Nokia N93 GSM Phone Review
Nokia N93 is a landmark not only for the Finnish company, but also for the whole industry, to say the least of it. That’s because it opens the epoch of new video recording functions in mobile handsets. Of course, the option to record video appeared long before the Nokia N93, practically together with built-in cameras. But the time moved on, cameras passed the VGA barrier, then the 1 Mp line, and now even 3 Mp do not seem strange. A good photo taken with a modern phone does not differ that much from a photo taken by a point-and-shoot camera (we speak about regular users, professionals will tell the difference at once). But what about video? It’s a logical next step, required by users. Decent lenses, flash cards that can store several gigabytes of data – all is ready to go to the video level. But the manufacturers do not seem to be in a hurry. For example, Sony Ericsson K790i/K800i is an excellent device, it shoots 3 Mp photos of very good quality. But its video functions are still in embryo: ridiculous 176×144, 10 frames per second, you cannot possibly watch it without tears. The situation with other popular models is better, but not good enough. Manufacturers were most likely reluctant to improve video functions for the lack of competition. And now we have some ground to say that manufacturers will start the race not only for megapixels, but also for video quality. They will play right in the hands of us, consumers. But let’s be consistent.
The first thing, except the clam-shell design, that catches your eye is dimensions of this device. The phone is really large and heavy: it weighs 180 g, its dimensions are 118.2 x 55.5 x 28.2 mm. But you shouldn’t be surprised: it’s the first model with such features, it’s intended for people, who’ll appreciate solely its functions.
The primary 240 x 320 display supports 262144 colors, it fairs well under sunlight and offers very good angles of view. They are important for this model because of various phone modes with different positions of the display.
Display is secured on a very interesting hinge, which provides four positions: closed, fully open (traditional for clam-shells), camera mode (you must swivel the screen through a right angle) and the viewing or gaming mode (display is near the keypad). We’ll describe these modes later. Let’s examine the exterior at first.
The keypad is divided into two parts, each of which has metal borders. The group of digit keys is below. Everything is clear about them. The upper group contains a metal button-joystick (there is no joystick as such — there is a button in the center, rimmed with four directions), with four soft buttons around it (standard Nokia buttons). Below are four functional keys (edit, menu, quick start, delete). The keypad layout is well thought-out, a number of accidental presses on the joystick is kept to minimum.
There is a special recess under the keypad for the projection on the display. It’s intended to avoid backlash and protect the attachment from breaking. There are two soft keys, used in camera and view modes, speaker, secondary camera for video calls, and a LED above the display.
The secondary display is on the cover of the phone – 1.1″, 128 x 36, 65 536 colors, backlight. In idle mode it displays time, signal level, and battery charge. When the phone receives a call, it displays a name or phone number of a person who calls you. There is a speaker under the secondary display.
Top of the left side houses a lens, covered by a special lid. It should be mentioned that it’s an inconvenient and impractical solution: even though this lid can be tied to the strap hole on the bottom of the device, you constantly have to open and close the lens manually and risk either to lose this lid or to suffer from an extra strap the length of the phone. Of course, the process makes a striking picture: swivel the display to the camera mode (the phone in this mode resembles a home camcorder), press the latches on the Zeiss lens cover, remove it, and start shooting — the entire process produces an impression. But this solution will soon start annoying you. Many users either lose this lid or deliberately remove it forever — as a result, the lens will not be protected. Why couldn’t Nokia design some sliding mechanism?
The phone is equipped with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, focal distance – 4.5 mm (wide angle) /12.4 mm (tele), 34.25—94.1 mm (35mm camera equivalent), focusing distance from 10 cm to infinity, macro focus distance 30 cm (wide angle macro), mechanical shutter – 1/2400~1/3 sec. CMOS sensor, 3.2 Mp (2048 x 1536).
There is a LED under the lens to illuminate target objects, there is no xenon flash. There is a miniSD slot below, which supports up to 2 GB. The bundle includes a 128 MB card.
There is a connector below for various accessories and a data cable. The charger connector is on the bottom.
Let’s examine the right side of the phone. The shutter release is opposite to the lens. Traditionally, a semi-press focuses the camera, full press takes a photo. Semi-press is not used in video mode at all. A semi-press on this button in idle mode activates backlight in the secondary display. A full press switches it to another mode – to display the current date and week day. There is a zoom ring around the lens, which is also a traditional element in point-and-shoot cameras as well as in home camcorders.
There is a secondary joystick below: in camera mode, the OK button and four directional buttons around it do not work; you’ll have to use the additional joystick. It’s rather small, your finger gets strained fast and a number of accidental presses is rather high; but it’s in a convenient place — you don’t have to stretch out. You can use the secondary joystick in the main mode, of course: it may be more convenient for some users.
Camera mode buttons (photo or video) and the flash button are placed under the joystick. The latter is very useful — it turns on the flashlight, which has three modes: when you press the button once, it’s turned on for two seconds; when you press and hold it, it works as long as you keep the button pressed; a double-press enables the flashlight for several minutes (a single press on the button will turn it off). The flashlight is at the side instead of the rear panel, like in most phones. So it’s convenient to hold the phone, when you use the flash.
The top contains only one button (that’s the right decision) to turn the phone on/off. A short press on this button locks the keypad, the entire phone, and switches the phone to another profile.
The battery and the slot for a SIM card are located under the battery cover. If you remove the latter, when the phone is still working, it will automatically turn off. The latch does not scratch the SIM card. The phone uses the BP-6M battery, 970 mAh.
It’s not very convenient to hold the phone during a call: the lens does not allow to press the phone to your ear, and phone is too large to round your face. As a result, when you speak over the phone, it touches your face only in two points: the bulge on the display (near the speaker) touches your ear, and the lens housing presses into your cheek. Not a very pleasant feeling, though you’ll get used to it. Fortunately, the mike is placed above the keypad, not under it, like in most models. So ergonomic flaws have no effect on the audio quality — you will here your interlocutor well and vice versa.
When closed, the phone lies steady on a table, there are no interfering bulges, it does not sway. But when you open the phone, the bulge near the hinge makes the phone unsteady – the phone rocks when you press the buttons. But there is a solution to this problem: If you work with the phone lying on a table, you’d better open it in the view mode: it will lie horizontally and will remain steady.
Menu and Functions
We shall not describe each menu item this time (the menu contains 24 items in total), you will hardly find it interesting. Functions of the organizer, e-mail, and address book are on a decent level. They meet all modern requirements. Besides, the phone offers some interesting features, which we are going to review here.
You can connect the phone to a TV-set: just plug the Nokia CA-64U video cable to the phone, choose TV Out in the menu, select a standard (PAL NTSC) and aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9), then the image on the display will be also shown on a TV-set: you can browse photos, videos, and play games on a large screen. It’s quite a useful and timely function: old phones did not need this function; but now sterling video features profit from playing back your video on a large display.
Source- http://www.digit-life.com
Mobile operator 3 unveils Xmas handset line-up
Britain’s 3G mobile pioneer 3 UK on Monday unveiled six new phones for the upcoming Christmas season, boosting its handset line-up for the crucial trading period to a total of 30 devices.
The Hutchison Whampoa-owned (0013.HK) company said the new handsets included two phones each from Sony Ericsson (6758.T) (ERICb.ST) and South Korea’s LG Electronics (066570.KS), and one each from Motorola (MOT.N) and Nokia (NOK1V.HE).
The line-up comprises Sony Ericsson’s new W950i Walkman phone, which will allow users to store up to 4,000 songs on its 4 gigabytes of memory space.
The company also plans to exclusively sell the pink Sony Ericsson Z610i, hoping to capitalize on the success of the pink Motorola Razr phone which was popular last Christmas. The pink Razr phone was exclusively sold by retailer Carphone Warehouse.
The other phones in 3′s line-up include the Nokia 6288, Motorola’s MOTORAZR V3xx, the LG 3G Chocolate U830 and LG’s U310 handset.
Earlier this month Vodafone (VOD.L) unveiled its line-up of 24 new 3G handsets for the Christmas season including phones that allow Web access at broadband speeds.
