Channel 0205 Phone | Mobile phone | PDA | Device

RIM Launches the BlackBerry Bold 9700 Smartphone in Thailand

2010-02-07T04:06:00.000-08:00

New 3G Smartphone Delivers High-End Features and Performance in a Compact and Highly Refined Design

Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today debuted the sleek and powerful BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone in Thailand. The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 includes an extensive array of high-end communications and multimedia features in a compact and highly refined design that will appeal to users for both professional and personal use.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone offers top-of-the-line performance, functionality and features with support for 3G HSDPA networks around the world, a next-generation (624 MHz) processor, 256 MB Flash memory, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi, a 3.2MP camera and a dazzling, high resolution display.

Cutting edge engineering and premium finishes extend to the exterior of the handset as well, with a smoothly integrated touch-sensitive trackpad and a highly tactile, distinctive, fretted keyboard. The dark chrome frame and leatherette back add to the new smartphone's sleek and elegant look, while the narrow profile, balanced weight and soft-touch sides allow it to feel incredibly comfortable in one hand.

“Building on the success of the original BlackBerry Bold, we are now pleased to bring the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone to Thailand,” said Gregory Wade, Managing Director for Southeast Asia, Research In Motion. “We believe that customers will be extremely impressed with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone’s exciting new features, exceptional performance and refined design.”
Key features of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone include:

Sleek design measuring 4.29" x 2.36" x 0.56" (109 mm x 60 mm x 14.1 mm) and weighing only 4.3 oz (122 grams)

Sharp and dazzling 2.44” light-sensing display (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi)

Highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard – with finely sculpted keys and chrome frets – for fast, accurate typing

Innovative touch-sensitive trackpad that allows intuitive and responsive navigation
Built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) for faster web browsing and extended data coverage
3.2 MP camera with variable zoom, autofocus, flash and video recording
BlackBerry OS 5.0, offering users email management and calendar enhancements

* as well as a better browsing experience with faster JavaScript and CSS processing

Built-in GPS for maps and other location-based applications, as well as photo geotagging

Media player for videos, pictures and music (music plays up to 38 hours), and BlackBerry Media Sync for easily syncing photos as well as iTunes and Windows Media Player music with the smartphone**

BlackBerry Desktop Manager for both PCs and Macs to enable synching data such as contacts and calendar appointments between a computer and the smartphone

3.5 mm stereo headset jack, dedicated volume controls, Lock and Mute keys seamlessly integrated across the top of the handset

microSD/SDHD memory card slot that supports up to 16 GB cards today and is expected to support 32 GB cards when available; a 2GB card is included
256 MB of Flash memory

Premium and easy-to-access phone features, background noise suppression technology and high quality speakerphone

Bluetooth® (2.1) with support for Secure Simple Pairing, hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals

Support for BlackBerry services with access to up to 10 supported email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo!®, Windows Live™ Hotmail®, AOL® and Gmail™); and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server support, which features advanced security and IT administration capabilities for corporate deployments

Global connectivity with UMTS/HSDPA 2100/1900/850/800 MHz and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM support

Removable, rechargeable 1500 mAhr battery that provides approximately 6 hours of talk time and 17 days of standby time in 3G mode

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone is expected to be available in Thailand from AIS, dtac and True Move at the end of February. Please check with each individual carrier for pricing and product availability. For more information about the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone, visit http://th.blackberry.com/devices/blackberrybold9700/.
* Some features require BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0

** Certain music files may not be supported, including files that contain digital rights management technologies. Photo syncing is currently only available for Windows-based PCs.
About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM) is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM’s portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used herein, words such as "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by and information available to Research In Motion Limited. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, possible product defects and product liability, risks related to international sales and potential foreign currency exchange fluctuations, the initiation or outcome of litigation, acts or potential acts of terrorism, international conflicts, significant fluctuations of quarterly operating results, changes in Canadian and foreign laws and regulations, continued acceptance of RIM's products, increased levels of competition, technological changes and the successful development of new products, dependence on third-party networks to provide services, dependence on intellectual property rights, and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in RIM's periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory authorities. RIM has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third party products or services.

LG Lollipop captures the imagination of trendy Thai teens

2010-02-07T04:01:00.001-08:00

LG’s newest handset looks sweet and stylish on the outside, but is packed full with smart technology and unique features on the inside.

LG Electronics (LG), a leader in consumer electronics and mobile communications in Thailand, has today unveiled LG Lollipop – a highly unique and colorful handset that is ideally suited to the needs of teenagers and users looking for a great combination of stylish design and smart functionality, with programmable LED lights that can display user-designed pixel animations.

Designed with fun-seeking and fashion-conscious consumers in mind, the LG Lollipop stands out from the crowd with its thin 13.4mm flip-phone design, 3MP wide-angle camera, video recording, MP3 player, FM radio, Bluetooth and 3G Technology support. Available in three different flavors (blue, pink and black), users can create ‘My Sweet Pop Code’, a unique Lollipop language that allows users to communicate their emotions with others using the LED pixel animations displayed on the phone.

hether you are feeling happy or blue, users can express themselves through their phone.

Speaking at the LG Lollipop launch press conference, Mr. Hyun Woo (Howard) Lee, Managing Director, LG Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. said, “The launch of the Lollipop phone today is our first major release of the first quarter, with 37 new LG models due to enter the market gradually this year. As a nation of mobile-lovers, Thailand is a dynamic and fast-growing market that is a strategic country for LG. Currently our market share stands at 7%, but we are targeting to reach 15% by the end of this year. The LG Lollipop will play an important part in this growth. However, we also have many new handsets on the way to suit every segment of user that take advantage of the latest 3G Technology, touch screen and QWERTY keyboard technology - including more than 10 new smartphones running on different mobile platforms.”

Khun Somsak Athisaitrakul, Product Group Head (Mobile Communications) Senior Manager, LG Electronics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. added, “Prior to its launch, the LG Lollipop has already received a lot of interest online thanks to its colorful personality, high-specifications and unique features. With the youth segment representing an important market for LG, we are confident that the LG Lollipop will help us enhance LG’s brand preference amongst Thai teenagers and young users. However, the phone is also being well-received within the broader market by users looking for a stylish clamshell device that delivers the latest mobile technology innovations. In fact, our research has shown that many Thai consumers prefer to use a flip-phone handset, with the flip-phone market in Thailand growing by 25% last year alone. LG is now regarded as the leading manufacturer of flip-phone handsets in Thailand, we believe that there are still plenty of opportunities in this segment, providing that we keep pushing the boundaries and pack more technology into our phones.”

In order to reach a wider audience and encourage brand engagement, the launch of the LG Lollipop will be supported by a range of online marketing activities. Research by LG has shown that the internet is the most popular way for Thai teenagers to chat with their friends and enjoy entertainment content. As such, LG has created an online TV drama series to be known as ‘LG Lollipop Love’, which will help spread awareness of the LG Lollipop’s ‘My Sweet Pop Code’ to target customers via short webisodes. Each webisode will be around 3 minutes long and broadcast online at www.lge.com/lollipop . In addition, users will be able to download various Lollipop emoticons to reflect their mood when chatting with friends via MSN.

To celebrate the launch of the LG Lollipop, LG is offering the following special promotions to Thai consumers who visit the LG booth at the Thailand Mobile Expo 2010, Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, from 4 – 7th February, 2010:
A free limited edition carry case with every purchase of a LG Lollipop phone.

Spend 10,000THB or more on any LG phone and get a free 8GB external memory card and complimentary gift.

A 6 month payment program with 0% interest when purchasing one of nine selected handsets using a participating credit card.

For full specifications, details and high-resolution images of the LG Lollipop GD580 handset, please visit www.lge.com/th/lglollipop
About LG Electronics Thailand

LG Electronics (Thailand) Co.,Ltd. is a leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics and mobile communications. LG’s vision is to become the leading electronics and mobile phone brand – the world’s best at enriching lives through innovation. LG Thailand comprises of five business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning and Business Solutions. LG is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, audio and video products, mobile handsets, air conditioners and washing machines. LG aims at delivering products that come with stylish design and smart technology, with marketing programs under the concept “Life’s Good”.

TRUE GROUP UNVEILS BUSINESS DIRECTIONS FOR 2010

2010-01-24T06:23:00.001-08:00

CONVERGENCE, INNOVATION LEADERSHIP AND CONTENT DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT MOBILE INTERNET ON 3G

True Corporation Plc has unveiled its business directions for 2010, placing emphasis on furthering the Group’s convergence strategy, innovation leadership and network quality. Increased investment in TrueOnline’s hi-speed Internet services will target nationwide coverage. TrueMove’s mobile network will be enhanced to support greater data and voice demand while content development will support mobile Internet growth driven by 3G. Meanwhile, the Group will maintain its innovation leadership through the launch of high-definition channels at TrueVisions.

In 2009, True Group’s core businesses, which include TrueOnline, TrueMove and TrueVisions, progressed in many areas. Over the first nine months of 2009 TrueMove performed well with growth in non-voice services, a recovery in International Roaming (IR) and continuing success in managing and controlling Interconnection (IC) payments. Meanwhile TrueMove subscriber numbers grew to 15.4 million at the end of Q309. Service revenue continued to increase for TrueOnline’s Broadband service while the subscriber base rose to 665,000. True was also able to provide increased international bandwidth at lower costs. As for TrueVisions, its subscriber base grew to 1.64 million and in October 2009 the company was given the green light from the MCOT to commence paid advertising. This will generate increased content and variety for viewers while gradually developing into an important new revenue stream.

Mr. Suphachai Chearavonont, President & CEO of True Corporation Plc said, “In 2010 True Group will maintain its leadership in core businesses, stressing innovation as well as developing the quality of our networks and services. The coverage of TrueOnline’s hi-speed Internet will be expanded nationwide to meet the demand for hi-speed Internet in Bangkok and key provinces. This will provide improved access to news and information and allow subscribers to perform online transactions easier. We will expand TrueMove’s voice and data network to support fast growing demand and also focus on content development to support mobile Internet usage on both the 850 MHz and 2.1 GHz 3G frequencies. For TrueVisions, we plan to add more programs and channels to serve every customer group and lifestyle. Meanwhile, the launch of high-definition channels will increase the viewing experience for subscribers.

“True Group will continue to pursue its convergence strategy. By offering innovative products and new services we will create added convenience and value for our customers,” Mr. Suphachai concluded.

TNT supports PDA project with book donation and delivery

2010-01-17T03:28:00.001-08:00

TNT Express Worldwide (Thailand) Co., Ltd., a leading provider of integrated express services from the Netherlands has announced its latest CSR initiative as part of its philosophy of providing practical support with recognizable and sustainable community benefits.

At today's press conference held at the PDA (The Population and Community Development Association) linked Cabbages & Condoms Restaurant in Bangkok, the donation of some 6,000 educational English language books to the PDA's rural educational development endeavor was officially announced. Scheduled to take place on 12 February 2010, the donation will be marked with a delivery of books by TNT vehicles to Lamplaimat Pattana School in Buri Ram province.

Alan Miu, Managing Director of TNT Thailand said, "TNT Thailand is especially honoured to have been given the opportunity to support the PDA, Thailand's largest NGO and chaired by the now legendary Mechai Viravaidya. The venue for today's announcement regarding TNT's donation to the Associations' endeavor to develop rural education is not only very agreeable, it reminds us all of the importance of the original inspiration for the founding of the PDA whose community work now encompasses so much more, but which is always based on education and partnership.

"For the past many years TNT has implemented a strong CSR programme exemplified at the global level for example with a longstanding partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP). Here in Thailand, we were able to use our logistics expertise effectively to help the victims of the 2004 tsunami, worked with the Royal Thai Army to deliver food and drinking water to the victims of the 2008 Nargis cyclone in Myanmar and later to implement a whole series of practical initiatives that reflect TNT's belief that healthy children become healthy, productive citizens to the benefit of all. Supporting the PDA's Community Library project provides TNT Thailand with an admirable opportunity to continue to contribute to the country's future."

In his comments at the press conference Mechai said, "Since it was founded in 1974 the PDA has extended its activities considerably from addressing immediate family planning needs. Today, PDA is the leading and most diversified NGO in Thailand with 18 regional development centres and branch offices with a strong emphasis on poverty eradication in rural areas. With support from partners, PDA established Lamplaimat Pattana Primary and Secondary Schools to become a model school that offers high quality education to children from poor families for free. The school has been domestically and internationally recognized from its revolutionary, world-class standard curriculum.

The donation of books will support PDA's endeavor to develop rural education. Lamplaimat Pattana School will help distribute the books to schools and villages in Lamplaimat district. The books will be a part of the Village Toy Library program that PDA has started since last year to promote philanthropic mindset in children.

"TNT's generous donation of educational books to the PDA Community Library project is not only most welcome, it also represents PDA's own philosophy of providing practical support in a way which requires involvement by those who are to benefit."

Supercharge Your iPhone With icloud and 100 GB Storage

2009-12-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

icloud, the Online Computer, Today Rolls Out icloud Premium -- a Massive 100 GB of Secure Cloud Storage for Only $39.99 / Year

Everybody Can Now Access All Their Content Anytime and Anywhere

icloud Basic With 3 GB is Available for Free, and Open for Sign-Ups at http://icloud.com

Today's launch of icloud Premium and the 100 GB Super Drive will greatly extend all the amazing capabilities of icloud to the iPhone. The new premium service lets everyone store, access and easily share files through any smart phone or browser. It gives you 100 GB of storage right in your pocket. You will never again feel that you have forgotten to bring important files with you. icloud securely stores files like music, photos, videos, documents, and provides a full management interface and virtual desktop through a browser to organize and share all your content.
icloud launch movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQgdceh66EQ

Daniel Arthursson, icloud's Founder and CEO, says, "Having 100 GB directly accessible in your pocket through an iPhone or smartphone will definitely change how we use and interact with data. With the massive storage of the icloud Super Drive, everything will always be accessible, no need to bring your computer to do a quick PowerPoint presentation, just present it straight out of the cloud."
Facts about the icloud online computer:
* Secure cloud storage with backup accessible from any computer,
iPhone, Android or Windows Mobile phone
* Free basic version includes 50 applications like Office, Mail,
Music, Video, Instant Messaging and Games
* icloud Premium with 100 GB Super Drive now available for $39.99/year
* Community (my.icloud.com) and email @icloud.com
* Zero installation, runs within browsers
* Available worldwide in 26 languages and used in 170 countries
About icloud

Founded in 2001 by Daniel Arthursson, Xcerion provides the free icloud.com service, the world's leading "Cloud OS", a groundbreaking technology with 22 pending patents. Developers have API and tools to build their own cloud applications.

Xcerion is based in Sweden, privately held and funded by Northzone Ventures. Investors include Lou Perazzoli, architect of Windows NT and former Manager Microsoft Core OS and John Connors former CFO Microsoft. Xcerion is a Red Herring Global 100 winner.

TeliaSonera and Huawei Launch World’s Fastest Commercial Mobile Broadband Network with Huawei’s 4G/LTE Solutions

2009-12-16T18:21:00.001-08:00

TeliaSonera and Huawei Launch World’s Fastest Commercial Mobile Broadband Network with Huawei’s 4G/LTE Solutions

Huawei, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, and TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, today jointly announced the deployment of the world’s first LTE commercial network in Oslo, Norway. These 4G services offer maximum speeds of up to 100 Mb/s and are approximately 10 times faster than existing 3G networks.

TeliaSonera’s customers will be the first in the world to enjoy simultaneous mobile broadband services such as high definition (HD) video conferencing in mobile environments and a variety of HD video programs via multiple terminal devices; applications that cannot be realized in current 3G networks.

Mr. Kenneth Karlberg, President and Head of Mobility Services TeliaSonera, said: “We are very proud to be the first operator in the world to offer our customers 4G services. Thanks to the successful cooperation with Huawei, we can offer 4G to our customers in Oslo earlier than originally planned.”

