News | Fone Arena - Part 3053

Samsung’s First Symbian OS and Series 60-Based Smartphones Powered By Texas Instruments Wireless Technology

TI’s OMAP(TM) Processor and Bluetooth(R) Technology Drive Symbian OS(TM), Entertainment and Productivity Applications in New Samsung Smartphones

DALLAS, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) (TI) today announced that Samsung Electronics has selected technology from TI’s OMAP(TM) platform and Bluetooth(R) solutions for its first Symbian OS(TM) and Series 60-based smartphones, the SGH-D720 and SGH- D730. Available in either clamshell (D730) or slider (D720) designs, the GSM/GPRS smartphones from Samsung are leveraging TI wireless technology to offer a variety of feature-rich entertainment and productivity applications, including RealOne(R) Player and Bluetooth multi-game and music maker. The Symbian OS-based Series 60 platform is the world’s leading platform for smartphones.

"Samsung is committed to combining multimedia functionality and efficient features into small, stylish, and lightweight handsets that mobile consumers will find very attractive," said Dohwan Choi, senior vice president of Samsung’s Product Planning Team. "Adopting TI’s OMAP processor and Bluetooth technologies will help Samsung in meeting this commitment."

The global smartphone market is currently experiencing rapid growth, with total shipments of Symbian OS smartphones in H1 2005 reaching the 14.5 million mark, up 191% from H1 2004 (source: Symbian Internal Data). "Combined together, the Series 60 Platform, TI’s OMAP platform and multimedia software, and Symbian OS form a powerful base for Samsung’s SGH-D720 and SGH-D730 handsets, and further prove continued adoption of the Series 60 Platform," said Matti Vanska, Nokia’s director of Mobile Software Sales and Marketing.

TI’s OMAP1610 application processor runs Symbian OS for the new Samsung smartphones and powers a full range of features and applications, including a 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom, built-in flash, and camcorder functionality; MP3 Player; and Series 60 applications such as e-mail and synchronization via Bluetooth or SyncML. As part of the comprehensive OMAP platform offering, TI’s robust Symbian board support software allows Samsung to focus its valuable development resources on product differentiation, while reducing the time required to bring smartphones to market. TI’s power-efficient BRF6150 Bluetooth single-chip solution, which is based on TI’s innovative DRP(TM) process technology, seamlessly interfaces to the OMAP platform and provides voice and data connectivity to the new Samsung smartphones.

"We are very pleased that Samsung is tapping into the strength of TI’s robust portfolio of wireless solutions, including its industry-leading OMAP platform, to deliver multimedia-rich sleek handsets to consumers around the globe," said Alain Mutricy, TI’s vice president and general manager of Cellular Systems for its Wireless Terminals Business Unit. "TI has a long- standing relationship with Symbian, and has become the leading supplier of application processors for Symbian OS-based smartphones. TI was also among the first semiconductor companies to work with Nokia Series 60 and is excited to contribute this expertise to Samsung as it launches its first Symbian OS and Series-60 based smartphones."

"Symbian welcomes the launch of Samsung’s latest Symbian OS phones that exploit the advantages of TI’s OMAP platform," said Jorgen Behrens, vice president of Product Management and Strategy for Symbian Ltd. "Using Symbian OS, these exciting, compact and light Samsung phones are ideally designed to meet the needs of both business and consumer markets. Symbian is working with companies such as Samsung and TI to enable rapid development and faster time- to-market for feature-rich smartphones based on the robust, industry-standard Symbian OS."

Samsung’s new clamshell handset, the SGH-D730, soon to be followed by the slider version, the SGH-D720, is available today in Germany followed by further roll-out throughout Europe later this year.

