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Telefonica reports increased profit despite weak European, Latin American segments

Despite facing multiple challenges in both its Latin America and Europe operations, Telefonica is inking constant success and has reported an increase for the first quarter of 2013.

Telefonica’s executive chairman Cesar Alierta, in a statement, said that the company is generating outcome that reflects “a progressive stabilization of the business and a greater degree of diversification”, adding its financial position is persistently improving.

During the first quarter of this year, Spain’s biggest company announced the net income of €902 million which was 20.6% up from €748 million it generated last year.

The revenue fell 8.8% to €14.14 billion, with the sales in its key Latin American market, which accounts for more than half of the group’s revenues, dropping 4%. The revenue from the European market was down by 11%.

Brazil emerged as company’s biggest market for the first time, surpassing its home market Spain, where the sales declined 9.5% to €3.26 billion. Latin America delivered more than 50% of consolidated revenue to the company for second successive quarter, largely due to company’s downfall in Europe.

The company reported an operating income of €1.08 billion from Latin America, where it has 176.98 million mobile subscribers, and this number is increasing 3.6% annually.

The €1.08 billion operating income was 17.7% less than from €1.31 billion and the revenue of €7.23 billion was down 3.8% from €7.52 billion. The company described the impact of exclusion of Atento, the call-center unit sold last year, and February’s depreciation of the bolivar in Venezuela as main reasons behind recession.

From Europe, where it has 70.33 million mobile subscribers, the company reported an operating income of €1.13 billion, down 10.2% from €1.26 billion. The revenue of €7.56 billion slumped to €6.68 billion after witnessing decline of 11.7%.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head to Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona, scheduled to be held from 24-27 February, 2014. Contact EAS for best in high quality accommodation, marketing and event management.  For further information, click here.

BBM chat app to be expanded to Android and iOS

Blackberry Messenger (BBM) app will be offered as a download to run on the Android and iOS, the company announced on Tuesday.

Blackberry said initially the text, picture messages and group sharing functions will be offered on Google-based and Apple-based iOS operating systems from this summer. The company added that voice, video calls and screen sharing have also been planned that will be totally free of charge.

The surprise news will be confirmed during the company’s annual developers’ conference in Orlando, Florida, Blackberry chief executive Thorsten Heins said.  The move is considered disrupting for Whatsapp, Skype and the other players in market.

But Mr. Heins talks down the idea that offering BBM, which the Canadian company said over 60 million Blackberry users access at least once a month, to the rival devices will leave a negative impact over the sales of its own handsets.

Heins said that for the app to work on Android the users would need Ice Cream Sandwich version of Google’s software and iPhone users need at least iOS 6.

Blackberry had launched BBM as a simple instant messaging tool and a free alternative to SMS texts for its handsets but over the years its potential has been extended beyond messaging and it now features several other functions like audio messages, picture messaging photo sharing, and voice and video calls.

The most recent addition in the application is Channels, a feature that allows the users to receive status updates and news from the celebrities and brands they are following on it. The Canadian company has an opportunity to vanquish its open cross-platform rivals by assembling all the features to Android and iOS devices.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, scheduled to be held from 24-27 February, 2014. Contact EAS for best in high quality accommodation, marketing and event management.  For further information, click here.

Smartphone manufacturer Jolla named new CEO

Start-up Smartphone manufacturer – Jolla – has appointed Tomi Pienimäki as the company’s new CEO ahead of the launch of its maiden product.

Jolla will succeed Marc Dillon, who served as the company’s CEO for approximately seven months. Dillon will now focus his energies on the development of the Sailfish operating system as head of software development.

Dillon played a vital role in promoting the platform during his term as Jolla’s CEO.  While attending the  Mobile World Congress, he presented the Sailfish OS as an alternative to the rivals such as iOS and Android.

The newly-appointed Pienimäki, who joined the company from Nordic logistics company Itella, said his task is to listen very closely to the company’s clients and promote collaboration. His record shows that he has  vast experience  in logistics, management, supply chains and driving growth.

