The internationally renowned Russian telecommunications analyst and blogger Eldar Murtazin has often published information about Nokia products and services ahead of their official launch. Nokia has made its displeasure clear.
”The company’s representatives have officially notified me that I am now enemy number one,” Murtazin told YLE.
Murtaz claims that leaks of confidential information have only increased.
”Nokia’s new leadership is trying to change the company’s former corporate culture, and make it more American. This has provoked opposition. The employees’ former loyalty to the company has disappeared since Stephen Elop became CEO. The leaks stem from that. People no longer believe in what they are doing, and they do not want to do what they are told.”
'Betting on a dead horse'
Murtazin is familiar with Nokia’s Windows Phone handset prototypes, which he says don’t look to be different to Windows Phone 7 models on offer from competitors.
”It’s the same inside, it’s the same speed, the display is the same. There aren’t any differences. In practice we are getting exactly the same device.”
He is surprised that Nokia is now relying solely on Microsoft.
”It is limiting. Nokia discontinued the Symbian and Meego operating systems and is clinging to an outside system with a smaller market share. It is betting on a dead horse.”
Nokia: ‘rumours and speculation’
According to Murtazin, Nokia did not get any special treatment from Microsoft despite rumours of the partnership spreading since last February.
”We already know that in practice Nokia didn’t get anything at all. There is no chance of changing the display, they cannot add their own unique services. In practice Nokia’s Windows 7 phone is just Nokia’s own design. And that’s it.”
Murtazin believes Stephen Elop is leading Nokia towards a clear goal.
”He will create the conditions under which Nokia will no longer have any other option but to sell a part of the company to Microsoft.”
Nokia did not want to comment on Murtazin’s statements on Monday, claiming the comments are simply speculation and rumours. According to Nokia, Murtazin has a vivid imagination. Nokia also says that Murtazin is said to work as a consultant for competing mobile manufacturers, so cannot be said to be an independent, impartial analyst.
Apple takes on Google Maps and integrates Facebook into iPhone software - along with a new Macbook - Daily Mail
- New mapping app will offer turn-by-turn directions and live traffic updates, and incorporate Siri
- Facebook to be integrated into iPhones and iPads to provide status updates with the sound of your voice
- Upcoming Macbook Pro will feature the 'retina display' popularised in latest iPad
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Apple has revealed that it is creating a 3D map of the world in a war with Google over online maps.
The computer giant today admitted to having a fleet of planes and helicopters which have been flying over major cities around the world.
It also plans to monitor iPhone owners when they drive to create live maps of traffic congestion.
The maps have a special 'flyover' feature that let users virtually fly around major cities.
Re-making maps: Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software at Apple Inc., demonstrates turn-by-turn navigation in iOS6 using Siri during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2012 in San Francisco, California
'We have been flying in helicopters and planes, building up a 3D model of these places,' said Scott Forstall of Apple.
The firm also boasted of 'using anonymous, real time data from iPhone users to keep traffic data up to date.'
The traffic monitoring is part of a new satellite navigation feature in the maps app.
Analysts said the decision to abandon Google Maps, which has provided mapping data for the iPhone since it was introduced in 2007, is the start of a 'mapping war'.
Apple's own: A screen shot showing turn-by-turn navigation using Apple maps and Siri in iOS6 is pictured
Its new mobile operating software, called iOS6 will come with a mapping system 'built from the ground up,' said Forstall, sidelining the Google map service.
Previously close partners who shared board members, Google is now Apple’s biggest challenger in the smartphone market with its Android operating system.
Facebook is getting a big boost from Apple in the wake of the social networking site's disappointing IPO, going deep into the iPhone and iPad software.
With the next Apple's iOS 6 software, users will be able to update their Facebook status by talking to their phones.
Users will also be able to 'Like' movies and apps in Apple's iTunes store, Apple executive Scott Forstall said in San Francisco at Apple's annual developers' conference.
