Alcatel-Lucent, a telecommunications equipment maker, announced today that it posted its fifth straight quarterly loss. The company lost 181 million euros ($282 million) compared to a loss of 8 million euros a year earlier, when profits were boosted by the sale of businesses to Thales SA. Revenues were down 3.86 billion euros ($6.02 billion) compared with 3.88 billion euros from last year.

Alcatel-Lucent expects overall revenue for 2008 to decline by 2% to 5%. The company blames the loss on a weak dollar and lower spending by operators.

The first-quarter numbers sent shares of the company down 6.5% to sell at 4.2 euros ($6.5).

Alcatel-Lucent predicts that global communications equipment and related services will be flat in 2008. Chief Financial Officer Hubert de Pesquidous blames the worsening economic climate.

“While the long-term prospects for the industry are positive, the current macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, leading the company to continue to be prudent in its market assumptions,” Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement.

Alcatel-Lucent is in the middle of a company restructuring that may cut up to 12,500 jobs. The company cut 6,700 jobs in 2007. Alcatel-Lucent shares have lost about 10% of their value this year, after losing more than half their value in 2007.

Marchex, a company that delivers local online advertising and local content, announced today that it has extended its advertising strategy to the mobile market. Marchex has entered into agreements with mobile advertising providers AdMob, Ringleader Digital and 4INFO.

Marchex’s VoiceStar subsidiary will deliver call tracking services to all three companies. VoiceStar will enable the advertiser providers to validate the effectiveness and return on investment of their mobile advertising networks and provide their advertisers with analytics to help them optimize their mobile advertising campaigns.

Marchex’s call tracking enables mobile advertising providers to: (i) track the calls generated by advertisements on their network, (ii) determine exactly which advertisements delivered the calls, (iii) track and report key information including the duration, time of day and geographic location of callers, and (iv) record the calls. Marchex makes this information available to the mobile advertising provider through its reporting interface.

“Marchex is focused on partnerships with leading aggregators of local advertisers across all channels: online, offline, and mobile,” said John Keister, Marchex President and COO. “We believe that the mobile advertising opportunity is significant and is poised to realize tremendous growth over the next five years. Our call tracking and pay-per-phone-call capabilities provide a significant advantage for Marchex in the mobile search advertising market.”

“We are excited to bring new tools and technologies that will provide our advertising customers with results-focused advertising solutions,” said Omar Hamoui, Founder and CEO AdMob. “By linking the browsing experience of the mobile web with the communications capabilities of mobile phones, AdMob continues to deliver a powerful new tool for advertisers. Marchex’s call-based advertising services and suite of analytic tools enable us to better monetize our inventory and enable our advertisers to maximize the return on investment for their mobile advertising campaigns.”

VoiceStar
Marchex

The Movie Speed Racer, which is based on a cartoon series from the 1970’s, hits theaters on May 9. In tandem with the movie’s release, Glu Mobile launched a game based on the movie today. Speed Racer is the first title Glu has developed and published through its strategic partnership with Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

“The team at Glu has done a remarkable job of delivering all the fast action of SPEED RACER onto the mobile phone,” said Anthony Campagna, director of wireless sales development, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “This game provides hours of entertainment and will make a great companion piece for anyone passionate about SPEED RACER.”

The goal of the game is to become the ultimate Grand Prix champion by using all the abilities of your car Mach 6 and through “Car-Fu.” Through Car-Fu you become one with your car Mach 6 and drive with skills beyond the average racer. The game lets you drift, slide, jump and defensively drive while navigating extreme tracks against tuff competitors and obstacles.

Speed Racer has advanced graphics and 3D screens. The graphics are meant to fully immerse the player into the gaming experience.

“We’re really proud of the job our studio has done to develop a white-knuckle racing game on par with the level of quality that the Wachowski brothers expect,” said Jill Braff, senior vice president, global publishing, Glu. “We’re excited to be able to put this experience in the hands of consumers in anticipation of the film’s debut.”

The Wachowski brothers wrote, directed and produced the movie.

Glu

The digital movie provider CinemaNow announced today that customers can use their cell phones to view movie trailers and order full-length titles to watch on their home television or computer through its mobile website. The new service allows customers to buy or rent a movie while they are out and about with friends or family.

“It definitely makes discovery a little more social when you can talk about the movie and do the purchase while you’re there,” said David Cook, CinemaNow’s chief operating officer.

CinemaNow will download movies to a user’s electronic device like a personal computer. Internet downloads of movies can take over an hour, so by ordering while on the go, hopefully the title will be ready to view when the customer gets home. Online movie purchases cost around $14.99 and rentals cost about $1.99.

