Tecom boosts its equity holdings in WiMAX Telecom to over 44%

30 Nov, 2007,

Taiwan-based telecom equipment maker Tecom has increased its equity investment in WiMAX Telecom, a licensed WiMAX operator, to a total of NT$436 million (US$13.5 million). The company now holds a 44.25% stake in the WiMAX operator, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Additionally, Tecom's parent company, Teco Electric & Machinery also holds a 10% stake in WiMAX Telecom, making the Teco Group the majority shareholder of the WiMAX operator, according to sources at Tecom.
Tecom, in addition to starting deliveries of WiMAX base stations to WiMAX Telecom by the end of this year, will also venture into the production of WiMAX CPE (consumer premises equipment) products, said the sources.

China-based Huawei and ZTE to enter global smartphone market in 2008, say sources

30 Nov, 2007

China-based Huawei Technologies and ZTE are expected to start making inroads into the global smartphone market in 2008, joining Amoi Electronics and TechFaith Wireless as new rivals to Taiwan-based smartphone vendors, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry.
Huawei is expected to launch Windows Mobile- and Symbian-based smartphones, targeting telecom service providers in Europe, said the industry sources, noting that Huawei may also push sales of own-brand smartphones to other markets.
Huawei has been shipping 3G mobile phones to Vodafone with total shipments already exceeding 800,000 units, the sources indicated. In addition, Huawei is also a supplier of 3G data cards for more than 150 telecom service providers around the globe.
ZTE has ventured into the development of Linux- and Windows Mobile-based smartphones, the sources indicated, noting that ZTE has established business relationships with Vodafone, Hutchison Telecom and BT, and the company is also a leading provider of CDMA handsets in India.

Global mobile penetration hits 50%, says research firm

30 Nov, 2007

Worldwide mobile subscriptions have hit 3.3 billion, equivalent to 50% of the global population, according to research firm Informa Telecoms & Media.
As of the end of September 2007 there were operational networks in 224 countries around the globe, a figure that has increased from 192 in 1997 and 35 in 1987, noted the research firm.
Informa estimates that mobile networks covered 90% of the global population by mid-2007. This means that some 40% of the world's inhabitants are covered by a network, but not connected, and leaves just 10% with neither coverage nor connection.
Although global mobile subscriptions have reached the equivalent of 50% of the world's population, this does not mean that half of the 6.6 billion or so people in the world now have a mobile phone.
A large number of more mature markets worldwide already have in excess of 100% mobile penetration, as users increasingly sign up for more than one subscription, while emerging markets increasingly provide the bulk of new additions, noted Informa.
As of the end of September, 59 countries had mobile penetration of over 100%, while almost half that figure, 27, had penetration under 10%.
The economic difference between the more mature markets and those in developing countries is highlighted by the vast differences in operator average revenues per user (ARPU).
Kuwaiti operator Zain brings in the highest blended ARPU in the world at the equivalent of US$71 per month. But it is followed closely by Hutchison Whampoa's 3 UK operation with an ARPU of US$70.55 and Qatar operator Q-Tel with US$69. Japanese operator KDDI brings in US$67.65 per user per month, while Hutchison's Austrian operation records an ARPU of US$66.84.
But at the other end of the scale, Hutchison's Sri Lankan operator only counts revenues of US$2.83 per user per month, beaten narrowly by Bangladesh's PBTL, which operates under the CityCell brand and has an ARPU of US$2.98. Ukrainian operator Astelit counts user revenues of US$3, as does Pakistan's CMPak, while another Bangladeshi operator, Sheba Telecom, reports an ARPU of US$3.10, according to Informa.

FIH takes over Nokia San Diego CDMA team, say sources

30 Nov, 2007
Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) has taken over the CDMA team of Nokia located in San Diego, USA, in attempts to further strengthen its partnership with the handset vendor, according to market sources.
FIH is facing strong competition from rivals such as Compal Communications, BYD and TechFaith. These companies are expected to begin shipping low-end CDMA handsets to Nokia in the first half of 2008. TechFaith is expected to ship GSM/CDMA dual-mode handset to Nokia, noted the sources.
To deepen its relationship with Nokia, FIH has taken over the company's CDMA team in San Diego. In the future, FIH will not only team up with Nokia on low-end products, but the company will also pursue orders for mid-range and high-end handsets too, added the sources.
Nokia has not solved its royalty disagreements with Qualcomm and the company's joint venture CDMA business with Sanjo has not worked out. Therefore, since the second half of 2006, the company has seen its market share falling sharply in North America.
In order to strengthen its position in the CDMA sector, Nokia has decided to outsource orders to reinforce certain CDMA markets during 2008. In addition to the low-end, Nokia will also target mid-range and high-end markets, the sources noted.

Hearst-Argyle to become reseller of Google advertising program

Nov 28 (Reuters) -

Hearst-Argyle Television Inc (HTV) agreed with Google Inc (GOOG) to become the first television industry reseller of the Google AdWords advertising program. The company said it would use its Web sales force to provide marketers in its 26 local markets access to Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising platform that helps small and medium-sized businesses use the Web to find new customers by delivering relevant ads when users search for specific products and services, Hearst-Argyle said in a statement.

Nokia, Motorola and Samsung Lead the Chinese Mobile Phone Market

China's Analysys International says in its recently released quarterly handset sales tracker, that the sales volume of mobile phone has reached 37.43 million units in the third quarter in China, growing 7.4% over the last quarter.

China Mobile Phone Breakdown in Q3 07
According to the research of Analysys International, the sales volume of GSM handset has reached 32.97 million units, increasing 8.5% over the second quarter of 2007; the sales volume of CDMA handset has reached 2.46 million units, decreasing 5.7% from last quarter.
In this quarter, the total sales volume of Nokia, Motorola and Samsung accounted for 60.3% of the total in China. Nokia occupied 35.1% of the market, rising 27.8% quarter on quarter. Motorola accounted for 13.6%, decreasing 21.1% from last quarter.
From the perspective of CDMA handset market, Samsung led the market with 25.6%, followed by Huawei with the market share of 24.4%.

Posted to the site on 28th November 2007

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Google aims for renewable energy priced below coal

Reuters - November 27, 2007 9:45 PM ET

By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG) said on Tuesday it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to help drive down the cost of electricity made from renewable energy below the price of coal.
The project, dubbed Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal, is hiring dozens of engineers and targeting investment financing at advanced solar thermal power, wind power, enhanced geothermal systems and other new technologies, Google said.
The Web services and online advertising group will be a big customer for the project, running computers and networks on the electricity and selling back what's left to the power grid.
"Our goal is to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity that is cheaper than coal. We are optimistic this can be done in years, not decades," Larry Page, Google's co-founder and president of products, said in a statement.
A gigawatt can power a city the size of San Francisco. An analyst at broker Raymond James noted the entire U.S. solar cell generation capacity at the end of 2006 was only just over half a gigawatt, while 11.6 gigawatts came from wind power.
Page and Sergey Brin, Google's two 34-year-old co-founders, told reporters their plan made business sense but the company also planned to license any resulting technologies worldwide.
"We see a plausible path to much lower energy costs and we just want to get people working on that now," Page said.
The Web search leader does not disclose the energy consumed in powering its online services, but local energy experts say it ranks as one of Silicon Valley's biggest energy customers.
"As Google grows, we don't want our core business to be part of the problem. We want to be part of the solution," said Larry Brilliant, head of Google.org, the company's philanthropic arm which will direct the energy investments.
Brin said he felt the company would be "hypocritical" not to do something. Google and its founders are big promoters of electric cars and the roof of its headquarters in Mountain View, California, supports a large solar energy installation.
The initiative falls outside the company's management rule whereby most effort is focused on its core Web search, ad and software businesses. Page said while it does fall under Google's "Director of Other," it would cut operating costs.
Around Google headquarters, the Renewable Energy Cheaper project is known by the mathematical shorthand of "REC." "I know it's a little bit geeky," Page told reporters. Details can be found at http://www.google.com/renewableenergy/
THROWING WEIGHT AROUND
Google, now the sixth-largest U.S. company by market value, is taking advantage of its size, a growing mountain of cash, and global brand recognition in launching the campaign.
Officials said Google is targeting renewable energy that could produce a gigawatt of energy at prices, when investments are fully amortized, of 3 cents per kilowatt hour or lower.
"We think we need to get in the range of 1 to 3 cents per kilowatt hour to be cheaper than coal," said Bill Weihl, who carries the title of Green Energy Czar at Google.
The push comes as oil prices near $100 a barrel and coal, which generates 40 percent of the world's electricity, faces regulatory and environmental pressures that may boost prices.
"If they can do it cheaper than coal, then that's the Holy Grail," said Mark Manley, alternative fuels analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder. "If they figure it out, it will take off."
But he and other analysts warned that Google's hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for the projects are unlikely to make a dent in the multitrillion-dollar energy market.
"This is a tall order to fill," Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst with Raymond James wrote in a research note to investors. He said solar energy is not cost-competitive with conventional grid electricity in any major market.
If successful in generating power at prices below coal, Google would put the technology to work to slow climate change resulting from increased global coal and oil consumption.
"I don't want to overstate (our goal) too much," Page told Reuters in an interview. "Our goal is to do it in a way that could be applied to a significant amount of the electric generation in the world."
Google plans to spend tens of millions of dollars in 2008 on renewable energy development and other efforts. Its initial focus will be solar thermal and enhanced geothermal systems.
Eventually, the company would spend hundreds of millions of dollars in for-profit "breakthrough renewable energy projects." Hydroelectric and nuclear energy are not part of the project.
Page believes no more than 1,000 researchers worldwide are focused on renewable energy cheaper than coal. "We would really like to get those people in one room and give them resources."

