Carphone Warehouse and O2 cut the price for the basic iPhone in Britain by 100 pounds ($197). The 8 gigabyte iPhone will be sold for 169 pounds until June 1. The 16 GB iPhone price will not be lowered and sells for 329 pounds. Sales of the iPhone have slowed in Britain since its launch and this move may have been made to clear inventory of the 8GB model to make room for the next model upgrade. Apple is expected to launch a third-generation high-speed version of its popular phone later this year.

“More and more this is starting to look like they want to clear stock of an older model, with a looming revision to the iPhone which will likely include 3G,” CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told Reuters.

“But also we think the iPhone has slowed down during the first quarter and we think this (a 3G launch) should give sales a bit of a lift.”

The world’s fifth largest mobile phone manufacturer had a record first-quarter this year. LG Electronics sold 24.4 million mobile phones in the quarter ending in March of 2008. The sales helped the company earn a profit of 422 billion won ($427 million). In last year’s first-quarter, LG Electronics lost 123 billion won.

LG sales were led by the high-end Viewty, Voyager and Venus models. Profits were slightly below the 429 billion won ($435 million) that analysts had predicted. Much of the sales increase came from markets in Asia and the Middle East that saw an increase of 36% over last year’s fourth-quarter.

“We expect handset sales to exceed 100 million in 2008,” Jung Do-hyun, chief financial officer, told an analysts’ conference, according to LG spokeswoman Judy Pae.

LG makes more than mobile phones. The company also manufactures plasma televisions, personal computers, refrigerators and other appliances.

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is one step closer to industry-wide stability. 3GPP LTE technology (LTE is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project) offers wireless broadband speeds with downloads around 100 Mbps and uploads of 50 Mbps. Seven telecommunication companies have reached an agreement on a framework for licensing intellectual-property rights that relate to LTE. This agreement will make the transition to LTE easier because the fear of lawsuits will be reduced.

Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, NEC, NextWave Wireless, Nokia Siemens Networks and Sony Ericsson have agreed to an industry standard being called FRAND, which stands for Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory licensing terms. Notebook computers that use LTE will pay a combined maximum royalty in the single digits. Handsets will pay a single-digit royalty that is based on a percentage of the sales price of the device.

Ericsson Senior Vice President and CTO Hakan Eriksson said this agreement will “reassure operators of the early widespread adoption of LET technology throughout the consumer electronics industry.”

Industry giant Qualcomm has yet to sign onto the FRAND framework. Other companies like Verizon Wireless, China Mobile, Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo are working on their own versions of LTE.

The future may not be here yet but it could be by next year. Wireless high-speed access will go a long way to promoting services like high-resolution video streaming and innovative online games that can be accessed almost anywhere at any time.

The government of Raul Castro began selling mobile phones to the general public today. Hundreds of Cubans have lined up at state-owned telephone offices to take advantage of this technical wonder.

The cheapest mobile phone costs the equivalent of more than nine months of state wages and yet thousands are expected to buy a handset in the near future. Calls will be paid for with prepaid cards bought with hard currency, and can receive and make international calls.

“It is a very good measure, but what we earn does not correspond with the price,” said 33-year-old Gustavo, who nevertheless waited with around 100 others at an office in Havana’s colonial district to buy the service.

Ericsson announced today that it has signed contracts with China Mobile and China Unicom. Ericsson is a wireless equipment maker. The two contracts will expand Ericsson’s Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks and bag the company a hefty profit from the $1.44 billion sale.

The sale to China Mobile is by far the larger of the two, coming in at $1.3 billion. This will make Ericsson one of the main suppliers of core and radio network equipment in China. The company will also provide technical support and services and include power-saving features that reduce energy consumption in mobile networks.

The $140 million agreement with China Unicom will supply China’s second largest mobile provider with multimedia solutions for wireless access provider. Simply translated, WAP services.

Deliveries of equipment have already started and both projects are expected to be finished this year.

Matching smells with media has been tried in the past. There were movies that provided the audience scratch-and-sniff packets, and some experimentation with smell-o-vision. Neither became popular and the idea was dropped. But it seems the Japanese company NTT DoCoMo is giving this idea new life. New mobile phones from the company will be equipped with fragrance cartridges that release various odors.