Full movies can’t be downloaded to handsets yet. But the company hopes to be able to download full length movies to cell phones by next year.

If you have a Web-capable phone and live in the United States, go to http://mobile.cinemanow.com and checkout the service.

Recycling mobile phones has been in the news lately. You may not realize it, but there are a host of precious metals in that little handset that keeps you connected on-the-go. Gold and silver are just two elements that manufactures put into that magic box you talk into.

Recovering these metals is called “urban mining”, and it’s becoming more profitable as the prices of metals reach near-record prices. Recovered materials are reused in new electronic parts and gold and silver is melted down to be sold as ingots for jewelers and precious metals investors. Gold is often used in cell phone circuit boards because gold conducts electricity better than copper. But even copper is reaching record prices as developing countries expand their electronic infrastructures.

Recycling mobile phones produces more gold ton for ton over the average goldmine. A ton of gold ore contains on average 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of gold, while a ton of used mobile phones contain 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of gold. Urban miners don’t get to use explosives but they can make a hefty profit with gold selling for around $890 an ounce.

Copper, tin, silver and iridium are also recycled from mobile phones. A ton of cell phones contain 100 kg (220 lb) of copper and 3 kg (6.6 lb) of silver. Urban miners are able to dig-up these elements without having to worry about claim-jumpers, and the hazards of eating pork and beans with every meal.

Nokia, the world’s biggest cell phone manufacturer, revealed three new handset models today. The new models were designed to compete in the very active market of mid-priced phones. This market is highly competitive.

Nokia will start shipping the new models in the third-quarter of this year. The new mid-priced phones include the Nokia 6600 Fold, the Nokia 6600 Slide and the Nokia 3600 Slide. These models will sell for between 175 euros ($273) and 275 euros, excluding taxes and subsidies.

Nokia controls around 39% of the world’s mobile phone market. The company has recently made great sales progress in emerging markets with sales of its low-priced phones.

Motorola, the company that manufactured the first commercially available cell phone, saw its overall sales drop 21% in this year’s first-quarter. Sales dropped to $7.45 billion from last year’s first-quarter sales number of $9.43 billion. Motorola’s cellphone division dropped 39% compared to the sales numbers from first-quarter 2007.

The mobile phone division lost $418 million during the quarter, nearly 80% more than the $233 million it lost during the same period last year. Motorola only sold 27 million handsets in the first-quarter, as it saw its share of the global market fall below 10%, down from the 22% of market share it had in 2006.

Motorola’s enterprise mobility solutions division did see growth. This branch of the company sells computing and communications equipment to businesses. That unit’s operating profits grew by 9%.

Samsung Electronics announced today that its net profit was up 37% in the first-quarter of this year. Much of the increase came from sales of cell phones in emerging markets. Samsung earned 2.19 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in the three months that ended on March 31. Sales rose 19% to 17.11 trillion won ($17.19 billion).

Samsung said that mobile sales “achieved similar volume” to last year’s fourth-quarter record sales of 46.3 million handsets. Handset sales continued to grow despite the fact that the global market for cell phones has contracted by about 13%. Samsung sales in China and India are driving the company’s sales increase.

“Our handset business is growing very strong,” Chu Woo-sik, executive vice president for investor relations, told analysts on a conference call.

Samsung leads the world in the manufacture of computer memory chips and flat screen televisions and is the second-largest manufacturer of mobile phones.

NextWave Wireless is planning to sell its holdings of U.S. airwaves. It is estimated that the licenses held by NextWave are worth billions of dollars. The money raised from the sales will be used by NextWave to pay off debt and invest in the company’s products. NextWave makes telecommunications equipment. Among other things, it makes chips for WiMax, a next-generation wireless standard being deployed by Sprint-Nextel.

NextWave announced late yesterday that it hired Deutsche Bank and UBS to help the company sell its spectrum holdings, which cover 85% of the U.S. population. Coverage includes major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. It is speculated that a company may try to buy most of the holdings to create a new national mobile provider in the United States.

It isn’t clear what the value of Next Wave’s holdings is worth. If the sale goes as well as the recent FCC auction of the 700 megahertz spectrum, the licenses could be worth $6 billion. But NextWave isn’t likely to get that much for its holdings. The radio characteristics of its spectrum make it more expensive to put to use.

According to NextWave’s chief financial officer George Alex, the company paid about $500 million for the airwaves. NextWave shares rose $1.25, or 26%, to $6 in midday trading today.

