Cell Phone Industry Adopts micro-USB Charger Standard

February 18, 2009
A thing of the past: the universal phone charger kit

A thing of the past: the universal phone charger kit

The micro-USB port will become by 2012 the unique way to charge your cell phone.

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, 17 wireless operators and handset makers – including AT&T, Motorola, Nokia, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, T-Mobile and Vodafone – agreed to standardize chargers shipped with their cell phones.

“A universal charger will also make life much simpler for the consumer, who will be able to use the same charger for future handsets, as well as being able to charge their mobile phone anywhere from any available charger,” explains the GSM Association (GSMA).

The Universal Charging Solution (UCS) uses the handset’s micro-USB port to deliver a 5 volts charge at up to 2.5 watts.

According to the GSMA, these energy-efficient chargers will result in an estimated 50 per cent reduction in standby energy consumption, 50 per cent less chargers being manufactured each year, resulting in the potential elimination of up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers.

UCS is good for the environment, cheaper to make and more convenient for the consumer. Now why did it take so long?

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Posted by TechPulse 360

Motorola Should Close Or Sell Its Handset Division, Analyst Says

February 16, 2009

Motorola’s share of the cellular handset market hit a peak of 22.6 percent in 2006 with the success of the RAZR phone.

It has been pointed downhill ever since, falling to 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter and perhaps 5 percent in 2009, says JRPG analyst Lisa Thompson.

Motorolas market share has fallen from 22.6% when the RAZR was hot to 6.4%, JRPG says

Motorola's market share has fallen from 22.6% when the RAZR was hot to 6.4%, JRPG says

That’s why the company would be better off selling the division or closing it – instead of throwing more cash at it and endangering the company’s “precarious financial position,” says Thompson in a Wall Street research note on Monday.

Even if Motorola has an exciting new handset under development, the product isn’t likely to see the market until late 2009, which might be too late, she says.

Thompson’s note underscores the difficult predicament in which Motorola finds itself with the recession closing in and Apple and Research in Motion having out designed it in the cell phone market.

Motorola executives insist they will continue to put resources behind a turnaround the in critical phone business.

But Thompson says the company might be better off not. Motorola’s present “enterprise value” of $15 billion (its market capitalization is $8.8 billion) would rise 63 percent to $24 billion if it shed phones and channeled resources to its remaining divisions, she says.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Motorola Favors Android Over Windows Mobile In 2009

February 4, 2009

Motorola has had a difficult time of it.

In the fourth quarter, its handset sales plunged 53 percent as the popular iPhone from Apple and the new Blackberries turned consumers away from its aging product line and its last big hit, the Razr.

Windows Mobile 7 may change the competitive landscape

Windows Mobile 7 may change the competitive landscape

Now it is eager to get back on the playing field and is promising a revitalized family of products to hit the market in the fourth quarter and the first half of 2010.

“Consumers are migrating toward devices that increasingly involve data subscriptions,” says Sanjay Jha, co-CEO.

So what operating system will the new products run? Motorola says many will use the Android smart-phone software from Google instead of Windows Mobile 6 from Microsoft. “We believe in 2009, Android is more competitive,” says Jha.

“But in 2010 when Windows (Mobile) 7 becomes available, we will participate more,” he said.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

ARM Reports Record 2008 Earnings; But Posts Disappointing Outlook

February 3, 2009

ARM is one of the bright spot in the gloomy semiconductor sector.

For 2008, the U.K. processor designer reported today sales of $546.2m – a 6 per cent increase – and a net profit before tax of $184 million.

ARM has 580 licenses for its low-power chips designs including semiconductor companies like Motorola, Samsung or Texas Instruments, which then in turns are used 90 per cents of mobile phones – like the Apple iPhone – and in many other consumer electronics devices and cars.

In 2008, ARM’s licensees shipped 4 billion processors, up 38% compared to 2007.

However, for 2009, the British company expects a drop in revenues of 16% to about $460 million citing economic uncertainty.

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Mobile Phone Business Still Dragging Down Motorola

February 3, 2009
Despite having numerous phones, Motorola's handset division is rapidly loosing market share and tons of money

Despite having numerous phones, Motorola's handset division is rapidly loosing market share and tons of money

Motorola’s mobile phone business is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Today, the telecommunications company said its mobile devices division sold about 100 million handsets in 2008, for a total revenue of $12.1 billion and an operating loss of $2.2 billion, compared with $1.2 billion in 2007.

To cut its losses, Motorola – now ranked fourth in the global handset marketplace behind Nokia, Samsung and LG – is reducing head count and the number of operating systems its devices support (Windows Mobile, Linux and Google Android).

However, the company 1-year old turnaround strategy for its mobile device unit – which included a sale – is not working and continues to spill out precious cash.

A fire-sale of the handset division might be the only way out for the Illinois company. Unless Motorola manages to surprise us with a handset a la Palm Pre or Apple iPhone later this month, at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona, Spain.

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Nokia Handset Business Tumbles, Now Expects Global Mobile Market To Drop 10% In 2009

January 22, 2009
The Consumer Electronics Association hopes for a 2.1% in cell phone sales in 2009. Wishful thinking?

The Consumer Electronics Association hopes for a 2.1% in cell phone sales in 2009. Wishful thinking?

The world’s largest maker of mobile phones posted today a 69% drop in fourth-quarter profit of $751 million and a 19% revenue decline, still at over $16 billion.

During the last quarter, Nokia shipped 113.1 million handsets, down 15% over last year.

The mobile phone manufacturers are being hit hard in ’09

Competitors are not doing much better either.

