Gadgets and Gizmos

The worldwide mobile phone market showed signs of recovery from the first quarter of 2005 due to impressive shipments of entry-level mobile phones to both developing and mature markets. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 188.7 million units in the second quarter, increasing 7.3% sequentially and 16.3% from the same quarter one year ago.

Among the leading vendors, Nokia maintained its leadership, nearly doubling the shipments of its closest competitor and continuing its string of consecutive quarters with market share greater than thirty percent. U.S.-based Motorola finished the quarter solidly in second place, and combined with Nokia, the two represent half the market. In addition,
Motorola improved its lead over Samsung by nearly ten million units. Samsung’s growth was flat from the previous quarter, but the vendor nearly reached the halfway point of fifty million units in its quest to ship one hundred million units this year. Finishing fourth was LG Electronics, although only three hundred thousand units separate it from fifth place Sony Ericsson. Last quarter, 1.7 million units separated the two vendors.

“The emphasis on entry-level phones demonstrates that vendors are keying in on specific regional and customer needs. Although this helps volumes, it also puts downward pressure on average selling prices and vendor profitability,” said Ramon Llamas, research analyst for IDC’s Mobility Group. “Despite all the interest and excitement over cutting edge devices, there continues to be a demand for simple voice-only phones that appeal to broad customer segments, even in mature markets like North America.”

Within developing markets, vendors are eager to supply phones to reach different customer segments. According to Aloysius Choong, research analyst for IDC Asia/Pacific, “Much has been made about the enormous potential of developing markets, but heavily-populated cities in these countries have already been largely tapped despite the relatively low penetration rates overall. Affordable handsets thus help sustain subscriber growth by reaching into the less-populated cities and rural regions.”

Source : Online Resources

The Irish politician, Michael Finneran TD has called for rules to be put in place on ringtone adverts, so that RegTel the industry watchdog can regulate premium rate phone services.

“Such safeguards would protect consumers signing up for premium rate ringtone services, such as ringtones and wallpapers. Many misleading ads have meant many people have run up large bills because all costs are not spelled out. It has come to light, that many people have mistakenly run up large bills by inadvertently subscribing to ringtone and text services when they thought they were just buying one tune.”

“The popularity of ringtones, such as ‘Crazy Frog’ has led many people to download it to their phone without realising that it is only part of a bundle of tunes they will be regularly billed for, in essence they are signing up for a subscription plan.”

“What we need to see in place, are rules which will force content sellers to make it clear what people have bought and how much ongoing costs are. Also, that details of prices and how often people are billed are prominent in adverts.”

“One of the biggest problems which may be faced is the actual policing ringtone sellers. We need to be more active in seeking out offending firms rather than just investigating on a case-by-case basis. I will be calling on RegTel and the Department of Communications, Marine & Natural Resources to urgently examine the introduction of such proposals”, Deputy Finneran concluded.

Source : Online Resources

Motorola has announced the deployment of a Push-To-Talk over Cellular (PoC) network for Optimus in Portugal. Optimus’ subscribers will initially have a choice of PoC handsets; the Motorola V400p and Symbian Series 60 devices with the Motorola PoC Client. Each Motorola handset delivers a distinct ‘walkie-talkie’ experience, including one-touch access to presence-enabled phone contacts, giving subscribers flexibility and speed in how they communicate.

“With voice remaining popular, PoC provides us with the opportunity to offer a new service based on an already popular form of communication and increase revenues whilst utilizing our existing GPRS data network. ‘Push-to- x’ applications are expected to develop considerably over the next few years with compelling roadmaps, for which Optimus wants to be ready,” said Miguel Almeida, Chief Operational Officer for Optimus.

Today’s announcement with Optimus demonstrates the momentum PoC is gaining as Western European mobile operators increasingly regard it as a standard service they need to offer. It further illustrates Motorola’s continued leadership position within the PoC market and acceptance of its IMS applications.

The PoC deployment further develops Motorola’s relationship with Optimus, following Motorola’s successful 3G network deployment for the operator in 2004.

Source : Online Resources

Have you ever wondered why your mobile phone keeps working in the depths of a large building or in the middle of an underground tunnel? It wasn’t always that way. Those of us who were using cell phones ten years ago will recall that indoor coverage in malls, offices and airports was an almost unknown luxury. No signal? That’s life: you’ll just have to step outside to make that call.

Today consumers’ expectations are much higher. And thanks to “in-building wireless” – systems that re-transmit mobile signals inside large buildings and underground — those expectations are increasingly being met. “People take in-building wireless for granted,” he says. “It’s below the radar for most of us. And yet people ask me ‘why is in-building wireless important, and is the market for it going to grow?’”

The answer to the first question, says Wilson, is that it’s important because today’s cellular users expect ubiquitous coverage. We spend a great deal of time indoors, and the assumption is that the mobile phone is going to work all the time, anywhere.

The second question’s answer is contained within the first: yes, the in-building wireless market is virtually guaranteed to grow, since it must keep pace with the expanding reach and range of outdoor wireless communications. In fact, even today only a relatively small percentage of buildings in North America and Western Europe are equipped with in-building wireless, so the market will probably grow even faster as more buildings are retro-fitted with these systems.

Source : Online Resources

Australia’s Minister for Communications, Senator Helen Coonan, has announced a package of initiatives to regulate the way mobile phone towers are deployed. The Telecommunications Act 1997 provides carriers with exemption from State or Territory legislation to install certain specified facilities, primarily those which are defined as low-impact facilities. However, when installing such facilities, carriers must comply with the requirements specified in the Australian Communications Industry Forum code, including strict consultation requirements.

“I believe that the current regulatory framework continues to balance carriers’ abilities to meet consumers’ needs to access telecommunications services, while still recognising a community’s interests in its environment,” Senator Coonan said.

“Nevertheless, there is scope to fine tune and add clarity to current deployment practices while still enabling carriers to continue to provide access to mobile phone and wireless broadband services in a timely manner.”

The package of initiatives was unveiled at a meeting in Canberra with representatives from the industry, Tower Sanity Alliance, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.

“Today’s meeting was very productive and I understand that the industry will continue to meet with community representatives to examine options for further improvements to existing practices, such as the provision of training to carriers’ contractors on deployment processes,” Senator Coonan said.

“The initiatives include improved community notification requirements, increased public education, improving the look and design of towers, independent audits of electromagnetic emissions (EME) from towers, and a new EME reporting framework.

“The carriers have also given an undertaking to avoid placing a tower on single residential dwellings without the approval of the landowner. I have asked the Mobile Carriers Forum (representing Hutchison, Optus, Telstra and Vodafone) to consider further initiatives to minimise the impact on residential properties, for example extending this undertaking to multi-storey residential buildings.