Vanishing Netbooks And Notebooks At SXSW

http://snapvoip.blogspot.com/
Stacey of GigaOm has written what I wanted to say when I wrote the last SXSW mobile experience. (Not having a much of experience.) But I too noticed many people gathered around mobile phones and watching what ever they were being demoed, while I struggle to get my email.
"The folks attending this show are generally ahead of the computing trends in the general population, so while I don’t foresee folks dumping their notebooks in favor of smartphones, I do think people are more comfortable with letting their smartphone be their computer for a longer amount of time."
Well said Stacey, provided that AT&T let me.
Stacey at GigaOM

Tags: SXSW, mobile computing, Mobile Communications

Nokia E71 Debuts In USA!

New York, NY, USA - An eager crowd greeted the official arrival of the highly anticipated Americas version (GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 850/1900) of the Nokia E71 at a private event in the Nokia Flagship Store in midtown Manhattan on the evening of Thursday, July 24th. Attracted by its balance of style, features and services, the invited guests had each signed up to ensure that they would be among the first people in the United States to bring home this exciting new device. The Nokia E71, which at .39 inches thick, is the slimmest QWERTY device on the market, is now available to the general public through a variety of consumer electronics, wireless and online retailers, and at the Nokia Flagship Stores in Chicago and New York

"Every aspect of the Nokia E71 is designed to deliver a superior mobile experience. From the flowing stainless steel design, large brilliant screen, and QWERTY keyboard to a wide selection of messaging applications and services, this smartphone is already receiving rave reviews from consumers and business users alike." said Bill Plummer, Vice President of Go-To-Market for Nokia Americas. "Personal and professional lives are becoming increasingly connected and the Nokia E71 is a stylish and powerful way to balance both, including through its unique one-click 'switch mode' function which adjusts the E71's look, feel and featured application-set from work-focused to personal-focused."

One guest at Nokia's manhattan preview event, Alan Mitchell, said "I've been waiting for the E71 for a long time; I've followed every bit of information about its release. The reason I waited so long is that this device has everything I want my smartphone to have - style, GPS, Wi-Fi, camera that can take video, 3G and a full keyboard - competitors devices don't compare."

The Nokia E71 also includes a number of entertainment features and supports many of the latest Ovi services including Nokia Maps and Share on Ovi. With integrated A-GPS and Nokia Maps 2.0, the Nokia E71 can easily pinpoint locations and provide optional turn-by-turn navigation information. The device also captures high-quality images and videos with its 3.2 megapixel camera, which can be quickly uploaded and shared with friends and family around the world using the fun and easy Share on Ovi service.

Easy-to-configure email, including support for both enterprise-grade email including Mail for Exchange and Intellisync as well as the most popular consumer email services like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail, combined with real-time access to calendar information, contacts and to-do lists make the Nokia E71 a perfect productivity tool. Built-in encryption technology for both the device memory and an optional microSD memory card is also included with the Nokia E71.

"Despite its compact size, the Nokia E71 manages to integrate an extremely comfortable and usable QWERTY keyboard. E-mail setup is also a strong point for the Nokia E71. Whether using a corporate Exchange server or a personal e-mail account, the built-in setup wizard makes setup quick and easy for both IT professionals and end consumers alike," said Andrew Brown, Director of Wireless Enterprise Strategies for Strategy Analytics.

Another guest, Dean Hamilton, shared, "I previously owned the Nokia E61i so upgrading was a natural choice. The E71 is the only device that does everything I need it to do - VPN access, VoIP, sync my calendar and contacts. Also, I don't carry a separate camera so the 3.2 megapixel is something I needed."

The new Nokia E71 is now available for an unsubsidized retail price of approximately USD 500.

Media Enquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 7180 34900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Nokia, North America

Communications

Tel. +1 972 894 4573

Email: communication.corp@nokia.com

Tags: Nokia, Nokia E71, HSDPA, smartphone, GPS, Wi-Fi

The public transport authority of the Frankfurt, T-Systems, Nokia, And Venyon Takes Mobile Ticketing To A New Level.

RMV, T-Systems, Nokia, and Venyon set mobile ticketing to a new level of convenience
June 13, 2008

Frankfurt am Main, Germany - The public transport authority of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main region (RMV), T-Systems, Nokia and Venyon have announced the next phase for RMV mobile ticketing at the international NFC Forum meeting in Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The new mobile ticketing solution based on Near Field Communication (NFC) will offer a wider variety of mobile tickets as well as improved user experience.

