It there’s one thing you can count on in the Canadian wireless market, it’s incredibly high wireless data costs. We should have known better than to get our hopes up on hearing speculation that Rogers and Fdio would be offering unlimited data plans with the iPhone 3G’s luanch in July. Rogers (NYSE: RCI) has announced their official pricing schedules for the iPhone 3G rate plans – which will be mirrored by Fido.

On the upside, Rogers customers looking to snatch up an iPhone 3G next month can get by with a $60 per month deal that serves up both voice and data service. The downside (there’s always a downside) is that Rogers has effectively killed any hopes of unlimited data plans being offered to iPhone 3G users.

All iPhone 3G rate plan tiers will be priced on a sliding scale according to the allotment of wireless minutes and allowable data usage. For example, the $60 per month deal nets iPhone 3G users on Rogers’ network 150 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekend minutes, unlimited Visual Voicemail, and unlimited incoming SMS text messages. But, the deal only allows for a Lilliputian 400MB of data usage and 75 outgoing SMS text messages.

On the high-end, Rogers is offering iPhone 3G hopefuls 800 anytime minutes, unlimited night/weekend minutes, unlimited Visual Voicemail/incoming text messages, and a whopping 2GB of data with 300 outgoing SMS text messages. And, being the top-tier offering, this particular plan will set you back $115 per month.

Pricing includes unlimited Wi-Fi access at all Rogers and Fido Hotspots. Rogers Wireless will also offer two voice value packs for popular wireless features: a $15 monthly value pack including Caller ID, Who Called, Caller Ring Trax, 2,500 Sent Text Messages and 2,500 Call Forwarding Minutes; and a $20 monthly value pack including Caller ID, Who Called, Caller Ring Trax, 10,000 Sent Text Messages and 6:00 p.m. Early Evening Calling and 2,500 Call Forwarding Minutes.

John Boynton, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless says, “We’ve designed a pricing structure that offers affordable, flexible voice and data packages so Canadians can truly unleash their iPhone 3G experience on Canada’s fastest wireless network.” Unless they want to unleash their iPhone 3G on more than 2GB of data…

For Rogers to offer their top-tier plan with no more than 2GB of data and then tout unlimited access to voicemail as a selling point is just confusing. For customers that are looking to get on Rogers’ network with an iPhone 3G in hand, it’s just painful.

Keep reading for Rogers’ full iPhone 3G rate plan breakdown.

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Not completely unexpected, Virgin Mobile USA (NYSE: VM) has today announced that it will indeed be taking over Helio. The MVNO joint-venture between SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) and Earthlink has struggled to find even a modicum of success in a competitive and cut-throat US wireless market.

And, it seems that Helio’s financial troubles have finally come to a head with Virgin Mobile USA making a move to acquire the post-paid MVNO for 13 million shares of Virgin Mobile USA class A common stock, valued at $39 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in Q3 2008, pending regulatory approval. “We believe that the acquisition of Helio and the related strategic investments by SK Telecom and Virgin Group are of enormous benefit to our business, both financially and strategically,” according to Dan Schulman, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Mobile USA. “We will acquire an asset which will add to our scale, allowing us to reduce our network costs and assure that Helio’s customers are immediately profitable when brought on to our cost structure.”

But, with Helio already in such a bad way, Virgin Mobile USA will have to invest considerably more than 13 million of its shares. The deal will include a $50 million strategic investment by Virgin Group (one of Virgin Mobile’s parent companies) and SK Telecom (the majority stake-holder in Helio) – $25 million from each. Virgin Mobile USA will also be acquiring Helio’s stock of 85,000 mobile phones units, worth $17 million.
While not a tremendous success, Helio has made a name for itself as a post-paid wireless carrier offering unique services and handsets with appealing features – areas in which Virgin Mobile USA has been sorely lacking. The acquisition will not only net Virgin Mobile USA all of Helio’s customer-base, but will also bring in the almost-defunct MVNO’s experience in the post-paid market. Helio reportedly boasts ARPU (average revenue per user) of $80, and Virgin Mobile USA is looking to immediately capitalize on that profitability.

Schulman added, “This strategic acquisition integrates Virgin Mobile USA’s brand recognition, scale and extensive distribution with Helio’s accomplishments in advanced handset and content offerings.”

The acquisition will help increase Virgin Mobile USA’s wireless footprint in the US, while also allowing them to renegotiate network-lease terms with Sprint (NYSE: S) – effectively lowering their per-minute costs by 8 percent. The combination of Helio and Virgin Mobile allows for an improved capital structure by increasing liquidity and paying down debt. But, more importantly for the consumer, the deal means that customers will see better handsets and services rolled out across Virgin Mobile’s subscriber-base. Users can expect to see EVDO data connectivity, GPS, Google Maps, YouTube, and MySpace applications integrated in to their mobile phones.

