The Google SMS Search service allowed users to search Google’s vast database via text messaging. Users will send a text message to a specific Google number, and Google would respond with search results via SMS at no cost to the user. However, I’m sure there will be a cost associated with text messages with your wireless carrier.

The SMS Search service had a bunch of shortcuts for users looking for specific information such as sports scores, local businesses, stock quotes, and the weather among other things. If you happen to be one of the users around the world that has a feature phone that is unable to get online, the termination of Google’s SMS Search service may bring tears to your eyes.

Google has officially announced that SMS Search has been shut down. If you send a search query to the SMS Search number, the response will be a message that says, “SMS search has been shut down. You can continue to search the web at Google.com on any device.” The shut down reportedly came abruptly on Sunday evening.

Google made no official announcement about shutting it down and the first warning users had was the message I mentioned previously. Strangely, the Google Mobile website reportedly still lists SMS Search, but if you selected it goes to a webpage that no longer exists. Google does offer other SMS applications for calendar, Gmail, and Google voice, which are reportedly still working.

SOURCE: Ghacks

That is a significant milestone because consumers in many developing countries, where the market is growing the fastest, tend to purchase cheaper feature phones rather than more expensive smartphones. IDC reports that mobile phone vendors shipped a total of 418.6 million mobile phones globally during Q1. During Q1 of 2012, mobile phone vendors shipped 402.4 million devices.

Global shipments of 418.6 million devices for Q1 of 2013 is a decline compared to Q4 2012. In Q4 2012, global mobile phone shipments totaled 483.2 million units. However, a decline between Q4 and Q1 sales numbers is expected due to increased holiday shopping in the last quarter of the year. Looking at smartphones alone, IDC reports that there were 216.2 million smartphone units shipped in Q1.

That number is 51.6% of total phone shipments for the quarter marking the first time smartphone shipments exceeded feature phone shipments. Looking at individual vendors, Samsung maintained the top spot for the global smartphone shipments. Apple took second place, followed by LG in third. Fourth place went to Huawei and fifth place went to the ZTE.

[via IDC]

Carphone Warehouse has reduced the pricing of its Blackberry Z10 devices down from 36 euros per month to 29 euros per month with a 29 euro up-front cost. The total price-reduction is said to equal about 160 euros. Vodaphone has reduced the pricing of its Z10 to around 33 euros per month, which is about a 72 euro total price reduction throughout the entire contract.

James Faucette, an analyst at Pacific Crest stated, “We believe that meaningful price cuts so soon after launch, while probably at the initial discretion of the carriers, is likely to relegate the Z10 to being a mid-tier device with very low gross margins.” The price-reduction sends out a bad message saying that the new OS still isn’t enough to attract users from other popular platforms like Android or iOS.

Many critics have stated, however, that the Blackberry Z10 is a great device. It has an intuitive UI, beautiful design, and is great at multi-tasking and productivity. The app base is at a great start, with over 70,000 apps being available at launch. Blackberry has even reported that 1/3 of British Z10 owners did not previously own a Blackberry device. Blackberry has come a long way and is delivering the user experience consumers have been asking for. Here’s hoping for a successful U.S. launch.

[via The Telegraph]

The job posting states that the company is, “getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year and we’re chartered with keeping the momentum for Windows Phone by bringing new killer devices and delightful user experiences.” It has also been confirmed that if you currently own a Windows Phone 8 device, you will be eligible for this major update. Microsoft has realized the mistakes it made with its Windows 7 devices, and will increase the longevity of its devices from here on out.

We also know that Microsoft is speeding development up for Windows Blue, and it plans to release it sometime during the summer. From the job posting, it looks like development for Windows Blue may be nearing its finish already. We know that one of the features that Windows Blue will have is a revamped Excel app. It will also feature other significant improvements to user experience as well as bug fixes.

We also know that Microsoft will release a few minor updates entitled GDR2 and GDR3, and that HTC plans on releasing the first phone to take advantage of the GDR2 update. Looks like we have a lot to look forward to for the Windows Phone platform come Christmas time, and its good to know that users who opt for devices like the upcoming Nokia Lumia 928 will still be able to take advantage of this major update.

[via WM Poweruser]

Both Verizon Wireless and Microsoft are said to be doing extra marketing for the Nokia Lumia 928. Verizon Wireless will be marketing the Lumia 928 alongside its other flagship smartphones, including the iPhone 5 and the HTC DROID DNA. Other than commercials, Microsoft will most likely also implement the Nokia Lumia 928 in various product placements throughout popular TV shows. Currently the HTC 8X has been receiving massive product placement in various shows, and it looks like it may be replaced soon.

The Nokia Lumia 928 has been confirmed to have the same display resolution as the Nokia Lumia 920, both utilizing a 1280 x 768 resolution display. There is also speculation that the device will look different compared to the Lumia 920 on AT&T’s network. The Lumia 928 should, however, still feature the same polycarbonate exterior as the Lumia 920, and should be available in various colors.

