handset

A brokerage advised on Tuesday that Research In Motion should split itself into two separate businesses to open way for innovation and robust growth.

RBC Capital Markets made its note some hours before RIM's annual shareholder meeting at its hometown of Waterloo, Ontario.

Its share price -- down more than 50 percent this year -- has led to calls for management change and suggestions RIM could become a takeover target.

Wireless networks are under the risk of overloading because of increasing use of Google Android smartphones such as Samsung's Galaxy S which use more data services than other smartphones. The popularity of Android running devices comes as handsets increasingly overtake computers as the most used devices for surfing the Internet and knowing this wireless operators strive to please their consumers while not hasting to inform that their networks are not capable to support such workloads.

Nokia posted drawings and specifications for the perfect handset that had been designed by the user community. The pictures show that the handset has strict resemblance to the existing N8 smartphone.

While the project was launched back in March as an information-gathering exercise it developed into the adoration of the N8.

Nokia Oyj announced it would assume full control of Symbian platform returning management of the operating system it had previously given to the open source community. This week the Finnish handset maker made a statement that it would take care of Symbian platform development from April 2011 onwards, while the cross-industry Symbian Foundation will in the future take care of only licensing of the software.

A mobile phone for just 99 pennies is being sold by Carphone Warehouse in the UK. The handset Alcatel 0T-209 is ugly and has only basic functions. To get it customers need to buy £10 Virgin Mobile PAYG credit.

The phone will likely by bought only as a back-up or by old frugal people which they carry only when driving - in case they break down.

However, as noted by some observers no child or teenager would thank their parents if an Alcatel OT-209 arrived in the Christmas stocking.
 

The shelves with Windows Phone 7 handsets are getting empty faster than the phones are supplied to the stores. While Orange decided to please consumers with £20 HMV vouchers as they are waiting, HTC and Samsung handsets are selling out as they fast as they can be shipped to the stores.

Research in Motion has rolled out another version of Bold series smartphones dubbed as the BlackBerry Bold 9780. It is the first Bold built on the new BlackBerry 6 OS. The handset has a 624MHz processor and 512MB on-board memory that can be extended by a MicroSD card up to 32GB.

Other features include a 5Mp camera and a 2.4in display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels. Besides, the new handset rocks at 801.11b/g and has support for GM/EDGE/HSDPA, but it only claims 3G speeds of 3.6Mbps.

Sony Ericsson will no longer make handsets supporting Symbian platform, the company confirmed this week.

“We have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system,” Aldo Liguori, a spokesman for the London-based company, said by telephone to Bloomberg.

Sony Ericsson made some Symbian handsets but along with the whole industry it is moving to Android.

“We have made a significant shift to support Android,” Chief Creation Officer Rikko Sakaguchi said in July.

Microsoft browser plug-in Silverlight has been released for Symbian mobile phones from Nokia while the Redmond hasn’t yet released the full Silverlight version for Windows phones.

Now the plug-in is available from Nokia's Ovi store for fifth-edition Nokia S60 devices such as Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and N97.

With Silverlight on their handsets users may view view video and listen to music inside the browser. Nokia called the port a "challenge" but said it: "Lays the foundation for bringing Silverlight to any other mobile platforms in future."

British users of the latest Apple iPhone model expressed their offense with Steve Jobs’ words about wrong holding the handset which results in errors in working. A new survey from rightmobilephone found that 63% of respondents were “particularly angered” by Jobs’ email in which he told one early iPhone 4 adopter to “avoid holding [the phone] in that way”.

Have you heard of the newest iteration of Google’s Android operating system? It is called Froyo and will be installed in the following generation of Android based devices along with those upgradable to this version.

• Among new features that present in the design there is an Android icon greeting at start-up and a new homescreen widget. While there are indeed some differences in the aesthetic look of the interface still users will not be confused and their experience will remain the same.

A new Android based handset has been introduced by HTC which the company brings for less well-heeled users. Wildfire phone is built on Android 2.1 with a 528MHz Qualcomm processor and a 3.2in, 240 x 320 capacitive touchscreen display.

The device will have its own Sense user interface that among other things will include a widget to allow users to tell other users about good apps they've downloaded and make it easy for them to try the software out too.

According to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruling filed last week Google Inc.'s trademark application for its Nexus One mobile phone has been denied on the grounds it replicates existing trademark held by Portland, Ore.-based Integra Telecom Inc. The ruling says that Google's application was denied because of "a likelihood of confusion" with Integra's "Nexus" trademark.

At a news conference held outside the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday Microsoft at last announced its new version of mobile operating system Windows Phone 7.

"We wanted to take greater accountability for the end user experience," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said. "We want more consistency in the hardware platform and in the user experience," he said, while nevertheless saying Microsoft wanted to leave room for hardware partners to innovate.

Ion Audio, that manufactures USB turntables and cassette decks, has announced the introduction of its new Qwerty keyboard add on for the iPhone. The iType is about a full size board with a space in which to sit the handset in landscape mode.

The phone’s power won’t be drained as the iType keyboard has its own battery. Moreover, it can charge the handset as it connects to the iPhone's docking port.