All in all, the rumored deal should bring more business for Virgin Mobile USA and help to boost their once fledgling stock options. For Helio, the deal represents a dignified alternative to a stage-left exit from a harsh wireless environment.

At least this MVNO didn’t go bankrupt.

Note: The deal between Helio and Virgin Mobile USA does not alter the TOS for Helio customers. Virgin Mobile USA has confirmed that customers wishing to terminate their Helio contracts will be subject to ETF fees. Emails have been sent to Helio customers.

From most expensive to least expensive, here is what you need to know:

• The 7610 has the ability to capture a color with the camera and then apply that same, or roughly the same, color to the wallpaper and keypad of the device which I find totally freaking awesome and it reminds me of the Nokia Morph video. TV out is included along with a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, quadband GSM/EDGE, 2 inch 320×240 pixel 16 million color screen and 860 mAh battery. It can be had for 225 EUR in Q3 2008 and it is pretty small at 98×48x15 mm weighing only 99 grams.
• The 7510 is a clam shell device (pictured above), with a 2 megapixel camera that has a technology called “NIPS” which I have yet to figure out what that is and it comes out in Q4 2008 for 180 EUR. It has the same open source webkit browser that S60 devices have, 2.2 inch 320×240 pixel 16 million color screen, quadband GSM/EDGE and 870 mAh battery. Pretty small at 92.5×46.4×16.7 mm, but a bit fat don’t you think? Weighs 124 grams.
• The 7310 (can’t use 7410 since 4 is a bad number in Asia) comes out in Q2 2008, which ends in 3 days, for 155 EUR and it manages to squeeze in TV out and a 2 megapixel camera. You get a 2 inch 320×240 pixel 16 million color display, triband GSM/EDGE, 860 mAh battery all in a 106.5×45.4×11.95 mm body that weighs only 83 grams; crazy light.
• 7210, the cheapest at 120 EUR coming out in Q3 2008, has a 2 megapixel camera with one click upload to Flickr! This is the first device I’ve seen Nokia (NYSE: NOK) quote the weight without the battery installed and I just want to find out why? It’s not like people carry a mobile phone without a battery inside now is it? Anyway, 69.8 grams without the 860 mAh battery that is supposed to come inside the box, triband GSM/EDGE, 2 inch 320×240 pixel 262,000 color display and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. Surprising at that cost.

More pictures after the jump.

Full press release here.

Update: Small problem with Nokia Press, the photos here are incorrectly linked so I can’t offer you the best high resolution shots, only what they link to or doesn’t link to a 404.

Read the full article »

 Well they are, according to Gartner at least!

I am just going to pull some very brief highlights here:

• Mobile game revenues will reach $6.3 billion in 2011
• North America will pull ahead of Western Europe over the next few years and be a larger market as Americans adopt more data services in general
• Asia is big opportunity: The Asia/Pacific region, including Japan, is the largest market for mobile gaming. Some emerging markets see mobile games as an imperfect substitute for PC or console games. India is expected to lead among Asian countries going forward.
• Low-end and high-end: Mobile operators and other game providers can increase usage if they offer offer games based on the type of user. For instance, operators should target smartphone users with sophisticated games, and low-income people with discounted or ad-subsidized games, or an offering such as ‘pay per game.’

All quite interesting points, save for perhaps the last one – I thought this was called basic user segmentation – sell people what they want, so that they’ll buy it…?!

[Via: Washington Post.com]

Garmin has signed a multi year global agreement with GyPsii according to a statement from GyPsii. As we are aware, Garmin is known for it’s Sat Nav hardware, whereas GyPsii is a “geo-location and mobile social networking provider”.

As per the agreement terms, GyPsii will provide technology, products, worldwide data center infrastructure, development licenses and GyPsii branding rights to Garmin. GyPsii would provide the rights on a non-exclusive basis, for a variety of Garmin products. The deal would help Garmin to incorporate in its future products, friend finding applications that support the GyPsii-powered-location-based social networking services platform.

GyPsii’s existing tech is centred around Smartphones, and with some MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) – but we can’t imagine it will be a great stretch to port it. The services that will be enabled could be varying mashups of location-specific or presence functions, together with social networking features. Quite what exactly, we’ll have to wait and see.

GyPsii’s technology is currently compatible with Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Black Berry devices, as well as on Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone along with browser-based Internet connected devices.

GyPsii incorporates a wide range of location-specific functions and mobile lifestyle services in a single platform. These include features like mobile search, user generated content-sharing and social networking.

Garmin have been quite busy recently in the device space too – check out Dusan’s recent story on the interestingly-titled “Nuvifone”.

