CDMA2000 dominates the North American 3G wireless telecommunications market. That’s the official word form the CDMA Development Group (CDG), which announced that there are more than 135 million 3G subscribers in North America, and more than 22 percent of those use EV-DO mobile broadband devices.
“CDMA2000’s strong growth in North America validates the technology’s powerful and robust evolution path,” said Perry LaForge, executive director for the CDG. “Its superior performance, utility and reliability have made it the overwhelming choice for subscribers who demand substantial value — in other words, it is the best solution at the most affordable price.”
The two leading CDMA carriers, as of March 2007, were Sprint and Verizon, while rural operators including Embarg and Metro PCS.
Press release
Even before there were mobile devices a portion of the workforce was mobile, meaning they traveled frequently and relied on a variety of tools to stay in touch with home base. And today’s mobile workforce is relying on mobile applications more than road warriors of just a few years ago. So what do the mobile applications of today (and tomorrow) mean for those who are mobilizing their enterprises? MobileCrunch talks with Brian Kinane, executive vice president and chief strategy officer at MobileAware.
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Most text messages max out at 160 characters, and can you imagine wanting to type much beyond that length? A man in Italy used the T9 predictive-text input on his Nokia 6630 to type “Compagni di Viaggo,” or “Fellow Travelers” for the English version. The sci-fi novel clocks in at 384 pages when in the form of a bound book.
Author Robert Bernocco typed his novel in pieces while commuting to and from his IT job in Piedmont, Northern Italy. Then he downloaded it to the computer to proofread and edit. It took him 17 weeks to write. He published the book on Lulu.com, a marketplace for digital content.
Lulu.com
Save the handset, save the world. IGN is reporting that Heroes: The Mobile Game will make its debut at Comic-Com in San Diego this week. Based on the hit series from NBC, the mobile title will be published by Gameloft and players will get to experience the thrill of having superhuman abilities. Or at least experience what it is like to have superhuman abilities on a small mobile screen. The script of the game was written by the show’s writers and based on the events of the first season.
[Via IGN]
Using that mobile handset is not an early ticket to the grave! Whew! That’s good news for power talkers like me. A new report from the University of Essex suggests that mobile phone transmissions cause no immediate health problems.
Wait… no “immediate.” So should I worry? Well, for every study that says this stuff is bad, there is going to be a study that says it isn’t bad. But anyway, the U of Essex study took 44 people who were “sensitive” to mobile technology (how you find people who are sensitive I don’t know), and compared them to a control group of 114 people. The study found that only two of the 44 noticed a different when exposed to phones. Of course this only focused on short-term exposure and short-term effects. Well, I guess I could worry… but I could also worry about getting hit by a bus (and I live in New York where there are in fact a lot of buses).
[Via TG Daily]
This week Oasys Mobile announced the launch of AROD MVP Baseball Challenge, a mobile baseball title that features Yankee Alex Rodriguez, for Verizon Wireless. The arcade style game focuses on hitting a series of targets, including various stadium characters. This quick style of gameplay is based on batting and pitching and features music, crowd noises and even umpire calls and the crack of bat.
[Via WGWorld]
While the service won’t carry your phone up a mountain, but Phone Sherpa has a load of new mobile apps, which the company shared with us. Phone Sherpa Ringtone Maker is a service that will let you create your own user-generated content, including ringtones, while the Phone Sherpa Mobile Store enables the deployment of secure, dynamic and localized mobile content stores integrated with the look and feel of any Web site or social networking page.
The Phone Sherpa Custom Ringtone Store further enables multiple ringtones to be sold from a single published full track file, and allows portals and record labels to easily offer large music catalogs as ringtones from any site.
Phone Sherpa
If you’re in Europe you can get out of line for the iPhone. Get in line for the Louve instead (not that the line there moves very fast some days). As our sister site CrunchGear is reporting, the iPhone won’t be released until the fourth quarter of this year. Not to worry, the third quarter of 2007 (that would be now) is flying by.
We’re hearing that Steve Jobs thinks Apple could sell a million iPhones by the end of the fourth quarter. Of course the company needs to actually release them to sell them. We’ll continue to follow this story.
Apple iPhone
Today the CTIA – The Wireless Association issued a statement in response to testimony from U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications Information Administration John Kneuer. This testimony was given today during the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing “Preparing Consumer for the Digital Television Transition.” The CTIA responded to comments made about the 700 MHz bandwidth.
