Devices & Platforms

Global mobile handset shipments totaled approximately 1.15 billion in 2009, with enhanced phones and smartphones capturing approximately 81% of all handset shipments, according to the latest data from ABI research...

A standalone product for making NFC payments is set to deliver full Near Field Communication (NFC) experience to mobile banking customers worldwide. Inside Contactless, Sagem Orga (Safran Group) and TazTag have announced the joint development of a new method of delivering NFC payment functionality...

Strand Consult has been evaluating the impact of the Apple iPad on the mobile and ISP sectors - a development which should get mobile operators and ISPs thinking about its implications.

Zoom Technologies, a China-based manufacturer of mobile phones and other mobile electronic products, has unveiled the Leimone E63, its first in a series of 3G Leimone brand phones. The E63 supports CDMA2000/GSM dual-mode with two card slots, UIM and SIM, and is designed specifically for China Telecom's 3G network recently rolled out in China...

It’s small, it’s light and it looks more like a pocket calculator than a mobile phone. But the Vodafone 150 is, according to Vodafone, the lowest cost, fully functioning mobile phone anywhere on earth...

The world’s first HSPA+ smartphone, powered by the Android operating system, was announced by Huawei at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The U8800 smartphone will be commercially available in the third quarter of 2010, and is able to support high-speed Internet access, which is faster than existing 3G smartphones...

Comprion has unveiled the first solution for LTE/USIM handset conformance testing according to 3GPP TS 31.121 USIM Rel-8...

Nuremberg-based IT security company certgate has announced that its SmartCard microSD will from now on also support business cell phones with Symbian operating systems. This development will allow users of Nokia phones a way to protect their digital identity with hardware certificates...

Synchronica and Korean manufacturer KC Mobile have revealed the MessagePhone, a low-cost messaging device that delivers smartphone-like functionality and messaging services at lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than similar products – with the result that the MessagePhone is being targeted towards emerging markets...

Joining 80 other countries already linked to iPhone, Guam now enjoys basic iPhone 3G as well as the enhanced iPhone 3GS, which is claimed to run at twice the download speed as normal iPhone 3G. A special tariff is in place for new customers...

Confirming its plans to move into the smart phone industry, computer giant Dell has unveiled the Mini 3 and announced partnerships with two of the world’s largest mobile operators...

Entertainment is the core of Nokia’s latest mobile, the 5330 Mobile TV Edition. Designed via 3G technology to be an entertainment hub, the 5330 unites mobile broadcast TV, networking, gaming and music...

Nokia has released the Nokia 6788, its first device for TD-SCDMA - China's domestic 3G standard - in Beijing. The Nokia 6788 is the result of close collaboration between Nokia and the world's largest mobile phone operator, China Mobile...

A major bid to gain market share in China's emerging 3G phone market has been launched by China Telecom. Bottom line is a 3G handset retailing for US$73 - at a time when some China Telecom 3G handsets sell for US$438...

Thuraya Telecommunications Company has launched what it describes as the world’s toughest satellite phone, namely the new Thuraya XT. Thuraya is also using the words most rugged and reliable phone in the market to reinforce the importance it is attaching to the launch...

ZTE has announced that it sold 10 million terminal units worldwide in 1Q09, representing an increase of 30% compared with the same period last year...

China Mobile has selected ST-Ericsson's company in China, T3G, as a major technology partner for the development of its high-end and low-cost handsets, based on the 3G standard TD-SCDMA. ST-Ericsson will also support four of its customers in order to commercialise their mobile phones during 2009-2010...

Nokia is bringing the Internet in emerging markets "closer to reality" with the announcement of three new mobile phones that open the door to information, entertainment, family and friends...

Rachel Chavula is based on Malawi's Mzuzu University Campus. She specialises in finding roles for the cantenna - a US$2.50 combination of tin-can, antenna and short wire. Singly or in tandem, the roles for this novel piece of equipment are fast expanding...

Nokia has introduced the third of its Near Field Communication devices, the 6216 classic. Using a SIM base for the first time, Nokia is enabling operators to build NFC services via the SIM card. The content services include images, weblinks, audio files, contact data secure payment and ticketing...

Better Energy Systems, which manufactures portable renewable energy products, will be introducing the Solio Mono multi-device solar hybrid charger at Mobile World Congress 2009...

Infineon Technologies has announced its third generation of ultra-low-cost (ULC) mobile phone chips. The X-Gold110 is claimed by Infineon to be a very cost effective one-chip solution for GSM/GPRS ultra-low-cost phones. System costs (bill-of-material) for mobile phone manufacturers are said to be 20 per cent lower compared to existing solutions...

What is claimed to be the world's first GSM/WiMAX handset, the HTC MAX 4G, has been launched in partnership with Russian Mobile WiMAX provider Scartel (brand-name Yota). The handset is intended to support the next evolution in mobile connectivity...

India's Business Standard and Economic Times have both recently investigated claims by Intel that it can help provide India with WiMAX-enabled laptops for under US$400, if not for as little as US$300.

Yes, it's that time of the year when Nokia's resident poets pour out their souls in paeans of praise for the company's latest state-of-the-art mobile device.

The Swedish mobile company Neonode, which develops touch screen technologies and designs mobile handsets, has integrated Chinese XT9 text input interface with phrase prediction in its pioneer multimedia touch screen phone, the Neonode N2...

Leading Chinese vendor Huawei launched an array of new products at the recent Communicasia exhibition in Singapore including its latest HSPA USB stick, 3G phones and an HSDPA gateway...

SwissQual, the independent Swiss network quality measurement company, has announced the release of patented new technologies that allow the most modern handsets to be used for unattended network field testing...

Spice Corporation, an Indian telecoms company, launched several products at the Mobile World Congress 2008. In particular, it claims to be marketing what it calls "The Peoples' Phone - probably the world's cheapest phone at under US$20 to the consumer"...

Claiming that it will play a real part in bridging the Digital Divide, an alliance of hardware and software vendors took the opportunity of the Mobile World Congress to announce that they had joined up to develop the world's lowest-cost smart entry phone that can enable email and web-based messaging functions...

Nokia has unveiled a premium pair of handsets aimed at the most discerning and style-conscious consumers. The company's accompanying press release, in common with one or two other Nokia announcements we have published, has attracted our attention. So here goes...

Some months ago we carried a press release from Nokia which extolled the virtues of a Nokia handset whose design was said to be inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The press release was so brilliant we carried it unedited. Now, Nokia has released its Nokia 8600 Luna, 'a definitive design statement with a touch of glass.' We thought those of you dealing with telecoms in rural wastelands, or building up tele-density in urban squalor, or installing disaster management systems might just be interested in what Nokia has to say. Take it away, Nokia Luna...

Vodafone has unveiled its first branded ultra-low cost consumer handsets, the Vodafone 125 and Vodafone 225, aimed at providing millions of people in emerging and developing markets the opportunity to access to the benefits of mobile technology for the very first time...