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Nokia invests in kyte.tv

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kyte.jpgCalifornia-based kyte.tv announced that it has received investment from Nokia Growth Partners, a global private equity and venture capital management arm of Nokia. The investment will help to further extend the distribution of kyte.tv’s award-winning service that enables users to easily create interactive TV channels online and on the go, which are instantly broadcast to any website, blog, social network, and mobile phone.

“This investment is of great strategic importance to kyte.tv. We are proud to have the combination of a media company, a service provider, and the world’s number one device manufacturer investing in our company. This provides us with key access to distribution across Europe and beyond,” said Daniel Graf, co-founder and CEO of kyte.tv. “Through their mobile devices, Nokia provides people with a wide range of experiences in mobile video, television, music, and imaging. This partnership allows kyte.tv to enrich this experience even more.”

“An investment in kyte.tv is a logical step in driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. kyte.tv is a great manifestation of this vision to bring together social networking, user-generated content, and mobile services,” said Rob Trice of Nokia Growth Partners. “We are pleased to be working with such an innovative company and look forward to helping kyte.tv grow its audience globally.”

Originally posted on June 13, 2007 @ 11:54 am

Wibree merges with Bluetooth

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Wibree merges with BluetoothPotential rivals Wibree of Nokia and Bluetooth come together to bring wireless connections to devices that are too small for Bluetooth chips.

While Bluetooth technology allows devices to be wirelessly connected, it is also known to consume too much battery power, limiting its use to bigger devices such as cellphones, laptops, and wireless headsets. Wibree, on the other hand, which was developed by Nokia, works on a lower data rate and power than Bluetooth. Hence, the Wibree technology allows for smaller batteries with longer battery life.

With the Bluetooth technology and Wibree together, Bluetooth Special Interest Group hopes to look into the possibility of creating products such as small wearable gadgets that can sense and communicate with Bluetooth-clad cellphones, toys, or computers such that, for example, a watch could receive text messages, or a toy could sense the presence of another toy.

“Our members have been asking for an ultra low power Bluetooth solution. With Nokia’s innovative development and contribution to the Bluetooth specification with Wibree, we will be able to deliver this in approximately a year,” said Michael Foley, director of the Bluetooth SIG.

Nokia started developing Wibree in 2001, and launched the technology in October last year.

Originally posted on June 13, 2007 @ 6:42 am

iPhone to support third party web 2.0 apps

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iphone.jpgApple announced that iPhone will run applications created with web 2.0 Internet standards. Developers can create web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

iPhone starts shipping on June 29

Originally posted on June 11, 2007 @ 3:21 pm

US mobile web use soars, increasing threefold

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bango.jpgThe UK based mobile billing company, Bango has published statistics which confirm that the U.S. is at the forefront of mobile web growth with a three fold increase in usage over the last year, taking it to second position behind the UK. The increasing popularity of mobile search as a way of finding new content and services is fueling this rapid rise in mobile web usage.

According to Bango data, the top five countries accessing the mobile web via Bango in April 2007 are the UK at 27%, the US at 21%, South Africa at 11%, India at 9% and Indonesia at 3%. In the first quarter of 2007 the top handset was the Sanyo Katana SCP 6600. The fact that the Sanyo Katana is only available in the United States reflects the rapid growth in mobile surfing by US mobile users. Other popular handsets included the Motorola V360, the Sony Ericsson K750i and the Samsung A900.

“We see that wherever flat-rate data charges are pervasive in a country then there’s much more web browsing,” said Anil Malhotra, SVP of Marketing at Bango. “We expect to see more competitively priced flat-rate data plans in the US which will stimulate further web browsing.”

Originally posted on June 8, 2007 @ 10:30 am

Intextmessage takes your online social network offline

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IntextmessageFrom among the growing number of online communities that cater to different groups of people, Intextmessage takes social networking offline, allowing businesses, non-profit organizations and social networks (informal groups and individuals) to communicate not only through online means but through text messaging as well.

Intextmessage combines the online and offline world while giving you the benefits that social networks give — to meet people of similar interests, create or join social cliques, and be prompted with the latest promotions and special events from your favorite local business establishment, as well as information on internships and volunteer opportunities in various non-profit organizations in real time — wherever you are.

With the growing number of social networking sites that cater to different groups of people, co-founder and developer John Hand IV states that Intextmessage has something that sets them apart from the rest. “The way we see it, you can either be sitting at home on the Internet talking about life, or you can be out living it. We designed Intextmessage.com to help people get together in the flesh.”

Originally posted on June 8, 2007 @ 6:57 am