LG Announces KP500 Affordable Touch Screen Phone
LG announces the launch of LG KP500 with an affordable introduction price. Slim-profiled and lightweight, the LG KP500 is a GSM phone which can operate in four frequency bands and supports 39 languages. LG did not reveal the selling price but said it will be affordable to most mobile phone users. When available, it will come in black, Vandyke brown, Anodizing silver, and Elegant gold, giving consumers more choices for their personal tastes.The LG KP500 has an embedded stylus pen concealed in the base that can be easily removed for the advanced handwriting recognition program that allows the user to write memos and text messages, and also edit photo images by touching the screen with the pen tip. The QWERTY keyboard on the 3-inch display screen slides into view when the LG-KP500 is held horizontally, and the auto rotating display always shifts images or documents for proper viewing no matter which way the handset is turned. Also packed into the LG KP500 are motion sensor games that are played by turning, flipping, and shifting the handset for a more active and fun gaming experience.
“The feedback we receive from consumers around the world indicate that there’s more people who wish to try the latest touch screen phones,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “We want to reach out to this group and LG KP500 is our answer to deliver a high quality full touch screen phone that is easy to use and much easier to afford. Within reach of many consumers, we hope that more people will experience the joy of using the latest touch screen technology with LG KP500.”
The LG KP500 will be available at the end of October 2008 in Europe and then on to the rest of the world. The price of the LG KP500 will be announced during the launch.
Labels: LG
Sony Ericsson G910 Concept Looks Hot, Feels Comfy
While LG are getting ready to announce the Prada II, the Sony Ericsson G910 would make a fine rival for the first generation of handsets branded with the fashion designer’s logo. Designed by J. Havrlant, this concept phone is both stylish and touch-friendly.
Its navigational pad beneath the screen seems fairly easy to use, while the rest of the buttons surrounding it are (or seem) touch sensitive. I’m also betting that the display is a touchscreen and I can see that the handset features a frontal camera and probably Windows Mobile (notice the little icon on the left?).Labels: sony ericsson
i-mate Jama 101 Launched in India, via Airtel
India's largest mobile carrier, Bharti Airtel, has recently announced the release of a new Windows Mobile Pocket PC: i-mate Jama 101. Not quite a great looker, i-mate Jama 101 runs on Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, and is targeted at business users.The features of i-Mate Jama 101 include a 2.4-inch TFT touchscreen display with 240 x 320 pixels, tri-band GSM connectivity (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz), Outlook email, HTML browser, document viewer and editor, Bluetooth, a 2 Megapixel camera and expandable memory. The Pocket PC measures 105 x 52.5 x 15.5 millimeters, weighs 103 grams, and packs a Li-Po 1020 mAh battery said to last up to 4 hours in talk-time mode or up to 150 hours in stand-by mode.
“As the market leader, Airtel is committed to bringing pioneering solutions that deliver greater value and enhance the communication experience of its customers,” declared Chief Marketing Officer of Mobile Services for Bharti Airtel, Sanjay Gupta. “The Jama 101, powered by the Airtel's state-of-the-art EDGE wireless network, will leverage i-mate's unique combination of style and powerful functionalities to redefine the way mobile users stay in touch at times of work or leisure.”
Chief Executive Officer of i-mate Jim Morrison added, “i-mate is synonymous with delivering stylish and powerful Windows Mobile devices for all types of customers and we are delighted to partner with Bharti Airtel for the launch of Jama 101. Jama 101 is designed for those wanting an affordable and powerful smartphone for email, web browsing multimedia, as well as business needs.”
Jama 101 should be available across India as of now, for a retail price of 12,900 INR (285 USD, or 200 Euros). While this is not much to pay for a Pocket PC, keep in mind that this one doesn't have the latest Windows Mobile 6.1, and its overall design can't really compete with the likes of HTC Touch Diamond, Samsung Omnia or Palm Treo Pro (to name just a few of the latest Windows Mobile handsets).
Labels: Other mobile phone brands
Global sales of LG Prada hit 1m
LG Prada - 1m sold!Hey I wonder if the original tagline for the device was “Touch Fashion” - probably not actually - it could well have been something far more obscure…..
*update* well the only official site I could find said “Mobile Innovation meets Avante Garde Design” - still think my tagline is better :-)
Labels: LG
Sony Ericsson's New Cybershot Rumors
For some time now, leaked information about Sony Ericsson working on a new Cybershot model has been circulating on the Internet, and it seems that this fall, besides the Xperia X1, the Swedish-Japanese giant manufacturer also has a couple of mid/high-end devices in store for us. Apparently, the company is working on a k750 successor, codenamed Kate.Of course, there's little information available on this one but we have been able to find a few things about its specs along with some blurry photos, which might prove to be fake – still, we'll have to wait until the phone hits the market to see that.
Apparently, the phone comes with a 5 Megapixel camera with Xenon Flash (as seen in the photos), it's a bit thicker than Sony Ericsson's C902, has no GPS and no frontal camera for video calling, though it does have a light sensor, a switch button between Still & Video as well as a button to access gallery of recently taken images, Sony Ericsson’s Java Platform 8.4 and 'Smile Shutter' (without 'Smart Contrast'). It is expected to have at least EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA and also Bluetooth 2.0 (as found on many of SE's handhelds).
These are all the details we could find on Kate so far. The phone, judging by the features presented above, seems to be a mid-range one, and the price it will sell for is rumored to be somewhere between 300 USD and 450 USD, without a contract, of course.The only thing to do now is to wait for more news about Sony Ericsson's new Cybershot and see where and when it will land. The good part is that they say it's going to be released in October, so the waiting won't be long. The rumor could be backed up by the photos we found, if they are indeed real, though I guess only time will tell.
