Amazon.com brings book buying to WAP phones

The company has developed a www.amazon.co.uk mobile site on which users can search for read reviews and purchase from Amazons on-line catalogue.

Nokia and Amazon.com have worked together developing the service and will promote the Amazon.com services on the Club Nokia website.

The UK web site will be later extended around the world and to other Amazon sites.

Amazon.com has very quickly gained success and brand recognition in Internet commerce. We are happy to see that the company is now expanding their effort into mobile commerce said Nokia president Matti Alahuhta.

This is the right time to start pursuing this market and creating brand in the mobile world. Amazon.com is an excellent service to complement other mobile internet services available today. We look forward to working with Amazon.com in the exciting field of mobile commerce.

Said Amazon president Joe Galli:

This is a great day for customers in the UK and for mobile commerce. Consumers will be able to set up their account browse search and shop from wherever they are simply by using their mobile phone.

Mobile commerce at amazon.co.uk extends the service we offer our customers to an exciting new dimension. We believe in the future of mobile commerce and are very excited to be working with Nokia.

Nokia and Amazon.com will carry out joint marketing campaigns this year and next year to promote their new relationship.

Amazon.com will also be the first major company to be promoted in Club Nokia the software which accompanies new handsets to guide users to Noklas web site and associated links.

Carphone Warehouse invests 2.5m in start-up

Dataroams business strategy is to host manage and implement software which will allow companies to communicate more efficiently with their staff in the field.

Another 2.5 million has been put in by investment fund Spark. Dataroams services will be provided over the existing mobile networks and the Internet deploying WAP and other emerging technologies.

This represents the largest single investment either company has made to date. Dataroam was formed in November 1999 by Simon Gibbs who previously worked as Director of Strategy at Cable & Wireless.

He is joined by senior industry executives from Compaq Digital PWC and United News & Media. Dataroam will use this 5m first-round investment to launch its services in the UK. It plans to raise additional financing to scale the business across Europe.

This is the first time The Carphone Warehouse and Spark have made a joint investment and they anticipate working together in future investments in the wireless sector.

The Carphone Warehouse chief operating officer David Ross said: This represents a great opportunity to invest in an outstanding management team in a sector which we understand well.

We are well-placed to add value through our industry knowledge and understanding of the commercial applications.

Dextra teams up with Nokia and Psion

The pack available only from Dextra contains a Nokio 8210 personal handsfree kit Psion Revo organiser docking station leads and blue leather case.

It is being sold in five language versions: English French German Dutch and Nordic.

Teenage thug held in custody over pupils phone theft

The pupils were allegedly held at knifepoint on the Tube for part of their journey after a night out.

Keith Barber (19) is charged with robbing Alexander Lewis of an Ericsson phone Alexander Druttman of another mobile and Grant Chien of 15 in cash on January 28 on a train between Bayswater and Earls Court.

Ericsson swoops on companies selling pirate accessories at CeBIT

More than 10 companies who were illegally using the Ericsson brand were served with cease and desist letters as a part of the companys commitment to design and trademark protection.

Previous raids reduced the number of companies infringing on Ericssons design or trademark rights.

During CeBIT Ericsson issued approximately 30 cease and desist letters to more than 10 manufacturers who were illegally using the Ericsson brand on their products or infringing on Ericssons registered design rights. The German court issued three injunctions to prohibit exhibitors from showing and selling counterfeit products.

Ericsson says the action at CeBIT is partly made to protect the brand but also because counterfeit products often do not meet the manufacturers quality and safety standards making them suspect to malfunctions. In such cases Ericsson says it can not accept warranty claims.

We have seen clearly this year that previous efforts have paid off the number of companies exhibiting counterfeit products were considerably lower says Jan Ahrenbring vice president marketing and communications at Ericsson Mobile Communications.

The actions taken will be carefully evaluated and possible future legal actions will be considered.

CPS drops charge against dealer

Scott-Crawford had appeared in February at Skipton Magistrates Court charged with attempting to obtain a pecuniary advantage by wrongly claiming his previous employer Kay Petty of Mobile Telecom in Harrogate was bankrupt.

The case has been dropped because there was not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

Orange opens 10 million customer care centre

This brings the total number of Orange employees in the region to over 4500.

It is the third Orange communications centre to be established in the North East.

The network has spend over 28 million in customer communications centres in the last year alone. Orange says the North Tyneside customer communications centre is one of the most advanced centres in Europe.

Bob Fuller COO Orange said:

This new facility will be a centre of excellence for Orange customer services enhancing our ability to offer the best possible care. It also represents the considerable continuing investment made by Orange in its employees customers and local communities.

Dolphin Telecom hit by handset shortages

The company says it expects to increase connections from the second quarter once the Nokia handset is relaunched and an improved version of the Motorola handset comes out this month.

Dolphin has reported a net loss for last year of $169.3 million compared to a loss of $53.8 million in 1998. The increase loss was mainly as a result of the construction of the UK and French network.

Dolphins first UK chief executive officer Ted Beddoes was replaced last November by One 2 One deputy managing director Steven Evans.

The Dolphin digital radio network covers 87 per cent of the UK population. The company has also built networks in France Belgium and Germany as part of its plan to offer seamless pan-European services to corporate users.

Motolec sells out to Chameleon

The company will continue trading under the Motolec name and all 41 staff will be retained.

Motolec had a turnover last year of 4 million selling cell phones accessories car sat-nav equipment and car audio products from Nakamichi Alpine Kenwood Pioneer and Sony.

This is a very exciting acquisition on the road to making Chameleon the biggest UK installer of every kind of in-car equipment said Chameleon chief executive Phil Stanley.

Added group managing director Steve Sharratt:

Chameleon has acquired Motolec due to the synergy between its car audio business and NCFs specialisation in cell phone equipment. We plan to dramatically increase the number of outlets and our product range and add to our existing network of 160 engineers to provide a nationwide installation service.

Orange spends 10.6m on customer care centre

The centre will create 500 new jobs and will employ 1500 people. This brings to 4500 the total number of Orange employees in the region. It is the third Orange communications centre to be established in the North East. The network has spent over 28 million in customer communications centres in the last year alone. Orange says the centre is one of the most advanced centres in Europe.