Thank you, LG, thank you for getting it. A music phone should have a 3.5mm headphone jack -- no exceptions -- and the new KM380 destined for the Chinese market has exactly that, not to mention a clever set of external controls on the outside of the flip dedicated to tune control. Failing to bring something like this onto the low end of your American or European offerings is pretty weak, but maybe this marks the beginning of a new chapter for you -- a "Golden Age" of music phones. Or maybe not. We can hope.

[Via Slashphone]

Though it's recently cracked the tough outer shell of the rough-and-tumble US wireless market, Huawei's got a long way to go before it can stand toe-to-toe with the Samsungs and LGs of the world. The economy's seen better days, the market is nearly saturated, and it already seems like there might be a couple players too many for profit, so what's an up-and-coming Chinese firm to do? Invite foreign investment, naturally. Huawei has retained Morgan Stanley to help it line up investors that can bulk it up enough to wage a broadsided offense against the low-end American market, leaving the mid and high-range lineups to the well-established companies that are already making a splash up there. It's pretty rare for a Chinese corporation of Huawei's size and clout to open itself up to cash from outside Chinese borders, so the deal's expected to attract a lot of interest -- theoretically setting the scene for plenty more of its wares on US carriers' shelves. We're all for healthy competition, and if Huawei can shake things up a bit, we're all for it.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Much like TD-SCDMA, China's looking to impress the world (or something) with its totally homegrown, totally proprietary, totally unused anywhere else "standard" for mobile TV in time for the Beijing Olympics. CMMB, as its known, is the protocol of choice for trials that have kicked off this month in Beijing and Shenzen (with Shanghai following on shortly), offering seven channels via a USB dongle. Portable media players and phones that offer CMMB compatibility should be available before too long, and by the time the Games kick off, the government body responsible for the build-out expects 37 cities to be online. We'd like to rail on it even harder, but let's be honest, it's not any more one-off than MediaFLO, now is it?

[Via IntoMobile]

Remember that rumored L800t that got outed as part of Motorola's Asian lineup for '08 not long ago? We still can't really confirm that it's called the L800t, but we can confirm that the device itself is real thanks to an FCC approval -- and really, that's all that matters, isn't it? This unassuming candybar should mark Moto's first foray into China's budding TD-SCDMA network that hopes to eventually blanket the country's metropolitan areas with a proprietary form of 3G. The next question, naturally, is why the phone has found its way into American labs when it'll be biding its time over in Beijing, and the answer is pretty simple: we've got EDGE data on the 1900MHz band here, so theoretically, it could be used (with reduced performance) in the States -- just don't expect any high-speed action out of it.

Look familiar? Even from Nokia's sole subminiature shot -- never mind the model number -- you can pretty clearly make out that the 6122c is a dead ringer for the 6124 classic introduced a couple months back. Sure enough, the fresh S60 candybar is destined for China Mobile packing pretty much the same features as its doppelganger: 2 megapixel camera, 2-inch QVGA display, microSD expansion, and an integrated FM radio. One feature that we're pretty sure won't make the cut, of course, will be UMTS / HSDPA -- both as a cost-cutting measure and the simple fact that... well, China doesn't really do those technologies. No TD-SCDMA gear yet, Nokia?

Screen shots posted on Chinese site wretch.cc allege that iPhone firmware 2.0 has added support for Chinese handwriting recognition in addition to a revamped (albeit non-recognition) Japanese interface. While that's still light years from an Apple admission that not everyone is in love with the on-screen keyboard, it's one small step toward functionality that seems to make boatloads of sense -- in any language -- given the phone's generously proportioned touchscreen and its reluctant but unavoidable nomination as the Newton's spiritual successor. What isn't clear is how folks are expected to draw characters, seeing how there's no provision for an on-board stylus, the entire interface is designed for finger use, and we don't see many owner rushing out for a Pogo. However Apple intends for this feature to be used, the implementation looks pretty hot, capable of operating in both portrait and landscape modes. Sadly, it seems that Chinese is the one and only language supported at the moment; sure you don't want to let everyone in on the Graffiti-esque retro fun here, guys?

[Via Mac Rumors]

A nice, thick blanket of 3G might still be years away for China, but who the heck knows -- if they can keep fast-tracking it like they're doing here, maybe they can tighten up that schedule just a teensy bit. After kicking off a trial... like, whoa, this month, China Mobile has already blessed a large enough swath of its nascent TD-SCDMA coverage to deliver some 15,000 compatible Samsung handsets, data cards, and 3 million yuan (about $430,000) worth of minutes to the Beijing Olympic Games' organizing committee this week. It's said that the hardware will be doled out to staff and volunteers helping to get the Games in order, giving them something to do with their leisure hours (we suppose) as they put the finishing touches on the many event venues spotting the city, and presumably, China will be working hard to play up its technological achievement come game time later this year. If you can call a proprietary 3G protocol that lags its CDMA and WCDMA competition by years a "technical achievement," anyway.

[Via mocoNews]

Simmer down, we're not talking about yet another homegrown 3G standard from China here. Oh no -- Vodafone, Softbank and China Mobile are teaming up to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) that will "promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services." More specifically, the trio is aiming to accelerate the "commercial deployment of mobile internet services" such as mobile widgets. For starters, the initiative hopes to conjure up a platform for said widgets that can leverage the unique capabilities of mobile operators, and it's most certainly keeping the door to the party wide open for anyone who wants to get in on the action. As expected, we're not clearly told what to expect from this little tie-up, but we'll be keeping an ear to ground for any developments.

Not that we haven't ever seen a mobile get that mildly interesting SRS WOW badge slapped on it before, but Philips is becoming the next to do so with its M600. This oh-so-sleek candybar makes a play for the music lovers heart -- well, so long as said adorer is in China, anyway. Aside from providing one click access to your stored tunes (not to mention easy access to volume / track controls), the handset packs a 2-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth, a very welcome 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, support for MIDI / MP3 / WMA / AMR files, USB 1.1 connectivity, dual-band GSM / GPRS connectivity and a number of preset equalizer settings to boot. Best of all, Philips keeps its tradition of providing ultra-longevous phones alive by giving users up to 40-hours of music playback on a single charge. 'Tis a shame there's no information on pricing just yet.

New leaks out of China are consistent with previous rumors, suggesting that Motorola's 2008 phalanx of mobiles is starting to gel -- for the Asia region, anyway, and there's really no knowing whether we'll see any of these stateside. Both of the new MINGs are pictured here, bearing the A1600 and A1800 model designations as expected; the big difference seems to be dual SIM support in the A1800, along with revised styling. Speaking of dual SIM, the VE75 slider will do 'em too, adding a 2 megapixel camera and a generously sized 2.6 inch WQVGA display. The long-rumored 5 megapixel product of Moto's cooperation with Kodak, the so-called ZN5, gets pictured here as well; at first glance we can't say we're impressed, but let's not dive too deep into it seeing how the picture is the size of a fricking thimble. Finally, we learn that Moto's jumping on the TD-SCDMA bandwagon quite early, working to pump out the L800t candybar; the 220 x 176 resolution isn't going to blow anyone away, but hey, at least it'll blaze across the interwebs at the Olympics this summer. Maybe.

[Via Unwired View]

Despite ongoing trials and a groundswell of government and carrier optimism that the system would be ready in time for the Olympics this summer, at least one analyst is thinking that retail availability of China's homegrown 3G TD-SCDMA standard (and the equipment to take advantage of it) is still years away. The logic's pretty simple: historically, GSM trials have tended to last 12 to 18 months, and there's really no reason that the TD-SCDMA players would be able to effectively and reliably get it done any faster. Plus, network build-outs and handset developments take plenty of time, so they've got some work ahead of 'em. The outspoken analyst, working for Ernst & Young's global telecommunications group in Beijing, also thinks that China might end up awarding licenses for WCDMA (the underpinnings of UMTS) and CDMA2000 at the same time that TD-SCDMA licenses are handed out -- which begs the question, why'd they go through this whole rigmarole of developing their own standard to begin with?

[Via Slashphone]

We'll admit, there's something strangely intriguing about the over-the-top design put forth by this gilded, Buddha-themed candybar turning up in the streets of Shenzhen. The shell is alleged to be stainless steel with a 24 karat gold plating -- though we suspect that might only be true of the engraving on the back -- and not a single square inch of the thing has been left without some sort of intricate detail that you're not going to find on your average Nokia or Samsung. No proper Buddha phone would be complete without a microSD slot or a touchscreen, of course, and this example is no exception; it also seems that the phone has been blessed by a monk, so you shouldn't have much trouble with evil spirits taking residence in your decidedly materialistic purchase. Seriously, how can you go wrong with a keypad that fancy?

[Thanks, Kin N.]

For the half dozen or so folks actively seeking a run-of-the-mill watch phone to completely destroy any chance of landing new pals (let alone a SO) while out on the town, you've got a surprising amount of choices. Still, you'd be hard-pressed to find one as gaudy, yet curiously sleek as the Cool G108. Boasting what appears to be an electroluminescent keypad (is that a rotary dial design we see?) and a convenient flip-up screen, this watch / cellphone mishmash also features quad-band GSM / GPRS support, a 1.5-inch (160 x 128) internal display, 1.3-megapixel camera, multimedia player, Bluetooth, 0.5MB (generous, we know) of built-in memory and a MMS expansion slot in case you need more than a single Duran Duran track on your wrist. You'll also find USB connectivity and a smallish external display, and while pricing remains a mystery, there's loads more pics waiting in the read link below.

Forget that "world's smallest" hokum -- how's about the world's largest? One particular Chinese man took on the challenge by constructing a fully functional cellphone some 620 times bigger than the handset that served as inspiration. The final result weighs in at 48-pounds, towers 3-feet up and has absolutely no qualms sending / receiving calls, text messages or browsing the internet. Unfortunately, the homegrown handset does require an AC outlet to function, and the real kicker is the omission of a vibrate function. Still, we bet the speakerphone is killer.

[Via textually]