Motorola unveils Android-powered smartphone, the Cliq

Motorola on Thursday unveiled a new smartphone, the Cliq, powered by Google's Android software which the US handset maker hopes will help turn around its flagging fortunes.

Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha previewed the touch-screen phone, which is to be available through US carrier T-Mobile, at the GigaOm Mobilize09 event in San Francisco.

"Android gives us a platform to innovate and enhance user experiences," he said.

Described as "the first phone with social skills," the Cliq is heavily geared toward social networking with easy access and features built around sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

For example, Jha said, caller ID on the phone will display the name of the incoming caller, their latest profile picture and latest status update.

The Cliq also features a camera and video camera and a full complement of Google mobile services such as Google calendar, Google maps and built-in GPS.

Jha said the Cliq was one of two smartphones Motorola expected to release by the end of the year running Google's open-source Android operating system.

The other device would be unveiled "in the coming weeks," he said, and both would hit store shelves in time for the holiday season.

"We expect (the Cliq) to be one of our hottest-selling devices in the fourth quarter," said T-Mobile chief technology officer Cole Brodman, who appeared on stage with Jha.

Google and T-Mobile released the first so-called "Google Phone," the T-Mobile G1, which is manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp., in October of last year.

US wireless carrier Sprint Nextel and HTC announced plans last week to release a touch-screen mobile phone in October, the HTC Hero, powered by Android.

Motorola enjoyed success with its popular Razr phone launched in 2005 but has been losing ground since to Apple's popular iPhone and Research in Motion's Blackberry as well as other major cell phone makers such as Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

World's lightest phone to be launched in RP

The modu phone, recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the lightest fully-functional phone in the world, is set to be launched in the Philippines.

Second-largest telecommunications firm Globe Telecom Inc. said it has sealed a partnership with modu Ltd. to offer the modu phone in the country through its exclusive local distributor, Lynk Communications.

According to Globe, the Philippines is among the first countries where such a phone will be available.

"We are confident this leading-edge partnership will bring new value to a market that continues to grow in sophistication and discerning tastes," Globe President and Chief Executive Officer Ernest Cu said in a statement.

The modu phone, which only weighs 1.5 ounces, has a music player, a mass storage device, and 2 gigabytes of internal memory. It also has interchangeable modu jackets, or phone enclosures which can instantly change the look and style of the handset.

"Modu has shown an astute understanding of what makes our customers tick," Cu said.

Founded in 2007 by Dov Moran, modu is headquartered in Israel, with offices in Croatia and South Korea. Moran is the inventor of the USB flash drive (DiskonKey).

47% of Pinoys think cellphones irreplaceable: study

Forty-seven percent of Filipinos believe their mobile phones would be harder to replace than their wallets, a worldwide survey by global market research firm Synovate said Friday.

The survey, which interviewed 8,000 respondents across 11 markets, showed that the Philippines was the closest market to being split on the issue of which was harder to replace -- the mobile phone or the wallet.

The Synovate survey said 47 percent of Filipino respondents say their mobile phone would be harder to replace while 52 percent chose their wallet or purse.

Synovate Philippines managing director Carole Sarthou said Filipinos would find the mobile difficult, or even impossible, to replace. "The connection to other people stops when the phone is lost. It's a storehouse for photos and videos, but most vital are contact details. Filipinos seek constant connection," she said.

Steve Garton, Synovate's global head of media, noted that the mobile phone is slowly taking over as a purchasing tool for Filipinos.

"The mobile has yet to take over the wallet or purse as the absolute epicenter of people's lives but it is certainly on the way. This is happening now, for example, in the Philippines and Africa where millions of dollars have been transacted via mobile. The telco has effectively become a bank, allowing even those in rural areas to send and receive mobile money," he said.

Garton said Filipinos are using their mobile phones as more than just communication devices. Eighty-seven percent of Filipinos use the phone's alarm clock feature, 63 percent play games regularly, 48 percent listen to or download music, 44 percent watch video clips and 13 percent even watch TV -- all on their mobile phones.

Sarthou explained this is part cultural and part circumstantial. "It's part of the national psyche to love social connections, music and entertainment. How the Filipino love affair with the mobile is different compared to developing nations is that, in many cases, a mobile is all people have.

