The eyes of the world will be on the lips of Steve Jobs on June 9th as his keynote speech at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is expected to herald the dawn of the iPhone’s 3G era.
Apple’s much publicized target of selling 10 million iPhone’s by year end hangs in the balance with widespread reporting that iPhone 8GB has sold out in the UK and suggestions that Italy and Belgium will launch with the 3G edition.
With low inventories, high expectations and the acceleration of adoption anticipated following the forthcoming iPhone 2.0 software and associated Microsoft Exchange push email and third part applications, Apple’s business plan looks in readiness for a new product launch.
We will all be waiting with bated breath as June nears but will the 3G iPhone give Apple the much needed sales boost? Time will tell.
Global Mobile Phones Shipments and Marketshare 2008 Q1:
Nokia is still on top with a constant growth in sales; 91.1 Million handsets in Q1 2007 to 115.5 Million handsets in Q1 2008. The clearest changes are seen in Samsung and Motorola ; Samsung has increased sales by 33% from the last Q1 and Motorola has dropped sales by 39.4%.
Sony Ericsson’s Q1 2008 is not a reliable sales estimate as most of their 2008 releases will only be released around mid of this year.
The Motorola A1600 developer sheet has been leaked and offers the specifications for the forthcoming model.
The 120g clamshell phone runs on Linux and features 2.4 inch TFT touchscreen display with handwriting recognition, GPS and A-GPS, 3 megapixel camera with LED flash and 8x digital zoom, video recording, Bluetooth and microSD expansion.
Whilst not a 3G or WiFi phone, the MotoMing2 has quad band GSM/EDGE connectivity.
Release dates are yet to be released but will its lack of 3G and WiFi cool interest in the much talked about phone?
Skype have released a Beta version of Skype For Your Mobile that operates on java-enabled phones to connect you to your friends.
The Beta features chat, presence and you can receive calls with SkypeIn however the service does still use the minutes on your phone as it diverts calls through a local number, rather than being a true VoIP solution.
Outgoing calls are limited to those in Brazil, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden and UK but other functions will work elsewhere.
Set to deepen Skype’s market penetration and possibly opening the door for mobile VoIP solutions for Sony Ericsson P1i among others, the Skype Beta is a promising step forward in affordable mobile communications.
For more information on compatibility and functionality options visti Skype’s website here.
A follow up to the very popular and stylish LG Prada is expected to launch in Q4 2008 and will pack a feature set including full QWERTY keyboard and 5 megapixel camera.
The stir caused by the launch of the Prada was only surpassed by the Apple iPhone and with good reason, the follow up is likely to cause just as much excitement. The quad band GSM phone will feature 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, dedicated video-calling camera, WiFi b/g, Full html browsing, TV-Out, microSDHC up to 8GB, and a luxury design bound to please everyone.
There are live pics as yet but Q4 we’ll have our credit cards at the ready.
A low-mid level Internet device. It supports HSDPA high-speed data and has QVGA display and HTML browser. Its also has 2-megapixel camera, M2 memory slot and FM radio- Sony Ericsson G502 Live Pics:
