Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

Sony Ericsson has widened its portfolio of 3G handsets in India with the launch of the K608i a dual camera 3G mobile phone. The sleek K608i with an aluminium feel has a user interface that is easy to use and navigate.

The Sony Ericsson dual front camera/phone design makes the handset a phone when it is vertical and a fully featured 1.3 MP camera when it is horizontal. The camera includes an active lens cover for swift activation and extra protection. The phone also offers video telephony, the large 1.8-inch, 262K TFT color screen with the direct video telephony button ensures video calls are crisp and clear.

Sudhin Mathur, General Manager, Sony Ericsson India, said, “We expect a very enthusiastic response for the K608i from our consumers. Sony Ericsson offers the best amalgamation of technology and style. At the price at which we are offering it, this phone is a value buy with a host of features like dual cameras, video telephony and 3G compatibility.”

The K608i is also a music player with high quality audio, coupled with an FM radio and the ability to download full music tracks direct to the phone. Personal creativity tools allow customers to personalize ringtones, wallpapers, still shots and video footage in new, inspiring ways.

The phone is fully featured with a suite of business applications that manages personal information and PC-synchronization via USB or Bluetooth, making it the ideal executive work tool, providing business efficiency with high-speed access.

The phone also comes pre-loaded with Vijay Singh Pro Golf 2005 in 3D from Gameloft. Players take on the role of the famous golfer and play on the most spectacular 18-hole golf courses around the world. Further levels of this game and others are also available for download.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

China’s Minister of Science and Technology said that it is necessary for China to launch the third generation mobile communication (3G) service.

The 3G service will play an important role in promoting China’s telecommunications market, said the minister, Xu Guanhua, at the China Development Forum 2006.

Xu said his ministry has kept a close eye on China’s 3G progress and made careful analysis and investigations into the market prospects.

The ministry, along with other government departments, has given strong support to China’s home-grown 3G standard TD-SCDMA .

Much progress has been made, Xu said, adding that he hoped TD-SCDMA will soon take further steps forward.

Xu said his ministry is also pleased to hear the development in the other two 3G international standard CDMA2000 and WCDMA.

As it concerns huge investment in fixed assets, there are different views on whether China should launch 3G service now.

Deng Shoupeng, director with the Development Research Center under the State Council, estimated that in the six years following China’s launch of 3G service total required investment could reach 600 billion yuan (75 billion U.S. dollars).

The Ministry of Information Industry, China’s telecommunnications regulator, has said that it would bring down regulations and policies on 3G technology this year.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

NEC announced that its High Speed Down link Packet Access (HSDPA) is to be deployed in the 3G network of 3 Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong). This contract has been awarded to NEC and its 3G partner Siemens following a successful field trial on 3 Hong Kong’s UMTS network.

During the field trial, NEC’s HSDPA-based UTRAN achieved a high level of performance and functionality, including high-speed internet access, consecutive data transmission and handover in a HSDPA service environment, while allowing flexible and variable changes in transmission speed.

“The absolute success of NEC’s HSDPA trials on Hong Kong’s largest 3G network highlights our thorough confidence in the high performance of a commercial HSDPA system. NEC is ready to deliver its HSDPA to commercial networks worldwide”, said Toshiyuki Mineno, Senior General Manager at NEC’s Carrier Solutions Business Unit. “Since Europe’s first commercial service launch by Hutchison 3G in the UK in March 2003, NEC has delivered many 3G networks to Hutchison. This latest win is further testimony of our leading competence in this field and another great milestone in the continuing success of the highly reliable 3G and HSDPA network provided by NEC to Hutchison, together with our 3G partner Siemens. We fully intend to implement further HSDPA operation trials in Europe and Asia with the cooperation of local mobile operators to ensure the successful spread of our high performance HSDPA.”

Amy Lung, Commercial Director - Consumer Market of 3 Hong Kong, said, “3 Hong Kong once again charts the course in the development of 3G in Hong Kong. With the successful trial and network rollout, we are well positioned to be the first to provide 3 Hong Kong’s supporters with supremely enhanced mobile communications experience, once the HSDPA compatible devices are available. In this significant stage of development, we are pleased to partner with our existing 3G network supplier NEC who is renowned for its proven expertise and global experience in deploying 3G and HSDPA technology.”

