Month: August 2006

” Both fitted with high-resolution 3.2 Megapixel cameras and autofocus, Nokia’s N93 and Sony Ericsson K800i look fairly similar with regard to their main attributes – but there are a number of small differences which set the two apart. For instance, the N93 comes with a 3x optical zoom and mechanical shutter, but these apparently don’t make too much of a difference as image quality is only marginally better than that of the K800i – although the latter appears to be cheating by overexposing pictures to obtain greater shadow detail.” Read more here:

“On the surface, the BlackBerry 8707g, ready for launch some time this week, looks a heck of a lot like the rumored 8703e that’s been kicking around the internet, but it’s quite a catch on its own. High-speed data junkies will be able to get their fix through the 2100 MHz UMTS capabilities of this unit, which can be exploited as a tethered modem for laptops.The 8707g latches onto GSM/GPRS networks over four bands (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), and throws down a full QWERTY keyboard (hurray! no SureType!), 64MB of flash memory, Bluetooth 2.0, 320 x 240 color LCD, a built-in speakerphone, and BlackBerry’s usual suite of PIM software.Push email is here, and attachment viewing is a cinch, with love for JPEG, BMP, TIFF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, and PDF formats. No word on pricing.” via mobilemag.com

TomTom retains market lead with over 30% share, up year-on-year, but down on Q1 2006
Garmin doubles market share compared to one year ago, to hold firm second place
Market growth of 97% takes total quarterly shipments above the previous record set in Q4 2005
Handhelds now account for only 10% of integrated devices, down from over 40% 18 months ago
Highlights from the Canalys Q2 2006 EMEA mobile navigation research
New GPS navigation device market research from Canalys shows that sustained growth has taken shipments in the latest quarter above even the boom level seen in Q4 2005, which made a big difference to the year-end performance of many retailers. Canalys estimates that just under 2.5 million devices shipped in Q2 2006, beating the previous quarterly record of 2.3 million. The Canalys figures include all mobile devices that have integrated GPS receivers and provide turn-by-turn vehicle navigation, including handhelds, such as the Mio P550, wireless handhelds like the HP hw6915, and transferables (or ‘PNDs’: Portable Navigation Devices), for example the TomTom GO and Garmin nüvi ranges.

“Q2 can be a quiet quarter for many consumer electronics product categories, but the navigation market, particularly in Europe, benefits from lots of customers buying devices in time for their summer vacations,” said Chris Jones, Canalys director and principal analyst. “The market continues to go from strength to strength, and we are seeing a continuous stream of new products coming to market, and more and more variety in form factors, features and price points. There are also an increasing number of hardware vendors aiming to challenge the early leadership position established by TomTom.”
TomTom suffered from some supply issues this quarter, giving others the opportunity to make up some ground. Of the top five vendors it was second-placed Garmin that made the most progress, its shipments quadrupling year-on-year. Still the US number one vendor, Garmin has a long history in GPS products, particularly for outdoor use and for the marine and avionics sectors, but it was overtaken early on in the European market for portable navigation devices for vehicles, development of which has been led primarily by European companies. Increased marketing effort in Europe and an expanding product range are now helping Garmin increase its presence in this market.
An earlier Canalys research report pointed out how the handheld computer market in EMEA was declining (down 42% year on year in Q2 2006) now that the demand for GPS navigation solutions has shifted away to transferables (dedicated portable navigation devices with integrated GPS) like the TomTom GO. Its navigation market numbers show the extent of that shift. Of the 2.5 million devices shipped in Q2, only 10% were handhelds, a further 3% were wireless handhelds, while a massive 87% were transferables. Compare this to the start of 2005, when handhelds were almost half the market.
“Consumers have flocked to transferables in droves,” Jones added. “They typically present a simple proposition, in an optimised form factor, at attractive price points. They are easy to demonstrate and sell. As a result, they have stolen a lot of retail shelf space away from handhelds, which has hastened the latter’s decline.”
Early solutions for handhelds relied on product bundles with external GPS receivers connected by cable or Bluetooth, which could sometimes be quite difficult to set up, and cumbersome to fit in the vehicle. These have understandably withered away in the face of the much better user experience offered by integrated GPS devices, but solutions using external receivers are still growing in the mobile phone space. As in other market segments such as digital music players, Jones sees rising activity around mobile phone and smart phone solutions, which will present a growing threat to the makers of dedicated navigation devices, but he believes there are two fundamental things missing from the market in EMEA today. The first is a broad array of attractive mobile phones or smart phones with integrated GPS, the second requires a change in attitude.
“Most of the mobile operators still aren’t awake to the huge potential of mobile navigation, and it comes a long way down on their priority list, after higher-risk plays like mobile TV. It shouldn’t. It is perhaps the purest form of location-based service, and has huge potential, not just in terms of subscriber numbers and as a revenue stream in itself, but also as a way of changing customer perception of what a phone is for, thus building a foundation for the delivery of other information services through the handset,” Jones said.
Average selling prices have remained steady around the €400 mark, despite increasing competition. The market continues to attract new vendors, particularly in the transferable space, including many well-known in-car system and consumer electronics brands, such as Becker, Blaupunkt, Packard Bell, Pioneer and VDO Dayton. These are being joined by more vendors of wireless handhelds with integrated GPS, for example Fujitsu-Siemens, who will hope to tap into the still underdeveloped enterprise market. While there are many entry-level products available, and Jones expects to see a €199 transferable before the year is out, this is being counterbalanced by new feature-packed models coming in at the top end, bringing, for example, widescreen displays, real-time traffic and weather information, and additional capabilities that encroach further into the in-car entertainment space, such as playback of music, photos, video and TV. How far the mobile navigation market leaders can go down this route is one of the subjects being addressed at the first Canalys Navigation Forum in Geneva, taking place from the 11th to 13th of September. The success the market is experiencing is reflected in the tremendous speaker list and audience that this event has already pulled together, from not only the industry itself, but also the financial analyst community and press. More information…

