mHealth Summit 2012: Isonea previews AsthmaSense v1.1 smartphone app.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Medical technology company iSonea Ltd.  today announced that previews of AsthmaSense™ v1.1, the latest version of its asthma management smartphone app, are available at the mHealth Summit (booth number 501-13), currently underway through December 5 at the Gaylord National™ Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The Company expects AsthmaSense v1.1 will be available for download before the end of 2012.

AsthmaSense is the most comprehensive, yet easy-to-use smartphone app designed specifically to help improve daily monitoring and management of asthma. Users can input their medication, symptoms and peak flow results and set alerts for medication and lung function testing. In addition to using this information to alert the user to potential risk, the AsthmaSense app provides a record of the data for the patient to review with family or physician.

AsthmaSense v1.1 includes new functionality to help better manage asthma symptoms, including:

• Data synchronization and cloud storage – AsthmaSense is the first asthma app to provide safe storage of users' asthma profiles and event history/trends in a password protected, HIPAA- compliant, patient accessible cloud data warehouse.

• Trigger tracking - A profile record of personal asthma triggers to increase user awareness of potential risk patterns.

• Automatic emergency number input – Emergency contact number is automatically inputted into the phone, based on GPS location. In addition, users can edit or input their own custom emergency numbers.

• Improved help hints - Pop-up "hint bubbles" will appear on certain screens to acquaint the user with app features.

"Since we launched AsthmaSense in June 2012, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with user feedback consistently lauding the app's features and ease-of-use. 

AsthmaSense v1.1 builds on that foundation with new features that allow asthmatics to feel confident that their information is always available, no matter the circumstances," said Michael Thomas, CEO of iSonea Ltd. "In the event that a user loses or breaks their smartphone, the cloud data storage feature means their data is never lost. Their entire profile and information can be retrieved, via the cloud, and uploaded to a new phone or viewed on a desktop computer.

 These upgrades reaffirm iSonea's commitment to keeping AsthmaSense the most intelligent, easy-to-use asthma management app on the market."In the United States alone, 25 million people have asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC also estimates the cost burden in the U.S. alone exceeds $56 billion annually, as poorly controlled asthma is associated with increased emergency room visits, hospitalizations and medical costs. 

The World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 250,000 deaths globally from poorly controlled asthma every year. The medical community's guidelines, including those from the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), state that regular monitoring of breathing symptoms is necessary to improve medication compliance and successful long-term management of asthma.

It is also recommended that all people with asthma have an asthma action plan developed with their doctor to help control their asthma.AsthmaSense is available for free at the Apple App Store (for iPhone and iPad users) and Google Play and Amazon App Stores (for Android users).

Some features may not be available in all markets; contact iSonea for more information.About iSonea Limited 

iSonea Limited  is an emerging medical technology company developing innovative, non-invasive devices and mobile health apps to improve the management of chronic, costly respiratory disorders such as asthma and COPD. By leveraging iSonea's proprietary Acoustic Respiratory Monitoring™ (ARM) technology with its AsthmaSense™ mobile applications, iSonea is creating a better monitoring system—enabling anyone, anywhere, at any time to monitor breathing distress symptoms, in order to take action. iSonea's ARM devices have been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Australian TGA and the European Union. For more information, please visit www.soundasthma.com.

Media Contacts
Michael Thomas	Jon Siegal or Jen Netzband
Chief Executive Officer	Schwartz MSL Boston
iSonea Limited	+1 781-684-0770
+1 410-777-5251	iSonea@schwartzmsl.com
mthomas@iSoneaMed.com	www.schwartzmsl.com
website: www.iSoneaMed.com

SOURCE iSonea Ltd.

3Q 2012: WorldWide smartphone and mobile phone market share. Samsung leading.Charts.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Please click on the charts below to enlarge the view:

3Q 2012: WorldWide smartphone and mobile phone market share. Samsung leading.Charts.

