A selection of eight new and notable apps today:
Tesco Discover
UK supermarket chain Tesco has launched an augmented reality shopping app, using technology from HP subsidiary Aurasma. "Interact with Tesco through exclusive videos, competitions and offers – bought to life before your eyes," suggests its store listing. That means pointing your smartphone at the Tesco Discover icon on print materials to access the extra content. The link above is for Android, but here's the iPhone version.
Android / iPhone / iPad
Final Fantasy
Square Enix has launched the original Final Fantasy game for Android, porting the updated version of the 1987 RPG that was released for iOS in February 2010. Expect crystals, battling and lots of monsters.
Android
Camera Extras
After a limited initial release, Nokia's Camera Extras app has gone global – albeit only for the company's Lumia Windows Phones. It offers extra features for the handset camera, including panorama shots, a self-timer and modes for action shots and smart group shots.
Windows Phone (Nokia)
Fujifilm Camera Application
Fujifilm has launched a new smartphone and tablet app that works with its Wi-Fi-equipped digital cameras. The idea: people can wirelessly transfer up to 30 photos at once from camera to smartphone or tablet to view them – the key usage is the latter, for the bigger screen.
Android / iPhone / iPad
TouchMix FX
Tap Tap Revenge became a big music-game brand on iOS, but can TouchMix FX do the same thing on Android? Released by games firm Gamevil, it sees you tapping along to beats and rhythms as light orbs and lines fill the screen, with a quest system to keep the gameplay moving along.
Android
Heathrow Airport Guide
Heathrow Airport has an official Windows Phone app, with features including live flight tracking, notifications of flight status updates, terminal maps and listings for the shops and restaurants at the airport.
Windows Phone
Panasonic Flag Tags
Olympic sponsor Panasonic has launched a Flag Tag app for Android and iOS, which aims to get people digitally painting their faces with the flag of their country, before sharing it on social networks. The link above is for Android, but here's the iPhone version.
Android / iPhone / iPad
TripLingo UK Edition
It's a shame this app doesn't appear to be available in the UK App Store, because its description is a hoot. "Top of the morning and tally ho young lad! Have a laugh and a jolly good time learning some well good British phrases to make sure you don't get Kate Mossed in London!" The idea being travel and Olympic-related phrases in "four classic London accents: Posh, Cockney, Scouse, and Jafaican (think Ali G!)." Wait, what: Scouse?
iPhone
Nokia Board of Directors approves an adjustment to the planned maximum number of Stock Options to be granted in 2012 - Reuters
Espoo, Finland - Nokia announced today that its Board of Directors authorized an adjustment to the planned maximum number of stock options it will grant in 2012 under the Nokia Stock Option Plan 2011, which was approved at the Annual General Meeting 2011.
Nokia increased the planned maximum number of stock options to be granted under the Nokia Equity Program 2012 from approximately 8.5 million to approximately 11.5 million. This adjusted planned maximum of approximately 11.5 million stock options to be granted in 2012 is within the maximum number of 35 million stock options available for grant under the Stock Option Plan 2011 approved by the Annual General Meeting 2011.
None of these additional stock options will be granted to the CEO and the Nokia Leadership Team members but rather to key senior level employees who are critical in carrying forward Nokia's strategy. We believe this is a prudent use of stock options, also designed to align the interests of these key employees with those of the shareholders. Any realization of the value from the stock option awards is dependent on successful execution of the strategy and a sustainable share price growth over the long term.
Stock options can be granted under the Stock Option Plan 2011 until the end of 2013 and they have a vesting period of 50 percent of stock options vesting three years after grant and the remaining 50 percent vesting four years from grant.
As of December 31, 2011, the total maximum dilution effect of Nokia's equity program then outstanding, assuming that the performance shares would be delivered at maximum level, was approximately 1.8 percent. The potential maximum effect of the Nokia Equity Program 2012 announced in January 2012, assuming delivery at maximum level and including the increased planned maximum of approximately 11.5 million stock options, would be approximately another 1.6 percent.
