Google’s Siri Competitor to Called ‘Assistant’, Bell to Release the Samsung Galaxy Rugby and Sonim Bolt & Goodbye Android Market, Hello Google Play

Google’s Siri Competitor to Called ‘Assistant,’ Report Claims
In December, it was reported that Google is working on a solution that will boost the capabilities of its Voice Actions on Android-powered devices in an effort to compete with Apple’s Siri voice assistant. The service, which was previously code-named “Majel,” will launch as “Assistant”.
BGR

Bell to Release the Samsung Galaxy Rugby and Sonim XP5520 Bolt
In the next few weeks you can expect to see a couple new rugged devices appear, something that has been missing for well over a year. First to arrive will be the durable looking Sonim XP5520 Bolt, followed by the Android-powered Samsung Galaxy Rugby.
MobileSyrup

Goodbye Android Market, Hello Google Play
Google’s Android Market has undergone some tremendous changes over the last year or so. What started as just a standalone app store has quickly grown to encompass e-books, music, videos, and now Google feels like the “Android Market” moniker is getting to be too restrictive, too constraining for what they’re really trying to deliver to their users. That’s why Google is officially putting the Android Market name to rest. Starting today, all of Google’s digital media services have been rebranded to fly under a brand new banner: Google Play.
TechCrunch

9 Mobile Apps That Help You Find Cheap Gas
Gas may finally be leveling off from its nearly month-long rise, but you’re probably not reaping the benefits just yet. While we wait for teleportation apps that allow us to avoid the gas tank, we’ve rounded up nine apps to help you locate the cheapest gas prices and keep track of your mileage and maintenance.
Mashable

Koodo Comes Out With a $50 Data Plan, Samsung Announces Galaxy Pocket & Is the Philadelphia Cell Phone Jammer a Hero or Pest?

Koodo Comes Out With a $50/Month Canada-Wide Data Plan
Not really sure when this happened, but it seems that Koodo has come out with a new plan. For $50/month you can sign yourself up for the Canada-Wide Data Plan. This gives you 1GB of data, 150 minutes, Caller ID, Voicemail and Unlimited Text & Picture messaging.
MobileSyrup

Samsung Announces Cutesy Galaxy Pocket with 2.8-inch Display, Coming ‘Later This Year’
Space will always have room for another galaxy, and your pocket should equally have room for this little piece of Android 2.3 TouchWizadry. The Galaxy Pocket has just been announced in London and will arrive in the UK “later this year,” bearing a 2.8-inch screen with a 240 x 320 (QVGA) resolution, an 800MHz processor, 3GB of expandable storage.
Engadget

SmartSync Releases New Version Of The App That Turns You Into A God
SmartSync, which has been doing good business on the iPhone app store, has released an updated version that is a big improvement on the original app. When someone calls you, SmartSync displays their latest Facebook statuses or photos against the call. Say they said they were tired. When they call you you say “Wow, sorry to hear you’re feeling tired!” even before they’ve said hello. See, suddenly you’re all-knowing.
TechCrunch

Is the Philadelphia Cell Phone Jammer a Hero or Pest?
A Philadelphia man has stirred up controversy after he frequently used a device on a public bus to create a cell phone dead zone. A reporter for NBC10 in Philadelphia recently tracked down the man, who was using a cell phone jammer on the bus to block riders’ cell phone reception. His reason — he didn’t want to listen to other people’s phone conversations. He says he turns on the illegal device whenever other passengers talk too loud and bother him.
Mashable

Apple Acquires Chomp, ZTE to Debut Eight New Smartphones at MWC & Motorola Droid X Gets Massive Bug Fix Update

Texas Instruments Shows Off Dual-Core OMAP 5 SoC, Wipes the Floor with Tegra 3
The Tegra 3 has taken a bit of a hit in recent days as it was negatively compared to the upcoming dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset, and now it’s been paired up with Texas Instrument’s OMAP 5 SoC, to no less of a proverbial slaughter. OMAP 5 is based on Cortex’s new A15 reference design, and as much there are many, many improvements in both speed and power efficiency over previous Cortex A9 chips.
MobileSyrup

Motorola Droid X Gets Massive Bug Fix Update
Motorola Droid X owners may have thought that Verizon had forgotten about them. Not the case at all. Today, the carrier has begun rolling out a massive bug fix update for its aging 3G smartphone that will be bring a number of fixes and enhancements along with it. Exciting stuff, especially when you consider the fact that the Droid X came out in July of 2010.
GottaBeMobile

Apple Acquires Chomp; App Store Search And Discovery To Be Completely Revamped
With the countdown underway to 25 billion total app downloads, there’s no disputing the success of Apple’s App Store. We live in a world of hyperbole, but Apple’s entry into this space really has changed the entire mobile world. But the App Store is far from perfect. And with its immense scale, a few problems have been revealed. The biggest one is app discovery. Right now, it’s hard and getting harder by the day. The strong get stronger while new apps often have trouble breaking in. But with an acquisition that Apple has just made, they hope to change that. Apple has bought the app search and discovery platform Chomp.
TechCrunch

