Spiral Arm News

Gartner 2005Q2 handset sales figures.

The latest Gartner survey is reported in The Register and
The Guardian.

• Nokia 31.9% (60.8m units)


• Motorola 17.9%


• Samsung 12.8%


• LG 6.5%


• SonyEricsson 6.2%


• Siemens sold mobile business to BenQ

From The Guardian article: '"We're going back to the 1990s, when Nokia and Motorola were in a league of their own and everyone else was trying to take what was left," according to Carolina Milanesi, Gartner's principal analyst.'

The Register also reports on three times increase in Symbian device shipments: 7.8m handsets we shipped in 2005Q2.

Citizens urged to sign up to text emergency service.

Emergency planners at Oxfordshire council, in the UK, have launched a City Alert Text System, reports
BBC news. For an annual fee of GBP1.50, subscribers will receive information during emergency situations such as terror alerts or natural disasters.

FT on the future of the mobile phone.

The Financial Times reports on patents that may predict the development of the mobile phone (Special report on Innovations, June 8, 2005, p. 17):

• Mobile phones boost their power output when network signal is low, and on aircraft phones are at their maximum trying to reach a base station. By placing a small 'pico-cell' on-board, phones use a small amount of power which reduces interference. Base stations on the ground also have less difficulty tracking one high-speed cell passing by.


• MCI's 1995 patent for locating a caller from GPS improves on the ability of network operators to locate callers by cell triangulation.


• A private patent filed in 1997 describes a disposable phone which could, for example, be purchased from vending machines by travelers arriving in a country.


• Manhattan Scientifics has patented methanol-based device which could be used to recharge mobile phone batteries.


• British Airways has a UK patent on using text messaging to issue boarding passes to customers.


• LG Electronics has developed a TV receiver for mobile phones. Plugging the device in allows reception of local TV boradcasts (South Korean patent, 2003).

Time and location sensitive mobile phones.

"Sony Ericsson's latest idea is to sell phones which automatically change the way they behave, depending on the time, date and place", reports New Scientist. Examples include: changing wallpaper to seasonal themes; restaurants using Bluetooth to send menu specials to customer screens; and automatically switching to silent mode in cinemas.

Slowdown in ringtones sales.

Forbes and The FT report on a change in the ringtone market: "The days of making easy money from ringtones - short clips of music for mobile phones - are over".

Publisher offering book chapters on mobile phones.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on HarperCollins's decision to offer free sample chapters of upcoming books direct to mobile phones. Their MobileReader software will include three sample chapters.

"The next step, depending on the phone technology and quality of the screens, is actually getting authors to write books for mobile-phone use," he [HarperCollins marketing director, Jim Demetriou] said "They'd have to write in a truncated way, use a different style of writing. It would be aimed at a younger age group."

Parents to discreetly monitor child's location.

The Guardian reports on a new service going on sale in UK high streets. The KidsOK service allows parents to send a text message to the service and receive back a picture message containing a map detailing their child's location.

Being able to find this out without involving the child is seen as a great advantage. "Receiving an embarrassing call or text message from your mum or dad wanting to know where you are is the last thing kids want when they're with friends."

The service costs GBP39.95 plus the GBP0.50 per location request. "Parents must undergo Home Office-approved checks before they register, and any child tracked has to opt in to the service before it can start."