Smartphones to get stylish with embedded timepieces
With the changing focus from wristwatches to smartphones to tell the time, the watch-making industry is being forced to get smart and high-tech to recapture consumers.
Baselworld, industry’s biggest watch and jewellery fair is not just centering on diamond-encrusted mechanical watches with complex movements, but an increasing number of timepieces that combine with the smartphone.
Some watchmakers unveiled luxury phones that incorporate mechanical watches, others were featuring watches with touchscreens. Japanese digital watchmaker Casio premiered watches that are able to communicate with smartphones.
According to Fabrice Gonet, designer from Slyde Watch SA, many young people don’t wear watches anymore these days. They use their mobile phones to tell time.
Gonet and his business partners decided to create an electronic wristwatch with a touchscreen, which lets people download photos, personalize their watch face, although it does not have the telephone function. He explained that they thought of making this watch to recreate the link between horlogery and young people.
Ulysse Nardin, a Swiss luxury watchmaker, launched what it claimed is the world’s first luxury hybrid smartphone, integrating a mechanical watch rotor into the mobile phone.
The automatic rotor also creates energy to provide additional power to the phone.
Bobby Yampolsky, co-founder of UN Cells which make the phones for Ulysse Nardin, admitted that it is insufficient to act as the sole power supply for the phone.
According to him, if you wind it for four, five minutes you can make about a 30 second phone call or a few texts.
However, Yampolsky believes that such hybrid phones are the way forward. He Casio, a long-term player in the watch industry that championed the quartz technology which almost brought about the demise of the mechanical watch, believes that there is still a place for the wristwatch.
This year, it introduced a watch that communicates with the mobile phone.
Casio’s Managing Director, Hiroshi Nakamura explained that if the mobile phone rings during a meeting, a tap of the watch would stop the ringing.
Likewise, an email arriving on a smartphone would also prompt a message on the wristwatch that a mail has been received.
As per Nakamura, you don’t always keep a mobile phone in your hands; you’ll put it in your bag. So it’s easier when you’re receiving a call to just tap on the watch. If you have a bluetooth watch and a smartphone then you don’t have to adjust the time when you’re travelling.
Casio’s latest watch will be available by the end of the year, with a launch due in the domestic market before broadening to other markets.
BOKU partners with O2 and mpass in Germany for direct mobile billing
Telef³nica O2 Germany, a leading provider of broadband and mobile services, and BOKU Inc., the global leader in online mobile payments, today announced a direct carrier billing relationship. O2 customers can now use BOKU’s payment platform to purchase virtual and digital goods ranging from .09 Euros to 30.00 Euros. O2customers pay for goods by entering their mobile number and charging directly to their mobile phone carrier bill.
O2 is part of Telef³nica, a leading global provider of broadband and mobile services, and the second largest carrier group in the world. O2‘s mpass system allows direct carrier billing for the purchase of virtual, digital and physical goods.
This new partnership integrates the BOKU mobile payments platform into O2 Germany’s operator billing interface, enabling the following advanced features:
- Support for one-off and subscription payments in Germany
- Full pricing granularity from .09 Euros to 30.00 Euros
- Authorization and Capture APIs with refund support
- In-App Billing support
- Web Billing support
The Boku service offers consumers a quicker and easier way to pay online when compared with existing credit card solutions.
This agreement opens up the opportunity for BOKU merchants to offer payment for physical goods as well as virtual and digital goods,†said James Patmore, Managing Director, BOKU in EMEA. Our partnership with O2 confirms our vision of evolving online mobile payments into a range of new vertical markets.â€
Understanding customer needs and merchant requirements in regards to our payment products is essential for continuing our success story in the mobile payment area. A close collaboration with BOKU ensures we position ourselves closely to the key players in the market,†said Michiel van Eldik, Managing Director Wholesale and Partner Management, Telef³nica O2 Germany.
