Can Nokia compete with Apple's iPhone on music and ‘lifestyle?’

Can Nokia steal market share from Apple's iPhone? London-based market research firm Analysys thinks so. The firm believes that Nokia has laid down the gauntlet to the industry with the objective of being the service of choice for consumers looking to organize and get access to their social network and content from both the mobile and PC, according to a statement from the firm today.
Analyst Mike Grant at Analysys said that during Nokia’s recent three day industry conference in Amsterdam, senior management at the telecom giant outlined two major initiatives that accelerate a move by Nokia from being a pure device play into an integrated end-to-end consumer service organization in the shape of Apple.
First is Nokia’s introduction of “Comes with Music,” which is a service that allows buyers of certain Nokia devices with 12 months of free unlimited access to the Nokia music catalog, which Grant says is a clear nod from the manufacturer to Apple for its success in integrating music with mobile communications.
Grant said, “Clearly Nokia expects that users will find free music for a year a compelling alternative to iTunes on the Phone.”
Secondly, and more significantly to Analysys, Nokia has detailed the expansion of the its Ovi service into the Internet and PC worlds. Ovi currently provides users with access to music, games, social networking, content sharing, and mapping services through an on device WAP portal and going forward, Ovi.com is set to give users easy access to all of their content and the Ovi storefront through a personalized “dashboard” or web based portal.
The Ovi portal is also meant to allow easy integration with on-device data such as synchronized contact lists – all of which looks very similar to Apple’s current .mac service. As well, Nokia has announced the development of a PC version of the Ovi dashboard providing again integrated access to the same services and personal content.
“These moves are a clear statement that Nokia intends to compete head to head with Apple and others seeking to be consumer’s default personal information and entertainment destination…The implications for operators and other OEMs are significant. Should Nokia successfully execute these developments and attract even a small proportion of their current 1 billion customers to this service, both operators and other OEMs will have a mountain to climb to offer the same compelling proposition. Nokia is laying down the gauntlet, saying effectively that Apple has got it right, and they intend to compete for consumer loyalty across mobile, PC, and the Internet. Moreover, while Apple has a strong presence in the U.S., Nokia’s global market reach and scale make it a powerful competitor to all in this space.”
Interestingly, today Google announced the release of a new iPhone application that it says integrates its multiple services into a single interface, making it easy for iPhone users to find, use and switch between Google search, Gmail, Calendar, Reader, and more.
Google says its overall goal is to provide users with access to information, wherever they are, and is working to develop new mobile technologies.
With a number of players looking to take a bite out of Apple’s reign, the ones to benefit will be consumers.

U.S. Robotics Brings 802.11g to Middle East

U.S. Robotics will launch its 802.11g Wireless Turbo range in the Middle East market early next month. The system, powered by the company’s Accelerator Technology, is said to increase performance levels up to 100Mbit/sec., all on a single channel.
“The product is the first of its kind in the world, and will revolutionize the wireless industry, allowing users to send and receive data faster, more securely and with greater compatibility,” said Yusuf Syed, Regional Manager, U.S. Robotics. “The Wireless Turbo range functions on a single channel, to ensure greater network capacity and the highest data throughput.”
According to Tony Field, U.S. Robotics’ product manager EMEA, the Accelerator Technology, provides users with 54Mbit/sec. accelerated to 100Mbit/sec. performance.
“To ensure the fastest data throughput rates, U.S. Robotics designed the 802.11g Wireless Turbo line for compatibility with all 54Mbit/sec. 802.11g, 22Mbit/sec. and 11Mbit/sec. 802.11b wireless devices,” Field added. “And because security is a critical concern in any network, U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo products are designed to be up to 10 times more secure than standard wireless networking products. Users can work wirelessly with the confidence of knowing they have the highest level of security protecting their network data and communications.”
The U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo portfolio includes a router, multi-function access point, PCI adapter and PC card, all of which can be set up in an existing wired network without expensive infrastructure costs, Syed said.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the molecular level in scales smaller than 1 micrometre, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as applied physics, materials science, colloidal science, device physics, supramolecular chemistry, and even mechanical and electrical engineering.
Much speculation exists as to what new science and technology may result from these lines of research.
Nanotechnology can be seen as an extension of existing sciences into the nanoscale, or as a recasting of existing sciences using a newer, more modern term. Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology.
In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition.
In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.
The impetus for nanotechnology comes from a renewed interest in colloidal science, coupled with a new generation of analytical tools such as the atomic force microscope (AFM), and the scanning tunneling microscope (STM).
Combined with refined processes such as electron beam lithography and molecular beam epitaxy, these instruments allow the deliberate manipulation of nanostructures, and led to the observation of novel phenomena. Examples of nanotechnology in modern use are the manufacture of polymers based on molecular structure, and the design of computer chip layouts based on surface science.
Despite the great promise of numerous nanotechnologies such as quantum dots and nanotubes, real commercial applications have mainly used the advantages of colloidal nanoparticles in bulk form, such as suntan lotion, cosmetics, protective coatings, and stain resistant clothing. Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to prepare small molecules to almost any structure.
These methods are used today to produce a wide variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or commercial polymers.
This ability raises the question of extending this kind of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods to assemble these single molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many molecules arranged in a well defined manner. These approaches utilize the concepts of molecular self-assembly and/or supramolecular chemistry to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation through a bottom-up approach.
The concept of molecular recognition is especially important: molecules can be designed so that a specific conformation or arrangement is favored due to non-covalent intermolecular forces.
The Watson-Crick basepairing rules are a direct result of this, as is the specificity of an enzyme being targeted to a single substrate, or the specific folding of the protein itself.
Thus, two or more components can be designed to be complementary and mutually attractive so that they make a more complex and useful whole..