Warner Music Group joins Nokia Comes With Music

Topic: Mobile Phones

Nokia today announced that Warner Music Group will make its catalog of new stars and legendary artists available through Nokia Music Stores around the world as well as through Comes With Music.

Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected territories. With a single purchase, consumers will have access to a year of exploring and downloading the music that they love, and be able to keep all their selections in their permanent library. Nokia announced Comes With Music in December of 2007 already. Read more

Posted on Tue, 1 Jul 2008 02:09:13 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

HTC enters Korea with HTC Touch Dual

Topic: Mobile Phones

HTC announces that they are bringing their first entry in the Korea phone market with the HTC Touch Dual.

HTC entered an exclusive alliance with SK Telecom.

Vice President of HTC Asia Jack Tong commented about the company’s goals for this launch. "HTC is excited to be entering the Korea market with the HTC Touch Dual. We want to tap into Korea’s high level of consumer sophistication by bringing in a portfolio of innovative phones that set new benchmarks for touch usage." Read more

Posted on Tue, 1 Jul 2008 01:46:23 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Verizon launches V CAST Music with Rhapsody

Topic: Mobile Phones

Verizon Wireless, Rhapsody (RealNetworks) and MTV Networks launch V CAST Music with Rhapsody.

V CAST Music with Rhapsody delivers unlimited monthly access to music on up to three Rhapsody-compatible mobile phones and players and online on multiple PCs and Web browsers, for about the cost of a single CD. In addition, customers who purchase music over-the-air are able to download the master copy of the songs or albums to their PCs free of digital rights management (DRM) software that restricts how and where music can be played. Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:37:54 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Dial2Do Makes Handsfree Easier

Topic: Mobile Phones

With many states enacting hands free laws for cell phone use while driving it’s getting hard for some drivers to take care of the things they used to do while driving. I admit that the thought of a driver next to me trying to text, sending an email or updating their social network is disturbing.

Judging by the new services like Dial2Do lots of people routinely do things when driving that are not particularly safe. Dial2Do is a voice application that allows cell phone users to call a phone number and text, email, Twitter or update calendars using their voice. Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:36:38 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Telstra reveals iPhone 3G Pricing in Australia

Topic: Mobile Phones

Telstra announces the iPhone 3G for their super fast Next G network in Australia.

The Apple iPhone 3G will be available from Telstra on July 11th, like in most other markets Apple has announced a deal.
The Next G iPhone 3G plans start at $30 (~$US28) per month with an upfront cost of $279 (~$US269) for the 8GB model and $399 (~$US385) for the 16GB model.
Customers will receive the 8GB iPhone 3G model at no cost with the $80 (~$US77) plan and either the 8GB or the 16GB model at no cost with plans starting at $100 per month. Read more

Posted on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:26:17 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

iPhone 3G really that profitable?

Topic: Mobile Phones

This week a report from analyst iSupply said that the new iPhone 3G costs Apple only $173 to make compared to $265 for the original iPhone.

The cost for the iPhone 3G is based on a "virtual teardown" as iSupply did not have a new iPhone 3G available to open up.
The $173 also includes only hardware cost and not the software development for instance. Read more

Posted on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 01:29:23 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

China Mobile Apple iPhone Deal moves closer

Topic: Mobile Phones

The talks between Apple and China Mobile to bring the iPhone to the largest mobile phone market seemed to have cleared the biggest hurdle according to a Reuters report.

China Mobile's biggest issue was apparently the revenue sharing requirement imposed by Apple. There is still no timeframe on when China Mobile will offer the iPhone in China. Read more

Posted on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:29:32 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

iPhone 3G pricing in Canada announced

Topic: Mobile Phones

Rogers and Fido announced the iPhone 3G plans for Canada.

As already earlier announced Rogers charges the same prices for the iPhone 3G as AT&T in the US, but requires a 3 year contract. iPhone 3G will be available to Fido and Rogers customers at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model on a three-year price plan.
The lowest iPhone 3G plan starts at $60. Read more

Posted on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sena Cases Announces Wallet Cases for iPhone 3G

Topic: Mobile Phones

Sena Cases has announced its line of cases for the iPhone 3G. Sena is known for offering cases made from top grain leather at more expensive price points than your typical case maker. Two of the new cases are wallet style cases that have a place for credit cards and other items.

The WalletSkin holds the iPhone 3G and has a spot for four credit cards and an ID holder retailing for $52. The WalletBook is similar but only offers room for two credit cards and an ID and retails for $52 as well. Other cases include the Elega luxury pouch for keeping the phone safe in a purse or bag at $39.99; the UltraSlim Pouch for $29.99 is a case for those not wanting bulk. The last pouch is the LeatherSkin which is a form-fitting case adding virtually no bulk and retailing for $42. Read more

Posted on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Huge Amounts of People Search for iPhone Info Says ComScore

Topic: Mobile Phones

In the months and weeks leading up to a new announcement from Apple it’s hard to get away from the news. Certainly the biggest announcement from Apple in recent months is the iPhone 3G coming next month. ComScore says that 7 million searches for the Apple iPhone were made in April.

ComScore says that the biggest search term was iPhone generating 1.5 million searches in April. The next two spots were iPhone update with 151,000 searches, iPhone 2.0 with 75,000 searches and iPhone 3G with 60,000 searches. Most of the searches that generated click-thrus were with Google says ComScore. Read more

Posted on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:28:21 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Samsung Instinct Breaks Sales Records for Sprint

Topic: Mobile Phones

To fight off the iPhone 3G from Apple and AT&T Sprint launched the Samsung Instinct on June 20th. Sprint has now announced that the instinct has become its fastest selling EVDO handset ever and has broken sales records since its launch.

The popularity of the device has cause shortages and the Instinct is currently unavailable in some areas according to Sprint. Sprint says that it and Samsung are working to get more inventory in Sprint stores across the nation. Shipments of the Instinct are coming in from Samsung daily says Sprint and more device will be available soon. Read more

Posted on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:42:27 CDT | by Shane McGlaun