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia
Forward Looking Statements
It should be noted that certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those regarding: A) the expected plans and benefits of our partnership with Microsoft to bring together complementary assets and expertise to form a global mobile ecosystem for smartphones; B) the timing and expected benefits of our new strategies, including expected operational and financial benefits and targets as well as changes in leadership and operational structure; C) the timing of the deliveries of our products and services; D) our ability to innovate, develop, execute and commercialize new technologies, products and services; E) expectations regarding market developments and structural changes; F) expectations and targets regarding our industry volumes, market share, prices, net sales and margins of our products and services; G) expectations and targets regarding our operational priorities and results of operations; H) expectations and targets regarding collaboration and partnering arrangements; I) the outcome of pending and threatened litigation; J) expectations regarding the successful completion of restructurings, investments, acquisitions and divestments on a timely basis and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, acquisitions and divestments; and K) statements preceded by "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "foresee," "target," "estimate," "designed," "aim", "plans," "intends," "will" or similar expressions. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Because they involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from the results that we currently expect. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) our success in the smartphone market, including our ability to introduce and bring to market quantities of attractive, competitively priced Nokia products with Windows Phone that are positively differentiated from our competitors' products, both outside and within the Windows Phone ecosystem; 2) our ability to make Nokia products with Windows Phone a competitive choice for consumers, and together with Microsoft, our success in encouraging and supporting a competitive and profitable global ecosystem for Windows Phone smartphones that achieves sufficient scale, value and attractiveness to all market participants; 3) reduced consumer demand for Nokia smartphones that operate on current versions of the Windows Phone platform as consumers anticipate our launch and sales ramp-up of Nokia smartphones with newer versions of the Windows Phone platform available from Microsoft, specifically the new Windows Phone 8 operating system; 4) the difficulties we experience in having a competitive offering of Symbian devices and maintaining the economic viability of the Symbian smartphone platform during the transition to Windows Phone as our primary smartphone platform; 5) our ability to effectively and timely implement planned changes to our operational structure, including the planned restructuring measures, and to successfully complete the planned investments, acquisitions and divestments in order to improve our operating model and achieve targeted efficiencies and reductions in operating expenses; 6) our future sales performance, among other factors, may require us to recognize allowances related to excess component inventory, future purchase commitments and inventory write-offs in our Devices & Services business; 7) our ability to realize a return on our investment in next generation devices, platforms and user experiences; 8) our ability to produce attractive and competitive feature phones, including devices with more smartphone-like features, in a timely and cost efficient manner with differentiated hardware, software, localized services and applications; 9) the intensity of competition in the various markets where we do business and our ability to maintain or improve our market position or respond successfully to changes in the competitive environment; 10) our ability to retain, motivate, develop and recruit appropriately skilled employees; 11) the success of our Location & Commerce strategy, including our ability to maintain current sources of revenue, provide support for our Devices & Services business and create new sources of revenue from our location-based services and commerce assets; 12) our actual performance in the short-term and long-term could be materially different from our forecasts, which could impact future estimates of recoverable value of our reporting units and may result in impairment charges; 13) our success in collaboration and partnering arrangements with third parties, including Microsoft; 14) our ability to increase our speed of innovation, product development and execution to bring new innovative and competitive mobile products and location-based or other services to the market in a timely manner; 15) our dependence on the development of the mobile and communications industry, including location-based and other services industries, in numerous diverse markets, as well as on general economic conditions globally and regionally; 16) our ability to protect numerous patented standardized or proprietary technologies from third-party infringement or actions to invalidate the intellectual property rights of these technologies; 17) our ability to maintain and leverage our traditional strengths in the mobile product market if we are unable to retain the loyalty of our mobile operator and distributor customers and consumers as a result of the implementation of our