• French

The Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia, has just reported its finnancial results for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Results above expectations

Despite the economic crisis that also affects the area of mobile telephony, it appears that these results are promising, with profits soaring (948 million euro, +64 a year) on the last three quarters of 2009. The world’s leading mobile also manages to win market share, it had increased 37% in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 39% in 2009. The firm has no plan to keep it in the coming months and wants to increase the number of terminals of the brand placed on the market this year by 10%.

Smartphones have contributed to this success

Indeed, the last quarter of 2009, Nokia sold 20.8 million smartphones compared to 15.1 million in the 4th quarter of 2008. This allows the firm to have a market share in this sector which has increased from 35% to 40%.

In sum, Nokia sold 126.9 million mobiles in 2009, representing an increase of 12% a year. However, it is not that easy for the company, whose quarterly revenue was down 5% to 11.99 billion Euros.

It is a satisfying result for the shareholders who benefit from their profits due largely to the success of smartphones.

Note

Nokia also announced the creation of a smartphone division to develop and improve its offering in this segment.

Source: zdnet.fr

• French

Does the Chinese government try to minimize friction with Google?

According to the speech of the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Communication Technologies in China, Google’s Android will not be rejected, if it is “in compliance with Chinese laws and regulations and to cooperate with operators”, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is important to remember that the three main operators in China are owned by the state.

This is a way to appease the spirits with Google, noting that its choices will have no impact with respect to its presence in the Chinese market. Last week, Google had wanted to delay the launch of two Android smartphones Motorola and Samsung as it has considered not to be able to guarantee “the best user experience”.

Bill Gates’ speech, a reassuring solution:

Indeed, last Monday, Bill Gates said on ABC that “Chinese efforts to censor internet are limited. It is easy to circumvent”. He added that other states such as Germany practice censorship by filtering access to Nazi propaganda. He believes that people has to make a choice if they want to submit to the laws of the countries where they are or not. In case of negative answer, they have to “stop being present there”, he said.

This speech was approved by Chinese people who said that it will reduce friction with Google.

Source: generation-nt.com

• French

Nokia, the Finnish mobile giant has recently announced the launch of the new version of its smartphone X6 under Symbian S60 Fifth Edition environment.

This new mobile phone has improved compared to the version that was marketed in late 2009.

Indeed, the internal memory is divided by two with 16GB instead of 32GB. For the rest, the phone hasn’t changed and remains the same physically but also technologically highly developed.

Thus, the Nokia X6 is equipped with:

- Compatibility GSM / GPRS / EDGE quad band (850 / 900 / 1800 and 1900 MHz)

- UMTS / HSDPA tri-band (900, 1900 and 2100 MHz)

- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g

- Chip for GPS navigation

- The large LCD 3.2 inch capacitive touch

- Digital Camera 5 Megapixel sensor

- Autofocus

- Digital zoom x4

- Dual LED Flash

- Media Player

- FM radio with RDS

- The 3.5mm audio output for headphones

- USB 2.0 connection

- Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity

The battery that comes with the device is a Lithium-Ion battery . It can provide up to 11.5 hours calls 2G, 6 hours on 3G, 450 hours standby, 35 hours audio playback and 4.5 hours video playback.

It will be marketed in the first quarter 2010 in France and sold 399€ SIM free without operators subsides.

Source: businessmobile.fr

• French

Photoshop.com Mobile is an Adobe application that was sold last October for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This free application has just become version 1.1.

Indeed, it has improved, the essential novelty is the ability to read and share vidéos from the terminal by connecting to your personnal space on photoshop.com .

Moreover, this function is supposed to be faster for viewing and editing images. Regarding images editig, photoshop.com service adjusts the sharpness of an image using two fingers on the mobile phone screen.

Finally, this application proposes 8 new models of management to customize photos. However, it is available in English yet.

Adobe said in its press release that since its launch, Photoshop.com Mobile for the iPhone has been downloaded 6.5 million times worldwide.

Source: asp-php.net

• French

Since the launch of Google’s first smartphone in the U.S., the Nexus One, users have found that the voice recognition function is stabilized.

This service only works in English, Chinese or Japanese (it doesn’t take French into account for the moment). Moreover, it has an integrated module of censorship. Thus, if the user wants to dictate a sentence with an expletive, the world in question will become “#”.

The Reuters news agency has inerviewed a representative of Google who said that it’s due to a determination of the search engine to avoid confusiion, displaying by error aan oath that would have been poorly recognized by voice. He noted that the goal of this function is to filter out inappropriate content or offensive because the company wants to avoid situations where the mobile could recognize words innocently but which become curses.

Users of the Nexus One should therefore remain polite until the voice recognition technology is perfected!

Source: businessmobile.fr

• French

Would Google surpassed by Nokia? For several days, Nokia ’s announcement that offers free shipping for pedestrian and traffic navigation to the new version of its application Ovi Maps has led to a “buzz” on Internet, the choice of the Finnish company are clear and precise.

