Xbox 360 iPlayer launch delayed indefinitely

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Xbox 360 owners will have to keep waiting for the iPlayer to launch on the platform as talks between parent companies, Microsoft and the BBC, hit a “stumbling block”.

The iPlayer is currently available on Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii, but not on Microsoft's Xbox 360.
According to sources close to the BBC’s Future Media and Technology department, a deal between the two parties has still been unable to be reached because Microsoft’s strategy of charging for all content on its Xbox Live platform is incompatible with the BBC’s public service remit.
“Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing. It wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox Live Gold accounts can access its additional content services and even then there is usually a charge on top to get access to those. For example, to access the Sky Player on Xbox, you have to pay for a Gold subscription as well as a Sky subscription,” explained one of the sources close to the BBC.
“This does not fit with the BBC’s model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment. It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible,” they added.
The BBC cannot charge the British public for access to the iPlayer as it is already included in the licence fee
This situation is a marked contrast to the deals the BBC already has in place with the other two home games consoles. Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3 both offer free access to the BBC iPlayer. Earlier this month the BBC recently relaunched its service on the Wii and now offers its own dedicated iPlayer channel.
A BBC spokesman said: “BBC iPlayer has been extremely successful on PS3 and we recently re-launched on Nintendo Wii, from which the public response has been fantastic. People clearly want the BBC iPlayer on their gaming consoles, and we don’t think Xbox users are any different, so we’ve had discussions with Microsoft about bringing the service to the platform.”
A Microsoft spokesman declined to comment.
The delay in striking a deal with the BBC could harm Microsoft’s ambitions to make its Xbox 360 console become the centre of the home entertainment hub. It is understood to also be in discussions with other content providers, such as Channel 4 and MySpace. Read More.......

Droid does, iPhone doesn't: The porn app store

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Oh, you knew someone was going to do this. So let's just get it over with. And though some might think of this as a battle between the Droid and the iPhone for the nation's morality, let's be open-source about it: someone's trying to make a lot of money from cell phone porn.
A company with the obtusely childlike name MiKandi has launched a mobile app store that will exclusively cater to adults whose brain food consists of content that reflects their age. Yes, the sort of stuff some prefer to refer to as porn.
MiKandi's publicity material naturally avoids this term, referring to the more PC phrase "adult only." However, there is a little kink in its offering. According to Android fanperson site, Phandroid, the MiKandi Market apps only work with Android phones and not with Apple's more morally minded handsets.
Cupertino steadfastly sticks to its policy of refusing to allow apps filled purely with adult content, though some might dispute whether its definition of "adult" isn't occasionally a little idiosyncratic.
Not for a moment would one suggest that Verizon or Motorola or the deities at Google are necessarily in favor of porn apps. However, MiKandi is attempting to take advantage of the fact that the Android system is more open than the iPhone's.
So while the Android Market itself doesn't offer porn, nothing on your Droid phone prevents you from using MiKandi's services. The wise people at Phandroid do, however, offer stern warnings about MiKandi's workings.
Despite attempting to use MiKandi's services, purely for scientific purposes, Phandroid failed to actually secure access to any mature content. Remember, children, this sort of thing will always be a somewhat risky business.Read More....

MiFi & iPod Touch Available From 3 [3 iPod Touch & MiFi Portable Wireless Router Bundle Released, Allows for 'Out and About' Net Access]

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The UK’s 3 mobile network has announced its now offering MiFi portable wireless router bundled with an iPod Touch which, once paired with the aforementioned MiFi device using the Touch’s WiFi connectivity, allows users to obtain net access whilst ‘out and about’.
In what’s a pretty shrewd move from 3 – who, incidentally, don’t presently carry the iPhone – the iPod Touch, whilst, as you’ll know, shares most of the functionality of the iPhone 3G (aside from being a phone, GPS, digital compass) can consequently gain net access for browsing, emailing and the like freed from its dependency on either your home network or established WiFi hotspots – all thanks to the MiFi acting as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.
“The iPod touch offers a really great browsing experience, but as with so many devices with Wi-Fi capabilities, the internet function rarely gets used because hotspots are so hard to come by”, Charlotte Blanchard, director of products and services at 3, said. “Now with MiFi on 3, iPod touch users can get wireless internet whenever they want on the network that’s designed and built for the mobile internet”.
The 3 MiFi and iPod Touch bundle will set you back £23 based on you signing up to a two year contract for which, aside from getting an iPod Touch and the MiFi portable wireless router you’ll get a 5GB data allowance per month which, according to 3, will see you good for around 72 hours of internet browsing or allow you to download around 800 music tracks.Read More....

Access and Emblaze Mobile reveal Else Intuition

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"Do we really need one? "
I'm guessing those were the first words that sprang to mind when you saw that headline and if so, we were thinking along the same lines. However, this actually looks more promising than we could ever have imagined.
Access, the company that bought the rights to the remnants of PalmOS, has taken its Linux-based Access mobile platform and added some design wizadry from Emblaze Mobile, a technology design house for mobile devices, and ended up with the Else (as in 'something else') Intuition mobile platform. While this could easily have been just another also ran of the mobile market, the way this platform has been designed and some of the features it has do look quite exciting.
First and foremost, is the emphasis on one-handed operation - something that the designers of the iPhone and its various pretenders seem to have forgotten is how you often use your phone. While the main menu takes on a fairly familiar diamond shaped grid pattern of links to the phones various features, an alternative fan-style menu gives you access to the vast majority of the phones features within a very small space. It works on two levels with the first level offering a choice of the phones different programs and the second level (i.e. moving your finger further out from the centre of the fan) showing the latest documents/events associated with that proggram. The homescreen also supports gestures so you can get to your chosen apps even easier.
Emphasis has also been placed on genuine easy muitl-tasking. In particular, core apps like the music player or call notification are displayed discretely and don't completely disrupt what you're currently doing. So, for instance, if you're in the camera app and you receive a call, a notification will appear in the corner, letting you choose whether to finish what you were doing or take the call - rather than have the call answer dialogue fill the screen completely and ruin your photo. Further to this, it let's a caller give you silent feedback on whether the call is urgent or not: If you're in a meeting, say, it presents the caller with a busy message then offers a choice of whether to persist with the call because it's urgent or whether to call back at some specified time. Once the caller has decided, the recipient is notified.