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 2.4% year over year in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), driven by heavyweights Samsung and Apple as Nokia dropped off the Top 5 list of smartphone vendors. 

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 444.5 million mobile phones in 3Q12 compared to 434.1 million units in the third quarter of 2011.

In the worldwide smartphone market vendors shipped 179.7 million units in 3Q12 compared to 123.7 million units in 3Q11. The 45.3% year-over-year growth was slightly above IDC's forecast of 45.2% for the quarter.

Equally noteworthy was the decline of Nokia, which was replaced by Research In Motion as a Top 5 smartphone player. Nokia's exit from the Top 5, where it had resided since the inception of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004, was precipitated by the rise of Samsung and Apple globally and high-growth vendors like Huawei in China, where Nokia was the dominant player as recently as the third quarter of 2011.

"Nokia's share losses have meant gains for competitors," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months. However, the smartphone market is still relatively nascent, which means there's room for multiple vendors and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."

"Nokia is not the only smartphone vendor in transition," added Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's Mobile Phone team. "Research In Motion, although still a market leader, expects to start shipping its first BB10 devices in 2013. Motorola, once the number 3 smartphone vendor worldwide, is redirecting itself under its parent company Google. These are just two vendors among many that feel the competitive pressure of Samsung and Apple, but are striving to create multiple points of differentiation to assert upward pressure."

Nonetheless, IDC expects long-term mobile phone and smartphone shipment demand to grow due to the central role mobile phones play in people's lives. "At the heart of mobility is communication," noted Llamas. 

"Mobile phones and smartphones play a critical role in keeping people connected, regardless of location. In addition, their utility beyond communication – productivity, entertainment, and multimedia – continues to add to their value."

Smartphone Vendor Highlights

Samsung maintained its leadership position in the worldwide smartphone market, posting another record quarter for itself and the industry, and more than double the total volume of its next closest competitor, Apple. This marks the first time since 4Q09 that a single company held more than 31% market share in a single quarter. Samsung's growth was fueled in large part by its broad, deep, and refreshed Android portfolio, highlighted by the full quarter availability of its flagship model Galaxy S III. In addition, the company announced multiple mid-range and mass-market models, including a new Windows Phone, the ATIV S.

Apple iPhone shipments finished the quarter nearly flat from the previous quarter, reaching a total of 26.9 million units. Although the iPhone 5 was only on the market for one week in 3Q12, the aggressive rollout of the device resulted in more than 5 million iPhones sold in the first weekend of availability, which helped buoy Apple's shipment totals. iPhone sales weren't dampened by the introduction of its Maps software, which was not completely ready for use. Instead, the iPhone 5's larger screen and 4G LTE connectivity generated user interest. What remains to be seen is how Apple will fare during the holiday quarter, when the iPhone 5 will be available in more countries worldwide.

Research In Motion's shipment volumes appear to have flattened though the company posted the second-highest year-over-year decline of any the leading vendors. RIM relied on its older product portfolio and models to achieve its status as a top 5 smartphone seller. RIM's installed base, which topped 80 million active users during the quarter, provides further evidence of the company's widespread presence globally. Still, without a new flagship model in time for the holiday season and BB10 models not expected until the first quarter of 2013, RIM's position as a top 5 smartphone vendor will be under tremendous pressure from other companies.

ZTE finished among the top 5 smartphone vendors globally thanks to continued international diversification efforts last quarter. ZTE has grown its smartphone sales of late thanks primarily to an uptick in lower-cost smartphone sales in many emerging markets. The company has traditionally been dependent on sales of phones to China, where the company is based. However, notable progress was made in North America last quarter.

HTC clung to the number 5 smartphone spot last quarter thanks to sales of key models such as the HTC One X and the EVO 4G. Continued year-over-year growth in the Asia/Pacific region helped the smartphone vendor offset some of the share losses the vendor has endured in key mature markets, namely the U.S. The company hopes to rejuvenate its global fortunes this quarter with the introduction of the 8X and 8S models, powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone 8, among others. However, it will have to convince consumers that the differences between the models and Android-powered phones or iPhones are interesting enough to merit a purchase. 