Windows Mobile Smartphones to Get Firefox Mobile Web Browser

Mozilla, the open-source group behind the Firefox web browser expects to launch a mobile version of its web browser initially on Windows Mobile based smartphones. Writing on his blog, lead engineer Christian Sejersen, noted that they are not supporting Symbian - and asked for assistance in porting the mobile browser to that platform.
Click to enlarge
HTC S730 Mockup
The mobile browser is either already up and running or will be soon on a Windows Mobile 6 handset and the Nokia N800 linux tablet - and will allow the developer community to start testing UX with different hardware characteristics e.g. screen size (N800/N810: 800×480 vs. HTC S730 320×240) and touch-screen vs. non-touch-screen.
Sejersen started working at Mozilla in October (coming from Openwave Systems) where he is heading up the engineering efforts for mobile including setting up an R&D office in Copenhagen with primary focus on bringing Mozilla technology to mobile devices.
Norway's Opera Software has been the main player in porting their PC based web browser to the mobile phone and says that it's browser has been shipped on more than 100 million handsets to date

On the web: Christian Sejersen
Posted to the site on 27th November 2007

The future of communications

27 Nov, 2007

Lightweight, viral systems that grow with use will define how we keep in touch in the years to come
Late last week I spoke with Andy Lippman about the future of communications.
Co-director of MIT's Communications Futures Program and associate director of the MIT Media Lab from 1983 to 2001, Lippman is a deep thinker. And for the past 30 years, Lippman has been thinking deeply about personal communications and computing. As you might expect, Lippman took the conversation to some heady places:
"A lot of people are thinking about telepresence: feeling what is happening remotely...almost like being there."
"When things are connected, all things become opportunities for services.""We will see real-world mashups between people, between people and machines, and machines talking to machines."
But you would be wrong to think that Lippman has his head in the clouds. Holding 11 patents, mainly related to TV and radio signals, Lippman is currently on a year-long sabbatical, working with Nortel's R&D group as a visiting fellow. Moreover, he was deeply involved in creating Nortel's Wireless Mesh Network Solution through MIT.
So what I enjoyed most about our conversation is Lippman's ability to switch between the highly practical, applied science, to the way-out stuff such as telepresence and hyperconnectivity.
"Hyperconnectivity is where the person is fully in the loop," Lippman says. "It will allow you to control stuff on Mars or do surgery from 3,000 miles away."
Funded by commercial companies, the MIT Media Lab came up with the novel idea of creating a consortium. That way, it does not have to apply for funding from each company individually.
"We owe our soul to none of them or all of them collectively," Lippman says, adding that this has allowed the lab to choose research topics that its members feel passionate about.
Of late, Lippman and his students have been working on "viral" communications -- systems that are agile, light on infrastructure, and optimized for invention. He calls such systems viral because, similar to other viral systems, they are built to "catch on person-to-person."
Traditional communications systems are anti-scalable, Lippman says, in that the more people you have tapping them, the more interference you get, and the smaller the bandwidth allocation becomes. Instead, Lippman asks, what if communications systems could grow as the number of users of the system grows?
A fine example of what the good doctor means can be seen by examining the current cellular network. Instead of having a cell phone blast its signal to a distant tower, what if it could jump from computer to computer, or cell phone to cell phone? It would require far less bandwidth and power and could scale organically, because as the number of people using the system grows, the system gains additional connection points.
A simple and elegant idea, isn't it?
And it has a very practical use. The entire one-laptop-per-child idea, also known as the $100 computer movement, will depend on deploying communications in societies where the big, wasteful infrastructure is just not available. But communications will work nicely in "mesh" mode, with each computer passing on data to a nearby computer, using little power and small amounts of bandwidth.
Light and agile, like the doctor says.
I think Lippman's real genius is not in his skills as an engineer but rather in his ability to look at problems from a different perspective: for example, Fluid Voice, the hyperconnectivity technology that he and his students in the Media Lab built.
Fluid Voice is a phone system that acts like a big party line -- push to listen, instead of push to talk.
The default is you can hear everyone in your group who is talking. Instead of a dial, each person is a dot. If you move the dot in or out, the voice becomes louder or lower. Or you can move the dot, and the person, off the screen entirely. You can hear anybody and can decide how much attention you want to pay to each person.
On the practical side, in case of an emergency, firefighters could use Fluid Voice to tune into a police emergency or tune out the ambulance driver, for example.
Lippman's greater point is that the current limitations on radio-enabled communications systems are not due to the physics of the technology but rather to its engineering history. In the old days, radios were expensive, while spectrum was underused and inexpensive. And because receivers were dumb, it became OK to waste spectrum.
Now, the radios are cheap, and spectrum is relatively expensive.
"Mesh is an attempt to break the barrier and history of communications as a limited, fixed, and unscalable system," Lippman says.
"When I went to school, a lot of what you studied was how can you do something given certain constraints," Lippman says. Students were asked to write a program that didn't use more than this much memory, disk space, or processing cycles, for example. Engineering was taught in the context of its limitations.
At some point, engineering courses changed, Lippman says.
"Now students are asked to write a computer program where memory is free, disk space and processing cycles are unlimited," Lippman says, adding that, because of this shift, "we can challenge students to stretch their minds."
Sounds like Lippman is stretching his students' minds in worthwhile directions.Posted by Ephraim Schwartz on November 27, 2007 03:00 AM

List of Research group

Forrester - Lisa Pierce, wireless analyst,
http://www.forrester.com/
(Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent technology and market research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice

Informa Telecoms & Media -
http://group.informa.com/corporate/index.htm
Informa Telecoms & Media (IT&M) is the leading provider of business intelligence and strategic services to global telecoms and media markets.

Oppenheimer & Co - Sandeep Aggarwal, analyst
http://www.opco.com/
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. ("Oppenheimer")OPY is a leading national investment boutique that provides financial services and advice to high net worth investors, individuals, businesses and institutions.

Yankee Group - John Jackson, wireless analyst
http://www.yankeegroup.com/
International organization specializing in the analysis of trends in strategic planning, technology forecasting and market reasearch.

Gartner - Ken Dulaney, wireless analyst
http://www.gartner.com/
IT (GARTNER INC) Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions every day.

iSuppli Corporation
http://www.isuppli.com/
iSuppli Corporation helps clients improve performance in the electronics value chain by providing them with the facts, analysis and advice they require to know precisely how to succeed.

IDC Corporate
http://www.idc.com/
IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy.

Juniper Research
http://www.juniperresearch.com/
Juniper Research is an established analyst house specialising in the identification and appraisal of high growth opportunities across the telecoms and media sectors. We offer market expertise in the areas of wireless and mobile as well as content, applications and device strategies.

Strategy Analytics
http://www.strategyanalytics.net/
Strategy Analytics began as Mackintosh Consultants, founded in 1968 by a member of Bell Labs and a group of electronics industry veterans, and focused on emerging digital technologies. Since that time Strategy Analytics, now an independent employee-owned international research and consulting firm, has continued the tradition of exploring new opportunities and illuminating the changing dynamics of existing opportunities in the fast paced and converging worlds of Information, Communication and Entertainment.

CCID Consulting
http://www.ccidconsulting.com/
China's First Listed Consulting Company Consisting of the Head Office and a subsidiary CCID Data, CCID Consulting is a company that dedicates to providing professional market research and management consultancy services. Through more than ten-year of efforts, CCID Consulting was successfully listed in Hong Kong Growth Enterprises Market on December 12, 2002 (Stock code: HK8235) and became China’s first listed consulting company.

FIH to build new handset plant in Guangdong

23 Nov, 2007

Electronic manufacturing services (EMS) giant Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) recently announced it is to invest US$500 million to build a new handset manufacturing base in Huizhou Guangdong Province, China.
The company will invest US$100 million initially with construction of the plant to begin at the beginning of 2008. The new plant will begin operations in the third quarter of 2008, according to company spokesman Vincent Tong.
The scale of the new plant will be the same as its plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, noted the company. FIH expects to double its capacity after the plant is completed in order to meet business growth for the next five years, Tong added.
There is no room in Shenzhen for further plant expansion, stated Tong, and so to meet future growth in orders, FIH decided to build a new handset plant in Huizhou. The new plant will require more than 10,000 employees. Huizhou and Guangdong will become the two major bases for FIH in southern China.
FIH currently has plants in Beijing, Hangzhou (Zhejiang Province) and Hebei in China, in Mexico, and in India. The company is also planning to set up plant in Vietnam.

