T-Mobile dumps Google for Yahoo

EUROPEAN mobile phone giant T-Mobile is to end its relationship with Google as preferred search provider, instead signing a strategic partnership with rival Yahoo.

From March 30, Yahoo will become the preferred search provider for T-Mobile in Europe with the companies cooperating on developing industry-leading mobile search solutions.

T-Mobile said Yahoo’s oneSearch quickly and easily delivers relevant results and instant answers to search queries, removing the need for consumers to navigate through a sea of PC Web links.

“This cooperation agreement offers significant advantages to our mobile Internet customers, and creates the foundation for successful cooperation in the future,” T-Mobile International chief executive officer Hamid Akhavan said.

“With Yahoo, T-Mobile has entered into a partnership with a true Internet pioneer,” he said.

T-Mobile is also expanding partnerships for its social web services by cooperating with communities such as YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and bebo, the company said.

“Cooperation with YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and bebo allows T-Mobile customers to develop and expand their personal networks whenever and wherever they like,” T-Mobile International Group Product & Innovation Officer Christopher Schläffer said.

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Microsoft unveils next-gen Surface computing

IT’S not often that Microsoft is able to spring new product on the market that haven’t already been heavily previewed through leaks, official or otherwise.

But the company managed to do that today with a launch from way outside of the box – a coffee table-shaped computer called Surface that re-invents the user interface.

Developed by Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, Surface dispenses with keyboard and mouse in favour of a desktop system where data is manipulated by hands, voice and pen.

The touch screen tabletop lets users “grab” data or manipulate pull-down menus. Barcoded objects sitting on the tabletop can be integrated into applications so that their movement becomes a part of the user interface.

Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that small groups can use at the same time. The OS in the system is based on Vista and can deal with several users at once (which different people at a table manipulating different parts of the system), Microsoft said.

Surface Computing sounds gimmicky. And with the devices (which Microsoft is manufacturing itself) are not cheap at US$5,000 (A$6,100) to US$10,000.

But Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, who launched the new systems at the Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference in California, says the company is serious about developing the systems into a mature market.

“With Surface, we are creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Mr Ballmer said.

“We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realising that vision,” he said.

The first business applications for the systems will be in hospitality, entertainment and retail, Microsoft said. Harrah’s Entertainment, the hotel and casino group has said it will use the systems in a variety of dining, entertainment and reservation tasks.

Mobile phone company T-Mobile will use the Surface systems in retail outlets to let people look at products, prices and features of mobile phones (which will sit on the tabletop, and bring up data as customers manipulate the phone).

Microsoft corporate vice-president Tom Gibbons says the technology that drives Surface and its potential applications should not be underestimated. Microsoft’s core goals had always focused on bringing increasingly natural interfaces to computing, and Surface was a big step in that direction, he said.

“Surface computing is a powerful movement. In fact, it’s as significant as the move from DOS [Disk Operating System] to GUI [Graphic User Interface],” Mr Gibbons said.

“Surface computing breaks down those traditional barriers to technology so that people can interact with all kinds of digital content in a more intuitive, engaging and efficient manner,” he said.

“It’s about technology adapting to the user, rather than the user adapting to the technology.”

“We’ve looked at the market extensively, and when you consider that the revenue-generating opportunities include services, hardware and software, we believe there will be a multi-billion-dollar addressable market for surface computing,” Mr Gibbons said.

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Deutsche Telekom buys into Jajah VoIP

THE dominant German phone company Deutsche Telekom has invested in web-phone start-up JaJah that develops technology that could ultimately cannibalise the telco giant’s own revenues.

Deutsche Telekom said its T-Online Venture Fund unit was an equity participant in a US$20 million investment in Jajah as part of a venture round co-led by Intel Capital.

The investment marks the first time a dominant telecommunications player with a POTS heritage has so readily backed a firm that is building disruptive services that dramatically undercut the company’s own services.

Jajah recently announced it has acquired more than two million users from 55 countries in their first year of business by providing next-generation calling solutions, as well as ultra-low cost phone connections to the most called places on earth.

Unlike traditional VoIP (voice over IP) solutions, Jajah uses regular phones and does not require software or special equipment. A user simply initiates the call from www.jajah.com and Jajah connects the call to either landline or mobile phones, for a fraction of traditional cost.

Additionally, users can make the same calls from many mobile phones and from web enabled smart phones.

“The agreement is unprecedented. Jajah is the first Voice 2.0 company to receive this level of industry validation and support. The long-term implications can’t be understated,” said Jajah co-founder Roman Scharf.

T-Online Venture Fund, already well known for service and technology innovation investments, is expecting attractive synergies for Deutsche Telekom business units by bringing Jajah web embedded solutions to consumer and business customers.

“Jajah brings together the best of the Internet with the best of telephony,” said Jajah chief executive Trevor Healy. “It is great to receive this validation from the telecommunications industry, whom we have always considered the key partner in bringing world-class solutions to consumers.”

“T-Online Venture Fund links us to Deutsche Telekom, one of the clear leaders in global communications and brings to JAJAH unprecedented strength, validation of our proposition, and confirmation of our leadership in voice communication solutions,” Mr Healy said.

Deutsche Telekom is best known in the US for its mobile arm, T-Mobile, and is one of the worldwide leading telecommunication companies with over Euros61 billion revenue (A$100 billion) in 2006.

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