Cellular

Cellular related stories

Pantech PG-3600v Phone Adds Video Editing
Straight out of the school of Advanced Homage to iPods comes this new music phone from South Korean phone maker Pantech.
Featuring a (ahem) “revolutionary touch-wheel sensor,” the phone is aimed at “digital generation” music fans, with 512 Mb internal memory capacity supported by an external card slot for maximum onboard tunes.
Arriving on the shelves of Hong Kong and Taiwan stores today, the phone features a slide-out keypad design, a 1.9in, 262,144-colour display and the not-at-all-like-the-iPod clickwheel, which “enables easy navigation by allowing users to sweep the wheel key with their fingers”, according to Pantech.
As well as operating the music controls, the circular control can be used to control menu bars, zoom in on images taken with the phone’s built-in 1.3-megapixel camera and to skip through MPEG 4 videos recorded on the Pantech.
Uniquely, there’s some basic video editing software on board for users to create Fellini-like mini epics on their phones.
S. Jay Yim, Vice President, Overseas Marketing, Pantech, was suitably enthusiastic: “The PG-3600V not only offers a unique design with its finely honed, attractive finish, but it also highlights our efforts to offer the latest, most user-friendly applications to young tech-savvy users. We feel the PG-3600V actively supports the desire prevalent amongst many people to stand apart from the crowd.”
Rounding off the phone’s feature set is stereo audio-enabled Bluetooth and a speakerphone in the 10.2 x 4.7 x 1.8cm package which weighs in at 94.1g.
Needless to say, there’s no UK/European release date set yet.
Specs:
Touch wheel sensor
1.3 mega pixel CMOS camera
Display: 1.9″ QCIF, 260 K color TFT LCD
MPEG-4 recording/editing function
Music player (MP3/ AAC/AAC+/WMA)
Speakerphone
Stereo Bluetooth
SMS/MMS/e-mail
Pantech
15 May, 2006
Nokia 5500 Sports Phone Launches
For hyperactive sporty types, lardy lumps looking to lose some weight and headband-totin’ workouters, Nokia has trotted out its new super-sporty phone, the 5500 Sport.
Apparently their first handset with (ahem) “athletic lifestyle appeal”, the phone is moulded out of bits of trainers – or, as they put it, “engineered with materials used in the latest high performance running shoes”.
Pitched at sweaty joggers and wheezing Seb Coe wannabes, the phone comes in a liquid and dirt-resistant housing, complete with rubber grips.
Jog the line
Lurking inside the handset, there’s a work-out mode for ~~timing your stumble to the pub~~ keeping track of your running times, a planner for setting up an exercise schedule and a pedometer to let you see if you’ve reached your recommended limit of 10,000 steps every day (yeah, right!).
The cunning boffins at Nokia have even included a calculator for working out the calories used up during your workout, with speech software keeping you updated about your pie-cancelling progress.
Music on the go
Personally, we find jogging to be as exciting as a day at the ‘Watch Paint Dry’ club, but at least there’s a built in music player for getting some motivational Toto on the go as you shuffle around your local park.
If you need to stock up on a wide selection of tunes to keep you thumping the tarmac, the 5500 comes with a MicroSD slot (up to 1GB) with the player supporting most of the popular music formats.
Conveniently, there’s a dedicated key that makes it easy to switch between phone, music and training modes with text to speech software feeding you text messages and workout status reports on the move.
A 3D motion sensor also adds new features, including the ability to tap the phone to start/stop the inspirational magic of Totos’s “Africa” while sweating through Stepney .
The phones should be jogging into Europe in Q3 for around €300 ($381/£205) and will be available in a grey and yellow ‘sport’ colour scheme and other, more business-like, hues.
Nokia
11 May, 2006
Samsung Unveils SGH-X820, The World’s Thinnest Phone
Samsung have unveiled their new SGH-X820, proudly labelling it the ‘world’s thinnest phone’.
Making Motorola’s SLVR look like a pie-gorging slab o’lard, the SGH-X820 model is a wafer-thin 6.9 millimeters thick, yet still manages to fit in a full set of features – and look great.
Weighing just 66 grams, the SGH-X820 has a media player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, and WMA music files, with 80MB of onboard storage.