While the photo does confirm that the device is headed straight to Verizon Wireless, and soon, it doesn’t confirm an actual release date. On a side note, Nokia is also speculated to be releasing a new smartphone sometime in the future that utilizes a 41MP Pureview camera sensor. The device is speculated to be released on both AT&T and Verizon Wireless’s networks.

[via Phone Arena]

The titanium case is hand polished bringing it to an incredible sheen. The company says that making the case involves nine separate stages. The polishing of the case is a six stage process on its own to begin with followed by three stage hand polishing phase at the end. Titanium is incredibly strong and the manufacturer promises that the case will withstand extreme loads and resist dents.

Each of the buttons on front of the mobile phone are hand polished. The screen is covered in solid tempered glass and uses a special tinting technology to make it appear a deep black color. The manufacturer says it takes 16 hours to create one Cruiser Titanium phone. The display on the phone is a TFT with the 240 x 320 pixel resolution measuring two-inches. The screen can only display 262,144 colors.

The phone runs the Symbian S40 operating system and operates on GSM frequency bands. The phone does have a microSD card slot for storage and only 30 MB of internal storage is available. The device has integrated GPRS and Bluetooth along with a two megapixel camera. This isn’t a phone you buy for functionality; it’s a phone you buy for style. The phone costs $2500 and is available to order right now.

[via Gresso]

That likely means RadioShack wanted more than Target is willing to pay. What we didn’t know this morning when we talked about the two companies parting ways in the mobile industry was that Target already had two other providers lined up to continue operating its Target Mobile service. Target has now announced that it has selected new service partners for Target Mobile including Brightstar and MarketSource.

Brightstar is the world’s largest specialized wireless distributor and is described as a diversified service provider for the wireless industry. MarketSource is a leading provider of integrated sales and marketing services for the wireless industry. Both of these companies will begin supporting Target Mobile in April of 2013.

Brightstar will be Target Mobile’s new supply chain and point of activation technology provider. MarketSource will be Target’s in store sales and services partner. Target says that its Target Mobile service will be going through transition period between now and April 8, 2013 to ensure little to no disruption in the guest experience during the transition.

However, Reuters reports that the attempted sale offers new evidence that Chinese companies are willing to help Iran get around trade embargoes and sanctions. Huawei was also recently criticized by the U.S. House intelligence committee after not being able to “provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions for US export laws.” The Iranian telecommunications provider that was offered the equipment is called MCI.

Thirteen pages of a proposal offered to the Iranian telecommunications company have surfaced that detail a plan to expand its subscriber billing system and carried a mark stating “Huawei confidential.” Huawei says that its “major local partner” Skycom Tech Co Ltd submitted the proposal to MCI.

Reuters reports that this isn’t the first time a Chinese company has tried to sell sanctioned technology the Iranian mobile providers. In October, reports surfaced that another Iranian partner of Huawei attempted to sell American antenna equipment to another Iranian telecommunications company called MTN Irancell. The only thing that stopped the deal from happening was that the Iranian telecommunications company rejected the bid.

[via Reuters]

The study was conducted by the Center for Disease Control and is called the National Health Interview Study. The study is conducted in person with interviews throughout the year asking participants all sorts of questions ranging from health insurance status to whether or not they have a home phone. Certainly some of the people interviewed in the study might not have a home phone or a mobile phone.

However, people too poor to afford phone service can get free service thanks to the Universal Service Fund that has been in place for years. The survey interviewed over 20,000 households and found that just over half use mobile phones for all or nearly all phone calls. The survey also reported that 35.9% of those interviewed were wireless only households.

Another 15.9% of the homes surveyed have a landline but rarely used it. Many people have a home phone solely for Internet connectivity via DSL. All totaled, 51.8% of homes are predominantly wireless. That’s an increase of less than 2% from the same period last year. Older people tend to keep landlines while younger people increasingly use mobile phones only.

[via NBCNews]

The screen is 2.4-inches, and the phone uses a processor that runs at 480 MHz. The phone has integrated web browser for surfing the web and a two-megapixel rear camera. The phone has a microSD card slot for storage and an integrated media player.

The mobile phone also has integrated Bluetooth that supports streaming audio and 3.5 mm headphone jack. The mobile phone also comes preloaded with Cricket Services, including MyHomeScreen, Cricket Navigator, Cricket 411, MyBackup, Cricket Storefront, and others. The phone also supports the Commercial Mobile Alert System to send emergency alerts to mobile devices.

The phone carries an MSRP of $89.99 and is available at company-owned stores. The phone supports one of the two Cricket monthly service plans, including the $35 monthly Cricket Basic rate plan with unlimited talk and text. It also qualifies for the Cricket Value rate plan at $45 monthly offering unlimited talk, text, and mobile web.

The study looked at the Verizon Wireless LTE network, which is one of the largest in the US, and networks in European countries. The study found that through June of this year there were 27 million LTE subscribers in the world with roughly half of that number in the US. South Korea is the second-largest market for LTE service with 7.5 million users, followed by Japan with 3.5 million users. LTE service is available in 21 different European countries with Germany boasting the most users in Europe.