Labels: sony ericsson
Samsung Reveals Yet Another 8MP Camera Phone
Five megapixel camera phones are now becoming passé. The new "in" is 8 megapixel and the competition is getting extremely fierce. LG has two phones with 8MP cameras and a bunch of other features, Sony Ericsson has their C905 and Samsung already has the i8510 INNOV8 slider, but it seems that was just not enough. Samsung has revealed the next 8MP model - the M8800 - but reports are a bit unclear as to its name. It’s either Bresson or Pixon.The handset looks like it's an upgrade to the Omnia with a similar 3.2-inch touch screen display incorporating a 240 x 400 pixel resolution. However, other reports mention that the M8800 will be running on Samsung's proprietary OS and not Windows Mobile. Other features include 3G with HSDPA, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP and of course USB connectivity. It will also feature built-in GPS functionality and automatic screen rotation, microSD card support for external memory (no word on internal memory yet), a media player with DivX support for video and an FM radio.
Apparently this handset will also have handwriting recognition. Does this mean it will have a stylus? We'll have to wait and see.
This 8 megapixel, auto-focus camera phone will feature settings that include face recognition with smile detection and blink detection, Geotagging and 30 fps video recording in VGA resolution. It will also include WDR which is wide dynamic range and advanced shake reduction.There’s no official word on a release date and hence no official pricing, but some reports are saying it could be out by November with an approximate price of about Rs. 37,000 ($800).
Labels: Samsung
Apple iPhone 2.2 OS shows off refreshed iPhone Safari
Unless your a bona-fide Apple iPhone developer, chances are you don’t have access to the latest iPhone OS beta and the changes hidden within. That’s where we step in.The iPhone 2.2 OS beta 1 that was seeded to iPhone developers earlier this week apparently includes a refreshed iPhone Safari UI. The picture you see here shows a new iPhone Safari design that does away with the magnifying glass icon in favor of a dedicated search bar riding shotgun alongside the URL bar. The refresh-button has been moved from beside the URL bar to within. The new design results in a UI more in line with the desktop version of the Safari browser.
Compare the new iPhone Safari look to the current iPhone Safari design below.
Of course, we’re all still waiting on Apple to implement some sort of global cut-and-paste functionality on the iPhone and iPhone 3G…
Labels: Iphone
GIGA-BYTE GSmart MW702 & MS802 Available in Hungary with New Smart Touch II UI
GIGA-BYTE Communications showcases its new GSmart MW702 & MS802 in Hungary, and announced that the availability of MW702 in market from 26th September. GSmart MW702 and MS802 was introduced earlier this year in World Mobile Congress 2008, both pda phones will come with the latest version of Smart Touch II UI.GSmart MW702 and MS802 are PDA phones that aim to target at the business users. The two devices share similar specifications, MW702 is supporting Edge wireless data connection while MS802 supports HSDPA wireless data connection. In addition, these two devices are also supporting GPS functions with its build-in SiRF III navigation chip. Furthermore, MW702 and MS802 also support location messages function which can send out messages to the appointed recipients about the phone holder’s location anywhere and anytime to ensure personal security.
The new Smart Touch II now allows users to add in more program icons for quick access. The program shortcut icon will automatically add into the shortcut manager, and users can decide whether to place them into the shortcut menu according to their own preferences for easier and faster access to the programs.
In addition, Smart Touch II has a new function of the speed rolling phone book; your contact on the SIM card wll also be included automatically. Users can simply access to the phone book by sliding up the screen for activation and find their contact either by rolling the contact photo or find the name initial shown at the bottom of the screen.Gigabyte MW702 Specifications:
* Processor: Marvell PXA270 520 MHz
* Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
* Display: 2.8-inch 65K colors TFT LCD, 240 x 320
* Memory: 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
* GPS
* Battery: 1300 mAh Li-ion
Camera: 3 Megapixel , autofocus
* GSM, GPRS class 12, EDGE
* Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, Mini USB 2.0
* microSD card slot
* Size: 117 x 59.8 x 14.8 mm
Labels: Other mobile phone brands
New nokia N85 color revealed!
Finally, its almost here. In an internet article from dailymobile, colors for the upcoming Nokia N85 phone was revealed. The phone as seen on the picture would feature a dark brown and dark grey colors.Nokia unveiled the Nokia N85, the latest Nokia Nseries multimedia cell phone made to set new standards for mobile entertainment, gaming and sharing. Along with an eye-catching 2.6″ OLED screen and smooth, sleek finish, the Nokia N85 cell phone redefines the mobile experience.
It boasts Nokia NGage gaming, music with in-built FM transmitter, digital camera with Carl Zeiss optics and geotagging capabilities, three month integrated license for turn-by-turn voice navigation and high-speed internet connectivity, all in one mobile device. A 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and bright dual LED flash captures clear, sharp images as well as DVD-quality videos at 30 frames per second.
Labels: Nokia
Scartel WiMAX Concept Phone Comes from Art Lebedev
Remember the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard? You know, the really cool one? Well that keyboard was designed by Art Lebedev. The same company has developed a WiMAX concept phone together with Russian carrier Scartel.
The device looks like an iPhone clone from the pictures here. It will also have Apple like features if we don’t count the WiMAX support: WiFi, tri-band GSM and a 850×480 touchscreen. Two cameras are also available, one for pictures and the other one for video calls. There’s a microSD slot, a 3.5mm headphone plug and an A/V plug. A mini-USB socket will fit about right
While the design is not final and future changes might still occur, we know for sure that Scartel has WiMAX networks deployed in Moscow and St. Petersburg only for now. In the USA Sprint is getting ready for its XOHM network but it hasn’t launched it yet.
Read more...
The device looks like an iPhone clone from the pictures here. It will also have Apple like features if we don’t count the WiMAX support: WiFi, tri-band GSM and a 850×480 touchscreen. Two cameras are also available, one for pictures and the other one for video calls. There’s a microSD slot, a 3.5mm headphone plug and an A/V plug. A mini-USB socket will fit about rightWhile the design is not final and future changes might still occur, we know for sure that Scartel has WiMAX networks deployed in Moscow and St. Petersburg only for now. In the USA Sprint is getting ready for its XOHM network but it hasn’t launched it yet.
