EU 'to defend web users' privacy'

The European Union is developing a new strategy in case of major disruptions or attacks against critical information infrastructure. Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva will meet firms like Microsoft and Google to tell them standards of privacy are "not satisfactory", saying they have to make better efforts to protect information they are given by consumers or face tougher regulation.

BBC

Cox, Huawei partner for network rollout

Huawei Technologies has been selected by Cox Communications to support its ambitious wireless network rollout, which will start off using CDMA, but eventually will add proto-4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) to the technology mix. Coxwill launch its 3G network using Huawei's "LTE-ready" SingleRAN system and the Chinese giant's 3900 base stations.

Light Reading

Motorola wins Saudi network expansion contract

Motorola has been selected by Saudi Arabia's Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) to improve GSM coverage in the Kingdom. The contract worth approximately SA435 million (US$116 million) marks the fifth major GSM network expansion that Mobily has undertaken with Motorola in the past four years. Motorola will provide GSM infrastructure solutions as well as a range of services.

Cellular News

Alcatel-Lucent arms telcos against Google Voice

With the release of 5155 Rich Communications Manager Alcatel-Lucent wants to give its traditional telco and service provider customers the opportunity to match some of the web-based features of Google Voice. Similar to the Google Voice unified communications approach, the web portal-based offering integrates multiple service capabilities for access via different types of fixed and mobile devices.

Telecoms Europe

19,000 UK credit card details found via Google search

Details of 19,000 UK online shoppers were made freely available on Google by cybercriminals who intended to sell the information. Details including credit card numbers, names and addresses of Visa, Mastercard and American Express card holders could have been accessed. It is believed that the criminals accidentally shared the details.

Macworld

HP launches SkyRoom collaboration software

HP has launched its new collaboration software, designed to let dispersed teams communicate and share information and rich 3D images and billed as a "visual collaboration and conferencing solution". The system combines features of HP's Halo telepresence technology, which allows users to access 3D images and rich media files from a remote desktop or share with colleagues.

VNUnet

Nokia signs $1.76bn phones deal in China

Nokia has signed a framework deal valued at $1.76 billion to supply handsets to leading Chinese phone distributor PTAC. The 2009 deal is valued lower than a similar deal last year, worth $2bn. Nokia said that both parties have agreed to expand strategic ties, particularly focusing on 3G and operator business.

Reuters

CTIA 2009: Microsoft gives a sneak peek at mobile apps store

Microsoft plans to launch its Windows Marketplace for Mobile at CTIA 2009 this week. During the show, Microsoft will discuss its take on the mobile app store and will demonstrate how, via Windows Marketplace, users will be able to select, purchase and download an application from their Windows Mobile handsets.

Silicon.com

Google Venture to fund bright new ideas

Google has launches its venture capital fund to invest in hot new products that will turn a future profit for the company. Google Venture is likely to be welcomed by the technology industry sector, straining under the weight of the global economic downturn.

TechRadar

Nortel gets green light on $17.6m unit sale to Radware
Nortel Networks won US bankruptcy court approval to sell a piece of its application-delivery business for $17.65m to information-technology firm Radware. The piece of Nortel's Velocity business makes switches for use with computer servers and networks. Nortel acquired the business when it purchased Alteon WebSystems for about $7.8bn in 2000. Assets being sold to Radware are Nortel's Layer 4-7 application-delivery products, intellectual property, inventory and certain service contracts.
Total Telecom

Mobile software, data fees in spotlight at CTIA
The buzz ahead of the annual CTIA wireless show is all about cheaper data plans and mobile software stores. As consumers get more cautious about expensive new smartphones, vendors are hoping applications will push sales and are turning to online stores to take on competitor Apple. Carriers hope the new applications will increase interest in data services and boost revenue.
Reuters

New Indian player plans $5bn investment and IPO
New Indian CDMA operator Sistema Shyam Teleservices says it will invest $5bn in its network over the next five years and is planning an IPO within 18 months. The company plans to increase its customer base of around 40 per cent of the country's population to 51 per cent. The operator launched CDMA-based prepaid services in the unified circle of Tamil Nadu, Chennai and Pondicherry last week.
Economic Times

O2 and Vodafone examine tethering for iPhone
Operators, O2 and Vodafone, are still undecided how they will deal with tethering, the new feature in the iPhone 3.0 software, which allows people to connect their iPhone to their computer and use it as a modem.
Mobile Choice UK

