January 2007 Archives

Another new mobile fresh out of Taiwan is the OKWAP S868 smartphone featuring an ultra-cool virtual scroll wheel over the keypad. The phone runs off of Windows Mobile 5.0, and includes 2.4-inch touchscreen, a stylus and alphanumeric keypad. It also has a 2-megapixel CMOS camera with autofocus.

The OKWAP S868 runs on an Intel PXA270 416Mhz CPU, and has 64MB RAM, and 128MB ROM. Memory can be expanded via the SD or MMC card slots, and the phone includes Bluetooth, GPRS, and Infrared. The phone is expected to be a dual-band phone, but this has not yet been revealed.

The OKWAP S868 will be available for consumer purchase in late February for about $470 USD.

In a press conference yesterday, Fujitsu executives unveiled the new Fujitsu F703i, which is now considered to be the world's thinnest waterproof phone at just 17.9mm thick. Fujitsu heralds the F703i as not only just a waterproof phone, but a stylish and compact one, unlike its predecessors which were odd and bulky.

The Fujitsu F703i has been under development for three long years. They wanted to make sure that they could include all the essential functions that mobile phones have today, while making it completely waterproof.

The phone can be submerged in 1 meter depth of water, left there for 30 minutes, and then removed, and it will work as if nothing ever happened! You can even wash the phone off in a regular sink without causing it any harm. To demonstrate its waterproof efficiency, Fujitsu brought along a model and a bathtub, who demonstated the nice features of the waterproof F703i phone while bathing.

Fujitsu is hoping to introduce more stylish waterproof phones over the coming years, while cutting down its thickness to 13mm, 12mm, and even 11mm. The Fujitsu F703i phone will be available through NTT DoCoMo beginning next month.

SkyLink, a Russian CDMA network operator, has teamed up with the Russian jewelry company "Almaz Holding" to create the unique Ubiquam Silver Mustang mobile phone.

To create this one-of-a-kind phone, they started off with an Ubiquam U300 CDMA EV-DO handset. Then jewelers added the 7.2gr silver mustang drawing, and added twenty-nine 0.01 carat gemstones. This is the only phone of its kind that Skylink has created, and sadly it is not for sale. The phone will be on display at trade fairs, mainly within the country of Russia. Skylink reps have said, however, that they may consider producing a new line of this phone in the future. That is probably very much dependent on the reception that they will receive while the phone is on display.

Today Sony announced the VAIO G11-Series notebooks created specifically for business travellers who don't want to have to lug around a heavy piece of equipment and all kinds of accessories. At just 1.12kg, including battery, the G11-Series notebook is very portable. The power supply unit was also shrunk down in size, weighing 170g and shorter end to end than a pen.

Advanced carbon fiber laminate was used for the G11-Series casing and lid, which shaves off some weight, and giving the notebook unprecedented strength and durability. Most notebooks do not feature as much carbon fiber as the VAIO G11, which makes this one of the lightest notebooks that can withstand some beatings. Further proving its durability, the VAIO can be dropped from a height of no more than 90cm without harm. If it drops while the device is powered on, the hard disk will sense the acceleration and automatically lock down drive heads to prevent damage and data loss.

The notebook also includes the latest Intel Ultra-Low Voltage processor, which expands battery life to an impressive 9 hours. This means you get high performance, minimal power consumption, and less worries.

The display screen on the G11-Series notebook is small at just 12.1-inches with XGA resolution but this is designed with business in mind. It features the 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the widescreen 16:9 that is now featured in most consumer-oriented notebooks.

A special limited edition model, the VGN-G11N/T is available exclusively through Sony Style online for a limited time only. It features a premium brown carbon fiber finish, and has 2GB of system memory, rather than the standard 1GB.

Sony has just completed key updates for its 2007 VAIO product range.
The Sony VAIO AR30-Series is the latest version of the first notebook to feature an integrated Blue-ray Disc optical drive. The flagship notebook in this series is the VGN-AR31S, which was created to be the ultimate Full HD entertainment notebook.

The Sony VGN-AR31S notebook features a huge, 17-inch double lap X-black LCD widescreen display, which is capable of Full HD. With the integrated Blu-ray optical disc drive, users can edit personal HD video content and burn it onto a Dual Layer 50GB Blu-ray disc, and with the premium display, you can enjoy all the benefits of Blu-ray playback. The notebook also includes an integrated hybrid digital/analog TV tuner, and comes with a remote control for the ultimate PC entertainment system.

The Sony VAIO UX1 Ultra Mobile PC is coming to the UK! The new UMPC from Sony is only 480g in weigh, but it packs some real punch with 1GB of memory, the Intel Ultra-Low Voltage processor, and Windows Vista Business, making the perfect device for mobile computing.

The Sony VAIO UX1 is great for both work and play. You can watch movies, listen to music, and even view photos, as well as do everything you can do on a full-size PC. With integrated high-speed WiFi, you can take advantage of wireless hotspots and networks to email and surf the web. It features a 4.5-inch widescreen display, which allows for touchscreen capabilities either with your fingers or a stylus. The screen is also visually enhanced with the contrast boosting x-black LCD, and brightly illuminated LED technology.

The UX1 also includes two integrated cameras - one for use with video chat, and the other for taking pictures. The device has no hard disk, but instead has 32GB of flash memory. The advantage of having flash memory over traditional hard drive memory is that everything loads faster, and general operation tends to be highly responsive. It also uses less power, making the average battery life slightly over four hours of continuous use.

With the choice of touchscreen, stylus or the slide-out keyboard, the UX1 exemplifies ease of use. The device can be held either horizontally or vertically as well - whichever you prefer or require for optimum viewing.

The Sony VAIO UX1 features an bundled display/LAN adapter, 3 USB 2.0 ports, AV-out, VGA, LAN, and iLINK. An AC adapter, stylus, carrying stand, and soft case are also provided standard with the UX1.

The ASUS J501 super-slim slider phone was recently launched in Taiwan.
One of the coolest things about this phone is that it can also double as a Skype phone. So when you're out and about you can use it as a regular mobile phone, or if you're in a WiFi zone you can connect to Skype and save your minutes by making calls through that.

The ASUS J501 features a nice 2.2-inch display, which is great for its many multimedia functions. As well, it also includes a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera, and a microSD slot for expandable memory. You can pick up the ASUS J501 in Taiwan for NT$9,900, or about $302 USD.

Thanks to a new service called Mobyk, then next time you lose your mobile phone, you won't lose your entire mobile life. Meaning, everything you store on your mobile phone won't be lost as well. Your contacts and everything else stored on your phone can easily be stored online with the Mobyko service, making it accessible from anywhere, anytime. Mobyko is an independent service, and works across most UK mobile networks.Even if you don't lose your phone, and are just upgrading to a new one, you'll be able to quickly an easily transfer your old phone's information over to your new phone.

Stolen mobile phones are costing consumers a lot money each year, and while that problem itself is a headache, what is even more of a hassle is trying to recover and replace phone numbers for friends, family, business contacts, and so on. Photos, texts, and videos can also be lost forever. But with Mobyko, you can avoid this information loss.

The Mobyko service works with about 150 mobile handsets, or about 90% of new handsets on the market. There are no messy cables or downloads to deal with, just simply sign-up on the Mobyko.com website.

Boston Power Inc. introduced on Tuesday at DEMO 07 its new Sonata product line, a next generation, lithium-ion battery for laptop computers. Sonata batteries are considered to be a drop-in technology, which means OEMs don't have to change their designs for the product to work with them.

Some of the benefits of the Sonata batteries are enhancements in performance and safety, which include slower chemical kinetics, novel current interrupt devices, new thermal fuses, unique pressure relief vents, and safer pack configuration. Sonata batteries also feature the industry's fastest re-charge time - in just 30 minutes you can recharge your battery to 80% capacity. This is at least half of the time of other batteries. As well, the Boston Power Sonata batteries are designed to match the lifespan of a laptop computer. Instead of having to buy at least three new batteries in the first three years of a computer like most consumers, if you use a Boston Power Sonata battery you wouldn't need to buy any other batteries in that timeframe.

