We've always heard that innovating through recession is the best way to survive, and apparently the suits at Nokia got the same memo. Despite the zany economic situation, the handset maker has established a research hub in the epicenter of media: Hollywood, California. The predictably named Nokia Research Center Hollywood is being planted in order to give Nokia easy access to members of the media / entertainment industry along with nearby universities, and it's hoping to generate a storm of ideas including "mixed reality experiences," fresh user interfaces and the meshing of media in the mobile world. In all honesty, it'll be quite interesting to see what eventually comes out of this, particularly since it already knows that mobile TV and cellphone gaming are far from hot stuff right now.

It's possible that MediaFLO hasn't read the writing on the wall, but despite the fact that mobile TV isn't being adopted at a wild rate, the Qualcomm subsidiary is still trying to expand. In fact, a recent report states that MediaFLO is looking to serve 108 markets by the end of 2009, up from 62 markets currently. Speaking to where it hopes to pick up traction, Bob Bradley, MediaFLO USA's Senior Director of Content, stated that MediaFLO is "starting to see success in offering both temporary channels and access to live events." Furthermore, the firm is expected to launch three new channels based around original content, and it's hoping to lure in "well-established Hollywood talent to help develop even more original content." We can't say that all of these ideas have fail written all over them or anything, but we still see a steep, steep road ahead for all mobile TV firms looking to gain popularity, MediaFLO included.

It still hasn't been conclusively proven that Ovi's going to fly with carriers -- well, maybe it has, since the Vodafone juggernaut has jumped in head first -- but either way, it's looking like Samsung wants a little piece of that action. It's unclear at this point just how far-reaching Samsung's initiative will be, but the company announced its intention at MWC to develop unified internet services for its handsets, which we figure is pretty much code for "we want to continue to make money from our devices after they're in customers' hands." As RCR points out, features like its blogging client and navigation are currently outsourced to ShoZu and Navigon, respectively, and moving forward, all that stuff will be rolled up and maintained in-house. Whether doing so is going risk stepping on carriers' revenue models the way Ovi has done, though, remains to be seen.

Laptop docking stations are so early-2000s, as Sony Ericsson has already patented what is essentially a docking station for your cellphone, dubbing it a Mobile Phone Multimedia Cradle. As predicted, the envisioned device would function much like standard lappie docking stations do today, as it would dock one's cellphone for charging / syncing, feature a numeric keypad and QWERTY keyboard for dialing and typing, a built-in LCD screen for video out capabilities, and a variety of ports for peripheral connections. The device would allow users to surf the web, manage contacts / photos, transfer files, and basically do anything a highly-spec'd smartphone can do, but in your lap (and in place of a laptop). Of course, managing to play nice with every single powerful handset in the world would be a monumental challenge, and we're still a ways off from having a true laptop-replacing cellphone, but we'd wager that this here invention is certainly not a bad one to have on the drawing board. Click on through for a side-angle conception.

Dopod's cozy relationship with HTC (which we're thinking just might have to do with HTC's ownership of the firm) continues with the announcement of three new models: the M700, D810, and C800, based on the HTC Artemis, Trinity, and Herald, respectively. All three designs are fairly bleeding-edge, with the Herald yet to see an official release. Meanwhile, the M700 variant of the Artemis ups the reference design's ante by packing in a full 256MB of internal storage, a move that HTC says makes this a multimedia version of the product, and so far it's a Dopod exclusive -- is HTC giving preferential treatment to its in-house brand? Say it ain't so! Look for all three to drop in Dopod-friendly regions of the world (read: Asia) over the coming months.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read - the::unwired
Read - MSMobileNews

Hey, isn't the idea of a cameraphone to have the luxury of leaving your big, fat digicam at home? With a smartphone, isn't the PDA supposed to be history? And doesn't that iPod belong in the circular file now that you've picked up that fancy musicphone? According to a newly released study by In-Stat, phones with extra goodness packed in aren't prompting their owners to leave other devices behind. In fact, over half of multimedia phone owners are still toting a dedicated MP3 player, some 75% of smartphone users lug a PDA as well, and a staggering 80% of cameraphone owners "regularly" carry their digital camera. Will the latest generation of superphones like the Nokia N95 start to change attitudes, or is the concept of a true all-in-one device nothing more than a myth?

[Via ZDNet]

New to the South Korean market: the Pantech and Curitel PT-S200 handset, a multimedia slider featuring a 2 megapixel camera and all-important subway map. This 17.9-millimeter thick model also sports a QVGA display, MicroSD slot for MP3s, mobile banking capabilities, and the requisite (for Korea, at least) electronic dictionary. Available only in white, the PT-S200 seems to be on sale immediately for the Korean equivalent of $425.

