Sony Ericsson unveiled T303

Sony Ericsson today unveiled the T303, an attractive phone that is small and neat enough to carry with you on every occasion. This compact slider phone has been given the high-end treatment, with a mirrored screen, metal housing and chrome finish. “The T303 is a great addition to the Sony Ericsson T-line of products, combining premium finish and materials with a good feature-set to deliver ‘style with substance’.” said Lykke Tærsbøl, Senior Designer at the Sony Ericsson Creative Design Centre. “The balance between shape and size in combination with the design makes it a truly eye-catching product. Our aim was to create a phone that would function equally as a daily companion as well as something to show off on a night out. Sony

Does the basics well, whether that’s camera, Bluetooth™ or FM radioBig in looks, mini in size The T303’s diminutive size is distinctive for all the right reasons. Because it doesn’t take up much room, it’s perfect for those nights out when space is limited and not everything can come out with you. The T303’s compact size means that this phone will always be one of the chosen few. Chic and smooth, reflecting your every move The T303’s metal and chrome finish makes it hard for those around you not to be impressed by its premium appearance. Its soft shape and smooth sliding mechanism make it a feel-good experience that you can enjoy every day. And the mirror glass display on the front of the phone goes yet further in making the T303 even more stand-out in its appearance. Picture perfect The T303’s megapixel camera is ready to take pictures in an instant. So if you come across the perfect shoes whilst out and about, but want a second opinion, just one quick snap and you can send a picture message to one of your friends. You can use Bluetooth™ technology to transfer photos wire-free from your phone to a compatible computer, and then email them to any number of helpful style-advisers. Or just to send the photos of a day’s adventure directly to a friend’s phone. Play-as-you-go With life being ever more hectic, it’s essential to be able to slow down the pace and take time out, whenever you get the chance. The T303 comes with a built-in FM radio, meaning you can tune in, chill out, and let time just pass you by. It also has its own media player and comes preloaded with Sony Ericsson’s TrackID™ feature. Record a clip of a song in a bar or café and find out instantly what track it is and who sings it. Accessorise With such a good-looking phone, you’ll want to keep it that way. The Protective Case IDC-22, part of Sony Ericsson’s Design Collection, gives you the opportunity to develop your stylish look still further. The Sony Ericsson T303 will offer designer good-looks without the price tag to match. The T303/T303c is a GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets from mid 2008. The T303a is a GSM/GPRS 850/1800/1900 phone that will also be available in selected markets from mid 2008.

T-Mobile at CeBIT 2008

Germany’s leading mobile communications provider is presenting attractive products and services, innovative equipment and forward-looking network technology at CeBIT 2008. This year, the spotlight is on low-cost flat rates for telephony and mobile surfing, as well as the new, transparent “Good-Better-Best” system for rates and options. T-Mobile is also presenting new handsets with outstanding design features and showcasing an NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Network) for the first time in Germany on the basis of LTE technology.

Nokia 6650 and MDA compact IV
From June, the Nokia 6650 will be offered exclusively to T-Mobile customers. Stylishly designed and packed with state-of-the-art technology, this handset will optimally support services such as web’n’walk, Mobile Jukebox, MobileTV and NaviGate. Another cell phone tailored for HSDPA is the MDA compact IV with an autofocus camera and a particularly large touch screen. Other new handsets also offer HSDPA, cameras for high-resolution photos and high-quality music players.

Low-cost flat rates for mobile communications
A flat rate drive plus transparent pricing – the flat rate trio Max S, Max M and Max L combines both of these features, ranging from flat rates for novices up to the new Full-Flat rate that can be used on all networks within Germany. Then there are particularly low flat rates for young people and – as a CombiCard – for family members. Now, prepaid options such as the Event-Flat are also available for low-cost flat rate connections. For mobile Internet surfing, T-Mobile provides flat-rate options for less than EUR 10 per month depending on the contract. Besides this, T-Mobile provides the web’n’walk L flat rate for mobile Internet access on a laptop plus a daily flat rate for occasional users. A prepaid version of this one-day flat rate is also available. T-Mobile rounds off its portfolio of flat rates with the Mobile E-Mail and Mobile E-Mail Pro all-in-one packages.

