Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia Debuts

First deliverable from Microsoft and Nokia alliance aims to simplify mobile collaboration

Today, Microsoft and Nokia launched the first application from their alliance around mobile productivity, Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices. This new unified communications client connects directly with a company's communications systems to streamline mobile collaboration. Owners of a number of Symbian based Nokia Eseries smartphones can download the English version today from Nokia's Ovi Store, the easiest place to get content on their Nokia device.

"Our alliance with Nokia aims to bring the Office productivity experience to the millions of people using Nokia smartphones around the world," says Kirt Debique, General Manager at Microsoft. "With the arrival of Communicator Mobile for Nokia today, we have a great start to fulfilling our joint vision."

Communicator Mobile enables people to see their colleagues' availability, and click to communicate with them using the best method, from IM to email, text to phone call. The names and status of colleagues are embedded directly into the devices' contacts application, enabling people to update their own presence, start and join instant messaging sessions, and begin calls directly from the contact card.

"This application really provides a much more efficient way to work with others as you can see if someone is busy or available, and the best way to start a conversation with them," says Ukko Lappalainen, Vice President at Nokia. "It also meets all of the requirements for enterprise: cost effective to implement, secure, familiar and reliable."

The launch is the first product from the alliance - announced last August - which was the first time either company had embarked on an agreement of this scope and nature. Since then, the two companies have been collaborating on the design and development of new solutions, as well as embarking on joint marketing efforts around others they already share.

"As part of our push to constantly enhance our unified communications proposition, we are keen to extend the collaborative benefits of Microsoft Communicator Mobile to Nokia devices," says Scott Petty, Director at Vodafone Group Business Services. "Communicator Mobile offers great potential for our large corporate customer base who have already deployed Communicator for desktop and now are looking to extend that existing infrastructure to mobile."

"We trial all potential offerings ourselves and have been very happy with the internal response and productivity increase we have experienced using Microsoft Communicator Mobile," says Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, Executive Vice President at Swisscom / Webcall. "Having these two companies work together is really helping us serve the needs of our customers."

This new application, available initially for Nokia E72 and Nokia E52, adds to the work Nokia is already doing in optimizing direct access to email and other personal information with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. The companies plan to deliver Communicator Mobile for Nokia pre-installed on select Nokia smartphones in the future and plan to support additional devices, including the recently announced Nokia E5.

SAP Appoints Hassan Jamal as Country Liaison Manager of SAP Pakistan

SAP Asia Pacific Japan (“APJ”) has appointed Hassan Jamal as Country Liaison Manager of SAP Pakistan, effective April 1, 2010. Reporting to Francis Lee, Head of Emerging Markets in South East Asia, based in Singapore, Hassan is responsible for managing the general operations of SAP’s Liaison Office in Pakistan, driving business development, as well as managing the partner ecosystem.

Prior to this appointment, Hassan was overseeing business development and liaison activities related to SAP’s channel business in Pakistan. An accomplished sales and distribution management executive with over 10 years of experience in the software and information technology sector, he has a consistent and strong track record in enabling channel sales. He is also skilled in strategic partner management, alliance and channels building, and channel conflict resolution.

“Hassan’s experience in the industry will help us better understand the need of our customers and partners in Pakistan, especially important right now when the economy is on the rebound and businesses in the country are striving to be more competitive,” said Krish Datta, President, SAP South East Asia.

“Pakistan continues to be an important part of the emerging market in South East Asia. SAP has made significant inroads in the country over the past two years. Besides building a healthy ecosystem, we also ensured that best-in-class technology and global best practices are available to Pakistani companies, so that they can transform to become ‘Best-Run Businesses’ and remain competitive against the rest of the world,” Krish added.

Before joining SAP in 2008, Hassan held various sales management positions at leading software companies, including Oracle and IBM. He also has experience overseeing channel sales in the small & medium sized sector at Microsoft.

“I look forward to working with Hassan and the team to drive business in Pakistan. We managed to win a number of significant projects last year and penetrated into several new industries. We would not have been able to do so without the support of our partners and customers, and I believe Hassan is instrumental in building the strong ecosystem that we have in the country,” commented Francis.

Hassan replaces Sajjad Syed, who has left SAP after leading the team in Pakistan for two years.

“It is a very exciting time to take on the leadership role in SAP Pakistan, and I look forward to the challenges and the opportunities ahead. Businesses in Pakistan are increasingly looking to SAP’s comprehensive portfolio of innovative industry best practices, industry-leading tools, and sustainable software solutions to help them become clearer and better run enterprises,” said Hassan.

Hassan holds a business degree from Richmond College in London. He also has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, graduating as a Gold Medalist, and placed at the top of his class in overall ranking as well as in his chosen area of specialization.

