Day: February 5, 2008

Annual highlights Converged device shipments (smart phones and wireless handhelds) rose 60% to hit 115 million in 2007 Shipments of handhelds fell 47% to 3.0 million, from 5.6 million in 2006 APAC is the largest region by volume – 47.9 million units in 2007, ahead of EMEA at 45.9 million North America is growing fast – shipments doubled to 20.9 million, from 10.3 million in 2006 Nokia remained global market leader, shipping 60.5 million smart phones RIM shipments grew 112% year-on-year to 12.2 million, strengthening its second place position By OS provider, Symbian leads on 67% share, followed by Microsoft on 13%, with RIM on 10%. Q4 highlights – converged devices Converged device shipments rose 72% year-on-year in Q4 2007, the highest growth seen all year Nokia and RIM retained their number one and two positions Apple achieved third place despite its limited geographic coverage, with 7% share APAC converged device shipments rose 23%, EMEA 79%, and North America 222% Symbian leads with 65% share, ahead of Microsoft on 12%, RIM on 11%, Apple on 7%, and Linux at 5% Highlights from the Canalys research The latest market data from analyst firm Canalys shows how much the converged device market (all smart phones and wireless handhelds) has grown over the past year. These, typically high-end, devices represented around 10% of the global mobile phone market by units in 2007, with annual growth of 60% making them one of the fastest growing segments of the technology industry. Year-on-year growth climbed every quarter throughout 2007, to reach a peak of 72% in Q4. Apple’s entry into this market in 2007 with the iPhone sparked a lot of media attention and speculation about how much it could disrupt the status quo and take share away from companies such as Nokia, RIM, Palm and Motorola. “When you consider that it launched part way through the year, with limited operator and country coverage, and essentially just one product, Apple has shown very clearly that it can make a difference and has sent a wakeup call to the market leaders,” said Pete Cunningham, Canalys senior analyst. “What it must demonstrate now is that it can build a sustainable business in the converged device space, expanding its coverage and product portfolio. It will also need to ensure that the exclusive relationships that got it so far so quickly do not prove to be a limit on what it can achieve. Apple’s innovation in its mobile phone user interface has prompted a lot of design activity among competitors. We saw the beginnings of that in 2007, but we will see a lot more in 2008 as other smart phone vendors try to catch up and then get back in front. Experience shows that a vendor with only one smart phone design, no matter how good that design is, will soon struggle. A broad, continually refreshed portfolio is needed to retain and grow share in this dynamic market. This race is a marathon, but you pretty much have to sprint every lap.” Canalys estimates that Apple took 28% share of the fast growing US converged device market in Q4 2007, behind RIM’s 41%, but a long way ahead of third placed Palm on 9%. This was also enough to put Apple ahead of all Windows Mobile device vendors combined, whose share was 21% in the quarter according to Canalys figures. In EMEA, where the iPhone officially launched part way through the quarter in only three countries, Apple took fifth spot behind Nokia, RIM, HTC and Motorola, but ahead of several established smart phone providers such as Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Palm. For the full year 2007, as in 2006, the Asia Pacific region was the biggest in volume terms for converged device shipments. Apple has of course not yet launched the iPhone in the region, and many vendors who are successful in other parts of the world, such as RIM and Palm, have also made relatively little impact there so far. Nokia continues to lead in the region, with more than 50% share in converged devices, ahead of Japanese smart phone vendors Sharp and Fujitsu. Motorola, despite enjoying fourth place, has seen its Linux-based smart phone shipments in the region fall 28% from their high in 2006. “The mobile Linux opportunity remains just that – an opportunity,” added Rachel Lashford, manager of Canalys in APAC, “Total Linux-based phone shipments in 2007 were almost flat on 2006. There is still too much fragmentation and not enough momentum for any single open standard around which the energy of developers, manufacturers and operators can coalesce.” Nokia’s recent announcement of its intention to acquire Trolltech will no doubt have raised questions among some of Trolltech’s mobile phone producing partners about their Linux implementation strategy going forward. Meanwhile Google’s Android initiative, like others before it, remains an idea yet to turn into viable commercial products widely accepted by both mobile network operators and the mass market. Although off to a slow start, Canalys expects Linux will account for a significant proportion of mobile phone shipments within the next few years. Lashford continued: “Rising consumer interest in having a rich, high-speed browsing experience on a mobile device, and the demand for visually sophisticated navigation and location applications will attract more companies into this arena. Flattening mobile data costs, and the advertising-funded possibilities generated by location-based services, will help reduce usage barriers. Improvements in the underlying technologies and innovation in user interfaces will lead to more usable devices. All these factors will help push the high-end mobile phone and smart phone segments forward. Meanwhile supply-side concerns around time to market and build and support costs will drive the industry to look for economies of scale. Mobile Linux can have a big part to play in this future, but at the moment the maturity of the other mobile operating systems puts them a long way ahead.” In Q4 2007, Canalys estimates that Symbian had a 65% share of worldwide converged device shipments, ahead of Microsoft on 12% and RIM on 11%. By region, Symbian led in APAC and EMEA with 85% and 80% shares respectively, while in North America RIM was the clear leader on 42%, ahead of Apple on 27% and Microsoft at 21%.

