Intel Enters CPU Deal with Nokia

According to a report made available by Bloomber News, Intel is getting ready to announce a major breakthrough for its Atom CPUs – a deal with Nokia to develop mobile phones based on the chips.
Despite competition from rivals, Nokia is still the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer and even if Intel only manages to get a small piece of Nokia’s business, it’s still a big deal, claimed Forward Concepts analyst Will Strauss.
In February, the chipmaker announced a partnership with LG Electronics, who will make smartphones based on future Intel Atom processors and Linux Moblin software. The following month, Intel announced collaboration with TSMC to manufacture Atom silicon. Many believe this is Intel’s attempt to lower its cost base and compete more readily with chipmakers using ARM-based technology who currently dominate the mobile phone market.
Rumors about a Nokia netbook or MID have been doing the rounds for a while. If the rumors are true, Intel is probably feeling pretty pleased with itself. The company has been trying to put its chips in mobile phones for ages and Nokia is one of the biggest cell phone manufacturers in the world.

Verizon has revealed details about the new HTC Ozone. The cell phone
features a full QWERTY keyboard, built-in WiFi and Bluetooth
capability with A2DP support for stereo headphones, EV-DO Rev. A
Internet, global GPS, micro SD expansion slot, WM 6.1, a 2.0 megapixel
cam and a one touch messaging key.
In addition, the Ozone will support a number of Verizon services, such
as VZ Navigator and Visual Voice Mail. The messaging-centric
smartphone also includes a dual-band CDMA (800/1900MHz) support with
EV-DO Rev and a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) support.
This Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone has been available online since
June 29 and would be available in Verizon stores on July 13 for just
$49.99 with a two-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate.

Spring has announced that it will start selling HTC Snap smartphone. The HTC Snap is powerful enough for experienced business users looking for an affordable, straightforward choice for remotely synchronizing email, calendar and contacts with their Microsoft Exchange server.
Designed with a set of features selected to deliver everything users need without overwhelming them with things they don’t, the HTC Snap makes it easier than ever to stay in contact with life’s most important people.
It comes with a a full QWERTY keyboard which ergonomically designed with extra-large domed keys and responsive tactile feedback to make typing emails and text messages fast, accurate and comfortable.
Your Inner Circle, your most important people
It supports high-speed 3G HSPA connectivity that makes it quick and easy to send pictures to friends, access favorite social networking sites, or download large files while on the go. The flexible Microsoft Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard platform allows the HTC Snap to also be simple enough for first-time smartphone users wanting to keep their family life organized.
Other features include a 3G EV-DO network, a 2 megapixel camera and video recorder, a microSD card slot, stereo Bluetooth, and media player.
The new HTC Snap is available for $149.99, with instant and mail-in rebates at all authorized resellers at a suggested retail price of SGD688. (inclusive of 7% GST).

The VM-605 also known as BlackBerry visor mount speakerphone has recently been introduced by Research In Motion (RIM). It is basically an evolution of the existing music gateway with a built-in speakerphone for in-vehicle use.
The speakerphone has four LED indicators on its face: one battery-level; one for active-call status; another to signify whether or not the unit is connected to your device via Bluetooth; and finally, one to let you know whether or not it’s “broadcasting” to an FM frequency.
Other features include up to 13-hours talk time, noise reduction and echo cancellation technology and the ability to work with GPS software on your phone. It also comes with a handy visor mounting system, so you can quickly and easily mount it in whichever vehicle you are driving.
The BlackBerry Visor Mount is now available at www.shopblackberry.com for $99

Recently at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC has aunched updated versions of their current flagship models – the Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2. These new handsets combine cutting-edge technology with simplicity and user-friendliness for a more seamless mobile communication experience.
The Diamond2 features a 3.2-inch widescreen VGA display and is only 13.7mm thick. Other features include touch-sensitive zoom and a 5MP camera along with expandable memory, a gravity sensor, and an ambient light sensor. Battery life is promised to be 50% better with the Diamond2.
The Pro2 has a 3.6-inch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. Battery life has been improved and the phone has a gravity sensor, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. Memory is expandable and it is optimized for touch navigation and heavy email use.
Taiwanese High-Tech Computer also launched the Push Internet concept on these mobile phones. The system is scheduled to download specified web pages at determined times, in order to minimize waiting times. Chief Marketing Officer John Wang said that the service will be “like having a conciérge service”, and emphasized on the fact that there will be “zero wait”, even though these devices have fast HSDPA connectivity at 7.2mbps download speed.
The Diamond2 will be available in Q2 2009 for European and Asian consumers with other areas rolling out later in 2009. The Pro 2 will be available this summer.