ZTE to Debut Eight New Smartphones at MWC
ZTE is looking to make a big splash at next week’s Mobile World Congress, bringing eight new smartphones powered by Android and Windows Phone to the event. The company had previously announced three Android smartphones, the Mimosa X, PF200 and N910. The Mimosa X comes equipped with a NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, a 4.3-inch qHD display, Ice Cream Sandwich, 4GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, a front facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear camera.
BGR

TELUS Re-Introduces the $30/Month 6GB Data Plan, Sony Ericsson Is Now Sony Mobile Communications & Opera Snaps Up Mobile Theory

TELUS Re-Introduces the $30/Month 6GB Data Plan
“In direct response to Bell and Rogers, TELUS is re-introducing the 6GB data add on, with an incredible 6GB of Data”. That sums it up. The $30/month 6GB plan is back – it’s available to those on a MTM, 1, 2, or 3-year contracts who “meet the $50 minimum spend”.
MobileSyrup

Sony Ericsson Is Now Sony Mobile Communications
Starting today, Sony Ericsson will be officially known as Sony Mobile Communications. Every new phone launched from the company will bear only Sony’s name, and we have seen a couple of them already. However, the existing range of devices out in the market will continue to bear the Sony Ericsson name.
GSMArena

Opera Snaps Up Mobile Theory, 4th Screen For $26M In Mobile Ad Push
Mobile browser company Opera today announced that it has acquired the mobile ad networks Mobile Theory and 4th Screen Advertising. The move is not just another sign of the ongoing consolidation in that space, but also of the need to bulk up to better compete with the likes of Google with more full-service solutions.
TechCrunch

Leaked Windows Phone ‘Tango’ Images Reveal New Details
Images of Microsoft’s next mobile operating system, Windows Phone “Tango,” were published on Wednesday, showing off a number of new features. Tango will reportedly feature the ability to export contacts to a SIM card, handle multiple attachments in a single MMS message and manage roaming both domestically and internationally, according to WP7forum.
BGR

Public Mobile Has 199,000 Subscribers, Nokia Lumia 800 to Launch on February 14th & Mobile Web Usage Doubling Every Year

Public Mobile Has 199,000 Subscribers
Public Mobile launched their wireless service in 2010. According to a report in Reuters, Public Mobile, who operates in 2 core cities, increased their Q4 subscriber base by a stunning 45,000 to reach a total of 199,000 subs. 199k in 2 markets! It’s also been revealed that their ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) $25.27 (most likely in Q4).
MobileSyrup

Nokia Lumia 800 to Launch in U.S. on February 14th as Part of $900 Bundle
Microsoft may be planning to launch a special bundle that includes the Nokia Lumia 800 and several accessories for $899. Citing unnamed industry sources, The Verge said the deal will kick off on February 14th and will include a Bluetooth headset, a Purity HD stereo headset and Nokia’s Play 360 wireless speaker.
BGR

StatCounter: Mobile Web Usage Doubling Every Year, Nokia Leads the Way
That’s according to the latest report from StatCounter, which found that Nokia handsets account for about 40 percent of the world’s mobile browsing, followed by Apple, at around 29 percent. Coming in at a relatively distant third is Samsung, with an approximately 14 percent share.
Engadget

‘App Economy’ Has Created Nearly Half a Million Jobs Since 2007 [STUDY]
That app you use to play Words with Friends on your phone or book a reservation using Open Table might be giving the American economy a nice boost, at least according to a new survey by TechNet. The new “app economy” has created about 466,000 jobs in the United States since 2007, according to the survey.
Mashable

TELUS, Bell and Rogers Releasing the Galaxy Note February 14th, Samsung To Announce Its New Mystery Device & What`s The Future of Your Mobile Phone

The Future of Your Mobile Phone
“The mobile operator community is conventional. 99.9 per cent of their turnover, up until about three years ago, was purely consumer handset driven. From a growth point of view, now, they’re lucky if they get maybe 110 per cent but that is it. They can’t grow any further.”
Pocket-lint

TELUS, Bell and Rogers Releasing the Galaxy Note February 14th for $249.99 on a 3-year
First out of the gate with the official release date and pricing is big box retailer Best Buy showing the Note will be available to the masses on Tuesday, February 14th for the 3-year contract price of $249.99. Best Buy also notes the Rogers logo on their info page, but doesn’t have any pricing info.
MobileSyrup

Motorola Announces New RAZR With an Unlockable Bootloader
On Monday, Motorola announced the RAZR Developer Edition on the company’s community blog. The device is essentially the same as the current RAZR, but with one special feature: an unlockable bootloader.
BGR

Samsung Is Spending Millions To Announce Its New Mystery Device During The Super Bowl
Samsung has a special promoted tweet running today that teases its upcoming Super Bowl ad. We’ve known the ad was coming for several weeks now, but today we learned that it will be used to unveil a new Samsung device.
Business Insider

Symbian Belle Coming Soon, Sony Ericsson Swallows $317 Million Pre-tax Loss & Official Wikipedia App Comes to Android

Symbian Belle Coming Soon
It has been a long time in the making, but Nokia has finally confirmed the arrival of their latest and greatest OS in regards to Symbian. Nokia took to their twitter page and said “Nokia Belle will be on the way next week”.
SmartPhoneEnvy