Q3 2012: Samsung shipped 57.1 million smartphones, operation profit ramps up to $7.3 billion.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Q3 2012: Samsung shipped 57.1 million smartphones, operation profit ramps up to $7.3 billion.

Samsung Electronics said Friday that it posted record operating profit of 8.1 trillion won ($7.3 billion) in the third quarter of this year on the back of robust smartphones sales. It is the fourth straight quarter of record operating profit.

The preliminary estimate for the July-September period is a 90.6 percent rise from 4.3 trillion won a year earlier and a 20.5 percent gain from the previous quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing. It is the first time a Korean company has exceeded 8 trillion won in quarterly operating profit.

In the filing to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the electronics giant also said it recorded record sales of 52 trillion won during the three-month period, up 26 percent from a year ago.

``For the first nine months of this year, Samsung has reaped 144.87 trillion won in revenue, while the combined operating profit reached 20.67 trillion won. It’s possible for Samsung to clinch 200 trillion won in revenue and 25 trillion won in operating profit for the entire year,’’ said a company spokesman.

The firm plans to announce the breakdown of its quarterly performance by business division later this month.

Samsung officials say smartphone sales have been good, while its consumer electronics and display-panel divisions also helped improve quarterly earnings and revenue.

“Our smartphone business was very impressive in the third quarter. We expect the phone-making division took up 68 percent by reporting at least 5.5 trillion out of the 8.1 trillion won quarterly operating profit,’’ said the official.

Samsung shipped 57.1 million smartphones in the third quarter, said leading local brokerage Daishin Securities. That will surpass the 50.5 million the firm shipped the previous quarter, a new high for a single vendor. 

Sales of the Galaxy S3 surpassed 20 million in the 100 days after its May debut, the firm said on Sept. 6. The company is also marketing the Galaxy Note 2, equipped with a stylus and a larger screen than the S3, after the first version sold more than 10 million. 

But the official stressed the firm’s other businesses have improved or at least secured their bottom line despite the debt-crisis in Europe and a slowdown in consumer spending in the United States and China. 

``This is a good sign for Samsung as its rivalry with Apple is expected to heat up in the fourth quarter after the release of Apple’s new iPhone,’’ said the official. 

Samsung’s consumer electronics unit, which mainly handles its television business, reported some 700 billion won in operating profit in the last quarter thanks to the rising popularity of high-end TVs in Samsung’s strategic business markets of Europe, North America and China.

Samsung’s semiconductor division, which is a traditional cash cow, is seen to create some 1 trillion won operating profit during the July-September period helped by an increased shipment of mobile application processors for use in smartphones and tablets and flash-type memory chips.

But executives admit they are nervous about the company’s dependency on the booming smartphone business.

The profit contribution from its phone-making business was between 20 and 30 percent before smartphones came out. But it was 73 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Samsung.

``This is a new challenge for us. We are asked to find the next smartphone to diversify our business portfolio and lower the heavy dependency on that business,’’ said a Samsung executive by telephone.

According to a recent study by market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA), the demand for smartphones priced over $300 will lower to 30 percent next year from this year’s estimated 39 percent, meaning Samsung will suffer from a possible decline in average selling price (ASP) _ a barometer to gauge profitability.

Samsung and Apple are dominating global demand for smartphones. But the rapid rise of China’s budget smartphone manufacturers including ZTE are posing another threat to Samsung and urging its top decision makers to develop other businesses for corporate sustainability.

``I can say today’s smartphone boom is just like a carbonated drink. I mean smartphones don’t need huge investment, unlike memory chips, and could be a short passing phase,’’ said another Samsung official.  

China smartphone market: Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

China smartphone market: Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities.

Sony Mobile Communications AB will win enormous opportunities in China's smartphone market if the company always focuses on the right products, is quick to respond to market demand and is speedier in innovation, according to Sony Mobile's top officer in China.