According to the survey, although the US is the largest LTE market in the world, the size the market hasn’t reduced prices for US customers. The study found that Verizon wireless charges $7.50 for each gigabyte of data downloaded over its LTE network. That amount is three times what the average European customer pays at $2.50 per gigabyte.

The numbers look even worse for US LTE customers when we compare prices to Sweden, which launched the world’s first available LTE networks in December 2009. Customers in Sweden pay as little the $.63 per gigabyte of data. A Verizon Wireless spokesperson says that the LTE plan cited in the study also includes unlimited voice minutes, unlimited text, picture, and video messages as well as mobile hotspot feature on the phone. If you remove all those extra features Verizon Wireless still charges $5.50 per gigabyte.

[via NYT]

The Sierra Wireless Connection Kits use the AirPrime SL8080, and SL8090 embedded wireless modules. Those modules address both consumer and industrial applications. The SL8090 is also claimed to be one of the smallest high-speed HSPA+ modules in the industry and features voice, antenna diversity, and GPS support.

Telit Wireless Solutions’ kit uses the Telit HE910 modules supporting EDGE, HSDPA, and HSPA+ connectivity, GPS, and more. The ZTE Connectivity Kits include the MF206A and the MF212 appropriate for low power consumption and integration in consumer or industrial applications. The kits support EDGE and HSDPA connectivity, GPS, and antenna diversity.

All the new AT&T Connection Kits include AT&T SIM cards, data capacity for testing, and access to the AT&T Control Center. These new Connection Kits build on AT&T’s program for emerging device developers that has been available for a while. The kits start at right under $1000.

The system uses RFID technology that can detect when the car is in motion and if the driver is trying to use a mobile phone. When the system determines the driver is trying to use a mobile phone, a low range mobile jammer is activated to block only the driver’s phone from operating. According to the people who designed the system it would allow passengers to continue making calls and texting normally.

Another potential use for the system according to the designers could actively notify police when drivers are trying to use their phone while behind the wheel. That last bit will certainly get the privacy advocates in an uproar. I see problems with the system. It would block drivers being able to make phone calls in an emergency such as to alert police of a medical emergency or a dangerous driver without having to stop the car.

[via Smithsonian Mag]

Law enforcement agencies asked carriers for information on subscribers such as text messages, caller locations, and other details over the course of various investigations. The companies turn over thousands of records daily in response to police investigations, subpoenas, court orders, and other police emergencies. The information was provided by nine different cell phone carriers, including major companies such as AT&T.

According to the New York Times, carriers frequently reject demands from law enforcement agencies that they consider legally questionable or unjustified. According to reports, one carrier referred some inappropriate requests to the FBI. This request for information in the Congressional inquiry marks the first time data has been collected nationally on the frequency of cellular surveillance by law-enforcement. “I never expected it to be this massive,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. Markey requested the reports from nine carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon.

[via New York Times]

Unsurprisingly there’s some frustration among the developers at how Nokia handled the project overall. “If things had ended during or immediately after Ulm3 I think most people would have been really disappointed, but would have understood” one developer said, referring to Nokia’s decision back in mid-February to close the Ulm, Germany facility where the Meltemi project is believed to have been at least partially based. “3 months later though with everything coming together it seemed like it seemed like we had made it over the big hurdles.”

There are also indications of what could have been an unofficial slogan for the platform, “Melted Me”, a play on the OS’ name. “I thought we counted. What a naive thought” another project member posted. “Trust – melted. Joy – melted. Passion to deliver for this company – melted. No idea how to bring those back again. And again, and again. If given a chance – which I doubt.”

The group was set up by Eckhart Köppen, currently principle engineer of software development at Nokia and previously Head of Qt Productization / Qt Release Engineering. His LinkedIn profile now lists him as “looking for new opportunities” while a post in the group itself suggests other members of the Meltemi team are also expecting to leave Nokia, potentially as part of the company’s latest round of 10,000 job losses.

[via Stefan Constantine]

Nuance has announced that its Dragon ID voice verification software for smartphones and mobile phones is now being sold to smartphone makers for integration into consumer devices. Apparently, the software has been sold to governments and corporations to secure mobile devices using a voiceprint and a spoken password for a long time. I have used Nuance’s voice control software on my PC for a long time, and general it works very well.

The software at times has issues with accents and some words it simply refuses to learn. I would assume that Dragon ID will have some similar issues with certain voice types. The way it would work is that you would set a spoken password on your smart phone, and the phone will recognize not only your spoken password but also your voice and unlock the phone accordingly. That means if I pick up your phone and speak your password, Dragon ID wouldn’t unlock it for me. The company promises if you have a cold and your voice sounds different, the app will still unlock your smartphone. This won’t be an app you can download and put on your existing phone. It has to be implemented at the manufacturing level.

[via Gigaom]

One of the best phones that you can get to the plan is the Samsung M575 available for $49.99. It has a slide out QWERTY keyboard for texting and 2.4-inch screen along with a two-megapixel camera that can also record video. The payLo program has no activation fee and no contract. Users can pay for service monthly with credit or debit cards online or purchase Virgin Mobile Top-Up cards.

