Sony Mobile is planning to reduce its global headcount to 1000 by March 2014

Sony Mobile to cut 1000 jobs, Sweden to be affected the most.

Through the job cut, Sony Mobile is looking at increasing operational efficiency, reducing costs and driving profitable growth.

The job cut is important for the ailing mobile business of Sony. Sony Mobile has reported sales income of 5.21 billion euros in 2011 against 6.29 billion euros in 2010.

Sony Mobile said 650 employees at Sony Mobile in Sweden will be affected. The remaining headcount reductions will be primarily consultants in Sweden. Recently, Sony increased its stake in Sony Mobile by buying Ericsson's 50 percent stake.

LG Debuts White Flavor Optimus LTE 2 Smartphone

LG is introducing an all-white flavor of the Optimus LTE 2 smartphone in South Korea. The earlier version, which came in black, had been available in the country since the latter part of May. It sold around 150,000 units in South Korea in only ten days, which makes it one of the most popular phones that LG ever released. It also carries the distinction of being the world’s first phone that offers 2 GB of RAM.


LG, which is based in Korea, seems to be enjoying some success in their home country, reportedly selling 410,000 smartphones monthly in the region, with 330,000 of them capable of LTE connectivity. Apparently, it wants to add to this success with the release of the white handset.



The specifications of the white Optimus LTE 2 are exactly the same as the black Optimus LTE 2. The Optimus LTE 2 sports a candybar form factor. Its capacitive IPS LCD boasts of True HD quality and spans 4.7 inches and has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels at a pixel density of 312 ppi. It also comes with a full RGB matrix, which gives high-quality images comparable to those from the Samsung Galaxy S3’s PenTile technology. This screen supports multi-touch gestures and comes with a scratch-resistant glass, a light sensor, and a proximity sensor.

Nokia shipped 2.2 million Lumia smartphones in last quarter

Finnish handset maker Nokia shipped 2.2 million Lumia smartphones in the quarter ended in March, according to IDC.


The company is betting high on its Lumia portfolio to regain its lost position of market leader. The company has been vying with smartphone majors such as Apple and Android leader Samsung.


In order to solidify its battle with market incumbents, Nokia introduced multiple variants in its Lumia range. Meanwhile, the company plans to further expand its Lumia range by the end of third quarter of 2012.

So far, IDC said that the shipments of Lumia smartphones are relatively small. Presently, the market for Windows OS based smartphone is too small, which is expected to increase in coming years.


In comparison to the 35 million iPhones that Apple sold to customers in a single quarter, 2.2 million Lumia smartphones shipped seems too frail.


Recently, the company launched its NFC enabled Lumia 610smartphone. The smartphone is the first Microsoft Windows Phone device that INSIDE Secure, INSIDE Secure, a semiconductor solutions provider supported with MicroRead and Open NFC.

LTE handset shipment to reach 27.9 mn in 2012

 4G LTE capable handsets are becoming ever more popular as operators and device manufacturers compete in LTE ready markets. The 4G LTE mobile handset market is forecast by Visiongain to record strong and continuous growth over the next decade.


In its latest report The 4G LTE Mobile Handset Market 2012-2017 the research firm finds that mass deployment of 3G networks has accelerated the adoption of smart devices, conditioning users to access wireless data services on a daily basis.

The growing strain on current 3G networks has driven operators to start deploying 4G networks in order to cope with future demand. As a result, LTE has emerged as the prime candidate for 4G networks, prompting mass commitment and adoption on a global level.


The number of LTE subscribers is set for dynamic growth in the next five years, as operators build and trial LTE in order to cope with the massive amounts of data traffic which is steadily increasing on their networks. The successful launch of a number of LTE networks in the US, Asia and Europe is driving ever greater adoption of 4G services. Visiongain calculates that there will be 27.9 million 4G LTE handsets shipped globally in 2012.


Furthermore, governments worldwide have held 4G spectrum auctions or are planning to in the coming years, and many Tier 1 mobile operators are building, trialling and deploying commercial LTE services. LTE offers immense scope for the growth of the mobile value chain.

Samsung Galaxy S2 & Galaxy Note Selling Like Hotcakes, S3 Bar Set High

The Samsung Galaxy range of smartphones have reached over 50 million, with the Galaxy Note having topped more than 7 million sales. How many units the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S3 will sell is anyone’s guess but it has attracted a great deal of pre-orders and is said to be one of the most pre-ordered Android phones of this year (claimed to be 9 million so far).



The first edition of the Galaxy S was revealed to the world in 2010 and it became a huge hit straight away, setting the path for other models to follow. In total, sales of this handset exceed 24 million devices. The Galaxy S2 overtook this when it sold 28 million units in only 13 months. This means that the Galaxy S2 was the single fastest selling device ever from Samsung.


The Samsung Galaxy Note is also popular reaching over 7 million units sold. Whether the latest incarnation of the Galaxy S series, the Galaxy S3, will be as popular remains to be seen as many are left waiting its arrival following setbacks. Residents in the UK have seen delays with problems being reported with the battery cover of the blue version.

Motorola Mobility unveils 3 SIM cell phone MOTOKEY 3-CHIP

Leading mobile technology innovator Motorola Mobility has launched its first QWERTY cell phone which stores up to three SIM cards namely MOTOKEY 3-CHIP in Brazilian market.

"Today, having immediate access to everyone who matters in your life, from wherever you may be, is a top priority. With the MOTOKEY 3-CHIP's triple SIM capability, staying in touch with friends and family has never been easier," said Edson Bortolli, product director, Motorola Mobility Brazil.

The QWERTY cell phone has 2-megapixel camera, the company said that user can capture photos or record videos on the fly and upload your handy work immediately with a push of a button.

