EU Bodies Deliver Universal Phone Charger Standards

Two European standards bodies delivered standards for a universal micro USB phone charger, which will let Europeans use one charger for multiple phones.

The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) this week released charger standards for data-enable mobile phones, or phones that can be connected to a computer.

The Commission expects the first common chargers and mobile phones compatible with the new standards to hit the European market in early 2011.

In June 2009, more than a dozen mobile phone makers – including Apple, Nokia, and Research in Motion – agreed to standardize on the micro USB plug in Europe. It received the backing of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in October 2009. The European Commission then handed down a mandate in December 2009 requiring CENELEC and ETSI to deliver common charger standards. The groups have now delivered on that requirement.

For the complete article, please click here.

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.

For the complete article, please click here.

DIVA TV's Viewster Online Video Available on TechniSat Hybrid Set-top Boxes

DIVA AG has completed a deal with TechniSat Digital GmbH to include its Viewster VoD widget on Technisat’s Hybrid set top boxes in ten markets beginning in 2011.

This continues the trend of pay-TV operators and technology suppliers racing to deploy online video and Web content services, particularly in Europe.

Other deals of note include:

ONO (Spain) and TiVO: ONO is the exclusive distributor of TiVo's advanced television services in Spain. Similarly, TiVo will become the exclusive software provider for all next-generation set top boxes deployed by ONO, including both PVR platforms and traditional "non-PVR" set top boxes. ONO and TiVo also expect to collaborate on solutions that make the TiVo experience available to consumers beyond ONO's cable footprint in conjunction with terrestrial and Internet delivered content - although specifics of these plans were not disclosed.

Telefónica and MeeGo-based Connected TV Devices (25 markets): In June, Telefónica announced it will jointly explore with Intel and Nokia how to leverage MeeGo's capabilities to provide content and applications to s smartphones, netbooks, tablets, and internet connected TVs.

MeeGo combines Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo open source projects into one Linux-based software platform hosted by the Linux Foundation. MeeGo has already been endorsed by a number of key OEMs and application developers. MeeGo enables an open software environment for rapid development for a range of smart, PC-like devices and exciting new services.

"Barbie, meet KIN"

Microsoft this week announced their KIN social networking devices (phones) designed for a younger set whose primary interest, in addition to an occasional phone call, is social networking. The timing of the announcement interestingly coincides with news that the sagging Palm phone maker is up for sale, having missed several windows of opportunity to capture growing consumer interest in smartphones. Microsoft, expert marketers that they are, have left no question as to who is the target demographic. They may have carved out a position in a tight, yet well-defined demographic well served by Disney, Miley Cyrus and the Twilight crowd. These tweeners and teens may have the income to purchase a smartphone but find their allowance lacks the heft to support the iPhone data plan. In the bloody battle of mobile phone marketing, Microsoft may be content to win a small slice of the growing pie. After all, Zune keeps on quietly plugging in the shadow of the iPod.




Parks Associates’ Consumer Decision Process research of buyers of CE products revealed that Nokia, once the unequaled leader of the U.S. mobile phone market, last year fell to the bottom of the list of brands of basic mobile phones that people would recommend, as measured by Net Promoter Score (NPS). We have to assume that the bright minds at Microsoft did not enter this arena without extensive, long-term battle plans well drawn.

Takeaways from Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s Earning Releases

A pair of handset makers made their earning announcements recently. Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, announced results on Thursday. Although revenue dipped 5% from a year ago, handset unit shipments increased 5%. More importantly, Nokia assured the industry and investors by affirming its outlook for handset unit volume for the industry in 2008: 1.26 billion. Even though Europe and North American markets suffered weakened demand, Nokia’s executive sounded confident that the company’s presence in many emerging markets will help it to achieve its 4th quarter shipment goal. In a tough economic environment, such confirmation is definitely assuring. The following is just some interesting tidbits from the company’s conference call with financial analysts:

* Nokia shipped 1 million units of E71 in 3Q08
* N96 started shipping in September and did well in its first month
* Seven million GPS-enabled devices sold in the quarter, up over 50% from Q2, and the bundled navigation service was on over 70% of those phones (BTW, Nokia completed Navteq acquisition in the quarter)
* Introducing Come With Music subscription Service on selected Nokia phones, including the latest touch-screen 5800 phone. (Nokia clearly benefited from its 2006 acquisition of Loudeye, a wholesale music service provider based in the U.S.) Unique about this new service is the feature that consumers will be able to keep all the music they download even after they discontinue the subscription. This may be the trick to jumpstart the slow adoption of music subscription service.
* Acquisition of OZ Communications, indicating Nokia’s continuous efforts into the consumer email and instant messaging service market.

And this morning, Sony Ericsson also released its earnings of 3Q08. Total unit shipments increase 1.3 million from 2Q08 to 25.7 million units, but are flat on a year-over-year basis. Revenues for the quarter, however, slipped 10% compared with a year ago. It kind of echoed Nokia’ view of the industry growth by pegging annual unit shipment growth at 10% for 2008. Highlights of the quarter include the following:

* Shipped the first product from the Xperia family X1 at the end of 3Q08, expect good response from the end users.
* Will ship C905 in 4Q08
* Shipped 12 million Walkman phones in Q3 and year-to-date close to 90 million Walkman phones

Both companies emphasized that competition in the high-end smartphone segment has intensified quite a bit recently. Nokia, in particular, holds the view that mobile applications and services will be the differentiators that carrier partners will leverage to better compete in the subscriber market. Given the current turmoil in the financial world and its impact on consumer spending, both companies are very cautious about the outlook for next year.

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.