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MobilePhone posts

Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony align on Mobile High-Definition Link

by Darren Murph posted Sep 29th 2009 @ 10:19AM

Say it with us now: "Yippee!" Why such joviality? We'll tell you why. Nokia, Samsung, Toshiba, Sony and Silicon Image have all teamed up to create yet another new connector, with this one hoping to forever harmonize the strained relationship between mobile phones / PMPs and high-def displays. The so-called Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group is seeking to create a new "industry standard" for connecting handsets and other portable consumer electronics to HDTVs and displays, though we're still wondering why exactly we need a replacement for HDMI, DisplayLink and the forthcoming Light Peak so soon. As with most of these things, details about the actual product(s) are slim, but trust us, they're working on it. And they're working hard.

DigiCube unveils newest MID, doubles as a giant cellphone

by Laura June posted Jun 4th 2009 @ 4:38AM

Jkkmobile's gotten a hold of DigiCube's just unveiled MIDPhone-50 at Computex, and we have to say that from the looks of it, it's quite a wild affair. The MIDPhone-50 is a Windows XP, full QWERTY-boasting, touchscreen mid, and a 3.5G mobile phone to boot. The tilting, 800 x 480 touchscreen is 4.5-inches, with mini-USB, standard USB, and microSD slots, plus a docking station with VGA output. Specwise, the phone / MID has an Intel Atom Z-series CPU with up to 1GB of RAM, with Bluetooth and WiFi. The battery supposedly gets a quite sad two hours of life. There's no word on price or availability yet, but there is a video after the break.

[Via Jkkmobile, Slashgear]

Continue reading DigiCube unveils newest MID, doubles as a giant cellphone

Video Bulletin Board enables mobile-to-Blu-ray player interaction

by Darren Murph posted Nov 15th 2008 @ 7:41PM

After seeing what we saw at CEDIA this year, we knew this innovation was only a hop, skip and a jump away. RCDb and Nortel have teamed up to showcase what they're calling the Video Bulletin Board, which is an interactive application that enables cellphones and Blu-ray players to communicate like never before. With it, you can "send a photo or video from your mobile phone to your own or a friend's BD Live-enabled Blu-ray deck and then, using the remote, activate a click-to-call feature that would automatically have your phone call back the mobile user who sent you the photo." It won't be long before you're ordering pizza from your Blu-ray player and watching outtakes on your handset -- at least, we hope.

[Image courtesy of Blu-ray.com]

LG's concept phone contest winners should please art house gadgetphiles

by Samuel Axon posted Nov 9th 2008 @ 8:28PM

When we see alluring phone concepts that'll never leave the lab, we end up wishing there was a little more innovation in the handsets out in the wild. There was a wealth of eyebrow-raising examples of that principle when LG Japan exhibited top entries to its Mobile Design Contest last weekend. We're keen on the fbt, a phone designed for braille text messaging, and the Tap, which is shaped like a light switch and functions like one too -- when you tap it, the phone turns off so you can live once again in peace. The winner, though, was the above-pictured Planet Phone, the surface of which is dotted with LEDs representing your friends; if you don't talk to someone for a while, their light gradually moves out to the edge. It's supposed to remind you to keep in touch, but it has darker connotations -- if you become angry with someone, you can revel in the pleasure of watching them slowly tick away into oblivion. That's absolutely a feature we want to see added to the Storm.

[Via Hallyu Tech]

Is Dell readying a new mobile device?

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 10th 2007 @ 9:44AM

There appears to be some speculation floating around that Dell is about to cannonball itself into the mobile pool, big time. According to whispered rumors from dark hallways (AKA Forbes), the company is putting together a smartphone / multimedia device which might be rearing its head sometime early in 2008. The device -- being developed with the help of Taiwanese company Quanta -- will sport video and audio playback, as well as internet functionality. The rumors are strengthened by the company's addition of former Motorola cell phone executive vice president Ron Garriques, and with the dropping of its PDA and DAP products, there's certainly a gaping void left open for a new device. Of course, it also doesn't hurt that Dell's recent acquisition of Zing and trademarking of the "Zingspot" moniker suggests the company is getting into content distribution -- perfect for a shiny new convergence device. Only time will tell if the PC powerhouse can get into the very-crowded smartphone game, too.

[Via InformationWeek]

British parliament members afraid of in-flight mobile use

by Brian White posted Jul 25th 2007 @ 5:10PM

With rude passengers and terrorist thoughts in the mind of airline officials and passengers, British parliament members (MPs) are holding steady against any airline policy that would allow in-flight mobile phone use. The real reason they are scared, from what we can glean, is related to the remote detonation of bombs on planes by terrorists. Outside of the Executive Decision movie scenario being painted here, the MPs referenced the 2004 Madrid bombings being set off by cellphones in explaining their support for the ban. As such, we don't see any mobile use coming on Britain-originated flights soon. Better catch a Qantas flight instead, heh.