Another Nokia Lumia 800 Battery Update Coming in Two Weeks
Nokia said on Twitter Wednesday that a second software update will roll out to Lumia 800 devices over the next two weeks. It is largely expected that the update will help fix the poor battery life that has plagued some, but not all, Lumia 800 users.
BGR

Sony Ericsson Swallows $317 Million Pre-tax Loss as End Draws Near
Sony Ericsson’s tearful breakup continues with more woe as as the venture had to eat a pre-tax loss of €247 million (roughly $317 million). Bosses cited “unfavorable macro-economic conditions” and the Thai flooding as the reasons for the loss.
Engadget

Official Wikipedia App Comes to Android
In addition to being able to view every article in mobile-friendly format, you can save them for offline use later. You can also use your GPS to search for nearby articles (like we saw in Wikitude). You can also share articles through the official Android channels, which is convenient.
MobileSyrup

Blippar Raises Seed Funding From Qualcomm For Mobile Augmented Reality Technology

Blippar, the UK startup behind an eponymous mobile image recognition and augmented reality platform, has landed seed funding – the size of the investment was not disclosed – from Qualcomm Ventures.

The startup, which is based in London, says the seed funding serves as a springboard for a bigger Series A funding round it expects to close in early 2012.

Like other augmented reality startups like Layar and metaio, Blippar’s technology turns a smartphone’s camera into a ‘lens’ that shows virtual information on top of real-life objects, be it a link to a website, a digital coupon, a video or another type of promotion.

Blippar says it has seen hundreds of thousands of consumer downloads in the first 7 months since its debut in the UK, and that major brands like Tesco, Nestle, Samsung and Unilever have already orchestrated campaign ‘blipps’.

CrunchBase Information

blippar

Qualcomm Ventures

Information provided by CrunchBase

iOS Closes Out The Year With 52% Mobile Web Market Share, Canadians Downloaded 41 Million Apps Between Christmas and New Years Eve & Are Text Messages Declining Worldwide?

iOS Closes Out The Year With 52% Mobile Web Market Share
According to end-of-the-month data from statistics provider NetMarketShare, iOS users ended up with a 52% market share of mobile web browsing in December 2011. More simply put, that means that over half of the mobile web browsing last month took place on an iOS device. Android, meanwhile, had a 16.2% share, behind Java ME at 21.27%, which fell into second place.
TechCrunch

DROID 3, LG Revolution, and All of Verizon’s 4G LTE Hotspots to Be Discontinued in January, Report Claims
In 2011, carriers and manufacturers were releasing smartphones at such short intervals that within weeks, your once new and high-end device would most likely already be outdated. Unfortunately, it looks like things won’t be slowing down in 2012. After a mere six months on the market, Verizon Wireless has issued an end-of-life discontinuation for the Motorola DROID 3.
BGR

Canadians Downloaded 41 Million Apps Between Christmas and New Years Eve
Overall, amongst all tallied countries, there were 1.2 billion apps downloaded in the iOS and Android app stores, the US taking the lions’ share with 509 million downloads. Still, considering our tiny population, 41 million apps is a metric tonne, and shows how app-addicted we all are. Total app downloads were 60% above the December weekly average.
MobileSyrup

Are Text Messages Declining Worldwide?
It may seem like everyone, everywhere is sending text messages these days. But according to a Forbes report, texting may be on the decline across various countries.
Mashable

Rogers and Fido Offer Customers Several Premium SMS Choices, Samsung Promises Android 4.0 Update for Galaxy Range & The AT&T T-Mobile Deal Is Officially Dead

Rogers and Fido Offer Customers Several Premium SMS Choices, Including a $40 Monthly Subscription Cap
On their company blog Rogers and Fido noted they now “provide a $40 monthly subscription cap for premium SMS programs, so when your subscription to a premium SMS program reaches $40 you won’t receive any more texts or charges.”
MobileSyrup

The AT&T T-Mobile Deal Is Officially Dead
AT&T said today it was abandoning its plan to acquire T-Mobile. AT&T’s decision forces the company to pay T-Mobile $4 billion in a “break up” fee that was agreed upon when the deal was first struck.
Mashable

Samsung Promises Android 4.0 Update for Galaxy Range
Samsung today announced that it will provide a select number of its Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Samsung said the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note will receive Android 4.0 during the first quarter of 2012.
PhoneScoop

Apple Acquires Israeli Flash Memory Firm Anobit for $500 Million
Apple has reportedly completed its acquisition of Israel-based flash memory firm Anobit in a deal worth up to $500 million. Hebrew-language financial newspaper Calcalist on Tuesday claimed that a deal had been reached after reporting earlier this month that Apple was in late-stage talks to buy the fabless chip maker.
BGR

Eeve Creates Location-Based Photo Groups, Automatic For The People

Eeve is an iPhone app [iTunes link] that allows people to create location-based photo albums that sort of clump together to document events. There are hits and misses in this space. Gowalla tried to get people to tell stories with check-ins and photos. Color tried to get people to check into location with photos. The EyeEm app introduces a location-based element. Few apps have really captured the imagination, other than maybe Instagram, but that won’t let you ‘join’ a location-based group. Eeve does.