The Chinese smartphone market is extremely "tough and intense", said Magnus Ahlqvist, president of Sony Mobile China. "The market has all the international players, as well as a number of Chinese rivals who also perform actively," Ahlqvist said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

After the Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp bought out Ericsson AB's half of their 10-year-old venture for $1.3 billion in February, Sony Mobile has become a wholly owned subsidiary under Sony Corp and is acting as a pillar for the company's turnaround plan.

With China being the world's biggest smartphone market, with an expected smartphone shipment of more than 164 million units this year, Sony Mobile regards it as a key customer and focuses more on it now, he said.

"Sony Mobile tries to ensure it does very deep analysis on the Chinese market. Then we can have a good assessment of what are the opportunities going forward," Ahlqvist added.

Unlike Samsung Electronics of South Korea, which has a complete product line covering all price levels, Sony Mobile's products were mainly targeting mid- to high-end segments. Of all the global brands competing in China, Sony Mobile had about 60 percent of its smartphones sold at a price of more than 2,000 yuan ($315), behind only Apple Inc and Research In Motion, according to a study conducted by Barclays.

However, the majority of Chinese people can only afford a smartphone with a price tag of between 700 yuan and 2,000 yuan, which means Sony Mobile has ceded the lion's share of the booming Chinese smartphone market to Samsung and local competitors.

"Yes, we have probably lost shares in those segments because we have not addressed them, so we don't really have a presence today," Ahlqvist said. But, on the other hand, every company has to do a good job in areas it is really expert at, he continued.

Sony Mobile's performance in the mid- and high-end sectors has already given us a lot of confidence, he pointed out.

Ahlqvist said Sony Mobile had achieved a clear increase in market share in the higher end segment in the second quarter in China. "Combined with our creative technology, rich content and unique design, I am quite confident that we will continue to grow at a fast pace," he said.

Sony Mobile has introduced 12 smartphone models in the Chinese market this year. Ahlqvist said it is a must for his company to better understand customers' needs and be quick to launch products satisfying their demands. "The Chinese market is changing very fast," he said. Therefore, every product may have a shorter life span and should be replaced by new devices with advanced technologies.

Analysts argued that Sony Mobile might have the most potential to challenge industry's dominant players - Samsung and Apple - since Sony Mobile could take advantage of tremendous resources from its parent company Sony Corp.

"The competition in the mobile phone industry is no longer merely relying on hardware, but also on software and the whole eco-system as well," said Wang Ying, an analyst at Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. Sony is a rare, comprehensive entertainment company, with operations in movies, music, gaming and financial services. If it integrates well, those resources would quickly make Sony devices stand out, she said.

In a previous interview, Ahlqvist said there is a trend that people like to enjoy content and services through multi-screens, including smartphones, tablets, televisions and personal computers. "Through our many devices, people can enjoy all of Sony's content - from movies to music and games - in a way no one else can," he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese customers are familiar with the Sony brand thanks to the company's lengthy presence in the Chinese market. It's a positive benefit for Sony Mobile after it returned to Sony, he added.

Sony had a 3.5 percent share of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, according to Gartner Inc. Samsung topped the rankings with a 29.7 percent share, followed by Apple with 18.8 percent.

"I doubt Sony has the scale to re-emerge as a serious contender anytime soon," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a consultancy company that follows China's IT industry.

Kunimasa Suzuki, a Sony executive vice-president overseeing mobile products, said earlier this month that Sony plans to draw on its skills in video games, cameras and audio players in developing smartphones and tablet computers, Bloomberg reported.

In April, when Sony's chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai laid out his strategy for the company, he said he expects the mobile products group, which also includes tablet computers and traditional personal computers, to generate more than 1.8 trillion yen ($23 billion) in revenue with a "significant improvement" in operating profit within three years.

Sony's mobile products division posted a loss of 28.1 billion yen in the fiscal first quarter that ended in June. However, Sony raised its estimate of smartphone shipments by about 2 percent to 34 million units for the year ending in March next year.