'Open cloud' plan sparks dissent
A plan by IBM to launch an industry-wide 'open' cloud computing strategy has seemingly backfired amid accusations of closed deals. Google pulled out after signing up and Amazon said it would not get involved.
BBC News

Confirmed: Skype on iPhone
Skype plans to release a version of its Internet-based phone software for Apple's iPhone. The move, set to be announced Tuesday, puts Skype more directly in competition for wireless voice services with network operators such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Wall Street Journal

Twitter teams with Vodafone for UK SMS alerts
Twitter has struck a deal with Vodafone to allow the network's subscribers to receive SMS notifications to their handsets. The microblogging service last year withdrew the free functionality in the UK due to the high costs it was incurring from operators.
Mobile Entertainment

Cyber spy ring exposed
An international cyber spy operation that targeted government computers has been exposed by a Canadian security research group. The China-based operation, dubbed GhostNet, infiltrated over 1,000 computers in more than 100 countries.
Computer Weekly

NEC abandons overseas PC market
NEC has announced it will halt production and sales of PCs in the Asia-Pacific region from July, a move that withdraws it completely from the overseas PC business.
PC Pro

Nokia taps into America
The world’s number one handset maker Nokia has long-struggled for market share in the US. The Finnish handset firm, however, has inked a deal with America’s number one carrier by subscribers AT&T. The GSM service provider, which was first to market with Apple’s iconic iPhone, plans to carry Nokia's e71x, the thinnest smartphone available in the US.
Business Week

Nvidia hits back in Intel patent suit
Nvidia has filed a countersuit over a cross-licensing spat with Intel. Intel first filed suit against Nvidia last month over the cross-licensing agreement the two companies had agreed to in 2004. Nvidia is stepping up its resistance to Intel by filing the countersuit and seeking to bring an end to Intel's access to its patent portfolio.
VNUnet

Faster Payments too slow: Consumers lose £38m
Almost a year after its launch, consumers are still not getting the benefit of the Faster Payments Service, according to the Office of Fair Trading - and could be losing millions as a result. On one day in March, only 69 per cent of payments that should be made through FPS were, the OFT found, and it's expected to be June before the figure hits 100 per cent. As a result, consumers have lost between £38m and £82m
Silicon

Voicemail management with me2me
me2me announced its new voicemail service. me2me's voicemail service prompts callers to specify keywords when leaving messages to indicate the content material. These keywords will then be delivered to the recipient via an SMS along with the caller's details and time and date of the message. Users will then be able to access that specific voicemail when they dial into their account.
Mobile Choice

42% of UK unhappy with broadband service
A new survey released today by uSwitch, has revealed more than 40% of the UK population that has a broadband connection, were unhappy with it. The three companies that came out worse in the survey were AOL, Orange and BT - which hold a combined total of half of the market.
TechRadar

Europe to cut mobile roaming rates again
The European Parliament and the 27 Member States of the European Union have come to an agreement that will soon result in another set of reduction in EU mobile roaming rates. The working draft of the new regime calls for price caps on voice roaming to be extended until 2012 and for roaming voice calls to continue to brought down in stages.
Telecom TV

Google jobs cuts hit sales & marketing arm
Google has announced that it plans to make 200 people from their sales and marketing group redundant, according to their official blog.  These come just two weeks after Tim Armstrong, head of North and Latin American advertising sales and operations left the company to take up the position of CEO of AOL.
PC Advisor

Apple developers event set for June
Apple have scheduled their annual developers conference from 8-12 June in San Francisco.  The focus of the event will be around the new iPhone 3.0 software, plus the forthcoming operating system for Mac computers, Snow Leopard.  It is unconfirmed if Steve Jobs will be attending.
Yahoo News

Vodafone UK launches full Twitter SMS service
Vodafone and Twitter will partner to offer a full SMS service across the UK, enabling users to receive messages on their mobile phones for free.  Other networks will be under pressure to follow Vodafone in this move in the near future.
T3

Twitter has announced it will be offering expanded services for its business customers
Twitter is taking a much-anticipated first-step to transfer its popularity into the business world by offering certain customers an expanded range of services. The company is preparing to offer commercial accounts in which businesses and corporations can purchase extra features and tools for Twitter.
IT Pro  

