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Nokia launches Nokia Nseries branded multimedia device range

Nokia Nseries offers the latest technologies and new fusions of digital media and mobility to consumers

Amsterdam, Cancun, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur – Nokia announced today the Nokia Nseries branded range of next generation multimedia devices. Packed with the latest technologies such as 3G, Carl Zeiss Optics, megapixel cameras, multi-gigabyte memory, VHS resolution video and WLAN, the Nokia Nseries offers new fusions of digital media and mobility to the hands of mobile users. Consumers can now use a single device to do everything from snapping print-quality images, reading email, listening to music, browsing their favorite websites, watching mobile TV and much more. The Nokia Nseries multimedia range is styled to meet the expectations of the most demanding customers with stainless steel finishes and black pearl and smooth silver color pallets. The first Nokia Nseries products are expected to become available during the second quarter of 2005 followed by several more by the end of 2005.

"This next step in digital convergence brings together mobile devices, Internet content, still and video cameras, music, email and much more. Nokia Nseries devices share similar design traits as mobile phones, but they are actually powerful pocketable computers with a comprehensive set of multimedia features," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia. "The Nokia Nseries offers the world’s most powerful functionality in the mobile space. As Nokia Nseries is based on Series 60, people can choose from thousands of add-on applications to customize their device to best suit their needs. The Nokia Nseries range is the perfect choice for customers who want to have mobility with the latest technologies and great design – for both work and play."

Nokia Nseries – high performance multimedia

Nokia Nseries leads the formation of new mobile product categories through the fusion of rich functionality into one beautifully designed, easy-to-use device. All Nokia Nseries devices support print-quality photography and high quality video recording. In addition, Nokia Nseries devices offer rich music experience including over-the-air downloads, gigabytes of memory and stereo audio.

Featuring large color displays, HTML web browser and streaming video, the Nokia Nseries devices enable access to entertainment, news and information anywhere, anytime. The Nokia Nseries range helps consumers balance personal and work life with a broad range of productivity features such as push email with attachments and full organizer features. PC synchronization of music, images, videos and organizer data are made simple with Nokia PC Suite and multiple connectivity options. As Nokia Nseries is based on the Series 60 smartphone platform, users can choose from more than 3 000 applications to add new functionality to their device. Rich communication is naturally at the core of all Nokia Nseries devices, including telephony, two-way video call, video sharing and multiple messaging options.

Six Apart to Bring Mobile Sharing to LiveJournal Users Through Nokia Lifeblog Compatibilityobile music experience

San Mateo, CA – Six Apart, the leader in weblogging software and services, and Nokia today announced that the users of Six Apart’s LiveJournal online community can easily post text to their diaries using Nokia Lifeblog, an application solution that effortlessly keeps an organized multimedia diary of items collected with your mobile phone. LiveJournal users with paid accounts can also enhance their diaries by uploading photos with text to their LiveJournal entries.

LiveJournal is an online community organized around personal journals. Built on open source software, LiveJournal has helped fuel the rapid growth of blogging by offering consumers both free and paid accounts on its easy-to-use personal publishing service. Every week, more than 1 million users update their LiveJournals.

Nokia Lifeblog software automatically organizes photos, videos, text messages and multimedia messages into a beautiful chronology you can easily browse, search and share. Lifebloggers can already share online, from the phone or PC, via Six Apart’s TypePad personal publishing service.

"The teamwork between Six Apart and Nokia continues to result in creative ways to improve our users’ blogging experience," said Barak Berkowitz, Six Apart’s CEO. "Nokia Lifeblog allows our users to create and seamlessly update a diary on LiveJournal or TypePad, easily sharing photos and memories with family and friends as events happen."

"With LiveJournal support, Nokia Lifeblog now has the potential to reach almost 7 million LiveJournal users," said Christian Lindholm, director of Multimedia Applications, Nokia Ventures Organization. "We are delighted to be working with Six Apart and believe this is an enormous advantage for operators and other service providers, who want to offer their customers the best mobile blogging experience available."

Nokia Lifeblog is compatible with a number of handsets, such as the, Nokia 6682 and Nokia 7610 phones in the Americas, and with the Nokia 3230, Nokia 6260, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6670, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia 7610 handsets in Europe and Asia. The software is also available online at www.nokia.com/lifeblog. Other Nokia Series 60 based phones will be supported as they are released. The blogging capability of Nokia Lifeblog is based on the open ATOM standard.

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.