MyFaves and web’n’walk on track for success
Over 150,000 customers in Germany now use the MyFaves popular community service. T-Mobile also has plans to expand this service soon along the lines of the “Good-Better-Best” concept. In addition, T-Mobile is rapidly increasing the number of handsets that support this service.T-Mobile is also on track for success with the web’n’walk Internet service, which has now been booked by over 2.1 million customers. The cooperation recently entered into with Yahoo! will make web’n’walk even easier to use from April. Increasing numbers of HSDPA-enabled handsets are cranking up the speed of Internet access via the T-Mobile network.

Yahoo! onePlace Revolutionizes Mobile Content

Innovative Service to Offer Users a Better Way to Manage Important Internet Content on Mobile

HANNOVER, Germany -- Yahoo! continues to enable the global mobile ecosystem with the unveiling of Yahoo! onePlace™ – a revolutionary mobile content management solution. Following the company’s achievements in reinventing mobile search and mobile communications, Yahoo! onePlace is designed to be an essential tool to enable consumers to better manage the wide selection of content available across the Internet.
“Over the last three years, we have aggressively executed on our mobile strategy to deliver innovative and indispensable services to consumers globally and become the starting point for the most users. With the introduction of Yahoo! onePlace, we are announcing the next essential component to our mobile product line up,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo!. “Yahoo! onePlace is where users will be able to find what matters to them the most, no matter where their interests, passions and information come from. Yahoo! onePlace will provide mobile users with a rich and dynamic content experience.”
Yahoo! onePlace™ will bring together a consumer’s interests, passions and important information into a single location – creating a rich and highly personalized experience. Everything is instantly organized, dynamically kept current, and served to them the way they want. So now, the content they consume and the way they consume it will be hyper-customized to their specific preferences and tastes.
Yahoo! onePlace will be simple-to-use because it will be based on a familiar process of using bookmarks to instantly link to practically any piece of content (news feeds, web sites, videos, images, emails, search queries, etc.) from anywhere across the Internet. Once in Yahoo! onePlace, everything will be kept automatically updated (with the latest game score, stock price, etc.) as well as assigned categories and tags – or placed into customized “collections” that consumers create – making it extremely intuitive for consumers to find and combine their content in the ways most useful to them.
Yahoo! onePlace will allow consumers to stay better informed on the topics they care about, with less work – for their daily interests (e.g., favorite sports teams or stocks), as well as those they only care about on a selective basis. For example, if a user is planning a holiday to Paris in June, he could create a “Paris” collection, and begin linking it to any information he thinks will be useful to him on his trip: weather conditions, city guides, restaurant reviews, hotel reservations, walking maps, songs of Edith Piaf, English-French dictionaries, winery recommendations, etc. Yahoo! onePlace will give consumers a single location to consume all of their information contextually, keeping it updated (so they know, for example, if their flight times have changed) and instantly accessible whenever and however they want it. The product will be configured to allow consumers to do the same for literally hundreds of different topics.
Yahoo! onePlace is designed to include the following features, which will allow consumers to:
-- Centralized and open content management - Centralize and manage all the content they care about, from anywhere on the Internet, accessible from a single location and arranged to best meet their preferences. The product is also designed to allow consumers to link to any favorite content they've already personalized on the Yahoo! network (e.g., MyYahoo!(R), flickr(TM), del.icio.us(R)), or at other popular websites (e.g., Digg(R), Last.FM(R), reddit(TM), Yelp(R)).
-- Personalized views - Enjoy their content based on their specific needs:
-- Collections - Group content in a way that makes sense. For example, create a collection related to an upcoming trip, or of favorite 80s bands.
-- Categories - Organize content according to commonly-used subjects (e.g., celebrities, local businesses, sports), making it easy to access and retrieve.
-- Pulse - Stream updates relevant to users' content, such as flight status changes, new songs by a favorite music artist, or a restaurant review.
-- Favorites - Surface the content a consumer uses most frequently.
-- Dynamic updates - See previews for selected sources that are kept fresh throughout the day - giving users a single location for a view of what's going on across their world.
-- Mobile RSS reader - Use a mobile RSS reader integrated into Yahoo! onePlace - providing a simple way to read and subscribe to their favorite feeds.
-- Smart organization - Create a rich experience around a specific topic by grouping whatever content they find most useful.
Yahoo! onePlace is expected to launch, along with Yahoo! oneConnect™, in Q2 2008, joining Yahoo!’s award-winning mobile product portfolio, which includes Yahoo! Go 3.0, Yahoo!’s new mobile homepage and Yahoo! oneSearch™. After its release, Yahoo! onePlace is expected to become available across hundreds of devices and mobile browsers around the world.

