Sony Ericsson Adds 5 Million Songs To Mobile PlayNow Service

Sony Ericsson announced the expansion of their PlayNow arena app today at the MidemNet conference in Cannes, France. Mark Wilson of Gizmodo relayed news this afternoon that the “over-the-air”(OTA) music service has signed with 10 major record labels such as Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and more to add 5 million music tracks to its library.

The service is also adding a new feature named TrackID to PlayNow arena, allowing users to identify songs they hear on the radio or in a coffee shop, and subsequently purchase the songs from online catalog wirelessly. They will also be able to browse charts of songs that PlayNow users have searched for. Specific searches as to one’s location will be possible.

For the mobile gamers amongst Sony Ericsson’s customer base, 250 new games have also been added to the service from companies such as EA Games, Gameloft, and THQ. This gives Play Now arena one of the largest catalogs of mobile gaming in the industry.

Residents of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland can expect the new service in May 2008, with more European markets by the end of June. Americans and Asians will have to wait until the last half of the year to enjoy the newest perks of the service.

Sony Ericsson cuts deals with 10 music labels

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson said it had signed deals with 10 music labels to add content to its PlayNow service, which lets users download music via their mobile phones.
Sony Ericsson, owned by Ericsson and Sony Corp., said the deals added 5 million new tracks to its catalogue.
The venture said in a statement late on Sunday it had signed deals with Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard, IODA, The PocketGroup, Hungama, X5Music, Bonnier Amigo and VidZone.
Sony Ericsson, which made the announcement at a trade show in Cannes, France, said it was negotiating further deals with regional labels.
The company introduced PlayNow in February 2004 as a way to listen to and then purchase ringtones for mobile phones. Since then, it as expanded the service, allowing full music tracks and games to be downloaded and other features. It said PlayNow was available in 32 countries.

Nokia to Share Revenue of Bundled Music With Mobile Operators

Jan. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nokia Oyj, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, will share revenue with phone operators from a program to sell handsets with unlimited music access, Nokia's head of entertainment said.

``In those cases where we cooperate with operators, there will be an arrangement so they can get a piece,'' said Tero Ojanpera, an executive vice president and a member of Nokia's executive board, in an interview today in Cannes, France.

The Finnish company unveiled in December the ``Comes With Music'' program, which will allow customers to buy a phone with a year of unlimited access to millions of tracks included in the purchase price. Nokia agreed to offer tracks from Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, and is in talks with other major labels.

Mobile-phone service providers including Vodafone Group Plc and France Telecom SA's Orange sell music downloads to subscribers to help lift average revenue per user. Nokia's shift into services has caused concern among phone companies about how revenue is spread among the players.

``A lot of phone companies have been doing some phones with music, but they have not been revenue drivers for the music industry,'' said Ojanpera, who spoke at the Midem music industry meeting in Cannes.

``Selling mobile music in a big way does not exist today,'' Ojanpera said. ``Music has been used more as a marketing tool. Creating a new business that will be, in years to come, billions of dollars is something completely different,'' he said.

Tracks downloaded on the ``Comes with Music'' program will be protected by digital-rights management software, Ojanpera said. While users will be able to share music files between their handset and computer, the files will not be transferable between computers, according to the executive.

DRM

Universal Music Group, Nokia's partner, supports such copy- limiting technology, known as DRM.

``Our policy is still that we are still strongly attached to DRM especially for advertising-based models and subscription- based models,'' Vivendi Chief Executive Officer Jean-Bernard Levy said at Midem yesterday.

Ojanpera declined to say what the cost of the phone and music bundle will be, or what other labels have agreed to make their music available for ``Comes with Music.''

The Nokia executive said the service won't be available on existing phones.

``This is something new,'' Ojanpera said. ``You actually buy a device that is complete. You can't buy the same device without the content.''

Pink Sony Ericsson W580i, love is in the air and pink everywhere

Valentine is around the corner and AT&T is dressing up the Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman phone in pink. That’s right, this slim slider music-centric phone is all pink. It features a built-in FM radio, Shake Control to skip or shuffle tracks with the flick of our wrist, 2MP camera, Memory Stick Micro expandable memory card slot and stereo Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP.