As a leading provider of end-to-end 4G/LTE solutions, Huawei delivered both network infrastructures and services to TeliaSonera, such as access network, core network, operation support system, and network planning and optimization. Its field proven fourth-generation base stations and SAE (System Architecture Evolution) solution ensure the stability of the network and enable fast deployment.

Yu Chengdong, President of Huawei Europe, said: “In partnership with TeliaSonera, Huawei began this journey eleven months ago to introduce the world’s most advanced mobile broadband technology to the residents of Oslo. This milestone, which was achieved in a short period of time, reflects Huawei’s unwavering commitment towards accelerating the commercialization of LTE/SAE solutions. Operators such as TeliaSonera, are now able to to fully realize economic benefits from the many new applications that can only be made possible with ultra broadband services.”

To date, Huawei has constructed over 25 LTE commercial and trial networks and has made more than 3,300 LTE/SAE contributions to 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
About Huawei

Huawei is a leader in providing next generation telecommunications networks, and now serves 36 of the world’s top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.

AIS LAUNCHES THAILAND’S FIRST “FACEBOOK &TWITTER ALERT” CUSTOMERS “MENT” AND “TWEET” RIGHT ON AIS MOBILE PHONE

2009-12-15T04:52:00.001-08:00

AIS connects the world of social network smash, Facebook and Twitter, to every AIS mobile phone, introducing Thailand’s first Facebook &Twitter Alert on mobile phone service in response to the popularity among new generation, receiving and posting messages online (“Ment” and “Tweet”) through quick and convenient real time SMS. Never miss any movement of the communities, expanding the territory of online social network to wireless world on mobile phones obviously accessing every user group (Mass)

Mr. Pratthana Leelapanang, Assistance Vice President – Value Added Service of AIS, disclosed “Now the surge of Social Network becomes the remarkable phenomenon in the online world, especially on the sizzling websites Facebook and Twitter occupying a multitude of members resulting in exponential increase of Internet connects and breaking limit to access mobile phone service. During the past 2-3 years, the growth of Social Network has caused the increase of data use. There are over 65 million worldwide users of Social Network on mobile phones at present. However, the Social Network access through mobile phone has been restricted to only the Smart Phone group.

To expand Social Network to every user group (mass) for unlimited connection to community groups anytime and anywhere, AIS develops the latest service, Thailand’s first “Facebook &Twitter Alert” on mobile phone via SMS allowing users of every handset registered on AIS network to receive “Ment” messages from friends or “Tweet” from the ones you follow on a real time basis and post messages, images and other functions such as Comment, Status Update, Add Friend and Update Tweet through SMS from your mobile phones to online world immediately. Users can identify friends’ name or their follows.

Besides, check out the highlight Twitter Express service that enables AIS users who are not Twitter members to “Follow” the one they want to follow, simply from the recommended Twitter list of interesting persons and top follows including various gurus, artists, stars and celebrities.

We are convinced that the service “Facebook &Twitter Alert” will complete lifestyle of mobile phone users from new generation to stay tuned to their society even more closely.”

AIS customers may see more details and apply for the service through Wap Portal by pressing *900*9# and calling out to get URL link to the Social Network page and select Facebook or Twitter service as desired for the following service rates;
Facebook* Twitter
Member fees Free Trial 7 days Free Trial 7 days
(Receive message) 9 Baht / week 9 Baht / week
(for unlimited messages) (for 10 received messages / day
and 1 Baht/message for excess messages)
Status Update fees 2 Baht / SMS 2 Baht /SMS
(Send message) 6 Baht / MMS
* Service on December 15, 2009

- According to the statistics, there are about 1.34 million Facebook members in Thailand with over 5 million viewers. Thailand is in the 4th ranging of Facebook growth (1st Taiwan, 2nd Vietnam and 3rd Philippine). Regarding Twitter, there are 600,000 members with over 1.2 million followers.
- There are over 6 million AIS Mobile Internet users at present.
- There are about 100,000 users of Facebook on mobile phones.
- There are about 30,000 users of Twitter on mobile phones.

Webtel.mobi's World-First Intercontinental Crossing by Jet-Wing Attracting Huge Global Interest

2009-11-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

Specialized Mobile Provider's Challenge website goes live in 20 languages to cater for worldwide public and media interest

Specialized Mobile Provider Webtel.mobi's World First intercontinental crossing by jet-wing, scheduled for 24 and 25 November 2009, is attracting huge public and media interest from all over the globe.

To cater for the huge amount of interest, Webtel.mobi is making a version of its Webtel.mobi Intercontinental Challenge, website live in 20 languages, and will be providing live commentary on its global internet webcast in six languages.

The event is being staged to physically illustrate how Webtel.mobi's unique mobile phone service connects the world in a new and innovative manner, by connecting the African and European Continents in a similarly unique and unconventional manner.

The Challenge will take place on Wednesday 25 November, and a Challenge Rehearsal will be done on Tuesday 24 November - including an actual Helicopter Search & Rescue rehearsal from the North Atlantic Ocean by retired Special Forces Operators.

Both The Challenge flight on 25 November, and the Helicopter Search & Rescue rehearsal on 24 November, will be broadcast live for free and unrestricted pickup and use by any TV stations, and an international live internet webcast will be broadcast over Webtel.mobi's Challenge Viewer on their Challenge website.

Photos and images for free and unrestricted use will be uploaded to the Photos & Images section of The Challenge website on both days, and comprehensive arrangements have been made to assist any media who want to attend this event, or get free TV footage from it.

Full Challenge information, Media Resources, and details of the worldwide webcast can be seen on the Webtel.mobi Intercontinental Challenge website at http://www.challenge.webtel.mobi
Webtel.mobi Intercontinental Challenge website Languages:

English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Korean and Filipino.
Challenge Live Commentary languages:
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese
About Webtel.mobi:

Webtel.mobi is a Specialized Mobile Provider whose innovative service is available from all web-enabled mobile phones, on all networks, in all countries. It has the largest geographic coverage of any specialized mobile provider in the world. Its call and text rates are up to 80% less than networks' standard costs. Info on the Webtel.mobi product is available at http://www.webtel.mobi/pc and the service is available from any web-enabled mobile phone at http://www.webtel.mobi

Apple passes Nokia as most profitable phone maker

2009-11-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

       The world's two largest mobile-phone makers, Nokia and Samsung Electronics, unveiled on Tuesday their latest rivals to the iPhone as Apple became the top profit generator in the handset industry.
       Apple Inc overtook Nokia in the September quarter as the mobile-phone maker generating the highest total operating profit in the industry, research firm Strategy Analytics said.
       Nokia said on Tuesday it had started deliveries of its top-of-the-range N900,while Samsung Electronics Co Ltd announced it would launch its own open mobile platform, bada, in December as it tries to make up for a late start in the smartphone market.
       Nokia and Samsung together sell around 60% of all mobile phones globally,but they have lost some ground to Apple and Research In Motion Ltd, maker of the BlackBerry.
       The N900 model is the first Nokia phone to run on the Linux Maemo operating system, which analysts see as key for Nokia to regain ground in the coming years.
       "The Maemo platform, which powers the N900, reflects Nokia's need to replace its legacy software platforms with something more powerful to compete with Apple and others," said Ben Wood, head of research at British consultancy CCS Insight.
       "Samsung's announcement of bada shows it has also identified the same requirement. The big question is, does the mobile phone world need yet another operating system?"
       While Nokia has lost ground in the smartphone business, it is still the world's largest smartphone maker by volume.Samsung's volumes are well behind Apple, RIM and HTC Corp.
       But measured by profits, Nokia lost in the third quarter against Apple, which entered the mobile-phone market only in mid-2007.
       Apple does not break down its profits per business line, but Strategy Analytics estimated Apple's operating profit for its iPhone handset unit stood at $1.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with Nokia's $1.1 billion.
       "With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, the PC vendor has successfully broken into the mobile phone market in just two years,"said Alex Spektor, an analyst at Strategy Analytics.
       Apple sold 7.4 million iPhones during the July-September quarter, generating sales of $4.5 billion. Nokia sold 108.5 million phones in total in the same quarter, generating sales of 6.9 billion, but its profits were hurt by the economic downturn.
       Global sales of mobile handsets will snap a four-quarter losing streak in the last three months of the year as the industry is buoyed by economic recovery,a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Tuesday.
       Sales are expected to rise 3% in the fourth quarter as the Christmas period brings a brighter end to a year in which sales are forecast to fall 6.9%, the poll of 31 banks, brokerages and research firms showed.
       While the broader handset industry has struggled, smartphones sales have boomed and analysts have forecast the smartphone market will grow 20% to 30% this year.
       But there are signs that increased competition is starting to put pressure on margins and put some companies on the defensive.
       This week, the world's No.4 smartphone brand, HTC, said it expected fourth-quarter revenue to plummet almost 15% from the same period a year earlier, as the intense rivalry forces prices down.
       Strategy Analytics said growth in the smartphone market slowed to just 5%in the third quarter from 17% in the second quarter.
       "On the supply-side, a weak lineup from Nokia, the industry giant, has helped to keep a cap on growth," said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics.
       "On the demand-side, consumers have been buying huge volumes of highend feature phones with touchscreens from Samsung and LG and many consumers seem happy for now to go without full app-store support," he added.

SAMSUNG, LG KEEN TO PROMOTE SMART PHONES

2009-11-13T00:00:00.001-08:00

       LG Electronics' chief executive Nam Yong said that LG's main competition was not Nokia but smart-phone makers Apple and Research in Motion.
       His remarks last week show how eager the No 3 handset maker is to raise its profile in the smartphone market.
       LG suffered falling sales in North America, one of its key markets, in the third quarter because of the expansion of the smart-phone market led by Apple and Reserach in Motion.
       Despite their leading positions in the handset industry, LG and it Korean rival Samsung Electronics have a limited profile in the rapidly growing smart phone market.
       The two companies hold a combined share of less than 4 per cent in the global smart-phone market, even as their total share in the handset market tops 30 per cent, according to IDC and Shinhan Investment.
       Some analysts said their failure to expand into the smart-phone market would limt their growth. The smart-phone market is expected to grow and account for 20 per cent of the handset market next year, from 16 per cent this year, according to Gartner and Shinhan Investment.
       Korean handset makers are closely working with operators to boost their weak smart-phone sales and better compete with Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion. They have also launched smart phones powered by various operating systems including Windows Mobile and Android.
       "Apple has its own smart-phone business model, which is not welcomed by wireless opeators," said Jay Yoo of Korea Investment & Securities.
       "Samsung and LG have no choice but to cooperate with operators ... It is an inevitable choice, but not a bad one."
       LG says it will spend heavily to develop competitive smart phones.
       "We plan to release about 10 smart phones powered by Windows Mibile next year," an LG spokesperson said, adding that the company has not decided on how many smart phones it will roll out next year.
       He said LG had previously focused on the Windows Mobile operating system, but that it is now focusing on both Windows Mobile and Google's Android operating system.
       Samsung, the world's No 3 handset maket, also seeks to take on Apple and Research in Motion in the smart-phone market, in which the Korean company holds a 2.7-per-cent share.
       Samsung has introduced a series of new Omina smart phones in September, and plans to double the number of its models next year.

iPHONE ARRIVES IN CHINA WITHOUT KEY FEATURE

2009-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

       Apple's iPhone is making its long-awaited formal debut in the world's most populous mobile-phone market, without a key feature and at higher prices than widely available black-market models.
       Apple's local service provider, China Unicom, hopes the iPhone will give it an edge against giant rival China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company by number of subscribers.
       Unicom was to start selling iPhones equipped for third-generation (3G) services last week at 2,000 stores in areas as far-flung as Tibet. Chinese news reports said Unicom hoped to sell 5 million iPhones in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.
       Unicom's first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone's appeal, allows owners in other markets to use wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications, free of charge.
       "There's going to be a perception that the phone they have is 'dumbed down' from the one that somebody has in California," said Duncan Clark, the chairman of Beijing-based technology-research firm BDA China.
       "We've seen before that Chinese consumers don't like to be treated like second-class citizens."
       Apple and Unicom could also face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.
       There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones in China using China Moile's 3G service that allows Internet access and other features.
       Unicom's prices range from 4,999-6,999 yuan (Bt24,500 to Bt34,300) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20-per-cent more than the 5,700 yuan charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.
       The iPhone's awkward, delayed entry into China reflects the regulatory and technical hudles of a fast-changing market where other global technology companies have struggled to establish themselves.
       Unicom's iPhones lack WiFi because it was temporarily banned by Beijing, which was promoting a rival Chinese system, BDA said. The ban was relaxed in May after manufacturing had begun.
       A Unicom spokesman, YiDifei, said the company hoped to have WiFi in the next batch of phones.
       "We are talking with apple and expect the problem to be solved by the end of this year," Yi said.
       The iPhone debuted in the United States in June 2007, but its formal arrival in China was delayed as Apple negotiated with service providers. Chinese media said the talks were snagged on disagreements about how revenue should be divided.
       China has more than 650 million mobile-phone accounts despite an average annual income of only US$3,000 (Bt100,000) per person. Consumers trade in phones as often as several times a year to obtain the latest models and features.
       China Unicom has 143 million modile accounts, which would be an impressive figure in any other market but lags far behind China's Mobile's 508 million accoutns.
       Global technology companies that dominate other markets have struggled to obtain a foothold in China. Search engine Google has less than 30 per cent of the market, against more than 60 per cent for local rival Baidu. Yahoo turned over its Chinese operation to a local partner after failing to expand its market share.
       China's state-owned phone companies were restructured by the government into three groups last year in hopes of reviving competition after the explosive popularity of mobile services turned China Mobile into a behemoth.

Magnificent seven

2009-11-08T05:56:00.000-08:00

       In the most important, most revered event since the invention of the brontosaurus trap,Microsoft shipped the most incredibly fabulous operating system ever made; the release of Windows 7 also spurred a new generation of personal computers of all sizes at prices well below last month's offers.The top reason Windows 7 does not suck: There is no registered website called Windows7Sucks.com
       Kindle e-book reader maker Amazon.com and new Nook e-book reader vendor Barnes and Noble got it on; B&N got great reviews for the "Kindle killer"Nook, with dual screens and touch controls so you can "turn" pages, plays MP3s and allows many non-B&N book formats, although not the Kindle one;Amazon then killed the US version of its Kindle in favour of the international one, reduced its price to $260(8,700 baht), same as the Nook; it's not yet clear what you can get in Thailand with a Nook, but you sure can't (yet) get much, relatively speaking, with a Kindle;but here's the biggest difference so far,which Amazon.com has ignored: the Nook lets you lend e-books to any other Nook owner, just as if they were paper books; the borrowed books expire on the borrower's Nook in two weeks.
       Phone maker Nokia of Finland announced it is suing iPhone maker Apple of America for being a copycat; lawyers said they figure Nokia can get at least one, probably two per cent (retail) for every iPhone sold by Steve "President for Life" Jobs and crew via the lawsuit,which sure beats working for it -$6 (200 baht) to $12(400 baht) on 30 million phones sold so far, works out to $400 million or 25 percent of the whole Apple empire profits during the last quarter;there were 10 patent thefts, the Finnish executives said, on everything from moving data to security and encryption.
       Nokia of Finland announced that it is one month behind on shipping its new flagship N900 phone, the first to run on Linux software; delay of the $750(25,000 baht) phone had absolutely no part in making Nokia so short that it had to sue Apple, slap yourself for such a thought.
       Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, said he had one regret:the double slash that follows the "http:"in standard web addresses; he estimated that 14.2 gazillion users have wasted 48.72 bazillion hours typing those two keystrokes, and he's sorry; of course there's no reason to ever type that, since your browser does it for you when you type "www.bangkokpost.com" but Tim needs to admit he made one error in his lifetime.
       The International Telecommunication Union of the United Nations, which doesn't sell any phones or services, announced that there should be a mobile phone charger that will work with any phone; now who would ever have thought of that, without a UN body to wind up a major study on the subject?;the GSM Association estimates that 51,000 tonnes of chargers are made each year in order to keep companies able to have their own unique ones.
       The Well, Doh Award of the Week was presented at arm's length to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; the group's deputy secretary-general Petko Draganov said that developing countries will miss some of the stuff available on the Internet if they don't install more broadband infrastructure; a report that used your tax baht to compile said that quite a few people use mobile phones but companies are more likely to invest in countries with excellent broadband connections; no one ever had thought of this before, right?
       Sun Microsystems , as a result of the Oracle takeover, said it will allow 3,000 current workers never to bother coming to work again; Sun referred to the losses as "jobs," not people; now the fourth largest server maker in the world, Sun said it lost $2.2 billion in its last fiscal year; European regulators are holding up approval of the Oracle purchase in the hope of getting some money in exchange for not involving Oracle in court cases.
       The multi-gazillionaire and very annoying investor Carl Icahn resigned from the board at Yahoo ; he spun it as a vote of confidence, saying current directors are taking the formerly threatened company seriously; Yahoo reported increased profits but smaller revenues in the third quarter.
       The US House of Representatives voted to censure Vietnam for jailing bloggers; the non-binding resolution sponsored by southern California congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said the Internet is "a crucial tool for the citizens of Vietnam to be able to exercise their freedom of expression and association;"Hanoi has recently jailed at least nine activists for up to six years apiece for holding pro-democracy banners. Iran jailed blogger Hossein "Hoder" Derakshan for 10 months - in solitary confinement.

