When we first saw Samsung’s S3500 slider, details about its release date and price were not available.

Today, the phone was officially introduced in Russia as an affordable yet good-looking device.

Samsung S3500 kind of resembles the Soul U900, although it doesn’t have a touch-sensitive navigation pad and neither the high-end specs the U900 sports.

Anyway, for an entry-level device, the S3500 is surely nice.

The features and specs of S3500 include:

• Quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• 2.2 inch TFT display with 262K colors and 240 x 320 pixels
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and EDR
• Music player
• FM radio
• Web browser, email
• Document viewer
• 2MP camera with video recording
• 35MB of onboard memory
• MicroSD card support
• 99.9 x 48.0 x 13.9 mm

You can grab a Samsung S3500 right now if you’re in Russia, for just 7500 rubles ($210 or 166 Euros). The phone should be available in other European countries too, as well as in some Asian markets.

Despite the alliance with Garmin, Asus doesn’t give up on announcing its own handsets after all.

The Taiwanese manufacturer has just unveiled the Asus P835, a brand new Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone that offers a large 3.5 inch touchscreen display with 800 x 480 pixels, plus a set of other nice features.

In Asus’ own words, the P835 is made “for business-savvy professionals who appreciate a screen as big as their ambitions.”

The new device has a simple design and uses an improved Asus Glide interface, said to be “the most innovative, intuitive and interactive mobile user interface available today”.

The full list of specs and features includes:

• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• Tri band UMTS/HSPA connectivity (900 / 1900 / 2100 MHz) for downloads up to 7.2 Mbps and uploads up to 2 Mbps
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard
• A-GPS
• Wi-Fi
• Opera Mobile
• 5MP autofocus camera
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• USB 2.0
• Qualcomm 7201A 528MHz processor
• 288MB SDRAM, 256MB ROM
• 4GB of internal memory
• MicroSDHC card support
• Talk time: up to 6 hours on 3G networks, or 7 hours on 2G networks
• Standby time: up to 350 hours
• 115 x 59 x 13.8 mm
• 148 grams

Asus said nothing regarding the price and availability of P835, but we’ll probably see the smartphone in stores in the next couple of months.

My buddy Jake Leveto over at Nuclear Nova Software has gone ahead and updated what is probably my favorite golf game for the iPhone and iPod Touch to date… GL Golf. The game is jam-packed full of golfing goodness, and the deluxe version now contains 23 full courses for you to play. Also, to coincide with this update, Jake has lowered the price on the standard vesion of GL Golf to $0.99. The standard version will give you multiplayer gameplay, 6 golf courses and a whole lot more.

New features and specs in GL Golf 1.04:

• Sharpened terrain textures
• Upgraded to iPhone SDK version 2.2 to take advantage of apples new firmware code.
• Better alternate view of the green
• Several small bug fixes
• Addition of the twenty-third course (deluxe edition)
• Fixed overlapping user interface information (lite edition)
• New Admob SDK prevents accidental ad clicks from exiting the program (lite edition)
• More information on additional courses (lite and standard edition)

If you play golf, you need to pick up GL Golf. Thankfully there’s a Lite version (free) that will allow you to try before you buy. If you like it, pick up the standard edition for $0.99, or go full-bore with the deluxe edition for $9.99.

At first glance, the Novatel MiFi Portable Intelligent HotSpot shows no signs of being intelligent. To the casual observer, the CDMA and GSM MiFi Portable HotSpots are nothing more than portable WiFi routers. And, those casual observers would be wrong.

Sure, the Novatel MiFi HotSpots provide up to 5 continuous hours of WiFi connectivity (using its integrated rechargeable battery), using its integrated 3G radios to ferry data between you and your wireless carrier at mobile broadband speeds. Sure, you can connect a handful of WiFi-capable devices to the MiFi simultaneously. But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The MiFi line of portable 3G hotspots are actually “intelligent” hotspots. With the ability to store and host applications locally, the MiFi sets itself apart from the “other” portable hotspots. Using a microSD card slot to store applications, the MiFi can serve up a comprehensive suite of always-on data-management applications to any device that connects to its WiFi signal. That’s why Novatel calls their MiFi an “intelligent” portable hotspot.

And, to that end, Novatel is proud to announce the very first application for their MiFi portable hotspots. Developed in conjunction with Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Bell Labs, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian application provides “always on” enterprise security and management. The new MiFi application allows for remote troubleshooting, management, protection and data “remote kill” functionalities that safeguards sensitive data from loss or theft. And, with the ability to remotely patch employee laptops, the OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian turns the MiFi into a truly secure remote 3G HotSpot.

Of course, we’d be lining up to buy a US GSM 3G-compatible version of the sleek and powerful MiFi portable hotspot even if it didn’t boast all that “intelligence.” With the FCC already on board, we shouldn’t have to wait in line too much longer…

Full press release after the break.
Novatel Wireless integrates Alcatel-Lucent Nonstop Laptop Guardian
security technology into MiFi 2352

PARIS and SAN DIEGO - Feb. 26, 2009 - Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Novatel Wireless Inc., (Nasdaq:NVTL) a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced that the Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess 3500 Nonstop Laptop Guardian enterprise security and management solution will be ported to operate on MiFi 2352, an HSPA version of Novatel’s innovative intelligent mobile hotspot. This integration highlights the unique capability of Novatel to deliver innovative wireless data solutions, and of the Alcatel-Lucent Nonstop Laptop Guardian (NLG) solution to be delivered as a software application through third-party devices.

