The National Federation of the Blind and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) announced that they will cooperate to “promote technologies that improve the accessibility of cell phones to blind consumers.” As a result, some of the future Motorola handsets, which will be released next year, will provide verbal readouts of information displayed on the screen to assist blind people. Among the information that will be read to the users are time and date, battery level, signal strength, user’s phone number, caller ID, voice mail alerts, incoming, missed and received calls. In addition, blind users will also be able to input and access contacts, and various other settings.
It’s good that Motorola has agreed to cooperate with the National Federation of the Blind, and I’m hoping that every major handset maker will do its part to make its devices possible to use by the blind people. Simply said – it’s the right thing to do!
Sprint’s all-new Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre is just about the greatest thing to come out of Palm in quite some time. The compact QWERTY slider features a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, finger-friendly interface, sleek styling and responsive capacitance-based touchscreen. That all adds up to one impressive smartphone – and it’s mostly thanks to the intuitive and fun webOS. Is it any wonder Palm wants to put all their resources into the webOS’s continued success? Palm CEO Paul Rubinstein himself declared today, during a financial results call, that Palm smartphones will no longer sport Windows Mobile. Going forward, all we’ll see from Palm is the webOS, stuffed into Palm smartphones the likes of the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi.
Due to importance of webOS to our overall strategy, we’ve made the decision to dedicate all future development resources to the evolution of webOS. Which means that going forward, our roadmap will include only Palm webOS-based devices
The news comes on Palm’s fiscal Q1 2010 earnings report. Palm sold some 810,000 Palm Pre smartphones in the previous quarter. Given the Palm Pre’s US-only status, that’s not exactly a sales figure to laugh at. Still, the Palm Pre has yet to become the booming success that Palm needs to be, and expects revenues to drop in the coming quarters.
So, Palm’s going to be focusing all its R&D dollars into making the webOS as badass as possible. They’re still betting on webOS to bring Palm back to its past glory as a market leader. In fact, Rubinstein even hinted that the webOS might just get some serious enterprise support in the near future. That’s big, especially since Sprint (NYSE: S) wanted to distance the Palm Pre from business users. We might even see a webOS-powered Palm Treo coming back to give BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) and Windows Mobile a challenging run for their money.
Vringo and Marvel announced a partnership to create and distribute mobile videos and video ringtones based on Marvel’s superheroes. As a result, a new storefront and web-based editing platform has been created, allowing fans to purchase ready-made mobile clips and/or create their own from the Marvel archives.
Initially, the store features footage and pre-cut video ringtones from newer Marvel properties like the animated Wolverine & The X-Men, theme songs from the animated 1966 Marvel Super Heroes series, and the new content will be added every month. Of course, you will be able to turn and use all this content into video ringtones via Vringo’s application, which BTW works on BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold, Java2ME-compatible phones, as well as devices running Symbian or Windows Mobile. The first mobile video is available for free, while additional clips could be yours for $2 each. A dedicated website is there providing more information…
You probably haven’t heard of Black’s if you’re not from Canada; it’s a chain of photography stores up here, 114 locations all told and pretty popular overall. Well, it appears like the recession has hit them hard and for whatever reason, wireless service provider Telus (NYSE: TU) has decided to snatch them up for $28 million. The end result will be that we’ll start seeing Telus phones in Black’s stores, seems like a strange fit to me. I can’t imagine there would be much tie-in with services… What are you going to do, order prints of your mobile photos? Doesn’t seem likely after seeing people with big boy cameras walking away with their own quality pictures. Diversification can never hurt, of course, and there’s bound to be some overlapping gadget love between mobile and photography. Black’s has already been trying to spread their wings a bit by selling GPS units. It would certainly be cool to see more wireless-friendly cameras out there – maybe hardware that lets you upload pictures directly from your camera to web services via 3G? Yeah, that’s mostly crazy talk, but there are cameras that are going in that direction.