The Motorola Morrison has been spotted in a photo and rumor has it that it is going to be T-Mobile’s fifth Android smartphone showing off a white and blue color scheme. It comes with a big enough touchscreen and a full QWERTY slide-out keyboard.
The handset that can be seen in the image recently published on MiniSuit looks very much like the one seen before in a thumbnail, though more details can be observed.
From the leaked picture, the phone is colorful enough to suggest that it will probably be targeted at the young people looking for devices that would allow them to access social networking sites, in line with what Motorola said about its Android handset. For what it’s worth, the QWERTY keyboard on the phone looks quite decent, which means that it should prove to be a good messaging device in the end.
In the meantime, there are no official details on the Motorola Morrison, though some words should be said soon.

Palm has announced the availability of a new firmware update for the Pre, taking webOS to version 1.0.3.
Palm has released a new update for the Palm Pre webOS. The total size of the update is 13MB and can be downloaded over WiFi or EVDO. There have been reports of speed and signal strength improvements.
The update is which is a 13MB file that brings with it improvements to the smartphone’s Exchange and calendar performance, together with reducing the delay between synchronization of Google Contacts entries is available as an over-the-air (OTA) download for Sprint Pre users. Apart from the new features mentioned, there are no other new applications in this update, and 1.0.3 is being referred to as a bug fix and feature change update.  Pre users should be alerted to the new software by their handset, but you can also trigger an update through the settings menu.
In another development,there has been a report from mobile analytics company Medialets that the Palm App Catalog has experienced 700,000 downloads of its limited 30-application selection since launch.

There are some good news for users on Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, or webOS-powered handsets. Adobe announced that it will be bringing Flash Player 10 to smartphone class devices to enable the
latest web browsing experience.
Preparation is is on the way to release the beta version of the Flash Player 10 for smartphones by October. Revealing the details about the Flash Player 10 availability, President and CEO Shantanu Narayen said that “Multiple partners have already received early version of this release and we expect to release a Beta version for developers.”
Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, and the New Palm
Web OS will be among the first devices to support web browsing with the newest Flash player. Companies including ARM, NVIDIA, Broadcom, Intel, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm are optimizing Flash player for their processors and platforms.

In a press released by Apple, the company announced that it has sold
over one million iPhone™ 3GS models through Sunday, June 21, the third
day after its launch. This figure beats analyst expectations by
500,000.
This new revelation by Apple hots up the competition with its closet
rival, AT&T and some are anticipating that problems between the two
telecom giants would be inevitable. In a report made available by
Engadget Mobile, some new iPhone users experienced long waits for
activation and as a result Apple is reportedly issuing $30 iTunes
store credits for long delays to some customers.
Also, BoyGeniusReport is reporting that a high-pitched sound frequency
is being emitted by new 3G S devices after playing a sound file. The
publication suspects that it is software related as the sound is not
emitted when the phone is set to vibrate.
The new iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed
with incredible new features including improved speed and
performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life,
a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video
recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new
iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with
over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight™
Search, landscape keyboard and more.
In another news, hardware analysis news site Anandtech completed a
head-to-head speed comparison between the new iPhone 3G S, iPhone 3G
and the Palm Pre. The new 3G S loaded web pages faster than the Pre
two-thirds of the time. The 3G S also renders web pages 128 percent
faster than the original iPhone 3G.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the
Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the
Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation
with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and
professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital
media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and
iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its
revolutionary iPhone.

In a deal worth $650 million, Nortel Networks has agreed to sell its CDMA business and LTE assets to Nokia Siemens Networks, a move that would definitely increase Nokia’s presence in North America. There have been some positive reactions to this latest development in the inudstry, executives from Verizon, Sprint, and Bell Mobility have expressed their satisfaction in statements that the agreement is good news for wireless technology on the continent.
As the world’s second largest supplier of CDMA infrastructure, Nortel provides the 4G infrastructure products to three of the five top CDMA global operators, including Verizon Wireless. With the CDMA unit earning an  stimated $700 million a year, Nokia Siemens stands to earn its investment back in slightly more than a year.

The purchase of Nortel’s CDMA operation should help Nokia as it seeks to ramp up its handset sales in North America, where it has lagged in market share. Nokia dominates handset sales globally, accounting for more than the next three suppliers combined. Its presence, however, is not as strong in smartphones, and the CDMA unit — along with some Nortel R&D – could give it an advantage in some smartphone markets.
In the meantime, Nortel has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The transaction is subject to approval by U.S. and Canadian courts and should be heard in both countries at the end of this month.