We want to provide our customers with a safe, reliable, and convenient payment solution to pay for goods, be they virtual or physical,†continued O2‘s van Eldik. BOKU’s mobile payments platform has the right blend of technology and finance-grade infrastructure to mesh well with O2 customer needs.â€
BOKU’s bank-grade mobile payment service is available to online merchants and publishers on a global scale. The BOKU service enables merchants and publishers to drive incremental revenue by offering carrier billing as a payment option to their customers. BOKU is connected to 230 mobile operators in more than 65 countries, and provides access to more than 2.5 billion potential customers who can pay by mobile.
Navteq to offer mapping data to ComputaMaps (US)
Navteq, a subsidiary of Nokia has signed a three year agreement with ComputaMaps to supply worldwide map data for integration into its wireless planning product portfolio.
ComputaMaps multi-layered Region Planner, Urban Planner and City Planner spatial databases combine terrain, land-use classification (morphology) and satellite imagery into the single, realistic digital earth model essential for accurate wireless network design. The integration of Navteq map data will add structural and contextual depth to the product line.
According to Alb©ric Maumy, Managing Director, ComputaMaps Europe, their focus at Computamaps has always been on developing the most accurate terrain, clutter and 3D building data for use when creating wireless networks. Through Navteq, they can now provide extremely powerful data which will help engineers work more efficiently at each stage of the design and operation of their LTE networks.
Customers who already have the Region Planner, Urban Planner and 3D City Planner data sets can add the Navteq data layers to their existing products seamlessly by leveraging the built-in GIS functionality found in most RF planning tools.
Qanawat and Adfortel team up to introduce VoiceAds in MENA Region
Adfortel, developer of mobile advertising solutions, has signed a partnership agreement with Qanawat, the leading provider of mobile VAS solutions, for the introduction of its groundbreaking mobile advertising service, VoiceAds, into the MENA region. The quickly developing MENA sector has shown a sustainable growth of mobile subscribers during recent years and operators are now ready for introducing new services to their clientele.
With VoiceAds, Adfortel enables operators to introduce so-called adfunded services to create a new source of income from media sales and advertisers to target very specific consumer groups with relevant offers. VoiceAds are audio commercials targeted at the caller which replace the standard call waiting tone during the waiting period for connecting a call. As soon as the call is connected the conversation starts as per normal, therefore making optimal use of the waiting time. Benefits for consumers who opt for VoiceAds include being able to save on their monthly phone bill.
Adnan Omar Al-Obthani, managing director of Qanawat, said: “We are looking forward to working with Adfortel and truly believe in VoiceAds as a mobile advertising service. Advertisers are now able to reach people in their own language, and as operators are growing rapidly they are looking to introduce new services, with subscribers receiving relevant offers saving them money. With our experience we are confident that we offer Adfortel the best channel into this region to make VoiceAds a success.”
Discussing the partnership, Vincent van der Goes, COO of Adfortel, said: “This partnership allows us to enter new markets with a partner which has an impressive track record in the Middle East and African region when it comes to business development and its ability to act as a full service provider. Qanawat has not only a very good network to mobile operators but is capable of handling media sales, ad trafficking and project management activities as well. With the first regional implementations under way this makes Qanawat an ideal partner.”
LIME wants regulator to assess Digicel-Claro deal (Jamaica)
LIME Jamaica has stated that given the significance of the Digicel- Claro merger to the Jamaican telecommunications industry, the Government, the Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) and the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) should carefully assess the deal, before approval is given by the relevant minister.
Digicel and Claro last week announced that Digicel would sell its businesses in El Salvador and Honduras to America Movil, while in turn Claro Jamaica would be sold to Digicel.
According to Lime’s Managing Director, Garry Sinclair, as a company proudly serving Jamaica for over 140 years, providing employment for more than 1,400 Jamaican workers and with almost 25,000 Jamaican shareholders, they stand ready to cooperate with all industry players to ensure the interests of their country and the Jamaican consumer are best served.
Nepal telecom signs MoU with Qatar telecom
Nepal Telecom has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatar Telecom on operation of international telecommunication service at a subsidized rate through inter-connectivity.