[via textually.org, image via arinc.com]

Levi's intros shiny new cellphones

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 20th 2007 @ 12:25PM

Levi's made its cellphone intentions pretty well known late last year, but it's just now following through with them, trotting out its new line of self-branded phones made with more than a little help from ModeLabs. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot in the way of technical details at the moment, but Levi's is more than willing to talk up the phone's various style advantages, including its riveted steel casing and detachable chain. From the looks of it, you'll also be able to get the phone in your choice of five color schemes, including metallic silver, black, brown copper, "shiny silver," and "shiny sand" -- the latter two of which also come with "mirror" screens. More details should be trickling out as we near the phone's September launch date, which appears to be confined to Europe for the time being.

D-Link's V-Click: an overpriced, rebadged GSM VoIP phone

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 4th 2006 @ 9:15AM

D-Link's got a so-called new line-up of dual-mode WiFi VoIP / GSM V-Click phones for ya. The big selling point of course, is the ability to quickly toggle between your tri-band 900/1800/1900MHz GSM/GPRS network or unspecified 802.11 WiFi to make low cost VoIP calls. The magic here is in that "v-click" button along the side which flips the WiFi radio. Once enabled, users can make SIP-based VoIP calls or hit the web over the bundled Opera Mobile browser and 176x220 pixel display. Hmmm, those specs sure smack of that Taiwanese GW1 peeped at CES from Winstron NeWeb Corp and unfurled as the Neuf Twin dual-mode handset already on sale in France. Let's see, same screen, same dimensions, same radios... yup, we're calling it a rebadge. So are you really going to give D-Link $600 for their logo when it drops in Q1 or pick-up an unlocked, €200/$250 Twin sans contract from your friendly electronics importer? Yeah, thought so.

FCC approves Samsung SGH-i607, Cingular launch imminent?

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 4th 2006 @ 8:02AM

Ahh, so that's what happened to the Q3 launch of Samsung's i607, eh Cingular? With FCC approval now out of the way let's hope the long wait is nearly over for this quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS/HSDPA Smartphone. As you might recall, the i607 Blackjack runs Windows Mobile Smartphone up on that QVGA display and features a 1.3 megapixel camera around back, Bluetooth, microSD slot for expansion, and a slim, albeit rather unappealing 1/2-inch thick shell. So what's keeping ya Cingular, go ahead and launch already... pretty please, with sugar.

[Via PhoneArena]

Sprint launches IP-830W, SCP-8400 and BlackBerry 8703e with GPS

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 2nd 2006 @ 7:55AM

BlackBerry, PocketPC, and Power Vision lovers unite 'cause Sprint just unleashed three phones meant to distribute the love to all. First from the gate is the IP-830W from Samsung (pictured center) we peeped on Sprint last month. For $600 with a 2-year plan ($750 without!), it's yours to take global with quad-band GSM / GPRS and CDMA / EV-DO pumpin' Windows Mobile 5 plus AKU2 on a 520MHz Intel PXA272 proc. Out next is another Sprint Sanyo clam in the form of the dual-band Power Vision SCP-8400 (pictured right) with Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel cam, and of course Live TV, Music downloads, and multiplayer game action. Yours for $100 after rebates, instant savings and your signature on a 2-year plan. Out last is the GPS-enabled BlackBerry 8703e which brings EV-DO speeds, Bluetooth and speakerphone for $350 after discounts and 2-year signup. Thing is, it's already available on Verizon only without GPS navigation for $100 less. What to do, what to do.

[Thanks, Jim]

Read -- BlackBerry 8703e
Read -- SCP-8400
Read -- IP-830W

Samsung's SCH-B510: enough with the "world's thinnest" DMB phones already

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 28th 2006 @ 10:30AM

Ok, this slim thing is just outta control. As if you needed proof, Samsung went and launched the 8.4-mm thin SCH-B510 calling it the "world's slimmest DMB phone" just days after LG launched its contender, and a mere three weeks after Sammy loosed their previous title holder, the SCH-B590. Sharing that top-end bulge with the true thin-champ, the X820, the B510 packs in an MP3 player, MicroSD expansion, and 2 megapixel camera into a package weighing only 72-grams. Thing is, this is a freakin' DMB phone for watching mobile TV, yet the screen has been shrunk to an impossibly small, unspecified dimension in order to reduce the bulk. At least they won't be seen outside of Korea's KTF network any time soon. Hey Sammy, how 'bout trying to coax LG into using one of their fancy new slim displays and bring this madness to an end? K, thanks.

