Mobile TV in Top Ten of mobile services

In a report published by Analysis, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media, Mobile TV shows up in the Top ten most used non voice services on mobile phones. This new report identifies the top ten services from a large number of non-voice services worldwide, and provides detailed case studies and analysis of these leading services to help others replicate their success. The report provides unique guidance to mobile operators (as well as MVNOs and third party service providers) on the best opportunities to increase their non-voice service revenues.

1. Vodafone’s Casa FASTWEB DSL service (Italy)

2. O2’s SMS service (UK)

3. 3’s 3G mobile TV and video streaming service (UK)

4. T-Mobile’s BlackBerry email and instant messaging service (USA)

5. Sprint Nextel’s CDMA2000 EV-DO Revision A mobile broadband service (USA)

6. 3’s DVB-H mobile TV broadcasting service (Italy)

7. KDDI au’s EZ Chaku-uta Full music downloading service (Japan)

8. SK Telecom’s Cyworld Mobile community portal service (South Korea)

9. NTT DoCoMo’s DCMX mobile credit service (Japan)

10. Vodafone’s MiniCall ‘voice SMS’ service (Egypt)

“Mobile TV services are a key element of the 3G service mix that has enabled 3 UK to claim non-voice ARPU of more than USD25 per month, which is currently the highest in the world”

, says Dr Mark Heath, co-author of the report.

“In Italy, mobile TV subscribers of 3’s DVB-H service generate 60% higher ARPU than its other mobile customers. While some mobile TV services, such as Virgin Mobile’s DAB-IP service in the UK, are making slow progress, 3 shows that it is possible to make a short-term success of mobile TV.”

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The N95

I've been a bit quiet recently on this blog recently, what with work and other things. But this last week I've been busy playing with an N95! Yeah, I know, the world and his dog seems to have one of these phones at the moment. Where I work, they are flying out of the door. I don't think we hold stock, as it comes in the warehouse it's being sent out the front door to another happy customer. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of N95's, to all sorts of people.

I was so set on getting the N95. But once it became available, I don't know why, I didn't get one. In fact, I got another N73, the good old reliable handset. A nice black version on Orange UK. Which, despite the way they sell the handset, was NOT a music edition.

So, for the last week I've had my hands on an N95 and I will be keeping it for another week or so. I've tried it out with a few of my favourite applications, I've been hammering the web, browsing and emailing, I've taken some pictures, videos, I've used the GPS facility, I've really been making the phone work hard. And I've been capturing my thoughts on the handset as I've gone along. I'll be collating those together and sticking it up on the blog in due course.

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COTM #75

So a week has passed already, and we have another carnival ready to read. Hope over and take a look.

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Widsets reaches 1 million registered users

Press release:

WidSets reaches 1 million registered users

Launched only in October 2006, WidSets today announced that it has reached 1 million registered users worldwide.

"Having 1 million registered users in the mobile space is almost unheard of and WidSets has clearly set the benchmark for tools and distribution channels designed for content and media owners,"

said Ulla Särkikangas, Director, Consumer Internet Services, Nokia Emerging Business Unit.

WidSets is a handset manufacturer-independent service that brings the best bits of the Internet, such as communities, news, blogs, reviews, and weather reports straight to the mobile phone. It uses mini-applications called widgets to deliver up to date Internet content to mobile phones and enables the user to create their own widgets.

WidSets has evolved its social networking service further and developed also new sharing features for Email and Private Chat. The comprehensive WidSets library currently has more than 1500 widgets. The widgets deliver an alert when someone has posted a comment to a blog, informs the user about a traffic jam, and makes it possible to play games and interact with individual web communities from the mobile phone.

WidSets works on a wide variety of mobile phone brands and is compatible on more than 300 mobile devices. User can easily download WidSets at www.widsets.com or on mobile at get.widsets.com. WidSets was born out of Nokia Emerging Business Unit and represents a first step in Nokia's vision of mobilising the Internet.

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Has the phone industry lost the plot?

Read this article, over on the Register, and let the author know what you think. Whilst he makes some valid points, I think he's maybe looking for something that doesn't exist. There is no such thing as the perfect phone. I love the N73, one of the best handsets I've used, but I wish it could have WiFi. Doesn't mean the phone is crap though. The N95 is one of the most featured handsets on the market, but battery life is a bit weak. Doesn't make the phone a poor product. You need to strike a balance between what you want and what you can have. If you are still happy using a Nokia 3210, don't change. If basic simplicity is your thing, but you want something more up to date, try the excellent Nokia 6300.

Manufacturers are always going to try new features on a phone. They survive by people upgrading their handsets, they need to make the product enticing enough to tempt people to throw away a handset that works fine just to get the 'next big thing'.