“ASUSTeK latest P525 quad-band PDA phone has just got FCC approved, can we expect it in US very soon? The P525 is available in Taiwan about 2 months back in June. It incorporated Push E-mail, Wi-Fi support and built-in numeric keypad to deliver a complete mobile business solution. Users can now stay connected no matter where they are.With both Wi-Fi and GPRS support built in, the P525 provides wireless online connection for research and instant messaging even when wireless hotspots are not available. Skype-in and Skype-out functions further reduce costs on long distance phone calls. Combined with Bluetooth wireless technology for quick file sharing without the tangling cables, the P525 delivers true mobile office. The new pda phone has a 2 megapixel camera, the camera can read printed namecard and acts as a business card scanner.Specifications Summary: Processor: 416MHz Intel XScale Communication: Quad band, GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS Class B, multi-slot Class 10 Memory : 128MB Flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM Display : 2.8″, 240 x 320 pixels, 65,000 TFT Battery : 1300 mAh Li-ion Talk Time : 3.5 hrs Standby Time : 150-200 hrs Camera : 2M-pixel camera with auto focus and flash light Connectivity : WLAN 802.11b, Bluetooth Version 2.0, IrDa(SIR), USB 1.1 Expanda bility : min iSD card slot Stereo Headse t : 2.5mm Audio Jack Dimensions : 116.8 x 59 x 19 mm , 159.5g Operating System : Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition Video : MPEG4, 3gp video recording Voice recognition : Text to Speech; Speaker Independent ” More photos here:

” French GenerationMP3 got their hands on the still unannounced Archos 604 and 404 portable media players. As reported the first details about the new Archos PMPs leaked on a Swiss MP3 player shop end of July. Now there are more details available about the Archos 404 and Archos 604, which are supposed to ship in September. The Archos 404 sports a 3.5 inch 4:3 TFT screen, TV-out, 30GB HDD, plays MP3, WMA, WAV audio, WMV9, DviX, Xvid videos, jpeg, bmp and png photos. The format support can be extended by purchasing them at Archos for 15 Euro. Options include AAC, AC3, MP2, VOB and H.264. The Archos 404 impresses with its small dimensions of 100x77x15mm. Price will be 329€ (~$418).The Archos 604 (photo) features a 4.3 inch 16:9 TFT screen, 30GB HDD, plays MP3, WMA, WAV audio, WMV9, DviX, Xvid videos, jpeg, bmp and png photos. The format support can be extended by purchasing them at Archos for 15 Euro. Options include AAC, AC3, MP2, VOB and H.264. The Archos 604 measures 130x78x16mm and will sell for 379€ (~$482). Apparently Archos will announce the Archos 504, 404 Camcorder and the 604 with integrated WiFi at the IFA 2006 in Berlin. More details and photos on GenerationMP3 (French). ” via i4u.com