China Unicom and Telefonica (NYSE: TEF), both big names in global telecommunications, have announced an extended partnership in which they would provide mutual infrastructure support and continue an existing alliance. The specifics are pretty vague, but after all is said and done, China Unicom will own 0.88% of Telefonica, and Telefonica will own 8% of China Unicom after investing $1 billion into one another. A mutal, financial vested interest is a great way to solidify a strategic partnership, and will hopefully reward both parties in the long run. China Unicomis is still nailing down its iPhone agreement, and could use the extra help competing against China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), who is currently the world’s second-largest mobile service provider (Telefonica has third place). Conversely, Telefonica could stand to profit by investing before the iPhone starts spreading across China. For more info, hit the links.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Office software suite has enjoyed almost unrivaled domination of the enterprise productivity software market for years now, but the tides are changing. And companies like Motorola (NYSE: MOT) are leading the charge. Business Insider reports that Motorola ’s Mobile Devices Division (a.k.a mobile phone division) will be replacing some Microsoft Office services with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Apps as the company’s collaboration/communication platform . The move will net Google another 20,000 users of its enterprise Google Apps service, and should help lower Motorola’s operating costs.
What kind of costs? Motorola will be saving on costs associated with backing up email, managing email, disaster recovery, software, servers and updates. Surely, these costs are minimal for individuals and small businesses. But, when your enterprise is comprised of tens of thousands of users, the costs can start to get significant. So much so that Google’s enterprise Google Apps service is a cheaper and more efficient option. And, Google Apps is getting more integrated into mobile phones to boot!
When Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) rejected a certain Google Voice iPhone app from doing business on the iPhone AppStore, the masses threw up their arms and did what any self-respecting iPhone user would do – they posted their angry comments throughout the blogosphere and then mostly proceeded to take what Apple gives them. That’s just how iPhoners do. The FCC, on the other hand, was a bit more intrigued. The US Federal Communications Commission flexed their federal-muscle and launched an inquiry into how Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Apple and AT&T (NYSE: T) were involved in Apple’s move to dismiss Google Voice apps from the AppStore. Now, Google’s decision to keep true VoIP services off the Android platform (Google’s mobile operating system) has caught the FCC’s attention.
The FCC previously asked the trio involved in the iPhone Google Voice app fiasco to disclose any and all communications between the companies. If there’s some sort of backroom deal that compels Apple to remove iPhone apps, then the FCC wants to know about it. At the time, Google was more of a secondary player. But there’s more to the story.
USA Today notes that Google isn’t exactly an innocent bystander in the blocking-apps-from-smartphones dealings between Apple and AT&T. Google, in fact, has been keeping VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services from hitting the Android OS. Google says that it has the power to block VoIP, but does so only when asked by a wireless carrier. Seeing as how T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is the only US carrier offering Android smartphones, that would suggest that T-Mobile requested that Google keep VoIP off the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch3G. T-Mobile denies having made any such request.
Now, Google’s involvement in the Google Voice shakedown could very well put the company straight in the FCC’s crosshairs. The FCC wants Google to explain how it considers and approves Android apps for the Android Market, as well as the percentage of rejected Android apps.
With a little luck, the FCC’s inquiry could lead to sweeping changes in the way the wireless game works. Basically, we could all end up with more open mobile platforms with less influence from wireless carriers.
There are some out there that might disagree with London’s push to clean up the seedier side of metropolitan life, but wireless carriers in the UK are apparently on board with new program to block phone numbers known to be tied to prostitution rings. The Times Online is reporting that the Metropolitan Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, British Telecom will meet with the CEOs of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Orange, O2 (NYSE: TEF), 3, Virgin and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) this coming October. The topic of discussion: How to block prostitutes’ phone numbers before the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
At stake here is the welfare of women brought into the UK to work as prostitutes. With the 2012 Olympic Games coming to London, tourists will be flocking to the foggy city. Research from the 2004 Olympic Games showed that the number of women trafficked into Athens doubled prior to the 2004 Games. And, London wants to prevent a similar surge in sex trafficking.