"It's the only way they can listen to music, the only way they can play games and the only way they can communicate from afar. Many Filipinos use this instead of the Internet and computers and it's not surprising that it has become such a multi-purpose, multi-tasking tool."

The survey showed that three quarters of the 8,000 plus respondents never leave home without their phones (led by 92% of Russians and 89% of Singaporeans) and more than a third (36%) go as far as to say they cannot live without their mobile (topped by 60% of Taiwanese and 49% of Singaporean respondents).

Sleeping with their cellphones

Sarthou said most Filipinos would rather risk interrupted sleep than go to bed without their mobile phones. The survey showed that 70 percent of Filipinos go to bed with their phones, compared to 62 percent of mobile users in Malaysia.

Fifty-four percent of Filipinos confess they feel excited when their phone rings or beeps for a message.

Some Filipinos have also used text messaging in managing their relationships. The survey showed that 23 percent of Filipino mobile users have broken up with someone via text messaging while 17 percent of Filipinos have been dumped in a relationship via text.

Fifty-seven percent of Filipino mobile users said they used text messaing to lie about why they were running late or where they are. Forty-nine percent of Filipinos also said they used a text to say no or send a difficult message.

The Synovate mobile phones survey was conducted online in June 2009 in Canada, Denmark, France, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Britain and the United States.

'Windows Phones' coming in October

Microsoft, seeking to tap into the rapidly growing smartphone market, announced on Tuesday that new cellphones coming in October will feature an upgraded mobile operating system.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant said mobile phones from its handset partners hitting stores on October 6 will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of its mobile phone software.

The new phones, to be branded as "Windows Phones," will feature a redesigned Web browser and a free service called "My Phone," which allows users to back up contacts, messages and photos on a personal computer or the Internet.

Microsoft also announced plans to launch an online applications store -- Windows Marketplace for Mobile -- like Apple's popular App Store for the iPhone or Research in Motion's recently unveiled Blackberry App World.

It said a "wide variety" of applications will be available for the devices to be offered by hardware manufacturers in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.

Other features include email using Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Office Mobile, which allows users to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from their phone.

Microsoft's share of the market for smartphone operating systems fell to nine percent in the second quarter from 12 percent a year ago, according to research firm Gartner.

Nokia's Symbian is the leader with a 51 percent share of the market according to Gartner, while RIM commands around 21 percent and Apple has increased its share to 13.3 percent from 2.8 percent a year ago.

Google's open-source Android mobile phone software is another new entry in the operating system space and the Internet giant has carved out a two percent market share.

While worldwide mobile phone sales fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter, smartphone sales increased by 27 percent in the period to 40.9 million units, according to Gartner.

Stephanie Ferguson, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit, said in a blog post that the software for new smartphones emphasized "productivity."

"Of the people we talked to, 74 percent listed productivity as the top feature they value in their smartphone," she wrote.

"We took this feedback to heart, making the user interface more touch friendly and improving notifications and updates from email, text and calendar items," Ferguson said.

"We also included the latest Internet Explorer Mobile browser and added free services like My Phone to help protect data in the event of a lost phone."

Microsoft identified its partners in North America as mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp., LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.

In Europe, its partners are mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.

Microsoft said that in Latin America its partners are mobile operator TIM Brazil and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung.

In Asia-Pacific, its partners are mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc., SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM Inc. and phone manufacturers Acer Inc., HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.

Nokia bolsters phone lineup

Nokia on Wednesday bolstered its smartphone line-up to better compete with Apple and said a $820 laptop will lead its foray into the fiercely-competitive PC market.

The new handsets -- including its first phone using Linux software -- are the latest moves by the Finnish firm to match Apple's innovation in a sector switching focus to services and software, but left market-followers unimpressed.

"Nokia has major challenges on developing user experience, and we might have to wait for a significant improvement until the second half of next year," said Jari Honko, analyst with eQ Bank in Helsinki.

Nokia's offering in the top end of the market worries investors as the firm has rapidly lost market share in the most profitable part of the industry to Apple and RIM.

"We are fighting back. We are on attack," Anssi Vanjoki, head of Nokia marketing, said in a speech.

