LG GW520 social networking phone

USA: The LG GW520 is a new mobile phone that has embraced the new trend of social networking and has made it more mobile than ever before. It is a new phone by LG that targets the millions and millions of users of sites like Twitter or Facebook by giving them a similar experience by having this new phone.

This new gadget from LG has a “push” updating feature that allows users to have a quick and easy way to connect to other people much like what Twitter or other social networking sites currently offer.

It also has a special interface feature that allows one to assign custom animated characters to specific contacts in the phonebook. These characters are then placed on the homescreen (all around the homescreen), for quick access, much like a speed dial function but much more fun.

The LG GW520 is certainly a new and exciting phone, one that will undoubtedly be embraced by youths all over the world.

The Pros
Aside from the mobile phone’s social networking aspect, it also has a whole range of other features that definitely adds to its appeal. The LG GW520 comes in a trendy and stylish case that has a 2.8-inch touchscreen.

This touchscreen has a 240x400 pixel resolution and has 256K colors. This new phone also comes equipped with a slide out QWERTY keyboard, enabling quicker typing to facilitate its social networking appeal.

The mobile phone also has an accelerometer sensor that quickly changes from portrait to landscape depending on its orientation. It also has downloadable games (some that are even motion-based), downloadable themes, an FM radio, Bluetooth, and Internet browsers ranging from WAP 2.0/xHTML to HTML.

The new LG phone also has a built in internal memory of 40MB, with a microSD card slot (8GB). It comes with a 3.15-megapixel camera as well, which also adds another dimension to its social networking characteristic.

The Cons
It does not have an infrared port, WLAN, GPS, and no secondary camera but aside from these lacking features, it is pretty complete.

Where the LG GW520 comes short is its flexibility. Yes, this new phone is a very trendy and fun phone but it is designed more for the youth market. It will be hard to imagine an investment banker with such a mobile unless he/she is willing to face the barrage of curious stares and giggles he/she will undoubtedly face.

In the end, it is a cool new phone; one that fits the lives of the youth perfectly. So for the older audiences, leave this one for the kids and grab yourself an Iphone or an HTC Magic.

First 3G watchphone available in France exclusively with Orange

PARIS, FRANCE: Paris, A technological masterpiece is now available from 6 August 2009 onward at orange.fr website.

The LG GD910 is the world’s first 3G touch watchphone. This 3G watchphone from LG Electronics is a masterpiece of miniaturisation and innovation which any new technology and gadget fans will find irresistible.

With its 1.43” tempered glass touchscreen, this slimline –- less than 14mm thick –- elegant watchphone with fold fastening strap has all the features you expect of a watch (world clock, stopwatch and splash resistant -– IPX4 standard). It is 3G/3G+ compatible, giving it excellent compatibility with Orange 3G/3G+ mobile broadband.

A watch with a clean, elegant design, the LG GD910 also boasts the features of the most advanced mobile phones: touchscreen with simple, fluid interface, VGA camera, MP3 player, diary, dictaphone, etc.

Unique mobile for communicating differently
This telephone is worn as a watch and allows the user to call, send and receive SMS, make video calls and be contacted at any time, for example during a sports session or shopping trip.

Bluetooth makes the watchphone practical and comfortable to use (keypad, loudspeaker function or earpiece). It features LG’s most advanced voice recognition and synthesis technologies, which are particularly useful when on the move.

It is available exclusively from Orange's website orange.fr, starting from €899 with subscription to an Origami star, first, jet or Origami plus package (12 or 24-month contract).

The LG GD910 is also available for Orange customers as part of the “Changer de Mobile” (Change your Mobile) Program.

Cell phone shipments return to growth in Q2

EL SEGUNDO, USA: Global shipments of cell phones in the second quarter climbed 4.7 percent compared to the first, marking the first sequential increase for the market since the third quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli Corp.

Worldwide shipments amounted to 265 million units in the second quarter, up from 253 million in the first.

“The moderate increase indicates the worldwide mobile handset market is bottoming out and now is returning to growth,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst, wireless communications for iSuppli. “Much of the growth was generated by two emerging regions: the Middle East and Latin America. Furthermore, several aggressive promotional campaigns boosted sales in North America, with regional shipments rising by 8 percent during the period.”

