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 system will not only provide ratings for content but will also allow parents to block access to particular content on their children’s devices. The two-tiered system will divide content on a carrier’s portal into Generally Accessible Carrier Content and Restricted Carrier Content. To avoid inconsistencies with other rating systems, the system will categorize based on existing movie, TV and game rating systems.

The initial phase of the rating system will label content provided on carrier portals, with a second phase to address internet content accessed through mobile devices.

Adult content on mobile devices has been available on carriers in Asia for years and is quickly growing in Europe. While this type of content has not been a large part of the U.S. mobile content industry, it is good to see U.S. carriers beginning to provide the tools to consumers to monitor the type of content accessed on their plans.

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.

However, with total losses of more than $328 million ($11.1 million in 2002, $8 million in 2003, $99 million in 2004 and $210 in the first six months of 2005), investors are looking to see results of the new Gizmondo releases. The company has $71 million in cash or current assets (easily convertible to cash) which should provide the company time to see how the Gizmondo does on the market, given that the large development costs are likely over.

The Gizmondo is a nice device, but it is entering a very competitive market with much larger players. These latest versions compare much more closely with Sony’s PSP, with its own pluses and minuses. With all considerations, it will be difficult for the company to sell enough units to breakeven, but the possibility does exist. While Sony and Nintendo are focusing almost entirely on gaming, Tiger Telematics has opened the device up early to other types of applications.

At the very least, it is good to see someone trying to shake up the mobile console market. Nintendo took a bold step with the DS, but there is always room for innovation.

For those that are interested, the full year results filing can be found online here.

Reports state features for the 700w will include Windows Mobile 5.0, a one megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 64mb of memory, and EV-DO connectivity.

Since the split of PalmSource and Palm, Palm has said that it would entertain offering devices based on other operating systems, and the recent acquisition of PalmSource is believed to have accelerated this plan. This move would also be a reasonable advancement of the deal Palm signed with Microsoft last October that allowed Palm OS-based Treos to connect directly to Microsoft Exchange 2003 email servers.

Verizon Wireless is known for quick movements into new high-end phone, and consumers should expect to see this new Windows-based Treo available from Verizon outlets shortly, but we’ll have to wait for the press conference for the specifics.

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”.

Other key features of the report included:

• 48% of respondents across all countries listed “high resolution camera and video camera” as an important feature
• 47% of respondents across all countries listed “20 Gigabytes of memory” as an important feature
• In Brazil, 53% of respondents listed video conferencing as an important feature
• 46% of mobile phone users across all countries send pictures and photos via MMS, with higher usage in particular countries: 80% in Japan, 68% in France, 66% in Korea, 65% in the UK
• 46% of mobile phone users cited the cost of MMS as the main reason for the lack of MMS uptake, while 22% said “photo and video quality” and 15% said interoperability problems was the reason
• 23% of mobile phone users across all countries send video or audio clips through MMS

The study also found that developing countries without a strong fixed line communication infrastructure show a much higher usage of VoIP when compared to more developed countries. As examples, VoIP penetration levels are 44% for Brazil, 30% for India, 22% for Russia, 2% in Japan and 2% in the Netherlands.

We have only seen summary information for this new research report, but the findings do seem interesting and presented clearly. The usage rates for MMS appear a little high when compared to known usage and revenues from these services, but that may be accounted for in consumer understanding of the services they are actually using.

“The last thing most air passengers want is to be forced to listen to their neighbor chat on their cell phone about their ailments, dating problems, the latest reality TV show…,” Rep. John Mica, (R-Fla.), said at a hearing in July.

The industry has begun to acknowledge flyers concerns of being trapped on a plane with an overly loud and/or annoying passenger on their cell phone. Cingular Wireless even wrote to the FAA saying that passengers should be encouraged to “tap, not talk” during flights. In addition, many security experts have reiterated flight crew concerns of unruly passengers set off by the never ending conversation of some passengers.

To accommodate the need for passengers to stay connected, productive and/or entertained while flying, airlines have begin to move forward with testing Wi-Fi networks on flights. In June, the FAA gave Verizone Airfone and United Airlines approval to test Wi-Fi equipment for use in flight.

As frequent flyers, we are always looking for ways to make that 10 to 15 minutes waiting in line or few hours on a plane more productive. However, there are very few business phone conversations that we would feel comfortable handling where everyone on the plane could listen. Offering high-speed internet access during flights seems like a “no brainer”, but the price will have to be right.

The discussion from the FAA, FCC and industry groups has seemed very polar. It seems that we either have to accept unfettered cell phone use on planes or ban it all together. How about the addition of a “talking room” to be used for cell phone calls during flights and an allowance for cell phone usage only within this space? Access could be paid for, provided free or provided only to frequent flyers. The standard space for a bathroom could easily be used for two of these rooms.

This would provide an alternative to “all or nothing” views currently being discussed by regulators and the industry and would still allow passengers to send SMS from their seats and use Wi-Fi.

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.

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.

• Cell phone 44%
• Laptop computer 39%
• Wireless handheld 8%
• Mini hard drive 4%
• iPod 2%
• Other 1%
• Don’t know/no answer 2%

The most interesting result is that 2% of CFOs believe their iPod is their most important portable device.

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.

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.

The WiMax wireless protocols allow for long-range data connections of up to 31 miles. WiMax has been designed to co-exist and work with standard WiFi, which has a general range of several hundred feet.

Lawmakers continue to read outdated research that only evaluate mobile devices and new technology in isolation. Are cellphones distracting? Yes. Does using a headset with a cellphone reduce the driver’s distraction. No. In fact, using a headset generally makes a user feel more comfortable while talking on the phone, which causes them to use the phone even more.

