Posts in Mobile Phones
Moto to unveil "media monster" cell phone
Kent German | May 11, 2007
For several months now we've been begging Motorola to give us a new cell phone beyond yet another version of the RAZR. Well now it appears our wishes may be answered very soon.
Just today we received an email invitation for a Moto press event next week in New York City. The invite didn't tell us much but it did promise that Motorola would present "The Mobile Experience" and that CEO Ed Zander and other company execs would talk about "what's next."
| Editors' note:
CNET Asia will be attending a Motorola press conference on the May 17 at 1000 hours in Bangkok. We'll bring you the latest news about Moto's new phone(s) then.
|
We can only hope that "what's next" is something other than a thin phone. And according to the latest cell phone dish that will be the case. At a tech conference in San Jose yesterday Zander said Moto would use next week's event to unveil a "media monster" cell phone. The unnamed handset will be able to play full-length moves from SD cards and the video will show video at 30 frames-per-second (the same as on a standard TV).
Admittedly, that sounds petty cool but I'm not so thrilled with watching an entire movie on a tiny cell phone display. And of course I hope the phone can make good calls too.
But before you get too excited Zander said Moto will target the device at the European market to start due to the widely available 3G networks there. The device will come to North America as well but we have no idea when. Stay tuned next Tuesday as Crave will attend the event in force.
Via CNET Crave
VGA display on compact handheld
John Chan | May 10, 2007
VGA displays on PDA-phones have mostly been reserved for those who don't mind huge devices. Handhelds like the Dopod U1000 tip the scales at 375g, hardly something you'd want to put into a pants pocket.
E-Ten has just announced the glofiish X500+, an update of its X500 PDA-phone. Like the older model, the improved X500+ is a quadband GSM phone device with built-in GPS. The big difference is that its 2.8-inch display has a resolution of 640 x 480, up from the current 320 x 240 on the X500. Its 15.5mm thickness and weight of 146g will make it one of the smallest and lightest PDA-phones to sport a VGA display.
Both the X500+ and X500 will come with Windows Mobile 6 Professional. The X500+ will have it out of the box, while X500 users will receive an upgrade to the newer OS from E-Ten.
Also new in the X500+ is the macro-capable 2-megapixel camera. This will be useful for its bundled Namecard Manager application which will save contacts onto the handheld based on just photos taken of name cards.
E-Ten had earlier announced another VGA device, the glofiish X800, which features 3.5G technology and also a GPS chip. Even then, the X500+ is expected to be available earlier than the X800, which will be launched in Q3 for the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately, at press time, E-Ten's representative was not able to give more specific information regarding the release date and pricing of the X500+.
WM6 for E-Ten but not for HP
John Chan | May 09, 2007
Announcements about Windows Mobile 6 upgrades are coming thick and fast. This time, there's both good news and bad news for E-Ten glofiish and HP iPaq users, respectively.
In a press release, E-Ten announced that it will be upgrading its glofiish X500 and M700 devices to WM6. These are both GPS-enabled handhelds and are the two latest commercially available handhelds in E-Ten's line of glofiish products. The upgrade will be made available on the glofiish Web site from May.
HP users, on the other hand, will not get WM6 upgrades for the iPaq hw6900, rw6800, rx4000 and rx5000 series of handhelds. The computer giant cited "the potential for long delays, as well as possible carry-over costs" to its customers as reasons for this decision. These devices will continue to be offered to customers with Windows Mobile 5.0 installed.
HP's future devices will come with the new OS though, starting with the HP iPaq 512 Voice Messenger smart phone which features WM6 Standard.
Japan masses to get satellite love in 2015
Damian Koh | May 07, 2007
There are no two ways about it. To enable satellite calls, either the size of the antenna on our cell phones or those on the orbiting crafts has to grow. And it seems like the Japanese Government is gunning for the latter.
According to The Daily Yomiuri, Japan's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to launch a satellite that will have an antenna 50m in diameter (twice the size of any existing satellite antenna) to create an emergency cell phone relay station in space.
The ministry plans to embark on this project in 2008 and have the bird up in geosynchronous orbit 36,000km above the planet by 2015.
Initial costs are estimated at 2 billion yen and that's only for research and development in 2008. The ministry also plans to engage relevant bodies and manufacturers to start technical studies into the system.
As to when the average cell phones on the streets can dial up to the satellites? That's anyone guess. But it won't likely be before 2015.
Picture credit: Satellite Phones
Prada Phone price announced
Damian Koh | May 03, 2007
According to a press release issued from Hong Kong, the Prada Phone by LG is making a debut in Asia today. The handset will cost HK$6,200 in Hong Kong, NT$29,000 in Taiwan (with Bluetooth headset included) and S$1,288 (US$916.40) in Singapore, though it doesn't mean stocks are available yet.
| Editors' note:
May 4, 2007--LG Electronics Singapore has clarified that the Prada Phone will cost S$1,288 (US$916.40) (without contract) instead of S$1,188 (US$845.25) as was given earlier. The article has been amended to reflect the changes.
|
At a local press launch for its Shine handsets, Howard Lee, managing director for LG Electronics Singapore, said there will be only 1,000 units available on the island-state and it will not be bundled with a Bluetooth headset.
The phone can be purchased from Prada boutiques for the first few weeks from the time it is released and is expected to be available around mid-May in Singapore.
Crave is...
The name says it all. Crave is our blog about cool gadgets and other crushworthy stuff.
Drop us an email if you have tips or suggestions.
Crave for...
» Mobile Phones (2232)
» Digital Cameras (986)
» Notebooks (1234)
» PC & Peripherals (1312)
» Handhelds (585)
» Printers (82)
» Home AV (1146)
» Music & Play (893)
» Gadgets (1485)
» Future Tech (395)
» Green Tech (172)
» Lifestyle (157)
» Luxury (22)
» Home Appliances (57)
» Cars (99)
» Games and Gear (248)
» Software (95)
» Web (118)
Previously...
Hot Topics
What's Hot
apple apple inc. apple iphone apple ipod asia battery camera game google inc. iphone microsoft corp. microsoft windows mobile phone photograph singapore smart phone software sony corp. video
Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.
