NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, announced it will invest Euro 42 million in its Sound Solutions innovation and manufacturing activities in Vienna, Austria in 2007. This investment will enable NXP to expand fully automated mass production of its unique rectangular speaker generation for mobile phones and develop more innovative products to strengthen its market leadership position in a rapidly expanding sector that is predicted to be up to two billion units in 2008.

PixSense announced that it has joined the Symbian Platinum Program to support the growing market for Symbian smartphones, by extending the PixSense PSP (Preserve, Share, Publish) Platform to the Symbian 7.x, 8.x, 9.x OS. PixSense’s PSP Platform streamlines and simplifies mobile media management, enabling monetization of user-generated content on smartphones. It will give Symbian smartphone end users the power to easily preserve, share, publish, and manage their digital mobile media and data.

THQ Wireless Inc., a subsidiary of THQ Inc., announced that NFL Gridiron is scheduled to be available for wireless download this September, in conjunction with the commencement of the 2007 NFL season. Featuring all 32 NFL teams, NFL Gridiron will allow football fans around the nation to enjoy adrenaline-charged NFL action anywhere, anytime. NFL Gridiron’s unique 8-on-8 format is designed to allow for a streamlined pick up and play experience. Featuring the hottest names in the NFL, including Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Urlacher, Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart, players will control multiple positions including quarterback, running back, kicker and wide receiver with the use of intuitive one press sticky keys.

Our Consumer Electronics in the US report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the in-home, portable and in-car consumer electronics products markets at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market- be the new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.

Over the years, mobile handsets have developed from a simple communication device into a friendly multimedia electronic device. While traditional phones only required a basic receiver, transducer and microphone, today’s fully loaded handsets require racetrack receiver, dual stereo speakers, hands free, MP3 capability, microphone, vibrator, and some other accessories like headset and Bluetooth. As a result, handsets require a significant number of acoustic devices of smaller size with excellent sound quality to meet the demand of consumer. Annual shipments of music phones are growing at a faster rate than those of the broad handset market. In addition to the growing shipment of music phones, there is increase in demand for stereo sound.

In an announcement made by Excel Fortune Holdings Ltd, it has been confirmed that Europe's largest mobile phone recycling facility will be established in Wales, UK to service and supply what has until now been a fragmented supply chain. The company, headed up by telecoms industry veteran Mike Bandeira, has committed GBP6million to the venture with an estimated total start-up investment, including capital turnover, of GBP15million. The project has also been offered funding by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Sprint is partnering with twelve-time Latin Grammy winning rock superstar Juanes to offer exclusive mobile music and video of his highly-anticipated new album “La Vida… es un Ratico” (Life is a Moment). The record’s first single “Me Enamora” premiers on the Sprint Music Store September 4, providing Sprint customers with Power Vision phones an exclusive preview of the full album set for release on October 23. Sprint will also be the exclusive wireless sponsor of Juanes’ 2008 US tour. The campaign underscores Sprint’s commitment to the Hispanic market and, with over 95,000 downloadable Latin music titles, Sprint offers music lovers the technology that provides instant wireless access to their favorite tunes directly from their phone.

Twenty years ago tomorrow, an historic agreement was signed in Copenhagen by 15 telecommunications operators that led to the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications, and a mobile communications industry that today serves more than 2.5 billion people across 218 countries and territories. The ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ agreement of 7th September 1987 laid the foundation for the first Europe-wide digital cellular system, which soon became the world’s first global mobile system as used by more than 700 mobile operators and served by thousands of suppliers today. The agreement also triggered a technology evolution path that continues today with the roll-out of more than 120 mobile broadband networks in 61 countries.

Research and Markets has announced the addition of “Worldwide Demand Remains Strong for MP3 and Portable Media Players” report to their offering. Worldwide unit shipments for both flash-based and HDD-based portable media player (PMP)/MP3 players reached 182 million in 2006, up 42% from 2005. Fueled by market drivers, such as inexpensive flash-based players available around the world, growing broadband penetration, and the increasing availability of affordable, legitimate music and video online, the PMP/MP3 player market is expected to grow to 275 million units by 2011.

Ethertronics announced that Samsung selected its Isolated Magnetic Dipole (IMD) Antennas to be incorporated into Samsung's Ultra Edition II handsets. This announcement follows news that Samsung outperformed its rivals and is now the number-two handset maker in the world, in part due to the success of its Ultra Edition handset line. Ethertronics' IMD antennas are incorporated into Samsung's SGH-U300 and SGH-U600 handset models and the award-winning SGH-U700, representing three-fourths of Samsung's Ultra Edition II product line. Ethertronics' IMD antennas also powered the majority of Samsung's 3G Ultra Edition handset line, which was released in 2006.