Emerging briefly before its launch in August, O2 today previewed the O2 Cocoon. A breakthrough in mobile design, the O2 Cocoon is the latest O2 handset developed specifically for the style-led consumer, combining iconic design with a number of unique features that make it one of the best quality music players and mobile phones on the market.

A product of extensive consumer research and drawn from customer insight, the O2 Cocoon packs a range of eye and ear-catching features – such as the capacity to store 500 high sound quality songs using the 2GB internal memory and an additional 500 songs using a 2GB micro SD card. It also includes a never before seen LED display – in a unique and sleek white clamshell design. A key feature that consumers rated high in testing is the blue LED display which can be programmed to show time, ‘now playing’ information, caller ID and also displays the beginning of text messages as they arrive in the users inbox.

Speaking at the launch in the VIP area at the O2 Wireless Festival, Sally Cowdry, O2 Marketing Director, said: “The introduction of the new O2 Cocoon phone is an exciting development for our customers and a big step forward for O2 branded devices. It’s fresh and different, yet simple to use and packed with features.”

“O2 has a strong heritage in music through activity such as O2 Undiscovered, the O2 Wireless Festival and the forthcoming opening of The O2, so it made perfect sense for us to extend this music philosophy into the development of our own mobile music device. Extensive customer research has helped us develop a stylish and functional mobile device that will enable our customers to engage, explore and be inspired by doing all the normal things on their mobile, plus listening to their favourite tracks,” she said.

MADE FOR MUSIC

The O2 Cocoon music player is compatible with a wide range of file formats, enabling users to simply drag and drop their music collections onto their device and start listening. With 2GB of in-built flash memory, and the opportunity to add a further 2GB on MicroSD, the O2 Cocoon can hold a massive music library with up to one thousand high sound quality tracks.

Thanks to two powerful stereo speakers, the O2 Cocoon’s sound quality is breathtakingly crisp and clear, no matter whether you listen through the device’s 3.5 mm stereo jack headphones or the O2 Cocoon’s Nest, its docking station. You can also use the Stereo Bluetooth® output to connect wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled speakers or headphones.

The O2 Cocoon’s music prowess extends beyond the user’s own music collection with FM radio with RDS functionality (displayed on the LED screen) for endless listening options.

Managing calls while listening to music is simple with the O2 Cocoon. When a call comes in the music either fades to continue playing in the background, or automatically pauses to be resumed after the call, depending on the user’s preference.

The O2 Cocoon’s music credentials also extend to an innovative ‘location aware’ feature enabling the handset to take on a new life when users enter The O2. Upon entering the venue, the O2 Cocoon will undertake a transformation with the wallpaper adapting to welcome users to The O2. In addition, O2 Cocoon users will be provided with a venue map, hints and tips as well as the latest news direct from The O2.

PERFECT FOR PICS AND FLICKS

Taking snaps on your way to the concert is a breeze with the O2 Cocoon. The mobile device comes with a two mega pixel camera, complete with auto-focus, 4x digital zoom, built-in flash and full screen viewfinder. It also has a high quality, ultra-bright QVGA (240x320) screen with 262,000 colour pixels which is ideal for viewing pictures and videos including a selection from acts including Paolo Nutini, Ash and The Doors which are embedded within the handset. Other content also includes EA™ Air Hockey and demo versions of The Sims™ 2 and Tetris®Mania.

REALIABILITY

Unlike many other multimedia devices that suffer from limited battery life, the O2 Cocoon boasts a standby time of up to 350 hours,a talk time of up to five hours and up to 15 hours music playback time. It has an intuitive colour battery notification display on the outer shell to let the user know when the battery is nearly drained. The O2 Cocoon also comes with a two year manufacturer’s warranty.