The rise in shipments is welcome news to a handset industry that has seen nine months of contraction. Shipments declined by 0.3 percent in the third quarter of 2008, by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and by a stunning 16.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009. By the first quarter of 2009, shipments had fallen by 58.8 million units compared to before the downturn began in the second quarter of 2008.

Shipments are expected to rise by 6 percent 280.9 million in the third quarter and by 8.3 percent to 304.2 million in the fourth. Despite the quarter-to-quarter increases, annual shipments are still expected to contract by 9.9 percent in 2009, with the total for the year amounting to 1.1 billion units, down from 1.23 billion in 2008.

“The global economic downturn has had a particularly harsh impact on the worldwide mobile handset as declining disposable incomes dissuaded consumers from making non-essential purchases like upgraded wireless handsets,” Teng said. “The recession brought to an end eight consecutive years of annual shipment growth for cell phones, and will result in the first market contraction since 2001.”

Big handset makers get bigger
The world’s Top-5 handset suppliers dramatically outperformed the smaller players in the second quarter, based on a preliminary estimate from iSuppli. Combined shipments for the Top-5 brands rose by 12.1 percent in the second quarter compared to the first, while all other companies together experienced an 18.1 percent plunge.

However, among the Top-5 individual company performances vary dramatically, although the rankings for these companies did not change compared to the first quarter.

The best performance in the second quarter was posted by South Korea’s LG Electronics.

LG's mobile handset shipments rose to 29.8 million units in the second quarter, up 31.9 percent from 22.6 million units in the first quarter. Company market share rose by 2.3 points to 11.2 percent.

“LG strong performance in the second quarter was due to its success in emerging regions, including the Middle East and Africa,” Teng said. “The company also managed to orient its product mix to more profitable handsets including new touch-screen devices.”

Motorola stops the bleeding
Embattled handset brand Motorola Inc. in the second quarter managed to increase its shipments by 0.7 percent to 14.8 million units, up from 14.7 million in the first quarter. While Motorola still underperformed the market and lost share, the rise brought to an end three consecutive quarters of declines in shipments for the company.

“Motorola finally has put a stop to its shipment slide due to its improved performance in North America and Latin America,” Teng said. “With this increase in shipments, Motorola has managed to secure its No.-4 ranking in the market.”

Nokia expands its lead
“The No.-1 player, Nokia, has been defending its dominant position since the third quarter of last year due to rising competitive pressure from Samsung, which has been expanding its sales in Europe and in emerging markets,” Teng said. “The company also has faced rising competition from smart phone players including Research in Motion and Apple Inc.”

Nokia was able to gain 2.1 percentage points of market share in the second quarter, with its shipments rising to 103.2 million units.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. remains on track to achieve its target of more than 200 million mobile handset unit shipments this year. The company’s refreshed product lineup allowed it to increase its shipments by 14.2 percent and its share by 1.6 points compared to the first quarter.

Sony Ericsson, however, had another disappointing quarter!

“The company is known for leveraging the brand strength from Sony and its mid- to high-end multimedia devices,” Teng said. “Sony Ericsson’s product portfolio has not been adequately aligned with the two fastest-growing segments: smart phones and ultra-low-cost handsets.”

Company shipments declined by 4.8 percent and market share dipped by 0.5 percent from the first quarter.

The figure presents iSuppli’s preliminary share estimates of the mobile handset market during the second quarter.Source: iSuppli, July 2009

Global handset shipments fall 8pc in Q2-09, but showing signs of recovery

BOSTON, USA: According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile handset shipments fell 8 percent year-over-year, to reach 273 million units in Q2 2009. The rate of decline was slower than the previous quarter, as the market showed tentative signs of stabilization.

Bonny Joy, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics said: "Global mobile handset shipments fell to 273 million units during Q2 2009, down 8 percent from 297 million units in Q2 2008. The eight-percent shrinkage was a noticeable improvement on the huge declines recorded of minus 14 percent in Q1 2009 and minus 11 percent during Q4 2008."

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added: "We believe the relative upturn in the global handset market has been driven by improved consumer confidence in some regions, such as China, and by partial restocking of some retailers’ depleted supplies.

