PhoneDekho.com

Sony Ericsson has decided to do away with its existing synchronization services from December 29th, 2011. The handset maker informs that the current sync services were designed for its old phones and are almost obsolete for the current crop of devices being churned out by the company. On

their blog they say “We are phasing out Sony Ericsson Sync service since it was meant for old generation phones and our aim is to create a more enhanced and integrated smartphone experience for you. As an alternative to Sony Ericsson Sync service, we recommend you to use the Google Sync service for a more integrated experience in line with the favorite range of Google Mobile Services like Google Voice Search, Google Maps and YouTube.”
Sony suggests third party sync services like Google Sync, Plaxo and UNYK as a replacement for their own sync services.

Read more about Sony Ericsson Phones at PhoneDekho.com

Reported at Hindustan Times

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is seeking to cash in as companies switch to rival smartphones with a new tool that offers some of its important security features for sexier devices like the iPhone.

The company said on Tuesday that it will launch its new Mobile Fusion device management software in the first quarter, allowing corporate IT staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices, including Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and smartphones using Google’s Android operating system.

A company can remotely lock or wipe a lost or stolen device, a key selling point for security-conscious corporations who may have been wary of shifting away from the BlackBerry.

“What our enterprise customers are looking for, and the opportunity for us, is to become the de facto platform,” RIM’s vice-president for enterprise product management, Alan Panezic, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the announcement.

“We will take full advantage of whatever security capabilities are provided by the core operating system. We’re not going to hold that back in any way, shape or form.”

RIM’s BlackBerry was for years the preferred device for businesses and government agencies, who treasured its encrypted data and distributed the device to millions of workers needing secure, round-the-clock email access.

But many workers now prefer using their own Apple and Android-powered devices to access corporate emails, raising security questions for corporations that RIM hopes to address with the new software.

Mobile Fusion will sit next to existing BlackBerry Enterprise Servers (BES) behind corporate firewalls.

Panezic said the software will manage RIM’s PlayBook independently from a BlackBerry after the tablet – which has yet to gain traction with either business or consumer clients – receives a long-awaiting software upgrade, due in February.

He declined to give any pricing details for the Fusion service, but said it would be “competitive” with rivals.

“It will help stem the tide of those companies that may have considered eliminating their BES but it won’t help sell more phones,” said Gartner analyst Phillip Redman. “That’s what they really need to do.”

The new software follows on from RIM’s May acquisition of device management company Ubitexx, which RIM announced in May.

Smaller companies such as Good Technology, MobileIron and BoxTone already offer device management as companies fret about leakage of sensitive commercial information.

“This will definitely rattle some cages” among smaller companies, filling a niche by securing and managing iPhones and other non-BlackBerry devices for corporations, Forrester analyst Christian Kane said.

Panezic said customers had requested a solution to handle Apple and Android devices, but RIM would consider adding support for other systems, such as Microsoft’s Windows Phone, if there was enough demand.

RIM shares closed 3 per cent higher at $16.48 on Nasdaq on Monday. They have fallen more than 70 per cent this year.

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Reported at Times Of India

HTC Corp promised competitive new models early next year and said it would stick to its strategy in the face of its biggest challenge since rising to prominence in the smartphone market.

HTC has become the worst performer among global smartphone shares this year, falling over 30 per cent in the last eight sessions alone, as investors worried it may have lost the innovative touch that propelled it from contract maker to must-have brand in only a few years.

Those concerns heightened last week when HTC surprisingly cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter to no growth, shocking a market used to double-digit growth rates from the maker of the Desire, Sensation and Wildfire models.

But the company says it is not another Nokia, the Finnish mobile maker which has experienced a rapid fall from market dominance.

“I don’t think it’s so serious,” Chief Financial Officer Winston Yung told Reuters on Monday. “We have six quarters of improvement, the most conservative guidance is 45 million units of shipments this year, a lot higher than 25 million last year,” he said.

“We will focus on the product next year, better and more competitive. Other than new LTE phones for the US market, we also have phones for the global market. We will launch some worldwide flagship products. We’re confident in them.”

On Monday, HTC shares opened down 1.3 per cent before rising as much as 1 per cent and then falling again as much 5 per cent. At 0251 GMT, they were down 2.35 per cent at T$478.

That is still way off their high for the year of T$1,238.1 in April, a figure that helped founder Cher Wang top the Forbes rich list for Taiwan this year.

“More foreign investors are still selling HTC as the company doesn’t have many bets in hand,” said Masterlink Investment Advisory vice president Tom Tang. “And unlike last time (when shares plunged), HTC didn’t make a share buyback plan this time,” he said.

Aside from stiff competition from Apple Inc’s iPhones and Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy line-up, HTC also faces legal challenges over patents from Apple and others.

German patent firm IPCom said on Friday it plans to halt as quickly as possible the sale of all HTC smartphones in Germany, after HTC pulled an appeal against the ruling.

HTC withdrew the appeal because the German Federal Patent Court had previously held the relevant claim of the patent in question to be invalid, the Taiwan firm said in a statement.

It added that the technology in question was old and no longer used by HTC, so that any move by IPCom would not affect sales.

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Reported at Times Of India