iPhone 4 prototype - Gizmodo.com Tweet

iPhone 4 prototype - Gizmodo.com

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Hackers plant virus in smartphone games Tweet

Hackers have planted viruses in video games for smartphones running on Microsoft's Windows operating system, according to a security firm specialising in mobile devices.

The games - 3D Anti-Terrorist and PDA Poker Art - are available on sites that provide legitimate software for mobile devices, according to John Hering, CEO of San Francisco-based security firm Lookout.

The games are bundled with malicious software that automatically dials premium-rate telephone services in Somalia, Italy and other countries, sometimes ringing up hundreds of dollars in charges in a single month.

The services are run by the programmers who built the tainted software, Hering said.

Victims generally do not realise they have been infected until they get their phone bills and see hundreds of dollars of unexpected charges for those premium-rate services, he said.

Hackers are increasingly targeting smartphone users as sales of the sophisticated mobile devices have soared with the success of Apple's iPhone and Google's Android operating system.

Microsoft said it was aware of the problem and was investigating it.

"As always, Microsoft continues to encourage customers to follow all of the steps of the 'Protect Your Computer' guidance of enabling a firewall, applying all software updates and installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software," said a spokesman.

Microsoft said customers should visit its site for guidance on protection from viruses.

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SPB TV Tweet

Stay Tuned On the Go!
SPB TV is a highly usable IP-TV solution, optimized to run on mobile devices. SPB TV provides users with lots of live and VoD channels in multiple languages with easy-to-use features and settings. No subscription fee!

Get SPB TV
Price: Free
Current version: 2.0.1
Release date: Jun 11, 2010
Download size: 5 MB
Size on device: 4 MB
Only official ROMs supported
Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional
Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Windows Mobile 6.1 Classic
Windows Mobile 6 Professional
Windows Mobile 6 Classic
Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC
Windows Mobile 5 Phone Edition

More than 100, subscription free, TV channels

* A wide selection of public TV channels
* Quick channel preview
* Integrated TV guide
* Quick channel selection
* Video-on-demand
* Channels from more than 17 countries

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Intermec Selects MobiControl as its Standard Mobile Device Management and Security Solution for the U.S. Department of Defense Tweet

SOTI Inc., a leader in Mobile Device Management, announced that Intermec Technologies Corporation has selected MobiControl as its Device Management and Security Solution for the U.S. Department of Defense. The Department of Defense awarded Intermec an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (”IDIQ”) contract for Automatic Identification Technology (”AIT-IV contract”). Since 1988, Intermec has provided the Department of Defense and Federal government agencies with AIT technologies for asset tracking, inventory control, automated warehousing, and depot management. Intermec’s contract includes SOTI’s award-winning Device Management & Security Solution, MobiControl, to remotely troubleshoot, deploy applications, secure, protect and track Intermec Mobile Devices for AIT-IV projects that may be ordered by any Federal Agency.

SOTI's industry-leading enterprise product, MobiControl, is a next generation Device Management, Security, Support & Tracking solution that allows organizations to maximize ROI by increasing productivity, minimizing downtime, reducing labor costs and securing mobile assets and data. MobiControl effectively manages deployment sizes ranging from ten devices to tens of thousands of devices operating over any network.

"We are very happy to be part of the Intermec AIT-IV project team providing all branches of the military with the tools they need to streamline the management of their mobile deployments. MobiControl will provide administrators with the tools they need to centrally manage, support, track and secure their mobile field-forces. The fact that MobiControl integrates with Intermec’s SmartSystemsTM Technology means that MobiControl can provide Intermec customers with the granular control they need over Intermec hardware. The introduction of a strong device management solution can define the degree of success of a project, be it a rollout of mobile devices, application deployments or the performance of day-to-day support," said Brian Munroe, SOTI's North American Channel Sales Manager, “MobiControl can be the differentiator by providing a best-of-breed solution without the high price tag associated with other device management solutions."

About SOTI Inc.
SOTI Inc. develops industry-leading technology that solves the unique challenges involved in deploying, managing, securing and supporting remote mobile and desktop computing devices. Today over 80,000 customers around the world in retail, manufacturing, health care, government, logistics and other industries rely on SOTI products to reduce the costs associated with supporting a mobile field-force. MobiControl is an advanced Mobile Device Management, Security, Support & Tracking solution built using SOTI's world class Award Winning Technology. Whether you are using consumer-based devices for push email or rugged devices in the field, MobiControl is the solution of choice for rapid and reliable performance over any network for any size of deployment.

Visit us at www.soti.net to download a fully functional evaluation version of MobiControl V7 today. Explore MobiControl's Security Center, which allows you to set Policies for User Authentication, Device Lockdown, Virus / Malware protection through Application Run Control, File Encryption, Device Feature Control and more!

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Crimson Tide partners with SOTI to offer all-in-one mobile device management Tweet

Leading service provider of mobile data solutions to supply MobiControl in the UK.

Crimson Tide, UK-based service provider of mobile data solutions for business, and supplier of smartphones, PDAs and ruggedised devices, will now be supporting SOTI’s enterprise-grade mobile device management solution, MobiControl.

SOTI MobiControl is SOTI’s leading Mobile Device Management, Helpdesk, Security and Tracking solution built using award-winning technology. MobiControl optimizes operations and productivity with its rapid and reliable performance and is functional over any network and with any size deployment.

It features the following functionality: Real-Time Remote Control and Helpdesk Tools, Software and Data Provisioning, Alerts, Centralized Management over any network connection, Advanced Security, Location Services with GeoFencing, 2 – Way Chat, Reporting, and Asset Management.

“SOTI is well recognised in the mobile industry for supplying robust security and device management tools”, stated Barrie Whipp, Executive Chairman of Crimson Tide. “We are including SOTI MobiControl as part of our subscription based mobile data solutions, giving our customers excellent support and peace of mind in respect of their mobile deployments.”

“SOTI is excited to bring Crimson Tide on board as a partner for MobiControl,” stated Carl Rodrigues, President & CEO of SOTI. “With this new venture, SOTI’s international expansion is further facilitated by Crimson Tide’s European presence.”

About Crimson Tide
Crimson Tide is a leading service provider of mobile data solutions for business. The Company supplies a smartphone, pda or ruggedised handheld device. It adds business software from its range of mpro3x products, particularly in facilities management, field service and healthcare. Information is synchronised from custom, hosted websites to mobile devices wirelessly, including GPS geotagging where appropriate. Everything is included in a monthly subscription. Crimson Tide’s mobile solutions save paperwork, time and money.

Visit Crimson Tide at www.crimsontide.co.uk to learn more.

About SOTI Inc.
SOTI Inc. develops industry-leading technology that solves the unique challenges involved in deploying, managing, securing and supporting remote mobile and desktop computing devices. Today over 80,000 customers around the world in retail, manufacturing, health care, government, logistics and other industries rely on SOTI products to reduce the costs associated with supporting a mobile field-force. Visit SOTI at www.soti.net to download a fully functional evaluation version of MobiControl V7 today.

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Rumor: HTC Leo S With QWERTY Keyboard Coming Soon? Tweet

When it doesn’t develop Android-based smartphones, HTC is working at Windows Mobile or Windows Phone 7 devices. Windows Mobile has been discontinued therefore you might think that there is no point in releasing a smartphone based on this operating system. Well, this might surprise you: the HTC Leo S has been spotted in a HTC HD2 build and it features a physical full QWERTY keyboard.

The HTC HD2 ROM 1.78.911.1 leaks few HTC Leo S evidence, but what’s clear is that this smartphone is coming soon, although we don’t know whether it will have a 4.3-inch touchscreen. The HTC Leo S has been discovered by Xmoo, which is a very popular guy in the Windows Mobile world.

source

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Mobileye Vision-Based Driver Assistance Safety Technologies Tweet

Mobileye's innovative consumer product line, the MOBILEYE Advance Warning System (AWS) is the safety solution of choice for commercial drivers, leading commercial fleets, insurance companies and drivers worldwide. Mobileyes automotive safety solutions provide drivers with timely alerts to prevent forward collision and lane departure accidents.
From commercial fleets to family cars, the expanded Mobileye product line offers the most comprehensive and cost-effective accident prevention solutions on the market.

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LONDON, England - That’s what Engadget said when it had a play with the Ovi App Wizard, the new tool that enables anyone to create an app using an RS Tweet

LONDON, England – There’s a certain football tournament kicking off in less than a week, but Nokia’s got its own contest up its sleeve in the shape of the Foreign Accent Cup. Reckon you can do a good French, Italian, British or Australian accent? Put your talents to the test by using Nokia’s Own Voice app to get involved. If you fancy yourself as a bit of an accent guru, join us after the jump to find out more.

We’re on the hunt for an accent aficionado. Using Nokia’s Own Voice app, we want you to submit your best accents in a bid to become Nokia’s Foreign Accent Cup Champion. First- up, a bit about the tool you’ll be using. Own Voice lets you record and share your own navigation instructions for Ovi Maps directly to you Nokia. Simply download the app to your device and as quickly as you can say “You have reached your destination”, you’ll have your own Voice Pack for navigation.

Doing this in your own accent is all well and good, but we’d like to stretch your vocal chords. Over the next week we’ll be calling on you to submit a voice pack in the style of any accent of your choosing. Whether it’s Australian-cum-New Zealand or Austrian-cum-German, we want to hear it.

Help is at hand: we’ve managed to nab the expertise of accent enthusiast Amy Walker. Each day we’ll be releasing a video of Amy giving you hints and tips on how to mimic the voices of the world.