The ever more common contact and message integration that let's you refer to a single contact for emails, SMS, and any other messaging services is also present. Possibly creeping some people out, all calls can also be recorded and stored on the phone for later referal.
There's plenty more to this platform including its 'fisheye' control mechanism, which magnifies and brings to the middle of the screen whatever it is you've just selected, the impressive looking keyboard, and the unique design of the overall interface that is just Star Trek through and through. However, we didn't actually manage to get hands on with it so we'll leave the details to when we actually get some hardware in for review.

The first phone to use this new platform is, funnily enough, going to be called the Else. It packs in a 5 megapixel camera, up to 32GB flash memory, a 3.5inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 854 x 480, GPS, and all the latest phone must haves. If won't, though, be available until Q2 2010, so we've got a bit of a wait.
Links: *Annoying Flash based sillyness warning.* Read More......

Tesco aims to have iPhones in store by Christmas

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Apple iPhone 3GS. Photograph:
The supermarket has not revealed its prices but a promise to bring 'value' to the mobile phone market could see customers offered a better deal than with current suppliers O2 and Orange
Tesco aims to have iPhones in store by Christmas
The supermarket has not revealed its prices but a promise to bring 'value' to the mobile phone market could see customers offered a better deal than with current suppliers O2 and Orange
Tesco plans to have the Apple iPhone in shops in time for Christmas and has promised to bring "a bit of value" to the mobile phone market.
Although the supermarket declined today to say exactly what it would charge, its value promise raises the prospect of consumers being offered a better deal than with the current suppliers, O2 and Orange.
Britain's biggest retailer, which already has two million mobile phone customers, will be selling the Apple device through its network of more than 80 in-store phone shops and on its website.
It will sell the iPhone 3G and 3GS to pay-as-you-go customers and people willing to take out a long-term contract. Tesco said: "We really want to bring a bit of Tesco value to the iPhone. We are not just going to copy what's already out there."
Orange started selling the iPhone earlier this month, ending O2's two-year long exclusive grip on the handset, but its pricing is barely distinguishable from the tariffs already on offer, with both networks pricing the basic phone from £34 a month over two years.
In contrast, Tesco has a sim card-only contract that offers customers unlimited calls, texts and mobile internet browsing for £30 a month. The supermarket group, which takes one in every seven pounds spent on the British high street, refused to say whether this would be the basis for its iPhone tariff.
Vodafone, meanwhile, will not be able to start selling the iPhone to its customers until the second week of January. The smallest of the UK's five networks, 3, is also hoping to start selling the iPhone some time next year.
O2 sells the basic iPhone 3G – which has 8GB of memory and a 2 megapixel camera – starting at £34.26 a month for two years. The price includes 600 minutes of call time and 500 texts.
The 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS – which has a 3 megapixel camera and a faster processor – is free on O2 at £44.05 a month for two years, with 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, and the largest 32GB version is free at £73.41 a month for two years with 3,000 minutes and 500 texts.
Orange, in contrast, offers the basic 3G phone for free under a two-year contract at £29.36 a month, but that comes with just 150 minutes and 250 texts. On the same tariff plan as O2 – 600 minutes and 500 texts – the 3G phone is free at £34.26 a month over two years.
On a comparable call plan, therefore, there is no difference between the price of the iPhone 3G on Orange and O2.
Orange makes the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS free at £44.04 a month for two years. That includes 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, exactly the same call plan as O2. So the difference in price between O2 and Orange on the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS is a mere 24p over two years.
Orange is giving the iPhone 3GS 32GB away free to customers willing to sign up for a two-year contract at £73.40 a month. That comes with 3,000 minutes and 500 texts, again exactly the same call plan as O2. So the difference in price between O2 and Orange on the 32GB version of the iPhone 3GS is, again 24p over two years.Read More....

Tesco aims to have iPhones in store by Christmas

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The supermarket has not revealed its prices but a promise to bring 'value' to the mobile phone market could see customers offered a better deal than with current suppliers O2 and Orange
Apple iPhone 3GS. Photograph: Tim Chong/Reuters
Tesco plans to have the Apple iPhone in shops in time for Christmas and has promised to bring "a bit of value" to the mobile phone market.
Although the supermarket declined today to say exactly what it would charge, its value promise raises the prospect of consumers being offered a better deal than with the current suppliers, O2 and Orange.
Britain's biggest retailer, which already has two million mobile phone customers, will be selling the Apple device through its network of more than 80 in-store phone shops and on its website.
It will sell the iPhone 3G and 3GS to pay-as-you-go customers and people willing to take out a long-term contract. Tesco said: "We really want to bring a bit of Tesco value to the iPhone. We are not just going to copy what's already out there."
Orange started selling the iPhone earlier this month, ending O2's two-year long exclusive grip on the handset, but its pricing is barely distinguishable from the tariffs already on offer, with both networks pricing the basic phone from £34 a month over two years.
In contrast, Tesco has a sim card-only contract that offers customers unlimited calls, texts and mobile internet browsing for £30 a month. The supermarket group, which takes one in every seven pounds spent on the British high street, refused to say whether this would be the basis for its iPhone tariff.
Vodafone, meanwhile, will not be able to start selling the iPhone to its customers until the second week of January. The smallest of the UK's five networks, 3, is also hoping to start selling the iPhone some time next year.
O2 sells the basic iPhone 3G – which has 8GB of memory and a 2 megapixel camera – starting at £34.26 a month for two years. The price includes 600 minutes of call time and 500 texts.
The 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS – which has a 3 megapixel camera and a faster processor – is free on O2 at £44.05 a month for two years, with 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, and the largest 32GB version is free at £73.41 a month for two years with 3,000 minutes and 500 texts.
Orange, in contrast, offers the basic 3G phone for free under a two-year contract at £29.36 a month, but that comes with just 150 minutes and 250 texts. On the same tariff plan as O2 – 600 minutes and 500 texts – the 3G phone is free at £34.26 a month over two years.
On a comparable call plan, therefore, there is no difference between the price of the iPhone 3G on Orange and O2.
Orange makes the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS free at £44.04 a month for two years. That includes 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, exactly the same call plan as O2. So the difference in price between O2 and Orange on the 16GB version of the iPhone 3GS is a mere 24p over two years.
Orange is giving the iPhone 3GS 32GB away free to customers willing to sign up for a two-year contract at £73.40 a month. That comes with 3,000 minutes and 500 texts, again exactly the same call plan as O2. So the difference in price between O2 and Orange on the 32GB version of the iPhone 3GS is, again 24p over two years.