Nokia buys Qt developers Trolltech

Norwegian company Trolltech, who develops the Qt platform-independent C++ framework used, for example, as a basis for KDE Unix/Linux desktops, as well as the Qtopia Linux application platform for mobile devices, has changed hands: Finnish world market leader for mobile phones Nokia, who recently made the headlines in Germany because of the controversial closure of its mobile phone factory in Bochum, is taking over the software vendor. Nokia is paying 105 million euros or 16 Norwegian kroner (1.98 euros) per share for Trolltech, who has also already developed the Greenphone reference platform for Linux Smartphones. Trolltech's management has already accepted the offer; Nokia is said to already have secured about 66.43 percent of Trolltech's shares. Trolltech's board of directors has made a recommendation to the rest of the share holders to accept Nokia's offer.

For some time, Nokia has worked towards becoming more independent of mobile hardware sales and generate revenue from applications for mobile devices by offering applications, internet solutions and, for example, music services for mobile devices. Therefore, Nokia announced that by acquiring Trolltech it intended to reinforce its own platform-independent software strategy both for mobile devices and for desktop applications. Developers were to be able to create applications which work identically both as web applications and on local Nokia devices as well as PCs. Nokia also intended to focus on areas where it could stand out from its competitors. Platform-independent software based on Nokia's software platforms encouraged innovation and enabled Web 2.0 technology for mobile devices, Nokia announced.

Nokia intends to continue to offer and develop Trolltech products. Trolltech technology would also continue to be offered both commercially and covered by Open Source licenses. Only recently, Trolltech announced that it would also license the Qt framework under GPLv3, and several other Open Source licenses are available for Qt and Qtopia. Nokia in turn became a member of the Linux Foundation - an organisation promoting the use of Linux and Open source founded by Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group - last April. The source code of Nokia's mobile browser engine, for example, was already published under BSD license in mid 2006

Midem: Sony Ericsson to conclude partnerships with record companies

At music business fair Midem, mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson has announced partnerships with music labels for its PlayNow mobile download platform. According to a press release, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard, IODA, The PocketGroup, Hungama, X5 Music, Bonnier Amigo and VidZone will together contribute a pool of around 5 million songs.


PlayNow was launched in February 2004 as a platform for ringtone downloads. It has since been expanded and aims to launch as a comprehensive mobile music download station, PlayNow Arena, in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland in May of this year. Further European countries are to follow later in the year. By the end of 2008, Sony Ericsson hopes to have the new service available in around 30 countries.

Finnish competitor Nokia already has a mobile music download platform, currently available in the UK only. It is currently looking for further partners from the music industry and hopes to extend its services to other European countries in the coming months.

Sony Ericsson unveils headsets and GPS addon in Berlin

Of course nothing complements a bevy of handset announcements like a similarly sized list of accessories, and Sony Ericsson has done itself proud today in that regard. Headsets — both Bluetooth and wired — were the order of the day with a smattering of GPS, desk stand, and FM transmitter thrown in for good measure. The HBH-DS200 is a pretty standard Bluetooth headset fare with shirt clip, a 3.5 mm jack to let you swap in your own cans (fantastic feature if you have a nice set at home) and up to 7 hours listening time; it’ll ship in box with the W960.

Cellphones are dangerous/not dangerous, hearing loss edition

Apparently, talking on a cellphone for 60 minutes or more per day can result in a partial loss of hearing — at least that’s what some researchers in India are saying. The scientists conducted an experiment to test the correlation of hearing loss to the average use of a cellphone call. The experiment covered 100 participants with cellphone usage ranging from four years and over to just started using a cellphone. The results? Long-time users seemed to suffer some high-frequency hearing loss, usually in their right ears — the ear most commonly used for chatting on the celly. There also seemed to be some correlation between warm, full, or ringing sensations in the ear.

