The UK Mobile Report

Happy Crimbo an' all that innit

If you are still at work...GO HOME. Stick a fleshy animal in your oven, whip up some gravy and a load of veg, and do the Crimbo thing.

As they say over the pond..HAPPY HOLIDAYS.....or as they say in Bethnal Green, 'APPY 'OLIDAYS. Go on.... have yourself a good rest pouring over your mobile phone bills or somink.

If there is any news fit to print I will of course drop me turkey drumsticks and set keyboard to work to bring you all the grimy details....

See you on the other side of this pagan/christian festival of love and capitialism that is once again before us. Eat, drink and switch off your BlackBerry. Ho ho ho.

Ken (with due deference to Russel Brandspeak).

Are joint ventures a good thing?

It's all the rage to network share these days - the cost savings are much loved by bean counters and shareholders alike. But joint venture broadband networks can be notoriously fiddly to set up (too many chiefs and all that).

So it is interesting to read Tony Dennis' piece this morning at The Enquirer

He suggests that the joint venture between Vodafone and Orange is stuck in the slow lane, compared to a much faster moving agreement between T-Mobile and 3UK. The story also says that approval by the Office of Fair Trading is pending, but possibly due any day now.

Nokia removes tracking feature

The new Nokia N95 firmware takes away one really useful feature - the tracking feature that tells you where you are. Probably the most useful bit of software that has hitherto been provided is now being mysteriously un-provided, all this according to The Register, which says:

The latest firmware for the Nokia N95 offers many new features and much better memory management, and is free to download - but it also takes away the tracking feature from Nokia Maps, which the company now claims was a limited-time promotional offer.

Could it be that Nokia thinks this feature is good as an early teaser but now has to be something we all pay for?

Interview: Patrick Le Bihan of Spansion

How many times have you used your mobile as an MP3 player, or played games on it, only to see your battery bar wilt into a thin red line by the end of the day?

In an attempt to shed some light on the main causes of rubbish battery life and possible alternatives, UKMR chatted to Patrick Le Bihan of Spansion, the world’s largest Flash memory solutions provider.

What uses most of the power on a mobile?

Memory – it’s like the brain of the phone and the CPU is the heart taking information given by the brain to translate it by launching applications, a camera and MP3s. In the memory you store not only the application but also the information, for example an MP3. One of the biggest fears for mobile network operators is that if you have a consumer listening to his MP3 all day, or playing his new games or watching TV, at the end of the day he can’t receive or make phone calls. So extended battery life and how memory affects it is something critical for operators.

What do you mean by memory?

In a mobile’s memory subsystem you have the Flash memory that is non-volatile (information is kept when power is switched off), then there’s the RAM, and that is volatile and used for exchange with the CPU (central processing unit). Now, if you want to download an MP3 from an operator’s music site, you need to download to the DRAM first, and then you copy back from the DRAM to the Flash. The DRAM is what consumes the most energy in a mobile phone - each time you download something, it goes to the RAM and then copies back to the Flash. We provide very fast write times for mobiles, so when you want to download something you don’t have to wait for hours - you can actually bypass the RAM and download directly into the flash, which consumes much less power than the RAM and extends the battery life. Another case is when you want to read, or play and MP3 file. First you launch the MP3 player then you select the MP3. The longer it takes to launch the MP3 player, the longer the memory is being used and the more energy you consume.

So again with Spansion’s MirrorBit, not only do we have a fast write time but also a fast read time, enabling you to launch the media player faster, extending the battery life. And because the read time is so fast you don’t need the read the MP3 file from the RAM, you can do that directly from the flash, giving up to 6 hours extra battery life, and allowing the mobile to have a smaller amount of D-RAM. So by using this component you can use less D-RAM, which allows you to consume much less energy. How long until this component is a handset standard? Everything depends on the type of phone you have - they don’t require the same amount of memory or computing power.

With MirrorBit we are combining the fast read and fast write that is available with different phone architecture and we foresee that this product will be present in around 60% of the mobile market by 2010. At he moment, Spansion has 40% market share. We hope to supply 60% by 2010 and the product itself will be available in samples early 2008, and deployed for the consumer by the end of 2008.

How far ahead is mobile technology from the phones that consumers can purchase?