China Mobile gains 6.6 million new users last month

21 Nov, 2007 by CommsDay

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile company by users, added 6.6 million new users last month bringing its subscriber base to 356.3 million, according to the Beijing-based carrier's website. Meanwhile, fixed-line operators lost customers. China Telecom’s total users fell by 880,000 down to 222.56 million, while China Netcom saw a drop of 370,400 customers to 114.11 million.
China Telecom was due to the intensified market competition, especially from mobile operators’ free incoming call packages, said China Telecom.
A caller-pays billing system, which doesn’t charge users who receive calls was initiated by China Mobile in February, while Unicom followed suit in March.
Despite the drop in fixed-line subscribers, fixed-line operators China Netcom and China Telecom soared in Hong Kong after an official said the fixed-line companies may be granted licenses to provide high-speed wireless services.
China Netcom jumped 11.1 per cent to close at HK$23.50, while China Telecom closed at HK$5.89, rising 8.07 per cent.
China Mobile’s growth may spur the government to speed up the issuing of third-generation permits to promote competition in the industry.
“Mobile substitution is the trend, and there’s not much the fixed-line operators can do,” Marvin Lo, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research said. “Getting mobile licenses is the only solution.” China’s Ministry of Information Industry hasn’t set a timetable for issuing 3G licenses or said how many licenses it will grant.
In January 2006 the ministry picked China’s TDSCDMA standard as one of its high-speed technologies. Trial networks based on the home-grown technology are being built in ten cities including Beijing and Tianjin.

First Levi's(R) Mobile Phone

22 Nov, 2007
ModeLabs Group ("MDL" code, ISIN code: FR0010060665, SBF 250), creator of the « Mobile On Demand » offer, announces the launch of the first Levi's mobile telephone in Hong Kong. ModeLabs Group realized its first sales of "On Demand” products in Asia. The Levi’s® mobile phone's launch in Hong Kong attracted a lot of attention, in a city that is often the forerunner in fashion and technology trends in China and, more globally in Asia. Available in around forty points of sale of the city's main names (e.g. The Levi’s Store, Broadway, City Call, PCCW, and Show Room CSL); several thousands of phones have already been ordered. ModeLabs Group's main challenges today are the design and international marketing of products that really stand out with first-level brands. "Launching into a new country is the materialization of technical, marketing and sales investments," says Pierre Asséo, Director of ModeLabs Asia. "Future product launches should benefit significantly from the experience acquired with this first deployment as the essential commercial and technical engineering will already have been deployed." Asian markets, particularly China, are the largest in volume in the world for mobile phones and are hence highly strategic. "So far, the Levi’s® mobile phone has received an excellent reception in Hong Kong," says Jean-Alexis Chatelain, ModeLabs' Sales Vice-President in Asia. "We are working in close collaboration with Levi's in order to benefit from their brand image, the strength of their communication, and their commercial networks." ModeLabs is a precursor in the mobile phone market of famous brands, a new market that is generating a lot of interest from telephony businesses and the general public. The first Levi’s® phone, standing out from the rest with its riveted steel body and its detachable chain, was designed to satisfy the demand of market segments that share the brand’s values and for which a mobile phone is not simply a communication tool, but also the expression of a lifestyle. About ModeLabs Group ModeLabs Group, the pioneer of the "Mobile On DemandTM” offer, is a customized design manufacturer (CDM) specialized in mobile phones using new generation technology. The company designs, develops and markets mobile phone handsets, accessories and services in an integrated and flexible manner for mobile phone operators, retailers and brands. Thanks to the combination of its marketing expertise, its cutting-edge technological know-how and its flexible "fabless" organisation, ModeLabs Group is meeting the growing demand for Telecom market segmentation by giving brands, operators/MVNO or distributors the opportunity to create their own range of mobile phones, accessories and services. ModeLabs Group is listed on the Euronext-Paris Eurolist ("MDL" code, ISIN code: FR0010060665, SBF 250). www.modelabs.com

Google-funded 23andMe offers $999 DNA test

Reuters - November 21, 2007 9:27 AM ET
By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 23andMe, a Google-funded online company selling a $999 DNA test, launched on Monday as a kind of genetics-based MySpace or Facebook that also has the more serious aim of allowing medicine someday to target Americans' ills more precisely.

Users sign up for the DNA saliva test online and receive and return it by mail. Four to six weeks later, the results are online, allowing them to learn about their inherited traits, their ancestry and -- likely with the help of a professional to look at the data -- some of their personal disease risks.

The Web site, which takes its name from the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up each person's genome, says it will display more than a half-million data points in users' genomes in a form they can visualize and understand.

"Compare your genetic blueprint to your friends and family," the site invites.

Down the line, when the company's database is much larger, users will have the option to take part in scientific studies that could help researchers determine such things as who is in danger of having a life-threatening drug reaction or who may be more likely to benefit from a specific cancer treatment.

"The mission of 23andMe is to take the genetic revolution to a new level," said 23andMe co-founder Linda Avey.

"There wasn't an effective way for people to contribute," said fellow founder Anne Wojcicki, who has a background in health-care investing and is married to Google Inc (GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin.

The site does not now make interpretations about a user's risk for developing such diseases as cancers, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and others, although users could in some cases get help from genetic counselors or other experts to make some basic assessments.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY CONCERNS

While technology has made it easier to find and share information, it has also made security and privacy issues critical.

The protection of genetic information is particularly important to many consumers, who fear that insurers or other groups may use genetic data to deny coverage to or discriminate against people predisposed for serious disease.

23andMe's founders say the personal data in their system is secure and under the user's control -- protected by more than a dozen levels of authentication and encryption from the lab to the user.

The two women say aggregated genomic data will eventually be made available to people outside 23andMe for study -- but never sold.

"The data will not leave 23andMe," said Avey, who came to the project with sales and business development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

FUN WITH DNA?

While the project's end goal is to tackle dreaded diseases -- it is in early stages on projects with Autism Speaks and the Parkinson's Institute -- Avey said one of the company's primary aims is make the complex subject more appealing by giving individuals the lowdown on their own genes.

For example, users could begin to understand why they dislike certain flavors or foods, or whether they share a maternal ancestor line with celebrities, such as "Margaritaville" crooner and 23andMe user Jimmy Buffett.

Besides Google, the company's other early investors include biotechnology company Genentech Inc (DNA) and venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.

Competitors to 23andMe include Iceland's deCODE Genetics and Silicon Valley-based Navigenics, which is backed by $25 million funding from top-flight venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital and Mohr Davidow Ventures.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Gary Hill)

BenQ C30 handset

BenQ recently unveiled its C30 multimedia handset in Taiwan.The handset is the company's first to be produced by another OEM partner besides Qisda.
Photo: Company, Nov 21, 2007

3G handsets surpass half of US device sales in 3Q07, says Strategy Analytics

21 Nov, 2007

Handsets from Motorola and LG Electronics (LGE), collectively accounted for seven of the top-ten best selling consumer handsets in the US in the third quarter of 2007, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
"Overall the average retail price paid for these top-ten handsets was 19% higher than the market average and we continue to see strong upgrade dynamics continue to supplement US market growth," stated Barry Gilbert, vice president of Strategy Analytics' ProductSTRAX services. "Motorola, however, despite selling four of the top-ten models in the third quarter, realized an average selling price (ASP) of only US$80, nearly 40% lower than the group average."
"3G devices accounted for 55% of the top selling device volumes. That share will continue to grow during the fourth quarter," states Chris Ambrosio, a director in the Wireless Practice at Strategy Analytics. "While the iPhone gets the headlines, the "Sync" from Samsung and the "Chocolate" from LG quietly stole the show in the category of iconic, 3G feature phones. Samsung, in particular, is well-positioned to dominate 3G sales during the critical fourth quarter holiday season."

US best selling consumer handsets, 3Q07
Model
Motorola RAZR V3
Motorola RAZR V3m
LG VX8300
Apple iPhone
LG Chocolate VX8550/8500
Motorola MOTOKRZR K1m
Samsung SGH-A707
LG VX5300
Sanyo Katana II
Motorola V323i/V325i

Taiwan market: HTC and Dopod see highest handset market share in October

21 Nov, 2007

The combined market share of High Tech Computer (HTC) and its subsidiary Dopod International in Taiwan's handset market hit a record high in October, standing at 6%, according to preliminary data compiled by retail channels in Taiwan.
Nokia saw its share in Taiwan decline slightly in October, but the company still was ranked as the number one vendor with a comfortable market share of over 32%, the data showed.
Motorola managed to close its gap with Samsung Electronics in unit sales and kept its number four ranking in October. The US-based vendor, however, re-captured third place from Samsung in terms of sales value with a 9.9% share.
HTC alone was ranked the 10th largest vendor with a market share close to 4% in October, according to the channels.

