Archives for October, 2007
30 Oct
At the Connect Africa summit, the GSM Association says that the mobile industry plans to invest more than $50 billion in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years to provide more than 90% of the population with mobile coverage.
[via Cellular News]
Source: A $50 Billion Investment to Blanket Africa With Mobile Phones
30 Oct
Our friend at Gizmodo.com got a chance to review the Pantech Duo, a Windows Moobile-powered slide phone that has a very sleek glossy gray finish and design.
The Pantech Duo features two keyboards - a regular cell phone keypad and a full QWERTY keyboard. Other features and specificatons includes 1.3-Megapixel digital camera, microSD expansion slot, and MP3 player.
According to AT&T, the Pantech Duo will be sold for $200 with a two-year service contract, but you’ll also have to tack on a data plan which ranges from $30 to $50.
Source: Pantech DUO - A Dual Keyboards Cell Phone First Hand Pictures
30 Oct
Here is the Sony Ericsson K850 phone, which is the company’s latest Cyber-shot phone model. The phone provides Turbo-3G speed(HSDPA) for fast download, 5MP digital camera with auto focus, and Xenon flash with red-eye reduction and Video Light. The handset also features SMS, MMS, Push e-mail, stereo Bluetooth technology, Memory Stick and Micro SD memory cards support. It is currently available in velvet blue or luminous green. No word on pricing so far.
Microsoft has recently introduced the new HTC Touch 3G smartphone during CTIA 2007. The handset adopts Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system and offers a 2.8-inch QVGA screen, microSD card slot with an included 1GB card and 2M camera. It also sports 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth connection and instant access to Sprint Music Store. The HTC Touch will be released in US market in next month.
Apple Stores have implemented a new policy that limits the amount of iPhone purchases and method of payment.
According to multiple sources, there is a new Apple Store policy that limits iPhone purchases to two. In addition, it’s required that you purchase with a credit or debit card. Cash is no longer allowed. This new policy was put into place to prevent individuals who were purchasing an iPhone for reselling or unlocking purposes.
Don’t be surprised if the next mobile phone you buy is eventually handed back to you as your wedding ring writes The Sydney Morning Herald.
“That’s the message conveyed today by the mobile phone industry, which is auctioning off a range of jewellery made solely out of materials that can be recovered from recycled mobile phones.
Designed by jeweller Nic Cerrone, the six-piece range includes a men’s ring and necklace, women’s necklace, bracelet, earrings and cufflinks.
Rose Read, manager of the mobile phone industry’s national recycling program, MobileMuste, said she hoped the move would encourage more people to recycle their old handsets.
… The value of the jewellery up for auction - made from gold, silver and copper - has been estimated between $1608 for the earrings and $7236 for the women’s necklace. The male ring has been valued at $2364.”
Flip Sidekick LX’s screen around and up, revealing the QWERTY keyboard underneath. Noted LCD Maker Sharp manufactures the Sidekick, and given Sharp’s display manufacturing prowess, it makes sense that the high-quality, 3-inch, WQVGA (400-by-240-pixel) display would draw on Sharp’s Aquos LCD technology.
You can customize the device’s alert lights–which include the trackball positioned at the right–to illuminate depending on the activity (for example, when you have an incoming SMS, MMS, IM, e-mail, or phone call). Sharp equipped the slide with support for up to 4GB of microSD memory (a 128MB card comes included).
The unit also has a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera with flash. Additionally, an integrated MySpace application (delivered over the air) is part of the Sidekick’s instant-messaging experience. Messaging and MySpace are huge components of the Sidekick: According to T-Mobile, 85 percent of all Web page views on the Sidekick are to MySpace.com, and typically more than 1000 IMs are sent per month.
[ T-Mobile Sidekick LX — Flip the Screen ‘Round via PC World ]
Source: T-Mobile Sidekick LX
Citizen Watch Co. will release in late November a wristwatch that notifies users when their mobile phone receives an e-mail. Nikkei.net reports.
“The new watch will vibrate and show a designated icon when the user’s mobile phone receives incoming e-mails, and then demonstrate up to 70 characters of the e-mail’s subject and text. It will come with a color LCD monitor.
The gadget will also feature a remote control function that presses the shutter button of the user’s camera phone and turns off the phone’s alarm.
Only works though with three new Softbank handsets that use the Bluetooth short-range wireless connectivity standard.”
Here is a review video of the recently released Sidekick LX smartphone. Priced at $299, the gadget features a QVGA display, 1.3MP shooter, and a microSD card slot (128MB included). Watch the review video after the jump.
Source: Sidekick LX Smartphone Reviewed
On 1 October I posted a blog entry on the rumored T-Mobile Shadow Windows Mobile device from HTC. The rumors seem to have been true and today T-Mobile announced the Shadow that will be available on 31 October. The Shadow is a Windows Mobile 6 device, looks like a Standard (Smartphone) model with a 2.6 inch QVGA display, unique keypad with a BlackBerry-like QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth with A2DP support, microSD expansion slot, 2 megapixel camera, and more. It supports myFaves and looks like a slick device. The specs show it is just over 1/2 inch thick.
HTC worked with T-Mobile to customize the myFaves screen and functionality so you can do more with it in a much easier manner. HTC also developed an enhanced user interface and I can’t wait to give it a try this week. Part of the customizations include a spin navigation wheel and colorful lighting alerts.
The full specs aren’t posted online and there may still be an issue with T-Mobile getting the government off of the 1700 MHz frequency so at this time the announcement states the device supports WiFi and EDGE data connections. The specs I did see don’t show support for the 1700 MHz frequency so I don’t think we’ll see 3G from T-Mobile as soon as we hoped.
The T-Mobile Shadow will be available on Wednesday for only US$149.99 in two colors, copper and sage, with a 2-year voice and data plan. This is an outstanding price for a Windows Mobile 6 device and with cool customizations and prices like this I think we’ll be seeing more and more Windows Mobile devices in consumers hands in 2008. This is actually the first in a line of “Shadows” from HTC and T-Mobile so the next model may have 3G support.