A global association of mobile phone operators said yesterday it has selected Motorola to supply a low-cost handset to developing countries in a bid to widen access to telecommunications services.
The phones -- the C113 and C113a -- will cost under US$30 each and are part of a project by the GSM Association (GSMA) to make telecommunications more affordable to people in rural regions and less populated cities.
"To get below US$30 per handset is a milestone achievement," GSMA chairman Craig Ehrlich said at the announcement on the second day of the group's world congress in Singapore.
"Today's news cements the formation of a whole new market segment for the mobile industry and will bring the benefits of mobile communications to a huge swathe of people in developing countries."
Rob Conway, the GSMA chief executive, said US mobile phone maker Motorola had been selected to supply the devices which are being mass-produced under phase two of GSMA's Emerging Market Handset initiative.
Ten mobile phone operators have said they expect to order about six million of the low-cost handsets from Motorola, GSMA said in a statement.
The two handset models -- which offer talk times of up to 450 minutes and a maximum 330 hours of standby -- will be available early next year.
Under phase one of the program, Motorola had supplied a low-cost model which was made available in 17 developing countries -- India, South Africa, Nigeria, Congo, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Yemen, Sri Lanka and Kenya.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS