October 2008 Archives

Is Apple ready to offer the iPhone at a huge discount? Is a $99 iPhone something that could materialize in the near future? What would Ballmer say about such an event?

Charlie Wolf from Needham Research said that Apple's doubled revenue in the last year has been hidden due to accounting rules. But that might be just a factor for dropping the iPhone's price below the current $199 entry price. Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones worldwide and a third of those have landed in the USA only. That leaves lots of room fore more sales. And what better incentive for customers than a significantly lower entry price?

We'll just have to see tight and see how this whole economic crisis blows over. And let's not forget that Android is marching strong these days. That alone might be another important factor in a future Apple decision to sell cheaper handset!

Here's a new phone from Samsung. It's similar to the BlackJack series only isn't. It's the C6620 which is a totally new phone available in Italy only via TIM. The FCC has been kind enough to approve the device so it will hit the US of A and probably other markets soon.

Here are some of the specs of this Samsung:

• Tri band GSM connectivity, 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz


• UMTS/HSDPA connectivity


• Bluetooth


• Music player


• 2MP camera with video recording


• 20MB of internal memory plus a 1GB card


• full QWERTY keyboard


• non-touchscreen QVGA display


• Windows Mobile 6.1

via Mobileblog.it

Here's a new phone from Samsung. It's similar to the BlackJack series only isn't. It's the C6620 which is a totally new phone available in Italy only via TIM. The FCC has been kind enough to approve the device so it will hit the US of A and probably other markets soon.

Here are some of the specs of this Samsung:

• Tri band GSM connectivity, 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz


• UMTS/HSDPA connectivity


• Bluetooth


• Music player


• 2MP camera with video recording


• 20MB of internal memory plus a 1GB card


• full QWERTY keyboard


• non-touchscreen QVGA display


• Windows Mobile 6.1

via Mobileblog.it

If the 8220 Pearl Flip is the smartphone you'd buy this week in Canada, then go look the Pearl Flip up. The BlackBerry 8220 is going to be shipped to Rogers stores this Wednesday, October 29th. You will get if for $49.99 if you choose a three year contract bundled with a voice and data combo of $35.

We're not sure if Wednesday is the actual public release day, but if that won't happen, then check the stores in the following days. The Flip will be there waiting.

The much anticipated LG KF900 is soon to be available in the US. The phone was released a few days ago but hasn't been available in the US yet. But now, it seems as though the wait is over as FCC has approved the retailing of the LG KF900. The LG KF900 is the successor of the extremely popular LG Prada phone. This time some fancy features come to compliment the exquisite looks of the designer phone. And believe it or not the only difference in design is the addition of a QWERTY keyboard.

The new 3G HSDPA LG handset features besides the new keyboard a 5MP camera with Schneider Kreuzach lens, 3 inch WQVGA 400×240px touchscreen, Wi-fi, Prada ring-tones, FM tuner, TV out, Bluetooth, media player, and Bluetooth.

via: fcc

A new Motorola cellphone has been spotted at FCC, it is codenamed i9 and has the unique characteristic of being a iDEN handset. What is iDEN? Integrated Digital Enhanced Network, which basically provides more individual frequencies to the phone.

In case you haven't noticed, the i9 is pretty similar to other Motorola devices, in this case the RAZR. It has Linux-Java as the operative system, and includes a 3-megapixel camera with auto-focus, a slot for microSD memory cards, and stereo Bluetooth for high-quality sound.

Extra features on Motorola i9: a navigation system also known as GPS, and a working mode similar to the iPhone:

The i9 comes with morphing icon keys on the front of the flip that will change depending on whether you are holding your phone in portrait or landscape mode.

via FCC

This Samsung isn't the first dual SIM phone we've seen from this manufacturer. But it's the latest one. It has a weird name for my taste, the D9402 DuoS, but that's not that important anyway. The handset is made out of premium materials like scratch resistant display glass and metal frame covered with rodium. Rodium is a form of resistant platinum which will withstand various chemical or mechanical damages. It comes equipped with Bang & Olufsen / ICEPower amplifier to improve the sound quality of the speakers. Besides all that, we have more specs for you:

• Triband GSM (900/1800/1900 Mhz), GPRS/EDGE connectivity on 1st SIM card


• Dual band (900/1800 Mhz), GPRS/EDGE connectivity on 2nd SIM card


• 2 inch 262K color QVGA AMOLED display


• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, image stabilization, smile detection, WDR and LED flash


• FM Radio with RDS


• 1 GB of built-in memory


• microSDHC memory card slot (up to 8 GB)


• Bluetooth 2.0 and USB


• 960 mAh battery


• Dimensions: 115 x 48 x 16 mm


• Weight: 140 g

Apart from the lack of 3G, the specs and features of Samsung S9402 look pretty impressive for a luxury phone.