Launching out of public beta today, Eeve thinks it can solve this location issue with temporary photo albums or what they call ‘Eeves’. A person taking the first photo at a certain time and location starts an Eeve group. Everybody else also at the same location can simply join and participate (without asking, based on location). Not bad for weddings and parties!

The latest version means you don;t need to think hard about starting an Eeve group, or search for an Eeve group at your location. You just take photos and Eeve does everything in the background, so if you are the first person at a certain time and location taking a photo, you start the Eeve and if somebody else already started one, Eeve displays that Eeve while taking the photo and your photo will be added to the same Eeve location group. There also are lots more tagging and sharing option now.

The team of four founders started Eeve while finishing their degrees at UCL and the startup is bootstrapped.

Personally I see this being most useful at conferences, but I’d like to see a web platform where you can see the images. Still, Instagram hasn’t done too badly without one so far…

A combination of Eeve and Sharypic would be very cool.

The Best Android Phone Yet, Another Lumia Leaked & Wind says “It Was a Bad Idea” to Get Involved in Canada

Samsung Galaxy Nexus: the Best Android Phone We’ve Seen Yet
A new era in the impressive story of Google‘s Android operating system has just begun with the release of the Nexus.
Mashable

Motorola Motokey Social set to Like Telus November 21st
The Motokey Social and Telus will change their status to “In a Relationship” on November 21st, and you can take part of the festivities.
Engadget

4.3-Inch Nokia Lumia 900 Gets Leaked By Nokia
The Nokia Lumia 900 has found its way to YouTube thanks to none other than Nokia themselves. Apparently the Finnish phone maker posted a video to court developers, promising them the combination of “Nokia’s stunning hardware” and “a dynamic Microsoft OS.”
TechCrunch

“It Was a Bad Idea”, Says Wind Mobile Financial Backer on Entering Canada
At the end of Q3 2011 Wind Mobile amassed 358,000 subscribers and their main financial backer, Naguib Sawiris, says getting involved in Canada and launching the wireless brand “was a bad idea”.
MobileSyrup

Huawei to Acquire Symantec’s 49% Stake, Rogers to Release the BlackBerry Bold 9790 & Mobilicity Drops Monthly Rate Plans by 50%

Here are top stories we’re tracking on Tuesday, November 15th:

Huawei to Acquire Symantec’s 49% Stake in Huawei Symantec for $530 Million
Huawei announced on Monday its intentions to purchase Symantec’s 49% stake in Huawei Symantec, a joint venture between the two companies that was originally formed in 2008, giving Huawei full control of the company.
BGR

Rogers to Release the BlackBerry Bold 9790 “Just in Time for the Holiday Gift-giving Season”
The press release this morning stated that it will be available “in the coming weeks”, but Rogers wanted to be first out and have stated that this new BlackBerry 7 powered QWERTY/touchscreen will be available “just in time for the holiday gift-giving season”.
MobileSyrup

Ice Cream Sandwich Coming to Full Xperia Lineup, Sony Ericsson Confirms
Today, the forthcoming upgrade has become officially official, though details remain equally fuzzy. “We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich,” the company wrote in a blog post this morning.
Engadget

Mobilicity Has Gone Crazy… Dropping Monthly Rate Plans by 50%
Coming down the pipe tomorrow is another Mobilicity promo plan that is giving customers 50% off regular rate plans for up to 1-year, plus their $10 unlimited data and $5 BlackBerry Internet Service add-ons will also be cut in half.
MobileSyrup

Today’s Mobile Brief: Apple Fixes iPhone Battery Issues & Has No Plans to Bring Siri to Older Devices, Public Mobile Launches New Download Store

Amazon Just Sliced About $200 off the Droid RAZR
Motorola’s Droid RAZR launches today for $299.99, but Amazon is selling it for just $111.11 on a new two-year contract. If you’re in the market for the world’s slimmest smartphone (at 7.8mm), then this is a heck of a deal. In any Verizon Store, the RAZR costs nearly three times as much.
Business Insider

Apple Reportedly Has No Plans to Bring Siri to Older Devices
Apple will not bring its virtual personal assistant Siri to older devices, a new report claims to confirm. MSComputerVideos founder Michael Steeber on Tuesday posted an email conversation that allegedly took place between “someone who contacted Apple with a bug report” and Apple. In the exchange, a suggestion is posed to Apple asking the company to consider offering Siri to owners of older devices as part of a special paid update.
BGR

Public Mobile Launches New Download Store
A new “Store” tab has been launched and Public Mobile customers with 1X device (C76, BUZZ or E520) can now download ringtones and wallpapers. Apparently there’s a bunch of free images, plus also items you can purchase – ringtones cost $2.50 and wallpapers are $2.00.
MobileSyrup

Apple Fixes Critical iPhone Battery Issues With iOS 5.0.1
iOS 5.0.1 is the first update to Apple’s iOS 5, which brought the notifications tray, increased performance and iCloud to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In addition to fixing the iOS battery issue, 5.0.1. adds multitouch gestures to the original iPad, fixes iCloud bugs and improves voice recognition for Australian iPhone users. This is the first OS update available both via iTunes and over-the-air.
Mashable

HTC Omega blessed with renders, revealing its front-facing camera

HTC's decided to throw a similar get-together to rival the kickin' shindig we had tonight, which hopefully means the company will show off the latest and greatest phones soon to grace its lineup. One such phone that's been seeing a lot of talk lately is the Omega, rumored to be one of Peter Chou's upcoming Windows Phones. Unfortunately, it's just been a faceless name on paper -- until now. Pocketnow got its hands on a rather well-detailed render of the Mango device, which shows off HTC's traditional two-toned design (this time in white and gray) and a front-facing camera. While the latter feature isn't new to the industry by any stretch of the imagination, it backs up Microsoft's confirmation Wednesday that Mango will indeed support it. Anyone up for some sweet Skype video calling?