The phones and plan will be available for purchase at over 40,000 retail stores, including Best Buy and RadioShack locations. Target will also carry the phones and Top-Up cards. The service operates on the Sprint network.

[via Yahoo]

Both feature the Nokia Browser with its new cloud-based data crunching technology, that pares back websites to suit mobile devices and thus delivers up to 90-percent less traffic. There’ll be Facebook and Twitter shortcuts direct on the homescreen, and the eBuddy IM app preloaded, together with access to more software from the Nokia Store.

Nokia 112 demo:

In terms of hardware, all of the 1 Series have a 1.8-inch display and VGA camera, along with a microSD card slot for up to 32GB of storage. Bluetooth is also onboard, together with a battery good for over ten hours of talktime or nearly a month of standby. An FM radio wraps things up.

As for the dual-SIM 110 and 112, users will be able to quickly swap between cards to take advantage of the best rates on offer. The phones will remember settings and other information for up to five different SIMs.

Nokia 110 demo:

Nokia will also offer 40 free titles from EA Games, including Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed: The Run, Monopoly Here & Now, and SimCity Deluxe.

The Nokia 110 and 111 will begin shipping in Q2 2012, while the 112 and 113 will arrive in Q3; the Nokia 113 will be only available in Europe and Eurasia.

The new decision today rules that the original High Court decision on June 16 2011 – that patent #100a (EP 1 841 268) was not valid as granted but, with some amendments, was valid; furthermore, that older Nokia software versions might infringe it, but later versions used in current products do not – stands. It’s not quite the full “completely invalid and not infringed” judgement Nokia was chasing, but given the EPO’s subsequent decision to invalidate the entire patent family of which #100a (EP 1 841 268) is a part, it’s a middling detail.

IPCom’s argument was that Nokia’s N96 used technology that the patent covered; namely, ”an algorithm that allows mobile telephony networks to assign priorities to users on the basis of a pre-defined hierarchy” the company suggested, “providing for the smooth functioning of the system in important cases like emergencies.”

Nokia’s response was that it had already implemented a workaround solution in its handsets, though IPCom insisted that the technology is UMTS/3G standards-essential. If that had been the case, Nokia would have been on the hook for licensing fees, and indeed a penalty based on failure to cough up was what IPCom was chasing.

IPCom is yet to comment on this morning’s ruling. Nokia gave SlashGear the following statement:

“Nokia is pleased that the UK Appeal Court’s ruling will not affect our ongoing sales in the UK and does not affect the European Patent Office‘s earlier decision to revoke the entire patent family.

The decision of the EPO also revokes IPCom’s UK patent, and the UK Appeal Court’s decision does not overturn the earlier UK High Court ruling that Nokia’s current products do not infringe the patent. UK operators have also confirmed that the feature described in the patent has never been implemented in their UMTS/3G networks.

Since the UK High Court’s judgment in June 2011, further IPCom patents have been found invalid, meaning now that of 63 IPCom patents which have so far come to judgment, none has been found valid as granted. Nokia believes that IPCom needs to recognize its position and end its unrealistic demands for what remains of this significantly diminished portfolio. In the meantime, we will continue to challenge other IPCom patents.”

Fear not, though, because this isn’t the latest phone from Nokia, but art for art’s sake. “It presents a futile and fragile technology with which to augment ourselves” Cera writes. “A cell phone which, in order to use, one must sacrifice their hand.”

That sacrifice is mainly because trying to pick up anything bar the squashiest of squishy fruit will probably end up dialing someone. “What are we willing to sacrifice in order to participate in technology and social media?” Cera asks, though Glove One takes things even further by demanding an entire hand in return for nothing but calls: no Twitter, no messaging, no clandestine checking of Facebook walls.

If you’re willing to make that sacrifice, Cera says plans for constructing your own Glove One are in the pipeline. We might stick with a Bluetooth headset and one of those big foam hands you get at ball games, though.

[via DesignTAXI]

The team says that its research breakthrough is thanks to two advances. Advances include devising a way to tap into an unused range of the electromagnetic spectrum and new microchip technology. The electromagnetic spectrum researchers used as the terahertz band that falls between infrared and microwave.

That terahertz band has traditionally been inaccessible to normal consumer devices. The sensors the team devised can take images with signals created using the terahertz range without having to use lenses inside the device. That development allows the devices to be smaller. The chip used was developed using CMOS technology, which is common today. The researchers also note that this terahertz range can be used for medical imaging to detect tumors and more. There is no indication of when the technology might be ready for consumer devices.

“We’ve created approaches that open a previously untapped portion of the electromagnetic spectrum for consumer use and life-saving medical applications,” said Dr. Kenneth O, professor of electrical engineering at UT Dallas and director of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence(TxACE). “The terahertz range is full of unlimited potential that could benefit us all.”

[via UT Dallas]

“While volatility by quarters is not uncommon, Moody’s believes that the structural challenges facing Nokia’s Mobile Phones segment may not be easy to address, such as the market share gains recorded by makers of very low-end phones or new phone promotions by Chinese carriers. This precipitous decline is of particular concern considering that Nokia’s Mobile Phones segment was still the core income generator for the Nokia group in 2011, when it contributed EUR1.5 billion to the group’s operating profit of EUR1.8 billion” Moody’s Investor Services

Moody’s also laid out exactly what would have to happen for the company to decide Nokia was back on the up – and, indeed, what could see the firm sink even further into the morass. Windows Phone will need to become more competitive against Android, group revenues climb, and all without the net cash position being impacted, if it is to see its investment rating improve. It’ll take “gaining substantial market share” pushing Nokia’s Smart Devices division into profit, among other things, before Moody’s even considers changing its stance on the Finn’s outlook.

Meanwhile, the future could get a whole lot darker if Lumia sales become sluggish, operating margin for Nokia’s Devices & Services slips further into the negative as 2012 progresses, and if Nokia keeps chewing through cash.

“Nokia is quickly taking action. Nokia will continue to increase its focus on lowering the company’s cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position,” Timo Ihamuotila, the company’s Executive Vice President and CFO, said in response to Moody’s assessment.

Two million Lumia handsets were sold in the first three months of 2012, but faster than anticipated reductions in Symbian device sales among developing markets left the company with less of a safety net than it had expected. Nokia will announce its full quarterly financial results on April 19 2012.

The report comes from analysts at Jefferies & Co and according to those analysts, Q1 2012 was the weakest quarter for cell phone sales in many years. Some of the blame is being pointed at the new iPhone. It’s not particularly surprising if you consider with no new iPhone, there was no huge influx of mobile phone users upgrading or adding lines.

Analyst Thomas Seitz wrote in a research note that Q1 sales were “… in line with our view that net adds are significantly lower in the quarter after an iPhone launch.” In other words, so many people bought the new iPhone when it launched that those who wanted a new cell phone or smart phone bought one. Both AT&T and Verizon saw what the analysts call modest growth in traditional customers but both T-Mobile, and the other major carrier saw declines.

[via AllThingsD]

Nokia’s mobile phone division – which makes basic dumbphones – has always been the volume side of the company’s business, versus the “smart devices” team pushing out smartphones. In Q1 2012, Nokia apparently sold 71m mobile phones and 12m smart devices; of that 12m, around 2m were Lumia Windows Phones, the remainder running Symbian of one version or another.

The company blamed “competitive industry dynamics … particularly in India, the Middle East and Africa and China” for the slump in sales, though that shouldn’t have come as too great a surprise. Nokia warned that the so-called developing markets it had counted on for steady turnover was declining faster than expected back in January.

“Changing market conditions are putting increased pressure on Symbian” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said at the time, highlighting that in “certain markets, there has been an acceleration of the anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian’s traditional strengths.”

The painful lesson is that while the “Next Billion” may be one of Nokia’s primary targets, owning a Nokia device no longer appears to be an aspiration for that audience. That’s a big rug pulled out from under the company’s collective feet: smartphone gross margins continue to tumble, down from 19.9-percent in the previous quarter to 16-percent in this one. In fact, what appears to be aggressive discounting so as to drive Windows Phone sales has pushed the average selling price of each handset to just €220 ($289) apiece, considerably lower than the €270 list price of the Lumia 710 (that, for the period in question, was the cheapest Windows Phone Nokia offered).

Sometimes playing underdog works in Nokia’s favor. The company’s response to the AT&T Lumia 900 data bug – crediting customers $100 as well as in effect dropping the price of the handset to free until April 21 – was admirably swift. However it also gives Nokia an excuse for slashing its prices to drive adoption: further short-term price cuts to the Lumia 900 seemed inevitable, especially as AT&T reacted to third-party retailers further discounting the phone. Now, rather than facing criticism that it has been forced to make the phone cheaper because of mediocre sales, Nokia could instead portray keeping the Lumia 900 at free-on-contract as a generous continuation of its prompt apology.

Good vibes don’t keep stockholders satisfied, however, and Nokia’s share price is down around 15-percent after its bad news this morning. The short-term outlook seems equally grim; Nokia’s position in the phone ranking charts is only likely to slump before there’s any sign of a turnaround. Nokia hasn’t failed with its Lumia line-up, but it needs to accelerate into 2012 if it’s to balance out the dwindling appeal of its cheaper devices.

Initially, each of the major carriers will set up systems for their own network; that process, expected to take around six months, will see any handsets reported as stolen being blocked from use with another account. The FCC then apparently intends to assist the carriers on merging the databases into a national program that will stop cross-network porting too.

“It’s just too easy for a thief to steal a phone and sell it on the black market,” FCC chairman Julius Genachowski said of the scheme. “This program will make it a lot harder to do that. And the police departments we are working with tell us that it will significantly deter this kind of theft.”

Meanwhile, Congress members are being involved to draft potential legislation that would make it a crime to manipulate the ID of a phone or phone-enabled device so as to bypass the blocking system.

However, it’s questionable as to how effective the system may end up being on the larger scale. In Europe, IMEI blocking is used to lock down phones reported as stolen, but as the same blocking systems aren’t used globally – only in certain European countries and Australia – there is still a market for exporting stolen handsets to countries where the IMEI won’t be checked. That includes huge markets like China and Russia.

Nonetheless, the groups involved believe that the US system will act as a deterrent, though CDMA carriers like Verizon already lock down stolen phones via the Electronic Serial Number (ESN). AT&T and T-Mobile are likely to look to the GSMA’s IMEI database, which allows GSM phones to be registered as blocked across all participating carriers.

Nokia had announced its unforeseen struggles with developing markets back in January, admitting that Symbian shrinkage was taking place at a faster than predicted rate. New smartphone buyers, it seemed, preferred budget Android phones than the menu of S40 and Nokia Belle handsets the Finns had to offer, and Nokia warned that the Symbian long-tail could be significantly curtailed.

The new Asha series may not set North American or European tongues wagging, but they’re still vital to Nokia’s line-up in financial terms. The company is targeting “the next billion” after all, and a billion sub-€100 Asha handsets still adds up.

That’s not to say Western carriers aren’t keen to get their hands on them. UK operators still have a soft spot for Nokia’s entry-level featurephones and dumbphones; one exec speaking to SlashGear recently pointed to the perennial success of affordable prepaid handsets like the Nokia C3, popular both among those looking for a straightforward talk-and-text device, and because of the relatively broad range of color options it’s available with.

Lowering the entry-point of existing smartphone platforms has also been a trend, with ZTE and Huawei delivering low-cost Android and Windows Phone devices. Both companies have ambitious plans for scale in 2012 and beyond, and while they’re not adverse to headline grabbing devices, it’s economy of scale that they’re relying on to earn them a place in the top five manufacturers rankings. Nokia too had a sub-€200 Windows Phone in the shape of the Lumia 610, notable for being the first fruits of Microsoft’s loosened grip on minimum specifications for its OS. Our hands-on play with the 610 also demonstrated that it’s equally noticeable for the quality of its user-experience, even with those truncated specs.

What’s distinctive across all the manufacturers is the advances in so-called smartphone technology, into devices more typically expected to be featurephones or less. The increasing prevalence of persistent data connections makes cloud services like the Nokia Life suite of social networking apps and tools for S30 and S40 devices more feasible, reducing the dependence on potent local hardware by offsetting the effort to remote servers. Meanwhile, we’re seeing advanced features such as enterprise-level messaging trickle down to what previously might have solely been simple call and SMS platforms.

There’s arguable a place for such devices on Western store shelves just as much as in developing markets. Operators are hunting for ways to increase average revenue per user, and driving up data revenues is one such way of doing it. Smart-device users are known for consuming more data, if only for uploading images to social networks like Facebook, and if semi-simplistic (and affordable) handsets encourage those wary of actual smartphones to do just that, it’s a winning situation for carriers.

The mobile news industry moves at breakneck pace: every day a new product – or the rumor of one – to push the boundaries in technology and capabilities. In contrast, the phone retail market moves at a glacial pace, contract users locked, for the most part, into 24-month agreements. With that in mind, it’s perhaps little surprise that Nokia, ZTE, Huawei and others have looked to translating their experience of smart-device development to markets a few steps more naive than the US and Europe. Mobile World Congress had its share of superphones, but it’s the affordable and the boundary-pushing that are big news in 2012.

For all the news from Mobile World Congress 2012, check out our full show hub.

Nokia has also introduced Microsoft for Exchange email support for the Asha 302, as well as the ability to accept or decline meeting requests. The Asha 303 will also get the email app, as a free download from the Ovi store.

Each device also has Nokia Life preloaded, and can access a number of free EA games titles. These include Tetris, Bejeweled, Need For Speed, SIMS Medieval, Monopoly and Sim City Deluxe.

The Asha 202 and 203 are expected to be priced at around €60, and go on sale sometime in the next six weeks. The Asha 302 is priced at around €95 pre-subsidy, and is shipping now.

The second version is the Pure Black Carbon that has Italian carbon leather on the back. The case of both phones are made from titanium, with the case being covered in layers of ceramic finish for durability. The ceramic coating gives the surface a matte appearance and soft touch feel. The screen is covered by 42-carat sapphire glass and polished crystal.

The keyboard on the phone is made from surgical steel for durability and lasting style. Gresso will offer these phones in a limited edition of 100 units starting this month. The phones will sell for $2700 each and run Symbian S40 for the operating system. For that price, Gresso should really move Android to provide more functionality.

As for regular production, device assembly will be moved to Nokia’s facilities in Asia. As the company points out “the majority of component suppliers” are based there, and a review of smartphone manufacturing efficiency the Finnish company completed last year suggested Nokia needed to streamline its production if it wanted to stay competitive with rivals.

