Retailers prepare for Windows Phone 7 series launch
Retailers are preparing for a September launch of Microsoft Windows Phone 7, according to leaked documents from the computing giant and smartphone manufacturer.
September (or 'Q3' if you work in marketing) is earlier than originally planned for a Windows Phone 7 launch.
Next after KIN
The news follows the recent killing off of Microsoft's KIN phones in Europe, which might well have something to do with the rush to get a decent smartphone on the market to compete with Apple, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia's Symbian phones later this year.
Microsoft has said that the the internal KIN development team would now be transferred to work on Windows Phone 7.
Leaked documents from US phone network AT&T reveal that Windows Phone 7 promotions are set to appear in store as early as late July, according to Engadget, which published the leaked floorplan for retail stores.
Windows Mobile devices accounted for a mere 7 per cent of smartphone sales in Q1 of this year, according to Gartner, with Symbian leading the way with 44 per cent, RIM in second place with 19 per cent, Apple in third place with 15 per cent and Android in fourth place with 10 per cent of the market.
In other Windows Phone 7 news, WMPoweruser.com reports that LG is set to release two Windows 7 Phone devices later this year – the LG E900 and LG C900, two new GSM and HSDPA handsets using the new IE7 browser of Windows Phone 7.
Elsewhere, Tera-wurfl.com has also revealed that the SGH i707 by Samsung also runs Windows Phone 7.
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Gary Marshall: Can Nokia get its mojo back?
The bigger they are, the harder they fall - and it looks like Nokia's falling very hard indeed. The phone giant's market share is in decline, with Apple, RIM and Android biting great big chunks out of its smartphone business and Samsung overtaking it in the European market for no-frills mobiles.
To make matters worse, a new survey by YouGov found that the firm is losing friends, fast. Only 34% of respondents would consider Nokia for their next smartphone, a drop of 12% since December.
So what's gone wrong? According to the YouGov survey, people are moving away from the firm because they fancy a change, because they feel that other platforms have a better range of apps, and because they perceive Nokia phones to have poor operating systems.
We've come a long way from the days when the Matrix phone, the Nokia 8110, was the must-have handset. The problem is partly marketing - anyone who finds themselves going head to head with Apple's unicorn-powered dream machines is unlikely to come off best - but there's more to it than that.
Its operating system looks ancient, its phones haven't been as sexy as rivals' products and it hasn't been as appealing to developers as Apple and Google have been: Nokia won't tell anybody how many apps are in its Ovi Store and it has just slashed its developer fees and approval times, major hints that there aren't as many good Ovi apps as Nokia would like.
The good news is that Nokia has some cool technology up its sleeve. The N8 will be Nokia's flagship when it goes on sale in a few weeks' time, and it should be a bit cheaper than its smartphone rivals. There's a new operating system, Symbian^3, there's support for Bluetooth 3, HDMI and 10.2Mbps HSDPA internet access, and it's all very impressive.
The bad news is that the N8 isn't shipping yet, but new iPhones and Androids are - and that means some of the N8's specs already look a bit me-too. HD video recording? Apple does that. Just three home screens for your apps and widgets? We can hear a bunch of HTCs chuckling. OLED display? Old news. 20% less battery life than its rivals? A sub-par internet experience?. There are already eight better phones on the market, and more will surely follow.
We've loved many Nokias in our time, and as we said in our hands-on N8 review we hope that Nokia makes the N8 perfect before it goes on sale. However, and it's a very big however, "if it gets it wrong it's a long old wait until Symbian^4 or MeeGo show up to hopefully save the day."
By the time Symbian^4 ships in 2011, Android will be in its fourth generation and Apple will be gearing up for iPhone 5. Nokia can't afford to let its rivals' lead get any longer.
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Exclusive: Facebook denies England sponsorship deal
Facebook has revealed to TechRadar that it will not be in the running for sponsoring the England football team, despite speculation that the site was in talks.The Telegraph had reported this week that Facebook was one of the forerunners to take over sponsorship of the team after Nationwide announced it was ending its sponsorship after 11 years.
FA-cebook
While it seemed highly unlikely that a company like Facebook would sponsor England, the story has been picked up by a number of sites, who note that BlackBerry, O2 and Orange are also in the running.
TechRadar contacted Facebook and a spokesperson told us: "Facebook is not in talks with the England Football team regarding sponsorship."
This will be great news to Fabio Capello, who banned the England players from using social-networking sites while at the World Cup.
