Posted 09/28/09 at 04:58:14 PM by Pulkit Chandna

European Commission's consumer protection unit has chalked out a new plan under which MP3 and mobile phone makers will be required to throttle device volume in a bid to save millions from the risk of deafness. However, millions of MP3 and mobile phone users will have to bear that risk for another two years - the amount of time EU has earmarked for manufacturers to come up with new devices.

New devices will ship with their sound levels capped at 80 decibels. But the consumer will be free to tinker with the factory settings. "If consumers chose to over-ride the default settings they can, but there will be clear warnings so they know the risks they are taking," said Meglena Kuneva, the head of European Commission’s consumer protection unit.

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Posted 06/24/09 at 04:44:18 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Nokia and Intel have forged an alliance to develop a new breed of Intel Architecture-based mobile devices. Their collaboration, according to the press release announcing the partnership, will go beyond just smartphones and generic mobile devices; the two companies want their partnership to run the entire gamut of Mobile Internet Devices and embedded systems.

This partnership is a huge shot in the arm for Intel - which has been waiting for its chance to gain real traction in the mobile phone market - as it has found a huge customer for its mobile chipsets in the form of Nokia. Intel has also agreed to acquire a Nokia HSPA/3G modem IP license from Nokia. On the software front, they have resolved to give a push to open-source mobile Linux software projects.

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Posted 10/05/08 at 05:09:19 AM by Pulkit Chandna

For Android to be a force to be reckoned with, the first Android-based phone has to be a success. T-Mobile is very optimistic about the sales prospects of its upcoming G1 - the maiden Android phone - which will become available on October 22, 2008.  The service provider expects the Android-based G1 to take the market by storm.

It plans to order between 1.5 and 2 million G1 phones from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, according to a report by Taiwanese news portal CENS.

The report goes further to reveal that T-Mobile expects to sell 400-500 K phones this year itself. According to crude analysis and extrapolation, T-Mobile is going to subsidize the phone by $300.

If the company can actually sell the G1 at the gait it hopes it can, Android would certainly become mobile OS to be reckoned with.

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