IT Masala

Today, Sony Ericsson announced the launch of the W660 Walkman phone…

The Sony Ericsson W660 Walkman phone can store up to 470 full-length songs on the 512MB Memory Stick Micro that comes with the phone. It has an expandable memory option upto 1GB.

The Sony Ericsson W660 Walkman phone features TRackID, a feature that enables the user to identify a piece of music that cannot be recognized. All the user has to do is record a few seconds of the track; via the microphone or by tagging a clip directly from the phone’s FM Radio. TrackID will then send the clip to the Gracenote Mobile MusicID database, after which the track information is sent back to the users’ phone.

According to Steve Walker, Head of Product Marketing,Sony:

“The W660 has a finish that stands out among its peers. Although the W660 places the emphasis firmly on design, it is also a full member of our Walkman phone family, able to store several hundred full-length songs. That’s important because our research indicates users are listening to more music than ever before – an average of 4.4 hours a day, according to the latest Sony Ericsson Music Monitor.”

Specifications of the Sony Ericsson W660 Walkman phone:

Trying to sell boatloads of inexpensive phones to China and India hasn't been working too well for cellular handset makers, so perhaps pricey is the future after all. Here are a set of extremely costly handsets which are studded with gems and rare metals. You should be really lucky to buy stuff like this..not really lucky..!! you should be a millionaire to spend on gadgets which no other extra feature other than the glistening appearance. If you are among those who may not be able to afford such luxurious stuff …..Feast your eyes — these photos are as close as you're likely to get to these ultra-luxe mobiles.

Nokia Vertu Cobra
$310,000

Nokia's luxury phone subsidiary, Vertu, crafts its ridiculous cellphones (they call them "instruments") at a custom workshop hidden away in the English countryside. Among the silliest are models named after famous racetracks — plans of which are engraved on each of the limited-edition handsets. While some models are a mere $4,000 or so, the Signature models — studded with real carbon — can cost up to $310,000. The Cobra (pictured) is "inspired by 19th century Parisian jeweler Frederic Boucheron." Only eight exist worldwide.

Alternative: Buy yourself a Lamborghini Diablo.

The rest of the models :

via [ wired news ]

As Internet Reaches 747 million Users, Mobile Webvertising Gets a Boost.The survey, conducted by TNS Media and Entertainment in the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, found that 76 percent of cellphone owners in those countries now have access to the Web from mobile devices. The researchers, who polled about 1,000 people in each country, found that more than a third of those with mobile Web access used such services.

For instance, i started using my mobile for web browing recently, i liked the way the sites are dsiplayed..etc.. I also liked the way ads were put.. There was really no problem of browsing using my (not so euqipped handset-Motorola W200), but still its nice browsing using the mobile.

I a fan of deepika padukone , and so i downloaded a beautiful wallpaper using Airtel Live.It cost me Rs 10, but it was worth it. The trend is changing, there was a time when everybody asked only for FREE stuff, but now people are ready to pay , as they know they will get the best stuff. This changing trend will be a boost to the mobile advertising arena.

I even downloaded A.R.Rahman's ringtone which was available free of cost, while doing so, i don't mind clicking on the ads which i am interested .. So we are ready for the mobile era now. Advertising on the mobile is gradually picking up and there is a huge market in advertising on mobile phones ..

The cost of mobile internet has come to Rs 5 per day(to browse wap sites only) ( by Airtel) and Rs 20 per day(to browse all sites), we can browse any number of sites , but if you download something it will be charged. This is really a nice facility by Airtel,slowly every other provider will also start his own service on mobile at cheaper prices.

Some facts :

- 49 Percent of Mobile Web Users Check for Sports

- one-third (34%) of mobile Web users internationally say they will watch advertisements in exchange for free mobile content

- 53% of all online weather consumers leverage their mobile access to get weather information

- 35% of online stock quote consumers

- More than 50% of mobile Web consumers use the same brands they use on their PC.

- Nearly one-in-ten consumers actually made a purchase based on a mobile Web ad.

- Other common actions include: checking out a website (23%); requesting more information about a product or service (13%); and, going to a store to check out a product (11%).

- Paid Online Content U.S. Market Spending Report says ; Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Americans have paid for tech news, followed by lifestyles content (21%) and product information (20%).

- Consumers who read technology news on the mobile Web: 73% rely on PC Internet brands. Mobile Web users that access stock quotes (69%), business news (66%) and health news (65%) also rely heavily on PC Internet brands.

- On-portal mobile game revenue jumped to $151 million in Q4 2006

- 65% of all games are purchased by women

- 40% of all games are purchased by mobile consumers age 25-36

Nick Lane, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media said :

"By the end of 2007, 797.6 million mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, or roughly 25%, will include web browsing"

via [ playfuls ] 

Today SIPphone is launching GizmoSMS.com a web site that lets you send SMS messages to any mobile phone directly from your PC. It's fast and easy and best of all it's free. (The receiver may have to pay a fee depending on their plan.) It's the quickest way to send a brief message to someone. Many of us(students) use SMS as a primary messaging tool in place of email. But I find it very useful if I know someone is traveling because they may or may not have access to email or instant messaging. Personally I prefer getting a SMS message over a call or voice mail for brief messages. Here's a screenshot of GizmoSMS:

Gizmo SMS is not the first web based SMS service, but it is the best. Gizmo SMS we cover over 200 carriers spanning more than 60 countries. Still other sites require cumbersome registration and bombard your own phone with SMS messages(which can cost you money in the US). No registration is required with Gizmo SMS, but it does have a security image to keep off the robots and other automated abuses.

