Posted on 2009 under Communications |
11
Sep
This is the moment in which Motorola (NYSE: MOT) shows us whether they have what it takes to turn the company around.
At GigaOm’s Mobilize in San Francisco today, Motorola’s CEO of Mobile Devices Sanjay Jha took the stage in front of a packed and energized auditorium, to say its answer to its problems is “Moto Blur,” a social-networking platform that the company has developed to run on top of the Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android operating system. The first phone will be the Motorola CLIQ, which will be sold exclusively by T-Mobile USA. Jha: “The Android operating system gives us the platform to mobilize the internet. The bottom line is that it’s a modern, well-architected platform written from the ground up.” (Release.)
T-Mobile’s Cole Brodman joined Jha to announce that they will sell the phone exclusively starting in the fourth quarter. No word on how much it will cost. “Our customers are used to seeing innovation from T-Mobile and getting the must-have devices.” He stressed the network will be prepared to handle the additional traffic the device uses, which might become a determining factor going forward as consumers use data and weigh down networks. “Our network is equipped to handle increase in traffic. We have spent $9 billion on the network in the last four years. We have a modern 3G network that will reach 200 million people in the U.S. and reach 250 cities. It is a great time to be introducing a product like this.”
More on how BLUR works after the jump…
The Moto Blur concept aggregates all of your social networks, and then distributes the information into various widgets that are available on the phone’s home screen. Messages get one bucket and status updates in another. The address book also draws from all the networks, providing options for how you contact someone—via SMS, Twitter, email, etc. The phone is linked to a portal online that allows people to track a phone when its lost or from there you can wipe it clean. A user online only has to log back in to a device with a username and password to pick up where they left off.
Pricing for the device was not announced and its unclear what kind of data plan it will require, or whether there’s additional costs involved for the online back-up (Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) charges for a similar service, called MobileMe.). Clearly, the starting price for smartphones as of recently is $200, so to even have a chance at being competitive, Motorola will have to beat that—and better yet, they should beat it.
After the initial announcement this morning, Jha explained in a chat with GigaOm’s Om Malik the idea behind BLUR in terms we understand today—Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry. He said the platform melds Apple’s idea of having access to tons of applications with BlackBerry’s niche of integrating the apps—like email—deeply into the phone. Together, they have the apps and the tight integration. “The iPhone has one, BlackBerry has the other, but we have combined them in a meaningful way for social networking.”
A similar Motorola phone called DEXT will also be distributed internationally with Orange in the UK, Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) in Spain and America Movil in Latin America. Motorola will not stop there. Jha said a second Android phone using Blur will be announced shortly and will be launched in time for the holidays.
Posted on 2009 under Communications |
3
Sep
One of the biggest constraints to delivering more content to mobile phones is capacity, which is driven in large part by how much spectrum the government allocates to carriers. “A key input is spectrum….there is not enough of it,” Blair Levin, the FCC’s top broadband official told industry executives and lobbyists.
Reuters reports that because of the shortfalls, U.S. regulators are seeking ways to make more efficient use of the airwaves already in use, so that commercial carriers can be prepared as consumers rely on smartphones even more for communicating and entertainment. One way is to free up some of the airwaves used by U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Defense. Levin: “The demand curves from uses like smartphones suggest it’s going to increase dramatically, for spectrum.”
One of the biggest bidders in the last spectrum auction was Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), which intends on using the new airwaves to roll out its 4G network. Another company with a wealth of spectrum is Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR), which is in the middle of rolling out a 4G network based on WiMax. Rather than participating in auctions, Clearwire cobbled together a deep portfolio by buying up unused spectrum and partnering with educational and religious organizations, which have been allocated some bandwidth.
Two companies that will likely be looking to increase their holdings is AT&T (NYSE: T), which has seen the results of heavy smartphone use first-hand through its exclusive with the iPhone, and T-Mobile USA, which is still working on rolling out its 3G network.
CTIA President Steve Largent told reporters that the wireless industry will lobby to get lawmakers to include language in legislation to set a timetable for spectrum auctions for businesses. “We can’t wait eight to 11 years for additional spectrum,” he said.
Posted on 2009 under Communications |
2
Sep
After waiting nearly eight months since their original announcement, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) will release phones based on its latest version of Windows Mobile on Oct. 6. Release.
Microsoft has designed Windows Mobile 6.5 to be geared towards both business users and consumers in an attempt to break from their reputation of being a workhorse-only. Practically, that means the phone’s touchscreen can now be used with a finger and not a stylus and it will have better internet browsing and access to an app store, called Windows Marketplace for Mobile store. It also comes with Microsoft’s My Phone, which lets users back up critical information, like contacts and photos, to the computer (a feature once limited to users who had access to Microsoft’s Exchange services). However, it’s not until Microsoft releases Windows Mobile 7 next year that it will be deemed more comparable to the iPhone or Google’s Android.
Microsoft listed a slew of partners that will embrace the new OS in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. In North America, it named carriers such as AT&T (NYSE: T), Bell Mobility, Sprint (NYSE: S), Telus and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), and handset makers including HP, HTC, LG (SEO: 066570), Samsung and Toshiba.
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Posted on 2009 under Communications |
28
Aug
That Orange is unconvinced its latest handset will take off is more than clear. On Thursday, it started selling LG’s £500 Touchscreen Watchphone – but only from its Bond Street, London, branch, only “for a limited time only” and stock available online from September will be only “a limited number”.
It’s like a mini, touchable iPhone on your wrist, with 3G, music player and SMS, which, presumably, would be typed with only one hand. Devices director Francois Mahieu, in the release, says it’s “one of several ‘future phones’ we’re bringing to UK consumers this year”. Video.
Posted on 2009 under Communications |
27
Aug
T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G hit stores a few weeks ago, but the company has just launched a huge ad campaign—complete with celeb-studded TV spots, a microsite, print, search and movie theater ads—to promote the Android-powered smartphone.
The first set of 30-second spots go live today; celebrity endorsers include The View’s Whoopi Goldberg (pictured), Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, and Monster Garage star Jesse James. The ads highlight how they all need and get different things from the myTouch 3G, a nod to the handset’s personalization features.
A T-mobile spokesperson called it the “largest product launch advertising campaign” in the company’s history; future ads will include other as-yet-unnamed celebrities. Electronics retailer Radio Shack will also be promoting the myTouch, among other T-mobile phones, as part of a reseller agreement the companies brokered in July.
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