Labels: Other mobile phone brands
Motorola Reveals New Candy Bar Handset : Motorola VE538
Motorola is out with a new candy bar handset. Although there doesn’t seem to be any official launch for it yet, the Motorola VE538 is quite evident on their website.The handset features a 2 megapixel camera with a Shozu client pre-installed for blogging or uploading images. Since it’s a 3G enabled handset with support for GPRS/EDGE, connectivity will be no problem for the Motorola VE538.
Other features include a media player that reads AMR, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3 ,WMA, WAV, XMF, SP-MIDI and MIDI file formats, a video player that is compatible with MPEG-4, H.263, H.264, Windows Media, 3GP playback MPEG-4n and H.263 recording (.3gp file format). The handset comes with just 10MB of internal memory that's expandable with microSD cards up to 4GB.
Since there hasn’t been an official launch the pricing hasn’t been revealed yet.
Labels: Motorola
What You Didn’t Know About the Chinese iPhone 3G with No 3G and No WiFi
One of the most weird news I got to deliver this month was China Mobile’s request to Apple to strip down 3G and WiFi support. Like I said earlier, the WiFi seems rather a harsh method. Communism in the purest form? Well not exactly! But certainly weird.It’s understandable that a regular Chinese has no 3G support from its carrier. But to refuse WiFi is what I don’t digg. And Apple is going to listen to China Mobile’s request. After all China does have millions of mobile customers ready to get an iPhone, no matter how crappy it becomes.
A report from Daiwa Institute of Research says Apple will get an iPhone version with no 3G or WiFi ready for the Chinese market. It’s a worse first generation iPhone for China Mobile. And by the way Apple did sell about 400,000 first-gen iPhones with WiFi support in China already.
China Mobile wants its users to use only their TD-SCDMA network and nothing else. I say you shouldn’t buy one if you are in China. Get a tank and protest in front of it!
Labels: Iphone
iPhone 3G to Launch in Russia on October 3rd
We’ve come a long way since we have first started talking about the iPhone 3G in Russia. Local carriers are ready to sell Apple’s device and, according to Reuters, the actual sales will start on October 3rd.All major carriers will have iPhone offers for their subscribers. MTS, Vimpelcom and MegaFon will all have the same pricing offers. The iPhone 8GB will sell for about $924 while the iPhone 16GB will cost $1,084 without a plan. We’ll be waiting for detailed plan offers.
Labels: Iphone
Palm Treo Pro Now Available in US
Palm today announced that the unlocked Treo Pro smartphone is now available in the United States.Palm Treo Pro is the latest smartphone from Palm, comes with built in Wi-Fi, GPS and UMTS/HSDPA network capabilities. Treo Pro is unlocked, giving end users the flexibility to simply insert their existing active SIM card and immediately start using their Treo Pro anywhere there is GSM coverage, without a new contract.Treo Pro is now available for a suggested retail price of $549 through the Palm online store and its reseller. The Treo Pro smartphone comes with a power charger, microUSB cable and a stereo headset (3.5mm). Other accessories designed exclusively for Treo Pro (sold separately) include a vehicle power charger, leather side case, travel microUSB cable, cradle, extra battery, TTY audio adapter, and replacement stylish.
Labels: Palm
Visa and Nokia working together to deliver payment applications
Visa and Nokia announced plans today to deliver Visa payment and payment-related services - including contactless payments, remote payments, money transfer, alerts and notifications - for Nokia’s next generation handsets beginning with the Nokia 6212 classic, expected to be available starting October 2008.The Visa applications will first be made available for trial use by interested financial institutions and will allow consumers with the Nokia 6212 classic and a relationship with a participating Visa issuing bank to use their Visa account to pay for goods and services; initiate mobile money transfers to other individuals with Visa accounts; receive near real-time notifications of activity on their Visa account; and “opt in” to receive offers and discounts from merchants.
“Mobile payments and services are one of the most vibrant areas of innovation at Visa, as we seek to accelerate the migration from paper forms of payment to digital money,” said Tim Attinger, head of global product innovation at Visa Inc. “Visa is already better money - more convenient, reliable and secure than cash. Putting Visa payments and exciting new services into the NFC-equipped Nokia 6212 classic adds another layer of convenience and security for Visa account holders and Nokia customers around the world.”
The Nokia 6212 classic includes integrated Near-Field Communications chipsets (NFC) which lets the mobile device behave like a contactless payment card, where consumers simply wave it within a few inches of a special point of sale reader to complete a Visa transaction. Nokia and Visa first demonstrated NFC technology in December 2005 with the launch of the first large scale NFC trial in the United States at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta.
The plans announced today represent the next phase in an ongoing effort between Visa and Nokia to make mobile payments a reality for consumers around the globe. The long-term collaboration between Nokia and Visa has already resulted in multiple trials of Visa mobile payments enabled through NFC technology on four continents, including in the United States with Wells Fargo Bank; in Malaysia with Maybank and Maxis and most recently in London with Barclays Bank.
Labels: Nokia
ASUS P565 to Hit the Stores in October
The mobile industry sure changed rapidly in the last few years. Today, more and more companies move to higher-resolution displays. So, in order to keep up with the evolution toward high-res displays, ASUS came up with a device that's called simply P565. As seen in the picture, it really doesn't look like much on the outside, but when powered up, the handheld shows its true face. It packs a never seen before 800MHz Marvell processor (a first on any WM PDA phone), a memory of 256 ROM and 128MB RAM. This should make the Windows Mobile 6.1 along with ASUS's Glide touch-control software run easy and smooth.ASUS crammed in its P565 almost all the goodies in mobile phone technology today: WiFi radio, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, HSDPA support, GPS receiver, microSD card slot, and also a 3 Megapixel camera. The 2.8 inch display with a 480X640 resolution will take care that all the functions above are looking bright, crisp and hi-res.
It seems like ASUS brings in the high-res best-device game a worthy opponent for phones like Nokia Tube and Samsung Bresson that are also rumored to be launched soon.
Only one thing might be considered as a minus in this phone. ASUS is expected to release it with a not-so-global tri-band (900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE, just a single, lowly band of 3G support for UMTS/HSPA networks working on the 2100Mhz frequency. Then again, the lucky power users with 2100Mhz 3G networks at their disposal will sure be glad to get one.