MiFi 2352 is a wireless broadband device that enables high-speed Internet connectivity that can be easily shared between multiple users and Wi-Fi devices such as laptops, cameras, gaming devices and multimedia players. The MiFi product line makes it possible for large and small enterprises and home office workers to secure, control and manage wireless connections. With a robust platform capable of hosting third-party applications, such as the Bell Labs-developed Nonstop Laptop Guardian, MiFi extends the reach and control of the enterprise when dealing with remote mobile communications devices.

The Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess 3500 NLG consists of a secure, always-on computing system that helps enterprises overcome the mobile blindspot — where enterprises have no visibility or control over the location, use or configuration of employee laptops. With this technology, enterprises have 24/7 access to employee laptops - enabling them to protect the data and manage the laptop even if the laptop is turned off.

“Integrating the security capabilities of the Nonstop Laptop Guardian with Novatel’s MiFi 2352 intelligent mobile hotspot produces a revolutionary, secure mobile computing solution for the mobile workforce,” said Peter Leparulo, Chairman and CEO of Novatel Wireless. “The combination of Alcatel-Lucent’s strong relationships with carriers and channels on the solutions side, together with Novatel’s proven track record with carriers delivering innovative solutions for wireless data, will create a force multiplier in the market.” The new offer will be sold through carriers, service providers and through Alcatel-Lucent business partners globally.

The Nonstop Laptop Guardian solution includes remote troubleshooting, management, protection and data “remote kill” functionalities that effectively eliminate all data from a lost or stolen laptop and therefore protect corporate information. It also enables IT to remotely patch employee laptops anytime, anywhere for fast response to security threats. Through interoperable encryption solutions, the Nonstop Laptop Guardian renders the laptop’s data readable only through the use of an encryption key located on the Mifi, which can be disabled or re-enabled over the air by the corporate IT manager for patch management, remote back-ups, end-policy enforcement and control, and whole disk encryption solutions.
“Partnering with Novatel and leveraging the unique MiFi platform meets Alcatel-Lucent’s vision to provide an open environment of applications- enabled solutions, introducing a 24/7, intelligent mobile hotspot solution to customers, demonstrating the core competency of the Nonstop Laptop Guardian: first rate security software solutions,” said Dor Skuler, general manager of enterprise security solutions at Alcatel-Lucent. “With Novatel, we are providing a product and go-to-market approach that changes the way the mobile workforce operates, giving businesses the advantage of always on protection and management for laptops.”

It’s nice and all being able to assign profile pictures to your iPhone contacts, but there’s a steep price to pay if you’d like to have all, or even most, of your contacts assigned to their profile pictures. The time that you have to invest to ensure that all your contacts are pictured-up is enough to keep many people from assigning more than a handful of pictures to a handful of friends and family.

But, it doesn’t have to be that way. With the new Photo PhoneBook iPhone application (iTunes link), you can simply synchronize your iPhone contacts with your Facebook friends. Photo PhoneBook (PPB) automatically scans your huge list (12 friends is a lot, right?) of Facebook friends and imports the profile pictures of those that it thinks match up with your contacts.

The PPB iPhone app was having some growing pains yesterday as iPhone users presumably hammered the service with requests for new accounts. Today, we had a chance to try out PhotoPhoneBook and we have to say that it does it says it’ll do. And it does it well.

There are bound to be some mix-ups and mis-matches - especially if your iPhone contacts list is peppered with similar one-name listings (John, John and John S., for example) - but Photo PhoneBook allows you to choose which photos are matched up correctly and which to disregard before the application imports the photos to your iPhone address book.

Overall, if your Facebook friends list and your iPhone contacts list have any kind of significant overlap, we’d recommend the free download (iTunes link).

Facebook Photo PhoneBook for iPhone

Telefonica O2 (NYSE: TEF) have announced their 2008 year-end results - a selected summary below (in a word, they are VERY good), and then a link to the full PR:

• Telefónica Europe met its 2008 financial targets at the top end of guidance
• Total customer base up 9% to 46 million
• Best selling device iPhone tops 1 million sales in UK
• O2 outperforms UK market yet again in difficult economic times with over 10% growth in both revenues and OIBDA
• Customer satisfaction riding high – churn continues to fall to record levels while J.D. Power and Associates name Telefónica O2 UK #1 network operator in mobile pre- and post-pay, fixed and mobile broadband

The UK business turned in yet another outstanding performance with double digit year-on-year growth and net mobile additions in the year up 45.3% reaching 1,087,866. In Q4 we added 499,000 fixed and mobile customers and ended 2008 with a total customer base approaching 22 million (including Tesco Mobile), representing growth of 7.5% year-on-year.

