operating system. With this update - Windows Mobile 6.1 - Microsoft aims to improve upon one of the areas where Microsoft falls behind top competitors RIM's BlackBerry OS, Symbian, and the iPhone OS, namely: user-friendliness. And with such neck-and-neck competition between all the mobile OS makers, Microsoft (who's currently only unequivocally topping Palm's mobile OS) needs to do everything in its power to keep its mobile customers happy and woo the rest of the mobile community their way.


Simplification was paramount in designing Windows Mobile 6.1, with less cluttered, more task oriented screens, modeled after the successful Windows Media Centre. Among the improvements are:


  1. * more readable font;
  2. * threading of SMS and email messages (much like on the iPhone), instead of displaying them all on a single screen;
  3. * cut-and-paste on non-touch screen smartphones (on Windows Mobile smartphones with touch screens, cut-and-paste already works);
  4. * new Vista-like interface for the Home screen that uses horizontal tiles which expand when clicked to reveal more detailed information;
  5. * a dedicated task manager that displays CPU usage listed by process and overall as a whole;
  6. * ability to change the Master Security Code;
  7. * Recent Programs displayed when the Start menu is pressed;
  8. * a total re-haul of the system's web browser, with a display that looks more like Internet Explorer or other PC web browsers, with the entire web page able to be viewed on a single screen or in segments by zooming in to user-selected areas;
  9. * auto-complete of email addresses entered into the "To:" field;
  10. * ActiveSync Exchange email auto-configuring;
  11. * Wi-Fi status indicator.


Business users will also enjoy the ability to enroll a domain in Settings, allowing for mobile access to various company resources.


On the downside, Windows Mobile 6.1 (like its predecessor) can only be used with a keyboard or a stylus - even the Windows Mobile touch screen phones. Microsoft still hasn't made it so that people can use their mobile OS by simply touching their screens with fingers alone (even though Apple seems already to have mastered it).


Current users of certain Windows Mobile 6 smartphones - like the AT&T Tilt and the HTC Mogul - will be able to upgrade their mobile OS to Windows Mobile 6.1. One of the first new smartphones already bundled with Windows Mobile 6.1 is the WiFi-enabled Motorola Q9.


Devices running on Windows Mobile 6.1 are scheduled to start shipping in May.


Review Smart Phones - provides up to date information on the latest smartphones. You will find in depth smartphone reviews as well as the latest news and rumors surrounding todays best smartphones.