NEC’s HSDPA system is jointly developed by NEC and Siemens. HSDPA can be added to existing Node-Bs with channel cards and downloaded software. Over 90% of the world’s 3G subscribers are communicating with 3G network technology provided by Siemens/NEC. In a report from April 2005, NEC/Siemens was positioned as No. 1 by the independent MM Research Institute in Tokyo in the 3G W-CDMA market for commercially installed Node-Bs with a 30.1 percent share of the worldwide market.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin announced today that the global mobile giant will split itself into three new business units, each run by a new boss, as the company bids to drive more profits from expanding markets and cut costs in its mature ones.

According to Sarin, the company will create two new geographical divisions - one covering Europe and the other covering central Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific area. A third unit, to be called New Business and Innovation, will be devoted to seeking out new revenue areas and looking for new products.

Thomas Geitner, the group’s current CTO will take charge of the Innovation division, while Bill Morrow, former head of Vodafone KK in Japan will take charge of Europe. Paul Donovan, current CEO of “Other Vodafone Subsidiaries” will take the helm at the other geographical group, which will contain all of Vodafone’s joint ventures, affiliates and investments. These include the company’s stake in American business Verizon Wireless, a holding it has been under pressure from some shareholders to sell.

The reshaping of the company comes after weeks of internal wrangling over Vodafone’s future direction. Following the sale of Vodafone KK, the group plans to return as much as £6 billion to shareholders.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

A leading Czech mobile operator, Eurotel Praha, spol. s.r.o. has launched the first High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network in the Czech Republic. The solution, provided by Nokia, allows Eurotel, an affiliate of Telefуnica and O2, to operate its network more cost-efficiently and offer faster mobile data services to its customers.

“We are pleased to announce another notable first - being the Czech Republic’s first mobile operator to launch HSDPA services, such as faster data with international connectivity,” says Salvador Anglada, CEO, Eurotel Praha, spol. s.r.o. “With Nokia’s HSDPA solution we can offer our customers download speeds twice as fast as the current fast data solution.”

“We are very pleased to support Eurotel in launching HSDPA services, which is an important milestone for the Czech Republic and the whole Telefуnica Group,” says Pentti Tolonen, General Manager, Networks, Nokia. “Nokia HSDPA solution makes real mass-market mobile multimedia possible, and shows further proof of Nokia’s strength in advanced radio network technologies.”

In WCDMA 3G, Nokia has 58 customers to date. Nokia’s high-performing HSDPA is a simple software upgrade to Nokia WCDMA networks, thus enabling cost-effective and fast rollout. In the first phase, the Nokia HSDPA offers average data speeds of 1-2 Mbps. Nokia is a leader in the HSDPA market, with over 20 contracts globally, 9 of which have been publicly announced.

Nokia has supplied the HSDPA solution to Eurotel as part of a contract announced in September 2005

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

Nokia Named Top Mobile Manufacturer for the second year running

Nokia, the world’s leading mobile handset manufacturer, swept the board at this year’s Mobile News Awards held in London, winning the awards for Manufacturer of the Year, Most Innovative Product and Most Technologically Advanced Product.

The judging panel of industry experts awarded Nokia the coveted title of Manufacturer of the Year as a result of its bold moves in 2005. These included its launch of the Nokia Nseries sub-brand, its entrance into new territories through its music and youth platforms, the re-claiming of its design leadership and the creation of a new field sales force.

Nokia also picked up the Most Innovative Product award for the Nokia N91. This device has been recognised as a true mobile music experience and is the flagship music device from the groundbreaking high performance multimedia Nokia Nseries range. The Nokia N91 is the first 3G device to include an integrated 4-gigabyte hard disk providing consumers with the largest storage capacity on a handset with up to 3,000 songs and 12.5 hours worth of unparalleled sound quality.

Nokia was also presented with the Most Technologically Advanced Product award for the Nokia N92. The Nokia N92 is the world’s first integrated DVB-H mobile device and represents a significant leap forward for both the mobile and television industries. With DVB-H television services set to launch globally in 2006, the Nokia N92 provides an indication of how people will be consuming live television on the move in the future.

Commenting on the win Mats Wolontis, Managing Director of Nokia UK, said: “Everyone at Nokia worked very hard in 2005 to cement our position as the number one manufacturer and to produce cutting edge devices such as the Nokia N91 and Nokia N92. It’s great to receive recognition for this hard work - especially when it originates from our colleagues in the mobile industry.”