 

Sony Ericsson, Motorola Loose, RIM Gains

Motorola in the top 5 phone makers' list

International Data Corp. (IDC), a market intelligence firm, has released its quarterly statistics pertaining to the worldwide mobile phone market. According to the report, Nokia continues to dominate the worldwide mobile phone market, followed by Samsung and LG. There hasn't been much of a difference in the table when it comes to the top three players.

However, things begin to change when we go further down. At number 4 is RIM- which for the first time since its existence, has made it to the top 5 list. At number five is Sony Ericsson, which has seen a drop in its sales. RIM has managed to sell 10.6 million BlackBerry devices in the first quarter of 2010 - more than the total number of phones sold by Sony Ericsson and Motorola. As for Motorola, once the once largest maker of mobile phones, it now finds itself out of the top 5 list for the first time. RIM plans to launch BlackBerry 6 OS later this year and will try to strengthen its grip even further.

 

The report also states that the worldwide mobile phone market grew 21.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Nokia leads with 107.8 million phones sold. Samsung follows with 64.3 million units sold, and LG takes the third place with 27.1 million handsets shipped.

Overall, 294.9 million mobile phones were sold around the world during the first quarter of 2010 - a 21.7 percent increase over the first quarter of 2009.

15 days Left to Win a Laptop Daily with wi-tribe

wi-tribe, the most reliable wireless broadband provider in Pakistan, continues an exciting opportunity, enabling both existing and new customers to win a laptop daily for 30 days across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Islamabad.  The “Win big with wi-tribe” campaign has been successfully engaging broadband consumers nationwide, and the enthusiasm and passion of the participants for the promotion is evident from the tremendous response received.

At the completion of the first half of the campaign, wi-tribe is excited to announce 10 lucky winners who are now the proud owners of brand new, state-of-the-art laptops. The names of the winners are:

Islamabad:      Iffat Agha Ahmed

Lahore:           Shahzeb Khan, Shafia Ahmed

Rawalpindi:    Raja Zafar Iqbal, Ayaz Tariq

Karachi:          Ali Husain Mirza, Syed Shahbuddin, Muhammad Hassan, Shah Imran,

Haris Safdar

Ali Fahd, wi-tribe Pakistan’s Marketing Director, commented, “I'd like to take this chance and congratulate the winners of the campaign so far, and encourage others to participate in this opportunity. I strongly believe that our customers will continue to enjoy the best of wi-tribe’s wireless broadband services with their vibrant new laptops."

wi-tribe launched its latest campaign on 15^th April in all four cities of wi-tribe’s operations; Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi. There are three ways customers are automatically eligible to enter the raffle draw; connect, deposit, or activate.

"The response has been overwhelming and we are very confident that the remaining part of the campaign will give more of our valuable participants a chance to win their own laptops.” Fahd added.

It’s still not too late to be a part of this exciting campaign. Potential wi-tribers can ‘connect’ to the most reliable wireless broadband connection. Existing customers can ‘deposit’ their outstanding bills or simply ‘activate’ their existing accounts by visiting the nearest wi-tribe outlet, contacting the Call Centre, or by visiting the wi-tribe Pakistan website. By completing one of those three steps, each customer will be entitled to a lucky draw ticket, giving them a great opportunity to win a laptop.

A raffle draw is held daily where many lucky winners get the chance to take home a brand new, state-of-the-art laptop over the next 15 days of the campaign.

For further details on the campaign, interested customers can call UAN 111 187 423, connect to www.wi-tribe.pk, or simply visit the nearest wi-tribe outlet.

Nokia X2 Annaunced in India

GLOBAL - Announced in India today, the Nokia X2 is the latest device to join the Xseries line-up and is due out before the end of June. We’re still in a spin after the Nokia N8 but if you’re ready for more join us after the jump to find out what the Nokia X2 has to offer.

Taking more than a little inspiration from its bigger brothers the Nokia X3 and the Nokia X6, the candybar X2 offers a 2.2-inch QVGA screen and measures in at just 13mm thin and 81g light.

The Nokia X2 also packs dual speakers, dedicated music keys, FM stereo and support for up to 16GB of storage via microSD card make for a nifty mobile music device.

Bluetooth 2.1 is supported for wireless music enjoyment whilst hardcore music fans can opt for the 3.5mm headphone jack. Full speed USB 2.0 makes music transfer quick and easy and music can be managed via the Ovi Player PC client or Windows Media Player 11.

It’s not just a musical maestro, the X2 also offers direct access to Facebook from the homescreen and comes with Nokia Messaging goodness for email and Instant Messaging. Other notable feature include instant access to apps from Ovi Store, a five-megapixel camera and a video recorder.

The Nokia X2 will be available for an estimated retail price of €85 before taxes and subsidies.