TechTalk

Nokia's ace new music phone

We were going to do a long post about Nokia’s new music phone the 3250, but ShinyShiny got there first. Suffice to say that it looks great, sports a really cool twisty design that makes it easy to use both the music player and the camera, features a cool two mega pixel camera and has one Gigabyte of memory – which mobile spotters will tell you is twice as much as the Motorola/Apple ROKR and the Sony Ericsson W800i Walkman phone. It also has a neat 262k colour screen, Bluetooth and an FM radio. Music playback is ten hours per charge and users drag and drop tracks on to the device (hurrah).

Doh! That’s almost a long post. Over to your Sony Ericsson and Motorola/ Apple…

Samsung's hand warming mobile

Samsung was also parading a few protos yesterday including this little gem which it is billing as ‘literally the hottest phone on the market.’ Developed in Russia, in the Ural State Academy to be precise, the handset features a built-in hand warmer to ensure that even though the Siberian wind might be blowing your hands are still nice and toasty and ready to text. Anyhow I am sure my long deceased grandmother would approve. In her day it was standard practice stave off the cold by carrying round hot potatoes in pockets. Apologies for rubbish pic, but that glass casing was nailed down.

NEC Introduces 11.9mm! Ultra-Thin Mobile Phone

NEC introduced a fold-type mobile phone that is only 11.9mm thin (folded!). The Motorola RAZR measures 23mm (folded).

The new NEC phone measures 47.9mm (width) X 101.5mm (height) X 11.9mm and weighs 96g. It has 1.9 inch (176~220 dot) 65,000 color display in addition to a digital camera with 1.3MP.
The new ultra-thin NEC mobile phone (somehow NEC does not mention the model name) is currently available in Hong Kong. The next market for the new World's Smallest NEC mobile phone are Italy, Russia, Australia and China, among others. No word on United States yet. Read more

Nokia 6630 Music Edition

Crikey, it appears everyone want to launch a music phone today. For after Tosh's new 803 for Vodafone we now have Nokia which has unveiled a new music-friendly version of its 3G phone the 6630. Nokia says its 6630 Music Edition has been ‘designed with enhanced music functionality to make it convenient for you to take your music collection with you while on the move.’ Essentially this means it now comes with a 256MB RS MMC card, a USB MMC/SD reader and the Nokia Audio Adapter and its 3.5 mm stereo jack. It is also available in a few different colours including Rustic Red or Aluminum Grey. The rest of the phone, with its 1.3 megapixel camera, mobile broadband access via 3G, mobile email and streaming video is the same.

To further confuse matters Nokia is also foreign the Nokia Music Pack, which has the Nokia Audio Adapter, the Nokia 256 MB MMC Card, the Nokia USB MMC/SD reader and Nokia Stereo Audio Cable as a kit.

Of course the real Nokia music phone is this one.

The Twisty C960

LG is too sexy for its C960. This candybar phone has a 5 megapixel camera and twistable lower half. The keypad also looks amazingly cool, smashed to the left side of the lower half of the phone, with a tiny joystick machanism on the right side for 3D games.lg2.jpgDon’t even think of seeing it here in the US for a long, long time. Bravo LG. Now c’mon, maybe you can just try to make us one of these? LG announces a sexy new 5 megapixel bombshell the LG C960

AA Cell Phone Charger

​ ​​​​Everybody has been there at one time or another. Dead cell phone, middle of the day, no charger in sight. How can you go on with life without being able to be contacted on the fly. The anxiety and panic attacks begin to happen. It’s okay buddy, this is the Pocket Power cell phone charger. It is a small cable attached to a AA battery. The single battery can give up to three hours of talk time. Included with the product is an assortment of cables that fit almost all cell phones. This is available for $24.95 from the Herrington catalog. It’s alright, life is worth living now, you can be contacted on a whim.p>

Nokia N770 Internet Tablet

Is it a phone? A PDA?

As wireless hot spots spring up like toadstools, Internet devices designed to take advantage of this trend are sprouting up as well. Enter the Nokia N770 Internet Tablet (5.5 by 3.1 by 0.7 inches; 8.1 ounces). Not necessarily a smart phone or a traditional handheld, the N770 is designed to provide a mobile user with Internet access either via Wi-Fi or by connecting to a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. Packed to the gills with a host of productivity applications and multimedia features, the N770 is a promising device. That said, while it works with a myriad of multimedia, its lack of support for native Microsoft file formats such as WMA and WMV will limit its appeal. Also, as more robust smart phones appear on the mobile landscape, it remains to be seen how many users are willing to carry two devices when, in many instances, one will suffice. The price should be $350, and we should see it by the second half of this year.

Get more info.

Cingular Wireless Launching Audiovox SMT 5600

Cingular Wireless is launching the Audiovox SMT 5600 Windows Mobile 2003 smartphone handset. The tri-band (850/1800/1900 MHz) GSM/GPRS handset will feature Bluetooth wireless, VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, and speaker phone.