Source: Preliminary data from Taiwan retail channels as quoted by the Commercial Times,

Qualcomm wins a round in patent battles with Nokia

WASHINGTON — Qualcomm Inc. won a round in its patent battles with wireless phone maker Nokia on Wednesday (Nov. 21) as a U.S. trade court tossed out a lawsuit asking for Qualcomm's chips to be barred from the United States.
The U.S. International Trade Commission dropped the Nokia lawsuit due to pending arbitration, the commission said.
"The case is finished at the ITC," said ITC staffer John Greer.
Nokia had alleged infringement of patents on technology that made its telephones smaller and more efficient.
An ITC administrative law judge granted Qualcomm's motion to dismiss the suit on Oct. 18. Nokia protested, requesting a review of the decision, but the commission upheld it.
Qualcomm General Counsel Alex Rogers said Nokia had been barred from filing patent lawsuits against Qualcomm because of arbitration underway in Los Angeles.
The arbitration petition was filed in April, Rogers said in a telephone interview, while ITC documents show the trade court opened its investigation into the Nokia suit in September.
"From our point of view, Nokia is not entitled to sue Qualcomm for patent infringement," Rogers said.
Nokia was not immediately available for comment.
There are more than a dozen lawsuits pending between Nokia and Qualcomm on three continents.
In the suit dismissed by the ITC, Nokia had requested the ITC bar the importation of certain Qualcomm chips used in cell phones.

AT&T to acquire online ad company Ingenio

21 Nov, 2007

AT&T announced that it is acquiring online ad company Ingenio for an undisclosed sum in a deal set to close in early 2008. AT&T’s strategy, not necessarily an attempt to go head to head with the likes of online ad-ogre Google, is rather to bolster the virtual content of its online directory assistance and information website yellowpages.com.

The privately held company founded in 1999 specialises in advertising platforms featuring so called “live-search commerce.” What that techno-marketing-babble means is that Ingenio places ads online, on web enabled mobile search pages and podcasts like Google for example, but unlike Google only charges advertisers a fee for customers that actually call the advertised phone number and speak to a “live” company agent about a product; this service is dubbed by the company “Pay Per Call.”

According to Ingenio, this technique is accomplished with its proprietary technology designed to “provision unique published phone numbers to track calls to businesses generated by those ads, and advertisers' fees are based on the volume of these leads.”

"Throughout the past few years, we've built and deployed innovative products that help the services economy flourish online," said Mark Britto, president and CEO of Ingenio. "What we've lacked, however, is scale - the ability to bring those solutions to the market in the biggest possible way. Our merger with AT&T allows us to bring our innovations to more businesses nationwide.""As advertisers add performance-based advertising to their marketing mix, this investment makes sense for our business," said Ray Wilkins, AT&T group president-Diversified Business. "Ingenio's technology will allow AT&T to expand our robust service portfolio for print, online and mobile advertisers, and that will further differentiate us from our competitors."AT&T plans to retain Ingenio's management team.

China’s smartphone sales continue to rise

20 Nov, 2007 by CommsDay
China saw a 5.2 per cent increase in smartphone sales, reaching sales volume of 6.388 million sets in Q3 and gaining US$2.23 billion sales revenue, increasing 11.3 per cent on a month-on-month basis, said CCID Consulting.
The firm put down the highs in sales volume to students buying phones during the summer vacation and the promotions during the Chinese national holiday.
CCID also reported that Symbian OS retained its lead over other operating systems, holding nearly 70 per cent market share with sales volume reaching 4.416 million handsets, due to Nokia’s ongoing popularity in China.
Windows Mobile posted 52 per cent growth rate attributed in part to the popularity of Windows Mobile-based phones from Motorola, Samsung, Lenovo and Dopod, though still representing just over 5 per cent of the market.
Conversely, although Linux still held more than 25 per cent of the market, sales volume dropped partly due to the declining sales of Motorola’s Linux-based models, which accounted for 70 per cet of the Linux-based smartphone market, the market analyst said.
The market share for Palm operating system phones is down 52.6 per cent. The reason is that the manufacturers adopting the Palm operating system are not the mainstream of the market, CCID reported.
CCID also added that market share of phones with large screens continually increase. However, while smartphones with a screen size larger than two inches make up more than 90 per cent of the market, their share is actually decreasing. Demand for screen sizes larger than 2.4 inches has decreased nearly 13 per cent, which the firm has speculated on account of customers wanting smaller, lighter phones.
Looking forward, CCID Consulting forecasts that China's smart phone market will keep increasing in 2007Q4 and the sales volume will increase five per cent while the sales revenue will increase eight per cent.
Promotional campaigns are also expected to be the key to a manufacturer’s success in the smart phone market in 2007Q3.

Taiwan market: Motorola to launch 20-30 handsets in 2008 to restore leading market position

20 Nov, 2007

Motorola plans to launch 20-30 new handsets in Taiwan in 2008 with an aim to re-capture the lead position in the Taiwan handset market, according to Bill Chen, newly appointed general manager of mobile device business at Motorola Taiwan.
In the coming year, Motorola will also stress strengthening its relations with channel partners in Taiwan and to pursue a balance between sales volume and profitability while gearing up efforts to boost performance, Chen stated.
Motorola currently was ranked as the fourth largest vendor in the Taiwan handset market accounting for a 13.6% share, compared to Nokia's 32%, Sony Ericsson's 20.6% and Samsung Electronics' 14-15%, according a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report as well as sources at Samsung.
Motorola on November 19 launched it RAZR 2 V8 Luxury Edition handset and other 2GB V8 models in Taiwan targeting the high-end segment, with the company planning to introduce its 3G-version V9, ROKR Z8 music handset and 3.5G Q9 smartphone in the local market before the end of this year, according to company sources.
Motorola has ventured into the development of Android-based handsets, but the company still has no timetable for the launch the open-platform mobile devices, Chen stated.

Quanta Computer ships 3.5G smartphones to Russia-based Rover Computers

19 Nov 2007

Quanta Computer has begun shipping a 3.5G smartphone, the G6, to Russia-based Rover Computers, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry. The G6 is powered by a Marvell PXA270 processor and is equipped with a 2.7-inch touch-control display and a 2-megapixel camera.

OpenMoko prepping to push sales of Linux-based handset

16 Nov , 2007

OpenMoko, a Linux-based open source handset platform developer, is pushing the development of Linux-based smartphone with its open source handset, the Neo 1973, which may be available to the mass-market in the second half of 2008, according to company sources.
OpenMoko, a subsidiary of First International Computer (FIC), is now offering, free of charge, samples of its Neo 1973 to a number of designated software developers in Taiwan to develop or to add new open source applications to the phone, the sources noted.
OpenMoko will sell the Neo 1973 to general developers shortly after the device has being modified according to input by initial participating developers, before pushing the device to the mass-market through retail shops and telecom services providers, possibly by the second half of 2008, the sources indicated.

Sony Ericsson Ranked Highest in Wireless Handset Customer Satisfaction Study

16 Nov, 2007

Raleigh, NC -- For the second time, Sony Ericsson ranked highest in U.S. overall customer satisfaction performance among wireless mobile phone brands in the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Wireless Customer Satisfaction StudySM. Last week, Sony Ericsson also ranked highest among wireless mobile phones brands in the J.D. Power and Associates Canadian Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study.
"Sony Ericsson continues to show a strong commitment to the North American market with an expanding portfolio of compelling devices for every consumer," said Najmi Jarwala, president of Sony Ericsson North America. "Receiving the top ranking in the J.D. Power and Associates study is a reflection of Sony Ericsson's ongoing ability to deliver eye-catching, feature-rich and high-quality products that enhance the consumer experience."
In the U.S., Sony Ericsson ranked highest among mobile phone brands with a score of 741, significantly above the industry average. Sony Ericsson received significantly higher than industry average scores in features and battery function categories. The brand ranks higher than the industry average in physical design, operation and durability factors. In Canada, the company ranked highest among mobile phone brands with a score of 728, performing particularly well in the features, physical design, battery and operation factors.
The study measured customers' satisfaction with wireless handsets based on five key product performance factors, including physical design, operation, features, handset durability and battery function.
A joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, Sony Ericsson entered the wireless handset market in 2001. Since its inception, it has released a number of Sony co-branded handsets, including the music-centric Walkman brand and the imaging-focused Cyber-shot brand in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

No conflict in handset chip market share and profitability: Q&A with STMicroelectronics COO Alain Dutheil

15 Nov, 2007

By strengthening ties with number-one handset vendor Nokia in 3G handset chip solutions in August 2007, STMicroelectronics raised eyebrows as the collaboration may allow the company to extend its influence in the handset chip market further in 2008. While some industry players say the race in the handset chip market for market share means a sacrifice in profitability, STMicroelectronics COO Alain Dutheil, however, thinks there is no conflict between the two.
Digitimes recently had the opportunity to talk with Dutheil about his company's partnership with Nokia as well as trends in the handset chip market.
Q: Having forged a collaboration with Nokia, what is STMicroelectronics' strategy for deploying handset solutions in the future? What will the trend in the global handset chip market be like?
A: There are four key points in this collaboration:

1, STMicroelectronics obtains 3G baseband intellectual property (IP) from Nokia;
2, we will inherit 180 employees from Nokia;
3, newly developed chips are not limited only to adoption by Nokia and;
4, we will be one of the baseband chip suppliers for Nokia in the future.