Orange names ALP an Orange Approved Platform and announces the Orange Application Package for ALP Company to hold ALP Developer Day ACCESS Developer Network Announced Newly created software library released to open source communityLinuxWorld Conference & Expo, San Francisco, CA, August 14, 2006 — ACCESS CO., LTD., and its wholly owned subsidiary PalmSource, Inc., marked the start of the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo by highlighting the momentum continuing to build around the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP). ACCESS and PalmSource are developing ALP to provide the industry with the first truly integrated, complete commercial grade mobile Linux platform. Visit ACCESS and PalmSource this week at LinuxWorld Conference & Expo in booth 502. “Our participation in this year’s LinuxWorld, our ALP Developer Day and today’s announcements are a testament to the growing momentum the ACCESS Linux Platform is garnering,” said Toru Arakawa, ACCESS CEO and co-founder. “We are committed to providing the industry, our licensees, developers and partners with the fully integrated, open, flexible and commercial grade Linux-based platform needed to help drive innovation and demand for Linux-based smartphones and mobile devices worldwide.” ACCESS and PalmSource will be showcasing a variety of ALP related demonstrations at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo. The Company’s senior vice president of engineering, Michael Kelley, will be presenting a look into the future of the mobile software industry as part of his session in the Mobile and Embedded Software conference track. In addition, the Company is hosting an ALP Developer Day during the conference. ACCESS and PalmSource also made announcements around the momentum of the ACCESS Linux Platform. These announcements include: ACCESS Linux Platform Named an Orange Approved Platform; Companies Announce the Orange Application Package for ALP: Orange has named the Access Linux Platform (ALP) an Orange approved platform for the Orange network. In addition, the two companies also announced they are working together to develop the Orange Application Package for ALP-based mobile phones. ACCESS and PalmSource Announce the ACCESS Developer Network: The goal of the ACCESS Developer Network program is to help developers go mobile and accelerate their development cycles and time-to-market for ALP applications by providing early access to new ALP releases, products and tools. PalmSource Releases Newly Created Software Library to the Open Source Community: Created as part of the ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP), the libsqlfs library is an add-on to the popular SQLite package. The libsqlfs software library was designed to provide a more flexible and convenient way to implement an Open Mobile Alliance-Device Management (OMA-DM) compliant registry. The libsqlfs software library is now available for download at:www.palmsource.com/opensource/downloads.html.ALP Developer DayThis track is for Linux Application Developers who are interested in taking their applications mobile. Attendees will receive an overview of the components of ALP. These sessions will provide Linux application developers early access and hands-on experience building applications for the ALP platform. The ALP Developer Day will be held Wednesday, August 16 and is included in the Passport and 3-day Conference Packages. Alternatively, tickets to attend the ALP Developer Day can be purchased separately for $95.00 onsite at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The agenda for the ALP Developer Day is: 10:15 am – 11:15 am: Introduction to ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP) 11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Deep Dive into ALP 12:30 pm – 2:45 pm: Lunch Break and Compatibility Station 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Extending an ALP ApplicationMobile & Embedded Linux Conference TrackOn Wednesday, August 16th, Mike Kelley, PalmSource senior vice president of engineering, will present a look into the future of the mobile software industry as part of his session in the Mobile and Embedded Software conference track. Kelley’s presentation, entitled “Beyond the PC: The Realization of Linux in the Mobile Device Market,” begins at 10:15 am PDT. About the ACCESS Linux PlatformThe ACCESS Linux Platform, or ALP, is a fully integrated, open, flexible and commercial grade Linux-based platform designed for smartphones and mobile devices. ALP combines the best-in-class open source Linux components with proven mobile technologies from the portfolios of PalmSource and ACCESS. The ACCESS Linux Platform will include a Palm OS® compatibility layer, currently known as GHost (Garnet Host). It is expected that properly written 68K Palm OS applications will run on ALP-based devices with little or no modification. About ACCESS CO., LTD. and PalmSource, Inc.ACCESS CO., LTD., is a global company providing leading technology, software products and platforms for web browsing, mobile phones, wireless handhelds and other networked devices. ACCESS’ product portfolio, including its NetFront™ browser, Palm OS® and the ACCESS Linux Platform provide customers with solutions that enable faster time-to-market, flexibility and customizability. The Company, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operates 11 subsidiaries and affiliates within Asia, Europe and the United States, including PalmSource, Inc. ACCESS is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers Index under the number 4813. PalmSource, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ACCESS CO., LTD., is the Company behind Palm OS®, a leading operating system powering mobile devices and phones. PalmSource’s products include a wide range of software for mobile phones at all price points. More than 40 million mobile phones, handhelds, and other mobile devices run PalmSource software. PalmSource and Palm OS have given rise to a large community of users, enterprises, developers and manufacturers, who together make up the Palm Powered™ Economy. For more information about ACCESS, please visit www.access.co.jp/english More information about PalmSource is available at www.palmsource.com, www.palmsource.co.uk, www.palmsource.fr, www.palmsource.de, www.palmsource.com/es and www.palmsource.com.cn.