Once you’ve looked at the videos, or if you’re feeling confident enough, head straight over to Own Voice to get cracking on creating your Voice Pack. On Friday we’ll be picking the top ten, and find out who is the Foreign Accent Cup Champion. The prize? Oodles of Nokia goodies and the knowledge that you’ve mastered the art of accents.

A bit of housekeeping, when you submit a voicepack make sure you include ‘Accentcup’ in the description and,then leave a note in the Conversations comments with your Twitter username, or alternatively send an email to foreignaccentcup@ovi.com, stating the name of the voicepack in the subject line. Bonza.

All done with the voice exercises? Scoot over to Own Voice. Also don’t forget, you can preview all the accents submitted and let us know what you think in the comments below. To get you going, here’s Amy with an introduction to the competition. Let the games begin.

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Ovi Mail – 10 million and counting Tweet

GLOBAL - Ovi Mail, the email service that comes with your Nokia phone, has announced that it now has 10 million activated accounts.

Typical readers of Conversations perhaps already have more email accounts than they know what to do with, and perhaps even wish that some of them would go away. But, if that’s the case, you’re in the minority when it comes to the big picture. Only 25 per cent of the world currently has access to email. So what does everyone else do?

We’re glad you asked.

Mobile phones are fast becoming the default Internet access device for most of the world. Take India, for example: 1.13 billion people; less than 50 million PCs (that’s one computer for every 20-odd people), but there are more than 600 million mobile phone subscribers. Mobile is already the default mass media and communications channel. It’s where most people will send and receive emails. These are the people for whom Ovi Mail is particularly useful.

This is clearly shown when you look at the statistics of who is using Ovi Mail the most. Seven of the top ten countries activating Ovi Mail accounts are in emerging markets. Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, China, Kenya and Nigeria are among the top countries for activations.

The service is free, which helps a lot, but more importantly for these markets, you don’t need access to a PC to create or use it. You can do everything with Ovi Mail directly on your phone. The service is supported on nearly 200 device models worldwide – including all the Cseries handsets released last week – and is localised in 26 languages.

Nokia predicts that its recently announced alliance with Yahoo! regarding messaging and maps will strengthen brand recognition for the service and take advantage of its global distribution advantages.

In the video, Meenakshi Tripathy, from Nokia Services, comments on the significance of the service and the 10-million milestone.

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Ovi App Wizard – “it really is that easy” Tweet

LONDON, England - That’s what Engadget said when it had a play with the Ovi App Wizard, the new tool that enables anyone to create an app using an RSS feed. Of course, it’s only right that we here on Conversations gave it a whirl, which is why you’ll now find a Conversations app live in the Ovi Store, free to download. Getting up and running is frighteningly simple. The six-step process only takes a few minutes, but it’s worth spending a little time getting things prepared before you kick off. Read on after the jump to see what’s involved.

First up, we’d recommend preparing some assets before you start the App Wizard process. You’ll need a couple of images – an application logo, to sit at the top of the application (240×60px) and an application icon (for use on the Ovi Store and on the device – 256×256px). You should also prepare some description text, but beware the 500 character limit. You should also think about your colour scheme. You can adjust the logo background colour, the general background colour, the channel text colour and the link colour.

Once you’ve got those elements in place, the registration process is pretty straightforward and is completed in six easy stages:

1. Register and agree to the terms and conditions
2. Add up to four web feeds with your content
3. Add a logo and icon and personalise your colours and language
4. Switch on advertising, if you want to
5. Add description text (app description and publisher profile text)
6. Submit your app to Ovi Store

Apps submitted through Ovi App Wizard should be processed within 24 hours and won’t be subject to the Ovi Store registration fee, which is an added bonus. So far, apps have been created from more than 90 countries and downloaded in more than 180 countries across 90 different Nokia devices. Ovi App Wizard supports 25 different languages, so it’s no surprise to see the the likes of India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UK, Italy, Germany, Russia all in the list of top downloading countries.

If you want to get your content into the Ovi Store, there’s probably no easier way. Even if you hadn’t considered creating a mobile app for your website, the Ovi App Wizard makes it so easy, and free, you’d be crazy not to. Make sure you own the content you’re submitting though as there is an approval process to go through.

Once your app has been approved and set live, you can log in to the publisher dashboard to check out your stats, showing how many people have downloaded the app, and how many page views the app has had over the last seven and last 30 days.

Head on over to OviAppWizard.com to get up and running. Don’t forget to download the Nokia Conversations app, too.

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Nokia C3 lands in Indonesia Tweet

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Thousands turned out for the arrival of the Nokia C3 in Indonesia at the weekend, causing long queues at a series of special events held there. Across 10 cities including Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta folks undeterred by the rain waited patiently to get their hands on the new device. The events, held on Saturday, gave the new C3 owners the chance to pick the device up for a special price, before it hit general sale on Sunday.

The Nokia C3 is the most affordable QWERTY device ever to come out of Espoo. Based on the same form factor as the now legendary E71 and E72. Inspired by its elder brethren, the C3 brings messaging to the masses, coming as it does with Ovi Mail pre-installed so users can get up and running on email in a snap. It’s also a plenty capable snapper and with GPRS and WiFi on board is perfect for sharing pictures, too. Users can also access their favourite social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, right from the homescreen.

Indonesia scored with the folks there being the first in the world to get their hands on the device which will be going on sale in other countries, including the UK, over the coming weeks.

Let us know what you think of the Nokia C3 below – are you planning to get one, or have you already picked one up?

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Nokia N8 Video Walkthrough: Photo Features Tweet

ESPOO, Finland - It’s no secret that one of the most hotly anticipated features of the new Nokia N8 is the 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The second of our video walkthroughs shows the photography software bundled with the device. There’s software to view photo albums; to edit your photos and even to create videos while you’re on the move – using multiple clips, text titles and transitions. Lastly, we see how the N8 can interact with mobile storage devices, such as a USB key. Follow the break to see Chris Bennetts, Senior Product Manager, walk you through the picture and video applications.

The photo browsing section gives an indication of how the UI will work on the new device. Swiping and tapping will be the main way to get things done – flicking through a photo album and choosing particular pictures, in this case – while a longer tap reveals a context-sensitive menu of options. Doing this with a photo reveals options to view, edit, tag, send it to a friend and other actions. The power of the high resolution is also revealed, allowing the viewer to focus in on tiny details using a ‘pinch out’ action with your fingers.

Photo-editing allows for the adjustment of photo images, cropping, colour adjustments and adding clipart to create individualised, fun pictures. There’s also an indication of special effect and fine-tuning options that we look forward to seeing more of.

The video editing features offer a story board for putting together clips, titles and transitions in a timeline. Visually, it’s not far away from desktop applications like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. Individual sections of the video can be independently edited and adjusted. There’s a host of transitions and the titles can be edited, moved, rotated and recoloured in the same ways you can in a vector illustration program.

The final section of the video concerns using your Nokia N8 to interact with external media. There’s 16GB of memory on-board, so space shouldn’t be too much of a problem unless you’re planning a Spielberg-esque piece of production. Nonetheless, you’ll want to move your movie masterpieces onto other computers, perhaps for further processing, and ‘over the air’ isn’t always convenient for very large files. Happily, the Nokia N8’s USB slot and adapter cable allows users to directly connect a thumb drive or other removable storage media to the phone, with them appearing as new drives in the same way you’ll be used to on a PC or Mac.

Just a quick note on the format. The intention here is that we’re putting people on camera who have been living and working with the device since its conception. The team at Nokia were really grateful for all the feedback to last week’s post – both praise and criticism – and asked us to mention that this is really important as they continue to optimise the product, services and software until the point at which it goes on sale. In other words: fire away!

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Nokia backs 1GOAL campaign Tweet

GLOBAL - Who knew football and education had a link, apart from in the playground? It does now. Nokia has joined global players of the beautiful game as part of the brand new 1GOAL campaign. 1GOAL’s simple manifesto is to ensure that every child in the world has the opportunity to receive a quality education. Find out after the jump how Nokia is educating us about the 1GOAL campaign.

It’s all ‘appening on the Ovi Store. With over 1.7 million downloads a day, what better way to reach the masses than to create a 1GOAL app. It’s pretty simple. Download the free app, and it’ll magically create a picture of you and your chosen 1GOAL ambassador. Personally, I don’t think the app suffers from not being an all-dancing, all-singing whizzbang of an app, the message is simple enough. Nokia’s creating a platform to raise awareness of this worthy cause, just downloading the app and signing-up to the 1GOAL campaign shows your support.

Along with Nokia, 1GOAL is backed by over 100 organisations in over 100 countries, including FIFA, some of the biggest names in football as well as celebrities and politicians. It’s not only the big shots getting involved: it already has eight million signed up to support it and over 180 ambassadors including Pele and the French wonder-boy Zinadine Zidane.

If you fancy your pic with the stars of the footballing world, or just want to show your support for the 1GOAL campaign, the app is available now on Ovi Store and is compatible with Symbian 3rd and 5th edition.

To find out more about the 1GOAL campaign, head over to www.join1goal.org and get involved.

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OviDailyApp – Get Fit for Football Fever Tweet

GLOBAL – We’re less than a week from the arrival of the full-on football mania that is the World Cup. The event will bring together people from across the world in a common cause – albeit for just 90 minutes at a time over a one-month period. The first match takes place this Friday and for every second until the opening whistle, true fans will be shaking with anticipation. This week’s Ovi Store app roundup covers some of the mobile essentials for the dedicated fan.