This great performance in the UK was fuelled by four key areas:

• Number one in customer satisfaction – evident in lowest ever churn levels;
• Our SIM-only Simplicity tariff, which accounted for approximately a quarter of new consumer contracts and now represents over 10% of our consumer postpay base;
• The success of our products at the top end of the market, including Blackberry (NSDQ: RIMM) and iPhone;
• The success of our broadband proposition where sales in 2008 accelerated four-fold to a customer base of more than 340,000 while delivering high levels of customer satisfaction that resulted in being named as No. 1 supplier by JD Power in fixed and mobile broadband.

The full PR, with a lot more words and numbers, is here.

iSkoot, a mobile software Internet calling solutions, today announced it has added support for the popular Twitter community to its innovative Kalaida mobile services platform, which can deliver real-time Internet functionality to almost any handset sold today. Twitter's rapid updates and "micro-blogging" format have made it one of the world's fastest-growing social networks. By concentrating processing in the network, iSkoot's Kalaida platform lets consumer handsets connect to Twitter and other communications tools the way PCs do: all at once and in real time. A single sign-in activates all services to keep the experience simple while preserving handset resources and battery life. Other services enabled on the Kalaida platform include full-time, real-time connection to social networks, personal e-mail, instant messaging, and leading news, sports, and entertainment feeds. Kalaida delivers a full spectrum of Internet services to a single live screen on the handset, eliminating the need for users to open a browser or application to access one service at a time.

All services are delivered over available data connections, without requiring 3G or WiFi for optimal performance.

The iSkoot Kalaida platform currently supports more than 20 handsets from leading manufacturers including LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and SonyEricsson, with more to be announced this year.

For more information on Kalaida visit www.iskoot.com.

Nokia announced today that the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is now available in the United States. The latest in Nokia's XpressMusic range, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers an affordable music device with a touch screen interface to the mass market.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers all the music essentials including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, and a 3.5mm jack. Built-in surround sound stereo speakers offer a powerful sound.

Making the most of touch screen technology, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers easy and fast access to all music, video and photos through a one-touch 'Media Bar' drop down menu. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the Web and to online sharing. Because the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, individuals can surf even more of the web.

The innovative 'Contacts Bar' lets people highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.
Among the highest screen resolution available on a mobile phone, the 3.2" widescreen display brings photos, video clips and web content to life in vibrant color and true clarity. With a 16 by 9 aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording, the device is ideal for VGA quality video recording and playback. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens. With a single touch, images or videos can be shared via a favorite online community, such as Ovi Share, Flickr, or Facebook.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers a variety of input methods including a virtual alphanumeric keypad, a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, a pen stylus -- and for true music enthusiasts, you can even use a guitar pick.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available for approximately 399 USD before taxes and subsidies in the U.S. through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, nokiausa.com and independent retailers and e-tailers. For a limited time, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will also come with a 50 USD voucher for Amazon Video on Demand which allows you to download thousands of movies or TV titles as well as one month of free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation through Ovi Maps.

Nokia announced today that the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is now available in the United States. The latest in Nokia's XpressMusic range, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers an affordable music device with a touch screen interface to the mass market.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers all the music essentials including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, and a 3.5mm jack. Built-in surround sound stereo speakers offer a powerful sound.

Making the most of touch screen technology, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic delivers easy and fast access to all music, video and photos through a one-touch 'Media Bar' drop down menu. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the Web and to online sharing. Because the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, individuals can surf even more of the web.

The innovative 'Contacts Bar' lets people highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.
Among the highest screen resolution available on a mobile phone, the 3.2" widescreen display brings photos, video clips and web content to life in vibrant color and true clarity. With a 16 by 9 aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording, the device is ideal for VGA quality video recording and playback. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens. With a single touch, images or videos can be shared via a favorite online community, such as Ovi Share, Flickr, or Facebook.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers a variety of input methods including a virtual alphanumeric keypad, a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, a pen stylus -- and for true music enthusiasts, you can even use a guitar pick.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available for approximately 399 USD before taxes and subsidies in the U.S. through Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, nokiausa.com and independent retailers and e-tailers. For a limited time, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will also come with a 50 USD voucher for Amazon Video on Demand which allows you to download thousands of movies or TV titles as well as one month of free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation through Ovi Maps.

The LG Arena, LG’s newest touchscreen mobile phone, is now available to pre-order at Mobiles.co.uk with first stock expected on the 9th of March. The LG KM900 Arena has been the talk of the internet since images first leaked earlier in the month. Since those first images surfaced, the phone has been officially announced and seen showing off an all new ‘3D’ user interface known as S-Class UI. So, with the LG Arena only a few weeks away, let’s remind ourselves what has got every one so excited about this new phone…

The LG Arena sports an impressive 3.0 inch touchscreen which uses the new S-Class UI to great effect. S-Class gives you a 3D cube on the home screen with a different set of applications on each side. Navigate the cube by manipulating the touchscreen; a fun and intuitive new way of accessing different applications. Away from the new interface, the Arena features an impressive 5.0 Megapixel camera with autofocus and high quality video capture with 120 frames per second slow motion capture, as seen on the LG Viewty. The KM900 Arena also boasts 8GB of internal memory and a memory card slot giving you plenty of space to store all your music and movies.