Unfortunately, nothing sure is known about the actual release date, except the fact that it will be somewhere in October this year. Another thing that's unknown is the price for this device, but it's pretty sure that it will not come cheap. Only looking at the partial specs that we could find and presented above, it is clear that it's destined to high-end users, so if you fancy this peculiar device and think about buying one when it launches, then you should start saving some money.
Labels: Asus
IM-S380K – Stylish HSDPA Phone from Pantech
As it turns out, the South Korean company has a strong market share in its own country, since shortly after releasing the IM-S350, yet another phone was launched as part of the fall collection. Today, Pantech has introduced another Sky phone, the stylish slider IM-S380K. The handset is designed to work only with Korea's KTF, and it supports high-speed data transmission HSDPA. The fact that it's not designed for global use is a bit disappointing, yet not altogether unexplainable.Let's take a look at what this exclusive phone offers to Korean KTF users: the slider comes with a 7:3 aspect ratio, which improves visual perception of the open phone and a display that seems to have a 240 x 400 resolution.
The complete specs are not yet available, but its features known so far include: Bluetooth connectivity, music player and FM radio, microSD memory card slot, email (the phone features a dedicated key for accessing it), front-facing video-call camera, Sky Studio (a photo editing application), electronic dictionary and subway map, besides the already-mentioned HSDPA for quick Internet access.
This means that users will be getting a phone for everyday use, with nothing too sophisticated. One can’t help but notice that the strong point of this phone is its slim and sleek design, which truly makes it very appealing.
Should you happen to be in Korea, you will be able to purchase the phone in three color versions, white, black and pink. It will be priced at 400,000 KRW, meaning approximately 355 US dollars, without a contract. Were the phone to be sold in the Western hemisphere of the globe as well, you would probably pay about 100 US dollars for it with a contract. Overall, the price seems fair for a mid-ranged phone.
See more Sky Phone: Sky IM-S300 and Pantech Sky IM-S730.
Labels: Other mobile phone brands
Samsung SPH-M4800 Smartphone
Samsung has launched two new phones in the Korean market, one of this is the Samsung Bresson M8800 and another is the Samsung Ultra Messaging II SPH-M4800. This Ultra Messaging smartphone features a 2.55-inch LCD screen and 624MHz high-speed CPU with processing speed three times higher than its prequel. The smartphone include three kinds of input modes such as text-friendly QWERTY keypad, the finger mouse offering PC-like web experience and the touch screen.Ultra Messaging II runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 and supports WiFi and Bluetooth as well as GSM global roaming, 2-megapixel camera and external memory.
Here is Samsung Bresson M8800.
Labels: Samsung
Motorola Q9h Silver- it's more than just a makeover
MotorolaQ9hThis is a special request by AT&T and Motorola thought of a way to provide just that. The Firmware Over the Air or FOTA updates is the most important feature you'll find in the new Q9h Silver. Its name says it all actually, your Motorola Q9hS phone will get an over the air update of its firmware as administered by AT&T. Bug fixes and other updates will be placed on the AT&T's FOTA server and your phone will alert you of a new update and just by pressing on the accept button, your phone will be updated and it will reset. It's that easy and your firmware would always be up to date!
Labels: Motorola
Motorola Adds 3 Phones to 'Yuva' Range
Motorola has added 3 new phones to its 'Yuva' range - MOTOYUVA W388, MOTOYUVA A810 and MOTOYUVA ZN200."Our YUVA range of mobile phones offers Indian consumers a diverse range of affordable options," said Lloyd Mathias, senior director and head of Sales and Distribution, India and South West Asia, Motorola Mobile Devices. "The YUVA W388 is a multimedia candybar phone, YUVA A810 is a touch screen phone, and the YUVA ZN200 is a slider imaging phone. There's a YUVA phone to suit everyone's style this festive season."
The MOTOYUVA W388 candy bar phone comes with a dedicated music button, an enhanced MP3 player, MusicID application for song recognition and an FM radio with radio data system (RDS) functionality, which shows the name of the artist and the song and the type of music playing on the radio. The W388 also let users record excerpts of songs from FM radio and set an FM alarm.
The W388 allows users to block unwanted callers, features Motorola's CrystalTalk technology for better voice clarity, offers 750 SMS storage and 1,000 phone book entries and an integrated VGA camera that supports 4x zoom and Java capabilities that enable users to download Java games. Memory is expandable upto 2GB.Labels: Motorola
Any carrier iPhone 3G handsets from Apple in Hong Kong?
It appears that Apple is selling unlocked iPhone 3G handsets on their website in Hong Kong with the promise the Apple iPhone 3G “can be activated with any wireless carrier.”Apparently you can purchase the IPhone 3G 8GB at KH $5,400 that’s $695 US, and the 16GB handset for HK$6,200, along with free shipping. The Apple store advertises the iPhone 3G as compatible with any carrier.
The store actually says: “Simply insert the SIM [subscriber identity module] from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.”
While one the main page of the Honk Kong Apple store website it says: “Buy directly from Apple. And choose your carrier.”
Labels: Iphone
LG KC780 Will Have an 8 Megapixel Camera
LG KC780 will be LG's next cameraphone to be equipped with an 8 megapixel camera. This means good news for LG fans, since they will have yet another device that will enable them to take high quality photos.While the whole 8 megapixel camera is nothing short of exciting news, everything else about this phone doesn't seem to get people fired up that much. This happens mostly because LG didn't take much interest in its design, so much so that the new handset can’t really stand out from the crowd.
The KC780 is a slide phone that, as seen in the photo, really doesn't have that certain something to make you go “wow.” Come to think of it, it actually looks kind of ordinary. As revealed on the FCC website, it has already gone through the paces and was approved for GSM1900 and Bluetooth emissions.
Other features of the phone, as put together from various other sources, include quad band GSM/GSM/GPRS and EDGE connectivity. No 3G on this one, it seems. It will also support a microSD card, which should add pretty nicely to the existent 140 MB of internal memory, and USB 2.0 connectivity, along with Bluetooth 2.0.