Breaking News: HP CEO Meg Whitman: We Have to Ultimately Offer a Smartphone.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Breaking News: HP CEO Meg Whitman: We Have to Ultimately Offer a Smartphone.

Today Fox News  made an interview to HP CEO Meg Whitman, she said "everyone around the world is using an smartphone as an primary device and  we are computing company. We are taking the time to make it right this time."

A new webOS slab smartphone? Gram an HP`s company is preparing to launch webOS Open this month, sources familiar with the matter say, there will be hardware prototypes running the open operating system.

It is not clear if some OEM`s hardwares will be included at that moment or just HP prototypes.

(watch the video here as well http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1838977863001/hewlett-packard-ceo-we-have-to-ultimately-offer-a-smartphone )

USA: Young adults and Teens Lead growth among smartphones owners, says Nielsen.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

USA: Young adults and Teens Lead growth among smartphones owners, says Nielsen.

As mobile manufacturers announce new phones in advance of the holidays, Nielsen took a snapshot look at the mobile market in the U.S. Smartphone penetration continued to grow in July 2012, with 55.5 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. now owning smartphones. This is a significant increase compared to July 2011 when only 41 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones.

Overall, young adults are leading the growth in smartphone ownership in the U.S., with 74 percent of 25-34 year olds now owning smartphones, up from 59 percent in July 2011. Interestingly, teenagers between 13 and 17 years old demonstrated the most dramatic increases in smartphone adoption, with the majority of American teens (58%) owning a smartphone, compared to roughly a third (36%) of teens saying they owned a smartphone just a year ago.

“Among most age groups smartphones represent the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers, but American teens were the age group adopting smartphones the fastest,” Nichole Henderson, a Nielsen analyst, said. “As teens increase in their share of smartphone owners, mobile carriers and manufacturers should consider how to market to this growing group.”

Android handsets continue to lead the smartphone market, with both a majority of smartphone owners and recent acquirers (those who obtained their handset in the last 3 months) now owning a phone that runs on the Android operating system. Apple’s iPhone followed closely with a share of 34 percent of smartphone owners and 33 percent of recent acquirers choosing an iOS handset. BlackBerry handsets decreased to an 8 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market and only 3 percent of recent acquirers.

Samsung is working to introduce smartphones with bendable screens.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Samsung is working to introduce smartphones with bendable screens.

Reuters is reporting the posibility of Samsung to launch flexible or bendable smartphones later this year .

We firmly believe  smartphones with flexible screens is the trend for the new year 2013  as we posted before on: 

Trends 2013: Products with flexible/unfold displays: small batteries with more power. Who will be the first to launch?  and with more storage capacity since in the latest Flash Summit 2012 were showed NAND Flash memories  with 2.2TB

FLEXI-SCREENSamsung is also working to introduce smartphones with bendable screens later this year as it seeks to cement its lead in the $200 billion plus global smartphone market and challenge Apple, which is expected to launch its new iPhone on September 12.

Source: Reuters

Official Samsung Galaxy Note II (2) specifications.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

 

Network

• 3G: HSPA+21Mbps
  (HSDPA 21Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps)
• 4G LTE: 100Mbps / 50Mbps

Processor

• 1.6 GHz quad-core processor

OS

• Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Display

• 140.9 mm (5.55") HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720)

Dimension

• 80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm, 180g

Battery

• Standard battery, Li-ion 3,100mAh

Memory

• 16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM)
• microSD slot (up to 64GB)

S Pen Optimized Features

• S Pen Experience
  - S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing
    integration
  - S Pen Keeper
  - Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper
    Artist
  - Shape Match, Formula Match

1 Step tasking / Multitasking features

• Air View
• Popup Note, Popup Play
• Page Buddy / Tag Buddy / Word Buddy

Connectivity / Sharing Features

• Bluetooth® v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support) LE
• USB 2.0 Host
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40
• Wi-Fi Direct
• NFC
• S Beam
• Samsung AllShare Play & Control
• Samsung AllShare Cast (WiFi Display)
  - Mirroring & Extention
• Samsung AllShare Framework