"Growth is certainly still available for those handset makers with compelling products and strong brands. For example, Samsung grew worldwide shipments a healthy 14% during the quarter, as consumers and carriers showed high interest in their touchphone models, such as Star and Jet."

Other findings from Strategy Analytics’ Q2 2009 Global Handset Market Share Update report include:

* LG Electronics shipped 29.8 million handsets worldwide during Q2 2009, for a record marketshare of 11 percent. An attractive portfolio of touchscreen QWERTY phones and increased distribution channels have been among the drivers of its success;

* Motorola shipped a better-than-expected 14.8 million handsets worldwide in Q2 2009, for 5 Global handset shipments fall 8pc in Q2-09, but showing signs of recovery marketshare.

The operating margin for its handset division improved sequentially and an aggressive cost-cutting program is benefiting the company;

* Apple shipped a better-than-expected 5.2 million iPhones worldwide in Q2 2009, for 1.9 percent marketshare. Apple launched its new 3GS model during the quarter and we believe Apple is developing a rolling pattern of one-year upgrade-cycles for its flagship iPhone family in an attempt to drive higher replacement rates among consumers.Source: Strategy Analytics

Smartphone growth encouraging, yet global mobile phone market still likely to shrink in 2009

FRAMINGHAM, USA: The worldwide mobile phone market recorded another quarter of year-over-year decline in the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09).

According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, handset vendors shipped a total of 269.6 million units worldwide, down 10.8 percent from 302.2 million units in 2Q08. The second quarter results are an improvement from the 17.2 percent decrease seen during 1Q09, but ongoing challenges stemming from the economic crisis remain a factor to watch.

"The challenges from the previous nine months – aggressive channel destocking, foreign exchange volatility, and uncertain demand -– continued to plague the mobile phone market in the second quarter, but were not as severe as before," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

"Those vendors who were able to adjust quickly were rewarded with greater shipment volumes. Although this tested the handset vendors' abilities to hit a moving target, customers reaped the benefits of lower-costs, even on key high-end devices."

For the full year, IDC believes that the market will decline 13 percent, with the market outlook for 2009 remaining relatively consistent among the top vendors. The small signs of improvement were centered around consumer demand for high-end handsets and the manufacturers' ability to shift portfolio to meet these needs.

"Among the big handset vendors, Nokia, Samsung, Research In Motion, and Apple, all beat expectations for smartphones within the second quarter," said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

"This demand for high-end mobile phones has created a price war among large mobile operators and handset vendors. Apple's price cut on the iPhone 3G reflects a trend we expect to continue in the upcoming quarters, and one that will effectively maintain competitive pricing within mature markets."

Regional analysis
Amidst the ongoing economic challenges in North America, the market for converged mobile devices thrived with the arrival of the Palm Pre and the iPhone 3G S towards the end of the quarter. Shipment volumes for other converged mobile device vendors also benefited from increased attention and price adjustments on the segment, pushing the market even higher.

At the same time, interest in prepaid devices remained strong for budget-conscious customers. Finally, the market for mid-tier and high-end devices began to show signs of improvement with the arrival of new devices from leading vendors.

Despite the expected decrease in volume from last year in Latin America, the second quarter of 2009 was stronger than expected, showing solid sequential growth from the doldrums that were seen in 1Q09. Local currencies in the key markets of Brazil and Mexico experienced revaluation from the precipitous drops that occurred in the prior six months, helping to alleviate some of the economic pain being felt by many businesses and consumers.

Interest in 3G services and offerings have been expanding in the region, helping carriers to increase, or at a minimum sustain, ARPUs that have been falling over time.

Results in Western Europe continue to reflect weaker demand from the previous year despite some improvement from the first quarter. The growth of the very low-end segment was not sufficient to reverse the decline in traditional mobile phones. However, the robust growth of converged mobile devices was a sign that the recession may have reached the bottom and some improvements can be expected for second half of the year.

In CEMA, the market showed more vitality after two quarters of abrupt decline, with regional shipments approximately 15% higher than in the previous three months.

With handset distribution and sale largely out of mobile operator hands, the financial crisis had squeezed inventory out of the channel as bank and trade credit dried up. The recovery of shipments in the second quarter suggests that this process has now been largely completed and that underlying demand remains robust.

