Category: Technology

The war rages on as to whether children should have mobile phones – radiation problems, camera phone and sms bullying, increased risk of theft etc. but Vodafone has gone and released the Primofonio in Italy in association with Disney.

The key aspect of the phone is security, parents having administrator access to the phone to set up the child’s contact list or restrict (down to four numbers) the people that may be called from the phone. Barring is also an easy option with parents being able to block incoming and outgoing calls to and from numbers not listed amongst the contacts.

It is already estimated in Italy that 50% of children between the ages of eight and thirteen use a mobile phone so I guess it makes sense in certain regards, particularly in the younger age group. Why you would give a child of eight a mobile phone though is a little beyond me.

According to Paul Bertoluzzo, Vodafone’s GM (this coming from an Italian translation)

There isn’t a phone on the current market that exists purposely for families with specific characteristics of emergency – we have decided to give life to a device that possesses exclusive characteristics of simplicity and emergency

Very loose translation but Vodafone apparantly opting for the safety route amongst young mobile users.

Ubergizmo has a picture here, with Vodafone’s release here (in Italian).

Press release just in from O2 (UK), looks like they’re outsourcing their SMS services, or at least their long-number service. The deal was struck with carrier-grade message operator TynTec which will see TynTec provide a long-number SMS management system for O2. The long-number SMS service (7+ digits) effectively allows for service and application commands to be sent and integrated into a corporate working environment.

Long number SMS reception can be used by corporates for any application where staff or customers need to communicate with the business via text messaging. For example, by integrating incoming messages into the relevant applications, companies can enable users to text in to receive data such as schedule information, product and delivery status or live company information such as share prices.

E.g. You text a particular number to your company network and have your work schedule returned via your mobile. Long numbers are the cheaper alternative to short codes (where you hear everywhere – “Text your name to 53000 etc.”) and are free of premium text charges. The use of long numbers means that companies can now have their own mobile codes as opposed to sharing them across a network. (Think IPv4 vs IPv6).

Speaking on the announcement earlier, Iain McCallum (O2) said

SMS long numbers are a great tool for businesses looking to offer their customers an SMS interaction channel. Whilst short-codes have their place, long numbers can offer a similar functionality at a fraction of the cost and without some of the limitations. By outsourcing our long number SMS reception facility to TynTec we can ensure that our customers get a great level of service without the need for us to make major investments in non-core technology within our own network

I’ve got a fond spot for Sony Ericsson having used their P900 for almost 18 months prior to this year so its good to hear that they’re moving on up in the world, having overtaken LG to move into fourth spot of the world’s handset manufacturer’s ranks while moving up to second place in the Taiwan market behind Nokia.

Its been four years now since Sony and Ericsson first got together, both companies having ceased making their own mobiles back in 2002 to concentrate on joint mobile production, since then the company has gone from strength to strength in terms of mobile production current league tables clearly backing that up, SE showing a 43% year-on-year increase in sales to ship almost 20 million handsets in the third quarter of this year alone.

A little education for your Saturday with a nice article from WirelessWeek.com titled ‘What They Don’t Tell You About 802.11n’.

As it stands, the most common WiFi standard amongst mobile phones is 802.11b with some handset owners lucky to find 802.11g (the ‘b’ standard being much slower than ‘g’ for those who want to know the chief difference). 802.11n is supposed to be another 10 times faster than 802.11g while up to 50 times faster than 802.11b.

While b and g operate on the 2.4ghz frequency, 802.11n operates across 2.4ghz and 5ghz.

From Wikipedia…

In January 2004 IEEE announced that it had formed a new 802.11 Task Group (TGn) to develop a new amendment to the 802.11 standard for wireless local-area networks. The real data throughput is estimated to reach a theoretical 540 Mbit/s (which may require an even higher raw data rate at the physical layer), and should be up to 50 times faster than 802.11b, and well over 10 times faster than 802.11a or 802.11g.

So, theoretically then, something that is 50 times faster than what you might be using (like going from dialup internet connections to broadband connections) should solve or reduce any issures with wireless video or media transmissions. Then again, it might not.

Eircom, in trouble of late over the Smart Telecom incident (for those unaware, Smart pretty much folded its broadband and phone service when Eircom pulled the plug over unpaid bills), have announced that they are to broadband-enable another 100 exchanged through 2007, adding broadband support to over 120,000 phone lines as result.

The interesting news though is that Eircom will be using WiMax technology to get around broadband issues in certain areas, WiMax being rolled out in each of Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway to supplement existing DSL services.

According to RTE, Eircom’s “introduction of WiMax now is seen by the industry as an admission that too many lines were failing over traditional broadband delivery methods.”

Full story at RTE Business.

The German government look set to impose a monthly tax on computers, phones and other mobile devices that can receive a television and radio signal. Whether the Irish government decide to follow suit is another situation altogether as we already pay over €150 for the joy of receiving two national TV stations, the remainder being broadcast license free (such as TV3) – and that fee is supposed to be per TV unit.

