LG Fusic music phone reviewed
VK goes belly-up
Officially, it was the discrepancy between the value of the dollar and that of the won, combined with aggressive marketing strategies of companies like Nokia and Motorola that have driven Korean battery-turned-handset maker VK into receivership, a form of bankruptcy. Personally, we believe it had something more to do with the boatload of unimpressive and stylistically unoriginal handsets (Kickflip notwithstanding) they've released since they entered the mobile phone game in 2002. Either way, they'll surely be missed; if not by us, then by SK Telecom and other investors who parted with billions of their won earlier this year in a failed attempt to keep VK afloat. Our only regret is that we won't get to pocket the 4-megapixel VK 2200, but since we don't live in South Korea, there's a good chance we never would anyway. Oh well, at least we'll always have CeBit.Samsung's new i320N in the wild
RIAA establishes Master Ringtone Sales Award
The big wigs over at the RIAA have established a new reward system, much like the one they use for traditional albums, called the Master Ringtone Sales Award. They're keeping track of how many times a song has been downloaded as a ringtone -- it has to be the original recording, not some clunky midi version -- and once that number hits 500,000 it's considered to have gone Gold. One million sales merit Platinum status and two million marks the start of the ever-expandable Multi-Platinum category, into which the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and three others have already climbed. Check the link for a list of all 128 songs honored -- including some Mariah Carey recorded for Pepsi -- at the inaugural ceremony held in NYC. Rumor has it that next year's event will have a lifetime achievement award for the late Crazy Frog.
[Via Slashphone]
Keepin' it real fake, part XXVIII: Another Nokia 8800 imposter
Blackberry 7130v coming to the UK and US in July?
Blackberry detox offered at Chicago-area hotel
We've heard plenty about the negative effects of Blackberry dependence -- eye damage, thumb damage, the complete loss of interpersonal communication skills -- but Chicago hotel general manager Rick Ueno is helping his guests kick their high-tech habit. Upon check-in to the Sheraton Chicago, you can surrender your precious handheld -- we're assuming any type of life-stealing smartphone is eligible -- where a non-robotic clerk will keep it under lock and key until you break down and ask for it back. It was Ueno's own addiction that sparked the idea for the free program, so he understands how hard it is to go cold turkey, even if you're only out of touch from the time you check in until you fire up the in-room WiFi connection.[Thanks Alex N]