[This is a guest post from Juan Carlos Anez, who runs the Latin American version of this site, Nokia Conversaciones. JC knows much more about football than the pasty-faced geeks on the rest of the team - especially myself - and so was a natural choice for the job of selecting these apps! Ian]

This soccer World Cup will be experienced more vividly than ever before, thanks to our modern devices and the remote web access they provide. In order to fully experience what happens in South Africa wherever you are, we present three must-have apps: Real Football 2010, Nokia Goal and AP 2010 World Cup.

Let’s start with real training. Real Football 2010 is a Gameloft development that will help you get in the mood for midfield strategies and rekindle your passion for goals. In the game, you get 245 teams from eight different leagues to choose from. On touch devices, the user interface allows you to move the players and pass the ball by tapping on the field. There are several different game modes, such as training, league mode, friendly match and penalty shooting. And you also can select “Legend” mode to choose a player and helping him get to pro stardom.

There’s a demo version available at Ovi Store that lets you try before purchasing the full thing, but also take a look at this video that shows a little more of the game’s possibilities:

The next app to consider is Nokia Goal, a Java-based resource that brings all the football info you need to the palm of your hand. Nokia Goal presents info from European tournaments (Spain, France, Italy, UK and Germany) and Latin American soccer leagues. The free version offers you championship calendars, info about results and relevant news for all fans. A premium version adds “live” coverage of selected matches, allowing you to personalise goal-based beep-alerts to make you jump with happiness or hang your head in sorrow depending on how much you bet on your favourite team.

Finally, Associated Press (one of the largest sources of news since 1846 and winner of 49 Pulitzer prizes) has developed AP 2010 World Cup, as a resource for information on the forthcoming South African events. This Flash app offers the latest news, images and videos feeds directly on your mobile. Also, for must-have info, there are profiles of teams, players and stadiums. And if you feel in need of a conversation starter, you can use the results of the online polls on different World Cup-related topics.

How will you be connected to this year’s soccer World Cup? Will you wait for the news in the press, be glued to your TV, or will mobile apps play a big part in feeding your addiction?

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Redevelopment – Forum Nokia Relaunches Tweet

GLOBAL - Forum Nokia, the company’s site for the developer community, has been redesigned, rewritten and retooled to better serve its members. The site acts as a library of resources and also as a forum – with four million members, it’s the world’s largest community of its kind. The site’s been running since 1998, so the relaunch brings a welcome opportunity to reinvent its information architecture, as well as the look and feel.

Now, all the resources are organised under three main categories: Design, Develop and Distribute, while Library and Devices sections allow experienced users to dive in and retrieve the information they need quickly.

The Design section features tools and resources for all stages of the process, including prototyping, interaction design and user testing. The Develop section brings Qt, Java and Web development resources to the fore alongside support for Symbian C++. Finally, Distribute is all about packaging and marketing your apps, as well as getting them into the Ovi Store.

The community aspects of the site have also received some TLC in the update. A new area called the ‘Project Space’ has been created to give members an online collaboration tool for development. Long-time users need not worry about losing anything in the upgrade, though: the message boards – some of which boast over 300,000 posts and are an invaluable library of community-created knowledge – are preserved and updated.

“We will continue to support end-to end solutions that make it easy for developers to create innovative, compelling applications and content for use on Nokia’s mobile devices,” said Purnima Kochikar, vice president of Forum Nokia & Developer Communities. “And we will continue to provide simple yet powerful tools that are designed to help developers succeed in their work.”

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Nokia Cseries…10 things you need to know Tweet

GLOBAL - The Nokia Cseries has been blossoming of late. Last week, the Nokia C1 brethren (C1-00, C1-01 and C1-02) were unleashed, plus the Nokia C2 came into view toting dual SIM goodness. These devices joined the Cseries clan along with the Nokia C3, Nokia C5 and Nokia C6. But, what do these mini marvels have to offer? Join us after the jump as we reveal the must-know facts about Nokia’s latest line-up.

1. Nokia C2 is the first dual SIM phone from Nokia
If we were to name just one thing you guys have been hankering for over the past two years, it would be dual-SIM phones. Cue the fanfare and the Nokia C2: Nokia’s first dual-SIM phone. The Nokia C2 can keep both SIM cards active, meaning calls and text messages can come to either number while the phone is on. The first SIM card on the Nokia C2 sits underneath the battery. The second SIM card is ‘hot-swappable’, a feature unique to Nokia, meaning it can be removed and inserted when the phone is on. But, what we want to know now is, what would you do with a dual-SIM phone? Let us know in this week’s poll.

2. Grab your Nokia C3 from Indonesia, but you’ll have to join the queue
This week, the Nokia C3 landed in Indonesia and caused quite the furore. Across 10 cities including Jakarta, Bandung, and Yogyakarta, avid fans queued in torrential rain to get their mitts on Nokia’s latest offering. We’d be glad to join the end of that queue, as the Nokia C3 is a stonker. It’s the most affordable QWERTY device ever to come out of Espoo. Based on the same form factor as the now popular Nokia E71 and Nokia E72. Inspired by its elder brethren, the C3 brings messaging to the masses, coming as it does with Ovi Mail pre-installed so users can get up and running on email in a snap. It’s also a very capable snapper and – with GPRS and WiFi on board – is perfect for sharing pictures, too. Users can also access their favourite social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, right from the homescreen.

3. Nokia C1-00 boasts double SIM functionality
We’ve had the Nokia C2 sporting dual SIM, but there’s also the Nokia C1-00 boasting double SIM. Similarly to the Nokia C2, the Nokia C1-00 can house two SIMs, but both won’t work simultaneously. Slip in your pair of SIMs and decide which one you’d like to use when you power up. Swapping is simple enough, just press the appropriate button and the handset will switch.

4. The Nokia C5 is one of the first devices to include the joint mobile app store – Mobile Market – Ovi Store in China
Hot-to-trot after the initial announcement, the Nokia C5 will soon be available to China Mobile customers. Along with the X5, the C5 is the first in the East to glean access to the joint mobile app store, Mobile Market-Ovi Store. Not only will users have access to brand-spanking new apps, they’ll be a cinch to get hold of too, as the Nokia’s C5 will be able to make the most of China’s high-speed 3G network. It’ll also come preloaded with apps including CMCC Music, Mobile Video and Fetion IM.

5. It’s not all about the candybars when it comes to the Nokia Cseries
We all love a bit of candy, but the Cseries offers a bit of variety too. True, the latest Nokia C1 bunch (C1-00, C1-01, C1-02) and the Nokia C2 are all candybars, but there’s also the full QWERTY keyboard flavoured Nokia C3, and the slide-out QWERTY Nokia C6.

6. The Nokia C3 is the first Series 40 device to come sporting a full QWERTY keyboard
The Eseries isn’t the only club that’s privy to a full QWERTY keyboard. Launched in April 2010, the Nokia C3 won the accolade of being the first Series 40 device with a full QWERTY keyboard. Putting messaging firmly in the palm of your hand, this tiny tyke comes packing access to your favourite Instant Messaging, social networking and email accounts, all courtesy of Nokia Messaging.

7. The Nokia C2 has some bang-for-your-buck, and is one of the most affordable Series 40 devices to date
Not only is the Nokia C2 the first dual SIM phone to make it out of Nokia’s stable, but it’s also the most wallet-friendly Series 40 device. With more features that you could shake a smartphone-shaped stick at, it comes in at a bargain price of 45 Euros before taxes and subsidies. Along with the dual SIM, the Nokia C2 also offers a wide range of information covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment via Nokia’s Ovi Life Tools, as well as the email account for the developing world, Ovi Mail. In addition to Ovi Mail, people’s favorite consumer email and chat accounts can be pushed direct to the phone via Nokia Messaging. Listening to music is simple with the FM radio and music player, with a massive amount of music storage with the phone supporting micro-SD cards of up to 32GB. There’s also enough room for up to 1,000 entries in the phone book, and a standby time of up to 16.5 days. A VGA camera, Bluetooth and GPRS also make the Nokia C2 a very attractive offering.

8. Nokia Cseries was the first to receive a new-generation Nokia name
We’re pretty accustomed to Nokia’s naming conventions now, but the first to adopt the change was the Nokia C5. Launched back in March, the device heralded a change in Nokia’s monikers. There are now four series of devices – Nokia Cseries, Xseries, Eseries and Nseries. Whilst the latter two have been around for a while, and Xseries has been around since last year’s Nokia World, the latest addition of Cseries rounds off the complete set. What’s more, within each series of devices, we’re seeing a new range of numbers, from 1 to 9, each signifying the range of functionality on offer, and the approximate prices of the devices – 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest.

9. Ovi Life tools is available on the Nokia Cseries
We mentioned it above, but we think it’s worth mentioning twice as Ovi Life Tools is such a fantastic offering for many emerging markets. Sitting pretty in the Nokia C2 and Nokia C1-01 and Nokia C1-02, the SMS-based subscription service is split into three areas: agriculture; education and entertainment. Users can get daily weather updates, agriculture news and advice, plus the latest market prices for three chosen crops. The education texts provide English language tips, exam preparation hints and career information, while entertainment keeps users up to date with cricket scores and the latest ringtones.

10. Messaging for the masses is what the Cseries does best
Across the board, each Cseries device is designed with keeping connected in mind, with either Nokia Messaging or Ovi Mail is on board. Nokia Messaging brings together a pretty compelling communications package, with support for up to 10 email accounts, support for major email vendors, including business email through Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveller and support for major Instant Messaging accounts, as well. Ovi Mail, on the other hand, offers an email solution for everyone. There’s a beefy 1GB of storage included, along with extras such as out of office, and tapping into Ovi Mail is easy, whether you’re on the web or on your phone. Use a PC and web browser to log in and you’ll see neat options to select multiple messages, sort through them by sender or date, and even drag and drop to quickly move emails from one folder to another.

