Nokia N97 With Personal Internet | Prize

The Nokia N97, the most advanced mobile computer to date, will begin selling in June in the Jordanian market. It will be the first Nseries device to feature a dedicated homescreen shortcut for the easy-to-use Ovi Store, which has now become globally available featuring thousands of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services.

The Nokia N97 is the latest "mobile computer" in the Nseries of smartphones by Nokia.
Announced on 2 December 2008,[1] [2][3] the N97 is Nokia's second touchscreen phone (after the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic)that is based on the Nokia S60 platform.

The Nokia N97 will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations.

Nokia N97 Features:

* 3.5″ touchscreen
* Can’t escape the World connections – GPS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Transmitter and tuner
* 5MP camera
* 32GB onboard memory with MicroSD expandable to 48GB
* 3.5mm headphone jack (ie. ‘proper’ size)
* An app with a new buzz word attached – So-Lo - Social location.

The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input to ensure
efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

Telcos peek into Aladdin's cave

The impending commercial activation of Seacom and updates from several other undersea cables have the telcos making moves to take advantage of what is coming.
Over the last few weeks, some of the more well-known telcos, including Vox Telecom and Internet Solutions, have released a spate of products positioned to use high-speed broadband expected to hit local shores over the next few years.

Huge Group executive chairman Anton Potgieter says the incoming capacity, while not cutting the price of services, will bring new services that were previously unavailable on the limited capacity in SA.

Huge has an overview of the market since the company provides managed solutions using the available telecoms operators and their infrastructure. According to Potgieter, for the telcos, the next big step will be in the video conferencing space. He points to Vox's new product released yesterday, Eyeris.

Eyeris is a high-definition (HD) video conferencing solution, which will use the back-end hosted infrastructure of Vox Orion and Vox DataPro. Industry watchers have questioned the capability to run high-definition video conferencing across local networks; however, the company will combine it with Fishbone, its line binding technology, to increase capacity for the solution.

Even with the expected bandwidth, SA still has a long way to go before it sees services that have become commonplace in cutting-edge markets. “We are still some time away from things like HD streaming video, which we have seen in several established countries.”

Internet Solutions (IS) has been quickly racking up the number of new available products, including a business product for roaming, which allows customers to connect to several WiFi hotspots across the globe.

Despite the mass of exciting products on the horizon, the general consensus is that it will take some time before telecoms prices will actually drop.

New Zealand telecommunications provider TelstraClear

New Zealand telecommunications provider TelstraClear has rolled out xDSL equipment to 21 exchanges across the country and technical trials are moving into live field testing as the company's local loop unbundling roll out progresses.

TestraClear says it has begun customer trials, but will not say where the exchanges are, or when the service will go live - other than that it will be before the end of the year.

The telco has been offering turbocharged VDSL2 service to its business customers since October last year; Telecom plans its own upgrade from ADSL2+ to the faster VDSL2 - the fastest possible copper-delivered broadband - later in the year. VDSL2 offers fibre optic-like speeds - provided you live practically on the doorstep of your local exchange or cabinet. Unlike fibre, bandwidth fades rapidly with distance.

Whisper to a screeching halt
Under the Telecommunications Act’s “local loop unbundling” (LLU) provisions, rivals are allowed to shift their own broadband hardware into Telecom exchanges, allowing them to bypass Telecom Wholesale and be in more control of the speed, and pricing, of their internet service.

Orcon and Vodafone both say they want clarity from the Commerce Commission on “sub-loop unbundling”, or the rental that Telecom Wholesale will charge them to access or install their own gear in its roadside "Whisper" fibre cabinets, currently being rolled out by the telco’s Chorus division.

The commission is due to make its final determination on cabinet pricing this month.

AT&T squeezes wannabe iPhone upgraders

AT&T will charge current US iPhone 3G customers a hefty fee for the privilege of upgrading to an iPhone 3G S before their two-year contracts are up, and American owners of the soon-to-be-second-rate 3G model are none to happy about it.

AT&T has announced new pricing for existing iPhone 3Gs, plus rates for the upcoming iPhone 3G S, scheduled for release on June 19th. Pricing for the new phones are in line with what the telecom giant charged for the 3G, and pricing for the 3G has dropped.

iPhone 3G S will cost $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) for new and qualifying customers.
iPhone 3G will cost $99 (8GB) for new and qualifying customers.
The 16GB iPhone 3G will be available for $149 while supplies last.

Add to that the required $30 per month data plan, the aforementioned $18 upgrade fee, another $18 for a “One-time AT&T Upgrade Fee,” plus the over-and-above charges for text messaging (200 messages per month, $5.00; 1500 messages per month, $15.00; unlimited messages, $20.00), and existing AT&T contract holders are facing the withdrawal of a serious chunk of change from their checking accounts.

This report describes the results of a research project designed to explore the current and planned use of IT Infrastructure Management Solutions in North American companies.

With increased government regulation and oversight in the form of mandates such as HIPAA, no company that deals with patient or medical records can afford to ignore the very real challenge of ensuring data security, integrity, and privacy.