NTT DoCoMo plans to partner its smellphones with content providers that match scent with a person’s horoscope, the weather or favorite music. Odor has been known to trigger powerful memories in some people, so this may be a gimmick that plays well to a certain demographic. If it isn’t successful for people, the smellphone might become wildly popular among dogs. Dogs will smell anything and it doesn’t seem to bother them

The cell phone is a wonderful piece of technology that makes life more convenient and productive. But with the good comes the bad. Mobile phones can be misused by criminals and terrorists to commit crimes. Vital information that is meant to remain confidential can be high jacked by an in intrusive cell phone left on to overhear sensitive conversations. A mobile phone’s camera can take pictures of protected information. And terrorist can use a cell phone to detonate a bomb.

To combat these problems, AirPatrol has launched an advanced cell phone detection and location solution to help businesses and governments protect against the threats posed by the use of cell phones for fraud, crime and interference with business operations. AirPatrol’s WiVision Enterprise cell phone detection product detects and locates all cell phone devices on any cellular band worldwide to enforce no-wireless zones in areas where mobile phone usage puts business, data or people at risk.

AirPatrol is able to detect and locate both Wi-Fi and broadband radio devices. This helps mitigate security risks posed by wireless laptops and other Wi-Fi devices.

“In the last few years, the sophistication of cell phone technology has increased dramatically– the implications of these new, hybrid phones in the hands of millions of people has huge security and regulation implications for many industries,” said Nicholas Miller, CEO of AirPatrol. “AirPatrol’s cell phone detection product turns the tables on criminals and would-be criminals by providing a highly reliable and sophisticated solution for detecting, and more importantly, locating the devices they rely on to perpetrate their crimes.”

AirPatrol works both indoors and outdoors. It is able to detect a cell phone before a call is made and is capable of detecting all SMS messages.

AirPatrolCorp

The United States plans to create a national emergency alert system that utilizes text messages that will be delivered to mobile phones. CTIA estimates over 48 billion text messages are sent each month, so regulators believe this is a good medium to use when there is a national or regional emergency.

In 2006, the United States passed the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, which requires upgrades to the nation’s emergency alert system. The law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop ways to alert the public about emergencies.

“The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cellphones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families prior to, and during, disasters and other emergencies,” the commission chairman, Kevin J. Martin, said after the plan was approved.

Participation in the text message service will be voluntary for both carriers and customers. Any emergency messages sent to customers will be free and most in the industry support the service.

There will be three categories of emergencies that trigger a text alert. The first is a national alert from the president and involves national emergencies like terrorist attacks or natural disasters. The second involves imminent threats that can be predicted. This includes things like hurricanes or other predictable disasters. The third category would alert citizens about child abductions, which is currently called an Amber alert.

To differentiate an emergency alert from other messages, a unique audio signature or vibration cadence will be broadcast along with the message. The service may be up and running as early as 2010.

Travelers who frequently cross national boarders have to deal with a myriad of costs when using their cell phones. Costs for making and receiving calls can vary greatly between boarders. Adepto Telecom announced a Pay As You Go service that allows customers to use their mobile phone when they are abroad without incurring roaming, calling or texting charges. The One SIMcard system works in 180 countries and allows free incoming calls in 146 countries.

Founder and Chief Executive of Adepto Telecom Mr. Ismayil Tahmazov said: “This is really a great service, imagine you can have one SIM card with UK, Estonian or Icelandic number and receive free incoming calls in 146 countries, free texts in all 180 countries and make really cheap outgoing calls. Alternatively you can give this SIM to your friend or family abroad and call them for free using your inclusive minutes”.

Technical Advisor at GSM Mobile World Mr. Erkan Bulat said: “If you are a frequent international traveler and do not want to play “disc jockey” with several pay as you go SIM cards, then Adepto Telecom’s global roaming SIM card is an ideal solution to make low cost calls and to receive calls for free when travelling with a mobile phone”.

Adepto Telecom
Universal Roaming SIMcard

Motorola, a company that helped bring the cell phone to fruition, has been struggling lately. To recapture world market share, Motorola will name former AT&T chief executive David Dorman to the position of chairman next month. Dorman will be named to his new position on May 5 of this year, after Ed Zander retires at the company’s annual meeting.

Dorman will have plenty of work to do. Besides trying to recover market share, Motorola is slated to spin-off its cell phone division. Dorman will also have to deal with billionaire investor Carl Ichhn, who recently won a battle that put two of his nominees on Motorola’s board of directors. Dorman will be in charge of the board but have no say in the day-to-day business of the company.

“Dave is ideally suited to serve as Motorola’s chairman and I am confident that our shareholders will continue to benefit from his industry knowledge and deep understanding of the company,” CEO Greg Brown said in a statement.

