Popular VoIP service Skype is now available for users of smartphones running Nokia’s Symbian operating system, enabling free instant messaging and Skype-to-Skype calling.

PC World reports that "Nokia and Skype have developed different clients for Nokia phones that have a touchscreen, including the Nokia N97 mini and the new X6, and those that use regular buttons, including the E72. But the functionality is the same on both clients."

VoIP services do not use the same cellular voice technology that regular mobile phones do, instead sending signals digitally over the web. This wireless technology solution makes for cheap – or free – calling, but requires an active mobile internet connection, which inflates monthly cell phone bills. Whether or not a transition to VoIP makes financial sense is a matter for telecommunication cost control professionals.

Experts say that Skype’s VoIP technology will be most useful, perhaps, for those users who need to make large amounts of international calls, as these would cost significant sums of money every minute on a standard cellular voice connection.

Advances in the technology used to produce microchips and improvements to user interfaces are among the factors driving the rapid expansion of the smartphone market, according to Sven Appel of Sci-Tech Today.

Google Android, Windows Phone 7, and a host of other operating systems have followed in the footsteps of Apple’s iPhone OS to create a slick, hassle-free user experience, and Android programmer Andy Rubin told Appel that "soon we’ll have mobile phones with 2 GHz processors, which is more than in a lot of laptops." The smartphone, in other words, could soon become the central venue in which basic internet functions like browsing and email are performed.

Telecommunication cost reduction could become easier as the smartphone market continues to heat up and increasing competition drives prices down. Appel says that microchip producer Marvell is aiming to produce a $99 phone, and that the company may be close to achieving that goal.

Experts say that more companies could be set to enter the U.S. smartphone market, as several firms are testing their devices in overseas markets before involving themselves in the hyper-competitive – and hyper-profitable – American sector.

While nothing is confirmed, tech blog Boy Genius Report says that anonymous sources had let slip several supposed facts about RIM’s forthcoming enterprise wireless solution.

Among the details posted by Boy Genius Report are the device’s still-standard 360 x 480-pixel screen resolution, "portrait-oriented slider" layout, and BlackBerry 6.0 operating system. The tech blog says that, as yet, "no word on if this will have a touch screen, but we’d assume so, and our source alluded to this possibly being what the rumored BlackBerry Magnum/Dakota evolved into. Not saying there won’t be a Bold-like device with touchscreen, optical trackpad, and physical keyboard, but this might be released first."

CNET comments that "such a device will give users the best of both worlds – a large touch screen for viewing documents and surfing the web, and a physical keypad for speedy text input."

The mock-up illustration provided by Boy Genius Report appears to show a more or less standard-looking BlackBerry, though the screen is elongated, giving the impression that the device will be much more sizable than its predecessors.

Finnish handset maker Nokia, the largest overall cell phone manufacturer in the world, this week released the C series of smartphones. The flagship device, the Nokia C5, was described by the company as "a smartphone packed into a feature phone body."

The company also said that the C5 would feature a 2.2-inch display, 3.2-megapixel camera, and free navigation services via its Ovi Maps application and inbuilt GPS system. Nokia said that the C5 – and indeed, the rest of its C series phones – would be focused on providing social media and messaging services.

Top Tech News reported that the C5 would also feature high-speed packet access connectivity and Nokia Messaging service, which supports Hotmail, Gmail, and numerous other messaging services. No information was available about a U.S. release of the device, according to Top Tech News.

Experts say that Nokia’s lead in the overall cell phone market is counterbalanced by its general lack of success with smartphones, and that the company could be testing the waters overseas before attempting to establish itself as a power in the hyper-competitive U.S. smartphone market.

Electronics maker Apple sued wireless mobile solution manufacturer HTC this week, charging that the Taiwanese firm has violated 20 of the company’s patents on iPhone-related technological innovations.

The suit seeks to ban HTC from selling the Nexus One, an Android-powered smartphone that some tech pundits have said is a direct challenger to Apple’s iPhone. Other experts have speculated that multitouch interface technology is at the heart of the disagreement between the two companies.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement that "we can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

HTC, for its part, downplayed the accusations, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported that the company said "HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations." The Journal said that HTC had no official comment on the matter, however.

Smartphones are making their presence known in every circle imaginable. But it’s enterprises who should be especially prepared for the deluge, according to a recent report from Forrester Research, cited by eweek.com.

While smartphones are already in the hands of 11 percent of U.S. consumers and 14 percent of the U.S. “information work force,” Forrester projects those numbers will continue to rise until smartphones are in the hands of more than 70 percent of the workforce they’re most targeted to for widespread use. Read the rest of this entry »

On the heels of our exciting investment news we came across yet another sign that proves Visage Mobile is on the right track.

