Wireless Asia articles from August 2007

Wireless Asia archives from August 2007

Ovi-rated.(UNWIRED)
August 1, 2007... An air of inevitability surrounds Nokia s entry into the music download business. Business 101 requires that you take the fight to your competitors in their markets, which is what Nokia has predictably done with Ovi. A lot of ink is going...

Earthquake alerts coming to Japan.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
August 1, 2007... While Japan's mobile phones service is renowned for its sophistication as well as frills, later this year carriers are taking service to a new level with the introduction of early-warning earthquake alerts to mobile handsets. Operators are...

More players target low-cost handsets.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
August 1, 2007... More than a dozen handset manufacturers will be shipping ultra-low-cost handsets, or units costing less than $50, by 2008. ABI Research says Motorola and Nokia, the traditional leaders in this market, will start to get some competition from...

Mobile blogs present new revenue opportunity.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
August 1, 2007... Operators can cash in on the popularity of moblogs, or mobile blogs, by developing plans that will complement their traditional charging schemes. According to In-Stat, the abundance of websites dedicated to moblogging and photoblogging...

NFC to fuel m-commerce.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)
August 1, 2007... The spread of handsets enabled with near field communications (NFC) technology is seen further boosting m-commerce adoption in Europe. The GSM Association says Operators serving 40% of the world's mobile subscribers are working on contactless...

Handset sales advance 17% in Q2.(INSIGHT: ONE MONTH'S WIRELESS RESEARCH)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Sales of mobile handsets reached 270.9 million units in the second quarter, growing 17.4% from the same period last year. Gartner says worldwide mobile phone sales will reach 1.13 billion units this year--up 14% from last year's 990.8 million....

Nokia takes big leap into mobile content.
August 1, 2007... While many of the media reports on Nokia's Ovi launch have focused on its direct competition with Apple's iTunes service, analysts say Ovi goes way beyond being an iTunes killer in Nokia's mind, and the Finnish mobile phone giant is thinking...

Nokia controls 51% of big four handset sales.(METRICS: Inside the wireless data numbers)
August 1, 2007... Nokia has kept its hold on the No. 1 spot in the second quarter, shipping 100.8 million handsets and earning $2.6 billion. Among the four biggest manufacturers--which also include Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson--Nokia accounted for 50.8%...

China on track to top 500m in September.(METRICS: Inside the wireless data numbers)
August 1, 2007... With a population of more than 1.3 billion and a penetration rate of just 35 Vo, China s cellular market has plenty of room for continued growth. According to Wireless Intelligence, the number of cellular connections in China will reach 500...

The European Union wants to let companies providing satellite-to-mobile services obtain one EU-wide license and avoid applying for authorization from each of the bloc's 27 nations.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... The European Union wants to let companies providing satellite-to-mobile services obtain one EU-wide license and avoid applying for authorization from each of the bloc's 27 nations. The one-stop model is aimed at helping cut costs and boost the...

Nokia unveils new services and cellphones that customers can use to download music and play games.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Nokia unveils new services and cellphones that customers can use to download music and play games, a bid to challenge Apple's iPhone.

Teenager George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J. has developed a way to "unlock" the iPhone from AT&T's network.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Teenager George Hotz of Glen Rock, N.J. has developed a way to "unlock" the iPhone from AT&T's network. The procedure raises the possibility of a cottage industry springing up to buy iPhones, unlocking them and then selling them to people who...

Nokia says Japan's Matsushita will meet all costs stemming from a warning this month about faulty batteries.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Nokia says Japan's Matsushita will meet all costs stemming from a warning this month about faulty batteries. Nokia earlier issued an advisory on Nokia BL-5C batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial between December 2005 and November...

Sprint Nextel selects Samsung to build a WiMAX network in New York City.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Sprint Nextel selects Samsung to build a WiMAX network in New York City, part of the US wireless provider's plan to launch similar networks in several US cities.

European Union regulators clear the proposed acquisition of Orange Netherlands by T-Mobile Netherlands, a branch of Deutsche Telekom.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... European Union regulators clear the proposed acquisition of Orange Netherlands by T-Mobile Netherlands, a branch of Deutsche Telekom, after the European Commission said the deal would "not significantly impede effective competition" in EU...