Nokia announced its first batch of factory shut-downs back in September 2011, axing around 3,500 jobs from a Romanian facility. At the same time, the company also announced plans to shutter its Location & Commerce sites in Bonn, Germany and Malvern, US. CEO Stephen Elop described the move as “painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward”, later reiterating that more work would have to be done if the company wants to turn around its near-€1bn losses.

“With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers” Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president of markets said. ”They give us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customer needs.”

However, it’s unclear exactly what sort of customization Nokia has in mind. The company recently revealed a Batman: The Dark Knight Rises limited edition of the Lumia 800, with custom-etched graphics, and of course has a history of interchangeable covers with the Xpress-On casings of the 90s.

Update: Looks like our Xpress-On dreams will go undelivered, at least for the moment. Nokia tells us that the three locations facing job losses will focus on “the software-heavy aspects of the production chain” such as customizing software and making sure different carrier builds work properly. They’ll also be making sure that bespoke accessories, including headphones and car kits, operate correctly.

Nokia says the spread of locations – Hungary, Mexico and Finland – will work to their advantage on this, because it will mean the company can deliver custom variants to customers quickly. That could be anything from a small batch of Lumias specially created for VIPs, presumably similar to the Batman-themed models with their specially loaded wallpaper and other elements, through to larger orders of promotional devices.

The pilots are for “mobile and cross-platform rich-media ads” and, although details are in short supply, appear to be far more complex than mere banners and links. Razorfish mobile ad chief Paul Gelb likened the functionality Facebook is working on to rich media alternatives including combinations of interactivity and animation, streaming video and location-based features, in addition to tap-to-call and tap-to-coupon.

Whether Facebook’s platform will support all of those is unknown, though the social network already has a rich LBS provision including Check-Ins and support for local deals. That could open the door to mobile coupons where businesses compete to offer deals based on user interests, served up through the handset.

Although Facebook saw around 425m active users through its mobile interface in December 2011, the site does not “generate any meaningful revenue from users accessing Facebook through our mobile products” according to the IPO. There’s also talk of premium accounts in the pipeline as another way for Facebook to boost its profits.

Update: Razorfish’s Paul Gelb now says he was misquoted, and that the company “is NOT working with Facebook on any mobile media ad buying. Rather, in the interview I was referring to rich media featured stories, not paid ads.”

A Facebook spokesperson told us that “We want to clarify that we are not working with any agency to create paid ads on our mobile platform.”

[via mocoNews]

Another reason cited for the job cuts and the poor performance of the company is that foreign companies are pressing in on NEC’s traditional turf in the IT infrastructure realm inside Japan. Along with the significant job cuts, NEC is also warning that it is set to post a massive net loss of 100 billion yen or about $1.3 billion. That loss would be posted for the year ending March 31. That massive loss certainly caught analysts by surprise with expectations being a profit of 15 billion yen.

Along with reports of job cuts and the giant loss, NEC is also slashing what it expected to ship in the mobile phone side of its business down to 5 million phones. That is a reduction of about 25% in mobile phone shipments reports Reuters. The job cuts will be finished by the end of September with about 7,000 of the jobs slashed to be in Japan and the remainder to be cut abroad. NEC’s Nobuhiro Endo says that the cost of layoffs will result in a charge of ¥40 billion for the current financial year, but in the next financial year, the restructuring will result in an additional ¥40 billion in income for the company.

[via Reuters]

The goal is to allow shoppers with PayPal accounts to pay for their purchases in Office Depot locations via the PayPal wallet in the cloud system. Using the system the shopper can walk to the counter with their items and then pay by typing in their mobile phone number and a pin. Customers will also be able to swipe their PayPal card and enter a pin as well.

The first major retail installs of the system were at 50 Home Depot locations, and PayPal has plans to expand the system to 20 other major retailers this year. The roll out with Office Depot should continue to other stores once it is found that the system helps with the customer experience. Would you pay using this method?

[via BGR]

Nokia had dominated the mobile phone market for over a decade, but the company has been struggling when it comes to smartphones with the surge of Android and iOS. Nokia’s smartphone sales lost to Apple in the second quarter of 2011 and now the company’s betting on its partnership with Microsoft to launch new Windows Phone devices.

According to Reuters, Nokia expected to sell 418 million mobile phones in 2011 while Samsung expected 320 million. This year that gap has closed to 388 million for Nokia and 359 million for Samsung. Although analysts believe that Samsung could build on its momentum to surpass Nokia this year, many analysts still expect Nokia to keep ahead.

Garnter analyst Carolina Milanesi explains that Nokia is still strong in emerging markets and that’s where analysts are expecting to see the most growth in 2012. Hence, it would be difficult for Samsung to beat Nokia without focusing more on this market. Samsung’s confidence suggests that it believes Nokia will fail miserably in the mature markets.

[via Reuters]

Smarterphone’s platform was updated to v3.2 back in October, with features including multi-SIM support, Facebook chat, comments and video upload, a streamlined Twitter experience and the ability to upload footage to YouTube. In fact in many ways the OS exceeds some of what we’ve seen on the recent S40 phones from Nokia, like the Asha 303, 300 and 200.