Gartner released a new report that forecasts at least 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies will move from individual-liability wireless plans to corporate-liability plans by 2014, according to eweek.com. While that undoubtedly represents a dramatic shift from the norm today it also highlights what most of those companies will have to do to prepare for the growth in mobile device adoption. Read the rest of this entry »

A study conducted by cell phone ringtone provider Myxer says that Google’s Android enterprise mobility platform has outsold Apple’s vaulted iPhone in eight U.S. states.

Seven out of eight of the states in which Android outstripped its competitor were in sparsely populated states far from the coasts, where the AT&T network – on which the iPhone runs exclusively – is infamous for sparse coverage with many gaps. Experts say that it is this, as much as any other factor, which could account for the iPhone’s poor market performance in those areas.

The most popular cell phone used to download ringtones from Myxer’s site was the BlackBerry Curve – which won the title for the second year running, while both Windows Mobile and Palm lost ground. These developments mirror those in the smartphone market in general, and some analysts have questioned whether ringtone download statistics might not be a useful market indicator.

Still, Geek.com points out, the flaw in this logic is that iPhone customers tend to get their downloadable content from the App Store, not from third parties.

Early termination fees are at the center of a public spat between the major U.S. telecom service providers, Google, and the Federal Communications Commission, which says that the companies’ recent ETF hikes are excessive.

Going Cellular reports that, in Verizon’s recent response to FCC inquiries, the company "messed up. Instead of sticking with the original reason for ETFs, and saying smartphones were more expensive and more desirable now, thereby necessitating increased ETFs, they added that the extra funds would also be put toward things like retail store management and sales commissions." Google came in for criticism as well when it added its own $350 equipment recovery fee on top of T-Mobile’s $200 ETF for consumers who cancelled their Nexus One contracts before expiration.

The Kansas City Business Journal says that Sprint pursued the original line of ETF reasoning, saying that it effectively pays full price for its phones from handset makers and that the company would lose money hand over fist on subsidized phone deals if it was not allowed to recoup its costs via either contract fees or ETFs.

Apple has already established itself as a market leader for innovative gesture-based interaction with smartphones. The company may be preparing to outdo itself again, though, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this week published a patent application from Apple outlining a system that would use a smartphone’s camera as an electric eye for touch-free gesture control.

The technology, writes Patently Apple, could be used for any number of applications: "For example, during access of a voice mailbox, the user may swipe his finger in the direction of the arrow … over the lens to rewind the playback of a voicemail message. The user may swipe his finger over the lens in the direction opposite the arrow to fast forward the playback of a voicemail message."

Document navigation, like flipping through the pages of an ebook, could also be simplified with the implementation of this technology. While the company has only applied to patent the function on its iPhone, there is no technical reason it could not be implemented on other wireless technology solutions like the iPad tablet computer.

While Microsoft’s roll-out of the long-awaited Windows Phone 7 smartphone OS at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona drew a great deal of industry attention, tech pundits were less enthused about the possible 10-month waiting period before any devices were released.

However, recent rumors suggest that South Korean electronics manufacturer LG could be preparing to release a Windows Phone 7-powered device as early as September. While the company has not explicitly said as much, the LG Apollo – slated for release that month – could be the first Windows Phone 7 device to market, according to tech blog Geeky Gadgets.

Geeky Gadgets also speculates that the September release could be an effective way to steal Apple’s thunder, since that company is said to be planning a summer launch for the next version of its iPhone.

Microsoft has lost market share to three of its main rivals – Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone – in recent months, and the future of the company’s mobile operations could hinge on the success or failure of Windows Phone 7, according to tech analysts.

The top GPS smartphone software was put to the test in a recent article from tech news blog Engadget, as Ovi Maps, Google Navigation, and VZ Navigator were pitted against each other in a "shootout."

The results, however, were less decisive than those of a real shootout. Users who require public transportation info to be integrated into their directions are best off with Google Navigation, Engadget says, as it’s the only one of the three that includes this service.

However, international travelers with Google Navigation would be out of luck, according to Engadget, since Ovi Maps is the sole system that works beyond the borders of the U.S. (Google Nav will still display maps, but directions are unavailable.)

VZ Navigator, for its part, packed several high-end features that the Engadget review liked, but the $10 per month charge for service was said to be excessive.

In the final analysis, Engadget preferred Google Nav, as both of the other options had serious flaws that barred them from taking the top prize.

Experts say, however, that since none of the services are available on the same network, this information is likely to be most useful at the beginning of cell phone contracts.