tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8040149901309753575.post-85127372239001694632008-04-06T12:55:00.000-07:002008-04-06T13:21:17.018-07:00All the rage over the iPhone has industry leaders fired up to design and launch multi-media mobile devices on par with Apple's technology. Do not despair if you are not an AT&amp;T subscriber, other carriers like Sprint-Nextel have excellent options up their sleeves.<br /><br /><strong>Mobile Phone Industry Takes Aim at the iPhone</strong><br />By: Laura M. Holson<br /><span style="color:#cc0000;">New York Times</span><br />Published: April 4th, 2008<br /><br />Last year, the wireless industry obsessed over the <a title="Recent and archival news about the iPhone." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/iphone/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier">iPhone</a>. This year, the industry is buzzing about how to beat it. Touch screens, the mobile Internet and devices packed with multimedia capabilities dominated the discussion here this week at CTIA Wireless 2008, the industry’s largest trade show....<br />Like many phones on display at the show, the N78 [by Nokia]is bursting with features. Not only does it have a 3.2-megapixel camera, but it runs on a high-speed network, includes a navigation function and eight gigabytes of memory, and has Internet radio and easy access to multimedia Web sites like YouTube and Flickr....<br />Meanwhile, at the booth for Samsung, the South Korean company, the Instinct was being introduced. The prototype displayed was not quite ready for the show floor, although the phone, Samsung’s answer to the iPhone, is expected to be shipped in a few months.<br />The Instinct has many features similar to the iPhone’s, like a voicemail management system, and the devices look remarkably similar. The Instinct, operating on a proprietary network developed by Samsung and <a title="More information about Sprint Nextel Corporation" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/sprint_nextel_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Sprint</a>, can be used to watch live TV and as a modem to connect a PC to the Internet. Industry analysts think it will sell for about $300....<br />Geesung Choi, chief executive of Samsung’s telecommunications network business, predicted that the trend toward multifunction mobile phones would shift over time. The market will fragment as consumers seek out mobile phones with functions that reflect their strongest needs, like browsing the Web or watching television and movies.<br />“There is a perception that the iPhone is a phone, but it is not,” he said. “It is a multimedia player. Maybe they should rename it.” <br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/technology/04phone.html?ref=technology">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/technology/04phone.html?ref=technology</a><br />Video footage of the Samsung Instinct can be viewed at: <a href="http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=7e7de740b3dd0c0fad2cccfb5eb5845ed799dd73">http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=7e7de740b3dd0c0fad2cccfb5eb5845ed799dd73</a><br /><br />FYI: 1010phonerates has an exclusive deal with Sprint-Nextel and is happy to direct you to the best promotions available on the market. To discover some of the latest devices and service plans, visit:<a href="http://convergence.cellbenefits.com/">http://convergence.cellbenefits.com/</a>1010 NEW INFOhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03470726011009507059noreply@blogger.com