Ericsson and Samsung have made amends and inked a comprehensive cross-licensing deal.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Ericsson and Samsung have made amends and inked a comprehensive cross-licensing deal. Ericsson granted Samsung a non-exclusive license under Ericsson's patent portfolio for the 2G and 3G mobile standards.

Vodafone insists it has no plans to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Vodafone insists it has no plans to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless, saying it had "decided not to exercise its rights" to sell the stake to Verizon Communications, which owns the remaining 55% of the company.

Iraq sells three mobile phone licenses for $3.75b.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Iraq sells three mobile phone licenses for $3.75b to Kuwait's MTC, Asiacell and Korek.

Eleven foreign firms want to take part in Kuwait's auction to sell 26% of a mobile telephone operator set.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... Eleven foreign firms want to take part in Kuwait's auction to sell 26% of a mobile telephone operator set up by the government.

The market value for mobile video services including video mail, video calling and video sharing services, will grow from $1b in 2007 to over $17b by 2012, a CAGR of 74%.(Movements)
August 1, 2007... The market value for mobile video services including video mail, video calling and video sharing services, will grow from $1b in 2007 to over $17b by 2012, a CAGR of 74%. According to a new study from ABI Research, industrialized regions of...

China Mobile's first-half profits rose 25.7% from a year earlier on strong growth in value-added services.(BEIJING)
August 1, 2007... China Mobile's first-half profits rose 25.7% from a year earlier on strong growth in value-added services. Earnings totaled 37.9b yuan ($5b) in the six months ending June 31, while revenues grew 21.6% to 166.6b yuan ($21.9b).

China Unicom reports that its first-half net profit fell 24% on an accounting loss resulting from a change in the fair value of its convertible bonds.(BEIJING)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... China Unicorn reports that its first-half net profit fell 24% on an accounting loss resulting from a change in the fair value of its convertible bonds. Net profit for the six months ending June was 2.13b yuan ($280m), down from 2.8b yuan ($369...

SmarTone-Vodafone, Hong Kong's No. 3 mobile operator, will distribute all of its profit to shareholders after more than doubling its 2006-07 net result.(HONG KONG)
August 1, 2007... SmarTone-Vodafone, Hong Kong's No. 3 mobile operator, will distribute all of its profit to shareholders after more than doubling its 2006-07 net result. Net profit grew 126% to HK$158m ($20.2m) on 7% higher revenues of HK$4.04b.

CSI, launches a DRM-free music download service that has no usage limitations in term of copy limits or play count limits.(HONG KONG)
August 1, 2007... CSI, launches a DRM-free music download service that has no usage limitations in term of copy limits or play count limits. Customers can use their W-CDMA, HSPDA handsets or PC to download MP3-encoded songs from EMI and Gold Label, at either...

Shin Corp. reports a worse-than-expected 25% fall in its second-quarter net profit, due mainly to a lower profit contribution from its mobile unit.(BANGKOK)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Shin Corp. reports a worse-than-expected 25% fall in its second-quarter net profit, due mainly to a lower profit contribution from its mobile unit. Shin recorded a net profit of 1.19b baht ($35m), down from 1.6b baht ($50.1 million) a year...

True Move, the third-largest mobile operator in Thailand.(BANGKOK)
August 1, 2007... True Move, the third-largest mobile operator in Thailand, expects to break even this year, helped by increasing non-voice services earnings.

Indosat will increase its capital expenditure this year to $1.2b from $1b.(JAKARTA)
August 1, 2007... Indosat will increase its capital expenditure this year to $1.2b from $1b as initially planned to further expand its networks.

The government delays the rollout of WiMAX services until the middle of next year.(KUALA LUMPUR)
August 1, 2007... The government delays the rollout of WiMAX services until the middle of next year. The services were initially due to be launched by the end of this year.

Smart Communications acquires a 30% stake in Blue Ocean Wireless.(MANILA)
August 1, 2007... Smart Communications acquires a 30% stake in Blue Ocean Wireless, an Irish company delivering GSM capability for the merchant maritime sector, for $15.9m.

Bharti Airtel reports that its net profit in the most recent quarter doubled from a year ago, thanks to robust growth in new subscribers.(NEW DELHI)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Bharti Airtel reports that its net profit in the most recent quarter doubled from a year ago, thanks to robust growth in new subscribers. Profit rose to 15.lb rupees ($368m) in the April-June quarter from 7.6b rupees ($189m) in the same period...

