BlackBerry Curve to be available in Singapore

Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the BlackBerry Curve device will be available in Singapore. Launched about two months back in the US, the Curve is the company's lightest full QWERTY handset and comes with features which will also appeal to the non-business user.

Aside from push email and other regular productivity features, the Curve also comes with a 2-megapixel camera and a memory expansion slot. The media player application has also been enhanced and can be used in tandem with its 3.5mm audio mini-jack to replace an MP3 player.

The BlackBerry Pearl was the first device from RIM to feature the trackball navigator in place of a directional pad. Being the third in this series of consumer-centric BlackBerry handsets, the Curve also adopts that.

The Curve will be launched in India, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore in the Asia-Pacific region with more countries to follow after. In Singapore, it will be on sale from two operators, SingTel and StarHub. Pricing information is currently not available.

Jabra's Bluetooth headset makes a beeline for the rich

Designed by world-renown industrial designer Jacob Jensen, the 24-carat gold-plated JX10 Cara Bluetooth headset is the accessory to own for the extravagant lifestyle. And it doesn't come cheap.

The gold version will retail for S$468 (US$333.59) in early August. If that's too much bling, there's a similar stainless steel model going at a more affordable price of S$288 (US$205.29). Topping it off is the S$388 (US$276.57) Bluetooth Hub compatible with fixed-line deskphones that looks just as droolicious.

With all that glitter dazzling you, you probably won't care about the specifications as much as looking good wearing the headsets. But just so you know in case someone does ask, the JX10 Cara has a talktime of 6 hours and a maximum standby of 8.3 days.

The new Jabras have been available in Europe and the US since June and is expected to reach Asia-Pacific shores in early August. The company said it is in talks with a particular local telco operator in Singapore for exclusivity of the headsets. Several hundred units will be available in each country in the region including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Phone gets Transformer treatment

With the Transformers movie a hit on the big screen, inspiration is emerging from the woodwork, including this concept phone which "more than meets the eye".

Transformers, robots in disguise? How about mobile phone in disguise? Even Decepticon numero uno Megatron would be taken by surprise by what seems to be an innocuous-looking mobile phone. Until it transforms into a gun-smoking bot.

The brainchild of some Korean chappie (since no credit is given and everything's in Korean text), this amazingly cool mobile bot is, of course, hatched from within a video-editing lab. And despite our best efforts, it's impossible to make out what the brand and model is.

Still, be warned. This video is addictive. It shows a short 18-second clip of the clamshell camera-phone suddenly unfolding into something resembling an AT-ST combat walker and using its big cannons to tattoo the words "Parkoz" onto the desktop.

We'd love to have one of these little monsters in our Labs, though it's quite safe to assume that this thing won't hit the production lines anytime soon.

Via Engadget
Picture credit: Parkoz Hardware

Nokia fights touch screens with geometry

So here's the deal: If there's going to be any meaningful backlash against touch screens, it may require some innovative thinking on the part of button proponents.

But we hope that it won't depend on the likes of Vertu and their US$310,000 phones.

Nokia, at least, appears to be doing its part with a new design for the "7500 Prism" handset destined for the Chinese market for about US$290, according to Gizmodiva. Its contribution to the cause? Triangular buttons that form a diamond pattern on the keypad.

We were just relieved to find that its "diamond" description wasn't referring to something like this. Or this. Or this...

Via CNET Crave

Nokia N800 Internet Tablet befriends Skype

Okay, here's another one to add to the arsenal of the not-iPhone-friendly camp. The Finnish giant is making Skype available on the N800 Internet Tablet from today.

Editors' note: July 14, 2007--The N800 will be available in Singapore from today at a price of S$698 (US$497.54). A Nokia spokesperson told CNET Asia that "other countries in the region will be included in the distribution plan for the Nokia N800, and will be announced accordingly".

Expected to be available either in July or August in Singapore, the N800 features a large 800 x 480-pixel touchscreen LCD sans the bells and whistles of multitouch on the Apple iPhone. Nokia Singapore was unable to comment on the availability of the N800 in other parts of Asia.

Make no mistake, the N800 is not a cell phone but portable device for Web browsing. Still that doesn't stop Nokia from adding Skype on it, which is a brilliant move. When connected to a Wi-Fi network, users can make free voice and video calls to other Skype users via Internet.

The support for Skype on the N800 is currently available for download on Nokia's Web site with the software upgrade to the OS 2007 edition. The new software also brings with it an Adobe Flash 9 browser plug-in, support for SD memory cards up to 8GB, increase in battery life and sensitivity of the touchscreen LCD.

Click here for our full review of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet.

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