About Six Apart

Six Apart Ltd., based in San Francisco, CA, is the company behind the Movable Type publishing platform, the TypePad personal weblogging service and LiveJournal, an online community organized around personal journals. Founded by husband and wife team Ben Trott and Mena G. Trott in 2002, who were joined by LiveJournal founder Brad Fitzpatrick early this year, and funded by Neoteny Co., Ltd. and August Capital, Six Apart’s sole focus is to create tools that enable millions of individuals, organizations and corporations to participate in the Web’s full potential by publishing their ideas on the Internet with the simple, yet powerful software and services. For more information about Six Apart, TypePad, Movable Type and LiveJournal, visit the Six Apart corporate weblog at http://www.sixapart.com/.

Six Apart is a trademark of Six Apart Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Indian GSM body sets up 200 mln target by 2007

India’s GSM mobile user base is expected to touch 200 million customers by 2007 as firms ramp up networks in rural areas and slash rates to woo customers in the hotly competitive market, a leading industry body said on Tuesday

With more than 52 million users, India’s fast maturing mobile services sector is already the world’s fastest growing wireless market as cut-rate tariffs are pulling in some 1.7 million new customers each month.

“The Indian GSM cellular industry has matured with most GSM networks making profits and are well positioned to reach the 200-million mark by 2007,” a joint statement by the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

NEW DELHI – India’s GSM mobile user base is expected to touch 200 million customers by 2007 as firms ramp up networks in rural areas and slash rates to woo customers in the hotly competitive market, a leading industry body said on Tuesday

Bharti plans to begin 3G trial runs by month-end

BHARTI Tele-Ventures is set to begin trial runs of 3G mobile services by April-end. The company has sought spectrum from the Department of Telecom (DoT) to conduct the trial runs.

The company has told the DoT that it has set in place the equipment and the network required to conduct trial runs but is awaiting the release of spectrum in the 1900 Mhz, which has been earmarked for 3G services.

New Delhi: Bharti Tele-Ventures is set to begin trial runs of 3G mobile services by April-end. The company has sought spectrum from the Department of Telecom (DoT) to conduct the trial runs.

In a letter to the DoT Secretary, Brijesh Kumar, the company has said, “Bharti Cellular has planned actively to start the trials of 3G networks in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. It is also relevant to mention that the vendors have also been identified for trials and had many rounds of detailed discussions to carry out the trails by April-end, 2005.”

The company had earlier said that it was lining up investments of $1 billion for rolling out 3G mobile services across the country.

Hutch flags off `mobile’ shops in Hyderabad

HUTCH, the cellular service provider, has flagged off the first in the series of three `Mobile Hutch Shops’ here on Monday.

Addressing a press conference after launching the mobile shop, Mr Samuel Selvakumar, Operations Director of Hutchison Essar South, said customers would get access to all the Hutch services, available at the regular shops, at the mobile units.

HUTCH, the cellular service provider, has flagged off the first in the series of three `Mobile Hutch Shops’ here on Monday.

Based in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, the three vans would reach 150 towns covering a length of 100-200 km and two towns a day.

Customers in the respective areas would get an SMS, giving details of the scheduled arrival and stay of the van.

The company believed that the service provided the customers with flexibility to access the Hutch services.

These vans would have pre-determined geographical areas and routes to cover.

These were equipped with Global Packet Radio Service to provide online connectivity to facilitate billing services.

Mr Hamir Bakshi, Chief Operating Officer (AP), said the company had a subscriber base of four lakh in Andhra Pradesh.

The total market size was about 28 lakh.

SOURCE:thehindubusinessline.com

Maran asks cellular industry to reduce mobile roaming charges

The Communication and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, on Tuesday said the roaming charges of private cellular operators are ‘very high’ and the industry must look into it to bring them down.

NEW DELHI: The Communication and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, on Tuesday said the roaming charges of private cellular operators are ‘very high’ and the industry must look into it to bring them down.

“Mobile charges for roaming are very, very high… I think they should be much lower than the existing rates. BSNL does not charge roaming, why can’t the private operators also take this initiative to bring them down,” Mr Maran said at the cellular summ it organised by Cellular Operators Association of India.

The Government, on its part, will do everything to remove all the hurdles coming in the way of growth of telecommunication, the Minister said adding ‘but the operators also must reciprocate from their side.’

Replying to industry’s demand that the Government should reduce the licence fee and allow BSNL to share the infrastructure especially for the rural areas, Mr Maran said, “Don’t waste your time in Delhi making rounds to the ministry… Go to the rural are as and connect India. We, on our part, will do everything to see that all hurdles are removed one by one.”