The smartphone will be loaded with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software suite that includes Microsoft Outlook, Windows Media Player 10, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, and much more.

As for the physical specs, this phone is defiantly a looker; the black and silver finish with huge 2.2-inch screen really makes this phone stylish. The phone weighs in at 3.6 ounces and measures 4.24 x 1.82 x .69 inches. 32MB of built in storage and a Mini-SD slot will keep you busy with all your data.

The Audiovox SMT 5600 should be available starting today in select markets for as low as $199.99 with a two-year voice and data service contract

Get more info.

First ever free TV station for 3G mobiles

Details are sketchy but it appears that Luxembourg-based Tele2 looks set to win the race to deliver the first worldwide free TV station that’s accessible from 3G mobiles. Tango.tvis set to launch imminently, though quite what it is going to show is anyone’s guess .Tele2  has also unveiled Sunshine Radio, which it is billing as the first net radio station for 3G phones. If you’re in the mood for bland inoffensive pop grooves coming at you straight out of Luxembourg, get out your mobile and rock on here.

Poker on your mobi

PokerRoom.com, Sweden’s massive online poker site is going mobile. From April, the site, which apparently has over 3.5 million users, will be available to Sony Ericsson K700i owners. And what’s more you’ll be able to gamble with real money too, although you’ll still have to the option to practise with play money or against a computer player. The game offers an experience interactively that has not been available in any mobile poker games before.  Players can choose between three different views; Normal View which has graphics similar to those seen on PokerRoom.com, Symbol View which gives a view over the whole table with simplified graphics or the Text View which also gives history of how the hand was played.  Additionally, there is a chat function allowing players to text one another during the game.

Samsung Cell Phone for $9.99 w/ Verizon

At radioshack.com with verizon cellular plans from $34.99/mo

RadioShack.com is featuring the compact 3.6 ounce Samsung A650 cell phone with any new cellular plan for $9.99 at time of purchase with free 2-Day delivery. It's available with Verizon cellular plans starting as low as $39.99 per month for the Verizon America's Choice 450 Plan.

Get more info.

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PRICE DROP: Motorola RAZR V3 $209.99

New low price on RAZR cell phone for new cingular customers

The hottest new cell hone in years is now $209.99 after rebate at Intelenet Wireless with any new Cingular cellular plan. That's the lowest price we've seen on this ultra-slim Bluetooth camera cell phone.

Get more info.

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Firefly emergency cellphone for kids

We’re pretty sure within a few years nary an American adult worth their weight in salt (or soccer balls) will be satisfied until every family member has some time of cellular device, from grams and gramps to their pre-pubescent little darlings. A little less novelty and a little more sombre than the MyMo kids’ cellphone, the decidedly more advanced GSM-roaming Firefly has a screen (that’s a plus), dedicated mom and dad call buttons, a 20-number phonebook, a backpack hook, and, of course, a 911 button. Of course, we’d be a bit concerned about that 911 button getting triggered at such inopportune time as, well, any time it’s not intended, but we remain hopeful they’ve 8-12-year old-proofed it sufficiently.

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Vodafone and Toshiba's Motion Sensing Phone

Vodafone Japan is getting two new Toshiba handsets, the V603T and V603SH, both of which are clamshells. The V603SH has a motion sensor, allowing users to wave it around to perform basic commands (not unlike using mouse gestures)—neat, but ultimately pointless, I fear. At the very least, it's golden, which should be worth some price premium. Its companion V603T appears to be essentially the same phone minus the motion sensing—in its case, Toshiba is focusing on the ability to pick-up analog television broadcasts (something the V603SH can do, as well).

Both phone will be available in February in a Japan near you.

Vodafone K.K. launches motion, tv phones

Samsung gets arty

You've been asked to design a customised casing for a mobile phone, so what do you do? You stick a big picture of yourself on it of course! Too good an opportunity to miss. We approve wholeheartedly. Not that we're sure we'd actually want to own one of designer Diane von Furstenburg's Samsung VM-A680 phones. They may be exclusive (just 1000 in existence); they may carry an Andy Warhol print, but we're just not sold on that black and red colour palette.

Glad to see our favourite current obsession, the phone charm, is present and correct, though, and there's a rather unusual carry case in the form of a "Cityband" that lets you strap your phone round your arm like a big fool. There's also space to store a lipgloss, but we'd never use that pocket. Everyone thinks we look this fabulous naturally - why spoil it all with the truth?

If you simply *must* have one (daaarrling), you'll need to be an American - or at the very least living among them.

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Nokia: 2 billion cell phone users by 2006

Nokia has upped its predictions for the growth of the global mobile phone market after calculating that adoption is accelerating more quickly than previously thought in some of the world's largest countries.

