[MobileRatty] tag: analysts

Xbox Now Cheaper than Wii (But for How Long?)

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:45:42 +0000

With the Nintendo Wii retailing for $249, Microsoft now says that it is cutting the price of its Xbox consoles!

This move will lower the price of its 360 Arcade by $80, to $199, and other models will see a $50 reduction, to $299 and $399.

Microsoft has lost ground over the summer to second-place Sony's PlayStation 3, and analysts noted it marked the first time a current-generation console has sold for less than the Wii.

Let's see how low those prices go before the holiday shopping season!

More at Bloomberg.

Tags: microsoft, nintendo wii, sony playstation 3, xbox, xbox 360

Related Entries

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Playing Xbox Games on the Xbox 360 - Dec 20, 2006
When the Facts Aren't Necessarily the Facts - Oct 20, 2006
New Controllers Coming for Guitar Hero + Music Studio! - Aug 01, 2008
In Today's News - the XBox 360 pwns the Sony PS3 - Jul 14, 2008
Is There More to Netflix/Roku Than Meets the Eye? - Jul 02, 2008
UK court rules Modchips do not circumvent copyright protection - Jun 13, 2008
Microsoft XBox 360 - No Linux for You! - Sep 04, 2007
Windows Live Messenger Now works with Xbox LIVE - May 09, 2007
100 million iPods sold - Apr 09, 2007

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Nokia lowers its third quarter 2008 mobile device market share outlook

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:25:11 +0000

Nokia Corporation
Stock exchange release
September 5, 2008 at 15.00 (CET+1)

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today updated its mobile device market share outlook for the third quarter 2008. Nokia now expects its mobile device market share in the third quarter 2008 to be lower than in the second quarter 2008. This compares to Nokia's earlier estimation provided in the second quarter results announcement on July 17, 2008, when the company said it expected its mobile device market share in the third quarter 2008 to be approximately at the same level sequentially.

Nokia continues to target an increase in its market share in mobile devices for the full year 2008.

Nokia expects the overall mobile device market in 2008 to be impacted by the weaker consumer confidence in multiple markets. However, Nokia continues to expect industry mobile device volumes in 2008 to grow 10% or more from the approximately 1.14 billion units Nokia estimated for 2007. Nokia also continues to expect industry mobile device volumes in the third quarter 2008 to be up sequentially.

Nokia's current estimate that its mobile device market share in the third quarter 2008 will be lower than previously expected is due to multiple factors. These factors include Nokia's tactical decision to not meet certain aggressive pricing of some competitors, the overall market competition, including the entry markets, and the temporary impact of a slower ramp-up of a mid-range Nokia device. Nokia's strategy is to take market share only when the company believes it to be sustainably profitable in the longer term. Nokia has not broadly participated in the recent aggressive pricing activity - as it believes that the negative impact to profitability would outweigh any short term incremental benefits to device unit sales.

We expect the product launches and start of shipments to be on track during the remainder of the third quarter and the fourth quarter 2008. Driven by its new products and services, Nokia continues to believe its product portfolio will be very attractive for the rest of the year.

Nokia will report its third quarter 2008 results on October 16, 2008.

Nokia will be hosting a conference call at 13:30 UK time (8:30 EST). The dial-in number for media (listen only - the question and answer session will be limited to financial analysts and investors only) is +1-706-634-5012. Conference ID: 63476957.

The dial-in number for financial analysts and investors is US: +1-888-636-1561 Conference ID: 63476957. UK: +44-1452-560-299. Conference ID: 63484035.

A replay of the call will be available soon after the call completion. The replay number is US: +1-800-642-1687 or +1-706-645-9291. Conference ID: 63476957.

GSMA Announces 2009 Global Mobile Awards & Mobile Innovation Global Competition

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:51:22 +0000

The GSMA announced that entries are invited for the 2009 Global Mobile Awards and the penultimate round of its Mobile Innovation Global Competition, both of which will be presented at the mobile industry's biggest annual event, the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 17th February 2009.

The GSMA's Global Mobile Awards are a unique platform for companies in the mobile industry to gain truly independent recognition for their work.

This year's awards incorporate several new categories including a new 'Green Mobile' Award (highlighting eco-friendly mobile products, services and initiatives), Best Mobile Internet, Best Mobile TV Service and Best Mobile Money Service.

The Best Mobile Technology categories have been refreshed to ensure they capture the wealth of creativity and imagination in the mobile industry. Categories of Mobile Entertainment, Mobile Services, and Best Mobile Handset, are already established as highly desirable awards for any new product or service.

The deadline for entries for the Global Mobile Awards is Friday 28th November 2008 (5pm GMT). A panel of independent analysts, journalists and specialist experts will choose the winners, who will receive their awards at a gala dinner at the National Palace in Barcelona on Tuesday 17th February 2009, during the Mobile World Congress.

The GSMA's commitment to innovation is supported by the Mobile Innovation Market community, which has created the Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition. The Mobile Innovation Market encourages breakthrough technology, applications and services in the mobile industry by bringing together smaller companies developing innovative products and solutions, with industry investors from leading venture capital firms and senior figures from mobile operators and leading global brands.