Nokia unveiled three new phone models and announced further details of its new Booklet 3G, its first laptop.

Getting into PC industry

Nokia has seen its profit margins drop over the last few quarters as handset demand has slumped, and analysts have worried that entering the PC industry, where margins are traditionally razor-thin, could further depress earnings.

But Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said Nokia had no choice.

"Nokia had to do it. You see more and more PC guys getting into the mobile operators' shelves. It's kind of the counterattack, it's not just defensive," Milanesi said.

John Hwang, the head of Nokia's laptop business, said the company aims to bundle laptops with Nokia's new Internet services to better compete with rivals offering just hardware.

With the move into laptops, Nokia is crossing the border between two converging industries from the opposite direction to Mac-maker Apple, which entered the phone industry in 2007 with the iPhone.

Following Apple, Acer and Asustek have also jumped from PC world to cell phone industry.

"We are witnessing a sizeable shift in the overall industry. No one feels considerably safe," Nokia's Hwang said in the interview.

In the laptop business Nokia will face new rivals like HP, Dell and Acer, and some commentators said the market -- from which IBM pulled out in 2005 -- could be too tough to crack.

At the same time Nokia's history has been marked by major steps from one industry to another. In the early 1990s it sold most of its units, including those making rubber cables and home electronics, to focus on telecommunications.

Nokia said its new top-end N900 phone will sell for 500 euros ($711.9). The phone, which has computer-like functions, is the Finnish firm's first phone to use Linux software.

The unveiling of the phone last Thursday helped to lift its shares 11 percent for the week.

Nokia has been looking for business opportunities in offering services like music downloads or games to cell phone users as the handset market matures, but so far its offerings have had limited traction.

Nokia also on Wednesday announced a new Lifecasting service -- follower to its similar Lifeblog and LifeVine services -- that will link Nokia phones' location and media data to Facebook, and allow people to update their location and status directly via a Nokia Ovi account.

The first phone to support the service will be the N97 mini, which will start shipping to retailers in October.

"This deal sees Nokia catching up with rivals such as Apple and RIM. The big win is getting the Ovi brand and its Maps service featured on Facebook," said Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at CCS Insight.

Nokia shares were slightly down in the wake of the announcements at the "Nokia World" event in Stuttgart, having fallen 0.9 percent at 9.34 euros at 1406 GMT but outpacing a 1.2 percent weaker Dow Jones Stoxx Technology index.

Viewers hunger for Web and TV at same time: study

U.S. television viewers are increasingly turning on the Web, tuning into television and not missing a beat on either, as simultaneous TV and Internet use continues to rise, research firm Nielsen said on Wednesday.

Nielsen said in a report that 57 percent of TV viewers in the U.S. who have Internet access use both mediums at the same time at least once a month. That translates to more than 128 million U.S. consumers.

As the heightened importance of the Web changes the way Americans watch TV, industry executives and marketers are considering ways to adjust their broadcast shows and play into viewers' simultaneous use of the Internet.

"What we're finding is that there's a connection between the two media, and that innovative marketers can take advantage of that," said Gary Holmes, a spokesman for Nielsen.

"One medium can be used to reinforce the other," he said.

Broadcasters can expect some viewers will turn to the Web to learn more about their shows, but they have to be wary of losing the attention of their viewers.

The Nielsen study found the average TV viewer who uses the Internet simultaneously does that for 2 hours and 40 minutes a month, and that 28 percent of the time they are on the Web at home, they are also watching television.

The percentage of time U.S. consumers watch TV and use the Internet simultaneously is about the same as a similar Nielsen study from last year, but the total number of individuals doing that rose because more of them have the Web, Holmes said.

The report also found TV consumption in the United States continues to increase, with the average viewer watching 141 hours per month, a 1.5 percent rise from a year ago.

Holmes said even as viewership of videos on the Internet and on mobile phones increases, Americans still prefer to watch video on their television, as shown by how many more hours they spend in front of the tube.

"The possibility of watching (video) anyplace has really increased dramatically, but really the rule of thumb is that you watch it on the best screen," he said.