From the CTIA:
‘We agree with the Assistant Secretary that adding any encumbrances to the auction will lead to lower revenues. In contrast, an auction with flexible service rules will create the best environment for maximum consumer benefits and revenue to the U.S. Treasury. Any interested entity is welcome to win spectrum in a fair and competitive auction and adopt whatever business model they choose. Google isn’t a small, struggling company that needs a government subsidy to enter the competitive wireless space, and the special conditions it and others have suggested would only take money out of the pockets of American taxpayers and stuff it into the coffers of a multi-billion dollar corporation.”
We’ll continue to follow both sides of this ongoing issue.
CTIA
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Who needs to take notes when you can take a picture? The guys over at scanR have made note taking a thing of the past. With this nifty little service you can take a photo with your mobile handset and then send it to scanR, where it will then be e-mailed to you. Now the company has given us the word that they’re going to release a version for Facebook too.
With the service students can use their camera phones to copy notes, papers, books and even white/blackboards in class. The snapped photo will get turned to a PDF and can be uploaded to Facebook. Not going to class has never been easier!
scanR
It is official: Sprint Nextel and Google will be working together on a Web portal that includes search and social networking for Sprint’s WiMax Internet customers. Last week we reported that Sprint and Clearwire are working to rollout a nationwide WiMax network, and now it looks like Google wants to get in on the ‘max.
“Google and Sprint will optimize the Internet experience for the digital lifestyle,” Barry West, president of Sprint’s 4G Mobile Broadband, said in a statement.
While no official date has been announced for the launch of the nationwide WiMax network, Sprint has said it plans to have it up and running in several test markets by the end of this year, and should cover 100 million people by the end of 2008.
Sprint Nextel
Google
Less than 10 months after launching its mobile broadcast video service in Europe, Virgin has pulled the plug, and will switch off the service early next year. BT Movio, the bandwidth provider, is canceling its contract with frequency owner GCap Media. A number of setbacks plagued the efforts, including that fact that only one handset – the Lobster 700TV – was equipped to receive the service. Sales were light, despite a massive promotional effort.
But the bigger reason was that BT Movio’s service is based on the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) and utilizes the DAB Network, while the European Union has opted to endorse DVB-H for the de facto mobile broadcast technology. Virgin has said it will run the service until the end of January 2008. So long, we hardly knew you.
[Via The Register]
If you’re into action sports, you’ll be able to watch every flipkick, ollie and even every incredible crash from the X Games on your mobile handset. ESPN, MediaFLO USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of QUALCOMM, and Verizon Wireless have teamed up to launch EXPN for V CAST Mobile TV, a channel to deliver the action from the from X Games 13.
Coverage runs from 11:30am PT on August 2 until 3pm PT on August 5, and during this time you’ll be able to watch live competitions, behind-the-scenes coverage and commentary. Additionally, from July 22 through August 1 you can tun in for “Best of the X Games,” while X Game 13 replays will air August 6 and 7.
“X Games fans want to see the action as it happens. By teaming with MediaFLO USA to offer this channel through Verizon Wireless, ESPN is reaffirming our commitment to our fans by showing all the extreme action while expanding our multi-platform approach,” stated John Zehr, senior vice president, digital media production, ESPN. “Through this dedicated channel, X fans will see Travis Pastrana’s practice runs or Shaun White grab big air during the skateboarding finals even if they aren’t near a big-screen TV.”
Verizon Wireless Mobile TV
MediaFLO USA
EXPN
Losing your phone means losing everything you have on your phone. But now you can make sure your data is safe, at least if you’re using AT&T. This week AT&T announced that users will be able to store, update and even access their contact information on their mobile handsets through a downloadable handset application. This new service, AT&T Mobile Backup will be available on a variety of handsets, including six Motorola devices, including the RAZR V3XX, RAZR V3i, RAZR V3r, V365, SLVR 17 and KRZR K1, with additional handsets to follow in the future.
“Most people have contact information on their wireless devices that they do not have stored anywhere else,” said Carlton Hill, vice president of Voice Products and Devices for AT&T’s wireless unit. “Because of this, we are excited to offer a secure backup option to protect this important information.”
Subscribers can add new contacts to their account and edit existing data on the AT&T Mobile Backup Web site. Contacts can also be imported from Microsoft Outlook, AOL and Yahoo!, and these contacts then be sent to a handset over the mobile network. Automatic backup options are provided for daily and weekly updates. AT&T Mobile Backup is powered by Asurion, and will be available on compatible handsets later this year for $1.99 a month.