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Two Timing – Double and Dual SIMs Tweet

GLOBAL - Nokia last week unveiled two new phones that offer the unique advantage of supporting more than one SIM card: the Nokia C1-00 and the Nokia C2-00. However, there’s a key difference between the two that might cause some confusion. The C1-00 is what Nokia refers to as a Double SIM phone, while the C2-00 is a dual SIM device. Join us after the break for what we hope will be a useful guide to the advantages of both.

Double SIM – for example, the Nokia C1-00 – means that you can have two SIM cards installed on the device, choosing which one you want to use when you power up your phone. You can’t make or receive calls with the inactive SIM, only the one you’ve chosen, until you change it again by holding down the appropriate button. One further advantage of the Nokia C1-00 is that the second SIM card is hot-swappable through a side slot – allowing several SIM cards to be easily used without having to dismantle your phone every time.

Who might want this: If you use one account for daytime and another for evenings; if you use a different account when travelling abroad; if you share the device – perhaps between a family; perhaps keeping an ‘emergency’ account in store in case you run out of minutes on a pre-paid account.

Dual SIM – two SIM cards are installed, both of which are active at the same time. You can receive calls on either number at the same time, potentially simultaneously. In the case of the Nokia C2-00, there is a shortcut key which invokes which SIM to use for the next outgoing call. There are obvious advantages to this in terms of not having to switch in and out of accounts, or appearing unavailable on one number when the other SIM is in use.

Who might want this: all of the above, plus use of different accounts for work and personal calls (and similar); extra convenience; choice of different accounts for phoning people on particular networks.

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Nokia in Pakistan: Q&A Tweet

KARACHI, Pakistan - Following our coverage last week of Nokia’s involvement in the first Pakistan Blog Awards, we took the opportunity of putting Adeel Hashmi, Communications Manager – Near East, on the spot to learn more about the current state of mobile and social media in the country. Join us after the break to find out about what’s happening in the not-so-far East.

NC: You described the blog awards as quite ‘daring’. Why is that?

AH: I remember the first time the organising team approached me about the blogger awards. It was a unique forum to be a part of and the best thing was the timing. We were gearing up for an aggressive initiative in the social media space and here it was. We agreed on the terms and went in as the presentation partner. The awards team was pleasantly surprised that we agreed. They had small partners but Nokia taking the lead on this was a big step in a market like Pakistan.

This was the first time such an activity has been organised in Pakistan. Because of the current financial instability in the country, a lot of global and local brands are avoiding any forum where they will be in direct contact with opinion makers. Nonetheless, being the market leader, we at Nokia ensured that the team at the Pakistan Bloggers’ Award was fully supported. We helped them in judging the major categories and also attended as a keynote speaker to talk about Nokia’s ideas regarding social media trends in the country.

With an ‘online all-the-time audience’ (almost 90% of the guests were tweeting or live-blogging) of almost 300 bloggers, Nokia was seen in the forefront of understanding the needs of digital media movers and shakers.

adeel

NC: You mentioned that Nokia has partnered with Pakistani bloggers for some time. In what way? Why? And how has it helped?

AH: Back in August 2008, we did an exercise to analyse the local media scene and came across a grey area – “social media” – which was growing exponentially in the local market.

Gradually, we started interacting with local tech-savvy bloggers who had an interest in writing about mobile technology. We also realised that bloggers rarely have any official sources from whom to get local stories and insights. We have been facilitating that ever since, by providing them first-hand relevant information that helped them write fresh, unbiased editorial. We also invite them to our local events and announcements and use them in the seeding program as well.

Our first blogger-exclusive meet-up was in 2009 when we did the first sneak previews of the Nokia N97. It was very well received and since them we have been managing blogger meetups to give them exclusive content about Nokia and how we sees the world today and tomorrow.

NC: Give us an overall picture of mobile in Pakistan.

AH: Mobile penetration is at 58.7 per cent (i.e. the number of subscribers / total population) – that’s 96.2 million mobile subscribers. Of those, the proportion of people using a single SIM is 60 per cent. We expect subscriptions to grow between seven and eight per cent a year for the next five years, with the vast majority of new subscribers coming from rural areas.

That’s a high proportion, but 89 per cent of the market is for devices that cost less than $100US. The most popular Nokia models are the 1202, 1208, 1661, 1616, 5030, 2700, 5130 and 6303.

Among the 11 per cent that represents the high-end, popular devices are the E63, E71 and E90. The touch-sensitive 5230 & 5233 models are also gaining popularity rapidly.

NC: You say that mobile technology can “empower the masses to use them for the betterment of their lives as well as society”. Can you give any particular examples of how mobiles (and Nokia) are helping?

AH: Based on the economic situation of our country, where most of the market is going to be looking at entry-level devices, we were always keen to communicate about the value that a mobile device brings to individual lives. We have offered a range of devices at every price point here in Pakistan, which has helped us understand what people want to do with their phones. We have seen an immense change over the period of our existence in Pakistan. The masses have been adopting this mobile technology for the betterment of their living standards and it has come to be a necessity for them.

Nowadays, in all the major metropolitan cities like Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore, we see that even people from the lowest economic class, like housekeepers, gatekeepers, drivers, janitors, hawkers, plumbers, and electricians are now accessible 24/7 via mobile. They are also aware that this technology has helped them to improve their lives by getting more business. Nokia has been playing a critical role in bringing total cost of ownership down for consumers. And if I have to quote one example to show how we have changed the lives of people, it is the fact that – thanks to very low data charges – the average Pakistani youth has his or her first experience of the Internet on a mobile device.

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Connecting People, we’re flattered Tweet

ESPOO, Finland – “It’s all about connecting people”. That’s what Apple executive Scott Forstall says in Apple’s new video for the latest iPhone. He is right. Nokia has used the slogan “Connecting People” for decades now, so we were pretty surprised to hear it used in the video. In fact, at last count, Nokia has connected over 1.2 billion family members, friends, business colleagues and other folk to one another.

And we weren’t the only ones to spot this either, it seems that Finnish website, Kauppalehti, got a bit hot under the collar when they picked up that Apple had lifted Nokia’s strapline and used it in their promo video.

Actually we’re pretty flattered Scott chose to say “connecting people” in his bit of the video. Especially as Macstories seemed to think it makes a pretty good headline too.

It’s rewarding to see that after nearly two decades, our mantra of “connecting people” still resonates so strongly. And of course, now we’ll be watching to ensure that our protected trademarks are not used in an inappropriate way in future!

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Nokia N8 Video Walkthrough: Music player and HDMI Tweet

GLOBAL - We’re sure you’ve seen the first pair of Nokia N8 walkthrough videos. Now, it’s time for the final instalment of the trio of videos about the hotly anticipated handset. In this video, the focus is on the music player and the HDMI connectivity available on the device. Hungry to see the latest handset in action? Join us after the jump.

To kick things off, Chris Bennetts, Senior Project Manager at Nokia, talks through the various functionalities of the music player. He searches for songs, artists and albums with ease, along with scrolling through playlists and viewing the player in both landscape and portrait mode.

The second part of the video moves on to look at the HDMI capability of the Nokia N8, a feature that we here on Conversations, and a fair few of you guys are excited about. Watch the video to see how easy it is to connect the device to your home entertainment screen, and how you can control the handset using any Bluetooth enabled device, be it a remote control or a computer keyboard.

Once you’ve had your fix here, don’t forget to check out the first and second walkthrough videos. The first looks at messaging, internet and maps, while the second takes a detailed look at the photo features.

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'Green' Is No Longer the Magic Bullet: Deloitte White Paper Explores New Path Toward Clean Energy, Jobs and Security Tweet

WASHINGTON -- "Green" is no longer the magic bullet to solve our energy concerns, according to Dr. Joseph A. Stanislaw, an independent senior advisor to Deloitte LLP and founder of the advisory firm The JAStanislaw Group, LLC. Instead, says Stanislaw, a "transition from green to clean" can power the next phase of development of the world's energy and economic sectors.

Stanislaw makes this argument in a new white paper titled, "Clean Energy 1.0: Moving beyond green to create sustainable jobs and a long-term energy strategy," which focuses on the three interconnected mandates that are driving the evolution of clean energy in the United States: protecting the environment, creating enduring jobs and enhancing national security.

Stanislaw, who is the co-founder and former president and CEO of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, begins his white paper with historical context: "Just two years ago, when oil was levitating towards $100 a barrel and Russia was playing politics with pipelines — green energy was the holy grail of energy security. Then, when concern over climate change reached a fever pitch, it became the silver bullet to solve global warming. And, finally, when the 'Great Recession' struck, green energy was the panacea for unemployment and falling wages."

This metamorphosis, he says, is part of a necessary maturing of the debate around energy because clean energy technologies must "evolve from their current 1.0 stage to a 2.0 stage and beyond." He draws an analogy between clean energy and the high-tech industry: "Right now, clean energy is where the mobile-phone industry was in 1983, when Motorola released its two-pound, $4,000 DynaTac 8000x, or where the computing world stood that same year, when Windows 1.0 was launched."

Stanislaw goes on to explain that the past two years alone have shown us that green energy is "no longer the magic bullet." Clean energy, he says, can now take its "pivotal but mortal place in an array of energy forms and technologies that will power the world in the 21st century." He claims that the 'transition from green to clean' will power the next phase of development of the world economy, as we race to create technologies that help us better produce energy and reduce its use.