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

The mobile payment service from PayPal has been formally announced and confirmed its launch vendors and ‘Text to Give’ service.

Founded in 1998 and owned by eBay, the PayPal Mobile text message-based service allows consumers in the UK, US and Canada to send money anytime from their mobile telephones.

With the Text to Buy service consumers can buy things instantly, such as CDs, DVDs, shoes and apparel, by sending product codes via text message. Several big name US companies are enabled at launch including 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Bravo, MTV, and the NBA Store.

As well as purchasing goods, PayPal Mobile also enables users to Text to Give to charities such as Amnesty International, Starlight Starbright and UNICEF. Using the mobile to donate has so far not been cost effective for charites because the of the large amount of the revenue kept by mobile operators.

PayPal Mobile will potentially be in competition with money transfer services such as Western Union as it can also be used to send money Peer-to-Peer.

“With the overwhelming popularity of mobile phones, the time has never been better for the merging of ecommerce and wireless devices,” said PayPal President Jeff Jordan. “PayPal already has more than 100 million accounts worldwide, and our customers have already entrusted their personal and financial information to PayPal.” In the UK the company claims over 10 million subscribers.

To use PayPal Mobile, customers first activate their telephones by logging into their PayPal account. After registering their mobile telephone numbers, users must choose a secure Personal Identification Number (PIN) which protects every mobile payment.

PayPal Mobile users make payments by sending a text message to PayPal. PayPal calls the user back to confirm the mobile payment, and then sends the money to the recipient. In the case of a Text to Buy purchase, after the merchant receives the payment, the item is shipped to the address already saved in the user’s PayPal account.

PayPal Mobile payments are PIN-protected and backed by PayPal’s fraud prevention system. Each user’s financial information is stored on PayPal’s secure servers, not on the mobile telephone, so even if the telephone is lost or stolen, the user’s PayPal account remains secure.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

History is made today as the UK’s first “mobile only” single is announced by mobile media company 3. The single “Stop Me”, by Planet Funk will be released on 8 May 2006.

This breakthrough follows the trend of bands using new media like the internet to build a fanbase before ‘coming from nowhere’ to top the charts. These “blog bands” such as Nizlopi, Arctic Monkeys (both had number 1 hits) and more recently OK Go (whose £13 video has been the most downloaded video on the internet) have shown that artists are adopting technology to break their music, rather than following a traditional promotional route.

Planet Funk is taking this concept one step further by releasing their debut single in the UK on the 3 mobile network, following their success on 3’s sister music service in Italy. The track will be available exclusively to 3’s 3.5 million customers in the UK .

This first for the UK market comes as 3 celebrates the millionth audio track download in just four months since the launch of the service, and soon after being named ‘Best Digital Music Service’ at the Music Week awards.

With average sales of over 200,000 tracks per month, 3’s audio service has made up over 53% of mobile track downloads since the start of 2006, according to the Official Charts Company (OCC), the body responsible for compiling the UK charts.

Its figures also show that 3’s audio sales already account for 3.7% of the combined singles chart and 7.5% of the download chart this year.

Alex Neri of Planet Funk said: “Releasing “Stop Me” on 3 makes perfect sense for us. People’s musical habits are changing and millions of people now effectively have a record shop in their pocket 24 hours a day. We know that 3’s customers are huge music fans and releasing “Stop Me” solely on their network opens up our music to a whole new audience of over 3.5 million people in the UK.”

With 3’s pioneering dual-download service, Planet Funk fans can download the full-length audio track to both their mobile and PC with one single purchase of 99p. The “Stop Me” video, featuring iconic robot Alphio, and behind-the-scenes footage into the making of this internationally acclaimed music promo will also be available.

Graeme Oxby, 3’s Marketing Director believes in the growing importance of mobile as a way to promote and sell music: “Mobile is a great way to reach impulsive consumers who want to buy and listen to music wherever they are – we understand this, having sold over 16 million music downloads – and we believe it should be open to anyone and everyone.”

Planet Funk has enjoyed success with their international hit “Chase the Sun” and are looking to “Stop Me” to break the band in the UK. Their original sound has been compared to New Order and Massive Attack and with an internationally acclaimed video for “Stop Me”, they expect to make huge inroads in the UK pop market.

