LG Mobile results are up

LG’s Mobile Communication Company results for the last three months of 2008 show sales of 4.49 trillion Korean Won (around £2.4 billion), which is up 34.6% year-on-year. Handset sales were up 40.3% year-on-year and 16.5% up on the previous quarter. In addition, handset shipments were up 8% year-on-year to 25.7 million, which meant over 100 million units were sold in 2008 compared with 80.5 million units in 2007. Digitimes.com says this puts LG in third place worldwide, ahead of Motorola and Sony Ericsson (and behind Nokia and Samsung). [Press release]

LG partners with F1

LG Electronics has become a Global Partner and a Technology Partner of Formula 1 motor racing, which means it'll be able to offer the 'official Mobile Phone of Formula 1' for the next five years. LG had previously sponsored ITV's F1 coverage. [Sources: Press release; BrandRepublic.com]

Mobile manufacturers agree rating system for chargers

LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have launched an energy rating system for chargers, making it easier for consumers to choose the most energy-saving devices. The new rating system indicates how much energy each charger uses when left plugged into the wall socket after charging is completed. The ratings covers all chargers currently sold by the five companies, range from five stars for the most efficient chargers down to zero stars for those consuming the most energy. Ratings will be shown on each manufacturer's web site. [Nokia press release]

Samsung being sued twice

Samsung is under attack from two different directions. Memory chip maker Spansion is taking legal action against Samsung, claiming that Samsung's memory chips violate Spansion's patents. This doesn't just affect Samsung products but also devices from other manufacturers, including music players, mobile phones and digital cameras. Meanwhile Kodak is suing Samsung and LG over patents that it says are being violated by camera phones. [Sources: Cellular-News.com; WashingtonPost.com]

LG and Microsoft working together

LG Electronics and Microsoft have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that'll see them working together on mobile convergence. They will collaborate on research & development, marketing, applications and services. [Press release]

Mobile phone market shows effects of global financial crisis

Research company IDC says the global financial crisis is being felt by the mobile phone industry, with sales down significantly in the third quarter of 2008. Their figures show that manufacturers shipped 299 million handsets in Q3 2008, up 3.2% from last year but down 0.4% from the previous quarter. Historically, the third quarter has seen an increase as manufacturers prepare for Christmas. Average selling prices for mobiles have also begun to drop. Nokia leads the list of mobile manufacturers with a 39.4% market share, Samsung is second with 17.3%, Sony Ericsson has moved up to third place with 8.6%, Motorola is fourth with 8.5% and LG is fifth with 7.7%. Strategy Analytics has calculated similar figures; they say 303 million cellphones were shipped worldwide in Q3 2008, up 5% year-on-year, which is the industry’s weakest growth rate since 2002. [IDC press release; Strategy Analytics report]

Mobile News podcast now online

This week's edition of the Mobile News podcast includes a wide-ranging interview with Graeme Oxby, Managing Director of Virgin Mobile in the UK. There's also time for a quick preview of the new Prada phone from LG and our usual look at the latest industry news headlines. As always, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is produced and presented by Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell from TheFonecast.com

Vodafone marketing man moves to LG

Dominic Chambers, who left his role as Vodafone's head of brand and marketing earlier this year, has been appointed by LG as its European Marketing Director. [Source: BrandRepublic.com]

New Mobile News podcast now online

Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell discuss the latest mobile industry news in this week's edition of the Mobile News podcast. There's also a feature about the new Nokia 'Comes With Music' service and a preview of the 8-megapixel LG KC910 camera phone. You can download or listen at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

Mobile manufacturers to launch mini-laptops

Marketing magazine says mobile phone manufacturers are expected to start producing mini-laptops for Christmas. LG has just launched the Netbook X110 mini-laptop, with Vodafone and 3 expected to launch their own mini-laptops soon. In fact, Vodafone has just announced an exclusive deal with Dell for the Inspiron Mini 9 'ultra-mobile' laptop. [Sources: BrandRepublic.com; Vodafone press release]

