Skype has released a test version of a client for Java-enabled mobile devices, a move which the company said is a significant step forward for its mobile strategy. However, at the same time, executives made it clear that the software is preliminary and subject to significant limitations.
With the new client, Skype joins a number of companies, such as Fring and Truphone, attempting to bring internet telephony to the mobile world. Such moves have so far encountered challenges related to the technology and structure of the mobile-phone industry, and Skype's client is no exception, according to the company.
"These are still the early days for making Skype calls on mobile phones, but we've already made great strides in this space," said Gareth O'Loughlin, general manager of mobile and hardware devices at Skype, in a statement.
The client relies on the ordinary cellular infrastructure for certain portions of the call, meaning that users will always pay their usual local or national rate to make calls, according to Skype.
The calls can still be cheaper in some cases, Skype said; for instance, callers can make international calls without paying international rates. Calls to landlines and mobile phones entail additional charges, while calls to Skype clients are charged at ordinary local or national mobile rates, Skype said.
The client can make use of Skype's instant-messaging and presence features, but these entail data charges from the mobile operator. Calls received via the client are charged at SkypeOut rates, Skype said. SkypeOut is Skype's paid service for making calls to landlines and mobile phones.
The test software is available worldwide and supports 50 Java-endabled handsets from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, Skype said.
The ability to make Skype-to-Skype and SkypeOut calls from the mobile handset is limited to eight markets: Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Poland, Sweden and the UK.
Users in other countries can use chat, group chat, presence and receive Skype and SkypeIn calls. SkypeIn is a service allowing users to rent ordinary telephone numbers, with all calls routed from that number to a Skype account.
Skype said the test period will last several months and will be followed by a public release.
Users can download the software over the air or transfer it to a PC and then to a mobile. The client is available via Skype's website.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
skype client on mobile
Thursday, April 17, 2008
World record set for most expensive mobile
While many people may feel that their mobile phone is a luxury item, a new phone form GoldVish surpasses all previous standards.
The World Records Academy has confirmed that a new mobile made from 18-carat white gold has entered the record books as the most expensive phone in the world at $1.3 million (£0.65 million).
Le Million by GoldVish is inset with 1.800 diamonds and was bought by a Russian businessman for his wife.
Sony Ericsson currently holds the world record for the largest mobile phone, for its scaled up version of the W810i standing at 2.5 metres.
Motorola also made the news in 2007 when climber Rob Baber made a call from the top of Mount Everest on a handset made by the mobile phone manufacturer, which sponsored his climb to the Himalayan peak.
The call was made at a height of 8.848 metres, with the mobile phone batteries remaining strapped to his body to ensure they were warm enough to operate, reported the BBC
Source: mobile-phones
Pill Phone Service Available on Verizon
Verizon Wireless, the builder and operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and VOCEL, publisher of premium branded mobile phone applications, today announced the availability of The Pill Phone, a new Get It Now application that provides Verizon Wireless customers with detailed drug information and automatic dosing reminders - right on their phones.
Verizon Wireless customers can purchase and download The Pill Phone from the Get Going or Tools on the Go virtual shopping aisle of the Get It Now virtual store by clicking on “Get New App” and then “Mind, Body & Soul.” The Pill Phone is currently available for a $3.99 monthly subscription on a number of popular Get It Now-capable phones, including the Chocolate and the enV by LG, the LG VX9400, the MOTORAZR maxx Ve, and the Alias by Samsung. Airtime or megabyte charges apply for sending and receiving data using Get It Now, depending on the plan. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled phone and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.
Source: Wirelessandmobilenews
Vodafone offers exclusive Madonna content
Tracks from Madonna's new album to be available to Vodafone customers ahead of global release
Vodafone customers will have exclusive access to a remix of Madonna’s new 4 Minutes single and tracks from her new album ahead of its global release.
Downloadable from Vodafone live! for 49p, the “Timbaland Mobile Underground Remix” is a collaboration between Madonna, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake.