The only thing that really seems to stand out where this phone is concerned is the 8 megapixel camera with autofocus, red eye reduction, face recognition and 30fps video recording capabilities. No details regarding the resolution are available but, if we were to compare the LG KC780 with LG KC910 Renoir, since they both have an 8 megapixel camera, we should probably expect 3264 x 2448 pixels.
From the specs that have been made public so far, one can guess that this model was probably intended and designed as a midrange device. However, until it hits the market, this remains just a supposition. Unfortunately, no release date or pricing have been made available so far.
This is all the info found on the KC780 for the time being, but we hope that we'll be able to bring you more in a short while, so keep an eye on this space.
Labels: LG
Sony Ericsson launches MBW-200 Bluetooth watches
Dear ladies, this is another stylish gadget for you. Sony Ericsson has announced the MBW-200, the female version of its MBW-150 Bluetooth watches.The Sony Ericsson MBW-200 wristwatches feature a small monochrome OLED display and connect to your cell phone via Bluetooth. The watch is then able to display your incoming caller ID, as well as alert you to new text messages, emails, and even calendar alarms.
Designed to only work with Sony Ericsson cell phones, it’s available in three distinct styles: Sparkling Allure, Contemporary Elegance and Evening Classic. Despite it’s aimed towards ladies, but I think it’s also nice used by gentlemen, isn’t it?
No information about it pricing, though availability is planned for Q4 2008.Labels: sony ericsson
Samsung F480 reviews
Samsung is an innovative company, continuously meeting the diverse demands of the consumer. The five design centres worldwide, and the inspiration derived from the life style of today’s consumer, make it possible for models like the Samsung F480 TouchWiz to be invented. The Samsung F480 TouchWiz is a compact mobile phone with a touch screen that will certainly appeal to those users with a touch for style. With the Samsung F480 you have a 5 Megapixel digital camera, an MP3 player and an FM radio are at hand.Samsung F480 mobile phone
The integrated 5 Megapixel digital camera with LED flash is found on the back of the Samsung TouchWiz. It isn’t the number of pixels that makes this a special digital camera, despite the fact that 5 Megapixels greatly suffice for a cameraphone; it's the special functions like auto focus, image stabilization, face detection and my personal favourite; Smile shot, that make the camera of the TouchWiz a technically high quality item. The Smile Shot function makes the shutter only release when a person in the composition smiles.
Viewing photos on the Samsung F480Samsung has come up with a nice mechanism to facilitate viewing pictures. When you view a picture and you press the arrow on top of your screen, a bar appears with thumbnails of all the pictures in the album. It allows you to scroll through the album to find the right picture and pressing the thumbnail again, makes the photo appear on the screen. You can even gain access to various files by selecting the icon 'file up'. Two points for improvement on the next phone: sometimes the bar does not respond and scrolling is rather slow.
Samsung F480 reviewSimply striking is the luxurious, compact design of the Samsung TouchWiz. People that adore trendy novelties will not be able to ignore this device. The bright, heat-sensitive LCD touch screen is very responsive and a joy to work with. The menu structure is logical and scrolling through the menu is accompanied by nice graphic effects and sounds. Some options don't even require the menu, thanks to the widgets in the standby mode of the cell phone. These widgets can be dragged to any place on the screen and this way you can personalize the start screen of the Samsung F480.
Labels: Samsung
Samsung i900 Omnia launched in India
Indians will now have one more option if they are looking for good touchscreen device as Samsung has just announced the availability of Samsung Omnia i900 on the subcontinent.Sunil Dutt, Country Head for Samsung Telecom, stated, “Samsung Omnia is our flagship model aimed at users who desire a lot of functionality, a lot of style, a lot of usability, and a lot of entertainment in one innovative device. Samsung Omnia will help users to be at the forefront of work and play and at the same time, to stay connected anytime, anywhere.”
Right you are Mr. Dutt as the Omnia is one of the topmost devices available in the market now that leaves nothing to imagination with a 3.2-inch touchscreen display, 16 GB of internal memory, GPS with geotagging, DivX/Xvid support, accelerometer, optical mouse control, and a 5-megapixel camera all in sync with Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system.
The Samsung Omnia is priced at Rs. 39,999 ($869) and 37,999 ($825) for 16GB and 8GB models respectively, which sounds a bit steep but there will of course be some tech-savvy Indians with big enough wallets to adopt the device.
Labels: Samsung
T-Mobile G1 Reviews
T-Mobile announced the international launch of the world’s first Android powered mobile phone in partnership with Google. Available soon only for T-Mobile customers spanning two continents, the T-Mobile G1 cell phone combines full touch-screen functionality and a QWERTY keyboard with a mobile Web experience that includes the popular Google products that millions have enjoyed on the desktop, including Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube and others. The T-Mobile G1 is the first phone to offer access to Android Market, which hosts unique applications and mash ups of existing and new services from developers around the world.T-Mobile G1
"We are proud that T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch an Android-powered mobile device," said Christopher Schläffer, group product and innovation officer of Deutsche Telekom. "Since 2005, Google has been an established partner in T-Mobile's groundbreaking approach to bringing the open mobile Internet to the mass market. With the T-Mobile G1, we are continuing our strong tradition of being pioneers in the world of the open Internet." Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer, T-Mobile USA, said, "The Internet and the mobile phone are both indispensable tools for our hectic lives, but only a fraction of us access the Web on our phones. The T-Mobile G1 is our opportunity in the U.S. to accelerate the mass adoption of the mobile Web, by unleashing Google innovation with a unique software experience that mobilizes the Google services hundreds of millions of consumers rely on every day."
TMobile G1 navigationDelivering the Familiarity of Google for a Superior Mobile Internet Experience:
The T-Mobile G1 with Google delivers a premium, easy-to-use mobile Web and communications experience in one device. Working together, T-Mobile, Google and HTC integrated Android and T-Mobile services into the phone's form and function. The T-Mobile G1's vibrant, high-quality screen slides open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard, great for communicating with friends online or using the phone's e-mail, IM and mobile messaging capabilities. As another option for accessing the device, the T-Mobile G1 comes equipped with a convenient trackball for more precise, one-handed navigation.