High levels of private savings and aggressive national fiscal policies have helped sustain the demand for consumer products in Asia/Pacific, even as the global economy sputters along. Now, with several Asian economies showing the green shoots of recovery, mobile phone demand has also responded in a healthy fashion, with shipments for the region once again surpassing 100 million units in 2Q09.

Top five mobile phone vendors
Nokia finished 2Q09 with shipments back above the 100 million unit mark. Launches of key devices, including the E71, N97, and the 5800 converged mobile devices, mitigated further ASP decline and operational efficiency resulted in healthy gross margins overall. Nokia's shipment volumes were roughly equal to those of the next three vendors by the end of the quarter.

While still substantial, this is nevertheless down from a year ago when Nokia's shipments were nearly equal to the next four vendors' combined total shipments. While CEO Kallasvuo was pleased with the overall results and the company's traditional advantages, he also highlighted Nokia's ability to shape the evolving wireless landscape, combining mobile devices and the Internet with Nokia's strong operations, ecosystems, customer relationships, and metrics to track success.

Samsung saw its shipment volumes edge back above the 50 million unit mark on the strength of its broad product portfolio and was rewarded with the highest year-over-year gain among leading vendors. Its touch-screen and messaging devices continued to find a warm reception in Europe and North America while feature-capable devices and slim form factors attracted customer attention in emerging markets.

Meanwhile, operating margins returned to double digits despite higher marketing expenses. By the end of 1H09, Samsung was nearly halfway to its goal of shipping 200 million units in 2009.

LG Electronics maintained its momentum from 1Q09 to gain market share and improve profitability. Driving its success was a strong portfolio of mid-tier and newly-introduced high-end devices as well as overall operational efficiency.

LG also unveiled plans to improve its converged mobile device presence, with the launch of the GM730 this summer and up to five models by the end of this calendar year. Over the next two years, LG hopes to capture 10% of the converged mobile device market.

Motorola posted another quarter of operating losses as well as the largest year-over-year decline among the leading vendors. Not to be overlooked, however, is its significant improvement in reducing those losses 50% from the previous quarter. The company also made progress filling in some of the gaps in its product portfolio with the launch of several messaging devices.

These include the Clutch i465, Karma QA1 and the Rival A455. Moreover, plans to release Android-powered converged mobile devices during 2H09 appear to be on track and gained further clarity with the rollout for accelerated application development with its MOTODEV program.

Sony Ericsson's challenges in the mobile phone market continued, earning the company a fifth place finish in 2Q09 while falling further behind Motorola. Ongoing cost reductions, competitive pressures in key regions, and an aging product portfolio resulted in a gross margin of just 12 percent, but nonetheless an improvement from the 8 percent in the previous quarter.

Sony Ericsson announced plans it hopes will bear fruit later this year, including the launch of its GreenHeart and Communication Entertainment product lines, as well as enhanced content, services, and applications for consumers.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q2 2009 (Units in Millions)Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, July 30, 2009

Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

Mobile Phones: These small, battery-powered, voice-centric devices utilize operator-provided cellular/PCS air interfaces for voice communication. They are designed primarily, in both form factor and feature set, for a compelling mobile telephony experience, but may also include text-messaging capability.

Mobile phones may include a headset jack for hands-free operation as well as a variety of features, such as personal information management, multimedia, games, or office applications.

Mobile phones exist at all points along the form factor, price point, and feature set continua. Mobile phones that combine voice communications capabilities with pen or keypad handheld data features are tracked within the Converged Devices category.

Mobile handset inventories bulk up

NEW YORK, USA: The handset vendors are still telling us it is a frosty market out there but there is a spring in their step as 2Q-2009 results start to pour in.

“269 million handsets were shipped in 2Q-2009,” says Jake Saunders, VP for Forecasting at ABI Research. “That bodes well for 2H-2009. Shipments should build sequentially in a constructive manner with 4Q-2009 potentially returning the industry to better sales form.”

North America may be struggling to shrug off its economic woes, but Asian economies have been lifted by regional stimulus packages and by an anticipation of improved retail sales conditions in the latter part of 2H-2009. ABI Research is revising downwards its forecast 2009 contraction to -7.5 percent from -8.1 percent (1.11 billion).