YouTube opens up video analyst tool
YouTube plans to make its Insight analytics tool accessible to all viewers. The tool, launched last year, allows uploaders to track metrics related to clips' usage, viewers and popularity. Insight captures the country of viewers, the sites from which the views are referred and the varying popularity levels of different parts of a single video clip.
PC Advisor  

A 3D web moves closer to reality 
Mozilla has joined forces with graphics consortium Khronos. Khronos has set up a working group for accelerated 3D graphics on the web, which could lead to widespread browser-based gaming as well as 3D environments in social networking sites. The aim is to produce the first public version within a year.
BBC News  

SIM-free iPhones now available in the UK
Play.com has started listing brand new, unlocked and SIM-free iPhones on its website. Both the original and 3G models are for sale, hence opening up Apple's smartphone for use on any UK mobile network. A spokesperson for Play.com has said that the iPhone can be registered as normal on Apple's website.
Silicon.com  

Huge growth for mobile broadband predicted
Research firm Ovum has predicted that revenues from mobile broadband are set to explode over the next five years, as the number of mobile broadband users climbs to 2 billion by 2014. According to Ovum’s latest report, mobile broadband revenues will grow to $137 billion (£94 billion) in 2014, an increase of roughly 450% from the total in 2008.
TechWorld  

Orange enters distribution agreement with Brightpoint
Orange UK has partnered with Brightpoint, a distributor of wireless devices. This collaboration will see Brightpoint target business customers with a range of solutions including Orange connectivity, Orange devices and SIM only deals.
MB Magazine   

Nokia buys a minority stake in US mobile money firm Obopay
Nokia has bought a minority stake in Obopay, enabling the US mobile money firm to extend its product offering and geographical presence. Research firm Berg Insight expects the number of people using mobile financial services to grow on average 89% a year to 913 million in 2014 from just 20 million last year.
IT Pro

Ericsson enters IPTV partnership with Edgeware
Edgeware, the provider of server systems for network deployed on demand TV, has announced a global IPTV cooperation with Ericsson. Edgeware is integrating its solid state VoD platform with the Ericsson end to end IPTV solution and OpenStream Digital Services Platform to enable operators worldwide to easily deploy advanced on demand TV services.
Comms Business  

Barclays trials surface computing
Barclays is trialing Microsoft’s Surface computer as a tool to win more customers and increase client interactivity at its flagship branch in London’s Piccadilly Circus. Surface computers enable interaction with digital content through hand gestures, touch and physical objects.
Vnunet

Britain rules European telecoms roost says EU
Britain is the most competitive mobile and fixed line telecoms market in the EU, according to a new report out from the European Commission. One of the main conclusions is that the consumers are benefiting from the sector's competitiveness in that they pay less while getting better value for money.
MB Magazine 

Qualcomm backs new wireless gaming startup

Qualcomm has leant its support to new startup Zeebo and its launch of a wireless video gaming experience in developing markets. The Zeebo console provides users with an HSPA connection, enabling it to always be connected to the Internet.

Fierce Wireless

 

Report: Mobile app store users to quadruple in 2013

According to a research report by In-Stat, the number of Smartphone users tapping into mobile applications stores is expected to reach 100 million in 2013, including offerings from Google and Palm. Currently, the number of Smartphone users accessing mobile applications stores is roughly a fourth of the projected 100 million users and is largely comprised of only iPhone users.

CNet

 

Viasat, NDS extend deal to VOD

Scandinavian digital-satellite pay-TV operator Viasat has chosen NDS’s Progressive Download (PDL) technology solution to power its video-on-demand service. The ViasatOnDemand HD service will enable users to download a movie or series via a broadband internet connection to watch immediately or store to view later. NDS said its technology offers service providers a cost-effective way to deliver IP content over lower bandwidth connections.

RapidTVNews

 

LTE phones will lag behind networks

Some mobile operators may be planning to deploy initial Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks next year, but handsets that support the mobile broadband technology are unlikely to be available in the mass market before 2011 at the earliest, according to analysts.

Unstrung.com

 

Tech giants asked to opt out of Phorm

The Open Rights Group has asked seven major technology firms and web site providers to opt out of BT's Phorm in order to protect web users' privacy. Phorm uses browsing information to serve accurately targeted advertisements. Its creators claim that data collected will be anonymous, but the technology has been the subject of widespread criticism and scrutiny by parliament because of its implications for personal privacy.