AdMob Mobile Metrics Report: Android & RIM

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AdMob’s latest Mobile Metrics Report focused on taking a look inside each operating system to analyze the distribution of requests coming from different handsets, instead of comparing smartphones platforms against each other as in previous reports.
The report focused primarily on devices from RIM and devices running Android to determine the most popular handsets running each OS, in terms of mobile ad-requests. Since we all know the iPhone dominates AdMob’s mobile ad-network, it’s interesting to see how Blackberry and Android-based phones stack up in the realm of mobile marketing.
In terms of the distribution of traffic from RIM devices, the 8300 Curve series and 8100 Pearl series still make up the majority of traffic. However newer devices such as the Tour and updated versions of the Curve (8900 and 8520) are generating an increasing percentage of RIM requests. The Flip (8220 and 8230), launched over a year ago, has not gained much traction and generated less than 2% of RIM traffic in October 2009. The first generation Storm generated 12% of requests and has seen its percentage share stay the same over the last year.
What’s more interesting is data derived from Android-based ad-requests. Android has only been around for roughly a year, and new devices have only just begun to trickle onto the market, but they’re quickly making a splash in terms of mobile advertising activity. The two newest devices, the Motorola Droid and the Motorola CLIQ — launched only a few weeks ago — are already making themselves known in AdMob’s network.
On November 18th, the Droid already represented 24% of the traffic in AdMob’s Android network (after only two weeks on the market) and the Motorola CLIQ generated 6% of Android requests. In general, worldwide requests from Android devices increased 5.8 times since April 2009, and in the US, Android has 20% share of smartphone traffic- up from 7% six months before.
It’s interesting to see AdMob, who has historically focused primarily on the iPhone, to release a mobile metrics report focused solely on devices from RIM and those running Android. Now that it’s a Google company, Android will undoubtedly take the spotlight, even though the iPhone remains the top dog through AdMob’s eyes.Read More.........

Spotify launches Symbian app

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Spotify, the music-streaming service, is now available on Nokia handsets and other Symbian-based devices.
It means that users of many Nokia phones, as well as some high-end Samsung and Sony Ericsson handsets, such as the Omnia HD and Satio, will be able to stream their favourite songs to their device, or cache tracks to listen to offline.
The move hugely increases Spotify's potential reach. Users of the Apple iPhone and Google Android devices are already able to use the service, but around half of all smartphones run the Symbian operating system.
Users will need to sign up to the £9.99 per month Premium subscription to use the service. Once they have downloaded the Spotify app on to their device, they can choose from millions of tracks to build playlists of their favourite songs, and listen to music while sending a text, writing an email or browsing the web.
A user's mobile Spotify account will synchronise with the Spotify account on their computer or laptop, meaning that any playlist changes or new songs added on the mobile version will automatically be carried across on to the desktop version.
"The launch of Spotify's Symbian app opens up our mobile music service to potentially millions more music fans across Europe," said Gustav Söderström, director of portable solutions at Spotify. "This takes our mobile music offering to a totally new level.”
Spotify's music-streaming service is available in six European countries, and the company has announced plans to roll-out the service in both the US and China next year. Read More......

Google Android now has access to Fring mobile app

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Fring has released their mobile application for the Google Android mobile platform.
Incidentally, Fring is already available on several other mobile platforms like Apple iPhone, Symbian and Windows Mobile.
Google Android version was much awaited and it has finally arrived.
Fring allows the user to communicate through several networks like Skype, Google Talk and MSN. It also works with Yahoo, AIM and ICQ.
The latest addition has integration with Twitter network as well. Read More....

Nokia to lay off up to 330 R&D staffers

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Nokia said Friday that a streamlining effort could result in the elimination of as many as 330 positions from its research and development staff, or about 2 percent of its global R&D workforce.
The changes will likely hit up to 230 workers in the company's Oulu site in Finland and roughly 100 at its Copenhagen site. Nokia said it plans to offer voluntary severance packages to the affected workers and to find alternative jobs for as many people as possible.
The company currently employs more than 17,000 workers in its R&D business. It has 2,000 employees at the Oulu facility and 1,000 in Copenhagen.
Though Nokia still holds the top spot in the smartphone arena, its dominance has been eroded by competition from the likes of Apple and Research In Motion. A recent In-Stat report found that Nokia's share of the smartphone market had dropped to 35 percent in this year's second quarter compared with 50 percent in the prior year's quarter.
Another report from Strategy Analytics revealed that Apple had surpassed Nokia in cell phone profits during the third quarter, the first time that Nokia had fallen to second place.
Nokia's third-quarter results showed a net loss of $832 million, while sales dropped around 20 percent. Nokia Siemens, the network equipment maker run by Nokia and Siemens, has also been a drag on its owners, recently announcing its own layoffs and cost cuts as a result of its weak performance.Read More....