The white paper points out that the stage is now set for a smart, long-term American energy strategy—for numerous reasons:

* Energy is now top of mind: The federal stimulus bill has helped kick-start a massive investment in clean energy technologies and has shifted America's psychology on energy.
* Steering a new strategic course: Our recent immersion in clean energy has allowed us to better understand—through experimentation and debate—what our long-term energy strategy might be.
* Clean beats green: We have come to understand that what matters most is not green energy but clean energy—whether it comes from the wind, clean coal, natural gas or nuclear. And, best of all, is Americans' greater understanding of using less energy overall.
* Energy is jobs policy: Policymakers have learned that energy policy cannot be separated from jobs policy—and that sustainable jobs matter most.
* Energy improves the bottom line: The recession has underscored the pocketbook benefits of efficiency and clean energy for individuals and corporations, in addition to their positive impact on the climate change and national security. "Efficiency and clean energy are now firmly embedded in the consciousness of Americans," says Stanislaw.
* The public wants to go clean: Americans continue to insist that corporations "go clean," thus shaping product development and capital allocation. "Americans should encourage policymakers to follow suit," according to Stanislaw.


He advocates several steps to help move the United States along the clean-development continuum. First, he stresses developing a federal framework. "The absence of a federal framework is now an enormous handicap," he says. "The federal government should not avoid mandating renewable power consumption nationwide. Whether the target is 20 percent of American energy coming from renewable sources by 2020, or something more modest, a mandate is important. Policymakers should not try to pick winners, but they should set targets."

Stanislaw also stresses the need to reduce and manage energy demand instead of just producing clean energy. "Energy efficiency is perhaps the biggest untapped market for entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers. It meets all the demands of those seeking to reduce emissions and increase national security, while having the potential to contribute mightily to the creation of sustainable, well-paying jobs."

"And finally," says Stanislaw, "research and development must rise again." He cites an estimate that before the stimulus bill, the Federal government budget for energy research was the same today, adjusted for inflation, as it was in 1968 — about $3 billion. "This situation is made worse by a decline in energy-related research and development expenditures in the private sector over recent decades," he adds.

"We should reverse this trend by creating market conditions to promote investments in research, development, and market penetration in energy efficiency, in new methods of consumption, and in all forms of energy, be they traditional — oil, gas, coal, nuclear — or alternative. "

Stanislaw concludes his white paper by reiterating that this is just the early dawn of the clean energy era. "Only in the past year or two has energy become a national state of mind," he said. "But the historic importance of this can hardly be underestimated."

He argues that businesses and governments should respond to this new reality by creating the products and services that will help Americans manage their energy consumption. Corporations, meanwhile, should realize that in addition to their core business, each and every one of them is an energy company, too — and that managing their energy usage can be critical to their bottom line. Last, policymakers can amplify these trends by creating the rules of the game and funding the research that will position the United States at the cutting edge of the clean energy evolution.

To download the white paper, visit www.deloitte.com/us/CleanEnergy.

About the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions

The Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions (Center) provides a forum for innovation, thought leadership, groundbreaking research and industry collaboration to solve the most complex energy challenges. Through the Center, Deloitte's Energy & Resources group leads the debate on critical topics on the minds of executives — from legislative and regulatory policy to operational efficiency to sustainable and profitable growth. The Center provides complete solutions to Deloitte's clients through a global network of specialists and thought leaders. With locations in Houston and Washington, D.C., the Center offers interaction through seminars, roundtables and other forms of engagement, where established and growing companies can come together to learn, discuss and debate. For more information, see www.deloitte.com/energysolutions.

About Deloitte

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and Deloitte Services LP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

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Friday’s Pick and Mix #4 Tweet

It’s fast-approaching time for us to down tools for the weekend here on Conversations. But before we head off for some liquid refreshment, it’s time to share the fruits of our browsing over the last week – the news that we discovered from blogs, feeds and Twitter. If you come across any interesting stories over the week that you think deserves a wider audience, do let us know in the comments and if we like them, they’ll appear here next week.

* Analysts at consultancy Deloitte think that World Cup traffic could bring mobile networks to their knees, reports the Telegraph. Apparently, it’s down to people streaming entire matches to their mobiles. Not surprising that some networks are reviewing their attitude towards ‘unlimited’ mobile data tariffs. If you’re planning something similar, nonetheless, don’t forget your sun-shade.
* The Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development is putting a new $10 million fund into the Haiti relief efforts. It’s relevant here on Conversations because the money is going into reviving the country’s banking infrastructure with mobile banking.
* On the subject of mobile banking, former Nokia Principal Scientist Jan Chipchase has been publishing a series of articles on how this technology might relieve poverty. They’re not a casual read by any means, but provide a lot of useful information if you’re interested in the subject.
* Still on a rather serious note, how Concern Worldwide made photo-IDs for 9000 women across 116 villages in Niger – a country on the verge of a major hunger crisis. The IDs meant they could legally register for mobile phones, which in turn gave them access to emergency cash coupons for food.
* VisionMobile has a great article on the eight-year history of mobile video calling, its issues and likely future. It wasn’t invented earlier this week, despite what you might have heard…
* And finally, and rather less seriously, those young people are at it again with their socially questionable use of mobile phones – this time at work. According to a recent survey (via. textually) :

– 11% of 18-24 year-olds think it’s appropriate to ask for a raise via text;

– 32% say it’s okay to “call in sick” to work via text and 22% have actually done it;

– 11% think it’s okay to quit a job via text

We wonder how they feel about getting sacked via SMS?

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eyeSight Brings Natural User Interface to Android Devices, Creating a New World of Hand Gesture Interaction Tweet

eyeSight's Technology Uses the Built-in Camera to Track Hand Gestures and Convert Them Into Commands. It Allows Handset Manufacturers to Expand Their Offerings and Improve User Experience.

HERZELIYA, Israel -- eyeSight Mobile Technologies, a developer of Natural User Interface (NUI) solutions for mobile phones and consumer electronics devices, launched today an innovative technology allowing Android device manufacturers to offer their clients for the first time control over their handsets by using simple hand gestures.

eyeSight's solution utilizes the device's built-in camera, advanced real-time image processing and machine vision algorithms, to track the user's hand motions and convert them into commands. Users of Android devices can now silence an incoming call, navigate between GPS menus, activate their MP3 player, play games and carry many other tasks by simply swiping their hand over the device.

eyeSight's technology is a pure software solution, highly optimized for mobile platforms, offering low CPU and memory requirements, which directly translate to low power consumption. The expected introduction of new Android devices with front-facing-camera by Motorola, HTC and Google will enable to fully utilize the benefits offered by eyeSight technology. The solution enables users control their phones and navigate in documents, web pages or maps by using gesture recognition technology.

"A good technology is an invisible one. eyeSight's Touch Free Interface technology for Android-based devices introduces exactly that – a new level of interaction that is natural, intuitive and simple to use," said Itay Katz eyeSight's Founder & CEO. "Users are looking for ways to ease, improve and enjoy their day to day interaction with their mobile phone, ideally aiming to gain effortless control of the device's applications and functions, which is where eyeSight's solution comes to place."

eyeSight provides a natural and intuitive way to control portable devices and applications. As the number of applications continues to increase, users spend more time navigating complicated menus. So for instance, when using a mobile navigation system, instead of looking for a specific key or clicking specific areas on the screen, the driver focuses on the road, and controls the device by a simple hand gesture. Moreover, while playing mobile games, eyeSight's technology enables playing by using hand motions emulating real life actions such as - throwing a ball, catching a boomerang, blocking enemy's attacks and more. The technology has been developed to work within many Android phones' apps and provides a new, fun, and exciting way for users to easily control their favorite activities.

About eyeSight

eyeSight Mobile Technologies is an innovative developer of Natural User Interface solutions. eyeSight's technology allows users control mobile devices with a simple hand gesture by using the built-in camera, advanced real-time image processing and machine vision algorithms.

eyeSight specializes in futuristic touch free interfaces for mobile devices developing groundbreaking technology aimed at revolutionizing the way people interact with portable devices.

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Market-Leading PC Manufacturer Selects Lionbridge as Premier Translation Provider Tweet

Lionbridge Expects New Client Program to Generate Approximately $4 Million Annually.

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Lionbridge (Nasdaq: LIOX) announced that it has signed a master services agreement with one of the world's largest PC manufacturers. With the agreement Lionbridge will be the sole provider of global program management, localization and linguistic testing for the client's popular notebook, desktop, server, and software product suites, in up to 39 target languages. The client selected Lionbridge based on Lionbridge's dedication to quality and Lean Six Sigma, cutting edge technology and global reach.

To facilitate the program the client will use Lionbridge's translation management portal, Freeway™. This platform will be integrated with the client's content authoring environment to unify multi-site production teams and create a seamless process for authoring and translation.

In addition, the PC manufacturer will benefit from Translation Workspace™, Lionbridge's cloud-based translation memory platform. The system's unique, on-demand architecture enables the simultaneous use of multiple translation memories on a single project and facilitates real-time collaboration among all project participants. This improves turn-around time, increases consistency and quality and eliminates redundant work. As a result, the client gains all of the benefits of technology without having to buy, deploy, or maintain on-premise translation software.

By working with Lionbridge, the PC manufacturer is able to enhance product quality and accelerate time to market. In addition, because Lionbridge offers benefits of a cloud-based, managed service model, the client is able to fully leverage its language assets while reducing costs.

Lionbridge will support the PC manufacturer with a global team, including program management experts from Lionbridge's China-based solution center, who will build an effective process to power the client's global translation requirements. Lionbridge's global teams, combined with its real-time language technology platform will also allow the client to easily scale their translation program to support ongoing growth.