This collaboration enables us to speed up volume production and time-to-market schedule for 3G chips. By integrating chips for radio frequency (RF) transmission, multimedia content management, power management, Wi-Fi connection, RF identification (RFID), CMOS image sensor and micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices, we will continue introducing competitive 3G solutions in the future.
I believe demand growth for handsets in emerging regions will pick up noticeably in the future. And we also noticed that customers from these regions are having a stronger desire for mainstream and high-end handsets than entry-level and low-cost handsets. The penetration of 3G handset solutions in these regions will pick up faster. Once we are ready to meet this demand in terms of higher flexibility, extending applications and competitive cost structure, we will have a better opportunity to address their demands and have our sales grow in line with this demand trend.
Q: There is now a smaller number of handset chip suppliers, with IDMs and fabless companies evenly dominating the chip supply. How does STMicroelectronics see its own competitive edge and how are you going to face the challenges that stem from balancing market share and gross margins?
A: The two key directions for handset chip development will be functionality diversification and single chip solutions. The success of suppliers will judged by their ability to equip solutions with more functions with competitive technology strengths and speed up the time to market of related single chips.
As an IDM, we outperform competitors by offering a complete supply chain from design to backend production, as well as a broad IP portfolio. By having a stronger integration power and higher reliability with all components in the solutions being supplied by us on a competitive cost structure, we are definitely a popular handset supplier.
Every chip supplier has to persistently pursue more efficient productivity and better yields to bring a more competitive cost structure. They also have to bring innovative designs and technology. We therefore do not view the relationship of market share gain and gross margins as conflicting. When a chip supplier is capable of managing the mentioned principles well, it means they are not far from a win-win position.

Chunghwa Telecom to cooperate with HTC to develop Android-based handsets

15 Nov, 2007

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), the largest telecom service provider in Taiwan, plans to cooperate with High Tech Computer (HTC) to jointly develop Android-based handsets, according to CHT chairman Tan Hochen.
Noting that CHT and HTC have been cooperating in the manufacture of customized handsets, CHT's participation in the development of Android-based handsets will bring the cooperation of the two companies to an even higher level, Hochen said.
CHT and HTC on November 14 jointly launched the HTC Dual 3.5G handset in Taiwan, with CHT expected to initially purchase 60,000 HTC Dual handsets from HTC, according to sources at CHT.
Chunghwa Telecom has purchased over 100,000 smartphones from HTC since the beginning of this year, including 25,000 CHT 9000, 300,000 CHT 9110/9110 and 50,000 CHT Touch, according to sources from the companies.

HTC ships one million HTC Touch smartphones in five months

15 Nov, 2007
Sales of HTC Touch, the touch-controlled smartphone made High Tech Computer (HTC), surpassed one million units at the end of October after the phone was launched in June, according to HTC CEO Peter Chou.
Total sales of the HTC Touch lineup, including the HTC Touch Dual and Touch Color, are expected to reach 1.5-1.8 million units by year-end 2007, Chou estimated.
HTC also looks forward to posting a more than 20% growth in handset shipments in 2008, up from the 11 million units projected for 2007, Chou added.
In related news, the integration of HTC and its subsidiary Dopod International has helped strengthen Dopod's competitiveness in Asia, according to Jack Tong, vice president of marketing, Asia Pacific, HTC.
Dopod's shipments in Hong Kong in the third quarter of this year actually equaled the combined shipments of the preceding two quarters, whereas its shipments of HTC Touch in India reached the 2007 shipment target in less than five months after launch, Tong indicated.

GSMA’s Asia Mobile Innovation Awards 2007

15 Nov, 2007

Mobile Innovation winners unveiled
Finalists in the GSMA’s Asia Mobile Innovation Awards have been pitching their products this week to a panel of senior executives from mobile operators at the Mobile Innovation Programme Summit. The judges initially reviewed more than 50 entries before selecting the winners, who are:

Telegent Systems, USA (Most Innovative Wireless Device-centric Technology),
www.telegent.com
Telegent Systems’ Mobile TV Receivers are high-performance, ultra-low power, highly-integrated single-chip design solutions for enabling mobile TV in cellular phones and other portable media devices, supporting both analog and digital broadcast television standards.

3ple-Media, Netherlands (Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure
or Platform),
www.3ple-media.com

Provides mobile operators with a complete environment for creation, management, analysis and delivery of multimedia services
Positions mobile operators at the centre of the content value chain and provides the commercial innovation for them to maximize revenues
Enables mobile operators to fully explore the rich, multimedia opportunity and work effectively with in-house, user generated and third-party content via agencies, media and brands

Integra Micro Systems, India (Most Innovative Mobile Application in a Vertical Market)
www.integramicro.com

Consilient Technologies Corporation, Canada (Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service).
www.consilient.com
Consilient® is a leading developer of push email, multimedia and advertising software for mobile phones. Ideal for the consumer market, Consilient Push™ is software that allows mobile operators to deliver low-cost push email on “regular” mobile phones. Consilient Push supports all popular email platforms and has an upgrade path to a full multi-media suite of content sharing and mobile social networking. Consilient's software is built using open standards and is known for giving customers the flexibility and choice they demand. Consilient Push was launched late in 2006 and is already deployed by carriers such as SingTel, AIS, and Vodacom.
Consilient was founded in 2000 and has offices in the US, Canada, and Southeast Asia.

Consilient was awarded the overall Mobile Innovation Award for its Push messaging application, which is re-branded as MobileM@il by its customer SingTel in Singapore. Singaporeans were the first in the world to receive the completely free mobile email service, launched in June. Consilient's mobile advertising server, adSpotz, integrates within the mobile operator's system and delivers smart text, banner and video ads in the mobile email on consumer phones.

China Mobile in talks on iPhone

15 Nov, 2007

China Mobile CEO Wang Jianzhou has revealed the company is in talks with Apple to sell the iPhone but expressed reluctance to accept its partnership demands. “We still think we can maintain the operator-centric model because we have the customers,”he told attendees of the Mobile Asia Congress.
“We're discussing with Apple people but haven't any agreement. Our customers like this kind of fashionable product, and I think the big problem is with this model.” Apple expects to launch the handset in Asia next year following 2007 launches in the US and Europe. Wang indicated it is keen to continue its strategy of an exclusive operator partner with a strong revenue-share component.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will relent - China Mobile boasts nearly 350 million subscribers, which could translate into massive profitability just on handsets alone. Its stringent terms already saw Verizon decline an alliance in the US while the company agreed to launch the iPhone in France despite a law requiring it to sell unlocked handsets within the next few months. China Mobile is also unlikely to expend much effort in negotiations based on its subscriber trump card, tosay nothing of its membership in the recently formed Google Open Handset Alliance.
Meanwhile, the operator is on track to finish construction of its first eight metro TD-SCDMA networks this year. Wang said China Mobile will conduct a commercial trial once the builds are completed in anticipation of a 3G license award. The operator is widely expected to adopt the homegrown wireless standard following its inevitable spectrum win. "Once everything has been done, we will review the results accordingly," Wang told reporters.
China is expected to finally award 3G licenses following a restructuring of the nation's telecom industry. Wang declined to comment on possible changes, but said China Mobile was actively seeking to list A shares on a mainland bourse.

Venture Investors Keep Eye On Google's Android Contest

November 14, 2007 7:30 AM ET
By Timothy Hay Of DOW JONES NEWSLETTERS (This article was originally published Tuesday) Google Inc.'s (GOOG) plan to offer $10 million to developers who come up with the best new applications for its Android mobile-phone platform is giving start-up companies and venture capitalists much to think about. In two separate contests, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant is awarding prizes ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 to independent programmers with compelling ideas. "We will be watching this very closely," said Heikki Makijarvi, a partner at Accel Partners, an early investor in Facebook Inc., which earlier this year opened up a platform that has attracted thousands of applications for its social-networking site. "There may be a number of exciting start-ups involved with this." Google's blog page devoted to the Android platform (http://android-developers.blogspot.com) was buzzing with questions, comments and criticism soon after the announcement. "We've seen a tremendous number of downloads," said Google spokesperson Barry Schnitt. "People are interested in exploring what we've got." Schnitt declined to say how many had so far downloaded the information package, which includes the software kit developers will need. "This is a great step forward to breaking down barriers," said James Wanless, co-founder and chief executive of Talkster Inc., a Toronto-based online phone company. "The big carriers have been stifling innovation, and Google is opening it up. There will be a fever happening." Talkster has already developed a mobile application that allows callers to access Google groups, Wanless said. "At a basic level, we are taking what we did on the fringes, and embedding it in the handset." Last week, Google announced the Open Handset Alliance to create a Linux-based Android platform with a group of more 34 mobile partners that want to see a more collaborative environment as handheld technology continues to evolve. Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder, said in a statement the company has come up with some good applications, but "the best applications are not here yet, and that's because they're going to be written by developers." The contests will be judged by a panel of mobile experts from the Open Handset Alliance. The $10 million will be spread across two separate contests, with 50 prizes of $25,000 each to be given on March 3, 2008, before the release of Google's Gphone. The second deadline will be May 1, 2008, after the Gphone release, with ten $275,000 awards and ten $100,000 awards to be given out, Google said. And there could be more in the way of rewards, if venture capitalists remain as interested as they seem now. "You'd be crazy not to be keeping your eye on that space, especially when Google is involved," said Dave Carlson, chief executive of eonBusiness, an early-stage tech investor. "You have to look at the direction mobile platforms will go. People won't have big computers five to 10 years from now. It will be mobile devices."