Other

• Samsung TouchWiz / Samsung L!ve Panel
• Samsung Kies /Samsung Kies Air
• Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service
• Smart Stay, Direct claa, Screen Recorder,
  Quick Glance
• Samsung ChatOn mobile communication service
• Samsung S Suggest

Camera

• Main (Rear) : 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash, BSI
• Sub (Front) : 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera, BSI
• Best Photo, Best Group Pose, Low light shot

Video

• Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, VP8
• Format: 3GP(MP4), WMV(ASF), AVI, FLV, MKV, WebM
• Full HD(1080p) Playback & Recording

Audio

• Codec: MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, ACC+, eAAC+, AMR(NB,WB), MIDI, WAV, AC-3, Flac
• Music Player with SoundAlive
• 3.5mm Ear Jack

Content / Services

• Samsung Apps
• Samsung Hub
  - Game Hub
  - Media Hub (US only)
  - Learning Hub / Music Hub / Video Hub
  ※ The availability of each Samsung Hubs may
      differ by country

Sensor

• Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer

GPS

• A-GPS
• Glonass

Enterprise Solutions

• On Device Encryption (H/W)
• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync
• VPN(F5, Cisco, Juniper)
• MDM(Sybase Afaria, MobileIron, SOTI, Good)
• CCX
• VMware MVP

Samsung had begun production of an ultra-fast embedded memory for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Samsung  had begun  production of an ultra-fast embedded memory for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

Samsung Electronics has announced that it had begun volume production of an ultra-fast embedded memory for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB densities.

The new Samsung eMMC (embedded multimedia card) Pro Class 1500 delivers the industry’s fastest speeds for an embedded memory device, reading data sequentially at up to 140MB/s and writing it at up to 50MB/s. For random reading and writing, it can process up to 3500/1500 IOPS (inputs and outputs per second), four times the speed of previous eMMC solutions.

The ultra high-speed storage device uses Samsung’s 64Gb NAND with a toggle DDR 2.0 interface based on the company’s latest 20nm-class process technology. The new eMMC’s fully managed NAND memory comes with its own high performance controller and intelligent flash management firmware.

To meet the market need for thinner designs for high-end mobile devices, Samsung offers the new eMMCs in two, four- and eight-die stacks with the largest capacity of 64GB’s being only 1.2 millimeters thick and weighs 0.6 grams.

Samsung eMMC Pro Class 1500 is the first to support the latest JEDEC e-MMC v4.5 specification that standardizes more features to improve performance, efficiency, security, and reliability such as: a SDR-200 Interface (200MHz, 200MB/s max bandwidth), cache handling, dynamic handling, file sanitizing and power-off notification.

The Samsung eMMC Pro Class 1500 is designed for next generation premium mobile products. It will improve system performance and the user experience for a wide variety of applications including web browsing, 3D and HD video capture and playback, multi-tasking activities, augmented reality and the use of social networking sites and interactive graphics-rich gaming.

“With the production of 64GB Samsung eMMC Pro Class 1500, we are delighted to provide the highest performing mobile storage solutions available that support the latest eMMC standard, for worldwide mobile device makers. We will confidently strengthen our research and development efforts to continually bring to market the most advanced mobile storage devices based on next-generation standards,” said JaeHyeong Lee, vice president, memory product planning and application engineering at Samsung Electronics.

Huawei targets 60 million smartphones shipments in 2012.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Huawei targets 60 million smartphones shipments in 2012.

According to Digitimes Huawei Technologies, a China-based vendor of telecom equipment and mobile and home-use terminal devices, has set global target shipments of 60 million smartphones in 2012, thereby standing a chance of becoming the world's third largest vendor of smartphones, according to the company's corporate media relations vice president Scott Sykes.

