MOBILE CONTENT NEWS: RealNetworks, DoCoMo to develop video streaming

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Mobile Content Industry News & Updates.- RealNetworks and NTT DoCoMo announced an agreement to deploy Real's streaming mobile video software to DoCoMo's existing V-Live mobile TV service. The JV's aim is to allow content providers to use their own multi-format, cross platform Helix Mobile servers to stream video content over the Internet and onto FOMA handsets. Real and DoCoMo expect the setup to encourage content providers to unleash more content and increase the "virtuous cycle of supply and demand." The companies are pursuing the right goal, but the end quality of the content sounds suspect. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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WIRELESS NEWS: Handset vendors open own retail stores

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily WiFi News & Updates.- An interesting branding war is playing itself out. As mobile operators begin pushing for their own brands placed on mobile phones, handset makers are fighting back by introducing their own retail stores. In a move the vendor hopes will build brand loyalty and show off its phones' features, Nokia plans to open 18 stores in cities around the world within the next 18 months in places like New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. Motorola will open one in Moscow, while Sony has several flagship stores. It's an intriguing concept that may just help vendors distinguish their products from one another. This is a market dominated by me-too products, but handset makers also have to be careful not to upset the carrier ecosystem when it comes to selling service plans. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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WIRELESS NEWS: Nokia dealt blow in Japan

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Wireless News & Updates.- Nokia received a blow from NTT DoCoMo when Japan's largest operator announced it is delaying the launch of Nokia's 3G FOMA handset because of software problems. Nokia had said last week that the handset was to go on sale today. The delay doesn't come at a good time for Nokia since it has been working on stepping up its visibility in Japan as DoCoMo had scaled back its purchases from Nokia in light of the fact that the vendor had problems implementing i-mode into its handsets, according to DoCoMo officials. The handset is Nokia's first 3G model for DoCoMo, and no decision has been made on when the phone will launch. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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WIRELESS NEWS: Wireless revenues totaled $174.7B in 2005

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Wireless News & Updates.- The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) said wireless revenues in the U.S. totaled $174.7 billion in 2005, up 10.7 percent from 2004. The growth drivers were the acceleration in handset revenue and new wireless subscribers. According to the association's annual report, the wireless handset and device market totaled $15 billion last year, with the expectation that the market will increase 19.3 percent this year. Carriers added a record 25 million customers in 2005. TIA said that the recent uptick in wireless subscribers is due in part to moderate price increases and the introduction of new uses for wireless devices. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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WIRELESS NEWS: Picture services aim to help ease-of-use problems

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Wireless News & Updates.- Sprint announced it will launch this spring Picture Mail groups, a service that allows subscribers to create an online community about any subject and invite friends with an email address or Sprint phone to add pictures, video clips and text of their own at no additional cost. And Seattle-based Vizrea has introduced the Vizrea Snap service, which can automatically move pictures between a phone, PC and the Web.

These services might help push the camera-phone market along. In-Stat has said that only a tiny percentage of camera phones are used regularly to transmit pictures or to store for later use. Less than a third of camera phone owners surveyed by In-Stat indicated that they share picture messages with friends. One of the reasons was that they were turned off by the difficulty of creating and sending pictures. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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MOBILE CONTENT NEWS: Motorola fears subscribers not excited about moco

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Mobile Content Industry News & Updates.- Motorola's handset division head Ron Garriques said the company is backing away from being the first to market with advanced phones that boast WCDMA and expensive QUALCOMM chips that will enable or optimize next-gen 3G services. Why? He's not so sure subscribers are impressed by moco services and want to pay the money for handsets that support them. "In the past we had to launch every product and chase every market, because we needed the opportunity," he said.

The game changed for Motorola after the RAZR handset's breakout success two years ago--the handset's sales now account for one-third of the company's overall handset sales. Currently, thanks in large part to the RAZR's exterior design, more end users are willing to spend on slick phones with less features. Motorola said Samsung's newest 3G phone won't sell anywhere near the shipments that the RAZR has, so why should Motorola lead the charge? For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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WIRELESS NEWS: Controversy surrounds cell-phone viruses

By Daily Wireless Updates, Power by Cogni360

Daily Wireless News & Updates.- With all the noise surrounding security vendors entering the mobile market to fight viruses, Verizon says it doesn't see a need for its customers to install antivirus software on mobile phones. Verizon is right that threats are low today in light of the fact that there is not one dominant OS platform and that mobile phones pretty much incorporate a push-and-pull method of downloading information from the Internet. But as phones become a virtual PC in the hand, that significantly increases the threat of viruses. In fact, Gartner suggests a widespread attack could happen by the end of next year.

The vendors announcing their progress in the mobile industry have been accused of fear mongering to get their software sold, but most of the ones I talk to are realistic about the threat. They say they're just preparing for the inevitable when mobile phones coalesce around a couple of dominant OS platforms. We're already seeing a high infection rate of non-malicious viruses, meaning virus makers are testing the platforms out. For more telecom news go to: Telecommunicate and Daily WiFi News.

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