Adding a camera to a mobile phone was a good innovation. Adding a music player to a mobile phone was also a good innovation. Satnav on a mobile phone is also a good idea.

I'm not sure the mobile industry has 'lost the plot'. Phones like Nokia NSeries, and ESeries, running S60, are still just as usable and reliable as handsets from three or four years ago, despite the extra features.

I like the innovation, long may it continue.

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New Carnival - # 74

The latest installment of the Carnival of the Mobilists is online, hosted by Martin Sauter at the Mobile Society site. I had the pleasure of meeting Martin at the 3GSM conference back in February, and he's a really nice guy.

Take a read, there's a good variety of articles available, as ever.

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Living your life by your phone

It's the dream, for a lot of smartphone users. To live your life by your phone. In Japan they already achieve this.

See this post over on the S60 blogs, and see the list of things they use their phones for (And check out that great 'Boo-Hoo' video clip):

1. A wallet--it's tied to some sort of electronic payment system
2. A way to consume MANGA--extremely important
3. Your way to check-in at the airport for a flight
4. Your keys for your house
5. Your work badge/access card
6. Your cinema tickets
7. Your public transport pass
8. A fingerprint authentication device
9. A face recognition/authentication device
10. Your coupon at stores
11. A way to experience scents
12. A fashion consultant
13. Your video iPod with access to live TV
14. A mobile GPS
15. A reader for 1D and 2D codes for marketing and even on fruit and veg labels

I'm not sure about the MANGA thing, but it's an impressive list. Paying for tickets, opening doors, TV, music, etc.

A lot of the phone features, like MP3 player and GPS are available on phones in the UK. Mobile TV is also available. But Japanese services are way in front of what we have available to us.

One thing that I do wonder about is how do they manage? I mean, take the N95. It has an amazing array of features, built in GPS, high quality camera, video and music player, plus a web browser that gives access to the net in a viewable usable format, WiFi access, HSDPA, etc, etc. But the battery life sucks.

Just imagine a normal day. Go to work on the train, listen to a few tunes, maybe download a podcast, or watch a video clip. Access a few emails. Watch the news. Then you work, make a few calls, send a few SMS. Come home, repeat the entertainment usage on the train. Get to your front door to find the battery has died. How do you get in, if your phone is your front door key?

I guess there must be a back up system (does anyone know how that works?) but the point is, for all the services available and promised in the coming months for the humble mobile telephone, I remain less excited than I would be because I can't see the top end phones with decent battery.

There are a few S60 phones with acceptable battery performance, I can name the N73, E60 and E65 (although the battery was only just acceptable in performance). Battery performance really does need to be brought up to date to keep up with communication technology.

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Interview with Michael Jerz from My-Symbian

Posted up on the Voice of S60 blog, an interview with Michael Jerz from My-Symbian

My-Symbian is one of the top Symbian interest sites on the net, along with AllAboutSymbian. I been a member of the forums on AAS since November 2002, and My-Symbian since December 2002, they are the first forums I ever registered with. Always a good resource, and definitely sites that should be in all Symbian and S60 fans bookmarks

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Are they or aren't they? New NSeries phones

It's been a rumour going round and round for the last few days now. Are the phones pictured here two new phones in the Nokia NSeries range?

On the right of the picture, is allegedly the N82. It is suggested it will ship with a 5.0 megapixel camera, auto focus lens and Xenon flash. It will be a quad band GSM phone (Surely it will have 3G too? Is there an NSeries that is not 3G?) support Bluetooth (most likely BT 2.0) WiFi, integrated GPS and take micro SD memory cards. The screen will be 2.4 inch QVGA, most likely supporting 16 million colours.

On the left is the N81. The slide phone is alleged to have 8GB internal memory (lets hope it's flash memory and not the same as the N91) The N81 will also support Bluetooth, WiFi and have a 2.4 inch QVGA screen. Again the suggestion is quad band GSM support, but no mention of 3G. I hope Nokia really wouldn't be so silly as to not support 3G, and I also hope one if not both of these handsets support HSDPA.

Still only rumour, of course, but if these phones are upcoming releases, I for one cannot wait!

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Nokia Project 95

Nokia's "Project 95" will take Peter Schindler - a seasoned traveler - on a 20,000-plus kilometer, Nokia-solely-sponsored, road-trip across China. Peter will be equipped with various Nokia Nseries devices, most notably the Nokia N95. He will keep a record of his excursions by maintaining a mobile blog that shares his thoughts and images taken through his Nokia N95, which can access the internet anytime and anywhere.

