Nokia Puts Free M$ Apps On Symbian Phones

Several of Microsoft’s business productivity applications will be available free of charge on Nokia’s latest Symbian Belle smartphones later this year, Nokia stated Thursday.

The move comes at the same time Nokia is developing its first smartphone on the Windows “Mango” Phone platform. That phone is rumored to be scheduled for a November debut.

The free apps will run on Symbian Belle smartphones announced in August; they’re designed to keep customers buying Nokia products while Nokia ramps up to Windows Phone smartphones.

The free apps for Symbian Belle phones will include: Microsoft PowerPoint Broadcast for broadcasting presentations from a desktop to a smartphone;Microsoft OneNote for taking notes with images by syncing with Microsoft SkyDrive;And Microsoft Document Connection, which provides a single view of documents stored on a smartphone including email attachments and documents on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 sites.

Early next year, Nokia said it will provide OneNote synchronization with SharePoint and will add Word, Excel and PowerPoint as native applications for the first time outside the Windows platform.

Some critics of Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft wonder how successful Windows Phone Mango (version 7.5) will be and said the addition of Microsoft apps to Nokia’s older Symbian line is a way for Nokia to hedge its bets if the Microsoft partnership doesn’t pay off quickly.

The free productivity apps could also be a way to introduce a large number of Symbian users to Microsoft software. There are many more Symbian users outside the U.S. than inside and Symbian until this year had been the world’s largest smartphone platform.

Making the free apps available on the Symbian Belle phones doesn’t cost either company much and the Belle phone users “get something to sweeten the deal to stay with symbian,” Gold said.

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Sprint Sues To Stop AT&T-T-Mobile merger

Sprint on Tuesday announced it has initiated a lawsuit against AT&T and Deutsche Telekom to block the two companies from merging “as a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.” Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act bars any person from acquiring “the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital” that would “substantially … lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.” In its suit, Sprint argues that the proposed merger would violate this act because it would lead to AT&T and Verizon’s controlling 75% of the wireless market while taking in 90% of the profits.

Sprint’s antitrust suit comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the merger with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In its suit, the DOJ similarly argued that the proposed merger would significantly damage competition in the wireless industry, especially since T-Mobile has historically offered low-cost wireless voice and data services for customers. The DOJ also contended that any efficiencies gained by combining AT&T and T-Mobile spectrum would not be enough to offset the damage done to U.S. consumers by further consolidation of the wireless industry.

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Shareholder Group Demands RIM Shake-up

An activist shareholder in Research In Motion said on Tuesday it wants the struggling BlackBerry maker to seriously ponder selling itself or spinning off its patent portfolio, sending RIM’s share price higher.

Jaguar Financial Corp said it wants the Canadian company’s board to take control from co-Chief Executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie and for up to five of RIM’s independent board members to explore options to maximize shareholder value.

RIM shares were up 1.3 percent at midday Tuesday at $30.52 on the Nasdaq and gained 2.3 percent to C$30.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Both markets were down sharply
overall. RIM shares have lost almost half their value since the start of the year.

“Our call is for (RIM’s board) to take action; no more study, take action. Take action now, before it’s too late,” Jaguar Chief Executive Vic Alboini said in an interview.

Alboini said Jaguar has talked to a select group of shareholders and received broadly positive feedback for its plan.

“We haven’t found one who wasn’t supportive,” he said. “We haven’t found any opposition.”

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Dell & Baidu To Create Mobile Devices

Dell Inc and China’s top search engine Baidu Inc plan to join forces and develop tablet computers and mobile phones, targeting the Chinese market dominated by Apple Inc and Lenovo.

China is one of the fastest growing markets for tablets and is home to more than 900 million cell phone subscribers, but analysts were skeptical that the partnership would knock Apple from its dominant perch in the market.

“I suspect this is just Dell, who has a lot of problems on the mobile and tablet front, grasping at straws to get any kind of publicity that it can to make its product more attractive,” said Michael Clendenin, managing director of technology consultancy RedTech Advisors.

“Ultimately in China, I still think it is Apple’s game, still for the iPad and iPhone.”

Dell declined to give a timeline for the launch of the devices, but local media reported on Tuesday, quoting sources, that it may be as early as November.

Baidu launched a new mobile application platform last week and offered a glimpse of its upcoming mobile operating system, which it hopes will serve a growing number of users accessing the Internet from smartphones and tablet computers.

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Lofty Wishes: AT&T To Offer $700 HTC 4G Tablet

AT&T on Wednesday announced the new HTC Jetstream, its first LTE-ready tablet, will become available on Sept. 4 for $700 and a two-year contract.

Jetstream’s price may be too steep for many customers, even with a fast LTE plus HSPA+ connection, given expected lower prices for tablets on the horizon. Amazon is expected to unveil a 9-in. tablet soon priced at $299, while Hewlett-Packard has begun a $99 fire sale for its soon-to-be-defunct TouchPad.

The 10.1-in. Jetstream runs Android 3.1 with an expandable storage capacity of 32 GB, but at nearly $700, it would be $100 more than the 32 GB Apple iPad 2 with its 9.7-in. screen.

That premium price for the Jetstream seems to based principally on its fast LTE (Long-Term Evolution) connection and a digital pen input capability that allows for drawings and signatures on the touchscreen.

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Sprint To Be The First To Offer Galaxy S II

Sprint will be the first U.S. mobile carrier to offer Samsung’s Galaxy S II, starting Sept. 16, but T-Mobile and AT&T said Tuesday they also will sell the phone.