Not that it actually made much of a difference to their performance.
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Sony announces white PS3 for Japan
Sony is set to launch a 'Classic White' PS3 in Japan and bump up the storage capacity on its games console to a maximum 320GB later this month.The traditional black PS3 will be made available with 160GB and 320GB hard drives, with the 160GB version also set to be made available in white.
Shoot and move
The white PS3 and the higher-memory black PS3 will be launched in Japan on July 29 at recommended retail prices of 29,980 yen (£225) and 34,980 yen (£262) respectively.
Sony Computer Entertainment is also set to release a bundle of the 160GB black PS3 along with the digital terrestrial tuner accessory which lets viewers watch and record TV in standard or high definition. That bundle will set Japanese telly addicts back 36,980 yen (£277).
The previous 120GB PS3 will be phased out in Japan. No word from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe on plans to bring the 320GB black PS3 or the 160GB white PS3 to the UK. Yet.
In other PlayStation in Japan news, Sony has confirmed its Move launch titles for its homeland, as well as details on Move hardware and software bundles.
Andriasang notes that the following titles will ship in Japan alongside Move's October 21 launch:
- EyePet (SCEJ, ¥3,980, $45)
- Sports Champion (SCEJ, ¥3,980, $45)
- Beat Sketch (SCEJ, ¥2,980, $34)
- Fure! Fure! Bowling (aka High Velocity Bowling, SCEJ, ¥1,900)
- Machi Suberi (aka Kung Fu Rider, SCEJ, ¥3,980, $45)
- Big 3 Gun Shooting (Namco Bandai, ¥6,279, $72)
- Mugen Kairo Hikari to Kage no Hako (aka Echochrome, SCEJ, November, ¥3,980, $45)
- Nikudan (SCEJ, November, ¥3,980, $45)
- Move de Party (SCEJ, November, ¥3,980, $45)
- TV Super Star (SCEJ, December, ¥3,980, $45)
- Furi Furi! Sarugetchu (aka Ape Escape, SCEJ, 2010, price TBA)
- Sorcery (SCEJ, 2011, price TBA)
- Tower (SCEJ, 2011, price TBA)
- The Shoot (SCEJ, 2011, price TBA)
- Heroes on the Move (SCEJ, 2011, price TBA)
The PlayStation Move Resident Evil 5 bundle is set to cost ¥7,980 (£60) for which Japanese PlayStation fans will bag the Motion Controller, a PS Eye camera and a copy of the game.
Move is set to arrive in the UK on September 15 in the EU. The controller is set to cost $49.99 (£33) in the US and the Navigation Unit is set to cost $29.99 (£20). We still await official pricing for Move in the UK.
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Samsung Galaxy S2 coming with Android 3.0?
Samsung might be set to launch one of the first Android 3.0 Gingerbread handsets after 'leaked shots' appeared on the internet.We're always suspicious of these images as they could very easily be the work of a bored phone addict with a healthy dose of Photoshop - but the specs would fit in with a forward-looking roadmap.
As you can see, the Galaxy S I9200 has a super-slim form factor and massive 4.3-inch screen with a super resolution of 1280x720 - which would make it the most pixel-packed mobile on the market.
Top end features
Other cool features set to be offered include Bluetooth 3.0, 1080p video recording, up to 64GB memory and a 2GHz processor, along with an iPhone 4-matching gyroscope as well.
If we're honest, this phone seems more fantasy handset than actual device, especially as it handily matches the minimum specs for Android 3.0, right down to the TouchWiz 3.0 overlay being removed to show Google's new UI.
Plus this is translated from Russian; so it's quite feasible this isn't the most truthful rumour.
But it's been given a release date for Q1 2011, so come back then and see if the Galaxy S2 is real or not. Well, come back before then to check out our other tip-top news and reviews - perhaps write Samsung GS2 on the bottom bit of your calendar so you can remind us.
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Digital radio switchover plans outlined this week
Culture minister Ed Vaizey has announced that plans for the UK's digital radio switchover will be unveiled this week.Speaking in London at a progress report for the digital switchover, Vaisey was questioned over whether there will be more news on what is happening with digital radio and he noted that there will be details released "this Thursday".
Broadband trials
The digital radio switchover is something which is set to be completed by 2015, but it will be an uphill battle to convert those who still use analogue – which includes the majority of all cars in the country.
Just this week, the importance of digital radio in the UK was highlighted with the news that digital-only station 6Music was saved from being axed by the BBC Trust.
In the switchover update, Vaizey also announced that the government has so far underspent the money put aside for the switchover and he is hoping that £55 million of the £200 million pot will be used to boost the country's broadband infrastructure and supplement a trial of superfast broadband in the country.
He could not guarantee that all the money would be spent on this – or who the superfast trial would be with – but it's good news that the government has finally come under budget for something.
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In Depth: 15 gadgets the smartphone killed
The smartphone is the Jeffrey Dammer of the tech world. New models like the HTC EVO 4G, Apple iPhone 3G, Motorola Backflip, and the upcoming Nokia N8 have had a field day destroying other product categories. When will the killing end? Only when they can project an HD movie it seems. Here are the products that have fallen (or will fall) at the hands of the smartphone.
1. Portable cameras
The upcoming Nokia N8 has a 12-megapizel camera with a fast photo sensor and plenty of options for setting white balance and even image exposure. More importantly, most smartphones are with you all day and negate any sane reason to carry along an extra digital camera, especially when the results are roughly the same. New phones even have scene selections and can record HD video.
2. Mi-Fi Routers
A Mi-Fi device is great if you only have one cellular data plan and a group of people with laptops. You can even use them in the car on battery power. But, they are superfluous if you use a Palm Pre Plus or the HTC EVO 4G, which also work as mobile hotspots so you can share your 3G connection over Wi-Fi. Android 2.2 will also make sharing your phone's bandwidth a reality.
3. Portable video cameras
Some scoff at the idea of using a smartphone to record video. The quality is terrible, your can't hold the device still! Yet, if you use a Joby Gorillapod, you can rest your iPhone 3G on a tripod to make sure the video recording is smooth. And iPhone 4 adds 720p HD video to boot. And, in the same way they have killed the digital camera, smartphones let you stream a video recording to the Web using Qik and you always have one with you.
4. Portable projectors
A portable projector like the HP Notebook Projector connects to your laptop or smartphone so you can project the image on a wall. That's helpful for business meetings or movie night. Yet, new models such as the HTC EVO 4G and Nokia N8 provide an HDMI cable you can use to connect the phone to any projector or HDTV set, and the cable is certainly much lighter and more portable than another gadget. Then there's new innovations, such as the Samsung Beam.
5. Digital media adapters
Devices like the Apple TV and the Roku are great – they're set-top boxes that connect to your Wi-Fi network and allow you to stream music, movies, and photos from your home computer. The problem is: your smartphones is a better conduit for entertainment, especially if you have enough storage available. The Nokia N8 connects to your HD and even uses Dobly Digital Plus surround sound.
6. Netbooks
By all appearances, the netbook was a short-lived fad. A cramped keyboard, slow processing speeds, lack of 3D gaming support, and a crippled operating system like Windows 7 Starter made this product category ripe for the pillage. Smartphones are actually much more useful for any task you can perform on an under-powered netbook, save for typing up long documents – but we use laptops for that.
7. MP3 Players
Remember these? Sony still insists on making them, even though your phone is actually a much better music listening device – songs are just a finger-press away, there's ample storage (that's expandable) and you can browse the Web or watch a slideshow while you listen to the latest London psych-rock band.
8. Portable video players
Another ancient relic of a bygone era (shh, don't mention that to Archos!), a portable video player is a single-use device with limited storage. A smartphone lets you buy Hollywood movies on the go and you can record your own material at will.
9. Digital picture frames
The Motorola Backflip has a hinge that lets you set the device horizontally and use it as a picture frame. The upcoming Nokia N8 has a kickstand for the very same purpose. Slideshows can run directly from the Web, and screen resolution is actually quite sufficient for those family beach shots. Besides, you can use the device to take the photos or video and then use it as a picture frame.
10. PDAs
Surprisingly, there was once a product category for the PDA, or personal digital assistant. Palm introduced one in about 1812. There's no longer a need for a dedicated organizer, since your smartphone has cal, contacts, and task lists.
11. Handheld game machines
Nintendo is developing a portable game system that displays in 3D, and we'll admit it sounds compelling. But why bother? The reason: platforms such as Google Android and iPhone OS have become amazingly viable, the games are actually as good or better (have you tried Alive-4ever yet?) and you can add them easily. Also, a five-minute game with okay graphics that costs $2 is better than a $20 game that makes you squint at the screen because it's trying to be a PS3 game.