Google Maps Street View
With Google Maps, Google's groundbreaking maps service, T-Mobile G1 users can instantly view maps and satellite imagery, as well as find local business and get driving directions, all from the phone's easy-to-use touch interface. The T-Mobile G1 also includes Google Maps Street View, allowing customers to explore cities at street-level virtually while on the go. Without taking a step, customers can tour a far-away place as if they were there - standing on the street corner. Even better, the Google Maps feature syncs with the built-in compass on the phone - an industry first - to allow users to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by simply moving the phone with their hand. Google Maps Street View is available today in many U.S. locations and soon in European countries.
HTC Mobile Android handset"T-Mobile, Google and HTC share a similar vision for making the mobile Internet practical, relevant and fun," said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. "The T-Mobile G1 represents the culmination of this vision by offering a variety of services, applications and content that introduces an Internet experience that everyone can enjoy. We are honored to be joining T-Mobile and Google today for this historic unveiling of the T-Mobile G1." With one-click contextual search, T-Mobile G1 customers in a flash can search for relevant information with a touch of a finger. A full HTML Web browser allows users to see any Web page the way it was designed to be seen, and then easily zoom in to expand any section by simply tapping on the screen. With built-in support for T-Mobile's 3G and EDGE network as well as Wi-Fi, the T-Mobile G1 can connect to the best available high-speed data connection for surfing the Web and downloading information quickly and effortlessly.
T-Mobile G1 smartphone with Android OSThe TMobile G1 Android based mobile phone features a rich HTML e-mail client, which seamlessly syncs your e-mail, calendar and contacts from Gmail as well as most other POP3 or IMAP e-mail services. The T-Mobile G1 multitasks, so you can read a Web page while also downloading your e-mail in the background. It combines Instant Messaging support for Google Talk, as well as AOL, Yahoo! Messenger and Windows Live Messenger in the U.S. With access to high-speed Web browsing and a 3-megapixel camera with photo-sharing capabilities, the T-Mobile G1 is ideal for balancing a busy lifestyle, whether sharing pictures, checking the latest sports scores or accessing social networking sites.
Wi-Fi and 3G connection support
Customers can use the T-Mobile G1's 3G and Wi-Fi connection to attach and share pictures over email and MMS or download music from their favorite Web sites, and soon, upload and post pictures to their personal blog. Built-in support for YouTube allows customers to enjoy YouTube's originally-created content, easily navigate through YouTube's familiar video browsing categories or search for specific videos.
TMobile G1 music supportThe T-Mobile G1 comes pre-loaded with a new application developed by Amazon.com that gives customers easy access to Amazon MP3, Amazon.com's digital music download store with more than 6 million DRM-free MP3 tracks. Using the new application, T-Mobile G1 customers are able to search, sample, purchase and download music from Amazon MP3 directly to their device (downloading music from Amazon MP3 using the T-Mobile G1 requires a Wi-Fi connection; searching, sampling and purchasing music can be done anywhere with a cellular connection). The T-Mobile G1 will be the first device with the Amazon MP3 mobile application pre-loaded.
Android Market
With just a couple of short clicks, customers can find and download a wide range of innovative software applications - from games to social networking and on-the-go shopping - to personalize their phone and enhance their mobile lifestyle. When the T-Mobile G1 cell phone launches next month, dozens of unique, first-of-a-kind Android applications will be available for download on Android Market.
T-Mobile G1 price & availability
With a fun and intuitive user interface and one-touch access to Google Search, the TMobile G1 is also the first phone to provide access to Android Market, where customers can find and download unique applications to expand and personalize their phone to fit their lifestyle. T-Mobile customers in the U.S. have the opportunity to pre-order the T-Mobile G1 cellular, in limited quantities, beginning today and be among the first to experience this game-changing phone. The device will be available at select T-Mobile retail stores and online in the U.S. beginning Oct. 22, for a price of $179 with a two-year voice and data agreement. The T-Mobile G1 smartphone will also be available in the United Kingdom beginning in November, and across Europe in the first quarter of 2009. The countries include Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
Nokia 6210 Navigator Reviews
Last year Nokia released its 6110 Navigator phone, the first in the company’s line-up to have dedicated sat-nav features and sport the Navigator branding. It came into my office along with a flurry of other mobiles and never quite made it to the front of my review pile but its successor, the 6210 Navigator, has. It isn’t widely available as I write this but I did find it from Vodafone for free on a £30 contract.This handset looks rather like the Nokia 6220 Classic, which I reviewed at the tail end of July. That phone is a candybar, this one is a slider, but the general button design and shiny plastic front fascia make the handsets look like near-identical twins.
The key selling point of the 6210 Navigator, it won’t surprise you to hear, is its navigation features. You may remember that Nokia recently bought navigation specialist Navteq. Even before that acquisition was announced almost a year ago now, Nokia had already been addressing GPS and navigation with its work on Nokia Maps and the integration of receivers into its handsets.
So the 6210 Navigator is in many ways just a step along the road for Nokia. But it does represent quite a significant step in that it is a smaller, neater phone than the 6110 was, and shows that Nokia is getting a grip on how to do the GPS thing properly.
It is a shame, though, that while several other higher end features accompany the GPS, there is no Wi-Fi here. Nokia just doesn’t want to give away all its goodies at once too often, does it?
General handling of this phone is very positive. At 103mm tall, 49mm wide and 14.9mm thick it feels comfortable in the hand. Slide the number pad into view and the handset becomes about 130mm tall. It weighs an acceptable 117g.
The casing is undeniably plastic, and it may not absorb many drops from heights before it cracks, but that is not exactly a novel point to make about a mobile phone.
The key positioning and construction is generally positive. A huge D-pad is flanked by Clear and Nokia Menu keys. Call and End keys and two softmenu keys are large and easy to hit accurately. Beneath them and centrally located is the four-pointed star shaped Navigator key. Press this and Nokia Maps immediately fires up, the key becomes backlit with blue, and you enter navigation mode.