25 million Haptic-equipped mobiles worldwide

Haptic technology, which offers a gentle vibration to coincide with activities on a mobile phone, is now on more than 25 million mobile phones worldwide. The figures come from Immersion Corporation, which creates touch feedback systems for phones. Its technology is used by LG, Samsung and other manfuacturers. [Press release]

New Mobile News podcast now online

Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell take their usual look at the week's mobile industry headlines in this week's Mobile News podcast, sponsored by Brightstar Europe. There's also a discussion about the developments in Mobile VoIP and a review of the 5-megapixel LG KC550. As always, you can download or listen at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

LG adding Dolby sound to mobiles

LG Electronics and Dolby Laboratories have announced an agreement that'll see Dolby Mobile technology added to LG's handsets. As we mentioned in February, Dolby Mobile is an audio processing technology platform that's designed for mobile applications. The new LG multimedia phones with Dolby Mobile technology will be available from the fourth quarter of 2008. They're the first globally-available phones with Dolby Mobile; the world's first Dolby Mobile phones were released in Japan by Sharp earlier this year. [Press release]

LG sales up

In a marked contrast with Sony Ericsson's recent results, LG's mobile phone sales have increased by 45% to help the company’s quarterly profits rise by 84% to 706.9 billion Won (£346 million). [Source: Bloomberg.com]

Birmingham NEC being renamed 'LG Arena'

In 2005 the Millennium Dome was renamed 'The O2'. Now it’s LG’s turn to have its name on an entertainment venue. The NEC Arena in Birmingham will be renamed the LG Arena this Autumn in a sponsorship deal that will last for the next eight years. The venue is also being renovated, with £28 million being spent – although LG hasn’t mentioned how much the sponsorship itself is costing. [PDF press release]

Mobile manufacturers working on new memory standard

LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have said they're working with a number of electronics manufacturers to create an open standard for the next-generation of mobile phone memory technology. They've formed the Serial Port Memory Technology Working Group, which is aiming to produce a memory chip with a lower power demand, fewer pins and more options for mobile phone designers. [Press release]

New podcast edition of 'The Fonecast' now online

In this week's edition of the Mobile News podcast we talk to Mike Trotman and his colleagues from Aura about their mobile industry Customer Satisfaction survey. There's our regular look at the latest mobile industry headlines and rumours, plus a quick review of the new LG Secret.

The Mobile News podcast is produced by The Fonecast. There's more information about the team and an archive of previous broadcasts at TheFonecast.com.

Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple all slip in Q1

Researchers at Strategy Analytics have published a report showing their interpretation of the current state of the mobile market. They say 282 million mobile phones were shipped worldwide in the first three months of the year, up 14% on the same period in 2007. LG and Samsung sales grew faster than the industry average, while Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Apple all saw their market share slip. The company says Nokia now has a 41% share of the market, although its sales to North America have fallen. [Report; press release]

Mobile media set free by doubleTwist

doubleTwist Corporation has announced the creation of doubleTwist desktop, a free downloadable program that helps users share, enjoy and synchronise their personal media between different devices or friends. They've also created a similar Facebook application called "Twist me!" - with compatibility between the Sony PlayStation Portable, Nokia Nseries devices, Sony Ericsson Walkman and Cybershot phones, LG Viewty and Windows Mobile smartphones. The company, co-founded by Jon Lech Johansen (who became known as DVD Jon when he 'cracked' DVD copy protection), says its mission is to enable consumers to enjoy their digital media on the widest possible range of devices. [PDF press release]

New podcast from 'The Fonecast' now online

This week's downloadable podcast from TheFonecast.com has a special report from Mobile News online editor Mark Sennett at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Iain Graham and Mark Bridge take their usual look at industry news and gossip, along with a quick review of the new LG KF600. Each broadcast can be downloaded automatically by including us in your RSS reader, by using iTunes or by visiting the Mobile News website.