On 16th February at the Mobile World Congress, the Top 15 Innovators will present their ideas in front of the Mobile Innovation Marketplace audience and a panel of esteemed judges; from the five Category Winners to be named that day, two will emerge as Global Finalists and will compete against other Global Finalists selected from regional Mobile Innovation tournaments in the Americas, APAC and a virtual 'online' round. The Finalists will then compete head-to-head on 17th February for the prestigious title of '2009 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global Champion' to be awarded at the Global Mobile Awards Gala that evening. The deadline for entries for the Mobile Innovation EMEA tournament is 5th December, 2008.

The GSMA's 2009 Global Mobile Awards categories are as follows:

Best Mobile Entertainment

Best Mobile Game
Best Mobile Music or Video Service
Best Mobile Advertising
Best Mobile TV Service (new)

Best Mobile Services

Best Mobile Enterprise Service
Best Mobile Internet Service (new)
Best Mobile Money Service (new)

Best Mobile Handset or Device

Best Marketing

Best TV Commercial
Best Mobile Brand Campaign (new)

Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development

Best Technology

Best Network Technology Advance (new)
Best Service Delivery Platform
Best Billing or Customer Care Solution
Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough (new)

Green Mobile Award (sponsored by AT Kearney)

Chairman's Award

Government Leadership Award

The GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Global Competition categories are:

Most Innovative 'True Mobile Start Up'
Most Innovative 'Carrier Infrastructure or Platform'
Most Innovative 'Consumer Application or Service'
Most Innovative 'Mobile Application in a Vertical Market'
Most Innovative 'Wireless Device-centric Technology'

Full category, rules, entry forms and details about the gala dinner can be found at www.globalmobileawards.com and the Mobile Innovation EMEA Tournament at www.mobileinnovation.org/Awards.

Here We Go Again: Sony Recalls 73,000 Laptops

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:41:50 +0000

Oops -- Sony's done it again. The company has issued a recall for 438,000 laptops worldwide, after 15 reports of overheating and one burn hazard.

Mike Abaro, senior vice president of Sony's VAIO laptop division, wrote a letter saying a bad wiring job is potentially affecting four VAIO notebook models: VGN-TZ100 series, VGN TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series. He asks users of those models to visit Sony's support site to determine whether their notebook needs to be sent in for inspection.

Of the 438,000 laptops that may be affected worldwide, 72,800 were sold in the United States.

This comes as bad news especially for Sony, whose reputation took heavy damage in 2006 after a problem with exploding batteries, which resulted in recalling 9.6 million laptops worldwide.

Sony's recall on Thursday is similar to the recall Apple issued after three incidents of iPod nanos causing fires in Japan. Apple said the overheating was caused by battery-related issues.

When portable devices overheat -- and, at the extreme, explode or catch fire -- problems are often tied to faulty, cheap battery cells. Some analysts have said that as devices get smaller, their risk of malfunction and overheating increases -- and designers today face challenges as consumers demand gadgets to get smaller but more powerful. Sony's VAIO serves as strong example, since it wasn't a faulty battery cell but rather an assembly error.

(Photo credit: aegiap/Flickr)

Analyst Foresees iPod-ish Phone to Come Next Week

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:33:58 +0000

Gadget Lab's predictions of what's to come at Apple's presumed iPod party next week are conservative compared to an analyst's guess that Apple will unveil a less expensive, stripped down version of the popular iPhone.

Analyst Mike Abramsky speculated in a report that Apple would continue to thrive off the success of the iPhone by introducing an "entry level/low cost (less than $99 subsidized) prepaid iPod/phone" that only had phone and music playback capabilities. In other words, this would be a non-smartphone version of the iPhone.

Abramsky's speculation is similar to rumors floating around about the possibility of an iPhone nano. In 2007, Apple applied for a patent depicting a phone that resembled the iPod -- which would use the click wheel to mimic dialing numbers on an old rotary phone.

However, some other analysts have disagreed. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said new, less expensive models of the iPhone are unlikely to appear until 2009.

I would agree that it also appears far too soon to be introducing a less expensive, stripped down iPhone: The iPhone 3G launched only in July, and it's selling quite well. I highly doubt Apple would want any other product to steal the iPhone 3G's thunder.

RBC says sub-$100 "iPod phone" market up for Apple's taking [AppleInsider]

Apple coming out with new iPods?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:59:09 +0000

Geeks everywhere are waiting for Google to make gears.google.com/chrome live so the world can check out Google’s take on the Internet browser. In other geekdom news, I just got an invite to next week’s Apple event in San Francisco. Hmm … more music-related coolness? Check out the e-mail:

Around the web:

New iPods next week – MacBooks and iMacs to follow? (MusicRadar)
New IPod Touch and MacBooks Coming Soon, Analysts Say, Aug. 11, 2008 (PC World)
iPod Touch and MacBook Updates for September? Aug. 12, 2008 (MacRumors)

Recent Apple coverage:

Roasting AT&T over iPhone Problems

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:11:34 +0000

"A phone is only as good as the network it's on," said a full-page Verizon Wireless newspaper ad on Thursday, lobbing a shot at AT&T's 3G, or third generation, high-speed network.