“Motorola has tremendous assets and talented people, and I am confident in the actions Greg Brown, our management team and Board are taking,” Dorman said in a statement

When Nokia announced in January that it planned to close its manufacturing plant in Bochum Germany, many union leaders and politicians were upset with the world’s largest mobile phone maker. To make the closing easier on workers, Nokia will spend $314 million and set up a transfer company that it will help staff for one year. The agreement means the plant can close on June 30 of this year.

Nokia is touting the agreement as being socially responsible and fair to employees while the head of the Bochum employee council says the payments will help families and disabled persons who relied on working for Nokia.

Nokia has apologized for closing the facility but said that while the plant only produces 6% of Nokia products it accounts for 23% of its global labor costs. Labor costs in Bochum Germany are nearly 10 times higher than those at a similar plant in Romania.

Nokia was paid subsidies in the late 1990’s to build the plant and the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia wants its money back, plus interest, for a total near $94 million. The state says that Nokia hasn’t fulfilled the conditions under which the subsidies were granted. Nokia says it has surpassed the requirements.

Cloudtrade is looking to register 10,000 people to help test its new mobile sharing platform. Testers will look for kinks and share their thoughts with the developers on how best to improve the service. The beta test supports all Windows-based mobile phones and a select group of Blackberry and non-Windows smart phones.

The free, ad-supported social media networking application features 1GB of free digital storage. Features like Cloud Hop, Search the Skies, Ski Writing and Friend’s Feeds enable users to find new content. Users can find music, photos and videos to share with friends via their cell phone.

Cloudtrade is currently working with major music labels so content can legally be downloaded and shared with friends. Until those deals are made, users can sample music from smaller labels and independent artists.

“People are demanding media-rich content for their phones,” said Raj Kanapur, CEO of Cloudtrade. “Cloudtrade’s ad-supported model gives users free access to this type of content and encourages them to form a community around preferences in music, photos and videos. Our platform also empowers users by giving them the ability to market their content – I tell people, if you’re interested in pictures of animals, here are 30 other users who share that interest. Now reach out to those people on Cloudtrade, begin sharing, and start earning rewards.”

If you are interested in helping to beta test Cloudtrade’s new application, go to www.cloudtrade.com and get your own 1-gigabyte Cloud to store your digital content to share with friends.

CloudTrade is a new mobile media sharing platform that is offering 1GB of storage for free. You can share music and video with your friends and upload all your stuff over mobile. The above video shows how it works, but in a way that makes us ant to cry. Since when do girlfriends laugh at you for doing pilates?

It’s mostly mobile web based and has a weird advertising model that makes you do a puzzle to download the media. Kind of ingenious.

Glu signed a deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) to bring two popular games shows your mobile phone. The agreement gives Glu a multi-year and exclusive rights contract to develop mobile games based on The Price Is Right and Family Feud franchise. The games will be released in North and Latin America.

Drew Carey took over hosting The Price Is Right from Bob Barker recently. The Price Is Right is the longest-running game show in television history. Family Feud, which has local versions has aired in over 42 countries.

“The Price is Right and Family Feud are the gold standard of game show brands, and we are delighted to announce our partnership with FME to bring these brands to mobile,” said Jill Braff, senior vice president of global publishing, Glu. “With Glu’s strong marketing and deep carrier relationships, we look forward to bringing these widely-recognized brands to a broad audience of loyal fans.”

“Glu is a natural partner to bring these world-class brands to the mobile phone,” said Jason Turner, senior director of Interactive for FremantleMedia Enterprises in North America . “Their ability to deliver a regionally tailored, quality game play experience is unmatched.”

There isn’t any time frame for the release of these games so keep reading MobileCrunch for updates.

Glu

The European Union (EU) decided to lift restrictions on in-flight cell phone use today. Passengers flying over European airspace will be able to talk, text and send e-mails with their cell phones. In-flight service may be available this year on some airplanes using European GSM technology. Most other countries around the world prohibit in-flight mobile use because of the fear cell phones may disrupt a plane’s instruments, even though there is little proof handsets actually interfere with a plane’s ability to safely fly.

The EU’s plan will allow cell phone users to make and receive calls through an onboard base station once the plane reaches 10,000 feet when other devices like music players and laptops are permitted. The cost for in-flight service has to be decided. There is concern that passengers talking on their cell phones may be irritating to other passengers so something has to be worked out so close quarters calling doesn’t interfere with everyone’s personal space.

“Almost everybody will want to use this service. We hope that also some people will still use the aircraft as a moment of tranquility and not disturb other passengers,” EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said.