Pienimäki is Jolla’s third CEO, in company’s short-life. Jussi Hurmola filled the role when the company first attracted the limelight last year. Hurmola was later appointed to concentrate on “Sailfish strategy.”

The change of head is largely seen as a reflection of the certainty of Jolla, which was founded by ex-Nokia employees including Pienimäki’s brother Sami.  The team was willing to carry on development work the Finnish phone maker had done on the  MeeGo OS project;, from being a start-up to the product delivery stage, a point where the management role turns out to be more like that of an established corporation.

Jolla will release its maiden device in the second week of May. A pre-sales campaign is likely to begin soon after while the actual sales start will take place during the second half of this year.

Beside Jolla, several other companies are also working on the new operating system for Smartphones. Samsung Electronics and Intel are adapting Tizen camp for their maiden phone, expected to be released later this year while Mozilla is working on Firefox OS.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, scheduled to be held from 24-27 February, 2014. Contact EAS for best in high quality accommodation, marketing and event management.  For further information, click here.

IPhone, IPad will now have Google Now Service

Google has launched its much-anticipated Google Now service for Apple’s IOS, such as iphone and IPad. With this service, the users can access their personal assistant features offered by the platform, such as weather, traffic conditions as well as their favorite stocks.

Google Now, a real time discovery engine that is constantly flourishing since its release for Android, can be accessed by swiping upwards from the bottom of the application’s homepage.  The iPhone and IPad users can get the Google Search update with Now through iTunes App Store for free.

The Google Now will collect information about its users through their activities and their history in other Google services. The users can edit their home, work and current location, track their favorite stock and get live score updates of their favorite sports team. The service will also alert users to heavy traffic conditions and suggest an alternate to travel.

Though these features can be accessed online comfortably, Google Now was keen to collect all the information user need at a single place. Another idea of Google behind the enclosure of additional features is to encourage the users to look beyond their current homepages, which are generally linked to their email addresses.

With the subscription of Now Service on iPhone and iPad, the iconic Google home page will shine with different sized cards under the search box. The top of screen will contain the traditional Google logo placed on a twinkling light-green background. The Smartphone becomes smarter and smoother when Google Now teams up with the voice search.

While many of Google Now’s features have been passed over to IPhone and IPad, the update reportedly does not contain the components like gesture control and third party integration features.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head to next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, scheduled to be held from 24-27 February, 2014. Contact EAS for the best in high quality accommodation, marketing and event management.  EAS is licensed travel agency and member of ACAV and ASTA. For further information, click here.

WhatsApp’s recipe for success

Mobile messaging service WhatsApp is going from strength to strength and now has more active monthly users than Twitter, according to the company’s CEO Jan Koum.

Speaking in a mobile conference in New York last week Koum revealed that the mobile app now has more than 200 million users claiming that it carries an average of 20 billion messages per day – more than double the number of messages carried by Facebook.

The company will not go down the same route as Facebook and Twitter by introducing advertising, however. Currently the app charges a 99 cents annual subscription fee on Android, but Koum admits that the company is against advertising.

“We’re bombarded with ads so much in our daily lives and we feel that smartphones aren’t the place for that,” said Koum. “Putting advertising on a device like that is a bad idea. You don’t want to be interrupted by ads when you’re chatting with your loved ones.

“Our monetization strategy is simple; one dollar a year. If we did something besides that, it would just get in the way.”

Koum added that the company has yet to see any reduction in user numbers since they introduced the charge meaning that WhatsApp is in a better condition than other apps with continued user growth, user activity and inbound revenue.

Despite all this positive news the firm has denied the rumours that it is in talks to sell up to Google or any other large tech company. Watch this space to see where this success story goes.

For more information on the world of mobile apps head down to next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 24-27 February. For all your accommodation needs in the city look to EAS, your friendly local travel agent. We have rooms in all the best Barcelona hotels and most centrally located apartments. We’ll organise your transportation, nightly entertainment and make sure your stay is as stress free as it is unforgettable. Click on this link to fill in our request form.