In terms of multimedia, the Arena includes a built in MP3 player with support for a wealth of file formats, as well as a video player supporting DivX and XviD codecs. The Arena also includes TV output, a 3.5mm audio output jack and, perhaps even more surprisingly, an FM Transmitter which lets you play your music through an FM radio. As for connectivity, HSDPA mobile broadband and Wi-Fi promise to give you the fastest speed

After we saw the LG Versa handset with its de/attachable QWERTY keyboard being unboxed in the wild, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Wireless decided it’s about time to go all official with it. And here it is, all in its large touchscreen glory with that “sizzling, animated 3D interface.” Let’s go through specs, shell we:

• 3-inch WQVGA (480×240 pixels) touchscreen, 262K colors
• External screen (only available on the QWERTY keypad attachment) is 0.94-inch monochrome OLED, 56×120 pixels
• 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash and image editor
• 3G connectivity support (EV-DO Rev. A)
• Media player, works with V CAST Music with Rhapsody and V CAST Video services
• GPS receiver, works with VZ Navigator
• Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR
• Mobile IM, email, web, threaded messaging
• 2.5mm headset jack
• microSD memory card slot
• 1,100 mAh battery that provides up to 290 minutes of talk time and up to 430 hours of standby time
• Size wise, the LG Versa measures 4.16×2.07×0.54 inches and has a weight of 3.81 ounces

Interested? Verizon will start selling Versa beginning March 1st for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year contract.

While combing through my photos from Mobile World Congress, I stumbled on one little gem that had managed to slip through the flurry of press releases and launch events. These HF-310 Speakerphones were looking a little lonely at the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) booth when everyone was oogling the N97 not far away, but they were pretty impressive. One-touch call control and volume adjustment around the rim made these things very practical, and the suction cup/clip/dash mounts let you really put them anywhere in your car. Full specs include:

Dimensions
* 80 mm (Diameter) x 21 mm (Thickness)
Weight
* 81 g
Operating keys
* Two buttons: Send/End key and Power key
* One illuminated key
* Ring for volume adaptation
Connectors
* Nokia 2 mm battery charger connector
Mount
* Sunvisor clip, easy mount, dashboard plate
Available colours
* Black
Operating time (maximum)
* 30 h
Standby time (maximum)
* 960 h
Bluetooth profiles
* Bluetooth Specification 2.0 with Handsfree Profile (HFP) 1.5
Paired devices (maximum)
* 4 (one at a time)

RIM’s been working hard to shoehorn a pseudo-BlackBerry-OS into Windows Mobile, but why settle for less when you can run both native operating systems at the same time with VMware? This demo shoes a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N800 running Windows CE and Android concurrently with no noticeable lag whatsoever. Why would you want to bother with this? Their pitch is to keep work and personal profile separate, a theme that’s already been emerging in handsets like the Xperia.

While this is the flashier application for VMware, one added bonus is the ability to extract and back up device data, like contacts, regardless of operating system. This also tears down developer walls interoperability - apps become much less dependent on what platform you’re running if you can run anything else through a virutal machine, much like what we’re seeing with desktop Macs. There are no announcements to be made just yet, but VMware is working with all major platforms and OEMs to see what they can work out. I wonder who will bite first and support this…

Nokia, the world’s largest cellular phone maker by revenues, criticized Google’s Android system is not an open system despite Google launched Android’s source code last year.

Symbian Foundation director Lee Williams claimed the Linux-based Google OS merely wears a big ‘open’ badge to disguise its underlying ‘closed shop’ ethos.
“Android is not open,” told ZDNet Asia’s sister site Silicon.com. “It’s a marketing label. It’s controlled by Google.”

“It’s a pretty label but I don’t think the use of Linux is synonymous with open and they may have made that mistake of assuming it is,” he added.

“If you’re talking about a platform and the source code isn’t completely available for that platform, I would say it’s misleading to call that platform open,” he said at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show last week. “Because that platform can’t be adapted, changed and shaped by the people who are consuming that platform–the handset OEMs or the carriers. I’d say that if you need to join some sort of a club in order to get access to the source code–so membership in some consortium or some other group–then it really truly isn’t open.”

Google’s vice president of mobile, Rich Mine denied the criticism. He said “”there is no Google technology built into it that we haven’t made available to others. So we’re enabling our competitors as much as ourselves,” adding: “We think that when somebody controls an entire platform like that it’s bad for the industry. They have huge leverage and this is why Google invests so much in open platforms and technologies.”

Do you think that Android is merely a marketing label of Google? Please leave your opinions here.

Verizon Wireless has released the new Push-to-Talk mobile handset - the CDM8975 which will be available on March 9.. Developed by Personal Communications Devices, the CDM8975 sports a clamshell design and is packed with nifty features including a fast two-way communication. The CDM8975 provides users with quick access to Verizon Wireless’ Push to Talk service through EVDO Rev. A network.

Another nice feature of the CDM8975 is its support for VZ Navigator with audible turn-by-turn maps, directions, and data points that can business users in locating their offsite meeting locations easily and quickly. It also allows map sharing with their business contacts.

Other features of the CDM8975 include Bluetooth technology, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video capturing functionality, voice dialing, voice command, stereo speakers, internal antenna, medica center capability, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, V CAST Video, text messagin, enhanced message service, multimedia messaging service, T9 Predictive Text, Phonebook with up to 500 entries with multiple contacts, Push to Talk phonebook, expandable memory with optional microSD memory card support up to 8GB, web browser, customizable wallpaper, TTY/TDD-capable, and bilingual interface.