“Mizi Research announced an “ultra low-cost” mobile phone reference design based on its Linux-compatible phone stack. The Korean firm says it is collaborating with an unnamed manufacturer to develop a complete hardware/software design that will take as little as three months to bring to market.The new phone design will support CDMA, GSM, GPRS, and Edge cellular protocols, says Mizi, and there are plans for adding TV and GPS support. The phone will offer Mizi’s application suite, including phone, multimedia, messaging, Internet, PIMs, and Java.Prizm is a lightweight stack that incorporates its own small-footprint, embedded graphics stack. This makes it a bit less customizable than GTK-based heavy stacks, but able to run faster on less expensive hardware.In May, Mizi Research updated Prizm’s graphical user interface framework for consumer electronic devices. Prizm 3.0 switched to Python as its main application programming language, and has gained visual effects such as dragging, sliding, fading and accelerated smart scrolling.Prizm supports concatenated SMS and EMS protocols, and its email system supports POP3, IMAP4, MIME attachments, and SMTP. Web browsing features include support for MMS 4.0, WAP Push, and Macromedia Flash. I/O support includes USB, Bluetooth, IrDA, and serial connections. The Prizm SDK (software development kit) is based on an Eclipse 3.0 GUI framework and is available for both Linux and Windows development hosts.Stated Mizi CEO Young-Jin Seo, “I am looking forward to see 2 mil+ devices ship with Prizm in 2008, and ten times that amount in 2009.”The low-cost Prizm mobile design will be available in Q3, says Mizi. The company will demonstrate the design at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona on February 11-14 at its booth (Hall 2.1 A76).” More photos here:

Apple today added new models of the iPhone and iPod touch which have double the memory, doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can carry with them wherever they go. The revolutionary iPhone now comes in a new 16GB model for $499, joining the 8GB model for $399. iPod touch now comes in a 32GB model for $499, joining the 16GB model for $399 and the 8GB model for $299. “For some users, there’s never enough memory,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. “Now people can enjoy even more of their music, photos and videos on the most revolutionary mobile phone and best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world.” Both iPhone and iPod touch feature Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger. All iPhone and iPod touch models include the latest software enhancements announced last month including the ability to automatically find your location using the new Maps application; create Web Clips for your favorite websites; customize your home screen and watch movies from the new iTunes Movie Rentals. Both iPhone and iPod touch feature the world’s most advanced mobile web browser in the world with Safari and great mobile applications including Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes. Pricing & Availability The new 16GB iPhone is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and AT&T retail and online stores. The 32GB iPod touch is available worldwide immediately for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only. iPhone and iPod touch require a Mac with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later and iTunes 7.6; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) or later and iTunes 7.6.

“In terms of dimensions the HTC Touch Cruise is right among the compact PocketPCs on the market. It stands at 110 x 58 x 15.5 mm and weighs 130g, which is far not the smallest gadget around but it won’t tear a hole in your pocket either. Compared to the TyTN II, the Cruise earns points on both slimness and weight.In all fairness, the Touch Cruise is far from the LG KS20 and the HTC Touch but those are just the exceptions that confirm the rule. The earpiece is situated at the center of the top part of the front panel. There are two status LEDs on each side, while the video-call camera is in the right corner. The right LED glows in green and amber to indicate data transfer, message receipt and network status, as well as battery charging. It also blinks in red when the battery level drops below 5%. The left LED serves as a Bluetooth-on notification, and emits green light for Wi-Fi status. When both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled, their lights flash alternately. It also blinks in amber for GPS status.Below the earpiece it’s all display. The 2.8″ touchscreen display is to receive its deserved attention a little later in our review.” Read more here”