Nokia set to release QWERTY Smartphone

Millions of Nokia fans have their pulses racing since company’s announcement that it is going to launch “something new” on Wednesday. Though the company hasn’t reveled anything further about the announcement, a teaser image has prompted many to believe that the product set to be launched is a new Smartphone with a physical, QWERTY keyboard.

Ian Delany, the Nokia’s chief editor of Conversations blog, on Sunday took twitter to proclaim that the company will be unveiling something new on Wednesday, April 24 in morning UK time. The tweet further stated that the product announcement will be followed by Q&A session with company’s Technology Marketing Director Neil Broadley and a “special guest”, whose name has been kept in anonymity.

The teaser included in the entry displaying two curved corners of a yellow-colored device with a polycarbonate shell resembling the designs of Nokia’s Lumia range of Windows Phone Smartphone. Two keys of the assumed Smartphone are visible, one is a Z key indicating that it is a QWERTY keypad and the other is the arrow key.

A flood of rumors have hit the internet since the announcement with majority suggesting that the device would be the highly-anticipated Lumia-inspired Asha phone 501. Asha 501 is a multitouch S40 phone with 3.5 inch display. It has 1 GHz processor, five mega pixel rear and VGA front facing camera.  Some other sources have suggested that the yellow device in the teaser could be Lumia 928.

Nokia, which sold over 9.3 million Asha handsets across the globe in the last quarter of 2012, is facing strong competition from Samsung that recently released its low-cost REX series in a bid to overpower the Finland-based company.  At this stage, raising the bar for its Asha devices has become indispensible for Nokia.

The launch of the Asha handset with enhanced features at a competitive price will not only enable the company to counter Samsung and revitalize its place in the feature phone segment in Asia, but will also help it to shore itself up before Mobile World Congress 2014.

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Mobile viewing habits changing

It seems as time goes by more and more of us around the world are using our mobile devices to view television and films throughout the family home.

The latest research from Motorola Mobility’s Fourth Media Engagement Barometer shows that globally consumers are now watching 25 hours of TV and film programming per week on their mobile devices, up from 15 hours in 2011.

The most notable change is that people are now using their mobile devices in preference to broadcast television. The survey, which asked 9,500 consumers in 17 countries, found that of the 36 percent of respondents who watch video programming in the bedroom, 46 percent view it on a smartphone, 41 percent on a tablet and 36 percent on broadcast TV.

People are even viewing content in more unusual parts of the home with 9 percent of tablet owners and 16 percent of smartphone owners admitting to consuming content in the bathroom, while 10 percent of tablets are used in the kitchen.

In spite of this, the living room is still the centre of home entertainment with 50 percent of people watching broadcast TV here, although in Sweden and the UK the figures were as high as 81 percent and 75 percent.

The research also revealed that consumers are frustrated by the lack of flexibility of mobile devices according to John Burke, senior vice president and general manager at Motorola Mobility. “Increasingly people are using tablets and smartphones to view their content, and they expect this experience to transition seamlessly across their favourite programmes, whenever and wherever they like,” he said. Among those surveyed, 76 percent said they want the capability to move video content between devices automatically.

Another reason people are increasingly using mobile devices to watch TV and films is the ability to record programmes and skip ads. The study reveals that 68 percent of people globally and 75 percent in the US record broadcast TV to skip the ads – a trend that is proving to be an ongoing challenge for the TV networks.

For more information on how mobile viewing habits are changing head down to next year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, 24-27 February. For all your accommodation needs in the city look to EAS, your friendly local travel agent. We have rooms in all the best Barcelona hotels and most centrally located apartments. We’ll organise your transportation, nightly entertainment and make sure your stay is as stress free as it is unforgettable. Click on this link to fill in our request form.

HTC and Samsung win big at Mobile World Congress

This year’s Mobile World Congress proved to be a huge success for both HTC and Samsung who went home with two of the event’s top awards.

The HTC One picked up the Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the 18th Annual Global Mobile Awards held last week at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker beat off competition from the likes of the Sony Xperia Z, LG Optimus G Pro, Nokia 105 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Benjamin Ho, chief marketing officer for HTC, said: “We are delighted by the reactions from both consumers and the industry to the new HTC One. It is a device that has been years in the making and is one of which we are incredibly proud.”