Texas Instruments – Making Wireless
TI is the leading manufacturer of wireless semiconductors, delivering the heart of today’s wireless technology and building solutions for tomorrow. TI provides a breadth of silicon and software and 15 years of wireless systems expertise that spans handsets and base stations for all communications standards, wireless LAN, Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband. TI offers custom to turn-key solutions, including complete chipsets and reference designs, OMAP(TM) application processors, as well as core digital signal processor and analog technologies built on advanced semiconductor processes. Please visit http://www.ti.com/wirelesspressroom for additional information.

About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated provides innovative DSP and analog technologies to meet our customers’ real world signal processing requirements. In addition to Semiconductor, the company’s businesses include Sensors & Controls, and Educational & Productivity Solutions. TI is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has manufacturing, design or sales operations in more than 25 countries.

Texas Instruments is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TXN. More information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/ .

Nokia to License Quickoffice for Its Series 60 Platform

Quickoffice to Become Part of Series 60 Platform Offering, Enabling Microsoft(R) Office Capabilities for All Series 60-Based Smartphones

DALLAS, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ — Quickoffice, Inc., today announced a
licensing agreement with Nokia that will include Quickoffice — the award-
winning Series 60 office software suite — on the Series 60 Platform offering,
providing users of Series 60 smartphones with easy and fast access to their
native Microsoft(R)Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
Nokia’s Series 60 Platform is the world’s leading smartphone platform,
utilized by many of the leading mobile phone manufacturers worldwide. The
combination of the Series 60 functionality with the Quickoffice software will
offer business professionals worldwide the ability to open, view, edit and
even print Office documents, such as contracts, business plans, or sales
presentations, directly from their Series 60 smartphone.
"We are committed to providing users of smartphones with the best
available software innovations as part of our platform offering," said Matti
Vanska, Director, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia. "The
Quickoffice software suite, with its leadership and innovation, meets these
criteria."
"As a long-term Nokia Forum PRO member, we have enjoyed a close business
relationship and we are pleased that now Nokia has chosen Quickoffice to be
included on the Series 60 platform," said Barry Cottle, CEO of Quickoffice,
Inc. "As a leading global software product for the mobile business
professional, Quickoffice is a great complement to Series 60 Platform in
meeting the needs of the mobile professional."
The multiple award-winning Quickoffice Premier(TM) is the company’s
flagship smartphone software product. It is the leading portable computing
solution for mobile device users supporting native Microsoft(R) Office
formatted files. Quickoffice Premier, with its unique native technology,
enables the next generation of mobile productivity allowing users to view,
edit, print and even present documents directly from their smartphone. The
software design also includes the ability for End-users to receive future
value-added applications to meet the evolving needs in the market.
The Series 60 Platform, built on the Symbian OS, is the world’s leading
smartphone platform, with millions of devices in the market ready for the
deployment of quality mobile applications. It is licensed by some of the
foremost mobile phone manufacturers including Lenovo, LG Electronics, Nokia,
Panasonic, Samsung, and Siemens. The flexibility of Series 60 Platform allows
for various hardware designs and software configurations. This is
demonstrated through the multitude of Series 60-based phones currently
available. Through its award-winning user interface, extensive support for
new mobile services, and the innovation potential for solutions, Series 60
Platform provides an open and scalable business opportunity to mobile
operators and third-party developers. More information on Series 60 is
available at http://www.series60.com .

About Quickoffice
Quickoffice is the world leader in providing mobile office document
software for smartphones, allowing users to open, view and edit Microsoft
Office files with complete document data integrity. The company’s flagship
product, Quickoffice Premier, continues to receive awards and recognition from
industry analysts, the media and users alike. Quickoffice has been thoroughly
tested by the rigorous quality standards of leading mobile phone manufacturers
and ships through major carriers such as Vodafone(R), Orange(R), China
Mobile(R), Cingular(R) and many more. Fully localized in 36 languages, and
shipping worldwide as a built-in solution on a multitude of smartphones,
Quickoffice has been a top-selling mobile office application since its market
introduction. Privately held, Quickoffice is based in Dallas, Texas.
More information at: http://www.quickoffice.com

Quickoffice is a trademark of Quickoffice, Inc. All other trademarks are
property of their respective holders.