The cell phone also features built-in MP3 player and FM radio. The company claims that the handset is ideal for people who want to use SIM-cards from different carriers and ensure the best rates.

The handset offers MicroSD card slot expandable up to 32GB that allows users to store hundreds of songs, videos or photos. The handset also work as a portable storage device, the company said that the MOTOKEY 3-CHIP doubles as a USB drive.

User can save almost any type of file even documents directly on your phone. The MOTOKEY 3-CHIP is commercialized with a 2GB card.

The Motorola Motorola MOTOKEY 3-CHIP will be available in major retail outlets in Brazil from the first week of June at the suggested retail price of R$ 349.


Very recently, Motorola Mobility launched its upgraded version of XOOM Tablet called XOOM 2 for the Brazilian market.

The new tablet features Android 3.2, Honeycomb, a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, and a 10.1-inch widescreen HD display with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass and a splashguard coating body

Samsung announces the LTE-ready Galaxy R Style for Korea

Samsung has a new LTE-enabled Android smartphone destined for Korea. The Samsung Galaxy R Style is an Ice Cream Sandwich device with a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display and 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It measures in at a respectable 9.79mm thick and has an appearance that harkens back to older Galaxy S designs rather than the redefined lines of the Galaxy S III. Other specs include a 5MP camera and NFC capabilities.


The Galaxy R Style will be coming to all of Korea’s major carrier and will launch for the equivalent of $594 (700,000 won). There appear to be no plans for a wider release.

Sony Announces Waterproof Android Phones, the Xperia Go and Arco S

Finally, a couple of phones that can survive soda spills and even accidental drownings.

Sony announced two waterproof smartphones on Wednesday. They both run dual-core processors, but one of the new handsets will ship with an outdated version of Google’s Android operating system.

The Xperia Go and the Xperia Arco S are both set for release in the third quarter of this year, though Sony officials haven’t yet said how much the phones will sell for when they launch. The Xperia Go, which will be called the Xperia Advance in the U.S., will ship running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), though an upgrade to Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is promised.

The Xperia Arco S will ship with Sony’s skinned version of Android 4. The latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, debuted last November on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and six months later, top phone makers such as Motorola, HTC, LG and Sony are still struggling to offer software updates to consumers. The Xperia Go’s use of Gingerbread is simply the latest example of this.

Facebook set to enter into smartphone market

Facebook is all set to foray into the burgeoning smartphone market. Last year, the social networking major partnered with HTC to work on smartphone, which has been codenamed as Buffy.


New York Time has reported that Facebook may come out with its own smartphone next year. Employees of Facebook and engineers briefed on Facebook's plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year.


The company has hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on iPhone, and one who worked on iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said. 


This would be Facebook's third effort at building a smartphone. In 2010, the blog TechCrunch reported Facebook was working on a smartphone. The project crumbled after it realized the difficulties involved, said people who had worked on it.


In the past, Facebook worked with HTC over two smartphones known as ChaCha and Salsa. Both the smartphones came with a dedicated Facebook key and tighter integration. Now the social network giant wants to go beyond just the dedicated key and Facebook integration.


A Facebook employee told NY Times, "Mark is worried that if he doesn't create a mobile phone in near future then Facebook will simply become an app on the mobile platforms."


When asked, Facebook did not deny or confirm that a project to build smartphone existed, but pointed to a previous statement it gave to AllThingsD last year that said that the company is working across mobile industry - with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers.


Recently, Facebook entered into a strategic partnership with Trend Micro to help educate and protect users' digital life against malicious sites and malware.

LG sells over 3 million LTE smartphones

It seems that LG Electronics’ global sales of their smartphones – in particular the LTE smartphone models, have touched (and passed by the time you read this) the magical three million unit mark. All right, three million is nothing magical when you compared it to what Apple has sold in terms of iPhone units, but when you think about the figure in terms of the LTE smartphone market, that is a lot of phone – in fact, it squarely places LG somewhere at the forefront of the soon-to-be competitive and burgeoning LTE market.

Just to recap your memory, some of the LTE smartphones by LG that have hit the market to date include the LG Revolution which was their first LTE model in the world that came out in May last year, the LG Optimus LTE that was the world’s first HD LTE smartphone, the LG Optimus Vu which came with a 5″ IPS display and 4:3 aspect ratio, the LG Optimus LTE Tag, and the LG Optimus LTE II. Did you in any way contribute to LG’s bottom line, and are you reading this from your LG LTE smartphone?

Samsung Galaxy S3 Gets 4 New Pals: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint & T-Mobile

With the Samsung Galaxy S3 just days away from release in the UK and perhaps just a month away from release in the US, does the company have plans already for more devices or are these the names of the many variants we may see come about next month (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 models)?

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile & Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 variants or future devices?

According to PocketNow, the company has been registering trademarks for many Galaxy series device over the last few months. It could be that Samsung are merely looking well ahead into the future and are being optimistic, hoping that they will use them one day or just prepping for variants as mentioned above. One thing is for sure that at the moment and that is they have registered many more names than they could ever release in the near future.

The company have trademarks for the Galaxy Rush, Galaxy Amp and the Galaxy Helm. Could these be the names of smartphones of the future or will Samsung never use them at all? It’s anyone’s guess at the moment.

At the moment with the anticipated release of the Samsung Galaxy S3 no one is really interested in what they might do in the future as it is all about now and getting one's hands on the S3. The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is rumored to be June 20 in the US for the blue version of the handset and just days away in the UK. So it won’t be too long now until those who have pre-ordered their phones will be waiting eagerly for the postman knocking on their door.