Maran also launched low price cellular handset of Motorola costing about Rs 1,500. – PTI

BPL Mobile in talks to sell up to 40% stake

India’s privately owned BPL Mobile Communications Ltd. is negotiating to sell up to 40 percent stake to a strategic partner to help boost its business in the world’s fastest growing cellular market, the company said, reports Reuters. India’s mobile services industry, with more than 50 million users and growing rapidly helped by rock-bottom call rates of about 2 U.S. cents a minute, has attracted investors from funds to large global service providers. “We have identified a few partners with whom we are in dialogue,” Chief Executive Officer Sandip Basu told a news conference. “The deal can happen any time.” BPL, which aims to invest $143 million on expansion this year, was in talks with at least three possible partners, including a foreign company, another official said.

bpl
India’s privately owned BPL Mobile Communications Ltd. is negotiating to sell up to 40 percent stake to a strategic partner to help boost its business in the world’s fastest growing cellular market, the company said, reports Reuters. India’s mobile services industry, with more than 50 million users and growing rapidly helped by rock-bottom call rates of about 2 U.S. cents a minute, has attracted investors from funds to large global service providers. “We have identified a few partners with whom we are in dialogue,” Chief Executive Officer Sandip Basu told a news conference. “The deal can happen any time.” BPL, which aims to invest $143 million on expansion this year, was in talks with at least three possible partners, including a foreign company, another official said. Basu said the strategic partner can buy a stake in BPL Cellular Holdings, the founder, or in BPL Mobile Communications that provides cellular services in Bombay, or in BPL Mobile Cellular Ltd., which operates in three other telecoms circles.
“Ideally the strategic partner could pick up stake in the holding company, but it could be in the operating companies as well,” Basu said. Indian founders own 60 percent of the holding company, with the remaining 40 percent held by funds such as Commonwealth Development Corp. and American International Group.
SOURCE:Telecompaper

Yahoo! goes mobile on Nokia smartphones

Nokia, the global leader in mobility, and Yahoo!, the number one global internet brand, today announced an agreement that allows millions of Nokia smartphone users to stay informed, entertained and in touch through Yahoo!’s rapidly developing internet services.

A wide selection of Yahoo! Internet Services pre-installed on Nokia Series 60 devices
Espoo, Finland – Nokia, the global leader in mobility, and Yahoo!, the number one global internet brand, today announced an agreement that allows millions of Nokia smartphone users to stay informed, entertained and in touch through Yahoo!’s rapidly developing internet services. Yahoo! data communications services such as e-mail, Yahoo! entertainment services such as ring tones, wallpapers and downloadable games and Yahoo! Search for Mobile, will be the first set of services available through Nokia devices based on Series 60, the industry-leading smartphone platform.

“Access to information, entertainment and the ability to stay in touch when and where you want is at the heart of our vision of a mobile connected life,” said Harry Santam�ki, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Nokia Multimedia. “Our agreement with Yahoo! is a progressive step in facilitating the adoption of an online lifestyle: we are providing consumers with a familiar way of accessing the internet and Yahoo! email through their mobile devices, with the added convenience of content downloads on the go.”

Juha Varelius, VP & MD of Yahoo! Mobile said: “With consumers’ lives across the world becoming increasingly centered around mobile communications, this new international relationship between Yahoo! and Nokia is a great way for people to have the Yahoo! internet experience on their Nokia phone and benefit from a range of essential services on the go.”

Nokia is the first handset manufacturer with Symbian-based products to distribute Yahoo! services for consumers in such a large number of European and Asian markets, including Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Spain and the United Kingdom. The first Nokia devices with Yahoo! internet services are the Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and the Nokia 6630. More devices will be announced on April 27. The existing Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681 and Nokia 6630 owners will be able to download similar applications over-the-air in the same markets starting from the second half of 2005.

iTunes Mobile Coming Soon in June

Think Secret is reporting that Apple is finishing up a version of iTunes music software for Mobile Phones. The software currently carries the name of iTunes Mobile 1.0 which has been in development since last year when Motorola and Apple teamed..

Skype Coming To Mobile Phones

At the Voice On the Net (VON) conference in Toronto, Skype Technologies co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom reported that a mobile version of Skype will be available this year…

At the Voice On the Net (VON) conference in Toronto, Skype Technologies co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom reported that a mobile version of Skype will be available this year.

