Oftentimes, it's difficult to remember that ASUS is in the handset game at all, and don't think for a second that ASUS isn't well aware of that fact. According to undisclosed sources, said outfit is looking to ramp up its reputation and seriously take on the likes of HTC next year by pumping out no fewer than ten handsets, almost all of which will boast 3G and a touch user interface. There's no definitive word on what operating system(s) will be relied upon, but we'd say it'd do ASUS good to get an Android-based mobile out in the States if it wants to seriously roll with High Tech Computer. Oh, and three cheers for competition.

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.

We're not even going to pretend we fully grasp what's going on here, but the long and short of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences' latest findings are that cellphones can trigger the release of mercury from one's fillings. Yes, seriously. The study asserts that out of 14 test subjects with fillings, those who used mobile phones had a statistically significant increase of mercury from urine tests than those who refrained from yapping. The science behind all of this is far beyond our IQ levels, but we're a little freaked out/not freaked out, regardless.

[Via textually]

News flash: mobile TV is not enticing. Like, at all. The viability of watching TV on one's handset has been questioned for years, and now we've got the numbers to prove that interest is waning. Recent research has found that mobile TV adoption sits at just 1% now, and interest in all types of mobile TV is just over 50% of what it was in 2006. The report places the blame on "patchy network coverage, limited channel lineup, poor video quality, excessive prices and a penchant among high-end phone users for business handsets rather than video phones," and we'd certainly have a tough time disagreeing. That being the case, it was still found that 15% of those surveyed on the topic would actually enjoy watching recorded TV shows later on their phone, suggesting that a little bit of choice when it comes to content may not be a bad idea. Rest assured, players in this space are already looking at ways to make it happen, and for those with SlingPlayer, you know all too well what we're getting at.

Nokia's market share may have slipped ever-so-slightly after a rough Q3, but that's not to say the current champ has been knocked from its throne -- far from it, actually. According to fresh numbers compiled by research firm IDC, Nokia's global market share after Q3 was 39.4%, while Samsung notched the silver with 17.3% and Sony Ericsson the bronze with 8.6%. Trailing the top trio was Motorola and LG with 8.5% and 7.7%, respectively. Each of the five still saw net gains when compared to Q3 2007 save for SE and Moto, which saw their market share slip 0.8% and 31.7%, respectively. Man, a 31.7% slide in twelve months -- is something wrong at Motorola's handset division, or have we just been living under a gigantic boulder for the last calender year?

Call us cynical, but we just can't see this one working out it. A team of researchers from Umeå University in Sweden are reportedly looking to sync up events on a soccer field to vibrations in a cellphone, essentially enabling you to keep track of the action without having to focus your eyes / ears on the handset. The proposed system could send vibrations to the phone that would act as a way of communicating possession, ball placement and (of course) gooooooooaaallllls, but obviously a few obstacles still stand in the way. For starters, buzzing your mobile through an entire tilt would do a number on the battery life, and even though you could "feel" the action, it would still require a great deal of attention. In all honesty, we'd say this whole system probably has more promise off the pitch than on, but then again, we call football soccer, so what do we know?

[Via UnwiredView]

While Sprint recently saw its CSR response times skyrocket, Verizon's doing a happy dance of its own after pulling down a gold medal from a recent J.D. Power and Associates survey. Curiously enough, it's not one we see as being particularly awesome -- call us crazy, but we tend to care about amazing coverage more than how spiffy a sales associate looks -- but the carrier is apparently numero uno in retail satisfaction. What's that mean, you ask? It takes into account four factors: sales staff, store display, store facility and price / promotion. Evidently, Verizon has the whole B&M experience thing locked down, and these days, we reckon you take every chance you get to celebrate. Party on, in that case.

[Via RCRWireless, image courtesy of DayLife]

There's a pretty substantial difference between "sales" and "popularity," as evidenced by the glaring dissimilarities between this here top 10 list and the one churned out earlier this month by NPD. AvianResearch got its data by polling 100 service representatives at retail stores to "gauge consumer interest in handsets available at the four major carriers in the United States." In September, RIM's BlackBerry Curve maintained the "lead," with Apple's iPhone securing a very distant second place. LG's Dare and the BlackBerry Pearl followed suit, while the LG Voyager, Samsung Instinct, LG Rumor, LG Shine, Palm Centro and Nokia 5310 closed out the rear. But seriously, since when has popularity trumped cold hard sales? Ah well, here's your cookie, Curve.