Most importantly, the Verizon Wireless CDM8975 will be available at an affordable price of $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate plus a two-year service agreement.

Google’s ambitions (and their limits) in mobile space are pretty well known by now.

Google wants to have one of the major mobile OS’es out there. Android 1.0 is a good start, but Google is looking forward for Android 3.0 release next year to really get going.

And by now it should be clear that big G will leave the hardware side of the business to others.

So what the heck Google is doing, patenting it’s own smartphone designs?

Yep, while browsing through patent databases I stumbled on a Google patent called “Electronic device with hinge mechanism”, filed in August of 2007 for a mobile slider handset:

I guess this Google phone design could be the result of some enterprising Google engineer spending 20% time on his own projects. Or it might be representation of Google efforts for a phone reference design before they decided to stay on the software side of business. Or something else.

Looking at the drawings of this Google smartphone device I can’t find anything very interesting, or even things that have not been implemented already in one way or the other.

But the patent app shows the design work and ideas from 2006 – early 2007. A mobile device with multi-directional sliding keyboard, big display to easily browse the Net, and peruse Google services, was the thing big G was probably looking for.

And, maybe, felt the need to step in, because there weren’t many such devices back then.

You can download patent app here (*.pdf, 1.86 MB)

It seems Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is considering to enter the laptop business. In a recent interview to Finnish national broadcaster, the company’s CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said that they are looking “very actively” at this opportunity.

He went on adding, “We don’t have to look even for five years what we know as a mobile phone and what we know as a PC are in many ways converging. Today we have hundreds of millions of people who are having their first Internet experience on the phone. This is a good indication.”

The problem, though, is that unlike smartphones, laptops are a low-margin business. However, with many of the world’s carriers slowly adding netbooks and laptops to their offerings, Nokia may be tempted to cover that segment of the market, too. In addition, as Nokia moves more toward services, they may sell computers with integrated Ovi suite and compensate on the low margins of the business — something other laptop makers can’t do that easily.

The way I see it their best bet is to go for some high-end netbooks, like Sony’s recently unveiled VAIO P series. Moreover, I bet they plan to release a new Internet tablet device this year, which I hope will be more powerful than the current model - N810. More on what I expect from the new tablet can be found in a separate article.

Anyway, I’m eager to hear your thoughts. Should Nokia enter the laptop market? And if so, what kind of products they should release?

Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) is always quick to release demo clips for the new devices. Following the official announcement at the Mobile World Congress, the Swedish-Japanese handset maker has made available a new demo video through YouTube. This one deals with the company’s new flagship Walkman phone - W995 aka Hikaru. As expected, this phone is all about music, sporting a dedicated music playback keys. But wait, thanks to its 8.1-megapixel camera and great video playback capabilities, it’s also great for talking photos and enjoying media while on the go. Enough said, here’s a video. Enjoy!

BlackBerry Storm OS will introduce better finger movements for copy/pasting and selecting text. With the release of OS 4.7.0.112, confirms that a new selection tool will be introduced to the BlackBerry Storm. It’s really great tool. The new editing process takes a pretty simple path. The user places his finger to the spot requiring the edit and the rectangular gray box appears which scrolls with your finger to target the exact spot needing the edit.

The latest version Pantech Breeze will sport a sophisticated black exterior and a silver and black interior which responds to customers’ lifestyle needs. AT&T on Wednesday announced it will add the Pantech Breeze C520 flip phone in black to its offering later this week. The new color doesn’t change the features that make it a popular, as an easy to use phone. Both black and white versions have a VGA camera, video capture capabilities, EDGE data connectivityand three one-touch quick call keys for your convenience. The quad-band handset also has Bluetooth support, along with a hands-free speakerphone and voice-dialing.

The Pantech Breeze C520 is also available online at www.wireless.att.com and both are available for $29.99 each with a two-year service agreement.

USBfever just launched a Mini Microphone for iPhone 3G, enabling users to get better sound recording quality on their iPhone. Journalists, students, teachers or researchers probably need this tiny gadget.

Features:

• Plug and Play.
• High Quality Microphone, fine sensibility.
• Small and portable.
• No need battery.
• So conveninent, you can wear it as a necklace.
• As a capsule, so compact and lightweight.

As the site's company noticed, for iPhone 3G, you need to download and install software (like iTalk Recorder or Easy Recorder) to your iPhone first.

It can be bought for USD $14.99 (plus international shipping cost USD $2.99 per order) from their website.

RIM’s knowledge base recenetly published features of the upcoming version 2.6 of BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Internet Service, most predominately highlighting integrated IMAP support for Gmail, so reading Gmail messages on your smartphone will show the same read status from the web browser. Unfortuantely, this sync is only one way, so reading messages from the browser won’t push that status to your phone. After seeing some upcoming changes on the enterprise side, I’m hoping that flags and categories (stars and tags in Gmail’s case), will see the jump to BIS as well. A few other tweaks, like Dutch language support and improved password display during setup, will also come in the update. We’re still holding our breath for that super-cheap @ BlackBerry e-mail program that will supposedly be launching with this update. As for release window, odds are carriers are putting the gears in motion to roll this out now and will likely have everything set in the coming weeks - keep your eyes on your inboxes, Gmailers.

