May 21 Roundup

This "Switched On" post from Ross Rubin at NPD Group via Engadget about RAZR d'être got me thinking about storage and handsets. I haven't been paying too much attention lately, but in the U.S. is the industry standardizing on adding storage to handsets only via removable solid-state memory cards instead of having more on-board memory or micro hard drives to keep bill of materials costs down? Durability of hard drives in an handset is an issue. But with iPod nanos going up to 8GB right now and rumored to be heading in the 16GB and/or 32GB direction soon, how come on-board handset storage hasn't increased much? If music phones are supposed to replace iPods and other PMPs (not my belief) in the future then will most mobile content be stored via removable memory cards?

Bob Egan at the Tower Group is quoted via IDG News Service about Symantec offering a Norton secruity smartphone suite to help enterprises manage and protect Window Mobile handsets. Will this help advance mobile enterprise efforts or is just another security company attempting to create a need and fear (i.e. mobile anti-virus) where no problem exists today?

Other analysts in the news for May 21:

• Thomas Husson at JupiterResearch about Mobile Number Portability
• Michael Gartenberg at JupiterResearch about Camera Phones vs. Cameras
• Dean Bubley at Disruptive Analysis about Aruba joins the enterprise dual-mode fray
• Bena Roberts at BKI Media about MCN mobile search takes over in Thailand
• Stuart Carlaw at ABI Research and Michael Thelander at Signals Research Group via Seattle Times Newspaper about Cellphone companies looking to conquer the great indoors
• Paul Brown and David Kerr at Strategy Analytics about SprintNextel Wins Mobile Portal Discoverability
• Charles Golvin at Forrester Research via the New York Post about JOBS GAMBLES BRAND REP ON iPHONE 1.0
• Jeremy Green at Ovum via theIndependent about C&W to take on mobile giants with new workplace service
• Carolina Milanesi at Gartner, Thomas Husson at JupiterResearch and Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics via the International Herald Tribune about Europeans can't wait to push iPhone's buttons
• Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics, Carolina Milanesi at Gartner and Shailendra Pandey at ABI Research via Cellular-News about Vodafone Launches Own-brand, Ultra-cheap Phones
• Julie Ask at JupiterResearch via RCR Wireless News about Mobile ad networks, building a business in a fragmented market
• Roger Entner at IAG Research via washingtonpost.com about For Texting Teens, an OMG Moment When the Phone Bill Arrives