On the flip side of the coin: People rarely post their positive experiences when having to return something, if anyone has a pleasant story to tell I would like to hear it.
Three of the patents are: U.S. Patent 5,809,336, which covers the separate clocking of a CPU and its I/O; U.S. Patent 6,598,148, which covers the use of multiple cores and embedded memory; and U.S. Patent 5,784,584, which covers fetching multiple instructions.
Microsoft has announced their recent acquisition of mobile advertising pioneer, ScreenTonic. As mobile technology, especially smartphones, become more and more ubiquitous, the drive to capitalize on said tech grows larger. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has taken a huge step into the mobile advertising game – by leveraging ScreenTonic’s market experience against Microsoft Digital Advertising Solution’s deep pockets. Advertising in the mobile realm, unlike the Google (NSDQ: GOOG)-dominated internet market, has yet to materialize a clear-cut leader – and so Microsoft is doing everything it can to preempt Google’s crossover into mobile advertising.
We expect the two giants (Microsoft and Google) to duke it out over the coming months. This should be fun to watch. Pass the popcorn, please.
It looks like the push email industry is going to be battling it out for market share. Consilient is the latest push email provider to jump into the fray. Going up against the venerable BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), the Consilient push email system offers users free (ad supported) access to the servers that will push email to Windows Mobile smartphones. The service will work with any POP3 email account, and will even support Yahoo!, Hotmail, GMail and AOL mail.
Just head over to the Consilient website and sign-up for their service. You will need to download an installation package to setup your phone, so make sure your phone is listed as compatible.
The Department of Homeland Security has revealed their research into possibly embedding sensors in mobile phones – allowing the lowly cell phone to become part of a network of anti-terrorism sensors. The research is exploring the use of a network of cell phones, equipped with detectors for nuclear isotopes, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, to roam the streets as a kind of grass-roots anti-terrorism squad. Upon detecting a dangerous substance, the built-in GPS unit will poll location data and transmit the location of the cell phone. A single hit will be dismissed as a false-positive, but multiple hits would indicate a legitimate threat
Since 9/11, the government has spent billions of dollars on placing sensors and detectors in airports, subways, borders, and other terrorist target. The problem with this solution is that sensors in fixed locations can only provide late-stage warnings of impending attacks, rather than averting them. A mobile network of sensors can continuously sample the streets and provide early warning of any terrorist activity.
It’s not yet clear if this technology can even be implemented, but it sure sounds cool (if you can get over that whole “Big Brother” aspect).
In addition to having handsets from leading handset makers in their portfolios, operators are looking for opportunities to forge partnerships with manufacturers, who are also more willing to accept operators’ customization and branding needs.
According to ABI Research, mobile operators will make approximately $10.7 billion worldwide through the sales of private branded handsets in 2007, almost 23% more than the $8.7 billion earned in 2006. Furthermore, analysts at ABI Research expect to see operator-branded handsets growing to over 127 million handset shipments by 2011.
A number of factors including handset delivery delays, greater customization needs, increasing demand for low cost handsets, and the growing importance of emerging markets are prompting operators to choose private branded handsets.
By now you’re probably aware of the upcoming Silverlight — Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s cross-browser, cross-platform, Flash-competing technology. Interesting thing about Silverlight is that it will work on mobile devices right from the start (when it becomes available), even offering video based content to the Windows Mobile users. Something, Adobe is hoping to accomplish with Flash Lite 3. In the following video, Scott Holden – Principle Product Unit Manager for the .NET Compact Framework demonstrates the Silverlight on a Windows Mobile device. It looks great, and I can’t wait to test it. (via: unwired)
To celebrate the launch of its flagship N95 smartphone in the UK, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is organizing an exhibition of the extinct mobile technology in London and Birmingham. With the latest campaign, the Finish company wants to remind users that the N95 is a true convergent device that is set to replace the paper maps, a camera, and a music player. Plus it can access the Internet either via WiFi or using the ultra-fast HSDPA connection. Here’s the link to Nokia’s microsite, which offers more details about the event. (via: Symbian-Guru)
Microsoft has announced their recent acquisition of mobile advertising pioneer, 
It looks like the push email industry is going to be battling it out for market share. Consilient is the latest push email provider to jump into the fray. Going up against the venerable BlackBerry (
The Department of Homeland Security has revealed their research into possibly embedding sensors in mobile phones – allowing the lowly cell phone to become part of a network of anti-terrorism sensors. The research is exploring the use of a network of cell phones, equipped with detectors for nuclear isotopes, toxic chemicals, and biological agents, to roam the streets as a kind of grass-roots anti-terrorism squad. Upon detecting a dangerous substance, the built-in GPS unit will poll location data and transmit the location of the cell phone. A single hit will be dismissed as a false-positive, but multiple hits would indicate a legitimate threat
In addition to having handsets from leading handset makers in their portfolios, operators are looking for opportunities to forge partnerships with manufacturers, who are also more willing to accept operators’ customization and branding needs.