Full feature list and screenshots of BIS 2.6 behind the jump!

Display of password characters

BlackBerry smartphone users have the option to display password characters when configuring email addresses with the BlackBerry Internet Service. This feature makes it easier

for BlackBerry smartphone users to integrate third-party email addresses, especially when using a BlackBerry smartphone with the SureType® input method. For more information,

see KB17411.

Improved descriptive support and error messages

BlackBerry smartphone users that have integrated a third-party email account using Post Office Protocol (POP) receive a personal indentification number (PIN) message that

includes instructions on how to leave email messages on the messaging server for successful delivery to the BlackBerry smartphone. For more information, see KB17404.

Option to change signatures from the BlackBerry smartphone

BlackBerry smartphone users that use Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) automatic login can change the signatures for email messages using the BlackBerry smartphone. For more

information, see KB17414.

Improved language support

Dutch is now an available language for the BlackBerry Internet Service 2.6. For a list of all supported languages, see KB12859.

Gmail integration using IMAP

BlackBerry Internet Service 2.6 uses Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) to integrate Gmail® webmail accounts. This integration protocol introduces the following benefits:

* Elimination of sent email messages appearing as received email messages in the message list on the BlackBerry smartphone
* One-way synchronization of read status, sent items, and deleted items

Mobile web browsing can be a chore - not everything is built for the phone, even if you’re packing an iPhone or a nice third-party browser. Luckily, Buzzwire aims to bring you the best of the mobile web by implementing a free Digg-style site at m.buzzwire.com.

“The mobile Web is different from the PC Web because content, editorial and presentation must all be adapted to work on mobile devices. Yet, mobile is fast becoming the preferred means for Internet browsing,” said Greg Osberg, Buzzwire president and CEO. “We’re pioneering a mobile community site that will appeal to consumers, while offering a unique brand building experience to advertisers and new traffic building opportunities for publishers. By improving the mobile web experience, Buzzwire also creates a catalyst for fueling data plan usage for carriers. Our ability to address consumer pain points and critical business needs at the same time makes this a winning model for mobile.”

I’m not really buying the appeal to mobile advertisers and the subsequent revenue stream to publishers, but it should still be a fine destination to end-users looking to do some casual browsing and need a home base to start from. Link submissions can be made by e-mail and SMS - something definitely needed to make Buzzwire less of a mobile link page and more of a proper social bookmarking site. Whether or not it flies will all depend on momentum - personally, I could use a few more bookmarks.

eXpansys: Motorola Aura and Nokia 8800 Arte Gold - the height of luxury

from IntoMobile by Ben Robinson

eXpansys have let me know that they have two luxury phones that you might want to purchase available - and for the sheer cash-money newsworthiness, I thought I should share:

The luxurious Motorola Aura combines superb craftsmanship and a distinctive interface inspired by luxury watches. The Motorola Aura features the world’s first 16 million colour circular phone display with a resolution of 300dpi, that is protected by a Grade 1 62-carat sapphire crystal (one of the most scratch-resistant materials on the planet). The custom-engineered rotating mechanism has 130 precision ball bearings that drive the assisted-opening blade - like opening the door on a high-end luxury car.

Follow this link to place your order for this ultra-stylish luxury phone!

Order now for £1269.99

The Nokia 8800 Arte Gold is the latest offering in the desirable Arte range, combining the finest natural minerals with state-of-the-art precision engineering. Featuring 18-carat gold plating and premium quality leather padding, the Nokia 8800 Arte Gold also has a 2-inch OLED screen with 16 million colours and is protected by scratch resistant mineral glass. The unique open and closing mechanism features a bi-stable spring and stainless steel ball bearing system, similar to those used in high-performance cars.

Follow this link to place your order for this highly-desirable phone!

Order now for £1299.99

For me personally, I wasn’t so much a fan of the Arte, so it would be the Aura - if I could afford it. Just think, if you bought both of these, you’d be well on the way to spending £3K!

Now this is one interesting mobile phone concept.

Imagine a future filled with mobile phones that, well, aren’t mobile phones. Instead, they’re collapsible mobile computers with flexy, roll-up displays that keep you connected anytime, anywhere.

That particular future might be a little further off than we’d like, but that didn’t stop Tirshathah Hunter from designing this “Conduit” mobile concept. It’s part smartphone, part camera and part media center. Better yet, the “Conduit” might just one day make the cellphone no more cumbersome to carry around than a pencil or pen. And, with that futuristic roll-up display, the Conduit takes the cake as the mobile phone of our geeky-dreams!

HTC have released a new firmware update for the Touch Pro. HTC updates Touch Pro ROM includes bug fixes, and improved performance of the TouchFlo 3D user interface and camera software. Some more languages are available : English (Pan Europe and UK), Italian, Dutch, German, French, Finnish, Portuguese and Spain.

The update is said to fix the following problems:

1. The cracked display of TouchFLO 3D that sometimes appear.
2. The malfunction when you take Pictures in some cirtumstances
3. The preview screen will become black after taking picture in some circumstances,
4. The delay in the display response when hanging up a phone call,
5. The device hang while loading TouchFLO 3D in some circumstances,

Users can download from HTC’s web site.