VNUnet

 

Indian mobile market booms amidst economic depression

Shrugging off the economic crisis, the Indian telecommunications market has increased its mobile user base by 13.4 million in February 2009, bringing the total to 375 million. Contributing factors include wider access in the rural areas, lower charges and cheaper handsets.

Telecom Magazine

 

EU telecoms regulator slams Spain

Ahead of her press conference today presenting the current state of the EU single telecom market, EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding has slammed Spain for not properly applying the EU single telecom market rules and consumers have paid the price.

Reuters

 

Cloud based games takes aim at Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360

Fledging company OnLive says it will capitalize on the expensive Wii, Ps3 and Xbox 360 consoles by launching a "cloud-based" gaming system promising on-demand access to games and no lag time. The service will allow consumers to play games on any TV, most PCs, even stripped down networks and PCs without graphics cards.

Yahoo Technology

 

Sercomm expects to ship one million ADSL routers to China in 2009

At a recent investor conference, the chairman of Sercomm said that the company will concentrate marketing on telecom operators in China, saying that he expects to ship at least one million ADSL routers to the region in 2009, accounting for 10% of revenues. Also on the horizon for the company is network security products in the coming years.

DigiTimes

 

Microsoft sued for latest Windows upgrade

Israeli firm BackWeb Technologies has filed papers against Microsoft, alleging that Microsoft's Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) infringes on several of its patents. BITS is the file transfer service that can reduce download speeds so it doesn’t affect other network processes. It is a core part of the Windows update, Windows Server Update Services, and other Microsoft update and patching products.

ComputerWorld

Twitter visitor numbers soar to 7 mln in February
Visitors to micro blogging site Twitter soared to 7 million in February 2009 from 475,000 in the same month last year, according to a Nielsen study. The figures make it the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category. Twitter was followed by Zimbio and Facebook, growing 240 and 228 per cent respectively.
Telecom Paper
 
500,000 BT customers to get superfast broadband in 2010
BT has announced plans to begin the roll-out of its superfast fibre broadband from early 2010. BT said that 500,000 homes and businesses will have access to download speeds of around 40Mbps when the company installs fibre-to-the-cabinet technology in several inner-city areas in 2010. Areas in and around London will be the first to benefit.
Macworld

Using Mobile Phones to Monitor Teenagers Mental Health
Telstra Foundation will fund a program that uses mobile phones to track the mental health of young people suffering from depression. The Telstra Foundation has committed a Social Innovation Grant worth $285,000 to the project, which follows the successful world-first pilot of mobiletype, developed by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. The program monitors mood, stress levels, coping strategies, alcohol and cannabis use, eating patterns and lifestyle habits.
Cellular News

Nokia 7205 Intrigue launches on Verizon
Nokia has launched the Nokia 7205 Intrigue in partnership with Verizon. The new handset, described as "sophisticated" has a hidden-until-lit external display, internal colour keypad and support for multimedia and music features.
Pocket Lint
 
HP offers free bug scanner for Adobe Flash
HP has released a free development tool that finds weaknesses in Adobe Flash. The SWFScan tool can be used by developers without security backgrounds and was built by HP's Web Security Research Group.
Computerworld UK

Reding pushes for number portability in one day
Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for telecoms, said yesterday that all European consumers should have the right to change their provider in a single day. The right to switch puts pressure on the operators to offer the most competitive deals. On average it takes 8.5 days for a mobile number and 7.5 days for a fixed number to be switched in the EU.
Telecoms Europe
 
SIM-only hits handset sales
SIM-only deals are a way for operators to keep their books busy in a grim retail environment and also allow them to ditch handset subsidies. Market sales analyst GfK says sales of SIM-only deals have soared 95.9 per cent in the last year. Conveniently, they also allow them to ditch handset subsidies.
Mobile News

Mobile broadband to buoy mobile industry
Mobile broadband has become one of the key growth engines for the global mobile industry, driving major increases in data subscribers and revenues over the past year. Subscribers worldwide jumped 84 per cent to 186 million at the end of 2008. Analyst house Informa believes it will play a central role in the success of the industry.
Telecoms.com
 