Not that it really matters to consumers one way or another -- after all, if you want a Bold, you'll pay the asking price -- but recent analysis by research firm iSuppli has found that parts and materials used to make the device "cost $158.16, and that assembly and testing add another $11.25, for a total cost of $169.41." Just for comparison, the Curve costs a cool $103 to build, and assuming RIM can sell the Bold to carriers at around $350, it'll net a gross margin of around 45% before R&D costs, software, marketing, shipping and freebies given to obscenely wealthy celebs are taken into account. The report (er, the part about the nice margins) should come as welcome news to shareholders, who have recently been worried that the current economic situation may keep individuals from snatching up new 'Berrys at a breakneck pace. Now, if only RIM / AT&T would let the thing get through testing, we'd be all set to contribute to those margins here in the US. Ahem.

No need to defog your spectacles, what you just read there in the headline is the truth. Astoundingly enough, Motorola's nearly archaic (in cellphone years, anyway) RAZR V3 is still the top-selling handset in the United States. Of course, it helps that it's highly subsidized on practically every carrier from coast to coast, but we're still a little stunned that it's selling this well nearly 2.5 years after Moto moved its 50 millionth unit. The rest of the top five isn't nearly as shocking, with Apple's iPhone snagging the silver, RIM's BlackBerry Curve grabbing the bronze, LG's Chocolate at number four and the BlackBerry Pearl at five. With the original RAZR still selling so well, one would think Motorola could just tweak it slightly and issue a second iteration for even more windfall profits. Er, wait.

Shortly after seeing an all new Vertu hit the FCC, in flies word confirming that the handset maker may actually sell quite a few (by its standards). According to a new report from ABI Research, the annual global revenue for opulent cellphones will exceed $41 billion next year and surpass $43 billion by 2013. This year, just under 6 million "luxury handsets" are expected to be sold (what exactly defines "luxury?"), with Western Europe leading the way in demand, followed by North America and Asia. Of course, the writeup also asserts that sales of these kinds will remain extraordinarily low compared to all those free-on-contract sets, but don't be surprised to see a few new faces (and their accompanying mobiles) at this year's debutante ball.

Who says we Americans don't love our mobile internet? We don't like paying through the nose for it, but there's no denying we heart it profusely. According to new research from Nielson, around 15.6% of US wireless subscribers utilize mobile internet on their handset, while the UK ganked the silver medallion at 12.9% and Italy the bronze at 11.9%. Out of the 16 countries studied by the firm, America ranked number one in terms of usage, and oddly enough, Motorola's RAZR / RAZR2 were found as the top devices (10%) for accessing the mobile web. For those curious, Apple's iPhone came in second with 4%, while RIM's BlackBerry 8100 and 8800 series claimed 2% each. Even if you're usually not the numbers type, we'd say it's worth your while to give these a peek -- pretty interesting stuff, from a nerd's point of view. [Warning: PDF read link]
[Via modoNews]

While there has been quite the kerfuffle about banning texting while driving and educating Australian youngsters on text speak, a new survey shows that the vast majority of us haven't even sent a single SMS. Research firm Ipsos MediaCT polled individuals in a variety of countries and came to one general conclusion: If folks are using SMS, "they're using it frequently." On the flip-side, those who aren't savvy with text messaging aren't apt to just dabble in it. For instance, 82% of respondents in America said "that they never used text messaging, while 3% said that they used it monthly or less" and 15% reported using it "every week or even more. Who knows what that figure would be if carriers stopping charging an arm and a leg for per-use messaging.

[Via Textually, image courtesy of ugo]

With Planet Earth's wireless juggernauts jumping on the LTE train while there's still room, we suppose the latest report from ABI Research isn't all that shocking. According to it, there will be some 32 million LTE network subscribers by 2013, and with the commercial launch not expected to go down before 2010, our abacus suggests that we're talking about 32 million over just 3 years. The firm asserts that the Asia-Pacific region will account for most of those folks (around 12 million), while the rest get split 60% / 40% between Western Europe and North America. You think we're just going to let you make this outlandish claim and then fuhgetaboutit, don't you ABI? Nah, we're creating a Google Calendar reminder for this day in 2013 right now to check back and see just how accurate you really were.

[Via SlashPhone]

Another month, another round of layoffs over at Moto. This time, we're seeing 120 out of the 600 positions in Motorola Labs -- the unit responsible for researching pretty much everything ranging from handsets to radio technology -- slashed; another 180 are "being reassigned to work in individual business units." According to the company, the moves from Moto Labs "will help R&D teams work with their business partners to optimize R&D investment and focus on projects that deliver the greatest value for Motorola," though your guess is as good as our as to what that actually means. Granted, we wouldn't normally support hacking off a good part of your innovation department, but considering that it's been stuck in fail mode for far too long, maybe this really is for the best.