Nokia X7 Gaming Phone Allegedly Surfaces with Four Speakers

Nokia may have a gaming focused phone in the near future based on a possible leak. The X7-00 would have most of the feature set of the E7, including the four-inch AMOLED screen and eight-megapixel camera, but would go all-touch and focus on audio. The design seen by Nokia Saga would have four speakers, one at each corner, and so would be much louder for gameplay or music than its usual one- or two-speaker rivals.

If real, the X7-00 didn't get a release date with the leak. Its next closest opportunity for a major unveiling would be Mobile World Congress in February, but Nokia is known to release many of its non-flagship phones outside of trade shows.

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Mobile Internet and E-mail Services Jump in Popularity among U.S. Consumers

Adoption of non-text mobile data services has exceeded 40% of the more than 70 million U.S. broadband households with a mobile phone service, according to Parks Associates’ new consumer study Mobile Convergence: Platforms, Applications, and Services.

Over one-fourth of mobile service users have adopted mobile Internet and e-mail services, eclipsing other mobile data ARPU drivers like mobile TV and music, indicating that carriers will have to win subscribers through more “practical” services first. The fast adoption of mobile social networking and navigation services, which have both exceeded 10%, also indicates carriers can be successful in deploying popular Web activities as revenue-generating data services on the mobile platform.

Non-text mobile data services are central to wireless carriers’ long-term plans for revenue growth. The strong growth in usage of mobile Internet, e-mail, social networking, and navigation during the past two years shows consumers are eager for mobile applications that offer convenience and rich features. Use of multipurpose devices like smartphones is another driver. Smartphone penetration will exceed 30% of broadband households in 2009. These 20 million households will be a perfect target for carriers to market their mobile data services.

Wake Up My Phone? It’s Asleep?

Mobile phones in my world are used in place of watches, for text messaging, playing games when bored in line, taking pictures when I don’t have a real camera with me, a little video taping (Is it still called that without any tapes involved?), and get this – making calls. SanDisk is saving me, however. Apparently, my phone is not living up to its potential. SanDisk has the Wake Up Your Phone ™ initiative to educate consumers on adding memory to their mobile phones through the memory slots. Previously they had 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB memory cards available for mobile phones. This week they just released a 16GB microSDHC™ and a 16GB Memory Stick Micro (M2)®. These tiny cards are giants of storage, making the phone’s transition to a music warehouse, portable office or mini movie theater easy. They can hold an estimated 88 hours of video, 4000 songs, or 54,400 pictures. This new size will be available at Best Buy Mobile stores in October and in Verizon Wireless stores in November. With the ringtone creator application and downloads available on their website, I am going to have to wake up my phone and fill my memory slot!

Consumers are not sold on mobile video services

Parks Associates recommends operators should offer free content to entice new subscribers...

While nearly one-third of U.S. households have a video-capable mobile phone, operators are struggling to find an audience for their mobile video services, according to Mobile TV: Analysis & Forecast (Second Edition).

This new report by market research firm Parks Associates found a majority of consumers with a video-capable mobile phone have never used the video features. For example, 56% have never watched a video clip using a mobile phone. These low usage rates are discouraging for operators hoping to boost revenues through new TV and video services. The report predicts operators will overcome this challenge by offering more programming at no cost.

Mobile TV: Analysis & Forecast (Second Edition) is a study of the global market for mobile TV services.

The full press release is available: http://newsroom.parksassociates.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5090

Open Up and Say Android

Rumor has it, on Monday British chip player ARM will unveil a mobile phone that uses Google’s new open-source platform for cellphones aka Android. No details have yet been released (both companies were quoted as saying zip) but details aren’t really the point here in my opinion. It will be a phone. It will have Android. It will be written about by the press. Why? Partially because Google is involved and people are beginning to suspect that Google really runs the world. (They took over from the Freemason’s around 2003.) If Google does anything it must have significance because Google itself is so significant, right?

Beyond that, however, I think the real trend this highlights is the gradual opening up of the cellular world. Mobile phones are becoming more like PCs not only by having a more capabilities but also by having more in common. The balkanized technical landscape of the cellular world has always made it hard to develop applications and services. Google’s Android highlights efforts by big industry players to make mobile phones more similar and more usable by third parties.

Google Android vs. The Celco Cyborgs

So what will Google’s new open-source software mean for the mobile phone industry? I’ve spun this Rubik’s cube around as many ways as I can think of and always come back to “not much”. I’d like a more open, flexible cellphone as much as the next guy but the problem isn’t the OS. The problem is that (most) of the major cellphone players control their handsets like an obsessive mama. You can only use their handsets to access their applications via their network. And for those of you just joining us, this isn’t an accident. The mobile carriers deliberately do this because… you guessed it, they want to make money. They have nothing to gain from a hyper-competitive market that lets consumers can access what they want, where they want, and how they want. So why would a new Google OS package change their minds? I don’t think it will. T-Mobile & Sprint might be willing to experiment with it in hopes of luring some subscribers but I somehow doubt they are willing to give consumers the freedom needed drive down prices. After all, isn’t that was regulators are supposed to do?

LG and Samsung Phones Lead in Advanced Mobile Entertainment Features

LG and Samsung are the top mobile-phone brands in the U.S. for advanced entertainment features, leading competitors Motorola and Nokia in adoption of phones with support for mobile TV, music, and games, according to Parks Associates recent research.

Among owners of LG and Samsung phones, 12% and 11% reported having mobile TV features, respectively, compared with 8% of Motorola owners and 0% for Nokia owners. Among the four leading brands, Motorola ranks third overall, and Nokia lags significantly in advanced entertainment features. Only 6% of Nokia phones support purchase of music tracks, compared with 22% and 20% of LG and Samsung phones, respectively.

Sprint Disconnecting Customers Because of Excessive Customer Service Calls

Sprint is choosing to disconnect a group of wireless customers for excessive calls to the customer service, citing that Sprint is unable to serve them adequately. To view the letter sent to customers, click here: http://news.com.com/2300-1036_3-6195014-1.html