Apparently using Victorian corset techniques, Samsung’s designers have also managed to wedge in a 1.9″, 176×220 pixel display (262k colours), Bluetooth connectivity, USB support, a TV-out jack and a 2 megapixel camera that records video into its 113mm x 50mm (4.4″ x 2″) dimensions.
The display can also be conveniently viewed in landscape mode for some functions.
The super-slim device supports GPRS/EDGE data on 900MHz, 1800MHz, and 1900MHz GSM bands and, unlike Motorola’s futuristic designs, comes in a traditional format with individual keys.
“The Samsung ‘ultra-slim phone’ has set a record in the mobile handset history by breaking the wall of 7-millimeter thickness for the first time in the world,” the company purred.
Samsung expects to release the SGH-X820 in the Russian market next month, with us poor punters in Europe having to wait.
Samsung
9 May, 2006
BlackBerry Hacks Review (92%): Tips & Tools for Your Mobile Office
Another in the “hacks” range of O’Reilly books, where hacking is doing interesting things with something, rather than the unfortunate media convention of breaking into computers (which has some relevence as you’re getting into the guts of the BlackBerry in ways RIM, the manufacturer, may not have expected and/or indeed intended).
It’s a mainly techie book, so a casual BlackBerry user who gets their IT department to configure everything, or a consumer who goes to their mobile outlet and buys one off-the-shelf probably should stay away, though there are some useful bits for them.
It covers: –
- Using Your BlackBerry
- Email
- Games
- The Internet and Other Networks
- Free Programs
- Shareware Apps
- BES Adminstration
- The Web and MDS
- Application Development
The chapters get more technical as they go on. General users will definitely find some help from the first two which go through basic BlackBerry functions and how to optimise things, including your Email settings and accessing multiple accounts. There’s a good introduction to using mail through a BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Server), the Desktop Redirector and BWC (BlackBerry Web Client).
Installing programs (including games) might be easy, but you’ll either need access to the Desktop Manager for some, or access them over-the-air and install through the browser. If your BlackBerry is locked down by your IT department, you may not even get that far. Assuming yours isn’t, there’s a wealth of software out there and the book highlights some of the “really useful” stuff, with links to more.
Accessing the Internet is also not as easy as you might think, and the BlackBerry can actually get network access via a variety of methods including through the BES (which is the corporate way of working, and is like a virtual private network to the inside of the firewall) and accessing the Internet directly from the device itself through the GPRS connection of your mobile network.
Administrators (who actually enjoy adminstering systems) will love this book. There’s a very good section on how to do interesting things that an administrator wouldn’t normally be expected to be able to do (like import/activate lots of BlackBerry users at once) and all sorts of scripts to make life easier.
It’s even possible to make the BES “push” applications and content to all an organisations BlackBerry users (or groups of them) over air and so in a business environment all the users can have the same versions of software running on their systems and access to the right corporate applications and data.
The book also gives a good insight into programming the Blackberry and describes the tools that RIM provide and how to go about using them (and what other things you need to do). RIM originally made the BlackBerry for corporates and the last thing they wanted was nasty virii and programs infecting them, so when a program tries to access some of the BlackBerry’s inner workings the BlackBerry actually checks that the program is valid and should be doing that. RIM force programmers to “sign” programs and there’s info on how to go through that process.
Summary
As a techie book for techie users and administrators it definitely meets its objectives and there’ll be things that even hardened BlackBerry users will find new and useful.
As a newbie corporate user, get your IT department to sort it out.
As a casual Blackberry user or if it’s a corporate issued Blackberry, stay away – though the first couple of chapters might seem relevent and give you some tips, most of the book will be over the top and very hard to wade through.
Score
For the intended audience: 92%. It hits the mark.
Author: Dave Mabe
ISBN: 0-596-10115-5
RRP: (GBP)17.50
Buy it
Buy it on Amazon UK – £11.55
Buy it on Amazon US – $15.72
9 May, 2006
Pantech PG-2800 Mobile Offers ‘Finger Writing Recognition Phone’
Pantech Group, South Korea’s second biggest mobile phone company, has announced that it’ll be wowing the crowds with the new PG-2800 GSM ‘finger writing recognition phone’ at the Moscow SVIAZ Expo Comm trade show this week.