Opera Software, the only company that puts the Web on any device, today announced the commercial release of Opera Mobile 9.5 — the latest version of its award-winning Web browser for sophisticated feature phones and smartphones. Participants at the Mobile World Congress 2008 will be the first to experience the improved functionality of Opera Mobile 9.5.According to high-tech market research firm, In-Stat, the smartphone market will grow at more than a 30% compound annual growth rate for the next five years globally, exceeding unit sales for laptops, as users experience significant value from their smartphones. Users are downloading more applications and generating higher usage as measured by average revenue per user (ARPU) for operators. The main driver that has fueled this growth is overall user experience on the mobile Web.Built on Opera’s unique core architecture, the Opera Mobile 9.5 desktop-like browsing experience has been enhanced with innovations such as zooming and panning that make it easier to navigate, load pages quicker and get users closer to the Web content and entertainment they want. With Opera Mobile 9.5, users can experience the real Web and interact with content exactly as they do on their PC. Faster speed The new version utilizes Opera’s Presto rendering engine to achieve page load speeds comparable to a desktop experience. The Opera Presto engine was modified and improves browsing performance significantly by accelerating the handling of Web pages. It dramatically improves page responsiveness on pages with heavy use of languages such as JavaScript and Ajax, ensuring smooth, hassle-free browsing. Compelling experience Opera Mobile 9.5 includes numerous features aimed at elevating the mobile browsing experience. Not only is the user interface (UI) intuitive enough to master in minutes, Opera Mobile 9.5 introduces several new innovations that elevate the Internet experience on a handheld device. Users can take advantage of the intuitive Opera Zoom™ to dive into the page and get closer to the content they want. In addition, productivity tools like the ability to save pages for offline browsing, Web address auto complete and password manager help busy users make the most of their time. Fully loaded Web 2.0-enabled, Widget-ready and Flash support turn Opera Mobile 9.5 into a fully loaded browser allowing users to access all their favorite Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace and more. With Opera Mobile 9.5, OEMs and operators will have the capability to include Flash Lite 3, empowering their smartphone users with access to the full Web including the ability to watch videos on YouTube effortlessly. In addition, Opera Widgets, which are mini applications that allow content to be accessed easily from the device idle screen with just a few clicks, are included in the new edition — automatically engaging the user through ease of operation and meeting consumer demands for quick access to information. New revenue sources, bigger brand Opera Mobile 9.5’s ability to serve Web content directly on the idle screen gets mobile OEMs or operators closer to users. By greatly reducing the number of clicks required to get to content, there is a real potential for operators to increase data revenue and user loyalty. In addition, access to the idle screen allows operators to place their brand strategically to interact dynamically with users. Opera Mobile 9.5 is everything that handset makers and operators have been trying to achieve for years. “Opera Mobile is the result of Opera’s unwavering commitment to a vision that puts a true Web experience in the hands of mobile users,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “The improved functionality of Opera Mobile 9.5 and easy access to information has raised the bar on a more compelling mobile Web browsing experience and will further stimulate mobile Internet adoption.” The Opera Mobile 9.5 experience includes many of the innovations found in Opera’s trend-setting desktop browser including: Intuitive user interface Tabbed browsing Improved text wrap Page overview, zooming and panning Landscape mode Save Web page for future offline access Call phone number from Web page Send link as SMS/MMS Send image as SMS/MMS Small Screen Rendering™ Password manager Web address input auto-completion History and bookmarks Copy text Opera WidgetsOpera Mobile is currently shipped on more than 100 million phones with many of the world’s top mobile OEMs and operators such as HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, and others. Leading software platform provider, UIQ, has realized the potential of Opera’s new mobile browser. “UIQ works with the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers to create the ultimate user experience. Our long-standing partnership with Opera has given users the ability to access all their favorite Web sites and services,” says Mats Barvesten, EVP Product Planning and Product Management at UIQ Technology. “We look forward to introducing our upcoming handsets, featuring the groundbreaking Opera Mobile 9.5 browser.” Along with hands-on exposure to Opera Mobile 9.5, Mobile World Congress participants will also have the ability to experience Opera on a variety of devices: Opera Mobile on smartphones, free downloads of Opera Mini 4, improved Web browsing on gaming consoles and the ARCHOS Generation 5 Media players will be just a few of the exciting features of Opera’s 2008 exhibit. Mobile World Congress will be held on the 11th through the 14th of February in 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. Visit the Opera Booth in Hall 2, 2C76 or email conference@opera.com to book a meeting.

“VITO Technology releases its SMS-Chat on http://iwindowsmobile.com that brings threaded SMS to your Windows Mobile device. SMS-Chat is designed to give you total control over text messaging. Finger friendly interface and sparkling looks with animated menus result in extremely convenient and appealing user experience.SMS-Chat is a Windows Mobile SMS messenger that organizes your SMS correspondence into threaded SMS conversations. Isn’t it great to have a separate chat for every contact with whom you exchange short text messages, just like in your IM client? You can easily follow a conversation scrolling thru a chat with a finger: all messages are grouped by date. Chats with the most recent message always appear at the top. Moreover, SMS-Chat presents a number of useful features like multiple SMS messaging, resending, forwarding and deleting messages (you can also delete the whole chat). SMS-Chat is available for $14.95 at http://iwindowsmobile.com. German, French, Spanish and Italian versions are available at pocketland.de.” via slashphone.com