3 will be mounting a marketing campaign to promote the single to its 3.5 million customers in the run-up to release in May. This will include a dedicated microsite offering information on the band, competitions and free downloads as well as promotion on 3’s Today on 3 portal. The track will also be seeded as a free dialtune available to 3 customers, so anyone calling them will hear the track while they are waiting for the phone to be answered.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

The path to the mobile broadband, which began with GSM/EDGE and WCDMA, has moved to a new baseline with High Speed Packet Access, starting with High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), delivering typical user data speeds of 1-3 Mbps. 3G/WCDMA operators globally are moving to HSDPA now.

A survey by GSA published today “HSDPA Operator Commitments” identifies 70 network operators who have confirmed interest in deploying HSDPA systems, reflecting an increase of 40% over the past 4 months. The survey also confirms that the majority of the 102 operators who have commercially launched 3G/WCDMA services have also committed to deploy HSDPA in their networks.

HSDPA is market reality today. Recent announcements have raised the number of HSDPA commercial networks to 8, with dozens more expected in 2006.

GSA recently confirmed a rapidly expanding range and availability of HSDPA-capable user devices (PC datacards, phones, and embedded laptop modules) with 25 devices launched in the market, more than double the figure of 6 months ago.

HSDPA is the first evolution of 3G/WCDMA. The primary benefit of HSDPA is improved end-user experience. Several existing services benefit from HSDPA capabilities, while new services are enabled. For example, the mobile office experience dramatically improves, as does voice and video over IP applications, interactive gaming, push to talk/push to X services, and faster video and music downloads and file transfers.

No new spectrum/carrier is needed to roll out HSDPA in the network. At present, WCDMA can provide voice and data services on the same carrier simultaneously. This also applies to HSDPA.

Most WCDMA networks in Europe and beyond are expected to have activated the HSDPA upgrade by end 2006 for delivering the high speed mobile broadband experience.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) industry group predicts that, in 2006, search will displace email as the most used digital application, girls will hit the video games, and subscription radio will soar. At the same time, mobile television will disappoint, 3G adoption will be slower than expected, and the digital divide will grow.

“While the technology, telecom and media/entertainment industries are certainly converging,” said Charles Yen, Leader of Deloitte China’s TMT Group, “we have identified the key trends in each sector that we expect for 2006. There will be some big winners and some big losers — and some, like always, that gain acceptance at a slower rate than their initial hype forecast.”

Key trends identified in the reports include:

Technology

– Search displaces email as the most-used application — due to rising functionality, higher speed connectivity, and the 20 exabytes of new digital data expected to be created in 2006. At the same time, we’re unlikely to see major advances in search engine user interfaces, implying even more potential value to be captured in the future.

– Connectivity transforms devices into services — devices from cameras to cars will be able to be remotely upgraded and updated. Updates will extend from personal computers and mobile phones to GPS receivers, in-car computers, and set-top boxes, creating an opportunity for manufacturers to improve their understanding of customer needs, provide higher quality service and identify new revenue opportunities.

– The “digital divide” deepens, rather than improves — historically, the digital divide has been most noticeable between developed and developing countries. This is likely to continue in 2006. Efforts to bridge the digital divide fail to address the underlying problems, including economic, political and social issues. Those on the “losing” end of the divide will be increasingly disadvantaged by their lack of access to the media, to the internet, to electronic communications, and to information.

Telecom

– A frustrating year for 3G — customers’ needs are being met by existing standards; they don’t understand the benefits of 3G and why they should pay for them. 3G will add tens of millions of subscribers, but nowhere near enough to pay back the tens of billions of dollars invested. 2G will continue to represent most of the growth, revenue and margin for the mobile sector.

– Connectivity inside everything — the telecom industry will capitalize on maturing machine-generated communications to build connectivity inside machines and devices, resulting in remote process monitoring, asset tracking, traffic flow monitoring and more.

– MVNO takes off — telecom providers are looking for new sources of revenue, content companies are looking for new channels, and companies of all types want to leverage their loyal customer bases.

Media & Entertainment

– Mobile television disappoints — while it will be promoted as the next big thing, and tens of millions of promotional dollars will be spent, consumer acceptance will lag.

– Video games seek new audiences — in the wake of the success of new video game platforms, the industry will strive to sustain its growth by creating a considerably larger audience. It will reach out to new demographics, most notably young girls.