Samsung (19.4 percent) and LG (11.1 percent) did particularly well. LG notched up a 2.2 percent increase in percentage points, Samsung, 1.45 percent. Nokia staged a remarkable swing in fortunes to achieve a 1.67 percent percentage point increase to 38.3 percent. Nokia is doing all it can to get a number of smartphone models into the market.

It will be interesting to see how Nokia’s market share holds up in 2H-2009, as Samsung and LG have carried out major refreshes to their smartphone product lineups. Sony-Ericsson experienced a 0.56% percent point reduction in its market-share while Motorola and RIM also saw contractions.

“It is well documented that smartphones are proving to be one of the main engines of growth, but they are not just benefiting the Tier 1 players”, says practice director Kevin Burden.

“A number of Tier 3 vendors are also making headway in a competitive market, including Apple and HTC but also vendors such as Huawei and ZTE. While a consolidation is widely expected in the industry, it will not be happening in 2009.”

The pressures for consolidation may not necessarily come from tightening shipment volumes but also from greater integration of hardware, OS and applications development. ASPs for smartphones are higher than the overall average, and have supported R&D to date; but in such a competitive environment, the R&D pricetag can only go up.

Global mobile phone sales drop 9.4pc and smartphones grew 12.7pc in Q1-09

MUMBAI, INDIA: Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 269.1 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 9.4 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales surpassed 36.4 million units, a 12.7 percent increase from the same period last year.

"There were some signs of a recovery in markets such as North America and China, but overall sales in the first quarter of 2009 registered the biggest quarter-on-quarter contraction since Gartner began monitoring the market on a quarterly basis in 2001," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. "This was also the first time the market contracted year over year during the first quarter, a period traditionally helped by strong seasonality in the Asia/Pacific market."

The channel intensified its efforts in the first quarter of 2009 to reduce the levels of stock it holds, as Gartner predicted in the fourth quarter of 2008. Stock reduction is intended to minimize capital investment in response to low consumer confidence.

Sales into the channel were just short of 244 million units in the first quarter of 2009, while sales to users were just over 269 million units —- a difference of 25 million units, compared with 17 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008, the biggest difference ever recorded. Gartner expects channel inventory reductions to continue into the second quarter of 2009, albeit with lower volumes.

Nokia continued to lead the mobile phone market, but its share dropped to 36.2 percent from 39.1 percent in the first quarter of 2008 (see Table 1). Samsung retained second place and improved its market share as its sales totalled 51.4 million units. After dropping to the fifth position in the fourth quarter of 2008, Motorola overtook Sony Ericsson to regain fourth place.

Table 1
Worldwide Mobile Terminal Sales to End Users in 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)Note* This table includes iDEN shipments, but excludes ODM to OEM shipments.
Note: Totals may not add to 100.0 percent due to rounding.
Source: Gartner (May 2009)

Smartphone sales represented 13.5 percent of all mobile device sales in the first quarter of 2009, compared with 11 percent in the first quarter of 2008. Gartner analysts said positive performance by Research In Motion (RIM) and Apple (see Table 2) showed that services and applications are now instrumental to smartphones’ success.

“Much of the smartphone growth during the first quarter of 2009 was driven by touchscreen products, both in midtier and high-end devices,” said Roberta Cozza, principal analyst at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. “’Touch for the sake of touch’ was enough of a driver in the midtier space, but tighter integration with applications and services around music, mobile e-mail, and Internet browsing made the difference at the high end of the market.”

Table 2
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users in 1Q09 (Thousands of Units)Note: For HTC, Gartner counts only the company's own-branded devices including the G1.
Note Totals may not add to 100.0 percent due to rounding.
Source: Gartner (May 2009)

Symbian accounted for 49.3 percent of worldwide smartphone operating systems (OS) market share in the first quarter of 2009, down from 56.9 percent share in the first quarter of 2008. RIM’s smartphone OS market share reached 19.9 percent in the first quarter of 2009, up from 13.3 percent share in the first quarter of last year. The iPhone OS accounted for 10.8 percent of the market, up from 5.3 percent market share in the first quarter of 2008.