SOURCE Quickoffice, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.quickoffice.com http://www.series60.com

Sony Ericsson unveils UMTS P990 smartphone

ony Ericsson emphasised its continued commitment to Symbian OS today with the announcement of its next generation smartphone to the global development community. The P990 will be the first commercially available smartphone to adopt the enhanced Symbian OS version 9.1 and UIQ 3 software platform

London, October 10, 2005 – Sony Ericsson emphasised its continued commitment to Symbian OS today with the announcement of its next generation smartphone to the global development community. The P990 will be the first commercially available smartphone to adopt the enhanced Symbian OS version 9.1 and UIQ 3 software platform. This flagship UMTS smartphone is Wi-Fi enabled, has a 2 megapixel camera with autofocus and features a new hardware keyboard beneath the flip-down keypad. The phone will start shipping during Q1 of 2006.

Technical specifications Function or feature, P990 support

Operating system – Symbian OS v9.1
Software platform – UIQ v3.0
Size – 114 x 57 x 25
Weight – 155g with battery and flip keyboard
Screen – Large 2.8 inch QVGA (240 x 320) touch screen with 262 k colours that supports landscape view for camera, video imaging and browsing
Interaction – Using touch screen, 3 way Jog Dial and dedicated buttons
WLAN – 802.11b compliant
Bluetooth – Includes car handsfree profile
Infrared – Yes
USB – Yes and charging via USB
UMTS – E-GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and UMTS 2100
Application memory – Up to 80 MB user free memory
Camera – Integrated 2 megapixel CommuniCorder 24 bit colour depth, autofocus for still pictures, video clip recording and video calls
Video telephony – Application included which allows video calls and video conferencing via the built-in dual cameras
Media player – Supports playback, streaming and playlists
Activity menu – Customizable top level menu
Upgradeable – Via Sony Ericsson Update Service
FM/RDS radio – Yes
Browser – Opera browser (version 8) supporting frames and javascript
Push email – Prepared for all major e-mail solutions including Research in Motion (Blackberry)
Messaging – SMS, MMS and email
PIM applications – Contacts, Calendar, To Do, Jotter for notes and sketches, Voice memo and Calculator, Converter, Stop Watch and Timer
Viewers – Microsoft Excel. Word, Powerpoint and Adobe PDF
Editors – Microsoft Word and Excel
Themes – Easy personalisation of animated icons, screensavers, wallpapers and skins
Speaker phone – Yes
Memory Stick – Memory Stick PRO Duo slot for up to 4 GB removable memory. 64 MB supplied
Flight mode – Includes option to turn Wi-Fi on
Local and remote synchronisation – via SyncML
Business telephony – Yes
Java™ ME platform support – Both CDC and CLDC environments supported:
- JTWI 1.0 (JSR-185) consisting of Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.1 HI (JSR-139), MIDP 2.0 (JSR-118), WMA 1.1 (JSR-120). – PDA Optional Packages (JSR-75), Bluetooth (JSR-82), Wireless Messaging API 2.0 (JSR-205), Web Services (JSR-172), Mobile Media API (JSR-135), Mobile 3D Graphics (JSR-184), Nokia UI API 1.1
- Connected Device Configuration (CDC) 1.0 (JSR-36) – Foundation Profile 1.0 (JSR-46), Personal Profile 1.0 (JSR-62),PDA Optional Packages (JSR-75)
  Read More via sonyericsson press

Bill Gates to visit Chennai in Dec

Microsoft head honcho Bill Gates is expected to visit Chennai in December this year, said Dayanidhi Maran, union minister for communications and IT.

?I have asked Gates to come to India and also look beyond Bangalore. He will be visiting Chennai this time,? said Maran.

BANGALORE: Microsoft head honcho Bill Gates is expected to visit Chennai in December this year, said Dayanidhi Maran, union minister for communications and IT.