Ericsson Offloads OSS Unit
As part of the company's strategic shift towards telecom services rather than products, Ericsson has sold its wireless optimisation systems business, known as TEMS, to Swiss-based Ascom for 190 million francs ($169 million). Ascom says the move will make it the leader in the mobile network optimisation market.
Unstrung

Verizon Rethinks Long Haul
Verizon’s next-generation long-haul network is planned to be deployed in 2011 or 2012, but the gear Verizon wants - combining optical switching, Sonet, and MPLS-TP into a long-haul system - doesn't exist. The operator is now asking vendors to develop a new type of equipment analogous to the packet-optical transport systems
Light Reading

Vodafone and Telefonica O2 confirm network sharing
Telefónica and Vodafone have confirmed, after many rumours and denials, plans to share mobile network assets across four European territories - Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK.
Mobile Europe

China to get 3G iPhone soon?
China Unicom plans to start trials of its 3G network within the next few months according to a company spokesperson. The firm plans to offer 3G services in 284 cities by the end of this year as it races to deploy its network against its two rivals, China Mobile and China Telecom, said the spokesperson. She also confirmed her company is in talks with Apple to sell the iPhone in China, but declined to give further details. China Mobile, the country's largest mobile carrier ahead of China Unicom, had been the rumoured national iPhone carrier. However, its 3G network licence is for Chinese homegrown 3G air interface TD-SCDMA.
PC World

Salesforce adds Twitter to its software
Twitter has made its way up the corporate ladder with Salesforce integrating its Service Cloud customer service platform with the twitter platform. Currently in its beta, the service is expected to be officially launched this summer at no additional charge to subscribers.
TechWorld

Cyber attacks are the top business risk, according to new survey
Cyber attacks are the top business risk for 77 per cent of European companies, according to research by software and IT services supplier Symantec. The survey of mainly IT managers (81 per cent) showedinternal threats were a top concern for only 31 per cent of organisations, followed by conventional crime (29 per cent) and natural disasters (24 per cent). Fear of cyber attacks far out ranks other business risks as a top concern, a survey of IT security professionals at 477 large European organisations revealed.
Computer Weekly

Widgets confirmed for Windows Mobile 6.5
A spokesperson for the Windows Mobile 6.5 project has confirmed that widgets will be present when the new OS hits later in the year. Each individual widget will act as independent application and will support media player integration as they have full access to the other web favourites Flash and ActiveX.
Know Your Mobile

Skype goes after business with IP calls
Skype has announced a new version of its internet calling service that allows companies to use their IP-enabled corporate phone systems to make Skype calls using regular office phones instead of using a headset that plugs into a PC.
Silicon

Google Introduces Email "Panic Button"
Google has introduced a new feature to Gmail: a five-second window to "unsend" a message that the user has second thoughts about.
eWeek

IBM 'in talks' to buy Sun Microsystems
IBM has opened acquisition talks with Sun Microsystems, raising the prospect of a massive consolidation of the software, server and storage markets. IBM has seemingly mooted a price in the region of $6.5bn.
The Register

BT reveals which towns will get fibre first
BT has revealed the locations of the first 29 exchanges to be connected to its forthcoming fibre network. Around 500,000 homes and businesses will be connected during the initial rollout, which BT claims will begin early next year.
PC Pro

IEEE working on two new standards
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved work to begin on two new standards for heterogeneous wireless networks, based on the existing IEEE 1900.4 standard. The first project, IEEE P1900.4a, an amendment to IEEE 1900.4, will examine architecture and interfaces for dynamic spectrum access networks in white space frequency bands. The proposed standard would define new components (both entity(s) and interfaces) for operating in white space frequency bands in addition to IEEE 1900.4 entities and interfaces.
CDR Info

New Twitter flaw revealed
Secure Science researchers have devised a new Twitter attack that could spread virally, similar to a worm.  It is similar to a clickjacking attack that was seen on Twitter last month.  Twitter could disable the attack by fixing the cross site scripting flaw that has been exploited by Secure Science.
Techworld

BlackBerry 9630 Niagara Verizon Release Date
Research in Motion (RIM) will release their new handset in May.  Similar to the BlackBerry Curve, this device has the keyboard design of the BlackBerry Bold, and is a 3G phone.
Product Reviews.net