strategies or other factors; 18) the success, financial condition and performance of our suppliers, collaboration partners and customers; 19) our ability to manage efficiently our manufacturing and logistics, as well as to ensure the quality, safety, security and timely delivery of our products and services; 20) our ability to source sufficient amounts of fully functional quality components, sub-assemblies, software and services on a timely basis without interruption and on favorable terms; 21) our ability to manage our inventory and timely adapt our supply to meet changing demands for our products; 22) any actual or even alleged defects or other quality, safety and security issues in our products; 23) the impact of a cybersecurity breach or other factors leading to any actual or alleged loss, improper disclosure or leakage of any personal or consumer data collected by us or our partners or subcontractors, made available to us or stored in or through our products; 24) our ability to successfully manage the pricing of our products and costs related to our products and operations; 25) exchange rate fluctuations, including, in particular, fluctuations between the euro, which is our reporting currency, and the US dollar, the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan, as well as certain other currencies; 26) our ability to protect the technologies, which we or others develop or that we license, from claims that we have infringed third parties' intellectual property rights, as well as our unrestricted use on commercially acceptable terms of certain technologies in our products and services; 27) the impact of economic, political, regulatory or other developments on our sales, manufacturing facilities and assets located in emerging market countries; 28) the impact of changes in government policies, trade policies, laws or regulations where our assets are located and where we do business; 29) the potential complex tax issues and obligations we may incur to pay additional taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we do business and our actual or anticipated performance, among other factors, could result in allowances related to deferred tax assets; 30) any disruption to information technology systems and networks that our operations rely on; 31) unfavorable outcome of litigations; 32) allegations of possible health risks from electromagnetic fields generated by base stations and mobile products and lawsuits related to them, regardless of merit; 33) Nokia Siemens Networks ability to implement its new strategy and restructuring plan effectively and in a timely manner to improve its overall competitiveness and profitability; 34) Nokia Siemens Networks' success in the telecommunications infrastructure services market and Nokia Siemens Networks' ability to effectively and profitably adapt its business and operations in a timely manner to the increasingly diverse service needs of its customers; 35) Nokia Siemens Networks' ability to maintain or improve its market position or respond successfully to changes in the competitive environment; 36) Nokia Siemens Networks' liquidity and its ability to meet its working capital requirements; 37) Nokia Siemens Networks' ability to timely introduce new competitive products, services, upgrades and technologies; 38) Nokia Siemens Networks' ability to execute successfully its strategy for the acquired Motorola Solutions wireless network infrastructure assets; 39) developments under large, multi-year contracts or in relation to major customers in the networks infrastructure and related services business; 40) the management of our customer financing exposure, particularly in the networks infrastructure and related services business; 41) whether ongoing or any additional governmental investigations into alleged violations of law by some former employees of Siemens may involve and affect the carrier-related assets and employees transferred by Siemens to Nokia Siemens Networks; and 42) any impairment of Nokia Siemens Networks customer relationships resulting from ongoing or any additional governmental investigations involving the Siemens carrier-related operations transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks, as well as the risk factors specified on pages 13-47 of Nokia's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2011 under Item 3D. "Risk Factors." Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proving to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Nokia does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.
Media Enquiries:
Nokia
Communications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: NOKIA via Thomson Reuters ONE
T-Mobile defends Verizon spectrum swap as way to enhance LTE network - FierceWireless
T-Mobile USA is urging the FCC to approve Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) $3.9 billion deal to acquire AWS spectrum from SpectrumCo (a joint venture of cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks) and Cox Communications, since the deal will set in motion an AWS spectrum swap between Verizon and T-Mobile. T-Mobile argues that the deal will allow it to more robustly deploy LTE service than it otherwise would have been able to do.
In filings with the FCC, T-Mobile disclosed that its top executives met last week with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and other top officials. The executives discussed the spectrum swap and also rejected arguments from the Rural Telecommunications Group, which claimed the swap wouldn't result in the benefits T-Mobile believes it will.