Skype is a free global telephony application that allows for VoIP communications, it currently runs on Mac OSX, Windows and Pocket PC, Skype plans to release a version for Embedded Linux, Symbian or Windows Mobile devices later this year.
Skype
�We will encourage hardware manufacturers to deploy Skype on their devices.?? said Zennstrom. SkypeMobile for mobile devices (our unofficial name for the new Skype) will be targeted to hardware manufacturers for integration into new dual-mode (GPRS + WiFi) mobile devices once made available to carriers. Our guess is that whichever manufacturer will adopt Skype first is the platform SkypeMobile will be released for.

Regulatory issues may slow Skypes deployment down, large telecommunication companies have huge pull when it comes to communication regulations. They earn billions of dollars each year from long distance calls, they also pay the government millions more in taxes each year. According to Zennstrom these companies will be the last ones to continue charging for long distance communications on a per call basis while other companies have started offering flat-rate services.

It may be hard convincing a manufacturer to allow Skype to be put on their device and be available right out of the box, the carriers will bitch and complain that it will cut their airtime revenues. Besides, what will stop them from removing the software once its in their hands? We know sneaky stuff like this has happened before.

Symbian announces Symbian 9

Symbian key strategic focus is to ensure Symbian OS is adopted as a platform for the development of higher volume and lower cost, advanced phones for 2.5G and 3G networks around the world.

Symbian�s key strategic focus is to ensure Symbian OS is adopted as a platform for the development of higher volume and lower cost, advanced phones for 2.5G and 3G networks around the world.

Symbain
Symbian OS v9 helps lower Symbian OS licensee development costs and accelerate time to market for smaller, less expensive and even more capable Symbian OS smartphones.

As a robust, secure, open and standards-based platform, Symbian OS v9 will support network operators� cost-effective deployment of revenue-generating services, content and applications.

Symbian OS licensees have phones based on Symbian OS v9 in development, with product launches anticipated during the second half of 2005.

Key enhancements in Symbian OS v9 include:

Enabling multimedia phones � Symbian OS v9 supports Bluetooth stereo headsets, USB mass storage, advanced audio mixing and playback, as well as the latest MPEG and OMA DRM standards.

Enhanced support for 3D graphics, multimedia and graphics acceleration as well as support for different screen sizes and orientations, and simultaneous multiple displays.

Managing Symbian OS phones � Using OMA-compliant Device Management solutions, network operators and enterprise IS managers will be able to access a user�s phone over the air to deploy new network services, capabilities or applications, or to diagnose a problem, as well as to audit applications installed on a phone.

Supporting the Enterprise � Symbian OS v9 provides new enterprise functions such as enhanced filtering and sorting of IMAP email, as well as new group scheduling capabilities, including accepting meeting invitations from standard PIM applications such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook.

Even better phone performance � Symbian OS v9 supports the latest generation of ARM-based processors that will enable faster and more powerful Symbian OS phones with improved battery life.

Kenyans Text Messaging Their Way to Jobs

In the rural parts of Kenya, jobseekers wishing to use the Internet used to have to travel long distances to the nearest town with a cyber cafe.

NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) – In the rural parts of Kenya, jobseekers wishing to use the Internet used to have to travel long distances to the nearest town with a cyber cafe.

That changed last year with the creation of OneWorld International, a Kenyan firm offering a mobile phone text messaging service that advertises jobs and allows candidates to apply from wherever they are.

SOURCE :Reuters
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Motorola and Nokia outsell Samsung in cameraphone market

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, 257 million camera phones were shipped worldwide, representing 38% of total handset sales, in 2004. This was up sharply from 84 million, or 16% of total, in 2003.

Camera phones outsold digital still cameras by almost 4 to 1, reaching just 68 million units globally in 2004. Sales grew 40 percent annually, from 49 million units in 2003.

Blocking stolen phones in South Africa

South Africa’s three mobile phone operators have agreed to co-operate on sharing databases of stolen phones and baring them from use on all three networks. This agreement will make it easier for the companies – Cell C, MTN and Vodacom – to blacklist and disable stolen, lost and destroyed cell phones and for the police to trace and arrest those who steal cell phones or use them to further their criminal activities.

Until now stolen phones have been “grey” listed by MTN and Vodacom, which means that the sim cards were blocked but not the cell phone instruments. Criminals could simply change sim cards and continue using the phones. On the other hand Cell C has been blacklisting stolen or lost cellphones since its inception.
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Nigeria signs CDMA450 contract

China’s Huawei Technologies and Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications have signed a US$200 million agreement t….

China’s Huawei Technologies and Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications have signed a US$200 million agreement to deploy a nation-wide CDMA450 wireless access technology across Nigeria. China Development Bank will provide Nigeria with a loan of US$200 million for this project. Huawei Technologies has also committed to an additional US$20 million manufacturing investment in Nigeria.