Samsung announces movies to mobiles service
Samsung has signed a deal with Warner Brothers, Paramount and Universal allowing it to offer over 500 titles to its customers to download to their mobile phones.  Initially launching in Britain and Germany, Samsung look to double its titles on offer to 1,000 by the end of the first quarter
PC Pro

Google's pictures of UK go live 
Google has launched the UK version of Street View, allowing users to browse a selection of pictures taken along city streets in 25 cities from Aberdeen to Southampton.  There is 22,369 miles of video of UK streets by customised camera cars.  Google is now under pressure over privacy laws for those who appear in the images.
BBC News

Ballmer on Macs: why pay $500 more for a logo?
Steve Ballmer has claimed that Macs are overpriced and with sales declining, consumers have grown tired of “paying extra for Apple branding”.  Gartner has reported that PC shipments would fall by almost 12% worldwide in 2009, with desktop sales dropping almost a third.
PC Pro

Cisco snaps up video camera firm
Cisco is building on its promise to bolster its consumer technology business with the acquisition of HD video camera vendor, Pure Digital, maker of the Flip Camera series that’s boasted to have sold over 2 million units. Cisco declined to give terms of the deal.
VNUnet

iTunes movies go High Definition
Apple has announced that movies on iTunes have finally caught up with TV shows, and are now available in high definition. Prices for the HD content currently stand at $19.99 to buy and $4.99 to rent for 3 days, and initial selection is limited to a few movies with more available for pre-order.
Techradar

'Right back atcha Microsoft': TomTom
GPS Company TomTom, filed a countersuit against Microsoft on Monday. TomTom claims Microsoft’s Streets and Trips products infringe on four patents it owns relating to vehicle navigation software. The move follows after Microsoft sued TomTom in February, accusing the company of infringing eight patents.
Silicon

Palm betting the farm on Pre
Palm has admitted that its long awaited new handset device, the Pre, needs “more polishing”. Despite this, it claimed that its still on track to start selling the device in the first half of the year. Palm is hopefully that the Pre will help to gain more traction in the smartphone market, against new rivals Apple and RIM.
IT Pro

Sony Ericsson and Player X agree video content deal
Sony Ericsson has agreed a deal for mobile media company Player X to aggregate a range of video content to its mobile portal. The deal allows Sony Ericsson to increase its video content onto its site, and can be accessed by millions across Europe. Player X Distribution will be responsible for sourcing and managing video content.
New Media Age

Internet Explorer 8 officially arrives
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 has been unveiled after months of public trials. IE8 is has a variety of new features including WebSlices and InPrivate Browsing which aim to stop the migration to rival browsers.
Tech Radar

Nokia has closed its user-led networking site ‘Mosh’
With the intention of putting Nokia users in charge, Mosh allowed people to access content from their handsets and share it with others for free. There is no official closing date, but Nokia is to launch its Ovi store in May, merging its software Download! store with Mosh and widget service WidSets.
IT Pro

Orange to outsource mobile network operations in the UK
France Telecom-owned Orange is outsourcing its mobile network operations in the UK to Nokia Siemens Networks. Under the contract, NSN will manage, plan, expand, optimise and provide maintenance services for the Orange UK 2G and 3G mobile network for the next five years.
MB Magazine

Android-powered netbooks will emerge in 2009, analysts are predicting
According to Ovum, Google's mobile OS could become the platform of choice for lower-end mini laptops. The laptop market is becoming increasingly complex, with a growing variety of low-cost netbooks and laptops now on offer. While Linux netbook sales are increasingly lagging Windows ones, Ovum believe Android could help reverse the trend.
ZD Net

UK mobile internet market lacking maturity
The findings revealed that although 40% of consumers use mobile internet, operator failure to target consumers with the right advertising has deterred half of all consumers from using their phone online. Despite these statistics, 41% stated that they would be happy to receive targeted advertising content.
MB Magazine
 
Samsung launches dedicated movie store
The 'Samsung Movies' store will launch with over 500 titles from the Hollywood majors. Content such as The Dark Knight, RocknRolla and Iron Man will be available on phones, laptops and PC to buy or rent. By the end of this month a further 500 titles will be added, followed by an additional 1,000 movies and TV shows by the end of June 2009.
Mobile Entertainment