On their website : You can make it easy for people to send you a SMS message by providing them with a link such as: http://gizmosms.com/919945936759 which will navigate them to GizmoSMS.com and populate 919945936759 into the number field. We've also added links directly from sister site Gizmo Call which lets you call any phone right from your browser. (Gizmo Call now works with Linux! Hurray !.)
Enjoy smsing !

Visit [ GizmoSMS ]

Microsoft is seeing Yahoo! web services come to mobile devices running Windows Mobile software. This move is designed to help Microsoft make Web services more widely available, not just on computers but also on mobile phones. It will also go a long way to expanding Yahoo's base of mobile Internet users.

Ojas Rege, Senior Director of Mobile Phone Business, Yahoo!, said that Windows Mobile phone users tend to be relatively data savvy consumers. They are a pretty attractive group of users both from the standpoint of being early adopters of new services, and in terms of advertising demographics.

Additionally, earlier this year, Yahoo! signed deals with four of the world's top mobile handset makers in the world, including Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, and LG Electronics. This allows Yahoo! to give consumers one-click access to their services. Anything from Web search, email, maps, and local information, to Flickr photo sharing.

via [ SE watch ] 

Mojungle, the media sharing site that had put itself up for sale on ebay, only to withdraw the listing, because of zero-bids has been sold to Peak Performance Solutions of Columbus, Ohio.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mojungle is a mobile-media sharing application and virtual community allowing users to store and share photos and videos directly from their mobile device in real-time, communicate, network, browse profiles, and make friends from around the world in a secure environment. Mojungle was founded in early 2006 and has established a large user base in a short time period.

Former Mojungle CEO, Ophir Tanz, states:

"We are pleased to be leaving Mojungle in such capable hands and look forward to seeing Peak Performance grow the existing Mojungle service and successfully integrate the mobile sharing capabilities into their existing software, a move which is sure to cause a stir in the industry."

Steve Isaac, CEO of Peak Performance Solutions, states:

"Mojungle is a highly innovative solution that will allow cellular telephone technology capabilities to be incorporated into core insurance and risk management business application functions".

via [ peakpsi ] 

MediaRing was one of the pioneer first to offer free VoIP PC-to-PC calls and instant messaging with its flagship service “MediaRing Talk 99? which was first launched in 1998.

However, it’s soon overtaken by competitor products such as Skype which is immensely popular. Still popular especially in Asia, MediaRing Talk is an effort to regain past glory by integrating features of presence and Instant Messaging, VoIP phones calls between PC-to-PC as well as PC-to-Phone, with bundle of free value-added services such as voice and text conferencing. And now MediaRing Talk has launched Lunar New Year promotion where you can have unlimited free calls to United States of America (US), Canada, China, Singapore and United Kingdom.

Offer Time : 

The free unlimited fixed line and mobile calls offer is a limited time promotion where it will end on March 31, 2007 GMT 23:59 midnight.

Please Note : 

- No purchase is necessary, but the promotion is only applicable to new MediaRing Talk users.

- Beside, each call is limited to 10 minutes.

- However, there are no restrictions on calling the same destination multiple times.

- Unlimited Free calls are applicable to calls made to US, Canada, China, Singapore on fixed line or mobile (cellphone) phone, and United Kingdom on fixed line phone only.

To call for free to international phone, sign up for MediaRing Talk. via [ MediaRing ]

These OpenMoko guys have the coolest caption! it says “The Revolution to “Free Your Phone” is Coming…“.

BURLINGAME, Calif. — Can the power of open source be harnessed into the form factor of a cellular phone? That’s the question Taiwan-based OpenMoko hopes to answer positively, when it starts to roll out its OpenMoko platform and phones later this year.

OpenMoko architect Sean Moss-Pultz speaks to GigaOM :

Well, our company, at first. [OpenMoko is part of First International Computer, FIC, a Taiwan manufacturer of motherboards and mobile phones, which plans to make OpenMoko available on its Neo1973 Smartphone.]

We are building ourselves the basic kinds of things you need in a phone — calendar, email, address book, etc. But we hope to attract developers, tap into the same kind of power of other open source projects.

Looks like its Open Source re-charged !! good to see something different, something special being done with Open Source !
Visit [ OpenMoko ]

FREE Email SMS to Cell Phone anywhere in the world .This service is common all over the world , with almost all mobile networks supporting this facility.

The key is that most cell phones on major networks have a built in capability to receive emails, so everyone who has a phone has a mobile email address (almost true..). Take my provider, Airtel (karnataka) , for example; you can send a short text message to anyone on the Airtel(Karnataka) network by entering their phonenumber@airtelkk.com , i.e If you want to send a message to me , just send an email to 919945936759@airtelkk.com . And for example some foreign providers such as cingular network by entering their phone number @cingularme.com.
Here is a list with details of all the mobile network providers in india.email_sms_mobile_india.doc

Supported Networks in India: ( providers must have given this facility to almost every region now..check out- this is bit old list)

Airtel: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chennai (Skycell), Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West)
Hutch: Delhi
Escotel: Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Kerala
BPL Mobile: Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Goa
Idea Cellular: Andhra Pradesh (Tata), Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat
RPG Cellular: Chennai
Aircel: Tamil Nadu
Celforce (Fascel): Gujarat

Ok, so the F700’s screen isn’t multi-touch or 3.5-inches, but it does have a full QWERTY keypad and 5.0-megapixel camera. That’s not all, you’ll also find EDGE, HSDPA, Bluetooth, VibeTonz, and a microSD card slot. Samsung even loaded the phone with its own custom OS. More pictures after the jump.

[via NewLaunches]