“The 700 megahertz auction was exceptional in the prices that they achieved,” Alex said. “We’ve had a lot of inbound inquiry … A lot of people were unfulfilled in their needs by 700. They’d amassed the business plans and the money they needed to participate in that auction, so now they’re looking for other alternatives.”

Buzzd, a location-based city guide and social network for mobile phones, announced that it has completed Series A funding, led by Greycroft Partners and Monitor Ventures. The money will be used for product development and distribution. Monitor’s Fern Mandelbaum will join Buzzd’s Board of Directors, along with company Co-Founders Nihal Mehta and Deepen Shah.

“Monitor and Greycroft have successfully guided digital media start-ups from seed to success. We are excited to have partners who will roll up their sleeves and really work with entrepreneurs,” said Buzzd CEO Nihal Mehta.

”Buzzd provides a necessary utility for users, helping them locate venues, interact with friends, and read reviews on the mobile device,” said Alan Patricof, Managing Director of Greycroft Partners.

Buzzd lets you search for local events and other hotspots in your city. Buzzd will tell you which bands are playing at local bars, the location of a four-star eatery and other such information. The interface lets the user share information with others on Buzzd, so people can setup their own social networks.

Hoenitos Premium Tequila is joining the Buzzd community as an advertiser. Through this partnership, Buzzd members can buy their friends Hornitos drinks and redeem the codes delivered via SMS at hundreds of bars in association with BuyYourFriendADrink.com. What could be better than getting your friends drunk with your mobile phone?

For more information on Buzzd visit http://www.buzzd.com. Users can register for the service immediately by texting ‘join’ to 96321, or visiting http://buzzd.com/m from their web or mobile browser.

Hook Mobile’s MobileHook API is now available for Web 2.0 application developers. Developers will be able to build multimedia from social networking sites, and include photos, video, audio and slideshows. This API provides open access into Hook Mobile’s MAX 2.0 platform that provides Multimedia Messaging (MMS) delivery into wireless carrier networks.

“We are embracing the openness of social media, offering our APIs to application developers so they can push the user experience out to mobile phones,” said Terry Hsiao, CEO of Hook Mobile. “It will add a level of immediacy and intimacy not easily achieved in social applications, and the result is an experience that leverages the core multimedia assets of the application while un-tethering users from the desktop.”

Hook Mobile’s REST-based API makes it much easier for application developers to use MMS. Hook provides access to the MAX 2.0 platform for mobile delivery across a variety of device types, media formats, diverse carrier network connections and user handset capabilities. The “mobile tab” code base can be integrated into any website, application or widget, standardizing the registration, cancellation, and terms and conditions for all applications.

MAX 2.0 connects application developers with social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, and delivers content to mobile devices via MMS. Hook Mobile enables the multitude of digital bits to be easily shared with family and friends, connecting them to their mobile lifestyle and offering social media developers a direct path to possible revenues.

“We’re constantly searching for ways to improve the customer’s experience on our products, and Hook Mobile’s API is a fresh approach to doing just that by pushing the media all the way to their mobile phone,” said Vikas Gupta CEO of Jambool, a leading developer of widgets on social networks.

“Integrating with the Hook Mobile API was very straightforward,” commented Naveed Ihsanullah of Thought Labs, “We were easily able to add mobile functionality into our existing code making our vision for Pic2Phone a reality.”

“Mobile has been a tough nut for Facedouble – for 2 years, no aggregator or carrier was able to provide us with the tools (or technical competence) we needed to succeed: 2 way MMS across carriers, resizing of content to fit the target phone, flexible billing, slideshows, good reporting; Hook Mobile’s MAX 2.0 platform does all these things. Bravo!” said Alex Shah Founder of Facedouble.

Hook Mobile

Microsoft’s Tellme subsidiary launched a voice activated directory for the BlackBerry yesterday. Users can talk into the device and say the name of a business, type of business, or keywords like “weather”, “movies”, “traffic”, “map” or “driving directions.” The application then uses GPS to locate the BlackBerry and give out information from Microsoft’s Live Search engine to the phone’s screen. Users can get directions, buy movie tickets and do other fun stuff.

The application only works on newer BlackBerry models. It is currently advertisement-free, but in the future ads will be delivered to support the system.

Tellme was bought by Microsoft in 2007. Versions for Helio, Windows Mobile and the iPhone are being developed. Tellme’s BlackBerry launch comes on the heels of Yahoo’s voice search system, oneSearch 2.0, which just included some BlackBerry models a few weeks ago.

Voice activation seems to be the future trend for mobile directories and other applications. With cell phones getting smaller, it becomes more and more difficult to use the keypad. Navigating while on the go isn’t so easy if you are physically moving. Look for voice activation to branch out into other mobile areas as the technology develops.