China Unicom bullish on iPhone sales

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The number of 3G users in the country is expected to reach 16.2 million by the end of next year. [China Daily]
China Unicom, the nation's second largest cell phone carrier, said on Friday it expects nearly 10 percent of the third generation (3G) users in the country to switch to Apple Inc's iPhone in the next couple of years.
Tian Wenke, general manager of corporate business department of China Unicom, told China Daily that the smartphone has already evoked good interest from business users. "We expect nearly 10 percent of China's 3G users to buy iPhones," Tian said at an industry forum in Hangzhou.
The number of 3G users in the country is expected to reach 16.2 million by the end of next year, according to figures from research firm Wireless Intelligence. Li Yizhong, minister of the industry and information technology, had earlier said China plans to have around 240 million 3G users by 2012.
On Tuesday China Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing said he expects iPhone to become China's best-selling smartphone iphone crowds .
Unicom was reported to have sold fewer iPhones than analysts' expectations after its debut last month, raising concerns that the high prices may deter customers from buying the smartphone.
Tian, however, dismissed such charges. He said the pricing of the phone is "very reasonable for those who spend heavily on their phone bills every month".
According to the company, an iPhone without a service contract costs as much as 6,999 yuan ($1,025) in China, compared with $299 in the United States.
The product will be free when customers select a two-year service plan that costs 886 yuan per month.
The company had signed up only 5,000 iPhone users after the first two days of its debut last month. In comparison, nearly 1 million units of the smartphone were sold in the first three days when the latest model was launched in North America and Europe in June.
China Unicom also feels that if it were to price the iPhone lower, then users would buy the handset, but run it on the network of its rival carrier China Mobile, which has a nearly 70 percent share of China's mobile market.
Many Chinese users are hesitant to subscribe to China Unicom, as they want to retain their original phone numbers, which is not transferable, according to the current regulation.
An analyst from one of the world's biggest market trackers feels that sales of iPhone are expected to touch 60,000 to 70,000 in China this month. He expects iPhone to account for nearly 5 percent of China's smartphone market by next year. "But the product's further growth will be largely limited due to China Unicom's high pricing," said the analyst, who declined to be named.
Wang Yuquan, a senior consultant from research firm Frost & Sullivan, said Unicom's pricing of iPhone is too high even for business users in China. He said such a pricing strategy, as well as lack of WiFi function, would spur grey market sales of iPhone in the country currently estimated at around 2 million units.
Since its debut in 2007, iPhone now has a 17.1 percent share of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of this year, according to research firm Gartner.
That makes it the third largest cellphone provider after Nokia and Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM).
China Unicom had 1.02 million 3G subscribers as of the end of October, the company's Hong Kong-listed arm said in a regulatory filing on Nov 19. Read More......

New hope for Google super-phone

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A new wave of controversy has erupted in Silicon Valley over whether or not Google is finally creating its very own Google-branded phone to rival Apple's iPhone.
According to the TechCrunch blog, Google is tinkering away on a “super” Android device that promises to be thinner than all existing iPhone and Android devices.
The blog claims that the Android-powered phones released by the likes of HTC and Samsung have just been a warm-up to the Google Phone as the internet giant seeks to dominate the mobile sphere.
Google is building their own branded phone that they'll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone ... available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010,” the blog said.
It also predicts the phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer and have Google branding.
However, numerous other industry watchers responded to the report with scepticism, saying Google would gain little by derailing existing relationships with handset makers.
When Google first released its Android operating system last year, it put to rest many of the rumours about it taking a stake in the hardware space. Google itself has been quoted as saying it preferred to sit on the software side of the smartphone equation.
"We're excited to see just how far the platform has come in one year ... As more carriers and handset manufacturers turn to open platforms, we anticipate this growth will only continue,” it said recently.
But one of the weaknesses in its strategy is a lack of control over devices bearing the Android software. Although a number of Android phones have been released in Australia so far this year, none have yet been able to match the appeal of the iPhone.
“There won't be any negotiation or compromise over the phone's design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google's pure vision of what a phone should be,” TechCrunch said.
Market researchers such are Gartner are already predicting that the dominance of Apple's popular handset could be toppled by Google's Android mobile platform within three years.
"The iPhone is all about user experience but Apple can only produce a small number of handsets and not everyone wants an iPhone handset. They will remain strong but they won't take over world," Robin Simpson, a researcher at Gartner, said.
HTC has proven to be the most prolific developer of Android devices to date.
It already has the Dream and Magic handsets on the market in Australia, and the company announced two more yesterday, adding the HTC Hero and Tattoo to its line-up.
HTC says the new handsets are based on personalisation and accessibility, allowing users to create tailored profiles around specific functions or times such as weekends versus work days.
Dell is also preparing to make its first splash in the smartphone business soon with the Android-based Mini 3, which will initially be sold in China and Brazil.Read More.....

Yahoo Go Is A No Go

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Before there was an iPhone, Android and App Store, there was Yahoo! Go. Launched in 2006, Yahoo! Go was an application offered news, mail, weather, traffic, and Yahoo! search from a mobile device. Today, Yahoo is announcing that Yahoo! Go will be shutdown on January 12, 2010.
The app seemed to be ahead of it’s time when it launched but now is useless thanks to Yahoo creating prettier, more powerful, personal content-focused apps that specialize in products, such as Flickr, Yahoo Finance and Yahoo Messenger. Yahoo released three versions of Yahoo! Go but hasn’t released a new version in the past year. The last iteration of the app included a mobile widget platform and was available on select Nokia and Windows Mobile devices
The reasoning behind shutting down Go is simple, says Yahoo. As Yahoo unrolls individual apps in verticals and boosts its mobile site, Go was becoming obsolete. The team that was working on Go! will now be relocated to working on the mobile site product and various apps. Yahoo recently launched mobile apps for Flickr, and Yahoo Finance.
Earlier this year, Yahoo announced a revamped Yahoo Mobile, and rolled it out in April with a new iPhone app and browser support for more than 300 devices. Now Yahoo!’s mobile homepage is now available across more than 1,900 mobile devices in 32 countries. Yahoo Mobile combines mobile search, your email, IM, and social messaging streams, and personalized Yahoo content such as news, sports, stocks, and RSS feeds, which basically replaces Go.
Below is the email that will be sent to Yahoo Go users tomorrow:
Dear Yahoo! Go user,
Yahoo! Go will be discontinued on January 12, 2010, at 12:00 a.m. PST, so that we may focus on simplifying and enhancing your future mobile Web experiences. After this date, you will no longer be able to use Yahoo! Go 2.0 or 3.0 from your mobile phone.
We encourage you to visit the new mobile homepage from your mobile browser to access an even richer, more personalized Yahoo! experience.
We appreciate your support and thank you for using Yahoo! Mobile services.
For more information and customer support, please visit the help center from your PC.
The Yahoo! Mobile team Read More..........