Nokia set to recall millions of mobiles

Nokia, the world's leading maker of mobile phones, said yesterday it would offer free-of-charge replacements for some of its Nokia BL-5C batteries after around 100 incidents of overheating were reported globally. No serious property damage or injuries were reported as a result of the incidents, the Finnish company said in a statement.

The batteries were manufactured by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Company. Nokia has several suppliers for BL-5C batteries who have collectively produced more than 300 million such products, the company said. The product advisory issued applied only to the 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006.
"There have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported," Nokia said, adding that the overheating had occurred while the batteries were being charged.


Nokia mobile phone users were asked to check the 26-character serial number on the back of their phones to compare it with the identification numbers on the Nokia web site www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement or contact a local Nokia call centre.


Last year, Sony recalled more than ten million laptops after it discovered that lithium-ion batteries used in them could overheat and catch fire. The recalls included notebooks made by other major computer makers, including Dell, Lenovo, Apple and Acer.


Nokia sells products in 130 countries and employs 110,000 people worldwide. In the second quarter, it sold 100 million mobile devices. It has about 38 per cent of the global mobile market.

Bollywood Movies go Mobile with GSM Association

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, January 16, 2007 (XTVWorld.Com) -- It's official - Bollywood is going mobile in a big way. Roamware and Hungama Mobile have joined forces with the GSM Association (GSMA) to announce the launch of a 'Mobile Bollywood Initiative' to create short movies tailored for mobile devices, taking the world's largest film industry onto mobile devices all over the globe.

In conjunction with the GSMA, Hungama Mobile and Roamware have teamed up with leading Bollywood film maker, Sanjay Gupta, to premiere three Bollywood short movies for the mobile medium. These films will be premiered at the GSMA's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, which runs from the 12th to 15th of February 2007. The Congress, the largest annual mobile event, is expected to attract over 60,000 attendees from across the global mobile value chain. Bollywood today is the world's largest movie industry, producing more than 1,000 movies a year with an audience of more than 2 billion viewers across 127 countries.

The Mobile Bollywood Initiative builds on the announcement earlier this month that Roamware has become an exclusive sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project, a joint initiative of the GSM Association and the Sundance Institute.

"We are very excited by Roamware and Hungama Mobiles' commitment to bring the spectacle of Bollywood to mobile phones - the fourth screen - at the world's most important mobile industry gathering," said Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSM Association. "The Sundance and Bollywood communities represent some of the most creative, vibrant and diverse talent in the movie world, and we are delighted to be able to showcase these extraordinary films in Barcelona. In doing so, we hope to catalyse a truly compelling mobile entertainment experience for mobile users globally."

"Hungama Mobile has pioneered the delivery of Bollywood entertainment content to the world and has been instrumental in promoting Bollywood in the wireless world. From providing music, imagery, video and games we are now preparing to introduce full features and this project with Sanjay Gupta is a step in the same direction. Hungama Mobile has worldwide exclusive rights to over 70% of Bollywood content on the mobile and digital platforms and this content comes from the world's fastest growing mobile market - India and the most vibrant film industry. We believe it offers tremendous promise as a content category for carriers in over 125 countries." said Neeraj Roy, Managing Director & CEO of Hungama Mobile.

"We are honoured to be part of the Sundance Institute and the GSMA's pioneering vision of the distribution of movies via the mobile phone. Bollywood is a huge force in the global film market, and we look forward to helping the mobile industry realise the potential of this partnership," said Bobby Srinivasan, CEO of Roamware.

"Bollywood is a massive presence in the world movie industry, and South Asia represents the fastest growing mobile market in the world. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in a project that has a promise and the potential to create a whole new distribution model for Bollywood cinematic entertainment," said Sanjay Gupta, who is well known for directing several super-hit movies including Kaante and Musafir. "Our project 'Dus Kahaniyah' has been made keeping the mobile and digital medium in mind and the fact that today the market for short films has been given a huge impetus as the quality of video experience on mobile has improved significantly."

