Market analyst NPD Group has released one of its sage-like bulletins on the mobile phone industry. It turns out that price is not a major factor when people are looking to buy a new handset. Instead, consumers look for the same things in a phone as they do in a partner: ‘desired capabilities’ and a flip top form-factor. Erm, let me read that again.
Third on the list is a good brand, while price doesn’t pop up until 12, ‘according to recent NPD data’. Breaking things down into demographics, you might be shocked to discover that youngsters like cool-looking phones, men like cutting-edge features and women tend to like ease-of-use. Older users just want to be able to make a call without being intimidated into impotent tears.
“Understanding what really motivates mobile phone buyers is crucial to a manufacturer’s or a carrier’s success in the handset market,” concludes the report brilliantly.
Adobe Flash is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most important pieces of software on the internet today. Flash Lite, the mobile based version, has been lacking video support for some time ,but Adobe has now announced that it will be releasing an update that will support video.
Palm users will be glad to hear that the company has finally updated its drivers to allow connectivity with Microsoft’s new version of Outlook. Until now, Outlook 2007 users have had to accept that they can’t sync their emails and calendar with their phone, but with the release of the driver, all Palm OS phones are now compatible with the new software. You can download the update via Palm’s official site.
ALON MP3 dictaphone is its name, and it also records calls and plays digital music. The main use is the dictaphone feature, allowing you to record voice memos, lectures, interviews or whatever as MP3, AMR and WAV files. However, it can also record your phone calls (great if you’re slightly paranoid, or a journalist. Or possibly both), and play various different music formats. It costs £12.70, and is available for Symbian handsets via the link below.
But not for mobile phones. Instead it’s an online web game designed to promote Nokia’s new CK-20W multimedia car kit. You have to race through the streets of Paris with a slinky French lady in the passenger seat for… well, I’m not sure why, to be honest. But it’s quite fun. The game, which is called The Passenger, was made by digital agency Hyper, in partnership with games firm Fuel. Have a go by clicking the link below.
During last night’s Oscar ceremony, Apple aired the first TV teaser ad for its upcoming iPhone. The piece features a variety of clips from famous movies, showing famous actors and actresses answering the phone with ‘hello’. We chose Ms Diaz because… well… she’s better looking than Billy Crystal. ‘Hello’ is famous in Mac-fan circles as being one of the cornerstones of Apple’s marketing campaign for the original Macintosh, back in 1984.
Fed up of not being able to answer your front door when you’re on the other side of the world? Those miserable days are over. After a successful domestic launch, Dutch company Waleli is now looking to secure international distribution for the 
The more you clap, the more battery life it’ll have! Yes, someone’s patented a kinetic mobile phone, which charges itself using kinetic energy (i.e. you waving it around). Mad4MobilePhones suggests that you’d need to be a manual worker or someone who’s moving around lots during the day to make best use of it though – it won’t be much good for people sitting at desks. Kinetic technology is already used in torches and watches, and could be used in PDAs and TV remote controls in the future too.
Those sci-fi authors weren’t that clever really. They banged about aliens, flying cars and futuristic mind-seers (or something), but they never predicted that by the year 2007 you’d be able to read books on your mobile phone. Tsk. Anyway Rampart Software has just released ‘The Science Fiction Mega Collection’, which costs £6.39 and includes 50 sci-fi novels from the likes of H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley and Edgar Rice Burroughs. You’ll need a separate e-book reader application for your Symbian handset to read them though – Rampart recommends Mobipocket Reader.
Recent Comments