The Microsoft plan regarding cell phones market is clear: the company wants to win a share of the market segment that Apple has. For that reason, Microsoft announced that this year, it will offer a complete internet browser for mobile phones. The company wants to follow the steps of the iPhone, which is well-known for its great capacity to display web pages.
Microsoft pointed out that its browser for cell phones (Internet Explorer Mobile) will be available to the makers in the third quarter of this year and the first device with this program will be put on sale later this year.
The company also announced a new version of its operating system for mobile devices (Windows Mobile 6.1). It will make easier the menu navigation in those devices, according to a Reuters report.
Microsoft has had great results with the operating system for smartphones which have computer-like feature, but the company has competitors like Apple, Research In Motion (Blackberry maker), and Palm.
On 17 March, the European Commission decided to inscribe the DVB-H system (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) for TV (by phones and other mobile devices) in the European Union standards registration.
Once the standard is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the EU countries will be required to encourage the use of DVB-H, which is developed by a consortium headed by Nokia. Currently, there are other standards like DMB (developed in South Korea), and a third standard developed by Qualcomm (an American company).
However, the decision doesn’t prevent the commercialization of the other systems, but it grants an important advantage to DVB-H because the EU countries are required to guarantee its presence.
Brussels presented its decision, previously consulted with national governments and the European Parliament, as an incentive for the development of the mobile television services because it guarantees a homogeneous market for the operators.
At the moment, it is not a commercial device but it could be soon. The technology exists. Nokia has built a concept that demonstrates how future cell phones might be stretchable and flexible in order to allow the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. The concept is named Nokia Morph.
Nokia Morph would use nanotechnology to give a flexible body with transparent display and self-cleaning surfaces. The device also would include a keyboard and a touchpad to satisfy the user’s needs. “We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The techniques we are developing might one day mean new possibilities in terms of the design and function of mobile devices”, Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, said.
The concept device will be on display from February 24 to May 12, 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and it is part of the “Design and Elastic Mind” exhibition.
Nanotechnology is a possibility to integrate complex functions to current devices and the advantage would be the low cost. These technologies can be implemented within the next seven years.
Yesterday, Apple introduced the new (and more expensive) models of its iPhone mobile handset and iPod media player with double the memory of previous versions. In this way, the company alter its lineup for the second time in six months in order to attract the consumers.
Apple has sold more than 4 million iPhones since the launching last June, and now the company has explained that the iPhone will be available with 16GB memory, and the iPod Touch comes in a new 32GB model. Both devices will be sold for US$ 499. The new iPod can store about 7,000 songs, while the new iPhone can store about 3,500 songs.
The company will continue selling its former iPhone with 8 GB for US$ 399 and two old versions of the iPod Touch, allowing 8GB and 16GB of storage space, for US$ 399 and US$ 299, respectively.
The new models were launched while Apple stocks are down temporarily (so far, -34% this year) due to recession fears in US economy and uncertainty about how a recession could affect the sales of these devices. While iPod unit sales growth slowed last quarter (2007), the product generated more revenue because users bought more expensive models, according to Bloomberg.
Recently, Reed Hastings, the Netflix CEO, commented that although Blu-Ray has the advantage, the war with HD DVD is not over yet and it will continue for a while.
Hastings said that Blu-Ray’s adoption by consumers would accelerate the end of that war but it is not still happening and “definitely the winds are shifting to Blu-ray but nothing done yet”… and he explains his reasons for thinking that way. The executive said that in order to get to the point when Sony would kill the Toshiba HD DVD because Blu-Ray would be widely accepted, it is necessary that the Blu-Ray players fall below $200 just like Toshiba players, and it hasn’t happened yet.
And another event to end the war would be the Blu-Ray’s adoption by Universal Studios and Paramount. None of the two things have happened and the war will continue, according to Hasting.
Netflix, which offers movie rentals by mail in United States, supports both formats.
GM Using Technology Enterprise-Wide to Visualize Software Applications Before Development (Centre Daily Times):
Further harnessing IT for operational cost efficiency and faster innovation, Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, and iRise, the world's leading provider of visualization software, announced today that General Motors is deploying, enterprise-wide, visual modeling technology that simulates the user experience of software applications ...
The Microsoft plan regarding cell phones market is clear: the company wants to win a share of the market segment that Apple has. For that reason, Microsoft announced that this year, it will offer a complete internet browser for mobile phones. The company wants to follow the steps of the iPhone, which is well-known for its great capacity to display web pages.
On 17 March, the European Commission decided to inscribe the DVB-H system (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) for TV (by phones and other mobile devices) in the European Union standards registration.
Yesterday, Apple introduced the new (and more expensive) models of its iPhone mobile handset and iPod media player with double the memory of previous versions. In this way, the company alter its lineup for the second time in six months in order to attract the consumers.
Recently, Reed Hastings, the 