“I have asked Gates to come to India and also look beyond Bangalore. He will be visiting Chennai this time,” said Maran.

The minister said that he was pleased with the infrastructure improvement activities undertaken by the Dharam Singh government.” We need more visible changes. I have also requested the center to release Rs 500 crore under the Central Scheme for Critical Infrastructure to fund the construction of 50 flyovers in Bangalore.”

Maran also said that IT should grow beyond Bangalore and in other cities like Mysore and Hubli.

Gates has invested Rs 10 crore in a pilot project to take e-governance to the villages, Maran said, adding, Microsoft had taken the bold step of deciding to launch bi-lingual Microsoft Windows XP starter (in English and a local language). “Besides Hindi, the edition would be launched in eight local languages in January next year.”

On the education front, Maran said that Microsoft had agreed to sponsor a pilot project to train teachers. This involves deploying 5000 computers across a hundred schools in six states.

Source:CIOL

Raghu Rai is imaging ambassador for Nokia

New Delhi: To cash in on the popularity of camera phones, Nokia on Wednesday announced that it has selected acclaimed Indian photographer Raghu Rai as its imaging ambassador for the Asia Pacific region in the Nokia Nseries `See New’ Competition.

The competition is a Nokia Nseries global initiative aimed at increasing awareness about mobile photography. Along with Rai, Nokia has selected four high-profile photographers – Juergen Teller from Germany, Jian Cheng Dong from China, American photographer Philip-Lorca DiCorcia and the UK-based Nick Waplington to serve as ambassadors for their respective countries during the competition.

Full Story at Sify

Blackberry Services Now on Nokia

With the introduction of BlackBerry Connect in the country, Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) plan to extend BlackBerry wireless services to the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i. Airtel’s BlackBerry portfolio will also include BlackBerry 7290 and BlackBerry 7100g

With this move, Airtel intends to offer customers a wider range of BlackBerry-enabled devices to suit their varying needs and preferences. The company also aims to provide IT departments, the added advantage of being able to support multiple-device types with the existing security and infrastructure.

Users of the Nokia 9300 smartphone, Nokia 9500 Communicator and Sony Ericsson P910i will now be able to enjoy features such as push-based BlackBerry e-mail delivery, attachment viewing, wireless e-mail synchronization, as also remote address look-up, policy enforcement, IT commands, Triple DES encryption and Wireless calendar synchronization.

Airtel has made BlackBerry Services available exclusively for its customers, starting at Rs 499 per month. Corporate and SME customers can opt for the unlimited data monthly rental plan of Rs 899 per month. For prosumers, this plan would cost Rs 1099 per month.

The BlackBerry Internet Service will allow smaller businesses and individuals, access of up to 10 e-mail accounts from a single device. For corporate customers, BlackBerry Enterprise Server software will integrate with IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise and Microsoft Exchange, and work with existing enterprise systems to facilitate push-based, wireless access to e-mail and other corporate data.

The Nokia 9300 smartphone is available for Rs 29,000, the Nokia 9500
Communicator is priced at Rs 34,500 and the Sony Ericsson P910i is available for Rs 27,995.

Manoj Kohli, president – mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures, said, "Email continues to be a key communication medium and research indicates that the first application most mobile users like to see integrated into their mobile phones is their email. Emails also have one of the greatest impacts on productivity. A constantly widening group of mobile professionals have already recognized the productivity benefits of BlackBerry. Our announcement today of extending the BlackBerry service to a much wider range of new and stylish mobile phone handsets, allows us to address the needs of a broader target group of mobile users, thereby further catalyzing the adoption and usage of BlackBerry in India."

Chakrapani GK, country manager – enterprise solutions, Nokia India, said, "The availability of BlackBerry services to Nokia’s high-end enterprise devices, marks the convergence of two eagerly anticipated, business focused wireless products. The growth in demand for mobility solutions has substantially expanded over the last couple of years, and by offering BlackBerry on our smartphones, we are offering a truly powerful tool, complete with voice and data solutions, both for business and individual users."