Meanwhile the Galaxy S III was named the best smartphone of 2012 beating its main rival the iPhone 5 along with others including Nokia’s Lumia 920 and HTC’s Droid DNA.

It was a disappointing award ceremony for Apple as the American firm also lost out in the Best Tablet category to Google’s Nexus 7.

Other winners on the day included Samsung’s Galaxy Camera, which won Best Mobile Enabled Consumer Electronics Device, Facebook, which took home Best Mobile App for Consumers, and Evernote, which picked up the award for Best Mobile App for Enterprise.

Samsung also picked up the coveted Device Manufacturer of the Year award in addition to winning the Best Mobile Infrastructure and Outstanding Overall Mobile Technology.

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Android and iOS dominate smartphone market

So it’s now official: the smartphone market is actually a duopoly dominated by both Android and iOS who accounted for 91.1 percent of fourth quarter sales in 2012.

According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) latest figures the two platforms accounted for 87.6 percent of all sales in 2012. However the main chunk of the pie belongs to Android, which pulled in 69 percent of all smartphone sales globally, while Apple devices took 19 percent of the market share. Apple’s sales proved to be highest in Western markets mostly because of lower priced iPhone 4 and 4S resulting from the introduction of the iPhone 5.

IDC put Android’s market-beating growth down to the fact that 2012 saw an explosion of Android smartphones matching nearly “any budget, taste, size and price.”

In comparison, Blackberry mobile sales fell by more than 36 percent last year and it now only holds 3.2 percent of the market share. Microsoft on the other hand managed to increase its share from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 2.5 percent last year, however the firm is still at the bottom of the smartphone platform rung.

Programme manager for IDC’s Mobile Device Trackers, Ryan Reith claimed that despite the low figures it was not all doom and gloom for Blackberry and Microsoft. “There is no question the road ahead is uphill for both Microsoft and Blackberry, but history shows us consumers are open to change. Platform diversity is something not only the consumers have asked for, but also the operators,” he said.

IDC noted that Linux-based smartphones could be more of a factor in 2013 with the launch of devices from SailFish, Tizen and Ubuntu. However, the analyst firm warned that these platforms will need time and investment to gain momentum in the market.

For more information on smartphones and their various platforms head down to next week’s Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, February 25-28. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona, organise all your entertainment needs and arrange transportation. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Tablets and smartphones break Christmas record

Christmas Day 2012 was a bonanza day for the mobile industry as more smartphones, tablets and Kindle-type mobile devices were activated than on any other day in history.

A report from Flurry Analytics claims that activations on 25th December rose to more than 17.4 million, a 332 percent increase from the former December baseline of 4 million per day and 2.5 times greater than Christmas 2011 figures.

This was the first year in which tablet activations outstripped smartphones, at a rate of 51 percent to 49 percent.

“The big winners were Apple iPads, Apple iPad Minis and Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-in tablets,” the Flurry report stated. “In particular, Amazon had a very strong performance in the tablet category, growing by several thousand percent over its baseline of tablet activations over the earlier part of December.”

The volume of devices activated on Christmas Day had an impact on app downloads also. In total 328 million apps were downloaded on the day with 1.76 billion apps bought from Google Play and Apple during the Christmas week. This was up 65 percent on the weekly average for December 2012.

According to Flurry’s vice president, Peter Farago, one billion app downloads a week will become the norm in 2013. He said: “Following a year where Google and Apple drove unprecedented adoption of mobile devices, Facebook declared itself a “mobile” company, and Amazon and Microsoft both made significant investments into mobile computing, we look forward to continued record-breaking adoption of smart devices and applications.”

For more information on the global mobile industry don’t miss out on your chance to attend the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2013, February 25-28 in Barcelona. For the best in accommodation, arranged transportation, restaurant recommendations, and anything else you can think of to make your stay in Barcelona one to remember, look no further than EAS, the travel agent you can trust. With our expert local knowledge we can source rooms in the best hotels, find you the most centrally located apartments, organise airport transfers and other transportation needs, and even arrange yacht and aircraft charters. Click on this link for more information.

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