Skype for Symbian Phones (Nokia)

One day after Skype yanked support for Windows and Java mobiles, citing a lack of consistent quality across handsets, the proprietary VoIP outfit is showing its love for Symbian. Skype’s free mobile app for Nokia’s Symbian OS has left the beta stage and is now available directly from the mobile Ovi Store or alternatively the Skype website. Skype for Symbian will run on any Nokia smartphone using Symbian^1, the latest version of the mobile OS. (A list of the compatible devices is available here). The app works over both a 3G mobile data connection or WiFi, and it allows users to make free Skype-to-Skype calls across the globe, along with gratis instant messaging, text messaging, and picture and video sharing.

Earlier this month, Skype announced a partnership with the mobile carrier Verizon to make a similar smartphone app for select BlackBerry and Android phones on Verizon’s network. It would seem as VoIP applications spread across more mobile devices, service providers must warm up to the idea that data plans will replace voice as the main source of revenue. Skype already runs on the iPhone over WiFi only, although a 3G-enabled version is expected soon. The company said "soon" it will update the Symbian app so that it will work on Symbian mobiles from other manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson. ®

 

Source : TheRegister.co.uk

Image Source : Skype Xtras

What the iPhone Could’ve Been !

If Apple had held an iPhone design contest, this is what the device could have looked like — iPhone V.2 ?

Wiimote-Style Mobile Phones

According to T3, “GestureTek Mobile is turning your handset into a Wiimote, by having the front-mounted camera acting as a sensor, detecting movement.” Video after the break. We also guided Crash Bandicoot down a ski slope by tilting our phone, and played a shaving game where you cut a man’s face if you’re not accurate enough.

Motorola Zante

Hitting T-Mobile this October is Motorola’s latest handset, the Zanta. At $269, it features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 1.3-megapixel camera, QWERTY keypad, EDGE, miniSD card slot, 128MB built-in memory, and Bluetooth.Even while it is as gleaming and shares the same EDGE connectivity (this time by T-Mobile), it doesn’t seem to compete with the [iPhone], including only 128MB of internal Flash RAM. Its only expansion slot just can handle MiniSD cards up to 2GB.

Motorola to unleash Razr 2 this weekend

There is no other cellphone manufacturer that so desperately needs a winner in its cellphone lineup. As successful as the first generation Razr phone was – the company has sold more than 100 million of the series – so disastrous is the company’s current situation of financials and market shares. The company lost $158 million in the second quarter of this year and its market share in the global cellphone arena slipped by 31.6% over the second quarter of 2006 – and Motorola is the only top-5 phone manufacturer facing retreating unit shipments at this time.

In this view, the Razr 2 does not arrive a day too early. The cellphone will be rolled out by Alltel, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and Verizon Wireless over the next 14 days, with Sprint and Verizon Wireless stores beginning to offer the phone this weekend. Sprint will be selling the device for $250 with a 2-year contract, AT&T and Verizon will be charging $300. Unlocked phones also have popped up around the Internet with prices ranging from the suggested retail price of $799.95 to some stores selling the devices for as low as $470.

The official product names of the phone will be “V9” (3G HSDPA), “V9m” (3G EVDO CDMA) and “V8″(GSM).

The Razr 2 is yet another flip phone, but it is 2 mm thinner than the first generation Razr. The phone has a much more expensive feel to it than the first Razr and introduces a range of new materials. It is built using steel for the internal frame; aluminum, magnesium and plastic parts are visible to the eye on the outside. The company claims that the casing of the phone is scratch-resistant, with the lens cover being made with chemically hardened glass. Motorola has put a lot effort into increasing the subjective value perception of the Razr phone.

At the core of each phone is a 500 MHz ARM11 processor, which Motorola says is about 10 times faster than the original Razr CPU. The feature set also includes a 2.2” QVGA display (320×240 pixel), a 2-megapixel camera with multi-shot capability, 512 MB or 2 GB of integrated memory, a micro USB port support USB 2.0, physical “vibrating” feedback in response to finger taps, Windows Media (Janus DRM) audio playback capability as well as 176×144 pixel video playback at 15 fps. The device runs on a Linux/Java platform with a newly designed user interface that, according to Motorola, allows users to find their contacts faster than before.

Nokia adds in Microsoft PlayReady DRM

Nokia phones are on track to carry support for Microsoft‘s PlayReady DRM technology by next year, to help tackle the growing desire for multimedia content on mobile phones.

 

“People are increasingly using their mobile devices for enjoying digital content, such as music, games, videos and photos,” said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president of Multimedia Experiences at Nokia.

 

“By adding support for Microsoft PlayReady technology, we are enabling service providers to offer a wide range of content and create truly compelling experiences across mobile devices, personal computers and online services. We plan to support PlayReady across a range of S60 and Series 40 devices starting in 2008.”

 

The technology supports a wide range of audio and video formats including Windows Media Audio (WMA), Windows Media Video (WMV), AAC, AAC+, AMR and H.264.

 

As part of the agreement, Nokia and Microsoft will also collaborate on finding ways to make it easier and faster for users to access a range of content using mobile devices.

 

Nokia hopes that by supporting PlayReady, it will be easier for content owners and service providers to offer premium digital content by increasing its range of DRM protection options.

 

“Through our collaboration with Nokia, we aim to deliver a compelling platform that offers consumers seamless access to virtually any type of digital content they want,” said Amir Majidimehr, corporate vice president of the Consumer Media Technology Group at Microsoft.

 

“Nokia’s breadth of offering in this space, coupled with core digital media technology from Microsoft in the form of PlayReady, will bring new mobile entertainment scenarios to life for millions of consumers around the world.”

 

Microsoft released the PlayReady Porting Kit for mobile devices in early August 2007, and expects the first services using the PlayReady technology to appear in 2008.

 

In addition, PlayReady is designed to be fully backward-compatible with Windows Media DRM 10, which means that devices supporting PlayReady can access existing Windows Media DRM-based content as well as new content services.

Nokia and Microsoft agree deal to boost file-sharing

Mobile phone maker Nokia is to use Microsoft’s copy protection software to boost the use of file sharing between phones in a new move to generate revenue.

The world’s largest cellphone supplier will build Microsoft’s digital rights management (DRM) technology into its software, used on all Nokia phones.

In 2005 the two companies signed their first co-operation agreement to take Windows Media Player on to Nokia phones, raising eyebrows at the time as the two had been fierce competitors in the mobile software industry.

In June this year, Nokia said it would reshape its organisation to better focus on software and services. As mobile phone prices fall, handset vendors are looking to generate new revenue from software operations.

Music has been the main driver for mobile entertainment so far, but a new boost to the market is expected from breakthrough of mobile television broadcasts.

‘Mobile television, that’s going to be a much more mainstream thing than today’s entertainment features,’ said Chadd Knowlton, general manager for content access and protection at Microsoft.