Verizon Wireless informed the availability of new Verizon Wireless CDM8975 through business sales channels. The phone, developed by Personal Communications Devices, LLC, joins Verizon Wireless’ robust line-up of Push to Talk handsets that provides customers with fast two-way communication to get their jobs done quickly and efficiently. The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 gives customers a feature-rich wireless experience at an attractive price. The CDM8975 clamshell has CDMA (800/1900MHz) support and features EV-DO (Rev. A) for high-speed data connectivity on Verizon’s network. The wireless phone, the CDM8975, sells for $100 after a $50 rebate and requires a new two-year wireless service agreement. The goodies, although the CDM8975 is intended for business users, it also gives access to V CAST Music with DRM-free Rhapsody music service access and V Cast Video services that allow users to download or stream popular video.


The specs include:
-EV-DO Rev. A connectivity
-VZ Navigator
-Bluetooth
-Dedicated Push to Talk / speakerphone button
-1.3 MP camera
-MicroSD card support, up to 8GB
-3.7 x1.9 x 0.8 inches
-3.2 ounces
The company said The CDM8975 will be available beginning March 9th or you can go to its site for more information

You absolutely agree with “health is wealth”. Now, you may have phone to be like a portable doctor with you. Applied Nanodetectors Ltd (AND) of the UK has successfully rolled out a prototyped cell phone which was specially developed to detect a range of diseases, all from the user’s breath. It can detect bad breath and tells you what’s wrong with your body, based on the smart sensor chip inside your phone

It uses AND’s chip, the sensors are able to detect minute traces of different gases like CO2, NOx and ammonia (NH3). The chip matches the results after determining the composition of your breath and tabulating the density of each gas with already-known characteristics of various illnesses. It is said that the matching process resembles fingerprint matching

The British company says that it intends to market its new mobile product via Japanese carriers, as well as in Europe, with Nokias help.

At the Mobile World Congress, Korean mobile phone manufacturer quietly released its latest product, GT-S5600. The phone seems to be a rather affordable addition to Samsung’s lineup of touchscreen devices, something that could place the handset in direct competition against the budget LG Cookie, or the KP500.

The GT-S5600 is a mid-range touch-screen device with probably a 3-megapixel camera and UMTS. The specifications are not yet known . It will use the TouchWiz interface, Samsung (known by UltraTOUCH and BEAT DJ) . From the pictures it seems that it will have an optical joystick as the one of the INNOV8 and Epix.

Hopefully, the South Korean company will not wait too long before launching it, and we’ll see the device on shelves as soon as possible. Here are the ppictures gallery:

Verizon Wireless announced today that the new Verizon Wireless Push to Talk CDM8975 is available immediately through business sales channels. The phone, developed by Personal Communications Devices, LLC, provides customers with fast two-way communication to get their jobs done quickly and efficiently.

Packaged in an industrial clamshell design, the Verizon Wireless CDM8975 gives customers a feature-rich wireless experience at an attractive price. It will be available online at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning March 9.

The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 provides customers with access to Verizon Wireless’ Push to Talk service that leverages the company’s Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Revision A (Rev. A) network. The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 also supports VZ Navigator(SM) with access to audible turn-by-turn maps, directions and millions of data points that can help business customers locate their offsite meeting locations quickly and even share their maps with colleagues.

The Web-enabled phone supports Bluetooth® technology, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with video recording capabilities, voice commands, voice activated dialing, and a stereo speaker. Customers can stay entertained on a long commute or a business trip with Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Music with Rhapsody® and V CAST Video services.

Additional features and capabilities on the Verizon Wireless CDM8975 include:

* Dedicated Push to Talk and speakerphone button
* Internal antenna “intenna”
* Bluetooth technology – headset, hands free (car kits), dial-up networking, stereo, phonebook access, basic printing, basic imaging, object push for vCard, and file transfer
* Media Center-capable – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, location based services and more
* V CAST Music with Rhapsody-capable – download music directly to the phone from a library of more than 5 million songs and get the master copy of the song on a PC free of digital rights management software that restricts how and where music can be played. Customers can also sync favorite tracks, albums and playlists from a PC.
* V CAST Video – download or stream video from the best names in news, sports, entertainment and more
* Text messaging
* Enhanced Message Service
* Multimedia Message Service
* T9 Predictive Text
* Phonebook with up to 500 entries with multiple contacts
* Push to Talk phonebook with up to 500 individual contacts and up to 100 group contacts with up to 50 members per group
* Expandable memory on an optional microSD™ memory card up to 8 GB (card not included)
* Web browser: WAP
* Customizable wallpaper
* TTY/TDD-capable
* Bilingual interface for English and Spanish
* Dimensions: 3.7” (h) x 1.9” (w) x 0.8” (d)
* Weight: 3.2 ounces

The Verizon Wireless CDM8975 is available for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. Corporate discount pricing is available. Verizon Wireless customers can add Unlimited Push to Talk for $5 per month, per line to any Nationwide voice plan.

