by Cyrus Farivar
With Skype and other assorted VoIP services getting more and more popular, you might be eyeing one of those new handsets we've been showing you for the last few months. However, some of you might have wondered why you'd want to buy another handset when you probably have a perfectly good cellphone with the necessary internals to do the job, right? You're in luck, as such a product just debuted at the VoIP / IPTV World 2006 expo in Korea: Clipcomm's BS-T100V will convert your home VoIP service and send it over Bluetooth to your celly, letting you talk up a storm without using a ton of those precious minutes. (Of course, if you're a T-Mobile customer in Seattle, you could get HotSpot @Home right now.) As happy as this product makes us, we still can't get too excited yet given that we don't know what it'll cost, nor if it'll ever make it across that bigger pond to the West.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
E-mail service for basic mobile phones unveiled
By Eric Auchard - Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A start-up founded by a group of successful European entrepreneurs is set to bring e-mail, instant messaging and other communications services to low-cost mobile phones, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Babur Ozden, the head of Berggi Inc., said his company plans to offer a simplified alternative to the Blackberry e-mail delivery service from Canada's Research In Motion (RIM.TO), which dominates the mobile professional market.
Berggi aims to offer messaging services for basic mobile phones that still represent two-thirds of the U.S. mobile market. Users of Blackberry or rival e-mail services on Palm or Microsoft software need more expensive, so-called smartphones.
Consumers can send and receive e-mail on their phones from Internet services such as Yahoo, Microsoft or Google, along with popular instant-messaging services. Berggi delivers any text in the body of an e-mail, but not document attachments.
"Our uniqueness is that we are the only application that runs on mid- to lower-end phones," Ozden said in an interview.
U.S. consumers can sign up on the company's Web site at http://www.berggi.com, beginning on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
During the first half of next year, Berggi plans to offer the service in Britain, Italy, Mexico and Turkey, Ozden said.
The U.S. service costs $9.99 a month. European users pay by the data they consume. One euro covers 10 or 20 e-mails.
While targeting the price-sensitive end of the consumer market, Berggi is essentially trying to encourage users to bypass the billing systems that mobile carriers use to lock consumers into rates.
"For the majority of consumers with fixed-rate data plans, that's a risk," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.
Ozden said Berggi works as a simple download on most U.S. mobile carriers, except for Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and the Nextel service of Sprint Nextel (S.N), which have billing system conflicts. Berggi also assumes that Blackberry or Palm users will rely on higher-end services for these devices.
"My customer is a private e-mail user or a small business user," Ozden said, in contrast to corporate e-mail users.
Forrester's Golvin said Berggi is looking to partner with established consumer brands to help them allow consumers to stay connected with like-minded mobile phone users in wireless versions of social networks like MySpace.
Ozden said initial U.S. distribution partners are Blinko USA, a unit of Italian mobile entertainment company Buongiorno S.p.A..(BNI.MI), and the America One Television, a Western U.S. TV network gearing up to launch its own mobile service.
Berggi was founded by Jorge Mata, who is now chairman. He sold MyAlert.com, a Spanish company that delivers marketing via text message to mobile phones, to Italy's Buongiorno in 2001.
Ozden, who joined Berggi in May, is a serial entrepreneur who in 1993 founded SuperOnline, Turkey's biggest Internet service, a unit of top mobile carrier Turkcell (TCELL.IS).
The Houston-based company, which employs 18 and operates a research facility in Madrid, received $3 million in April through a funding round led by Adara Venture Partners, which makes early-stage investments in mobile consumer services.
Oz Communications of Montreal offers similar e-mail and instant message services through major U.S. and European carriers. The difference is that Berggi offers service directly to consumers instead of relying on carrier partners.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A start-up founded by a group of successful European entrepreneurs is set to bring e-mail, instant messaging and other communications services to low-cost mobile phones, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Babur Ozden, the head of Berggi Inc., said his company plans to offer a simplified alternative to the Blackberry e-mail delivery service from Canada's Research In Motion (RIM.TO), which dominates the mobile professional market.
Berggi aims to offer messaging services for basic mobile phones that still represent two-thirds of the U.S. mobile market. Users of Blackberry or rival e-mail services on Palm or Microsoft software need more expensive, so-called smartphones.
Consumers can send and receive e-mail on their phones from Internet services such as Yahoo, Microsoft or Google, along with popular instant-messaging services. Berggi delivers any text in the body of an e-mail, but not document attachments.
"Our uniqueness is that we are the only application that runs on mid- to lower-end phones," Ozden said in an interview.
U.S. consumers can sign up on the company's Web site at http://www.berggi.com, beginning on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.
During the first half of next year, Berggi plans to offer the service in Britain, Italy, Mexico and Turkey, Ozden said.