The more complete research on driver distraction have looked at the level of driver distraction for a wider range of activities often performed in the care: adjusting the radio, talking/dialing the phone, talking to passengers in the vehicle, writing notes, reading directions, putting on make-up, eating, etc. Almost across the board these studies have shown that the level of distraction among these activities is very similar.

Since then, Skype has hired Morgan Stanley to help facilitate a transaction or take the company public. While Skype has raised more than $20 million in funding from private investors Howard Hartenbaum, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Index Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Mangrove Capital Partners, it simply needs more money to keep pace with its competitors. As an example, Vonage raised $200 million from investors earlier this year.

Of Skype’s advantages is that most consumers do not need additional hardware to run VOIP. Most VOIP providers use digital phones to connect to broadband networks. Skype, on the other hand, can run entirely as a web-based service where members use the microphones and speakers attached to their PCs or embedded in their laptops. With more than 147 million downloads of its software (free and premium), the interest from consumers and businesses is clearly there.

Business models for the company include charges for the ability to call landline and wireless phone number, in addition to opportunities for advertising, marketing and media distribution.

‘Senses’ is claimed to work with a wide range of cell phones and smartphones, in addition to maintaining backward compatibility for content delivery.

Qualcomm has stated that it will market the new version of ‘Senses’ to both GSM and CDMA operators.

Android co-founder Andy Rubin has a former background with mobile device maker Danger Inc. Two months before the formal creation of Android, Rubin discussed the potential in developing smarter mobile devices that are increasingly aware of its owner’s preferences and location, in an interview with BusinessWeek.

The acquisition of Android continues a line of recent purchases such as Dodgeball – a mobile social-networking application, Keyhole – map display technology. When added to this the recent rumored interest in Meetro – location based instant messenger and a Google nationwide Wi-Fi network, the possibilities for Google’s growth get quite interesting.

Yahoo! Has offered voice communications through its messaging service for quite sometime, but the recent acquisition of Dialpad may have been provided the company the last bit needed for a complete standalone application.

Skype, with over 147 million downloads of its software and 30 million registered users, has recently hired Morgan Stanley to help find a buyer for the company or take it public (estimated $3 billion value).

The NPD Group invited a balanced group of teens (13-17) and adults (18+) to complete the survey and received more than 8,700 responses, including over 6,700 from current wireless subscribers.

Key findings from the study included:

• 50% of U.S. wireless subscribers own a phone capable of downloading games
• 27% of wireless subscribers play games on their phones, including purchased downloads, free demos and pre-loaded games
• About 1/3 of those that play mobile games buy the games themselves
• About 2/3 of those that play mobile games only play demos or free pre-loaded games
• 6% of current non-gamers show an interest in playing games on their phone over the next 12 months
• The average mobile gaming session is 11 minutes in total length
• Consumers who play games on other devices (e.g. consoles, PC, laptop) are twice as likely to play on their cell phone
• 60% of kids between the ages of 13 and 17 are likely to be mobile gamers
• 23% of adults are likely to be mobile gamers
• Mobile gamers generally spend more money when buying their handsets; an average of 57% more
• Mobile gamers are generally “heavier users of their mobile phones” than non-gamers, using 48% more wireless minutes and spending 22% more than average
• The dominant purchase model in the U.S. is single downloads, as opposed to subscriptions
• “Compared to typical wireless subscribers, mobile gamers are twice as likely to be African-American, Hispanic or Asian”
• The most cited reason for playing mobile games is “to kill time or alleviate boredom”

While we would like to see more information regarding the demographic and economic split of the sample size, these high-level results and the overview of the full report, “Mobile Games: Who’s Playing”, are quite interesting and shed a good bit of needed light on the U.S. mobile games industry.

What may be next for the Sprint Nextel? The company owns 2.5 gigahertz coverage for about 80% of the U.S. This spectrum may be used to offer a “wi-fi on steroids” service similar to the wireless hotspots offered in airport terminals and coffee shops. Imagine taking a train trip coast-to-coast without disconnecting from the internet.

The application is called Meetro and it is essentially a location based instant messenger that also consolidates AIM and ICQ. It locates mobile users via wi-fi nodes and allows landline users to enter their address (or a close one for privacy, if at home). Users are then shown in the window sorted by distance from you. With this initial version the company is looking for critical mass, but there will be filtering by keywords, demographics and profiles soon.

I have used it for a few weeks in Chicago to try it out and test the experience. It is kind of neat to be sitting in a coffee house or at the airport and find someone else close by with common interests. It would be nice to be able to integrate LinkedIn into Meetro, but it is a really good start.

Take a look at it.

What do you think about the program and where mobile social networking will go in the future? Is there a market for social networking applications?

At least in the few private studies I’ve seen on beta applications, “social” applications that use cell-id seem to work better for buddy alerts for close friends than necessarily for extended networks, random meets or business networking. The reasoning seems to be that people are generally not willing to traverse the distance of a cell-id (even in the city center) or take the extra step of trying to find who is actually close to them unless they already have a close personal connection.

GPS is an option. However, the urban-canyon effect and lack of indoor locations (until low frequency receivers are adopted) again limit the usefulness of non-buddy alert social applications.

With that said, wi-fi is not commonplace on phones and thus has its own limitations. The one thing wi-fi does do is allows a system to more accurately (at least for now) determine location – often simply showing people that are on the same access point (e.g. in a coffee house).

Do you think consumers are willing to sign up for another network or will any successful mobile social application have to tie in Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Friendster, LinkedIn, etc.?