Nokia N9 is Coming Out in More Colors

When Nokia N9 was introduced and shown to the masses through press photos, it was presented in three colors, cyan, black, and pink. Even though these colors are standards for most phones, Nokia would like to have the selection a bit paced up as they think of bringing out two additional colors in the shades of mint green and orange. It would not hurt to have other options for color choice in case you may be sick of the basic black.

The leak actually presents the two new shades, but it has not been confirmed if this photo can be trusted or not. Just to jog your memory, the Nokia N9 is the first and last MeeGo phone that will be out on circulation to select European countries, and not including America on the list. It has a keyless 3.9-inch display and specs that works wonders. Let us just wait for the release in September and count how many colors there are.

Source: PocketNow

T-Mobile Launches the Samsung Gravity TXT

T-Mobile has launched the Samsung Gravity TXT which features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and the preloaded Social Buzz app.  The Samsung Gravity TXT brings you all the messaging and social networking options you need to stay connected with family and friends. You can send a message or a photo to any wireless phone or e-mail address. Or stay connected using always-on social networking.

Basic specifications include:

Size:

Camera: 2 megapixel camera

Size: 4.41 x 2.09 x 0.55

Weight: 112g

Included battery: 1000 mAh Lithium ion

Talk time: Up to 4 hours

Standby time: Up to 300 hours

Band (frequency): 850 MHz;900 MHz;1800 MHz;1900 MHz;UMTS: Band IV (1700/2100);Band II (1900)

 

Verizon to offer Intuit's GoPayment in retail stores, free after rebate

There's nothing worse than missing out on your favorite street meat because you've only got plastic. But even smaller vendors may soon be able to process that dollar hot dog with a credit card, as Verizon Wireless is making Intuit's GoPayment card reader available in its 2,300 retail stores. The small business-friendly machine plugs into a BlackBerry, Android or iOS device to transform the smartphone or tablet into a credit card processing machine using a free app. After a $30 mail-in rebate, the hardware is free with no monthly fees and a 2.7-percent fee per transaction. Merchants who upgrade to the premium version for $12.95 per month will only have to fork over 1.7-percent fee per swipe, bringing the net income on that dollar tube of processed meat to just over 98 cents. Plus, Intuit is throwing in two months gratis for the paid version. Check out the full PR after the break, and don't forget the ketchup and mustard.

Show full PR text

Intuit GoPayment App and Credit Card Reader Now Available at Verizon Wireless Stores

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless and Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today announced a strategic alliance to give all small businesses – from the sole proprietor to a medium-sized business – the ability to process credit card payments on smartphones and tablets. The companies are now offering Intuit's GoPayment app and pocket-sized credit card reader in Verizon Wireless' 2,300 retail stores and business-to-business sales channels.

GoPayment makes it easier and more affordable for small businesses to process credit cards and for anyone who sells products or services to accept credit card payments wirelessly. The card reader simply plugs into the audio jack of a supported smartphone or tablet. Credit and debit cards can be swiped through the card reader or entered into the app manually. The transaction is processed immediately and funds are automatically deposited into a user's bank account within a few business days. GoPayment supports devices on Android™, BlackBerry® and iOS platforms for most popular 3G and 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.

"Intuit's GoPayment on America's most reliable network is a mobile transaction game changer, and brings another dimension of must-have technology to the small business community," said Mike Schaefer, executive director of the Business Solutions Group for Verizon Wireless. "Payments and transactions are often the biggest hurdle businesses face. Our value proposition is to streamline, simplify and enable business owners to get paid with minimal delay. This collaboration with Intuit is an important part of our strategy to bring the most innovative online and mobile tools to our customers."

"Rather than lose out on potential business, anyone who sells a product or service can now easily and affordably give their customers the option of paying with plastic," said Chris Hylen, general manager of Intuit's Payment Solutions division. "GoPayment is meeting a huge need and is one of the fastest growing mobile payment solutions in the market. With Verizon Wireless, we'll help even more people discover that they too can process credit card payments on the phones or tablets they already own."

To save time when processing payments, GoPayment offers the ability to create and sell from a list of frequently sold items. Depending on the types of goods and services sold, users can choose to apply sales tax, add tips and send customized receipts via text message and email with a map of where the transaction took place. To protect data, sensitive credit card information is never stored on the phone. The data is also encrypted – once via the card reader and a second time via the GoPayment app.

For the more than four million small businesses that use QuickBooks®, GoPayment can also sync transactions with recent versions of QuickBooks – PC, Mac and soon QuickBooks Online – to save time by reducing manual data entry. GoPayment also supports up to 50 users on one account, which is ideal for businesses with multiple employees who work in the field.