"The world today demands the management of contradictions - we have to centralize the linguistic assets in the internet cloud, yet decentralize the actual translation and program management to enable a network of solution centers and in-country development teams. Lionbridge is committed to implementing this vision for organizations that need a complete solution to manage their global language initiatives," said Rory Cowan, CEO, Lionbridge. "Together, we will reduce time to market for this client's award winning technology and increase overall quality of international releases."

About Lionbridge

Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: LIOX) is a provider of translation, development and testing services. Lionbridge combines global resources with proven program management methodologies to serve as an outsource partner throughout a client's product and content lifecycle - from development to translation, testing and maintenance. Global organizations rely on Lionbridge services to increase international market share, speed adoption of global products and content, and enhance their return on enterprise applications and IT system investments. Based in Waltham, Mass., Lionbridge maintains solution centers in 26 countries and provides services under the Lionbridge and VeriTest brands. To learn more, visit http://www.lionbridge.com

Lionbridge, Freeway, and Translation Workspace are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and throughout the world. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Six Sigma is a trademark of Motorola, Inc.

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Netshoes Ushers in World Cup 2010 Shopping Season with Personalized Online Customer Experience Powered by Baynote Tweet

Leading Brazilian Sports Retailer Uses Baynote to Increase Conversion Rate by 30 Percent.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Baynote, the innovator in adaptive Web solutions, announced that Netshoes, a leading Brazilian sports retailer, has selected the company's recommendation technology to deliver customers a more adaptive online shopping experience. Within one month of deploying the Baynote Collective Intelligence Platform™, Netshoes improved its conversion rate by 30 percent and increased its average order value (AOV) by 10 percent.

"The results with Baynote were immediate and far-reaching," said Marcio Kumruian, CEO and founder, Netshoes. "The increased conversion rate continues to contribute significantly to Netshoes' bottom line, and we're really well positioned to take advantage of the influx of Brazilian National team fans coming to our site this World Cup season."

Netshoes is Brazil's largest online retailer of sports shoes, jerseys and accessories with over 300,000 unique daily visitors. The retailer's manual merchandising of what they assumed to be natural complementary products required a great deal of effort with little return on investment. Netshoes chose Baynote because it combined the power of crowd-driven recommendations with easy to use merchandising controls. During the lead up to the World Cup, where Netshoes is expecting a spike in traffic from Brazilian National team fans, visitors will benefit from a more personal shopping experience that adapts to their individual interests and intent in real-time.

"We have really come to rely on how the Baynote system is able to anticipate trends and automatically display the most popular and soon to be hit items," said Pedro Reiss, e-commerce director for Netshoes' partner agency F.biz. "And during a heavy shopping season like World Cup, where we have specific search campaigns targeting Brazilan team fans, we also like the platform's powerful expert-controlled merchandising capabilities."

Netshoes began using Baynote before the World Cup season to optimize the shopping experience for its customers. For example, Baynote allowed Netshoes to "blacklist" certain soccer jerseys that would not be recommended as complementary products for products from rival teams. These recommendations would seem otherwise logical, were it not for the intense rivalry between supporters of different clubs. During the World Cup, Netshoes has invested heavily in a large inventory of National jerseys as well as in search marketing. Because such a large number of patriotic first time visitors are expected, Netshoes will be "pinning" the Brazilian national team jersey to every product page hoping to turn these first time visitors into purchasers and later into long term customers.

For more details on how Netshoes is working with Baynote to increase customer conversions, loyalty and revenues, please visit: http://www.baynote.com/resources/case-studies/netshoes/NetshoesCS.pdf.

About Baynote

Launched in 2006, Baynote's Collective Intelligence Platform™ delivers on-demand recommendation technology and social search. Baynote's SaaS solutions are easy to implement on top of existing infrastructure to increase online revenue, leads, and impressions. Baynote delivers billions of recommendations each month to hundreds of leading enterprise, media and e-commerce companies, including Expedia, Intuit, Motorola, NASA, Symantec, and Urban Outfitters. For more information, please visit www.baynote.com.

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Thomson Reuters to Host Intellectual Property Leader Exchange Featuring Debate on Non-Practicing Entities - Patent Pirates or Stewards of Innovation? Tweet

AT&T, Motorola, Fairchild Semiconductor, Nixon Peabody & Others to Speak at Summit.

NEW YORK -- The IP Solutions business of Thomson Reuters will host a one-day forum on intellectual property management in Manhattan on Thursday, June 17. As part of the Global IP Leader Exchange series of industry events, this summit will tackle the topic of non-practicing entities and patent owners who do not manufacture the inventions for which they hold the patents, among other pressing IP matters.

The event's lead session will feature Vincent Pluvinage, general manager of Strategic Acquisitions & Private Equity, Intellectual Ventures; Linda Biel, vice president of Business Development, Allied Security Trust; and Kevin Barhydt, vice president and head of Acquisitions, RPX, in a point/counterpoint debate on the merits of non-practicing entities in the intellectual property ecosystem. Other topics to be covered include patent valuation, monetization and infringement, as well as a case study on the successful implementation of an IP strategy at Motorola.

Other speakers include Leo Donlin, team lead, IP Processes & Tools, Motorola; Jeff Farah, Ph.D., director of IP, AT&T; Marc Kaufman, partner, Nixon Peabody; Tom Marlow, IP counsel, Fairchild Semiconductor; Brad Pederson, partner, Patterson, Thuente, Christensen, Pedersen; and Keith Walker, principal, Charles River Associates.

The event is free to attend for intellectual property professionals. Following are the event details:

LOCATION:
New York Marriott Marquis

1535 Broadway

New York, NY 10036


DATE:
Thursday, June 17, 2010

TIME:
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

REGISTRATION:
Required

Attendees can register online at:

http://ip.thomsonreuters.com/info/ipleader/newyork/index.html

About Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI) is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.

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IE Effects Takes Visuals to Third Dimension With Isilon Scale-Out NAS Tweet

VFX Studio Deploys Isilon Data Storage as Primary Repository for 3D Post-Production, Unifying Multiple Effects Applications onto a Single File System to Accelerate Time-to-Delivery.

SEATTLE -- Isilon® Systems (Nasdaq: ISLN) announced that IE Effects, a leading 3D visual effects and post-production studio, has deployed Isilon scale-out NAS as the primary storage repository for its entire post-production operation, including 3D effects for Michael Jackson's This Is It and various Disney and Motorola commercial campaigns. Using Isilon's X-Series, IE Effects has unified all of its visual effects, editorial, and color grading applications onto a single, shared storage resource, increasing workflow efficiency and accelerating project time-to-delivery. With Isilon IQ, IE Effects can cost-effectively scale its storage in-step with application demand, enabling it to process more visual effects projects in less time and expand its bandwidth to accommodate new business opportunities across movies, television, commercials and theme parks.

"The increasing demand for 3D entertainment is creating significant challenges for VFX workflows as 3D doubles the size of a given project and requires significantly higher data performance to meet deadlines," said David Kenneth, executive producer, IE Effects. "Until Isilon, we hadn't seen a storage system capable of delivering the concurrent throughput and ease of management needed to consistently deliver leading-edge 3D effects. Now, we can process 3D and 2D projects simultaneously from multiple locations, increasing our bandwidth for new business and allowing us to grow at a previously impossible rate."

IE Effects delivers leading-edge 2D and 3D visual effects for movies, television, commercials and theme parks, including Disney, Honda and Motorola, among others. Prior to using Isilon scale-out NAS, IE Effects didn't have a central storage system, leaving valuable content stranded in disparate data silos and limiting data access. Without a shared content repository, IE Effects artists and contractors couldn't easily interface with production content, hindering collaboration and slowing project completion times.

Working with Isilon systems integrator Integrated Media Technologies (IMT), IE Effects deployed Isilon IQ, featuring its OneFS® operating system, to unify its entire post-production operation onto a single, shared, easy to use storage resource, aggregating a variety of performance-intensive effects applications to improve productivity and collaboration. Using Isilon's SnapshotIQ® data protection software, IE Effects can take unlimited data snapshots, while simultaneously running multiple 2D and 3D effects applications, providing the studio with flexible, reliable data protection that reduces risk and system management. With Isilon scale-out NAS, IE Effects has been able to accelerate production cycles and reduce storage costs, driving increased operating leverage throughout its business.

"The need to aggregate applications and drive more efficient team collaboration is critical to business success regardless of the industry," said Sam Grocott, vice president of marketing, Isilon Systems. "Add to that the need to do so at less cost, and traditional SAN and NAS systems simply aren't up to the task. IE Effects use of Isilon scale-out NAS to unify its operations and accelerate project delivery times is another compelling example of Isilon's benefits for data-intensive IT environments."

About Isilon Systems

Isilon Systems (Nasdaq: ISLN) is the proven leader in scale-out NAS. Isilon's clustered storage and data management solutions drive unique business value for customers by maximizing the performance of their mission-critical applications, workflows, and processes. Isilon enables enterprises and research organizations worldwide to manage large and rapidly growing amounts of file-based data in a highly scalable, easy-to-manage, and cost-effective way. Information about Isilon can be found at http://www.isilon.com.

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Hello Direct Introduces Hands-Free, Unified Communications Solutions to Government Agencies Tweet

Leading Retailer Offers Products Aligned with Green Legislation, Telecommute Initiatives and Security Protocols.