Even with the help of a bevy of cat-eared beaming beauties in black to wave the phone around, it has to be said that the PG-2800 GSM isn’t exactly a looker.
But underneath that dull exterior lurks a nifty dual action keypad, which lets users write text messages (or look up words in the built-in electronic dictionary) by bashing individual keys old-school style, or by drawing the characters on the keypad.
The unique ‘finger writing recognition’ function is claimed to make it easier to input Russian and Chinese text characters.
Sung-Kyu Lee, President & CEO of Pantech & Curitel Communications was on hand to big up the handset: “We expect the unique PG-2800 handset to reinforce our credentials as a provider of attractive, stylish yet ultra-modern handsets for consumers, both in Russia and around the world”.
Pantech has proved to something of a hotshot in Russia, growing sales by more than 100% over the last two years, with plans to introduce 15 new models during the year.
The company is also aiming high worldwide, with expectations to shift 27 million unit sales globally in 2006.
And that’s a lorra lorra phones.
PG-2800 specifications
·Intenna type clamshell
·Finger writing recognition function
·90x45x18.5mm, 87.9g
·Band: 900/1800/1900 MHz
·Display
-Main 2.0″ 260K color TFT LCD
-Sub 1.17″ 65K color TFT LCD
·1.3 mega pixel camera with white balance functionality
·MP3 player
·Electronic dictionary
·SMS/EMS/MMS/E-mail
·External memory card slot
Pantech & Curitel
9 May, 2006
Vodafone Pre-Empts Viviane’s EC Rip-off Roaming Action
She’s got a mission to eliminate mobile phone roaming rip-off charges. She’s Commissioner Viviane Redding of the EC, and today, Vodafone took PR action to keep itself out of her sights, by promising to “cut roaming by 40%” by this time next year.
Vodafone’s announcement says: “Average European roaming costs for Vodafone customers will be cut by at least 40% by April 2007, when compared to last summer.”
This, it says, “will benefit over 30 million Vodafone customers who roam every year, and will see the average cost of roaming in Europe fall from over €0.90 to less than €0.55 per minute.”
Ironically, Vodafone is probably not highest on Commissioner Redding’s hit list. It’s certainly possible to pay over the odds for Voda phone calls when overseas – pick the wrong contract! – but amongst the giants, Voda actually scores quite well on fair use, especially if you’re a Passport subscriber.
Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone, said: “Customers want simplicity and value for money when they’re travelling abroad. They get it with Vodafone Passport, which we launched last year, allowing customers to take their home tariff abroad with a small additional per call fee. Today Passport provides savings of at least 30% for more than 6 million Vodafone customers.”
But like many of the giants, Vodafone is suffering from the cost of providing phones. All the European operators, traditionally, subsidise handsets; they give them away, or sell them for a fraction of their cost, in the expectation of making substantially more out of phone call charges – and it works.
Unfortunately, we’re changing our phones too often. It’s mostly the shops that do this, because they are incentivised to do it by the networks.
The networks all pay a premium to a phone shop who “steals” a customer from a rival network. At the same time, paradoxically, they’re trying to make contracts longer: 12 months minimum, 18 months or even longer, as standard.
So the trend is to pay as you go phones – which tend to be paid for. And it’s PAYG agreements which most heavily penalise you when roaming. That is, assuming that your PAYG phone even makes it possible to use it overseas; many don’t.
Sarin said: “The success of Passport shows the demand for simple, great value roaming in Europe and today we’re showing that Vodafone will continue to lead the industry in providing it.”
What he probably means, is that Passport needs to be able to compete with PAYG, and Vodafone sees no harm in ingratiating itself with the Commissioner for Information Society and Media while doing so.
Viviane Redding
Guy Kewney’s NewsWireless
8 May, 2006
Opera Mini 2.0 For Mobiles Released
Nordic browser kings Opera Software have released Opera Mini 2.0, a spanking new version of their tiny Web browser that runs on almost all mobile phones.
Building on the success of the first version – which has already notched up 2.5 million users since its January 2006 release – Opera Mini accelerates mobile surfing by using compression and reformatting techniques.
The latest version of the Java-powered browser adds a selection of tweaks and refinements, including the ability to download multimedia content, like images and MP3s, directly to the phone.
There’s also a selection of new skins available to customise the look of the browser, and a natty new multisearch feature, letting users select extra search engines for the home page.
Also new for version two is a speed dial widget, which lets surfers call up bookmarks by assigning shortcut key combinations.
“Opera Mini has kick-started real mobile Web browsing by enabling non-smartphone owners to surf the full Internet on their phones, just as they do on their PCs,” purred Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software.
With Opera Mini supporting mobile commerce via SMS, users can directly buy ringtones, games and other content for delivery as an SMS.
This system lets the seller set the price with charges appearing in the phone bill as an SMS.
The new browser is compatible with a host of phones, smartphones and PDAs (including Sony Ericsson, Pocket PC and Palm handets) and can be downloaded for free by typing in http://mini.opera.com into your WAP-tastic browser or by delivery via SMS download for a small fee.
4 May, 2006
Samsung D520 Ultraslim Launches In Europe
Pulling out its big book of alliteration, Samsung have declared their new D520 phone to be full of “Stylish Simplicity and Stunning Sophistication.”
The slim’n’trim D520 offers tri-band connectivity (GSM 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz, GPRS) and measures just 101 x 46 x 15.9mm and weighs a lightweight 93g.
The sleek black Samsung sports a ‘slide-up’ design and a simple interface dominated by a 262k, 176 x 220 pixels colour screen.
There’s a 1.3 megapixel camera onboard, Video Recording (MPEG4), a music player capable of playing MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+/WMA files and Bluetooth stereo support.
Storage comes in the shape of 80MB of internal memory with USB connectivity but – strangely – no card expansion slot.
Kitae Lee, President of the Samsung Electronics Telecommunication Network Business, was positively beside himself with joy about the phone, “Samsung mobiles truly understand the wants and needs of our active consumers.
“Samsung is excited to present new slim models to our customers around the world, and we will continue to reveal new models to fit our customers’ needs,” he continued.
The SGH-D520 should be appearing on the shelves around Europe any time now.
SGH-D520 specifications
Network GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Size Dimensions 101 x 46 x 15.9 mm
Weight 99 g
Display Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 176 x 220 pixels
Ringtones Type Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3
Vibration Yes, – Dual speaker
Call records 20 dialed, 20 received, 20 missed calls
Card slot No – 80 MB embedded memory
Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
HSCSD No
EDGE No
3G No
WLAN No
Bluetooth Yes, v1.2
Infrared port Yes
Internet browser XHTML browser
USB Yes
Features Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Games Yes + downloadable
Camera
Type: 1.3 Mpixel camera
Effects/camera settings
Quality settings
Mosaic photo
MultiShot
Night mode
Portrait mode
Phone display used as a viewfinder
Video recorder
Self-timer
Max. resolution: (camera) 1280 x 1024 pixels
Misc
– Java MIDP 2.0
– MP3/MP4/AAC player
– T9
– SyncML
– Document Viewer
– Organizer
– Voice memo
– Built-in handsfree
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion
Samsung
3 May, 2006
Nokia N73, N93:3 Megapixel Cameras Phones Announced
The dome-headed boffins at Nokia have triumphantly put their multiple pens back in their white coat pockets as the new Nokia N73 and N93 phones roll out on the product slipway.
Both phones come with large 2.4″ QVGA displays and high quality, Sony Ericsson-challenging 3 Megapixel cameras (2048 x 1536 pixels), armed with powerful flashes and Carl Zeiss lenses.
There’s also a new Xpress Share client which is designed to make it easy for mobile snappers to blast off their masterpieces via MMS or email, or upload images to Flickr accounts.
Both phones are equipped with S60 3rd Edition operating systems, which comes with Nokia’s new full web browser and a brand spanking new camera interface.
Nokia N73. Amazin’ Raisin Aero Bar.
Being Brits, we refuse to describe mobiles as having a ‘candybar’ form factor, so how about we call the N73, ‘Amazin’ Raisin Bar’ shaped?
Too obscure?
Well, we would say Mars Bar shaped, but then some of you with smutty minds might start giggling at the back, so we’ll settle for ‘Chunky Aero Bar’ instead.