And you can expect a pretty impressive price tag for Samsung S940 DuoS too, when a handset is launched officially.

We don't exactly know this for sure but the Samsung a867 Eternity might sell for just $99.99 with an AT&T contract after some mail-in rebate. The Samsung smartphone will feature TouchWiz technology, which is a widget based touchscreen interface, and might arrive as soon as November 2nd. Although it's rumored to arrive anytime from November 2nd to December 25th. What do you say kids? Is this what Santa will get you this year? As always, we're going to confirm this sooner or later. Well as most of the times anyway!

via Engadget Mobile

On Tuesday (October 21) Nokia announced a new cellphone codenamed 2228 that will become available in their CDMA markets. This new Nokia cellphone is on the entry-level category and can be considered basic, but that doesn't mean it isn't good.

It has practical consumers as the target, and due to the affordable price it becomes more enjoyable for everyone. The 2228 model features a 1.3-megapixel camera, a media player that can playback most common audio + video + image files, and a LED light to inform users about text messages, or incoming calls.

An interesting and unique feature on the Nokia 2228 is the speaker, that works with voice recognition. Additionally, access to the internet can be made thanks to the handsfree speaker that can also work as a modem.

It comes with several modes of messaging to make sure you can reach out to your friends and family, whether your preferred way of communications is short or long message, image or music.

via press

AT&T sold quite a lot of iPhones this last quarter. With 2.4 million iPhones sold, AT&T has managed to sell almost a third of the 6.9 million handsets that Apple reported to have sold.

That means the carrier saw profits rise 5.5% to $3.23 billion or 55 cents a share, compared to one year ago when AT&T pulled in $3.06 billion, or 50 cents a share. AT&T finished the quarter with 74.9 million subscribers with 2 million of those new subscribers. 40% of the 2.4 million iPhone 3G subscribers are new subscribers.

And iPhone subscribers are bringing in lots of money. Average monthly revenues per subscriber or ARPUs are 1.6 times higher for iPhone subscribers than the the other subscribers. AT&T saw its wireless data revenues increase with 50.5% compared to last year for a total of $2.7 billion.

So given that you have lots of money and lots of iPhone sales, when are you going to sell the Bold already?

James Bond is going to appear again soon in "Quantum of Solace", the last movie of the series. Sony is going to take advantage of this occasion to auction off an exclusive 007 Vaio notebook. All the money will go to charity of course. The 1% For the Planet is an alliance of businesses committed to create a healthier environment

There are only 100 units available and they are all numbered. The lucky number 7 will get the laptop engraved with the 007 gun logo and a matching leather carrying case.

The James Bond 007 Vaio notebook will come with an Intel Centrino 2 processor, a 64GB SSD, an 11.1-inch XBRITE-DuraView widescreen LCD and a built-in webcam.

What's the price you ask? Just about $2,400. But James deserves it.

The BH line of bluetooth headsets made by Nokia takes a big share of the market, and that is why the BH-803 launched in April has received an update today, in the form of a new product comes the BH-804.

As expected, aluminum is the material used on the case, which makes it lightweight and that is one of the main important features on bluetooth headsets. In order to know the status there is a LED with 3 colors, and the charging sessions can be done quickly by using the microUSB port.

In working mode the BH-804 has 4 hours of battery life, and on standby mode it can go up to 150 hours, or 6 days.

Thankfuly, a neck strap + desktop charger are included in the package.

Nokia BH-804 Bluetooth Headset

A day after the G1 has been released to the masses and it looks like it's usable without any T-Mobile activation. Simply insert a T-Mobile SIM and go through the phone setup process. You might end up with a partially usable phone. There's full network access reported without voice call support. This is still a partially confirmed rumor, so we'll present more details when we get them. Stay close by with the G1 in your hand!