Pricing

Verizon Wireless customers can get the GoPayment credit card reader free with activation of a GoPayment account and a mail-in rebate for the $29.97 purchase price. The GoPayment mobile payment app is free and the basic service has no monthly, transaction or cancellation fees, and offers a competitive 2.7 percent discount rate for swiped transactions.

A paid version of GoPayment is also available for $12.95 a month and provides a low discount rate of 1.7 percent for swiped transactions. Intuit is offering Verizon Wireless customers two months of free service when they select this monthly paid plan.

Customers who purchase a smartphone for their GoPayment use will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan beginning at $39.99 for monthly access. Tablet and smartphone users require a data package starting at $30 monthly access for 2 GB of data.

For additional information, please visit www.verizonwireless.com/gopayment or gopayment.com/verizon.

Nokia announces Symbian Belle alongside three new devices

True to Monday's teaser, Nokia unveiled its latest update to the Symbian OS as well as a few new devices. Belle is indeed coming, and it's heading to the Nokia 700, 701 and 600 in the third quarter of this year. The successor to Anna brings NFC sharing and pairing functionality to the table, along with three additional home screens (bumped up to six), a dynamic lock screen, live widgets in five different sizes, and a pull-down taskbar and notification menu. Fortunately, the new handsets announced today aren't the only beneficiaries of the upgrade: the N8, E6, E7, X7, C7, C6-01 and Oro will all get Belle at a yet-unknown later date. Join us after the break as we go more into detail on the three phones announced today, along with a video and press release.

Nokia 700, 701 and 600

The three handsets announced today are all expected to arrive in the third quarter (read: any day now), and all stick very close to the leaked spec sheets we learned of a few months ago. in fact, there weren't a lot of surprises at all. The Nokia 700, which we knew as the "Zeta," claims to be the world's most compact touchscreen monoblock smartphone; it features a 1GHz CPU, a 3.2-inch AMOLED "ClearBlack" display with Gorilla Glass, NFC, 5MP full-focus camera, pentaband 3G radio, and is constructed using green materials such as bioplastics and recycled metals. The 700 also claims a talk time of 7.3 hours and will come in five different colors. We should see the Nokia 700 offered for around $390.

The Nokia 701, aka "Helen," is said to feature the brightest ever mobile phone display, taking advantage of a 3.5-inch IPS LCD screen with the same ClearBlack tech and Gorilla Glass found in the 700. It appears to have the best specs of the bunch, with a 1GHz CPU, pentaband 3G radio, NFC, 8MP full focus camera with dual LED and a front-facing camera, and 8GB internal storage (expandable up to 40GB using a microSD card). The 701 comes in four hues and offers a stellar 17 hours of GSM talk time (8.8 hours on 3G). The total package comes with a higher price, of course -- the device plans to sell for $420.

Finally, the Nokia 600 "Cindy" is meant to be a music-centric phone sold at a lower price point. With that said, the specs still look pretty good here: alongside the 1GHz CPU, 3.2-inch nHD display, 5MP full focus camera with LED and 720p video capture, NFC, FM transmitter and 2GB internal storage (with external memory available using microSD), it's also Nokia's loudest phone, registering at 106 phons. The 600 also features an FM radio with internal antenna, eliminating the need to plug in headphones to listen in. Battery life is still very good, rated at 15 hours of GSM talk time. Expect the unsubsidized version of the phone to cost roughly $260.

Show full PR text

Nokia launches three no-compromise mass-market smartphones powered by Symbian Belle
Published August 24, 2011

Nokia 700, Nokia 701 and Nokia 600 smartphones introduce latest Symbian software update while new NFC-enabled stereo Bluetooth headset takes advantage of NFC pairing and sharing functionality

Espoo, Finland and Hong Kong - Nokia today announced the launch of three feature-packed, mass market smartphones, bringing the latest smartphone functionality at attractive price points and including market-leading innovation with Symbian Belle. The Nokia 700, Nokia 701 and Nokia 600 extend the range of available designs, features and functionality in the Nokia Symbian smartphone range. Symbian Belle powers all three, with single-tap NFC technology sharing and pairing, the most personal user interface so far and a more powerful mobile Web browsing experience. As well as allowing content to be shared between devices, NFC capabilities allow any of the three new smartphones to pair with NFC-enabled mobile accessories such as speakers or Bluetooth headphones and headsets. To extend the range of available NFC-enabled accessories, Nokia is also announcing the launch of the Nokia Essence Bluetooth Stereo Headset, which can be paired with any NFC-enabled smartphone simply by tapping the two devices together.

Symbian Belle range

While all three smartphones contain recognizable Nokia features, they each represent a very distinct set of priorities to allow users to choose what matters most in a smartphone. The most compact touch screen monoblock smartphone in the world (Nokia 700); a sleek and stylish smartphone with the world's brightest mobile display for indoor or outdoor use (Nokia 701), and Nokia's loudest entertainment smartphone (Nokia 600) all bring firsts to the Nokia product portfolio.

"After bringing exciting new features to the Symbian user experience only two months ago with Symbian Anna, we are now driving the platform even further with our most competitive Symbian user experience ever," said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President at Nokia. "Symbian Belle and the three new handsets we are launching today show our commitment to continue delivering Symbian products that allow people to choose what is most important to them in terms of user experience, design, functionality and price. These will not be last products or updates we will deliver on Symbian."