Sudhin Mathur, general manager, Sony Ericsson India, said, "We’re delighted to be adding BlackBerry to the palette of solutions we support with our P910i, thereby further expanding customer choice. The P910i smartphone, which is a multi-faceted device offering productivity, entertainment & communications solutions will now also offer this proven, market leading mobile email & data solution. We are constantly seeking to offer our consumer the very best in usage experience through various innovative means, and this inclusion of BlackBerry is yet another step in that direction."

Source:TechTree

Nokia and Symantec to collaborate in enhancing security for smartphones

Nokia and Symantec Corporation today announced that the two companies have signed an agreement that enables Nokia to provide its Series 60 based smartphones with Symantec Mobile Security. Through this agreement, Nokia will be able to preload their Series 60 and Symbian OS based mobile devices with Symantec’s mobile security solutions, offering increased protection for consumer and business users against mobile malware threats.

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE October 5, 2005

Nokia and Symantec to collaborate in enhancing security for smartphones

Cupertino, CA, USA / Espoo, Finland – Nokia and Symantec Corporation today announced that the two companies have signed an agreement that enables Nokia to provide its Series 60 based smartphones with Symantec Mobile Security. Through this agreement, Nokia will be able to preload their Series 60 and Symbian OS based mobile devices with Symantec’s mobile security solutions, offering increased protection for consumer and business users against mobile malware threats.

"As the leading mobile device manufacturer, Nokia is determined to be active in the development of security controls and preventive measures against malware. The collaboration with Symantec, the leading security solution provider, is another step in our aim to bring the most advanced security features into Series 60 based devices," says Matti Vänskä, Director, Nokia Technology Platforms.

As smartphone purchasing and usage become more prolific Nokia and Symantec want to offer security solutions that will help protect personal information, such as contact databases, stored on smartphones in addition to connected networks.

"Mobile devices are changing the way consumers and businesses live and work," said Sarah Hicks, Vice President of mobile and wireless solutions, Symantec Corp. "As more and more data, including financial and personal details, are being stored on mobile devices, they are increasingly at risk to malware threats. This agreement with Symantec allows Nokia to provide key security features to the Series 60 Platform and Series 60 based smartphones."

Symantec has been working with Nokia for more than two years to develop mobile security technology and systems for mobile devices. The new agreement strengthens the existing relationship by enabling Nokia to provide increased protection for the smartphones running the Series 60 Platform. The agreement also will enable the other Series 60 licensees to evaluate and test Symantec’s mobile security solutions for their Series 60 based smartphones.

About Symantec Mobile Security

Symantec Mobile Security for Symbian OS is an integrated security client that protects smartphones from wireless threats. As mobile phones acquire more computer-like capabilities, they also become more vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Symantec Mobile Security for Symbian OS protects against those risks. The software starts safeguarding a phone as soon as it is installed, automatically turning on virus protection and closing vulnerable ports. Symantec virus protection defends against viruses, worms, and Trojan horses, automatically removing any it finds.

The AutoProtect feature runs continuously in the background, watching for malicious code in SMS, EMS, MMS, HTTP, and email files. Users can also manually scan applications and file archives. Additionally, a built-in firewall blocks suspicious incoming and outgoing connection attempts on the phone’s LAN/WAN connection. Symantec LiveUpdate Wireless technology makes it easy to stay protected against new threats by downloading software and protection updates over the wireless network.

About Symantec

Symantec is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

About Nokia

Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com.

Nokia delays shipments of Internet Tablet

Mobile phone giant Nokia said on Wednesday shipments of its 770 Internet Tablet device had been delayed to iron out software problems.