12. Mobile Internet device
Just when the average consumer figured out what MID even stands for, the product category started to falter. Yes, the idea of a real computer that fits in your hand sounds appealing, especially if it runs Win 7 or Linux. But a smartphone running at 1GHz, with a wide selection of apps and a good keyboard, is a smarter choice.
13. Internet watches
Remember the Microsoft Spot watch? The concept is relatively sound – show weather widgets and stock quotes on your watch. The problem is that, if you are under 30, you probably use your smartphone as a watch. Also, the devices were so bulky and forced you to charge yet another gadget they were easy to obfuscate.
14. Voice recorders
These quaint devices from Sony and others are still around, but we're not sure why. We suppose not every Apple iPhone user knows they have a more than adequate, built-in voice recorder app available with plenty of voice recording space.
15. Sat nav
Garmin and others already see the writing on the wall – which is why they are developing smartphones that work as dedicated GPS devices. But just about every smartphone now has GPS built-in, with a wealth of apps available, voice navigation, and the ability to updates maps over Wi-Fi. And, you can use a car mount for your smartphone as well – and then pop the phone out and go for a walk.
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YouGov smartphone study explains Nokia's fall from grace
The latest YouGov Smartphone Mobile Internet Experience study shows that Nokia continues to lose market share to newer brands such as Apple and HTC.The Finnish mobile giant is failing to compete, with the numbers of smartphone owners planning on opting for a Nokia as their next mobile dropping substantially over the last six months.
Nokia versus Apple
"Only a third (34 per cent) of respondents will consider getting a Nokia next time, a drop of 12 per cent since December 2009 and the number of those who expect to actually purchase a Nokia has also fallen," notes YouGov's smartphone study.
"Only 10 per cent of respondents expect their next handset purchase will be Nokia, compared to one fifth in December 2009. This is in contrast to 41 per cent of smartphone owners who expect to get an Apple handset next time."
The latest figures are from the third of four quarterly-year market research studies by YouGov, with the organisation having interviewed 2,121 smartphone users between 4 and 7 June 2010 on behalf of a number of clients, including major UK mobile network operators.
Nokia misses smartphone boat
Reasons given by participants in the study for the shift away from Nokia as a desired smartphone including wanting a change of brand, a lack of available apps and perceived poor quality of the operating system.
Far fewer people are also now likely to recommend Nokia as a brand to friends or colleagues.
YouGov's survey shows how Nokia's recommend score has slipped by 15 per cent in six months to just 12 per cent, compared with Apple's recommendation score of 70 per cent for its iPhone brand.
Russell Feldman, Research Manager in YouGov's technology and telecoms team says of the results of the latest study: "Where Nokia once led the market, it has drastically fallen by the wayside. Its OVI store continues to be significantly outperformed by both Apple's Apps store and Android Marketplace.
"The results of our data consistently show that the market leader is fast becoming an also ran in the smartphone market. New products, software and apps are needed soon if Nokia is to keep up with its rivals."
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Samsung selling more phones than Nokia
Samsung's plans for global dominance in the mobile phone world look like coming to fruition as it has finally leapfrogged Nokia - at the top of one chart at least.The Korean firm has now sold more featurephones (ie those that just provide the basic phoning/texting functions with a wee bit o' web thrown in) than Nokia in Western Europe, with 12.2 million in Q1 alone, according to research firm IDC.
Nokia saw its sales slide by 18%, down to 9.1 million units, as the Finnish manufacturer struggles to match its lustre of the early part of the century.
Rubber times
It's not all doom and gloom for the former rubber merchant though (seriously, Nokia made cables and wellies) as its still the market leader in smartphones in our region: 4.9 million sold in Q1.
However, the chasing pack is looking impressive: Apple has 3 million iPhones lying around Western Europe, impressive for one and a bit models, with RIM and HTC coming up strong too (2.4 million and 0.9 million respectively).
Samsung has only sold 0.3 million units in the same period, showing the public's imagination hasn't really been caught by the likes of the Galaxy and Galaxy Portal - although the Wave and Galaxy S should kick that up a few gears in the near future.
Still kicking
But what of the other brands? Sony Ericsson is still struggling to regain its position at the top of the charts, selling only 3.7 million phone (both feature and smart) in Q1 this year, and LG is holding firm with 4.1 million.
But the good news (well, good news if you're a phone-loving website) is mobile phone sales are still rising: 8% up year on year, so people are clearly still loving their mobile.