RMV introduced its mobile ticketing scheme in 2006 and is one of the pioneers in this area. The main target of this enhanced ticketing solution is to enable customers to purchase mobile tickets even more spontaneously and easily. The ticket will now be stored in the embedded secure element of the NFC- enabled mobile phone, and can be inspected just by holding the device close to the inspector's reading device, which checks the validity of the ticket. This takes only a few milliseconds without any further interaction from the customer.

Soon it will be possible to store the ticket in the SIM card of the mobile phone, and then the ticket will be removable and re-usable in case the customer switches to another NFC-enabled mobile phone.

The new RMV mobile NFC ticketing solution is based on the German-wide e-ticket standard (VDV), to be used with NFC-enabled mobile phones. Thus the tickets in mobile phones and in plastic smart cards can be inspected by the same control device and the ticketing systems aligned with VDV standard allow buying tickets also in other regions in Germany. The same consistent user experience applies to the public transportation in all participating cities in Germany, which brings significant benefits for travellers who frequently use public transportation in different cities.

The mobile NFC ticketing now introduced in Frankfurt is based on the common NFC standards and enables wider selection of tickets, like single tickets, daily tickets and monthly tickets for the RMV transport network. Based on NFC standards, the new Nokia 6212 classic as well as the Nokia 6131 NFC can be used for mobile ticketing in this project.

At the same time with NFC mobile ticketing, RMV will enlarge the availability of so called ConTags, smart tags, which are installed at bus and train stops in Frankfurt. Soon the ConTags will cover all the bus and train stops of all the remaining eleven major cities in RMV service area. Touching ConTags with NFC phone enables quick ticket purchases, online time schedules, journey planners and news services. Travellers can retrieve information on departure times, possible delays or special schedules real-time just by touching the ConTag at the station with their NFC-enabled mobile phones.

Venyon is a global mobile service company which develops and operates a secure and versatile service platform to provision and manage over the air (OTA) consumer applications, such as transport tickets or credit cards on consumers' NFC enabled mobile devices. As a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) Venyon provides over the air (OTA) services to RMV in order to enable the customers from all the mobile network operators to be able to join the pilot.

The new phase for RMV mobile ticketing has been developed by T-Systems in co-operation with T-Laboratories and Deutsche Telekom. This new ticketing solution fulfils all the current requirements and security standards set by public transit authorities as well as mobile network operators.
The Rhein-Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV)

Tags: RMV, T-Systems, Nokia, Venyon, mobile ticketing, NFC Forum, NFC enabled mobile phone, Nokia 6212 classic

HTC Touch Pro Bridges Mobile Work And Desktop Work With Advanced 3D Touch User Interface, Sliding QWERTY Keyboard and Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro

Advanced 3D Touch User Interface, Desktop-like browsing, 5-row sliding QWERTY Keyboard and Window Mobile 6.1 create hybrid business phone

Taipei, Taiwan — June 4, 2008 — HTC Corp., a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design, today unveiled its advanced next generation business phone, the HTC Touch Pro™. Bringing a beautiful new angle to mobile business productivity, the HTC Touch Pro utilizes similar styling and functionality of the highly anticipated Touch Diamond™ and introduces a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy.

“The HTC Touch Pro and Touch Diamond have created a new generation of HTC touch devices that make the promise of the one-hand, one-touch mobile Internet a reality,” said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. “HTC Touch Pro is for those customers that demand the ease of use and enjoyment of TouchFLO™ 3D and want the styling of the Touch Diamond but also need the powerful mobile business experience that HTC delivers.”

A New Dimension To Touch – One hand, one touch
HTC has taken a great leap forward in touch screen innovation with its 3D touch interface called TouchFLO 3D. TouchFLO 3D provides a stunningly intuitive way to zip through common tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls with just one touch. Delve a little deeper to find that your music, photos, contacts and surfing the web are also responsive to the touch. In addition, the Touch Pro includes a new innovative touch-sensitive control for device interaction.

Making The Mobile Internet Useful and Fun
With the introduction of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro, HTC delivers an entirely new mobile Internet experience that utilizes broadband-like speeds with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and wireless connectivity. Committed to improving Web browsing, HTC provides a new customized mobile Web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Websites in the way they are designed to be viewed on a PC. As part of this browsing experience users can zoom and pan Websites with one-hand and automatically view optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Turning the device sideways automatically rotates the web page view from a portrait to landscape view.

