Globe Telecom, the leading telecommunications operator in the Philippines, and Nokia, the global leader in mobility, today announced that Globe is the first operator in the world to offer their customers a fully integrated mobile online sharing experience with the newest compatible Nokia Nseries multimedia computers.

Without the need to download or install any additional applications, Globe customers can now upload their photos and video clips directly from their compatible Nokia Nseries device to G-Blogs, Globe’s mobile blogging service. The first devices to support this feature are the Nokia N93 and Nokia N73 multimedia computers.

Moreover, Globe customers can also post entries to G-Blogs directly through Nokia Lifeblog. Nokia Lifeblog is a unique collection and storage solution for personal multimedia content, where, with the push of a button, content from a Nokia handset can conveniently be transferred to a compatible PC or to an online blog. Nokia Lifeblog is available in all Nokia Nseries devices and other Nokia devices such as the Nokia 3230, Nokia 7610, Nokia 6680, Nokia 6681, Nokia 6630 and Nokia 6260. More information on how to use Nokia Lifeblog with G-Blogs can be found at www.g-blogs.com.

“Online sharing is one of the hottest trends to hit the cyber scene,” said Mikko Pilkama, director, Multimedia, Nokia. “More and more people each day use blogging as a medium to share their thoughts and daily musings with the rest of the world, and we are thrilled that Globe has chosen Nokia’s integrated online sharing solution to make blogging as easy and convenient as possible for their customers.”

“G-Blogs is the service of choice for people who want to stay connected to and updated about their online communities,” quipped Rina Azcuna, head, Value-Added Services, Globe. “We are delighted to cooperate with Nokia in providing a mobile blogging experience like no other.”

Easy to Use

Nokia has enhanced the image Gallery on the device to enable photographers to share full size images that they have taken with their Nokia Nseries multimedia computers. This enhancement allows access to one or several online services, such as G-Blogs. The Nokia N72, Nokia N73 and Nokia N93 are the first Nokia devices to make use of this integration, which is found in the gallery and camera applications.

Seven Asian operators today announced the formation of an alliance to enhance competitiveness in the international roaming market and deliver corporate services across the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asia Pacific Mobile Alliance boasts a combined customer base of about 100 million subscribers over eight countries and regions, but plans to expand its members over time.

The founding members are: Far EasTone (Taiwan), Hutchison Essar (India), Hutchison Telecommunications Limited (Hong Kong and Macau), KTF (South Korea), NTT DoCoMo (Japan), PT Indosat (Indonesia) and StarHub (Singapore).

The alliance will promote voice, video and data roaming via members’ GSM/GPRS/WCDMA networks, with an intention to launch roaming via HSDPA once the market is ready. These initiatives are targeted for launch in the latter half of 2006.

The alliance also aims to create a Virtual Home Environment amongst customers of member operators, so that they are able to experience seamless, convenient mobile-related services when they roam. Such services include caller ID and short codes to allow quick and easy connection to their home country operator’s voice mail and customer support.

The formation of the Asia Pacific Mobile Alliance marks the arrival of the region’s second such partnership. Last year the Bridge Mobile Alliance launched its first services – seamless GPRS and MMS roaming and a common prepaid roaming top up service.

The Bridge Alliance’s founding operator members are Airtel in India, CSL in Hong Kong, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, Maxis in Malaysia, SingTel Mobile in Singapore, SingTel Optus in Australia, Taiwan Mobile in Taiwan and Telkomsel in Indonesia. But the organisation has now opened its doors to the vendor community, with the inclusion of Chinese vendor ZTE, Sweden’s Ericsson and US manufacturer Motorola.