Yahoo! Announces Availability of Yahoo! Go 3.0

HANNOVER, Germany -- Yahoo! announced at CeBIT 2008 the upcoming availability of Yahoo! Go 3.0™ for a number of European countries, as well as several new European-based widgets that will be accessible across Yahoo!’s mobile browser and client-based offerings.
“Yahoo! Mobile has tremendous momentum in Europe and we are expanding our leadership with innovative offerings and key partnerships,” said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo!. “We believe delivering Yahoo! Go 3.0 and exciting widgets that markets demand will help make Yahoo! an even more indispensable starting point for users, as well as grow value for advertisers, publishers and developers across our mobile ecosystem.”
In a related announcement, Yahoo! today announced the unveiling of plans for Yahoo! onePlace™ – which will be the industry’s first mobile content management service.

Yahoo! Mobile Widgets Goes Global, Adds New Major Partners
Within the next two months, European users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK will be able to access localized services from new mobile widget development partners including:
Eurosport® – Football – the number one news source for European football coverage;
XING™ – a leading professional networking site;
eBay™ – the world’s largest online auction marketplace;
MySpace™ – the number one social networking site in the world;
Dopplr™ – an innovative application for keeping track of where your friends are
Yahoo! Mobile Widgets will be accessible via devices that support the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 client or the recently redesigned Yahoo! mobile home page. During the coming months, the number of compatible devices is expected to expand substantially and begin to roll out internationally.
The initial Yahoo! Mobile Widgets were announced at CES less than two months ago, and included MySpace, eBay, and MTV News, and U.S. versions are currently available for download.

Yahoo! Go 3.0 in the UK and Europe: Coming Soon!
Launched in January 2008, Yahoo!’s flagship all-in-one mobile application, Yahoo! Go 3.0, is currently available to consumers in the U.S. and supported on more than 50 devices. Yahoo! Go 3.0 is expected to be available in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK at the end of Q2 2008. In the upcoming months, Yahoo! Go 3.0 is expected to be available on hundreds of devices worldwide, accessible by million of users.

Mobile Users Do Not Take Security Precautions

86 Per Cent of Mobile Phone Users Do Not Have Security Software Installed, According to F-Secure
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- F-Secure Corporation, the global leader in providing security as a service through mobile operators and Internet Service Providers, today announced mobile security results from its Online Wellbeing survey. Over three quarters of mobile phone users are aware that malware can infect a mobile device via Bluetooth – but fail to have security software installed, according to this survey.
On average, 28 per cent of all respondents said they use their mobile device to access the Internet. A large majority, 86 per cent admitted to having no mobile security. Out of all the countries questioned, the UK had the highest percentage (47%) of users accessing the Internet through their mobile device, while at the same time being the least likely to have a security product installed on their mobile phone. Most users are aware of the security risks involved with using the connectivity features on their phone: only 21 percent regarded Bluetooth connections safe, and a mere 15 per cent were under the impression WiFi connections are safe.
Over half of those questioned felt it was up to the individual user to ensure their phone was protected. A third expected this to be taken care of by their mobile phone carrier, with the US putting the greater emphasis on third-party responsibility. Only 11 per cent of Germans believed their mobile phone provider should be in charge of security, compared with over 32 per cent in France.
“While the mobile threat is low at present, it’s only a matter of time before Internet criminals start utilizing the growing potential that smartphone usage presents to them,” warned Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure. “So far there have been about 400 mobile viruses detected, but as smartphones replace PCs as the dominant Internet platform, we can expect this figure to rise.”
Geographically the sources of mobile threats are spread around the globe with activity originating for instance in South-East Asia, Russia and South America. While the threat from mobile viruses remains low, there has been increasing activity with spyware applications for mobile phones. Such applications make it possible to get covert access to all the functions of the affected phone, including recording of phone calls, access to messages and switching on the phone's microphone for listening.
The low amount of security software installed on smartphones coupled with the rapidly increasing volume of these devices make them a very vulnerable target for hackers.