From conception it’ll take 18 to 24 months to turn into a real product. So with all the providers of the ecosystem – like the CPU providers and other guys – we are looking at a minimum of 2 or 3 years ahead. And whenever the product is available, you still have to provide it to the handset guys, who need to integrate it into the handset.

What about future plans?

We’re already working on actions of the paradigm of the architecture of the phone, so not only on the memory. It’s like a puzzle - if you design a part of the puzzle you have to make sure that the other parts fit. We’re currently working on 3D video games for mobiles, there’s also mobiles that can be deployed with streaming video, so you can go from one channel to the other without having to wait.

We’re also working on the security field, because we’re not only providing flash memory, but flash memory solutions. So we’re working on providing security storage, so you can have credit card details on your phone, which will really allow you to deploy NFC (Near Field Communications) so you can purchase stuff with your phone and pay by NFC. (Beren Neale)

Unlocked iPhone? I think not

As you might have expected using an unlocked iPhone may not be the bowl of cherries that you imagined. Various stories have been creeping out this week about the perils of using unlocked phones.

This from a reader at Maclife.com:

Stuck in France: The officially unlocked French iPhones aren't as unlocked as you think. The phones are tethered to work with only French carriers. In other words, you can't buy an unlocked French iPhone from Orange and use it with an American, German or UK based sim card.

In other news....

Pocketpicks says that Apple are rumoured to be launching two new phones next year:

One will be the long-rumoured 3G model, which is likely to have “a similar form factor as the current version although it could have a different look”. However, he predicts it won’t go on sale until the second half of the year, which contradicts previous speculation.

What’s the other new iPhone then? Don’t get too excited: Bailey claims that it’ll be a refresh of the current mode, with more flash memory inside, and that it’ll come out earlier in 2008. 16GB would be just fine - nudging over the tipping point to be able to hold many average users’ entire music collections. (Bailey is a Goldman Sachs analyst).

Funny story of the day is the news that a Canadian oil worker received a mobile bill for £41,000 - go easy on that adult content pal!He claims his bill is in fact under £2000. More here.

And finally....

With the Xmas party season in full swing. I suggest you turn off your computer and head for the pub. Normal service will be resumed as and when.

One last thought. Avram Grant has signed a four year contract with Chelsea to manage the team, so the fans are going to have to come up with a suitable chant sooner or later. My own nomination goes like this:

There's only one Avram Grantioo. One Avram Grantio. etc. etc.

I'm sure you can do a lot better....all nominations gratefully accepted.

Windows Mobile 6.1 leaks out

The BoyGeniusReport blog has shown leaked screenshots of Windows Mobile 6.1 like this one. Lots more here.

Is Dell losing faith?

Dell made it big by selling direct, but it now looks like it's admitting it can't continue with that approach. The Inquirer reports that it is to sell through 900 BestBuy shops in the US.

I've long been having a conversation with friends about how frustrating it is that you can't go and look at Dell kit anywhere. OK it would cost Dell a fair bit of cash to have a retail presence but I wouldn't mind if it was in a warehouse in the middle of no-where. At least I could go and have a look. Buying a computer is a bit like buying a cheap car. You wouldn't buy one without a bit of a test drive. So come on Dell start selling direct over here, pronto.

Apple to have subnotebook at last?

Apple is to unveil a subnotebook with 3G, according to news site CNBC.

The device will be about half the weight of a MacBook (2.27 Kg) and will have a flash memory instead of a hard drive. Sources also suggest that the 3G iPhone will be launched sometime in the second quarter of next year

£9bn Googleman to tie the knot

Google's £9bn man Larry Page, is to marry his girlfriend of one year, Lucy Southworth, on Richard Branson's Necker Island, this weekend.

It's all very hush hush, with only 600 guests invited and not a prenup agreement in sight. Surprisingly Paul McCartney has not been invited, but Richard-the-ballonman-Branson is best man. (How did he wangle that? - Ed).

Pimp my phone

Let's face it, most phones are metallic and boring. So why not spruce yours up with a bit of customisation?
Skins4Things is a clever outfit that will turn out skins for most popular devices. From their web site you choose from a selection of skins and they then post you the stick-on skins. Scores of designs to choose from, prices from £7.95.