Open the slide and the number pad is accessible. Its keys are as large as the available area allows, and responsive to use. Texting at speed should not present many problems.
The screen is relatively large at 2.4 inches across the diagonal and its 320 x 240 pixels are no surprise. It needs to be sharp and bright to compete with dedicated sat-nav systems but, here, the screen is only a partial success.
It did perform quite well outdoors but in direct sunlight, readability does suffer. If you want to use this handset for in-vehicle or pedestrian navigation and want to see the on-screen maps clearly, hope that it is not an especially sunny day.
The integrated GPS with A-GPS support works alongside a pre-loaded copy of Nokia Maps software. The handset comes with a 1GB microSD card that has local maps pre-installed. Less than 200MB of storage was occupied on my review sample card leaving you plenty of space for your own data. This alone won’t give you point-to-point navigation but the phone does come complete with 6-months subscription to Nokia’s point-to-point navigation service.
The HSDPA connection to 3.6Mbps is good for Web browsing and Nokia’s own browser copes well with websites. A menu option flips the Web browser into wide format – I couldn’t make the phone’s built in accelerometer do this for me, though it was a little flakey all round in my review sample. There is also, incidentally, what Nokia calls ‘turning control’. You can silence an incoming call or snooze an alarm simply by turning the phone face down. Not original, but potentially handy.
A front-facing camera caters for two-way video calling and the main camera sits on the back of the casing. There is no lens cover, but the lens is slightly inset from its surroundings offering some protection against scratching. There is a flash and autofocus. The side mounted camera shortcut button is a long way down the right edge of the phone – I’d have preferred it about a third of the way down where it sits more readily under the forefinger. You can use the central D-pad button to shoot instead though.The camera shoots stills at 3.2-megapixels. Quality was not really up to what I’d expect, with all the photos losing refinement around the edges of the subjects. The coloured dish photographed under normal household lighting ought to have a white background, too, so the balance is a little off here. The dish itself is reasonably well reproduced, though.
Outdoors, things are better. The whites of the chair are pretty accurate, with minimal signs of any colour shifts, although some highlights are blown out. Colour-wise, the tomatoes aren’t too bad either, but it's easy for the autofocus to get a little confused, especially at close range. Overall, though, we have seen better results from other cameraphones.
The phone plays music of course. Its 120MB memory is augmented by the provided 1GB microSD card. The headset connector is a 2.5mm type and is one-piece. There is also an FM radio if you get bored of listening to your own tunes.
A microUSB connector sits on the left side of the phone. Nokia doesn’t provide a cable but if you get one you’ll be able to access the handset’s memory from your PC.
There is a huge array of additional features, as you would expect in a Symbian S60 3rd edition handset. In the Office folder, Nokia provides such goodies as QuickOffice (licensed only for viewing and not for creating documents), the Adobe PDF reader, a note taker, calculator, calendar, unit converter and Nokia’s ActiveNotes software, which lets you create notes that contain images and other objects.
Among the array of extras on the handset, you’ll find Nokia’s podcast downloader, support for Widsets, mobile email, calculator, voice recorder and a couple of games including one that uses the accelerometer.Verdict
The camera's sharpness and indoor performance is a bit lacklustre, which is a shame, but if you want integrated GPS in your phone and fancy half a year’s free trial of point-to-point navigation, this could be what you need.
Labels: Nokia
T-Mobile USA showed off the G1,When and how much?
The first phone that harnesses Google Inc.'s ambition to make the Internet easy to use on the go was revealed Tuesday, and it looks a lot like an iPhone.
T-Mobile USA showed off the G1, a phone that, like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, has a large touch screen. But it also packs a trackball, a slide-out keyboard and easy access to Google's e-mail and mapping programs.
T-Mobile said it will begin selling the G1 for $179 with a two-year contract. The device hits U.S. stores Oct. 22 and heads to Britain in November and other European countries early next year.
The phone will be sold in T-Mobile stores only in the U.S. cities where the company has rolled out its faster, third-generation wireless data network. By launch, that will be 21 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Miami.
In other areas, people will be able to buy the phone from T-Mobile's Web site. The phone does work on T-Mobile's slower data network, but it's optimized for the faster networks. It can also connect at Wi-Fi hotspots.
The data plan for the phone will cost $25 per month on top of the calling service, at the low end of the range for data plans at U.S. wireless carriers. And at $179, the G1 is $20 less than the least expensive iPhone in the U.S.
Android, the free software powering the G1, is a crucial building block in Google's efforts to make its search engine and other services as accessible on cell phones as they already are on personal computers. The company believes it eventually might make more money selling ads that get shown on mobile devices than on PCs, a channel that will generate about $20 billion in revenue this year.
Both Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. also are investing heavily in the mobile market in hopes of preventing Google from extending the dominance it enjoys in searches initiated on PCs.
In an interview, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said Google's aims are broader than mobile advertising.
"Generally, we think if there are great (operating systems) out there that let people have great devices and great applications, people use the Internet on their phones much more," Brin said at the launch event in New York. "And whenever people use the Internet more, they end up using our services, and ultimately, that's good for our business. There's no secret plan to have ads pop up or anything."
Like the iPhone, the G1 has a high-resolution screen, making it easier to browse Web sites that haven't been specifically adapted for a cell phone. Unlike the iPhone, Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerrys and most other high-end smart phones sold in the U.S., the G1 has a very limited ability to connect to corporate e-mail servers. That means the device's initial market is likely to be consumers.
On the face of it, the G1 doesn't do much that other high-end phones don't already do. But Google is counting the device unleashing the creativity of software developers, who are free to write applications for it.
"There aren't a lot of 'wow' features on it. I think what we can expect from it is that it's going to be a good Internet phone," said Lance Ulanoff, editor-in-chief of PC Magazine.
Developers will be able to submit applications to an online store run by Google, which will apply minimal vetting.
"The key is going to be what app developers are going to do for it," said Ross Rubin, an analyst with NPD Group. "They didn't have a lot to show today."