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Pirate Bay to be hosted in Swedish Parliament?
The Swedish-based Pirate Bay could soon be hosted in the Swedish parliament, with the country's Pirate Party offering to use a Swedish law which would give the site immunity from prosecution.The Swedish Pirate Party has outlined its latest plans on its website.
The one slight drawback is the fact that the Pirate Party doesn't have any parliamentary seats. Although that could all chance in the next Swedish elections which are set to take place on 19 September this year.
Outdated copyright law
"The Pirate Party recently started to deliver Internet bandwidth to The Pirate Bay, a bittorrent search engine," reads a post on the party's blog.
"It is a website that helps people to share digital content, regardless of form. Since The Pirate Bay was founded in 2003, the copyright industry has constantly tried to sabotage and prevent both its servers and users from communicating. This is a problem affecting free speech as well as the internet infrastructure."
The party wants to see Sweden's copyright law updated, telling TorrentFreak: "Sweden has long been a nation at the forefront of IT.
"But we have fallen in the rankings, largely because today's politicians do not see the connection between file-sharing culture and future industry skills. We have now moved from place three to eight in available household bandwidth."
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Pirate Bay to be hosted in Swedish Parliament?
The Swedish-based Pirate Bay could soon be hosted in the Swedish parliament, with the country's Pirate Party offering to use a Swedish law which would give the site immunity from prosecution.The Swedish Pirate Party has outlined its latest plans on its website.
The one slight drawback is the fact that the Pirate Party doesn't have any parliamentary seats. Although that could all chance in the next Swedish elections which are set to take place on 19 September this year.
Outdated copyright law
"The Pirate Party recently started to deliver Internet bandwidth to The Pirate Bay, a bittorrent search engine," reads a post on the party's blog.
"It is a website that helps people to share digital content, regardless of form. Since The Pirate Bay was founded in 2003, the copyright industry has constantly tried to sabotage and prevent both its servers and users from communicating. This is a problem affecting free speech as well as the internet infrastructure."
The party wants to see Sweden's copyright law updated, telling TorrentFreak: "Sweden has long been a nation at the forefront of IT.
"But we have fallen in the rankings, largely because today's politicians do not see the connection between file-sharing culture and future industry skills. We have now moved from place three to eight in available household bandwidth."
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Chinese manufacturing costs set to soar
The costs of manufacturing consumer electronics devices in Chinese factories are set to drastically increase, according to emerging reports from the country.Teardown reports of Apple's recently-launched iPhone 4 reveal that the smallest part of Apple's costs in putting together the popular smartphone are in the factories of southern-Chinese city Shenzen.
Labour costs increasing
However, these costs are soon to increase due to worker shortages, a strengthening Chinese currency and the increasing costs of living for workers in China, due to inflation and rising house prices.
The New York Times reports that, "desperate factory owners are already shifting production away from this country's dominant electronics manufacturing center in Shenzhen toward lower-cost regions far west of here, even deep in China's mountainous interior."
The labour costs associated with putting together Apple's iPhone amount to around 7 per cent of the total cost of manufacturing the device. Analysts are now predicting this is soon set to drastically increase.
"Electronics companies are trying to figure out how to deal with the higher costs," according to Jenny Lai, a tech analyst at CLSA in Hong Kong. "They're already squeezed, so squeezing more costs out of the system won't be easy."
Many Chinese factory workers are paid less than a dollar an hour to put together consumer electronics devices such as the iPhone, with Chinese manufacturers such as Foxconn coming under fire recently due to reports of poor working conditions.
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Chinese manufacturing costs set to soar
The costs of manufacturing consumer electronics devices in Chinese factories are set to drastically increase, according to emerging reports from the country.Teardown reports of Apple's recently-launched iPhone 4 reveal that the smallest part of Apple's costs in putting together the popular smartphone are in the factories of southern-Chinese city Shenzen.
Labour costs increasing
However, these costs are soon to increase due to worker shortages, a strengthening Chinese currency and the increasing costs of living for workers in China, due to inflation and rising house prices.
The New York Times reports that, "desperate factory owners are already shifting production away from this country's dominant electronics manufacturing center in Shenzhen toward lower-cost regions far west of here, even deep in China's mountainous interior."
The labour costs associated with putting together Apple's iPhone amount to around 7 per cent of the total cost of manufacturing the device. Analysts are now predicting this is soon set to drastically increase.