Ad-Funded Blyk To Launch In India

The UK's ad-funded, youth targeted mobile service provider Blyk is bringing its model of free talk-time and texts in return for viewing advertising to India. Mint.com reports that senior level recruitment is already underway, according to an unnamed source who was approached for a job at the new operation.

Blyk spokesperson Ann Sarimo confirmed that Blyk plans on entering the Indian market, but declined to comment on timing. After signing up some 200,000 customers in the UK, the only country in which it is operational, it appears that Blyk, which was started by ex-Nokia (NYSE: NOK) president Pekka Ala-Pietilä, and funded by the likes of Goldman Sachs and Sofinnova Partners, has hit a wall.

It reiterated a few weeks ago that it was shifting strategy, calling its UK operations, a "proof of concept," and saying that it was looking to partner with carriers, rather than build their own service country by country as originally planned.

Can the Blyk model succeed in India? No word on which Indian carrier Blyk may have partnered with. But it seems that some think it could work. Sanjay Behl, head of branding and marketing operations at Indian carrier Reliance Communications Ltd, told mint.com, "The model looks like a win-win for all stakeholders?cellular operators, customers and then advertisers.

Sony Ericsson C901 Eco Mobile Phone May Cost More Than £300

Sony Ericsson launched two mobile phones with green eco-credentials; the C901 Greenheart and the Naite showed that the Japanese company was ready to make tackle the threat of environmental disaster with more than just words.

Yesterday, a live chat stream brought together some of the people who worked at Sony Ericsson on the whole ecological and environmental-friendliness of Sony Ericsson as a company and manufacturer of mobile phones, one of the most resource-hungry, polluting and popular "consumables" in the world.

Amongst the various details that were released, we learnt that the recommended retail prices in Germany for the Naite would be 159 Euros and the C901 GH would hit 359 Euros.

Adjusting for the exchange rate and the fact that VAT in Germany is 19 percent, it can be safely assumed that the SIM free versions of the Naite would be sold for £136 while the C901 GH would retail for £307 approximately.

They will also feature a range of environmentally-friendly applications, such as a carbon footprint calculator, and a pedometer, dubbed WalkMate.

The C901 Greenheart is being tipped for release during the second quarter of this year, with the Naite expected to go on sale shortly afterwards.

Sony Ericsson's release schedule for this year also includes the Satio, a 12 megapixel cameraphone, and the successor to the Xperia X1, the Xperia X2.

N97 ushers Personal Internet

For all Mobile lovers , the Nokia N97, the highly anticipated and the most advanced converged touch device from Nseries hits the Indian shores in the second half of June.

The Nokia N97 pioneers the concept of a personalised home screen that lets people choose their favourite content, providing an ‘always open’ window to applications and/or Internet content such as social networking sites, RSS feeds and other widgets in addition to Ovi feeds.

Nokia’s flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology – including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds for people to share their ‘social location. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is.

The Nokia N97 is the first device to ship with Ovi Store, a one-stop shop for a full catalog of applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services, and much more. Ovi Store makes shopping for content and applications easy and fun for feature phone and smart phone owners alike.

Enterprise Apps May Flourish With iPhone 3.0 Software

Another new feature of the 3.0 software that could have an impact on developers is the ability to charge for content within the app.While the rumor mill is reaching a fever pitch with reports that Apple will show off a new iPhone during the keynote session at the Worldwide Developers Conference, the company said it definitely will be talking in-depth about the iPhone 3.0 software upgrade.

This firmware upgrade is a significant milestone for the iPhone because it is expected to plug many of the weaknesses in the platform, and it rewards developers with new opportunities to create innovative applications that can be monetized.

The App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch is already wildly popular with consumers and developers, but the 3.0 software may make the platform even more attractive because it offers content creators more than 1,000 new hooks into the hardware.

Krishnapillai said the push-notification system could be extremely useful for business apps where real-time information is crucial. For example, this system could be used to enhance the capabilities of Sybase's mobile e-mail program for the iPhone, or it could greatly assist a customer-relationship management program.

Developers with the 3.0 software said it provides other capabilities that they cannot yet speak about due to non-disclosure agreements, and Apple will likely show these off during the keynote. This could include things like video recording or a digital compass, but Apple will end all the speculation Monday at 10 a.m. when senior VP of worldwide product marketing Philip Schiller steps on stage during the keynote.

Nokia 6600i Released In India with estimated price of Rs. 13,000.

The Nokia 6600i was certainly one of Nokia's most popular smartphones. Since its launch in 2004, it has sold millions of units and now people generally use it as a backup phone.

The phone has decent imaging abilities and sports an attractive design that should appeal to most. On the features front, apart from the 5 megapixel camera, it has 8x zoom (digital of course), dual LED flash and auto focus.

Being a Series 40 device, the phone supports installation of Java applications. There is an XHTML browser too that takes care of your basic browsing needs. You can always install Opera Mini if you wish to have a 'better' browsing experience.

The design is quite eye catching as it has brushed steel covers and chrome center key which epitomizes an understated and simple appearance.

The all new Nokia 6600i is likely to turn out to be a simple handset with nothing much on offer. The handset will be made available in the third quarter of 2009 at an estimated price of Rs. 13,000.

The phone will be available this very month in two colors Black and Silver. The price has not been reveled as yet.