Nokia sees opportunity in Ovi-Vodafone deal

Nokia's strategic shift into mobile internet services received a boost on Wednesday when the Finnish mobile phone maker announced Vodafone would become a customer of its new Ovi portal.The deal underlines the dynamism of the mobile industry, coming days after Google announced its mobile strategy and just before Apple's iPhone launches in Europe.The agreement with Vodafone shows how much clout the world's largest handset maker can exert over operators. The Vodafone agreement follows a similar deal with Telefónica last month.
Nokia faced scepticism in August when it launched the Ovi brand, with many industry observers concerned that the service - which offers music, games and maps - would be in conflict with operators who hope to make money from similar services. However, it is now seeing some of the largest telecoms operators supporting the project.
Nokia's deals with Vodafone and Telefónica show that the Finnish group will be a considerable force for Google to contend with as it moves into the mobile market. Nokia's Series-60 operating system is a well-established competitor to the mobile operating system Google is planning to bring to the market and Nokia offers competing online services such as maps, which operators appear willing to adopt - even at some cost to themselves.Vodafone, for example, has invested heavily in building up its own music store since launching its Vodafone Live! portal in 2002, but has now agreed to allow its customers easy access to Nokia's music service as well.In exchange, Vodafone's services will be deeply integrated into Nokia's high-end phones, and Nokia will make a number of exclusive phones for Vodafone next year.
Nokia has about 38 per cent of the global market for handsets and the chance to have its services featured prominently on a Nokia mobile phone is an opportunity even the largest operators cannot ignore.In supporting Ovi, Vodafone is effectively admitting that its efforts to create user loyalty through branded services have failed.In supporting Ovi, Vodafone has stopped fighting against the inevitable and is allowing the Nokia brand to become uppermost in the user's mind," said Richard Windsor, analyst at Nomura.However, by offering its services through Ovi, Vodafone is likely to see better take-up than going it alone."Frank Rovekamp, global head of marketing at Vodafone, said that though the music services would overlap, this was part of a broader alliance with Nokia that he was keen to develop. Vodafone will share revenues with Nokia on services such as maps and games.Mobile operators are under pressure to improve their web-based services as devices such as Apple's iPhone enter the market.


Source:http://search.ft.com/

Mobile phones tumour risk to young children

Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), said that evidence of potentially harmful effects had become more persuasive over the past five years.The news prompted calls for phones to carry health warnings and panic in parts of the industry. One British manufacturer immediately suspended a model aimed at four to eight-year-olds.The number of mobiles in Britain has doubled to 50 million since the first government-sponsored report in 2000. The number ofchildren aged between five and nine using mobiles has increased fivefold in the same period.
In his report, Mobile Phones and Health, Sir William said that four studies have caused concern. One ten-year study in Sweden suggests that heavy mobile users are more prone to non-malignant tumours in the ear and brain while a Dutch study had suggested changes in cognitive function. A German study has hinted at an increase in cancer around base stations, while a project supported by the EU had shown evidence of cell damage from fields typical of those of mobile phones.All of these studies have yet to be replicated and are of varying quality but we can’t dismiss them out of hand,” Sir William said. If there was a health risk — which remained unproven — it would have a greater effect on the young than on older people, he addedFor children aged between 8 and 14, parents had to make their own judgments about the risks and benefits. “I can’t believe that for three to eight year-olds they can be readily justified,” he said.David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, called last night for a ban on mobiles in schools.
Mobile phone companies reacted furiously, saying that the report fanned public concern without presenting new research. The youth market is highly lucrative because teenagers are more likely to use video downloads and other services.The World Health Organisation is preparing to publish an international report, drawing on hundreds of studies conducted over a decade, which many hope will give a definitive judgment on mobile phone safety.
The board’s report says that while there is a lack of hard information of damage to health, the approach should be precautionary. Sir William said: “Just because there are 50 million of them out there doesn’t mean they are absolutely safe.”One school in the North East has begun using mobile scanners to prevent pupils using mobiles in class. “Outside college hours it is up to parents, but in our care if mobiles are found on children, they are confiscated and returned to the parents,” David Riden, vice principal of Tollbar Business and Enterprise College in New Waltham, said.One group that appears to target young users is Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile, which derives much of its revenue from the 16s-35s market. It denies targeting under 16s but has cornered a large slice of the youth market with cheap voice and text messages.
Source : http://www.timesonline.co.uk

3G mobiles 'change social habits'

Increasing use of 3G mobile phones can change the way people communicate and create new social trends and tribes, a behavioural study has suggested.

The study said the combination of still and video cameras on modern phones, and the advent of high speed data transfer, can inspire a generation of users.Bloggers, film-makers and clubbers all benefit from 3G phones, it said.Analysts Future Laboratory said the report was the first ethnographic survey of 3G use across the UK.

3G is the next generation of mobile phone technology, offering a wide range of high speed mobile services, including video calling and messaging, e-mail, games, photo messaging and information services.They identified a range of new behavioural patterns among those using 3G phones, which were free of charge for the duration of the study.New technology on offer allowed a diverse range of personalities to express themselves creatively in different ways, the report said.

network and use 3G mobiles to keep friends up to date.

Alfred Tong, one of the report's authors, admitted that allowing free use of the phones encouraged heavy use, but said the study offered a glimpse into a 3G future.Without the constraints of price, we hope these results illustrate how people will use 3G as the technology spreads," he told the BBC News website.The report's authors dubbed the new generation of mobile phone users Generation C, with C meaning content.
As well as offering bloggers the chance to post instantly to their own sites, researchers saw 3G phones used as a counterpoint to retailing, socialising, and as a tool for documenting their lives.Analyst Ben Wood said he welcomed the study, but said that most mobile phone users remain concerned about looks, cost and battery life above all else."It's very hard to get people to discover these services and to use them," he said.3G operators were still seeking ways to maximise income from multimedia services without putting off customers, he added.
Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/