Mobile sales 'in record decline'.

"The number of phones shipped worldwide in the first three months of the year dropped by 13% to 245 million units from the same period last year.

Strategy Analytics said all of the five biggest mobile phone-makers had drops in sales.

But Apple's iPhone defied the gloom to post a 123% annual gain in sales."

Apple looking into building its own chips.

"Apple is looking into building its own chipset and has even hired a team to work on 'multifunction' mobile chips."

Mobile Device Management and the Call Center - High Speed, Low Drag and a Better Experience.

Jason Lackey of InnoPath Software writes: "Even relatively conservative financial models have shown the industry-wide cost of delivering customer care to be in excess of $25 billion/year, making first year savings of over $50m a very real possibility for Tier 1 operators. With such savings on the table combined with payback times which can in some cases be less than one year, the question of whether or not to implement MDM for customer care has changed more to a when and how for most major operators."

Symbian looks beyond Smartphones.

"At the moment, Symbian appears to be in a mode of experimentation and development. Moving ahead, the path that it is plotting does appear to set it squarely against the likes of Microsoft's Windows and Google's Android operating systems, both of which also have Smartphone and Mobile Internet Device (MID) centric equivalents."

InnoPath Software Establishes India Subsidiary.

"'With almost 380 million current subscribers and nearly one-half billion expected by next year — combined with the challenges that come with delivering cost-effective customer support on both CDMA and GSM networks — India is ready for InnoPath and InnoPath is excited to be part of the fast-paced India mobile market,' said John Fazio, InnoPath President and CEO. 'Subscribers in India have come to depend upon innovative mobile services and InnoPath ActiveCare helps operators assure that these services are correctly configured every time.' "

Apple Reportedly In Talks On iPhone For Verizon.

"Apple (AAPL) has been holding talks about developing a version of the iPhone for Verizon (VZ) with the goal of introducing the device next year, according to USA Today, which cites 'people familiar with the situation.' The piece notes that this would be the first version of the phone for a CDMA-based wireless network."

HP and RIM Get Cozy in the Enterprise.

"What's going on with HP and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM)? The exact details aren't slated for release until next month, but the two companies are expected to announce a significant partnership, InternetNews.com has learned.

An e-mail from HP previewing the announcement stated: 'In early May, HP and RIM will announce a new partnership that will help mobile enterprise customers increase service levels, improve productivity and reduce operations costs.'

The e-mail went on to say: 'With the number of mobile employees rapidly growing, enterprises are looking to ensure productivity and reduce risks. The new joint offerings will span the HP portfolio to enhance and support enterprise mobility.'

While no other details were forthcoming, IDC analyst Stephen Drake said it makes sense that HP (NYSE: HPQ) and RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) would formalize ties related to mobile management."

Obama to Get Back BlackBerry at Last, Toughened by NSA.

"The presidential CrackBerry is undergoing final testing before being handed back. The NSA is hammering on the SecurVoice software which has been loaded onto the Obama-phone and is in the last stages of testing just how secure it might be.

The BlackBerry is an 8830, the standard business handset, but the added software encrypts both calls and messages. Cellphone calls are encrypted anyway, but there are some back doors if you know where to find them (and of course, the NSA knows exactly where they are)."

After Five Years, Apparently The Mobile Virus Flood Is Really Coming This Time.

"But perhaps the biggest factor holding back mobile malware is that there really isn't any money in it for virus authors. Botnets of mobile phones aren't much use for sending out spam, and generally, the money trail created by any sort of premium-message scam can be relatively easily tracked. The closed nature of mobile networks and mobile devices makes them much less susceptible to malware than internet-connected PCs, and no amount of hype will change that."

T-Mobile USA launches embedded SIM card for M2M.

"T-Mobile USA launched an embedded SIM card for machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions, which the operator said is about the size of the head of a pin. The embedded SIM is also more durable than traditional SIM cards, and has been made to withstand extremes in temperature, humidity and motion."

Dialing for Dollars.

"For now, the mobile industry stands at that alluring juncture where the creative potential seems virtually limitless and the best ideas still remain to be discovered. Mobile phones, points out Grigsby, 'are the largest technology basis on the planet: 4 billion devices. There is really nothing like that, unless you are talking about shovels.'"

GD Acquires SmartTrust.

"Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), one of the world's largest suppliers of banknotes and smart card solutions, is acquiring SmartTrust AB (Stockholm), a globally leading provider of server solutions for managing applications on SIM cards and mobile phones. "

Is Verizon Really Ready to Open Up Its Network?

Stacey Higginbotham writes: "Verizon’s CEO has claimed the carrier will see 500 percent subscription penetration with LTE, but my guess is that we’ll see openness geared toward e-readers, MP3 players and M2M applications rather than the ability to port a phone or data card from one LTE network to another."