"With the announcement today Nokia has made it clear that Symbian will continue to play an important role in its product portfolio along side Windows Phone 7" said Nick McQuire IDC. "There is a sense of urgency in the way improvements and innovation are being delivered to the platform that demonstrates how committed Nokia is to make Symbian products a competitive smartphone choice."

Nokia 700: Nokia's smallest smartphone
At only 50 cubic centimetres, weighing 96gm and at 110 x 50.7 x 9.7 mm, the Nokia 700 not only becomes Nokia's most compact smartphone in the Symbian range, it is the most compact touch monoblock smartphone in the world. What it lacks in size it makes up for in functionality, with single-tap NFC sharing and pairing capabilities, a 1Ghz processor, 3.2 inch AMOLED screen ClearBlack display, 2GB of internal memory (with the option of using a 32GB microSD card for a total of 34GB), HD video capture and 5MP full focus camera with LED flash. The Nokia 700 is also Nokia's most eco-friendly smartphone. With a long battery life, extensive use of eco-friendly materials and features to minimize battery consumption, it is the perfect smartphone for any environmentally-conscious smartphone user.

Nokia 701: Nokia's brightest smartphone
Nokia 701 The Nokia 701 is a sleek, slim smartphone incorporating the world's brightest ever mobile phone display, based on a 3.5 inch ClearBlack display that makes it perfect for indoor and outdoor use. It also has active noise cancellation for the clearest sound quality and, like the other new smartphones, provides single-tap NFC pairing and sharing capabilities, allowing content to be shared and sound to be streamed wirelessly to headphones and NFC-enabled speakers.

Based on the popular Nokia C7 design, the Nokia 701 smartphone also has a 1GHz processor, 8MP full focus camera with dual LED flash and 2 X digital zoom, 2nd front-facing camera and HD video capture. It comes with 8GB internal memory and the possibility to increase to 40GB by installing a 32GB microSD card.

Nokia 600: Nokia's loudest smartphone

The Nokia 600 smartphone delivers a big sound and a big personality in a small package and is Nokia's loudest at 106 Phons. With built-in FM radio antenna for listening to radio without headphones and FM transmitter that makes it possible to broadcast music from your phone to any FM radio, the Nokia 600 is a music-lover's dream. With 60 hours of music playback time, an incredibly powerful internal loudspeaker and the ability to also stream music wirelessly to NFC-enabled accessories, it is the perfect smartphone to get the party started.

Available at a lower price point than the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701, the Nokia 600 still comes with a 1 GHz processor; 5MP full focus camera with LED flash and HD video capture, and 2GB of internal memory with ability to increase to 34GB using a 32GB microSD card.

Symbian Belle

Symbian Belle is the latest in a series of planned software updates to the Symbian platform, which started with Symbian Anna and will continue into 2012. Symbian Belle increases the number of home screens from three to six providing more room to display applications and services. Live widgets, now come in five different sizes, making the home screens come alive and giving users more flexibility to personalize the user experience. It also includes a pull down menu and taskbar to access notifications from any of the home screens and further enhancements to the Web browsing experience. All in all, Symbian Belle provides Nokia's most competitive, seamless and intuitive Symbian experience so far.

One of Symbian Belle's most exciting features is the single-tap NFC sharing and pairing capability. This allows contacts, videos and images to be shared with other NFC-enabled devices and smartphones, as well as pairing with NFC-enabled mobile accessories such as speakers and headsets. Gaming fans also benefit from the NFC capabilities of the new handsets with the ability to unlock additional levels in Angry Birds or find a hidden blade in Fruit Ninja just by touching two NFC-enabled devices together. On the Nokia 701 smartphone, which comes preloaded with Asphalt 5, two friends can even pair to compete on the same racetrack.

Nokia Essence Bluetooth Stereo Headset
The new Nokia Essence Bluetooth Stereo Headset uses special active noise cancellation technology to eliminate an unprecedented 99.8% of background noise - delivering pure, high-fidelity sound no matter how noisy the surroundings for people who don't want to sacrifice audio quality when going wireless. Using NFC technology, the Bluetooth headset can be paired with any NFC-enabled smartphone simply by tapping the two devices together.

Sony Ericsson unveils Live with Walkman handset for music-loving Android users

Four months after unveiling the relatively bare bones W8, Sony Ericsson has now taken the wraps off yet another Walkman phone, known as the Live with Walkman. Powered by a 1GHz processor, this Android handset features a 3.2 inch, capacitive touchscreen (with somewhat disappointing HVGA resolution), a five megapixel AF shooter with 8x digital zoom, and a front-facing VGA camera capable of capturing HD video in 720p. The petite, Gingerbread-equipped device also packs a lackluster 320MB of RAM, provides up to 32GB of microSD storage, and offers either tri-band 3G support (HSPA+) at 850, 1900 and 2100MHZ, or dual-band 3G at 900 and 2100MHz, depending on the model. And, as you'd expect, Sony Ericsson has placed a special emphasis on the music phone's media capabilities, beefing it up with enhanced audio and Qriocity integration. The specs may not sound earth shattering, but we'll wait until we get pricing information before casting judgment. The Live with Walkman is slated to hit "selected markets" by Q4 of this year, but you can find more information in the full PR, after the break.