Nokia to Bring Microsoft Silverlight

ESPOO, Finland, March 4 -- Nokia
today announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight available for S60 on
Symbian OS, the world's leading smartphone software(1), as well as for
Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets. Adding support for
Silverlight will extend opportunities for developers to create rich,
interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent and
reliable way.
"Today's consumers are very clear in what they want: easy access to
tightly integrated services and data on any device," said Lee Williams,
Senior Vice President in Nokia's Devices software organization. "Nokia's
software strategy is based on cross-platform development environments,
enabling the creation of rich applications across the Nokia device range.
Nokia aims to support market leading and content rich internet application
environments and to embrace and encourage open innovation. By working with
Microsoft, we are creating terrific opportunities and additional choices
for the development community, S60 licensees and the industry as a whole."
Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering
next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications.
Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world
and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC
Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The
arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight
by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices,
including S60 on Symbian smartphones from a range of manufacturers, as well
as Nokia Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets.
"This is an important relationship on so many levels. Working with
Nokia means we are easily able to reach a huge number of mobile users,
including customers of all S60 licensees. This is a significant step in
gaining broad acceptance for Silverlight and ensuring it is platform
agnostic. This is critical since we want to make sure developers and
designers don't have to constantly recreate the wheel and build different
versions of applications and services for multiple operating systems,
browsers and platforms," said S. Somasegar, Senior Vice President of
Microsoft's Developer Division.
"There is clear market demand for rich, Web-based services across a
variety of device types, but developing these can often be commercially
difficult. For Microsoft this extends Silverlight to a broader range of
vendors, platforms and devices. For Nokia it expands the web runtime
options on its devices, enabling a wider community of developers and more
applications. This should help the uptake of higher speed mobile services
and advance a new era of anytime, anywhere device-based computing", said
Bola Rotibi , Principal Analyst at Ovum.

Spb Mobile Shell 2.0 - The Must Have User Interface for Windows Mobile

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, March 4 -- Spb Software House, the world's leading Windows Mobile software vendor, upgrades its outstanding Spb Mobile Shell software to version 2.0. Spb Mobile Shell is an application that completely overhauls the innate Windows Mobile user interface, making it more direct, logical, and slick.
The software first hit the market in 2007 and quickly gained recognition among end-users and mobile device manufacturers. By the end of 2007, Spb Mobile Shell became the best-selling Pocket PC application in the world, was named the best interface/menu improver by Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine, the Best Evolution Application by Handango, and the Best Program for PDA's by the Shareware Industry Awards. Spb Mobile Shell turns the Windows Mobile device into a better phone: gives access to crucial information at a glance, enables one-hand navigation, minimizes the number of taps to launching programs, changing settings, making calls. The new Spb Mobile Shell offers a great choice of haptic animation, it is more futuristic and practical in design, yet it is lower in memory consumption.
"The application is deeply integrated and fits well with the operating system," - comments Yaroslav Goncharov, the Product Manager of Spb Mobile Shell. "The software has become the accepted Windows Mobile interface for many: people buy devices with Spb Mobile Shell preinstalled, and use it, believing the software to be an inherent part of the Microsoft platform."
Top Spb Mobile Shell Features
- NEW All functionality in one tabbed window
- NEW Full screen dialogs for Weather and Time
- NEW Animated transitions
- NEW Navigation with gestures
- NEW Quick panel selection with taskbar gestures
- Now Screen: the most important information in one screen
- Spb Menu: phone style menu
- Weather forecasts
- Photo speed dial
- World time
- Launcher
- Color based themes
- Spb Contacts: smart contact search