The filings indicate that the lobbying over the deal is not done yet, even though it is likely to be approved later this summer. They also show how badly T-Mobile wants the AWS spectrum from Verizon--the deal covers spectrum 218 markets across the country and T-Mobile has said it will expand its offerings to 60 million more people.
According to T-Mobile's filing, Jim Alling, the interim CEO of T-Mobile, along with Tom Sugrue, senior vice president of government affairs, and Kathleen O'Brien Ham, vice president of federal regulatory affairs, met on July 25 and July 25 with Genachowski and other top FCC officials. Alling noted in his meetings that the spectrum "will enable T-Mobile to deploy LTE services in a number of markets where such deployment would otherwise have been impossible, and to enhance its LTE service in a number of additional markets where T-Mobile would have otherwise been limited to a 5x5 MHz LTE deployment."
In a separate filing, T-Mobile pushed back hard against a filing from the RTG earlier this month. The carrier said the swap will allow T-Mobile to compete more vigorously and that the swap resolves the competitive concerns T-Mobile had earlier about Verizon's cable deals. In addition to reiterating Alling's point, the second filing noted that the swap will allow T-Mobile and Verizon "to create more contiguous blocks of spectrum and re-align spectrum in adjacent markets," which will improve network performance and benefit customers. The filing also said the swap will not leave Verizon with too much AWS spectrum concentration.
T-Mobile said that although the swap will result in a net transfer of AWS spectrum to Verizon Wireless in 17 CMAs in the western United States (10 MHz in 14 CMAs and 20 MHz in the other three), T-Mobile will retain sufficient AWS spectrum in all of those markets to be able to deploy LTE at 10x10 MHz.
The RTG, in its filing, lambasted the swap as a way for Verizon to essentially buy off one of its most vocal opponents of the deal. Approving the swap "does precious little to limit the spectrum aggregation and anticompetitive practices of Verizon. Nor does approval of those applications necessarily make T-Mobile a stronger market player," the RTG wrote in its filing, dated July 10. "What the announced deal does accomplish, however, is to distract consumers by drawing their attention away from the new axis formed by the Cable Companies and Verizon and the hyper-concentration of spectrum in the hands of Verizon. This sale-and-swap between Verizon and T-Mobile was designed to mimic a large, voluntary divestiture when it in fact does nothing more than buy the silence of a once vocal critic of Verizon's transaction with the Cable Companies. Verizon is giving up little of its spectrum depth and the deal with T-Mobile addresses zero of the anticompetitive concerns raised by dozens of parties, including RTG."
For more:
- see this T-Mobile filing
- see this separate T-Mobile filing
Related Articles:
WSJ: FCC likely to approve Verizon's $3.9B spectrum deal, with conditions
MetroPCS, RCA favor Verizon/T-Mobile AWS spectrum swap, but say it's not enough
Verizon's cable deals reportedly get FCC approval, but DoJ remains unconvinced
Report: FCC views Verizon/T-Mobile spectrum swap favorably
T-Mobile befriends its enemy, agrees to swap AWS spectrum with Verizon
T-Mobile to fill 50 call center jobs in Salem - The Business Journal
T-Mobile is adding 50 new jobs to its Salem call center.
T-Mobile USA on Monday said it is looking to fill 50 new full-time customer service positions at its Customer Care Center in Salem at a job fair scheduled this week.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based company, a division of Deutsche Telekom AG, said the the event Wednesday follows one in June in which the mobile phone company hired 32 applicants.
The hiring event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the T-Mobile Salem Call Center, 4080 27th Court S.E., Salem. For more information, visit T-Mobile's career site.
Erik Siemers covers footwear and apparel, technology, energy, manufacturing and ports.
Follow Your Favorites with My News
My News is a way to create a customized news feed based on companies and industries that matter to you.
Jury picked in blockbuster Apple-Samsung case - YAHOO!
