Tonethephone

ZTE to make smartphones mass market

Piggybacking on the announcement that it already has a commercially available Windows 6.5 handset available, China's ZTE  emphasized how it ends to make smartphones genuinely affordable.Figures like 22 per cent of all handsets in 2010 being smartphones and raising that to 40 per cent in 2012.

Danger to be acquired by Microsoft

Rating: It´s all about social networking apparently

I was extremely puzzled when I learnt that Microsoft was going to acquire (for an undisclosed sum) the mobile software specialist firm, Danger.
Microsoft´s Robbie Bach muttered something about social networking at the press conference and the press release which arrived today spells it out more succinctly.

MWC: No UIQ for Windows Mobile

Rating: What’s the point? We really like Symbian

With Motorola, Sony Ericsson and UIQ all sitting at the same table here at the MWC, I had to ask the inevitable question, “Is UIQ going to develop for the Windows Mobile environment?”
UIQ CEO Johan Sandberg’s reply summed it all up. “What and get out of the UI business?” he asked.

Vodafone steals Microsoft exec – Knook

Rating: Didn’t he just present @ MWC?

When the news came through that Vodafone has stolen a key employee from Microsoft, his name – Pieter Knook – sounded awfully familiar. It didn’t take me long to recall that Pieter had played major part in presenting Microsoft’s strategy at MWC. That’s a mere two days before he jumped ship for Vodafone.

Symbian beats Linux challenge

 Symbian's recent announcement that it has sold a total of 30 million handsets in Japan was aimed at shoring up its sales performance. However, it also casts light on how an entrenched mobile OS supplier – like Symbian – will cope with the pressure from the likes of Google Android.

Symbian quoted figures from Techno Systems Research which show growth from 50 to 65 per cent of all NTT DoCoMo's 3G sales in 2007. Symbian achieved this figure even though it is competing against a version of Linux.

That version of Linux comes from Montavista and is not only specified by NTT DoCoMo but the operator has invested in Montavista, too.