In addition to Web browsing, the Touch Pro includes an HTC-developed, YouTube application for watching a variety of user generated video content as well as including Google Maps for mobile for mapping and traffic data.

Unmatched Style With Complete Productivity
Like the Touch Diamond, Touch Pro is crafted with precision to fit comfortably in a user’s hand and brings together elegant touch screen response with the direct precision of HTC’s trademark sliding keyboard design. Introducing a new five-row QWERTY keyboard layout that makes typing-intensive tasks like composing email or working on Microsoft Office® documents quick and easy. Built-in TV-out functionality means users can deliver the perfect PowerPoint® presentation from the Touch Pro.

Bursting with Innovation
The Touch Pro delivers an unrivalled combination of features and functionality. The 2.8 inch display provides near-print quality viewing that enables beautiful Web browsing and viewing of photographs. The built-in camera includes an optical auto-focus lens that ensures the photos you take will be clear and consistent. Advanced wireless and auto sensor screen pivoting are just a few of the features that make the Touch Pro experience a stand out.

Availability
The HTC Touch Pro™ will be available to customers across all major European, Asian and the Middle East markets in late summer. The North American and Latin American versions of Touch Pro will be available later in 2008.

Key HTC Touch Pro Specifications
• Size: 102 x 51 x 18.05mm
• Weight: 165 g
• Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
• Camera: 3.2MP, with the second VGA camera for video calling
• Internal memory: 512 MB flash, 288 MB RAM
• Expansion Slot: microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Keyboard: Slide-out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV out in one)
• Battery: 1340 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 8 hours
• Standby time: GSM: up to two-weeks
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM 7201A 528MHz

HTC Introduces New Accessories
Also today, HTC announced multiple accessories will be available for the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro including a similarly designed desktop cradle and travel charger accessory pack as well as an extended battery and slim collapsible case for the Touch Diamond.

Tags: HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch, Touch Diamond, 3D touch interface, Mobile Internet, HSDPA, YouTube, WCDMA, HSPA, Windows Mobile® 6.1 Pro, Mobile Communications, SmartPhone

BlackBerry® solution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) From du, Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion.

Paris, June 2, 2008 — du, Alcatel-Lucent and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the launch of the BlackBerry® solution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). du customers will now be able to enjoy the benefits of enhanced communications and increased productivity by using a Blackberry® smartphone to access email, browse the web, make phone calls, send and receive text and picture messages, as well as access a wide variety of business and leisure applications on the move.

“As an integrated telecom services provider, our goal is to offer our customers the most advanced telecom solutions and the best possible user experience. Integrating email services and data on the mobile phone is a natural step for du. We selected BlackBerry smartphones because they provide the leading wireless email solution used by millions of customers around the world,” said Osman Sultan, CEO of du. “Access to email and calendar information on the go has become essential for business people. Launching the BlackBerry solution is an integral step to enrich our portfolio of integrated communication solutions to meet the market needs in the UAE”, he added.

Based on its distribution agreement with RIM, Alcatel-Lucent is leveraging its strong local presence in the region to provide du with the end-to-end implementation, integration, launch and support services for delivering the BlackBerry solution to the UAE market. With Alcatel-Lucent managing integration and deployment, du can focus on delivering customer facing services, enabling the operator to quickly meet market demand.

“Our agreement with RIM further reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s ability to leverage our global strengths and local presence to deliver enterprise managed communications and value-added services, enabling the operator to quickly meet market demand. As a result, du customers will enjoy the freedom and flexibility of the BlackBerry solution for staying connected to communications and information whenever they wish,” said Frederic Rose, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s activities Europe, Africa and Asia.

“Together with Alcatel-Lucent, we are pleased to extend the availability of the BlackBerry solution to du customers,” said Charmaine Eggberry, Vice President and Managing Director of RIM, EMEA. “The BlackBerry solution is a great choice for organizations and individuals that strive to be more productive, flexible, and ultimately more successful in work and life.”

At launch du will offer the BlackBerry® Curve™ 8300, BlackBerry® 8800, BlackBerry® 8700g and BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8100 smartphones, as well as BlackBerry® Enterprise Server and BlackBerry® Internet Service.