A 10-member jury was chosen Monday to hear the Silicon Valley blockbuster trial with Apple and Samsung battling over patent infringement for hot-selling smartphones and tablet computers.
The jury includes one unemployed man, a homemaker and a mechanical engineer, but many with technical backgrounds were disqualified. There are three women and seven men, and four said they were foreign-born.
One of those stricken from the panel was an Apple employee. A Google employee -- a user interface designer -- was kept on until the final selection, despite Apple's lawyers objections. But they used one of their "strikes" in the end to kick him off.
Opening arguments were set for Tuesday in the case -- the biggest patent case in recent memory, with potentially billions of dollars at stake.
The case began with a pool of 70 people in the courtroom, who faced questions about whether they or their friends or family work for Apple, Samsung, Google, or Motorola.
Google is not directly involved in the case but its Android operating system is used on Samsung devices and will figure prominently in the case. Google recently acquired Motorola Mobility, another maker of mobile devices.
Before proceedings began, a line packed with dozens of people stretched far outside the federal courthouse in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
With the courtroom at capacity, some journalists were required to sit in an overflow room to watch pre-trial motions and jury selection by video.
US District Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over selection of a 10-member panel, told potential jurors: "If you are selected as a juror this will be an interesting case."
Asked what they knew about the case, several potential jurors admitted reading the recently published biography of Steve Jobs, the Apple chief who died last year. In the book, Jobs calls Google's Android software a "stolen product."
However, the jurors all said it would not affect their judgment in the case, and none were dismissed on that basis.
Apple is seeking more than $2.5 billion in a case accusing the South Korean firm of infringing on designs and other patents from the iPhone and iPad maker.
Samsung counters that Apple infringed on its patents for wireless communication, so the jury will sort out the competing claims.
This is one of several cases in courts around the world involving the two big electronics giants in the hottest part of the tech sector, tablet computers and smartphones.
While the results so far have been mixed in courts in Europe and Australia, Samsung is clearly on the defensive in the US case.
Koh, who will preside in the jury case, has issued two temporary injunctions against US sales of Samsung's 10-inch Galaxy tablet and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone developed with Google.
In one bit of positive news for Samsung, a US appeals court extended the stay on the Nexus phone, which allows sales to continue while the case proceeds but has no impact on the trial.
But Samsung was hurt by a ruling last week that failed to retain key evidence in the case by allowing emails to be destroyed after learning of the lawsuit.
That will mean Judge Koh can issue an "adverse inference" instruction to the jury.
R. Polk Wagner, a professor of patent law at the University of Pennsylvania, said the case is probably the biggest patent trial since the 1980s case involving photo giants Polaroid and Kodak, and is important because of its size and ability to set precedent.
"I see this as the first in what I expect to be many cases involving smartphone technology," he told AFP.
"It remains to be seen what the impact will be even if Apple wins. Typically the patents are relatively easy to design around. So if Samsung loses a couple of rounds they may still be able to make their phones."
Samsung could face big risks: If Apple wins, it would automatically get a permanent injunction on sales of Samsung devices. And if Samsung makes only minor changes, Apple could ask for the Korean firm to be held in contempt.
The case has huge financial implications for both firms and the burgeoning industry for mobile devices.
A survey by research firm IDC showed Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones globally in the April-June period, while Apple sold 26 million iPhones. IDC said Samsung held 32.6 percent of the market to 16.9 percent for Apple.
Samsung is the leading maker of smartphones using Google's Android operating system, which has become the most popular platform despite complaints from Apple that it has infringed on its patents.
Both sides are employing some of Silicon Valley's top legal talent to argue their case. Apple has hired Michael Jacobs, the Morrison Foerster lawyer who led Oracle's hard-fought, but ultimately unsuccessful, patent lawsuit against Google earlier this year.
Samsung's legal defense is being led by lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Hedges, who have won several patent victories for its partner Google in recent years.
Inside Scoop: Apple and Samsung's patent battle Video - CNET News
No comments:
Post a Comment