Source- http://www.washingtonpost.com
Motorola Expresses Interest in French Handset Maker Sagem
Motorola has expressed interest in purchasing French handset manufacturer Sagem from its aerospace parent company Safran. Sagem has reportedly been struggling with financial losses, getting by with sales of low- to mid-range handsets.
In a recent interview, Ronald Garriques, head of Motorola’s mobile handset business, told French newspaper Le Figaro “We have a serious interest in Sagem. It’s an option in a sector that is in the process of consolidating … I do not know yet if we will get it.”
In response to Mr. Garriques comments, Safran released a statement saying Safran is “…pleased to note that one of the major players in the telecommunications market has publicly recognised the quality and professionalism of the teams at Safran’s mobile phones division.” Garriques also clarified that Motorola would only be interested in acquiring Sagem’s employees, and not other aspects of the business.
Source- http://www.sda-india.com
Tinubu commends Celtel
Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has praised Celtel for its commitment in fulfilling its promise of making life better by caring for the welfare of the less privileged in society.
In a letter signed by Dr. Leke Pitan, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Tinubu expressed gratitude to Celtel for donating items of food and clothing to Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home, Akoka, Lagos.
According to the Governor, the gesture is an attestation of your responsiveness, love and kindness towards children with special needs and for the development of education in Lagos state.???
He added that Celtel’s commitment to giving to the needy clearly marks it out as a stakeholder in the development of human beings.
As part of its social responsibility initiatives, Celtel’s policy encourages employees to donate items of cash, food and clothing to a corporate pool for onward presentation to charity homes. It is also a policy in the company that employees surrender gifts received from corporate associates especially during festive seasons for donation to the less privileged in society.
Since the launch of the initiative two years ago, employees of the company have contributed cash and materials worth over N25million which have been distributed to charities around the country.
Source- http://www.sunnewsonline.com
Telkom to Roll Out Mobile Services
State-owned Telkom Kenya is preparing to roll out its own mobile telephone service to compete with Safaricom and Celtel in a market that is supposed to witness the entry of at least two other players in the next 10 months.
Well-placed sources told The EastAfrican that Telkom has already received the nod from the market regulator, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), to enter the cellphone market.
Market leader Safaricom – fresh from announcing the biggest pre-tax profits ever in East Africa, of Ksh12.77 billion ($174 million) – must now brace itself for fierce competition in a field that is becoming more and more crowded.
Safaricom’s magnificent profit performance and the whopping $169 million licence fees that Vtel of Dubai has just paid for the licence for the second national operator (SNO) have once again demonstrated that Kenya is still undergoing a communications boom.
Competition for Safaricom will be stiffer as the Communications Commission of Kenya has indicated that it will shortly be allowing Telkom a “unified” licence similar to that which will be granted to Vtel.
It will be a major departure as the structure of the telecommunications industry as it exists today will change, with the players providing both fixed-line and mobile phone services to customers being dominant.
Indeed, the decision to accommodate Telkom Kenya has been justified on the basis of levelling the playing field for all players.
Telkom’s entry into the fray will not be without complications, however, considering that the state-owned firm is still the majority shareholder in Safaricom, where it holds a 60 per cent stake on the government’s behalf.
The shareholders’ agreement between Telkom Kenya and Vodafone Plc of the UK (which has a 40 per cent stake in Safaricom) that prohibits Telkom from dabbling in the mobile telephone business, may have to be renegotiated to reflect the changed circumstances.
Indeed, a scenario where a company competes with its subsidiary is rare.
With Telkom Kenya having representation on the board of Safaricom Ltd, on which both managing director Sammy Kirui and chairman Wilson Ndolo Ayah sit, major issues of corporate governance and conflict of interest are likely to arise.
The EastAfrican has learnt that Vodafone Plc has already made it clear that it will oppose the granting of a mobile licence to Telkom.
If it enters the fray, Telkom will definitely be Safaricom’s most formidable competitor.
Although its balance sheet is shaky, the state-owned firm has recently woken from its slumber and has been aggressively battling out with its competitors in the race to roll out new products and services.