NASA scientist converts iPhone into chemical sniffer

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Bangalore: Cell phones have increasingly become mobile labs and tech tools for researchers, and now NASA has gotten in on the act. A NASA scientist has developed a postage-stamp-sized chemical sensor that allows iPhones to sniff out low airborne concentrations of chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine gas and methane.
The gadget add-on comes courtesy of Jing Li, a Physical Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. She developed the proof of concept with other researchers as part of Homeland Security's 'Cell-All' program, which aims to put more mobile sensors in the hands of every cell phone user, reports Popular Science.
A puff from a 'sample jet' helps sense any airborne chemicals. That information gets processed by a silicon chip consisting of 16 nano-sensors, and then passes on to another phone or computer through any Wi-Fi or telecom network.Such sensors could alert first responders early if there's a chemical accident or attack, even if the unfortunate cell phone user has already passed out. This is an addition to other cell phone tools such as off-the-shelf microscopes and watchful heart monitors.Read More.....

To Play With Giants, App Devs Risk Getting Squashed

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Hot-selling mobile apps have earned some independent programmers hundreds of thousands of dollars. But one of the greatest risks of developing apps for a platform controlled by a large corporation, such as Google or Apple, is that you can easily get crushed.
Take for example Mike Jacobs, a developer of software startup Hello, Chair. For nine months, his team of three has been working on an iPhone app called Appsaurus, which makes App Store recommendations based on the apps you already own. So it was very bad news for Hello, Chair when Apple in September introduced a free App Store recommendation tool called App Store Genius.
“That’s one of the scariest things: If Apple moves an inch, they crush a bunch of little developers,” Jacobs said in a phone interview.
With giants dominating Silicon Valley, start-ups and independent programmers are fitting in between the cracks by developing apps for corporations’ mobile platforms. Apple’s App Store, which launched July 2008, is the largest to date with 100,000 apps and counting. Google’s Android platform is second largest, serving roughly 14,000 apps. In the case of the App Store, a lucky bunch have struck it rich with soaring sales, while others have suffered at the mercy of the giant they’re developing for.iphone crowds
More often, Apple is scrutinized for its questionable approval policy. The company has rejected some developers’ apps for unclear reasons, which often puts them in financial hurt (in severe cases, a six-digit loss).
But stories like Hello, Chair’s — where the corporation inadvertently competes with its developers — are a bit rare. Jacobs said his company was striving to provide something the iPhone was missing in hopes to make the platform even better. However, Apple, too, is thinking of ways to improve its products — and with a considerably larger team of in-house programmers and billions of dollars in resources, the Cupertino, California company beat a small start-up to the idea of an App Store recommendation tool.
Hello, Chair submitted Appsaurus to Apple this week and nervously awaits Apple’s approval. The team is hoping it does not face the same outcome as Podcaster, an app Apple rejected in September 2008. The Podcaster app enabled the iPhone to download podcasts and listen to them on the fly. Apple rejected Podcaster, saying it “duplicates the functionality” of the iPod. However, the iPhone didn’t have this feature when Podcaster was submitted. Only after rejecting Podcaster did Apple introduce a podcast downloader through its iTunes app.
Alex Sokirynsky, who developed Podcaster, said he had spent four months learning the iPhone’s programming language, and he was “heartbroken” by Apple’s rejection of Podcaster.
“Apple has a very tight hold on everyone in the App Store,” Sokirynsky told Wired.com. “They could pull any app for any reason, and the developer has no say. This could ruin a new company.”
This Goliath-stomps-on-David scenario isn’t unique to Apple, either. Etienne Baratte, a software engineer, was developing an app for the Google Android platform called Jamdroid, which would provide real-time traffic information anywhere on the globe. Baratte entered Jamdroid in Google’s Android Developer Challenge, a contest inviting developers to submit app prototypes for a chance to win awards. Jamdroid received an honorable score in the competition — but Google in August 2009 announced it was working on almost the exact same traffic-analysis tool.
Baratte was dismayed: He’d been working on Jamdroid since November 2007 with a few partners. He killed his project when Google rolled out its traffic service in August.
“There’s no competition possible at all,” Baratte said in a phone interview. “I can’t say they stole my idea. They’re in their right to implement such a service, and in fact, in a way I am quite happy that they did so…. But I spent all my free time on this.”
Hello, Chair hasn’t given up on Appsaurus, however. When Apple introduced App Store Genius, Jacobs and his team proceeded to add more features to Appsaurus to make it better than Apple’s recommendation system. When making recommendations, App Store Genius only takes into account the apps currently installed on a user’s iPhone. Appsaurus, Jacobs said, will use an interactive algorithm that allows users to rate and modify suggestions in real-time. The app will also make app recommendations based on other apps people have purchased, similar to Amazon’s “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” feature.Read More...

Apple 'more profitable' than Nokia

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Strategy Analytics said Apple's profits had exceeded Nokia's for the first time in the United States. Nokia posted a third quarter operating profit of $1.1 billion from its handset unit, while sales of Apple's iPhone generated $1.6 billion in profit over the same period.
Nokia, the world's biggest handset maker, is facing increasing competition from the likes of Apple and Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry. The Finnish giant's share of the phone market decreased by six per cent in the third quarter, and it reported its first quarterly loss.
“Nokia’s profit margin for its handset division has been shrinking during the global economic downturn in 2009,” said Neil Mawston, an analyst with Strategy Analytics. “We believe the United States, where Nokia now trails Apple in market share, is the key to Nokia’s recovery in 2010.”
Despite Nokia's huge global sales, it has struggled to dominate the US market in the same way it does elsewhere. The company is planning to make its devices more open to change by carriers in order to win over big network operators who wish to add their own logos, software and services to the handsets.
“A successful fight on Apple’s high-profit home turf can simultaneously help to revitalise Nokia’s margins and help put a check on Apple’s surging growth,” said Mawston.
Nokia and Apple are currently locked in a legal dispute after the Finnish mobile phone company accused Apple's iPhone of infringing its copyright and patents. Nokia is seeking compensation for the alleged infringements.
“By refusing to agree appropriate terms for Nokia’s intellectual property, Apple is attempting to get a free ride on the back of Nokia’s innovation,” said Ilkka Rahnasto, Nokia’s vice president for legal and intellectual property.Read More.......

