Microsoft Launches Windows Mobile 5.0

New version of software provides partners with improved integration of technologies to deliver a more intuitive mobile device experience.

Microsoft today simultaneously launched new version of their Pocket PC and Smartphone operating systems. The new versions are more similar than ever featuring a new unified one-handed interface, but Pocket PC still maintains a touch screen interface and offers extra software like Office applications – now including a Powerpoint viewer. Windows Mobile 5 offers more options for fast data on handsets, adding support for newer 3G networks, and supporting Wi-Fi on both Pocket PC and Smartphone. It expands storage options, adding support for hard drives and speeding data transfer with USB 2.0. The new OS also offers greater carrier and manufacturer customization, allowing them to add features like Push-To-Talk, video calling and even additional media format playback like AAC. Read More
Source:Microsoft

School Reduces Suspension Over Iraq Call

School Reduces Suspension Over Iraq Call
Following yesterday’s story about a student suspended from school because he wouldn’t give up his cell phone while talking to his mom – a sergeant on duty in Iraq – during his lunch break, has been granted a reduced suspension, thanks to the power of the press.

Following yesterday’s story about a student suspended from school because he wouldn’t give up his cell phone while talking to his mom – a sergeant on duty in Iraq – during his lunch break, has been granted a reduced suspension, thanks to the power of the press.
According to the Associated Press, "on Friday, the school district reduced the suspension to three days, which will allow Francois to return to school Monday. School officials received many calls about the incident, said assistant principal Wendell Turner. People are fussing at us, calling us names," Turner said. "We are the school that serves Fort Benning," Turner said. "We’re well aware of students with parents overseas."

Hutch Announces Zero Rental Plan

Hutch has announced new offers for both prepaid and post paid customers across the country. The company is now offering three zero rental plans for its post paid customers and a Rs 199 plan for its prepaid customers.

For its post-paid customers Hutch has introduced ‘Talk299’, ‘Talk699’ and ‘Talk 899’ zero rental offers, under which the user will not be charged a monthly rental, instead the paid amounts – Rs 299, Rs 699 and Rs 899, which be given to the user as talk-time.

Hutch has announced new offers for both prepaid and post paid customers across the country. The company is now offering three zero rental plans for its post paid customers and a Rs 199 plan for its prepaid customers.
For its post-paid customers Hutch has introduced ‘Talk299’, ‘Talk699’ and ‘Talk 899’ zero rental offers, under which the user will not be charged a monthly rental, instead the paid amounts – Rs 299, Rs 699 and Rs 899, which be given to the user as talk-time.

Calls within the Hutch network will be charged at 50 paise per minute, while calls to other phones – cellular and landline, will be charged at Rs 1.69, Rs 1.19 and Rs 0.75 for Talk299, Talk699 and Talk899 plans respectively. SMS will be charged at 50 paise for all three plans.

For the Prepaid customers the company is now offering a Rs 199 recharge voucher with a validity period of 30-day. The customer receives only Rs 50 worth of talk-time for this recharge voucher.

Hutch has also reportedly cut roaming airtime rates by 33%, from Rs 3 per minute to Rs 1.99 per minute. The reduced tariffs would benefit all Hutch post paid and prepaid users across the country.

Nokia N91 to beat iPod?

Digital audio players from brands such as Creative, iRiver, Dell, Samsung and even Sony can’t compete with Apple’s flagship, the iPod. Will Nokia be able to compete with the iPod with its upcoming Nokia N91 – despite the higher cost? The Nokia N91 will feature a 4GB internal hard drive, a 2 megapixel digital camera and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The phone also supports 3G services, including wireless downloading services. It is designed to play audio with music control buttons on a faceplate that slides down to reveal the phone’s keypad.

Digital audio players from brands such as Creative, iRiver, Dell, Samsung and even Sony can’t compete with Apple’s flagship, the iPod. Will Nokia be able to compete with the iPod with its upcoming Nokia N91 – despite the higher cost?

The Nokia N91 will feature a 4GB internal hard drive, a 2 megapixel digital camera and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The phone also supports 3G services, including wireless downloading services. It is designed to play audio with music control buttons on a faceplate that slides down to reveal the phone’s keypad.