It has recently enhanced the performance of its existing network by revamping the data-transfer technology referred to as ADSL and has introduced three different prepaid cards with different tariffs and download speeds.
A corporate VoIP tariff and Internet dial-up solution was rolled out a few months ago.
Lately, Telkom has announced new “inward direct dialling” (IDD) corporate VoIP tariffs for local and international destinations that allow incoming calls to be received directly on extension lines.
As a result, the new IDD tariffs have dropped to an average of $0.60 from $0.90. And, with regard to broadband products, services have been improved under the Kenstream brand.
The company is also going through major reorganisation aimed at cleaning up its balance sheet. Already, the process of selling two of its loss-making subsidiaries, namely Gilgil Technical Institute and the Kenya College of Communications Technology (KCCT), is underway.
It has been progressively cleaning up its bad debts by offering reprieves to outstanding debtors and by introducing flexible repayment terms.
The second player in the market, Celtel, has also been on an aggressive drive to increase its market share, introducing new products and improving the quality of its services.
It has just launched a one East African tariff plan, which will enable its customers to cross from one country to another while retaining the same number but call using local tariffs and top-ups in the local currency and cards.
In July, the company pulled off a major marketing coup when it facilitated and signed an agreement to co-host the football World Cup TV screening in Kenya with KTN and KBC Channel One. It recently announced the commencement of a major network upgrade in Nairobi with a multibillion capex plan.
Source- http://allafrica.com
Big Changes at Hachette
Consolidation, management changes, and potential sales and acquisitions are expected to follow reorganization and restructuring at consumer publisher Hachette Filipacchi.
Last week, Didier Quillot, former chief of telecom giant Orange France, was named chairman of both Hachette Filipacchi and Lagard¨re Active, MediaPost reports. Quillot is expected to consolidate and coordinate their print and digital media strategies.
Arnaud Lagard¨re has tabled up to $5 billion to make major acquisitions in the U.S. print and Internet sectors. Hachette Filipacchialready reaches an audience of about 50 million in the U.S. alone through magazines, including Car and Driver, American Photo, Boating, Flying, Elle and Premiere.
Quillot may also sell some Hachette properties, and has already begun firing executives from businesses slated for the auction block.
Source- http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com
Telefonica acquires stake in TVA
Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has acquired a stake in TVA, the cable TV arm of Brazil’s largest magazine publisher Grupo Abril, according to a BNAmericas.com report.
The report said that for an undisclosed sum, Grupo Abril agreed to sell its preferred shares and some of its voting shares in TVA, which served the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Porto Alegre.
TVA had canceled plans for an initial public offering first proposed in September, the report said.
Brazilian law restricted Telefonica, as a foreign-owned telco, from owning a controlling stake in a local cable TV operator. But Grupo Abril referred to the deal as a partnership and would maintain operating control of TVA, the report said.
TVA reported a net loss of 150 million reais ($69.9 million) in 2005.
Created in 1991, the company now has some 320,000 cable subscribers and more than 60,000 broadband Internet customers.
“In terms of strategy, it makes sense (for Telefonica to acquire a cable company),” Felipe Cunha, an analyst at Banco Brascan, was quoted in the report as saying.
There were clear objectives to improve the growth of its products for clients such as voice and data, as well as TVA’s products, he said.
At the same time, the move was also made to protect Telefonica’s clients from competition, especially Net Servicos and Vivax, which had already started to attack 60% of Telefonica’s clients in the social group A and B, Cunha said.
Net Servicos, part of Mexican telecom group Telmex, was also awaiting approval for acquisition of a 36.7% controlling stake in Vivax.
Telefonica awaits approval for the TVA acquisition from the national telecom regulator Anatel, according to the report.
Source- http://www.telecomseurope.net
KSA: Mobily Apologizes as Link Fails
Mobily said yesterday that due to a failure in the link rented by it from Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), its customers were not able to make any calls between the Eastern, Central and Western provinces.