I don’t fly much but I would like to see other areas of the world open up mobile phone usage while flying. Many passengers get nervous when flying and talking or texting on a phoned may help keep nerves calmer. I don’t want to sit close to someone who is loudly yakking away but rules can be set in place that will lower this possibility. In-flight calling may make air travel less stressful when there are delays or cancelation. If there is a cancelation or delay that comes up while in the air, a passenger can seek a hotel room or other accommodations before landing. Unless it can be proven that cell calls are a danger, there is no reason to ban them from flights.

Zumobi was awarded top honor in the CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards in the Consumer Mobile Widgets category at CTIA Wireless 2008. Zumobi’s open mobile widget platform is free and supported by advertising.

“We are thrilled that Zumobi has seen such success at Spring CTIA 2008, and are equally proud to be recognized at the same event we launched at a year ago,” said Eric Hertz, CEO of Zumobi. “We’ve seen tremendous interest in Zumobi at the show from a broad range of business partners, and are honored to be acknowledged for our product. Zumobi is looking forward to continuing product innovation with the upcoming application release that will support a range of J2ME/Blackberry devices.”

Zumobi’s widget allows users to retrieve and share Web-based content on their mobile phones through an interface that allows users to “bounce” in and out of snack-sized bits of entertainment and information they want to see. At the same time, advertisers are able to easily connect with users through their mobile phones. Zumobi offers content from a broad range of widgets from content providers on a wide range of interests. If you are interested in politics, entertainment, restaurant reviews or sports, Zumobi covers it.

Download Zumobi for yourself now at www.Zumobi.com from your computer, or go to get.zumobi.com from your mobile browser. It’s free, so why not give it a try?

Verizon was the recent winner in the FCC’s auction of the 700 megahertz spectrum. (See: Bids in.) The company plans to use the spectrum to build a faster wireless broadband network to deliver high-speed services. Verizon will hold a webcast later today to discuss the plans for the spectrum’s use.

AT&T, the second big auction winner, has already said it will use the spectrum to create the next generation of wireless services. Unfortunately for consumers, the fourth-generation of networks will take at least three years to build.

The 700 megahertz spectrum was a much sought after bid. The wave length is able to penetrate walls and barriers more easily than most, providing increased service for application used inside buildings and other enclosures.

CrossLink Media announced yesterday at CTIA Wireless 2008 that the company was awarded an exclusive contract with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) to provide text-based mobile coupons across military installations throughout the United States. AAFES is a multi-channel retailer offering merchandise and services via retail stores, catalogs and online to active duty, guard and reserve members, military retirees and their families at low prices.

MessageLink, a proprietary software platform from Crosslink Media, will allow AAFES to communicate with military members anytime anywhere through their mobile phones. Members now have access to mobile coupons that provide special discounts and shopping incentive throughout the various military installations.

“The AAFES award is much more than a customer to CrossLink Media,” said Brad Beasley, President of CrossLink Media. “AAFES’ slogan is ‘Serving the Best Customers in the World’ and we take that to heart. It is an honor to receive this award and to help serve our military and their families,” said Beasley.

“In today’s world, virtually everyone uses their mobile phone for more than just talking”, said Chris Peterson, Senior Restaurant Business Manager for AAFES. “CrossLink Media’s mobile coupon program should provide a convenient way to distribute timely and relevant offers to our members and their families. We are looking forward to working with

If you are an entertainer or just someone who wants to get your message out to the world, you may be interested in Pinger’s beta release of Pingercast. In the past, Pingercast messaging was only available to major media companies but now even the small time operator can build awareness with fans who use mobile phones. Pingercast allows any entertainment promoter to connect with the audience just like the big sharks do. This messaging service enables independent bands, bloggers, comedians and entertainers to connect directly with their audience by sending audio broadcasts to their fans’ mobile phones.

Pingercast has been used to create buzz for films like, Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns, Good Luck Chuck and Saw IV. Entertainers that use the service include British musician Edward Rogers, Devon Allman’s Honeytribe, Internet personality “Bad Ass” Frank and the Mavericks Surf Contest.

“Many bands, artists and bloggers have large fan followings and these fans want to extend their relationships to the mobile phone,” said Greg Woock, CEO of Pinger. “Now everyone can use Pingercast messages as a personal broadcasting tool.”

To try, go to Pingercast.

Doug Aamoth and Peter Ha here in Hugh Hefner’s private loft on the 34th floor of the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Nine girls will be competing for the title of “Miss Mobile Playboy” as a kickoff to Playboy’s second generation of mobile content.

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