FCC’s own says ‘aye’ to white spaces
On November 4th, voters will decide the fate of the Google and Microsoft-backed proposal for the use of white spaces, which FCC Chair Kevin Martin himself is voting for. Meanwhile, another top FCC member, Robert McDowell, has expressed optimism for the outcome of November 4th’s vote for these airwaves. A lot of companies are pushing [...]
LG to hone low-end handset offerings in 2009
Other than creating more smartphones for 2009, apparently LG is also looking towards the low-end market for additional market share. LG CEO Jung Do-hyun himself said in a statement that the company will go with aggressive price points for its products in emerging markets. Jung further adds, “We will settle for a single-digit profit margin [...]
AT&T finally offers free Wi-Fi for all iPhone users
Since Starbucks started offering 2 hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi to its customers a few months back, there hasn’t been much free Wi-Fi love for AT&T customers in the United States. But that’s about to change, because AT&T has just officially announced the availability of free Wi-Fi for iPhone users in all of its hotspots [...]
Nokia E63 makes live appearance at Symbian Smartphone Show
The days of us thinking that the Nokia E72 is the Nokia E63 are long gone. We’ve distiguished that the Nokia E63 is, in fact, a different handset, and that it will be a somewhat cheaper version of the Nokia E71. It was last seen residing in the bag of a Symbian Smartphone Show atendee, [...]
DioTek’s DioPen 7 for Windows Mobile now available
For me, a touchscreen-enabled mobile phone’s killer app will always be handwriting recognition (unless they somehow figure out a way to put holographic displays on these things). And so, if I were a Windows Mobile phone user, I’d probably be excited about the latest version of DioTek’s handwriting recognition software, called DioPen 7. DioPen 7 [...]
OpenMoko working on Android-based GTA02, for release as early as November
The T-Mobile G1 might be the world’s first open-source Android handset, but it’s definitely not the last. Rumor has it that OpenMoko, another open-source handset maker, is going to hop in on the Android bandwagon as early as November, when it releases its first Android-based product called the GTA02. Details about the Android-powered OpenMoko GTA02 [...]
iPhone App Review: iTalk
The newest kid on the App Store block is a handy one called iTalk. Released within the last couple days, iTalk offers a convenient — and free — way to use your iPhone as an audio recorder. Here’s how it works. Record your audio clip, whether it be for notes to yourself or your youngest [...]
Sporty Alcatel OT-I650 comes with a G-sensor and an affordable price tag
We don’t hear much about Alcatel mobile phones, but the latest handset to come out under this brand surely deserves a bit of our attention. Called Alcatel OT-I650, the new phone is an entry-level one that comes with a G-sensor (accelerometer). This apparently allows users to switch between applications – like music player, games, alarm [...]
AT&T’s Pantech Slate available now – only 9.9mm in thickness
Pantech Slate C530, first announced by AT&T together with three other new QWERTY phones, is now available for purchase from the largest North American mobile carrier. Presented as the world’s thinnest handset to feature a full QWERTY keyboard, Pantech Slate can be bought for $49.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate and the signing of a 2-yr contract [...]
Samsung showcases 0.05mm-thin flapping OLED display
Samsung has always had a distinct relationship with the word “thin”, especially if we talk about the company’s mobile phones. Of course, not all of Samsung’s handsets can be called thin, but there are lots of them which can. Today, during FPD International 2008, Samsung has unveiled a new ultra-thin product. It’s not a cell phone, but [...]
iPhone App Review of Google Earth
As a preface, I must say I’ve been looking forward to Google coming out with an iPhone version of its popular Earth application for a long time now, and it finally came out on Sunday night. With the introduction of this app as well as Street View Maps in the 2.2 update, I’m wondering if [...]
Bang & Olufsen says goodbye to the cell phone biz
Bang & Olufsen, the Danish company mainly known for its high-end audio and video products, announced it will no longer be involved in manufacturing cell phones. There are two Bang & Olufsen mobile phones currently on the market, both built together with Samsung: Samsung Serene and Samsung Serenata F310. These two weird-looking handsets will be [...]
Motorola to ditch Symbian, bet on Android and outsource WinMo phone production
Wall Street Journal today has an interesting article (subsrciption required) about the changes coming to the struggling Motorola handset division. The article details the changes in Motorola strategy initiated by the new head of handset division Sanjay Jha, that may be announced during Motorola’s earnings conference call on Thursday. Under this plan Motorola will abandon [...]
Asus Android handset planned for 2009
Asustek Computer Inc., maker of motherboards, notebooks, smartphones, PDAs and other electronic products, will apparently release an Android-powered mobile device in the first half of 2009. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on what the Asus Android handset will bring in terms of features. Also, there are no details on what the device will look like. [...]
Low-end phones now have a Push Email solution from Synchronica
Synchronica SimpleMail is the name of the newest mass-market consumer push email (CPE) solution created for owners of low-end cell phones. Launched by Synchronica, an international company based in the UK, SimpleMail is said to be capable of offering push email to almost all the mobile phones currently in use. Synchronica SimpleMail features an [...]
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic to outsell iPhone in Russia
Local Russian home appliances and electronics retailer Eldorado will start offering the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic for sale to hungry fanboys starting December 5th. With it, of course, comes Nokia’s S60 5th Edition OS, and it is identified as Nokia’s first mass market touchscreen handset. Eldorado’s head of mobile phones, Maxim Pavlov, says his company is [...]
LG holding contests in Korea and Brazil to honor your mad text messaging skillz
LG aims to recognize the world’s fastest senders of text messages this year by holding separate contests in Korea and Brazil. The contest consists of a person sending a text message “most quickly and accurately.” There is no age limit imposed by LG, and so pretty much anyone with an experience in sending text messages [...]
Hitachi introduces W63H clamshell phone
If you fancy a new clamshell handset that’s not a total ripoff of the Motorola RAZR, then you might want to take a look at the Hitachi W63H. It’s a new clamshell up for release in the Japanese market right now, and comes with some pretty cutting-edge features. By cutting-edge, of course, I mean its [...]
Samsung C6620 smartphone launched in Italy; approved by FCC too
Samsung has recently released a new BlackJack-like smartphone, called Samsung C6620 and currently available only in Italy, via TIM and its MVNO, MTV Mobile. TIM sells the C6620 for €199, in three color versions: Wine Red, Apple Green and Navy Blue. The smartphone seems to be an exclusive for TIM, but most probably this is only [...]
BlackBerry Bold costs $169 to be produced, Best Buy sells it for $660
AT&T’s BlackBerry Bold can now be bought free of contract, from Best Buy, for $659.99. This must be great news for lots of users in the US who might not want to wait until November 4, when AT&T will begin to sell RIM’s new smartphone on contract. A question rises, though: is BlackBerry Bold worth [...]