Nokia rebuffs Samsung claim

2009-11-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

       Nokia has shrugged off claims by Samsung that it is destined to overtake Nokia's long-established leadership in the local mobile handset market this year.
       The South Korean manufacturer said recently that it now held 30.5% of the Bangkok market, against 28.7% for the Finnish company, based on a survey by the market research firm GFK. Nationally,Samsung had a 27.5% share compared with 33% for Nokia.
       Samsung expressed confidence that it would overtake Nokia nationwide this year with a 35% share.
       "The claimed figure is impossible based on the fact of our handset import volume to Thailand," said Shumit Kapoor, general manager of Nokia Thailand.
       He said GFK stopped gathering data about mobile phone sales in Thailand in June because the proliferation of Chinese branded handsets in markets outside Bangkok made it harder to get accurate figures.
       "We're on an increasing trend in business with a strong market share, and confident of maintaining our leadership this year," Mr Kapoor said.
       Performance has been helped by a recent restructuring of its distribution network, he added."We expect to continue the upward trend next year."
       Mr Kapoor said overall handset demand in Thailand was expected to grow only 1-2% this year from last year's 9 million units. But market value would be flat as prices are falling.
       Worldwide handset sales declined 6%in the second quarter, according to Gartner. But smartphones sales grew 27%year-on-year to 40 million units.
       Mr Kapoor said he expected next year would be better locally, building on the improvement seen in the third quarter as the economy began to revive.
       He also said the touchscreen-phone market in Thailand had grown rapidly this year, thanks to more affordable prices and mature quality.
       Touchscreen-phone sales in Thailand have surged by 400-500% this year, and the increase is set to continue in 2010.
       Nokia hopes to capitalise on that demand with its N97 Mini, a spinoff of its flagship high-end N97 smartphone. The mobile computer phone, featuring a touchscreen and keypad board, is priced at 21,100 baht to reach more consumers.
       It has a 5-megapixel camera,8 GB of onboard memory plus 16 GB expansion via a micro-SD card slot. It also has new personal and location-aware internet features and access to Nokia's Ovi platform and online social networks.

Microsoft hopes new OS will boost phone share

2009-10-30T23:42:00.001-07:00

       The rebranded Windows Phone will be made available in the Thai market, with 16 models from eight global brands on offer as Microsoft attempts to retain its share in the smart phone market.
       Lisa Lam, Business & Marketing Organisation Director, Microsoft (Thailand), said the company has rebranded Windows Mobile as Windows Phone to build consistency and common experience in using the world's foremost operating system, whether on PC, server or phone.
       Moreover, the company has also launched its handset OS Windows Mobile 6.5 in conjunction with several global brand manufacturers.
       By the end of this year, the company expects to have eight mobile phone brands running Windows 6.5, with HTC,Samsung, Acer, Asus, LG, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba on board, offering 16 models covering a variety of styles and price ranges to fit customer needs.
       Windows Phone has been designed to be interoperable with many device brands and platforms to respond to the different needs and demands of users, for both work and play, and creating experiences through a variety of hardware, applications and services.
       "Choice is a big differentiating factor when considering competitors which offer a limited range of models, and this has helped us sell more than 35 million Windows Mobiles from 140 Top OEMs," said Lam.
       She continued that Windows Mobile 6.5's key features include a newlydesigned home screen, an improved touch-sensitive user interface and Mobile Internet Explorer with built in Adobe Flash Lite, which enables websites to be displayed on phones in the same way they appear on a PC. Outlook Mo-bile/Exchange sync will be available at no additional charge if users hold an Exchange corporate license.
       In addition, Windows Phones will feature two new services: My Phone, to sync text messages, photos, video, contacts and more to the web; and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which will offer over 30,000 applications. Popular mobile internet applications such as Facebook,MySpace, Netflix, Twikini, WunderRadio and Zagat will be available alongside a selection of games.
       According to IDC, the smart phone market in 2009 is estimated at around 197 million units worldwide, and is expected to reach 350 million unit by 2012. This is a growth rate of 77 percent,which is higher than that of feature phones, which have grown around 13 percent year-on-year.
       According to Gartner, in the smart phone operating system (OS) market,Symbian held s 51 percent share, down from 57 percent a year ago, while RIM and Apple shares grew year-on-year.
       Android's share was just under 2 per cent of the market and more Androidbased devices will come to market in the fourth quarter of 2009, intensifying competition in the smart phone OS market, particularly for Symbian and Windows.
       Microsoft's share continued to drop year-on-year to account for 9 per cent of the market in the second quarter of 2009.
       Recently, HTC (Thailand) introduced HTC Touch2, the first model built on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform available in the Thai Market. The phone supports 3.5G, Wi-Fi and GPS, including a 3.2 MP camera at 16,900 baht.
       Meanwhile, Research in Motion's BlackBerry Curve 8520 smart phone has a touch-sensitive trackpad and is the first BlackBerry to feature dedicated media keys, giving customers greater control of their music and videos.
       Advance Info Service offers the product, which will be available next month,at 13,900 baht.

HTC Touch2 smart phone launched

2009-10-30T23:41:00.000-07:00

       Taiwan-based HTC has launched the Touch2 smart phone in the Thai market, with a target to sell 50,000 units in the next 12 months.
       The Touch2 is the latest version of the HTC Touch, 50,000 of which have been sold locally in two and a half years. The Touch2 is HTC's fighting model, with which it aims to regain momentum in the Thai market for smart phones.
       HTC (Thailand) country manager Nattawat Woranopkul said the highlight of the new model was that it is the first smart phone bundled with the Microsoft Mobile 6.5 operating system, as well as being equipped with social-networking features such as Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live.
       He said that with its competitive price of Bt16,900 (including value-added tax), the HTC Touch2 will be the company's flagship product for the rest of the year.
       "We will launch two more models: one for Windows Mobile and another for the Android platform. Currently, there are 12 HTC models on the Windows Mobile platform and only two - Magic and Hero - on Android," said Nattawat.
       HTC targets overall revenue this year of Bt1.5 billion, up from Bt1.2 billion last year.
       He said that even though for a couple months it seemed the market momentum was going the way of other brands - notably iPhone and BlackBerry - from now on the momentum will return to HTC because of the new model with Windows Mobile 6.5.
       Moreover, the Touch2 is specially designed to meet the needs of customers demanding social-networking connections, he added.
       Somchai Sitthichaisrichart, managing director of SiS Distribution (Thailand) - HTC's local distributor - said the fact that there were now more players in the smart-phone market was good for consumers. But for HTC, its strength is based on Windows Mobile, on which Microsoft is working to rebrand and relaunch its strategy.
       "We admit we were not happy with our growth for a couple months, as we had expected much higher sales. However, we still have growth in double digits, although it is less than that of the market," he said.
       HTC (Thailand) this year expects to grow by less than 30 per cent, while the smart-phone market is expected to grow by 30 to 40 per cent.
       "The smart-phone market in Thailand still has a lot of room for growth as it is currently about 20,00 units per month, while total mobile-phone sales are around 700,000 to 800,000 per month. But the market for traditional mobile phones is showing flat growth, and is likely to fall further," said Somchai.

Designers set for phone competition

2009-10-20T22:19:00.001-07:00

       Creating new phone designs will help companies break into new markets and capture more target users, especially as businesses prepare for 3G networks, said Thananan Vilailuck, President of Samart i-Mobile, a major Thai brand with 2.7 million unit sales expected this year.
       Recently, the company joined forces with the Industry Designer Society Thailand, or IDS, to launching the "i-Mobile Creative Synergy Award" competition to spur university students nationwide to submit mobile phone designs along with outstanding brand-building plans.
       "Every year, the company spends around 20 million baht on mobile phone design, both internally and outsourced,but this is often limited to only the scope of ideas," said Thananan.
       "The award will help us to apply the ideas and product designs arising from this project to actually develop products in Thai and foreign markets.
       "This collaboration with IDS will stimulate interest in mobile phone design, which is a rather specialised discipline that requires a focus on userfriendliness and the real needs of the user, as well as in the formulation of strategic marketing plans."
       He added:"This project is an important component of brand differentiation, as it encourages unique designs through the selection of premium-level gadgets as well as the development of content and applications that meet the needs and lifestyles of the users.
       "We will not attempt to compete with the big companies like Apple or Nokia,but we will offer 80 percent of the functions of those brands with value-formoney prices."
       Ditaphon Chantraurai, Assist Vice President, Product Marketing, Samart i-Mobile, added that the contestants who pass the shortlisting round will proceed to a product design and marketing communication workshop, where they will develop two types of mobile phones,namely, a Bar Type and a Touch Phone.
       University students who are interested in entering the contest are invited to form groups of three to four members each.
       Application forms can be downloaded from www.i-mobilephone.com until October 30.
       Makorn Chowanich, Chairman of the Industrial Product Design Association of Thailand, added that market knowledge is a key concern for designers.
       The project should also help strengthen the design business, especially in terms of gaining an understanding of local requirements, especially upcountry.
       Design and manufacture will be mutually beneficial, with attractive designs increasing demand, therefore boosting opportunities for supply.
       "In terms of price only, Thailand cannot compete with Chinese manufacturing, but I believe we have opportunities in niche markets and some expertise areas," said Makorn.
       Meanwhile, Niwat Wongprompreeda,Secretary General and Director of Education at the Advertising Association of Thailand, said designers should study consumer behavior and compare their products with competitors who offer similar designs and functions in the same price range.
       Currently, the the biggest market segment for mobile phones is models in the 1,000-3,000 baht range, leading Niwat to say:"Design can add value to the product and this is not limited to highprice models.
       "We can make low cost designs with low-cost material but still make it look attractive."

Cancer studies may be biased

2009-10-15T00:28:00.000-07:00

       Studies on whether mobile phones can cause cancer,especially brain tumours, vary widely in quality and there may be some bias in those showing the least risk, researchers reported on Tuesday.
       So far it is difficult to demonstrate any link, although the best studies do suggest some association between mobile phone use and cancer, the research coordinated by South Korea's National Cancer Center found.
       Dr Seung-Kwon Myung and colleagues at Ewha Women's University and Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul and the University of California, Berkeley,examined 23 published studies of more than 37,000 people in what is called a meta-analysis. Results often depended on who conducted the study and how well they controlled for bias and other errors.
       "We found a large discrepancy in the association between mobile phone use and tumour risk by research group, which is confounded with the methodological quality of the research," they wrote in the Journal of Clinical Oncology .The use of mobile and cordless phones has exploded in the past 10 years to an estimated 4.6 billion subscribers worldwide, according to the UN International Telecommunication Union.
       Research has failed to establish any clear link between the devices and cancer.
       The latest study, supported in part by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examined cases involving brain tumours and others including tumors of the facial nerves, salivary glands and testicles as well as non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.
       It found no significant association between the risk of tumours and overall use of mobile phones, including cellular and cordless phones.
       The South Korean team said "high quality" studies that blinded participants against bias found a mildly increased risk of tumours among mobile phone users. An increased risk of benign tumours was also found in people who used the phones for a decade or longer.
       The "high quality" studies were funded by the Swedish Work Environment Fund,the Orebro Cancer Fund and the Orebro University Hospital Cancer Fund, the research team said.
       Funding for some of the lower-quality studies included two industry groups,the Mobile Manufacturers Forum and the Global System for Mobile Communication Association.

SA CELLPHONE OPERATORS PRESSED TO CUT RATES

2009-10-13T22:25:00.001-07:00

       South African lawmakers want mobile-phone operators, including MTN Group and Vodacom Group, to slash interconnection fees by more than half.
       Cellular phone operators will appear before Parliament's portfolio committee on communications in public hearings to be held over two days starting tomorrow, Ismail Vadi, the committee's chairman, said by phone from Cape Town yesterday.
       Parliament has proposed that mobile-phone companies cut interconnection fees to 60 cents (Bt2.75) a munute from 1.25 rand this year, and reduce them by a further 15 cents a year over the next three years, Vadi said.
       Teh committee is aiming to exert more pressure on operators and the Independent Communciations Authority of South Africa after four years of talks to cut fees failed to result in any "significant progress", he added. "Interconnection rates in South Africa are amongst the highest in the world, and certainly in Africa," Vadi said. "The committee is extremely concerned about this. Lower fees will increase competition and will reduce communications costs in the country."
       MTN, Vodacom and other cellphone operators are meeting witht Icasa today to discuss reducing call charges, acting spokesman Josias Mathiba said by phone from Johannesburg yesterday.
       Icasa will make recommendations on pricing to lawmakers following today's meeting, he added.
       MTN, africa's biggest mobilephone operator, fell 1.95 rand, or 1.6 per cent, to 124.10 rand as of 10.14 am in Johannesbug yesterday. Vodacom slid 75 cents. or 1.4 per cent, to 53.65 rand.
       The Communications ministry may issue a policy directive to Icasa to force mobile-phone operators to slash fees, the department's spokesman, Tiyani Rikhotso, said.

