LG begins making mobile phones in Iran
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LG Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has started producing handsets in Iran with a local partner.
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Like stereos and computers, the cell phone is moving toward components. An Israeli company, Modu, on Thursday debuted the first modular mobile phone.
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(InfoWorld) - LG Electronics Inc.'s battle to beat the iPhone is far from over. The South Korean electronics company has unveiled its second iPhone-like handset and this one packs several important features the iPhone doesn't: 3G and high-speed cellular data networking. The LG-KS20 bears a strong resemblance to the iPhone thanks to a shiny front-face that is devoid of almost all buttons. The phone is compatible with 3G WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) networks, the 3G standard being deployed by most operators around the world. That means it will work in countries like Japan and South Korea, where the iPhone won't at present. It also means faster data networking. WCDMA supports speeds of around 384k bps (bits per second) in its basic version and the LG phone will also work on networks that have been upgraded with HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) data networking at speeds up to 3.6M bps. That's significantly faster than the EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM evolution) data network on which the iPhone operates. Like the iPhone the LG handset also packs Wi-Fi. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 and an MP3 music player. It's 12.6 millimeters thick, which makes it about a millimeter thicker than the iPhone. However the LG handset is missing one feature that some customers will consider of utmost importance: Apple's OS X operating system. The LG handset runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 and despite advances from previous editions the software is still often criticized for being harder to use and clunkier than the Apple operating system. The LG-KS20 is getting its unveiling at the IFA electronics show in Germany this week. Earlier this yearÂ LG unveiled its first iPhone-like cell phone. The handset was developed with fashion house Prada and went on sale in Europe and Asia earlier this year at a premium price. The company hasn't revealed the price of the LG-KS20 but it should hit Europe in the fourth quarter of this year. Â
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(InfoWorld) - Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications will get its GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phones made in India by contract manufacturers, starting with entry-level color phones and mid-level phones with music. Annual production of its phones in the country is to reach 10 million by 2009, Sony Ericsson said on Wednesday. The phones will be made by the local operations of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which uses the brand name Foxconn, and Flextronics. These companies already make phones for Sony Ericsson in other locations. About two-thirds of Sony Ericsson's phone production worldwide is met by contract manufacturers, Miles Flint, president of Sony Ericsson told reporters in Chennai. Flextronics will start producing Sony Ericsson phones in the second quarter, with Foxconn beginning manufacturing about two to three months later. Sony Ericsson joins a number of mobile manufacturers,Â including Nokia, that are manufacturing in India or contracting Indian manufacturers, to meet the countryâs booming demand for mobile phones. India's largest telecommunications service provider, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam, insists on local manufacture of equipment it procures. Making the phones in India will help Sony Ericsson reduce costs, and offer handsets at a lower price, the company said. The phones will offer customized features for the Indian market, such as local content and customized keypads. India isÂ adding over 6 million mobile phone subscribersÂ each month. The number of wireless subscribers grew 97 percent from 75.94 million at the end of December 2005 to 149.5 million subscribers at the end of last December, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in Delhi.
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The 3G mobile phone supports free calls and messaging between Skype users.
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UK-based mobile group O2 Plc has unveiled the first cellphone in Europe to feature the uiONE technology from Qualcomm Inc, enabling it to offer own-brand phones with a common user interface, regardless of the underlying hardware and operating system.
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LG Electronics  has won a  contest organized by the GSM Association to produce a low-cost  handset for third generation mobile phone networks, a source  close to the contest told Reuters on Tuesday.
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(InfoWorld) - Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson believes companies will be able to make 3G (third generation) mobile phones for as little as $70 next year as component makers step up their efforts to simplify the handsets, an executive said. The low-cost 3G handset would likely allow users to browse the Internet, and use messaging and voice services, according to Sean Gowran, president of Ericsson Taiwan. Low-cost handsets have been aÂ buzzword in the industryÂ for the past few years as a way to tune more people into the existing global GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) wireless network. The GSM Association (GSMA) has evenÂ launched a contestÂ to inspire mobile phone makers to create a low-cost 3G handset, an idea similar to their contest a year ago aimed at producing a GSM handset for under $30.Â Motorola won that contest. Demand for the low cost GSM phonesÂ has been brisk in emerging markets such as China and India this year, where mobile phone use is growing at frantic pace. India recently announced its strongest month ever for wireless subscriber growth, at 6.71 million people in October. The figure brings its total to 136.22 million subscribers, up from 75.9 million at the end of last year, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. By 2010, there will be 405 million mobile phone subscribers in India, according to market researcher iSuppli, thanks to ultra-low-cost handsets. In China, theÂ number of wireless handset usersÂ climbed to 449.02 million at the end of October, up from 393 million at the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Information Industry, that country's telecom industry regulator. Ericsson believes that efforts to reduce costs have had a big impact on the mobile phone industry. Cheaper components, and fewer components will be vital to efforts to develop a $70 3G handset. "The number of components is dropping dramatically," said Gowran. Fewer components reduces manufacturing complexity and can allow handset makers to reduce materials costs. The difference between a low-cost 3G handset and a high-end one will be huge, he said. An advanced handset with all the latest features, smart phone computing capabilities, the latest digital camera functions, multimedia applications with plenty of memory and the ability to use push mail and mobile TV will still be more expensive at around $500. Gowran also clarified that the $70 target is not an end-user price, but a cost-to-make price, and that Ericsson would not be producing such phones since it does not build mobile handsets anymore. The Sony Ericsson Mobile CommunicationsÂ joint venture with Sony took over all Ericsson handset production, and Gowran said he could not speak on behalf of the company. The original talk regarding low-cost 3G handsets was given by Robert Puskaric, the head of the mobile platforms division at Ericsson, at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006 conference in Hong Kong. The exhibition runs through Friday.
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Vodafone Wednesday formally rolled out its 3G mobile communication products and services in 12 European countries and Japan. The company expects 3G to begin gaining mass market acceptance next year, and forecasts
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InfoWorld - LG Electronics unveiled several cellphones on Wednesday that support HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) wireless data connections.
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Korean cell phone maker LG Electronics  Inc  aims to sell 38 percent more handsets in Europe  in 2008 than last year, helped by new models like Viewty, it  said on Wednesday.
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VGA screen and Qwerty keypad, anyone? Mobile World Congress Seoul-based phone maker LG has quietly shown the latest addition to its smartphone range - the LG-KT610, a clamshell handset with a 2.4in, 640 x 480 flip screen and Qwerty keypad.â¦
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A subsidiary of South Korea's LG Group announced the launch of a fully-owned unit in India's high-tech capital Bangalore to offer software services for companies overseas.
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A new mobile phone network is launched in Libya, bringing competition to the sector for the first time.
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Revenues at the U.S. unit of LG Electronics Inc.  rose 39 percent in the first half, and North American sales are expected to top $10 billion this year, fueled by demand for mobile phones, flat-screen displays and appliances, it said on Thursday.
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Nokia will supply equipment supporting GSM and push-to-talk services.
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Nokia , the world's largest  cellphone maker, said on Monday it had begun global shipments  of N81 and N81 8GB multimedia phones.