Vendor performance
Nokia’s worldwide sales reached 97.4 million units in the first quarter of 2009, thanks to reductions in inventory in markets such as Asia/Pacific and Latin America. This was the first time Nokia’s sales dipped below 100 million units since the first quarter of 2007. The real impact of the current market recession was on the average selling price (ASP), which saw an 18 percent drop year over year. Nokia managed to grow its sales in the smartphone segment by introducing the Nokia 5800 into more regions.

Samsung had a very successful first quarter of 2009. With sales of 51.4 million units, Samsung's market share grew 4.7 percentage points to 19.1 percent. It returned to double-digit profitability due to a good product mix. Sales of its Omnia, Tocco and Pixon handsets continued to benefit from strong consumer interest in touchscreen devices. The arrival of the Tocco Ultra Edition late in the first quarter of 2009, and the announcement of its first Android-based product, the i7500, will help Samsung in a highly competitive second half of 2009.

LG sold 26.5 million units in the first quarter of 2009, growing its market share by 1.9 percentage points year over year. The company benefited from a very strong portfolio of touchscreen, messaging and imaging devices. The new LG Arena device showcases a new user interface that demonstrates a positive focus on improving usability. However, Gartner said LG’s biggest challenge is to become competitive in the smartphone segment as services and applications become more important to customers.

Motorola continued to experience significant difficulties even in its home market, but it had a solid quarter with prepaid operators Boost Mobile and Tracfone. It expects worldwide sales of iDEN handsets to be up 50 percent in 2009 compared with 2008. These factors will help sustain Motorola until it revamps its portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Motorola has committed to Android not only to revamp its position in the second half of 2009, but also to produce long-term performance improvements. Gartner analysts question how Motorola will be able to differentiate its offering when so many players in the mobile device market will be delivering Android-based products at the same time.

Sony Ericsson lost market share compared both with the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2008, with sales of 14.5 million units. While the recession contributed to this decline, a weak product portfolio was also a factor. The product features that helped Sony Ericsson become one of the world's top vendors — imaging and music — are now too common to serve as a differentiator.

Sony Ericsson is late to catch on to the popularity of touchscreen devices and has a limited smartphone portfolio. While its focus on services through Play Now Arena is important, Sony Ericsson needs to ensure its devices include the most desirable applications and features for consumers.

“With inventory-reduction efforts expected to continue in the second quarter of 2009, although to a lesser extent than what we have seen so far, and better-than-expected figures for the first quarter of 2009, we remain confident that overall sales to users for 2009 will remain considerably higher than the sell-in that many vendors are expecting,” Ms Milanesi said. “Device vendors will focus increasingly on smartphones, improved user interfaces and services to differentiate themselves and fuel consumer demand. We maintain our view that sales to users will decrease by about 4 percent for 2009 compared with 2008, while sell-in will slow to around a 10 percent decrease.”

LG announces GC900 Viewty smartphone

LONDON, UK: LG Electronics has announced a brand new successor phone of LG Viewty, namely Viewty Smart (GC900). An intelligent shot mode technology has been introduced in LG GC900 phone that automatically takes amazing quality of pictures by adjusting camera settings accordingly.

The previous version of LG Viewty gives mind-blowing results. According to LG mobiles, they sold over 6.5 million units of LG KU990 Viewty. This latest mobile of LG (GC900 Viewty) delivers more and even excellent experience while viewing & sharing, plus playing with upgraded features. It includes a high intensity 8 megapixel camera with sensitivity upto ISO 1600, for better resolution of pictures & videos. Apart from this, this mobile phone includes a WVGA touchscreen of higher resolution, an intelligent image processor and a new S-Class user interface for easy navigation & browsing.

LG conduct various consumer surveys in different countries to know what exactly mobile user wants in next generation mobile phones and they found that the current camera phones are too complicated to control. By introducing intelligent shot mode functionality in LG GC90 Viewty this problem is being resolved and its camera operates automatically by analyzing various factors and situations. This hassle free mode eliminates the problem to control camera in different climatic conditions.

Viewty Smart has a three-inch wide WVGA screen, which delivers great pictures and mind blowing experience of watching movies. LG Viewty 2 supports HSDPA networks of 7.2 Mbps speed and Wi-Fi network, which helps to browse internet at broadband speed. Uploading and sharing images over the Internet is quiet easy. This LG mobile phone support 32GB of storage capacity by MicroSD card slot and have 1.5GB of internal memory. This phone solves the storage problem of users who wants to keep more tracks & data into their handset.