Remember the HTC Muse Windows Mobile 5.0 multimedia phone? You know, the one with 4GB of NAND storage dedicated to media files as well as dual cameras, including a 2.1 megapixel shooter with flash? Well anyway, DigiTimes is reporting that HTC will be shipping Qtek its version of the Muse, the S300 (not to be confused with Dopod's S300, based on another HTC design called the Star Trek), earlier than expected, as part of HTC's commitment to first release their HSDPA-enabled handsets in European markets. Qtek should be getting their Muses, which also sport 416MHz processors, 64MB of both RAM and ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM tuners, sometime in the third quarter, according to "market sources." Besides its lack of a keyboard (or even a numberpad, for that matter) and frustrating inclusion of that 240 x 240 display, the Muse looks to us like a pretty hot model, and will certainly give Nokia's N91, Sony Ericsson's W950i, and Samsung's i300 musicphones some strong competition.

[Via the::unwired]

That MySpace and Yahoo integration wasn't the only thing Helio rolled out for their user media services today; in addition to the leaned MySpace interface and customized Yahoo services portal, Helio users with the All-In Membership will get a slew of other things to keep them occupied when constantly fidgeting with the Kickflip's hinge. There's Helio On Top (H.O.T.) access, which is a simple 10-channel news and info aggregation feature, MMS picture and video messages, which can be sent up to 1MB per; free streaming video from major networks like MTV, Comedy Central, ABC, etc., $2.49 music video downloads (uh, what?), and of course those purchased, "gifted," or "begged" games, which are going for $5.99 to buy, or $0.99 to "rent" on your phone for a week. (The gifting and begging thing isn't only limited to games though, and can be applied to any purchasable content as well.) Not a whole lot in there that we're super interested in, ourselves; but you know us, we're more the Bluetooth DUN, A2DP, SlingPlayer, data overload types more prone to exploring mobile media on our own than holding a carrier's (or MVNO's) hand.

Like those Jupiter Research survey results we've seen before, Amberlight consultancy firm tells us that consumers do indeed want mobile television. However, they are put-off by poorly designed devices and lackluster services associated with those 3G streaming TeeVee solutions. They found current offerings to suffer from patchy 3G reception, slow startup times ranging from 2 and 5 minutes, and overly complicated usage experiences lacking on-screen displays and EPGs. Certainly, much of this is already being addressed by next-generation handsets with integrated digital TV tuners for accessing new broadcast, mobile TV solutions over DVB-H, T-DMB, and MediaFLO  -- so we're not overly concerned. After-all, Amberlight says their research, uh, "proves" that there is consumer demand for mobile TV if only operators can offer services which are "easy to use" and "competitively priced." Well, we're glad that argument is settled.

Well hello there N73 (bottom) and N93, how nice to see you in the for realz at last. Other than finally making these phones official we don't really have too much new information to offer. Both models run Series 60 3rd Edition and feature large 2.4-inch 262k color QVGA displays, Bluetooth 2.0, a MiniSD slot, MP3 / ACC media players, FM radio with Visual Radio, and a chubby 3.2 megapixel shooter with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, mechanical shutter, and integrated flash. Want to share those snaps? Coolio daddy-o, 'cause a new partnership with Flickr gives you the ability to upload and add comments to your photos directly from your new N-series cellphone without the need to download any additional software (don't forget to ZoneTag!). The N73 will launch as both a quad-band GSM / EDGE model and another which includes 3G (2100MHz UMTS). It features 42MB of on-board memory and 3D stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the unit to kick out some tinny jams. Meanwhile the N92-lookin' N93 turns out 900 / 1800 / 1900 GSM / EDGE and 3G (2100MHz UMTS), 50MB built-in memory, 802.11b/g, UPnP, TV-out, and adds a 3x optical zoom to the camera, which can record MPEG-4 VGA video at 30fps. If you're looking for mobile TV, you'll have to stick with the N92 though, since the N93 does not feature a DVB-H tuner. Both will drop in July; welcome to the show, boys. More product images after the break.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Read N73
Read N93

It's less of a mobile TV service than it is a convenient way to receive infomercials on the go, but VDC seems to be the new player in town either way. The service transmits "live cable TV" to your Windows Mobile or Windows XP system, with data rates up to 3000Kbps, though more EV-DO-friendly speeds are available as well. The subscription is a mere $12 a month, but the 20 channels of "cable" programming are fairly awful, including such gems as "The Pentagon Channel" and "ShopNBC." The service just went live today, and has more channels planned, including "Celebrity Shopping Network" and "AP Newswires & Newsbites." Where do we sign up?

[Via Windows For Devices]

As if the world needed yet another broadcast digital video standard, Japan's taking their stab at it today by officially finally rolling out One Seg, which sidechannels analog terrestrial broadcasting with digital signals. Apparently it's be free to air and now live in and around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, which is nice, but we're never too stoked for yet another radio standard the world's got to deal with supporting. Though we understand there are already a half a million One Seg mobile devices floating around Japan as we speak beginning with a December rollout of the standard, including Vodafone's new Sharp 95SH.