Now that that’s settled, we can tell you that the Chunky Aero Bar-shaped N73 is designed to replace the popular N70 model and offers Quadband GSM/EDGE connectivity, with some models also including include 2100 MHz UMTS.
Unleashed from behind its spring-assisted cover, there’s an auto-focus 3.2 megapixel camera boasting Carl Zeiss optics, with 42 MB built-in memory and a MiniSD slot for additional storage.
Rounding off the man-sized feature set is Bluetooth 2.0, a music player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA, video player with streaming support, FM radio with visual radio and a set of built-in pixie-sized 3D stereo speakers.
The Nokia N73 is expected be available from July 2006, in three colour schemes with silly names: silver grey/deep plum, frost white/metallic red and frost white/mocha brown.
Nokia N93. Like a lardy Curly Wurly. Sort of.
Sticking with our ill-thought out confectionary theme a while longer, we reckon that if the N73 is an Aero Bar, then the N93 must be like a bendy Curly Wurly with its flexible hingey thingy.
Modestly billed by Nokia as the “ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording,” the N93 features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, “DVD-like” video capture at 30 frames per second, and 3x optical zoom with video stabilisation.
The feature set is mighty impressive, with the N93 offering 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, MiniSD slot, video player with streaming support and TV-out.
The onboard music player can keep you rocking to MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA, and there’s a FM radio with visual radio for some Terry Wogan on the move.
Sadly, those looking to see the famous wig wobbling about on TV will be disappointed to learn that the there’s no DVB-H tuner onboard.
The Nokia N93 is expected to be available in July 2006.
Nokia waves around the wedge. Celebs flock for a slice.
Nokia have pushed the boat out on promoting these new phones, somehow persuading actor/director Gary Oldman to shoot a short film using the N93 as part of their “pioneering new mobile video initiative”, the Nokia Nseries Studio.
Apparently, Oldman has become part of an “international cast of creative visionaries who are shooting mobile movies for the Nokia Nseries,” with the results being posted up at www.nokia.com/nseries/studio
Come the summer, Nokia are going to open up the site so mere mortals craving to achieve ‘creative visionary’ status can slap up their own movies.
25 April, 2006
Gold! Sony Ericsson W700 WALKMAN Phone Launched
Rolling off Sony Ericsson’s well-furrowed product slipway this morning is the W700i Walkman Phone, the company’s eighth addition to their Walkman range.
Looking almost identical to its big brothers in the W800 range, the W700 is designed to tempt the pockets of punters looking to play a bit of music but not needing a “full blown music phone.”
“The W700i builds on the legacy of the first Walkman phone, the W800i. This phone will appeal to anyone who wants a quality music player in their phone for occasional listening,” commented Jan Wäreby, Corporate Executive Vice President, Head of Sale and Marketing, Sony Ericsson.
Sporting a natty Titanium Gold finish, the W700 comes with a Memory Stick in the retail box, although punters will only get a measly 256MB PRO Duo card instead of the 512Mb card bundled with the W800i.
The phone can, however, accept cards up to 2GB, providing storage for up to 47 CDs – long enough to see you through even the longest of tube delays.
To save battery life (and keep flight attendants happy), the music player works when the phone is turned off.
Like the W800, the W700 comes with a full complement of onboard gizmos, including a two megapixel camera, 1.8 inch 262k 176×220 colour TFT display, dedicated music buttons and Bluetooth and Tri-band connectivity.
Battery life is claimed at up to 30-hours of music playback time, 9 hours talk time and 400 hours standby time.
The W700i will ship globally during Q2 2006, with a ‘Smooth White’ colour option available in some markets.
Sony Ericsson W700 specs
Band GSM 900/1800/1900MHz
Data GPRS
Size 100mm x 46mm x 20.5mm (3.9″ x 1.8″ x 0.8″)
Weight 99g (3.5oz)
Battery Life 9 hours talk time, 400 hours standby time
Main Display 1.8″ 262k color TFT LCD, 176×220 pixel resolution
Sub-Display N/A
Camera Yes, 2.0 megapixel
Video Video capture/playback
Messaging MMS/EMS/SMS
Email Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Infrared Yes
Java Yes, MIDP v2.0
Polyphonics Yes
Memory 256MB on board memory, Memory Stick PRO Duo expansion
Sony Ericsson
4 April, 2006