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iPhone Pushes Big Four From O2 Shelves?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

We’ve just received a very strange mail from the Online Marketing Department of o2, regarding the culling of four of the biggest selling handsets at the moment.

From the 25th of July, o2 will stop selling the Nokia N95, the Nokia N95 8GB, the Samsung Tocco, and the Sony Ericsson C902, and also advised affiliate sellers to remove all relevant promotion for them.

Apparently, these phones will not be on sale with o2 for at least the month of August, after which they may be “re-introduced as and when.”

If this move is confined to online sales or these mobiles are being taken off store shelves too is unknown at present.

Whatever is going on, to pull the most popular phones on the streets today is insane…unless they have something huge in the works to pick up that slack. And we’re pretty sure the offer of Simplicity tariffs to those missing these bargain phones is not it.

Our suspicion is that those rumours of more iPhone 3G stock this Friday is way too much to be mere coincidence. Could o2 be clearing out the top competition to make room for a big summer push of Apple’s handset? So weird, it must be true.

Apple : Best Quarter Ever, Yet Stock Takes A Tumble

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Bucking the trend of poorhouse postings from most of the major telephone manufacturers, Apple is only too happy to announce their best quarter results ever. Ever.

Apple are dominating all the markets they currently operate in, and the numbers cement just how successful they have been in the last few months. 11 million iPods sold. 2.5 million Macs. 717,000 iPhones. Oh, those aren’t the new puppy, but sales of the iPhone ‘classic’. The profit reports are up to June 30th, a good few weeks before iPhone 3G was unleashed. Pretty impressive.

What does that mean in real terms? Revenues of $7.5 billion, and profits of $1.1 billion. Understandably, Steve Jobs was only too glad to shout this glorious news from his ivory tower, but also in a press release.

“We’re proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple’s history. We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone 3G, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months.”

Wait, what? New products? With the iPhone, especially in 16GB flavour, the iPod Touch range has become pretty redundant. Could they be adding fatter hard drives to bring the iPod back to the fore? An even thinner Macbook Air, perhaps? You can never be too rich or have too thin a laptop…

Sounds like sunshine and lollipops all round, but then why did Apple stock take a nosedive of up to 11%? Well, the problem with having such a charismatic, integral and prominent figurehead as Steve Jobs, his status reflects upon the company hugely. Rumours of his ill health have been circulating for a number of months, and the wall of silence from the Apple camp is deafening.

As recently as in 2004 he underwent extensive surgery for pancreatic cancer, but his frail figure at the Developer’s Conference earlier this year set tongues wagging almost as much as the iPhone 3G reveal.

The response that analysts received from Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer when they pried further were almost as worrying. “Steve loves Apple. He serves as CEO at the pleasure of the board, and he has no plans to leave Apple. Steve’s health is a private matter.” Yes, only if he’s ill. If he’s feeling fine, why keep it a secret?

This defensive answer had precisely the opposite effect with some concerned stock holders briskly selling their shares. Let’s hope Steve sticks around to enjoy Apple’s new levels of success, or it could all be over prematurely…

LG Posts Positive Q2 Results, Poised To Take No. 3 Spot

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Their tagline rings true, as life certainly is good for the Korean electronics manufacturer if recent financial reports are anything to go by.

Despite their other electronic devices performing well, LG’s mobile sector has been particularly buoyant of late. Selling a record 27.7 million mobile phones from April to June, they have attributed their successes to the luxury handsets performing well with the Secret, the Viewty, and even their cut-price contender, the Orsay attracting huge sales. Also, their focus on the emerging sectors of India and South America has proved profitable.

This puts LG in a strong position moving forward, and with a 9.1% market share and over 50 million sold this year alone, many analysts feel that they could overtake the ailing Motorola to become the third largest phone maker. As recently as March, some were speculating as to whether they could overtake Sony Ericsson, and it took place as predicted only last quarter.

LG does recognise the economic downturn will hit them however, predicting a slowdown in sales for the second half of the year, as fewer new models are released. Still, in light of the difficulties faced by their competitors, LG’s optimistic goal of selling 100 million handsets for 2008 is refreshing.

