By Ville Heiskanen

(Bloomberg) — Motorola Inc., which plans to start selling new phones this quarter to return to profit and win back customers from Samsung Electronics Co., predicted a turnaround for its mobile-device unit in the second half.

The company, which today reported a second-quarter loss of $28 million, forecast results at its largest unit will improve this quarter and next. The shares climbed 1.2 percent.

Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander is betting on music and camera phones such as the Razr 2 to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPhone, which debuted June 29, and Samsung phones such as the BlackJack. Zander, who predicted the mobile-phone unit won’t be profitable this year, may have six months to revive the business or risk losing his job, said analysts including Jane Snorek.

“Their new devices are stylistically fine,” said Snorek, a Minneapolis-based analyst at First American Funds, which invests $55 billion and sold its Motorola stock three months ago. “They should be able to grow next quarter.”

First American may consider buying Motorola shares again once the company starts selling e-mail and music phones that consumers find easy to use, Snorek said.

The net loss was 1 cent a share, compared with a profit of $1.38 billion, or 55 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 19 percent to $8.7 billion. Motorola first announced the loss last week, missing its forecasts for the third time this year.

Excluding costs for items such as job cuts, profit was 2 cents, exceeding the 1-cent average estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

Shares of Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola rose 22 cents to $18.22 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have dropped 11 percent this year.

Forecast

Third-quarter profit probably will be 2 cents a share or “slightly” higher, when some costs are excluded, Motorola said. Analysts had estimated profit would be 5 cents. In the third quarter of last year, Motorola posted net income of $968 million, or 39 cents a share, on sales of $10.6 billion.
Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia-backed video digital technology stands to profit from a controversial European Commission decision to back it as the single standard
by Tim Ferguson
The European Commission has thrown its weight behind mobile TV by backing the DVB-H technology to become the single standard for the continent.

But there are concerns this could stifle competition in the market and reduce innovation.

By promoting the Nokia — backed DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds) technology, EC intends to reduce fragmentation and accelerate the uptake of mobile TV across its member states.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media said Europe needs to take the lead with mobile TV by backing a single standard — as it did with GSM in the 1990s — or risk other regions getting ahead.

But industry commentators say other mobile TV platforms such as the Qualcomm-backed MediaFLO and DAB-IP, as used by Virgin Mobile, should not be ignored.

Analyst house Datamonitor said the EC’s strategy will not aid the mass adoption of mobile TV and will reduce open market competition.

Associate analyst Chris Khouri told silicon.com: “We were hoping that mobile formats could coexist through chipset interoperability.”

He added it is not yet clear whether one technology is superior with each offering a different number of channels and with different spectrum requirements.

DVB-H for example needs spectrum currently used by analogue television broadcasters in the UK which will only become available following the digital switchover in 2012.

Khouri said: “It’s [the ECs approach] kind of jumping the gun a bit.”

Telecoms consultancy Analysys said mobile TV should be driven by consumer needs and a competitive landscape rather than through government backing.

Jim Morrish, consultant at Analysys told silicon.com: “Other technologies have natural zones of advantage. And that’s something the industry has to deal with, it’s not an EU intervention or regulatory management at all.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Despite new entries, handheld sales dropped 40% from a year ago
Mobile device sales plunged 40% in the second quarter for Motorola Inc., which yesterday blamed the downturn for an earnings loss of 2 cents per share.

Total sales in the second quarter were $8.7 billion, down from $10.8 billion in the second quarter a year ago. Of that total, mobile device sales were $4.3 billion, down by 40% over the second quarter a year ago, the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company reported.

“This was a challenging quarter for Motorola in which revenue fell short of our expectations due to a decline in mobile device unit shipments,” CEO Ed Zander said in a statement. Chief Financial Officer Tom Meredith said the device maker’s efforts are focused on improving cash flow and profitability. He predicted that head-count reductions and other cost controls in 2008 will save the company $1 billion.

Motorola estimates it has about 13.5% of the global handset market. The company noted that it had continued success with the popular Razr and shipped the 100 millionth unit of the handset during the quarter. However, many analysts have been eager to see Motorola move beyond the Razr and its second-generation model. The company announced the Q9, the Moto Z8 and the Rokr Z6, as well as the Linux/Java GSM Razr2 and EV-DO Razr2.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the second quarter the network equipment supplier Ericsson was able to boost its earnings significantly. In quarter-on-quarter terms earnings before interest grew by 12 percent to 9.3 billion Swedish kronor (1.014 billion euros). Sales went up by 8 percent to 47.6 billion kronor (5.194 billion euros), with net earnings rising by 12 percent from 5.7 billion to 6.4 billion kronor (699 million euros). “We continue to outpace the market,” Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, said. Be that as it may, the stock markets had expected the company to perform better. Like its rivals Ericsson is profiting from the growing demand for telecommunications infrastructure; with demand in the mobile networks area

especially strong.

When compared with the same period of the year before sales of Sony Ericsson’s network segment rose 7 percent to 33.7 billion kronor (3.677 billion euros); mobile systems accounted for 6 percent of the q-on-q increase in total sales of 8 percent. On Wednesday the company had managed to secure a record order worth two billion US dollars from the Indian mobile operator Bharti.
Read the rest of this entry »

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT Brings the Console Classic to Get It Now

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and NEW YORK, July 18 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon Wireless, the leading wireless company with the most reliable wireless voice and data network, and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, today announced the exclusive release of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile on select Verizon Wireless Get It Now(R)-capable phones. Developed in conjunction with Bizarre Creations, the game is faithful to the console original while taking advantage of the on-the-go nature of mobile phones, making Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile a highly-addictive small screen masterpiece.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070718/NYW004-a )

The controls utilize four- or eight-way buttons, as well as the keypad for easy maneuverability, so players can fight off an onslaught of enemies with precision. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile includes eight brand new gameplay modes, including Untouchable, Survivor, Monster, Trenches, Speed, Multiplier, Feline, and Bomber. Players can see how they stack up against other fans via a leaderboard.

“The controls are intuitive and the visual style is true to the Geometry Wars world,” said Martyn Chudley, managing director of Bizarre Creations. “The game has managed to capture the essence of the original game, whilst being tailor made for the strengths of the mobile platforms and their audience.”

Verizon Wireless Get It Now customers can purchase and download Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile from the Get Fun & Games shopping aisle in the Get It Now virtual store for $3.49 monthly access or $6.49 for unlimited use purchase. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile is available on more than 25 popular Get It Now-capable phones from Verizon Wireless, including the enV by LG, MOTOKRZR K1m and Samsung SCH-a950. Download charges for Get It Now applications vary and airtime charges apply when browsing, downloading and using certain applications. Customers need a Get It Now-enabled phone and Verizon Wireless digital service to access the Get It Now virtual store.

For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com. For more information about Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved Mobile visit www.geometrywars.com.

About Verizon Wireless
Read the rest of this entry »

By EDWARD WYATT

MARSEILLE, France, July 18 –Patrik Sinkewitz, a Tour de France rider for the T-Mobile team who withdrew from the race after crashing into a spectator on Sunday, tested positive for an elevated testosterone ratio a month before the start of the race, the German cycling federation reported on Wednesday.

The initial positive test, if confirmed in a second test, could further erode public support for cycling in Germany, where several current or former riders have recently been caught doping or admitted that they used performance-enhancing drugs earlier in their careers.

The disclosure could also affect the T-Mobile team’s corporate sponsorship. It has already resulted in the German television stations that were broadcasting the Tour de France to halt their coverage of the race.

The positive test was on a sample that Sinkewitz provided on June 8 to Germany’s National Anti-Doping Agency during a T-Mobile team training camp in the Pyrenees Mountains in France.

Sinkewitz was suspended by the team on Wednesday and now has five days to decide whether to request a confirmatory test. If that matches the original result, Sinkewitz would be fired from the team and suspended from competition for two years.
Read the rest of this entry »

John Walko
EE Times Europe
(07/18/2007 12:04 PM EDT)

LONDON — The European Commission has backed the DVB-H flavor of mobile TV as a standard and has called for member states and the industry to push ahead as fast as possible implementing the technology.

The strong endorsement has upset the backers of alternative specifications for delivering TV to mobiles, such as those based on DMB, digital audio broadcasting (DAB) technology or the MediaFLO specification promoted by Qualcomm.

But it was not unexpected following statements over the past year by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Reding has been insisting that Digital Video Broadcasting–Handheld (DVB-H) is the strongest contender and most popular standard for mobile TV deployment in Europe.

Reding said the Commission would “continue to monitor the situation in the EU and may come forward with proposals in 2008 including, if appropriate, making this open standard mandatory.”

She reiterated said Wednesday (July 18) she wants a pan-European market and sees a strong risk of fragmentation through potentially 27 different sets of national rules, the uncoordinated use of spectrum and a lack of interoperability. She claims mobile TV could foster growth and jobs.

“Mobile broadcasting is a tremendous opportunity for Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in mobile technology and audiovisual services,” she said. “Europe today is at a crossroads. We can either take the lead globally - as we did for mobile telephony based on the GSM standard developed by the European industry - or allow other regions to take the lion’s share of the promising mobile TV market.
Read the rest of this entry »