Device Arena

Furthering its reputation as a global leader in mobile innovation and design, HTC Corporation today announced the continuation of its design focus with the acquisition of San Francisco-based lifestyle design firm One & Company Design, Inc. (One & Co). Recognized for its award-winning work with some of the world’s best known and most design-savvy lifestyle brands, One & Co will maintain its name and client base while it joins forces with HTC to create an unparalleled force in global mobile design.

“Design is key, it is why you love or hate something,” said Horace Luke, Chief Innovation Officer, HTC Corporation. “Integrating iconic design into HTC products is an inspiring and dynamic challenge that requires a unique combination of consumer insight, creativity, innovation and an appetite to take risks; attributes that embody One & Co.”

(more…)

Today, at its annual Capital Markets Day event, Nokia lowered its forecast for mobile device industry volumes for the fourth quarter 2008. Nokia also presented forecasts for the company and the industry for 2009. At the event, senior company executives outlined how Nokia’s strategy, robust financial structure and competitive product portfolio are expected to ensure the company remains in a position of strength in the more challenging economic times ahead.

Nokia President and CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, highlighted the benefits of Nokia’s brand, scale and number one market position, stating: “2009 will be challenging for our industry, however we have a strong, enviable base to build on and I believe we will continue to strengthen our position on many fronts. Building on our operational flexibility, Nokia is acting to reduce costs appropriately in the current slowing environment. At the same time, we remain fully committed to making the investments to build the future of our exciting industry and Nokia’s continued competitiveness.”

(more…)

Nokia announced today that Research In Motion (RIM) has renewed a multi-year patent license agreement. The agreement covers the worldwide use of standards essential patents for GSM, WCDMA and CDMA2000 technologies. The financial terms of the agreement consist of an up-front payment and on-going royalties payable to Nokia.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the success of Nokia’s increased focus on patent out-licensing” said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Intellectual Property Rights, Nokia. “This agreement confirms Nokia’s leading role in developing key technologies and the value of our patent assets”.

(more…)

Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks announced their partnership with Save the Children Finland to help alleviate the existing water problem made worse by the current drought in Alaba Special Woreda through collaboration with the Woreda administration and its relevant offices.

The collaboration between Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Save the Children Finland was initiated as a response to the urgent needs of children and their families in Alaba Special Woreda, an area which is severely dependent on rainfall and, where people are forced to travel every day over 20km to fetch water during dry seasons. Due to fluctuations in rainfall, the northern part of Alaba Woreda faces regular shortage of rain which affects the whole community in general but specifically children, who suffer from improper sanitation, water borne diseases and early school drop-out as incomes are reduced when cattle rearing becomes difficult. The impact of the drought has been made worse by the recent increases in food prices, which have further increased the hardships experienced by the community.

(more…)

Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks announced their partnership with Save the Children Finland to help alleviate the existing water problem made worse by the current drought in Alaba Special Woreda through collaboration with the Woreda administration and its relevant offices.

The collaboration between Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks and Save the Children Finland was initiated as a response to the urgent needs of children and their families in Alaba Special Woreda, an area which is severely dependent on rainfall and, where people are forced to travel every day over 20km to fetch water during dry seasons. Due to fluctuations in rainfall, the northern part of Alaba Woreda faces regular shortage of rain which affects the whole community in general but specifically children, who suffer from improper sanitation, water borne diseases and early school drop-out as incomes are reduced when cattle rearing becomes difficult. The impact of the drought has been made worse by the recent increases in food prices, which have further increased the hardships experienced by the community.

(more…)

Motorola announced today that it has launched its Intelligent Optimization Service (IOS) after it was successfully used by the Isle of Man Department of Home Affairs to benchmark and optimize the coverage of its TETRA network. The IOS is an extension to Motorola’s existing comprehensive services portfolio which spans from integration and support to fully managed services solutions.

The new IOS helps TETRA operators to benchmark and optimize their network through the collection of live data from the network. This enables them to build an accurate picture of the performance from the end users’ point of view. In comparison to traditional techniques, the service is a cost effective solution used to benchmark and improve the performance of mission critical networks. The service is fully proven and in addition to the Isle of Man deployment, has been used extensively by cellular networks to cost effectively optimise network performance.

(more…)

AT&T today announced a planned reduction of approximately 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of the company’s total workforce, citing economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure.

In response to these business and economic factors, AT&T plans to reduce its 2009 capital expenditures from 2008 levels. Capital plans for 2009 are being finalized now and specific guidance will be provided when the company releases its fourth quarter results in late January.

(more…)

To improve the customer experience in Hawaii, Sprint invested more than $6.7 million and added 13 new cell sites to its wireless networks in the area during the first three quarters of 2008. Additionally, Sprint launched its Ready Now program — an enhanced customer service experience — in all of its island chain retail stores.

“Delivering a great customer experience is a top priority at Sprint,” said Dale Goya, general manager, Hawaii. “With enhanced coverage and our Ready Now program, we are making it easier than ever to do business with Sprint. We want our customers to enjoy all the benefits of the Now Network and unleash the power of their Sprint wireless devices to access the Internet, enjoy location-based solutions and access exclusive content such as NFL Mobile. Wireless is changing the way people interact with their world, and we want to make that experience a positive one for our customers.”

(more…)

Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Telecom New Zealand (Telecom) to deploy its IP Multi- Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS)–based mobile backhaul solution. This will enable Telecom to accommodate its growing cellular W-CDMA and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) traffic needs and to cost effectively scale its mobile services across a unified network infrastructure.

Alcatel-Lucent’s IP/MPLS solution is being rolled out across Telecom nationwide and supports its strategic transition to all-IP network.

Alcatel-Lucent’s solution features pseudowire technology, which adapts various traffic and media types from the W-CDMA base stations into IP/MPLS. As Telecom moves to a W-CDMA and HSPA deployment, the backhaul network will have the flexibility and cost-effective scalability needed to support strong traffic growth. Telecom’s mobile backhaul network will also leverage the existing IP/MPLS aggregation network already provided by Alcatel-Lucent for residential and business services. This supports Telecom’s strategic decision to consolidate services onto a converged network infrastructure.

(more…)

AT&T today announced a strategic relationship between AT&T and ChaCha, one of the fastest growing text messaging mobile search services in the industry. As part of the agreement, ChaCha will use a co-branded greeting and promote AT&T when consumers call 1-800 2ChaCha (1-800-2-242242).

The two companies also will work together to further enhance ChaCha’s free mobile-answers service and explore opportunities in both text and voice ad-based services. ChaCha will continue to provide free answers to any question — anytime, anywhere — to and from any activated wireless phone. Questions can cover any topic, from science to culture to sports and more.

(more…)