Today I’ve opted for a departure from the usual subject of MobilePhoneBlog posts. For much of the preceding hour or so I’ve been watching the excellent documentary, Secrets of the Superbrands. This is a documentary which very effectively re-frames information that anyone who follows the tech market will already mostly know in a very different context. It’s intriguing stuff that I strongly felt the MobilePhoneBlog readership would enjoy.

There’s the small child who describes Nokia as an elderly person. Sony is imagined as being a trojan horse-delivering, BMW-driving, elder statesman. One person willingly subjects their brain to an MRI to show the stark contrast in brain activity when an Apple fan looks at images of Apple vs non-Apple products. Microsoft receives some analysis regarding their slide from market dominance. Amidst an in-depth comparison of Apple & religion, there’s an interview with a female who’s queued up for over 24 hours in an aim to be the first customer of a new Apple Store (I won’t spoil the ending other than to say it’s unpredictable). Google and Android make a brief appearance & immediately become conspicuous for the absence of any staff who can talk about Google…. then there’s the narrator/star of the doco marvelling at the simplicity of the iPhone 4 and the entire doco predicated on the narrator wanting an answer to the question: Why is my 6330 Classic so out of fashion after only 18 months?

Disclaimer(s): The above preview from ABC’s Youtube page contains some brief nudity. Also, MobiCity no longer stocks the Nokia 6330 Classic – no matter how much I wanted them too for the purposes of this post

Episode One of Secrets of the Superbrands is currently available on ABC’s iview service via the source link below.

p.s For those who are interested, I watched the whole documentary on an Android browser over wifi. Video quality was outstanding (better than Youtube) with no streaming issues at all

Source: ABC iview

In a letter to Microsoft, Scott G. made it known to the company that he was a an avid Apple user, but couldn’t deny his love for the Nokia Lumia 900, which runs Windows Phone OS.  Microsoft was so thrilled about his words, they published the letter to their Fan Mailbox site.

From: Scott G.

Sent: Friday, April 13, 2012 1:50 PM

To: Steve Ballmer

Subject: Apple fanboy loves his Windows phone

Mr. Ballmer,

Hopefully this will get to you. Your team deserves credit for producing an excellent product in the newest version of Windows Phone. Yes, I am writing from my MacBook Pro. And I have been a fairly loyal Apple customer over the years. However, I recently bought a Nokia Lumia 900 and intend on keeping it. For full disclosure, I was sure to make sure it could be returned after a dismal experience with an Android phone.

My reasons for switching are:

1. Call quality. I actually use my phone as a phone. That concept seems to get lost in many product reviews. One of my employees actually thanked me for getting rid of my iPhone as it was so much easier to hear me. I apologize for the tedium but it means a great deal to me and my business.

2. Simplicity. My family owns five vehicles, including two Fords with Sync. The 4S didn’t support all functions in any of them. My Nokia 900 was flawless out of the box. It was refreshing to have something that just worked. I cannot afford to have my primary means of communication be a science experiment.

3. No junk software. Speaking of science experiments, I also tried a Motorola Razr. Software that cannot be deleted and restarts itself? A company with questionable privacy rules. Software that terrified my poor in-laws? I guess if you like spending your day tinkering with your phone, it’s pretty cool. Maybe it beats playing with your Star Wars dolls?

4. Simplicity again. Everything after set up has been painless as well. Adding apps, setting up email accounts, etc. I thought the iPhone was good. Your set up was actually smoother and took less time. Same for Wi-Fi, in-car Bluetooth, etc.

5. Speed. The 900 doesn’t seem to lag the way the iPhone did at times. Everything seems to execute quickly. That I don’t think about it is probably the best compliment.

6. Live Tiles. It’s a minor thing but the Metro tiles are pretty cool. I just like the look.

Best regards,

Scott G.

Source:  Microsoft

A couple of weeks ago, back in April and after seven consecutive quarters of declining sales figures, LG announced that the company would not be increasing or developing any further its range of Windows Phone handset. In line with this the details of a new handset have been leaked which supports the official company line that LG is focusing its efforts on the Android platform.

The recent leak has the handset designated as the LG LS970 Eclipse 4G LTE comprised of a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm quad-core Krait processor (Snapdragon S4 series) with an Adreno 320 GPU driving the 4.67-inch WXGA (1280×768) LCD TFT display. Memory is rumoured to be 2GB SDRAM, 16GB storage, a 13MP main camera backed up by a fairly standard 1.3MP front-facing unit. The battery is shown as 2100mA capacity. The whole device is slated to be a mere 8.6mm thick. All this adds up to one of the thinnest, most powerful handsets rumoured thus far.

Could this be the handset that turns LG’s fortunes around?

Source: BriefMobile

Samsung i9300 Galaxy S III is the South Korean manufacturer’s latest Quad-core flagship smartphone. Even months before it was released, there was much speculation about its battery.

