New Toshiba phones will come to Asia

Not too long back, Toshiba Europe announced two new handhelds which run Windows Mobile 6 (WM6), the Portege G710 and G910. The G710 is a smart phone on the WM6 Standard OS. It doesn't have 3G connectivity or Wi-Fi, but comes with built-in GPS for navigation. The G910, on the other hand, has it all. Along with all the connectivity options you can think of in a PDA-phone including HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS, it also has a WVGA (800 x 480) display, similar to the Portege G900.

Though we did manage to review the earlier G900, it was not for sale in many countries in our region. Likewise, the G710 and G910 won't be found everywhere in Asia. According to a spokesperson from Toshiba Asia Pacific, the G710 will be shipped in Q2 though the countries haven't been confirmed. The G910 will be available in just three countries in the region. Read our Windows Mobile devices in Asia update to find out if your local mobile phone shop will be stocking this new PDA-phone soon.

Analyst: Motorola may exit handset business

Good things don't seem to be happening at Motorola, but bad news is certainly coming in droves. Just last week, the company reported an 84-percent decline in its fourth-quarter profit and the newly appointed CEO said that reviving its handset business "will take longer than expected". The company's stock dropped more than 22 percent to US$9.55 as a result.

Adding to the turmoil, an analyst with Nomura International Richard Windsor told clients in a note published yesterday that Moto "may exit the handset business and concentrate on becoming an enterprise and government company". He also raised the speculation of Chinese vendors buying out the company, but turned around to say that that's not likely to happen. Problems he cited are platform- and software-related rather than hardware.

While Windsor has made a very bold comment in his note, it's not hard to see where he's coming from. Motorola has been struggling for the past few quarters and the problem lies not only in platform, software and hardware, but also in the management. In short, it's a whole spiral of trouble that the company can't seem to get out of. We just have to wait and see how things will unfold this year. This will either go down in history as the boldest comment of 2008, or utter bollocks.

Via Market Watch

NEC may serve up a "Flask" phone

Maybe goth isn't the gadget trend of 2008 after all. The theme of choice this year might well be the flask.

Last week, Iomega tipped its hand, perhaps literally, with a new hard drive that was suspiciously flask-like in appearance. Now, only a few days later, we get word of the "NEC Flask," apparently a mobile phone of some kind that is said to be powered by liquid fuel as seen through its tinted but transparent casing.

The handset will also supposedly sport touch-sensitive navigation and possibly a touchscreen as well, though Chip Chick says no other details are available. Who would have thought that mobile phones would be modeled after those old disposable lighters?

Via Crave CNET

P-Per concept phone trounces iPhone

If the pictures of the P-Per don't move you into owning one, we seriously don't know what else would. Yeah, we know P-Per looks weird, but if you say it aloud, it's actually a very personable name. Like people? This concept phone consists of just four layers of material: A printed circuit board, extruded polycarbonate, recycled titanium and a flexible haptic LED touchscreen that wraps around the 7mm-thin handset. Who cares if it takes just 2 minutes to recharge and the 3-megapixel camera that's supposed to come with it. We want one already.

Via Yanko Design

UBiQUiO 503g on MWg's site

We didn't expect it, but another device has appeared on the MWg Web site--the UBiQUiO 503g. This PDA-phone has a form factor made popular by BlackBerry and Palm Treo devices, employing a QWERTY keypad below the LCD. UBiQUiO is a relatively new brand owned by UK retailer Expansys--the company that also has a stake in MWg.

When contacted, MWg told us that this device is targeted at the US and Europe markets and is already available for purchase from the Expansys UK site. It's now consolidated under the MWg brand but may not make its way to Asia.

That's quite a pity as its specifications look pretty decent with HSDPA, Wi-Fi and 96MB of built-in RAM. On the bright side, at least we don't have to contend with its weird brand name that can't decide if all the letters should be in caps, if it never comes to our region.

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