V-ENABLE, a local mobile search and directory assistance service, announced today that Sprint customers can get the full-featured downloadable version of FreeMobile411. Users only have to speak what they are looking for into their phone and the results will be displayed on-screen within seconds.

FreeMobile411 gives access to 140 million residential and 14 million business locations. Users can browse by category, get maps, driving instructions, see other business nearby and more. Best of all, it is free. Users can also connect with an operator if they want.

Freemobile411 works just like Mobile411, which is available on deck with carriers like Alltel and MetroPCS. With this release of the off deck JAVA version, Sprint customers can get directory information with a few vibrations of the larynx.

“There are several mobile and voice based services that can help find listings, get maps, driving directions, see what’s nearby. But none of the services bring it all together, with the touch of a live operator,” said Craig Hagopian, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of V-ENABLE Inc.

“With FreeMobile411 we are embracing the blending of man and machine to complete the search experience. We look forward to being available on even more carriers and handsets so all mobile consumers can experience the most complete mobile search solution currently available”.

FreeMobile411 won’t blend you with your phone to the extent that you become a cyborg, but it will save you from thumbing through the local phone directory. Sprint users can go online at www.FreeMobile411.com and register for the service, at which time they will be sent via SMS a link to download the application. Non-Sprint customers can visit the site and register with FreeMobile411. These users will be notified when FreeMobile411 is available for their handset and carrier. They can also use the mobile internet version of FreeMobile411 by typing on their phone’s browser freemobile411.com

The world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer is offering a free one year subscription to the world’s second largest music label to buyers of certain music phones. Sony BMG hosts musicians such as Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion, just to name a few. Nokia’s offer differs from other similar deals in that users can keep all the music they download during the 12 month period.

Last December, Nokia mentioned a similar arrangement with music label Universal, calling the deal, “Comes With Music.” The Universal offering should be available in some markets by the second half of this year.

Nokia thinks all top music labels will become members of its “Comes With Music” family.

“We are quite confident that we will have all the labels at the table for Comes With Music. We are progressing in those negotiations,” said Liz Schimel, head of Nokia’s music business.

In a related story, Nokia announced today two new music phones will be added to its XpressMusic range, the Nokia 5320 and the Nokia 5220.

“Both music devices are expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008, with an expected retail price range of 160 euros ($254) to 220 euros ($349), before taxes and subsidies,” Nokia said in a statement.

Skype announced today an unlimited international calling plan that only costs $9.95 a month. The plan allows unlimited calls to land-line phones in 34 countries.

The countries include most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. Calls to U.S. landlines and cell phones are included, as are calls to cell phones in Canada, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Calls to cell phones in other countries aren’t included.

Skype calls are made from computers equipped with a microphone and speakers or a headset. Subscribers will also have the option to call a local number from their phones and be connected to international numbers, paying only local access charges or cell-phone airtime. Vonage and cable companies offer similar plans but at higher prices.

Skype, which is owned by eBay, also offers free computer-to-computer calls. In the first-quarter of this year the subscribers logged 1.7 billion minutes of paid calls. The free service saw 14.2 billion minutes used.

Skype

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone carrier, announced today that its first-quarter profits are up 37%. China has the largest population of mobile users, with around 520 million accounts. The government of China predicts that this number will increase to 600 million in the near future.

“The rapid growth in China’s economy and the vigorous demand for telecommunications services continued to create a prosperous environment,” said a China Mobile statement.

China Mobile posted a profit of 24.1 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) in the first-quarter that ended on March 31. Subscriptions rose 6% for a total of 392 million. New accounts accelerated by 33% to 7.6 million per month in the quarter, driven mostly by new business in rural China. China’s eastern cities are near the saturation point, so the company is targeting the countryside.

It is believed that the government is about to approve licenses for third-generation (3G) technology. 3G supports mobile video, Web access and other services. This is expected to increase revenues even more as mobile carriers can offer new profitable services to customers.

Austria’s second largest city, Graz, is cracking down on cell phone use during public transport. Commuters are being ordered to keep their phones on silent mode and can’t talk on the phone while in transit.

“I know I insulted the cell phone goddess a little,” Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl said.
“But people need to know they don’t have the right to be on the telephone permanently and constantly,” he told Austrian television. “It’s just not healthy to never be able to get any peace and quiet.”

There has been a backlash against public cell phone use around the world. France’s national railway has recently created phone-free “Zen Zones” on high-speed trains. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio has filed legislation that ensures Americans won’t be subjected to cell phone talk while on airlines. New Jersey fines people $100 for talking or texting while driving. At least 21 states in the U.S. are considering legislation to ban texting while driving.