The U.S. service costs $9.99 a month. European users pay by the data they consume. One euro covers 10 or 20 e-mails.
While targeting the price-sensitive end of the consumer market, Berggi is essentially trying to encourage users to bypass the billing systems that mobile carriers use to lock consumers into rates.
"For the majority of consumers with fixed-rate data plans, that's a risk," said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.
Ozden said Berggi works as a simple download on most U.S. mobile carriers, except for Verizon Communications (VZ.N) and the Nextel service of Sprint Nextel (S.N), which have billing system conflicts. Berggi also assumes that Blackberry or Palm users will rely on higher-end services for these devices.
"My customer is a private e-mail user or a small business user," Ozden said, in contrast to corporate e-mail users.
Forrester's Golvin said Berggi is looking to partner with established consumer brands to help them allow consumers to stay connected with like-minded mobile phone users in wireless versions of social networks like MySpace.
Ozden said initial U.S. distribution partners are Blinko USA, a unit of Italian mobile entertainment company Buongiorno S.p.A..(BNI.MI), and the America One Television, a Western U.S. TV network gearing up to launch its own mobile service.
Berggi was founded by Jorge Mata, who is now chairman. He sold MyAlert.com, a Spanish company that delivers marketing via text message to mobile phones, to Italy's Buongiorno in 2001.
Ozden, who joined Berggi in May, is a serial entrepreneur who in 1993 founded SuperOnline, Turkey's biggest Internet service, a unit of top mobile carrier Turkcell (TCELL.IS).
The Houston-based company, which employs 18 and operates a research facility in Madrid, received $3 million in April through a funding round led by Adara Venture Partners, which makes early-stage investments in mobile consumer services.
Oz Communications of Montreal offers similar e-mail and instant message services through major U.S. and European carriers. The difference is that Berggi offers service directly to consumers instead of relying on carrier partners.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Vodafone USB Mobile Connect Modem
Author Riyad Emeran
Back in August I looked at Vodafone’s Mobile Connect HSDPA data card, and although it performed brilliantly, it suffered slightly in the value stakes. The value issue stemmed from the fact that T-Mobile’s identical Web ‘n’ Walk Card offered significantly greater levels of data download at a lower price. But one thing that both the Vodafone and T-Mobile data cards have in common is that they need a notebook with a PC Card slot to function.
The PC Card standard has been with us for a very long time, and we’re finally starting to see notebook manufacturers move over to the faster Express Card standard. Unfortunately, if a notebook only has an Express Card slot, it means that existing PC Card devices, like data cards, can’t be used. Of course Vodafone could produce an Express Card version of its HSDPA card, but I’m guessing that the potential market is still too small to justify the investment. So, instead Vodafone has decided create a USB device, and the logic behind this decision is undeniable.
The Vodafone Mobile Connect Modem is a good looking bit of kit. Finished in glossy white plastic and shaped like a large, rounded lozenge, there are no prizes for guessing the design inspiration. In fact when you place the Mobile Connect Modem next to an Apple MacBook you could be forgiven for thinking that it was an Apple accessory. You see, since Apple moved across to an Intel platform for its notebooks, there has been no support for PC Card devices. The MacBook Pro only has an Express Card slot and the MacBook has no expansion slot at all, like the iBook before it. But it’s not just Apple notebooks that are appearing without PC Card slots, the HP Compaq Presario V6000 that we reviewed recently also only supported Express Card.
In the box you get the Mobile Connect Modem, a short USB to mini-USB cable and a longer twin USB to mini-USB cable, in case the device can’t pull enough juice from a single USB port. There’s a single indicator light on the modem which shows its connection status and the service to which it’s connected. At one end you’ll find a mini-USB port for connecting to a computer and in the side is a removable drawer for the SIM card.
Complete Article @ TrustedReviews
Back in August I looked at Vodafone’s Mobile Connect HSDPA data card, and although it performed brilliantly, it suffered slightly in the value stakes. The value issue stemmed from the fact that T-Mobile’s identical Web ‘n’ Walk Card offered significantly greater levels of data download at a lower price. But one thing that both the Vodafone and T-Mobile data cards have in common is that they need a notebook with a PC Card slot to function.
The PC Card standard has been with us for a very long time, and we’re finally starting to see notebook manufacturers move over to the faster Express Card standard. Unfortunately, if a notebook only has an Express Card slot, it means that existing PC Card devices, like data cards, can’t be used. Of course Vodafone could produce an Express Card version of its HSDPA card, but I’m guessing that the potential market is still too small to justify the investment. So, instead Vodafone has decided create a USB device, and the logic behind this decision is undeniable.