Show full PR text

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ delivers unique social music experience for smartphones

22 August 2011

Smartphone with Walkman™ on the latest Android platform (Gingerbread 2.3)
Unique Facebook™ integration enables instant music and media sharing
Content services from Sony provide access to the latest music and video titles

22 August 2011, London, UK – Sony Ericsson today announced Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™, an Android smartphone that delivers a unique social music experience. A dedicated Walkman™ hardware button provides instant access to the music player and consumers can also like, share and discover content through a deep Facebook™ integration. The infinite button lets the consumer explore even more and the *Qriocity service from Sony provides music and video content for the consumer to enjoy.

With attractive curved design, a glossy finish and a mineral glass display, the phone has a 3.2" screen and a powerful 1Ghz processor. A front facing camera is enabled for Skype video calling, while a 5MP AF camera can capture 720p HD video recording. *Sony's xLOUD™ enhances audio output, while the latest Android platform for smartphones (Gingerbread 2.3) provides access to over 250,000 applications on the Android Market™.

Nikolaus Scheurer, Head of Product Marketing, Sony Ericsson said: "Consumers want smartphones to deliver a rich and social entertainment experience. Rather than a one dimensional music experience, they want instant and seamless access to new content, combined with the ability to share and connect with their friends. The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ provides exactly this, in a powerful package with great style."

A perfect combination of social networking and music entertainment:

Deep Facebook™ integration: Allows users to instantly access Facebook through the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar.
Media Discovery Application: A dynamic application placing the world of music and videos at consumer's fingertips including Facebook™ recommendations from their friends.
Infinite button: Tapping it within the media player enables consumers to have instant access to new content about their favourite artist, such as music videos, artist information and lyrics search.
Qriocity music and video content services from Sony: Consumers can access millions of songs from all major labels and watch thousands of movies from all major studios. Only Sony Ericsson Android smartphones provide consumers with unique access to the entertainment services from *Sony.
*Sony's xLOUD™ technology: Enhances audio output of the inbuilt speakers at high levels.
TrackID™: Identifies the music track you are listening to within the FM radio and music player. The track can then instantly be shared or downloaded.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ will be available globally in selected markets from Q4 2011.
For full details all products news, please visit the press room and the product blog:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/press/pressreleases/latestnews
http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/products/

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ at a glance.
*Please note that all services mentioned may not be available in every market.

Colours

Black and White

Facts

Size: 56.5 x 106 x 14.2 mm
Weight: 115 g

Camera

5 megapixel camera
8x digital zoom
Auto focus
Face detection
Flash/Photo light
Flash/Photo flash
Flash/LED
Front-facing camera (VGA)
Geo tagging
HD video recording (720p)
Image stabiliser
Red-eye reduction
Scene detection
Self-timer
Send to web
Smile detection
Touch capture
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording

Music

Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™ service
Stereo speakers
TrackID™ music recognition
Walkman™ player
xLOUD™

Internet

Android Market™
Bookmarks
Google™ search
Google Voice™ Search
NeoReader™ barcode scanner
Pan & zoom
Web browser (WebKit)

Communication

Call list
Conference calls
Facebook™ application
Google Talk™
Polyphonic ringtones
Skype
Sony Ericsson Timescape™
Speakerphone
Twitter™ (Timescape™ integration)
Vibrating alert
Video chat ready

Messaging

Conversations
Email
Google Mail™
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
Multimedia messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)
Type & Send widget

Design

Auto rotation
Four-corner Home screen
Keyboard (on-screen, 12-key)
Keyboard (on-screen, QWERTY)
Live wallpaper
Picture wallpaper
Touch screen

Entertainment

3D games
Media browser
Radio (FM radio with RDS)
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Organiser

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document readers
Emanual
Flight mode
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Infinite button
Phonebook
Setup guide
Event
Timer
Widget manager

Connectivity

3.5 mm audio jack
aGPS
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified™
Google Latitude™
Google Maps™ for Mobile
Google Maps™ with Street View
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB support
Modem
Native USB tethering
Synchronisation via Facebook™
Synchronisation via Google™ Sync
Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
Synchronisation with computer
Synchronisation via Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®
Synchronisation: Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® via Moxier client
USB mass storage
USB High speed 2.0 support
USB support
Wi-Fi™
Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality
Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation

Display

3.2 inches
16,777,216 colour TFT
480 x 320 pixels
Capacitive touchscreen (multi-touch)
Scratch-resistant

Memory

Phone memory (user-free): Up to 320MB
Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32GB

Battery life

Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 14 hrs 15 min*
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 600 hrs*

Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 42 min*
Standby time UMTS: Up to 850 hrs*

Music listening time: Up to 17 hrs 30 min
Video listening time: Up to 6 hrs 30 min

*According to GSM Association Battery Life Measurement Technique. Battery performance may vary depending on network conditions and configurations, and phone usage.

Networks

UMTS HSPA 850 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

In the kit

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™
1200 mAh battery
stereo headset
2GB microSD™ memory card
Charger
micro USB cable for charging
synchronisation and file transfer
user documentation