A follow-on to the popular Galaxy S, the phone will be the thinnest available at all three operators.

The largest mobile carrier in the U.S., Verizon Wireless, notably has decided not to sell the phone. Verizon recently said it already has an extensive portfolio of Android phones and so would not offer the Galaxy S II.

All models of the Galaxy S II will work on the 4G networks of the respective operators and will run Android 2.3, or Gingerbread. The phone will have a 4.3-inch Super Amoled Plus display, which uses technology developed by Samsung. It will have an 8-megapixel rear camera, plus a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing.

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Was Apple’s Victory, Really A Victory?

As we heard this week Apple had won an injunction barring Samsung from selling some of its Galaxy smartphones in Europe.

However, it is likely that an update from Android 2.x to Android 3.0 will resolve the patent issue, which concerns the way photos are viewed on a touchscreen.

According to OS news, only the Gallery application infringes the patent in question, and Samsung has confirmed it will update the software to get around the problem.

“The injunction has been granted due to the method of scrolling in the Gallery. If that’s replaced, there is no more reason to uphold the injunction,” said Bas Berghuis van Woortman, one of Samsung’s lawyers.

The injunction doesn’t come into effect until mid-October, giving the Korean phone maker plenty of time to change the software. OS news points to evidence showing that although Apple entered into battle with three patents and a community design, all but the Gallery patent were thrown out by the judge.

The swipe-to-unlock patent will likely be declared invalid, the judge wrote, specifically referring to the Neonode N1m mobile phone as prior art, which has the exact same unlock method as the Iphone.

Apple’s complaint about the design of Galaxy smartphones was also thrown out, with the judge citing numerous cases of prior art, including the LG Prada. And in the case of the Android GUI patent, the judge cited the Nokia 7710 as prior art.

Although Samsung’s PR firm in the UK hadn’t heard anything about an Android update, Samsung said that it expects only the Netherlands to be affected by the ruling. It said, “[The] ruling is an affirmation that the GALAXY range of products is innovative and distinctive. With regard to the single infringement cited in the ruling, we will take all possible measures including legal action to ensure that there is no disruption in the availability of our GALAXY smartphones to Dutch consumers.

“This ruling is not expected to affect sales in other European markets. We will continue our plans to introduce new products and technologies that meet and exceed consumer expectations. And we will defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings around the world.”

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RIM Heads To The Cloud

Canada’s Research In Motion (RIM) will take the wraps off of a new cloud-based social music sharing service called BBM Music, as companies begin to bet on entertainment delivered over the Internet that incorporates social networking features.

Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry phones, said select music from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music and EMI would be available for the users.

A closed beta trial of the BBM Music service is starting on today in Canada, the United States and the UK, the company stated.

The music service is expected to be commercially available to customers later this year for a monthly subscription of $4.99 in a number of countries, it said.

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Dish Seeks To Add Cellular Services

Satellite TV provider Dish Network is aiming to build a 4G cellular network, if the U.S. Federal Communications Commission grants its permission, according to a filing the satellite provider made on Monday.

Dish, which earlier this year completed an acquisition of bankrupt satellite mobile operator TerreStar, asked the FCC to transfer TerreStar’s frequency licenses to a Dish subsidiary and to allow Dish to use the spectrum to build a broadband wireless network that it could then use to offer standalone cellular services.

Combined with spectrum Dish acquired in a separate deal to buy DBSD North America, the satellite provider wants to build a network using LTE, the technology of choice for most of the nationwide mobile phone operators, it wrote.

But it needs special permission from the FCC to offer standalone cellular service–as opposed to a service that is integrated with satellite service–and says it is crucial that it be allowed to do so.

“The requirement to make every device dual-mode severely limits a provider’s ability to enter into arrangements with multiple device and equipment manufacturers, thereby limiting consumer choice and severely impairing the business case economics,” Dish wrote.

The company also argued that customers want the choice of a smaller, lighter device with long battery life. Adding satellite capabilities to devices makes them heavier and reduces battery life. “Today, a mobile voice and data provider’s ability to attract customers depends in large measure on its ability to provide its customers with the types of devices that best suit their needs,” it wrote.

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RIM To Launch Music Service

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is making plans to roll out its own music streaming service that will work across its mobile devices, according to people familiar with the plans.

The new service is likely part of an attempt by RIM to improve its BlackBerry Messenger service as it competes with the mobile media platform strengths of rival Apple Inc and Google Inc’s Android.

RIM is in late-stage negotiations with major labels, including Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Corp’s Sony Music, Warner Music Group and EMI Group. The new service is expected to be announced by Labor Day in the United States, September 5.

RIM has been enhancing its BlackBerry Messenger offering, popularly known as BBM, since announcing its “social platform” at last September’s DevCon event where it unveiled the PlayBook tablet computer.

A RIM spokeswoman declined comment on the report but said BBM is one of the largest mobile social networks in the world.

RIM’s BlackBerry smartphones have been hit by a sharply declining market share in the United States, even as the company has expanded sales in other parts of the world, partly because of BBM’s popularity.

Analyst Matthew Thornton at Avian Securities said he doubted the music service would attract new users but might help the company keep its existing BlackBerry customers interested.

“I just don’t think trying to replicate Apple is really going to change their situation near term,” he said.

“For RIM it’s going to be the new OS 7 product first and foremost … and then it’s about QNX and making that transition.”

RIM has just launched an updated operating system on three new touchscreen devices intended to catch up with the technical specifications of Android and other rivals. The company plans to launch the first BlackBerrys using the QNX software, used on its PlayBook tablet, early next year.

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