[Via: RTTNews]

Only yesterday did I report on the somewhat confusing statement from the European Commissioner regarding RPP (receiving party pays), but now we have more TLAs (three letter abbreviations) flying at us – now it’s MTRs, or Mobile Termination Rates… read on to see why although a 70% cut sounds good, it could actually mean things will be more expensive. And yes, the pic is of European Commissioner Viviane Reding again…

MTRs are essentially the feeds that mobile operators charge for handling each others’ calls – Vivian Reding has said she wants to bring these fees down overall – “levelling the playing field” right across Europe. These fees by the way, comprise about 20% of an MNOs revenues – that kind of drop means the money is going to have to be found from somewhere (yes, this story is going exactly where you think it is…)

However, the GSMA (industry lobby which represents operators) has said that national regulators are better placed to set the MTRs, since these varied widely across Europe.

In addition, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), has said that they make about 15-20bn Euros per year from the MTRs, and as such the operators would not be able to suck up all the reduction – which quite simply means that the cost of owning a mobile phone (i.e. line rental) could well go up. 3 have also thrown their hat in to the discussion and said that they think the lowering of MTRs will be a good thing, as it will make the industry more competitive for new entrants …

So really a variety of views on the subject – what the reality will be is a different question!

The European Commission (the EU’s executive arm) will formally adopt the guidelines in the autumn and EU states are obliged to apply them or explain whey they are not doing so. The new methodology will be phased in by 2011.

[Via: Reuters]

Blyk has said that it is going to enter the German, Spanish, and Belgian markets next year. As we know, the network offers free calls and texts, to it’s 16-24 yr old demographic “members”, in return for accepting Ads.

Strategy Analytics analyst Nitesh Patel said Blyk’s continued growth depended on demonstrating value to advertisers through superior ad response rates, growing its highly targeted subscriber base, and learning more about its customers.

Germany and Spain are among Europe’s biggest ad markets and Belgium’s ad spending per capita is among the region’s highest, Blyk’s co-founder and chairman, Pekka Ala-Pietila, told Reuters.

Apparently Blyk in the Netherlands should also happen later this year. Once it’s been up for a while, it’s going to be really good to get more data about just how Mobile Ads are succeeding for them – certainly from UK the outlook has been very upbeat so far.

[Via: Reuters UK]

Pocket-lint is reporting that Sony is considering to go it alone for production of the oft-rumoured “PSP Phone”. Previously we have seen patents, mock-ups, fakes, and suchlike – but no phone!

Apparently the relationship between Sony and Sony-Ericsson has become somewhat frosty, over what sony considers the “strategic error” of giving SE it’s “Walkman” brand name.

Additionally, another comment is that the PSP Phone will actually just be a PSP with different/additional radio chips inside it, to allow it to make calls too – I presume via a headset, since holding a PSP up to your head would look like you are trying to make a phonecall on a shoe!

Well, rumours abound, but it ain’t over until a certain lady sings…..

[Via: Pocket-lint]

No, not Simon says, but Cisco says…

… and they are saying, that according to their Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast there are several IP networking trends we should expect – some highlights below:

• IP traffic will increase at a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46 percent from 2007 to 2012, nearly doubling every two years
• The resulting annual bandwidth demand on the world’s IP networks will be approximately 522 exabytes2, or more than half a zettabyte
• Video on demand, IPTV, peer-to-peer (P2P) video, and Internet video are forecast to account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic in 2012
• Global IP traffic will reach 44 exabytes per month in 2012, compared to less than seven per month in 2007
• Mobile data traffic will roughly double each year from 2008 through 2012

Note: A zettabyte is equal to: 1 trillion gigabytes; 1,000 exabytes; 250 billion DVDs, while an exabyte is equal to: 1 billion gigabytes; 1,000 petabytes; 250 million DVD

Hmm, did you get all that? Nice and clear? Good!

[Via: EETimes]

As smaller competitors in an growing open-source mobile OS market, LiMo Foundation and LiPS (Linux Phone Standards) Forum members are in for a serious battle for open-source marketshare. With Nokia (NYSE: NOK) buying out Symbian to essentially seed the open-source Symbian mobile platform, and the OHA backing Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Android platform, there isn’t much hope for small-game. Oh, and lest we forget Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s Mac OS used on the iPhone.

So, in a seeming effort to help stand up against considerable rivals, the LiMo Foundation has announced that it will be absorbing LiPS in July.  The announcement comes after many LiPS Forum members recently joined the LiMo Foundation. All LiPS Forum members will be drawn in to the LiMo Foundation come July – that includes “chipset suppliers, Linux OS and mobile stack vendors, handset designers and OEMs, and regional and global wireless operators.”

Good luck, LiMo. We have a feeling that Google isn’t going to make it easy to gain Linux-based open-source mobile platform marketshare.

[Via: I4U News]