Yahoo! launches Chinese-language Yahoo! Go 2.0

14 Nov, 2007

At the ongoing 2007 GSMA (GSM Association) Mobile Asia Congress in Macao, Yahoo! announced the launch of a version of Yahoo! Go 2.0 in traditional Chinese in Taiwan, marking the entry of Yahoo! Kimo (Yahoo! Taiwan) into the mobile market in Taiwan, according to a Yahoo! Kimo press release.
Yahoo! Go 2.0 is a mobile Internet-access software program that allows handsets or other types of hand-held devices access to Yahoo! online services, said vice president and general manager David Ko for Yahoo! Connected Life Asia.
To provide Yahoo! Go 2.0 services, Yahoo! has cooperated with 20 mobile telecom carriers around the world with 16 of them being in the Asia Pacifc region, according to Yahoo! Kimo.

MediaTek to push into GPS module business in China

14 Nov, 2007

MediaTek is planning to expand its GPS business by cooperating with several Taiwan-based GPS makers including Transystem, Delta Electronics and Holux to provide handset platforms and GPS modules to China-based makers, according to sources at GPS makers.
Although many handset makers directly integrate GPS chips in their handsets, China makers do not have the technical experience, nor are they willing to throw development resources and testing equipment, towards GPS technology, therefore MediaTek decided to search for cooperation with Taiwan-based makers to provide the GPS modules to China makers, noted the sources.
MediaTek was originally planning to start pushing into the GPS market in China, but with the China maker's first wave of products not passing certification from China telecommunication vendors, it therefore delayed the shipment schedule. However, the company expects that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will boost handset demand in China leading to handset shipments possibly reaching 150 million units, once the products gain certification, which in turn will boost the revenues of the GPS module suppliers.
However, the sources also pointed out that MediaTek will eventually integrate GPS into its handset platforms, therefore the GPS module business is just a temporary solution.

China-based Gome to purchase five million handsets in 2008, say sources

14 Nov, 2007
China-based Gome Electrical Appliances Holding has signed contracts to purchase a total of five million handsets from international leading vendors as well as from handset makers in China, according to industry sources.
The purchase contracts are part of Gome's plan to expand its share in the handset market in China, said the sources, noting that Gome aims to boost its share from the current 6.7% to 10% in 2008 and to further expand the market share to 15% within three years.
Under the contracts, Gome, in 2008, will buy as many as 3.3 million handsets from international leading handset vendors, including 1.1 million units from Nokia, 1.0 million units from Samsung Electronics, 700,000 units from Motorola and 500,000 units from Sony Ericsson, the sources indicated.
Gome will also purchase another 1.7 million handsets from China-based handset makers next year, including 500,000 units from TCL (including Alcatel-branded models), 400,000 units each from Lenovo and Amoi Electronics and 200,000 units each from Haier and Chinabird (formerly Ningbo Bird), the sources added.
Gome's strategy to purchase handsets directly from the vendors could affect efforts by Taiwan-based distributor Synnex Technology International to expand its handset sales in China, according to the sources.

Yahoo! lays groundwork for mobile advertising in Asia

14 Nov, 2007

After tying up with six mobile operators in significant markets across Asia since June, Yahoo! announced expanded distribution of its Yahoo! oneSearch product to nine more Asian mobile operators. They are Aircel, BPL Mobile, BSNL (India), DiGi Telecommunications (Malaysia), PT EX- CELCOMINDO, Pt Hutchison CP Telecom, PT Indosat (Indonesia), PCCW Mobile HK (Hong Kong) and Starhub (Singapore).
The oneSearch product was designed to take into account that a mobile user’s mindset on mobile device is different from when on a desktop PC and that besides device constraints, users are usually unaware of the content and apps available to them. Also, “the only thing that matters in mobile search is relevance,” said Ojas Rege, VP for global mobile products, Connected Life. “Telcos in this area have potential to take new models of discovery like oneSearch and bring them to users,” Rege added, stating that Yahoo!'s current strategic distribution which is very “operator-centric.” Yahoo! oneSearch is also a key driver for Yahoo!'s mobile advertising which Rege says is still in its infancy stage. Having introduced the capability for advertisers to buy display advertising since the start of the year, Yahoo! will be expanding to enable sponsored listings; currently available only in the UK, US and Japan; in more countries in Asia. Rege added, “Next year, one of the big areas for product development will be new models for advertising” and also that 2008 will be the catalyst year for mobile advertising. Yahoo! also announced in Macau the availability of Yahoo!Go2.0 in Chinese language for the Taiwan market.

VIA Telecom receives Nokia certification of its CDMA2000 chipset solutions, says paper

13 Nov, 2007, Commercial Times
VIA Telecom, a subsidiary of VIA Technologies, has received certification of its CDMA2000 1x RTT-compliant handset chipsets from Nokia, with the handset vendor's China-based ODM partner BYD likely to start shipping CDMA handsets built using VIA Telecom's chipsets to Nokia in the first quarter of 2008, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.
Nokia is expected to be able to strengthen its market share in India, leveraging VIA Telecom's successful cooperation with Cal-Comp Electronics in the manufacture CDMA handsets for India-based Reliance Communications, the paper noted.

Taiwan handset production to top 37 million units in 4Q07, reports paper

13 Nov, 2007, EDN

The total production of handsets, including smartphones, by Taiwan makers are expected to grow 25% sequentially to 37.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007 before declining to 35.02 million units in the first quarter of 2008, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report, which quoted data released by Taiwan's Market Intelligence Center (MIC).
According to MIC data, the production of typical mobile phones will total 31.18 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007 before dropping to 28.8 million units in the first quarter of 2008, whereas the production of smartphones will top 6.22 million units each in the two correspondent quarters, the EDN said.

Taiwan market: Samsung to open first retail store

13 Nov, 2007
Samsung Electronics plans to open a retail store for its elite series electronics products located in eastern downtown Taipei. This will be the first store Samsung opens in Taiwan. The opening is scheduled for November 17, according to Samsung Electronics Taiwan.
The design and style of the store is the same as other Samsung elite stores around the world, Samsung Taiwan indicated. The store will showcases handsets, digital music players, digital cameras, printers, LCD monitors and home theater systems, Samsung Taiwan noted.
Samsung plans to set up further retail outlets in central and southern Taiwan in 2008, Samsung Taiwan pointed out.

Qualcomm starts sampling new WCDMA chipsets

12 Nov, 2007

Qualcomm announced that it will enable a dramatic reduction in the cost of WCDMA (UMTS) mobile broadband handsets with the introduction of Qualcomm's new Mobile Station Modem (MSM) MSM6246 HSDPA and MSM6290 HSUPA chipsets. Already having started sampling the chipsets, Qualcomm said the chipsets are designed to enable devices that break new price barriers.
The MSM6246 chipset will support 3.6 Mbps HSDPA for advanced services such as high-resolution video downloads and Web 2.0 browsing where the MSM6290 HSUPA chipset supports speeds up to 7.2 Mbps on the downlink and 5.76 Mbps on the uplink, tapping into the surge in popularity of applications such as social networking and user-generated multimedia sharing, Qualcomm detailed.
Both of the chipsets feature 10×10mm package sizes that represent a nearly 50% reduction in package footprint from previous-generation baseband solutions, Qualcomm said. The two products are drop-in replacements for each other, with power management, software and radio frequency (RF) compatibility. Both products interface with the RTR6285 single-chip CMOS transceiver.