Nokia plans to make its manufacturing plant in India, now the second-largest market for its handsets, a global hub for exports.(NEW DELHI)
August 1, 2007... Nokia plans to make its manufacturing plant in India, now the second-largest market for its handsets, a global hub for exports. Nokia has already made 60 million handsets in 18 months in India.

SK Telecom will acquire 6.61% of China Unicom by converting $1b of China Unicom's bonds into shares, its latest effort to expand in the world's largest mobile service market.(SEOUL)
August 1, 2007... SK Telecom will acquire 6.61% of China Unicom by converting $1b of China Unicom's bonds into shares, its latest effort to expand in the world's largest mobile service market. The move will make the company the second-largest shareholder in the...

KTF is negotiating with Apple.(SEOUL)
August 1, 2007... KTF is negotiating with Apple to exclusively sell the highly popular iPhone in South Korea.

Samsung expects to sell more than 40m mobile handsets in the third quarter.(SEOUL)
August 1, 2007... Samsung expects to sell more than 40m mobile handsets in the third quarter. The company, which sold a record 37.4m handsets in the second quarter, has said it aims to sell more than 150m units in 2007, up from 114m in 2006.

Sanyo is negotiating separately with Sharp and Kyocera for the sale of its mobile handset business and aiming to conclude a deal by the end of the year.(TOKYO)
August 1, 2007... Sanyo is negotiating separately with Sharp and Kyocera for the sale of its mobile handset business and aiming to conclude a deal by the end of the year. Sanyo plans to pull out of the mobile phone handset business to focus on core areas.

DoCoMo sees its profit fall 25% in the most recent quarter as operating expenses increased amid intensifying competition.(TOKYO)
August 1, 2007... DoCoMo sees its profit fall 25% in the most recent quarter as operating expenses increased amid intensifying competition. Net income totaled 122.8b yen ($1.03b) in the April-June quarter, compared with 163.5b yen ($1.32b) the same period a year...

Hutchison Telecommunicatiolrs Australia posts a narrower first-half net loss, due to strong customer growth and steady margins per user.(SYDNEY)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Hutchison Telecommunicatiolrs Australia posts a narrower first-half net loss, due to strong customer growth and steady margins per user. Net loss for the six months to June 30 was A$197.3m ($157.8m), compared with a net loss of A$524.7m ($424m)...

Telstra's annual net profit rose 2.9% over last year, thanks to improved revenues from its growing broadband and mobile divisions.(SYDNEY)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... Telstra's annual net profit rose 2.9% over last year, thanks to improved revenues from its growing broadband and mobile divisions. Net profit for the year ending June 30 rose to A$3.28b ($2.82b) from A$3.18b ($2.74b) last year.

The Commerce Commission says regulation is needed to increase competition in New Zealand's mobile market.(WELLINGTON)
August 1, 2007... The Commerce Commission says regulation is needed to increase competition in New Zealand's mobile market. The New Zealand consumer watchdog also rejected undertakings from Vodafone as an alternative to regulation over roaming and co-location.

Incumbent carrier Telecom New Zealand is seeking a new financial officer with experience in mergers and acquisition so it can take advantage of consolidation in the telecoms market.(WELLINGTON)
August 1, 2007... Incumbent carrier Telecom New Zealand is seeking a new financial officer with experience in mergers and acquisition so it can take advantage of consolidation in the telecoms market. The firm's CFO, Marko Bogoievski, earlier announced his...

SingTel's fiscal first-quarter net profit rises 10.4% on the back of strong sales in Singapore and increased contributions from regional mobile associates.(SINGAPORE)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... SingTel's fiscal first-quarter net profit rises 10.4% on the back of strong sales in Singapore and increased contributions from regional mobile associates. Net profit tot the April-June quarter was S$927m ($609m), up from S$840m ($549m) in the...

Huawei Technologies deploys what it says is Asia's first HSUPA commercial network for StarHub in Singapore.(SINGAPORE)
August 1, 2007... Huawei Technologies deploys what it says is Asia's first HSUPA commercial network for StarHub in Singapore. The upgrade of StarHub's 3G network involved the installation of over 1,000 next-generation base stations.

