Nokia shipped 20000 Nokia N95s to UK retailers for its release last Monday (April 2).

Nokia said its 1000 pre-orders from Carphone Warehouse customers was the highest number in Nokias history.

The N95 is Nokias most highly-specified handset to date. It is the first N-series model to feature in-built GPS and a five megapixel camera. SIM-free price is £599 though it will be free on high-end contracts.

Nokia UK head of multimedia Andrew Connell said: Previous N-series models were targeted at one area whether it was music or images but this doesnt compromise on any feature. Photo quality is better than a lot of digital cameras.

Although the launch was dogged by talk of a lack of supply Connell said it would not be a problem unless sales greatly exceeded expectation.

Nokia has also announced the youth-oriented Nokia 5070 featuring Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging as an alternative to SMS. Launch is set for the second half of 2007.

Sony Ericsson has teamed up with Sagem to produce entry-level phones under the Sony Ericsson brand.

The deal was prompted by demand from the networks for entry-level Sony Ericsson devices.

The phones will retain the look and feel of Sony Ericsson handsets and retail for between £30 and £70 on prepay.

Sony Ericsson vice-president and head of its product business unit Howard Lewis said: Sony Ericsson has a successful business in the mid-to-high tier with the Cybershot and Walkman ranges. At the entry level weve been a bit more speculative about our product and weve tended to work with original device manufacturers.

But Lewis said that Sony Ericsson had no plans to compete at the ultra-low entry level.

A phone development unit is to be established at Sagems premises in Cergy on the outskirts of Paris.

Lewis said it was too early to say when the new phones would arrive or what features they would have.

He added that Sony Ericsson had no intention of acquiring Sagem: Todays announcement will not lead to this conclusion he said.

LG Mobile is to launch handsets pre-installed with Google into the UK later this year.

Selected LG handsets will be pre-installed with Google services including Google search Google Maps Blogger Mobile and Gmail.

Google director of product management Deep Nishar said: Users around the world now have more options for accessing information on the move through search and Gmail. With applications such as Blogger users are now free to express themselves wherever they are in the world.

LG product planning team vice-president Paul Bae said the collaboration built on LGs efforts to set new standards for wireless handsets.

Estimated European shipping dates for the Google-enabled LG devices are in the second half of 2007.

Google announced in January that Samsung phone users would also be able to access Google products from their handsets. Selected Samsung models are to ship with Google search Google Maps and Gmail shortly.

Car kit installer Toad said last week that demand for new hands-free kits has jumped 20 per cent in the month since new penalties were introduced for driving while using a mobile phone.

Toad director of sales Andrew Sarssam said: When the use of hand-held mobile phones in cars was banned over three years ago the fleet industry was very quick to respond. However this time around fleets have been slower. The last-minute rush suggests that some were caught off-guard.

Press Association reported that 240 drivers a day are being fined £60 with three points on their driving licence since the introduction of the new rules.

Mobile data reseller Crimson Tide has reported a 61 per cent boost to its turnover in the 14 months to December 31 to £1.10 million. Further growth through expansion and acquisitions is on the cards for 2007 it said last week.

Crimson Tide acquired Dublin-based Intelligent Data in December for £220000 and is set to launch its data solutions to the Irish market.
Crimson Tide was listed on the AIM index in August. It said last week it had 1000 data users from 70 customers on its books.

Executive chairman Barrie Whipp said: We aim to further expand the business through a combination of organic growth and acquisition.

O2s appointment of business specialists to its retail stores and service hotlines has irked independent dealers which claim they already struggle to compete with O2s direct sales.

We get on well with O2 but we wouldnt welcome a business specialist in their stores said Matt Chambers of Kent-based The Phone Chamber. It means independents have to become a one-stop solution for all communications not just mobile. It makes it a bit harder but Im sure well get around it.

Faisal Sheikh proprietor of London-based Fone Doctors added it was tough enough for independent dealers to compete with network shopfronts. This will only make it harder he said but we have to work around it and try to offer better value.

Meanwhile O2 has appointed Simon Devonshire as head of SME marketing. He was brand development manager in the B2B division of NTL:Telewest.
Devonshire said: SMEs do not have the time or resources to spend on the best solutions. Business specialists meet this need while saving time and money.

Watford-based Revive Mobile announced last week it had become the first UK mobile operation to be granted a waste management licence.

The Environment Agencys new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive which requires a company to recycle a proportion of goods that pass through its warehouses comes into effect on July 1.

Revive managing director Charlo Carabott said the company can accept any phone before recycling refurbishing or repackaging it.

Said Carabott: Some of our competitors tell a good green story promising to save the planet while donating the proceeds to charity. In truth they pay a flat rate for phones skim off the cream dump the rest and make a very nice living.

We pay according to the phones value to our business. If its worth something well give you top dollar; if its only fit for recycling well be happy to recycle it for you.

The problem of stolen phones being sold for recycling is largely ignored by the industry said Carabott. We dont want our sector to become a magnet for the criminal element. We check every handset and if its barred we reject it. We also try to reunite stolen phones with their owners working with the Metropolitan Police.

Carabott said it is uneconomical for handsets to be repaired in the UK so Revive sends devices overseas for refurbishment.

He said: The public is becoming more aware of the value attached to old phones meaning charity schemes will soon see that £20 handsets arent turning up in their boxes anymore.

Tesco Mobiles customer base increased to 1.4 million on the back of its Q4 results.

It has signed up 420000 pre-pay customers in the past 12 months making it the fastest growing mobile operator and the second biggest MVNO.

Tesco Mobile marketing director Chris Liveing said of the new Asda MVNO: If they follow us theyll be successful. But weve been around for three-and-a-half years and have gained a firm foothold in the market.

Hugh Symons Communications has launched a service to help dealers retain customers and increase their customer lifetime value.

It has set up a data specialist support team a customer retention team and a customer base management team to assist its dealer base.

This follows its appointment of dedicated account managers to work with dealers earlier this year.

The data specialist resource will support dealers on data services and products such as BlackBerry. The retention team will help dealers upgrading O2 customers and help tailor business deals. The customer base management team will enable additional bonuses for porting data connections and 24 and 36-month contracts.

Hugh Symons sales manager Carlos Pestana said: With the pressure on to get more value from customers especially in the B2B market we have already had a great response to the new terms plus weve seen our network churn figures reduce dramatically which will bring us benefits that we can pass on to dealers.

O2 has introduced a limited edition black version of its O2 ice handset.

The new O2 Ice Black slim candy bar handset is 3G and boasts an in-built MP3 player 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom and Bluetooth capabilities.
The O2 Ice Black also features 32MB of internal memory and a micro-SD card slot. It is available only at O2 UK retail stores for £59.99 on pre-pay.