Google Announces $10 Million Android Developer Challenge

12 Nov, 2007 BusinessWire

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) today announced the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million to developers who build mobile applications for Android(TM), the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. The Challenge is designed to support the developer community and spark innovation on the Android platform by awarding cash prizes ranging from $25,000 to $275,000 to developers whose applications are picked by a panel of judges.
"We've built some interesting applications for Android but the best applications are not here yet and that's because they're going to be written by developers," said Sergey Brin, Co-founder and President, Technology, Google. "We'd like to reward these developers and recognize them as much as possible."
"We believe that the Android platform offers developers a unique opportunity to create truly innovative mobile software," said Andy Rubin, Google's director of mobile platforms. "We're challenging developers to stretch their imaginations and skills to leverage the full capabilities of this new platform and to create something amazing."
Android was announced on November 5 by the Open Handset Alliance(TM), a group of more than 30 technology and mobile industry leaders committed to fostering innovation on mobile phones and offering a better consumer experience. The Alliance will provide developers with a new level of openness that enables them to work more collaboratively. Today, the Alliance released an early look at the Android software developer kit (SDK) that includes the documentation, sample projects, development tools, emulator, and libraries that developers will need to build an Android application. Today's Android SDK announcement can be found on the Alliance blog: http://android-developers.blogspot.com.
The $10 million total in the Android Developer Challenge will be distributed equally between the Android Developer Challenge I and II. Submissions for Challenge I will be accepted from January 2 through March 3, 2008, and the 50 most promising entries will be recognized by end of March with each receiving $25,000 awards to fund further development. These 50 entries will then be eligible for even greater recognition by applying by May 1, 2008 for ten awards worth $275,000 each and another ten worth $100,000 each. Recognition for the top apps among those entries will be announced by end of May 2008. Challenge II will launch after the first handsets built on the platform become available in the second half of 2008.
A panel of technology and mobile experts selected from the Open Handset Alliance member organizations and the industry in general will judge all qualifying entries. Awards will be given to the developers whose applications leverage all that the Android platform has to offer in order to provide consumers with the most compelling experiences. Developers retain all intellectual property and other rights to their applications. Interested developers should:
1. Download the SDK at http://code.google.com/android/download.html
2. Build a great app.
3. Submit an application between January 2 and March 3, 2008.
Additional information about the Android Developer Challenge can be found at http://code.google.com/android/adc.html

HTC expects revenues to grow over 20%, plans to launch 2-3 Android-based handsets, in 2008

12 Nov, 2007

High Tech Computer (HTC) expects its revenues to grow more than 20% on year in 2008, and the company also plans to launch 2-3 Android-based mobile phones in the coming year, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times which quoted remarks made by HTC CEO Peter Chou last week at a meeting with analysts from foreign investment firms in Taiwan.
During the meeting, Chou also said that HTC plans to launch a non-Qualcomm 3G solution in the near future, introduce a new user interface which will be better than its current TouchFlo technology in 2008, and launch WiMAX/TD-WCDMA mobile devices by the end of 2008 or in early 2009, the paper reported.

Handheld device shipments down over 43% on year as vendors exit or transition product lines, says IDC

12 Nov, 2007

The worldwide handheld device market posted its fifteenth consecutive quarter of decline in shipments, signaling either vendor intent to scale back production or exit from market entirely, or both, according to research firm IDC. Vendors shipped 728,894 handheld devices in the third quarter of 2007, approximately 1.5% more than the previous quarter but 39.3% less from the same quarter a year ago, noted IDC.
"The handheld device market has been under constant pressure, with mobile phones and converged mobile devices appropriating many of the handheld's salient attributes," says Ramon T Llamas, research analyst with IDC's Mobile Device Technology and Trends team. "Handheld product portfolios have suffered as vendors have reallocated their production resources."
"However, the handheld device market may be down, but is not necessarily out. The handheld still has a loyal, if shrinking, following in developed economies, especially among enterprise users. In emerging markets, the appeal of the handheld devices seems anchored in the fact that, in the absence of a monthly service plan, it has a lower total cost of ownership compared to mobile phones and/or the converged mobile device."
Top-five handheld device vendors
Palm remained the clear leader in the handheld market even though it has not launched a new model for over two years. However, over the same period, the company has released nearly a dozen new Treo converged mobile devices. After having retired the Life Drive, Palm is relying on its Z22, TX, and Tungsten E2 handheld devices to represent the company.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) retained the number two position during the quarter, still trailing Palm but far outpacing any of the remaining vendors. In September, HP announced plans for several new devices including two handheld devices – the 111 Classic Handheld and the 211 Enterprise Handheld – as well as the iPAQ 610 Business Navigator, a converged mobile device.
Mio has standardized GPS capability on all of its handheld devices, and by leading with that value proposition, the company has experienced continued growth. Recently Mio announced two new additions to its portfolio, the P360 and the P560. The P560 boasts Wi-Fi as one of its key features.
Fujitsu-Siemens climbed back into the top-five rankings after a one quarter hiatus, and stayed far ahead of the remaining vendors to claim the number four spot as its own. Helping to drive volumes were its C Series and N Series devices shipped into EMEA, and recently the company has begun to offer a competing converged mobile device with its Pocket LOOX T Series device.
Sharp narrowly stayed ahead of a crowded group of other vendors to take the number five spot during the quarter, and suffered the largest on-year decline in the group. All of its shipments were recorded in Japan, and they accounted for nearly two-thirds of all handheld devices shipped to that country. While Sharp's business has floundered, its success in the mobile phone and converged mobile device segments has propelled it to the number one position in Japan.

Mobile games market to reach US$10 billion by 2009, says Juniper Research

9 Nov, 2007

The increasing popularity of casual gaming, combined with a steadily increasing variety of gaming-friendly handsets offering high quality 3D graphics aimed at core gamers, will help to push end-user generated revenues from mobile games to nearly US$10 billion by 2009, according to a new report by Juniper Research.
In total, more than 460 million mobile users are expected to download games by 2009, representing more than a double increase on the current number. Much of this growth is expected in emerging markets such as the Indian sub-continent, where the number of users will rise from 10 million in 2007 to nearly 40 million in 2009, stated Juniper Research.
According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "Game downloads have already overtaken those of ringtones in a number of Western European markets, while mobile handsets are now the de facto games console in many developing countries."
However, the Juniper Research report cautioned that the high cost of browsing and downloading services and content combined with opaque pricing structures were continuing to act as a disincentive to service adoption. It also welcomed the fact that there were an increasing number of products targeting female gamers, although added that more needed to be done to widen the mobile gaming demographic.
"Essentially, the proportion of leading titles focusing on action and adventure has not altered discernibly over the past two years," said Holden. "While these are popular within the traditional gaming demographic, there is a major opportunity to attract casual gamers by enhancing a portfolio mix with more titles from alternative genres."
China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile games throughout the period covered by the report, with revenues rising from nearly US$2.7 billion in 2007 to US$5.7 billion by 2012. Global revenues from in-game advertising will rise from just US$90 million in 2007 to more than US$1.2 billion in 2012. Operators and publishers should expand the number of games they offer on a free trial basis: with the entry price barrier removed, a greater number of consumers may play the game and ultimately convert to being paid customers, according to Juniper Research.

Motorola opens R&D center in Beijing

9 Nov, 2007

Motorola recently announced the inauguration of its R&D complex in Beijing, China.
Motorola's 92,000-square meter complex in the Wangjing area of Beijing consists of one 16-floor office tower, three low-rise R&D buildings (three stories each) and one lab building and will accommodate more than 3,000 Motorola employees, including 2,000 R&D engineers.
Motorola has a number of R&D teams based in China, including its Mobile Device China Design Center, Motorola Global Software Group China Center and the Motorola Home and Networks Mobility China GSM/UMTS R&D Team. These three R&D institutes will move into the newly constructed complex in Wangjing.
Other major labs and R&D centers that have settled down in the new location include the Motorola Beijing Compliance Lab; Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS) China Design Center; Customer Network Resolution Center (CNRC); Motorola Engineering Institute (MEI); and Antenna and EMI labs.
Early in 1993, Motorola took the initiative to establish its first R&D facility in China – The Global Software Group China, which was also the first of its kind built by multinationals in China. Up to now, Motorola has invested US$800 million in R&D, building R&D centers and labs in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu and Hangzhou and employs more than 3,000 R&D staff, according to the company.

Taiwan market: Samsung achieves goal of shipping one million handsets

9 Nov, 2007

Samsung Electronics recently reached its target of shipping one million handsets for a 14-15% share in the Taiwan handset market, according to Scott Huang, vice president of the mobile communications unit at Samsung Taiwan.
Samsung will continue to boost its sales in Taiwan by introducing more camera, music and fashion handsets, with two 5-megapixel camera models, the G608 and G808, and three music handsets to be launched in early February 2008, Huang noted.
Although Samsung has engaged simultaneously in the development of Windows Mobile-, Linux- and Symbian-based handsets, the company will focus on Windows Mobile-based models in the Taiwan market, with the i458 to hit the local market in early 2008, Huang added.
Samsung on November 8 launched its Windows Mobile-based i608 smartphone in Taiwan. The i608 supports HSDPA and is equipped with a QWERTY keyboard. Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) is expected to purchase 10,000-20,000 i608 handsets from Samsung in the initial cooperation plan, according to sources at CHT.

List of Mobile Linux alliance

Open Handset Alliance
www.openhandsetalliance.com
a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies who have come together to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience. Together we have developed Android™, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.