Apple Updates Mac/Windows Safari to 4.0.4 — Raises Stakes in JavaScript Wars

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Apple has just released desktop Safari for Mac and Windows to 4.0.4, which improves full history search performance, has the mandatory stability improvements, and security fixes, but the big news as far as we’re concerned is the number one item on the list — Improved JavaScript performance
Desktop Safari is the big brother of the iPhone’s Mobile OS X Safari, and they share a rendering engine (WebKit), and a JavaScript engine (Nitro), and improvements in desktop Safari and Nitro have traditionally filtered down to Mobile Safari with the subsequent iPhone OS update. That’s right, we’re looking at you iPhone 3.2 (where ever you are!)
Since the current iPhone 3.1 Safari is still outperforming even brand-new devices like the Droid, that may seem a little greedy, but we know Google’s Android and Palm’s webOS aren’t sitting still in the rendering race, and have updates of their own in the pipeline, so once again, competition benefits the end users. Bring. It..Read More.....

Samsung bada smart phone OS: Bada up

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Samsung has announced bada, a new smart phone operating system. bada is Korean for 'ocean', which is all well and good but in English it still sounds like 'bad'. The tabs on the bada Web site read 'bada for business' and 'bada for developers'. Let's hope bada isn't bad for business or developers.
Samsung previously pasted its own TouchWiz (dear Lord, it's bad at naming things) user interface on top of other operating systems. bada will replace Symbian and Windows Mobile on new phones.
Samsung describes bada as "one of the most developer-friendly environments available". A software developer kit (SDK) will be launched in December for developers to begin working on bada apps for Samsung smart phones such as the H1, M1, Jet, Genio, Pixon and Tocco. Apps will most likely be available through the existing app store.
In the meantime, head over to Twitter for all the latest jokes on a possible deal with Microsoft's search engine.Read More.......

Google snaps up mobile ad company

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Google, the world's most popular search engine, has agreed a deal to buy the mobile advertising firm AdMob.
It is paying $750m (£449m) in stock for the firm in a bid to take advantage of opportunities in the booming market for mobile devices. AdMob specialises in selling adverts displayed on small screens - for example the iPhone or the Blackberry.
Google said mobile advertising had "enormous potential" and praised AdMob's "exceptional progress".
"AdMob is the quintessential Silicon Valley start-up, generating impressive year-on-year revenue growth, and we're excited to welcome this talented team to Google," said Susan Wojcicki, Google's vice-president of product management.
The new partners will now look to use new mobile technology to drive mobile advertising.
"I think people underestimate how important ads have been to funding the development of innovative content on the internet," said AdMob founder Omar Hamoui.
"Our goal has been to make it possible for developers and publishers to bring their products and ideas to mobile with the same business model."Read More....

iPhone Suffers First Worm Attack

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The iPhone is no stranger to viral attacks. Back in August Apple was forced to patch an SMS vulnerability and just this month jailbroken iPhones were locked by a Dutch hacker who demanded five euros to free them. Now a new threat is on the loose: the iPhone has its first worm.
Originating in Australia, antivirus specialist Sophos reports the worm infects handsets and - rather amusingly - changes the user's wallpaper to that of 80s pop horror and Rickroll sensation Rick Astley! It also displays the message "ikee is never going to give you up". To me this sounds far more malevolent than a worm which would simply destroy the phone.
Thankfully - as was previously the case - this latest attack only affects jailbroken iPhones and particularly those with SSH installed and still using the default password ('alpine'). Happily this greatly minimises the audience the worm can target and, funnily enough, it seems the main motivation of the originator of the worm is to bolster public awareness of security. Sophos has discovered within the worm's source code is the message: iphone crowds
"People are stupid, and this is to prove it so. RTRM. its [sic] not thats [sic] hard guys. But hey who cares its [sic] only your bank details at stake."
Clearly it isn't hard - check out that grammar!
More important than this isolated attack however is that it further adds to the trend of iPhone viruses, which in itself is just the first step to a wider attack on all handset platforms. Why now after so little trouble year after year? Well until recently the numerous variations in phone software made the effort to code and distribute a single virus for handsets rather pointless, especially when they only hand contact addresses and SMS messages inside.
Nowadays though this picture is rapidly changing. The likes of iPhone OS and BlackBerry OS are becoming increasingly prevalent while the rise of Android across multiple manufacturers suggests hackers will soon have more consistent platforms to target - and just imagine if Windows Mobile 7 turns out to be good! Furthermore, given the content on these handsets now regularly includes emails, browser histories and often password data the bounty has grown considerably.
Antivirus for phones? It has already been tried, but failed because it was ahead of its time. Sadly within a few years I suspect its time will have come... Read More.....

