Revenge of the iPhone 3G questions

Reader questions about the iPhone 3G continue to pour in, so I'll take another stab at answering them. If you still have a query, check out my previous columns from last week or the week prior, my iPhone 3G FAQ, and CNET's iPhone 3G review.

Q: I have the first iPhone, which was hacked in Hong Kong. Do you think Apple will open the Bluetooth for File Transfer Profile (FTP)? I think not, but there should be a software for this.
--Malcolm
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AMD quitting handheld, TV chips amid more losses

AMD continues to stumble through another down year.

The company announced along with the release of its second-quarter earnings results Thursday that it is getting out of the handheld and digital television businesses. As has been the case for the last several quarters, AMD is continuing to lose bucketloads of money: US$1.2 billion this time around.

The US$1.2 billion isn't as bad as it looks at first glance, but it's still pretty bad. In order to get out of the business of making graphics chips for handhelds and digital TV processors, AMD has to take a one-time charge of US$876 million, which accounts for the majority of the loss.

The charge relates to the amount of goodwill attached to the company's US$5.4 billion purchase of ATI Technologies in 2006: goodwill is an accounting term that in this case, stands for "the amount by which we overpaid." AMD attached US$3.2 billion in goodwill to the ATI merger, and has now written US$2.5 billion of that goodwill off its balance sheet with the divestiture of the former ATI's consumer chip business.
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Meizu reveals more "dodgy" details about its iPhone-like M8

Last year, Meizu unveiled its M8 phone which caught our attention (as well as many others out there) with its uncanny resemblance to the Apple iPhone. Now, more than a year after the first announcement, the company's CEO Jack Wong is offering new updates to this elusive iPhone clone.

According to Wong's posts on the Meizu forum, the company will release more specifications and pictures of the phone in August. However, contrary to several reports out there, Meizu will not be launching its first version of the M8 (with 128MB RAM) in August, followed by the second version (with 256MB RAM and 8GB storage) in October. Instead, the company will be distributing internal test models (literal translation) of the M8 (with 128MB RAM) to selected users. For those not selected for "initial trial", Meizu will provide the so-called test versions of the M8 (with 256MB RAM and 8GB storage) in October at 2,180 yuan (US$320).

What's really dodgy about this whole statement is the fact that Meizu, having delayed the M8 for over a year, is releasing only the internal test version in August. (C'mon, Apple's already released its second iPhone!) And get this, the second version slated for October is also a test version, though supposedly with better features. Which really makes you wonder if its CEO has seen the M8 himself or if the product actually exists, as some of the forum contributors have commented.
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2.5G iPhone yours for a measly US$50,000

Bet you saw that coming. With the iPhone 3G selling like hot cakes, somebody's got to step up to the plate and make it special to own the iPhone. And nothing drives home that point better than encrusting 520 diamonds onto the handset that costs just US$50,000. Theodore Ma creater of Titania, has this to say: "One year and 10 prototypes later, we've perfected the ultimate one-stop bling shop for the iPhone." Sure, only if you can afford it. Encrusting is currently available only for the 2.5G model, but that really wouldn't bother the upper crust of the society, one supposes.

Picture credit: Dorical Limited

Samsung announces new trendy M150 candybar phone

We used to shun budget phones because of their shabby looks and pathetic features. Well, the latter hasn't changed drastically simply because there's only this much the manufacturers can squeeze into a handset before it's no longer considered a budget phone. But shabby can no longer be used to describe them and Samsung's latest M150 candybar outing is one example.

From what we can see of the pictures, the keypad on the M150 resembles that of the F700's. While these don't provide the best tactile experience for typing on a full QWERTY, it should work well for a smaller conventional numeric pad. The phone is available in five shades (light gray, charcoal gray, pure white, lavender pink and ice blue) and has a metal-resembling chassis to up the style quotient.

The rest of the features include a 12.7mm profile, FM radio recording function, VGA camera and 20MB of onboard memory. Expect the M150 to be out first in Germany around mid-August and Asia in Q3. Pricing details to be announced later.

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