Of the 60 million smartphones, 20 million units will be shipped in the China market. Huawei shipped 60 million handsets in 2011, with 20 million units of which being smartphones, Sykes indicated. Huawei has launched more than 40 models of smartphones in many markets including China, the US, Europe, Japan and India, and has set aside a marketing budget of US$200 million mainly for sales promotion of smartphones in 2012.

Huawei adopts two operational models for smartphone business, one is ODM production of customized models for mobile telecom carriers, the other is sale of own-brand models through retail channels. Huawei has a competitive advantage, that is, it has cooperated with more than 500 telecom carriers in over 140 countries through marketing telecom equipment.

In addition to Android, Huawei will offer Windows Phone models, and its smartphones are of a wide retail price range from US$100 to over US$400.

As Taiwan is a major supply source of components, Huawei hopes to set up a representative office and considers establishment of an R&D center in Taiwan. Huawei's fast growing sales of smartphones are expected to benefit its Taiwan-based partners, IC design house MediaTek and OEM maker Foxconn International Holdings.

The differences between Mobile phones, feature phones and smartphones, by Nokia.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

The differences between Mobile phones, feature phones and smartphones, by Nokia.

Smartphones, feature phones, mobile phones. What’s the difference? You may think it’s easy to distinguish between them all, but sometimes there’s not much difference between them. Here’s our breakdown of the three.

As a rule of thumb, the best way to differentiate the three groups is to keep in mind its features and therefore, cost. If a phone just makes a phone call, sends a text message and offers very little else, it’s mobile phone. If it offers a high-megapixel camera, enables you to edit Microsoft Office documents and photos then it’s a smartphone. And anywhere in between is probably a feature phone.

To explain things further, let’s look more in detail about the differences.

Mobile phones

These are usually the most affordable phones on the market. A great example of this is the Nokia 100. While a mobile phone doesn’t come packed with a high-end features, what it does offer is a brilliant battery life. This one has a standby time of 840 hours – well over a month – for example.

A mobile phone is principally there for the crucial jobs; to enable you to make a phone call and the odd SMS. In addition to its affordable price, one of the key reasons this model is so popular in places like Africa is its durable, dust-resistant design. 

Feature phones

Feature phones lie in the ever-contested space between mobile phones and smartphones. 

They are rich in features, very clearly more advanced than a mobile phone, but not quite so advanced as a smartphone. Often they have built-in cameras sometimes with a fairly high megapixel count. They support apps, game downloads and feature a Web browser. The Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311are all feature phones

These particular examples are very close to being smartphones, and by some people’s definitions, they are. For now we’ll stick with Wikipedia’s definition of a smartphone, though: “A smartphone is a mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a feature phone.”

Of course, there’s a problem with this definition. What is “more advanced” changes every year. Ten years ago, having a calendar app would have been enough to get into the smartphone camp. Today, it’s nothing short of augmented reality browsers and HD video capabilities.

Feature phones are perfect for people who want more than just to make a phone call, but possibly don’t want to spend a lot of money on a fully-fledged smartphone. It’s a very good happy medium.

Smartphones

A smartphone is, as we’ve just discussed, a phone that’s at the forefront of current technology.

Current smartphones are capable of taking high-res photos that you can edit right on the phone. You could also create Office documents, edit them and upload them to the Cloud. Smartphones also feature GPS for finding your way around the world, plus much more.

The Nokia Lumia 900 is one example of a smartphone. It’s beautifully crafted, meets most of your needs and is for all intents and purposes a mobile computer

Most people start their phone journey with a mobile phone, as it’s the perfect way to be introduced to new technology. Then, after time, their confidence – and desire – grows and it’s time to upgrade to a feature phone. From here, not everybody takes the leap to smartphone, as feature phones are capable of so much.

However, those that do progress to smartphone do so to always be connected to the things that are important to them, whether it be friends and family on social networks, or to be kept up-to-date with the latest news from around the world, or to just blast some aliens in a high-def online game.