Apple launched a similar store for the iPhone this year, but keeps much tighter control over what applications are available. It has blocked programs that compete with its own.
The G1 won't connect to Apple's iTunes store, but one of the initial applications will be a music store from Amazon.com Inc., which will let users download songs directly to the phone. In an unusual move for a mobile-phone music store, the songs will have no copy protection.
Brin himself has written an application for the phone.
"It's just very exciting for me as a computer geek to be able to have a phone that I can play with and modify and innovate upon just like I have with computers in the past," he said.
Brin's program uses the phone's built-in motion sensor to measure how long it takes for the phone to land when tossed into the air. He acknowledged that the wisdom of including such a program with an expensive phone is dubious.
"We did not include that one by default," he said.
Labels: Gphone
Possible Launch Date for Nokia Tube Leaked
Nokia announced that it was working on a full touchscreen device as early as October of last year, but no further comments on it were made at the time. Later on, however, a teaser video surfaced on the net, showing the supposed Nokia XpressMedia 5800.August this year brought new info on the full touchscreen handset when Devinder Kishore, Nokia India's marketing director, said at a press conference in New Delhi that, “We have been working on the Series 60 platform for touch screen user interface and a mobile device is expected to be launched by the year-end."
The latest Nokia Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", featured Nokia's full touchscreen phone, codenamed the “Tube.” This would be Nokia's second full touchscreen device, the first one having been launched in 2003, but which was later discontinued.
Back to the ongoing rumors now, our colleagues from Mobile Entertainment stated in a recent article that their sources, although tight-lipped on specifics, told them that Nokia might unveil its touchscreen phone at a UK event, scheduled to take place on October 2. Next week's event is expected to be really important, since it will celebrate Nokia's Comes With Music project and will mark the release of a number of new handsets.
Apparently, the UI will have many features also found on the iPhone, like the re-orientating screen that goes from portrait to landscape, depending on how the phone is held by the user. Anyway, one can’t help but wonder why Nokia has prolonged the waiting that much, especially since several devices that feature a full touchscreen have already been released, like the Blackberry Storm. Furthermore, a strong competitor also came once with yesterday's release of the G1 phone. Will there still be a market for Nokia's full touchscreen? That entirely depends, one might say, on its reliability and price.
Labels: Nokia
European Commission acts to cut cost of texting and mobile data services abroad
Mobile phone users can expect the cost of sending text messages from abroad in the EU to be much cheaper next summer. The European Commission today proposed to reduce the price of roaming text messages by 60% as of 1 July 2009. EU citizens travelling in other EU countries should pay no more than €0.11 per SMS compared to the current EU average of €0.29. The proposals will now be submitted to the European Parliament and Council, who must agree before they become law. The EU already reduced charges for making and receiving calls abroad (voice roaming) by 60% in summer 2007.“Europe, through its GSM standard, made mobile telephony attractive across the globe. It is now time to demonstrate that there is a truly single telecoms market in which consumers can use their mobile phone in all 27 EU countries without being punished when crossing a border,” said José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. “If we get this done quickly we will see tremendous growth in SMS and data services, and send a message that lower roaming charges can be a win-win situation for all.”
EU Consumer Commissioner Kuneva said: “If Europe wants to deliver concrete results for its 500 million consumers, then practices whereby operators charge for a service which they do not deliver should not be acceptable. Today, consumers are overcharged by 24% on average for mobile calls they make abroad as roaming calls are very often charged not by the second, but only by the minute. A priority for us is fair treatment of consumers when they cross a border and this is why the Commission decided today to introduce the principle of per second billing for all roaming calls”.
A typical French customer sending a roaming text message from holidays in Italy this summer could pay up to €0.30, while a Czech tourist would pay up to €0.42 (10.00 CZK). In Spain, a Swedish holidaymaker could pay up to €0.40 (3.79 SEK) per message when roaming, a German €0.32, a Pole €0.47 (1.50 ZL), a tourist from the UK €0.63 (£0.40 GBP) and a Latvian even as much as €0.70 (0.49 LVL) per SMS. The Commission therefore proposes a retail cap of €0.11 on roaming text messages (excluding VAT), combined with a €0.04 cap at wholesale level. Wholesale prices are charged by one operator to another for a customer to send a message between their networks. Operators are encouraged to compete below these maximum price caps, set by the Commission after a detailed impact assessment with input from the European Regulators Group (ERG).
Labels: Other mobile phone brands
Sony Ericsson Announces PlayNow Unlimited Music Download Service
Sony Ericsson today announced the launch of PlayNow plus, a music download service for Sony Ericsson customers, available for use on both phones and PCs. The service is due to launch commercially with operator Telenor in Sweden in the fourth quarter of this year, with further roll-outs around the world beginning in early 2009. A special edition of the Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman phone will be the first product released with an integrated PlayNow plus service. The service draws from Sony Ericsson’s collaboration with Omnifone and licensing terms have been agreed with all major international music labels-including EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music - as well as thousands of local music labels.To add to the discovery and community aspects of PlayNow plus, TrackID charts, generated by Sony Ericsson consumers around the world, are also included. Sony Ericsson plans to include, as part of the service, up to 1000 of recent popular tracks, both locally and globally, with each PlayNow plus phone.
Together with the announcement, PlayNow arena will now also be opening its doors in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland in the fourth quarter this year.Labels: sony ericsson
BlackBerry Bold launches in Serbia and Spain
More BlackBerry 9000s are hitting the streets this week, now in Spain via Telefonica and Serbia through Vip and Vodafone. No word on pricing in Spain, but based on other European releases, you can count on spending upwards of 130€ for all the Wi-Fi, GPS, 3G and, above all, e-mailing goodness you can handle.Vip is also taking the occasion to launch the GPS BlackBerry Pearl, the 8110, which is a nice, lightweight counteroffer to the Bold, and it fills their skimpy lineup rather nicely. Serbians can pick up the BlackBerry 9000 for as cheap as 19.999 RSd and the BlackBerry 8110 for 9.999 RSd. Gonna grab one, Dusan?
Labels: Blackberry