London’s underbelly is home to criminal gangs (prostitution rings, really) that trick women into coming to the UK to work high-paying jobs, only to find that they’re now indebted to pay back travel and immigration costs by working as sex workers. The gangs set up phone numbers and distribute flyers to market their “business.” By blocking access to these prostitution rings, London hopes to fight the abuse of women by taking away a key part of pimps’ business model.
A noble effort indeed. The rest of the world would do well to follow London’s example.
BlockBuster’s OnDemand streaming movie service is going mobile, and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has locked down an exclusive deal that would put the movie download service on select Motorola mobile phones. The deal would make Motorola the first cellphone maker to offer access to BlockBusters thousands of movie titles to consumer on-the-go. While video entertainment has been somewhat slow to gain traction in the US, but Motorola sees the market growing and believes their partnership with BlockBuster will allow them to deliver an “unparalleled portable movie experience in [Motorola's] next-generation handsets.”
The deal helps BlockBuster gain a foothold in the nascent mobile video market, giving them an advantage over competitors like Netflix. More importantly, the exclusive deal gives Motorola a unique service that may just help boost the company’s upcoming Android phones into the mainstream. We’ll have to wait and see if the Motorola Morrison hits market with BlockBuster OnDemand in tow.
There’s no mention of when the service will go live, or how much it will cost. If BlockBuster OnDemand comes bundled with Moto hardware, it’s probably safe to assume that BlockBuster will be charging on a per-download basis. A subscription model would be nice, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.
In the ongoing pyramid-scheme fiasco surrounding Zer01 Mobile, the “VoIP carrier” has announced that it has cut all ties with Global Verge and Buzzirk Mobile – two of Zer01’s shady affiliates that had so far been distributing Zer01’s services through its “associate” program. Both Global Verge and Buzzirk Mobile are run by executives that have been involved in pyramid schemes, a fact that has drawn Zer01 much criticism of late and casts doubt on whether Zer01 Mobile ever intended to make good on their promise of unlimited voice and data service for $70 per month. Zer01 cites a breach of contract in kicking both companies to the curb.
Zer01’s decision to distance itself from known pyramid scheme peddlers Global Verge and Buzzirk Mobile is at least a step in the right direction. But, it doesn’t absolve Zer01 from their continued lack of communication and opaque business plans.
Zer01 Mobile announced earlier this year that it would provide unlimited wireless services for $70 per month, using a patented VoIP technology to route calls through national GSM networks allegedly partnered with Zero1. The service was supposed to go live on July 1. To date, Zer01 has not offered anything close to a reliable explanation for the launch delay. Neither their “patented” technology nor their carrier partnerships can be confirmed. And, there’s still the matter of the thousands of Zer01 “associates” that have signed up as Zer01 resellers, payed their initiation fee and continue to pay their monthly “support” fees for a service that is still vaporware (at best).
This is Zer01 Mobile CEO Ben Piilani at CTIA Wireless 2009:
According to Zer01:
“We hope that our actions and statements put many concerns to rest. We believe that statements made publicly about the nature of our relationship with certain entities and the legitimacy of our mobile products by certain third parties are erroneous and untrue and are not based upon sufficient knowledge of the facts involved. Currently, our counsel is in the process of preparing a response to these false and misleading statements.”
The announcement continues by saying that:
“Our company reserves all its legal rights and remedies that may arise from any and all erroneous and untrue statements made by third parties. We consider the reputation and integrity of Zer01 Mobile to be of utmost importance to our future success and we intend to vigilantly defend it.”
Now, we’re no mobile CEOs here, but Zer01 Mobile might want to spend more time getting its alleged wireless service launched rather than spending resources fighting all the bad press that they brought on themselves.
Sprint’s all-new Palm (
When Apple (
BlockBuster’s OnDemand streaming movie service is going mobile, and Motorola (
