Mobiado phone gets a touch of Midas

There are two things that have distinguished Mobiado among the many luxury phone makers of the world: First, it's from Canada; second, its handsets have avoided the type of excessive bling that others have so readily succumbed to in the desperate quest to draw attention to themselves.

But no one is immune to the pressures of competition, and Mobiado is taking some steps along this gilded path as well. The rather clinically named Professional 105 GCB features 24k-gold plating--right down to the screws and buttons, according to Unwired View--while its "Executive Model" is adding phones encased in ebony and cocobolo.

The internal specs are nothing to write home about, with a 2-inch display, 2-megapixel camera, 1GB of memory, Bluetooth, and an MP3 player. And of course, the body is made of its trademark aircraft-grade aluminum, though that seems more appropriate for its "Camo" model than anything else.

Via CNET Crave

NTT DoCoMo does it the dual way

Good things come in pairs--and NTT DoCoMo does just that at CommunicAsia.

We spotted one of its phones, the P906i, running Ridge Racer 7 and the otakus' favorite, Gundam, in full 3D glory. What surprised us was that each game has a maximum file size of only 1MB, yet the graphics and frame rate were smooth and comparable to handheld gaming consoles.

An official from the Japanese company told us the phone has two processors inside, much like some PCs. However, instead of working together, these two chips function independently. One will handle the device's primary functions, while the other will focus on the gaming graphics aspect. This implementation not only allows graphics-intensive games to be run on mobile devices, it also solves the age-old problem of software lag.

Sadly, the rest of us in Asia can only envy the Japanese for having all the fun stuff. Me? I'm resigned to the fate that the only game I can play on my phone right now is Mini-Golf: Castles.

More CommunicAsia 2008 coverage here.

T-Mobile Germany to offer 3G iPhone for 1 euro

T-Mobile is gearing up to offer a 3G iPhone in Germany for only 1 euro, provided users sign up for its monthly 69 euro service plan, according to a Reuters report on Monday.

That translates into an iPhone purchase of roughly US$1.55, and a monthly service plan of US$107.

Under T-Mobile's offering, the telecom provider will sell the phones with 8GB of memory, while a 16GB phone will go for 19.95 euros, or nearly US$31.

T-Mobile's announcement of its 3G iPhone offering comes a week after Apple rolled out the latest version of its popular cell phone.

T-Mobile in Germany is underwriting the deeply discounted phone with the help of a renegotiated contract with Apple, which no longer requires the carrier to share some of the revenues generated via iPhone calls with Apple, according to the report.

This move has yet to be seen in the US, where AT&T is the exclusive carrier of the iPhone. However, AT&T no longer has to share its revenue with Apple.

Whether AT&T will eventually drop the current 8GB iPhone price of US$199 and 16GB iPhone price of US$299 to just a couple bucks has yet to be seen.

Via CNET News.com

Google search coming to Sony's PSP

Sony will soon add a Google Internet search feature as part of a software update for the PlayStation Portable.

On the PSP blog this week, Sony said the new upgrade, v4.00, "replicates the Google Internet search experience".

PSP users will need to be connected to the Web via Wi-Fi. The move represents Sony's continued efforts to expand the Internet features of the handheld. Of course, what users really want is an easy way to download movies off the Web.

Nonetheless, the company continues to force users to buy the much rejected Universal Media Discs (UMD), the mini DVDs that Sony built especially for the PSP, or hack the device with video converters.

Sony said the upgrade will also give users the ability to change speeds on playback of video stored on Memory Stick PRO Duo. This allows the viewer to scan quickly through a movie or slow it down.

Via CNET News.com

Navigation plus 8.2-megapixel camera

The Mio Camera PND is possibly the world's first personal navigation device with an inbuilt 8.2-megapixel camera. High photo resolution aside, it offers a competent 3x optical and 5x digital zoom which further set it apart from other common GPS-equipped smart phones. You could also geotag captured photos for easy future reference using its tried-and-tested SiRFstarIII GPS receiver, while planning your holiday route with the preloaded MioMap 2008 navigation software. The latter employs digital elevation modeling and 3D mapping on it 3.5-inch touchscreen to effectively represent geographical features such as building landmarks and landscapes.

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 (2238)

» Digital Cameras (988)

» Notebooks (1238)

» PC & Peripherals (1312)

» Handhelds (585)

» Printers (83)

» Home AV (1147)

» Music & Play (895)

» Gadgets (1488)

» Future Tech (396)

» Green Tech (172)

» Lifestyle (157)

» Luxury (22)

» Home Appliances (58)

» Cars (99)

» Games and Gear (248)

» Software (96)

» Web (118)

Previously...

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Hot Topics

Subscribe to
Crave

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

Today on CNET |  Reviews |  Crave |  Blogs |  CNET TV |  Digital Living |  Downloads