It seems like Research In Motion is going full speed with their touch screen phone. Their latest phone, the BlackBerry Storm, is only about a week old, and news have been pouring out about a possible follow-up to the handset.

The Boy Genius blog reported Friday that RIM is preparing a 3G GSM version of the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm. Currently, the Storm, which was released last week for Verizon Wireless’ network, only works on CDMA-based 3G, or third-generation, networks. But a day after, it reported that RIM is making an HSDPA version of the phone, which means that it could operate on AT&T in the U.S. and Rogers Communications in Canada. The GSM version of the phone, which is being called the BlackBerry 9900 Pluto, is expected to look a lot like the current BlackBerry Storm.

There’s no word on an exact launch date, but The Boy Genius blog said it expects RIM to announce the phone at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in May.

(more…)

Tags: Blackberry Storm, Cell Phones, Mobile News, Research In Motion, rumors, touch screen

It seems as if HP is joining in the touch screen bandwagon. After Asus announced their touch screen Eee PC, we now receive news that HP is aspiring for one of their own. The Wall Street Journal reported that HP plans to release a touch-screen-enabled laptop by year’s end. Price and exact release date are unavailable at this time.

Last year HP released the TouchSmart IQ770 and this year the IQ506. Both are touch-screen desktops that were HP’s first major forays into the technology. According to the article, the new laptop is only the latest in a series of touch-oriented devices, including an upcoming line of cell phones that will become a priority of HP’s consumer strategy.

HP is said to be working on a line of consumer cell phones that feature touch screens and the first such phone will be introduced in Europe this year. HP plans to start selling the phones through a U.S. cellular carrier within the next year or so.

Tags: HP, laptop, Laptops, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Portable Devices, touch screen

Just in case you saved your iPhone from being blended into oblivion, you might need to replace some broken pieces. Well even if that scenario will never actually take place you might want to know that the battery and screen are user replaceable. Sort of…

The 3G iPhone has small screws on the bottom which is weird as the previous model didn’t have any. Unscrewing those will get you closer to the battery, which isn’t soldered. The screen might be also available for replacement, if needed, as it is a separate piece from the capacitive touchscreen. Sure if you do all the work yourself, you will screw with your warranty too, but that’s up to you too.

What happens usually is for a customer to head on over to Apple and ask for a battery replacement. That whole deal comes to $86. And you get to keep you warranty and all that.

I have to admit I would tear the iPhone up just because there are screws around and I am a guy. But hopefully you shouldn’t have to require another battery or screen until the next generation of iPhone hits.

Tags: 3g iphone, Apple, Apple, battery, Mobile News, touch screen

Samsung’s touch-screen phone, the Samsung Instinct, came out with the “Best in Show” Emerging Technology Award at the recently concluded CTIA Wireless 2008. It also topped the Most Innovative and Best Cell Phone in CNET’s Cream of the Crop at the event.

A panel of 31 judges evaluated all the entries based on innovation, functionality, wow factor, importance of technology and ease of use/implementation. The Samsung Instinct beat out nearly 300 contenders for the top prize. It is eqiupeed with a 2 megapixel camera and microSD memory card expandable up to 8GB, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 and SMS voice/text messaging.

via press release

(more…)

Tags: 8gb, Cell Phones, GPS, instinct, memory card, microsd, Samsung, Samsung, Sprint, touch screen

Sprint announced that Samsung Instinct will now be available to its customers. Featuring GPS navigation, TV and web browser, the Samsung Instinct features one-touch access to favorites. With a full touch-screen interface and large display, the screen features localized tactile feedback - called haptics - allowing you to sense the QWERTY keys as you type (something missing from the iPhone).

A Voice to Action button provides many functions using voice activation, including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search. The first EV-DO Rev A device, Samsung Instinct is also compatible with the Sprint Music Store from where you can download songs for 99 cents each. Sprint TV for live and on-demand entertainment is also available.

The phone measures 2.17 x 4.57 x 0.49 inches and weighs less than 4.5 ounces. While pricing info is not yet available, a special plan with unlimited data is being touted for $69.99/month.

Sprint Now is Good

(more…)

Tags: Cell Phones, EV-DO Rev A, instinct, Samsung, Samsung, Sanyo, smartphone, Sprint, touch screen

It’s no secret that Asus is planning on upgraded Eee PCs with screens larger than the original, measuring 8-, 9-, and 10-inches. Rumors abound that Asus Eee 9-inch, will get a touch screen LCD panel. Asus will reportedly adopt the four-wire resistive touch screen technology. Before you panic that the price would be far off from the original affordable Eee, according to sources, adding the touch screen technology to the device only costs an additional US$15. Hopefully, the price increase wouldn’t be too high. Before you get too excited though, reports say that Asus will limit the distribution of the touch screen versions to a few hundred thousands and will even give preference to Taiwan-based vendors.

(more…)

Tags: ASUS, Eee, Laptops, touch screen

Due to the iPhone’s success, the demand for touch phones by the consumer market has increased. Due to this, not only do copycats try to mimic the iPhone but big corporations try to surpass its popularity. Nokia, however, promises to bring a new flavor to touch phones. Details about the Nokia S60 Touch were unearthed and what was discovered impresses us. The new patent indicates that the Nokia S60 Touch won’t even require you to actually touch the screen. The technology is designed so that the phone would recognize 3D gestures made in mid-air. Think “delete” when you gesture an “x” or “verify” when you gesture a “check.” The pic above features the list of gestures which could be used such as scroll, zoom, run, switch, copy, etcetera. As of current, it’s just a patent, so we don’t know if we’ll actually see it happen. But we’d like to remain optimistic and hope that we’d live to see the 3D gesture control multi-touch screen in our lifetime.

Read the patent.

(more…)

Tags: Nokia, Nokia, patent, touch screen

Harman/Becker’s BE 7928 GPS navigation device just got the green signal from the FCC. The BE 7928 features a touch screen interface, as well as a phone button to answer/reject incoming calls over Bluetooth. A nifty Day/Night button switches between Day view and Night view when using the navigation system. The system takes in SD/MMC memory cards allowing you to store maps, MP3 music and more. It also features a USB device for connecting to your PC.

One of the neat features of the Harman/Becker BE 7928 GPS device is the included FM transmitter. This lets you transmit your MP3 songs onto your car radio. The Bluetooth transceiver on this device allows you to connect only one phone at a time. When a phone is connected, contacts from your SIM card are automatically downloaded onto the BE 7928 so you can dial them directly from it rather than having to fumble with the phone when driving (you don’t do that now, do you?).

No word on the pricing or availability yet, but check back with us soon for those tiny details.

(more…)

Tags: fcc, fm transmitter, GPS, GPS, harman/becker, touch screen