Siri, Apple's voice-command application, will add a host of new languages, including Spanish, Korean and Mandarin Chinese, Forstall said.
'She' will also be able to launch applications and movies - all at the user's command.
Apple hasn't said when iOS 6, will be available. It will run on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.
It is also expected to release the next version of its mobile operating software, the iOS6.
Apple started its Worldwide Developers' Conference touting its hardware, its biggest edge over Google.
The tech giant also revamped its existing line of notebook computers.
Boss: CEO Tim Cook, who took over from late co-founder Steve Jobs last August, says customers have downloaded more than 30 billion Apple apps so far
The new Macbook Air and MacBook Pro have upgraded graphics and memory, and go on sale today.
And at 0.7 inches, the new MacBook Pro - Apple's highest-end laptop - ranks among the thinnest laptops in the market.
They will employ the 'retina' displays that have won strong positive reviews for the new iPad, but start at an eye-popping $2,199 price tag.
The screen has more pixels than a HD TV.
'To create something genuinely new, you have to start again,' said Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple's British designer, who recently received a knighthood.
Craig Federighi, Vice president on Mac Software, said the new Mountain Lion system narrows the gap between the PC and phone software packages, allowing users to speak to their computers.
Another step forward: Craig Federighi, vice president on Mac Software, talks about the new Mountain Lion system, which he says would make Mac computers work more like iPhones
Mac makeover: Apple has unveiled a new version of its popular Macbook Pro laptop, complete with the 'retina' display, at an eye-popping price of $2,199
Marketing chief Phil Schiller outlined how the redesigned MacBook Air notebooks, also unveiled at the conference, will be about $100 cheaper on average than predecessors, but sport quicker Intel Corp processors.
Analysts have speculated that the company will begin aggressively competing on price, gradually lowering the premium its Macs carry in general.
Long lines marked the beginning of the week-long annual forum, where Apple developers rub shoulders with employees, test the latest products and software, and connect with peers.
Queue: Attendees line up at outside the 2012 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco
More than ever, Apple finds itself in a pitched battle with Google: in smartphones, cloud computing, and a never-ending competition to attract the best software developers.
That is crucial as Apple looks to draw users deeper into its applications ecosystem.
CEO Tim Cook, who took over from late co-founder Steve Jobs last August, told the audience that customers have downloaded more than 30 billion Apple apps so far, choosing from more than 650,000 apps - the largest library in the industry.
The firm also launched a new app that aims to replace tickets and storecards with an iPhone app. Called passbook, it lets users download movie tickets - right to your phone.
Will Microsoft Be Forced to Buy Nokia? - PC World
Rumors are flying again that Microsoft is eying a buyout of Nokia -- and this time they might be true. It's not so much that Microsoft wants to buy the troubled phone maker as that Microsoft may be forced to buy it to prop up the struggling Windows Phone platform.
The Register reports that late last year Microsoft was given a look at Nokia's books because Microsoft wanted to see which parts of Nokia might be worth buying. But Microsoft was not impressed, the Register says, and so made no bid.
But things have changed since then. Nokia is in such bad financial shape that it could run out of cash, says Reuters. On May 18 the news service reported:
Why might Microsoft buy Nokia now when it declined to do so after getting a look at the company's books late last year? Nokia is clearly in worse shape than it was back then, and Microsoft simply can't afford a severely weakened Nokia. The future of Windows Phone rests as much with Nokia as it does with Microsoft. Without Nokia, Windows Phone will be nearly dead.
The company can also be had for much less than it could have late last year. Back then, Microsoft would have had to pay a premium for Nokia. No longer. Nokia stock is bumping along at near a 15-year low, at $3 per share or under. In late November 2011 it was trading as high as $7.38, and for most of December it was over $6. So Microsoft could buy out the company for far less now than back then.