Last Friday, rival handset maker Sony Ericsson posted a second-straight quarterly loss at $245 million. And Motorola also said it will report a fourth-quarter loss and slash an additional 4,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Nokia lowered its outlook for global mobile devices sold in 2009, saying it now expects them to fall 10% compared to an earlier forecast of a 5% drop.

At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, the CEA hoped for a 2.1% sales growth in mobile phones. That might be just wishful thinking at this point.

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Skype Comes To Mobile Phones And Intel-Based Portable Internet Devices

January 8, 2009

Skype announced Thursday a lite version of its popular Internet calling software for mobile phones.

The software will work on Android phones running Google’s handset software and more than 100 Java-enable phones from makers such as LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson.

Can you Skype? The answer may be yes

Can you Skype? The answer may be yes

Skype called the software an updated beta version that benefited from earlier testing last year. For the first time it is available to users in the U.S.

The software lets users call other Skype consumers using their cellular handsets.

Skype also announced a 1.0 beta of its software for Intel-based mobile Internet devices.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Clearwire Could Stall Nationwide WiMAX Deployment Amid Credit Crunch

December 17, 2008
Sprint's dual 3G/4G modem works on both the carrier existing EVDO high-speed network and on Clearwire's WiMAX network

Sprint's dual 3G/4G modem works on both the carrier existing EVDO high-speed network and on Clearwire's WiMAX network

Network operator Clearwire is set to build the first nationwide 4G mobile broadband network using WiMAX wireless technology.

But it now appears that the company is $2 to $5 billion short to complete the national roll out. Despite the $3.2 billion investment Clearwire received earlier this month from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks.

Today, Clearwire’s network only covers the city of Baltimore, with Portland, Ore., officially launching early January. And 46 more markets are planned in the initial build-out next year.

With credit markets still in flux, Clearwire’s prospect of raising public debt are slim; leaving the carrier with little choice but to slow if not stall its network build-out. Which could represent a significant financial blow for suppliers like Motorola.

Sprint launched a WiMAX modem inspite the lack of a WiMAX network!

In a somewhat funny turn of event, Sprint – which provided Clearwire with most of the WiMAX spectrum – announced today a 3G/4G dual-mode USB modem that will connect a computer to Clearwire’s WiMAX (4G) service.

The wireless modem will cost $150 with a two-year subscriber agreement and after a $50 mail-in-rebate. The device will work on both Sprint’s existing EVDO (3G) nationwide high-speed network and on Clearwire’s Baltimore – and soon Portland – WiMAX networks. Sprint claims an average downlink speeds of 2-4 Mbps within its 4G network; about 3 times the speed of its EVDO network.

But unless you are in the Baltimore or Portland areas, I find hard to understand the benefit of this dual modem. Especially if the WiMAX roll-out takes several more years to complete than initially thought!

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HD Television Vendors Line Up Behind Rival Wireless Standards

December 12, 2008

High-definition televisions sporting wireless connections have yet to hit most retail shelves, but vendors are tussling over standards for this latest consumer feature.

An outdoor, wireless, weatherproof TV

An outdoor, wireless, weatherproof TV

Two industry groups are lining up behind rival 5 GHz and 60 GHz technology proposals.

The 5 GHz standard is based on technology from Israeli-based Amimon, and is backed by Hitachi, Motorola, Sharp, Samsung and Sony, says ABI Research. The companies formed the WHDI Special Interest Group.

Mitsubishi, separately, has said it will use Amimon technology.

The 60 GHz approach is designed by Sunnyvale startup SiBEAM and has drawn the support of Intel, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric, NEC and Toshiba. This WirelessHD group also claims Samsung and Sony, who are hedging their bets.

Broadcom also has joined the consortium, said ABI analyst Steve Wilson.

Amimon has shipped 100,000 of its wireless chipsets and is making “real progress promoting its solution,” says Wilson. SiBEAM, meanwhile, has a new round of fundraising and has won investments from Sony and Panasonic.

In Japan, Sharp and Hitachi are shipping high-end wireless televisions. In the U.S., Sony has its Bravia wireless adaptor available in some retail outlets, said Wilson.

Expect to see new models at January’s Consumer Electronics Show.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Funambol CEO: Internet Browsing On The iPhone Is Horrible; Favours Native Applications

November 20, 2008
Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of mobile open source startup Funambol

Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO of the mobile open source startup Funambol

Speaking at the Open Mobile Summit today in San Francisco, Calif., Funambol CEO, Fabrizio Capobianco, trashed the iPhone Internet browser experience as being horrible.

“People say that browsing on a WAP phone is horrible. If you look at browsing on the iPhone, you’re forcing me to point, to move around, to double click and zoom in… It’s a horrible user experience because browsing is build on hypertext, a mouse and you don’t have that on a phone”, says Capobianco who has a background in useability.

The browser will not take over the mobile space

Funambol develops a consumer mobile application that adds Blackberry type functions like push email, calendar, contacts… to “feature” phones like the Motorola RAZR and/or smart phones. The Redwood City, Calif., startup claims its application was downloaded more than 3 million times.

The founder of the open source mobile project sees a mobile Internet browser as a last resort and believes that native applications stored on the phone provide a much better end-user experience. “My interaction with the browser is going down. The Dashboard on a Mac is a nice add-on, but on a mobile phone it will be the main way of interacting and accessing to your applications and data,” says Capobianco.

Capobianco also points that inspite the common thinking, mobile phones tends to be disconnected, to get in and out of a network, making Internet applications like Google Apps very difficult to use. “For usability reasons it has to be just 1 button away,” adds the CEO.

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Posted by TechPulse 360

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