STILL IN THE GAME

2009-10-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

       Bharti Airtel, India's biggest mobile operator, may restart talks with South Africa's MTN while eyeing smaller targets in the Mideast and Asia. By Tony Arora in New Delhi
       For the second time in as many years, India's Bharti Airtel and South Africa's MTN have failed in their bid to create the world's third-largest mobile services company with 200 million subscribers,revenues of US$20 billion and operations in 24 countries - just behind China Mobile and Vodafone Group.
       The deal-breaker was the South African government's concern that the country would lose MTN to a foreign player. Delhi could not meet Pretoria's demand for dual listing of MTN shares post-merger since India does not yet allow full capital account convertibility.
       Official sources in New Delhi say a dual-listing structure would lead to huge tax losses to the government.
       Another major hurdle was an amendment by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) stating that any acquisition through American or Global depository receipts (ADRs and GDRs)with voting rights would trigger a mandatory 20% open offer above the 15%threshold. This upset the terms of the proposed deal as MTN sought to acquire 36% in Bharti through GDRs.
       The South African government's pension fund, Public Investment Corporation, holds 21% in MTN and the government was under intense pressure to nix the deal on concerns that MTN's South African identity would be lost.
       Sources said a dual-listed company (DLC) clause also would weaken the supervisory authority of SEBI as it would not be able to monitor overseas stock exchanges. MTN is currently listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.
       Last year, China Mobile and Vodafone also were reportedly close to striking a deal with MTN but nothing materialised.But Bharti is determined to replicate its staggering growth at home in other emerging markets, where scale is vital and penetration rates are low but rising fast. It is interesting to see why.
       The company is the market leader in India, the world's fastest growing mobile market and the second largest after China. It has nearly a quarter of the country's total mobile subscriber base.
       Telecom analysts and bankers say Bharti is keen to expand offshore as returns from the Indian market are likely to slow down in coming years. About 40% of India's 1.1 billion people have mobile phones and more than 10 million users are signing up every month.
       Subscriber growth is expected to be slow eventually as more of the population gets phones. Increasing competition in the already crowded market with the entry of international players such as NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, Etisalat, Virgin Mobile, Sistema Telecom and Telenor in ventures with local firms has started taking its toll on revenue and margins.
       Singapore Telecommunications,Southeast Asia's biggest phone company,owns 30.4% in Bharti. Company executives say they will keep looking to expand overseas but may aim for smaller firms than MTN. One possibility on the horizon is the Kuwaiti telecom firm Zain, whose shareholders are selling a 46% stake.
       Bharti is also reportedly eyeing the Sri Lankan operations of Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular.Other possibilities are Warid Telecom whose shareholders are Abu Dhabi Group and SingTel, and Egypt's Orascom, said a banker who worked with Bharti chairman Sunil Mittal in the past.
       "He clearly wants to scale up and knows he needs to go outside India as well," said the banker."Maybe he will temper his global ambition for now, but that will strengthen his aim to be at least a regional powerhouse."
       Currently, the company has operations in Sri Lanka and its parent operates mobile firms in Seychelles and the British Channel Islands.
       But the collapse of talks with MTN also mean that Bharti will not have to take on debt and its strong cash position will leave it well placed for local expansion and an upcoming 3G auction in India.The government will auction thirdgeneration spectrum in December and analysts expect winning bids of $1 billion to $1.5 billion for pan-India spectrum.
       Bharti and will soon start accumulating cash even after spending on the 3G auction. It needs to deploy that somewhere,and acquisitions are the natural choice.
       The company became net cash-flow positive in the year to March 2009. With $629 million in net debt, its net debt-toEBITDA ratio (earnings before interest,tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 0.25 makes it one of the best-placed Indian telecom firms.
       As of June 30, Bharti had 63 billion rupees in cash and investments that could be converted into cash. If the MTN deal had gone through, fresh debt could have strained its balance sheet.
       3G also throws open opportunities in non-SMS services including data, music and video. This calls for more investments and here again Bharti looks comfortable.
       Apart from 3G, another growth area in India is consumer services such as direct-to-home (DTH) and television service based on internet protocol. Bharti has entered both segments and faces stiff competition from players such as Reliance Communications and Tata Sky.

A piece of the action

2009-09-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

       And the crowd went wild as Steve "President for Life" Jobs of Apple Computer came out on the stage to emcee the now-annual September music sales pitch, with loads of new stuff; in the biggest news, the iPod Nano got a video camera and FM radio, and Steve showed off the new iTunes Ver 9 management software; he also showed off the iPhone OS 3.1, available for download, which actually recommends apps you might like, has better synching for music and video, and lets you save video from email attachments into your playlist, aka Camera Roll.
       Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
       US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
       First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
       Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
       The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
       Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
       Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
       Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
       IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
       South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
       T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.

Sony sale

2009-09-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sony Thailand will hold a three-day "Warehouse Sale" during September 25-27 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.
TVs, home theatre systems, CyberShot cameras, handy cams, digital frames,Vio notebooks, MP3 players and Sony Ericsson mobile phones are offered at up to 80% discounts.

BHARTI-MTN DEAL FACES REGULATORY HURDLE

2009-09-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

       India's top mobile firm Bharti Airtel and South African cellular flagship MTN are ready to sign a tie-up deal but regulatory issues could stymie a final agreement, reports said yesterday.
       "The deal is all set, agreed and legally ready to be signed," the Business Standard newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to negotiations as saying.
       But the Business Standard and The Economic Times say a final agreement could be blocked by the issue of whether India would allow the merged company to be listed on both the Indian and South African stock exchanges.
       A dual-listed company (DLCs) involves two listed companies that have different sets of shareholders but share ownership of a single business operation. South Africa allows dual listing while India does not.
       The South African government, which indirectly holds over 21 per cent in MTN, said earlier this month it was unwilling to sacrifice the firm's "South African character" and raised the possibility of dual listing as a compromise.
       Indian media reports say the two firms have worked out details of the proposed US$23 billion (Bt777 billion) cash-and-share swap deal. The merged company would have over 200 million subscribers and $20 billion in annual revenues.
       But allowing DLCs would involve substantial changes in India's foreign exchange and stock-market laws and full cabinet approval, the reports said.
       A Bharti Airtel spokesman had no comment.
       The Economic Times said the issue was expected to be raised at a meeting between Premier Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh this week.
       The newspaper said Singh was likely to indicate the Indian government's support for the deal but added it was unclear whether he could give any assurance on changing India's legislation to allow dual-listed companies.
       The Economic Times quoted Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for Zuma, as saying the deal's future was dependent on whether "all regulatory requirements and other considerations in both countries" could be met.
       The 15-year-old MTN is South Africa's largest telecoms company with 103 million subscribers in 21 countries.
       A merger between the two would create the world's third-largest mobile-phone operator by subscribers that would straddle Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

A HERO'S WELCOME

2009-09-20T20:47:00.001-07:00

       The latest offering from HTC, the Taiwan-based manufacturer of portable devices that's going from strength to strength, is the Hero smartphone. It's the third in the company's A Series, and is a big jump from the recent Dream and Magic (which it replaces) models in terms of design - both internally and externally. But can it rival the iPhone and the Palm Pre in the Thai smartphone market? Let's take a closer look.
       Visually, the model is instantly appealing with its chiselled clean lines and bevelled edges. It appears modern, stylish and durable; quite a jump from previous HTC models. The distinguishing feature is the angled base, or "chin", which has drawn both criticism and praise from gadget fondlers worldwide. While ruining the contoured flatness of the phone, it also protects the screen and tracking ball from scratching when you drop the phone or place it "flat" on its face. It also enables the phone to nestle nicely in the palm of your hand, and its robust 135g gives an overall feeling of strength.
       In terms of usability, the dimensions of the model enable single-handed operation. However, bad positioning of the back and search buttons will give right-handers thumb cramps or worse. The four buttons across the top of the chin are well placed, but could be a little bigger. Also on the chin is the slightly undersized but effective track ball that flashes nicely when you receive a call or text message.
       Feature-wise, the impressive 3.2-inch, 320x480 HVGA screen has an oleophobic coating, the same as its iPhone 3GS rival, that deters fingerprint smudging. It is also nicely sensitive, requiring only a light touch to activate. Although it boasts five megapixels, the camera takes dull and grainy photos, and the track ball works as a slippery shutter button. The speaker is adequate for a phone of this level, but falls short of the Nokia N97's speaker, although - finally - a 3.5mm headphone jack is included. The 1,350mAh battery requires daily charging without excessive usage - a similar performance to the iPhone 3GS but worse than the Palm Pre after battery tweaks.
       Inside, the specs of the Hero are almost the same as those of the model it replaces - the big difference is the software upgrade. HTC has stayed committed to open source software and has come up with Android 1.5, which it calls HTC Sense. The new and vastly improved operating system supports Adobe Flash and is compatible with social networks - namely Facebook, Twitter and Flickr - which are well integrated into the software and multimedia features of the phone. The keyboard is easy to use in landscape mode, and the predictive text function makes typing and web browsing very manageable, however, users must open and close the keyboard themselves. Searching for contacts is fast and intuitive, and the widgets are easy to manage and use, especially the toggle controls for network connectivity, which gets a big tick. The seven-panel homescreen might perhaps be a little excessive with the hardware limitations, but time will tell, as a firmware update has been promised. Another aspect that has been thrown around is the lag issue, which was apparent in the demo model, but others have reported much less lag.
       Overall, the HTC Hero is a wake-up call to major phone manufacturers who have enjoyed an oligopoly on the market for too long. The battle for phone operating systems is heating up, and Apple has traditionally dominated this with its iPhone software. But as the Android OS draws level, only the hardware in the models of the other manufacturers such as HTC holds them back now. With better hardware specs, the Hero could have gone ahead of the pack here, but it's still a strong sign of things to come from the HTC camp.
       The HTC Hero, priced at 22,900 baht, is available from Hardware House, Pantip Plaza, Phetchaburi Road, call 02-685-8936.

MOTOROLA BIDS ITS WAY BACK THROUGH JAY MART

2009-09-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

       US handset-maker Motorola will be aggressively tapping Thailand's mobile phone market with the aim of winnng at least 5 per cent market share this year, Robert van Tilburg, the company's regional director of sales, mobile devices for Southeast Asia, said yesterday.
       The firm has been less active in Thailand over the past year, because of the restructuring of its mobile-phone business unit.
       Mobile-phone industrialists estimate the total handset sales in Thailand this year to be between 8 million and 9 million units.
       Motorola has already appointed Thailand's handset seller Jay Mart as its main distributor, though Tilburg declined to say if this was an exclusive deal.
       Jay Mart has more than 200 branches, 29 IT junction outlets along with 800 dealers. Under the Motorola deal, Jay Mart will be overseeing inventory management and after-sales service.
       The firm unveiled three new models yesterday - Motorala Aura worth Bt69,900, the 3G-smart Motorola A3100 worth Bt17,900 and Motorola ZN5 worth Bt5,900 - and plans to launch more next year.
       A total of 14 Motorola models will have been launched this year.

"WALL STREET JOURNAL" TO CHARGE FOR MOBILE ACCESS

2009-09-16T22:15:00.002-07:00

       Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Wall Street Journal, announced plans yesterday to begin charging for access to the newspaper on mobile devices suche as the Blackberry or iPhone.
       Murdoch, speaking to financial analysts at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia XVIII Conference in New York, also predicted that print newspapers would be extinct within 20 to 30 years, replaced by portable electronic readers.
       "Starting in a month or two, people who are getting The Wall Street Journal on their Blackberry are going to be paying $2 (Bt67) a week," Murdoch said. "Same with the iPhone." Mobile access to the Journal would cost $1 a week for subscribers to the newspaper, the News Corp chairman and chief executive said.
       News Corp, he added, was looking at ways to begin charging users of popular online video website Hulu.com.
       News Corp is a partner in Hulu.com, a fast-growing rival to YouTube that offers full-length television shows and movies, along with The Walt Disney Co and NBC Universal.
       "Are we looking at Hulu with a view to adding subscription services there and pay per view? Yes, we are looking at that," Murdoch said, although cautioning that "no decision had been made yet".
       Murdoch dismissed suggestions that News Corp, which owns MySpace, the Fox television network, the 20th Century Fox movie studio and the STAR and SKY television networks, in addition to its newspaper properties, had become more of an entertainment empire than a news operation.
       "We're living in a very complicated world in which news is more valuable than it has ever been," he said. "If we were Newspaper Corp I would say yes, we would certainly change [the name]."
       He said "way over a million" people were paying for online access to The Wall Street Journal, numbers that are "expanding all the time".
       Some 25,000 people have subscribed to read the Journal on Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle, he added.
       Murdoch said he personally did not enjoy reading a newspaper on the Kindle but e-readers were the future of newspapers.
       "I don't think it's months away, I think it's years away," he said of completing a satisfactory e-reader. "But I do certainly see the day when more people will be buying their newspapers on reading panels, portable, foldable panels, than buying it on crushed trees," he added.
       "I think that is certainly coming. It may be 20 years before it totally replaces newspapers. It may be 30."

MS mobile upgrade

2009-09-16T22:15:00.001-07:00

       Microsoft, seeking to tap into the rapidly growing smart phone market, announced recently that new cellphones coming next month will feature an upgraded mobile operating system.
       The Redmond, Washington-based software giant said mobile phones from its handset partners hitting stores on October 6 will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of its mobile phone software.
       The new phones, to be branded as "Windows Phones", will feature a redesigned Web browser and a free service called "My Phone," which allows users to back up contacts, messages and photos on a PC or the Internet.
       Microsoft also announced plans to launch an online applications store,Windows Marketplace for Mobile.
       It said a "wide variety" of applications will be available for the devices to be offered by hardware manufacturers in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
       Other features include email using Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Office Mobile, which allows users to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from their phone.
       Microsoft's share of the market for smart phone operating systems fell to 9 percent in the second quarter from 12 percent a year ago, according to research firm Gartner.
       Nokia's Symbian is the leader with a 51 percent share of the market according to Gartner, while RIM commands around 21 percent and Apple has increased its share to 13.3 percent from 2.8 percent a year ago.
       Google's open-source Android is another new entry in the operating system space and the Internet giant has carved out a 2 percent market share.

Smart ways to accessorise

2009-09-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

       Shop around online for the best deals on accessories for handheld devices, writes Jay Dougherty in Washington
       Buy a cell phone, smartphone, or PDA today, and you'll quickly find that there is a plethora of products available that promise to make your experience with your handheld device better.
       Some of these products are helpful,some are unnecessary, and some are downright indispensable. All of them,however, can be costly, especially if you're not careful about where you hand over your cash. So how can you separate the good deals from the bad? Read on for some guidelines.
       Cables and chargers
       Virtually all handheld devices come with a charger and a cable so that you can hook up your device to your PC.Veteran handheld users know that one charger and cable, though, are often not enough. You need a car charger for when you're on the road, and you probably want or need additional chargers and cables for work or other locations in which you normally have your handheld device.
       Cell phone or wireless stores love this dilemma, of course, because they typically have a range of pricy chargers and cables ready to sell you. What they won't tell you is that you can often buy compatible chargers and cables for a lot less money from an online parts vendor such as Amazon or Newegg.com.
       Take the example of the USB-tomicro-USB cable that a BlackBerry Curve owner needs in order to hook the device up to a PC. You can find these online for just a couple of dollars, but you might pay up to 10 times that amount if you purchase the cable from a wireless store.The same goes for car chargers. Shop around online and you'll likely come away with all of the extra chargers and cables you need for a fraction of what you'd pay for them at your cell phone dealer.
       Memory
       The majority of today's cell phones and smartphones also include digital camera, video, mp3 playing, and voice recording capabilities. And that means there's never enough storage space for all of those media files.
       You can buy additional memory cards for most handhelds, but again, if you look in the wireless store for those, you'll pay more than you have to. Instead,find out the type of memory that your phone accepts and purchase it from a reasonably-priced online retailer. Instructions for inserting the new memory are usually included in the manual that came with your handheld device.
       Shop around a bit, and you'll quickly find that adding lots of extra memory won't break the bank, either. The best price-to-capacity bargains today are with microSD cards of 8GB. Larger cards exist -32GB is currently the maximum capacity for the tiny microSD cards, although 64GB models are on the way.But the price jump from 8GB to 16GB is more than double. Expect to pay about $20 for an 8GB card and a bit more than double that for a 16GB model. Be sure your handheld device will recognise the capacity that you wish to use.
       Screenprotectors
       The screens on today's cell phones and smartphones seem to get bigger by the day. Indeed, devices such the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm are pretty much all screen, at least on one side. It's natural for new owners of such devices to want to protect those sparkling LCD screens with some type of clear film, and plenty of manufacturers have heeded the call and offer screen protectors of all sizes.Zagg's Invisible Shield (http://www.zagg.com) is one that's frequently cited for its quality.
       Yet most of today's handheld devices come equipped with screens that are remarkably scratch and dent resistant.Log on to YouTube, and you can easily find videos of people who have gone to great lengths to prove this - attempting to scratch their iPhone or BlackBerry,for example, with a nail or knife, only to fail.
       So you can probably forego the screen protectors - unless you want to use one for the back of the device. Owners frequently express dismay that the plastic backs of their handhelds are prone to scratches and fingerprints. If that bothers you, a screen protector may be the answer.
       Headsets
       If you need to talk hands-free in the car chances are you've looked at the Bluetooth headset or ear pieces that make this possible. The advice here is the same as it is with shopping for cables,chargers, or extra memory: shop around.Dozens of companies make Bluetooth headsets that are probably compatible with your handheld device. You'll pay a lot less by buying online than you will if you purchase the headset from your cell phone dealer.
       Disinfectant wipes
       You probably wash your hands regularly to avoid picking up or spreading germs. But do you wash your mobile device? The fact is our cell phones, PDAs,and smartphones are germ magnets in tests, they've proven to be competent carriers not just of cold and flu germs but of more dangerous hepatitis and staph viruses. One study even found a typical cell phone to be dirtier than a keyboard, toilet seat, or the bottom of your shoe.
       How can you keep your cell phone as germ-free as possible without damaging the device with water? Perhaps the best accessory you can purchase are premoistened disinfectant wipes. They're available from many companies today and typically come in handy dispensers that you can keep at your office or home.If you choose instead to use a disinfectant spray to wipe the mobile device, be careful not to spray liquid directly onto the phone or device itself. Instead, spray the disinfectant onto a clean, lint-free rag or soft paper towel first, and then start wiping.
       Insurance
       Mobile devices fall victim to all sorts of mishaps - everything from being dropped onto concrete to being accidentally dunked in a cup of coffee. Your primary defense against such trouble is a good insurance policy.
       But not all insurance policies are created equal, and in fact, the standard insurance policies sold at wireless stores - which typically involve a per-month fee in addition to your wireless rate can be among the worst. Before you sign up for one, be sure to read the fine print. Many such policies do not cover the most common cause of cell phone death, for example: water damage. Even a small amount of water that makes it way inside of your cell phone can completely destroy it.
       So whenever a salesperson in a wireless store attempts to sell you an insurance policy, ask specifically whether water damage is covered.