SingTel begins offering commercial HSDPA services with download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps in the Orchard Road and CBD areas.(SINGAPORE)
August 1, 2007... SingTel begins offering commercial HSDPA services with download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps in the Orchard Road and CBD areas. The launch follows a commercial trial involving more than 400 customers announced last November.

Clarification.(NEWS MAP: around wireless asia)(Correction notice)
August 1, 2007... In the May/June issue we incorrectly stated that SingTel was the first operator in Singapore to launch commercial HSDPA service. In fact StarHub launched the service on December 6, six month prior to SingTel's commercial launch in May. Our...

Spectrum standoff: WiMAX proponents and satellite operators square off over extended C-band. WiMAX proponents say the frequency is needed for broadband use, but broadcasters say it creates interference. Can a compromise be reached?(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As if it hasn't made enough noise in the telecoms industry, WiMAX is now stirring new controversy. This time the debate is centered on the industry's most valuable asset: spectrum. As regulators around the world...

Bluetooth readies for move beyond the handset: proponents are gambling that the technology, now mostly limited to use in mobile phones, will within two years empower a complete new host of applications.(TECHNOLOGY)
August 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bluetooth, the popular short-range connectivity technology used to link mobile phones to hands-flee devices, could be headed for a massive re-invention that includes a host of new markets and applications during the...

CDMA aims to end GSM supremacy in India: its rival technology may have an eight-year headstart, but CDMA is determined to make a big splash in the world's fastest growing mobile market. CDG COO James Person explains to senior contributor Rajesh Prothi why the group is so bullish.(1-2-1)
August 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wireless Asia: What brought you to India? James Person: India is the fastest growing telecom market in the world and also the fastest growing CDMA market. We opened an office in India last year, which is the...

Advertisers make mobile devices their new playground.(CommunicAsia SURVEY)
August 1, 2007... In an age where consumers' attention spans are short and millions of products and services are competing for their hard-earned cash, advertisers are hard pressed to find the best medium on which to sell their wares. The ubiquitous mobile...

WiMAX heats up wireless broadband space: Taiwan is a poster WiMAX markets with its leadership in regulatory policy. But its extensive fixed broadband networks, saturated mobile penetration and wide availability of Wi-Fi and HSDPA networks are limiting adoption in the short term.(TAIWAN FOCUS)
August 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The high level of government promotion and support for the WiMAX standards and the strong local WiMAX equipment industry are expected to make Taiwan a leading market for WiMAX in Asia Pacific. Broadband wireless...

Standards required to spur content development.(INDUSTRY VIEW)
August 1, 2007... The revenue generated from voice is clearly diminishing with every passing day, forcing operators to explore new areas of growth through continual innovation in technologies and services. I recently had an opportunity to attend a Vodafone...

Rough road ahead for China's music services.(CHINA FORUM)
August 1, 2007... Chinese mobile network operators and service providers have benefited from the popularity of music-centric services such as ringtones and ringback tones in recent years. As operators and service providers continue to expand their portfolios in...

Nokia, Microsoft expand collaboration.(tools)
August 1, 2007... Nokia and Microsoft have extended their cooperation to include support for Microsoft PlayReady technology in the Nokia $60 and Series 40 mobile device platforms. PlayReady is a new content access technology that makes it easy for content owners...

Ad-funded mobile website model.(tools)
August 1, 2007... Wapple is offering a free way to design, host and manage a mobile website. The sites are funded by the inclusion of relevant, targeted third-party banner advertising that Wapple delivers through mobile advertising companies AdMob, Admoda and...

Mobile Linux platform.(tools)
August 1, 2007... Motorola has launched Motomagx, its next-generation mobile Linux platform. Building on its arlier Linux-based platforms, Motomagx lays the foundation for new levels of openness, flexibility and support for third-party applications on Motorola...

PC-level security for Windows Mobile devices.(tools)
August 1, 2007... Symantec has released Mobile Security Suite 5.0, which includes antivirus, firewall, anti-SMS spam and data encryption technologies for smartphones. According to Symantec, this kind of layered security can not only mitigate the unique security...

KDDI has Gmail.(out now)
August 1, 2007... KDDI will offer a new email service based on Google's Gmail. The service will be KDDI-branded and will work on the "auone.jp" domain via both mobile phones and PCs. It will use Google's backend technology to offer 2 GB of mail storage together...