MYiOTA Propel SMS Style Browser To More Than 100,000 Users

London, UK – 3rd March 2008 – MYiOTA announced that its SMS style browser is now working in 107 countries with local language services available in Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Arabic, Afrikaans and Russian. The free to download MYiOTA service has grown rapidly and now boasts more than 100,000 users worldwide. MYiOTA enables users to find and get information, such as sport, news and daily content, on their mobile 20 times faster than using a traditional mobile browser. MYiOTA addresses the pain points that many mobile consumers experience when trying to find information using their mobile, namely ease of finding information and speed. Technology developed by MYiOTA enables consumers to receive information from websites, WAP, RSS, SMS services, or blogs - in fact any service that is available on the World Wide Web or by SMS - in just a couple of clicks. In addition to finding and consuming content, MYiOTA also allows users to post comments, interact, collate information, and blog all from a SMS style interface.Bruce Eley, CEO, iOTA Sphere, said: “MYiOTA has been a hit because it is simple and works. We deliberately set out to develop a solution, which had the success factors associated with the SMS experience and apply that to finding mobile content. With the flexibility to add new services and local language versions very quickly MYiOTA is now going global. We are expecting major growth of the user base in 2008 as this more efficient alternative to traditional browsers becomes well known.”MYiOTA’s service works on nearly all Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Siemens, Motorola, Blackberry and LG mobile phones. In particular MYiOTA works on entry-level phones.MYiOTA is now looking for major partners to continue its international distribution particularly in the emerging markets of India, Africa etc.

VPN Client With Firewall for Pocket PC Palm Treo 750v

NUREMBERG, GERMANY--(Marketwire - March 3, 2008) - The Palm Treo 750v, running under the Windows Mobile 5/6 operating system, can be integrated and centrally administered via a virtual private network (VPN) using existing infrastructure with the Secure CE Client from NCP Engineering, a provider of communications software. With a VPN, a secure connection is achieved over public lines, e.g. for accessibility by field service personnel to company headquarters via the internet.
"In combination with the VPN client from NCP, the Palm Treo 750v is open for any desired applications. In this way, Palm Treo 750v users can not only open emails and process them, but also access the server, or databases on the local network. And all that with the highest level of security," explained Wolfgang Weiss, marketing manager at Palm Germany GmbH.
The NCP Secure CE Entry Client and the NCP Secure Enterprise CE Client enable the construction of a VPN tunnel between the Palm Treo 750v and the VPN gateway in the company. The secure CE client connects mobile devices with VPN gateways from many manufacturers, using universal IPSec-based VPN software. The NCP Client supports powerful encryption and authentication mechanisms; additionally, they are provided with a personal firewall. The personal firewall works dynamically and enables the specification of defined filter rules, depending on the respective network environment, as well as secure release of network access to public WLANs (hotspots) via the browser. Additionally, the Secure Enterprise CE Client inclines toward central management functions for the administration of mobile terminals. It aligns the configuration of the pocket PC with the security directives on the policy server in the company network.
In the case of email push services, a special connection mode ensures automatic re-establishment of the VPN tunnel to the central VPN gateway. In order to make handling of the VPN Client as simple as possible for the user, both clients employ design assistants for PC configuration and an intuitive graphical user interface at the mobile terminal.

Acer to acquire E-TEN, the Taiwan-based manufacturer of Glofiish smart handheld devices

TAIPEI, TAIWAN . - Acer Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire E-TEN Information Systems Co., Ltd., the world-renowned designer and manufacturer of smart handheld devices.
The acquisition of E-TEN is in line with Acer’s expansion strategy and follows the recent acquisition of Gateway and Packard Bell, further strengthening its foothold in the fast-evolving mobile communications segment and completes Acer’s range of mobile solutions.
With a strong reputation for R&D and the customer-oriented culture of both companies, combined with Acer’s considerable and now global marketing power, E-TEN will help Acer explore and develop entirely new solutions for mobile communication.
"This strategic transaction is yet another important milestone in Acer’s long history of innovation" said J.T. Wang, Chairman and CEO of Acer Inc. "The acquisition of E-TEN increases Acer’s global footprint by giving us a strong and highly credible presence in the mobility segment"
"The worldwide smart phone market is estimated to grow by more than 30% by 2011" added Gianfranco Lanci, President of Acer Inc. "Acer will enhance the competitiveness in the ultra mobile segment, by combining PC and communication technologies".
E-TEN has released a number of hugely successful Pocket PC phones that featured combinations of GPRS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3.5G GSM functionality each enhanced by exclusive in-house developed software applications.
In 2006, in recognition of the fact that its consumer orientated devices were proving just as successful as the company’s IT centric product lines, E-TEN showed its commitment to the consumer sector by adopting the new brand name, Glofiish, for its Pocket PC Phones and accessories.
The acquisition of E-TEN will allow Acer to play a key role in the development of the dynamic, fast-evolving market of smart handheld devices as well as ultra mobile devices in the future and will help bring Acer’s cutting edge mobile solutions to an even wider audience.