NEC, Hitachi, Casio merge phone units

2009-09-15T19:14:00.001-07:00

       Japanese high-tech makers NEC, Hitachi and Casio Computer said yesterday that they had agreed to merge their mobile phone businesses to cope with a slump in domestic sales and expand overseas.
       Together they would have the second biggest slice of the Japanese mobile telephone handset market, ahead of Panasonic Corp but behind Sharp Corp,which has a one-quarter share.
       They also aim to do something that Japanese cellphone makers have long struggled to achieve - build a significant presence overseas.
       "The tie-up will strengthen our business, building a strong market position at home and expanding in the global marketplace," NEC Corp executive vice president Akihito Otake told a news conference."The merger is unavoidable at a time when the domestic market has nearly halved and faces an uncertain outlook," he added.
       Most Japanese already own a mobile telephone and operators and handset manufacturers are facing growing challenges to boost revenue in a crowded market, particularly given the weak economy and shrinking population.
       Japanese mobile telephone producers have had limited success so far overseas.Japan's mobile telephone market has evolved in a different way to other markets and handsets made here are designed specifically to meet Japanese preferences.
       Competition is also emerging from foreign handset makers such as Apple,whose iPhone was launched in Japan by No. 3 operator Softbank last year.
       The joint venture will initially be owned two-thirds by NEC Corp,17.3%by Casio Computer Co and 16.7% by Hitachi Ltd.
       They aim to merge the operations by April 2010 and pump extra capital into the firm, boosting the stake of NEC to 70.7% and that of Casio to 20%. Hitachi's share will drop to 9.3%.
       Together they plan to raise sales to 12 million handsets a year by early 2013-five million overseas. Currently just one quarter of their combined revenue comes from foreign markets.
       "We aim to expand our revenue based on our technology since we are well aware that we can't compete in terms of price," said Otake.
       NEC makes mobile phones for Japanese operators NTT DoCoMo and Softbank while Casio-Hitachi produce handsets for Japan's KDDI Corp and SoftBank, as well as Verizon Wireless of the United States and LG Telecom of South Korea.
       Hitachi is restructuring after losing 787.3 billion yen ($8.7 billion) in the year to March - the biggest ever loss for a Japanese manufacturer.
       It tied up with Casio in mobile handsets in 2004, but the venture fell into the red during the current global economic downturn.
       NEC Corp, which lost 296.6 billion yen in the year to March, is cutting 20,000 jobs worldwide and withdrawing from the personal computer business in North America and Europe.

New Ovi Store to be part of Nokia's major makeover

2009-09-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

       Nokia is spearheading a new breed of its Ovi Applications Store in a hope of creating a one-stop digital application bazaar and supporting its own multimedia devices.
       The Finnish world market leader in handsets hopes the online media and software hub will be a boon for itself as well as consumers, content developers and operators.
       The move is a direct response to Apple's App Store for the iPhone, and is expected to spur a rapid evolution in the way people use mobile phones. The policy also reflects how the focus of the mobile-phone industry has shifted from devices to software and services.
       While Nokia will certainly face an uphill struggle in creating a next wave of its own mobile applications and services in competition with the Apple App Store,it is also taking up another challenge by introducing its spin on the laptop, called the Booklet 3G.
       The 10.1-inch HD-display mini laptop is priced at 575(28,500 baht), weighs one kilogramme and has a battery life of up to 12 hours.
       At the recent Nokia World 2009 in Stuttgart, Nokia announced a wide range of novelties including a Beta version of Ovi Maps for S605th Edition phones,the Ovi Lifecasting feature and Social Messaging Beta for Nokia Messaging.
       Ovi Maps gives users one-touch access to a variety of new content and services through maps.ovi.com. The new personalised services integrate the user's location and surroundings.
       An extension of Nokia Messaging called Social Messaging Beta, which can run on the N97 and Nokia 6700 classic,will enable users to tap into multicommunity social networking to share status updates and photos from the camera or gallery and share current locations or view friends' locations. Ovi Lifecasting enables users to share their locations with their Facebook friends.
       Ovi Store offers 4,500 applications including games, videos, widgets,location-based applications and personalised content under the Social Location (SoLo) concept. It allows users to download free and paid content and applications. Nokia also officially announced a lineup of new smartphones - the N900 and N97 Mini priced at 450- and the music phones Nokia X6 priced at 450 and X3 priced at 115.
       CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said Nokia expected 300 million Ovi subscribers by 2012, up from 55 million across 100 Nokia devices in 180 countries currently."Nokia Ovi was an incredible success, with up to 1 million accounts activated in the past six months," he said.
       "This economy of scale through web technology will level the playing field for Nokia, create 'ecosystems', and make Ovi Store a very compelling channel for developers and content publishers to enhance their service offering. It is critical for Nokia's future."
       Up to 1.1 billion people use Nokia phones out of 4 billion mobile-phone users globally. In comparison, about 1.6 billion people have bank accounts and 1 billion use credit cards.
       The Ovi Store is set to change the whole new digital application platform and spark a rapid evolution in the mobile industry, said Mr Kallasvuo.
       Nokia plans to develop more applications and services as well as compatible devices to accommodate downloading demand. It signalled the determination to catch up with Apple by hosting a global developer competition called Calling All Innovators at its Forum Nokia 2009 in Stuttgart. More than 1,700 submissions were received from developers and publishers in 85 countries.
       Categories include web applications and runtime widgets, Adobe Flash Litebased applications, emerging-market services and location-aware services utilising Ovi Maps.

Settrade launches iPhone trading application

2009-09-12T18:53:00.001-07:00

       Settrade yesterday launched an iPhone online trading application to tap the growth in internet stock trading.
       Announcing the new iPhone application, from left: Kirati Kosicharoen, SET head of information services; Santi Kiranand, a SET group head for market development; Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, a SET chief marketing officer; Adhiruth Thothaveesansuk, True Corp managing director; and Pichit Thanyodom, True chief information officer.
       Settrade Streaming is a fast trading channel for investors to monitor the real-time stock market and to instantly trade and conveniently manage their investment portfolios, said Sopawadee Lertmanaschai, the SET chief marketing officer for markets and post-trade services.
       The application works with 26 retail brokers, who see online trading as a way to offer more convenient trading services and to cut their personnel costs. Currently, 29 brokers offer online trading services, which also have commission rates as low as 0.15% compared with 0.25% for normal trades.
       Investors are looking for more convenient stock trading channels and internet trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand has grown constantly, said Ms Sopawadee.
       In the first eight months of 2009, online trading accounted for about 20.51% of total trading volume, up from an average of 16.12% last year. Online trading accounts totalled 224,842 at the end of August, up from 189,348 at the end of 2008.
       "With this rising trend, it's possible that we will see growth of 30% in online trading this year," said Ms Sopawadee.
       Apple's iconic iPhone accounts for about 65% of all online users accessing settrade.com through a mobile phone.
       Since its pre-launch late last month to test the market, Settrade Streaming has become one of the eight most popular downloads in Thailand, with about 80% of its downloads being made locally, said Adhiruth Thothaveesansuk, a managing director of True Corp.
       As a local distributor of Apple products, True has helped Settrade to make its new application available globally in Apple's application store.
       Montri Sornpaisarn, CEO of Kim Eng Securities, said the new application increased the choice for online customers, which includes Kim Eng's KETrade. Nearly 1,000 accounts were opened in August for Kim Eng, twice the usual amount, he said.
       Investors can download the application free of charge but must pay internet usage costs as well as a minimum online commission fee, which ranges from 0.15% for cash balance or credit balance accounts to a minimum of 0.2% for other accounts. The application supports users of the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch 2nd Generation.

T-Mobile, Orange in UK merger deal

2009-09-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

       Deutsche Telekom AG and France Telecom SA said yesterday they intended to combine their British mobile phone units - T-Mobile UK and Orange UK - to form the country's biggest mobile operator.
       Deutsche Telekom said the two companies have entered exclusive negotiations on combining its struggling UK unit with France Telecom's in a 50-50 joint venture.
       The announcement follows reports that Telefonica of Spain, owner of UK market leader O2, and No.2 Vodafone Group PLC had made informal offers of about ฃ4 billion ($6.5 billion) for T-Mobile.
       The combined company would have a customer base of 28.4 mobile phone users, or about 37% of UK mobile subscribers at the end of 2008.
       That would overtake O2, which has a 27% share of the UK market. Vodafone is second with 25%. Orange has 22%,T-Mobile 15% and Hutchison Whampoa's 3 has 8%.
       In May, Deutsche Telekom reported a first-quarter loss of 1.1 billion ($1.58 billion) which it blamed in part on intensifying competition, especially in the UK.
       Jonathan Groocock, an analyst at Investec Securities, said a deal could benefit the entire British mobile sector.
       "The final outcome would be improved market returns for all parties as margins could stabilise," he said in a research note to clients.
       The proposed deal "is expected to create substantial value for both shareholders," Deutsche Telekom said in a statement. It added that it expected the merger to generate synergies with a net present value of more than ฃ3.5 billion ($5.7 billion).
       Signing of a deal is expected at the end of October, and its completion would be subject to approval by antitrust authorities, Deutsche Telekom said.
       The business had combined 2008 revenue of some ฃ7.7 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of ฃ1.7 billion, Deutsche Telekom said.
       Bonn-based Deutsche Telekom said it would contribute T-Mobile UK to the merged firm "on a cash-free, debt-free basis," including the British unit's 50%holding in a 3G network joint venture with Hutchison and gross tax losses carried forward of at least ฃ1.5 billion.
       France Telecom would contribute Orange UK, including ฃ1.25 billion of intragroup net debt,"in order to equalise the value of the contributions to the joint venture," the statement said.
       Once the deal closes, Deutsche Telekom would grant a ฃ625 million shareholder loan to the joint venture, which it said would be used to reimburse ฃ625 million to France Telecom.
       The joint venture would have total debt of ฃ1.25 billion, represented by shareholder loans of ฃ625 million each held by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, the statement said.

NOKIA HITS BACK AT "SMART" RIVALS

2009-09-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

       Company's ageing product line is finding less favour with customers
       Faced with increased competition from up-and-coming rivals, Finnish telecom giant Nokia plans to launch a slew of new products this year, but analysts say it position as the world's number one mobile-phone manufacturer.
       To fight back against Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry, Nokia announced plans to launch three new smartphones with touch screens, a portable notebook PC, and a tie up with microsoft to use its popular Office software on its handsets.
       Industry observers criticised the Finnish giant for its ageing product line and for not bringing smartphones to market quickly enough to take on their up-and-coming rivals.
       Analysts interviewed by AFP agreed that Nokia had not yet found a product to chalenge the iPhone as most new Nokia devices use an outdated operating system to drive their phones.
       "It is going to be 2011 before they have the right software to make a really competitive product," said Richard Windsor, a London-based technology analyst for Nomura Securities.
       It slatest smartphone, the N97, has achieved modest sales so far compared to the iPhone.
       Technology consultancy Gartner estimates Nokia has sold just 500,000 of them worldwide since its launch in June. Apples new third-generation iPhone sold one million units in its first weekend on sale.
       Nokia needs its new models to be a success, smartphones, handsets with high-speed Internet access, are are the fastest growing segmant in the mobile phone market and their higher price tags mean they carry higher profit margins than cheaper, more basic models.
       The Finnish giant's share of this lucrative segment has ebbed away in recent months. In the second quarter of 2009, it sold 45 per cent of all 40 million smartphones sold worldwide.
       That compares to 47.4 per cent of 32 million handsets at the same time last year, accordiing to Gartner data.
       "The right high-end product and an increased focus on services and content are vital for Nokia if it wants to both revamp its brand and please investors," wrote Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi in a research not to clients.
       In addition to its partnershiip with Mocrosoft, Nokia with social networking site Facebook to develop new services.
       "They have ralised that for certain things it makes sense to partner," said Ben Wood, reserach director at CCS Insight.
       Apple also beat Nokia in drawing in additional revenue from the sale of online applications: ringtones, videos, games and other Internet gadgets.
       "Nokia cannot create one kiler product to beat Apple or Google. Nokia has to creat an experience or a solution that is so compelling that a consumer says 'I like the whole proposition,"" said Wood.
       Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told reporters on Wednesday that these and-on sevices were "critical to our future" and that his company wanted to make smartphones more affordable to a wider range of people.
       But that will be a hard sell in the current economic climate.
       The global financial crisis has weakened demand for mobile phone sales after six years of uninterrupted growth.
       Nokia, which has 1.1 billion customers worldwdie, posted a 66-per-cent drop in net profit in the second quarter of 2009 and a nearly 25-per-cent decline in revenues on a 12-month basis.
       In a bid to restore the company to profitability, a cost-cutting programme was launched in January aimed at reducing Nokia's workforce by some 4,000.

A HERO'S WELCOME

2009-09-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

       [WHAT] Launch of the new HTC Hero phone.
       [WHERE] Funky Villa.
       [HOST] Nattawat Woranopakul, country manager of HTC (Thailand).
       [HIGHLIGHT] Sense of a Hero Party featuring celebrities such as Pattriya Na Nakorn, Tachapol Chumduang (Tune AF3), Marisa Annita and Holly Amranand; a special dance show from super models, lead by Marisa Annita.
       Nattawat Woranopakul (centre) welcomes celebrities of the night, Pattriya Na Nakorn (left) and Tachapol Chumduang.
       Jay Spencer, Supattra Prakaisiri and Jareyadee Thamavit.
       Holly Amranand.
       Marisa Annita, sexy hero.
       Pichayanund Chindahporn and Valeerat Singkivibul.
       Opal-Panisara Phimpru

HTC HERO

2009-09-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

       HTC HERO The mobile phone apocalypse: it's happening and you don't know it because, err, no one has called or SMSed to tell you. But be warned that the destruction has commenced, and we'll soon become enslaved by phone overlords.
       Don't chuck your cell in the khlong ,hoping parasites will annihilate it though. Phones have already brainwashed us. Our mobile masters have allied with the all-mighty "inebriation",causing us to execute humiliating text messages and calls.
       Mobiles emit powerful rays known as "radiation","spam messages" and "annoying ringtones", weakening our resolve to fight against them.
       When our strength deteriorates, phones will go in for the kill. iPhones and BlackBerries will mate to create the "iBerry",tricking us into thinking their mutant offspring is an ice cream, so it can secretly mutate into life-size forms.
       As the phone apocalypse gains momentum, can the Hero save us?This possible saviour comes from a distant planet known as HTC. The Hero wards off enemies with its tough Teflon coating, and mocks grime with a smudge-repelling layer. It has a protruding "chin" at the bottom of the phone to pulverise the antenna off its foes.
       The Hero works with Google's Android operating system, to create a use-interface weapon called HTC Sense.
       Together, this technological army customises the phone by linking data effortlessly. It's also the first phone that can handle Adobe Flash to blind its rivals.
       Waging war on cell phone predators, the Hero integrates all contact information. That means when mutants are close, the Hero retrieves not only the phone number of the enemy, but also messages, e-mails, photos,and social networking information on a single screen.Nothing scares away marauders more than an embarrassing Facebook photo.
       Don't doubt the power of the 3.2-inch touchscreen Hero. It will liberate us when Earth transforms into a giant cell phone tower.