The news follows the announcement that an agreement between Vodafone and record label Warner Music International would allow music and mobile content from Madonna’s Hard Candy album to be available exclusively to Vodafone customers ahead of the album’s global release.
From April 21, seven tracks from the album will be released at a rate of one a day the week before the album is available. Each track will remain live for 24 hours for download before being replaced by the next one.
Vodafone UK consumer director Ian Shepherd said: “We want to ensure customers get the best music experiences from their mobile. We have a tremendous heritage in delivering great music on mobile phones and know how to package simple and effective services to deliver superior experience to our customers.”
Source:mobile news
Mobile: The New Platform War
Mobile is the future. As we move closer to the much-hyped era of cloud computing, everything will be online. Desktops will serve little purpose but as gateways to the internet that holds our data and the bulk of our interactions. Mobile, however, will still remain an important platform front in the face of a new generation of Web 2.0 applications. As recent announcements by Apple and Google show, the war for control of your mobile phone is serious.
State of the Handset
As technology becomes more sophisticated, users are carrying more and more in their hands. Years ago, it would have been unfathomable for users to carry what amounts to a music player, a digital camera, and a PDA in their pockets. Now that’s possible, and there’s a whole lot more being done with the mobile platform. While much of it is still relegated to expensive phones like Nokia’s N95 and the Apple iPhone, technological advances are slowly seeping their way into the lower-class line of telephones that most consumers use. Bigger processors and batteries are needed to work with all of this equipment, and the processors in these phones are increasing in speed as well.
The new hardware has prompted a deluge of new, sophisticated software for mobile phones that helps users take advantage of the new technological power of their phone and increasingly widespread access to the internet. Truly sophisticated internet applications are run best with 3G data plans, which are just appearing on phones that top the lines of American carriers. It will be a little while before full adoption of 3G is achieved on the majority of mobile phones.
Presently, there are four players in the phone OS market, the Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, Blackberry OS, and Palm OS. Symbian is a variant of Linux available on many Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson phones, and the functionality that it gives users is hard to find elsewhere. Oftentimes, however, it proves very difficult for the average user to interact with. Additionally, most Symbian phones are expensive and several must be purchased through the phone manufacturer and not through a carrier. Windows Mobile is spread out on a wide variety of phones on a multitude of carriers. It grants users a traditional experience and tight integration with both the desktop Windows and enterprise-level mail, calendar, etc. RIM’s Blackberry OS, limited to devices manufactured by the company, is in most widespread usage throughout the enterprise level. With incredible tools for the business market, they’ve seen rapid adoption in that field. Palm, who used to be the market’s heavyweight, has now been reduced to a small player.
Source:Rev2
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Texting Injured 6 Million Brits in 2007
Nothing is more embarrassing than having a "walk and text" injury or wounds caused by too much texting or use of mobile phones. According to Daily Star, about six million Brits were injured in 2007 because they were so engrossed with their mobile devices that they became blind to objects around them.
And it gets worse. Injuries range from a simple broken nose to fractured skulls. Conducted by phone directory service 118118 among 1,055 people, the study reveals that one in 10 Brits stumbled into usually harmless objects on the streets such as bollards, lampposts, trash bins and other distractions.
While the simplest solution is to keep your eyes on the road, there are now plans to set up "mobile lanes" or the so-called cycle lane for text addicts. Even 118118 plans to attach pads to lampposts to avoid these hysterically upsetting blunders.
Source: Mobile-Weblog
euro disposable cell phone coming to Europe
Telecoms.com reports that a European distributor has made an initial test purchase order of 10,000 Hop-On disposable low end GSM cell phones with no LCD screen.
The initial purchase order of 10,000 phones will begin shipping out within 60 days, Peter Michaels, president of Hop-on said. This particular model uses the Texas Instruments technology chip set and operates in the 900/1800MHz band.