If Luxury is your middle name then you surely own at least one Mobiado phone. The cell phone maker has more phones available. And there are four more phones available: Professional 105 EM White, Professional 105 EM Red, Professional 105 EM CLB Black and Professional 105 EM CLB Silver.

The Professional 105 EM Special edition are built from maple burl wood mixed with titanium, sapphire crystal and a pinch of 24K gold. The specs will not impress, but then again they don't have to! You're going to get Quad band GSM/EGSM and dual band WCDMA (850 / 2100) connectivity, a 2 inch display and a 2 megapixel camera which will get you video recording too. There's Bluetooth, music and micro USB support, and more than 1GB of internal memory.

The 105 EM CLB Black and Silver are similar to the 105 EM (check them out below). And yeah, I don't like the colors either. Go to Mobiado and demand availability dates and prices. But then again if Luxury is your middle name, you might have already bought all four of them and not even know it!

[gallery]
via Mobiado

Remember the simplicity cellphone from Nokia that we mentioned in April? Of course you don't, because it is one of the most basic mobile phones ever created. Anyhow, the good news for people that enjoy simplicity, is that Nokia 1606 is now available at Cricket stores, with a price tag of $130 without contract, or $80 if you pick the web discount.

So, what does the Nokia 1606 has to offer? A tiny 1.8-inch screen located inside with a resolution of 128x160 px, and another display on the outside providing a 96x32 resolution, and placed on the monochrome category.

As for the battery life, only 3 and a half hours on talk time, or 11 days in stadyby mode.

Nokia 1606 at Cricket

We're ready to see the G1 arrive in its full splendor. T-Mobile has already pre-sold 1.5 million units already and they're going to sell even more in the upcoming weeks. The G1 is ready to hit the T-Mobile stores on Wednesday at 8AM. But wait, what's that I hear? There's a store in San Francisco which has already started selling the G1. Go to 3rd and Market starting at 6PM PDT. The phones are going to be sold on a first-come-first-served basis. So either you get there hoping you'll end up with one tonight or go there to start a line for tomorrow morning.

via Gizmodo

Motorola and Nextel have announced the new i776 flip phone. It's one of the slimmest Nextel flip phones yet, measuring 3.39 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches. The i776 will get you a VGA camera, stereo Bluetooth, support for Nextel's second line service. There's a personal organizer, a speakerphone, GPS, messaging and Nextel's Direct Connection services.

So if you're keen on this new iDEN ready phone from Nextel, then hit their stores and ask for availability dates and prices

Navman is one of the pioneers in personal satellite navigation. Navman's most recent device is a 3D landmark model system, the S30 3D Sat-Nav. Instead of just putting up icons to illustrate points of interest, this uses realistic 3D representations of landmarks, to help you figure out where you are. The 3D system has been brought out across a couple of Navman's S-series models.

The S30 has a 3.5in touchscreen TFT with a 320 x 240 resolution which is clear and easy to read even in sunny conditions, despite its small size. The touchscreen feature is pretty cool as it speaks the characters as you type it. You can set up a multi-point route that can be saved as favourites for future use. Choosing to avoid a traffic jam you have just encountered couldn't be easier. Simply click on the road, select Avoid Area, and your route will be recalculated around it. Once your destination is chosen, the S30 3D's true strengths shine through. The navigation interface is well designed and relatively intuitive. Details of your next turning are clearly displayed on the top left, whilst the top right provides a choice of five readouts, including distance to destination, time to destination, current speed, estimated arrival time and current time.

In case you plan to go to a Sprint store anytime soon, then look for these new phones. The LG Lotus, the Samsung Rant and the Highnote are there for the taking and they have Sprint written all over them.

The Lotus and the Rant have QWERTY keyboards which will be really appreciated by some. The Lotus is a flip phone that gets you wide screen and the full keyboard. It's available in black and purple and it will follow you home for $149 with a contract.

The Rant is your standard candybar phone with a slideout keyboard. It has EV-DO support, SprintTV and GPS. It costs just $49.99 when purchased with a contract. It comes in red and black if you are looking for a specific color.

The Highnote is a Samsung music phone. It's a dual slide phone which will show you its stereo speakers when you slide the LCD down, or the keypad when you slide it up. It comes in red and blue and costs $99 with a contract.