Ilkka Lakaniemi, an economist at Nokia's network division, said Wednesday that the Finnish manufacturer estimates there will be more than 2 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide by 2006--compared with around 1.6 billion subscriptions today.

Previously, Nokia had forecast that this milestone would not be hit until 2008.

Nokia's new optimism, which comes after some tough years for mobile manufacturers and operators, is based on growth rates in several of the world's most populous countries.

Read

iCORE develops lowest powered cellphone processor; One year per charge

The Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE) High-Capacity Digital Communications Laboratory researchers have designed a computer chip that uses around 100 times less energy than current market-leading chips. The iCORE Processor, developed by Dave Nguyen and Chris Winstead, former engineering graduates of the University of Alberta uses new analog processing technology that is currently used by Winstead to build the largest analog decoder chip ever fabricated.

It employs a new method of processing digital data via methods of analog decoding, the iCORE chip uses extremely low levels of power to execute its detection algorithm. No other chip has been recorded to function with such a low level of energy. With this low level of energy consumption, theoretically a cellphone could run for a full year on a single charge.

“It is well known that there is a power barrier for future increases in process speeds and device sizes, and to overcome this, the world needs a new, disruptive technology,” said Dr. Schlegel. “A fundamental new idea gave our team the edge, and we have been fortunate to have maintained a strong group here working on this technology for the last few years.”

Weightless Headset Phone

It's not actually weightless, of course, but the Weightless Headset Phone is less than 1.5 ounces, so you can stay tethered to it and never have to get up to answer the phone or stop what you're doing. It's not just a headset, it's the actual phone with an integrated keypad for dialing out. You can move 100 feet away from the recharging base without losing reception. Fits over one ear so you can keep the headset for your mobile phone over the other ear.

$130 at Hammacher Schlemmer.

Music Download Vending Machines Set for Britain

The first vending machines to sell music downloads are to be introduced in London next month as Britons continue to turn their backs on traditional methods of buying singles.

Customers will be able to download a single for about one pound onto a mobile phone or personal music player and the company launching the project said on Monday they hoped to initially offer two million songs.

The move follows continuing poor sales for traditional, over-the-counter singles.

In October the chart compilers said they recorded the worst ever sales for a song reaching number one -- just over 23,000 -- compared to sales of hundreds of thousands in the 1980s and 90s.

Inspired Broadcast Networks will open two music kiosks in Waterloo and King's Cross stations next month and plan to have up to 20,000 others in high-street shops, service stations and pubs by the end of 2005.

Between 200-250,000 singles are bought via music download services every week, rapidly approaching physical sales that regularly drop below 400,000, the Official UK Charts Company said.

In response, the Charts Company started to produce its own download chart to reflect the growth in the market and is now planning to merge the two.

The piracy-hit music industry is also desperate to promote legal digital music services to convert file-sharers into customers.

The Hands-Down Winner

Most cell-phone headsets free up your hands, but strain your ears—because the sound quality is lousy. Now there's the Jawbone ($150; jawbone.com), which uses technology developed for the Department of Defense to boost sound frequencies in noisy environments.

The piece attaches to your ear and detects cheek vibrations—so it knows when to pick up your voice. The only downside? It's so discreet, passersby will think you're talking to yourself.

—N'gai Croal © 2004 Newsweek, Inc.

What we will soon have, maybe

In Tsim Sha Shui, just over the Star Ferry from Hong Kong Island, there is this new vending machine in the subway station of all places. It's selling SIM cards for mobile phones, both the GSM and the CDMA variety (for those visiting China and wishing to have CDMA). Cards cost, mostly $98HK which is about $13 USA.

Almost all Hong Kong phones are sold "unlocked" meaning you can switch SIM cards at will. You are able to unlock USA T-Mobile phone, and now have SIM cards for the US, UK, Germany and Hong Kong. I think there is a market for a SIM card holder as they are always bouncing around in my wallet.

Will we ever get to this point in the USA where a phone is as easy a pack of gum? I hope so, but as long as the big carriers "lock" mobile phones most Americans won't know that getting a cellphone can be this easy.

Alright, here’s how they do it in Hong Kong: you can now buy cellphone SIM cards from vending machines selling cellphone SIM cards in the subway stations there. Now if you could just use your cellphone to wirelessly pay for your new SIM card, the recursive loop would be complete.

Leaked Nokia N-Gage Adverts?

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​​​​Apparently a “Spanish guy” has stumbled across some N-Gage adverts that were never meant to see the light of day, or so the story goes. He found a CD on a bus near the local Nokia office. The N-Gage is Nokia’s handheld gaming device, and there tag line is “anyone anywhere". There are seven videos in Quicktime or Windows Media format, and they all point out a feature of the game deck. A couple are good, one reminds me of a lotto ad, and the others shouldn’t have seen the light of day.