"Electronics companies are trying to figure out how to deal with the higher costs," according to Jenny Lai, a tech analyst at CLSA in Hong Kong. "They're already squeezed, so squeezing more costs out of the system won't be easy."
Many Chinese factory workers are paid less than a dollar an hour to put together consumer electronics devices such as the iPhone, with Chinese manufacturers such as Foxconn coming under fire recently due to reports of poor working conditions.
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Government slammed for iPhone app spending
New reports indicate that the British government is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on iPhone apps, with many critics claiming that many of the apps are gimmicks and not a wise use of public money.The BBC reveals this week that a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows government-funded iPhone apps – such as a jobseekers' tool and a travel advice app from the Foreign office - have development costs ranging from £10,000 - £40,000.
The government recently said that it was reviewing the costs associated with its 820 websites, after spending £94m on website development and £32m on web staff in 2009 - 2010.
DVLA iPhone app
One proposed iPhone app for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) would cost £40,000
A spokesman for the DVLA said of the planned app: "We want to make it as easy as possible for motorists to renew their car tax, tell us about a change of address or update their driving licence, meaning they stay safe and legal to drive.
"This would also bring benefits for DVLA, for example by reducing the number of reminders that need to be sent out.
"We considered how an application could help with this but no final decisions have been taken and the app, for now, is still in development," the DVLA man added.
The BBC's tech expert Rory Cellan-Jones has criticised the government's app strategy, saying: "It seems many Government bodies have given in to the temptation to spend money on fashionable gimmicks at a time when they are meant to be cutting back on self-indulgent wastes of money."
"It is ridiculous not only that they are commissioning these apps but that some of them are supposedly secret on grounds of national security.
"Someone who is faced with losing their home because of high tax bills, or whose life is being ruined by crime isn't going to get any reassurance from knowing there's an app for that."
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Government slammed for iPhone app spending
New reports indicate that the British government is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on iPhone apps, with many critics claiming that many of the apps are gimmicks and not a wise use of public money.The BBC reveals this week that a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows government-funded iPhone apps – such as a jobseekers' tool and a travel advice app from the Foreign office - have development costs ranging from £10,000 - £40,000.
The government recently said that it was reviewing the costs associated with its 820 websites, after spending £94m on website development and £32m on web staff in 2009 - 2010.
DVLA iPhone app
One proposed iPhone app for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) would cost £40,000
A spokesman for the DVLA said of the planned app: "We want to make it as easy as possible for motorists to renew their car tax, tell us about a change of address or update their driving licence, meaning they stay safe and legal to drive.
"This would also bring benefits for DVLA, for example by reducing the number of reminders that need to be sent out.
"We considered how an application could help with this but no final decisions have been taken and the app, for now, is still in development," the DVLA man added.
The BBC's tech expert Rory Cellan-Jones has criticised the government's app strategy, saying: "It seems many Government bodies have given in to the temptation to spend money on fashionable gimmicks at a time when they are meant to be cutting back on self-indulgent wastes of money."
"It is ridiculous not only that they are commissioning these apps but that some of them are supposedly secret on grounds of national security.
"Someone who is faced with losing their home because of high tax bills, or whose life is being ruined by crime isn't going to get any reassurance from knowing there's an app for that."
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Will free sat nav apps kill off dedicated devices?
Dedicated sat nav manufacturers are increasingly under threat from free and low-cost mobile navigation apps, with developers of new app Skobbler announcing this week that it has been downloaded 72,000 times since launch in the UK last month.Skobbler's free sat nav app for the iPhone, has actually proved more popular in the UK than in the company's native country, Germany, where it first launched a few months ago.
Sat nav market under threat?
"Skobbler was not the first to market with a free-to-use phone-based navigation solution in the UK" says Tim Shepherd, analyst with personal navigation device (PND) specialists Canalys, "with solutions from Nokia and Google arriving in January and April respectively. But there has not as yet been a credible, free solution for the iPhone in the UK. As such, Skobbler has the possibility of making a significant impact in the App Store.
"Without a strong, established brand, this kind of application can only present a significant direct challenge to leading vendors such as TomTom and Navigon if its profile is raised high enough to create substantial market awareness; though having achieved 72,000 downloads in just three weeks, initial signs are promising."
To put skobblers' 72000 downloads into some perspective, Canalys notes that a total of 266,000 dedicated sat nav devices (or PNDs) were shipped into the UK market in Q1 2010. Compared with those sat nav sales figures, skobbler's 3-week-volume is the equivalent of 27.1 per cent of all UK PND shipments in the first quarter of 2010.