Not long ago, Google was the first to provide froo terminals for Android 2.0 and above, the software browser Google MapsNavigation Navigation. This event had a significant impact in the area of GPS navigation particulary by reducing the commodity exchange price of the two main market players, Garmin and Tom-Tom.

Since then, Nokia has developped a cons-offense: the new version of its software browser Ovi Maps for Symbian will now offer a free traffic and pedestrain navigation, abandoning the subscribtion model.

So, it enables users to enjoy a sophisticated navigation system on their mobile phone, which offers detailed maps covering 180 coutries, a voice guidance in 46 languages and 74 countries. There is also traffic information, which is available in 10 countries.

After the launch of Google Maps Navigation and Now Ovi Maps, market players in the sector of GPS navigation will have a lot of work to maintain their business model which is made of subscriptions and selective access to the mapping.

Source: zdnet.fr

• French

This is a subject of controversy in the world for 6 months. Nevertheless, Benson Lin, the president of Asustek’s mobile division has confirmed this news: an Android smartphone Garmin-Asus will be presented at the 3GSM World Mobile Congress in Barcelona next February.

Since the pooling of resources of the specialist of GPS equipment Garmin and the electronics group Asustek, many projects have been materialized.  First, in early 2009 they sold the Garmin-Asus G60 subsystem Lynux. Then, shortly after the Garmin-Asus M20 subsystem Windows Mobile.

Garmin-Asus has to make some announcements during the Congress in Barcelona, including the launch of 4 or 5 smartphones in the year 2010.

We have no details about the characteristics of this new Android smartphone, it’s a great moment of suspence and expectation for professional in mobile phone industry.

In addition, the 3GSM Congress will be a very god opportunity to introduce a new smartphone running Windows Mobile 6.5.3: the Garmin-Asus M10.

Accessories for the Garmin-Asus M10 are convenient and very effective, this mobile phone is equipped with:

- display 3.5 WVGA (800 x 480 pixels)

- a 5 megapixels AFN

- a qualcomm 600 MHz processor

- a GPS module

It should be sold very soon for the equivalent of $430.

Source: digitimes.com 

• French

Indeed, one of the leader in computer peripherals, Logitech has recently purpose a free service that turns an iPhone or an iPod Touch in a mouse/keyboard wireless. The goal is to provide an application that can control a Mac or a Windows PC from an iPhone terminal which is on the same Wi-Fi network.

This feature will be very effective to assist you in PowerPoint / Keynote, but also to control your Mac remote. So, if you’re a film bluff and you’re used to watch movies on your Mac, your iPhone can now replace a remote control Windows Media Center.

The operation of the device is simple and ingenious.

First, you have to install the Logitech Mouse Touch on Windows Server and the name is the same whether you use a Mac. Then, you have just to download Touch Mouse, the application iPhone / iPod Touch is available for ten days on the Apple Store.

Therefore, you have a handset incorporating three click buttons with vertical and horizontal scroll with two fingers.

Note:

- If you use a Mac: the AZERTY keyboard has the keys Ctrl, Option and Command.

- If you use a Windows PC: the AZERTY keyboard has the keys Ctrl, Alt and Windows.

Despite the fact that it is a very useful service, the arrival of a security system for an access by password to the server software will strengthen even more its reputation and credibility with users.

Source: businessmobile.fr

• French

The launch of the first Archos mobile phone seems to be delayed. Indeed, last September, the Archos’ director, Henri Crohas, announced that its Android smartphone, the “Phone Tablet”, should be exposed during the high-tech congress CES in Las Vegas and marketed in early 2010. However, the smartphone hasn’t been introduced at the show.

This phone is equipped with different accessories that are already known:

- a touchscreen of 4.3 inches (854 x 480 pixels)

- a TI ARM Cortex processor clocked at 1 Ghz  and a compatible 3G+

- all for a thickness of  just 10mm

According to an interview with Henri Crohas, the director said in the Expansion that if Archos has recently raised nearly 17 million euros, it won’t be easier for the brand, best known for its Internet tablets that for its smartphones, to enter the mobile market.

A question still remains in abeyance: when do these parterships with mobile operators will be signed?

Because of the fact that competition in the matter of Android smartphones is becoming increasingly fierce, four of the five global manufacturers of mobile phones suggest terminals which are equipped with Google’s mobile system.

What would be the Archos choices, it is only with the time that it will be unveiled to the public?

Source: generation-nt.com

• French

According to the webzine dailyphoneblog, Sony Ericsson is about to market a new Windows Phone.

This new smartphone “Fath” is reserved for professionals, because it has a QWERTY keyboard.

It is equiped with different accessories and ingenious practices:

- a touchscreen QVGA 2.4 inches,

- a Windows Mobile 6.5.3,

- a chip A-GPS,

- a digital camera of 3 megapixels,

- a Micro SD memory slot,

- Compatibility withh quad-band GSM networks, GPRS and EDGE, dual band and 3G/3G+.

This new device is in the range of ecological mobile “Green Heart” of Sony Ericsson, it should be officially unveiled next month at the 3GSM World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.

Source: generation-nt.com