Conferencing via mobile phones

2009-09-03T23:06:00.000-07:00

       The Centre for Network Research of Songkhla University is expected to complete the development of the open-standard application for enabling mobile phone-based conferencing in November.
       The project is funded by the Telecommunications Research and Industrial Development Istitute (Tridi) of the National Telecommunications Commission.
       Assoc Professor Sinchai Kamolphiwong, director of the CNR, said yesterday that Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move are interested in trying out the application, which was designed to run on the next generation network (NGN).
       NGN supports combined voice, data and media service simultaneously and effectively.
       Tridi had invited AIS, True Move, TOT and CAT Telecom to discuss with the CNR lab which kinds of specific NGN applications the telecom operators want the lab to focus its research and development (R&D) on.
       The move will let the lab develop applications that fit well with telecom industry demand.
       Tridi director Supot Tiarawut said that if the application proves successful and could be marketed commercially, it would benefit the country by promoting the use of locally-made telecom equipment.
       That would help the country reduce imports of expensive telecom equipment and save on foreign exchange.
       The move is in line with the Tridi's key role of collaborating with the public and private sectors in promoting telecom R&D through its funding.
       The NTC set up the Tridi in 2000 to foster local telecom R&D and telecom humanresource development, with a focus on the next-generation network, broadband, optical communications and Voice over Internet Protocol service industries.
       This year, Tridi granted Bt40 million to nine labs of leading educational institutions to further telecom R&D.
       Of the total grants, CNR received Bt4.6 million. The university set up CNR in 2002. The centre currently has around 70 researchers.

HARD TECHNOLOGY NEEDS SOFT TOUCH

2009-08-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

       Papon Ratanachaikanont, deputy group chief commercial officer at True, explains the "retailisation" movement being championed at Thailand's only fully integrated telecommunitations and media company to The Nation's Pichaya Changsorn.

       About three years ago, when Papon Ratanachaikanont proposed to True's board of directors that the company set up coffee outlets, he was stunned by a question from one board member who asked bluntly: "Who are you?"
       Having just left the local unit of auto-maker Mazda to joining the telecom conglomerate, Papon had yet to prove himself.
       However, after some intense debate, the board approved Papon's plan, which he now admits was intended to be no more than a "marketing gimmick."
       "That's how savvy our board was. They approved a budget of more than Bt100 million and ordered me to return the money within three years," he said.
       The entrepreneurial task was a big challenge. Papon himself had not expected True to pursue the business. "We first approached Starbucks for a partnership, but they said they did not know us," he said.
       Today, True Coffee has paid back the original investment and is a profitable enterprise, Papon said.
       As a vote of confidence and part of the group's "convergence" business policy, the parent company in March assigned Papon to take care of all of the group's retailing units and customer service points, totalling nearly 400 outlets, and unit them. These include True Shops, handling fixed-line telephone and Internet business, the outlets of cellular-phone business True Move, customer-service points for cable-TV unit True Vision, True Coffee and 167 new iPhone kiosks established over the past 45 days under Papon's direction in big discount stores and retail complexes, such as Tesco Lotus.
       The physical merger of True'e retail outlets is now complete, but there remains a lot of back-office work to be done, and one of the most challenging areas is people management. Papon, who was earlier responsible for True Coffee, with fewer than 40 outlets and a combined staff of 160, is now managing nearly 400 group outlets employing 2,500 people.
       But why did he go for coffee in the first place?
       Papon said he believed in the "retailisation" trend now seen around the world. Technology is a "hard side" of the business. People are unable actually to feel and touch it, so it needs an "aesthetic" feature like coffee to merge into it.
       "I began with a stark contrast - coffee and technology - but people liked it. A 'soft touch' is important, because it gives an aesthetic dimension to people's communications with True," he said.
       "In the previous environment, customers felt like they owed us, because they came in with the sole purpose of paying telecom bills. There was no way to improve customer touch points."
       In terms of the company's bottom line, True shops are now no longer a pure cost, accepted in the interests of earining income. Coffee and bakery sales have softened this status.
       A new True shop recently opened in Central Chon Buri, the first outlet to merge coffee and other services from day one. Up to 100 True shops will soon incorporate a full coffee-store format, while the rest might have self-service coffee sales or other 'soft-side' features, Papon said.
       "It's a reverse psychology. Consumers would not be able to find us if we 'converged' without all of the physical presences," Papon said, referring to True's "convergence lifestyle" business philolophy of cross-selling and cross-marketing its Internet-access, cable-TV and wi wired and wireless telephone-network service.
       A longer-term goal is to transform all of True's physical outlets into "third-generation destinations" and lifestyle centres for consumers, he said.

Nokia makes own Money

2009-08-27T21:31:00.001-07:00

       The world's top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Wednesday it would launch a mobile financial service next year targeting consumers, mainly in emerging markets, with a phone but no banking account.
       Nokia said its Nokia Money service was based on the mobile payment platform of Obopay, a privately-owned firm that Nokia invested in earlier this year,and it is now building up a network of agents.
       Obopay, which uses text messaging and mobile internet access, charges users a fee to send money or to top up their accounts.
       "Mobile-enabled financial services has tremendous growth opportunities," Nokia chief development officer Mary McDowell said, noting there are four billion mobile phone users globally but only 1.6 billion bank accounts and one billion credit cards.
       "There is pretty significant gap between people, especially in emerging markets, who have a mobile device yet don't have a bank account," McDowell said.
       The announcement is the latest push by Nokia to diversify its business as global handset sales have gone from slowing down over the past few years to contracting due to the recession. The firm also said this week that it would start to make laptops.
       Mobile money is one of the hottest topics in the wireless world, but so far take-up of services hasbeen limited mostly to a few emerging markets, as in developed countries, the popularity of online banking has been a brake on mobile money.
       The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a US-based microfinance policy and research centre, has said the market for mobile financial services to poor people in emerging markets will surge from nothing to $5 billion in 2012.
       The service began in early 2007 with a launch of Safaricom's M-PESA in Kenya,which has attracted 6.5 million customers, or one in six Kenyans. By the end of 2009, CGAP expects more than 120 mobile money implementations in developing markets.
       Nokia did not announce any partnerships with operators or financial institutions, only saying that Nokia Money would be rolled out gradually to selected markets starting in early 2010.

HTC sees big potential here

2009-08-27T21:30:00.002-07:00

       HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones, is gearing up to capitalise on the fast-growing smartphone handset market in Thailand, a market worth an estimated 8 billion baht this year.
       Nattawat Woranopakul, country manager of HTC Thailand, said the local smartphone market had become highly competitive with lower prices now that the four major international brands Nokia, HTC, iPhone and BlackBerry were moving aggressively to promote their products.
       While local mobile handset sales overall have been forecast to contract by 25-30% this year, Mr Nattawat said the touch-screen smartphone market was expected to grow 30%.
       Sales of smartphone handsets are expected to reach 400,000 this year, up from 300,000 last year. The average smartphone price is around 20,000 baht a unit.
       In contrast, he said, demand for con-ventional voice-based mobile phones was expected to plunge significantly with international brands losing ground to generally cheaper house-brand units that offered features such as slots for two SIM cards and mobile television.
       Mr Nattawat said the surge in smartphones reflected increasing demand for data communications and growing popularity among young people.
       Nokia is the market leader in the smartphone segment in Thailand with a 39% share, followed by HTC with 37%and iPhone and BlackBerry, he said."Thailand is our second largest marketplace in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore."
       HTC yesterday introduced its new HTC Hero smartphone priced at 22,900 baht.
       It runs on Google's Android software with customised content profiles and the HTC Sense application system. Other features include GPS and contextual search through Twitter,3.2-inch display,5-megapixel camera and a 2GB micro SD card.

Nokia plans to launch mobile banking

2009-08-27T21:30:00.001-07:00

       Nokia, the world's leading mobile-phone maker, will launch a service enabling people to make financial transactions with their cellphones, the Finnish telecoms giant said yesterday.
       The Nokia Money service will make it possible "to send money to another person by using the person's mobile phone number, as well as to pay merchants for goods and services, pay their utility bills, or recharge their pre-paid SIM cards," the company of Nikia Money agents where consumers can deposit money or withdraw cash from their mobile accounts.
       "We believe mobile financial services offer a market opportunity with long term growh potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary long term growth potential," Nokia's chief development officer, Mary McDowell, said in the statement. "In many countries, mobilephone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage," she said noting that there are more than four billion mobile-phone users worldwide compared to 1.6 billion bank accounts.
       Nokia is racing to diversify its operations as its rivals Apple and Research in Motion experience raging successes with their respective "smartphones", the iPhone and the Blackberry.

NOT ENOUGH IPHONE 3GS PHONES SENT OVER TO MEET LOCAL DEMAND

2009-08-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

       Many customers who booked iPhone 3GS mobile phones will have to wait until the middle of next month because the first shipment from Apple was not enough to go around.
       Papon Ratanachaikanont, assistant to the president and CEO of True Move as well as deputy group chief commercial officer of True Corp, said yesterday that more than 10,000 phones had been pre-ordered but Apple only supplied 3,500 of the latest models in the first lot.
       The first batch will go to those who had specified tomorrow as the delivery date, though those expecting to pick their phones up from Saturday to next Thursday will have to wait for the next lot.
       The new lot is expected to arrive some time next week and should be available from the second week of next month. However, Papon could not say how many 3GS phones would be delivered in the second lot.
       Customers having to wait for the second lot will be receive a free iPhone leather case as a kind of consolation for the delayed delivery.
       There some 3,500 customers waiting to pick up their phones tomorrow and most of them are in Bangkok.
       True Move allowed people to reserve the devices from August 5-24 for a deposit of Bt2,000. The customers could set a date for pick up between August 28 and September 3. The 16-gigabyte 3GS phone costs Bt24,500, while the 32GB model goes for Bt28,500.
       Papon said several other countries, such as Australia, Taiwan and Singapore, have also experienced the same shortage mainly due to the higher-than-expected demand for the 3GS model, which is a newer version of the iPhone 3G phone.
       Those who want to cancel their order and take their Bt2,000 deposit back can do so at all True Move shops from Tuesday onward.
       The supply for local consumers should stabilise next month, Papon said.
       True Move should be able to make the phones available at all its shops nationwide on September 11.
       Papon is not concerned that the supply shortage would have people to rushing to purchase smuggled 3GS phones.
       He said pre-bookings for the 3GS model was three times that of the 3G iPhones early this year.
       True Move is the exclusive authorised cellular service provider for 3G iPhones here and expects sales of the 3GS iPhone model to exceed 50,000 units this year.

European iPhones "explode"

2009-08-26T00:20:00.001-07:00

       A French security guard said yesterday his face was struck with shattered glass when the screen of his iPhone exploded, the second such reported incident in France.
       Yassine Bouhadi, a 26-year-old supermarket watchman from the southeastern town of Villevieille, said he "was typing a text message ... when the screen exploded". Mr Bouhadi, who says he was hit in the eye with a glass shard,said he was "very angry" and planned to consult a doctor and file a lawsuit seeking damages.
       "I want an explanation about this damned telephone," said Mr Bouhadi,who bought the hugely-popular smartphone device for 600 euros (28,900 baht)three months ago. Now he wants his money back.
       A French teenager suffered an eye injury in a similar iPhone incident earlier this month, a few weeks after a brouhaha in Britain over an exploding iPod music player owned by an 11-year-old girl.
       A US television station also reported last month that an "alarming number"of iPods had burst into flames, although without causing serious injuries, a problem apparently caused by overheated lithium ion batteries.
       The US technology giant Apple, which makes the iPhone and iPod, assured the European Union earlier this month that the cases reported so far were "isolated incidents".

NOKIA EXPECTS NEW STRATEGY TO OUTPERFORM THE MARKET

2009-08-26T00:19:00.001-07:00

       Nokia Thailand believes it will be able to outperform the market this year in terms of both sales volume and sales value, following the recent adjustment of its business strategy.
       General manager Shumit Kapoor yesterday forecast that the value of the overall handset market this year would be flat, with volume growing by 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent. However, he believes the local economy will start picking up in the next quarter.
       Industrialists forecast handset sales of about 8 million in Thailand this year.
       Kapoor said he was satisfied with his performance since taking office almost six months ago at a time when the Thai handset market was hit hard by the global economic crisis.
       He said he had improved Nokia Thailand's operations and adjusted its marketing strategy to be more localised. As part of the move, Nokia recently appointed Thai celebrities to be campaign ambassadors for selected handset models.
       It has also teamed up with mobile-phone operators to aggressively launch selected high-end models, combined with special privileges offered by the operators.
       Kapoor said Nokia had continued to focus on all segments of the handset market, but with particular emphasis on the middle to high segments.
       Yesterday it unveiled the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, priced at Bt9,250 and available in Thailand next month.
       The world's No-1 mobile-phone maker is confronted with competition from all sides in the local market. In the smart-phone segment, the BlackBerry and iPhone 3G devices are gaining rising popularity among Thai tech geeks and businessmen following aggressive tapping of the mass market.
       Nokia also faces tough competition from house-brand phones, which offer affordable prices and rich features.