The fiber optic link between Riyadh and Alkhobar and between Alkhobar and Jeddah also interrupted international calls for about five hours from 9 a.m. till 2 p.m. yesterday. Moreover, Mobily 3G and 2G calls were not possible in the Eastern Province.
Mobily’s Chief Executive Officer Khaled Al-Kaf said that Mobily issued an official apology to its customers indicating that the failure was out of its control. The Kingdom’s second mobile service operator assured its customers that it would work hard to complete its advanced fiber optic network in the coming few months. “And hence Mobily will not need to rent STC’s fiber optic cable anymore.”
A reliable source told Arab News that Mobily had been repeatedly suffering from link failures rented from STC, the reason why Mobily is accelerating to finish its independent fiber optic network soon, a project that is worth SR1 billion and executed by Thales and Cisco.
Mobily has been able to cover all the cities and major highways across the Kingdom in a record time with its modern network, while it is working in the rest of areas. However, a fiber optic network is essential for any mobile network to facilitate long distance calls locally and internationally. Thus Mobily has been using its competitor’s fiber network over the past 18 months while it is working on its independent fiber network, which is expected to be completed next year.
Source- http://www.menafn.com
TeliaSonera, KPN Report Higher Earnings on Mobile Units Abroad
TeliaSonera AB, the biggest Nordic phone company, and Royal KPN NV, the largest Dutch phone company, reported higher third-quarter earnings on increased subscribers at mobile units outside their home markets.
TeliaSonera’s net income jumped 34 percent to 5.05 billion Swedish kronor ($695 million) from 3.76 billion kronor a year earlier, the Stockholm-based company said today. KPN, based in The Hague, said profit climbed 5.2 percent to 346 million euros ($439.9 million) from 329 million euros a year earlier.
The former monopolies expanded outside their domestic markets to make up for slower mobile growth and a slump in fixed- line phone revenue. TeliaSonera, the result of a merger between the Swedish and Finnish incumbents, made its push in regions in the former Soviet Union, while KPN entered the German wireless market. They have also invested in new networks to cut costs.
“Growth will have to come from mobile, broadband and other new services such as digital TV,” said Joost de Graaf, a fund manager at Kempen Capital Management in Amsterdam, which oversees about $313 million, including TeliaSonera shares. “Meanwhile you’ll have to build a low-cost 21st century network to compete with cable companies. Both KPN and TeliaSonera are doing a good job on that.”
Shares of TeliaSonera rose as much as 4.8 percent to 55 kronor, and traded at 53.5 kronor as of 10:42 a.m. in Stockholm. KPN shares fell as much as 2.2 percent to 10.45 euros, and traded at 10.56 euros as of 10:43 a.m. in Amsterdam. Before today, TeliaSonera shares had gained 23 percent this year, while KPN had risen 26 percent, both outperforming the 25-member Bloomberg Europe Telecommunication Services Index, which rose 8.2 percent.
Rising Revenue
TeliaSonera sales climbed to 23.2 billion kronor from 22.2 billion kronor. Analysts had anticipated profit would rise to 4.46 billion kronor on sales of 23.04 billion kronor, the average estimates of 18 analysts in an SME Direkt survey.
Chief Executive Officer Anders Igel expanded TeliaSonera’s mobile services to include markets such as Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldavia to make up for slower growth at home. Revenue fell in the company’s saturated Nordic market, where TeliaSonera faces price pressure due to competition from rivals such as Telenor ASA, Tele2 AB, Elisa Oyj and TDC A/S.
The Swedish company also said today it plans to double its 2006 special dividend to 20 billion kronor, on top of the regular payout for this year at the top end of a range of 30 percent to 50 percent of net income. The special dividend had earlier been proposed to be 10 billion kronor.
KPN in Germany
Sales at KPN rose 3.8 percent to 3.04 billion euros. Added subscribers in Germany helped push mobile sales above fixed-line revenue for the first time. KPN had been expected to report net income of 378 million euros on sales of 3 billion euros, the median estimates of 11 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Fixed-line sales fell 3.8 percent to 1.63 billion euros, less than the 4.8 percent drop analysts had predicted. Mobile unit sales rose 17 percent to 1.69 billion euros.