Rumors have Samsung interested in buying Nokia, although Samsung has denied them. If Nokia is bought by a competitor, Microsoft can't count on the buyer being as committed to Windows Phone as Nokia was.
I'm not sure that Microsoft wants to buy Nokia. But given the circumstances, it may be forced to.
For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright © 2011 Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.
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Tested: iPhone 4S on T-Mobile 3G at WWDC - PC Magazine
SAN FRANCISCO—T-Mobile has been the only national network which couldn't run iPhones at 3G speeds - until now. The carrier is "refarming" 1900-MHz airwaves to 3G, making itself finally iPhone-compatible.
Whether it's a total coincidence (as T-Mobile insists) or a publicity stunt, the carrier turned on a single 1900-MHz 3G cell site in San Francisco's Moscone West this week – the exact location where Apple will announce its new iOS 6. I took an unlocked iPhone 4S down and tested it out against AT&T and Verizon iPhones. (Sadly, I don't have a Sprint iPhone at the moment.)
The default state for an iPhone on T-Mobile is EDGE, and EDGE is really slow. I ran several tests on an iPhone on T-Mobile's EDGE network today and generally got speeds between 30-50kbps. Ouch.
But as soon as I walked alongside Moscone West, a "3G" indicator appeared in my iPhone 4S's status bar.
It's definitely a test network, using only one in-building cell site. The signal was much stronger at the front of Moscone West than at the back, and it vanished altogether half a block north of the convention center.
I ran 10 tests using the Speedtest.net app on the T-Mobile iPhone and got very erratic results; some numbers were clearly impossible, so I had to exclude them. Of the valid results, I saw download speeds from 500kbps to 6.5Mbps, but mostly in the 1-2Mbps range.
That's much less than what T-Mobile's HSPA+ 42 network can produce. On an HTC One S in the same location, I got 9.9Mbps down and 1Mbps up. And I got consistently faster speeds on AT&T, which has a slower HSPA network.
There are two factors at work here.
First, the iPhone 4S isn't capable of T-Mobile's full speeds. It's an HSPA 14.4 device like the HTC Sensation, which reached speeds of 4.3-6.5Mbps down during testing last year.
So why wasn't I getting the same 4-6Mbps on the iPhone? This was definitely a test network, and probably one designed not to emanate far outside the Moscone Center itself. Who knows what they're using for backhaul, or how much spectrum is devoted to the 1900 3G network. I wouldn't draw conclusions about future speeds from this test network.
I will draw conclusions about price, though. As I said last week, T-Mobile's no-contract plans are competitive with Virgin Mobile and much cheaper than AT&T and Verizon, with potentially faster data speeds than any of them on 3G devices. For more on that, see Virgin Mobile's $30 iPhone Plan Gamble.
So when will the wonders of refarming come to you? T-Mobile is remaining vague except to say that it'll arrive in a "large" number of markets this year.
Is the iPhone Overcrowding the World’s 3G Networks? - Businessweek
Regardless of which platform is winning today’s smartphone race, the installed base of active iPhones remains huge, and according to a new report from mobile infrastructure maker Ericsson, those iOS devices are having an outsize impact on the world’s 3G networks.
Traffic originating from the iPhone is nearing 50 percent of all data traversing carriers’ HSPA networks. Those numbers could have a chilling effect on emerging LTE operators, which are trying to migrate to 4G but are finding themselves contending with the iPhone’s enormous 3G demands.
For its Traffic and Market Report, Ericsson sampled data from GSM carriers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, discovering that, on average, the iPhone accounts for a little more than 20 percent of their total subscribers but a whopping 45 percent of their total 3G/HSPA traffic. In comparison, Android penetration levels among those same operators are around 15 percent, while those devices account for about 30 percent of their 3G traffic loads.
