Buzz of the week - 30-Jun-08

1. Warner joins Nokia's Comes With Music:

Nokia announced that Warner Music Group has officially joined the handset giant's Comes With Music initiative. Warner joins fellow major labels Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment in Comes with Music, which enables consumers to purchase a year of unlimited music downloads via mobile handsets bundled with Nokia's Ovi web services platform--while EMI Music remains a holdout, Nokia has said it is confident deals will be in place with all four majors prior to Comes With Music's late 2008 launch. In addition, WMG content will now be available via the Nokia Music Store download and streaming service, which Nokia said will expand to new international markets in the near future. More here.

2. No security threat from Blackberry - Says India

India's Telecom Ministry does not see any security threat from BlackBerry email services and has no plans to shut the services in the country.A Reuters report also quoted Telecoms Secretary Siddhartha Behura as saying that "there is no threat from BlackBerry services." The official further said operators did not need the ministry's approval to offer such services.

Security agencies had concerns Research In Motion's popular BlackBerry service could be used by militants to send e-mails that cannot be tracked, and the government wanted RIM to install servers in India to help monitor traffic.

3. Microsoft to have another go at Yahoo!?

Microsoft reportedly is hoping to snap up Yahoo's online search operations with the help of News Corp. and Time Warner. An Associated Pres report also said the latest twist in Microsoft's convoluted courtship caused Yahoo's shares to rise more than 3%, even though the chances of a deal getting done still seemed remote. More here.

4. Users cite texting as the most important handset feature!!

Almost three quarters of mobile phone users cite text messaging capabilities as the most important feature when purchasing a new handset, according to a consumer survey conducted by mobile solutions provider Access Systems Americas and independent research firm Amplitude Research. Given a list of 19 different mobile features and services, 73 percent of consumers cited texting as the most critical data component--cameras were second with 67 percent, followed by mobile email (63 percent) and web access (61 percent). Music (34 percent) and video (33 percent) also featured prominently in the poll. Conversely, only 0.5 percent of consumers said battery life plays a role in their phone purchase, with voice activation earning just 0.33 percent.

The Access survey also reports that 39 percent of respondents have added new applications to their handsets, with just over 21 percent adding six or more new apps. Forty-two percent of respondents cited stock tracking applications as the most necessary, followed by sports teams/game trackers (36.6 percent), business applications (10.3 percent), productivity apps (7.5 percent) and utilities (4.8 percent). Almost 40 percent of respondents said they use their cell phone for "alerts," e.g. traffic, weather and stock market updates. Nearly 30 percent of respondents said they use their phone for banking transactions or to check account balances. More here.

Thank you very much,

RamP!