On a conference call with reporters, Chief Executive Officer Ad Scheepbouwer, 62, declined to say whether mobile revenue will consistently be bigger than for the fixed-line division.
KPN raised its full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization forecast to a “mid single-digit increase” from a previous “low single digit increase.” Revenue is still seen posting a “low single digit” gain in 2006.
“KPN is performing well,” said Petercam analyst Thijs Berkelder, who rates KPN “add.” “It’s key for KPN that mobile grows and in the third quarter they were able to add customers in Belgium and Germany while keeping cost growth under control.”
Profit at E-Plus, KPN’s German mobile unit, rose in the quarter as it gained market share and cut handset subsidies. KPN counts on mobile and Internet calls and services such as digital TV to make up for client defections to competitors such as Tele2.
Nordic Restructuring
To head off slowing growth in Sweden and Finland, TeliaSonera last year said it would cut costs by as much as 6 billion kronor over three years. Of the costs TeliaSonera wants to slash, 4 billion kronor to 5 billion kronor will come from the Swedish unit and the rest from the Finnish division.
Igel, 55, is also moving the company’s network to one that is based on Internet Protocol, or IP, to eventually reduce costs as such systems require less manpower to operate.
TeliaSonera holds 74 percent of Fintur Holdings, which offers mobile services in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldavia. The company also owns 37 percent of Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Turkey’s biggest mobile-phone company, and 44 percent of OAO MegaFon, Russia’s third-largest wireless operator.
The company said mobile sales in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldavia rose 27 percent. The earnings contribution from MegFon in Russia rose to 761 million kronor from 390 million kronor a year earlier. The depreciation of the Turkish lira caused the contribution from Turkcell to fall to 420 million kronor from 672 million kronor a year earlier.
TeliaSonera was formed in December 2002 when former phone monopoly Telia AB acquired its Finnish counterpart Sonera Oyj for 89.5 billion kronor in stock and debt. The Finnish state owns 13.7 percent of the company.
Source- http://www.bloomberg.com
KPN Q3 earnings lower than expected, raises full-year EBITDA outlook UPDATE
Royal KPN NV reported third-quarter earnings which came in largely below analyst expectations, as net profit and operating profit (EBITDA) were lower than estimates.
The telecom company raised its 2006 EBITDA growth outlook to ‘mid-single-digit’ from ‘low-single-digit’.
Net profit was 349 mln eur, below the 368-386 mln eur range estimated by analysts, but up from 334 mln eur a year ago.
EBITDA was 1.19 bln eur, below the 1.21-1.23 bln eur range expected, and up from 1.14 bln. Sales rose to 3.03 bln eur, at the top end of 3.0-3.03 estimates and up from 2.93 bln a year ago.
KPN said that it has started a buyback of its 4.75 pct bond, maturing November 2008, for an amount of up to 750 mln eur. The buyback will be in cash and is to be financed through the issue of new Euro bonds.
Sales at the Fixed Line division fell to 1.63 bln eur, down from 1.69 bln in the same period a year ago, while EBITDA dropped to 623 mln eur, from 702 mln. KPN said that the division lost 140,000 customers in the third quarter, less than the 165,000 recorded in the second quarter. The company commented that it sees this decline in net line loss as a ‘turnaround in the trend’ as a result of an uptake in services like ADSL and Voice over IP.
Sales at the Mobile division rose across the board, to a total of 1.68 bln eur, from 1.44 bln last year, while EBITDA rose to 583 mln eur from 452 mln. Sales in the Netherlands increased to 778 mln from 604 mln and EBITDA rose to 269 mln eur from 235 mln, which was primarily due to the consolidation of recent takeover Telfort.
At Germany’s E-Plus mobile division, sales were 760 mln eur, from 717 mln last year. The Belgian BASE operator witnessed sales of 162 mln eur, from 139 mln.
KPN said that the ‘strong profitability’ at its mobile telephony units were the main reason for the company to raise its full-year EBITDA outlook to ‘mid-single-digit’ from an earlier ‘low-single-digit’.
Source- http://www.forbes.com