BlackBerry smartphones available from du
The BlackBerry Curve 8300 is the smallest and lightest full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone. Its stylish design incorporates a large display and a range of advanced multimedia features, including a 2 megapixel camera that comes complete with 5x digital zoom, built-in flash, self-portrait mirror and full screen viewfinder. The BlackBerry Curve 8300 makes it incredibly easy to stay connected to the information and people that matter most.

One of the smallest and lightest smartphones on the market, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 packs the power and functionality that users have come to expect from a BlackBerry smartphone. Beneath its sleek and stylish exterior, this award winning smartphone supports powerful communications and rich multimedia capabilities, which has made it popular among business users and consumers alike.

The slim and stylish BlackBerry 8800 smartphone is designed to satisfy the needs of demanding mobile professionals. It includes a full, highly tactile QWERTY keyboard with a range of features including built-in GPS, a multimedia player and an expandable memory card slot. The large, high resolution screen, with its automatic light sensing technology, makes viewing email, the Internet and other applications a pleasure.

The sleek and elegant UMTS-enabled BlackBerry 8700g includes a wide range of communications and connectivity features together with a full QWERTY keyboard. It can also be used as a wireless modem for laptops, offering mobile professionals more flexibility in how they stay connected.

du will enable customers to connect through BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which tightly integrates with IBM Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® and works with existing enterprise systems, to enable highly secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate applications.

For individuals and smaller businesses, du will offer BlackBerry® Internet Service, which allows users to manage up to ten supported corporate and personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts) from a single device.

Tags: Mobile Communications, du, Alcatel-Lucent, Research In Motion, RIM, BlackBerry, BlackBerry® Curve™ 8300, BlackBerry® 8800, BlackBerry® 8700g, BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8100

LiMO Expands Coverage With Verizon Joining The Linux based Open Handset Consortium.

NTT DoCoMo LiMO based Device.

Although known to be closed Entity, Verizon has joined with LiMO foundation as a core member. This may be a signal that open platforms are the becoming the foundations to the communication devices. Google with Android, Apple with iPhone, and LiMO with Linux based devices are envisioned to become the major players of the game. Initiated by Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone—LiMo was formed to deliver an open and globally consistent software platform based upon Mobile Linux for use by the whole industry to catalyze next-generation mobile consumer experiences. Following is the press release.

LONDON, England; TOKYO, Japan, and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., United States, May 14, 2008—LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile leaders delivering an open handset platform for the whole mobile industry, and Verizon Wireless, the builder and operator of the most reliable wireless network in the U.S., announced today that Verizon has joined LiMo as a Core member and will fill the final seat on LiMo's board of directors. By participating in LiMo, Verizon hopes to help LiMo unify the mobile industry around openness and Linux as the key enablers to lowering development costs.

"Verizon Wireless is demonstrating itself a champion of openness in mobile innovation by joining the board of LiMo Foundation," said Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation. "Major wireless service providers from across North America, Asia and Europe are now engaged in committed collaboration through LiMo. This offers further concrete evidence that LiMo is positioned at the heart of the rapidly emerging, industry-wide trend to secure the benefits of openness and choice in technology."

"Verizon Wireless is committed and invested in encouraging innovation, providing developers the opportunity to deliver new wireless choices and expanding the mobile market," said Kyle Malady, vice president of network for Verizon. "We expect our involvement with LiMo to advance these principles."

LiMo Foundation is open to all vendors and service providers in the mobile communications marketplace, including device manufacturers, operators, chipset manufacturers, integrators and independent software vendors. Verizon Wireless joins the foundation's other 39 members in working within LiMo's transparent governance model to shape the evolution of the LiMo Platform™, while remaining entirely free to deliver their own compelling and differentiated services to mobile customers.

"The addition of Verizon Wireless to the LiMo roster is another critical milestone in our foundation's rapid growth and market impact," said Kiyohito Nagata of NTT DoCoMo, chairperson of LiMo Foundation. "In technical output, governance constructs and business models, LiMo lives out its belief that openness is the key to unlocking innovation to the benefit of the whole industry and mobile consumers everywhere."

Launched in January 2007 by six mobile industry leaders—Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone—LiMo was formed to deliver an open and globally consistent software platform based upon Mobile Linux for use by the whole industry to catalyze next-generation mobile consumer experiences.

Tags: Mobile Communications, Google, Android, Apple, iPhone, LiMO, Linux, verizon, Open Handset Consortium, Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, Vodafone