Nokia to trial Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions with Telemar Oi in Brazil

Nokia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brazilian telecommunications giant Telemar Oi to begin trials of Nokia’s Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions. The Nokia Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions can leverage Telemar’s current fixed network to create a converged packet based domain for fixed and mobile services. Telemar operates the largest fixed network in South America, with around 15 million subscribers, as well as the Oi branded mobile network, which currently caters to around 8 million subscribers.

Nokia to trial Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions with Telemar Oi in Brazil

Espoo, Finland – Nokia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brazilian telecommunications giant Telemar Oi to begin trials of Nokia’s Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions. The Nokia Fixed Mobile Convergence solutions can leverage Telemar’s current fixed network to create a converged packet based domain for fixed and mobile services. Telemar operates the largest fixed network in South America, with around 15 million subscribers, as well as the Oi branded mobile network, which currently caters to around 8 million subscribers.

The trial employs a comprehensive Nokia end-to-end solution for unified core and converged access networks, as well as Nokia terminals providing multimedia and VoIP services for both mobile and fixed customers. The Nokia unified core includes the Nokia IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), for voice calls and multimedia services, the Nokia VoIP Server, and the Nokia MSC Server System (MSS). The agreement also includes testing of the Nokia Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) solution for extending the potential of fixed broadband networks.

"At Telemar Oi, we have been a pioneer in GSM in Brazil and have already successfully launched integrated service packages for our fixed and mobile residential customers," says Alberto Blanco, marketing director of Telemar Group. "This convergence trial is a natural extension of that and is an important part in our vision for the future in driving growth in our businesses."

"We are delighted to be working with Telemar Oi on this end-to-end convergence trial to address emerging opportunities for combining fixed and mobile services in Brazil," says Olli Oittinen, Vice President, Networks, Nokia. "Nokia is trialing its converged solutions with many leading operators worldwide, providing powerful solutions for consumer and corporate, fixed and mobile networks, in what is shaping up to be a new chapter in this industry."

The Nokia IMS solution provides the service machinery for enriching communications in converging fixed and mobile networks. It enables SIP-based multimedia services, such as video sharing and push to talk, in addition to voice services for fixed, cellular and multiradio terminals, as well as for PCs.

The Nokia VoIP Server, a key part of the Nokia IMS solution, supports the convergence of legacy voice and VoIP communications by allowing Telemar Oi to offer mobile telephony services, such as Caller ID and SMS, to VoIP customers.

The Nokia MSC Server, the world leading 3GPP Release 4 based voice solution, is currently deployed in Telemar Oi’s commercial mobile network, as part of an earlier contract. Nokia has been the main GSM network supplier to Oi since 2001.

About Telemar Group

The Telemar Group is the biggest private company in the country. It’s focused on the offering of integrated solutions; Telemar offers local calling services, long distance, wireless, data communication, a helpline and the Internet.

The company holds the concession to operate the local fixed telecommunication network and the authority to offers wireless services with Oi in Region I, which includes 16 northern, northeastern and southeastern states.

Besides this, the company acts in all national territory and provides data communication and long distance services since June 2002, when it anticipated the universal standards and received authorization to act throughout Brazil with code 31, which was launched regionally in 1999.

The Telemar Group has established a single brand in Internet and mobile segments with its own ISP Oi Internet, launched in February 2005.

About Nokia

Airtel to invest Rs 400 Cr in Karnataka

Airtel, a leading mobile services provider in the country, would invest Rs 400 crores during the year 2005-06 as part of its expansion plan in Karnataka, Company Executive Director (Southern Region-Mobility) Atul Bindal said today

Bangalore: Airtel, a leading mobile services provider in the country, would invest Rs 400 crores during the year 2005-06 as part of its expansion plan in Karnataka, Company Executive Director (Southern Region-Mobility) Atul Bindal said today.

Talking to newsmen here, he said that with 1.5 million customers in the state, Karnataka was the second largest Circle in Bharti Televentures’ network which is playing a pioneering role in increasing mobile penetration in the country.