dotMobi is more than just a top level domain name

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Sep 27th 2006 @ 11:35AM

Although the experience of browsing the web on a mobile phone has improved greatly over the last ~~couple of days~~ five years or so, there are still sites out there that refuse to load or function as smoothly as they would on a personal computer. A possible solution to this problem comes in the form of yesterday's launch of dotMobi: or if you prefer it cold and impersonal, the new .mobi top level domain name. Yeah, so you're thinking "how's another domain name gonna improve things?" Well, unlike other domain names, dotMobi has a relatively stringent style guide for anyone wishing to register a .mobi domain: mandatory rules for registrants include the requirement that the site can be loaded without typing "www." (a pain on a numerical keypad), and a complete ban on cellphone-browser busting frames. Time will tell whether or not the bar of entry has been set high enough, as all of the tips in the "Highly Recommended" section of the style guide are optional: for example, registrants don't even have to test their website on a mobile device. A giant leap for cellular mankind this is not, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Nokia's XpressMusic 5300 and 5200 announced, 3250 gets makeover

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 27th 2006 @ 5:09AM

If the hoard of N-series Nokias raining down from Espoo yesterday was a bit too much on say, the fuddy-duddy side of the generational slope, then check these new XpressMusic cellphones kiddies. Well "new" only if you missed the 5300 and 5200 peeped before. Still official is official so let's run 'er down again. The 5300 slider is the biggest news here, going tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900MHz with GPRS/EDGE support and 262k color TFT LCD, QVGA (240x320) resolution. It features up to 2GB of microSD storage, dedicated music keys, an adapter for 3.5-mm headphones, built-in IM software, FM radio (with Visual Radio), 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and an expected retail of €250 pre-tax, or $317. The 5200 shares the looks of the 5300 but features an even lower rez camera and display for a pre-tax price of €200 or $254. Meanwhile, the original XpressMusic 3250 twister sports a new look with added support for 2GB microSD cards. Expect the 3250 to pull a pre-tax €400 or $507. All phones, according to Nokia today in New York, will "begin shipments in select markets within weeks." MobileBurn however claims that a US variant of the mix will hit Q1, so who knows. Click-on for a snap of the updated 3250.

[Via MobileBurn]

Continue reading Nokia's XpressMusic 5300 and 5200 announced, 3250 gets makeover

LG's VX9900 caught in the wild?

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 14th 2006 @ 9:21AM

Ok, you know the drill by now. HowardForums has a purported shot (on left) of the thinner, sexier successor to the VX9800 communicator, the LG VX9900 we first trolled from the FCC (pic on the right) back in May. We're still hoping for this QWERTY clam to roll on Verizon sometime this month as reported by our own Boy Genius or sometime between September 29th and October 13th according to the rumor jockeys ridin' the HoFo. Hell, let's just say any day now and leave it at that mkay?

[Thanks, Scott and Sunny]

Samsung's Ultra Edition 9.9, 12.9, 6.9: World's slimmest cellphones launched

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 21st 2006 @ 8:02AM

Get ready Guinness 'cause Samsung just launched an entire series of "World's slimmest" handsets. Sure, we've seen the D830 clam, X820 candybar, and FCC approved D900 slider before, only now they've been turned-out onto that mean global scene official, spec'd, and rebadged with their ultra-slim, millimeter measurements right in the name: the Ultra Edition 9.9 (D830), 12.9 (D900), and 6.9 (X820) pictured left-to-right. The UE 9.9 brings tri-band (900/1800/1900MHz) GPRS/EDGE, a 2 megapixel cam with auto-focus and flash, a 2.3-inch 240x320 262k TFT main display (0.8-inch 92x16 grayscale external), Bluetooth, 80MB embedded memory with MicroSD expansion, MP3/AAC media player, and even an MPEG4 recorder with TV-out jack slammed into this world's slimmest flip. The UE 6.9 brings pretty much the same network coverage, cam, Bluetooth, media capabilities, and on-board memory as the 9.9 but had to forgo the microSD card and flash while dropping down to a 1.9-inch 176x220 262k TFT display in order to slip into that world's slimmest, 6.9-mm, 2.33-ounce dress. The relatively plump UE 12.9 takes advantage of all that, uh, roominess to squeeze in quad-band GPRS/EDGE, a 3.13 megapixel shooter, 2.1-inch 240x320 262k TFT, that good media lovin' we've already seen, Bluetooth with A2DP stereo audio support, and 80MB with microsSD expansion. Yeah, that makes it the world's slimmest slider, er, with 3 megapixel camera -- kind of a stretch, but that's how Sammy likes to roll. They didn't bother with drop dates, countries, or prices but the fact that the press release hit their English site gives us hope for this Samsung triptych to drop in the US sometime this year.

[Via AVING]