Ericsson found that, on average, iPhone and Android ran neck and neck when it came to average consumption per subscriber: around 350 MB per month. But there was huge variation in those usage levels among different carriers, especially on Android. At the high end of Ericsson’s measurements, Android users consume 1,400 MB per month, compared with 1,200 MB for the iPhone, while on some networks Android phone usage averaged a mere 50 MB per month. Network monthly averages for the iPhone never drop much lower than 200 MB.
The overall variation can be explained by carriers’ widely differing pricing policies. For instance, T-Mobile USA not only offers fairly liberal data buckets in its data tiers but also allows customers to use mobile hotspot capabilities at no extra charge, driving up monthly consumption. Ericsson explained the even bigger variation among Google OS phones, however, by the fact that Android devices run the entire gamut of the market, while Apple targets the middle to high end. So in networks where Android plays second fiddle to the iPhone—which for a long while was the case at AT&T—Android devices often gravitate toward the low end, while Apple devices wind up in the hands of power users.
That helps explain how the iPhone can have such an enormous impact on operators’ 3G networks. IPhones are not only a plurality of all devices on the network but are also often wielded by the carriers’ most-aggressive data users.
Ericsson’s data take only HSPA networks into account. CDMA operators such as Sprint and Verizon only recently landed the iPhone, so they have spent the past several years loading up their 3G networks with Android devices. Android also is the only smartphone OS, besides Windows Phone, supported on an LTE network. Compared with 3G, the installed LTE phone base is miniscule, but it’s growing rapidly.
If Apple doesn’t include LTE in this year’s iPhone, the gap between Android and iOS on 3G traffic levels may only grow bigger. Android power users will start migrating to new LTE networks, while iPhone users will remain on much more inefficient 3G networks.
How would moving to LTE affect you? As I have written before, a 3G-only iPhone scenario could play havoc with the wireless industry, particular in North America. If operators must keep investing in their 3G networks in order to meet mounting iPhone traffic, they won’t be able to focus on their future LTE networks, which will ultimately allow them to deliver a lot more data a lot more cheaply.
Apple has signaled it’s ready to embrace LTE with the launch of the new iPad, hopefully securing 4G’s place in at least some versions of the new iPhone. LTE may sound like a carrier conceit—promising little to consumers except higher speeds and crappier battery life—but consumers stand to lose out as well if the transition to LTE is delayed. LTE is the first stepping stone to much-higher-capacity LTE Advanced systems.
By dramatically lowering the cost to deliver data, carriers will start lowering the data prices they offer consumers. They won’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, but that’s where competition comes into play.
Also from GigaOM:
LTE Advanced: What It Is and Isn’t, and Why That Matters (subscription required)
CloudLock Aims to Bring PCI Compliance to Google Drive
Crazy: Orange Censors All Blogs, Not Just GigaOM
Prepaid iPhone Will Boost Sprint/Virgin Mobile And Leap Wireless - Seekingalpha.com
In our first analysis report on Sprint Nextel (S) we were able to determine that despite Sprint's weakness in the post-paid contract segment, it was the unquestioned, undisputed market leader in the low-end prepaid and Mobile Virtual Network Operator wireless segments. While that may not necessarily enable Sprint to become profitable overnight, we believe it provides a floor for the price of Sprint's stock. This is important because the low-end prepaid and MVNO segment has shown faster growth than the industry at large, including at Sprint Nextel.
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Because Apple's (AAPL) highly popular, cutting edge smartphone has been available on Sprint's wireless network since October, we believe that Sprint will be able to survive as an independent company. In our comprehensive report about Sprint, we concluded that Sprint had no ability to survive as a going concern without the iPhone. Now that Sprint has the iPhone, not only will it be able to compete against the national wireless duopoly of AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) for highly lucrative postpaid customers, we believe that Sprint will maintain its competitive strength in the prepaid and MVNO segments, which would sap the growth potential of T-Mobile USA, MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP) in the prepaid and MVNO segment.
