Archive for the ‘cell phone’ Category
Photos: Fujitsu’s futuristic phones
October 6th, 2009 | 
Author: 
The winning design, titled ‘Gesture.’
(Credit: Scott Ard/CNET)
CHIBA, Japan–Out of 2,000 design concepts for mobile phones of the future, the winning entry in Fujitsu’s Mobile Phone Design competition was not the flashiest or most forward-thinking. Instead, the grand prize was awarded to one that featured the most intuitive interface for users. What a concept.
Jin-Gwon Go, a South Korean college student studying design won the equivalent of about $20,000 for his mobile phone concept titled “Gesture.” Of all the finalists, Go’s design was probably the one that took the form of what most people would expect of a mobile phone. Fujitsu said his design stood out because of the gesture-based commands and touchable icons used to operate the phone using only one hand.
Back in May, Fujitsu asked for some input on phone design from anyone who was interested. Roughly 2,000 submissions and four months later, the company unveiled nine finalists on Tuesday here at Ceatec 2009, including Go’s Gesture.
Ceatec is a treasure trove of mobile phone design, thanks to the sophisticated cell phone culture here in Japan. Tuesday is the first day of the show, so be sure to check back throughout the week for more. And for the rest of the finalists, click on the gallery above.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10368240-260.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in cell phone, Communication, Tech | 
Tags: cell phone, Fujitsu, futuristic phones, mobile phone | 
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Over-the-air downloads come to BlackBerry
Online music provider 7digital is bringing over-the-air music downloads to recent BlackBerry phones, such as the Storm, Bold, and Tour. The rumors have been circulating for several months now. On Tuesday the company is set to launch its application–developed by DevelopIQ–on the BlackBerry App World store, as well as on the 7digital Web site.
After installing the free app, BlackBerry users will be able to buy and download more than 6 million songs from all four major labels and all the big independents, all in unprotected MP3 format. The app adapts automatically to the speed of the user’s connection–when connecting over a wireless data network, it will download a relatively low-quality version of the song. Then, when the user enters the range of a previously known Wi-Fi network, it will automatically–in the background–update the MP3 with a higher-quality version (320kbps in most cases).
7digital is based in the U.K. and is fairly well known in Europe–it powers the download store for free streaming service Spotify, among other partnerships–but has been relatively obscure in the United States. That’s changing Tuesday as well: the company is launching its online music store in the U.S., bringing more competition to the likes of iTunes and Amazon. Standard pricing for songs and albums will be 77 cents and $7.77 respectively, which is a play on the company’s name (although variable pricing means that some popular material will cost more). The company also offers a free digital locker service, which backs up all your downloads in case you lose them.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10367606-27.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Blackberry, cell phone, Communication, Entertainment, Internet, Music |
Tags: 7digital, Blackberry, Bold, DevelopIQ, downloads, over-the-air, Storm, Tour |
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Vonage app available for iPhone, BlackBerry
Voice over Internet Protocol service provider Vonage on Monday announced that it has launched its first mobile apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and BlackBerry devices.
Dubbed Vonage Mobile, the company’s free VoIP app enables users to place international calls from their mobile devices. iPod Touch owners can do so by placing calls through Wi-Fi. BlackBerry owners will transmit calls over the cellular network only. iPhone owners will be able to place calls from Wi-Fi or through AT&T’s network.
According to Vonage, its app will help users save up to 50 percent on international calling charges levied by carriers. After downloading the app, users need to enter an international number. They can also select a call recipient from their existing iPhone or BlackBerry contacts list. Those who receive calls will see the user’s cell phone number on their caller IDs. Charges will be taken against the user’s credit card, which they need to input when they first start using the app.
For now, Vonage is offering per-minute rates. The company said in a statement that by the end of the year, it will offer the Vonage World plan to users. Vonage World for home users currently allows them to make calls to more than 60 countries for $24.99 per month.
Vonage’s app launch comes on the heels of controversy over whether Google’s similar Voice app should have been denied access to Apple’s App Store. The debate still rages on.
Vonage’s new mobile app is available now in Apple’s App Store and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry App World. Both versions are free.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10367280-17.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Blackberry, cell phone, Communication, Internet, iPhone |
Tags: app, Blackberry, iPhone, voice over ip, Vonage, Vonage Mobile |
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BlackBerry sales and profit disappoint
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion said Thursday it sold fewer BlackBerry phones than analysts had expected, and the company’s quarterly earnings were hurt by a legal settlement.
The company said earnings fell 4 percent in the second fiscal quarter due in large part to charges associated with a legal settlement.
For the quarter that ended August 29, the company said it earned $475.6 million, or 83 cents a share, compared to profits of $495.5 million, or 86 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
Revenue rose to $3.53 billion from $2.58 billion a year earlier.
Analysts had expected earnings of $1 a share on revenue of $3.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Even though sales were strong and revenue was up, RIM reported it shipped slightly fewer devices than what analysts had expected. The company said it shipped about 8.3 million BlackBerry devices during the quarter, adding about 3.8 million new subscribers. Analysts had expected the company to add about 4 million new subscribers on shipments between 8.5 million and 8.6 million.
But what really hurt the company was a charge of $112.8 million related to the settlement of a patent dispute with Visto Corp. Excluding this charge, RIM said it would have earned $588.4 million, or $1.03 per share for the quarter.
RIM said it expects revenue between $3.6 billion and $3.85 billion for the third fiscal quarter that ends November 28. And the company expects earnings per share to be in the neighborhood of between $1 and $1.08.
Analysts expect RIM to introduce a new version of its touch-screen Storm later this year on Verizon Wireless’s network. This devices is supposed to compete head to head with Apple’s iPhone. But RIM has other competitors in the touch-screen arena as it approaches he holiday season. There are also other devices, such as the Palm Pre and handsets from HTC and Motorola that use the Google Android software.
Source :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10361155-266.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Blackberry, cell phone, Communication, Internet, Tech |
Tags: Blackberry, cell phone, smart phone |
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AT&T takes the phone out of iPhone
Three weeks ago, I got a call on a friend’s iPhone while in the middle of a desert; cell phone coverage had come to Burning Man. By contrast, several calls I made last night to my parents from my San Francisco apartment were dropped and a subsequent connection became garbled.
That happens daily when I try to converse on my first-generation iPhone in my apartment and in certain other neighborhoods. I’ve come to anticipate that if I can even make a call it’s likely to be short-lived or poor quality.
Frustrated by the numerous interrupted calls, I decided to try to find out why my iPhone service is so poor that it’s easier to have a Web video conference over AIM with my boyfriend because neither of us can use our iPhones (his is 3G) reliably inside either of our homes.
This is not a new problem. AT&T was criticized when traffic from attendees at the South By Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, overwhelmed the network earlier this year. And there were widespread complaints about dropped calls and spotty service after the launch of the iPhone 3G a year ago.
I wondered why, a year later, the service still seemed unreliable. I called AT&T (on my reliable landline at work) to find out. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel blamed the problem on the increasing amount of data traffic iPhone users are creating, which CNET News and others wrote about earlier this month.
“We lead the industry in smart phones,” he said. “As a result, we are having to stay ahead of what is incredible and increasing demand for wireless data services.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10358156-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Apple, cell phone, Communication, Internet, iPhone |
Tags: 3G, AT&T, iPhone |
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