Which one would you buy?

If Luxury is your middle name then you surely own at least one Mobiado phone. The cell phone maker has more phones available. And there are four more phones available: Professional 105 EM White, Professional 105 EM Red, Professional 105 EM CLB Black and Professional 105 EM CLB Silver.

The Professional 105 EM Special edition are built from maple burl wood mixed with titanium, sapphire crystal and a pinch of 24K gold. The specs will not impress, but then again they don't have to! You're going to get Quad band GSM/EGSM and dual band WCDMA (850 / 2100) connectivity, a 2 inch display and a 2 megapixel camera which will get you video recording too. There's Bluetooth, music and micro USB support, and more than 1GB of internal memory.

The 105 EM CLB Black and Silver are similar to the 105 EM (check them out below). And yeah, I don't like the colors either. Go to Mobiado and demand availability dates and prices. But then again if Luxury is your middle name, you might have already bought all four of them and not even know it!

[gallery]
via Mobiado

The E100 is a simple Philips MP3 player phone. I hope it can at least make some calls. It has a built-in music player and that's about it. It's simple in design and it kind of reminds me of a Nokia XpressMusic phone.

The phone has a 1.8 inch 160 x 128 screen, GSM/GPRS support, FM radio, 2MB of internal memory and microSD support. The phone will be available in Asia for now and it will cost about $60.

Microsoft's Silverlight might soon be on the G1 and the iPhone. It seems like Microsoft isn't wasting any time in its battle with Adobe when it comes to the company's Flash technology competitor, Silverlight.

Microsoft is reportedly very interested in pushing Silverlight on Apple's devices. But it's well known that Apple ultimately controls what software runs on the iPhone - so good luck Microsoft. However, the story is quite different when it comes to the G1.

Google's Android mobile operating system is open source and with the forthcoming Android Market, Google's implementation of Apple's App Store, things are going to be easier for Microsoft to release Silverlight for Android. The fundamental difference between Android Market and Apple's App Store is that Google's mobile apps store is open to all, making it easier for companies to release their software on the Android platform.

Microsoft's Silverlight has been in use on the Web by companies such as NBC to stream video from this summer's Olympic games and is Adobe Flash's main contender in the multimedia rich browser plug-ins. Microsoft launched version 2 of the Silverlight browser plugin earlier this week.

LG KP500 or the LG Cookies is a touchscreen handset with a 3 inch TFT touchscreen display, a 3 megapixel fixed focus camera, EDGE and quadband GSM, but no 3G. There's an accelerometer, a virtual QWERTY keyboard and support for various widgets.

Not exactly an officially launched and Apple seems ready to be moving on. ... iPhone, but not a bad phone at all, this LG will cost around 170 Euro or $230 before taxes and subsidies, so who knows how much the device will actually costs when it hits the shelves. We don't know when that's going to happen but stay tuned for more info!

November 3 is the day when all 5 Motorola lovers will see the MOTOZINE ZN5 get released. Motorola is getting it ready for the holiday season right? We don't know actual prices for now but we'll probably get them in about two weeks! In the mean time here's what you can expect from this camera-phone:

• 5.0 megapixel camera with Xenon flash and video capture


• High resolution landscape screen


• CrystalTalk technology


• ModeShift technology


• 150 MB of available memory, 1 GB microSD card included


• Simplified sharing and editing via Kodak applications


• Stereo Bluetooth connectivity


• WiFi


• Microsoft Windows Media Player 11


• Integrated FM radio


• MegaTones and HiFi ringers


• myFaves capability


• Photo caller ID


• Video capture and playback


• Video messaging


• Voice recorder.

Would you buy one?

LG has unveiled its latest touchscreen phone called the SU100 at the Korean Electronics Show 2008 recently. Apart from a humongous 3-inch OLED touchscreen display, the SU100 also has a 3-megapixel camera, S-DMB TV receiver, worldwide roaming, Bluetooth, web browser, and an electronic dictionary. LG has also included an digital version of the popular Franklin planner, which is designed to make managing time much easier. For those who have no inkling as to what a Franklin planner is, just know that it's a ring binder with lots of pages and accessories to consolidate tasks, appointments, and records to effectively manage what little time that we have.

The LG SU100 will be available on Korea's SK Telecom carrier network before the end of the year at an unknown price.

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