SIM management, anyone?

Bluefish has launched Phonefile Pro, a SIM-editing package for distribution by network operators and independent retailers wishing to enhance their service offerings.

It is particularly useful when service changes require a SIM swap, enabling users to edit and manage one or more SIM cards with software developed for Windows.

More than a SIM copier, Phonefile Pro also enables users to view, edit and print names and numbers, save, load, import and export numbers from a contacts database and carry out global number changes. It is also possible to view, edit and print stored SMS messages, or to control diverts and call-barring, and to manage security features or back up data.

Both the software and the packaging can be obtained in various customised and OEM editions.

Sony has announced the first handheld computer to carry the company`s own microprocessor, signalling dissatisfaction with existing chips from others, reports eWeek. Current Sony Cli'es have Intel microprocessors. The Cli'e, due to ship in September, will also mark the company`s entry into wireless communication.

The new line will be optimised for audio files and video while draining little battery power. Sony promises smoother video and longer battery life - 16 hours for continuous playback of music or five hours for video. Performance is to double with an attachable battery pack.

The device automatically finds and makes wireless connections without a configuration process that other wireless PDAs require. It also is the first in the US to have a horizontal screen in a clamshell design, eliminating the need for Web surfers to scroll right-and-left to see a full Web page.

A week of chilling earnings showed mobile phone-makers are caught in a squeeze between price competition and a failure to sell fancy models with cameras, games and calendars.

Reuters reports that quarterly earnings from four of the five biggest handset manufacturers paint a gloomy picture of a sector where a trickle of growth goes straight down the drain with increasingly steep price cuts.

Hesitant consumers shaken by a weak economy are not interested in buying the most expensive models, Jorma Ollila, chief executive of the world`s largest mobile phone-maker, Nokia, said this week.