“The small-sized exterior screen is powered by cSTN technology, features a resolution of 96×64 pixels and capable of displaying up to 65 K colors. Display’s quality is average; it’s not very comfortable to work with, mostly due to its small physical size. It takes certain efforts, but information can still be readable when you are outdoors. External display has same backlight as internal, so when you open handset, external display will be active too. Display can act as viewfinder when camera is activated, also when you are listening to mp3 player, you will see song title and graphical equalizer on it. During incoming call you will only see name or number of caller, photo or image assigned will not be shown.” Read more here:

“Instant success for Sony Ericsson K800i!Sony Ericsson K790i/K800i enters this month’s list directly on the top spot followed by previous number ones Sony Ericsson W810i and Sony Ericsson K750i/D750i/W800i. – As predicted earlier, the Cyber-shot phone with 3.2 Megapixel camera and 3G proves to be an instant sales success, comments Ulf Sandberg, Managing Director at Krusell International AB. – Sony Ericsson K790i/K800i will certainly dominate this list for the coming months. 1. (1) Sony Ericsson K790i/K800i2. (1) Sony Ericsson W810i3. (3) Sony Ericsson K750i/D750i/W800i4. (7) PalmOne Treo 600/650/7005. (5) Nokia N706. (2) Motorola RaZr V3/ V3i /V3c7. (-) Nokia 5140/5140i8. (6) Nokia 6280/62829. (10) Qtek S200/I-mate Jamin10. (4) Nokia 6230/6230i( ) = last month’s position.Krusell International AB is a Swedish company exporting high-end cases around the world. After more than 10 years in the cell phone industry, Krusell is established as one of the leading brands in its niche. Besides cases for mobile and smart phones, Krusell also produces cases for PDAs, digital cameras, MP3-players and portable gaming. Most Krusell cases sold are equipped with their patented carrying solution, Multidapt. The headquarters of Krusell are located in Molndal, Sweden.”

“The FCC has approved the R2821 smartphone by the Chinese company E28 Ltd. The model is made in the standard form-factor and supports GSM and WLAN networking. Besides it has a 2-megapixel camera and a touchscreen LCD.The short specs of the R2821: GSM/GPRS and WLAN networks VoIP calls Virtual (screen) QWERTY-keyboard Flash ROM: 64 MB RAM: 64 MB Slot for T-Flash storage cards up to 2 GB LCD: 2.2”, 240×320 pixels, TFT, 260K colors, touchscreen Camera: CMOS, 2-megapixel with video capture Ring tones: Midi/MP3 Port: miniUSB (charging) Dimensions: 106.5×48.5×16.5 mm Weight: approx.100 g with the standard battery Battery: Li-Ion, 980 mAh Audio and video players Java MIDP2.0 Messages: SMS, MMS, E-Mail Browser: WAP 2.0 and WWW Personal data protection: contacts, messages, gallery, calendar Other functions: calendar, calculator, notes, world time, alarm clock, English-Chinese dictionary” via mobile-review.com

” M600+ is the latest Pocket PC Phone by Taiwanese manufacturer ETEN, which become popular due to models like M500, M600 and G500. As a successor of the M600, is has the same dimensions and design, while the materials used are slightly different. Its technical specifications are also better as it now supports Bluetooth v2.0, the camera is a 2 megapixel one and its quality is quite better this time, and the internal memory is the astonishing 256MB!The package that comes along with the phone is absolutely the same as with its predecessor (even the same accessories are used) and is accordingly as good. It comes together with everything you may need…” Read more about this GREAT device here: