Mesmerizing Touch Wood SH-08C ad showcases Japan's beauty, mankind's ingenuity (video)

Sharp isn't apt to sell but 15,000 of its Touch Wood SH-08C handsets, but after watching the ad below, you can bet there will be demand for more. It's a bit baffling to think of the trouble Drill, Inc. went through in order to assemble the pieces necessary for a wooden ball to trickle down a homegrown marimba, particularly in the midst of Kyushu, Japan's woodlands. Kenjiro Matsuo was responsible for the creation of the instrument, while Morihiro Harano is being handed credit for the idea itself; in fact, he confirmed to The New York Times that no artificial music was added whatsoever, with only the background levels being adjusted up for effect. You may have never listened to a piece of classic music in your life, but you're sorely missing out if you ignore Bach's Cantata 147, "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Or, at least the version in that video below.

Three announces new Premium Dongle Huawei E367

Three Mobile Huawei E367, Three Mobile Dongle, Three Mobile E367, Huawei E367, faster browsing

Three’s newly designed premium dongle, the Huawei E367, is available in store and on Three.co.uk from next week. The new dongle provides improved performance and offers up to 40% faster browsing. Three’s mobile network is already voted number one by You Gov (*) and this new dongle will enable customers to get an even better experience. The E367 is the first dongle from Three to feature latest technologies such as HSPA+, and it will offer ever faster performance as Three continues its network improvement programme and rolls out this new technology

The new dongle design also features a rotating head to ensure best performance and access to Three’s award winning 3G network. The USB connector tucks into the dongle and swivels out when you need to use it. Not only will the USB cap never go missing again, but just like a mini aerial, the dongle can bend to stand vertically, which will help customers access the high speed signal even more efficiently.

David Kerrigan, Three’s head of mobile broadband, said “Huawei has done a great job delivering this superior dongle, in both form and function. Whether browsing the internet, downloading files or streaming video, this dongle delivers an even better internet experience on our 3G network, which is built for mobile internet.”

Key features:

Up to 40% faster browsing

HSPA+ capable

Swivelling design

Three’s Huawei E367 Dongle is available on PAYG 1GB Ready To Go for 69.99, or on a rolling one month contract for 49.99 upfront and 15.99 per month for 5GB, or with no upfront charge and15GB for 18.03 per month on a 24 month contract. Existing customers can also upgrade their current dongles for 59.99. It goes on sale in Three Stores and online at three.co.uk from Thursday April 7th.

Opera Mini app brings enhanced web browsing experience to Verizon Wireless feature phones

Opera Mini app

Verizon Wireless announced today that Opera Mini, the ground-breaking mobile browser by Opera Software, is available on select feature phones, including LG enV2, LG enV3, LG enV TOUCH, Samsung Alias 2, Casio G’zOne Ravine and Casio G’zOne Rock, with additional devices to be added soon. Opera Mini offers an enhanced user experience for Web browsing – bringing PC-like web browsing to select Verizon Wireless feature phones. Using the Opera Mini app, and its unique compression technology, web pages are delivered to the phones more quickly.

“Getting Opera Mini on the Verizon Wireless network is a big milestone, as we are able to reach Verizon Wireless’ vast customer base,” said Lars Boilesen, Chief Executive Officer, Opera Software. “We are happy that Verizon Wireless customers will now have access to a superior browser and, in the future, we will be launching more devices with Opera Mini preinstalled.”

Verizon Wireless offers content filters that let parents manage a safe browsing experience for their children. For more information on content filters, visit www.verizonwireless.com/usagecontrols.

Opera Mini, currently available on six devices, will come preloaded later this year as the primary browser on select devices. Customers with feature phones can find the app in the Media Center/Get It Now or can download it from Verizon Wireless online media store. Customers with Android devices can also download the app from Android Market. There is no subscription fee to access the Opera Mini browser, but data and usage charges may apply during download and use of the application.

Apple iPad Full Photoshop iOS App Coming: Demo Video

iOS users are no doubt aware that the Photoshop Express app for iOS devices has been available for a while from the App Store, but really isn’t a fully features experience of Adobe Photoshop, but the word is that will soon change.

According to an article over on Phone Arena, by way of Electric Pig and Photography Bay, a fully functional Photoshop iOS app is coming for the Apple iPad, and we have a demonstration video of said app for your consideration below courtesy of YouTube user Zaone.

The video demo shows the interface of the “real” touch screen Photoshop app and shows off some astonishing effects with animated layers and shows what layers look like for people that don’t quite understand the process of layers.

The video footage was captured during the keynote of Photoshop World 2011, and apparently the Photoshop app for iOS devices is still in development so no word on just when the app will be available or at what cost…enjoy the footage.

Verizon Android Smartphone Release Dates Roadmap Outed

So how about finding out just what Verizon Wireless has in store for the Android faithful? Would you like to know when Verizon will release certain Android smartphones to the public? Well if the info we have here holds true you’re going to find out.

According to an article over on Phone Dog the guys over at Phonedroid have been tipped off about Verizon’s spring release roadmap giving all the juicy low down of when the Big Red expects to release several Android devices to the public.

So here’s what’s on offer according to the outed roadmap…the Samsung Droid Charge will release on the 7th April along with the Casio Commando, on the 14th April Verizon will release the first PlayStation phone, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, followed by the Windows Phone 7 handset the HTC Trophy on the 15th.

On the 28th of April we should see the HTC Droid Incredible 2, while jumping into May on the 5th is the LG Revolution. Other devices scheduled for release in May include the Motorola Droid Bionic, Motorola Droid X2 and Samsung Galaxy S 2 although no exact dates for those have been revealed.

Looks like a sweet couple of months ahead for Android on Verizon Wireless, as long as of course the devices don’t see any delays, and of course all are subject to change…are you excited?

The Droid X Gingerbread Update Brings A Little But Welcomed Fix To The Dock Clock Mode

Huzzah! I loaded the leaked Gingerbread release on my Droid X last night and have fantastic news to report. The stupid colon doesn’t blink when the phone is docked now. Gingerbread as a whole is a tasty update, but this single change makes me a happy little boy. Before the colon would blink as quick as a strobe light. It was major distraction as the dock rests right between my two monitors and the damn colon would always grab my attention inadvertently.

I wasn’t alone in my annoyance, either. It was a common complaint and there are tons of forum posts of users seeking to modify the dock clock mode. By the way, the Droid X dock is only $23 on Amazon and is totally worth it especially thanks to this update.

MOBIWIRE LAUNCHES ANDROID UI FOR CUSTOMIZED SMARTPHONES

MobiWire Surface UX, Android, Surface UX, open Android platform

MobiWire today launched Surface UXTM, a surface user interface for Android smartphones that simplifies usage and encourages exploration and conversion.   Surface UX builds on the full potential of the open Android platform to create a rich and intuitive user experience that combines personalization with a deeply branded and connected experience.   MobiWireintegrates user interface software connected to cloud-based content with its award winning device design to take global brands mobile.

Surface UX enhances the standard Android user interface (UI) to create a consumer-

ready and engaging user experience by aggregating content and presenting it in a

contextualized and easily navigable and surfaced UI.  MobiWire has made both

general usability improvements to the basic Android UI and developed a series of

patented Surface Apps which act as ‘super widgets’, aggregating relevant content

into a series of UI panes that can be defined and branded by the service provider.

By providing a direct connection into a back-end infrastructure, MobiWire’s Surface

UX helps drive users’ discovery, consumption and engagement with a brand’s

digital assets, leading to service and mCommerce conversion.

“We are already in a post-app world where silos of data are being superseded by an

aggregated, real-time, multi-tasking user experience,” said Jerome Nadel, EVP User

Experience at MobiWire.  “As we look beyond apps, the user interface is a dynamic

environment where multiple feeds of data, content and services come together to

create a definable experience.  By bringing the principles of relevance, context and

intuition to the UI design process, Surface UX delivers a connected user experience

that is unmatched in the way it takes full advantage of the power and flexibility of

the Android platform, creating a UI that encourages usage and exploration, and

simplifies conversion to buy services and products.”

Patented improvements to the generic Android UI include:

?   Home screen main menu structure – Apps can be ‘tagged’ and presented in a

tiered menu structure so that pre-loaded and branded apps are separated

from a user’s downloaded apps and not lost in an alphabetized listing.  A

personalized speed bar enables the user to quickly go to their favorite apps.

?    A powerful ‘switcher’ for easy multi-tasking between open apps –

simplifying existing implementations of Android task switching, the Surface

UX switcher enables the user to easily navigate directly between panes and

open applications.  It also enables personalization to add, remove, and

reorder panes.

?   Menu button with personalized shortcuts that remain visible on any pane –

the menu button includes shortcuts to both key features such as phone and

contacts and user-defined shortcuts to their most used apps.

The Surface Apps enable the brand partner to push services in real-time and

provide a one-tap access to their stores and digital services.  The Stream surface

app provides a unified inbox, expandable preview window and contextualized

actions for email, SMS, social networking and RSS feeds.  The Post surface app

creates a central place for the user to share and update all their social networks.

Finally, the Music and Web surface apps provide a direct connection into the brand’s

digital assets such as a mCommerce site or online music store.

“An optimized Android UI simplifies the out-of-the box experience, encourages

usage and device mastery” said Sylvain Gommier, director of User Experience at

MobiWire.  “The general improvements to the Android UI, together with the

patented Surface Apps, means the content that matters most can be aggregated,

surfaced and presented in a way that is consistent, easy to navigate and

contextualized.”

Surface UX runs on Android 2.3 multi-touch smartphones.  Available to brand,

retail, and device partners today, the first devices with the Surface UX will be

available to consumers through brand partners in Q2 2011.  Surface UX will be

available on Android 3.0 tablets in H2, 2011.

iPhone 5 Release, LTE and Better Voice Integration

For all those eagerly awaiting the release of the Apple iPhone 5 and iOS 5, the latest rumours surfacing indicate that both may now be released in the fall, rather than in summer, as we have previously seen with Apple releases.

A report by TechCrunch, which comes to us by way of MacRumors, appears to imply that the introduction of Siri (a personal assistant software company) to Apple in April 2010 could now result in voice control and artificial intelligence for iOS 5, thus changing the way we use iOS devices in the future.

It is rumoured the Siri are close to finishing the final elements of their artificial intelligence and assistance technology and that these will be demonstrated at the (WWDC) Worldwide Developer Conference. It is also rumoured that this technology may be used in third party apps by other developers – However, there is no concrete evidence to suggest that this will happen.

There is also an indication in the report that the release of the iPhone 5 in the fall, will give Apple time to introduce LTE 4G to the device and therefore, the reasoning behind why the release date may not happen in summer. There is a strong possibility that if the iPhone 5 is released in summer it will not come with LTE, but if released in the fall there is a 50/50 chance of LTE being present and a definite possibility of it, if the phone is release in the New Year.

There is also rumours and speculation that the iPhone 5 may be unveiled at the WWDC, see our article here. If you are interested in attending the WWDC to see for yourself if the iPhone 5 is unveiled or not, but are not one of the fortunate people to have a ticket. Then you may be interested in putting a bid in for the ticket being being sold on eBay, see article here. You will need to be quick though and have very deep pockets.

F1 News 2011 iOS HD App: Formula One Season Info

Fans of the Formula One motor racing will be so pleased to hear that the F1 News 2011 iOS HD app is now ready for download and what an application it is. This is the best and only app you need for all the latest news info covering the 2011 F1 season.

This app has so much to offer such as Formula 1 news, Driver and Constructors standings, enhanced information such as Team, Nationality, Base, Team Principle, etc, this app will also give you information covering the race calendar including individual track guides, information and weather, View each story in the app or via the website and you can share via Email, Twitter or Facebook.

Who is you favourite driver? You can read the views on Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and also read information following Ferrari, McLaren Mercedes, Williams, Red Bull and all the other teams.

This app will give you 24 hour coverage of all the latest happening, no need for newspapers now. This app also features: Native iPad support, Background updating of news on the latest news feed, Enriched driver profiles, Ad free, Additional information on each circuit on the calendar, Enhanced constructor profiles and Simple to use, quick to update, plus Easy to get to all the best Formula 1 sites without using Google.

You can download this app via iTunes for only 1.19, for more information please visit iNewsApps, please do watch the YouTube video below as well to give you a quick insight of what the F1 News 2011 HD app has to offer.

Three UK posts first profit

Network sharing agreement with Everything Everywhere contributes strongly to 173 million EBIT profit

Three has announced its first profit which has been attributed, in part to its network sharing agreement with Everything Everywhere

The network sharing agreement, in which Three gained the right to use 3,000 cell sites – free of operating costs from Everything Everywhere created a “one-time substantial” benefit of 500 million according to the operator.

The profit which was released as part of Three’s parent company – Hutchison Wampoah’s 2010 results saw the company post EBIT earnings of 173 million.

2010 also saw Three start selling Apple’s iPhone – the last of the UK operators to do so – in June which produced a customer increase.

The launch of Three’s ‘The One Plan’ has also drawn in a lot of contract custom, according to the company.

The results are further good news for operator which welcomed Ofcom’s announcement, earlier this month that Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) would be cut at the start of April.

Three has been hit hard by the steep rates of MTRs in the past due to its size in the UK market, but the reduction is set to place Three in a good position moving forward.

It has also launched an increased drive to attract prepay subscribers through a new version of its “The One Plan’ deal which has been tailored for this market.

This drive at the prepay market, along with the MTR reduction and the strong demand for smartphones in the UK could well see Three’s profits increase further as time moves on.

Three chief executive Kevin Russell (pictured) said: “We will continue to operate with a profit as we grow the business.”

Meanwhile Hutchison Whampoa posted a 47 per cent increase in net profit for 2010, drive by a new found invigoration from its third generation mobile operators around the world that had negatively reduced its earnings for a number of years.

Best Buy Launches WiMax Service on Connect

Best Buy has announced the addition of WiMax service from Clearwire as a part of its Connect branded mobile broadband service. The service consists of two $45 unlimited service plans, with a 2 year agreement adding a $150 discount to qualifying laptops while a month-to-month plan is also offered without a hardware subsidy. This follows the launch of Best Buy Connect last summer by purchasing wholesale 3G access from Sprint, effectively making Best Buy Connect a Sprint MVNO and now a Clearwire MVNO.

Global usage share of around 5 percent by Firefox 4.0

With downloads of Mozilla’s new Firefox 4 browser now approaching 40 million downloads since it was released last Tuesday. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise to see it now jump in to a global usage share of around 5 percent, leaving Microsoft’s new IE9 down in a pitiful 1.5 percent share.
Even though the release of Microsofts IE9 launch was backed by the biggest advertising campaigns the company has ever seen in recent history, you can already see the huge surge of Firefox 4 from its launch day release.

If you haven’t already downloaded the new Firefox 4 browser you can download it from the Mozilla website. Enjoy!

Android Market gets in-app billing, your virtual nickels are now spoken for

Google said they were coming this week, and here they are -- Android apps can now have their own miniature storefronts for in-app purchases galore. You'll find Tap Tap Revenge, Comics, Gun Bros, Deer Hunter Challenge HD, WSOP3 and Dungeon Defenders: FW Deluxe accept your credit card for microtransactions starting this very instant, and Android developers can start building similar functionality into their own creations right now. Head on over to our source link for instructions on how to shake those extra coins out. Don't want to commit to a full transaction yourself? Hit the break for a quick video refresher of how in-app purchases work.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Firefox 4 for Android launched, ready to Sync and speed up your browsing

It was a release candidate just about a week ago and today it's all ready to go. Firefox 4 for Android has just been released from the Mozilla labs and is now prowling the mobile internet. You can get yours at the Android Market, in no less than 10 languages, though there'll be no Flash playback. Still, tabbed browsing, extreme customizability, and bookmark / tab / history coordination between desktop and mobile (via Firefox Sync) are all nice to have, as is the promised threefold improvement in speed over the stock Android browser. Pretty nice list of improvements for some freebie software, wouldn't you say?

Gemalto bringing NFC payments to phones of any intelligence with MasterCard PayPass SIM

We're seeing NFC chips showing up and tickling the innards of more and more mobile devices, but at this rate it's going to be ages before we see some proper market penetration. Gemalto may have just jump-started that process with a new NFC on a SIM card design that's certified by MasterCard PayPass. It's similar to the company's Zuckerberg on a SIM project we heard about last month, but this time it's wirelessly paying for a drink and not wirelessly telling your friends how much you just had to drink. This means near-field wireless payments could be brought to nearly every GSM phone on the planet, also allowing for secure on-device transactions, like adding more minutes to a pre-paid phone. This is said to be the beginning of a "mass commercial roll out," giving us reason to hope that soon forgetting our wallets at home will be a feature and not a bug.

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Gemalto Mobile NFC Payment Application First in the World Certified by MasterCard

Newly certified payment application set to trigger commercial rollouts of mobile contactless ecosystem

CARTES in Asia, Hong Kong , Mar 29, 2011 - Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, announces the world's first UICC-embedded software application compliant with Mobile MasterCard® PayPass™ M/Chip 4, the brand new MasterCard payment specification designed for mobile near field communications (NFC). The software application and the UICC have both successfully achieved the compliance assessment and security testing certification in accordance with MasterCard's highest chip security requirements.

This major breakthrough paves the way for mass commercial rollouts of NFC payment across the world. In the UK, Gemalto is already partnering with a global, first-tier financial institution and a world leading mobile operator, to implement the new MasterCard certified mobile payment application and carry out the solution's first mass commercial roll out.

Gemalto's software application embeds the Trusted Service Management interface for PayPass. This feature enables mobile account issuance and over-the-air management. Its user-friendly handset interface makes mobile NFC payment extremely convenient, for example enabling consumers to easily manage the new payment means and check transaction history. It also allows consumers to define their mobile Personal Identification Number (PIN), a code of their choice, through their phone. The mobile PIN is a new cardholder verification method used notably to secure operations such as account top-up from the mobile phone.

The Gemalto mobile NFC payment application can be configured so as to cover all card portfolios including debit, credit and prepaid. In the latter case, the software application enables consumers to top-up their prepaid accounts directly from their mobile phone – the utmost convenience for prepaid customers.

"We are pleased to collaborate with Gemalto to broadly expand the use of mobile payment services," commented James Anderson, vice president, Mobile, MasterCard Worldwide. "Leveraging the interoperability of MasterCard PayPass, Gemalto's effort will enable cross-border mobile NFC payment, adding ease to the fast-paced lifestyles of more and more consumers across the world."

"This new certification from MasterCard makes Gemalto the first on the market for this mobile product and will enable banks and wireless operators to offer a secure, innovative and convenient payment means to their entire customer base," added Jean-Claude Deturche, senior vice-president of mobile financial solutions at Gemalto. "Gemalto is committed to supporting its customers in their large scale deployments of mobile NFC payment, with a complete mobile contactless offer."

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with revenues of €1.9 billion in 2010, and over 10 thousand employees operating out of 87 offices and 13 Research & Development centers in 45 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work-anytime, anywhere-has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM), Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports and USB tokens for online identity protection. Moreover Gemalto delivers on emerging applications related to the 'Internet of things' by supplying wireless modules and machine identification modules (MIM) for machine-to-machine communication. To complete these solutions we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com, blog.gemalto.com, or follow @gemalto on Twitter.

WWDC 2011 Ticket Up For Grabs On eBay

So you are one of the iOS faithful and desperate to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on the 6th of June, but all tickets have been sold, so what do you do? Why you turn to eBay of course as long as you are prepared to pay way over the odds.

According to an article over on 9to5 Mac and by way of TUAW, although WWDC 2011 tickets sold out in a matter of hours there’s still a chance you could attend the event, as there’s an un-activated ticket for WWDC 2011 being auctioned on eBay.

However, that precious little ticket will cost you way above the original price of $1600 as currently the bid is sitting at a wallet creaking 2550 bucks with 9 days and 11 hours remaining for bids. Thus far the ticket has received 14 bids, so if you are of a mind to grab the ticket you’ll be digging real deep into your coffers.

Personally I wouldn’t pay that much over to odds for anything, even if there was an iPhone 5 attached to the ticket, but then there are those that simply must attend such an event and will part with a small fortune to do so, would you?

Quickoffice Unveils Custom-Built Mobile Office Suite for Latest Android Tablet Devices

Quickoffice, Mobile Office Suite, mobile office productivity, Google Android Honeycomb OS, Quickoffice Pro HD, SmartTouch, Quickword, Quicksheet, Quickpoint

Quickoffice, Inc., the global leader in mobile office productivity solutions, today announced a newly designed application for Google’s Android Honeycomb OS, catering to the tablet’s larger form factor and touch user interface. Called Quickoffice Pro HD, the mobile Office suite delivers desktop-like creating, viewing and editing capabilities of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Utilizing both Quickoffice’s proprietary SmartTouch technology and the unique capabilities inherent in Google’s Honeycomb platform, the app offers a compelling single-screen, multi-pane document view for a richer user experience on tablets.

In addition to feature-rich Office viewing and editing capabilities, Quickoffice Pro HD comes complete with a proprietary and custom-built Connected File Manager with integrated access to cloud storage partners, including Box.net, Dropbox, Google Docs, Huddle, SugarSync and MobileMe, all within an intuitive file browser. The newly designed user interface leverages native Honeycomb elements, like an action bar, contextual toolbar, fragments, text-to-speech and dictation with speech input functionality. The action bar provides users with quick access to common functions, contextual options and navigation. The contextual toolbar changes to reflect options based on the context of what the user is currently doing. Quickoffice also integrated Android’s fragments to enable users to interact with multiple panes independently of each other, all within a single screen view.

Quickoffice Pro HD offers three powerful editors within one easy-to-use application, including:

Quickword — page layout editing; quick page scrolling to jump to pages in large documents; insert/resize/rotate images from camera and gallery; text-to-speech; undo/redo; and dictation with speech input

Quicksheet — formula builder; edit directly in cells; add/remove/rename worksheets

Quickpoint — format text; create new presentations; insert/remove slides; full screen mode with manual flick scroll and automatic change of slides; rearrange slides; and insert/remove/resize/move images from camera or gallery

“We are excited to debut our innovative custom-built Android Honeycomb tablet application, as its distinctive user interface takes advantage of both the latest OS capabilities and the tablet form factor,” said David Halpin, VP of engineering and product development at Quickoffice. “We recognize that tablets are creating a new mobile Office work paradigm, and our application further enables this by offering a comprehensive experience with streamlined creation and editing of Microsoft Office files, as well as integrated access to cloud storage providers.”

Beyond integrated cloud access, tablet users also have the option to access and share files via email or Bluetooth. Within the file browser, consumers can drag and drop to send, delete or move files. Quickoffice also supports local and remote search of files with its integrated Quicksearch function to help increase productivity on the go. Consumers can also leverage the tablet’s HDMI output to present presentations when a larger screen is needed.

Quickoffice comes pre-loaded on Motorola’s XOOM tablet and consumers have the option to upgrade for full editing and cloud access functionality for an introductory price of $14.99.

Regenersis appoints new MD

Ian Powell becomes new group managing director following departure of chief executive Gary Stokes earlier this month

Recycling and repair company Regenersis has appointed Ian Powell as its group managing director in the latest management reshuffle.

Powell, who joined from clothing manufacturer Banner Ltd, will share leadership responsibilities with new Regenersis executive chairman Matthew Peacock, who joined the business last month.

Powell’s appointment is the latest in a shake-up at senior level within the company, which saw chief executive and director Gary Stokes depart with immediate effect earlier this month.

Following Stokes’s departure, non-executive chairman Matthew Peacock became executive chairman. Peacock is the founding partner of Regenersis shareholder Hanover Investors Management LLP. Tom Russell, a partner of the same shareholder, also joined the company as non-executive director.

Last month, Jeff Hewitt, David Holland and David Gilbert stepped down from their respective non-executive positions on the board. They were replaced by Matthew Peacock as executive chairman and Michael Peacock and Andrew Lee as non-executive directors.

Powell said: “We’re very pleased with what we’ve seen in the business, because when you invest in a business you take a chance with what might be inside it, but we haven’t had any nasty shocks.

Regenersis has good market opportunities and high quality people working inside it.”

The restructure has come at a time when Regenersis announced its financial results for the second half of 2010, which saw increases across all areas.

Group revenue increased 5.8 per cent to 60.3 million, while group operating profit almost doubled to 2.9 million, representing an increase of 94 per cent. Profit before tax rose 168 per cent to 2.8 million with operating cash flow more than doubling to 0.7 million.

Regenersis executive chairman Matthew Peacock said: “With new board leadership in place we are now undertaking an operational and strategic review, the outcome of which will be reported before the financial year end in June.”

WWDC 2011 A Sell Out Already

Well folk’s looks like the iOS faithful are extremely eager to attend Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco on the 6th of June, and if you want to attend it appears you are now completely out of luck.

According to an article over on Mashable and by way of TUAW, the Apple Developer site is displaying that all tickets for this years WWDC event have now sold out, that less than 24 hours after Apple made the dates announcement.

Apparently tickets for WWDC 2010 didn’t sell out until eight days, so it shows that here’s a great deal more interest in the event this year, perhaps those attending are still of the assumption Apple will unveil the iPhone 5, something that has been rumoured not to be happening at the event.

As far as we know, Apple will concentrate on iOS and Mac OS X Lion during WWDC 2011, but there’s always a chance no matter how slim, Apple could come up with a surprise or two, or maybe not.

Are you hoping that Apple will still unveil the next generation iPhone and perhaps iOS 5 at their developer conference?

Nokia keeps the lawyers well fed, returns to the ITC with fresh complaints about Apple

Like a desperate suitor unable to take "no" for an answer, Nokia's come back to the ITC with fresh allegations about Apple using its patented technologies without proper authorization. On Friday, the International Trade Commission made an initial determination that Apple wasn't actually making use of five patents held by the Finnish company -- a ruling that has yet to be ratified by the Commission itself, notably -- which Nokia predictably "does not agree" with and is now countering with the addition of seven more patents it believes have been infringed. Those relate to multitasking, data synchronization, positioning, call quality, and Bluetooth accessories, and affect "virtually all products" in Cupertino's portfolio. Rather boastfully, Nokia informs us that a total of 46 of its patents are now being actioned in some sort of lawsuit against Apple, whether you're talking about the ITC, US, Dutch, German, or British courts. As the old saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, send in the lawyers. See Nokia's press release about this latest legal activity after the break.

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Nokia files second ITC complaint against Apple

Alleges Apple infringes additional Nokia patents in virtually all products

Espoo, Finland - Nokia has filed a further complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Apple infringes additional Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers.

The seven Nokia patents in the new complaint relate to Nokia's pioneering innovations that are now being used by Apple to create key features in its products in the areas of multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.

This second ITC complaint follows the initial determination in Nokia's earlier ITC filing, announced by the ITC on Friday, March 25. Nokia does not agree with the ITC's initial determination that there was no violation of Section 337 in that complaint and is waiting to see the full details of the ruling before deciding on the next steps in that case.

In addition to the two ITC complaints, Nokia has filed cases on the same patents and others in Delaware, US and has further cases proceeding in Mannheim, Dusseldorf and the Federal Patent Court in Germany, the UK High Court in London and the District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands, some of which will come to trial in the next few months.

"Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," said Paul Melin, Vice President, Intellectual Property at Nokia. "Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia's proprietary innovation."

During the last two decades, Nokia has invested approximately EUR 43 billion in research and development and built one of the wireless industry's strongest and broadest IPR portfolios, with over 10,000 patent families. Nokia is a world leader in the development of handheld device and mobile communications technologies, which is also demonstrated by Nokia's strong patent position.

Verizon's Samsung LTE Mobile Hotspot goes on sale: $100 on contract

We'd heard March 31st for this thing, but hey -- are we about to complain when it goes on sale early? That would be a definitive "no," and we're happy to report that Samsung's SCH-LC11 Mobile Hotspot with 1x, EV-DO Rev. A, and LTE compatibility on Verizon's network is now being offered on the carrier's website for $99.99 on contract after a $50 instant discount. That makes it the cheapest way to get five devices attached to some of the fastest wireless broadband around -- sure, you can do it with a Thunderbolt, but it'll run you a little more upfront and you need a voice plan. Who's in?

[Thanks, Nick R.]

Make Music from Everyday Sounds Around You with Loop

 

Checkout the video above highlighting Loop - an app for children to make music from the sounds around them. Loop can turn the sound of your washing machine, the doorbell or even the cat purring into a musical masterpiece with little effort. Everything is controlled by just pressing the circle in the centre of the screen, however timing is important to get a steady beat but we think it’s a great way to encourage children to express their musical abilities. Loop is available on the Nokia N8 and Nokia C7 exclusive to Nokia Ovi Store. Browse Loop tracks at http://www.loopapp.net.

New Kindle Exclusive: 91 Books from Bestselling British Author Dame Catherine Cookson Now Available in the Kindle Store

Kindle

Amazon.com today announced that 91 titles from Dame Catherine Cookson are now available as e-books for the first time, exclusively in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). The collection of titles, including some which are out of print, represents the majority of the full-length novels from one of the UK’s most-read novelists. These books, which are published by The Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust in conjunction with Peach Publishing, are available from $1.50-$5.99 and can be downloaded exclusively by Kindle and Kindle app customers. All 91 titles are available exclusively to U.S. and international customers on Amazon.com, and to U.K. customers on Amazon.co.uk.

Dame Catherine Cookson sold over 150 million books during a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. Translated into over 20 languages, her work was often adapted for the big and the small screen as well as for the stage and radio.

“Dame Catherine Cookson is one of the most popular British writers, and no doubt many American readers of mysteries or romantic thrillers are also familiar with her name,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. “We hope that her longtime fans and new readers will enjoy discovering her entire body of work, now available in the Kindle Store.”

“For a long time, Dame Catherine Cookson was the U.K.’s most celebrated and successful novelist. Now, for the first time since her death in 1998, the vast majority of her titles will be available throughout the world,” said Sonia Land of Peach Publishing. “We are delighted that both new and loyal fans can view, at a glance, the majority of the full-length novels that Catherine has written and buy one or more of her e-books in less than a minute.”

Like all Kindle books, Dame Catherine Cookson’s books are “Buy Once, Read Everywhere”–Kindle customers can purchase them and read them on the $139 third-generation Kindle device with new high-contrast Pearl e-Ink, as well as on iPads, iPod touches, iPhones, Macs, PCs, BlackBerrys, Windows Phones and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

Global usage share of around 5 percent by Firefox 4.0

With downloads of Mozilla’s new Firefox 4 browser now approaching 40 million downloads since it was released last Tuesday. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise to see it now jump in to a global usage share of around 5 percent, leaving Microsoft’s new IE9 down in a pitiful 1.5 percent share.
Even though the release of Microsofts IE9 launch was backed by the biggest advertising campaigns the company has ever seen in recent history, you can already see the huge surge of Firefox 4 from its launch day release.

If you haven’t already downloaded the new Firefox 4 browser you can download it from the Mozilla website. Enjoy!

New Kindle Exclusive: 91 Books from Bestselling British Author Dame Catherine Cookson Now Available in the Kindle Store

Kindle

Amazon.com today announced that 91 titles from Dame Catherine Cookson are now available as e-books for the first time, exclusively in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). The collection of titles, including some which are out of print, represents the majority of the full-length novels from one of the UK’s most-read novelists. These books, which are published by The Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust in conjunction with Peach Publishing, are available from $1.50-$5.99 and can be downloaded exclusively by Kindle and Kindle app customers. All 91 titles are available exclusively to U.S. and international customers on Amazon.com, and to U.K. customers on Amazon.co.uk.

Dame Catherine Cookson sold over 150 million books during a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. Translated into over 20 languages, her work was often adapted for the big and the small screen as well as for the stage and radio.

“Dame Catherine Cookson is one of the most popular British writers, and no doubt many American readers of mysteries or romantic thrillers are also familiar with her name,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. “We hope that her longtime fans and new readers will enjoy discovering her entire body of work, now available in the Kindle Store.”

“For a long time, Dame Catherine Cookson was the U.K.’s most celebrated and successful novelist. Now, for the first time since her death in 1998, the vast majority of her titles will be available throughout the world,” said Sonia Land of Peach Publishing. “We are delighted that both new and loyal fans can view, at a glance, the majority of the full-length novels that Catherine has written and buy one or more of her e-books in less than a minute.”

Like all Kindle books, Dame Catherine Cookson’s books are “Buy Once, Read Everywhere”–Kindle customers can purchase them and read them on the $139 third-generation Kindle device with new high-contrast Pearl e-Ink, as well as on iPads, iPod touches, iPhones, Macs, PCs, BlackBerrys, Windows Phones and Android-based devices. Amazon’s Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.

HTC EVO 3D and Samsung Galaxy S II HDMI Via MHL: Video

You may or may not be aware that the new HTC EVO 3D smartphone doesn’t actually sport an HDMI port, but that doesn’t mean you wont be able to send your content to your TV as apparently the HTC EVO 3D doesn’t need an HDMI port to do so.

According to an article over on Phandroid, HTC has partnered MHL, which stands for Mobile High-Definition Link that has a cable adapter that plugs into the handsets microUSB port while on the other end in a HDMI plug, thus changing the microUSB into HDMI.

Apparently all one need to do is plug the cable into the smartphone’ microUSB port and the other end into the HDMI on your TV set and bingo you’re ready to go. Furthermore apparently the cable send video and audio but also charges the device while doing so.

Currently there are only two smartphones that have MHL tech, the HTC EVO 3D and the Samsung Galaxy S II, but there is a downside, even if you have one of the smartphones you will require MHL tech on your TV and thus far the big players in the TV market haven’t come aboard the MHL train.

We have a quick introduction video of MHL for your viewing consideration below if you wish to learn more about the technology. No doubt if MHL catches the eye of the TV maker big boys such as Samsung, Toshiba and Sony more will start incorporating the tech in future.

Sony Ericsson pushes for Android top-spot

Manufacturer set for intensive Xperia campaign as it pushes to be number one producer of Android smartphones

Sony Ericsson will launch its “biggest ever” marketing campaign next month, in a bid to become the number one manufacturer of Android powered devices.

Sony Ericsson, which refused to disclose exact investment figures, will launch its two-month above-the-line campaign, ending May 31, to promote its new Xperia handset range, which was announced in February.

Around 70 per cent of advertising will be focussed on its game-centric PlayStation certified smartphone the Xperia Play (pictured).

The campaign will also cover its other recently announced devices in the Xperia smartphone range. Arc, Neo and Pro will launch the same date as the Play.

Sony Ericsson said the Xperia Play, which will have 50 games available for download at launch, will be available for free on two-year contracts priced between 35-40 per month.

Sony Ericsson also partnered with O2, Three, Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse, The Sun newspaper, Tesco and Capital FM as part of its ‘First 10’ competition.

Each brand is displayed on the Sony Ericsson Facebook page next to a date between March 21-29. Each day customers can access the appropriate date and take part in a competition to win an Xperia Play handset.

Each phone comes in a box numbered one to 10, to show if the winner was, for example, the first or tenth person to own an Xperia Play handset in the UK.

Sony Ericsson will host a launch event on March 31 at The Old Sorting Office on New Oxford Street in London to let customers try the handset before it goes on sale the following day.

It will also do a cover wrap for the free daily paper Metro to promote its range. Metro’s street team will also be handing out ‘golden tickets’ to commuters, which can be taken to the launch event to find out if they have won a prize.

Sony Ericsson UK and Ireland head of PR and sponsorships Matt Beavis said: “Our goal is for Sony Ericsson to be seen as the number one Android smartphone on the market. The message we’re trying to get across is consumers will have the best of Android and the best of Sony, together in a smartphone package.”

Cutting Room: Can Nokia get its mojo working?

Nokia’s decision to cut back on marketing hasn’t done it any favours

The news that Nokia has dropped from number 21 to number 94 in the list of the world’s most valuable brands comes as no surprise.

It is perhaps surprising the brand didn’t plummet further down BrandFinance’s Global 500 brands of 2011.

While Vodafone is celebrating becoming the UK’s most valuable UK brand, according to the BrandFinance league table, Nokia has to ask some serious questions of itself.

We all know that Nokia is now in intensive-care following its partnership with Microsoft (see page 30), and is currently without a viable product portfolio in the crucial smartphone space.

A diminishing of its brand image is just as serious as its current technical cul-de-sac.

The pace of new product releases can be controlled and determined by Nokia. The dilution of its brand awareness is something over which it has little control.

For the last three years Nokia pulled the plug on practically all its above-the-line advertising.

In fact, apart from a small burst of activity for the N8 and a sprinkling of Ovi Maps TV commercials, this writer cannot recall with certainty any significant Nokia branding since 2009.

One does not have to have a marketing degree to realise the incompetence of such a strategy.

Strong brands have strong brand values. Resilient brands protect themselves from obscurity by continually refreshing how they impart their message to consumers.

People know that ‘Virgin’ stands for a customer experience outside the ordinary and that Apple’s products have an aura and cachet of ‘cool’.

Once upon a time, Nokia stood for the best-quality hardware with the most sophisticated user interface. You knew a new Nokia phone would be as reliable and easy-to-use as your last Nokia.

I was once a classic consumer of Nokia. For years I would not give a second thought to using any other phone.

I looked forward to the next ‘N’ series with the same sense of anticipation as I once looked forward to the next Stones album (sad, I know).

I had an N95 when the first iPhone came out. I had no desire to swap my amazing N95 for the Cupertino bauble. I changed this for an N97 Mini. Then I played with an iPhone 3GS. Game over for Nokia.

I would guess my experience was repeated throughout the developed world.

Hundreds of thousands of Nokia fans lost – in the time it took to download their first app from the App store.

During the iPhone’s ascendence I perceived not one communication of marketing excellence from Nokia to convince me to stay loyal.

Instead, Nokia offered me a lacklustre Ovi store, arcane software update procedures (that invariably crashed and caused loss of data), connectivity that required a degree in computer science, and a lack of customer support (I once tried to buy a USB lead from the Nokia Store in London’s Regent Street. Never again).

What does Nokia stand for now? A slow-acting behemoth that failed to keep up with the march of technology.

Nokia is no longer ‘cool’. And by associating itself with another slow-to-market behemoth (Microsoft) it is doubtful that Nokia will
again recover its sharp image of brand excellence.

With this in mind, one wonders what the job descriptions of Nokia’s marketing personnel actually say.

How do you spend five days of the week in the marketing department of a company that appears not to do any marketing?

Atrix 4G's 4.1.57 update spruces up a few things, patches known root methods

The HSUPA-enabling update? No, not yet. The voice call quality fix? In the pipeline. The mission-critical Bluetooth multimedia experience improvements? Oh yes, we've got those right here! Motorola is preparing to deliver an imminent OTA update to its Atrix 4G super phone, which will fix up battery performance, overall software stability, and car dock, headphone jack, and fingerprint reader performance, but will regrettably leave the two major drawbacks to the AT&T-riding phone untouched. Alas, if you've rooted your Atrix, you'll have to pay a dear price to benefit from these upgrades as users over at xda-developers, who've obtained the pre-release build, report the new 4.1.57 update disables their previous superuser privileges. C'est la vie.

Apple iPad 2 Stock In UK Runs Dry: Got Yours

The latest iOS tablet from the Apple stable went on sale in the UK as of Friday, and it would appear that demand for the Apple iPad 2 was so heavy that UK stock of the device, just 24 hours after becoming available, has been depleted.

According to an article over on Pocket-lint, the guys did some checking with UK stores that were offering the Apple iPad 2 and have found that you just can’t find the Apple tablet still up for grabs across the UK.

Apparently the guys spoke to the Covent Garden and Regent Street Apple flagship stores as well as Tottenham Court Road’s Curry’s and PC World along with Oxford Street’s Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U and all have run out of stock.

The guys can also confirm that Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester along with all premium Apple reseller, Cancom for England, Scotland and Wales are all out of stock of the Apple iPad 2, with a sales rep in Bristol stating that the whole Southwest of England are out of stock.

Thus it would appear that you can’t at this moment get your hands on the next generation Apple iPad and there’s no guarantee stores will replenish stocks today, so currently in the UK the only option is to order online, but that will come with a three to four week delivery time.

So how did it go for you on Friday, did you manage to get your Apple iPad 2 before stock ran dry or were you left iPad 2- less and now hoping your local store will restock soon? Feel free to let us know by shouting out in our comments area below.

A Trip Into The Network: A Look Inside A Verizon Superswitch

Ever wonder how all those data bits, naughty sexting messages, and angry voice calls get from point A to point B?

Most folks are perfectly content with chalking it up to magical fairies and space dust, but it’s really a bit more complicated than that. The signal hops from your phone to the nearest cell tower, which then forwards everything on to the local “switch”. The switch, essentially a massive building filled ceiling to floor with routing boxes and back-up power generators, is the unsung hero of the cellular network — it’s also the thing that the least people get a chance to see.

The guys over at Geek.com got a chance to tour the Orlando “superswitch” (dubbed “super” because of its ability to withstand insane weather conditions, not because it’s particularly huge), and brought back a bevy of photos and details. If you’ve got any interest on how things work behind the scenes, be sure to check out their debriefing right over here.

Sprint ditches Mail-In Rebates, goes with Instant Rebates indefinitely

Hurrah!

Back in January, word got out that Verizon was ditching mail-in rebates in favor of instant rebates on their more expensive handsets. We hoped, from the very geekiest depths of our heart (we’ve been burned by the mail-in rebate that never arrives just one too many times), that this would be a trend that other carriers would follow.

Sure enough: Sprint has just confirmed to Phonescoop that the company will be making the switch from mail-in to Instant as of March 27th. Oddly, the company isn’t sayin’ whether or not this is a permanent switch — and if it’s temporary, they’re not sure how long it’ll stick around. In other words, they’re testing the waters and aren’t wanting to make any promises.

Sharp End: Orange Pocket Landline and HSC’s ‘cloud’ deal

Business customers will be impressed by Orange Pocket Landline according to dealer Jez Harris, who also discusses HSC’s Microsoft Reseller programme

Orange Pocket Landline
Orange this month has made their Orange Pocket Landline service available to the independent dealer channel. Their new service is very similar to the now defunct Mobile Landline service that O2 launched and quickly withdrew at the beginning of 2010.

Orange’s version of Pocket Landline however, is chargeable, whereas O2’s offering was free for O2 customers.

For 15 per month Orange customers can choose a local landline number that will ring through to their Orange mobile phone. Customers can choose any geographic landline number enabling customers in Birmingham, for example, to appear as if they are based in, say, Manchester. Customers can have as many local landline numbers pointing to their Orange mobiles as they like for only 15 per month per landline number chosen. When a user dials a chosen landline number and the call is answered, that person only pays for a local landline call and the Orange customer pays no additional diversion rates, just the flat monthly fee of 15.

Orange will/are offering a fancy back-end web-based administration centre that will allow customers to set up various aspects of the service such as recorded messages on unanswered calls, working hours and changing the end destination number.

For 20 per month Orange customers can have Pocket Landline “One to Many” service that will allow up to five Orange mobiles to take the call from one local landline number.

As well as all the features of the first offering, customers have various options with this service, such as having the fi ve phones ring simultaneously or having them ring in a particular order. When one mobile number answers the call, then all other phones will no longer ring.

For 30 per month Orange customers can have all the benefits of the second option but with the ability to make up to 10 mobile phones ring simultaneously from a local landline number.

The service offered by Orange is no doubt benefi cial to UK businesses as they can now make their businesses look as if they are trading nationally for just a small monthly outlay. When you consider that BT charges in excess of 11 per month for a landline number as well as extortionate connection charges, the Pocket Landline service now available to your customers is really a bit of a no-brainer.

Every little helps
A couple of minor changes this month from Orange: SIM-only connections for new business connections will now receive 30 up-front commission as well as the ongoing revenue, while dealers connecting generic SIM-free kits will now only have 10 deducted from normal commission rates whereas this used to be a 40 deduction.

Poison, anyone?
This week the Chronic Dev Team released a Mac and Windows version of their Greenpois0n software that will ‘jailbreak’ all Apple iOS devices up to version 4.2.1 (the current latest). This is not an unlock solution, however, that is proving to be a somewhat harder task for these very clever guys to accomplish. But Greenpois0n will, once applied to an IOS device, allow the installation of third-party unofficial apps and enables massive customisation of the device by the end user.

Greenpois0n is as simple as it gets – the user simply plugs their turned-off IOS device into a machine running Greenpois0n and follows the on-screen instructions to complete the full jailbreak process, which should only take a couple of minutes. Early indications are that this solution works very well and no noticeable features of the IOS device seem to be detrimentally affected. Simply do a Google search for Greenpois0n and get charging your customers 20 a time for this “service”.

HSC’s ‘cloud’ deal
HSC has finally launched its Microsoft Reseller programme for dealers to resell Microsoft Cloud services. Once signed up via HSC dealers can earn 18 per cent on-going revenue for the first year and six per cent thereafter.

Dealers will be able to offer its customers full Microsoft Exchange services for only 3.36 per user per month, enabling full Exchange email as well as shared calendars, contacts and task lists as well as full integration with compatible mobiles.

For 3.52 per month per user customers can have Microsoft SharePoint Online, making it easier for their users to share information and improve collaboration.

Just 3.02 per month gets users Microsoft Office Live Meeting, enabling multi-party video and audio conferencing with real-time presentations.

And 1.34 per user per month gets the user Microsoft Office Communications Online, which is a fancy business-centric version of Windows Messenger.

Or a customer can get all the above for only 6.71 per user per month. This is a remarkably cheap and efficient way for businesses to ensure they always have the very latest Microsoft products, with Microsoft guaranteeing the ‘up-time’ of their Cloud services with financial compensation if the service fails. Your customers will never need to worry about updating to the latest Office version or applying security updates, as these are all automatically sorted by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Exchange Online service alone is a must for mobile phone dealers to resell to their customers, as you can integrate the Exchange services into most modern smartphones, including the iPhone, Android and Windows 6.5 and Windows Phone 7 devices. This will give the customer full synchronisation of their email, contacts, appointments and tasks. I used to charge in excess of 100 per year for the Microsoft Exchange account service, which cost me 50 per year. I can now (via this service with HSC) offer the customer the service for substantially less than I was buying the service for as a reseller.

RIM Adds Android and Java Support to PlayBook Developer Tools

Following months of rumors, PlayBook manufacturer research in Motion has confirmed in a press release that it will add support for Android and Java apps to its development tools for the RIM PlayBook tablet. In addition, the new SDK for the tablet will also support development of fully native applications with C/C++ on top of already announced support for applications developed with HTML5, Flash/Flex and Adobe AIR. 

With the confirmation/addition of C/C++ and Android/Java development support, RIM is seeking to give developers the most flexibility in what languages to use for developing and deploying applications.

Apps developed with Java/Android and C/C will benefit from a new “player” which will be available from BlackBerry App World later this summer that will allow PlayBook tablets to run apps developed in the aforementioned platforms without compromising performance. As a companion to C/C++ development, RIM will also release an open beta of its Native Development Kit later this year, with a showcase at BlackBerry World in May.

Waiting For The Windows Phone 7 Copy/Paste Update? It may be a while.

Between February’s preparatory update, the almost immediate cancellation and then resumption of said update, and then the promise of the bigger/badder, Copy & Paste-enabling “NoDo” update in early March, a lot of people are left wondering: Where the heck are their updates?

The answer, it seems, isn’t a simple one. Different carriers are pushin’ out the update at different times, and not all of their handsets will receive it at once. Lookin’ to make things a bit less mysterious, Microsoft has just put up this “Where’s my phone update?” page. Be warned: the forecast may be a bit disheartening. Outside of the Venue Pro and the HD7 (and the Arrive, but that ships with NoDo so it doesn’t really count), most of the handsets have been pushed back into “Testing” phase, which could take anywhere from 10 days to a few weeks.

Isn’t this exactly the confusion/annoyance that Microsoft was subtly jabbing Android for back before Windows Phone 7 launched?

T-Mobile HTC HD7 WP7 Phone via RadioShack for Free

If you head on over to RadioShack they have the T-Mobile HTC HD7 WP7 (Windows Phone) for free, yes that is nothing to pay just click a few buttons and it is all yours.

T-Mobile subscribers can get their hands on the HTC HD7 Windows Phone for free if you sign up to a new T-Mobile account, the smartphone features all the goodness such as a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.3-inch display, T-Mobile TV, Slacker Radio and much more.

When you purchase the smartphone you will also get in the box Additional Items such as the Battery, Charger, USB Cable and Stereo Headset.

The handset itself also comes fitted with a kickstand and live tiles that are fully customizable and constantly updated, other features include: 5MP Camera With Auto-focus Also Captures Video In 720p HD, Dedicated Camera Key, Facebook support, Picture Caller ID, Twitter support, Zune, Integrated GPS and so much more.

So please head on over to RadioShack for this amazing offer, this is the sort of news everyone wants to hear about, especially if you are after a Windows Phone 7 smartphone. RadioShack screenshot below

Source – HTCPedia

Apple Releases iOS 4.3.1 For AT&T iPhones, Verizon iPhones still on 4.2.6

If you’ve got an iPhone (well, an AT&T iPhone) and a burning desire to upgrade something today, you’re in luck: Apple has just pushed out iOS 4.3.1 for iPod Touches, iPads, and GSM iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4s. As for all those shiny new Verizon iPhone 4s out there? No update for you, just yet.

But don’t fret, Verizoners — you’re not missin’ too much here. As the itty-bitty numerical hop from 4.3 to 4.3.1 implies, this update is a pretty small one. It fixes a graphical issue on iPod Touches, nixes an issue related to connecting to some cell networks, kills off the flicker that some folks reported with the Apple Digital AV Adapter, and cleans up a few enterprise authentication bugs.

You can find the new patch by hittin’ the “Update” button on your iPhone’s profile screen in iTunes.

Apple iPad 2 Glass Put Through The Toughness Test: Video

So Apple has delivered the Apple iPad 2, which sports a thinner glass than the original Apple iPad, so does that mean that the Apple iPad 2 glass is weaker than that on the original iOS tablet? You’re about to find out in the video below.

We have a video for your viewing pleasure today that puts the 27 percent thinner Apple iPad 2 glass to the test and compares with the glass of the original Apple iPad and tests the flexibility of both from 1-inch and 2-inces high.

The video comes our way courtesy of the guys over at 9to5 Mac and by way of the guys over at iFixYouri, who tried out the stress tests on the tablet glass, and even have a go at bending both iOS tablet panels by hand.

So how does the thinner Apple iPad 2 glass stand up to the original version, well you are simply going to have to jump on down and hit that play button to find out, but you may be surprised with the result…enjoy.

Comcast's Xfinity TV app for iOS updated with more streaming and customization

Comcast is back with what it's calling the third major release of its Xfinity TV app for iOS, and while the product team says it's added streaming content from IFC, Adult Swim, BBC and more the key upgrade is in customizations. It features a new favorites list that is most improved by its ability to sync with the XfinityTV website, a new channel keypad for quick changes when used as a remote and the ability to jump to specific dates in the TV listings. The iPhone version has also gotten a tweak, with the addition of a "flip through previous channels" feature previously restricted to the iPad version. Of course the next question is when we can expect these enhancements to filter over to the recently launched Android version, and also when Comcast is planning to follow Time Warner through the live channel streaming door, despite the loud protests of some of the TV networks against it.

Audible Audiobooks Via Wi-Fi On Kindle

Amazon has announced that its has now made more than 50,000 audio books from Amazon subsidiary Audible Audiobooks available on their Kindle eBook reader via Wi-Fi. Dispensing for the need to tether your Kindle via USB to be able to load the audio books on to your device.
Unfortunately the service still doesn’t work over 3G at the moment due to the download limits, but 50,000 audio books should keep you going for some time.

If you are interested in loading a few audio books onto your Kindle device Audible Audiobooks are currently offering a 30-day free trial of AudibleListener Gold. For more information head over to the Audible website.

Cricket ties up with LightSquared for LTE roaming agreement

Throwing a little caution to the wind over brewing GPS interference concerns, Cricket -- the CDMA budget carrier that specializes in contract-free plans -- has hooked up with LightSquared to deliver additional LTE service through a roaming agreement that'll supplement its own rollout "over the next few years. " All told, the moves should bring it up to technological speed with archrival MetroPCS, which deployed LTE last year (beating Verizon to market, actually) and currently has a pair of Samsung-sourced handsets on the market to take advantage of it. For LightSquared's part, this is exactly the type of deal they've been looking to ink: the company has expressed no interest in lighting up a retail-facing carrier of its own, instead offering wholesale LTE deals to other carriers -- like, say, Cricket -- who don't necessarily have the spectrum, the time, or the budget to roll out 4G in earnest. Follow the break for LightSquared's press release.

[Thanks, Mark]

Show full PR text

Cricket Enters into 4G Roaming Agreement with LightSquared

SAN DIEGO AND RESTON, Va. – March 22, 2011– Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless communications services, and LightSquared™, the nation's first wholesale-only integrated wireless broadband and satellite network company, today announced that they have entered into a long-term 4G roaming agreement. The new arrangement will allow Cricket, Leap's operating subsidiary, to supplement the LTE coverage that Cricket plans to deploy across its own networks over the next few years with LTE roaming services from LightSquared.

"Our business progress demonstrates how data services are increasingly important to our customers, as evidenced by our customers' significant uptake of smartphones and data-focused, higher-ARPU service plans," said Doug Hutcheson, Leap's President and CEO. "We intend to deploy our own LTE networks beginning this year to complement the existing nationwide 3G services we currently offer to customers. This new roaming arrangement will allow us to offer customers an even-greater 4G service area as LightSquared expands its own network. We believe that the broad coverage resulting from this business agreement will enhance our ability to offer compelling products and services and allow us to strengthen our retail relationships and distribution capabilities. It will also give us flexibility to access additional 4G capacity where needed as data-centric devices become more popular and require more and more bandwidth."

"Leap is a fantastic company and we're excited to do business with them," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and CEO of LightSquared. "Cricket customers' appetite for wireless data is growing exponentially and in ways no one could have envisioned even a few years ago. By providing a wholesale-only nationwide 4G LTE network complemented by satellite coverage, LightSquared will help Leap meet its customers' demand for universal, affordable broadband connectivity. We are fully committed to delivering our roaming services on time and with the quality, speed, coverage and capacity required to support Leap's business needs."

Financial and other terms of the roaming agreement were not disclosed.

Confirmed: Amazon App Store Blocked On AT&T Android Phones

Within the last few minutes reports have surfaced confirming that the recently launched Amazon Android App Store is incompatible with AT&T Android smartphones. Since the Amazon App Store for Android app is not currently distributed through the Android Marketplace and is distributed directly through Amazon itself, it requires a lengthy workaround to sideload and install the app on the phone. Even after manual installation however, apps downloaded from the client will refuse to install.

We at PhoneNews.com have long held the position that AT&T’s Android phones should not be purchased due to the closed nature of AT&T’s Android handset lineup and this latest development further solidifies our position on the matter. Until AT&T reverses its position on allowing third-party software to be installed on its devices, we do not recommend purchasing an AT&T-branded Android smartphone.

ST-Ericsson’s Thor modem to provide industry-leading performance in new T-Mobile Sidekick 4G

ST-Ericsson, Thor modem, Thor M5730 modem

ST-Ericsson, a world leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors, announced today that a thin modem from the company‘s Thor family will power network connectivity for the new T-Mobile Sidekick 4G by Samsung. Expected to be available later this spring, the Sidekick 4G utilizes ST-Ericsson’s Thor M5720 compact and power-efficient modem capable of delivering theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21Mbps to connect to the Internet.

In February, T-Mobile launched the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, also using the Thor M5720 modem, which provides blazing-fast connectivity through T-Mobile‘s 4G network. MSNBC.com, for example, has found that the Galaxy S 4G, running on T-Mobile’s 4G network, delivered much quicker downloads than the other leading handsets tested by the web site’s journalists.

“Combining America‘s Largest 4G Network with ST-Ericsson’s modems in our latest smartphones provides a lightning-fast mobile experience for T-Mobile customers on both the Galaxy S 4G and the new T-Mobile Sidekick 4G,” said Andrew Sherrard, Senior Vice President, Product Management, T-Mobile USA.

“The Thor M5720 is the first modem in the industry to enable the development of 21 Mbps smartphones without compromising size and power consumption, resulting in an outstanding wireless experience for T-Mobile USA’s customers,” said Jrgen Lantto, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer of ST-Ericsson. “T-Mobile USA and ST-Ericsson are working together to bring even higher data rates to market including 42 and 84Mbps for future devices on Thor platforms, enabling T-Mobile to fully harness the step change in capacity and performance made possible by next generation mobile networks.”

The Thor M5720 is part of ST-Ericsson‘s Thor family of modems, which were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. As well as offering industry-leading power consumption and a small form factor, all of ST-Ericsson’s Thor modems are equipped with communication interfaces that enable them to be integrated easily with the very latest ST-Ericsson application processors into complete device platforms.

Thor modems feature a highly-integrated radio solution that offers support for up to eight LTE/HSPA/GSM frequency bands within a very small footprint, enabling development of truly global smartphones, tablets and many other mobile broadband-enabled devices.

Available for operator testing and integration into devices from Q2 2011, the Thor M7400 modem can connect to 2G, 3G, TD-SCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+ dual carrier and LTE FDD/TDD networks. It offers theoretical peak download speeds of up to 100Mbps in LTE networks. Also available for sampling from Q2 2011, Thor M7300 can connect to HSPA+ dual carrier networks at peak download speeds of up to 84Mbps.

Blio e-reading software still alive, will come preloaded on T-Mobile Android devices

Remember Blio? Yes, our memories of this colorful ebook-reading software are starting to fade too, but now T-Mobile's about ready to yank it from the shadows of obscurity with a newly announced partnership. Content provider Baker & Taylor will be responsible for installing the Blio Android app on "select future products from T-Mobile USA" and populating it with compelling content. The Blio store has grown to now encompass a healthy three million titles, both free and paid, and should you have the Windows version of its software, you'll get the sweet automation of having it sync with your mobile device as well. To get your reading started nice and early, jump past the break for the full press release.

Show full PR text

Blio - the Revolutionary E-Reading Software Application - to be Pre-Loaded on Future T-Mobile Products

- Baker & Taylor providing T-Mobile customers with rich digital media content from thousands of today's top publishers as well as robust storefront and interactive and enhanced e-reading experience via Blio, developed by K-NFB Reading Technology -

ORLANDO, Fla., March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker & Taylor, Inc., the world's largest distributor of digital and physical books and entertainment products, together with K-NFB Reading Technology, developer of the Blio e-reading software application, announced today at the International CTIA Wireless show plans for Blio to be pre-loaded on select future products from T-Mobile USA, Inc.

"We are delighted to partner with T-Mobile, which is known for delivering premium bonus applications to its customers," said Bob Nelson, President of Baker & Taylor's Digital Group. "Blio brings e-books to life, in vivid color and with a variety of enhanced features, including audio read along, Web browsing from inside the book and its patented Read Logic technology."

Planned for availability on future Android-based devices, Blio will provide T-Mobile customers with access to a new set of enhanced titles, including feature rich full-color e-books, perfect for children and families. And as part of T-Mobile's bonus apps program, T-Mobile customers will have the exclusive opportunity to download featured titles from some of today's top publishers and brands.

Ray Kurzweil, founder of K-NFB Reading Technology, said, "Blio offers an unparalleled e-reading experience that will delight book lovers and create a whole new audience of readers with feature rich content that consumers can access wherever they are, whenever they want. T-Mobile customers, who have come to expect exciting bonus apps and premium content, will simply love Blio."

T-Mobile customers will have access to the Blio storefront, powered by Baker & Taylor and which is currently stocked with more than 3 million paid and free titles – from best-sellers to children's and lifestyle books. Readers will also have the ability to automatically synch and view content purchased on their T-Mobile products to their Windows-based netbooks, laptops or desktops by downloading Blio for Windows, available for free at www.blio.com. This cross-platform portability allows users to buy titles once and read from multiple devices.

About Baker & Taylor
Baker & Taylor Inc. (www.baker-taylor.com) is the world's largest distributor of books, digital content and entertainment products. The company leverages its unsurpassed worldwide distribution network to deliver rich content in multiple formats, anytime and anywhere. Baker & Taylor offers cutting-edge digital media services and innovative technology platforms to thousands of publishers, libraries and retailers worldwide. Baker & Taylor also offers industry-leading customized library services and retail merchandising solutions. Baker & Taylor is proud to power Blio (blioreader.com), the world's most flexible, engaging and revolutionary e-reading application. Charlotte, N.C.-based Baker & Taylor is majority owned by Castle Harlan Partners IV, L.P., an institutional private equity fund managed by Castle Harlan, Inc., a leading private equity investment firm.

About K-NFB Reading Technology Inc.
A joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind, the principals of K-NFB Reading Technology Inc. (www.knfbreader.com) have propelled reading technology forward for the last 35 years through the invention of omnifont OCR, the flatbed scanner, text-to-speech synthesis, and the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind. K-NFB once again is redefining the boundaries of the printed word with Blio, which promises to set the standard for digital reading. This free application works across platforms and presents books as they were intended -- in full color and as laid out by the publisher. K-NFB is headed by CEO Ray Kurzweil, a 30-year innovator and pioneer in assistive technologies. The National Federation of the Blind is the largest, most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.

Baker & Taylor and the Baker & Taylor logo are trademarks of Baker & Taylor Inc. Blio is a trademark of K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc. Other company and product names mentioned for identification purposes may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Follow Blio and Baker & Taylor on Twitter at @Blioreader and @BakerandTaylor.

Nokia X7 & Samsung Galaxy S II Mini via 3 UK

Now it has recently been revealed that a roadmap from phone operator Three UK has been leaked online featuring the Nokia X7 and the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini.

The guys at techwatch.co.uk have stated that the Nokia X7 (also known as the X7-00) a mid-tier handset is expected to be released in June. This phone will be running a Symbian operating system, and comes with an 8 mega pixel camera that has auto focus, a digital zoom, dual LED flash and a 4 inch Nhd OLED screen. For more information on the official pictures and specs for the Nokia X7 (X7-00), why not follow the link to my colleague Mark’s article.

Now the Samsung Galaxy S II Mini is an Android device that comes with a quite impressive 3.7 inch display, considering it size. The phone also comes with further specs, such as an auto focus 5 mega pixel camera with LED flash, a VGA which is front-facing for video conferencing and a 1.4 Ghz processor.

The release of the Galaxy S II Mini is expected next month and will run Gingerbread and is definitely a fun and exciting edition to Samsung Galaxy selection of devices already available. For those of you out there interested in tablets, why not check out my colleague James’ article on the WiFi model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, expected release date 4 April.

It has also been revealed by the guys at techie-buzz.com that the Three UK roadmap leak also contained information on the HTC Flyer launch in May and the Blackberry Playbook WiFi launch in June.

Pah! The iPhone game you play with your mouth.