According to MobileBurn.com

Now that personal computers and mobile phones are gaining the same media abilities as their conventional house mates, the German states wish to impose the same 5.52EUR (US$6.94) monthly fee on them. That means potentially that a German citizen with a phone capable of viewing streaming video or radio would have to pay the monthly fee on top of any carrier based fees. The worst part is that the state fee would have to be paid even if they did not use their phone for such media services.

The fee would impact millions of German mobile users but if it was to be launched in Ireland it would have a knockon effect on almost everyone in the country, mobile penetration in Ireland already at 100% with over 4,000,000 handsets in the country

Irish O2 business customers (such as myself) can already enjoy free roaming with O2 in the North and throughout the UK but it looks like O2 are about to drop their roaming charges in 35 countries with the introduction of a new package for an extra few euro on your bill per month. In Spain, O2 and Movistar have announced that their will be no charges for incoming calls (currently almost the same as an outgoing call in parts).

O2 are rolling the service out in Spain first as they reckon thats where most of their customers go on holidays at present but hope to roll out across the 35 European countries from January 2007 in an attempt to encourage mobile use abroad. (via)

A new strategic partnership between Microsoft and Orange has been revealed with the new link meaning that Orange’s (or France Telecom, depending on how you look at it) 135 million customers will now be able to converse with Microsoft’s 240 million messenger users in real time whether via mobile phone or PC, according to Digital Lifestyles.

Orange have announced that the service will be rolling out in France by the end of the year while hitting Spain and the UK in early 2007.

Vodafone had been working with Microsoft in order to produce a similar relationship though according to Microsoft it is not the same service as announced with Orange. Live Messenger, which is now allowing users to contact those on Yahoo Messenger will exist on the Orange mobile handsets as “Orange Messenger by Windows Live’”.

Vodafone, Cingular Wireless, Globe Telecom, Hutchison 3G (3 Ireland), KTF, MTN, Orange, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor,and T-Mobile have announed that they will all be reviewing the ‘3G For All’ approach to lowcost handset design in the near future, culminating in a single low-cost 3G handset in an attempt to drive up volume sales.

Both 3 and Vodafone in Ireland are leading the way in 3G content delivery with O2 and Meteor yet to get into gear but its good two see at least two of the country’s mobile operators adopting the approach.

According to The Register today,

The winner will be announced at 3GSM in February next year, and the handset will be available to any operator. The 12 participants are just signed up to take part in the selection process and in return will commit to buying quite a few handsets – though they aren’t saying how many.

The mobile web is developing at a fast rate so hopefully this will lead to an uptake in middle-market areas but as of yet there is no indiciation how low the companies are willing to go pricewise in the release of the handsets. The cheapest 3G handset at present in Ireland on offer from 3 at the moment is €99 for the pre-paid option, giving you a Motorola V3x or the LG U8330. Contract options start a lot better with handsets beginning at €1.

For me to make the switch though they’ll certainly need to come down a peg or two, in particular if you’re to buy a sim free hand set.

Through past college education I covered a lot of ground in security for IT, including mobile security, so it is interesting to read this interview posted at DigiTimes Telecom with ARM’s Tiago Alves. The interview looks at ‘enhanced security for mobile devices and comes in three parts and also looks at ARM’s offering of TrustZone “as one approach to the problem of security on mobile devices.”

Read: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Truphone unveiled a free beta version of their VOIP software for the Nokia N80 at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London today. This follows on from Truphone’s VOIP release for the E-series Nokia phones in September. In effect, it is an alternative to Skype for your N80 handset.

From the Truphone press release…

There are no hidden or monthly fees for any Truphone users and calls between ‘on net’ Truphone handsets are free, worldwide. As a launch offer to the end of the year, USA users benefit from free calls to USA and Canada, while the unique UK telecoms market enables Truphone to offer UK users calls some two billion landlines in major countries for free. All other Truphone calls from the user’s mobile are billed at characteristically low VoIP rates.

“Support for Nokia’s N80 handset brings true mobile VoIP to the mass market and gives Truphone genuine consumer appeal,” said James Tagg, Truphone’s chief executive. “Truphone routes calls entirely via the internet ensuring the lowest possible call costs to consumers whether in their home country or travelling abroad, unlike ‘calling card’ services masquerading as mobile VoIP.”

The software is still in beta form, unlike that of the E-series range, and is available from the Truphone website for download later this month. They hope to add an additional range of WiFi-enabled handsets and handsets driven by Windows Mobile 2003/5.0 in the future.

Computer Active have a small article on BluEye, a new bluetooth solution for those of you likely to keep your iPod in one pocket and your mobile in the other. When synced with your phone, the bluetooth headphone set will pause the music on your iPod allowing you to take your call before switching back to your iPod when finished.

With BluEye connected, when you have an incoming call on your paired mobile, your iPod’s tunes automatically stop and a ring-tone cuts in. The in-coming number appears on your iPod’s screen and you can accept or reject the call using the BluEye’s buttons. BluEye will pick up your voice via its inbuilt microphone and you hear the caller’s voice through your headphones. so your mobile never needs to come out of your pocket. As an extra bonus, once the call is finished, your tunes will automatically cut back in!