Google touches add value to Droid

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I love it when big, rich technology companies start smacking each other around like robots in a Transformers movie, because you’ll generally find some pretty cool gadgets poking out of the wreckage.Here’s one of them now: the Droid, a new Motorola Inc. phone that uses the Android operating system developed by Internet search titan Google Inc. It’s the first Android phone to be offered by the nation’s largest cellular carrier, Verizon Wireless. The Droid goes on sale tomorrow for $199 after a $100 rebate, and with a two-year Verizon service contract.
No doubt you’ve heard of the Droid from one of its ever-present TV commercials. Most smartphone vendors have tiptoed past direct comparisons with Apple Inc.’s iPhone. But the Droid ads have taken dead aim, flatly declaring that the Droid is better. In some ways, it is.
Apple will survive the onslaught; the Droid, though excellent, is no iPhone slayer. But you might want to start digging a grave for makers of standalone navigation devices like TomTom and Garmin. Droid’s most remarkable feature, a fine turn-by-turn navigation system, matches up well against any of the standalone GPS units. And it’s free.
The Droid’s sleek, angular look is reminiscent of Motorola’s last big hit, the Razr phone. It’s got a big, bright touchscreen that serves as a virtual keyboard, but there’s a snap-out physical keyboard as well. Perhaps this was a mistake; the keyboard is easily the Droid’s worst feature, with flat, smooth buttons that offer no help at all to touch typists. The pushbuttons found on other Android phones are mostly replaced with touch-sensitive controls, but the Droid still can’t match the simplicity of the iPhone.
Apple claims there are about 100,000 of the specialty software programs called apps for the iPhone; only about 10,000 apps are available for Android phones. And lots of them are unreliable, or don’t work at all. Google makes it easier than Apple to produce and distribute Android apps, but this has resulted in a lot of lousy Android software.
Still, there are plenty of gems. These include handy “widget’’ programs that sit on the screen and constantly update themselves with news headlines, stock quotes, or weather reports. Widgets work because unlike the iPhone, the Droid can run two or three apps simultaneously.
Of course, it does an especially good job running Google software. Apple barred Google Voice software from the iPhone, perhaps because it enabled cut-rate phone calling and threatened AT&T’s profits. There’s no such limitation on the Droid; Google Voice works fine, and you can program the phone to use it for all your calls. There’s also a very good feature that lets you run Google searches with voice commands, like “How do I get to Cape Cod?
Which brings us to the Droid’s true killer app. It’s the first phone to use Google’s new navigation service, which the company eventually plans to make available to other brands of smartphone.
Lots of us presently pay $10 a month to our cellphone carriers to run phone-based navigation software. The Droid’s Google Maps Navigation program makes a fine alternative. Punch in the desired address or say it aloud. The screen displays a clear and colorful map, while the phone’s speaker delivers the instructions in a clear, though rather tinny voice. Unlike some cheesy nav systems, Google gives very precise instructions; not simply, “turn left,’’ but “turn left on Main Street.’’ Sometimes the spoken instructions were a little too precise - for instance, in Cambridge, it said: “turn right on J-period-F-period-Kennedy Street.’’ And occasionally, the directions were plain wrong. But such things happen with the best GPS systems, and Google’s a company full of fast learners.
Indeed, they’re learning to make their own maps. Until recently, Google bought its maps of the United States from TomTom subsidiary TeleAtlas, which has its US operation in Lebanon, N.H. But TomTom recently revealed that the deal with Google is off. Google has opted to produce its own maps of the United States, though continuing to rely on TomTom for map data for the rest of the world. Sustained by its vast Internet advertising revenues, Google can afford to collect huge quantities of geographical information, then merely give it all away.
Not so for TomTom or Garmin, which is why their stocks plummeted last week on news of the Google Maps Navigation system. During a visit to Cambridge yesterday, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt was unapologetic. “Google is a disruptor,’’ Schmidt said. “We would argue that this disruption has a very strong consumer benefit. . . . As long as we’re on the side of making consumers empowered, we’ll be fine.’’
TomTom spokeswoman Kaitlin Ambrogio told me her company will be fine as well. “We believe there are opportunities for all of us,’’ Ambrogio said. Indeed, TomTom might launch a hugely successful Web search company, make billions of dollars, and start giving away their maps. Pretty far-fetched, I admit. But it’s been done.Read More.....

AT&T could offer 8GB iPhone 3GS

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Word has it that AT&T could be selling an 8GB iPhone 3GS in the US before Christmas, retailing for all of $99. If that were to be true, expect this bad boy to fly off the shelves quicker than you can blink, since it offers the full iPhone experience albeit with a smaller storage capacity that probably won't bother you too much. Assuming this rumor is true, it would most probably mean the discontinuation of the regular iPhone 3G that comes in that flavor, of course.Read More.......

Google search learns Chinese

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Google announced on November 2, 2009 that users of Nokia S60 series mobile phones could now search the Internet using voice commands in Mandarin Chinese. -- PHOTO: AFPWASHINGTON - Google's voice search tool now understands Chinese.
The Internet giant announced on Monday that users of Nokia S60 series mobile phones could now search the Internet using voice commands in Mandarin Chinese. iphone crowds
'Up until now voice search has only been available in English, but the new version of Google Mobile App for Nokia S60 devices works for Mandarin speakers, too,' Google said in a blog post.
'Although this only works on the Nokia S60 at the moment, we're working on adding support for Mandarin speech recognition to our products on other mobile platforms, such as Android and iPhone,' Google said. mobile phone
The Mountain View, California-based company cautioned that bringing Mandarin speech recognition to mobile phones had posed an 'engineering challenge' and may not always produce the desired results.
'Bear in mind that this is a first version of our system in Mandarin, and it might not be as polished as our English version,' Google said. 'For example, if you have a strong southern Chinese accent, it might not work as well as for people with a Beijing accent. However, our system will improve over time.' -- AFP Read More....