Have you ever been sittin’ there, playin’ an iPhone game, thinking to yourself, “Man! This is a cool game and all, but I really wish I didn’t have to use my hands so much. If only I could play using nothing but my mouth!”

No? Yeah, me neither. But hey, go with it.

Pah! is a classic sidescroller for iOS, with one big ol’ twist: it’s played entirely with your mouth. From the start screen on down, you play via a series of “Pah! Pah! Pah!”s and “AaaaAAAAaahs”. Shouting “Pah!” fires your ship’s guns, while the pitch of your “Aaah” determines how high you fly.

Don’t expect it to rock your world with mind-blowing graphics or an epic narrative — but at just 99 cents [iTunes Link], it’s worth checking out for the laughs alone. Check out a video of the game after the jump.

[Video via iPhoneGuru]

Angry Birds Rio Spread Its Wings to WebOS and Symbian^3 Next Month

Looks like the latest Angry Birds game is about to get onto virtually every smartphone platform there is except Windows Phone 7, as Angry Birds Rio is already available on iOS and Android and is soon to head for Symbian^3 and WebOS smartphones.

According to an article over on Phone Arena and by way of Geek.com and Symbian-Freak, Angry Birds Rio, the latest in the hugely popular multi-platform game series will hit the Ovi Store and Palm App Store as of the 8th of April.

So by the 8th most green pig slaughtering lovers should be able to get their hands on Angry Birds Rio, with the exception of anyone with an Android device outside the US of course as most are aware Amazon has exclusivity over Angry Birds Rio for Android and isn’t an international store.

As an Angry Birds fan in the UK I did attempt to get Angry Birds Rio, you can download the Amazon Android Appstore app, but you can’t actually download anything else, so pretty pointless if you don’t live in the USA.

I also put in an email to Rovio asking when Angry Birds Rio would be made available to international Android owners via the Android Market but as yet I haven’t received a reply.

Today’s Mobile News in Brief (March 23, 2011)

As reported here on Cell Phones Etc. and across the Web, here’s your daily brief on what happened in the world of mobile phones this Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011.

Bell also reduces iPhone 3GS 8GB to free on 3-year
In an expected move, Bell is now giving away iPhone 3Gs 8GB for free on a 3-yr contract. They’re the latest carrier to do so in an effort to clear inventory and make from for the newest iPhone, which is expected to be announced in June. Sure, the iPhone 3GS is no iPhone 4, but hey, it’s still an iPhone and it’s free.
Mobilesyrup

Windows Phone 7 NoDo update is out, brings copy and paste
Copy and paste is finally here for Windows Phone 7. The much anticipated NoDo update is now available, which brings the coveted function to Windows Phone 7 handsets across the globe, apart from a bunch tweaks and enhancements. Your Windows Phone 7 device should notify you once this update is already available in your neck of the woods.
GSMArena

Koodo releases the BlackBerry Curve 3G
The title already sass it all. You can now get the BlackBerry Curve 3G from Koodo. It retailing for $300, or just $150 if you get it on Tab. As an added treat, Koodo is also giving away a free $100 Visa gift card to Curve 3G buyers.
Mobilesyrup

Mozilla Firefox 4 RC for Android and Maemo now up for grabs
If you want an alternative browser to surf the net on your Android phone, you could check out the newly released Firefox 4. It reportedly provides a better overall user experience, and improved Firefox Sync as well as the other standard features you can find in its desktop counterpart. It’s readily available at the Android Market, and there’s also a version available for the handful of you folks out there using a Maemo device.
Engadet

TELUS investing $22 million into Manitoba, will bring 42 Mbps download speeds
Here’s good news for you guys out there in Manitoba. Telus has announced they’ll be investing some serious dough in the region this year, with the goal of expanding the coverage of their 42Mbps network in Manitoba to include Brandon, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Steinbach, and Victoria Beach. No word on when they expect this to be completed, but news of their 4G network expansion in the region should be good enough on its own.
Mobilesyrup

O2 raises prepay Simplicity tariffs

Operator says increases were made to take into account January VAT rise, previously not applied to Simplicity prepay services

O2 has raised the prices of its ‘Simplicity’ (SIM only) prepay tariffs by up to 2.50 for new and upgrading customers in order to take in January’s VAT rise and continue providing its “unlimited texts” service to its prepay customers.

Customers already on prepay Simplicity will remain on their existing allowance, at their existing price, the operator said.

Top up options have increased from 5, 10 and 15 to 7.50, 10.50 and 15.50.

The operator said the increased prices were due to the inclusion of January’s VAT rise, which it had previously only applied to its pay monthly Simplicity customers.

O2 said customers could now choose from three ‘basic’ Simplicity prepay allowances which are as follows: zero minutes and unlimited texts for 7.50, 100 minutes and 500 texts for 10.50 and 300 minutes and unlimited texts for 15.50.

As well as increasing tariff prices, O2 will now sell prepay Simplicity data allowance separately from minutes and texts in order to create more choice for their customers.

The separate data bundles are priced at 3 for 100MB of data, 6 for 500MB of data and 10 for 1GB of data and are the same as bundles offered to O2′s pay monthly customers.

An O2 statement said: “As we announced earlier in the year, we made an exception with Pay and Go simplicity customers, and chose to delay the VAT increase on their allowances in January.

“As part of this refresh, we have now aligned the VAT rate with our other tariffs to 20 per cent, which accounts for a proportion of the increase in the 10.50 and 15.50 allowances.

The operator said the decision to allow customer to purchase data separately came down to the fact that different people want different things when topping up.

O2 said: “As mobile usage evolves and internet on the mobile reaches the mass market, we believe there is no longer room to segregate or stereotype customers.”

“True choice is being offered what the customer wants, not what we prescribe.”

Sprint announces Drive First app to stop distracted driving, expects you to pay $2/month for it

Driving whilst distracted is becoming enough of a problem for our various government agencies to start looking into ways to proactively prevent it, rather than just pass laws against it, but Sprint is being more proactive than most. It's announced an app called Drive First, developed by Location Labs, which won't be available until sometime in the third quarter. The app runs on Android and basically puts your phone into lock-down mode "when driving is detected," automatically sending incoming calls to voicemail, auto-replying to texts that you're unavailable, and preventing you from using much of any applications outside mainstream navigation fare. As always with these apps we're not sure just how they'll differentiate between driving and, say, sitting on a train, and we're guessing they'll be just as effective at locking out those riding shotgun, but for parents worrying about whether Junior is texting when he should be driving home from band practice it could be a good solution. That solution, however, will cost those 'rents $2 per month -- and certainly won't earn them any love from their angsty teen.

Show full PR text

Sprint Introduces New Mobile Solution to Combat Distracted Driving

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), March 22, 2011 - In the lead-up to National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Sprint (NYSE:S) CEO Dan Hesse today announced to attendees at the International CTIA WIRELESS 2011 Show that Sprint later this year will offer Sprint® Drive FirstTM – the wireless carrier's first safe-driving solution to help wireless consumers safely manage their mobile devices and focus on driving while they're behind the wheel.

"As a parent, I am proud that Sprint is offering distracted driving solutions like Sprint Drive First, which effectively helps wireless customers manage their usage, stay safe behind the wheel and focus their attention on driving," Hesse said. "As mobile data usage continues to grow in popularity, Sprint wants to ensure its wireless consumers engage in safe behavior for themselves and others."

Sprint plans to make Drive First available in the third quarter of 2011 on AndroidTM mobile phones for Sprint customers and will require a $2-per-month charge (excluding surcharges and taxes) for each device that utilizes its features.

Created by Location Labs, Sprint Drive First is designed to do the following when driving is detected:

Lock the driver's cell phone screen and redirect calls to voice mail.
Block text-message alerts and auto-respond to the message sender that the driver is currently unavailable.
Allow access to three key contacts and three mobile applications, such as GPS navigation.
Give parents and business administrators Web portal access to configure Drive First for their teens' or employees' mobile devices.
"Location Labs continues to develop best-of-breed personal and family safety services that unlock the power of smart devices for users of all ages," said Location Labs CEO Tasso Roumeliotis. "We are thrilled to partner with Sprint, which is once again showing a real commitment to family and personal safety by offering DriveFirst to Sprint customers."

Attendees at the International CTIA WIRELESS 2011 Show can demo Sprint Drive First and other distracted driving solutions at the "Sprint Innovation Station" in the exhibitor hall.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and along with Sprint Drive First, Sprint will introduce a new interactive distracted-driving pledge that Sprint customers will be able to access online.

Since 2005, Sprint has advocated on behalf of its customers and employees on the dangers of distracted driving and worked with schools, nonprofit organizations and product developers to combat texting while driving. Sprint also has been an advocate for its employee pledge to not text and drive.

Sprint recently participated in an episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover:Home Edition (Sundays, 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. CT) that focused on distracted driving – donating more than $100,000 in mobile devices, wireless service and a monetary contribution to the Brown family of Wellman, Texas, in connection with the Remember Alex Brown Foundation.

More information on Sprint's distracted driving efforts can be found at sprint.com/focusondriving. At this site visitors can access a database of useful distracted-driving mobile applications, and find other helpful resources on responsible driving behavior.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 49.9 million customers at the end of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.