Vodafone sells 100,000 iPhones in a week Tweet

The operator started selling the device last Thursday (14 January)

Vodafone has sold 100,000 iPhones since the device went on sale on its network last Thursday.

The network followed Orange and Tesco Mobile in launching Apple’s device, breaking O2's exclusive contract.

Vodafone CEO, Guy Laurence, said: ‘The demand from both consumer and business customers has been phenomenal. They want an outstanding phone on an outstanding network and we're delivering that.’

The operator said last week that it would deliver over 50,000 iPhones on its first day of going on sale, to customers who pre-ordered the device online.

Orange is thought to have sold around 100,000 iPhones during December last year.

source

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JTrek Smartphone Personal Security App Downloaded More Than 5000 Times During Consumer Electronics Show 'CES 2010' Week Tweet

JTrek a ground-breaking personal security Smartphone App for popular mobile phones including Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia-Symbian, and Windows Mobile OS, offers safety for cell phone users that can literally save lives.

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. -- Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based company, JTrek, LLC developed this new patent-pending personal security and safety application for Smartphones. It's the world's first fully functional mobile wireless surveillance system built into cell phones, using video, photos, audio, and GPS information to report crime as it occurs. Prior to exhibiting at CES 2010, the company released Version 2.0, offering updated support for Nokia Smartphones, additional security features, and an improved user interface.

How does JTrek® work? It incorporates the same video/photo surveillance techniques used in automatic teller machines, convenience stores, and department stores, but is self-contained in a user's Smartphone. If someone is walking on a college campus or leaving a restaurant or bar at night and senses danger, they simply start the app, hold their phones up (to gather evidence) and press a PANIC button. Within seconds, email and SMS text messages go out, alerting friends, family, and security personnel of an emergency or crime in progress.

JTrek® is perfect for college students, family members, night-shift workers, or anyone traveling alone. Just activate it with a simple key-press and walk safely.

"Yesterday I read a letter from ADT Security Services stating that burglar alarms make your home three times less likely to be burglarized. What they don't tell you is that according to FBI reports, most crimes occur outside the home, in the street," says James D. Richie, CEO of JTrek. "The word needs to get out on how new technology, like Smartphones, can cast a much broader safety net, not just locally but globally, where crimes are most likely encountered," adds Richie.

Different from most mobile apps, JTrek® was developed internally by a 15-year-old wireless test and measurement design company with products used world-wide by AT&T, Entel Chile, Telecom Italia, T-Mobile and several other telecom firms around the world. JTrek LLC, a subsidiary of X-TEL Communications, Inc., knows the ins and outs of wireless cellular networks, and that sets it apart from smaller Smartphone App developers. The JTrek® App is based on a deep understanding on how modern wireless digital networks operate from end to end.

JTrek® security comes standard with a secure Web account (www.jtrek.com) to store videos, photos, and a large list of emergency contacts. The account includes a diary feature for people being stalked or harassed, but who may not have sufficient evidence to take legal action.

For more information on JTrek® please visit www.jtrek.com. JTrek® encourages concerned citizens around the globe to join it in protecting communities with surveillance technology anyone can carry in their pockets.

About JTrek, LLC

JTrek, LLC is a subsidiary of X-TEL Communications, Inc. X-TEL is a global provider of engineering test systems and services for the wireless industry. X-TEL's products and services are used by some of the largest wireless companies globally to test and optimize their cellular networks.

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Gracenote Partners With Top Four Music Labels to Receive Pre-Release Song Data Tweet

Deals Will Speed Discovery of New Music for Consumers and Drive Commerce for Labels.

CANNES -- MidemNet 2010 -- Gracenote® announced it has deepened its relationships with the leading music labels, enabling the company to receive metadata and album art for many new song releases prior to official release date.

The arrangements with all four major labels – EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group – as well as hundreds of top independent labels enable Gracenote to incorporate new music information and enriched content into its media database before many songs are released. Obtaining this information prior to release means Gracenote-powered services can offer consumers up-to-the minute information and recommendations for new music once it becomes publicly available. It also provides labels and music service providers with additional ways to drive sales and capitalize on the momentum from a song debut.

Gracenote's Global Media Database is the largest in the world, with more than 100 million tracks and eight million CDs from more than 200 countries and territories. Through these arrangements, Gracenote will receive cover art and new release data for the creation of audio fingerprints from music labels. Once this data is received, it is combined with the company's editorial content, such as genre and era, and linked to enriched content like lyrics. Finally, all of this information is loaded into Gracenote's database and is utilized by the company's identification and recommendation products, MusicID® and Discover™.

Now any consumer using an iPhone, Sony Ericsson phone with TrackID or more than 30 AT&T handsets with MusicID 2 can identify new songs the first time they are played - whether it's in their car listening to the radio, out at a dance club, or simply hanging out at home. This allows music fans to instantly search for related artist information, get recommendations and playlists for related music they might like, or link to a digital store to instantly purchase the new album or tracks.

"Universal Music is committed to providing music fans with even more compelling interactive opportunities to discover new music and connect with their favorite artists," stated David Ring, Executive Vice President of Business Development & Business Strategy for UMG's eLabs. "And through Gracenote, we'll be even better positioned to extend these discovery opportunities across a wide array of available wireless devices."