The O2 Cocoon will be on sale at various prices depending on the tariff, and will be available from O2 stores and online at http://www.o2.co.uk from August 2007

Notes to Editors:

Specifications:
• Hidden LED display on front shell
• 2GB internal flash memory with MicroSD slot (expandable up to 2 GB)
• 2MP camera with auto focus, flash and zoom
• QVGA (240x320) Screen 262k TFT
• FM Radio with RDS
• Stereo Bluetooth
• 3.5m headset jack through remote
• File Formats – AAC, AAC+, WMA, MP3 and WAV
• Quadband
• Measurement: 94mm x 49 mm x 21mm
• Battery life: 350 hours standby time, 5 hours talk time
• 3G Connectivity

Just Visit this link and sign up
http://www.htctouch.com/

Same great features as the back one just red.

UpStage by Samsung is the first Sprint phone to offer the following features designed to make mobile music more entertaining than ever:

Sprint Music Manager, powered by Smith Micro, gives users the power to quickly and simply transfer, or “sideload,” unprotected songs from a PC to the handset via a USB cable. Provided on an enclosed CD-ROM, Music Manager also allows songs to be managed on the PC through an intuitive interface.
Advanced Stereo Bluetooth 2.0 with Bluetooth caller ID enables the user to identify callers with a spoken voice while they listen to music.
UpStage by Samsung gives users the power to multitask with the ability to play music in background mode while also using the phone for text messaging, playing games or surfing the Internet.

“Samsung is excited to give our loyal customers a new look to this revolutionary union of voice, form and music.” said Peter Skarzynski, Senior Vice President of Strategy at Samsung Telecommunications America. “The red UpStage offers a bright display of color on the outside combined with high-profile music access, messaging and multitasking capabilities on the inside.”

More Pictures in our forums.

Like they did for Mothers Day T-Mobile is allowing all users to send and receive text messages for free this coming Sunday June 17th Fathers day.

When T-Mobile users log into my.t-mobile.com they are greeted with the following message:

FREE MESSAGING on June 17th Mark your calendars for Stick Together Days. We’re giving our valued customers free picture, video, IM and text messaging on Father’s Day, June 17th.

For more information visit: http://www.sticktogether.com/

So will the iPhone sell? Of course it will and although I personally do not think the iPhone is for me, I expect Apple to sell a million iPhones in its first year.

But I am not so sure at&t will do so good. With amp’d Mobile filing for bankruptcy protection last week, because their target audience of young professionals could not or were not willing to pay their phone bill. Makes you wonder if at&t will see the same thing happen with iPhone users? I am not saying at&t will file for bankruptcy protection I am just saying I think they may have a lot of new subscribers become delinquent with-in a few months of signing up.

After all correct me if I am wrong the target audience for the iPhone is the iPod Generation and Young Professionals. People 16 - 35 (a lot of parents are going to an iPhone for their kid). I guesstimate the majority of the 16 - 25 can’t or won’t be willing to pay a monthly bill while the Majority of 26 - 35 won’t have a problem paying it. At least at&t will be able to keep any deposits paid, I have a feeling with in the next 6 to 8 months we will see a lot of people with iPhones without phone service.

So how much will you have to pay a month in service for your iPhone? Well lets say you get the cheapest plan from at&t and the 200 text message plan you’re looking at 45 dollars a month before taxes, after taxes about 53 dollars. If you add the data plan which is rumored to cost 30 dollars a month, you’re looking at 75 dollars before taxes and 90 or so after. Which isn’t bad if you can live with out unlimited nights and weekends, only 450 anytime minutes and 200 text messages. But if you can’t live without unlimited nights and weekends and only 200 text messages expect to pay over 100 dollars a month before taxes.

I personally think they should of given new subscribers a pre-paid option after all that is why the sidekick is so popular.

So again I think the iPhone will sell, but seeing what has happened to amp’d mobile I am not too sure at&t will be happy with the new customer base.

The Coca-Cola company today announced the launch date for the Sprite Yard service. June 22nd 2007 cell phone users can text “YARD” to 59666 ("Lymon") and receive a reply with a WAP link to access the Sprite Yard for the fist time. Clicking the link directs the mobile device to the “Yard” where they are invited to register by selecting a tag name and password. As soon as they are registered, users can opt to create a profile to share information about themselves with their friends in the Yard. 