T-Mobile introduces instant push email service
T-Mobile has launched a new instant email service allowing customers to access their email direct from their mobile phones. The service costs £3.50 a month but is available on a free trial basis for one month. Users can upload up to five email accounts, such as Google Mail or Hotmail, and each can be separated out into different inboxes.
IT Pro

Government assigns mobile role in accessing the hard-to-reach
The UK’s Central Office of Information is throwing its weight behind mobile as a "vital" channel for the Government's marketing and communications strategy. Michael Smith, deputy director of interactive services for COI Communications, told New Media Age  magazine that mobile was becoming an increasingly important channel to communicate with hard-to-reach consumers.
NMA

Sun steps into the cloud-computing fray
Sun has launched the Sun Open Cloud platform, in a bid to gain a place in the growing cloud-computing market and challenge companies such as Amazon. The cloud platform, which was launched on Wednesday, is based on Sun's own technologies, including Java, MySQL, Open Solaris and Open Storage, the company said in a statement.
ZD Net

Google's calls for united front against web censorship
Google has called on other internet companies to help it "hold the line" against governments and others who want to censor content on the web.
Times online

Recession not holding back mobile broadband subscribers
A recent report by Infonetics Research states that the economic recession has had little detrimental affect on mobile broadband subscriptions. The report states that the number of mobile broadband subscribers worldwide jumped 125%  in 2008, hitting the 210.5 million mark and is expected to top one billion by 2013.
Digitimes

IBM to buy Sun Microsystems?
IBM is rumoured to be in talks to buy Sun Microsystems for $6.5 billion in cash, nearly double Sun Microsystem’s market valuation. Sun Microsystems portfolio would dramatically expand IBM’s server market share.
Computer World

Wireless providers face tough times
NokiaSiemens Networks, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and other major wireless vendors should brace themselves for a tough year ahead, according to ABI Research. According to a recent report, cellular expenditure is expected to drop 6% in 2009 due to 2G and 3G networks reaching maturity in the industrialised markets and strong competition by Chinese manufacturers.
E Week Europe

Cloud computing is inevitable, according to IDC
IDC reckons IT services delivered over the cloud will be ubiquitous within five years and vendors that ignore the shift will be left counting the cost. IDC says that while cost is often perceived as the major advantage of cloud computing, the speed and ease of delivery of services is actually where CIOs will realise the benefits.
Network World

Vodafone outsources network management to Ericsson
In an effort to reduce costs, Vodafone has announced that it has signed a seven year deal which will see Ericsson provide maintenance and operators for Vodafone UK’s 2G and 3G radio access networks. As part of the deal, 350 employees will move from Vodafone to Ericsson by the beginning of May.
Electronics Weekly

140 million subscribers to broadcast mobile TV By 2011
According to a report by consultancy Arthur D. Little, there are currently 40 million people watching broadcast mobile television around the world - far below the level which was originally predicted. However, ADL predicts that the number of viewers will expand to 140 million by 2011 as carriers seek ways to offset the commoditization of voice and data access services.
Moco News

Volkswagen Polo app breaks download records
The iPhone racing game "Volkswagen Polo Challenge", making its debut earlier this month, has achieved more than 820,000 downloads, putting it at the top of the European application download charts.
Mobile Marketer

Apple adds cut and paste to its iPhone 3.0 software
Apple has unveiled nearly 100 new features to be included in its third generation iPhone operating system this summer, including cut and paste functionality and push email. Noticeably, Flash support is still missing and some observers have noted that much of what Apple is offering now was already included years ago in smart phone operating systems such as the Palm OS and Windows Mobile.
IT Pro

Cisco takes on IBM and HP with 'blade server' plans
Cisco Systems plans to start selling servers in competition with old partners like Hewlett-Packard and IBM. The servers are part of a package put together by Cisco and partners like BMC Software and VMware to harness the power of a recent technology called "virtualisation" that lets one computer act like several.
Independent

Dell's ultra-thin laptop on sale 
Computer manufacturer Dell has launched what it is calling the world's thinnest laptop. The Adamo weighs 1.8kg and is 1.64cm thick, making it thinner, but heavier, than Apple's MacBook Air. A spokesman for Dell has called the Adamo a "fashion statement", stating that it was the first in a range of luxury laptops from the firm. The Adamo goes on sale at the end of the month, with a basic 1.2GHz Intel Core2D processor retailing at £1649.
BBC News