December 2007 Archives

Integrating mobile technology to one of India’s favorite pastimes, watching soap operas, is a very risky gamble taken by Rajshri Productions. This first ever 90-episode series on mobile phones will be available in India by the end of January 2008.

The experimental program is a comedic soap opera running for 3 minutes per episode. With more than 220 million people owning mobile phones in India, the opportunity is too tempting to pass up.

The company set up Rajshri Media last year to focus on new media entertainment like mobile phones, Internet, and portable media players. As these devices become the “personal entertainment touch points to the audience”, the more it becomes relevant in serving the changing needs of the consumers.

As we enter another challenging yet very exciting year that is 2008 we cannot help but be thankful for those people who made our lives more beautiful with their presence and support. One of the best ways to tell those persons that we care and remember them is through SMS or MMS.

That’s why Verizon Wireless is expecting its customers will send more than 300 million messages from 12 p.m. today until 4 a.m. tomorrow, New Year’s Day.

"During holidays such as New Year's Eve, text, picture and video messages allow our customers to personalize their communications with friends and family. Last New Year's Eve, our customers sent and received more than 284 million text messages and nearly 4.75 million multimedia messages, so we fully expect to surpass the 300 million mark tonight," said Verizon Wireless VP and chief marketing officer Mike Lanman, in a press release.

Sure, this might not mean much for many people because we’re used to send the same message to all our contacts. Take time to personalize your messages and make it heartfelt as possible.

Oh, by the way, I wish all readers of MobileWhack a very happy and prosperous 2008!

It seems like FCC presented a nice New Year gift for music lovers. Those of you, who were not able to purchase the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, watch for the upcoming Nokia 5610 XpressMusic. The latest mobile based on cutting-edge technology recently got FCC approval. It has a slider form factor like its predecessor. The company has increased the configuration of the integrated camera in Nokia 5610 from 2.0 MP to 3.0 megapixel and music playback from 18 hours to 22 hours. The Nokia 5610 cell phone comes with aluminium side panels and has a black high glossy panel. Users can enjoy web 2.0 services directly from the phone. Obviously, it does possess all the features of the XpressMusic 5310, but with advancement. There is no word on price. Let us see when it reached USA shops.

Asustek is preparing the release of the Asus G2K 17-inch gaming notebook, based on AMD/ATI technology. The G2K notebook resembles the Intel-powered G2S model in looks. The latest Notebook especially designed for gaming, it features 256MB of DDR3 video memory, the ATI RS690M chipset, AMD Turion 64 X2 TL64 dual core processor at 2.2GHz, 2GB of system memory, a 160GB hard drive at 5,400rpm, a DVD burner, and the DirectX 10 compatible ATI HD2600 dedicated video card. The G2K comes with a 17-inch 1920-by-1200 widescreen display, good enough to let people view their favorite characters in a good size. The G2K-A1's will be available at a price ranging from $1,628 to $1,847.

Research In Motion, makers of the highly-popular Blackberry, has chosen Irving Texas as their headquarters in the USA. This decision has been formally announced today, December 31, 2007, by representatives of both RIM and Irving Texas.

“RIM is a world-class organization widely recognized for its innovation and business excellence. We are thrilled that the company has selected our region as the location of its U.S. headquarters,” said Ron Gafford, chairman of the Greater Dallas Chamber and president and CEO of Austin Industries, Inc. “Our region is a magnet for international companies and this announcement illustrates, once again, our region’s merits as a prime location for corporate America.”

“RIM continues to expand its operations to help address the growing market opportunity for BlackBerry products and services around the world,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at RIM. “With its talented workforce and strong infrastructure, Irving, Texas is an excellent location for RIM and we’re very excited to be investing in this region.”

On the onset, RIM will be occupying 100,000 square feet of the Riverside Commons ix-building office complex. If you ever get the fancy to visit RIM's new headquarters, you can find them in Riverside Commons, 5000 Riverside Drive, Brazos Building East, Irving, Texas 75039.

Here is MobileWhack's Top Ten Cell Phones of 2007.

1stApple iPhone Cell Phone
2ndSamsung F700 Cell Phone
3rd Motorola Razr2 V8
4th LG Shine
5th Palm Centro SmartPhone
6th RIM Blackberry 8310 SmartPhone
7th Helio Ocean Phone
8th Samsung BlackJack 2
9th Nokia 95 8GB Version
10thSony Ericsson K810 Cybershot Camera Phone
11thLG Veiwty
12thHTC Shift

1st Samsung - Been quite a amazing this year for them, answered all of their competitors moves in every sector not just phones.
2nd Apple - 5 million iphones in 6 months, enough said.
3rd Blackberry
4th Nokia
5th LG
6th Sony
7th HTC a bit of a surpise, these people are small outfit from Hungary lol amazing.
8th Motorola
9th Palm
10th Meizu rip offs in China

A few days ago, NEC has released a Hello Kitty laptop named LaVie G. It's decorated with Swarovski crystals and kills us all with Hello Kitty's cuteness. A friend I've sent the pic to said, "at least the base color isn't pink." Hah. I think NEC was just waiting for the right moment to reveal the pic of the pink-colored LaVie G. I bet Japanese Hello Kitty fangirls and gadget geeks have gushed "kawaii" (translation: cute) when they saw the pic. The laptop sells at USD$1840 and in my opinion, you'd have to be not just a casual Hello Kitty fanatic to shell out that much cash for a laptop with Hello Kitty's face on it.