Mr Bindal said that with the projected expansion plan, the company by end of the year planning to reach out to approximately 45 per cent of the population in the state with a robust network that will span about 730 towns. It was intended to set up 600 additional cell sites across the state taking the total number to 1800 to ensure better reach than competitors.

The idea was to expand mobile network in rural areas and drive segmented applications and value added services in urban and semi urban markets, he said and added that the Company see lot of potential for development in Northern Districts like Gulbarga and Hubli.

Bharati Televentures COO Deepak Mehrotra said that the Company has adopted a three prong strategy–innovation, quality and outsourcing, to achieve its planned development. Bharati has recently signed agreements to outsource its call center operations to some of the best international BPOs. The agreement with Hinduja TMT, IBM Daksh, Mphasis and TeleTech services would enhance quality of customer service delivery to its customers across the country, he added.

Mr Mehrotra said that Airtel has moved towards setting up of a Future Factory in Bangalore fully dedicated to explore innovation and development of path-breaking applications for mobile customers across the country. Customers in cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai were looking towards mobile commerce and the Future Factory here would take up development of drive applications that use mobile phone as a payment instrument for ticketing, money transfer and other commerce transactions.

He said under rural programme the company would focus on developing applications to make mobile telephone more relevant to the segment.

Be Very Careful About Nokia Phones Lying Around

Next time you hold a sensitive meeting, you might want to see if anybody around you has a Nokia telephone. And don’t be so sure the phone is turned off.

AGLAYA, a small Indian company is offer for just $250 software that can convert any Nokia 6600 model telephone into a spyphone.

"When someone calls the phone, it rings and operates as a normal telephone but when the phone is called using the pre-defined number, it automatically answers without any ringing, lights, change in the phones screen display or creating logs," the company’s website brags, adding "The phone works like a normal mobile phone and so shows nothing suspicious or unusual to the user."

AGLAYA says "you can access the phone from anywhere in the world with no range limitations, just dial in and listen."

The solution to all this? Ban telephones – or at least take out the batteries – that is if you can find them.

Via [Spero Forum Weblog]

Nokia announces a VoIP server

Nokia has announced a VoIP server designed for fixed and mobile operators to offer VoIP and other services, such as caller ID and SMS text messaging.

The VoIP server is compliant with the standardization work done by 3GPP and ETSI TISPAN, which means operators can converge legacy voice and SIP-driven VoIP.

The VoIP server can be implemented as a stand-alone device in fixed networks or it can be deployed as an application server within the IMS framework.

The Nokia VoIP Server currently is being trialed by "a number of key operators," according to the company, and will be available for deployment in the first half of 2006.

Top photographers spearhead Nokia Nseries See New Competition

Internationally renowned photographer, Juergen Teller; leading American photographer, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia; award winning London-based photographer, Nick Waplington; Raghu Rai, one of India’s most respected documentary photographers and Jiancheng Dong, a prominent landscape and documentary photographer from China are heading up the Nokia Nseries See New Competition which is launched today.

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE October 4, 2005

Top photographers spearhead Nokia Nseries See New Competition

Five of the world’s best photographers to lead the most ambitious mobile photography competition ever undertaken

Espoo, Finland – Internationally renowned photographer, Juergen Teller; leading American photographer, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia; award winning London-based photographer, Nick Waplington; Raghu Rai, one of India’s most respected documentary photographers and Jiancheng Dong, a prominent landscape and documentary photographer from China are heading up the Nokia Nseries See New Competition which is launched today.

The competition lays down the challenge to aspiring photographers around the world to ‘shoot new’ – capturing something from a different angle or something never previously photographed – using a megapixel camera phone. To inspire people to enter, the stellar line-up of professional photographers have themselves been shooting new using the Nokia N90 advanced imaging device. More than 60 brand new images from these photographers can be viewed at www.seenew.com, Nokia Nseries’ online community for mobile photography enthusiasts.