LiMo Foundation
www.limofoundation.org
Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and Vodafone established the LiMo Foundation to develop the Foundation Platform, a Linux-based, open mobile communication device software platform.

Linux Phone Standards Forum (LiPS Forum)
www.lipsforum.org
The Linux Phone Standards Forum (LiPS) is a consortium founded by a group of telephony operators, device manufacturers, silicon and software vendors who have a strategic focus on Linux® telephony.

Open Mobile Alliance
www.openmobilealliance.org
Industry association developing the standard for wireless information and telephony services on digital mobile phones and other wireless terminals.

Google Mobile Alliance Seeks to Avoid Pitfalls of Past Groups

7th November 2007, Dow Jones Newswires

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Google isn't the first to try to bring order to the cellphone industry - it's just the latest and biggest name to do so.
Monday, the Internet giant announced its 34-member Open Handset Alliance of carriers, hardware makers and software groups that aims to create a mobile phone platform built on Linux-based open-source technology standards. To hear Google tell it, the initiative will revolutionize the mobile phone industry and enable customers to access the Internet through any wireless device and service provider.
Industry analysts, though, remain far more skeptical. Google and alliance partners such as Sprint Nextel, Samsung Electronics and Motorola certainly have the clout to drive changes within the industry, but skeptics question whether Google will be able to finesse the technical conflicts, political differences and business model disputes that inevitably arise in alliances of this size.
"Alliances typically don't work. Responsibilities are not clearly defined, and there aren't any penalties for failure," said Lisa Pierce, wireless analyst at research group Forrester.
Google dismissed such concerns, arguing that its end-to-end mobile software package - dubbed Android - will minimize technical conflicts, and that alliance members are all determined to create a cellphone industry based on open standards.
The Internet search and advertising giant hopes Android will be the foundation for a new generation of cellphones that let consumers surf the Internet much like they do now with their computers.
The goal for Google is to extend its core search and advertising business into the mobile marketplace, which research group Informa Telecoms & Media projects to be greater than $11 billion in 2011. If successful, Google's mobile advertising play could yield the company up to $4.8 billion in annual revenues within three years, according to Sandeep Aggarwal, analyst at Oppenheimer & Co.
Nonetheless, some are wondering if an alliance of nearly three dozen partners is the most effective way to create a seamless set of wireless products and services.
"You can't just slap together a mobile software platform, make it work with hardware and have it spin like a top," said John Jackson, wireless analyst at Yankee Group. "This is an exact opposite play to what Apple is doing," noting that Apple's popular iPhone works well specifically because the company developed its own hardware and software.

Tech Hurdles
Ken Dulaney, wireless analyst at Gartner, cautioned that the very openness touted by Google could create unexpected technical hurdles. For example, he noted that handset makers will be able to choose from several Linux versions and then add a variety of open-source modules to provide a range of features. Carriers could then add one of several browsers and select from hundreds of applications.
"The end result is that each device delivered through each carrier, despite being built on Google, can in reality be quite different from each other," said Dulaney. He said handset makers can never be sure how components and modules will interact with each other, so they must be tested to make sure they will not cause a mobile device to crash.
Another concern is that some handset makers or developers might be unable to resist the urge to lock down products so that rivals can't take advantage of their modifications.
Skeptics also noted the alliance had failed to draw in key mobile players, including leading handset maker Nokia and U.S. carriers AT&T and Verizon Communications.
Then there is the potential for confusion with other mobile industry groups - such as the LiMo Foundation, the Linux Phone Standards Forum and the Open Mobile Alliance - that aim to define technical standards and foster collaboration.
Bill Hughes, analyst at In-Stat consultancy, noted that these alliances - including Google's OHA - have overlapping memberships even as they seem to be pushing their own standards, raising questions about which companies are most committed to which alliances.
"If you have a lot of variation, it will scare off developers," he said. "People will get confused and confused customers won't buy."
Google was quick to downplay those concerns. Ethan Beard, director of new business development at Google, argued that while other alliances were debating rules, discussing technical specifications and authoring papers, the OHA was preparing to ship software development tools next week.
Beard also argued that Android is a robust software package that includes all the components that handset makers, carriers and developers will need to build low-cost mobile phones, minimizing the risk of fragmentation.
When asked about the possibility that some alliance members might try to lock out rivals, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt suggested those companies would ultimately lose out in a market in which consumers demand openness.
Money Issues
But industry analysts said technical issues were only half the battle. A key question was how the introduction of mass advertising might change the economics of the wireless carrier industry.
For example, would carriers stop subsidizing phones that work on rival networks? If so, would consumers be willing to let advertisers subsidize the cost of their phones? And most importantly, how would alliance members share the services and advertising revenues that Google and some financial analysts so readily anticipate?
Google was determined to talk up the technical side of OHA this week, but some analysts questioned whether the alliance will be able to withstand the tensions that will inevitably arise as members stake their financial claims.
"I have significant questions about changing parts of the (business) model," Forrester's Pierce said. "The hard work is yet to come."

Opera Launches Mobile Browser with Desktop Sync Facility

7th November 2007

The web browser developer, Opera has released the latest version of its Opera Mini web browser for java based mobile phones. The new browser includes the ability to synchronize your desktop web browser bookmarks with the mobile version, so there is no chance of forgetting a weblink when on the move.

"Two years ago, we introduced Opera Mini to the world because we wanted to bring the Web to users everywhere. Today, Opera Mini is the world's most popular mobile browser," says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. "As a result, the mobile Web is now a mass phenomenon. Opera Mini 4 raises the bar for user-friendly access to the Web on any mobile phone, anywhere in the world."
"We've had a lot of help from the community to get us ready to release Opera Mini 4 to the world," says Oleg Tukh, product manager for Opera Mini. "Now that it's ready and free to download, anyone can discover the beauty of Opera Mini and enjoy the best Web experience available on almost any regular mobile phone. We're excited to share this with everyone."

Worldwide growth
Opera says that its Opera Mini product is the world's most popular mobile Web browser, with 26 million cumulative users viewing more than one billion Web pages per month. Opera Mini has seen user growth skyrocket in the past 12 months as more of the world's population browses the Web with mobile devices.
Opera Mini offers a superior browsing experience to other mobile browsers. In some locations where wired infrastructure is limited or Web access by computer is restricted or expensive, Opera Mini is the only application to bring the Web to millions everyday.

Mobile gaming revenues fall in 2Q07, says iSuppli

7 Nov, 2007

The mobile-gaming market suffered a reversal of fortune in the second quarter of 2007 as revenues for title publishers declined by 9% sequentially, compared with 11% growth in the first quarter, according to research firm iSuppli.
"While growth compared to the same period a year earlier was slightly positive, the second quarter dealt a significant blow to manufacturers that were expecting their profits to continue to rise," said David Carnevale, vice president, multimedia content and distribution for iSuppli. "While the third-quarter performance and the fourth-quarter outlook appear optimistic, the pace of growth is slowing, causing great concern to content providers hoping to cash in on this market."
One of the main problems is that the number of subscribers for mobile games remains quite small. Moves by game publishers and developers to broaden the awareness of mobile games will help build the subscriber base – but only if they target the right demographic. In the coming months, expect to see game innovators focusing on characteristics that separate mobile gaming from other types of gaming including, mobility connectivity, community and location awareness, iSuppli predicted.
Because the current crop of mobile games is centered on casual players, one way to encourage a new demographic to play games on their mobile handsets would be to develop titles that support networked and/or multiplayer gaming. Allowing other users to play against and with their friends via wireless networks will encourage groups of gamers to adopt the platform quicker. These types of games also could reduce the churn-and-burn effect among targeted subscribers, an area of particular concern and importance for operators.
Despite the short-term setback, mobile gaming revenues are expected to nearly triple by 2011, growing to US$6.6 billion, managing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.2% from US$2.3 billion in 2006.
Watching mobile video
With some uncertainty associated with mobile gaming, operators and content providers instead are turning to the mobile-video market. While still in its early stages, mobile-video holds the most upside potential among the premium content categories.
Most of the early mobile-video deployments are coming from operators that are streaming video over their networks. Mobile television services are debuting simultaneously worldwide and consumer acceptance has been most prolific in Japan and Korea. Notably, MobiTV announced that by February of this year their subscribers topped two million worldwide.
Mobile TV is a catalyst for the expansion of the mobile video market. As mobile TV services continue to garner subscribers, other services such as video on demand (VoD) and interactive viewing become more appealing to consumers.
Mobile-video operators are expecting big things from this market. iSuppli forecasts mobile-video revenues will reach US$14.6 billion by 2011, rising at a CAGR of 71.7% from US$977 million in 2006.
While significant barriers remain – including content availability, spectrum accessibility and uncertain business models – the earlier these obstacles are breached, the faster this segment can become the largest mobile content opportunity for operators and content providers, noted iSuppli.

Source: iSuppli, November 2007

Source: iSuppli,November 2007