Yudi’s posterous

A second of Sony Ericsson's new smartphones, key to its strategy for returning to profit next year, has been hit by software problems in Britain ahead of a critical sales period.

A spokesman for the world's fourth-largest mobile phone maker said a number of users of the new Aino smartphone, part of the company's Christmas line-up, had experienced problems using the touch-screen.

"Obviously, we are working as quickly as possible to solve it [the issue]," Sony Ericsson spokesman Mattias Holm said, adding the issue affects only a small number of customers in Britain.

Earlier this week, Britain's Carphone Warehouse, Europe's biggest mobile phone retailer, temporarily withdrew Sony Ericsson's recently launched Satio smartphone because of a software problem. British retailer Phones 4U followed suit.

"Aino and Satio are Sony Ericsson's key products for the final quarter," said analyst Geoff Blaber from British consultancy CCS Insight.

"These problems couldn't come at a worse time, just as the market approaches the highest volume weeks of the year. They have days not weeks to fix these issues," Blaber said.

Sony Ericsson's Holm said the software problems had only affected a small number of customers in Britain and had not damaged Sony Ericsson's brand.

"At the moment, we don't see any damage or harm done," Holm said. "It is a contained issue affecting only a small number of consumers."

Success in the smartphone market is a key element in chief executive Bert Nordberg's plan for returning the firm to profit next year.

Smartphones, with advanced mobile Internet and networking functions, have been the one bright spot in an otherwise depressed handset market over the last year.

While mobile phone makers have been hurt by the global downturn, Sony Ericsson has also suffered because it has lacked a strong smartphone offering to rival Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry.

Sony Ericsson lost 199 million euros in the third quarter and has not made a profit since the first quarter of 2008.

Copyright 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Dear Sony-Ericsson,

If you are gonna survive don't make the same mistakes that some of your competitors are making i.e. bringing devices to the market with software issues. This damages your brand and makes your consumers uncomfortable.

Just sayin...

Facebookers hit by click-jacking exploit

Facebook administrators have blocked a click-jacking exploit that displayed images of a scantily clad woman on profile pages without first prompting the user for permission, writes The Register.

The attack began when a victim encountered the image of the near-naked woman on a friend's profile page along with the words "Want 2 C something hot? Click da button, baby!"

Facebookers who took the bait – and were logged in to their accounts at the time – found their profile pages were updated to include the same image. The more people who fell for the come-on, the more the come-on was presented to new potential victims, giving the attack a viral quality.

Hehe... Be careful what links you click on!!!

My all time favorite episode of Top Gear!!!

AP to boost Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent claims the Asia-Pacific region, particularly India and China, will remain the company's major driver of revenue growth fuelled by technology convergence, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Revenue contributions from the Asia-Pacific region will likely rise further from the third-quarter's 19% of total revenue, Sean Dolan, president for Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific notes.

Dolan says growth in the region will be driven by demand for the convergence of fixed-line and wireless networks by carriers to improve cost efficiencies, and demand for third-generation mobile services with wider bandwidths.

Africa is conspicuous by it's absence here...

Bytes Communication Systems has announced that the latest Dell'Oro Group reports have found its flagship Alcatel-Lucent switching products to have outperformed the market once again.

These findings mark the 14th consecutive quarter of market growth for the product suite, a remarkable feat considering that overall the market for LAN and WLAN has declined by 22% over the last year, while Alcatel-Lucent product figures remained steady.

Says Nick Hughes, Product Manager at Bytes Communication Systems: “While many competing products in this market have seen significant declines in sales, Alcatel-Lucent has remained consistently stable and has even managed to grow its market share. This is a strong testament to the quality of the products. We are proud to be the premier partner of Alcatel-Lucent in South Africa and be able to offer these best-of-breed products to our customers.”

The success of the brand comes as a result of the company's complete offering, which brings real value to customers, as well as its focus on verticals, such as education, government, healthcare and utilities, which are still investing despite global recession.

“These are significant markets in South Africa, especially with the renewed focus on improving service delivery, and by leveraging the power of Alcatel-Lucent's products, we can work with organisations within these verticals to deliver solutions precisely suited to their needs, using world-class product suites and our own extensive knowledge of the local market,” Hughes adds.

The success of the Alcatel-Lucent data network solutions distributed by Bytes Communication Systems can be attributed to a number of factors. The solutions are highly available, allowing for continuous enterprise business support through network resource and performance, while at the same time being cost-effective and future proofed for improved budget control through scalable technologies and optimised design. The solutions are also secure, which is especially important for business-critical information, and incorporate intrusion detection, prevention and full access control.

“With an easy to manage and interoperable interface for remote, cost-effective control through a centrally managed system that supports industry standards, mobile options that allow employees to work off site through WiFi technology, and superior green credentials for lowering running costs through minimised power consumption and cooling requirements, Alcatel-Lucent network products are well ahead of the game,” concludes Hughes.

Bytes Communication Systems Bytes Communication Systems is a broad-based supplier of state-of-the-art communication solutions in voice and data and specialises in converged ICT solutions. We provide our customers with a complete range of end-to-end business communications solutions, including voice servers, contact centres, bandwidth optimisation, security, wired and wireless network infrastructure solutions, managed communication solutions as well as a complete range of pre- and post sales services. Bytes Communication Systems is a level 3 BBBEE contributor, and a "Value Adding Enterprise", enabling you to claim 137.5% of procurement spend.

Editoral contacts Bytes Technology Group Marius Venter Marketing Manager (011) 345 3000 mventer@bytescomms.co.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Anti-Clockwise Charlene Carroll charlene@anticlockwise.co.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it