On its official release earlier this month, it was revealed that the phone would feature a 2100 mAh battery. Since then, we have all heard so much about the Samsung i9300 Galaxy S III’s super powered battery. Does it live up to the hype or was it merely a necessary requirement to power the tremendous Quad-core Exynos processor?

Thanks to testing by GSMArena, we now have the answer. The battery gives a staggering 10 hours of talk time and video playback, but only lasts about 5 hours for web browsing. The tests clearly indicate that it definitely is no match for Motorola RAZR MAXX‘s exceptional battery, but reiterates confidence in Samsung i9300 Galaxy S III’s battery performance.

Source: GSMArena via Engadget

The  2012 Olympic kickoff is about to start in Greece in preparation for its July start.  There were be many people who will carry the torch throughout the UK and one of those people will be HTC’s very own Peter Chou.  The CEO was chosen because of his contributions to the global mobile industry.  He will be running with the torch in London on July 6, 2012.  Chou said this about the honor:  “Every step I take will represent my deepest support for Taiwan’s athletes attending the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

Source:  The Verge

For those who haven’t yet upgraded to a smartphone and are using a basic phone can now find an updated website for Twitter at mobile.twitter.com.  The updated mobile version is designed to use 1/3 lower bandwidth and will include Tweets in the Home Tab and users will be able to check their @mentions in the Connect Tab, along with their Direct messages.

Source:  Twitter

Nokia shareholder, Robert Chmielinski has filed a class action lawsuit against company CEO Stephen Elop and CFO Timo Ihamuotila claiming that they misled and defrauded its shareholders by making false statements regarding the company turnaround due to strong Lumia sales between October 2011 and April 2012.  Chmielinski said that the partnership with Windows Phone did not improve Nokia’s smartphone market and led to significant loss to its shareholders.  He also said that Elop, Ihamuotila, and Nokia “engaged in a scheme to deceive the market” and he used press releases in his argument to show that the statements were “materially false and misleading because Nokia’s migration to a Windows platform was not going as well as represented.”

Chmielinski complaint says:

Nokia provides telecommunications infrastructure hardware, software, and services worldwide. During the Class Period, defendants told investors that Nokia’s conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not.

This became apparent on April 11, 2012, when Nokia disclosed that its first quarter performance would be worse than expected. Nokia expected its first quarter 2012 non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin to fall by 3%, and projected first quarter 2012 Devices & Services net sales of €4.2 billion.

It also disclosed a glitch in its newest Windows offering – the Lumia 900. Nokia had to immediately offer customers an automatic $100, making the phone essentially free.

As a result of this disclosure, the price of Nokia’s American Depositary Shares (“ADRs”) dropped over 16% in a single day.

It goes on to say:

During the Class Period, defendants had both the motive and opportunity to conduct fraud. They also had actual knowledge of the misleading nature of the statements they made or acted in reckless disregard of the true information known to them at the time.

In so doing, the defendants participated in a scheme to defraud and committed acts, practices and participated in a course of business that operated as a fraud or deceit on purchasers of Nokia securities during the Class Period.

Source:  TheNextWeb

Samsung has set high expectations this year and JK Shin revealed that the company is looking to sell 200 million smartphones this year.  This would increase its global market share to approximately 24%, which would be up from 21.1% last year, MarketWatch reported.

So far this year, the company has sold 44.5 million smartphones during Q1 2012, which has propelled the company past Apple, becoming the top global vendor.

Do you think Samsung will be able to meet their lofty goal?

Source:  MarketWatch via BGR

Apple has released a new update has been released for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.  Version 5.1.1 is 54.5MB and has fixed some bugs within the operating system.  The update is available over-the-air and can be found by going to Settings/About/Software Update.

The change log says:

• Improves reliability of using HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut
• Addresses bugs that could prevent the new iPad from switching between 2G and 3G networks
• Fixes bugs that affected AirPlay video playback in some circumstances
• Improved reliability for syncing Safari bookmarks and Reading List
• Fixes an issue where ‘Unable to purchase’ alert could be displayed after successful purchase

Source:  Mobile Syrup

It seems to be an uphill battle for the Nokia and Windows Phone partnership.  During a shareholder’s  meeting, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop addressed the crowd about issues with carriers and the use of Skype.  Elop said:

“Nokia seems to be having a problem with the distribution channel due to Skype…If the operator doesn’t want us, it doesn’t want us. We will appeal to them with other arguments. We have more to offer to them. It is a good point to start the discussion from Skype.”

Carriers are concerned that the use of Skype will cut their profits because of the unlimited calls between users and their international rates are extremely competitive and more often than not, beat the carriers.

The Lumia handset doesn’t yet have Skype pre-installed, but Microsoft will be pre-installed on Windows Phone 8.

Source:  Business Insider