"We are only just getting started in the UK," says Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler. "It's early days and to have experienced such success in such a short amount of time is quite overwhelming and encouraging. It demonstrates again just how popular mobile phone navigation is becoming.
"We are over the moon that so many users have already embraced the community-driven collaborative OpenStreetMap project that our app is based on, and are very encouraged that the concept will continue to evolve into the future of sat nav", adds Thielking.
TomTom, Garmin and map quality
With a new Google Android version of skobbler on the way this month, using community maps from OpenStreetMap (OSM), it clearly begs the question: "how long can dedicated sat nav manufacturers such as TomTom and Garmin survive?"
However, before we are too quick to write off the market for dedicated sat nav devices, specialist analyst Tim Shepherd adds a word of caution, noting that, "map accuracy and reliability are big issues," adding that, "problematically, solutions based on open community maps cannot typically deliver the quality and accuracy of map data offered by the likes of Navteq and Tele Atlas in developed markets, backed by their large, professional, digital cartography teams and substantial investment.
"Community maps will never be subjected to comparable levels of quality testing. As such, map data glitches and inaccuracies in solutions that depend on these maps will inevitably deliver an inferior user experience and offer less additional content and services around the core navigation experience than consumers have come to expect from a satellite navigation solution.
That said, Shepherd is quick to add that established players in the sat nav market should not ignore such solutions.
"For people who need navigation for only occasional or recreational use, an application such as Skobbler may well be enough for their needs. If these users find the experience to be a good one, then awareness spreads virally through word-of-mouth and positive online reviews and recommendations.
Community maps are disruptive
Perhaps most importantly, for the UK consumer, the presence of free and ultra-low-cost solutions such as skobbler, "inevitably draws attention to the comparative expense of those from leading vendors ," such as TomTom's UK & Ireland app (currently £52.99).
"In these ways, community maps based solutions like Skobbler have the potential to be disruptive," adds the PND industry analyst. "In a wider context, phone-based navigation solutions are inevitably coming increasingly into competition with dedicated portable navigation devices (PNDs). The presence of free phone-based navigation solutions does not inevitably sound a death knell for dedicated portable navigation devices (PNDs) in the UK.
"There will always be consumers who will prefer to buy a dedicated device for navigation, that is ready to use with all the necessary in-car accessories out-of-the-box, and that offers a large screen and user interface designed and optimised specifically for in-car navigation use.
"But as consumers in general become increasingly aware of phone-based navigation solutions as a free (or competitive) alternative to PNDs, and as the experience delivered by phone-based solutions and applications continues to improve with larger touch screens,, a growing number of consumers will undoubtedly opt to have navigation on their phone rather than buy a PND, or replace an old one. I do not expect the PND market to disappear in the foreseeable future, but I do anticipate a substantial decline in shipments over the coming quarters and years ahead."
If you want to check out skobbler for yourself on iPhone then is available to download for FREE at the UK App Store and you can see more on the company's plans for future developments at the company blog over at blog.skobbler.com
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Will free sat nav apps kill off dedicated devices?
Dedicated sat nav manufacturers are increasingly under threat from free and low-cost mobile navigation apps, with developers of new app skobbler announcing this week that it has been downloaded 72,000 times since launch in the UK last month.skobbler's free sat nav app for the iPhone, has actually proved more popular in the UK than in the company's native country, Germany, where it first launched a few months ago.
Sat Nav market under threat?
"Skobbler was not the first to market with a free-to-use phone-based navigation solution in the UK" says Tim Shepherd, analyst with personal navigation device (PND) specialists Canalys, "with solutions from Nokia and Google arriving in January and April respectively. But there has not as yet been a credible, free solution for the iPhone in the UK. As such, Skobbler has the possibility of making a significant impact in the App Store.
"Without a strong, established brand, this kind of application can only present a significant direct challenge to leading vendors such as TomTom and Navigon if its profile is raised high enough to create substantial market awareness; though having achieved 72,000 downloads in just three weeks, initial signs are promising."
To put skobblers' 72000 downloads into some perspective, Canalys notes that a total of 266,000 dedicated sat nav devices (or PNDs) were shipped into the UK market in Q1 2010. Compared with those sat nav sales figures, skobbler's 3-week-volume is the equivalent of 27.1 per cent of all UK PND shipments in the first quarter of 2010.
