Visto Corporation, the partner company behind many carriers’ mobile email services, announced the findings of a survey the company commissioned to identify and target key drivers for mobile email adoption. Based on the research, Visto predicts that market penetration of mobile email could reach as high as 70% of mobile professionals by the end of 2007.

The survey, powered by online data collection software and global panels from GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), a provider of global market intelligence solutions, polled mobile business professionals who rely on email at their desk in the UK, Spain and the USA. Read the full article »

It’s no secret that i-mate is betting heavily on its range of Windows Mobile powered devices. Targeted to business users and savvy consumers, i-mate’s devices combine the intriguing design and smartphone features. Yet, I still prefer Symbian-based devices.

Sharp has some really interesting Communicator-like devices, including the recently launched Sidekick 3 – something that could be a communicator device for the young people. We know Sharp as manufacturer of both Windows Mobile and Symbian-based devices (for NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM)).

The GSM Association is spearheading a project called “Pay Buy Mobile”, suggesting two options for mobile payments, which will probably complement each other. The first one is about over-the-air downloads and the other one includes preloading encrypted credit card information from the bank on the phone’s SIM card. Both Visa and MasterCard are (so far informally) welcomed the initiative. Here’s the release: Read the full article »

At 3GSM World Congress, Symbian Limited, developer and licensor of Symbian OS, released its unaudited financial and operational figures for both Q4 2006 and the full year ended 31 December 2006.

Highlights – Full year 2006:

• 51.7 million Symbian smartphones shipped to consumers worldwide in 2006 – a 52% increase on 2005 (2005: 34.0m)
• 108 Symbian smartphone models shipping from 9 licensees through over 250 major network operators worldwide at 31 December 2006 (2005: 60 models) – an 80% increase on 2005
• 65 new Symbian smartphones models commenced shipment in 2006 (2005: 36), 38 (58%) of these models were based on Symbian OS v9, 34 (53%) for use on W-CDMA (3G) networks in Japan and Europe, 19 (29%) Wi-Fi enabled
• 110 million cumulative Symbian smartphone shipments since the formation of Symbian to 31 December 2006
• Symbian announced Symbian OS v9.3 optimized for convergence and market segmentation with performance and feature enhancements, which will begin shipping in devices in 2007

Read the full article »

Ahhh, those lucky Japanese mobile users. They try everything before the rest of the world. Just take a look at the latest FOMA devices and you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Bravia-branded phones, @LINK1@ devices, slim yet powerful… Damn, @LINK2@ of their phones can even smell the way you want them to.

@LINK3@

I had a chance to get my hands on the new Neonode (NSDQ: NEON) N2 phone. Powered by Windows CE (yeah, it’s not a Symbian, but it’s interesting device nevertheless), with weight smaller than 70g, this very small device is very practical to carry around. Input interface – touch, just like the iPhone. The only thing I don’t get it is why (still) keep it small. If it’s bigger you could have a bigger screen and add more features to it. Still, neat little device for not demanding users.

You should’ve seen the Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s booth after the announcement of new devices. The most touched “object” was… E90 of course. The new Communicator really deserves all the praising. As soon as you touch it, you feel the quality. That’s also the case with the N95… Anyway, here are the photos.

It’s all about vibrant colors on Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) and “I (Sony Ericsson) Something” message. All their smartphones are there, plus recently announced additions to the Walkman and Cybershot families. What can I say except: “I (Sony Ericsson) their booth”.

DataViz, Inc. announced that RoadSync, its Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Exchange ActiveSync client now supports mailbox subfolders and select Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 mobile enhancements. These new features include online mailbox search, e-mail flags, SharePoint and UNC (Universal Naming Convention) file access and faster e-mail message and attachment retrieval. Based on the Exchange Server ActiveSync protocol licensed directly from Microsoft, RoadSync provides secure, wireless and direct push synchronization of e-mail, calendar, contacts and attachments. The RoadSync version 3.0 update is the only solution available to support mailbox subfolders and Exchange 2007 mobile enhancements for S60 3rd Edition devices on Symbian OS V9 such as the popular Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E-Series and N-Series devices. Read the full article »