Game of denial

2009-08-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

       The Malaysian government announced then denied it intends to set up filters to block undesirable Internet content like its northern neighbour; on Friday morning, Information Minister Rais Yatim told newsmen he planned to put in filters to block all that "undesirable content";the following Thursday, after talking with Prime Minister, Najib Razak, Mr Yatim announced that existing laws were plenty strong enough to find and to prosecute actual sedition, fraud and child pornography, and he cancelled the country's calls for bids to supply an Internet filter system. China announced that it no longer planned to demand that all personal computers must have the flawed and official censorware program Green Dam ; Li Yizhong, minister of industry and information technology,said only schools and Internet cafes would be compelled to install the software; he actually said with a straight face it was only "to protect the children".
       A week after fixing 18 security holes in Mac OS X,Apple Inc issued a security patch for the Bind Internet server standard, which allowed remote hackers to crash servers; Apple also issued a passel of security patches for the hackerfriendly Safari browser, Apple and Windows editions, including a nasty bug whereby a hacker could get Safari to list his malicious website as a Top Site.
       Number 1 operating system peddlers Microsoft of America and No 1 yuppiephone tinkers Nokia of Finland announced a joint venture to port Microsoft Office to Nokia phones under the Symbian operating system; it's hard to imagine why anyone would want an office suite on a 2-inch screen, but apparently Nokia executives have convinced Microsoft they need the system to stomp and kick the nice BlackBerry maker Research In Motion .Microsoft announced that Office 2010 for the Apple Mac was on schedule,sort of, and should be ready for sale for the New Year's Eve shopping season next year ; well, that's 2010, right?A judge in Texas told Microsoft tostop selling editions of Word that use custom XML tagging technology; Microsoft lost a patent lawsuit over the XML format to the nice I4i firm, but it will appeal the ruling and won't stop selling Word for a day.Microsoft showed some photos of its new Zune HD, the music player that will certainly crush the Apple iPod; in a huge, shock surprise, the Zune prices will be held under iPod prices; it will have a web browser and the ability to copy high-def video to an HDTV (dock not included).
       A British politician who would be prime minister wants to fine every person sharing a file illegally on the Internet to be find ฃ50,000, or 2.8 million baht in real money; Business Secretary Lord Mandelson of the Labour Party said he was "persuaded by the argument for tough laws" against all that piracy that's going on by seven million of his countrymen - after a dinner at the Greek island of Corfu, paid entirely by his close entertainment buddy David Geffen and the Rothschild bank.US President Barack Obama and his government ordered government-run Internet sites to resume dealing cookies to surfers, spurring major privacy concerns from serious civil liberties groups including the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Electronic Frontier Foundation; the groups also blamed private companies, principally Google ,for forcing government sites to use cookies in exchange for permission for the government to use its sites, such as posting videos on YouTube ; Vivek Kundra, the government's chief information officer, explained that the new policy is to improve customer service,but he was in such a hurry he forgot to explain what advantages the government was getting out of suddenly resuming its tracking of users.
       Sara Morishige Williams, wife of Twitter CEO Evan Williams, provided graphic examples of "too much information"when she tweeted the birth of her child,minute by minute to 14,000 followers;things we didn't really have to know included "My water broke. It wasn't like Charlotte in Sex and the City . Now,timing contractions on an iPhone app"and "The Contraction Tracker was fun until the contractions got painful";thankfully her husband tweeted nothing.
       The World Trade Organisation told China it had to stop censoring films,DVDs and books by funnelling all imports through state agencies; ruling on a suit brought by the United States, the WTO ordered China to open market access; the US claimed that by controlling such imports, China was increasing the demand for pirated goods.
       In a report by OECD, the "developed"countries named and shamed the countries with the world's highest mobile phone charges: Canada, Spain and the United States, in that order; the lowest charges among the 30-member OECD were in Finland, with Holland and Sweden a tad higher.Toshiba moved to the dark side; after years spent inventing and championing the losing HD DVD format for high-density disks,Toshiba became a gracious loser and started making Blu-Ray players, now the standard but not yet fabulously popular.

MS reveals power surge for cheaper handsets

2009-08-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

       Microsoft on Monday unveiled software that lets Twitter, Facebook and other hot Internet services be delivered to low-cost "feature phones" common in developing countries.
       The US technology giant will debut OneApp in South Africa and hopes to swiftly roll it out in India, China and other countries where millions of people use feature phones instead of powerful smartphones.
       Meanwhile, Finnish telecoms giant Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, announced in Helsinki on Monday it would launch its firstever mini laptop.
       The "Booklet 3G" will weigh just 1.25 kilogrammes and will measure just two centimetres wide, Nokia said in a statement.
       It will use Microsoft's Windows operating system and have a battery life of up to 12 hours, the company added.
       Nokia said it would announce the price and availability of its new pocket computer next month.
       Amit Mital, corporate vice president of the Unlimited Potential Group and Startup Business Accelerator at Microsoft said "We designed OneApp from the ground up on feature phones with very limited memory and processing capabilities."
       "OneApp will be able to help people do things they couldn't do before with their feature phone - anything from paying their bills to helping diagnose their health issues or just staying connected with friends and family."
       Feature phones typically combine calling capabilities with one or two other functions such as playing music or games.
       Such devices rely on General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks with users unable to browse the Internet and typically paying as they go to download data.
       In contrast, smartphones are essentially pocket-sized computers with wireless Internet connectivity.
       "With a GPRS-enabled cell phone,consumers can now be part of the app experience, which is taking the world by storm," said Mark Levy, joint chief executive of Blue Label Telecoms.
       Microsoft teamed with Blue Label Telecoms to make OneApp part of a new "mibli" mobile service to be offered free in South Africa, according to Mital.
       "We're particularly excited by the technology's capacity to transform near-ly any cell phone into a highly sophisticated, cost-effective and user-friendly transactional device," Levy said.
       Feature phones are far more common than smartphones in emerging markets,according to Microsoft.
       "Right now you have smartphones that are really expensive and feature phones that are free or near-free, and there is a grey area in the middle," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.
       "This could close the grey area. It's a win for folks who didn't think feature phones were capable enough for them but didn't want to spend the money on a smartphone."
       The rate of mobile telephone adoption in places such as India and China is meteoric, with a clear hunger for access to popular Internet services such as social networks and microblogging,Mital said.
       OneApp hosts software "in the cloud"- as a service on the Internet - so a feature phone's scant power can be devoted temporarily to whichever applications people opt for, according to Microsoft.
       "Think of it as a caching mechanism where the Internet is the place your data is stored and then, when needed,downloaded to the phone," Mital said.
       "It means resources are only being used for a single application at any moment, lowering data charges, which is especially important in markets where people don't have all-you-can-eat data plans."
       A standardised OneApp platform for applications should let developers take advantage of economies of scale, opening flood gates for new programs for feature phones, according to Enderle.
       Currently, applications need to be customised for each model of feature phone. OneApp offers a standard for crafting applications.
       Microsoft is talking with potential OneApp partners worldwide and did not disclose how it plans to make money from the feature-phone platform.

HTC, China Mobile in smartphone deal

2009-08-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

       Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp signed a memorandum yesterday with China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile carrier, to jointly develop smartphones and tap the mainland's rapidly growing telecoms market.
       Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman, said the Chinese carrier would invest 47 million yuan ($6.9 million) in the joint project and expects to develop at least seven models by 2010.
       HTC, as the Taiwanese company is known, will design and develop the models, while China Mobile will provide customer service and support, according to Wang.
       State-owned China Mobile has called its smartphones OPhone, an apparent attempt to compete with Apple Inc's hugely popular iPhone.
       "China Mobile has for years purchased cell phones made by HTC to run with its second-generation network, and the new models will be for the cutting-edge third generation network," Wang said.
       China is the world's most populous mobile phone market while Taiwan is a leading supplier of computers and semiconductors. China Mobile has tapped into the nascent 3G phone market using the home-grown TD-SCDMA standard.
       The co-operation might benefit both sides, given China's vast market. But China Mobile must keep its smartphone prices down in order to attract more 3G users and that would cut into HTC's profit margin, said Vincent Chen, an analyst with Taiwan's Yuanta Core Pacific Securities Inc.
       "China Mobile is apparently executing the mainland government's Taiwan friendly policy, but the real benefits to Taiwan remain to be seen," Chen said.
       Wang said he would seek closer cooperation with other Taiwanese makers,including MediaTek Inc, a leading chipset designer, and will also buy laptops and e-books from Taiwan.
       Wang arrived Taiwan on Friday for a nine-day visit amid a thaw in relations of the longtime foes, which split amid civil war in 1949.
       The two sides have cemented closer business ties since Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan's president 15 months ago. Seeking greater engagement with China, Ma has relaxed control on two-way investment and ended a ban on direct air and shipping links.
       In April, China Mobile agreed to buy 12% of Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecommunications Co for NT$17.8 billion (US$529 million), but the deal has yet to receive approval from the Taiwanese government.

BEING PUT ON HOLD

2009-08-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

       Mobile phones were a wonderful invention, and so were good manners,andit's a pity the two are not compatible By Andrew Biggs

       I haven't seen Nigel for a week so I'm eager to catch up."How was Japan,"I ask him in the lobby of the steely inner-city Bangkok office building where he works."Well, I had a -
       WELCOME TO THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA ... SUCH A LOVELY PLACE ...SUCH A LOVELY PLACE ... SUCH A LOVELY FACE ... PLENTY OF ROOM AT THE ...
       "Hello?" says Nigel."Oh hi Mark, how are you? Yeah, we're on for 2pm, right?"
       Nigel's eyes dart over to me as Mark asks him something. With a tiny trace of guilt in the very corner of his voice he replies:"Sure, go ahead." And, as usual,Nigel and I are off to Starbucks, him on the phone, and me left like the proverbial shag on the rock of modern Bangkok life,second fiddle to Thaksin Shinawatra's source of obscene wealth.
       As I write this column my fingers are attempting to stage a protest more violent than the red shirts over Songkran. They fear the more I write about this, the more I am in danger of sounding like my parents - something those of us in middle age dread even more than crows feet and the inability to get it up.
       Oh, all right, so crucify me for saying it, but whatever happened to the good old days when we had conversations ?These days we are all floating around in cyber space accumulating as many Facebook friends as we can - but God help us if we ever have to actually sit down and talk to them.Unless they phone, of course.It wasn't a year ago Nigel was scowling at his boss's behaviour."You should see him in meetings," he said, shaking his head in disgust."He'll be tying up some big shipping deal with Japanese executives at the Klong Toey port and bang - his mobile phone goes off. And he answers it! Everybody in the meeting is left hanging mid-air. It's unbelievable!"
       Well, a year is a long time in the shipping business. They say spouses assume their partner's behaviour over time; that dog owners start to resemble their pets. Nigel has slowly morphed into his boss and he doesn't even know it. These days a conversation with Nigel is a constant reminder of just how over-rated Hotel California isas a song.
       And because he is one of my closest friends, it's reached a point where I am like Pavlov's dogs. Whenever I hear that damn song on the radio or in a pub, I stop talking mid-sentence and remind myself I'm not that important.
       When was it that the person calling on your mobile phone became more important than the person talking to you in real life? I was in Thailand when mobile phones spread faster than swine flu ever could. AIS even forced its first customers to go to classes to learn how to use them,and clearly manners wasn't part of the curriculum.
       I was here when we went through the period where Thais sat in restaurants alone and shouted conversations into their phones, just to show the rest of us how important they were. By the end of the 1990s mobile phones became cheap and everybody, even the lower classes tragically, acquired mobile phones. The novelty wore off, but bad manners wore on.
       I still remember the first time I suffered Cellphone Shock. It was back in about 1994 and I was interviewing potential reporters for a magazine job. A very capable young Thai lady, fluent in English,sashayed into the office and as I asked how she enjoyed university, her clunky brick-sized mobile phone started to ring.
       "Sorry ... can I answer this?" she asked,and not waiting for an answer, her hand dived into her designer-label bag to answer the phone in Thai."Hello? Yes, I'm fine.I'm being interviewed by my new boss at the moment - can I call you back? Don't forget we have a date tonight at 8. Bye."The phone call ended and she said in English:"Sorry about that. What were you asking?"
       Never mind,nong . Like her, I'd forgotten. She'd blown the interview, despite perfect English, an excellent transcript and a father who was a friend of the publisher.
       I'm certain any reader under the age of 25 is now shrugging his or her shoulders and thinking: So what did she do wrong?She apologised, didn't she? That is precisely the problem- she said sorry but still went ahead.
       Skip to 2009 and that girl is now the norm. Flesh and blood has become secondary to an incoming voice on the latest Nokia, regardless of who it is, with or without an apology.
       Some of us older folk have been swept along with the ride but we know, thanks
       to parents of a different era, that picking up a phone mid-conversation would give Miss Manners a coronary. Nigel belongs to that era. I know what Mark asked him at lunchtime. It was something like:"Is it convenient for you to talk?" or "Can I ask you something?" Because Nigel looked over to me, a dead giveaway that yes! A little remnant of courtesy made him weigh up Mark's question, and the fact I was standing next to him. Only a remnant though; I lost, remember?
       I come from a country that churns out dreadful soap operas like Neighbours and Home And Away , where the actors are as exquisitely attractive as they are extraordinarily dumb. But we Aussies are good at cliff hangers. At the end of each episode we are left with suntanned Nigel, mouth agape, staring at his blonde buxom girlfriend asking:"Whaddya mean you're moi sister, Narelle?" Cue dramatic music.Credits. Shocked viewers return to bland suburban lives. That's how I feel when somebody picks up a mobile phone midconversation. My life suddenly goes on hold. How was Japan, Nigel? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT THRILLING EPISODE COZ MY PHONE'S RINGING.
       And in the meantime what am I supposed to do? Stare at him while he has his conversation? Goodness, that would be intruding. Look away self-consciously?Can't do that because it's rude? I can't scowl because that makes me look petty and pathetic. I can't do anything . Then when Nigel chooses to hang up, I am magically back in his life. Cue next outrageous breach of courtesy; he answers my question, two minutes later, as if no time has elapsed at all.
       "It was great. Went to a lot of really interesting restaurants. The Japanese are actually quite friendly, you know." I am nodding, but in the churning morass of my inner self I am battling insecurity.How worthless am I; relegated to second place simply with the sound of an Eagles chorus!
       Is this only Bangkok, or is this the world? If it's only Bangkok then I'm relieved. We can put it down to a cultural thing with the Thais - another western toy eager to be shown off. But wait a minute - Nigel's not Thai. He's a New Zealander; despite this he is one of my dearest friends. Surely he should know better ...
       No, he shouldn't. Bad manners, like broken romances and bad breath, cross all cultures. But I do have a plan. The next time I meet Nigel for coffee I am going to take out my mobile phone and call him. In that way he can't escape me ... flesh and blood clashes inextricably with an incoming call.
       In this way everybody will be satisfied;his desire for a piece of technology pressed against his ear, my desire for human contact, and AIS's desire for obscene wealth.

       "It's reached a point where I am like Pavlov's dogs. Whenever I hear that damn song on the radio or in a pub, I stop talking mid-sentence and remind myself I'm not that important

       "The next time Imeet Nigel for coffee I am going to take out my cell phone and call him.In that way he can't escape me and pathetic. I can't do anything

United against spam

2009-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

       The three biggest mobile phone networks agreed to work together on a common goal - to reduce,and then to remove entirely the estimated nine million SMS spam messages sent to yuppiephone owners every day out of the total of 270 million texts;luckily for subscribers, almost all the spam they get is from the mobile phone companies, so this campaign should be a raging success within minutes;operators AIS of Shingapore,DTAC ofNorway and True Move of Thailand promised to spend 30 million baht on anti-spam software for the systems, and to try to block unsolicited messages across networks; special phone lines have been set up so subscribers can call the three companies whenever they want to block a certain spam.
       The decidedly discourteous Nawanit Noichana,31, posted a message on Sanook.com forums suggesting that men might want to call a certain Ms Som for free sex, and provided her actual number; Ms Som in fact was totally unavailable and never knew about the message until she started getting nasty messages, courtesy of her old "friend";the judge was quite understanding about it all, and sentenced Nawanit to 12 hours of community service under threat of a one-year suspended jail sentence.
       CEO Adisak Sukumvitaya of Jay Mart predicted his firm would quadruple its market share with a new marketing emphasis on its JFone house brand,from 8.5 percent in March to 40 percent by year's end; he claimed that JFones match the leading brands in functionality including 3G compatibility. Electronics manufacturer Stars Microelectronics (Thailand), prospering thanks to global sales of its keypads, announced plans to launch an IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand before the end of September.
       World No 1 yuppiephone firm Nokia of Finland warned of "rampant counterfeiting" which might confuse consumers into buying a non-Nokia phone.
       Whoa, dood, where's my recession?The Software Industry Promotion Agency reported that the Thai software industry looks likely to grow by six percent this year, outperforming virtually every economic sector; the big reason,said SIPA president Rungruang Limchoopatipa, is heavy demand from neighbouring countries for quality software, digital content and video animation sectors.
       Manager Radio , the audio version of ASTV and voice of the yellow shirts and their People's Alliance for Democracy, stuck a sharp stick in the eye of the National Telecommunications Commission; there is no way, said the station's director Kongkiat Buddhalikit,that Manager Radio will pre-register as a community station as the NTC has demanded of every information radio service in the country; Mr Kongkiat told the media that Manager Radio is not a community station according to the NTC's own definition, and will not submit to the commission's authority; according to official figures, Manager was among an estimated 1,000 radio stations holding out on the registration demand,while more than 4,000 stations had succumbed to the demand to register, in return for a temporary one-year broadcast licence; under the licence terms,the NTC can suggest programming to radio stations.
       GMM Grammy and RShave found recently that community radio is a great new channel for promoting their music;Soopachai Nillawan, managing director of the RS subsidiary Rsiam, said community radio is especially effective at promoting Luk Thung music, as local disk jockeys become influential with listeners; luckily there is absolutely no chance that any segment of the recording industry would stoop to paying DJs to play their music over that of rivals.
       The government announced billions in subsidies to encourage Thais to drive more, and to use more electricity. The government tried to press ahead with promotion of so-called flex-fuel vehicles able to use 85-percent ethanol, but reviving automakers and oil companies said it was far too early to promote alternative energy, since there are almost no vehicles able to use it; Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul asked for lower import duties so that Thais can bring in foreign-made cars instead of buying locally made autos. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand said the government still owes 20 billion baht it has given in fuel subsidies, but Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his cabinet went ahead with new subsidies which will further add to the Egat debt by decreasing the cost of fuel tariffs (Ft)on the monthly electricity bills.