KLIC(Korea Location Information & Communications) unveiled the world’s first terrestrial-based personal portable location detection device the 'KP-100'. The portable device will utilize a location based service called 'mypol' which keeps track of children, the disabled, patients etc.

The KP-100 measures 45.9 x 63.9 x 17.2mm and weighs 49 grams. One also comes across a SOS Button which can be used in case of an emergency. Suggested price is 160,000(KRW) and one needs to shell out 9,000(KRW) as subscription service.

Gil Soo Lee, executive director of the company says "since it is a terrestrial-based device instead of GPS, it can keep track of the object even when people are outside of building as well as when they are inside. The device enables to check the location of the users within 1m. It can be charged via a handset charger and it runs for about four days per charge."

Seagate Technology officially announced the Digital Audio Video Experience (D.A.V.E(TM)) technology. This cutting-edge new technology comes with 10-20 GB of wireless storage in an accessory smaller than many slim-line mobile phones. Thus one can store, play and share digital files on mobile phones, PCs, and other wireless-enabled devices.

D.A.V.E. would make use of an existing Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connections and one can use it up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) from the phone. Since its open source, 3rd party applications can be used in conjunction with the platform.

"Mobile telephony is undergoing a multimedia revolution, and the DAVE mobile content platform will provide even more fuel for the growth of new music and video services over mobile networks," said Patrick King, senior vice president and general manager of Seagate's consumer electronics business unit. "Products using DAVE technology will enable digital content, whether for business or entertainment use, to be stored, moved, and connected in ways never before possible. Mobile carriers can use this technology for creating value from their investments in high-bandwidth networks, and mobile handset manufacturers have another tool for turning the multimedia phone into the center of the mobile consumer's digital life."

The Motorola MAXX V6 has got the green signal from the omnipotent FCC, so expect it to hit the American shores soon! The american version of course will support 850MHz GSM and UMTS bands. The MAXX V6 includes features like; external color display, 2-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive keys on the front, QVGA display, 50MB of memory with microSD slot, multimedia players and stereo Bluetooth audio.

Today Apple announced the availability of the Apple iPod Shuffle in four new colors - blue, pink, green and orange. The second-generation iPod Shuffle was introduced just three months ago in its original silver color. The size remains the same, at about half a cubic inch in volume and half an ounce in weight. The only difference is now you can by the Shuffle with its aluminum outer casing in silver, as well as blue, pink, green and orange. With a gigabyte of flash memory, the Shuffle will hold up to 240 songs, has a 12 hour battery life, and costs just $79. Just clip it on, and enjoy your music on the go!

Did you know Apple first filed for a phone patent all the way back in 1982? Well, now you do! Although it was filed in 1982, the patent wasn't issued until 1985.

Okay, so they didn't file for the name "iPhone", but it is still interesting to see that it took over twenty-five years for an Apple Phone to finally come to life. Based on the sketches, I'm glad it took them this long - who'd want to be carrying around a big, clunky old phone shaped like an apple?!

ASUS has officially announced the P735 smartphone that we told you about last week. The phone works on UMTS (WCDMA) 2100 MHz with 384 kbps UL/DL, GSM 900/1800/1900Mhz, and GPRS Class 10 networks. It does not have HSDPA or GPS.

The ASUS P735 is, however, packed with lots of multimedia features including: video calls, dual camera, business card reader, and full multimedia playback. It also includes the ASUS Remote Presenter software application, which allows you to control PowerPoint presentations from a PC via Bluetooth. It also allows you to view the PowerPoint footnotes on the ASUS P735's screen. How cool is that?

Other innovative functions of the phone include the Meeting Planner, which allows scheduling and time conversion across up to 3 timezones for teleconferencing meetings. The ASUS Profile function helps you to avoid embarrassing rings during meetings, and the ASUS Status feature keeps you updated as to the status of the device. My Secret allows you to encrypt and protect sensitive documents (if activated).

The Asus P735 also comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity, and a miniSD card slot. It weights 143g and measures 109 mm x 59 mm x 19 mm. Still no word on pricing.