Whether or not Nokia really is planning to sell its smartphone division off to Microsoft, there’s no doubting the importance the company is placing on developing nations and their increasing hunger for mobile devices. Back at Nokia World, CEO Stephen Elop described how Asha was intended to sate the hunger for smartphone-style functionality at a budget the audience there could actually afford.

The Asha 201 kicks off at €60 ($76) pre-subsidies and taxes; Smarterphone’s OS is targeted at $25-$75 devices, even cheaper again. Yet having seen some of these demos, there’s a lot the company could use to improve S40- and even Symbian – for the better.

Facebook Contacts Sync:

Facebook App:

Internet and Multimedia:

[via My Nokia Blog]

Smarterphone’s OS is targeted at cheap, simple devices, particularly those where carriers are keen to customize them. The company apparently provides not only the UI and apps, but the hardware abstraction layers, for improved performance on humble components, supporting multitasking, social networking integration, internet access and more.

Nokia currently uses Windows Phone on its smartphones, then a combination of S40 and Symbian on its more affordable devices. There has also been talk of a “Meltemi” platform in the labs, a new open-source OS following MeeGo and Maemo.

However, speculation has arisen over the past days of a purchase of the Nokia smartphone division by Microsoft, though Nokia itself adamantly denies that. The company spent a significant portion of its time at Nokia World 2011 on the Asha series of affordable handsets for developing markets, highlighting how S40 could make frugal use of simple processors to deliver smartphone-style experiences.

Update: Nokia has given us the following (terse) comment on the deal:

“Nokia acquired Smarterphone AS as part of our Next Billion strategy.”

[via CNET]

Chile is also moving to make numbers portable as well. The new rule in Chile is even retroactive in a way. It states that any locked mobile phone purchases prior to the January 16 date is to be unlocked by the carrier free of charge.

The unlocking seems easy to do. The mobile providers will have to put up a webpage under the ruling that allows the user to enter the IEMI, device model, and a few other tidbits. The phones will then be unlocked from the carrier. I would like to see more countries take this approach. When you buy a phone, it should be able to work on any compatible carrier.

[via Android Community]

According to the analyst there were 8.5 million text messages sent on Christmas Eve 2011, which is down to the tune of millions compared to the number of texts sent out on Christmas Eve 2010 when 10.9 million texts were sent. Another Finnish carrier called DNA also notes a significant decline as well with a loss of about 300,000 texts on Christmas Eve.

Texts also went down on Christmas Day in Hong Kong with a decline of nearly 14% from the previous year on the same day. Australia saw a decline in texting of about 9% according to one blogger. The reason for the decline in texting is thought to be alternatives like Facebook and twitter. The US is still seeing the number of text users grow for now, but the same decline is expected to hit the US carriers like Verizon and AT&T in the next two years.

[via NYT]

Reuters reports that GSM standards are used on 80% of the mobile phones on the market today meaning billions of mobile phone users could be open to the attack. This sort of attack has been carried out before and was targeted to specific devices. The difference here is the number of devices open to the attack.

Karsten Nohl, the head of Germany’s Security Research labs said that the new flaw would allow a nefarious sort to attack hundreds of thousands of phones in a short time frame. The attack would allow hoards of calls to be placed to premium numbers racking up potentially huge money for the hacker. Thankfully, Nohl won’t be offering details on the hack at the conference.

[via Reuters]

I mentioned Republic Wireless last month when we first got word of the new service that was coming. Republic is a no contract wireless carrier who promised unlimited wireless calls, texting, and data for $19 monthly. Once the fine print was combed over, it was found that the firm needed an asterisk near that unlimited claim since it had a confusingly complex fair-use policy in place.

There was an outcry from folks over the policy, and the carrier was thought to be simply deceptive in how it presented its unlimited plan. It seems enough people cried foul that the company is turning around and “going all in” with true unlimited. That is a nice change for sure. The official blog post announcing the elimination of that fair-use policy is below.

“Rather than revising our fair use policy, we’ve decided not to have one at all. There will simply be no thresholds, and no risk of losing service. We’re doing away with all of that to keep all of the focus instead on where it really belongs: Creating a new wireless future together. A future that is simple to understand, unfettered to use, and an amazing value for all. That’s what we started down this path to do. That’s where the power of this vibrant community, dynamic WiFi ecosystem and revolutionary technology should be invested.”

[via Engadget]

The sapphire parts are resistant to scratches and the sapphire in the device weighs in at over 135-carats. The smartphone is 12mm thick, making it one of the thinner devices in its class according to Gresso. The keys on the device are made from gold using precision cutting tech.

The Grand Premiere is a limited edition device with only 30 of each made and the number is engraved on the rear of the phone. The phone is set to launch this month at a price estimated at $50,000 per unit. The device measures in at 121 x 46 x 12mm and weighs 190 grams. The looks is all that matters on this phone with little mention of the features outside of the fact that Symbian S40 is the OS.