LG Viewty II is extremely pocketable because it is just 12.4 thick and become one of the slimmest mobile phone of LG having 8MP camera. The aim of LG mobile is to change the perception of people looked at camera mobile phones.

LG GC900 Viewty will be available on all leading mobile networks in the month of May.

Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance to promote 60GHz wireless technology

SAN JOSE, USA: Over 15 technology companies announced the Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance, an organization formed to establish a unified specification for 60 Gigahertz (GHz) wireless technologies.

The widespread availability and use of digital multimedia content has created an ever-increasing need for faster wireless connectivity that current wireless standards cannot support. This has fueled demand for a single technology that can support instantaneous file transfers, wireless display and docking, and streaming high definition media on a variety of devices.

To meet this demand, WiGig Alliance is developing a 60 GHz wireless technology that provides the optimal way to connect consumer electronics, handheld devices and personal computers.

The WiGig specification will allow devices to communicate without wires at gigabit speeds within a typical room. The group’s vision is to create a global ecosystem of interoperable products based on this specification, which will unify the next generation of entertainment, computing and communications devices at speeds more than 10 times faster than today’s WLANs.

Bringing together a diverse group of leading wireless semiconductor, PC, consumer electronics and handheld device manufacturers, WiGig Alliance is creating a unified 60 GHz specification that meets the performance and energy efficiency requirements of many types of wireless devices and applications all around the world. This will drive an interoperable ecosystem of easy-to-use, high speed, low power wireless products.

Among the companies that comprise this industry-leading board of directors are: Atheros Communications, Microsoft, Broadcom, NEC, Dell, Nokia, Intel, Panasonic, LG Electronics Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Marvell International, Wilocity and MediaTek Inc.

“Our member companies are leaders in the wireless, CE, PC and handheld markets. They have the technical acumen and business experience to make the 60 GHz wireless technology a reality for both the home and enterprise,” said Dr. Ali Sadri, President and Chairman of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance. “To help bring this technology to market, we welcome new member companies to join our group.”

WiGig Alliance members are defining a unified specification that leverages the unlicensed 60 GHz spectrum to provide unprecedented wireless performance. This technology is being designed from the ground up to address the specific requirements of various platforms, to coexist with future 60 GHz solutions and complement millions of Wi-Fi devices already in use around the world. Wireless docking, display and entertainment, without performance compromise, will become a reality with gigabit-speed wireless I/O and eliminate the unsightly cables that clutter today’s homes and offices.

“We're now at the point where the last barrier to wireless being able to do everything that wire can has fallen,” said Craig Mathias, a Principal with the wireless and mobile advisory firm, Farpoint Group. “In both the residence and the enterprise, more capacity and throughput are always desirable. WiGig Alliance is going to deliver technology that will have an enormous impact on connectivity and mobility, information technology, consumer electronics, and many other applications.”

The WiGig specification is expected to be available to member companies in Q4 of 2009. To register as an adopter in advance of the final specification, visit http://www.WirelessGigabitAlliance.org/specifications/.

Global mobile phone shipments decline 15.8 pc in Q1

FRAMINGHAM, USA: The worldwide mobile phone market began 2009 with an expected sequential downturn, exacerbated by the challenges of the ongoing worldwide recession.

According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 244.8 million units in the first quarter of 2009 (1Q09), approximately 15.8 percent lower than the 290.8 million units shipped during 1Q08.

The first quarter of a new year is typically characterized by seasonally lower shipment volumes following a busy holiday quarter with channels clearing out excess inventory. However, the 1Q09 decline was especially sharp due to weak end-user demand, currency volatility, and lack of credit for merchants as consumers and the supply chain adapt to the recession.

"That the worldwide mobile phone market started off 2009 with a year-over-year decline highlights just how much the economic recession has affected all industries, including the wireless market," says Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "The market continues to adapt to the new economic reality with both vendors and retailers exercising caution to remain profitable. In some cases, this has meant holding less inventory, or even reducing headcount. Fortunately, new features and demand for phones will help the market resist the financial pressure. We expect to see further year-over-year declines worldwide, even as some regions show signs of improvement."

