Unit sales for ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) will match notebook PCs sales by 2013, says ABI Research.
         The category that includes ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs), “netbooks,” and mobile internet devices (MIDs)—UMD Shipments will grow from 10 million units this year to more than 200 million in 2013.

Netbooks currently account for about 90% of the total device volumes, but MID units will grow more rapidly to contribute 68% to the overall Continue reading...

Everyone is getting punished on the high end of the mobile phone market but fearless Motorola thinks AURA, world's first handset with a full color circular LCD, can crack it.

At just under 1.6”, the 16 million colors display features 480-pixel diameter res that produces 300 dots per inch density. The phone features a swivel design where the display can stay fixed while the outer cover rotates for number pad access.

AURA is made of a 62-carat sapphire lens to protects a 2- megapixel camera, Continue reading...

Nokia will bundle an all-you-can-eat music buffet with phones in a service called “Comes with Music”. 

This flat-fee music service with phone purchase lets  buyers download as many tracks as they like for a year, choosing from 2.1 million songs from Sony, Universal, EMI and Warner. If users want more tracks after year-end, they have to pay.

DRM battles may fall off quickly now as the music industry cuts the deals with the mobile phone industry, the same deals they Continue reading...

"We can make more in mobile than desktop, eventually. The reason is because the mobile device is more targeted. Think about it: You carry your phone with you everywhere. It knows all about you. We can use that to do a very, very targeted ad. Over time, Google will make more money from mobile advertising."
-- Google CEO Eric Schmidt

"A combination of the Android and Symbian efforts would be good for the industry, good for Google and good for Symbian," Gold adds. "It would also help spur growth in the availability of applications and services. The downside is minimal. Everyone wins."

This would pose a challenge to Apple. "Not licensing the Continue reading...

LiMo’s initial Founder members—Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics and Vodafone—have been joined by others so now there’s Continue reading...

Euroset, Russia's largest mobile phone retailer with 5150 outlets and 23% market share, has no president (nor financial director) after Aleksey Chujkin did not have his contract renewed. Discussions are currently underway with AFK Sistema and VimpelCom (Beeline brand) who may buy a stake in the retailer.

Euroset, a $5 billion company, sold 12.6 million handsets in 2007 at an average price of $201, or 6.1% more than in 2006.

Euroset has also been looking for a financial director since last month.& Continue reading...