Orange's 'unlimited' iPhone

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Remember the price war that was supposed to break out once O2 lost its exclusive contract to sell the iPhone in Britain?
Well, the price plans that Orange has published for the phone show little sign of an eagerness for hand-to-hand combat.
Apart from an entry-level £30 tariff which promises twice as many minutes as O2's deal, the two firms' offers look virtually identical. iphone crowds
Look at what's likely to be among the most popular tariffs, a 24-month contract for a 16GB iPhone 3GS at £34.26 a month, where you pay £87 for the device.
That's identical in every respect to the O2 deal, except for the cost of the device - which is £87.11.
As we suspected, the high price that Apple extracts from operators leaves them little margin to undercut their rivals - about 11p in fact. mobile phone
But what does stand out when you examine Orange's price card more closely is what it says about the unlimited data that has been an essential part of the iPhone's appeal.
An asterisk next to the "unlimited" leads to a note saying "Fair Usage policy of 750MB/ month applies." Cue plenty of grumbling from potential customers, particularly on Twitter.
The cap appeared to apply to data downloaded via wi-fi as well as via the 3g network, so some concluded that Orange was planning to curb their customers' use of their own home networks.
I called Orange to check this out - and found the company slightly confused about its own fair usage policy. More than four hours later, the press office finally returned with chapter and verse.
There was a 750MB cap for 3g mobile data, and a separate 750MB for data downloaded with their wi-fi partner BT Openzone - you are free to do what you want on your own network.
So how does this compare with O2? That company came back with its own statement, confirming that its "unlimited" data policy did in fact have its limits.
"We reserve the right... to contact customers about their usage if we believe it adversely affects the service of our other customers, eg if a customer uses their SIM in another device for which it is not intended."
So O2 looks to be a little less restrictive than Orange.
But will many really run up against Orange's limit? At first 750MB may seem an awful lot of data to use on a phone - I reckon I get through about 200MB in a heavy month.
But what we've seen so far is that once you offer people "unlimited" data, they rush to use it, and software developers provide them with new data-rich applications.Streaming audio and video are increasingly popular on the iPhone, and they can chew up your data allowance at an alarming rate.
Last night someone pointed me towards this clause in Orange's Terms and Conditions:
"Not to be used for other activities (eg using your handset as a modem, non-Orange internet based streaming services, voice or video over the internet, instant messaging, peer to peer file sharing, non-Orange internet based video). Should such use be detected notice may be given and Network protection controls applied to all services which Orange does not believe constitutes mobile browsing."
It sounds as though services like Spotify, AudioBoo, Ustream and even Facebook messaging - increasingly popular with O2 iPhone customers - will be out of bounds for Orange users.
The operator is caught between a rock and a hard place. With little room for manoeuvre on prices, it will be hoping that better network coverage will be one factor winning over iPhone customers from O2.
But if too many power users start streaming TV and playing online games on their phones, the Orange network may buckle under the strain - hence the need for a fair usage limit.
Just hours after publishing its price list, Orange appeared to be having second thoughts about that 750MB cap, admitting that plenty of e-mails had been coming in and that it had noticed the rising tide of Twitter comments.
A spokesman told me the cap would be "reviewed" to make sure that it was at the right level.
The problem for the operators is that users no longer see the iPhone and similar devices as phones but as small computers. And who wants to be told 25 days into each month that they must now stop playing around with their computer and just use it to make calls?
Update, 17:20: Orange has been in touch to clarify their iPhone terms and conditions. Here's the company's statement:
"We do recognise that iPhone customers will use popular streaming services such as YouTube, Spotify etc. As a result we do not intend to apply network protection controls to anyone, as long as they are within their usage allowance. The T&Cs are in place to reserve the right to restrict access should they continue to exceed our Fair Usage policy, and our other Mobile data users suffer a reduced data experience as a result." Read More.....

Book apps overtake games on iPhone

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Books have become the most popular category of apps downloaded on the iPhone, overtaking games, according to a new research.
Analytics firm, Flurry, has published a report which shows that games were the number one category of apps downloaded on the iPhone every month from August 2008 until August 2009. However, in the last four months, book apps have exceeded the popularity of games apps – with one out of every five new apps launching in October having been a book. In September, games apps were overtaken by book apps for the first time. iphone crowds
Flurry has predicted that Apple could take market share from the Amazon Kindle’s eBooks, as book publishers continue to adapt books for the AppStore at pace. This is despite the iPhone having a two inch smaller display screen than the Kindle – but if rumours of the Apple tablet are to be believed, this trend could prove to be a worrying issue for Amazon, which has just launched the Kindle in the UK last month. The research, entitled the Pulse Report, also found that “addict” iPhone app users utilise their apps more than three times a day and in excess of 100 times a month. mobile phone
This is ten times more than the average app user, who use their apps approximately eight times a month.
Flurry compiled its research using a sample size of over 2,500 applications, 40 million consumers and looked at usage patterns across four platforms: Apple (iPhone and iPod Touch), Blackberry, JavaME and Google Android. Read More.....

Cell phone waste, the next big threat to environment: Deloitte

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Sporting a new mobile phone may be fashionable in these well-connected times, but the discarded old handsets could poison the environment, as a whopping 8,000 tonnes of cell phone waste is estimated to burden the earth by 2012.
With the absence of a proper recycle and reuse program, about 8,000 tonnes of toxic cell phone components are estimated to be dumped in landfills by 2012. File Photo: M. Periasamy
As per a whitepaper by global consultancy Deloitte, there is a growing need to better manage the rising cell phone waste, as it is posing a threat to the environment. iphone crowds
Replacement sales predict that more cell phones would be retired every year with rapid changes in technology and product designs discouraging mobile repairs and increasing demand for new mobiles and disposal of old ones. mobile phone
“With the absence of a proper recycle and reuse program, about 8,000 tonnes of toxic cell phone components are estimated to be dumped in landfills by 2012. The resulting contamination will have far reaching consequences for the environment and all living beings,” Deloitte Consulting India Regional Managing Director, Parag Saigaonkar told PTI.
The problem begins when retired handsets end up in landfill sites or if they are dumped illegally, leading to toxic substances seeping into the groundwater, making disposal of old cells a problem for the world, the report revealed.
“As India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world in terms of mobile phone subscribers, we need to be more aware of the threat, which these gadgets pose to the environment and strict government guidelines should be created to deal with it,” Saigaonkar added.
The Deloitte report stated that mobile phone waste globally is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about nine per cent between 2008 and 2012, with more than 80 per cent of the cell phone waste being hazardous.
“Indian policymakers should also provide regulations in terms of curbing pollution of mobile phone waste and mandatory recycling of cell phones should be brought in to manage the burgeoning problem,” Saigaonkar said.
The main contributors to cell phone waste are those who upgrade and replace their handsets regularly.
About 65 per cent of subscribers in Asia, Europe and the Americas replace their cell phones at least once in two years. This means every 2 years, about 100 million cell phones reach landfills if they are not recycled or reused, it added.
Elaborating on the ways to minimise the growing cell phone waste, the report stated that recycling and refurbishing of used cell phones is necessary.
Refurbishing extends the lifetime of used phones and recycling reduces the need for the raw materials used to make new products. The inclusion of recycling or refurbishing would change the traditional view of the cell phone life cycle.
“In this new life cycle model, every stakeholder will have to play a role in reducing the environmental footprint of cell phones,” it added.Read More.....
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