AT&T Mobile Backup
For the next 60 days, during the beta trial period, Mail for Microsoft Exchange will be available free to Helio Ocean users, and $9.99 per month after world. The app brings full synchronization of e-mail, contacts and calendar entries to the handset.
This is just one of two new apps that are now available for the handset. The other, Helio File Viewer, launched in conjunction with the Mail for Microsoft Exchange, is available free to all Ocean owners, and is compatible with Adobe’s PDF format as well Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files – because we can never get enough Power Point.
[Via MobileBurn]
Mobliss closed the deal last year when they released the mobile version of the hit quiz show Deal or No Deal. Mobliss has announced that the mobile game version of the Endemol show has been downloaded more than a million times in the United States. Mobliss, which also partnered with FremantleMedia to launch the mobile TV channel Atomic Wedgie, isn’t done deal making either.
John Loschky, Mobliss VP of programme management said he expected the popularity of the game in the US to be repeated elsewhere. “With the continued success of its TV counterpart, we anticipate that subscriptions and downloads of the Deal or No Deal mobile game will only increase over time, in not only the US but also International markets because of the new Spanish version.”
Mobliss
There remains a common misconception that video games are just something guys like, but LimeLife and other companies have proven that theory wrong. And now Oxygen, the cable channel for women, is making the leap to interactive-gaming. Among the first titles is a game based its hit series Bad Girls Club, which is being developed in conjunction with Artificial Life, will available in late August through downloads via the Oxygen Web site for $3.99.
“Gaming is so huge with women, and Oxygen has been looking at how to break into this arena,” said Oxygen senior vice president Cynthia Ashworth. “This game presents the perfect opportunity to take our most popular television series to a new level by creating a mobile game that is on brand with the show and also connects with our young, tech-savvy female audience. This is only the beginning for Oxygen in the gaming arena.”
[Via Broadcast NewsRoom]
Alltel Wireless users can now browse thousands of Web videos and watch them via the phones with the new mywaves mobile video service. Available for $3.99 per month this newly launched service lets customers easily download the app, which allows for users to browse through various genres including comedy, sports, health, business, music, technology and more. Alltel users can also choose for a text message alert when new clips are available on channels of their choice.
“Our customers now have more video viewing options than ever before,” said Scott Moody, director of data services for Alltel Wireless. “mywaves gives us the ability to deliver thousands of videos directly to our customers, allowing them to further customize their wireless experience.”
Currently running on QUALCOMM’s BREW solution, mywaves is available on select Alltel phones including the LG AX8600; Motorola RAZR V3m, V3c, KRZR K1m and e815, and the Samsung u520, and the application will be compatible Alltel phones in the future.
[Alltel]
The rains, which continue to fall over much of the U.K., haven’t dampened the mood at The Developer Conference 2007 in Brighton, which kicked things off this week with a one-day focus on mobile, notably mobile gaming. Games on mobile handsets continues to be on the rise in the U.K., and strong annual growth was predicted.
But with the clouds came some negative news too. Among the biggest issues that was addressed is the gap between high-end phones and lower-end devices, which make game development for handsets for time consuming and difficult. In some cases, developers argued it is almost like making several versions of the very same title, not to mention the various platforms including Java, Java 3D (including JSR184 as well as Mascot Capsule), and versions for BREW, Symbian and Windows Mobile. Of course no one said developing games would be easy, and in front of every silver lining (which lines the pockets of the developers) there seems to be that gray cloud.
[Via Gamasutra]
This week Wells Fargo & Company launched Wells Fargo Mobile, a browser based mobile banking solution, which is available to all of its customers nationwide. This new service allows customers to access their Well Fargo account through a mobile-enabled Web browser.
“With Wells Fargo Mobile service, customers can act immediately no matter where they are, whether they want to make sure they have enough money in their account or make a transfer between accounts,” said Jim Smith, executive vice president and managing head of Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group. “Our mobile banking solution was inspired by our customers. They helped us design this experience by participating in our pilot programs and providing valuable feedback. Customers’ financial needs are time-sensitive and complex, and we considered this when we built our solution for mobile devices.”
From the Web site customers can check balances of their accounts, view transaction history and even transfer money between eligible accounts to save you a trip to the bank.
Wells Fargo