The Vodafone Mobile Connect Modem is a good looking bit of kit. Finished in glossy white plastic and shaped like a large, rounded lozenge, there are no prizes for guessing the design inspiration. In fact when you place the Mobile Connect Modem next to an Apple MacBook you could be forgiven for thinking that it was an Apple accessory. You see, since Apple moved across to an Intel platform for its notebooks, there has been no support for PC Card devices. The MacBook Pro only has an Express Card slot and the MacBook has no expansion slot at all, like the iBook before it. But it’s not just Apple notebooks that are appearing without PC Card slots, the HP Compaq Presario V6000 that we reviewed recently also only supported Express Card.
In the box you get the Mobile Connect Modem, a short USB to mini-USB cable and a longer twin USB to mini-USB cable, in case the device can’t pull enough juice from a single USB port. There’s a single indicator light on the modem which shows its connection status and the service to which it’s connected. At one end you’ll find a mini-USB port for connecting to a computer and in the side is a removable drawer for the SIM card.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Mobile phone search for used BMWs
BMW is the first car manufacturer in the UK to offer a mobile phone search system to customers looking for a used car.
This innovative new search function enables customers to find their ideal used BMW anytime, anywhere from a mobile.
The new system allows a search to be carried out by model and price from any UK BMW dealership, or to search the Approved Used BMW stock offered by a local dealer.
In addition, the search can be narrowed down by fuel type, transmission and preferred options. Search results are specifically adapted for use by any WAP enabled 2.5G or 3.0G mobile device.
They include an image of the car and full contact details of the supplying dealer, with the ability to save a favourite car for reference. For a link to the mobile search function the customer simply texts 'Search' to 61100.
Furthermore, BMW (UK) Ltd is set to achieve record used car sales through its dealer network in 2006. Over 80,322 BMW Approved Used Cars and MINI Cherished vehicle sales had been recorded by the end of October.
This shows a year-to-date increase of 13.5 per cent compared to the same period as last year's record year.
http://www.newcarnet.co.uk/BMW_news.html?id=6101
This innovative new search function enables customers to find their ideal used BMW anytime, anywhere from a mobile.
The new system allows a search to be carried out by model and price from any UK BMW dealership, or to search the Approved Used BMW stock offered by a local dealer.
In addition, the search can be narrowed down by fuel type, transmission and preferred options. Search results are specifically adapted for use by any WAP enabled 2.5G or 3.0G mobile device.
They include an image of the car and full contact details of the supplying dealer, with the ability to save a favourite car for reference. For a link to the mobile search function the customer simply texts 'Search' to 61100.
Furthermore, BMW (UK) Ltd is set to achieve record used car sales through its dealer network in 2006. Over 80,322 BMW Approved Used Cars and MINI Cherished vehicle sales had been recorded by the end of October.
This shows a year-to-date increase of 13.5 per cent compared to the same period as last year's record year.
http://www.newcarnet.co.uk/BMW_news.html?id=6101
A Mobile Way to Send Money
By Gabriel Rozenberg
Mobile phones are the latest weapon against poverty as companies find new ways for people without bank accounts to access their money.
Companies are experimenting with sending remittances over mobile phone networks. In the Philippines, Globe Telecom allows cash to be credited to a phone account and then transferred to another person’s account for the cost of a text message. A recent study by Vodafone noted that in South Africa and Botswana one third of people without bank accounts own a mobile phone or have access to one.
Vodafone said that mobile banking, known as m-banking, was widely valued across South Africa and was cheaper than traditional banking. There are signs that m-banking could be used to expand access to a range of financial services to people who cannot easily reach traditional banks. Nigeria, for example, has only 225 ATMs for a population of 129 million, but mobile phone use has grown dramatically.
Andrew Mitchell, the Shadow International Development Secretary, said: “The UK should encourage developing countries to help themselves by abolishing taxes on remittances and liberalising monetary policies.”
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20409-2450969,00.html
Mobile phones are the latest weapon against poverty as companies find new ways for people without bank accounts to access their money.
Companies are experimenting with sending remittances over mobile phone networks. In the Philippines, Globe Telecom allows cash to be credited to a phone account and then transferred to another person’s account for the cost of a text message. A recent study by Vodafone noted that in South Africa and Botswana one third of people without bank accounts own a mobile phone or have access to one.
Vodafone said that mobile banking, known as m-banking, was widely valued across South Africa and was cheaper than traditional banking. There are signs that m-banking could be used to expand access to a range of financial services to people who cannot easily reach traditional banks. Nigeria, for example, has only 225 ATMs for a population of 129 million, but mobile phone use has grown dramatically.
Andrew Mitchell, the Shadow International Development Secretary, said: “The UK should encourage developing countries to help themselves by abolishing taxes on remittances and liberalising monetary policies.”
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,20409-2450969,00.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)