Social security

2009-08-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

       Whoever called them "social networks" must be having a second and third thought after a week of decidedly un-social activity around them; Russians... well, all right people at machines that seemed to be in Russia launched sustained denialof-service attacks that literally knocked Twitter off the air entirely for several hours, and almost did the same to Facebook and the blogging site Live Journal ,which become so slow they were almost unuseable; Georgian blogger Cyxymu said credibly it was all about him- the Russians hate that he tells the truth about the Russian-Georgian spats and war so much, that their e-vigilantes tried to close down all his platforms;the hackers used botnets to launch the attacks; those are machines (possibly yours) that have been hijacked by hackers by a variety of methods including fake email and malicious websites; used typically to mail billions of spam, they are so powerful that they only can be used for good, for evil or for being decidedly unsocial.
       Then there are the US Marines, not known as a group to be all that sociable anyhow; their officers ordered all Marines off Twitter and Facebook ; in their typically diplomatic manner, the Marine commanders explained:"These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content and are particularly high risk due to information exposure, user-generated content, and targeting by adversaries."
       That could be why the National Football League , comprising the major US gridiron clubs, ordered all US professional football players not to use Twitter ;the multi-millionaire sportsmen will be fined $1,701, or 58,054 baht,(it's the NFL's maximum) per Tweet; or maybe NFL officials simply want to flaunt their control of content. The same could be said for the international sports network ESPN , which informed its employees they are banned from sending any sports-related news over Twitter and Facebook without written permission;violators can be fired on the spot.
       Apple Inc has done a lot to make the name iPhone a synonym for phone,but the spiffy appliance actually only has an 8 percent share of the smartphone market; just as impressive as the propaganda machine, however, is the accounting office; Bernstein Research reported that in the second quarter of the year, the iPhone and its 65,000 apps (1.5 billion downloaded) had accumulated 32 percent of all profits in the smartphone niche. Google CEO Eric "I Know Jack" Schmidt resigned as a director of Apple Inc ; US regulators said they might well sue Schmidt and Apple for a conflict of interest and attempted monopoly anyhow.
       Google announced yet another microscopic upgrade to its quick but faltering Google Chrome web browser;this time, Chrome comes with 29 skins to compete with the 20,000 for Firefox .Apple Inc released Mac OS X 10.5.8,which marginally increased security for Appleholics and makes the AirPort networks work.
       Google bought the Internet video specialists On2 Technologies for $106.5 million; the purpose of the deal is to use On2's technology which allow better quality video, all part of the Google hope it can improve YouTube enough to make money from it. US media tycoon Rupert Murdoch of News Corp said he was just kidding about how news wants to be free; beginning almost immediately, you will pay to see the Times (of London) online, or you won't see it;Murdoch said he also will add charges to websites for his other newspapers;it's hard to figure why anyone would pay to see news on the Internet, and not as hard as it is to figure why Murdoch and others believe we will.
       Microsoft paid enough money to feed all the world's orphans for weeks in order to make Patrick De Schutter and French friends at Office.com go away and move their website to ContactOffice.com, because Microsoft needs Office.com more than the orphans; in fact Microsoft wouldn't say what it paid for the domain name, and pretended there was some sort of mystery over what product it might promote there;hint: Office 2010 will be partly based on the web, and is in final development at the moment.
       Publicis Groupe of France, one of the world's largest advertising companies, paid Microsoft $530 million in cash and stock for Razorfish , Microsoft's "preferred provider" for Internet advertising; the purchase, however, was more significantly an advertising deal,where Publicis agreed to spend grazillions on advertising through Microsoft over the next five years.
       Microsoft held its chin up and its upper lip stiff as it came to Asia to promote the abysmally unpopular hosted messaging and small-business aid Business Productivity Online Suite,which some argue does not need the "B" in the initials BPOS; Allison Watson,corporate vice president for Microsoft's worldwide partner group, said in Singapore than Asians will be much faster than farangs in seeing the greatness of BPOS and joining on; the service actually offers free domain names, websites and more for small and medium businesses,and it will likely be a key part of Microsoft's plans to offer more online services like Microsoft Office.
       Florida resident Keith R. Griffin told the judge that he did not download 1,000 images of child pornography; he said his cat would jump on the keyboard and by accident hit the keys to download the photos; the detectives knew he was lying, wrote a Wall Street Journal columnist, because cats never use the keyboard commands - they prefer the mouse.

Microsoft, Nokia collaborate

2009-08-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

       Microsoft and Nokia,in a challenge to Research in Motion's Blackberry, announced Wednesday that Microsoft Office software will be available on smartphones made by the Finnish company.
       The software and mobile phone giants said that from next year, Nokia would include Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications.
       "This agreement represents an important milestone for both companies and the industry," Stephen Elop, the president of Microsoft Business Division,said in a conference call with reporters.
       "It's the first time Microsoft will develop rich Office Mobile applications for another smartphone platform," he noted, adding that the two companies have identified several other areas for future joint collaboration.
       "With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," Elop added in a statement.
       "Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere," he said.
       Microsoft and Nokia said the agreement will allow Nokia smartphone users to view, edit, create and share Office documents and use such popular Microsoft programs as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.
       "Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices.
       Microsoft and Nokia both stressed their commitment to their rival mobile telephone operating systems, Windows Mobile and Symbian.
       "Nokia and Microsoft do compete in some areas and we will continue to do so," said Elop."At Microsoft we remain deeply committed to Windows Mobile."
       Oistamo emphasized his company's commitment to Symbian and said Microsoft's productivity applications will add "tremendous value to Symbian."
       Asked whether the alliance was intended to counter the growing popularity of Apple's iPhone, Oistamo said it was aimed more at the Blackberry, whose email capability is a favourite of office workers worldwide.
       "It is really about creating a formidable challenge for RIM rather than anybody else," the Nokia executive said.
       Nokia is the world's leading manufacturer of mobile phones and holds a 45 percent share of the smartphone market, according to the latest figures from research firm Gartner.
       But the Finnish company has been facing increased competition in the smartphone business from the iPhone and Blackberry.
       Microsoft also faces competition in the mobile phone operating system sector from Google's open-source Android software and free Web-based programs.
       Gartner analyst Nick Jones said the agreement was good for Microsoft.

iPhones' burst "rare"

2009-08-24T07:57:00.001-07:00

       Apple has told the European Commission that widely reported cases of exploding iPhones should be treated as "isolated incidents", officials in Brussels said yesterday.
       Apple is investigating possible causes but insists that there are no general problems with its best-selling product,said a commission spokeswoman.
       The European Union's executive arm in Brussels, which is responsible for overseeing the safety of consumer products sold inside the bloc, had last week asked Apple for clarifications following reports of at least three iPhones or iPod music players overheating and exploding in France and Britain. In one such incident,a French teenager's claim that an Apple iPhone shattered in his face.

Changes at the top for Sony Ericsson

2009-08-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

       Sony Ericsson yesterday entrusted the head of Ericsson's US technology division with the task of leading the struggling cell-phone maker back to profit and reversing a sharp decline in market share.
       The 50-50 venture said it named Bert Nordberg as chief executive in place of Dick Komiyama, who retires at the end of this year.
       Sony Ericsson has reported steep losses in past quarters and seen its market share slip to below 5%, sparking market speculation of a possible break-up.
       "I would go for increased market share and restoring profitability," Nordberg told Reuters when asked where he hopes to see the company in 1-2 years' time.He said he would pursue ongoing restructuring and step up efforts to develop "smash-hit" products.
       Nordberg,53, currently executive vice president at Ericsson and head of the firm's Silicon Valley business, said he was extremely confident in support from both parent companies, while turning to profit "can't be too far away."
       Of the top five cell-phone vendors,Sony Ericsson saw the sharpest drop in sales from the first quarter.
       The firm has missed trends like full keyboards, Internet browsing and navigation, and research firm Gartner said last week its market share fell to just 4.7% globally.
       "Nordberg has some big decisions to make from day one," said Ben Wood,head of research at CCS Insight.
       "Sony Ericsson needs to streamline its mobile software strategy and further reduce its dependence on mid-tier feature phones while working to restore profitability in the toughest economic climate the mobile phone industry has ever seen."
       Sony Ericsson is known for its phones focusing on music and imaging, but it has so far lacked a strong offering of smartphones.
       Nordberg said he would look for a strategic revamp of the firm's product portfolio."In this industry you need smash-hit products," he said.
       The firm also said Sony CEO Howard Stringer would become new board chairman on Oct 15, replacing Ericsson head Carl-Henric Svanberg, who will become chairman of BP Plc in January.
       Nordberg has been with Ericsson since 1996, prior to which he worked with companies including Data General Corp and Digital Equipment Corp.

LOOKING FOR A SMARTPHONE? IT'S A SNAP!

2009-08-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

       Innovation and design come together in HTC's newest hand-held
       From a quick glance at the Snap,it's clear that HTC is aiming this messaging phone at BlackBerry users. It may have a similar design to the BlackBerry Curve range,but the question is: Does the Snap,which costs about 14,900 baht, have enough fancy extras to tempt BlackBerry users into making the switch?
       BLACKBERRY DOPPELGANGER
       The Snap apes the BlackBerry Curve range both in terms of its overall design and the layout of its controls. The top of the phone is dominated by a fairly large,2.4-inch screen. Beneath this sits a row of buttons,plus a mini trackball that's virtually identical to the pearl trackball found on many BlackBerry handsets. The bottom half of the phone is given over to the full qwerty keyboard.
       Although the Snap's screen looks very bright and sharp, its 320 x 240 resolution falls short of that of the similar BlackBerry Curve 8900's screen, which packs a 480 x 360 resolution. This is especially noticeably when you're using the web browser,as the Snap's screen can't display as much text and graphics in one go, and so forces you to scroll around pages more often.
       But, while the screen is slightly disappointing, the keyboard is truly brilliant.The keys are circular and rounded on the top, leaving you with a wide surface to press with your fingers or thumbs. As a result, it's very easy to tap out messages and emails at considerable speed.
       SOFTWARE UPS AND DOWNS
       The Snap runs the Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard operating system. Although it's easy to move through the various menus and option screens using the mini trackball - the Snap doesn't have a touchscreen the layout and design of the Windows Mobile interface is confusing and dated.For example, it can be a long-winded pro-cess to track down specific settings often you have to wade through pages of unnecessary menu entries to find the one you're after. While HTC has previously papered over some of these cracks by adding its TouchFLO interface over the top,the Snap doesn't feature any interface tweaks at all.
       Pressing the green button on the bottom right corner of the keyboard activates Inner Circle.
       HTC has, however, kitted the Snap out with its Inner Circle software, accessed via a dedicated key on the keyboard. It essentially provides a way to quickly check incoming messages from your most important contacts. Once you've added contacts to your "inner circle" via either the email application or contacts list, messages from these contacts will automatically be filtered to the top of your inbox when you hit the Inner Circle button. It's a smart approach and a significant help when trying to keep on top of a busy inbox.
       SPRIGHTLY PERFORMANCE
       Under the bonnet, the Snap is pretty wellspecified. The phone's Qualcomm processor is relatively speedy, at 528MHz,and it's backed up with 192MB of RAM, so things tick along at a sprightly pace. There's only 256MB of ROM for storing files and documents, but this can be bumped up with a cheap microSD card.
       Connectivity options are good too, with both HSDPA and Wi-Fi support for browsing on the move, and Bluetooth for using the phone with wireless car kits and headsets. As the Snap's quad-band, you'll be able to use it in most countries around the world, and the impressive on-board GPS,which works well in Google Maps, means you won't get lost when you're on your travels.
       The Snap's meagre two megapixel camera is very basic by today's standards. It lacks both autofocus and a flash, so it's unsurprising that the photos it takes are pretty poor. We can overlook this problem to an extent, as the Snap is aimed primarily at business users.
       More difficult to ignore is the phone's poor battery life. Whereas most BlackBerry devices manage to squeeze a few days of life out of their power packs, the Snap only managed to keep running for about a day and a half under normal usage conditions.
       CONCLUSION
       We love the HTC Snap's brilliant keyboard and innovative Inner Circle feature, but it's let down considerably by its short battery life and dated Windows Mobile user interface. Consequently, we can't see many people rushing to swap their BlackBerry for a Snap.
       CNet Asia
       "The phone's Qualcomm processor is relatively speedy, at 528MHz, and it's backed up with 192MB of RAM

Samart ready for upturn

2009-08-24T07:54:00.001-07:00

       Samart Corporation yesterday reported a 17% year-on-year increase in its secondquarter revenues to 4.44 billion baht in the second quarter of this year, reflecting the recovery of the mobile phone business.
       However, net profit declined marginally to 122.3 million baht from 124.5 million a year earlier but up from 43 million in the first quarter. First-half profit was down 38.3% year-on-year to 165.7 million baht.
       Chief executive Watchai Vilailuck said Samart's mobile phone distribution arm Samart I-Mobile (SIM) had passed its lowest point and that revenue and profit in the second half would improve.
       SIM's revenues for the second quarter declined 10% year-on-year to 2.15 billion baht and net profit fell 8% to 46 million baht.
       Amid signs of economic recovery, he said Samart expected its mobile phone sales to remain strong, It plans to 20 handset models to accommodate the GSM, CDMA and 3G services.
       SIM is also focusing on exports to countries where it has a strong market base, including Malaysia, Indonesia,India, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
       Mr Watchai said Samart sold 1.2 million mobile phones during the first half of this year, close to last year's sales,adding that its target of 1.5 million handsets in the second half would be retained and achieved.
       The group's ICT business also did well with revenues of 2.9 billion baht in the first half, helped by more government and state enterprise telecom projects.
       SAMART shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 6.10 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 24.13 million baht.

M'soft Office coming to Nokia smartphones

2009-08-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

       Microsoft and Nokia, in a challenge to Research in Motion's Blackberry, announced on Wednesday that Microsoft Office software will be available on smartphones made by the Finnish company.
       The software and mobile phone giants said that from next year, Nokia would include Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications.
       "This agreement represents an important milestone for both companies and the industry," said Stephen Elop, the president of Microsoft Business Division.
       "It's the first time Microsoft will develop Office Mobile applications for another smartphone platform," he noted, adding that the two companies have identified several other areas for future joint collaboration.
       "With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," Elop said.
       "Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere," he said.
       Microsoft and Nokia said the agreement will allow Nokia smartphone users to view, edit, create and share Office documents and use such popular Microsoft programs as Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote.
       "Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices.
       Asked whether the alliance was intended to counter the growing popularity of Apple's iPhone, Oistamo said it was aimed more at the Blackberry, whose e-mail capability is a favourite with office workers worldwide.
       "It is really about creating a formidable challenge for RIM rather than anybody else," he said.