Mobile Choice Blog

Nokia and Vodafone put differences aside for Ovi deal

Recently, Nokia announced its launch of 'Ovi', a suite of mobile services that would include music (the Nokia Music Store), games (the new N-Gage) and mapping/navigation. It was presented as a big change of strategy for the company, moving away from its hardware-focused roots.

However, some operators reacted with suspicion, worrying that Nokia was moving too much onto their turf in trying to provide services.

However, it seems Nokia is winning them round. At least, it's signed a deal with Vodafone to launch its Ovi-capable handsets in 2008, with much talk of how Ovi will be integrated with Vodafone's own games and music services on the Vodafone Live portal.

Adopt a Battersea dog on your mobile with DOGMOB

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home does hugely important work with stray and unwanted animals, and now it's trying a new money-raising strategy: a mobile portal called DOGMOB. The idea is that you pay to download mobile content by 'adopting' one of the home's dogs.

Don't worry, this doesn't involve a mutt actually being delivered to your house - the idea is more to raise awareness of the dogs that are looking for real-life adoption, but also to generate cash from the mobile content sales.

So, you choose a dog from the website, and text its name to 80022 to get sent a WAP link, which costs £3, but provides four downloads: an animated screensaver, wallpaper certificate, 'thank you' video, and a barking ringtone. It's well worth a go, if you're a dog lover. And don't worry feline-fanciers - CATMOB is apparently coming soon for moggies...

DOGMOB website 

Kylie Minogue launches her own social network

Feeling lucky, lucky, lucky? Well, you should join Kylie's new social network then. It's called KylieKonnect, and it's been created for the star by a company called New Visions Mobile. As you might guess from their name, mobile is an important element in the site.

Fans will be able to register, then create a profile and blog or upload photos from their mobile phones. We assume they have to be Kylie-related, so get set for a splurge of hotpants shots. Maybe. Kylie herself will maintain a profile on the site, which will be regularly updated with news.

Check it out via the link below, although we wonder if people have time to set up a profile on a new social network, no matter how big a fan they are of La Minogue.

KylieKonnect website

Sorry folks, no Google Gphone... Not yet, anyway

For the last few months, there's been rampant speculation that Google was about to announce its own mobile handset: the Gphone. However, yesterday Google set those rumours to rest (sort of) by announcing instead a new mobile platform codenamed Android, which it says will make it easier for developers to create mobile applications that run across a range of handsets.

Alongside this, there's a new organisation called the Open Handset Alliance, which will produce phones and services based on Android. Members include Google (obviously), as well as HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and T-Mobile, with 34 members in all. Notable absentees include Apple, Nokia, Palm, Vodafone, Yahoo and Microsoft.

The first handsets based on Android should go on sale next year. So does this mean the end of the Gphone rumours? Not quite. It's still possible that Google may launch its own mobile phone based on Android, alongside all the others coming out of the Open Handset Alliance members. So watch this space.

Open Handset Alliance website
 

UK iPhone going on sale at 6.02pm this Friday

It's iPhone launch week here in the UK, with O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores around the country gearing up for a rush of customrs on Friday. With that in mind, Apple and O2 have just announced final details of the handset's launch, including the news that it will go on sale at 6.02pm this Friday (O2, geddit?) at more than 1,300 stores around the UK.

O2 says it has hired and trained hundreds of iPhone specialists who'll be in-store showing people how to use the device, while Apple will be holding seminars in its own Apple Stores around the country. As we've reported before, the phone itself will cost you £269 on the day, and you'll have to sign up to an 18-month contract for at least £35 a month.

However, the good news is that O2 has binned its 'fair usage' cap, so unlimited data really will be unlimited. Well, as long as you're not using it as a data modem for your laptop, that is.

Nokia N-Gage delayed until December

In case you're puzzled, we're talking about the NEW N-Gage, which is now a games platform rather than a specific handset - in other words, you'll be able to play N-Gage games on a range of Nokia's Nseries handsets. It was due to launch in November, but the company has just announced that it's being delayed until next month.

"N-Gage is coming in December," said Nokia's Kari Tuutti. "Software testing is taking a bit more time than what we had expected. We are talking about a couple of weeks." The positive reading of the news is that Nokia is taking its time to ensure the all-new N-Gage is just right, rather than rushing it out. The negative reading is, well, it's not exactly a promising start.

We'll be covering the new N-Gage platform more on here, as it gets closer to launch, so stay tuned.

(via Reuters)

Yikes! Mobile phones are becoming surveillance cameras

Things are getting a bit Big Brother in the mobile world (and we DON'T mean the TV show). Scientists at the Institute for Pervasive Computing in Zurich have been working on a system that turns Nokia 6630 handsets into surveillance cameras capable of communicating with each other to track a passer-by.

Admittedly, they're all mounted on the ceiling of a corridor, which you'd probably notice if you walked down it (unless you're used to seeing phones looking at you from the ceiling). They run an application called Facet, which uses Bluetooth to transmit data between the phones, enabling them to track a pedestrian.

But why do this with phones, when there are perfectly good security camera systems out there? It might be cheaper, perhaps, for companies who can't afford them but still want to pretend they're running a high-security compound. Perhaps.

(via Reiter's Camera Phone Report)

Cabinet minister fined for using mobile phone while driving

The introduction of a law to stop people gabbing on their phones while driving was definitely a good thing, although anecdotal evidence (i.e. what we've seen while out and about) indicates that some people continue to flout the law.

Among them is immigration minister Liam Byrne, who was fined £100 plus costs on Friday after being caught using his mobile at the wheel. He claimed in court that he was taking an important call about a deportation case, but the magistrate rightfully decided that if the call was that important, Byrne should have pulled over before taking it.

That's one politician who'll have hopefully gone out to buy a Bluetooth headset this weekend. By the way, in case you're wondering, he didn't do that graffiti in the photo. Honest.

(via IHT)

Mobile music shootout: Vodafone MusicStation v Nokia Music Store

It's a momentous day for mobile music in the UK, with the launch of two high-profile services letting you listen to tunes on the go. In the red corner, we have MusicStation, an unlimited subscription service being offered through Vodafone.

And in the blue corner, there's the Nokia Music Store, which works on phones and PCs, and is billed as an iTunes rival. We thought that, since they both launched today, we should compare and contrast the two, starting with...

MUSICSTATION

This is an unlimited subscription service, meaning you pay £1.99 a week on your mobile bill, and can then download as much music as you like from the million-plus tracks on offer. Omnifone, which runs the service for Vodafone, has signed deals with all four major labels as well as several indies, so chances are you'll find plenty of music you like.

Second Life goes mobile in Japan

If you're a techy type, you might already be aware (or even using) Second Life. It's a 3D virtual world that's been much in the news this year - you can move in, create an avatar, and wander around chatting to people and buying virtual goods. It's the future, apparently. Well, so some people say.

Anyway, you need a pretty powerful computer to run Second Life, yet in Japan, moves are afoot to make it work on mobile phones. Operator NTT DoCoMo is preparing to launch the application, and is currently recruiting 100 beta testers.

It's set to offer many of the features of the full PC version, allowing people to log into Second Life when out and about. Purists may argue that the experience can't possibly be as good, but if you need your virtual fix while enmeshed in pesky real-world activities (like going out and meeting people), it could be just the thing.

(via Wireless Watch Japan)