Nokia has announced that it will make all GPS-enabled Nokia devices allowed to access for free its Ovi Maps service - including turn-by-turn navigation and city guides -to over 74 countries in 46 languages. Previously, Nokia has limited basic map navigation for those using it for free, and turn-by-turn navigation and city guides were additional extras.

By making this free, according to Executive Vice President Anssi Vanjoki, he hopes to make Nokia the largest manufacturer of GPS-enabled devices, like cameras, by making this feature for free.

"“By adding cameras at no extra cost to our phones we quickly became the biggest camera manufacturer in the world. The aim of the new Ovi Maps is to enable us to do the same for navigation," Vanjoki said.

This is seen as a move to better compete with rivals Apple and Google in the smartphone market. Both Apple and Google use Google Maps for their GPS navigation.

Starting today, only ten Nokia phones - including the Nokia N97 Mini, 5800 XpressMusic and E72 - will be able to download the new software; but that is set to be expanded eventually. In March, the company will ship the new Ovi Maps software pre-installed on new GPS-enabled Nokia devices, with the maps of the country and city guides from Lonely Planet and Michelin already present in the software.

Other devices that will be able to download the latest update immediately are the 5800 Navigation Edition, E52, E55, 5230, 6710 Navigator, 6730 Classic and the X6.

Today Skype announced a remarkable step up in the world of video calling. The latest version of Skype is going to suport HD video calling which can be received at up to 720p, Skype has also announced plans to embed the software into televisions that are 'internet-ready'. Surprisingly this significant upgrade doesn't come with much of a cost to the end-user, the new FV TouchCam N1 HD webcamera being available in early Feburary 2010 at just $69 without a microphone and $99 with. Skype estimates that the software will run fine on a computer with atleast a 1.8GHz processor & Skype 4.2 BETA. All webcams will be available to purchase in the Skype Shop shortly after release.

With Skype embedding the software into HDTVs it will make the video calling experience much more comfortable and 'at home'. Skype announced that users can expect the following from their new Skype HDTV.

• Free Skype-to-Skype voice and video calls
• Calls to landline or mobile phones at Skype’s low rates
• The option to receive inbound calls via a user’s online Skype number
• Skype voicemail, if it is set up
• Being invited to participate in voice conference calls with up to 24 other parties
• Support for up to 720p HD video calls, depending on the availability of high-speed broadband and a HD webcam

At CES, Skype announced partnerships with LG and Panasonic for the new televisions. Skype will be installed on Panasonic's 2010 VIERA CAST-enabled HDTVs & LG's 26 new LCD and Plasma TVs with NetCast Entertainment Access. Both series are expected to be available in mid 2010, LG and Panasonic will be selling specialised webcams which can be plugged into the televisions and optimize the Skype experience. The webcams will record video in 720P HD and have microphones that can pickup audio in your living room or where ever your HDTV might be located. Skype recommends an internet connection of 1MBPS symmetrical bandwidth to achieve the best possible results.

The 00’s – what a decade. Filled with ups and downs. Bubbles and bursts. Revolutions and extinctions. Moving into 2010, I thought it nice to start a little series called 2010 – Adolescence meets the Internet. This series will look at what we can expect from 2010 and beyond while reflected on the 00’s.

Today’s article looks at the cloud and it’s possibility of extending all mobile phones. To help us with this, we will look at an exciting new product called Lookout [previously known as flexilis].

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Nokia, the largest maker of phones in the entire world, has decided to sue Asian LCD panel makers – including LG, Sharp, Hitachi and Samsung – after alleging that all the parties colluded with each other to fix prices for their LCD displays, which are used almost anywhere today – including phones. Turns out, this is pretty common, with several LCD makers pleaded guilty in price fixing late last year in the US and were fined.

Nokia claims that it “suffered damages … and is entitled to treble damages and injunctive relief to remedy these injuries”, according to the Wall Street Journal. I’m guessing that Nokia is really looking to shore up its finances, especially when it launched a lawsuit with Apple over patents – though, the LCD one does make some sense, as you would obviously be angry if you were paying a higher price for the LCD screens than what it actually costs.

Ignoring the fact that the world has other alternatives like the BlackBerry OS, Apple iPhone OS, Google Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian OS, Palm WebOS and even Linux; Samsung has announced today that it will be launching its own mobile operating system for its phones. The name apparently means ocean in Korean, and will be open to a variety of platforms. The SDK won’t be released until a London launch event; and phones are expected to come out within Q2 of 2010.

Full press release below.

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Samsung has announced that it will renew its contract with Qualcomm, extending the current contract to fifteen years, that will give the South Korean mobile maker access to the company’s US patents for 3G and the new 4G (fourth generation) technology.

Samsung will give the wireless technology company a down payment of US$1.3 billion, and will also pay running royalties, though Samsung has not gone into specifics of that portion of the deal. It will also allow Qualcomm access to Samsung’s 57 patents relating to mobile tech, though it will not need to pay Samsung a single cent because of, according to the Yonhap News Agency, the “higher value of Qualcomm’s licenses.”

Qualcomm was previously charged for violating anti-trust regulations by abusing its monopoly over the mobile handset chip market in July, and was fined US$208 million.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has threatened the telecommunications industry with a plan to add additional reforms to the Telecommunications Act after an report by the industry’s ombudsman said that there was a massive spike in complaints from customers.

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has said that it received 230,065 complaints from consumers and small businesses during the 2008-2009 financial year, representing a 54 percent increase from the previous year. However, while complaints about billing and payment still topped the list, complaints from mobile phone users rose 79 percent from last year.

“This report is an absolute shocker,” Senator Conroy told Network Ten’s Meet the Press program. “What we have now is a proper reporting framework demonstrating how bad consumers are being treated by their telcos. This goes to the heart of the competition problems in this sector.”

Other areas also saw massive jumps in the number of complaints, including internet (57 percent) and landline (40 percent).

“What we have announced is a bill before Parliament now to try to improve the powers of the ACCC so that they can deal with the lack of competition in this sector; we have announced we want to structurally change the sector by separating out Telstra's wholesale and retail arm, and we want to give more fines and more standards to the consumer service obligations and universal service obligations that exist in the law today," he said.

Conroy has also said that he will sit down with the TIO to work out what it needs to do to crack down and punish companies that continue to mistreat their customers.

UNITED STATES: Verizon Wireless has announced that it has formed a "strategic partnership" with Google that will bring phones using the Google Android operating system. The announcement also includes developing new devices for the platform.

"The Android platform allows Verizon Wireless customers to experience faster and easier access to the web from any location," CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, said. "Through this partnership we hope to deliver greater innovation in the mobile space to consumers across the U.S."

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