As the overall market dropped 15.8 percent in 1Q09, converged mobile devices (commonly referred to as smartphones) continue to grow year on year at 4 percent. Growth within this segment was evident in Western Europe, North America, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan). Mobile operators have become progressively more open to raising subsidies within this segment as dependence on data revenue has increased as a result of reduced consumer demand for new handsets.

"Creativity appears to be the key to success for large mobile operators during this tough time as changes to business practices from past years have become necessary," says Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker. "Some of the big operators in mature markets have shifted product portfolios, and some have smartphones accounting for as much as 50 percent of the entire handset offering. We believe this strategy will continue, along with an increase in devices that are media and messaging centric, to help operators maintain revenues."

Regional analysis
Shipments of mobile phones into North America started the year slightly higher than the same quarter a year ago even as the economic recession bit deeper into the United States and started to impact Canada. Carriers' efforts to lure customers with unlimited plans and free device promotions helped offset a sharper decline, even in the face of slower subscriber growth.

Converged mobile devices at lower price points helped stimulate consumer interest in the midst of the economic recession, providing a needed boost to shipment volumes.

As expected, the Latin American mobile phone markets took a negative turn in 1Q09 as most of the economies in the region began to see slower economic growth. In addition, local currency devaluation drove prices higher on imported phones, reducing demand. This has not deterred future plans of enterprise customers, who have voiced interest in increasing spending on mobile devices in 2009.

Much of the Western European handset market was characterized by weaker consumer confidence and lower demand, while channels, already holding low inventory, were reluctant to re-stock. This set up challenging conditions for vendors in both the traditional mobile phone and converged mobile device spaces.

Meanwhile, the CEMA market posted some positive news, as much of the inventory was cleared at the end of 2008. Shipments into the Middle East and Africa contracted at a slower pace in 1Q09, while demand in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia decreased rapidly due to currency devaluation.

Asia/Pacific: In a difficult economic climate, China and India offered signs of encouragement in 1Q09. India reported strong subscription additions during the quarter, while China's rural subsidies have helped to prop up handset demand. Still, with growth coming increasingly from lower-end segments in the region, phone makers will find their average selling prices and profit margins challenged.

Vendor highlights
Nokia saw its shipment volumes dip below the 100 million unit mark for the first time in two years, while its ASP slid due to pricing pressure and greater emphasis on lower-priced devices.

Despite these challenges, Nokia posted a healthy 33.8 percent gross margin on its devices and services, with the success coming from the 5800 XpressMusic device as well as the launch of several services including Comes With Music, Nokia Messaging, Ovi Store, and Point and Find.

Samsung returned to double-digit profitability to start the year, resulting from improved operating efficiencies and a favorable product mix for the quarter. Samsung's strong position in feature phones sustained interest during an otherwise quiet quarter, with touch devices like the F480 and messaging devices like the A767. Samsung also recently announced its first Android-powered device, the i7500, due to hit the European market in June.

LG Electronics began the year on a positive note, posting an increase in operating margins despite a year-over-year decrease in shipment volumes. Driving its improvement was a combination of cost, supply chain, and operational efficiencies as well as warm reception for its touch screen, messaging, and digital imaging devices.

Even as the recession continues, the company is targeting double-digit sequential growth in 2Q09 with the release of high-end models to key regions as well as low-cost devices into emerging markets.

Motorola, although posting another quarter of operational loss, showed signs of improvement to start 2009. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha underscored the company's operational effectiveness and cost savings, noting the reduction in operational loss compared to the previous quarter.

In addition, Jha highlighted plans to add more smartphones to its portfolio before the end of the year. During the quarter, Motorola launched its Evoke QA4 and MOTOSURF A3100, as well as the industry's first eco-friendly device, the MOTO W233 Renew.

Sony Ericsson saw its market share decline as several key markets moved away from mid- and high-tier devices towards low-cost devices, where the company does not compete. Meanwhile, the company continued to build its content and services platform, with roll out of PlayNow Plus, Movies, and Arena across Europe. Although Sony Ericsson has been implementing a cost reduction plan since the summer of 2008, President Komiyama cited further need to reduce costs and headcount.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q1 2009
(Units in Millions)Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, April 30, 2009
Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.