With today's announcement, Gracenote now has pre-release access to tens of thousands of unique albums from major labels as well as independent distributors such as DiscMakers, INgrooves, IODA, IRIS, and The Orchard. "Gracenote's Content Partner Program empowers and enhances the music discovery process, allowing music fans to experience and buy music quickly and easily," said Kevin Arnold, Founder and CEO of IODA. "This translates directly into increased visibility and sales for our artists."

About Gracenote

A pioneer in the digital media industry, Gracenote combines information, technology, services and applications to create ingenious entertainment solutions for the global market. From media management, enrichment and discovery products to content identification technologies, Gracenote allows providers of digital media products and the content community to make their offerings more powerful and intuitive, enabling superior consumer experiences. The company's solutions integrate the broadest, deepest, and highest quality global metadata and enriched content with an infrastructure that services billions of searches a month from thousands of products used by hundreds of millions consumers. Gracenote's customers include the biggest names in the consumer electronics, mobile, automotive, software and Internet industries. The company's partners in the entertainment community include major music publishers and labels, prominent independents and movie studios. Gracenote, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, is headquartered in Emeryville, California. www.gracenote.com.

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Nokia's OVI Maps for free? Not. Tweet

Mobile-review have posted an article about Nokia OVI maps. Here are the final paragraphs from the article.

All in all, this announcement delivers a crushing blow to the makers of traditional navigators - TomTom's shares, for example, lost 15 percent in price right after the press-conference of the Finnish manufacturer. And this is probably the best indication that the market has already clued in on the fact that the rules have changed. But will OVI Maps become their major selling point? I think it'll be more of a welcome addition, as navigation is not the service many crave for these days. It will start to matter more down the road, though, make no mistake about that. For now Nokia has secured its position in Europe and gave Google a run their money. We'll see how they'll respond.

A couple of Euros on top of every S60 smartphone's price tag isn't that much, but as competition gets tougher even a couple of cents can make all the difference. Will Nokia's plan work out and the buyers of top-of-the-line solutions will see free navigation as the determining factor? In some regions - definitely. But we'll see whether it can really be a sales booster in the near future. The only thing I have left to say is that it's still unclear whether they'll offer free navigation for S40 too - the decision is yet to be made.

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HTC Smart - their first "dumb" phone Tweet

Mobile-review have posted an article about the new HTC Smart. Here are the final paragraphs from the article.

HTC have entered the feature phone market as a smartphone manufacturer, hence the codename "Smart" and its design that looks very similar to their real smartphones. And to be honest, it does look pretty. Spec-wise, the Smart is nothing out of the ordinary - 300 Mhz CPU, no 3D accelerator onboard, not much RAM. So there is no chance geeks will fall for it. However all menus are blazing fast, which is what really matters to the ordinary consumer. He'll also be happy to see a 2.8-inch resistive display with both a standard keypad and QWERTY keybpard (in the landscape mode). Interestingly enough, it'll sport only 240x320 resolution, which isn't much by today's standard, but will do just fine in its target price bracket. Plus there will be a 3 MP camera, a microSD memory card slot, a mobile Twitter widget and a 1100 mAh battery.

The HTC Smart is set to hit the shelves in May at the price point of 200 Euro, which will put it right up against Samsung's and LG's phones, even Nokia will have to take this bold newcomer into consideration too. Their first efforts in this field won't change the landscape of the feature phone market, but as far as HTC are concerned, they have made themselves secure against the decline of Windows Mobile - now they've got a great pillow to fall on, should anything happen. A right step in the right direction that jeopardizes Nokia's strategy even more, since now they'll have an even tougher time explaining why an S60-based smartphone is better than a feature phone to their mid-range audience.

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HTC HD2 Extended Battery Tweet

Overview of HTC HD2 Extended Battery:

It is always good to have a big battery in a smartphone, so that you can work for longer without having to charge the phone.
However larger batteries often mean a larger overall size, which isn't for everyone.

However, sometimes the need, outweighs the shape, aesthetics and weight of the product. So if this is the case for you and you own a HTC HD2, this extended battery will be ideal.

An official extended battery for the HTC HD2, the battery comes complete with a replacement back cover (it does make the machine physically thicker).

As an added bonus the cover has a kickstand that allows the device to be stood in portrait or landscape mode.

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Wildcharger Charging Pad Bundle with 8 connectors (inc. iPhone) Tweet

Description:
The WildCharger Charging Pad is around the size of a mouse mat and is made from conductive metal strips. Placing any WildCharger enabled device on this metal surface automatically activates the charger and begins recharging the battery. A universal PowerDisc offers eight adaptors which covers the majority of handhelds, including iPhone, Nokia, BlackBerry, HTC and Palm.

Recharging need not mean a tangle of wires and plugs anymore, just one sleek and stylish gadget.

More Info
Key Features

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Wire-free battery charging for your mobile devices.
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Charges up to 5 devices simultaneously.
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Quick, convenient and tangle free charging.
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No overhead on charge times.
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Universal Powerdisc with 8 different adaptors (available separately).
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Automatically activates on contact with device.
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Sleep mode saves energy when not in use.

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