The new Mobile Fusion software, first announced in November, is a recognition by RIM of a growing preference by many users inside big corporations and government to access professional communications over their personal devices, often the Apple iPhone or iPad, or devices running Google's Android.

RIM, which long dominated the so-called enterprise market, has watched the BlackBerry's market share steadily erode in recent years. Unable to arrest the trend, the company now aims to generate a fresh revenue stream from it. Mobile Fusion will cost $99 per user to license and $4 per user a month, with discounts available for bulk orders.

In a second announcement on Tuesday that highlights RIM's eroding market position, it said its PlayBook tablet now boasts 15,000 applications - still just a tiny fraction of the number available on the iPad. One of the biggest complaints about RIM's products is the dearth of content and applications.

A recent survey from Appcelerator and IDC showed less than 16 percent of developers were "very 

interested" in creating programs for RIM, compared with 90 percent for Apple and 80 percent for Android.

The Canadian company has sought to win over developers, and it claimed the figure announced on Tuesday was evidence of growth. RIM has more than 70,000 apps in its App World store for either BlackBerry phones or the PlayBook tablet, which compares with 200,000 iPad apps, and half a million for the iPhone.

The BlackBerry has appealed to big organizations because of the water-tight security afforded by the enterprise network. It enables businesses to control access by setting password rules, blocking or pushing access to certain applications and remotely wiping lost or stolen devices.

But that appeal has started to fade. As rival devices have grown in popularity, in part because of the wealth of apps available for them, companies have started to hire third-party management services from the likes of Good Technology and Mobile Iron to replicate the features of RIM's enterprise network. Fusion is largely RIM's response to that reality.

Source: Reuters

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The burgeoning Sony Xperia range has a new model. Joining the Xperia S, Xperia P andXperia U seen at Mobile World Congress is the Xperia Sola. It's a dual-core Android phone with a 3.7in screen. 

Sony hasn't been taking it easy since grabbing the Xperia smartphone ship's tiller from Sony Ericsson last year. Having unveiled a handful of phones in February, Sony has just popped-out another. Sharing the same blocky design as its Xperia-range siblings, the Sony Xperia Sola sits between the Xperia U and higher-end Xperia P - it's an upper-mid range phone.     

The Sony Xperia Sola has a 3.7in 480 x 854 pixel display using the "Reality Display" screen tech seen in the other Xperia phones of 2012. It may sound a little like Apple's Retina Display branding, but it falls a way behind the screens of the iPhone 4 and 4S, with a now-unremarkable 264dpi pixel density. 

A 1GHz dual-core NovaThor processor, made by ST-Ericsson and boasting a decent Mali-400 GPU, powers the Xperia Sola, and there's a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video recording on the back. It also packs NFC, and the usual Android connectivity gubbins - GPS, HSPA and so on. The Sola comes with 8GB of internal memory, once again falling slap-bang in-between the 16GB Xperia P and 4GB Xperia . 
However, also similar to its Xperia buddies, the Sola will launch running the Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS rather than the now-current 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version. This version has been around in mobiles since late 2011, with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and it's disappointing to see this phone won't get the bump up to ICS until Summer. 

The delay is likely down to the software tweaks Sony has applied to the interface. "Floating touch" navigation gets top billing here. This is a feature specific to the phone's browser, and lets you use your finger as a mouse pointer without touching the screen at all. Magic? Probably not - capacitive screens can sense a finger before it touches the screen, and this floating touch feature most likely relies on making the most of this sensitivity. We'll find out if it's anything more special at review.

The Sony Xperia Sola will be available from Q2 2012, and comes in black, white and red finishes

GLOBAL – Since launching the Nokia Lumia 800 late last year, we’ve been focused on delivering continuous enhancements to the phone through software updates. Today, we’re happy to announce the third software update in only four months.

This software version for the Lumia 800 (1600.2487.8107.12070) brings significant improvements in battery performance and power management. Originally scheduled for 18 April, we’ve now managed to bring the schedule forward.

But before you get all excited and reach out for that cable to connect your Lumia 800 to your Mac or PC, there’s just one more thing to know: the update will not span the globe all at once. It will be queued up over 4 weeks, beginning today (28 March) for the first batch. Subsequent phased updates will be on 4, 11 and 18 April.

Why updates are like herding sheep

If you don’t see your country or operator listed in the first batch, or even the second one, you may feel like you’ve been passed over, but there is a reason for this. Firstly, every software update for Windows Phone has to go through Zune (or its alter ego, Windows Phone 7 Connector, on the Mac).

The real-life analogy that I can think about to describe this is herding sheep through a gate. For a Windows Phone partner, developing a smartphone is like that: there’s always a balance to be struck between what you can do and what you’d like to do, between what you can offer now and later. But due to the urgent need to get this update in the hands of people, we were able to bring the schedule forward, although not all at the same time.

And since the new software needs to go through the mandatory testing and approval from each and every operator, the variant for your network will be slotted into a batch as soon as it’s ready.

Full power ahead

Since I updated my phone, my personal experience – on average these last two weeks – has been between 25 to 30 hours of battery life with my daily usage pattern: numerous phone calls and text messages, browsing, push email on three mail accounts, some music to and from work, some GPS (Drive and Maps) – and with the phone in flight mode for about 5 hours when I sleep. I must admit, though, I can’t claim to be a power user in any area, but I’m no lightweight either.

Along with battery, we’ve brought enhancements to the bass in the audio so that you get better voice quality and even more enjoyment out of Nokia Music. We’ve also ensured that the soft keys illuminate at all brightness levels settings.

I know some of you are keen to know when features like WiFi tethering will be available.  We can’t confirm at this stage exactly when it will be delivered, but rest assured it is on its way.  I hope you will agree that we’ve prioritized those enhancements that will give everyone the most enjoyment out of their Lumia 800.


Tag: latest gadget, Mobile review, Latest mobile, iPhone, Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung mobile, latest technology, computer & electronics