– Subscription radio 2.0 — radio will follow television as its business model evolves from being advertising-dominated to subscription-dominated, providing added flexibility for customers and new opportunities for providers. New delivery mechanisms, such as internet-based services, will be launched. There are currently over 12 million US satellite radio subscribers; this market is expected to grow 35% through the end of the decade.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

Ericsson has been selected to upgrade 3 Scandinavia’s 3G/WCDMA networks with HSDPA. The upgrade will boost 3’s mobile broadband offering, delivering a download speed of up to 3.6 Mbps and pioneer the HSDPA technology in Scandinavia.

Ericsson will deliver commercial HSDPA hardware, software and implementation services. Deliveries have already begun, with a scheduled commercial launch in selected Swedish and Danish cities in the coming months.

The upgrade to HSDPA will enable 3 Scandinavia to introduce its customers to a new generation of mobile services, including mobile broadband, mobile video and mobile music.

Shlomo Liran, CEO of 3 Scandinavia, says: “Our customers are driving the evolution of our networks, demanding more advanced services. Choosing Ericsson as supplier lets us be the first in Scandinavia and among the first in the world to launch HSDPA services and offer our customers mobile broadband with unrivalled transfer speeds.”

Johan Wibergh, head of Ericsson Market Unit Nordic and Baltics, says: “3 makes a very strong statement on the Nordic market at a very exciting time in telecommunications history. HSDPA deployments are taking off around the world, and we are extremely pleased to power 3 Scandinavia’s HSDPA network.”

Ericsson’s HSDPA solution will enable peak download speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps. The advanced technology offers operators more than double the system capacity and makes response times for interactive services faster. On average, users will be able to download four times faster than the current 3G connection using existing PC-cards and even 20 times faster than with a GSM/GPRS connection.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

UK-based banks HSBC and first direct are set to offer next generation mobile banking services later this year on the MoniLink network, an upcoming banking platform available from cash machine network, LINK.

Registered users will be able to get on demand, 24 hour secure access to banking services including mini statements and balance enquiries through their mobile phone after downloading and installing an application.

Users will also be able to top-up their own or somebody else’s prepay subscription.

MoniLink has been developed over the past three years by LINK and IT development firm Morse, but first direct claimed to have launched the UK’s first mobile banking service, with the introduction of its SMS banking service in 1999. This offering delivers weekly or monthly mini-statements plus event-based messages, such as an update when a customer’s salary arrives.

Alastair Lukies, MoniLink’s chief executive, said: “The UK is a centre of excellence for banking and mobile technology, so it’s fitting that we are launching our first network in the UK…We are also developing similar platforms in other countries through our partners.”

Mobile banking has already taken off in Japan, where last year, leading operator NTT DoCoMo announced an alliance to launch a credit-payment service using Mobile Wallet phones.

The US$922m partnership was made with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Originally published at Premium mobile technologies.

The Australian state’s proposed A$24bn (£10bn) privatisation of incumbent carrier Telstra could be forced off the rails over a disagreement with the national regulator.

With Telstra’s earnings taking a dive on the back of losses in the fixed line space, the carrier has warned that future investment in its multi-billion dollar next generation networks depend on favourable terms from the regulator.

However, it seems neither the national operator, nor the regulator can agree on a pricing structure for allowing rival service providers access to Telstra’s infrastructure.

As part and parcel of the government’s proposal to future-proof communications in the country, the Department of Communications last year announced a more robust regulatory framework to ensure reviews of the regional telecommunications services on a regular basis. This also included the introduction of operational separation at Telstra.

Under the new legislation, Telstra would be required to maintain separate retail, wholesale and network business units as a means to ensure that as the dominant carrier, it treats all other telecommunications companies fairly.

An announcement from the regulator is expected this week.

Nevertheless, as the spat continues, the possibility of the government’s sale of its remaining 51.8 per cent stake in the company slips further away.

The company’s share price has dipped to below, A$3.60, way under half the price that Telstra stock went for in 1999.

While the government will convene next month to decide on whether to go ahead with the offering in October or November, a report in the Financial Times suggests that Prime Minister John Howard, is considering stalling the deal until the share price picks up.

More likely, such a delay would remove the deal from the table for several years with federal elections on the agenda for next year.