How lifestyle shapes technology, vice versa

MOBILE PHONE manufacturers are constantly upgrading devices to enable people “to experience a wide variety of features that complement their personalities and lifestyles,” says Sandeep Khanna, Nokia Philippines marketing head.

“All handset brands, Nokia, in particular, are bringing technology that fuses seamlessly into people’s lives. If you get them to do more with their device, they will stay loyal to you.”

So how does Nokia make its hardware more attractive to consumers?

Khanna cites key trends:

Smartphones or mobiles with IT features are the next big thing. Wide access to multimedia information is available on hand, literally. “It’s adding more function to a small device. The N97 has 32 gigs of storage. My laptop has 37 gigs,” says Khanna.

According to the New York Times, “The great promise of a smartphone is that it can be just about anything you need it to be in a given moment.”

Traditional features are getting more sophisticated yet made accessible with lower price points. In the past, a 5-megapixel camera-phone would fetch P25,000. Today, the popular Nokia 6700 classic offers this feature at P16,570. The mobiles are slowly replacing the MP3 player. The 6700 can store 325 songs using the +eaac (high-efficiency advanced video coding) format.

But with its expandable memory of up to 8 gigabytes, it can store 3,000 songs. For the audiophile, the Nokia 5130 Xpressmusic stores 750 songs and is priced at P5,840.

Materials are getting more refined. The new phones are made of high-tech materials such as carbon fiber, titanium and burnished steel, which lend lightness, durability and elegance to the product.

With its constant evolution, Nokia is also blurring the lines between manufacturing handphones and providing mobile data services. Ovi.com, the Finnish word for “portal,” is going the way of Microsoft, Apple and Google.

“It is our door to the Internet. Through Ovi.com we will bring a range of services and solutions to the Philippines – e-mail, maps, games and music. It will consist of a fairly rounded repertoire of services that people need today,” says Khanna.

The local launch is still under wraps. However, you can check out www.ovi.com and even open a free e-mail account with 1 gigabyte of storage.

New products

The marketing executive adds that Nokia will present new products that will enable users to open an e-mail account on the phone and access their e-mail in just three clicks. The range will be available from the lower and mid-range phones, which cost between P2,500 and P15,000.

“It’s a very clear strategy for us to make e-mail accessible to the widest mass of users,” he says. These features and services will augur well in remote areas where people don’t own a computer or have access to an Internet café. (Users will pay for Internet charges).

As added feature, Nokia owners can personalize their phones with the company’s latest application outlet, the Ovi Store. Most of the apps are free of charge in the Philippine market, such as games and media entertainment.

Khanna points out the potential of Ovi Share. “You can upload photos and videos in an unlimited storage for free... More than just devices, we have to present services and solutions to people. That’s the way to encourage usage [of Nokia], the way to build brand equity and live by our mission of connecting people.”

Meanwhile, Nokia is strengthening ties to its market segment through the 6700 classic.

“To connect, you need to go beyond the traditional feature-benefit type of communication. This audience requires a sensorial connection. This is where marketing is important. This segment leads to a fuller, richer and more well-rounded life. We need to be a part of that life,” he adds.

Prestige events

Nokia recently tied up with a society magazine for the launch of its restaurant guide. An event highlight was a photo exhibit of foods by Alex Van Hagen, taken with the 6700c camera.

Nokia also collaborated with Inquirer Lifestyle and Look magazine for the Manila debut of Australian-based Filipino designer Leonardo Salinas.

On September 7, Nokia, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Look will hold a style photo exhibit at Ayala Museum. In October, Nokia and Inquirer Lifestyle will hold an art exhibit.

“Lifestyle trends are changing and you need to have your ear to the ground to see what’s new. For example, no-name branding is what connects more with this market profile than the in-your-face branding. Understatement is a big statement by itself. Basically we live through the different facets of our customers’ lives. Fashion was the starting point.

“But it was also important to connect to other dimensions such as food and gourmet. The upcoming events are on beauty/style and art. We thought of presenting all of these in a well-rounded and cohesive way. Today, every brand likes to have a lifestyle dimension because people are realizing there is more to products than just features and benefits,” explains Khanna.

