Nokia’s VP of corporate strategy, Antii Vasara, admitted to Vnunet that the N-Gage did not meet the company’s projected targets. Vasara said, “N-Gage is still being sold but it was not a success in the sense of developing a new category.” While the company does not plan to introduce further iterations in the N-Gage handset line, it will continue to support existing N-Gage and QD handsets.

This does not mean the N-Gage has been completely disappointing, as Nokia is able to use the N-Gage software platform to expand its entrance in gaming. “We learnt that people want to play games on all devices. As such we are integrating the gaming software into Series 60 phones.”

The Wireless Association (CTIA) has announced plans to adopt a voluntary content guideline system, similar to the ESRB, to “proactively provide tools and controls to manage wireless content offered by the carriers”.
The system will not only provide ratings for content but will also allow parents to block access to particular content on their […]

Paul Glen has a great opinion piece on ComputerWorld about executives being constantly connected, through cell phone and “crack-berriers”, and the actual need to be constantly on-call.

The article talks about a need to help with problems or provide information, be seen as engaged, and a likely addiction to constantly monitoring their staff. Paul continue the article by pointing out that this “hyperconnectedness” can actually hurt projects and the team environment.

Tiger Telematics, maker of the Gizmondo, filed its annual report with the SEC showing a loss of $210 million in the first six months of 2005. The company attributes this loss to a large investment into the release of the new versions of the Gizmondo and marketing expenses.
However, with total losses of more than […]

A press event scheduled in San Francisco for Monday will see Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Palm CEO Ed Colligan Verizon Wireless President and CEO Denny Strigl make an announcement. Representatives for the three companies have declined to comment on the news, but analysts see only one possible possibility – the long-anticipated arrival of the […]

New research from TNS shows that mobile users across the world want one thing from device manufactures – better battery life. Consumers are definitely interested in converging devices and new features, but as we pointed out with phones capable of playing music, consumers will not accept these new features at the expense of battery life.

TNS asked 7,000 mobile users in 15 countries regarding their preferences for device capabilities and features. Over 75% of respondents said better battery life is the main feature they want from phones, PDAs and similar devices.

For converged devices (with a phone), the top required feature in 14 of the 15 was “two days of battery life during active use”. In China, the 15th country, respondents most requested “20 Gigabytes of memory” as the key feature in the future. Along the same lines, battery life was listed as one of the top reasons “consumers do not use games, music, and TV applications on their mobile more frequently”.

Late last year, the Federal Communications Commission proposed relaxing its ban on wireless phone use during U.S. flights. Since then, the FCC received thousands of calls and letters opposing the idea. The majority of travelers, flight attendants groups, and even several members of Congress have objected to the lifting of the ban.
“The last […]

Motorola said Friday that it has acquired a team Melco Mobile Communication researchers in Rennes, France. Melco Mobile is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Eletric Corp.

This team will focus on design and development of future Motorola platforms and should provide Motorola much needed support to target the 3G market, which is currently dominated by Nokia. “The Rennes team offers Motorola unmatched capabilities in i-mode development and integration, as well as strong branded services and testing skills,” said Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices, in a statement.

A new study by Robert Half Management Resources finds that your CFO likely cannot live without his cellphone.

The study surveyed 1,400 CFO’s from a cross section of U.S. companies and asked them “Which of the following portable technology devices do you consider most indispensable in your life? Their responses showed the cellphone to be their highest priority, with their laptops being a close second.

It is Monday morning and the markets are live with rumors from the weekend. The one that has jumped out first is a rumor that Palm may be buying back PalmSource.

Palm spun off PalmSource in 2003 to allow the companies to separate sales requirements, product marketing and strategy for the Palm OS and device hardware. Since then, Microsoft and Symbian have largely taken over the mobile device market. The Palm Trio has been Palm’s saving grace, but even recent comments by Palm’s CEO about being open to a non-Palm OS on a new version of the Trio raised more than a few eyes.

One could make a case either for or against a recombination of the two Palm companies, but this will be an interesting story to follow.

According to figures recently released by Strategy Analytics, WCDMA (3G) technology, accounts for 5% of the total handset sales during Q2 2005. While 3G is still in an early stage of development, Nokia has 17% of the 3G market.

This 17% may not seem that large, but it puts Nokia well ahead of other handset manufactures and may be due in part to the popularity of the 6680 line. While Motorola continues to make inroads into the GPRS / 2.5G market, it may have to step up pace for the next battle of the WCDMA phones.

Is this barrier already too high to climb for Nokia’s competitors? No, but Nokia is clearly making up some of the “high-end” ground it has lost to Motorola, Samsung, LG and others in the past few years.

Analysts are expecting Intel and Research in Motion (RIMM), manufacturer of the Blackberry) to announce a new partnership at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco. As part of the deal, RIMM will begin to use Intel’s low-power communication chips and will help Intel promote its WiMax long-distance protocol.

The WiMax wireless […]

To date, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, and numerous cities (e.g. Chicago) have various bans on the use of cellphones. In effect this week, a new Colorado law bans teenager drivers from talking on cellphones while driving. This Colorado law only targets new drivers who must have an […]

News began to circulate last week about a preliminary meeting between Skype and BSkyB, a News Corp satellite unit, to discuss an acquisition by News Corp. News Corp, which includes holdings such as the Fox media outlets, is seeking to expand itself into the online world, but the estimated $3+ billion price tag for […]

Qualcomm has purchased Elata to integrate the British company’s content delivery system for $57 million in cash. Elata’s delivery system, called ‘Senses’, allows carriers to bundle many different types of mobile content and deliver them over-the-air (OTA), such as ringtones, wallpapers, BREW, Java, streaming video and other files.
‘Senses’ is claimed to work […]