Photos of the new N99 Nseries phone by Nokia have surfaced online. The phone reportedly will have 16GB Flash internal memory, 9-way front joystick, and up to a 4GB miniSD card slot. It will also feature a 16:9 3.2-inch widescreen, GPS, MP#, WLAN WiFi, a QWERTY keypad, 8-megapixel camera, DIVX XVID MPEG AVI video reading, and a 3 CCD 720 pixel wide 30fps video capture. If those specs are in fact true, then Nokia is making one impressive phone, and I can't wait to get my hands on one of these!

Photos of the Motorola MAXX Ve were leaked last week along with a bunch of other Motorola phones, but now the real thing has been unearthed. Boy Genius has gotten his hands on the Motorola MAXX Ve for Verizon Wireless.

The Motorola MAXX Ve for Verizon has a larger external display than its GSM cousin, as well as some other minor tweaks. Other changes include a 2-megapixel Auto-Focus camera, and improved keypad layout. It also features an MP3 player, with controls on the outer screen. Other than that, we don't know much more about it, but there are sure a lot of photos of it!

Philips is making a jump back into the mobile phone market, bringing us something that all mobile phone owners want - super long battery life. With the introduction of the Philips Xenium 9@9 series of phones, users can expect it to last 40 days and 40 nights in stand-by more before having to recharge. Or, for the talkative amongst us, you can babble incesantly for 10 hours before you need to charge it up again.

Philips Xenium 9@9a:

The first phone in the series is the Philips Xenium 9@9a, which has the longest battery life of the bunch. It's a very basic model that works on GSM 900/1800 networks. In standy-bye mode it lasts for 40 days and nights, and has a talk-time of 10 hours. It is not packed with all kinds of features, but it does support SMS, EMS, MMS, and WAP. It has a 1.5-inch OLED display (65k colors), 2MB internal memory, and supports polyphonic ringtones. The phonebook can hold up to 1000 entries The phone measures 99.7 x 43.5 x 19.2mm, and weights 86 g.

Philips Xenium 9@9d:

The Philips Xenium 9@9d is the next phone in the series, and is a step-up from the 9@9a model phone. This phone has some more features as well, and therefore the battery life is slightly less, but still impressive. Stand-by time is one month, and talk-time is 8.5 hours. Features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, USB 1.1, Bluetooth, JAVA 2.0 support, IrDA connectivity, and 18MB of internal memory. The 9@9d model phone has a 128x160 screen with 65k colors. The phone measures 108 x 45 x 18.5 mm, and weights 96 g.

Philips Xenium 9@9t:

The Philips Xenium 9@9t phone is higher-end model in the series, and could easily be considered a "smartphone." It has more features than the mid-level 9@9d model, but retains the impressive battery life of 850 hours stand-by and 8.5 hours of talk-time. This model features a 128 x 160 Touchscreen with 65K colors, MP3 palyer, handwriting recognition, stylus, and a miniSD card slot for expandable memory. The Xenium 9@9t lacks, however, the Bluetooth and IrDA support that the 9@9d model features.

There's been no word on pricing or availability at this time. Hopefully the great battery life of these phones will inspire other mobile phone manufacturers to start incorporating such features themselves.

Casio is also rolling out some new digital cameras, and this time it's the sleek and shiny EX-Z75 and the EX-Z1050. There's not a whole lot known about the cameras yet, so expect more details to be released soon.

The Casio EX-Z75 digital camera is housed in a metal-like silver casing, and features 7.2-megapixel photos, a 2.6-inch LCD screen, USB 2.0 connectivity, 3x optical zoom, and a Best Shot Mode. The Ex-Z75 is expected to retail for $300 USD. No release date or availability information is available at this time.

The Casio EX-Z1050 is a step up from the EX-Z75 model, and is also housed in silver casing. This camera is also very slim, and features a 2.6-megapixel LCD display, ISO up to 3200, USB 2.0 connectivity, anti-shake technology, and a movie mode that can capture 30fps VGA. It also has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The suggested retail price on this phone is $394. Again, there is no word on the availability at this time, but I would expect it to be available soon.

