Samsung has revealed the world’s first Windows Phone 8 (WP8) smartphone, the Samsung ATIV S. The device has an elegant industrial design, is powered by the highest hardware specifications on the market – including dual-core processor, HD display, high memory capacity ─ and comes packed with the latest connectivity solutions and feature-sets. The investment made to produce this phone suggests that Samsung is now taking the Windows Phone ecosystem seriously and could return to a multi-OS strategy, something that the South Korean giant had adopted for years in the past.
The ongoing patent wars between mobile device manufacturers featured a decisive battle late Friday, when the jury deliberating on the argument between US company Apple and South Korea’s Samsung found against the Android-focused firm. The US jury awarded Apple damages of $1bn, after ruling that Samsung did indeed infringe several of Apple’s patented designs and features.
In a major coup for the Korean firm, Samsung has secured its first significant European network contract by signing a deal to supply 3UK with LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) and 3G/LTE core infrastructure equipment.
In a bid to propagate Android devices even further into the market, Google is preparing to launch a range of Nexus devices with various hardware partners in the final quarter of the year, according to a leaked memo from Japanese operator NTT Docomo.
A US-based campaign group, China Labor Watch, has alleged that a key supplier to leading handset vendor Samsung is using child labour in its factory. HEG Electronics is described by CLW as “an important partner” to Samsung, working on the production of a range of consumer electronics products, including monbile phones and DVD players.
The Android smartphone OS has more than 65 per cent of the smartphone market across Europe’s big five countries, up from 42.7 per cent in July 2011, according to the latest data from Kantar WorldPanel ComTech. As the leading Android vendor, Korea’s Samsung has 45 per cent of the European smartphone market, Kantar said.
Japanese handset makers NEC and Fujitsu have joined forces with the country’s market leading operator NTT Docomo to set up a joint venture to develop smartphone chips. The firms have collaborated closely in the past and had even attempted to launch a similar JV, with the participation of Samsung and Panasonic.
The industry’s big names are continuing to post their quarterly earnings this week, and American operators Sprint and America Movil, as well as Middle Eastern operator group Etisalat, shared somewhat encouraging results. Meanwhile, Samsung recorded its best ever profit for a quarter but Facebook had bad news in its first ever earnings statement.
As the long-running patent war rages on between Apple and Samsung, a UK judge has ordered Apple to publish a notice on its website and in British newspapers stating that its Korean rival did not copy the iPad design for its tablets.
Handset giant Samsung has acquired UK chipmaker CSR’s handset technology development business in a deal worth $310m. The acquisition is part of Samsung’s “complete platform strategy”, according to analysts, as the Korean vendor looks to cut its dependency on external silicon suppliers.
Microsoft has unveiled its latest operating system for mobile handsets, Windows Phone 8. The announcement was made in the same week as the firm launched its Surface tablet device, which runs on the Windows 8 operating system for PCs and tablets.
Global sales of mobile phones declined on a qurterly basis for the first time in nearly three years, according to research firm Gartner this week. The two per cent year-on-year drop between the first quarters of 2012 and 2011 marks the first time the market has weakened since the second quarter of 2009.
To whet your appetite for the event here is a preview of Category 7: Best LTE RAN Product.
This award recognises Radio Access Network elements that are exceptional in their area.
To whet your appetite for the event here is a preview of Category 5: Most Innovative LTE Commercial Launch.
Yesterday, Samsung introduced the third generation of its flagship smartphone brand, the Galaxy S III. The phone will be branded as the official 2012 Olympics phone. This device belongs to the super-phone category of smartphones which also includes HTC One X, the forthcoming iPhone 5 and LG Optimus 2X.
Korean vendor Samsung been crowned as the number one handset vendor, displacing Nokia after its 14-year reign.
The relationship between Google and Samsung is looking increasingly strained, after recent announcements from the Korean vendor suggest that it is gradually stepping up to compete with its old American ally.
The CEOs of Apple and Samsung, Tim Cook and Choi Gee-sung, have agreed to hold settlement talks to try to resolve a patent lawsuit over smartphone and tablet technology, according to a court filing. Meanwhile, Twitter has announced that it will begin a policy of not using patents as a tool to impede the innovation of others.
Korean handset vendor Samsung has launched its own mobile advertising exchange, to rival those set up by Google and Apple, as well as plays from several mobile operators. Samsung AdHub Market lets companies buy advertising space on mobile devices from either app developers or Samsung directly.
Samsung to invest $7bn on chip factory in China. The company will invest $2.3bn initially in the Xi’an plant, Suwon, and will start producing NAND flash chips next year.
Lean and MeanWith summer supposedly fast approaching, many look to trim some fat and get in shape for the sunny months. The Informer has never been a huge fan of gyms; in fact his favourite machine in the gym is the one that sells chocolate. Telefonica’s UK arm O2, is one business that is looking to get lean for the holidays, though, and this week it announced that it is to trim 3,500 UK employees.
Cross-border opportunities are there, but Telenor has work to do in BulgariaPan-European operater group Telenor is making another move into Eastern Europe, this time buying Bulgaria’s Globul. The move makes sense for several reasons, but success won’t come easy in a country with high mobile penetration and a sluggish economy.
Telecoms.com speaks with Ali Agan, who has risen through the ranks of TeliaSonera Group to become CEO of KCell in Kazakhstan. With a young population Agan is keen to deploy LTE and exploit nascent demand for data services.
Jonathan Bell, VP of Marketing at OpenCloud, discusses how policy and pricing are just two dimensions along which telecoms operators can differentiate their propositions. By adding a third dimension, the service behaviour itself, operators can define and bring true innovation to the market that surpasses the traditional approaches of the past, he says.
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Calls for consolidation in the European mobile market grow louder by the week and four-operator markets look increasingly challenged. Now, those mobile operators that have already built scale seem to be suggesting that there is no option but to expand yet further through diversification.