www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Mobile and HTC Corp have reportedly inked an agreement for the joint development of 3G handsets in China. China Mobile Chairman Wang Jianzhou, who is in Taiwan, will meet with HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang to discuss mobile phone procurement and cooperation in development and research of China’s TD-SCDMA standards, a HTC executive unveils.
The strategic alliance is likely to help HTC Corp.’s Ophone to compete with Apple’s iPhone in China’s vast market. China Mobile and HTC will develop at least one new type of mobile phone this year and at least five types next year. The two companies will develop new smartphones based on China Mobile’s Open Mobile System (OMS), the executive added.
On 08.24.09, In Mobile, By Editor
On 08.18.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Apple iPhone 3GS has reportedly been spotted as the No.1 mobile handset in the Japanese mobile market for the month of July, ahead of Japanese-made phones from Sharp, Panasonic (PC), NEC, Casio and Sony Ericsson. While, the iPhone 3GS 32GB version stood at No.1 position, the 16GB model seemed less popular as it was seen at No.9.
On 08.16.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple and AT&T Mobility, which says that the two have touted the MMS functionality of the iPhone 3GS even though AT&T is currently not offering the service.
The lawsuit has been filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, claims Apple’s “print and video advertisements [for the iPhone 3GS] in and on television, the Internet, the radio, newspapers and direct mailers all touted he availability of MMS.”
“Millions of customers, including Louisiana residents, purchased the 3G and 3GS waiting for the day in June 2009 when the new application would be available which would allow MMS,” the complain states. “Unfortunately, after downloading the new 3.0 software update application, MMS still did not work on both the 3G and 3GS. … The only excuse offered by AT&T and Apple is a mouse-print disclaimer on the website, in barely readable font, which reads ‘MMS support from AT&T coming in late summer.’”
On 9 June, when Apple’s iPhone 3GS was unveiled, AT&T was among the operators that was listed by Apple as supporting MMS.
On 08.13.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Unicom, the Chinese mobile operator, will reportedly offer first set of iPhone in Carrefour stores and other outlets from September, said Guangdong Unicom Deputy Manager Zhou Youmeng. According to media reports, the operator has bought 5 million WCDMA iPhone handsets from Apple Inc at a price of RMB 2,000 each. The telecom operator plans to sell the 8G iPhones for around RMB 2,400 each and the 16G iPhones for around RMB 4,800 each.
On 08.09.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The much awaited iPhone 3GS is now available in Malaysia from Maxis Communications Berhad (‘Maxis’). With today’s official nationwide launch, Maxis customers can look forward to attractive price plans, enhanced iValue packages and attractive upgrade offers. Maxis will offer iPhone 3GS 16GB for just RM1290 and iPhone 3G 8GB at just RM790, with the iValue 2 Plan that comes with a monthly commitment of RM155 and a 24 month contract. With the Maxis Easy Payment Scheme, an iPhone 3G 8GB can now be purchased for as little as RM60 per month.
iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance-up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G-with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world.
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On 08.07.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: KT Corp, has reportely confirmed that it will bring Apple iPhone to the Korean local market. Yeon-hak, Kim, KT, CFO, said, “Apple iPhone will be in our smartphone line-up. [We expect that the] iPhone will help to expand the smartphone market and will contribute to increasing the ARPU.”
On the other hand, SK Telecom also reveals that it is in talks with Apple to introduce the iPhone as well. If the deal is achieved in Korea, then Apple’s iPhone will not be sold through an exclusive operator unlike other countries, including the U.S., Japan, and China.
On 08.02.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Softbank Corp has reported net income of JPY27.4 billion (USD288 million), up 41.4% year-on-year after the company cut costs and achieved a slight increase in revenue of 2.9% to JPY666.3 billion. The company said the soaring profit in April-June was boosted by lower procurement costs for its e-commerce business and by holding fewer handsets in storage compared with the amount sold. The telco is an exclusive seller of the Apple iPhone in Japan, which proved to be a contributing factor to the cellco’s increased revenue from wireless internet and data-based applications.
On 07.30.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news:Vodafone reportedly reveals that it is willing to sell the new Apple device, iPhone 3G S to its key terrirtories like UK and Germany. Andy Halford, chief financial officer of the company, said that “It’s a good product and we would love to have it in the portfolio in more countries”.
Vodafone at present sells the handset in 11 countries across the globe except the 3 major nations in Europe.
On 07.29.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Google Voice, a service launched by Google, has been banned by Apple from the iPhone App Store as it may cause duplicating functionality that the device already offers.
GV Mobile coder Sean Kovacs said: “Richard Chipman from Apple just called – he told me they’re removing GV Mobile from the App Store due to it duplicating features that the iPhone comes with (Dialer, SMS, etc)”.
“He didn’t actually specify which features, although I assume the whole app in general. He wouldn’t send a confirmation email either – too scared I would post it. I’ll see what I can do to get it back up there gang”.
The rumours suggest that AT&T has been behind this decision.
On 07.28.09, In Mobile, By Editor
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Unicom, one of China’s leading mobile operator, has reportedly inked a deal with Apple to hold exclusive rights for the iPhones in the country for next three years. According to a local media report, the sticking point of revenue sharing among the two firms during negotiations has not been included in the deal.
Under the agreement, China Unicom will buy the iPhones for 3,000 yuan ($439) each from the manufacturer and will assure annual sales of 1 million to 2 million units and at least 5 billion yuan in annual revenue.