In our opinion, we believe that the 4 year, $15.5B purchase contract that Sprint agreed to with Apple in order to earn the right to sell Apple's iPhone was steep. However we disagree with those who say that Sprint should have passed on it. We made note that Sprint was on track to meet 94% of the contract's commitment assuming Sprint maintains its sales volumes of iPhones. In our analysis of whether Sprint was on track to meet the purchase commitment, we had assumed that every iPhone sold by Sprint was the low-end iPhone 4 device, rather than higher-end iPhone 4S devices. We also assumed that Sprint paid $550 for each of its iPhones sold and that it had no excess inventory of iPhones on hand, which is an extremely conservative worst-case scenario for Sprint. We believe that with Sprint's recent promotion for $100 off a new iPhone 4S if you switch from another carrier and redeemed your old iPhone device for a new iPhone 4S couple with Virgin Mobile USA offering the iPhone will certainly ensure that Sprint meets its purchase commitment with Apple .
On May 31, 2012 Leap Wireless's Cricket Wireless business announced that it will start selling Apple's iPhone 4 and 4S devices on its network. This made Cricket the first prepaid wireless network to carry the Apple iPhone. We were concerned that this would be negative for Sprint, a company that we are recommending to investors and which we personally own shares of. However, our concerns have abated as Sprint announced one week later that its Virgin Mobile prepaid brand will also be offering the iPhone without a 2 year contract.
Leap Wireless has an easier contract commitment than Sprint. Leap has a 3 year, $900M purchase commitment. This represents an estimated 1.5M iPhones that Leap has to sell during this period (500,000 annually). In order to fulfill this contract, Leap needs to get 8% of its 6.25M customers to switch to Apple's iPhone annually. That should not be too difficult as 10% of Sprint's customers have already switched to the iPhone in the 6 months that Sprint has been selling the device.
The major risk to this initiative is the higher than average up-front cost associated with the iPhone. However, we also believe that it could be a potential game-changer for wireless customers, as educated customers will see a cheaper alternative to postpaid contract plans. If we were to compare the cost for unlimited talk, text and voice from each mobile platform, we see that Sprint Virgin Mobile and Leap's Cricket Wireless prepaid phones offer a lower total cost of ownership over a two year contract cycle.
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Based on these reasons, we not only reiterate our recommendation of a long position in Sprint Nextel, but also believe that carrying the iPhone will make the prepaid segment into a two-horse race between Virgin Mobile and Cricket Wireless. Sprint and Cricket had gained more branded prepaid customers in Q1 than the other carriers in Q1 2012 without the aid of a prepaid no-contract iPhone. We believe that carrying the iPhone will enable Sprint's Virgin Mobile USA subsidiary and Leap's Cricket Wireless business to accelerate each company's growth rates in the prepaid segment and in particular, potentially pick off customers from T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS.
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Source: Company Q1 Earnings Releases
We recommend investors who are interested in exposure to the prepaid wireless segment to consider Sprint over Leap Wireless for the following six reasons:
Sprint has 15.3M branded prepaid customers and 8M Wholesale MVNO customers whereas Leap Wireless only has 6.2 total customers.
Sprint gained nearly twice as many prepaid customers as Leap in Q1 2012 and nearly 3.5X as many if one excludes Nextel run-off.
Despite accruing losses since Q4 2007, Sprint has at least been free cash flow positive from 2007-present, even with the increased CapEx for Network Vision. Leap was only profitable in 2005 and has racked up net losses and free cash flow deficits since 2006.
Sprint has a lower debt/sales ratio than Leap Wireless
Leap Wireless's 4G LTE service is with Clearwire, which Sprint owns 54% of. Also Sprint will be rolling out 4G LTE before Leap Wireless.
Sprint's Network Vision is making great progress and Sprint will be shutting down Nextel on June 30th, 2013.
The Sprint Platform (excluding Nextel run-off) not only had lower Q1 2012 churn than Leap Wireless, but improved it by 50bp, whereas Leap suffered 20bp more churn.