Last week at the Mobile World Congress 2009, the GSMA announced the winner of the 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award. After a year-long search and four regional tournaments, soft keyboard for touchscreens supplier CooTek has been named the Global Champion of this most influential innovation award in the mobile industry.

CooTek's winning innovation is called TouchPal, a soft keyboard for touchscreen devices. Its mistyping correction and many other unique technologies make TouchPal one of the most popular keyboard software in the world, with more than 2,000,000 downloads last year. CooTek claims that an experienced user can type as fast as 400 characters/min. on a touchscreen with TouchPal.

Touchscreen phones are getting popular these years. But typing on touchscreen is no fun. Many iPhone users, for example, have complaints about its onscreen keyboard. Due to the small buttons and the lack of key-pressing feedback, users are more likely to press wrong keys on a virtual keyboard than on a real keyboard.
TouchPal was carefully designed to resolve these issues by introducing many breakthrough technologies. One example is the impressive mistyping correction technology -- even if a user mistypes all the letters in a word, it can still predict the correct word. One can thus type much faster without even looking at the keyboard. Another eye-catching feature is called "mixed language input" -- for example, a user can input German and English at the same time, without switching languages. TouchPal also recognizes gestures on the touchscreen to quickly input uppercase letters or symbols.

The continuous innovation and the significant user impact of this piece of innovative work impressed the judges' panel consisting of the senior executives from mobile operators, industry suppliers and venture capital organizations. TouchPal supports 20+ languages and is available on Windows Mobile and Google Android phones. End users can download and try it for free from CooTek's website: http://www.cootek.com

CooTek recently announced that the TouchPal will soon be available on G1 phones. Take a look at the demo video below.

Samsung Telecommunications America, and Paramount Digital Entertainment today announced the availability of a 2G microSD card pre-loaded with the Mission Impossible Trilogy with the purchase of a Samsung Delve from Alltel Wireless. This is the first time that Samsung Mobile and Paramount Digital Entertainment have worked together to bundle full-length feature films(s) to add promotional value to its mobile products, without creating a price impact on its carrier partners or consumers. The microSD card is available with the purchase of the Delve from February 20 through April 16, from participating Alltel Wireless retail stores and authorized dealers. Alltel Wireless customers who purchase the Delve can send in a mail-in redemption card to receive the microSD within four to six weeks. For more information on the Alltel promotion and the Samsung Delve please visit www.samsung.com/missionexcitement.

Here are some leaked pictures of the upcoming Motorola ZN300 handset. This multimedia-oriented slider will apparently have a Linux-based operating system and use Opera Mini for a web browser. Other features include a 3MP camera, a 240×320 display, and a 3.5mm headset jack. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing and release dates yet. [Electronista]

Car firm Hyundai has unveiled two mid-range devices and a low-end one. Hyundai with the MB-490i dolphin phone announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Hyundai’s designers have attempted to make the MB-490i look like a dolphin from the side, and there’s an aquatic feel to the ripples on the surface of the phone which continues the theme.It features a 240 x 400 pixels touchscreen display and touch-sensitive navigation. Besides that it includes Stereo Bluetooth, FM radio and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

A Yamaha-powered speaker system should mean the phone’s able to blast out tunes with some clarity, while tracks can be imported either over Bluetooth or using the memory card slot.The “dolphin” theme is also carried through into software, with a dolphin assistant to help navigate menus.

No date as to when this will hit the UK, however the company has confirmed that you will be able to get it here

Vertu have unveiled their latest addition to their Constellation range, the Pure Collection. Its latest collection, dubbed Vertu Constellation Pure, includes handsets in four color versions: Pure White, Pure Black, Pure Silver and Pure Chocolate. The Limited Edition Pure Collection is a classic original design of the Vertu Constellation series faithful, however, combines a smooth aesthetic high-tech ceramics colored with the warm, natural texture of the finest leather. The result is modern, extremely elegant and stylish mobile phones.

The Pure White is an all white phone featuring polished steel and a white ceramic keypad and pillow with white leather designed to be resistant to staining. The Pure Black is an all black phone featuring PVD treated steel and a black ceramic keypad and pillow with black leather.

Vertu will only make 2,500 of each so you should make sure you are one of the first 7,500 people to order if you really want a Constellation Pure device. The Vertu Constellation Pure Limited Edition Collection is available in versions Pure White and Pure Black from 1 March 2009 commercially available. Pure Silver and Pure Chocolate will appear in September 2009.

Motorola's been a bit shy at MWC 2009, so it didn't came with any new phones – its only attraction being the MotoSurf A3100. But that doesn't mean the company hasn't got new handsets which are impatiently waiting to be released, right?

And one of those handsets is the multimedia-centric Motorola ZN300 – or MotoZine ZN300 – a slider that we first saw back in January.

Its features include a 3MP camera, a rather unusual navigation pad, a 3.5mm headset jack (good move, Moto), Opera Mini, a QVGA display (bad move, Moto) and a Linux based OS – apparently.

Several press shots with the ZN300 have just popped up on the Web, thus we kindly invite you to view them with us:

The phone doesn't look bad, that's for sure. However, with so many options from so many other manufacturers, it will probably be hard for it to be a commercial success. Unless… Moto will sell it for a crazily attractive price. But it kind of doubt it