"I am looking forward to this adventure, driving across China," said Peter, who has traveled by himself over one million kilometers throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia. "I am eager to explore the modern lives of Chinese people; their thoughts on life and their expectations for the future. The Nokia N95 will allow me to share my experiences with people around the world."

The Nokia N95 will be Peter's most important and powerful partner. The Nokia NSeries flagship device was launched in September 2006 and will debut in China in May 2007. The all-in-one multimedia computer features an innovative 2-way slide design, an integrated Carl Zeiss five megapixel camera, GPS* and multimedia player. The device features a large 2.6", 16.7-million-color QVGA display - allowing users to watch and record videos, listen to music, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, use instant communication, search on the internet, and access e-mail while on the move.

Please visit project95.sina.com.cn for updates regarding Peter's adventure. Peter will also share pictures and videos with netizens - taken with his Nokia Nseries devices.

Netizens can also actively participate in the journey: they can advise a route for Peter, ask Peter to deliver personal greetings to friends, and vote on a name for Peter's car, among other things - all through project95.sina.com.cn.

Peter will commence his journey in Shanghai on May 9 and conclude the trip in Beijing on August 12.

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N95 wins best gambling phone award

The N95 has picked up another award, being voted best gambling device by slotland.com

"The Nokia 95 has a huge screen and amazing connectivity," said Lancelet. "So, for now anyway, it's our unanimous choice for the best phone for mobile gambling!"

Press release here

The N95 was recently awarded the prestigious TIPA award for best mobile imaging device 2007.

Buy the N95 here for free (UK Only)

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AAS give the E90 verdict

Although I'm not big on ESeries phones here, they still have a place, due to the fact they run S60. And on that point, the E65 is probably one of the best S60 phones I've used.

The E90 is going to be of big interest to all communicator fans and the guys over at AAS have given their initial verdict on the product. You can read what they have to say here

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Mobile downsizing

Not sure if mobile downsizing is a correct term or not. The last few weeks I've found that my mobile needs are covered not by a 'multimedia computer' but by the simple Nokia 6300.

The 6300 is small, compact, has a great screen, and covers all the basics you need on a basic phone, and does them well. The menu is snappy, there is no noticeable lag. The battery standby is very good, sound quality is fine. Not really better than a S60 phone in those regards, but at least equal.

Of course, a smartphone allows me to add third party software, so I can increase the functionality on the handset. Add a better email program, another web browser, games, etc. But, I can do all that with the 6300 too. I have added Yahoo Go 2.0 (which will never be as good as the native .sis file Yahoo Go) to the 6300 and it is actually usable. It runs much faster than I experienced on the N73 and E65. I have installed Opera Mini, which is fantastic. I've installed the GMail java app, Sky By Mobile and Yell.com All java apps, all freely available, and all work well on the 6300.

Of course, one noticeable feature missing from the 6300 that I do miss is 3G. When you've used 3G you miss not having it in a new phone. But looking around on the market at the moment, nothing inspires me. There isn't a handset that makes me reach for the credit card and buy it (I'm sure the bank manager is happy to hear that, too!)

Looking around at handsets to come, I can see something arriving that may make me reach for the plastic again. The Nokia 6120 classic.
The 6120 is a simple looking phone, plain in look and design (there is a resemblance to the N73 for me) but plain and normal looking is not a bad thing. For all the phone mods you can do, plain and normal is still the most popular look. But what makes the 6120 classic eye catching is not how it looks, it's what it offers under the casing. The 6120 classic is not only 3G but a HSDPA phone. This makes it an obvious handset for the data user. I've seen demonstrations of speed differences for HSDPA and if you want to download video, or songs, it makes a lot of difference.

The 6120 is a S60v3 phone, and includes a 2.0 megapixel camera. Whilst this may not 'lead the market' it is more than adequate for fun snaps. There is also Bluetooth 2.0 support, EDGE/GPRS for use in non 3G areas, offers an MP3 and video player.

The size of the phone is also something that appeals. Weighing in at just 89g and being just 15mm thick, the plain looking 6120 classic actually measures up to be a decent handset.

So, for me, whilst the 6300 offers everything I could want in a basic phone, and does it very well, for that little bit extra the 6120 classic looks to be the phone for me.

Buy the Nokia 6300 here
Buy the Nokia N73 here
Buy the Nokia E65 here

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N73 Godfather edition

Yeah, I know, it's not fresh news. The Godfather Edition of the N73 was announced a couple of weeks ago. This is of particular interest to me, as it mixes my favourite NSeries phone to date and the second best film of all time (Of course, Godfather II is the best film)

For anyone interested in seeing more, there's the official website here If anyone knows where the phone can be bought, drop me a line.

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