Spice -- Engadget Mobile

spice posts

Spice S940 brings out the student in all of us

by Darren Murph posted Jan 28th 2009 @ 6:59PM

Before you ask -- no, this candybar isn't specially equipped to help you cheat on tests, it's actually helpful for studying. Imagine that, right? The Spice S940 reportedly comes loaded with the ability to make / receive calls, take snapshots with its two megapixel camera, tune into FM radio, play back multimedia files and access an online portal that provides preparation for the CAT, IIT and a few other professional exams. Moreover, the "email2sms" feature beams your emails to you by way of text message, and the included "friend finder" is sure to go over well with the social networking fanatics. And hey, Rs 5,999 ($122) ain't bad for a digital study guide.

India's Spice Mobile spices things up with X-1 gaming phone

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 8th 2008 @ 4:38AM

Unlike the Bell X-1, the first aircraft to break the sound barrier, the Spice X-1 isn't going to break any speed records limping along with a quaint little GPRS chipset. After the initial bout of browsing withdrawal, though, the average user might be able to settle in, enjoy the phone's rather comprehensive gaming facilities, and forget about data connectivity altogether (that's not us, necessarily, but we imagine those people must exist somewhere). The phone ships with a dedicated gaming controller that can be snapped on and used when trying to blast your foes away on the standard numeric pad just isn't cutting it, and the touted surround sound and stereo Bluetooth should help give it some street cred, too. It can be had for 8,899 rupees (about $212), which isn't bad considering the feature set; just don't expect the bundled Opera Mobile to take you very far.

[Via Unwired View]

Vmedia aside, Spice planning ultra-cheap phones, too

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 18th 2008 @ 10:43AM

We'd personally spend the extra few bucks to pick up the MOTOFONE's e-ink display, but mad love to Spice for what they're trying to do here nonetheless. The Indian carrier announced a couple other handsets in addition to its crazy Vmedia disc-playing prototype at Mobile World Congress last week, both of which will retail for under $20. "The People's Phone" (which we hope is less painful than The People's Elbow) is about as simple as they come, forgoing a display altogether in an effort to really boil it down to the basics, while The Braille Phone appears to be virtually the same thing with braille simply added to the keys. It seems unlikely that the models will find their way too far outside India proper, though they sure would make interesting backup phones, wouldn't they?

[Via textually.org]

Vmedia's cellphone optical disk system is probably not the next big thing

by Nilay Patel posted Feb 11th 2008 @ 11:10PM

Seeing as cellphones are usually connected to mobile networks, we'd think the problem of content distribution would basically solve itself, but a company called Vmedia Research is at Mobile World Congress with a new type of optical disk designed just for phones. Using a blue laser, a 1GB, 32mm MiniDisc-esque Vmedia cartridge can hold a full DVD-res movie using H.264 compression, as well as limited special features. Vmedia's demoing the tech on an upcoming Spice GSM handset, which has a 2.8-inch screen and a PSP UMD-like door for inserting the disks. The system is going to debut in India and southeast Asia with 40 Bollywood films available at launch for just $5 each, but Vmedia and Spice say they've got 1,000 more content deals in the works. No plans have been announced for the rest of the world as of yet, but we're not holding our breath.

Read - Vmedia press release
Read - Spice Movie Phone