It features

• Make and receive calls on your iPod
• Plug’ n’ Play with most Bluetooth enabled mobile phones
• Caller Number ID displayed on iPod screen
• Automatically pause and resume music for incoming calls
• Last 9 numbers redial from your iPod
• Voice dial when paired with supported Bluetooth phones
• 15 Presets and auto scan FM Radio
• Use your own headphones
• No need for batteries
• Bluetooth 2.0

Shipping this November, the unit is expected to cost in the region of €65 but this is yet to be confirmed.

Full product details here

3, one of Ireland’s current 3G license holders, has announced that they are planning to launch a total of 28 new stores before the end of 2007 throughout Ireland, creating a total of 200 jobs and signalling a further investment of €15 million by the company in its Irish presence.

Currently, 3 mobiles are available throughout Ireland via Carphone Warehouse.

Eight stores are due to open this year with the flagship store opening in Dublin while stores will open in both Cork and Wateford before the Christmas holiday season. The remaing outlets will open “in prime locations in shopping centre and main streets”.

Hewlett Packard’s rw6815 has been given an October European release and will likely clock in around the €549.99 mark (inc VAT). There’s no 3G functionality built into the handset but it makes for a nice, smaller model in comparison to the 6500 series (the hw6515 which I’m currently using). From HP directly….

The HP iPAQ rw6815 Personal Messenger is small in size but big on connectivity and features so users can make phone calls, send text and instant messages, surf the Internet, check emails, and much more. Key features include:

• Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and e-mail sync automatically over the mobile phone network using Direct Push Technology, keeping schedules, important phone numbers, and “to do” lists up to date
• Microsoft Office lets users read presentations, spreadsheets and documents so they can work when and where they want.
• Entertainment features combine user music, photos, videos and built-in HP Photosmart Camera all together in one ultra-portable device.

These new products provide the rich mobile data experience that customers are demanding for both professional and personal productivity,” said Neil Dagger, senior category manager, handhelds, HP Personal Systems Group, UK & Ireland.

Looks like one of the reasons, according to the Sunday Times today, for the falling out between Vodafone and the Carphone Warehouse is Vodafone’s demand for a guaranteed 35,000 sales “irrespective of the terms offered to customers”.

According to Carphone chief Andrew Harrison (quoted in the paper)

Vodafone approached us to do the same deal and we would not go anywhere near it with the terms on offer,” Mr Harrison said. “It goes against everything we stand for.

Carphone Warehouse maintain that less than 10% of their contract customer base in the UK opt for a Vodafone contract. While Orange have stated that they may follow Vodafone’s actions, T-Mobile have announced that they are backing Carphone Warehouse’s stance who stated they saw Carphone Warehouse “as an important partner despite Vodafone’s decision”.

Just as things were looking up for Carphone Warehouse after sealing a cut price deal to take AOL UK under its wing on Wednesday, share prices at the high street mobile chain were knocked back again on Thursday as Vodafone announced that they are pulling the rug out from under Carphone Warehouse for third-party mobile sales, instead opting to go with Phones4U exclusively.

While share prices took a sizeable hit on Thursday, investors have been left worried going into the weekend on news that UK operator Orange might be pulling contract phones out of Carphone Warehouse as well while they review their own high street strategy.

The moves comes not long after Carphone Warehouse in Ireland announced that they are to carry contract and pre-paid phones for the 3 network in Ireland.

Here’s 5 tips for backing up your PDA (only two of which I actually do on a regular basis) from ComputerWorld.com.

1. As many applications can send data to your PDA or smartphone directly, you should keep master copies of all data on your own server/computer
2. Make new backups if you ever make any significant changes to the content of your mobile – the choice of location is yours, SD card, PC or over the network
3. Backup to two local memory cards (one of which is always kept separate in case of loss)
4. A lot of phones nowadays are effectively using additional memory cards for hard drive access. If this is the case with your phone then make frequent copies of your SD card content
5. If you’re in the habit of forgetting to backup your phone – automate the backup – most mobile software packages now have automation options, as soon as you plug your phone in via cable, docking station, or your bluetooth/WiFi is detected your phone will start backing up. Only takes few minutes and can save you an awful lot of heartache down the line.

I’ve had a fairly good run with Sony Ericsson, having used a P900 for about 18 months before jumping over to my HP 6515W so its nice to check up on Sony’s new models – I would certainly have no problem moving back to them.

Nice to see too that they’re releasing the silver version of the K800, the new “James Bond” phone, as used by 007 himself in the upcoming Casino Royale movie (due out on November 17th).

The phone comes with a 2″ QVGA display, 3.2mp camera, 64mb internal memory and M2 card support as well as USB 2.0 connectivity. Unfortunately for fans of the phone, it is a limited edition so if you’re after it get your hands on it soon as its hitting the market for a three-month run before disappearing again.

kenmcg

Originally uploaded by keithbohanna.

Posted by Keith on Flickr this morning…