Jajah for O2

Telefonica O2's acquisition of mobile Internet telephony company Jajah reported by the Times reflects a dramtic change in the approach of operators to the potential of the mobile voice over Internet Protocol (mobile VoIP) market.

For many years traditional operators have viewed the development of mobile VoIP simply as a threat to their call revenues. Some service providers even adopted a strategy of blocking VoIP access from their networks or branded handsets.

But with the unstoppable rise of new generation smartphones led by the iPhone and other recently released devices such as Google's Nexus One and Palm Pre, mobile operators have been forced to re-think their strategies.

Mobile operator 3 was the first UK provider to exploit the mobile VoIP opportunity. It's partnership with Skype enabled it to secure its place in the market. Despite the arrival of new competitors including Google Talk, Skype continues to lead the way with its 480 million worldwide user base.

But with consumer VoIP inevitable destined to become a commodity mobile operators must create new differentiated services that offer more than just cheap calls.

By its £130 million Jajah aquisition Telefonica O2 shows that it means business.

Motorola releases new Milestone

As Motorola prepares the European launch of it's new Milestone handset in Germany on November 9th 2009 some analysts are already considering whether it will outshine the Palm Pre as the most serious threat to Blackberry Storm and Apple iPhone.

Motorala Milestone is the first Android powered phone to combine release 2.0 of the Google operating system and ARM's A8 processor. It has the same specification as the US version called Droid which features a slider with full Qwerty keyboard, 3.7-inch high resolution capacitive touchscreen with more than 400,000 pixels, 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and video capture, and 16Gb of microSD storage.

Google has said it expects some 20 Android-based devices will be released by the end of the year. The Android 2.0 browser supports all the key new web technologies like WebKit HTML 5 and Adobe Flash 10.

Motorola last set the pace in the handset market five years ago when it released the iconic RAZR phone. Since then it has been virtually eclipsed by Apple and RIM in the fast growing smartphone market.

Milestone will be launched in Europe by German operators Vodafone and possibly T-Mobile. It is expected in the UK early in 2010.

77% OF MOBILE PHONE USERS WANT WI-FI

A recent ABI Research report on behalf of the Wi-Fi Alliance shows consumers view WiFi as a "must-have" feature for mobile handsets. The firm found that 77 percent of mobile phone users want WiFi on their next handset and three-fourths of the people who have WiFi capability in their smartphones use it regularly.

The number of smartphones with WiFi is expected to increase to 90 percent by 2014, up from the 44 percent of smartphones that currently have the feature, according to ABI Research.

"Consumers and business people alike are attracted to Wi-Fi-enabled phones because they deliver a great multimedia experience—and this has re-set user expectations for handset features," said Edgar Figueroa, executive director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. "The wide variety of exciting Wi-Fi-enabled smart phones on the market today is a testament to how useful Wi-Fi is in propelling handsets from phones to true multimedia devices."

"Given the very high satisfaction rates reported by users of Wi-Fi-enabled handsets, it is clear that Wi-Fi offers a competitive advantage for both manufacturers and carriers," said Michael Morgan, industry analyst at ABI Research. "A growing number of carriers worldwide have included Wi-Fi phones in their offering, and all of the major handset makers now include the technology in their flagship products."

Palm’s Pre Power Play?

Evidently the world is moving over to the smartphone. The increasing power of the wireless internet enables smartphone users to do more things, be it social networking, TV, music, navigation, remote working, commerce or gaming. But two years after the arrival of Apple’s iconic iPhone is the powerful new Palm Pre the next definitive step forward in smartphone performance?

Smartphone sales accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2008 growing 26% higher than the previous year, and 36% above for the whole of 2008. The fierce fight for customers sees RIM BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Bold, T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Touch HD, Arena, Nokia E71 and N97, Samsung Omnia HD, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 all challenging the 3G iPhone as brands such as Google, Apple, Nokia, Microsoft and Palm battle across the smartphone range.