“In Nokia, we live through our brand values and personality. We are very sociable, curious and authentic. Those are our brand values. In the way we present ourselves, we stand out uniquely because we’ve always been a leader in the Philippines. The 6700 is sensorial and a piece of affordable luxury. Hence, the Lifestyle and Look event aims to present style as it’s never been done before. It’s all about the look and invoking the senses.”

Nokia unveils its first Linux phone

The world's largest handset maker Nokia unveiled on Thursday its first high-end phone running on Linux software.

The Finnish firm has dabbled with Linux since 2005 using it in "Internet tablets" -- sleek phone-like devices used to access the Web that have failed to gain mass-market appeal in part due to their lack of a cellular radio.

The new N900 model, with cellular connection, touch screen and slide-out keyboard, will retail for around 500 euros ($712), excluding subsidies and taxes.

Nokia's workhorse Symbian operating system controls half of the smartphone market volume -- more than its rivals Apple, Research in Motion and Google put together.

Nokia said Linux would work well in parallel with Symbian in its high-end product range.

"This is in no way putting Symbian in jeopardy," Anssi Vanjoki, head of sales at Nokia, told Reuters.

"Open source Symbian is going to be our main platform, and we are expending and growing it the best we can, both in terms of functionality as well as distribution ... populating more and more of our product line with Symbian," he said.

The new model will use ARM's Cortex-A8 processor.

"If you look at the energy management properties we have in ARM, at least today, they are clearly better, miles and miles better, than what we have in Intel architecture," Vanjoki said, adding the company would not count out using Intel processors in the same product range later.

Linux is the most popular type of free, or so-called open source, computer operating system available to the public. It competes directly with Microsoft Corp, which charges for its Windows software and opposes freely sharing its code.

PLDT posts P20.8 billion profit in 6 months

Telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) posted a consolidated core net income of P20.8 billion ($433 million), up 11 percent on year, in the first six months 2009, on back of increased revenues, company officials said today.

PLDT's consolidated net income grew 2 percent to P19.7 billion (about $410 million) in the first half of 2009.

PLDT officials reported that consolidated service revenues rose 4 percent on year to P72.9 billion (about $1.5 billion).

Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) are stable at P44.1 billion (about $920 million) while consolidated EBITDA margin is at 60 percent of service revenues. Consolidated free cash flow improves to P31.6 billion (about $660 million) for the first half of 2009.

The strong performance of the wireless service unit bolstered PLDT's revenues in the first half. Wireless service revenues increased five percent to P48.1 billion (about $1 billion) thanks to an expanding customer base.

PLDT's cellular subsidiaries, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Pilipino Telephone Corporation (Piltel) continue to dominate the market, thanks to aggressive marketing, continuous system improvement and offering of more affordable rates to its subscribers. The subscriber base for the first half of 2009 expanded by 16 percent to P38.5 million.

"We are very conscious of the need to adapt our service offerings to the needs of our subscribers and the economic conditions. We offer the best value at the lowest price," Napoleon Nazareno, President and CEO of PLDT and Smart, said in a statement.

SmartBro, the Smart's wireless broadband service -- through its wholly-owned subsidiary Smart Broadband, Inc. -- continued to expand as its wireless broadband subscriber base grew 26 percent to 689,000.

Wireless broadband revenues grew 30 percent to P2.6 billion (about $54 million) in the first half of 2009.

Fixed-line service revenues increased by 3 percent to P25.4 billion (about $530 million) on significant gains in data revenues, both from corporate data and residential services. E-PLDT, the group's information and communications technology arm, reported service revenues of P5.2 billion (about $108 million) in the first half of 2009, up 5 percent on year.

"While our first half performance remained robust, we are slightly concerned about what the second semester may bring the third quarter is traditionally the slowest one in the year and we worry that the adverse effects of the global economic crisis may have a lagged effect on our economy," PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said in a statement.

Despite these concerns, Pangilinan is optimistic that PLDT will continue to perform strongly for the rest of the year. He expects PLDT to post a core profit of P41 billion (about $854 million) for 2009.

"We are seeing some signs that consumers generally may be wary about spending or committing to spend. Nonetheless, I remain confident that we are up to the challenge. We have faced tough times before and come out a stronger and better company," he said.