IDC Financial Insights recently released a new report, which analyzes the mobile payment and mobile banking space in the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa region. The research group highlights that the mobile commerce payments market still has a long way to go before any serious impact will be felt by consumers or by the retail industry.
Smartphone News
Worldwide smarpthone sales to end users reached 54.3 million units in the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 48.7% from the first quarter of 2009, according to Gartner. Mobile phone sales totalled 314.7 million units, a 17% increase from the same period in 2009.
ABI Research has been tracking cities and population coverage for 4G for the past year. The research group reports that at the end of 2009 there were more than 170 802.16e carriers across 65 countries, covering 480 million people. That number is projected to cross the 1 billion mark by 4Q-2012.
The recent unveiling by Apple of its new iAd advertising platform extends the company’s array of inventive services for the iPhone, but also continues a distinctive collaboration-versus-competition dynamic between the giant technology trendsetter and its partner companies, according to iSuppli.
SAP and Sybase announced that SAP’s subsidiary, SAP America, has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sybase. SAP will make an all cash tender offer for all of the shares of Sybase common stock at $65.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $5.8 billion.
Sprint announced that it will start selling its highly anticipated HTC EVO 4G on June 4. The company will price the device at $199.99 with a two-year service agreement with a new line activation or eligible upgrade. Data plans start at $69.99 per month.
Sharp has developed a 3D camera module for mobile devices capable of capturing high-definition 720p 3D video images, an industry first. Mass production of these modules will begin within 2010. Sharp said they will start shipping samples in July.
Everything Everywhere, the joint venture that is claimed to be Britain’s biggest communications company, has been unveiled by Orange and T-Mobile. The new company has a customer base of 30 million people: over half of the UK adult population.
The Android OS continued to shake up the U.S. mobile phone market in the Q1 of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems, according to NPD.
Mobilicity, formerly known as DAVE Wireless, has received a green light from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to operate as a telecommunications carrier. The new wireless carrier is gearing up to launch in Toronto this spring.