And the five photographers aren’t just inspiring entrants with their images, they’ll also be judging entries and offering a money can’t buy prize: the chance to spend a day with them assisting on photoshoot.

"After pioneering the concept of mobile photography, we’re now pioneering an exciting new photography challenge," said Pekka Rantala, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Marketing, Nokia. "The See New Competition is designed to encourage people to explore the possibilities of camera phone photography and uncover new photography talent from around the world. It’s a unique competition both in terms of the caliber of professional photographers involved and by its global scale."

Commenting, Nick Waplington said: "Photography as a medium has developed to the point where it’s around us, in all manners, at all times. Camera phones have played a big part in this, pushing the boundaries of when and how so there are many more opportunities to shoot new."

The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18 with a megapixel camera phone. Deadline for entries is 16 December 2005. Full terms and conditions can be found at www.seenew.com.

The Nokia N90 is the flagship camera product in the Nokia Nseries range of high performance multimedia devices. Packed with advanced camera features to capture great quality photos, the Nokia N90 is the first mobile device in the world to feature superior Carl Zeiss optics plus there’s a two megapixel camera with autofocus and 20x digital zoom, integrated flash, macro mode for sharp close-ups and high quality video capture with on-device editing capabilities.

About Nokia Nseries

Nokia Nseries is a range of high performance multimedia devices that delivers unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences by combining the latest technologies with stylish design and ease of use. With Nokia Nseries products, consumers can use a single device to enjoy entertainment, access information and to capture and share pictures and videos, whenever and wherever they want.

About Nokia

Super Series to be live on mobiles

More than 30 million cell phone users in the country can watch the Johnnie Walker Super series cricket live when the tournament starts on October 5

New Delhi, Oct 4.(PTI): More than 30 million cell phone users in the country can watch the Johnnie Walker Super series cricket live when the tournament starts on October 5.

Reliance, BSNL, IDEA, Aircel, Tata Indicom, BPL, Spice, MTNL subscribers can watch the cricket series on their GPRS-enabled cell phones thanks to IMImobiles.

ICC has given the rights to three service providers in India — Airtel, Hutch and IMImobile.

Memory Stick Micro (M2) format

SanDisk and Sony announce the Memory Stick Micro format to address the high storage and smaller size form factor requirements of enhanced multimedia mobile phones

Sunnyvale, CA — SanDisk and Sony Corporation today announced the development of the "Memory Stick Micro" format, an ultra-small IC recording media designed to meet the growing storage needs of highly compact, multifunctional mobile phones. Licensing for the development of "Memory Stick Micro" compatible hardware will begin October 3, 2005.

"Memory Stick Micro" media is approximately one-quarter the size of "Memory Stick PRO Duo" media, yet only about 1.2 mm thick. The media’s edges are slotted lengthwise to allow for more slim-line designed connectors to reduce space in host devices. As dual-voltage media, Memory Stick Micro supports devices operating at 3.3 volts and 1.8 volts.

Memory Stick Micro is designed as an externally removable media with a controlled eject function to prevent users losing the media. Users will be able to insert Memory Stick Micro into an adapter for exchanging data to a Memory Stick PRO compatible product.

Dr. Eli Harari, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk Corporation, said, "Sony and SanDisk recognize the rapidly growing market opportunity for memory cards with multimedia mobile phones, and are joining forces to develop the ultra-small Memory Stick Micro format to foster development of extremely compact multimedia mobile phones."

Akira Kubota, President of Micro Systems Network Company, Sony Corporation, said, "Sony’s collaboration with SanDisk Corporation has continued to develop since our initial announcement of the joint Memory Stick PRO format development in 2003. Today’s joint announcement of the Memory Stick Micro format provides a new, versatile IC recording media for mobile products such as mobile phones for sharing entertainment and data."

The Memory Stick Micro media will be made available in the first half of 2006.