The company also claims that users will be able to send music to others via e-mail, bluetooth and MMS. So this phone might actually introduce wireless p2p but there are also some problems:

While it may be easy to share a file between two phones of the same type that use the same carrier, it will be much more difficult between different phones on separate networks. Diverse file formats, lack of carrier interoperability and digital-rights-management concerns are all expected to limit the ability to share music wirelessly. “Forget it,” industry consultant Richard Siber says. “It’s just too problematic.”

Nokia’s N91 will be compatible with all popular audio formats, except iTunes. The only thing that will likely limit the market penetration of the Nokia N91 is it high cost. It is said that this phone will cost around 700EUR ($900), so with carrier subsidies it will likely still cost more than $500. Not really that competitive with a $199 iPod mini.

Source: Reuters

Google bolsters mobile search

On Tuesday, the search company plans to introduce two new search options for mobile phones, reports News.com

“One feature lets people with browser-enabled cell phones use Google Local,

local.gif On Tuesday, the search company plans to introduce two new search options for mobile phones, reports News.com

"One feature lets people with browser-enabled cell phones use Google Local, a Web directory of local businesses and sights, by typing in a name and ZIP code.

Using the second feature, people can text message Google SMS (Short Message Service) with the short code "46645" to receive driving directions to most locations"

Kolkata, mobile phones in buses

In a major technical achievement, the Calcutta State Transport Corporation has launched mobile phone facility in buses in collaboration with…

In a major technical achievement, the Calcutta State Transport Corporation has launched mobile phone facility in buses in collaboration with India s telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), according to the Hindustan Times.

"Through this facility, first of its kind in India, commuters can now make local calls within the city range while travelling."

Teens with cellphones heavy media users

Teenage cell phone users are also heavy users of television, computers and video games, according to a new study from MindShare Online Research. [via Media Week via YPulse]

Teenage cell phone users are also heavy users of television, computers and video games, according to a new study from MindShare Online Research. [via Media Week via YPulse]

"The media agency polled 400 respondents between the ages of 13 and 17, and found that teens with cell phones are heavier users of media than other kids their age.

The survey showed that "while virtually all teens watch television, cell phone users are significantly more likely than non-users to use the Internet every day, read newspapers, listen to the radio and read magazines."

Morse Code Still Beats SMS

Mike Grenville for 160characters.org reports that “morse code is still faster at sending text messages than using txt speak”. Even when the morse code sender is 93 years old and the SMS challengers were teenagers!

morsecode-th.jpgMike Grenville for 160characters.org reports that "morse code is still faster at sending text messages than using txt speak". Even when the morse code sender is 93 years old and the SMS challengers were teenagers!

"According to Times Online, an Australian museum staged a contest that pitted the oldest type of electronic text messages with the newest.

Not only was the technology a battle of ages, but so were the contestants. Tapping out the winning morse code message was 93-year-old telegraph operator Gordon Hill, who learnt to use the technique in 1927 when he joined the Australian Post Office.

In the competition, at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, Mr Hill and his rivals were asked to transmit a line selected at random from an advertisement in a teenage magazine.

“Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing.”

UK now has more mobiles than people

There are now more mobile phones in the UK than people, according to a report from management consultants Analysys, writes Iain Thomson for vnunet.com.

There are now more mobile phones in the UK than people, according to a report from management consultants Analysys, writes Iain Thomson for vnunet.com.

"Mobile penetration in the UK, Sweden and Italy rose to 101 per cent, 103 per cent and 104 per cent respectively in 2005.

The company expects the rest of Europe to reach 100 per cent by 2007, largely due to customers with more than one phone".

Bluetooth SIG and UWB work together

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has tapped ultra-wideband (UWB) for high-speed communications inside of Bluetooth. Though nothing is final yet, the goal is to work towards an architecture that allows devices to take advantage of UWB data rates for scenarios.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has tapped ultra-wideband (UWB) for high-speed communications inside of Bluetooth. Though nothing is final yet, the goal is to work towards an architecture that allows devices to take advantage of UWB data rates for scenarios that require high speed. Bluetooth will still be important to maintain backward compatibly with existing devices on the market and future products not requiring the higher data rate.

