Archive for July 22nd, 2010

By July 22, 2010 Read More →

Motorola and Huawei in legal battle

huawei-v-moto I suppose it has been a few days since we last heard about one mobile phone company suing another so it was about time for another one.

This time it’s Motorola versus Huawei. US based Motorola filed a complaint against Hauwei with the federal court in Chicago and claim that of of their former engineers leaked information to Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei.

Huawei said the lawsuit was groundless.

"Huawei will vigorously defend itself against baseless allegations," the company said in an emailed statement.

Even if there is any truth to the claim, obviously I have no idea, I’m really not sure how far Motorola think they are likely to get with any kind of lawsuit as if the case goes through the courts in the US any decision that’s may be made cannot be enforced in China where Huawei are based.

Since at least 2006, Motorola had required its engineers to sign a confidentiality agreement, according to the filing.

 

Posted by: Matt

Posted in: News
By July 22, 2010 Read More →

Mobile centres to rival Tesco after collapse of Orange concessions trial

 screen

 

Asda is poised to launch its own phone shops in a bid to rival Tesco and Carphone Warehouse after its concessions deal with Orange collapsed last month.

The retail giant is planning to roll out in-store Asda mobile centres selling both prepaid and contract handsets on a range of networks. One Asda source told Mobile: ‘Rather than just offering Orange concessions, Asda wants to open mobile centres in store a bit like Carphone Warehouse stores which will include a number of operators, like Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, all within a mobile phone centre.’

The news comes just weeks after trials of two Orange concessions at Asda collapsed. Sources said the two concessions at Asda’s Manchester and Milton Keynes superstores delivered little additional footfall for Asda and poor returns for Orange. Staff at the Manchester Eastlands store told Mobile: ‘Orange just wasn¹t selling very much so the trial was stopped a month ago.’

One source at the Milton Keynes store added: ‘Orange and Asda failed to come to an agreement about reletting the concession space after our store refit was completed so the trial was ended.’ It is thought that the mobile centres will be placed in all 36 Asda supercentres first, with the possibility of a further roll out across its 320 smaller stores.

Industry sources said Asda’s move mirrors its supermarket rival Tesco’s mobile strategy. CCS Insight MD Shaun Collins said: ‘This does not surprise me. Walmart is big in the mobile sector in the US and this will be a competitive reaction to Tesco.’

‘Mobile is one of the fastest growing sectors in the marketplace and one which pulls people in store. It is strategically important to Asda as part of its non-grocer strategy.’ An Orange spokeswoman said: ‘Our pilot has been finalised and we are now reviewing how to strongly position our two brands in Asda.’

Technorati Tags: ,,
Posted in: Phones
By July 22, 2010 Read More →

Shorter term contracts have doubled from 11% to 22%, according to GfK

12-month-contracts

Sales of 12 month Sim-only deals are rocketing, according to analyst firm GfK. Latest figures from GfK’s retail and technology division show that take up of 12 month Sim-only contracts doubled from 11% to 22% between January and May this year.
GfK senior account manager Cedric Mertes said: ‘When we looked at the contract Sim segment, we saw amazing growth of the 12 months area – 11% in Jan to 22% in May – which shows that customers are obviously keen to commit for a shorter period of time.’
Mertes said the figures indicate that 12 month Sim-only contracts are attracting consumers who are happy to keep their existing phones rather than migrate at the end of their contracts to the latest handsets.
The rise is also partly due to operators attempting to retain customers who are reluctant to sign up to 24 month contracts, said Mertes.
‘Operators are pushing 24 month contracts as they look to keep customers on their networks for longer, but at the same time they don’t want to lose those customers who don’t want to be tied in for that long, or who aren’t as interested in the new handsets. So a lot of operators are now offering 12 month Sim-only deals.’
Mertes said iPhone users could also be driving the rise in the 12 month deals.
‘It is possible that operators have launched some 12 month Sim-only deals for iPhone users coming to the end of their 18 month contract who are happy to carry on using the model they have.’
Neil Mawston, analyst at Strategy Analytics, said he expects the rise in Sim-only deals to slow down.
‘Sim-only deals have been growing in the past couple of years. For operators they mean lower acquisition costs and subsidies but as they also increase the potential for churn, Sim-only can be a double edged sword.
However, I think it is coming close to its peak – there is only so much of the market that is going to take on these deals and then you will see operators encouraging their Sim-only customers onto 18 and 24 month deals – it’s cyclical.’

[Source]

Posted in: Phones
By July 22, 2010 Read More →

BlackBerry 9800 set up video

blackberry logo

solomondrin.net has released yet another video of the BlackBerry 9800, this time of it booting and going through the set up process. If you are not a BlackBerry fan then this may not sound very exciting but if like me you are a bit of a BlackBerry addict then this video will have you salivating at the lips. The boot up screen is absolutely awesome.

Check it out below and please let us have your thoughts on the forum.

Posted in: News
By July 22, 2010 Read More →

Skype updated for iOS4

skype

If like me, you have Skype installed on your iPhone but tend not to use it much due to it not running in the background your worries are over. Skype have released an update to fix this issue. Now iPhone iOS4 users can have Skype running in the background all the time if they so desire. Bonus.

Head into the app store on your iPhone and check for updates for the download.

Posted by: James

Posted in: News
By July 22, 2010 Read More →

Nokia X3 unboxing video

x3 The Nokia X3 has been around for a while now but we constantly get asked about it, possibly because it’s just got the circa £100 on PAYG mark. So we decided we had better get around to unboxing and reviewing it.

Being part of the X Series range, the device is based around music and although fairly basic it does come with a very affordable price tag.

Running Symbian Series 40 the user interface will be familiar to Nokia users and therefore navigating the phones menu will be a piece of cake. Unlike the Nokia X6, we have previously reviewed, this one comes with a proper hardware keypad which most Nokia users are used too.

With its music controls located along side the screen could the Nokia X3 be a good alternative to carrying an MP3 player? Only one way to find out. Lets unbox and put it to the test.

Posted in: Videos/Unboxings
https://www.ukmeds.co.uk/surgical-face-masks