Though the service had already come into operation since December last year through establishment of inter connectivity between the two companies, the formal accord to this effect was signed on Tuesday.
Managing Director of the Nepal Telecom, Amarnath Singh and Chief Executive Officer of the Qatar Telecom, Dr Naser Marfiha signed the MoU amidst a function.
With the new agreement between the two telecom companies, Nepal Telecom customers can now make a call to Qatar at US$0.17 per minute as compared to US$0.28 per minute earlier.
The new provision is expected to benefit some 465,000 Nepalis currently working in Qatar.
Airtel Kenya joins hands with KDN for 3G launch
Airtel Kenya has partnered with infrastructure provider, Kenya Data Networks (KDN) to upgrade its transmission network to launch its 3G network in April, raising the stakes in the battle for the Internet market.
The firm’s low cost strategy targets the mass market, with the planned network set to offer high speed mobile internet access, mobile video conferencing and videophone, among other services which it cannot provide with its 2.5G system.
Under the five year partnership, KDN will inter-link Airtel sites through its countrywide fibre optic network.
According to Airtel Kenya Managing Director, Mr Rene Meza, the service will lead to increased mobile internet speeds for Airtel mobile consumers. Both corporate and personal consumers will benefit from increased speed and coverage. This will allow customers to enjoy more multimedia applications and experience enhanced operation of existing applications, including real-time video conferencing.
With the 3G launch, users will also be able to download videos, images and music faster; besides accessing email, games and performing financial transactions faster.
Airtel has partnered with IBM, Nokia Siemens and Ericsson in the roll out of the 3G network and is planning to spend $250 million to expand its network across the country.
Shahid Balwa resigns from DB Group (India)
DB Group Managing Director, Shaid Balwa has resigned from the company. He was arrested on Feb 8 as part of the ongoing probe into the 2G scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The company, that has arms in realty, hospitality and telecoms, stated that the board had accepted his resignation.
Balwa’s DB Realty had floated Swan Telecom, which was allegedly favored by former telecoms minister, A Raja during the 2008 2G spectrum auction.
The CBI suspects that in 2008, when the government was allocating 2G spectrum for mobile phone networks, Raja might have twisted the rules to benefit a few companies – especially Swan and Unitech.
Swan and Unitech sold equity to foreign companies much before they began the launch of their services.
The DB group’s telecom arm, earlier known as Swan Telecom, is now known as Etisalat-DB.
Digicel to launch Blackberry Bold 9780 smartphone
Digicel will be launching the BlackBerry Bold 9780 in all of its 26 markets across the Caribbean and Central America by March 2011.
The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is the first BlackBerry Bold smartphone to come with the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, which retains the familiar and trusted features that distinguish the BlackBerry brand while delivering a fresh, approachable and engaging experience that’s powerful and easy to use.
According to Rick Costanzo, Managing Director, Latin America, Research In Motion, building on the success of the BlackBerry Bold series of smartphones, they are now pleased to work with Digicel to bring the BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone featuring the new BlackBerry 6 operating system to their customers in Jamaica.
Featuring a premium and iconic design with an incredibly easy-to-use keyboard and optical trackpad for smooth navigation, the compact and elegantly styled BlackBerry Bold 9780 is packed with advanced communications and multimedia features. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 offers a compelling blend of features, performance and design and comes with a 5MP camera with a full complement of high-end features including continuous auto focus, scene modes, image stabilization, flash and video recording. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 also includes 512 MB Flash memory and an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32 GB of additional storage.
According to Digicel Group Commercial Director, Brian Finn, Digicel is once again leading the mobile industry with the launch of the BlackBerry Bold 9780, another fantastic addition to RIM’s suite of BlackBerry smartphones.
Digicel has been the leading mobile service provider of BlackBerry handsets within the Caribbean and Central American markets since the launch of smartphone over five years ago. Additionally, Digicel’s competitive prepaid and postpaid price plans offer fantastic value and are tailored to suit diverse customer needs.