Palm Pre comes with WiFi, and 3G (HSDPA) internet connectivity and features a 3.1 inch touch-screen, a slide-out Querty keyboard, accelerometer, and gesture bar. Its multitasking capability allows different applications like text, chat or IM to be used at the same time. Pre's Webkit browser is the same as the Android and iPhone. Palm’s Linux-based Web OS is designed for use without a stylus and uses a Card system to display applications on the phone desktop. You can drag an application onto your phone desktop and close it by a simple upward flick.

With its links to Amazon store Palm Pre continues the central role the internet plays in smartphone applications. But whether it proves a match for the 3G iPhone and its Apple store remains to be seen. Feature for feature it arguably excels. Game on!

Google Android G1 Phone Game Changer?

When Apple launched its iconic iPhone expectations of the mobile internet was changed for good. As T-Mobile became the first operator to launch the Google Android-powered G1 phone, business and IT managers must take note. So is the Google phone a game changer or simply another handset in an increasingly crowded market?

More people in the world now have access to a mobile phone than a computer. Driven by widespread availability of high speed wireless networks from WiFi hotspots, growth of city and rural wireless zones, increasing rollout of 3G and other "Mobile Broadband" initiatives, and more user-friendly advanced handsets, the migration of eyeballs away from the TV and Personal Computer to the mobile internet is accelerating.

The G1 phone is the first based on the Google Android mobile platform. Featuring a touch screen, full slide-out keyboard and a host of built-in Google applications, it reflects Google´s intent to dominate the mobile internet and monopolise its huge mobile advertising potential.

The G1 is aimed at consumers more than business users. There is no initial support for Microsoft Exchange, and many web services and applications are yet to be added to the Android platform.

It may not look sophisticated alongside smartphones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, Blackberry Bold, or Apples iconic iPhone. But with the mobile internet experience finally beginning to deliver its promise and the mobile phone overtakes the laptop as the device of choice the Google G1 phone could have a profound a longer term impact.

BLACKBERRY’S BOLD CHALLENGE

Just as Apple prepares to launch the next generation of its iconic Wi-Fi iPhone RIM brought forward the launch of its fastest and most powerful Blackberry to date - the new Blackberry Bold 9000.
Featuring 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, Assisted and Autonomous GPS, and stereo Bluetooth the Blackberry Bold is a powerful response to the much anticipated release of the next iPhone.

With 3G, tri-band HSDPA and quad-band EDGE, Bold provides support for any wireless data connection worldwide. It sports a 2-megapixel camera with 5 x digital zoom and is capable of full-motion video on its 65,000 colour display. The screen is the same size as the Curve.

Bold is one of a new generation of powerful dual mode wireless handsets featuring Wi-Fi and 3G from handset manufacturers including the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and HTC Diamond.
Advanced wireless handsets are powering increasing usage of data from Wi-Fi zones and hotspots.

Bold certainly looks like it means business. Although its’ flat profile and rounded edges is thicker than iPhone, it retains the QWERTY keyboard which business users appreciate for sending and receiving emails.

Whether Bold can halt the growing popularity of the iPhone is open to question. Bold is expected to outperform iPhone in the corporate market with its Microsoft mail systems offering security and corporate manageability.

But with internet phone calls on Wi-Fi phones starting to grow in the consumer market Blackberry could suffer by limiting its Wi-Fi to data only and not voice calls.

Is Xperia the New iPhone Killer?

The new XPERIA X1 from Sony Ericsson launched last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. With a full QWERTY keyboard running the latest Windows Mobile 6 operating system it takes multimedia and mobile web communication on the Windows Mobile platform to a new level. But is it good enough to take away the Apple crown?

The Xperia comes with a sophisticated touch screen that slides smoothly along slightly curved rails "arc-sliding" to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. With a 4-way key and optical joystick it also comes with WiFi, 3G and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology for fast wireless internet when you are roaming outside a WiFi zone.

Apple re-defined the mobile user experience with arguably the best touch-driven smartphone on the market. However the current iPhone handset lacks 3G or HSPA which means slower performace if you are browsing over a standard cell­ular network instead of from a WiFi zone.

The Xperia X1 is packed with several advanced features including a widescreen VGA-quality display that can show DVD-quality video.

The first Sony Ericsson smartphone to feature Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, the Xperia could deliver the most powerful challenge to the iPhone to date.