Apple iPhone 3G Sales Figures Rounded Up?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Seems like Apple has learnt another neat trick from the entertainment industry, aside from selling loads of games via digital downloads.

Their claim to have sold one million iPhone 3Gs during launch weekend is being disputed by Gene Munster, an analyst for leading investment bank Piper Jaffray.

Mr. Munster’s calculations seem to differ wildly from the official figure, a result of his survey of US stores and the number of handsets activated give him a far lower final total…

Apple seems to have counted the iPhones shipped during launch weekend, whilst the actual number of those handsets actually reaching end users is far less. Could retailers be holding stock back to give an impression of exclusivity and generate interest? They wouldn’t….would they?

This is all a bit reminiscent of the classic story of Atari’s E.T. for the 2600. One of the most awful games of all time, they shipped an impressive 4 million to stores, unfortunately 2.5 million were shipped back unsold, and promptly found a more permanent home in a New Mexico landfill. Still, they shipped 4 million!

Okay, that is hardly going to be the final destination for those other iPhones, but how may did Apple actually sell? Piper Jaffray says around 425,000. Not too shabby, but not a nice round number for the media to throw out like a million, is it?

Source: MacWorld

Nokia : Sales Up, Profits Down

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Nokia seem to be on their way to their poorhouse after posting their Q2 reports, showing sales of a mere €13.2 billion, up 4% on last year. Net income is through the floor, down to €1.1 billion, less than half of the previous year.

This spiral into abject failure has been due to the closure of their factory in Bochum, a move which made them awfully unpopular with residents of the German town, for whom this source of work was integral. The 2,000 jobs were lost in an effort to make savings by shifting production to Romania, but Nokia still had to settle with a €300 million payoff for the German unions and workers, in addition to the €61 million in tax relief and grants that the government wants back. That is going to dent the profit margins of any company.

Nokia also shipped a trifling 122 million mobile phones, estimated as approximately 40% of the entire market share. With Apple aiming to gain one percent of the market by selling 10 million handsets in 2008, what some percieve as Nokia’s current ‘woes’ put all this iPhone hoopla into perspective… Apple has some ways to go before they reach the big leagues.

Source:Cellular News

Virgin Mobile Says Get Nekkid, Clothe Homeless

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Talk about appealing to people’s most base instincts. Virgin Mobile in the US has managed to combine the two greatest things ever, donating money to charity and watching people get naked on the internet, in their new drive to raise awareness of social ills as well as their brand.

The scheme ‘Strip2Clothe’ is a premise that is brilliant as it is simple. Upload ‘tasteful’ striptease videos onto their site, and each time it is viewed by 5 people, Virgin donates new garments to the homeless of Washington D.C. Despite this being the latest in a long line of programs by Virgin to aid the homeless including ‘TXT2Clothe’ and ‘TXT2Donate’, more traditional charities are up in arms about the unorthodox manner in which Strip2Clothe raises funds.

The National Network For Youth (NN4Y) were initially partners in the idea, but as some of the 150 charities they represent found it inappropriate given the compromising situations homeless youths often end up in. As such, they have dissociated themselves from the charity effort, with the Catholic Charities group citing the ‘distateful’, ‘inappropriate’, and ‘exploitative’ nature of the idea.

Probably why the latter weren’t asked by Virgin to take part in the campaign…

The means may seem a little racy, but they are arguably validated by the ends. Judging by the traffic being enough to crash Virgin’s site on two occasions since launching on the 13th of July and over 70,000 donations being made already, people are only too happy to help the homeless on the conditions that it isn’t their own money, and if they get some tame nudity in the bargain. Just like Mother Theresa wanted us to be…

EA Getting In The Game With iPhone

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Gaming’s biggest annual conference E3 is currently going on in Las Vegas, and the amount of attention the large developers are paying to the hot new girl in class - the iPhone - shows that people are taking it very seriously as a gaming platform.

Electronic Arts is one of the largest publishers in the industry, and their E3 press conference yesterday confirmed their commitment to creating unique, high-quality content for the iPhone.