NASHUA, N.H. -- Hello Direct, the leading developer and direct marketer of innovative, hands-free, integrated talking solutions for business and government, announced a new public sector initiative aimed at capturing additional market share with federal agencies and institutions. The initiative is being kicked off at the Jabra Innovation Lab, hosted at the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C., by one of Hello Direct's premier partners, Danish headset manufacturer Jabra. From green legislation to work-from-home initiatives, the lab provides government agencies with an in-depth look at how the right headsets can increase productivity and efficiency in the workplace, streamline and unify communications, establish secure connections, and assist with disaster recovery planning.

The Jabra Innovation Lab is not Hello Direct's first foray into the public sector; the retailer has extensive experience servicing such federal institutions as the General Services Administration (GSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Postal Service (USPS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With a dedicated public sector sales team focused on meeting the endpoint solution needs of these agencies and capturing new business opportunities, Hello Direct offers unique services and account management including onsite needs analysis and product demos for customers, product testing and implementation plans, special government pricing and procurement options.

"IT decisions for government agencies are not easily made given a variety of factors, ranging from new legislation to compliance issues and security needs," said Jerry Mayo, president, GN Netcom Inc. "Hello Direct's account managers are pros at servicing the public sector and their client roster is proof of that. We are proud to supply quality products that meet the needs of their customers."

Hello Direct offers products that are designed to maximize employee health and productivity and to eliminate barriers in information technology by creating new opportunities for people with disabilities. Hello Direct offers Section 508 compliant products as well as eLearning solutions that help clients comply with accessibility requirements. The products are also meticulously evaluated and tested for quality, reliability, comfort, ease of use, and ease of installation, and meet rigorous U.S. military specifications.

"The wireless headset category is one of Hello Direct's strong points and the public sector continues to turn to us for our expertise," said Deborah Wenger, Chief Operating Officer, GN Netcom Inc. "In this sector, the Jabra GN9300 series along with new Jabra PRO 9400 and Jabra GO 6400 are some of our best-sellers, which can be attributed to these products being turn-key and profit-ready."

Hello Direct's current product offerings include:

* Corded and wireless office headsets
* Bluetooth® cell phone headsets for mobile professionals
* Multi-use wireless headsets for both office and cell phone use
* Corded and wireless audio and video conferencing systems
* Single and multi-line expandable cordless phone systems
* Business phone systems
* VoIP phone systems and services
* 2-way radios, tour systems, and GPS systems


For more information, visit www.HelloDirect.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hellodirect.

About Hello Direct

Hello Direct, the leading developer and direct marketer of innovative, hands-free, integrated talking solutions for business and government, is proudly based in Nashua, New Hampshire, employing a workforce of dedicated professionals focused on serving telephony needs. After two decades in business and nearly 2 million customers, the company has emerged as a highly recognized and respected brand name in the telecom solutions industry. In the company's 20 years of serving private-sector businesses, Hello Direct has also worked to develop special services and pricing exclusively for corporate and public sector customers, with all of the support necessary for a successful implementation. Hello Direct currently offers more than 1,400 high-quality talking solutions, including Hello Direct, GN, and Jabra brand headsets as well as products from such leading manufacturers as Polycom, AT&T, Nortel, Panasonic, Siemens, Motorola, along with Avaya compliant tested solutions from Jabra now proudly servicing the Avaya and Nortel user communities.

For further information, please visit www.hellodirect.com.

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HTML5 is Just the Beginning as FreeWheel Releases Full Suite of Portable Device Capabilities Tweet

Company brings monetization technology to bear across all devices running Android, Cocoa, Flash, HTML5, and Silverlight.

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Video monetization technology company FreeWheel announced that the video ad serving capabilities offered by its flagship product Monetization Rights Management® (MRM), fully supports Android, Cocoa, Flash, HTML5, and Silverlight – the environments used across a multitude of portable devices. Dozens of leading media companies are already leveraging FreeWheel's capabilities to manage their ad-supported video businesses. This includes monetizing video on the web, on portable web browsers, and in applications running on Apple and Android devices including the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Motorola Droid, and HTC Nexus One.

Recently updated to version 3.0, MRM enables global media companies and content distributors to effectively manage ad sales rights, produce cross-device inventory forecasts, deliver a yield-optimized set of ads, and analyze video business performance. MRM was developed to help publishers manage their advertising inventory across multiple run-time environments and devices.

"Media companies face a major challenge when trying to manage and monetize distributed video content," said Doug Knopper, co-founder and co-CEO of FreeWheel. "MRM was designed to excel in a fragmented, chaotic technical space. So, the more devices that come to market promising better viewer experiences, the better it is for us and for our clients."

FreeWheel recently announced further integration with leading online video platform, Brightcove, to bring an HTML5 video advertising solution to Brightcove's player through the utilization of FreeWheel's HTML5 SDK. Easily employed with any HTML5 video player, Freewheel's HTML5 SDK is a standards-compliant JavaScript AdManager. Additionally, HTML5 support solutions are underway with other online video players integrated with FreeWheel, including Ooyala, thePlatform, and Kyte.

Along with existing Flash capabilities, FreeWheel has also created a Cocoa SDK that delivers MRM's full capabilities for serving ads into iPad and iPhone applications. Additionally, FreeWheel will ensure that their current Flash SDK is fully compliant with the Abode Flash Player 10.1 that Adobe plans to release in the coming months. This functionality will be available on Android devices within the browser setting.

About FreeWheel

FreeWheel offers the most formidable system for digital video ad management and monetization. Built from the ground up by a handful of former DoubleClick executives, FreeWheel's solution-set has already armed companies like Turner Broadcasting System, ESPN, Warner Brothers, CBS, VEVO, Discovery Communications, and others with the tools and services necessary to make more money from their video content. For more information, please visit: http://www.freewheel.tv. Follow the company on Twitter @FreeWheeldotTV.

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Siegel+Gale Appoints Justin Peters as Global Executive Creative Director Tweet

NEW YORK -- Global strategic branding firm Siegel+Gale announced the appointment of Justin Peters as global executive creative director.

Having solved business challenges through design for top-tier business, consumer and government brands in North America, the Middle East, Europe and Asia for two decades, Peters brings a breadth of global experience to clients served through Siegel+Gale's eight offices worldwide.

In his new role, Peters will lead an inspired, global, creative community that develops surprisingly fresh design strategies, stories and experiences for growing brands.

"With Siegel+Gale continuing to expand, his internationalist perspective is simply crucial for our creative teams that are across all media," says Howard Belk, co-president and chief executive officer. "After five years of demonstrating passion, dedication, creative magic and respect for clients and staff -- it's clear that Justin is the right person to lead the firm into the next evolution of brand design."

Since joining Siegel+Gale in 2005, Peters has led creative development for clients in the New York, London and Dubai offices. He began his travels in 2008 when he left the New York office to champion creative branding solutions for clients in London. In 2009, Peters relocated to Dubai to deliver world-class creative strategies to a variety of clients in the Middle East. While there, he lectured at universities across the United Arab Emirates and was a recurring panelist on Dubai talk radio.

"It's been a privilege to work for Siegel+Gale in such a variety of regions," says Peters. "The experience has proven how eager organizations and governments around the world are to build brands that stand out from the local level to the global stage. I look forward to connecting with the creative teams across all of Siegel+Gale's offices to ensure we're equipped to help brands meet this challenge."

In his tenure at Siegel+Gale, Peters has built on a roster of clients that includes: the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, Dubai Media Event Management Corporation, Intelsat, GE, Ingersoll-Rand, Tata Consultancy Services, Chemtura, SunTrust Bank, Mexico's Tres Rios Luxury Hotels, Qatar Telecom and the groundbreaking King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia.

Prior to joining Siegel+Gale, Justin worked as creative director at Carbone Smolan Agency where, for nearly 15 years, he oversaw the conceptual development, design and implementation of identity programs, print communications, branded environments and interactive experiences for clients including Kodak, Sesame Workshop, Disney, Publicis, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Anguilla's Malliouhana Hotel, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and I.M. Pei's Miho Museum in Shiga, Japan. In 1999, Justin worked directly with President Clinton and the First Lady to develop and launch the Official Symbol for The White House Millennium Council.

Peters holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and has earned certificates from the Rhode Island School of Design and Parsons School of Design.

About Siegel+Gale

Siegel+Gale (siegelgale.com) is one of the world's premier strategic branding companies and a pioneer in simplifying complex customer communications. Since it was founded by Alan Siegel in 1969, the firm has built world-class brands for many of the world's most successful companies through elegantly simple strategies, communications and experiences. Driven by its philosophy of "Simple is Smart," Siegel+Gale has led the way in bringing innovation to the corporate branding field, including transforming complex, incomprehensible customer communications into plain English; helping clients create distinctive brand voices across all their communications; transporting brands onto the Internet; and aligning the brand experience with the brand promise.

The firm's clients include AARP, Aetna, American Express, Bank of America, Dell, The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, The Internal Revenue Service, Lexus, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Motorola, the National Basketball Association, Pfizer and Sony PlayStation. Siegel+Gale has offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Hamburg, Dubai and Shanghai and strategic partnerships around the world.

Siegel+Gale is part of the Omnicom Group Inc. (www.omnicom.com), a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms serve over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

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Smartclip Launches New Multi-Screen Video Advertising Platform in Europe Tweet

Digital video advertising network unveils first campaign available on four screens; Smartclip North America targets multi-screen platform rollout in late 2010.

NEW YORK and HAMBURG, Germany -- A new multi-screen video advertising platform from Smartclip AG allows advertisers for the first time to use the same ad format on a number of devices, including PCs, smartphones, TVs and game consoles, to increase the reach and impact of campaigns.