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Source: Q1 Company Press Releases
Disclosure: I am long S, AAPL.
Disclaimer: Saibus Research has not received compensation directly or indirectly for expressing the recommendation in this report. Under no circumstances must this report be considered an offer to buy, sell, subscribe for or trade securities or other instruments.
Broadcom's an iPhone 5 Winner - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (Trefis) -- The Web is abuzz about the possible launch of Apple's (AAPL) iPhone 5 in October this year and, if rumors are to be believed, the new phone will feature an improved version of Broadcom's (BRCM) dual-band Wi-Fi chips. Accounting for almost half the company's value, the mobile and wireless business is the most valuable segment for Broadcom.
Growing Competition From Qualcomm
So far, Qualcomm (QCOM) has dominated the mobile baseband and application processor market while Broadcom has had an upper hand in wireless connectivity solutions. However, the acquisition of Atheros by Qualcomm puts the company in a better position to offer SoCs that can compete with Broadcom's offerings. While only a few tablets have 3G or 4G connectivity that require Qualcomm's products, most tablets have Wi-Fi capabilities that can be supported by Atheros. Hence, we think Broadcom should be wary of Qualcomm's growing portfolio in the wireless mobile segment to ensure that it maintains its foothold in the market.iPhone 3GS to Run iOS 6 Per Leaked iOS 6 Beta - Gotta Be Mobile
The iPhone 3GS will most likely run iOS 6, the latest version of Apple’s popular iPhone software.
The news comes hours before the official iOS 6 announcement at WWDC 2012, which kicks off at 10 AM Pacific today.
Late Sunday evening Macrumors found links to download the iOS 6 beta leaked to the Internet, including a link claiming to offer a download of the iOS 6 beta for the iPhone 3GS.
Read: What to Expect at WWDC 2012
The link for ioS 6 for the iPhone 3GS is not working yet.
The link is not functioning at this time, but it may point to support for the three-year old iPhone though the next year. It may also indicate that Apple is not done selling the iPhone 3GS in the U.S. and other markets. Links like this appeared ahead of the iOS 5 beta release last year.
Banners are already hung thought the Moscone Center proclaiming the arrival of iOS 6. Apple calls iOS 6 the “World’s Most Advanced Mobile Operating System”.
We expect that Apple will announce the iOS 6 beta during the keynote, with links available for developers to download the iOS 6 beta by the end of the day.
The leaked iOS 6 beta download links include links to versions for the following Apple devices.
Third-generation iPad
- Consumer: Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi + Cellular (GSM), WiFi + Cellular (CDMA)
- Enterprise: Wi-Fi, WiFi + Cellular (GSM), WiFi + Cellular (CDMA)
iPad 2
- Consumer: Wi-Fi, WiFi + 3G (GSM), WiFi + 3G (CDMA), Revised Wi-Fi
- Enterprise: Wi-Fi, WiFi + 3G (GSM), WiFi + 3G (CDMA), Revised Wi-Fi
iPhone
- Consumer: 4S, 4 (GSM), 4 (CDMA), 3GS
- Enterprise: 4S, 4 (GSM), 4 (CDMA), 3GS
iPod touch
- Consumer: 4th Generation
- Enterprise: 4th Generation
Apple TV
- Consumer: 2nd Generation, 3rd Generation
Other iOS
Noticeably absent is the original iPad, which is only 2 years old, with similar performance to the iPhone 4, which will get iOS 6.
The iPhone 3GS runs well on iOS 5.1.1, especially for an old phone. Adam Mills shares his impressions of iOS 5.1.1 on the iPhone 3GS.
Are you looking forward to iOS 6 on the iPhone 3GS?
If you want to install iOS 6 beta, make sure your UDID is registered. We do that over at udidregistration.com – our registrations are secure (via PayPal) and instant, so you will have iOS 6 up and running in minutes…
Check us out :)