The much awaited pink Palm Centro's pic was spotted. It was posted in the Sprint Users' forum by a member called TheRobin. The release is said to be set sometime around January or February 2008 which dates January 6, January 13 and February 14 being touted as possible exact release dates. While Sprint hasn't released the pink Palm Centro yet, feast your eyes upon the pic and hope that the real deal will be as…err…pink.

Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins of Mashable talked about the anonymous tip they received about a non-working Google Android Demo. We, here in Mobilewhack, have received the same thing, although this time, the tipper has a name (which, of course, we won't reveal). We received the same email Mashable did, with a very few changes. According to the tip, a contextual search on the Google Android Phone revealed a page wherein which we could test out the Google Android Phone. The tipper said that it picks up phrases such as "I'm hungry" and it plays a Burger King commercial. To see it for yourselves, go to http://69.57.168.29/asr/.

I had played the video that's embedded on the page and had to smack my head on the wall. The gag video by Nalts, the YouTube viral video guru, wasn't very encouraging. Actually we had reported about the video a few weeks ago before people caught wind about it due to this incident. I also tested the demo itself and got stuck on the next page which displays the word "Calling…" Granted, I'm not in the US and according to the page, only US numbers would work. But still, according to Mashable, their "call" didn't go through either.

We don't know what's going on. It might be an elaborate attempt to accomplish any of the following:

1. To collect phone numbers
2. To promote the video (it's a "viral" video after all)
3. To have various tech blogs write about it (which is exactly what we're doing).
4. To promote a particular fast food chain.
5. To play a joke on all of us.

OR it might actually be a working Google Android demo, it just didn't work for us here in Mobilewhack (No, really. Err...right? After all, according to this site, it worked for them.). If you do decide to try the "demo" out for yourselves and it actually worked, do tell us.

Mecha has always been a big part of the Japanese anime culture. If you have no idea what mecha is, think Transformers. Every kid who's ever watched mecha wishes for a real life counterpart at least one time during their entire lives. Well, Honda America brings us the nearest thing to mecha they could. For the upcoming New Year's Day Rose Parade, Honda has built a giant ASIMO replica which will "pilot" the Honda Ridgeline.

The Ridgeline according to Honda:

"the hood of the truck to fold forward to become an aircraft cockpit, the doors and sides of the truck to unfold outward to become wings, the wheels to tuck under the body, and the bed of the truck to open and take on the form of an aircraft tail section, complete with rocket engines - and even real fire."

Here is a useful product for those who after a tiresome day become lethargic to stand up from their couch to switch off and on various electronic gadgets. HAI’S Snap-Link Mobile bestows the power of control in your palm. Now you can monitor and control security, lights, audio, temperature and webcam on handheld mobile devices, such as Smartphones, PDAs, or other devices running Windows Mobile operating software. The company will debut the latest Snap-Link Mobile integrated with Snap Link Software at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada scheduled to be held from January 7 – 10, 2008.

We have a lot to be thankful for nanotechnology even though most of us cannot really comprehend its dynamic concept. With this technology, Stanford Researches have created a way to extend the rechargeable lithium ion batteries for mobile phones, laptops and media players up to 10 times.

Indeed, this is a revolutionary development as people are becoming more dependent with these devices to run their lives and businesses. For instance, a laptop today has an average battery life of 2 hours. With this technology, it can be extended for 20 hours.

It’s very interesting to know that some brilliant minds have paid attention to battery life for many are so engrossed with developing new features and designs.

According to Yi Cui, the lead researcher, this major improvement lies on silicon nanowires. Here is a brief technical explanation from nanotechwires.com:

Silicon placed in a battery swells as it absorbs positively charged lithium atoms during charging, then shrinks during use (i.e., when playing your iPod) as the lithium is drawn out of the silicon. This expand/shrink cycle typically causes the silicon (often in the form of particles or a thin film) to pulverize, degrading the performance of the battery.

Cui's battery gets around this problem with nanotechnology. The lithium is stored in a forest of tiny silicon nanowires, each with a diameter one-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper. The nanowires inflate four times their normal size as they soak up lithium. But, unlike other silicon shapes, they do not fracture.

Here are exclusive pictures of the worlds 1st production of the Nokia 8600 Luna Platininum Edition only 500 to be made priced at £699.95.

A fantastic colur combo of platinum and black pearl with full rear casing and front accents adourned with genuine platinum.

