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Your advert here!!! Technical Editors:
Last modified: | Mobile Insight Vol: 8 Issue 315 May 1st 2006Sharp No:1 Japanese mobile phone supplier
The perceived
wisdom is that the established mobile phone suppliers are too far entrenched to be overthrown. Not so in Japan where, in a relatively short time, Sharp has displaced giants Matsushita (Panasonic) and NEC.
This change was revealed by figures provided by Japan's Multimedia Research Institute (MMRI). They show that Sharp gained 20 per cent to reach shipments of 7.6 million units - accounting for 16.3 per cent of the total 46.3 million total.
These figures are for the year ended March 31st 2006. Next year [2007] the MMRI is predicting that sales will breach the 50 million unit barrier for the first time in three years.
Originally, Sharp's only client was J-Phone (now Vodafone KK/Softbank) which was the country's third biggest network.
Then in 2002 it landed a deal with the largest network – NTT DoCoMo and is now threatening to supply the second largest operator, KDDI, too.
By contrast, NEC which for four years had previously been the biggest phone maker in its home market, slid to third place (7.3 million units) with a 15.8 percent share. Panasonic slipped into second place (7.5 million units) with a 16.1 per cent share.
It's interesting to note that Panasonic and NEC have been heavily associated with DoCoMo's
Linux based handsets. NEC doesn't actually supply a Symbian based handset while
both Panasonic and Sharp do.The full Inquirer story ... Sharp surprises with mobile phone lead www.m2ri.jp Link between phone lines and phone risksThe UK government's advisors "have capitulated and accepted the link between pylons and childhood leukaemia," according to Alasdair Philips, chairman of the consumer group, Powerwatch. "The next battle is to persuade them that electrosensitivity is a real disease," he adds. He reckons that the same experts that have been warning us about the risks from power lines have also been advising us that wireless devices are a risk to our health. Mobile Insight's not entirely sure that this jump can logically be made. Power lines are a bit different from mobile phones, cordless (DECT) phones and baby monitors. But then Mr Philips is a member of the Government’s Stakeholder Advisory Group on extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (Sage). He also just happens to be a director of a company called Sensory Perspective. This firms sells the MW1 Electrosmog detector which will set you back £57.50 (inc VAT). The device beeps when it detects EMR. So when you put it next to your PC, mobile phone and microwave oven it will go off. Mobile Insight can tell you that these devices radiate for free. It's the level of radiation that matters. The Sun radiates but it only gets dangerous when you spend too long on Bondi beach.
The full Inquirer story ... UK government conceded wireless dangers Irish airline pilots attack in-flight callsThe full Inquirer story ... Irish pilots attack airbourne calls Microtune offers dual mode TV chipTo bolster the TV reception capabilities of mobile devices – such as mobile phones, MicroTune has introduced a dual-mode chip with power consumption of 350 mW. Crucially, the Mobile MicroTuner MT2266 provides access to existing 'freeview' TV broadcasts as well as DVB-H. The chip will provide handset users with access a variety of digital content - not just TV broadcasts but also digital radio and teletext. It supports Digital Video Broadcast–Terrestrial (DVB-T) as well as the handheld version (DVB-H). The tuner supports both the UHF and VHF (Band III) frequency bands and is due to ship in Q2 2006. "[The MT2266] gives consumers flexible TV viewing and multimedia options. At the same time, they can add this capability without the fear of rapidly draining the battery," claimed said James Fontaine, Microtune's CEO.The full Inquirer story ... Freeview and DVB-H arrive on your mobile phone Reverse text billing for 0871 rejectedMobile Insight trotted off to the offices of ICSTIS expecting a serious wrist slapping. Instead the organisation was very forthcoming. One of the current battles is over the issuing of premium rate text charges to users of 0871 services. The whole point about 0871 is that you should have a rough idea of the costs. If you join a 'chat' service on an 0871 number and then get bombarded with £1.50 premium rate texts, it's hardly obvious what the whole call actually costs. ICSTIS has been approached by a body called the Mobile Broadband Group (MBG) which had proposals to make the whole process of receiving such premium rate texts more transparent. The group doesn't seem to have swayed ICSTIS yet so the ban is still in place. ICSTIS also confessed that its remit from Ofcom (the UK watchdog) to supervise the operation of all adult content over telecoms services won't come into place until 2008. Pity. Some mobile content suppliers are getting around the restrictions by making the content free initially. A useful service which ICSTIS does provide, however, is a leaflet which contains seven tips for protecting yourself from common scams (be they Internet, mobile or whatever). For example, to stop receiving many unwanted calls and texts, register your phone numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (0845 0700707). Plus, if you’re signed up to a subscription service on your mobile but want to quit, simply send the word 'Stop' to the shortcode number which is sending out the text messages. The full Inquirer story ... Battle over premium rate text rages RIM next target for Visto/NTPThe courtroom battles over wireless email software show no signs of abating.
Visto, which has just won a major court battle with arch-rival Seven, plans to take the fight to the Microsoft, Good Technology and that industry-leading Canadian company, Research in Motion (RIM).
According to a memo sent by Brian Bogosian, CEO with Visto, the jury's decision in Marshall, Texas is particularly significant since they found that Seven had
wilfully infringed on all four of Visto's patents in question.
Visto not only expects earn $3.5 million in damages plus its legal fees but also that Seven's products and services "will be enjoined from sale and use within the USA." That's pretty heavy duty since Seven is currently counter-suing Visto offer alleged infringement of its own patents.
So what next? "This is a significant milestone that will affect our ongoing litigation with Good and Microsoft. This validation of our patents by the federal court system is further proof of the strength and viability of Visto's intellectual property," claimed Brian Bogosian in the memo.
Visto hasn't finished chatting to the Beast of Redmond about alleged patent infringements in its Windows Mobile 5.0 offering.
Furthermore, two of NTP's patents have been thrown out by the US Patent Office. NTPonly recently settled for $615 million with RIM. And thanks to a cross-licensing agreement, NTP now owns a chunk of Visto
(and vice versa, of course). Having won against Seven, Visto
has now taken RIM to the same court in Texas. SnippetsmTLD, the organisation in charge of the .mobi suffix has permitted Mobile Insight to offer its draft guide to creating XHTML-MP sites. The relevant .pdf (Acrobat) file can be downloaded here. It's in our Free Downloads section. Our technical department reckons that Mobile Insight is already compliant. Point your handset's browser to http://www.wapinsight.com to check this out. T-Mobile is reputedly going to enrol the help of Robbie Williams to promote
its services in the UK. That's funny because the £11 million it has just paid to
Welsh person, Catherine Zeta Jones was the highest celebrity endorsement
contract ever signed, according to Ad Week magazine. In Site of the Week (by Tony Dennis)This week
dotMobi
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