(And ain't that the truth -- we know if well where I live!)

Apple sold more than a million iPhone 3G cellphones its first weekend -- with some stores running out -- and two million more since then, analysts say.

But its July debut has been nothing less than a public relations headache for AT&T, with eager buyers complaining about dropped calls and poor network connections.

Some fingers point to Apple, which has tried to deflect the complaints. But many others point to AT&T's cellular network.

Whatever the source of the problems, AT&T's rivals, long irritated by all the attention the iPhone has received, are on the attack and happy to exploit the discontent.

A Verizon executive sent an e-mail to Wall Street analysts last week: "So much for a 'new' way of doing business at the old AT&T -- your father's phone company."

Get more at the New York Times here.

Tags: apple, att, cellular, iphone, new york times, verizon wireless

Related Entries

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Apple's Got a Few Blemishes of Late ... - Aug 25, 2008
Apple Stays Exclusive with AT&T -- Boo! - Aug 01, 2008
Can't Anybody Make Up Their Mind (AT&T)!!! - Jul 18, 2008
Tom writes 'iHate My iPhone Because its iDead' - Jul 12, 2008
Nokia N78 Comes to U.S. - Jun 24, 2008
Apple & AT&T Heading for Splitsville? - Jun 12, 2008
Apple iPhone 2.0: Twice as Much for Half as Much - Jun 09, 2008
AT&T Boosts EDGE Speed for iPhone? - Jun 29, 2007
Wheeling and Dealing: Why iPhone Won't Be at Verizon - Jan 29, 2007

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Roasting AT&T over iPhone Problems

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:11:34 +0000

Tags: apple, att, cellular, iphone, new york times, verizon wireless

Related Entries

Touch-Screen BlackBerry Coming!? - May 16, 2008
Apple's Got a Few Blemishes of Late ... - Aug 25, 2008
Apple Stays Exclusive with AT&T -- Boo! - Aug 01, 2008
Can't Anybody Make Up Their Mind (AT&T)!!! - Jul 18, 2008
Tom writes 'iHate My iPhone Because its iDead' - Jul 12, 2008
Nokia N78 Comes to U.S. - Jun 24, 2008
Apple & AT&T Heading for Splitsville? - Jun 12, 2008
Apple iPhone 2.0: Twice as Much for Half as Much - Jun 09, 2008
AT&T Boosts EDGE Speed for iPhone? - Jun 29, 2007
Wheeling and Dealing: Why iPhone Won't Be at Verizon - Jan 29, 2007

TrackBacks | Comments | Tag with del.icio.us | VoIP & Gadgets Blog Home | Permalink: Roasting AT&T over iPhone Problems

AdMob assessed the global market of mobile browsers

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:15:00 +0000

The company AdMob held in July, market research mobile browsers. Analysts identify what browsers for mobile devices are the most popular throughout the world in general and in different regions separately. It appeared that the undisputed leaders in this field are embedded browser mobile phones Nokia, and Openwave, working, mainly in vehicles Motorola.

The main findings of the study AdMob:

34% took on the world market of mobile browser company Nokia (in Asia and Africa's share even higher).
With a small gap, took second place Openwave - 29% in the world market for mobile browsers. The maximum bandwidth of the browser - with models RAZR and KRZR in the United States.
Third place at the browser Access Netfront, its market share is 12%, mainly, his popularity high in Europe, the maximum traffic - from Sony Ericsson phones
Opera Mini ranked fourth - 7%. For the most part, this browser is used on smartphones, but most often - on the Nokia N70.
Other browsers, including Teleca Obigo, Microsoft Mobile, Safari, Palm and Blackberry - occupy less than 5% in the world market for mobile browsers.

Rumor: Thinner, Stylish, Cheaper Kindle Coming Soon

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:34:19 +0000

Amazon.com's unarguably ugly Kindle e-book reader is getting a makeover. A redesigned Kindle that is visibly thinner, has a better screen, and is higher on the style quotient is coming in the next few weeks, says BusinessWeek citing a source close to Amazon.

The redesigned Kindle could also have an attractive price tag. Amazon could price it at $249 or $299, down from the $359 currently.

The move could be just what Kindle needs. The device has been praised for energizing the e-book business but its design has been widely panned. A better looking Kindle could potentially get more users to carry it around.

Recent speculation has it that Amazon is set to sell anywhere from 189,000 to 240,000 Kindles this year.

Earlier this month TechCrunch suggested that Amazon has sold 240,000 Kindles since the device's launch in November 2007, while Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney had earlier estimated total Kindle sales for the year is likely to be 189,000.

But Amazon has said those estimates may be too aggressive.

Amazon is trying to expand the reach of Kindle. The company is trying to reach out to students for the new version of the device, say some analysts.

A promising sign that the new Kindle could be better: Amazon has hired a designer from frog design, a well regarded design firm and will not be using Ammunition, the design firm started by former Apple industrial design expert Robert Brunner.

Here comes Kindle 2.0 [BusinessWeek]

(Photo: Flickr/TheFemGeek)