A part of Samsung's new line up of digital cameras is the new Samsung V74, 28mm 3.6x optical zoom wide-angled digital camera. Housed in a black case, the camera has a typical NV series look to it.

Notable features of the phone include 28mm wide-angle, 3.6x optical zoom, ASR (Adavanced Shake Reduction), 3-inch LCD display, ISO up to 1600, face recognition, and the abililty to record MPEG-4 videos at SVGA resolutions. There has so far been no word on pricing or availability.

Lamborghini has its own mobile phone and laptop, and now Ferrari is getting into the race with the new Motorola MotoRAZR Maxx V6 Ferrari Challenge. You'll know this is a Ferrari phone as soon as you see the "iconic prancing horse shield on the front, and the Ferrari name on the back. And then, if that hasn't gotten you revved up already, when you turn it on you'll hear the sound of a Ferrari Formula 1 engine revving.

You can get your hands on this bad boy for just $524, which is significantly cheaper than the Lamborghini phone priced $1,200 more. The Motorola MotoRAZT Maxx V6 Ferrari Challenge phone also comes with a sexy red leather case, to protect it from scratches and nicks while in your pocket.

The phone is available for immediate purchase on five continents at Ferrari Stores and Motorola dealers. It has a recommended price of $524 or €490.00. This is a Limited Edition phone, so don't expect them to last very long!

LG Electronics has announced the availability of its newest mobile phone, the LG-LC3200.
The phone works within South Korea, but more interestingly, it also works globally. LG is highlighting this fact, hoping to spark international sales of the phone.

The LG-LC3200 is a slider phone, and also contains a 1.3 megapixel camera, games, an e-dictionary, IrDA port, and a 2-inch TFT (176x220, 260K colors) display. It is equipped with 64-tones polyphony, and weighs 89g.

Just appoved by the FCC is the new Motorola W215 entry-level phone. The W215 features a stylish candy-bar design for those who are looking stylish phone on a budget. Some of the features of the phone include an FM radio, VGA camera, and the iTap predictive system. The Motorola W215 is a dual-band 850/1900MHz phones based off the W208 phone introduced in June 2006. It will be available in two color variations - silver/black, and dark red/black. No word yet on pricing or carrier availability.

Samsung will soon be unleashing two new mobile phones for the American CDMA market, SCH-R510 and the SCH-U540, which will be available through Alltel and Verizon Wireless.

The Samsung SCH-R510 is a CDMA EV-DO phone, which is believed to be based off the Ultra 6.9 or Trace phone from T-Mobile. The SCH-R510 is expected to have similar features to the Trace, including a music player, a 1.3 or 2-megapixel camera, and a microSD card slot for expanded memory. This phone will be available through Alltel Wireless in the United States.

The next new Samsung phone, the SCH-U540, is a re-designed SCH-U520 (available through Alltel) that will be made available to Verizon Wireless customers. It is a mid-level phone with features such as a music player, A2DP for stereo audio, external control buttons, and a mediocre display and camera.

As more information on these phones becomes available we'll be sure to share it with you.

On Sunday a group of 10 "leading domestic institutions" better known as the "FuTURE Project" rolled out the world's first 4G network in Shanghai. What makes this even more interesting is that they have still been working on getting their 3G network up and running on mainland China. I guess they decided that 4G was way cooler than 3G, so there's no sense in wasting anymore time on it.

The rollout of the 4G network has cost approximately 150 million yuan, or $19.3 million USD. This fourth-generation standard will allow data transmission at up to 100 megabytes per second, which is already several times faster than current technology.

China is planning on holding field tests for the new 4G network, and will put it into trial commercial use up until 2010. Meanwhile, those of us in the rest of the world will have to sit back in envy, waiting until the day 4G finally makes its way to us.

China aims to hold field tests for the 4G system -- whose rollout has cost 150 million yuan ($19.3 million) and will allow data transmission at up to 100 megabutes per second, several times faster than current technology -- and put it into trial commercial use up until 2010, the paper added.

China hasn't completely forgotten about the 3G network; they're still working on that as even the 4G won't be available to everyone for several years. They're expected to get the 3G licenses later this year.