Banning cell phone use in public doesn’t always work. Last May, Sweden’s Stockholm Transport did away with cell phone free zones on subways, buses and commuter trains just 10 months after launching the spaces.

“It relied on people showing respect, but it didn’t really work,” spokesman Bjorn Holmberg said: Too many passengers wanted to use their commute to catch up on work calls, and some just felt safer with cell phones in hand.

The Graz ban is voluntary and there won’t be any tickets handed out to people who breach the ban. A recent poll in Austria shows that two out of three Austrians support the idea of getting cell phones under control in public places. I wonder if two out of three people in Graz follow the ban, or if most people don’t follow the ban; figuring their calls are just too important to ignore.

The largest telecommunications company in the United States announced today that it will cut 4,600 jobs to facilitate a shift to growing sectors of its business. Most of the layoffs will be among managers in the wireline operation, which includes local phone service and service for large corporate customers. Jobs in finance will also be cut.

”Even with the reductions announced today, we expect our head count overall to remain stable this year as we hire additional employees to support growth areas like wireless and TV,” said spokesman Michael Coe.

AT&T plans to take a $374 million first-quarter pretax charge against earnings due to the job cuts. The company will report first-quarter earnings next Tuesday.

When AT&T announced it would acquire BellSouth Corp. it said it would cut 10,000 jobs over three years. The latest job cuts are not part of the overlapping 10,000 jobs. Despite layoffs associated with the Bellsouth acquisition, AT&T has increased its workforce by 7,000. Many of the new jobs were filled by the growing wireless and TV divisions.

Nokia posted a $1.9 billion profit in the first-quarter of this year, up 25% from last year’s $1.6 billon first-quarter. Revenue grew 28% to $20 billion from $15.6 billion a year earlier. Nokia saw strong growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Despite nearly $2 billion in profits, Nokia stock dropped 13.5% by the end of trading on Thursday. Analysts had predicted a 42% rise in profit for the first-quarter of 2008. Nokia stock ended trading at $28.76.

In the fourth-quarter of 2007, Nokia had 40% of the world market. It slipped to 39% in the first-quarter of this year. Nokia sold 115 million handsets in the first-quarter, up 27% from 2007’s numbers. The company’s market share still makes Nokia the world’s biggest seller of mobile phones.

Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pella Kallasvuo said he is content with the first-quarter numbers but is disappointed in investors who dropped the company’s stock price today.

Nokia predicts an overall growth in sales of 10% but is concerned it may lose value when compared to 2007 because of a weak U.S. dollar and economic slowdown in the United States and Europe.

“A fall in the mobile handset market, in euro terms, seems likely this year, and the reason for this is the strong decline in the dollar versus the euro during the early part of the year and last year,” Kallasvuo said.

Nokia saw its best growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which over took Europe as the company’s biggest market for the first time. The company sold 34 million devices in the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for more than a third of Nokia’s sales.

If you have ever taken a picture with your phone and then transferred it to your PC you know that your thumbs can get tired. A typical phone requires 100 keystrokes to transfer 10 pictures to a PC. A recent study by Ontela found that 93% of camera phone users want to save their pictures on their home computer but only 24% actually do it. Alltel Wireless and Ontela decided to take on this problem with the PhotoCopter service.

PhotoCopter automatically transfers every camera phone picture taken to a user’s home computer and favorite web photo albums. PhotoCopter is exclusively available to Alltel customers with the Motorola V3m, V3a, V9m and ROKR models. The service costs $2.99 a month and provides customers with unlimited picture transfer to their PC, email address and web photo albums.

“Alltel realizes that our customers are capturing amazing memories on their camera phones, but until now, they have not had an easy way to transfer them to a PC for printing or sharing,” said Craig Kirkland, director of messaging and voice products at Alltel Wireless. “PhotoCopter is a simple to use application that will allow our customers to get the most of their phone’s camera and enjoy their photos in any setting.”

”It doesn’t even feel like software,” said Dan Shapiro, CEO of Ontela. “You just take the pictures and as if by magic, they appear on your computer in your ‘My Pictures’ folder. This is the end of the ‘photo graveyard,’ where people take pictures and then leave them on the phone until they’re deleted. Instead, we’ve given a new life to these memories by saving them to the places users care about most.”

This isn’t the type of service I’m willing to pay for. Frankly, there are too many embarrassing photos of me already that I wish would just go away. But if you are a 21 Century shutterbug you might appreciate the convenience a service like PhotoCopter provides.

Alltel Wireless
Ontela