Bollywood is one of the fastest growing entertainment industry segments and has an appeal not only for the 140 million mobile phone users in India but for markets across all continents. Indian cinema is now dubbed in over 35 languages and accounts for as much as 18% of theatrical business in markets such as UK. Indian films have made it into the top 10 charts in markets such as USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Singapore and South Africa.

Enhancing Your S60 Device: Part I

Let’s be honest, the mobile phone is a godsend. It takes communication to a higher plane on a daily basis. Most of the time we don’t even realize there’s so much more out there in terms of applications and services that we can use to enhance communication. Here are a few applications you can get for free that will help you stay tuned into the net and keep communication alive!

VoIP and Chat Apps
VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is, simply put, a way to use your mobile to make calls via your mobile internet service. It also enables users to make cheap international calls to landlines and mobiles by using applications such as Skype or any other Internet voice service (SIP-compatible services) such as SIPNET or EuteliaVoIP from non-SIP enabled handsets.

Chatting is a way to keep in touch with friends and family alike using PC chat applications like GTalk, MSN and Yahoo! Messengers. Yes, it's become something we do every day. Chatting isn’t merely a social networking solution but also a way to keep in touch with business clients and such.

Fring is a mobile internet service & community that allows users to stay in touch with almost all the popular social networks (G-Talk, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger and even AOL AIM). It also lets you keep in touch with Skype contacts. Fring allows you to make VoIP calls as well as chat with your IM buddies while on the go. It serves a dual purpose and can be used in areas where Wi-Fi is available (if your phone supports it). This makes the application that much more versatile.

Email is one way to get the message across, but an obviously simpler way is by simply using a chat application. Technology being the way it is, if you have it on your PC it's almost a given that you can have it on your mobile phone as well. Enter eBuddy Chat, application extraordinaire: it supports GTalk, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger, and they can all be used simultaneously.

Another great VoIP application is Gizmo. It’s free too, but does have a certain limitation. Gizmo only allows VoIP calling and chatting with users who have the same app as well as support for Yahoo!, AOL and GTalk. So here's another fully functional chat/VoIP application for your S60 mobile.

Moto Q 9h

Business-class phones are quite the in-thing these days. With demand increasing for more functional devices, phone manufacturers are trying to carve themselves a slice of the pie. The Moto Q9h is Motorola’s offering in this space, having converted the Moto Q (a CDMA phone) into a GSM version. Let’s check out what’s in store.

Design
After the success of the RAZR V8, Motorola's kept up the pace with the Q9. Seeing the brand grow like it did in the past few years, it's clear they have bothered to right a few wrongs, starting from the design of the phones. I have never been a big fan of Motorola phones, but of late even this has managed to change.

The latest offering from Motorola, the Q9, is an attempt to offer a business solution at a serious level. First let’s talk about the design. To begin with, the phone has dimensions of 118 x 67 x 11.8 mm and weighs about 134g. Contrary to what most people would say, the phone isn’t THAT big. I've heard many a comment about its resemblance to a calculator, but this is probably because the form factor doesn’t work for all. For those looking for a full-fledged QWERTY keypad, the Q9 offers responsive keys

The function keys are all placed above the keypad in Motorola’s usual flat-bed style, separated by ridges. Right in the middle you will find the five-way D-pad. For convenience the phone has the volume keys (that will also help you navigate when not playing music) placed on the right side along with the back key and the select key, just in case you want to use the phone with one hand.

The phone has a 2.4-inch TFT display capable of showing 65K colors at 320 x 240 resolution, just like the new iPod classic. To make life easier, a sensor decides the brightness levels for you depending on the light conditions. The iPod-sized screen also gives a good DPI (dot per inch) ratio and keeps the color reproduction quite accurate.

The front area has been given a glossy look, with a shiny black front and rubber finished back that has only the stylized ‘M’ logo and the battery cover. The camera is situated right at the top, along with a flash, but the self-portrait mirror is missing.

The Q9 makes use of a microSD card, the hot swappable slot for which can be found at the back of the handset on the right-hand side of the bend. As a newly adopted standard, the phone comes with a microUSB slot on the left of the phone.