Two approaches to tackling MDM.

"...the various phases of a mobile device lifecycle [in the enterprise]...

* Procuring and provisioning a device
* Provisioning software, firmware and application upgrades to the device
* Securing the device
* Monitoring the health of the device and network service
* Remediating problems
* Managing and planning capacity
* De-provisioning a user leaving the company "

Report: Red Bend Leads Firmware Over-the-Air Updates.

"In its new study, independent market research firm Ovum reportedly says that Red Bend leads the firmware over-the-air updating software market, with about 60 percent of FOTA enabled mobile phone shipments."

AT&T Seeks to Extend iPhone Deal to 2011.

"AT&T and Apple are in talks to extend their exclusive U.S. agreement to sell the iPhone through 2011, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people 'familiar with the matter.'

Neither Apple nor AT&T would comment, but in a recent interview with the Journal, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson acknowledged that his landline business is dwarfed by wireless, which will become the company's focus. "

RIM picks up ex-Apple and Microsoft design guru.

"Don Lindsey has been a busy man the last decade and a half. Going from Apple where he might have had a major role in early iPhone developments, to Microsft where he worked in Live Labs, he’s been around the block a time or two. Now it’s RIMs turn who made the man VP of User Experience, which confirms that the companies commitment to developing stellar OSs."

Escaping the Spiral With MDM-Led Customer Care.

David Ginsburg of InnoPath Software writes: "At $1.30 or more per minute for frontline CSR time (an admittedly conservative number), the typical troubleshooting call may last 20 minutes or more. This directly cuts into the operator’s bottom line, and is an interaction played out millions of times annually at a typical Tier 1 provider. The problem is compounded if the problem is not solved, requiring a follow-up call, a store visit, or — most damaging — a request to the customer to just send the phone in for a replacement.

Existing frontline support systems are not equipped to address this combination of smartphones and unsophisticated customers. Operators must re-invent frontline care. This is where mobile device management, creating for the first time a live, over-the-air link between the phone and the frontline agent, enters the picture...

A 20 minute call, consisting of both a device pulse and a check and correct, is reduced to six minutes or less, saving upwards of $18. This may not seem like much, but within a typical Tier 1 operator of 20 million subscribers, more than 212 million calls annually will be addressable via MDM, resulting in a savings of almost $93 million. Payback on a typical MDM investment is under a year, highly critical when every CAPEX dollar is scrutinized."

WDSGlobal and HP Team to Provide Over-the-air Provisioning Technologies.

"WDSGlobal announced today the signing of a global agreement enabling HP to resell WDSGlobal’s DCE (Device Configuration Engine) software to HP’s Mobility Solutions customers.

Targeted to mobile operators, the offering will integrate HP’s MMC (Mobile Management Center) and WDSGlobal’s DCE (Device Configuration Engine), delivering a comprehensive Mobile Device Management solution to better enable value-added data services across the feature phone category."

Verizon wants its software on mobile phones.

"Verizon Wireless will join the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) created by its corporate parent, Vodafone, along with China Mobile and Softbank. JIL plans to build 'mobile widgets' for future phones that will apparently run on whatever operating systems Verizon decides to support on its future smartphones."

InnoPath Announces Membership in the Symbian Foundation.

"InnoPath Softwarel... is pleased to announce its membership in the Symbian Foundation. InnoPath’s goal is to help increase the supportability of the platform and enhance the end user experience by bringing to the foundation its commercial experience with over-the-air support and updates. The company’s contributions will build upon and enhance the platform’s existing DM capabilities to quickly adapt to mobile operator care initiatives."

Nokia dismisses WiMAX, compares it to Betamax.

"Nokia again dismissed WiMAX as a 4G technology standard, and seemed to solidify its support for Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology while comparing WiMAX's future to that of Betamax, the video format that met its demise when VHS triumphed in the 1970s and 1980s."

Clearwire launches development lab to Silicon Valley.

"Service will be provided free to a limited number of qualified developers for one year. Clearwire will provide WiMAX USB Modems for $49.99. To qualify, developers must register for Clearwire's developer program and describe the products or business ideas they wish to pursue."

modu and Red Bend Team Up to Enable Consumers to Personalize their Mobile Experience.

"Red Bend Software... announced that modu, inventor of the world's lightest mobile phone (Guinness Book of World Records(TM)), has licensed Red Bend's vCurrent(R) Mobile firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updating software for use in its modu(TM) mobile phones. modu is a new tiny and sleek stand-alone mobile phone that can be inserted into multiple phone enclosures called modu jackets(TM)-stylish phone enclosures that enable users to create a new look or design and provide added functionality."