You have all by now seen the full Platinum iphone creation by Goldstriker International well the Luna is just one of the latest additions to the much talked about Power of Platinum Collection soon to be launched by Goldstriker for January 2008.The second picture is The Power of Platinum Collection montage features just some of the exclusive items to expect. web - www.goldstriker.co.uk

T-Mobile and 3 UK just announced a network merge. Apparently, the British mobile giants are combining their 3G networks, saving them both GBP1 billion (approximately USD$2 billion) each in the process. The aim of the merger (aside from saving billions, of course) is to create Europe's largest Hsdpa network. Critics remain unconvinced of the move's potency as a network merger is not exactly the ticket to success. Still, it looks quite promising and we won't know if this merger would be for the betterment of their 3G services or the reverse until the consumer market finally gets a shot at testing it.

A few months ago, Mobilewhack reported on the portable PC Asus Eee. The name "Eee" was derived from easy to work, easy to learn and easy to play. Well, looks like Asus wants to make things even easier because they just announced the release of various accessories for the Eee PC Mobile.

See pics of the new accessories plus their specs after the jump.

For those who have planned on traveling next year, it's best to take note of the new lithium-ion battery rules when traveling. These were created in response to lithium-ion batteries being fire hazards. The following were taken from the SafeTravel government web site:

Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:

*Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.
*You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage
*You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!
*Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

*Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.
*You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
*For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
*Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

Lithium-ion batteries could be found on mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets.

Remember our report on the i-station U43? Looks like Digitalcube released a new version of the i-station U43 with added features gearing towards students, in particular. The new i-station boasts translation and dictionary as well as subtitle functionalities. The Portable Media Player in questions runs on WinCE 5.0 and offers WLAN connectivity.

Come new year, the French iPod Touch VoIP will be launched. Three French developers are set to release the iPod Touch VoIP by the very first day of January 2008. The first version of the hack to be released was specifically designed for the iPod Touch, although hopes of seeing versions of the hack for the other iPod models are high. The developers, collectively known asTouchmods.fr, have sent screenshots of the VoIP application to iPhone.fr -- one above and the other one after the jump. The ability to make calls using the Touch is one less difference between it and the iPhone. If you don't care much about the rest of iPhone's features, which would you choose?

When was the last time a scanner was on your Christmas list? Approved on the FCC's list a couple of days ago was this scanner from RadioShack. Identified as Scanning Receiver AMWUB351, the confidentiality request has the following note: "Because public disclosure of the material might be harmful if information used in this application were used to modify the unit to illegally scan or tune Cellular Radio Service channels, this letter is to remind all persons involved that scanning receivers are automatically protected under 47CFR Section 0.457(d)(1)(ii) that the following be should withheld." It, of course, refers to the circuit description and schematic diagrams.

The scanner requires a mounting area that measures 50mm x 180mm x 135mm. It is powered either by a wall outlet or your vehicle's cigarette lighter. The antenna length can be modified according to the frequencies you want to monitor. You can listen in onto the CB band, police (fire/emergency), aircraft and HAM band services.

Nifty little addition to your car, if you're tired of your iPod or Sirius satellite radio. No word on the pricing or availability yet.

When the first version of FunContact was released, it was marketed as the software to bring the iPhone experience to Windows Mobile-based phones. Using the software, scrolling your contacts list is as easy as sliding your over. You can also sort your contacts based on criteria and best of all, the software integrates with your standard contacts list. As of recent, Vito Technologies released version 2.0 of FunContact with the following added features:

*Slide finger to scroll contact list
*Instant access to favorites & call history
*Sort contacts by name or company
*Full integration with standard contacts

FunContact sells for USD$19.95 on ordinary days. However, they're currently running a 25% off sale for the Holidays, so grab your chance while you still can.

Remember Sonim XP1, that mobile phone touted as the toughest in the world? They've even held events wherein anyone who can break the Sonim XP1 would get to take home an iPod. Well, it looks like a Chinese phone called CK800 is giving Sonim Technologies a run for their money. It's water and shock resistant -- the perfect phone for the outdoorsy or accident prone type. It comes with external AA battery chargers. If you take a look at the pictures after the jump, you'd notice that when dropped from a very high location, the phone still worked although the screen shattered. Perhaps with a bit more improvement, the CK800 could compete head-on with the SonimXP1. We could only wait and see.

Folks who grew up during the 1980s would remember 8-bit Atari computers. Things were plain and simple back then when the world didn't have UMPCs, high-tech mobile phones and PDAs. This gadget, my friends, is the Atari 1500XL. It was created by a German named Beetle, as his own modern-day version of the old Atari 600XL. The gadget's innards are made of three Atari systems -- two 800XLs and one 600XL -- a keyboard, a dot-matrix printer and a 1050 disk drive. Looking at it is like a trip down memory lane, isn't it?

More pictures after the cut.

Digital Raon has just released the latest EVERUN Wibro model which is known in the Korean mobile phone market as the S60H Wibro. This new model is a clone of the earlier one with the Wibro wireless internet module as an addition. While the earlier version could connect to the Internet through plugging to a modem via USB, this one doesn't need the wired connection. The new EVERUN Wibro will retail for around USD$850.