Lara Croft in 3D.(out now)
August 1, 2007... Entertainment software publisher and developer Eidos Interactive has launched Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend, a 3-D mobile adaptation of the 2006 console title hit. Emulating the game-play and cinematic action of the full version, the game...

eBay on mobile.(out now)
August 1, 2007... Singapore's MI customers can now browse, search and bid for items on eBay on their mobile phones using eBay Mobile on M1's mobile portal. www.miworld.com.sg

Nokia acquires Twango.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Nokia has acquired the assets of Twango, which provides a media sharing solution for organizing and sharing photos, videos and other personal media. According to Nokia, the Twango acquisition is a concrete step toward its internet services...

Mobile search for China expats.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Chinese mobile search provider mInfo has teamed up with magazine publisher Ringlet to provide expatriates in China with an even better user experience for the Guanxi mobile city guide. The partnership will include areas ranging from content...

Telkomsel chooses Comverse Fun Dial.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Indonesia's Telkomsel is replacing its existing system for personalized ringback tones and content management with Comverse's Fun Dial solution, which opens its ringback tone service to third-party content providers. The system also allows...

Top Model mobile game on Channel V.(out now)
August 1, 2007... Hong Kong-based 3G content provider Artificial Life has forged a deal with Channel V International to promote its mobile game based on Cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model. A dedicated micro site has been created for users to download the...

Ad-enabled mobile RSS reader.(out now)
August 1, 2007... AlwaysOn has developed the AlwaysOn Reader, a new mobile RSS news reader based on Smaato's open mobile advertising platform SOMA. The AlwaysOn Reader is a flee application for smartphones. AlwaysOn Mobile features default channels like CNN.com,...

'Beowulf' on mobile.(out now)
August 1, 2007... Gameloft has signed a distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures for worldwide rights to the mobile game inspired by the upcoming feature film Beowulf. The mobile game is expected to release in conjunction with the movie's planned opening...

Airtel taps Bubble Motion for voice SMS.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Airtel has chosen Bubble Motion's service that allows customers to send voice SMS messages over fixed-line telephones. Initially, Airtel subscribers will be able to send messages only to mobile phones but eventually will extend to other Airtel...

Sybase, HTC form global alliance.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Sybase and HTC Corp. have forged a global alliance focused on initiatives designed to deliver optimized Sybase iAnywhere mobility software on HTC devices. The alliance will focus initially on the management and security components of the Sybase...

KTF and Picsel in news service deal.(deals)
August 1, 2007... Picsel Technologies has signed an agreement with KT Freetel (KTF) to bring multimedia services such as news and magazine content to KTF's 13.8 million subscribers. KTF will launch the service in October using Picsel's mobile content platform as...

PCCW launches NOW Sports service.(this month's model)
August 1, 2007... PCCW's mobile division has launched a mobile TV sports package with seven channels and two keen marketing gimmicks. Gimmick 1: exclusive live Barclays Premier League games until 2010. Gimmick 2: it's high-definition mobile TV. Hence the name...

The dawn of the Google age?(STREET WISE)
August 1, 2007... By the time this column hits your desk, everyone in the industry is probably talking about Google's bid, or intend to bid, for nationwide spectrum in an upcoming US government auction. To recap the news, Google sent a letter to the...

Book-sized iPhone bill arives.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
August 1, 2007... Now that all the hoopla over the iPhone has finally died down, it's time to pay the bill--assuming you can lift it. The New York Times reports that some US customers of AT&T, which operates the only network for the iPhone, were stunned to...

Britain's mobile hang-up.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
August 1, 2007... Britons are going wild for mobility. At least, that's the conclusion drawn in the annual report from the country's Office of Communications. The BBC reports that mobile phones, the net and MP3 players are revolutionizing the way Britons spend...

Shopping heaven.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
August 1, 2007... A new mobile site in the US, mShopper, has launched that lets users comparison price-shop for more than seven million items at 100 different stores by keying in the first few letters of a make or model of product. You can even make secure...

Solar Wi-Fi.(SHORT MESSAGE: Around the wireless industry)
August 1, 2007... Get ready to use the sun to power your Wi-Fi hotspot. PC Magazine reports that Florida-based Soils Energy has devised a plan to provide guaranteed energy to low-wattage devices, even in the event of a blackout. Customer will be able to power...