If ported to mobile phones, Bluetooth with UWB could see speeds of 100-200 mbps or about the same speed as WiFi. There is still much to be argued in the UWB spec, but this is a good first step to see UWB adopted into the mainstream.

Source: MobileTracker

Blogger launches mobile feature

Leading weblog publishing service Blogger has launched a new feature dubbed Blogger Mobile that allows users to post content from mobile phones. Both images and text can be posted to all Blogger powered sites (or by default a new moblog) via MMS or email.

Leading weblog publishing service Blogger has launched a new feature dubbed Blogger Mobile that allows users to post content from mobile phones. Both images and text can be posted to all Blogger powered sites (or by default a new moblog) via MMS or email.

Sending an MMS or email to go@blogger.com will automatically create a new blog. Your photo, along with any text you add, will be uploaded to that blog right away and then we’ll message you back with the address so you can visit your new blog on the web. It’s all free. When you feel like changing anything or you already have a Blogger account and you want the posts to go to your existing blog, you can log in to go.blogger.com and enter the token we sent to your phone.

Blogger is owned and operated by Google. As noted in the text above, this service like regular Blogger service, is free. Prior registration is not required to use Blogger Mobile.

Microsoft to announce Windows Mobile 2005

Microsoft is expected to announce the next version of its mobile phone operating system, Windows Mobile 2005, at the a developers conference next week. The Mobile and Embedded DevCon 2005 takes place May 9-12th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Microsoft is expected to announce the next version of its mobile phone operating system, Windows Mobile 2005, at the a developers conference next week. The Mobile and Embedded DevCon 2005 takes place May 9-12th at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Windows Mobile 2005 is no secret thanks to leaked copies that sprouted up on the internet. Some of the new features include:

  • Increased support for QWERTY keyboards
  • Mobile version of PowerPoint
  • Updated versions of other Office applications

There is no word on when new devices running the software will begin shipping.

Source: mobile tracker

Student suspended after getting call from mom in Iraq

“Kevin Francois, a 17-year-old Spencer High School Columbus junior has been suspended for the rest of the school year for refusing the end a cell phone call – not in class but during his lunch break – to his mother who is a solider in Iraq.

Easy to understand why this story is making headlines all over the country, 

"Kevin Francois, a 17-year-old Spencer High School Columbus junior has been suspended for the rest of the school year for refusing the end a cell phone call – not in class but during his lunch break – to his mother who is a solider in Iraq.

His mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, left in January for a one-year tour and serves with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

"This is our first time separated like this," said Francois. Since her deployment overseas, Francois has been living with a guardian in Columbus."

According to the Muscogee County School District Board of Education’s policy, students are allowed to have cell phones in school, but cannot use them during school hours."

Source: The Associated Press:

Bharti to spend $1 bn on 3G rollout

Bharti Televentures on Monday said it will invest one billion dollars on the rollout of third generation (3G) mobile phone networks across India. “We have committed one billion dollars for roll out of 3G networks across the country,” Bharti Televentures Managing Director Akhil Gupta said at a seminar on 3G technology.

NEW DELHI: Bharti Televentures on Monday said it will invest one billion dollars on the rollout of third generation (3G) mobile phone networks across India. "We have committed one billion dollars for roll out of 3G networks across the country," Bharti Televentures Managing Director Akhil Gupta said at a seminar on 3G technology. The company is already running tests of 3G technology at some places. "We have to ensure that 3G does not remain a niche technology. It must not be confined to a particular section or geography," he said adding it should be rolled out in each and every state so that it makes commercial sense. Gupta said when the frequency is allotted to operators for 3G services, they should come with stringent rollout obligations.

"It (the frequency) must not remain an asset in the locker (of operator). Strict rollout obligations backed by bank guarantees should be set for operators so that the technology spreads," he added.
Government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is also gearing up to rollout 3G networks.
"Our next rollout will have provision of 3G services throughout the country. We have the equipment and are waiting for the spectrum to start the tests," BSNL Chairman and Managing Director A K Sinha said.
He said by late 2005 or early 2006 the country would see the commercial rollout of 3G services.

SOURCE PTI