There have been complaints from many circles about the non availability of detailed researches on TV channels viewership ratings, programme / presenter loyalty and day time viewership trends. This data can aid the media planners in making the most effective media strategies for their respective brands. People Meter, the latest research data gathering tool, has become recently available in the market and generally the watchers are optimistic about the possibilities it has opened for them. Although quite expensive, it provides minute to minute ratings for easy reference of planners. Below is an analysis of some of the latest data provided by the meter.
Rumors about Google jumping into the phone business picked up again today with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Google phones will be available by mid-2008. MobileCrunch reported last month (Google Rumors: GPay and GPhone) that Google powered phones may be in the works. While the company is unwilling to comment at this time, the Wall Street Journal thinks that an announcement is coming within the next two weeks.
There is compelling evidence to suggest that Google is moving into the phone business. Services like Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail are perfect applications for mobile devices, so why not offer an all Google package? The company has increased its media reach over the last few years to include online video, television, radio and print advertising. An inexpensive handset that can deliver multiple forms of media is a good fit with Google’s past acquisitions. If it can make a cheap phone call, so much the better.
And finally, Google is a major bidder in the upcoming sale of the 700 MHz spectrum by the F.C.C. This frequency his highly prized by mobile phone providers for its ability to more easily penetrate building walls than current frequencies.
We’ll have to sit back and wait for Google to make an announcement. In the mean time it will be fun to speculate on how a Google phone will be all things to all people. I can see a phone so cheap people are paid money to take one, all applications are free, and the battery is replaced by a tiny fusion reactor.
I bet some of you have checked out the JavaOne conferences, but obviously no-one has gone through them in depth. In on of the videos, Rikko Sakaguchi at Sony Ericsson actually leaks an upcoming phone, well, sort of… After having showcased the video below at the JavaOne conference, Sakaguchi says “actually… you saw the device in the video? That’s something that we’re going to launch this year.” However! If we look closely at a few screenshots from the video, you’ll notice that there’s actually two devices, and not one. Could this be different prototypes for one phone? I mean, Sakaguchi did say “the device”.
Remember, Rikko Sakaguchi is the Senior Vice-President and Head of Product & Application Planning at Sony Ericsson, so it doesn’t get much more official than this.
I must remind you though that this video is almost 2 years old, so a few things might have changed. Now, feel free to let your minds wander.
Sony Ericsson has just released a set of new demo tours. This means that the total demo tour portfolio now includes the tough C702, the stylish personal organiser G700 and the multifunctional G900. This also means that these phones are about ready to be shipped. Once again - it’s impossible not to be impressed by Sony Ericsson’s remarkable skills when it comes to these videos… wow.
The C702 features a built-in GPS used for geotagging your 3.2 mega pixel camera snaps, as well as finding your way in the city with Google Maps and WayFinder.
C902 is C702’s big brother, and it features a 5 mega pixel camera with auto focus and face recognition, as well as lots of other exciting features. All this in a slim phone.
G700 is your ever-trusty personal organiser with a simple 3 mega pixel camera with fixed focus, a graphically impressive user interface, and a very compact format.
G900 is the absolute flagship of Sony Ericsson’s smart phones at the moment. It features a 5 mega pixel camera with selective touch focus (hot!), the same impressive user interface as G700 and in a similar compact format.
By the way - my next shipment of review phones will include the C902, G900 and W760. I’m hoping to get these within a few weeks, so I’ll have plenty of free time to review them.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile USA parent company Deutsche Telekom is mulling a bid to acquire Sprint Nextel. The acquisition would lead to a combined T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel, which would make for the largest wireless carrier in the U.S. Sprint Nextel boasts a market capitalization of $22 billion after its revenue fell to $40.1 billion in 2007 from $41 billion a year earlier–the operator also booked a net loss of $29.5 billion in the fourth quarter due to a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $29.7 billion. At the end of its fourth quarter, Sprint was still the No. 3 carrier with 53.8 million subscribers. With 28.7 million customers at the end of December, T-Mobile USA lags a distant fourth, but a merger with Sprint would roughly triple its subscriber base and vault the company ahead of AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
Sprint uses CDMA technology and T-Mobile USA uses GSM, which has led some to predict LTE could be the technology that bridges the two carriers. That, of course, leaves Sprint’s WiMAX build out plans in the lurch. Would regulators really allow the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. carriers merge?
MUMBAI: Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia on Friday said it targets a bigger share in the domestic market by offering integrated navigation services to its customers.
“We are targeting a big growth in the Indian market. Around 50 per cent of customers are welcoming the navigation capabilities in this market,” Nokia India’s director (marketing) Devinder Kishore said.
Currently, Nokia has five handsets equipped with integrated global positioning system. However, many other phone series, including Nokia S 60, have GPS support via bluetooth wireless module, he said.
Nokia 6110 Navigator has pre-installed local maps for eight cities in India, which help the user to reach a location by car or on foot with the help of voice instructions, the company said. Nokia is the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer and has a customer-base of 900 million worldwide.
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Rumors about Google jumping into the phone business picked up again today with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Google phones will be available by mid-2008. MobileCrunch reported last month (