"With our multi-screen platform, advertisers can create unique brand experiences for their customers by reaching them wherever they are, no matter the device they are using," said Matt Prohaska Smartclip North America CEO. "Consumers are already operating in a multi-screen world. However, it has taken all of us in the digital video ecosystem, including publishers, platforms, advertisers and researchers, a bit longer to get in place to properly serve consumers' growing needs."

OTTO, a leading direct marketer in Germany, is the first advertiser to leverage the new multi-screen video advertising platform from Smartclip. Otto has premiered a standardized format for video advertising on portable devices including PCs, iPhones, TVs from Samsung, Philips and Panasonic, and gaming consoles PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable.

"Many young people are now consuming video online, on smartphones, gaming consoles or TV, so it is essential that we engage with our target audience and address them online as that is where they are," said Stefanie Gauger, director for brand and client communication at OTTO. "With this multi-screen campaign, we have once again demonstrated our innovative approach and are sure that this is just one of many milestones in tomorrow's brand communication."

Smartclip and OTTO are working together to place video ads on Internet portals owned and operated by Axel Springer, one of Germany's largest publishers. The sites include bild.de, tvdigital.de and sevenload.com, and compliment the Summer 2010 Fashion campaign on www.otto.de, to present the new summer line from the brand. The innovative multi-screen campaign was presented at the dmexco Night Talks in Munich entitled, "TV everywhere – multi-screen sales in action."

Smartclip AG Chief Operating Officer Roland Schaber added, "In the age of personalization, our research shows users are more engaged with content they have selected themselves. This means that advertising is more readily accepted and helps to boost the overall effectiveness of the campaign. Our multi-screen offering is the key to unlocking this potential and we look forward to working with clients across Europe and the United States to enhance their online campaigns."

Smartclip North America's goal is to launch the multi-screen platform with top publishers, platforms and advertisers in the U.S. before the end of the year.

About Smartclip

Smartclip LLC (www.smartclip.com) launched at the end of 2009 as a second-generation, premium digital video advertising network. The company offers advertisers a blend of innovative ad formats, exclusive online inventory including social media, reach partnerships and extensive tracking resources. Smartclip is part of Smartclip AG, the largest video advertising network in Europe, launched in early 2008. Together, they provide publishers and marketers with an efficient, global multi-screen delivery network.

For further information on OTTO, please see www.otto.com.

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UBM TechInsights Verifies That the Samsung Wave S8500 Features the Same ARM Core as the Apple iPad Tweet

OTTAWA, Ontario -- UBM TechInsights announced an important discovery in the application processors of two popular consumer electronics devices. UBM TechInsights analysis has revealed that the just-released Samsung Wave S8500 features the same 1 GHz ARM CORTEX A8 core as that found in the very popular Apple iPad.

"By investigating the Samsung S5PC110A01 application processor and comparing it to the A4 application processor found in the Apple iPad using our specialized lab techniques, we were able to confirm that not only is Samsung the manufacturer of both application processors, but both application processors feature the same 1 GHz ARM CORTEX A8 core manufactured using a 45-nanometer low-power fabrication process," said Young Choi, Senior Manager of the Technical Intelligence Group. "With this find, we begin to see how Samsung is successfully asserting itself as the leader in the wireless and mobile applications processor market."

With the recent surge in sales of the iPad, speculation that the next generation Apple iPhone will also feature the same A4 processor as that of the iPad, and the belief that the soon-to-be released Android OS-enabled Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone will also use the S5PC110A01, sales of Samsung manufactured processors is expected to reach very high-levels. With these key sockets in place Samsung will easily maintain its position as the market leader in application processors that it originally attained in 2009.

UBM TechInsights used the best and latest technical expertise and analysis tools, in combination with years of experience in all aspects of the IP / Technology Lifecycle, to make our determination of the similar ARM cores in the Samsung S5PC110A01 and the Apple A4. Information about UBM TechInsights research on the Apple A4 processor can be found at ubmtechinsights.com. For more information about available research on the Samsung S5PC110A01, please mailto:sleclaire@ubmtechinsights.com.

About UBM TechInsights

UBM TechInsights is the preeminent firm for the provision of sophisticated information and advice to technology companies. We assist in the management of their technology and intellectual property portfolios, ensuring the reduction of risk and maximizing return on investment. Our leadership position is founded upon our commitment to the utmost integrity, and sustained by the ongoing investment and acquisition of the knowledge and capabilities necessary to meet our clients' evolving needs. When companies need assistance in managing their most complex technology or IP challenges, they turn to UBM TechInsights for assured results. For more information about UBM TechInsights, go to www.ubmtechinsights.com.

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Time to Trade Up? ShopSmart Highlights the Latest Advances in Appliances and Electronics Tweet

Cool New Product Features to Make Your Life Easier - and More Fun.

YONKERS, N.Y. -- It's not always easy to part with a trusty old computer or fridge, but the latest innovations in home products offer plenty of reasons to consider an upgrade. A new guide in the July 2010 issue of ShopSmart, from the publisher of Consumer Reports, shares the latest and greatest developments in appliances and electronics to help consumers decide if trading up is worth the money.

"Appliances are getting faster, smarter, and more energy efficient," said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in- chief of ShopSmart. "So ShopSmart has put together a lineup of the most recent improvements in all major categories of home products along with the latest brand data, to ensure that readers know which products are reliable—and which they should avoid. Best of all, many upscale features are now available on lower-priced models. "

ShopSmart's "Time To Trade Up!" features new developments across 12 categories of appliances and electronic gadgets, which brands needed the fewest (and the most) repairs, the latest brand data based on surveys of more than a million readers, the magazine's picks for the best products in each category, as well as a sneak peek into the next generation of gadgets. Below is a sampling of some of ShopSmart's advice.

What's New in Appliances

RANGES

* More double ovens: Ovens are being made big enough for turkeys, roasts, and multiple dishes with the added bonus of an additional oven designed for single frozen entrees, pizza, or a batch of brownies.
* Steam-cleaning cycles: They're best for spot-cleaning right after you cook so that you don't have to run the longer self-cleaning cycle. But you'll still have to wipe up the spill.
* Griddle pans: A griddle spanning two burners or an oval burner is ideal for making batches of pancakes, eggs, paninis, or grilled-cheese sandwiches.
* Convection for less: Ovens with convection help reduce roasting time, and instead of the usual $1,200 and up, you can now find the feature on ranges for $800 to $900, such as the Kenmore 9745 and Amana AER6011VA.


MICROWAVE OVENS

* More shortcut keys: Besides old standbys like popcorn and pizza, there are now some models with over 100 automatic options.
* Oven capabilities: Some units combine the browning and baking abilities of a convection oven with the speed of a microwave. GE's Advantium, about $750, uses microwaves and high-powered lights to bake, broil, grill, and brown like a conventional oven, but in about a quarter of the time.


CLOTHES WASHERS AND DRYERS

* Bigger capacity: Some new washers are now big enough to hold hefty 18-pound-and-up laundry loads and bulky comforters—they haven't gotten wider, just a couple of inches deeper.
* Energy-saving cycles: These cycles have gotten shorter and use less energy than regular cycles.
* Smarter detergent dispensers: These hold six months' worth of detergent and figure out how much you need, based on the load size, water level and hardness, and even the kind of fabric. A ShopSmart top pick is GE's Profile steam washer WPDH8900J, $1,000.


What's New in Electronics

TVS

* 3D: The quality is movie-theater impressive. Watch for 3D programs on ESPN and other channels and 3D movies on Blu-ray discs.
* Internet connectivity: You can get streaming video from Netflix and others; photo albums from Flickr and Picasa; and access to YouTube, Twitter, and Skype.
* Energy-saving features: Look for LED backlighting on LCD sets, motion sensors that shut off power in an empty room, and new Energy Star 4.0 certifications that meet stricter government guidelines.
* Better LCDs: Many sets now have 120Hz or 240Hz frame rates, which reduce motion blur in fast-action scenes. We like the Samsung LN46C630, a 46-inch, 120Hz LCD, $1,000.


CAMERAS

* Digital SLRs that shoot high-def video: Don't juggle a camera and camcorder; take both photos and video with an SLR, using a telephoto or wide-angle lens.
* Slim SLRs: The new SLR/point-and-shoot hybrids give you advanced features in a compact camera.
* Super-tough shells: Some of the newest cameras are waterproof, dropproof, freezeproof, and shockproof. ShopSmart's top rated is the Canon's PowerShot D10, $400.


PHONES

* 4G technology: This high-speed network makes it possible to send high-def photos and videos.
* Touch screens: Many new phones can be operated with the pinch, poke, or swipe of your finger.
* Improved GPS: Phones with higher resolution, larger screens—up to 4.3 inches—and improved maps and features might make separate GPS devices a thing of the past.
* Built-in Wi-Fi hot spots: Use phones like Verizon's Palm Pre Plus, $30, and Pixi Plus, $30, to create portable wireless Internet hot spots for your laptop.
* More iPhone-like models: Android phones are now offered by all major carriers. The HTC Droid Incredible, $200, even has a larger display and a higher-megapixel camera than the iPhone.


About ShopSmart magazine:

Launched in Fall 2006 by Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, ShopSmart draws upon Consumer Reports' celebrated tradition of accepting no advertisements and providing unbiased product reviews. The magazine features product reviews, shopping tips on how to get the most out of products and "best of the best" lists. ShopSmart is ideal for busy shoppers who place a premium on time. ShopSmart has a newsstand price of $4.99 and is available nationwide at major retailers including Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Borders, Kroger, Safeway and Publix. ShopSmart is available by subscription at www.shopsmartmag.org.

ShopSmart is now available 10 times a year. Subscribe at www.ShopSmartmag.org

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