July 13, 2007
Filed under: Motorola, Samsung
In the wake of a
Motorola profit free fall the past few quarters, Samsung has finally managed to nab Moto's spot to take the number two position in global handset market share behind the perennial
numero uno, Nokia. Though the victory comes by the slimmest of margins -- 37.4 million handsets shipped in Q2 compared to Moto's estimate of 35 to 36 million -- the two companies are clearly moving in opposite directions right now, with Samsung seeing a 4 percent boost in revenue over the same period last year. Samsung attributes its success to an ever-expanding
Ultra Edition line and increased volume in its entry-level lineup, something Motorola has been looking for (but apparently hasn't found) with its innovative
MOTOFONE. Find yourself looking over your shoulder, Nokia?
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 13, 2007
Filed under: Misc
We don't like paying a couple bills to slide out from under a bunk two-year contract any more than the next guy, but at least we're cognizant of the tradeoff: subsidized hardware. Congress this week appears to have taken a special session to discuss state regulation of the wireless industry and turned it into a rant session, with several reps chiming in that termination fees and exclusivity deals (you can probably guess
the device in question here) suck. We don't disagree, folks -- really, we don't -- but we hope these lawmakers (mostly rich people, we might add) realize the tradeoff of enforcing any sort of anti-contract, anti-exclusivity legislation will be higher prices on handsets. Naturally, carriers were quick to chime in that they're plenty competitive with one another and there's absolutely no need for any sort of government meddling. Let's start with significantly expanded carrier-subsidized lineups and greater manufacturer-direct unlocked presence before we start worrying about getting rid of contracts, shall we?
[Via
AppleInsider, thanks Warren J.]
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 13, 2007
Filed under: Multimedia
A visit to the "mixed signals" department reveals this little gem: just weeks after locking up DVB-H
as the mobile TV standard of choice in Europe, the European Union has hooked up with China to push -- wait for it -- DMB. The two standards are, of course, heated rivals in the push for global domination so it's clear as mud why this partnership makes sense -- but sure enough, the newly-formed MOBIDEC project is riding on two years' worth of EU funding to push mobile TV cooperation between Chinese and European firms, and WorldDMB (DMB's marketing machine) is deeply involved. Of course, neither DVB-H nor MediaFLO have been approved for use in China, so maybe the EU's thinking here is that a multinational standard is better than a proprietary format. Still, though, it's a little weird.
[Via
mocoNews]
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 12, 2007
Filed under: Handsets, Motorola
Though the
original PEBL didn't get quite the love Motorola may have liked (
Maria Sharapova special edition notwithstanding), it seems they're looking to give it at least one more go with the upcoming U9 model. Presumably designed to slot in alongside the
RAZR 2 V8 / V9 models, Phone Scoop reports that the U9 will be ROKR branded, indicating a strong music tie-in. Other details are sketchy, though there's speculation that the "9" designation in the model number indicates that 3G is in the cards; for
Motorola's sake, we hope that's true.
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 12, 2007
Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
We're personally of the opinion that the best way to cure
iPhone envy is to... you know, buy an iPhone, but we understand there are plenty of reasons why folks might be forced to admire from afar. A lengthy contract might be stifling your inner free spirit, for example; maybe the lack of 3G is just too much to bear (YouTube addicts, we're looking at you). The aptly-named "WhoNeedsAniPhone" project seeks to ease the pain of this demographic -- likely a sizable one -- by using Flash Lite to bring the iPhone's key visual elements to touchscreen-enabled Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices. Key goals for the release (which isn't yet available -- sign up to beta test it at the site) include a functional launcher, slide-style lock screen, and weather widget; baby steps, yes, but when you consider that the real iPhone's visual fireworks nearly match its actual functionality, that ain't a bad list.
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Filed under: Motorola
Maybe the
Sidekick Slide is Moto's savior -- then again, maybe it's not -- but either way, the company seems to need a huge hit (or three) in the wings to turn its luck around. In the wake of
two hefty
rounds of job cuts, Motorola has now announced that it'll lose money in the second quarter and no longer expects its mobile devices unit to turn a profit at all this year, thanks largely to underperforming sales in Europe and Asia. In other news,
Garriques' shoes have now been filled by a man going by the name of Stu Reed, apparently some "supply chain executive" who has been tapped to
play the next fall guy get this sinking ship back on track. We've said it before and we'll say it again: where's the US version of the
Z8, Moto?
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Filed under: Messaging, Vodafone
Vodafone's British arm has partnered with Broca Communications to offer its Secure Advanced Message Service -- cleverly named "SAMS" for short -- to business customers. Sitting atop SMS, SAMS offers encrypted messaging for those times when you simply must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the "meet 4 dnr?" you just received is authentic. Of course, security has its price; the service will be billed on a per-message basis, which pretty much explains why it's being pitched to Voda's enterprise user base.
[Via
texutally.org]
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Filed under: Handsets, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, E-TEN
Despite a seemingly successful (and continuing) run with Quanta on
2.5G goodies, E-TEN has announced that it's working with ODM Arima on its 3G lineup. The first device to bear the fruit of Arima's labor will apparently be the
glofiish X800 with HSDPA, VGA display, and Windows Mobile 6 -- so we've gotta say, the new kid on E-TEN's block is doing alright for itself. The company says that it plans to introduce four new smartphones by the end of the year, though it's unclear at this point exactly how many will get WCDMA under their hoods (our vote: all of them).
[Via
Pocket PC Thoughts]
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 11, 2007
Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM, GPRS, EDGE
The single picture of the Sidekick Slide from Danger (alias
"Zante" in codename parlance)
posted yesterday on Boy Genius Report left us wanting for... oh, say, 27 more pictures, to be precise. That gallery is now live, showing the Motorola "M" logo (a first for a Danger device) in all its metallic glory, some comparo shots to a
Sidekick 3, and -- of course -- the obligatory iPhone shot. Check it out!
[Thanks, EC]
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
July 10, 2007
Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, T-Mobile, Danger, GSM, GPRS, EDGE
Boy Genius has scored some hands-on time with the undisputed hottest member of Danger's Hiptop lineup, the so-called
"Zante," also known (as best we can tell, anyway) as the
Sidekick Slide for T-Mobile. Sharp, we love ya and all, but we've got to hand it to Motorola for producing what looks to be a nice lil' device. Hit the link for the goods.
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Posted by Chris Ziegler under Mobile | Comments (0)
