Synchronica announces Mobile Manager 1.3.

"'Mobile Manager now delivers an even stronger proposition for enterprises or ASPs to deliver powerful mobile data management and security capabilities to a much broader range of Smartphones,' said Synchronica CEO Carsten Brinkschulte."

Dean Bubley: VoIP + SMS = headaches.

"So... if you are looking to hybridise VoIP and cellular, on single- or dual-mode phones, for consumers or enterprise, with wVoIP or circuit-to-VoIP-gateway, you need to have a good SMS story. And a good SMS user experience. It's one of the major flaws in many of the current SIP-based dual-mode WiFi offers, and perhaps UMA's only redeeming positive feature."

Vodafone moves to boost mobile enterprise offerings.

"With price pressure nibbling away its consumer voice business, Vodafone Group has taken steps to move beyond its traditional mobile phone operations and strengthen its service portfolio in the potentially lucrative enterprise market. The group's U.K. subsidiary has acquired Aspective and Isis Telecommunications Management, and signed a strategic partnership with Fiberlink Communications, the British operator said Monday."

Skype launches first mobile service.

"Skype launched its first mobile voice-over-IP service in collaboration with an operator, 3 Group, whose customers will soon be the first to use it."

GigaOM: Will iPhone save handset business?

"Apple, it is rumored has signed a deal that will allow the Cupertino-based computer company to source 12 million iPod-based phones from a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer... What is surprising [is] the speculation that Apple will sell these phones unlocked, allowing consumers to pop in their SIM cards and use it as a phone. In the US, that would mean getting a SIM card from either the Cingular or T-Mobile. If this is indeed true, and it is not clear if it is so, then Apple will be lending a helping hand to the mobile phone makers."

Oracle users wary of putting applications on Nokia devices.

"While Ryan said that the percentage of people who use mobile devices for business is extremely low and Read estimated it at six to 10 per cent of mobile-using professionals, both feel that handhelds are picking up momentum in the marketplace and that companies who have mobile applications have the advantage... 'You gotta be mobile, regardless. While it may pose great [security] risks, it’s a greater risk to fall behind,' Levy said."

Google CEO sees free mobile phones, funded by ads.

"'Your mobile phone should be free,' Schmidt told Reuters. 'It just makes sense that subsidies should increase' as advertising rises on mobile phones."

GigaOM: Software side of mobile phones.

"Brand name cellphone makers are finally beginning to realize that if they need to survive falling cell phone prices and declining margins, they need to start focusing on software and services. Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, all made moves last week, taking further steps in this direction.

Motorola bought Good Technology, a Silicon Valley based company that is a RIM competitor, and had raised $200 million or so in venture capital. Nokia is rumored to have bought Ryze, a social networking start-up, and Sony Ericsson snapped up UIQ, the Symbian derivative OS maker."

Motorola buys mobile software maker Good Technology.

"Cell phone maker Motorola Inc. said Friday it is buying Blackberry rival Good Technology Inc., a deal that should boost the prospects for its new Q device as consumer demand for e-mail phones explodes... The deal underscores efforts by the world's second-largest handset manufacturer to sell more business-oriented mobile devices. In September, the Schaumburg, Ill., company agreed to the $3.9 billion purchase of Symbol Technologies Inc., a maker of portable bar code scanners and customized handheld computers."

Motorola's open source mobile Java initiative.

"Motorola has called on the Java ME (Mobile Edition) community to work together to create a complete open source Java ME software stack licensed under the Apache License 2.0 model. The move is designed to reduce fragmentation in the Java ME platform, which in turn will offer greater efficiencies for application developers."

Intel drafts privacy license for mobile device software.

"The addendum says that vendors must inform the end-user what information is recorded and how long it is stored, and it requires developers to include opt-out capability so users can change those settings, Miller said."

Synchronica backs first device management portal.

"Synchronica... has announced its support for the mobile Device Management Forum and its associated portal, http://www.devicemanagementforum.org, launched on 31 October."

ARCchart: Future looks firm for FOTA.

"Having initially passed through a phase of hype FOTA is now witnessing commercial success, and is being used by both handset manufacturers and mobile operators. Commercial firmware updates have been undertaken in Japan and the US. InnoPath announced that KDDI had successfully updated tens of thousands of OTA-enabled handsets since July 2006. In Europe, BenQ Siemens reports 12,000 firmware OTA updates per month, and in Asia, Red Bend reports that a mobile operator delivered 300,000 FOTA updates in one month to two handset models in the field.

Operator usage of FOTA has been more varied. FOTA update capability has been deployed in Japan by DoCoMo, KDDI and Vodafone KK (now SoftBank Mobile) starting in 2003 and in the US with Sprint since January 2005. In Europe, Telefonica and Three are planning to deploy FOTA update capability by early 2007."

Disney following the content-based MVNO model: Hype, slash prices, fail.

"Given the pattern, it's hardly surprising to see Disney cutting its handset prices to try and attract more users."