The Sprite Yard is a real-time digital “on-the-go” community that provides social connections and downloadable content via their mobile phone anytime, anywhere. The Sprint Yard was launched on June 1st in China.

“Sprite is the first beverage brand to enable a mobile experience combining such a rich combination of features and functions,” said Mark Greatrex, Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications and Insights, The Coca-Cola Company. “The Sprite Yard provides an efficient, sustainable and fresh marketing platform that reflects changing consumer demands and significantly personalizes the relationship between consumers and Sprite.”

Members of this new “community-to-go” have access to a host of functions they can share with their network of friends. Users build their community by inviting and being accepted by other Yard users as their friends. This allows them to share photos through the Pix gallery, showcase a snapshot of their activities in the Planner, post pictures and discussions on Scribbles, and send short mobile messages - Shouts, to individuals or groups.

The Sprite Yard will also feature exclusive downloadable content - from visitones (visual ringtones that combine music with visuals) to mobisodes (animated shorts) - that can only be unlocked through a PIN found under the cap of every 20 oz. Sprite bottle, providing a fresh, engaging experience with each purchase.

Well according to a BusinessWeek article amp’d mobile who was targeting young professionals by advertising like there was no tomorrow on MTV, had a fast growing user base.

However nearly half of their user base neglected to pay their bills. 80,000 of 175,000 subscribers stopped paying their bills.

amp’d mobile also owes 100 million to creditors such as Verizon whose network amp’d mobile uses, Verizon is owed the most money 33 million.

I guess when you advertise during work hours on MTV the market you are reaching isn’t the market you really want. Young Professionals have jobs and if someone is watching TV at noon chances are they don’t have a job.

HTC today announced the global launch of the HTC Touch a Windows Mobile 6 Touch Screen phone.

The phone in my opinion is the only competition for the iPhone and unlike the iPhone it is already available in Europe and Asia. The HTC Touch should be available in the US sometime this year.

“With the HTC Touch™, access to your most commonly used content, contacts and features is only a simple finger flick away,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer of HTC. “Mobile phone makers have done a great job of cramming ever-more exciting features into ever-smaller phones. But the way in which one accesses these increasingly sophisticated features has not kept pace. That ends today with the HTC Touch.”

What provider will have the HTC Touch? No word yet.

Leveraging the broad functionality of Windows Mobile® 6 Professional, the HTC Touch™ includes Outlook Mobile, Office Mobile, Windows Live™ and the capabilities to run thousands of third-party applications. Users can surf the web with Internet Explorer®, send and receive emails, chat on Messenger and send files to their own web space through Windows Live™. Other HTC Touch™ details include:

Dimensions: 99.9mm (L) x 58mm (W) x 13.9mm (T)
Weight: 112g with battery
1GB microSD storage card included / 64MB RAM, 128MB ROM
2.8” LCD touch screen with backlight, 240 x 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colours
Battery Life: Rechargeable Li-Ion battery with a capacity of 1100 mAh
Standby time: Up to 200 / Talk time: Up to 5 hours
Camera: 2.0 mega-pixel CMOS colour camera
Windows Mobile 6® Professional with Direct Push Email and HTML email support
Wireless Connectivity: GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800,1900, Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth® 2.0
Choice of two colors at launch - elegant soft black or alluring wasabi green

After Cingular Bought at&t wireless and changed the name to Cingular, they segregated their customers into Cingular Orange (original Cingular) and Cingular Blue (previous at&t customers). They then slowly eliminated Cingular Blue.

But as of June 1st 2007 there is no such thing as Cingular it is now “Wireless from at&t”.

Twenty bucks, says next year it’s just at&t. (not really betting)

Our Canadian Correspondent Cody has again pointed out to us that the MyFaves, Fab5, My5 battle is raging in Canada.

Today a third wireless provider has added a MyFaves program to their plan options and this time it’s Telus Mobility.

Their MyFaves plan allows for their customers to talk and text as much as they want to 5 people, the MyFaves plans start at $25 dollars (CAD) a month.

For more info visit: http://telusmobility.ca/on/plans/pcs/myfaves_all.shtml