Device News

Nokia

Nokia had a busy GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, announcing their N96, the successor to the N95 that boasts their top media capabilities for a mobile device with TV capabilities and 16G onboard memory. Nokia also announced the N78 an entry-level N-series device that still comprises plenty of multimedia features, without requiring the expense that the N96 is bound to necessitate.

Nokia have also just announced the arrival of two products that offer multiple user accounts, targeted at emerging markets where it is common for a phone to be shared between friends and family. The Nokia 2600 Classic will be compatible with Mobile Gateway for email, while costing just USD 65, so this really will be a phone for the mass market. The other new low-end arrival, the simplistic Nokia 1209, also has multiple user accounts and is expected to cost even less at USD 35, a bargain despite having only very basic functionality with just SMS messaging capabilities, so it will not be compatible with Mobile Gateway until version 3.5.

The other noteworthy recent Nokia release is the 3110 Evolve device that is their first environmentally friendly phone which claims lower power consumption and is made from bio-sourced materials. This device runs on Nokia's series 40 platform, third edition, so it supports all of Synchronica's products.

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson managed some interesting surprise announcements at Barcelona; not least of which was their first Windows Mobile OS phone, the XPERIA X1. The manufacturer believes this will help them break into the American market more fully with the brand recognition they will gain from the partnership with Microsoft.

The other interesting phones that Sony Ericsson revealed at the show were the G900 and G700, two reasonably priced multimedia-capable Symbian UIQ devices, intentionally aiming this device platform at the mass market for the first time. Both phones feature touch interfaces as well as the seemingly prerequisite camera and music player, thus offer a very attractive proposition for the consumer looking to purchase their first smartphone.

Sony Ericsson have also been busy announcing medium- to low-end phones that are by no means at the limits of their technological capabilities. For example, the niche-targeted R300 radio phone that will be reasonably priced and in no way comparable to their walkman phones in terms of features, but may help gain them the coveted third spot in terms of global market share through their strategy of releasing a series of niche-targeted phones alongside the more hi-tech offerings.

Samsung

Samsung's most interesting phone that has been announced is the SGH-G810 which is among the top five-megapixel camera phones available, featuring 3x optical zoom and a xenon flash. The phone also has other multimedia capabilities as it can play videos and music, so it will be pitched against the likes of Nokia's N95 and Sony Ericsson's W960i.

Motorola

Motorola's Z10 is another phone pitched at the top end of the consumer-orientated market, with considerable multimedia capabilities and the same kick slide design as the Z8. This phone follows the release of the MOTOROKR E8 at the Computer Electronics Show (CES) to mark the beginning of a new era for the Motorola device manufacturing department, although there is the possibility that the underperforming mobile division could be sold. This device is compatible with the entire Synchronica product suite.

E-ten

E-ten have been advertising the release of upcoming products at the GSMA Mobile World Congress since the beginning of the year, and recently the V900 has emerged as another addition to their range of top-end windows mobile devices. The E-Ten Glofiish range is fast becoming one of the top players in converged devices as they have Windows Mobile operating systems for business users as well as top-end multimedia capabilities.

Windows Mobile

Staying with Windows Mobile, there have been devices announced at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, running the latest platform upgrade released during the event. The Windows Mobile 6.1 platform is expected to bring changes to the user interfaces from the previous version, but no major overhauls of the software are expected until the release of Windows Mobile 7 at a later date. A phone due out soon that will run the 6.1 platform is the MWG Zinc II.

This is one of the first offerings from this manufacturer, previously O2's own brand supplier that is now operating alone and trying to break into the fiercely contested hi-tech windows mobile device market space, competing with HTC and E-ten amongst others. As this software upgrade is reported to be mainly aesthetic, it seems likely that all Windows Mobile 6.1 devices will be fully supported by Synchronica's product suite.

LG

LG have announced their two latest top-end models during the Mobile World Congress, namely the LG KF600 and KF700. Not many details have been released about these phones yet, except that they will have touch screen capabilities combined with other novel input methods, while still being particularly slim devices. There are no details about what standards the phones will support, so it will be interesting to see if these will be Symbian devices rather than a proprietary OS model from the Korean manufacturer.

Apple

Apple has just launched the memory-increased 16 gigabyte version of the iPhone, and some of these were on show at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. Although there are no details about the device being available in Europe, it has already gone on sale in the U.S. for USD 100 more than its predecessor's current cost. There is still no word on when the device will be upgraded to support 3G, but this memory upgrade should appeal to the more media hungry consumers out there.

LiMo

The LiMo Foundation announced that its mobile Linux platform has been deployed on available devices already with several Motorola devices currently on the market. This represents a large advantage on its competitor, the Android platform, that currently is not expected to be available on a commercial device until the end of this year. The phones reportedly running the platform are:

• MOTORAZR2 V8
• MOTOROKR E8
• MOTO U9
• MOTORAZR2 V8 Luxury Edition
• MOTO Z6w
• MOTOROKR Z6