They are mentioning a number of the big franchises making the jump including Tiger Woods 09, Need for Speed and Monopoly. This adds to unique titles like Spore Origins, which impressed many upon the unveiling in tandem with the iPhone development kit.

Some titles have already seen simple Java-based spinoffs for mobile phones but given the power of the iPhone, robust titles on a par with PSP games can be expected. Wi-fi and 3G allowing multiplayer, over-the-air full game downloads, unique accelerometer and touch-based interfaces? The iPhone looks to be a powerhouse to revolutionise yet another industry.

Read the rest of this entry »

HTC Makes A Name For Itself In The U.S.

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Heard of HTC? Unless you’re really into your tech hardware, possibly not. Maybe they aren’t a Samsung or a Motorola just yet, but they are the largest manufacturer of Windows Media-based handsets, and they want you to know about it. Okay, not you, but the US…then you.

With the launch of the Touch Diamond in the UK and the States, as well as the forthcoming Touch Pro, HTC seems determined to penetrate the public conscious with a multi million dollar marketing push across all media featuring the tagline, “Set Your Fingers Free”. Don’t mean to be a stickler, but whilst HTC were busy fiddling with styluses (stylii?), Apple beat them to the finger pie buffet with the iPhone. The Touch Diamond still has one…

The imaginative ad on their site highlights their new focus on being a maker of fun, intuitive touch-driven handsets, rather than remaining an austere PDA maker for the gadget-savvy. They have been known for courting a fair few networks in their time with many exclusive handsets including o2’s XDA series, but it seems they wish to get their solo project off the ground finally.

Combine this with their more prominent branding on handsets, the community aspect they are attempting to develop with the HTCWiki, and the Touch Diamond soon to be available on all networks in the UK, HTC may be a force to be recognised as much as reckoned with in the smartphone sector.

iPhone 3G Jonny : Is Nothing Sacred?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

We were a bit sad when finding out that the iPhone 3G queues in New York were headed up not by card-carrying members of the Steve Jobs fanclub, but rather a collective looking to change the world through the power of sitting down. But to hear the world’s first owner of Apple’s überphone was in fact a living, breathing ad for Yellow Pages New Zealand just breaks our hearts.

Yes…Jonny Gladwell, the man who kept a log of all the adventures on his blog, became a media darling and won the hearts of the tech world with blind iPhone devotion is now emblazoned across their site, alongside free promotion for a list of all of the things he was able to buy on his phone whilst in the cold. Thanks Yellow Pages (TM)!

Now, in an act of sacrilege, they are holding a competition to win that very iPhone he queued 60 hours to procure.

What a git.

Vodafone Acquires 70% Stake In Ghana Telecom

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (128)

Vodafone has bought up a controlling stake in Ghana Telecom in a bid to craft an empire in the emergent African market. Seventy percent of the West African country’s third largest mobile service provider and number one in landline communications has been acquired from the Ghanaian government at a cost of £450 million.

With the number of mobile phone users in Ghana increasing at a rate of 50% over last year and only 33% currently owning a phone, Vodafone are looking to capitalise on new opportunities whilst Western Europe is on a downturn. Already having large stakes in telecoms networks in South Africa, Kenya and Egypt, Vodafone is wise to focus on offering a viable alternative in nations whose landline infrastructure is poor.

It isn’t purely exploitative, as Vodafone’s departing CEO Arun Sarin spoke of their commitment to invest over £250 million on improving Ghana Telecom: “Ghana is one of the most attractive markets in Africa, I expect that our investment will generate substantial benefits for Vodafone and for the Ghanaian economy and we are delighted that we will be working in partnership with the government of Ghana.”

Detractors are unimpressed with their business decision to avoid dealing with the market leader MTN, currently the network of choice for 50% of Ghana’s users. However, the prohibitive cost and the circling of other potential buyers has said to have dissuaded Vodafone from considering the firm.

Good news all round for the ailing Ghana Telecom, with their development of broadband installation in full swing and the weight of Vodafone behind them, they could become the jewel in the crown of the company’s African expansion plans.