"We are only just getting started in the UK," says Marcus Thielking, co-founder of skobbler. "It's early days and to have experienced such success in such a short amount of time is quite overwhelming and encouraging. It demonstrates again just how popular mobile phone navigation is becoming.
"We are over the moon that so many users have already embraced the community-driven collaborative OpenStreetMap project that our app is based on, and are very encouraged that the concept will continue to evolve into the future of sat nav", adds Thielking.
TomTom, Garmin and map quality
With a new Google Android version of skobbler on the way this month, using community maps from OpenStreetMap (OSM), it clearly begs the question: "how long can dedicated sat nav manufacturers such as TomTom and Garmin survive?"
However, before we are too quick to write off the market for dedicated sat nav devices, specialist analyst Tim Shepherd adds a word of caution, noting that, "map accuracy and reliability are big issues," adding that, "problematically, solutions based on open community maps cannot typically deliver the quality and accuracy of map data offered by the likes of Navteq and Tele Atlas in developed markets, backed by their large, professional, digital cartography teams and substantial investment.
"Community maps will never be subjected to comparable levels of quality testing. As such, map data glitches and inaccuracies in solutions that depend on these maps will inevitably deliver an inferior user experience and offer less additional content and services around the core navigation experience than consumers have come to expect from a satellite navigation solution.
That said, Shepherd is quick to add that established players in the sat nav market should not ignore such solutions.
"For people who need navigation for only occasional or recreational use, an application such as Skobbler may well be enough for their needs. If these users find the experience to be a good one, then awareness spreads virally through word-of-mouth and positive online reviews and recommendations.
Community maps are disruptive
Perhaps most importantly, for the UK consumer, the presence of free and ultra-low-cost solutions such as skobbler, "inevitably draws attention to the comparative expense of those from leading vendors ," such as TomTom's UK & Ireland app (currently £52.99).
"In these ways, community maps based solutions like Skobbler have the potential to be disruptive," adds the PND industry analyst. "In a wider context, phone-based navigation solutions are inevitably coming increasingly into competition with dedicated portable navigation devices (PNDs). The presence of free phone-based navigation solutions does not inevitably sound a death knell for dedicated portable navigation devices (PNDs) in the UK.
"There will always be consumers who will prefer to buy a dedicated device for navigation, that is ready to use with all the necessary in-car accessories out-of-the-box, and that offers a large screen and user interface designed and optimised specifically for in-car navigation use.
"But as consumers in general become increasingly aware of phone-based navigation solutions as a free (or competitive) alternative to PNDs, and as the experience delivered by phone-based solutions and applications continues to improve with larger touch screens,, a growing number of consumers will undoubtedly opt to have navigation on their phone rather than buy a PND, or replace an old one. I do not expect the PND market to disappear in the foreseeable future, but I do anticipate a substantial decline in shipments over the coming quarters and years ahead."
If you want to check out skobbler for yourself on iPhone then is available to download for FREE at the UK App Store and you can see more on the company's plans for future developments at the company blog over at blog.skobbler.com
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Exclusive: MSI P55A Fuzion motherboard arrives
MSI has recently announced the mainstream versions of its Fuzion motherboards.What's interesting about this line up?
Well, like the Big Bang Fuzion P55 board before it, these 870A and P55A Fuzion boards carry the Lucid Hydra graphics chip.
This wee chippie enables multiple graphics cards to be used on the board, but the difference between traditional SLI and Crossfire boards though is that either AMD or NVIDIA cards can be used in any combination.
That means NVIDIA and AMD cards, like ebony and ivory, living together in perfect harmony, side by side next to this very keyboard. Oh lord, why don't we?
Previously we thought that was a signal the end times where close at hand, like human sacrifices and cats and dogs living together, but MSI is here to prove that wrong.
Currently we're told Lucid is making regular driver updates, at least in line with the sort of driver updates AMD makes in its monthly cycle.
We're also told that the current driver set is almost in line with the actual manufacturer's driver performance, and in some configurations actually better.
Other motherboard manufacturers are working with Lucid at the moment to implement its technology in other upcoming motherboards, but MSI has been at the forefront of this new tech.
We've got a pre-production sample of the P55a Fuzion benching in the test rig at the moment and will get you a hands-on review soon as we've corralled the NVIDIA and AMD cards into the same board.
Til then we'll leave you with the gorgeous hi-res imagery and the glorious possibilities GPU cross compatibility could offer.
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