LG partners Kodak for OLED displays

Wired's Gadget Lab is reporting that LG Electronics has signed a deal with Kodak to use the latter's Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays in its TVs, mobile phones and digital photo frames. The first products from this partnership will see the light of day by the end of this year.

In principle, OLED displays are typically more energy efficient than their LCD counterparts as the former doesn't require backlighting to work, thus drawing less energy from batteries. Cell phones, which usually pack tiny lithium cells, are the most likely to benefit from the lower battery consumption.

A partnership of this level isn't new to Kodak as it has tied up with Motorola previously to incorporate its imaging elements in the Zine ZN5. The 5-megapixel handset has one of the best shutter lag timings for camera-phones.

Via Gadget Lab and Engadget

Samsung debuts iTunes rival for mobile video downloads

Samsung has launched a virtual store where customers in Europe can buy or rent movies and TV programs and download them to their mobile phones.

In its initial rollout phase, the Samsung Movies service will offer more than 500 films from studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount, and Universal. The service launched initially in Britain and Germany, but Samsung intends to open it up to other European markets later in the year. By the end of the first quarter, the company said it planned to double the number of titles it will offer to 1,000, and again to 2,000 movies and TV shows by the end of June.
Read more »

Report: 3G and 4G market share on the rise

Global wireless subscriptions for 3G and 4G networks are expected to account for 30 percent of the market within the next five years, according to a report released Wednesday by In-Stat.

That's a substantial increase from the 11 percent slice of the global market that 3G held at the end of last year, the report noted.

The increase is expected to come by 2013, as wireless carriers upgrade their cellular networks to 4G from 3G, and network equipment makers roll out their commercial 4G products toward the end of the year.

4G technology Long Term Evolution (LTE) is expected to give WiMax stiff competition in the 4G market, but, for now, In-Stat notes WiMax has a head start and may hold its own.
Read more »

SmartQ 5 Ubuntu MID arriving soon

SmartQ recently sent out a press release in China announcing its upcoming Linux-based Mobile Internet Device (MID), the SmartQ 5. This MID will run on an ARM processor, usually found in mobile phones and handhelds. The Ubuntu operating system (OS) used on it, on the other hand, more commonly resides on computers using x86 processors made by companies like Intel and AMD. The combination of a power-saving mobile processor and a full desktop OS should be interesting.

What makes the SmartQ 5 even more enticing is its announced price of 899 yuan (US$132). That's even cheaper than many MP3 players out in the market.
Read more »

Virgin Mobile promises touchscreen phones

Virgin Mobile's CEO said Tuesday that the Mobile Virtual Network Operator plans to introduce touchscreen handsets. Speaking at the Dow Jones Wireless Innovations conference, CEO Dan Schulman didn't give any specifics, but he said that the handsets would be part of a move to "smarter" phones.

As an MVNO carrier with a core prepaid business, Virgin Mobile focuses on low-end and basic models for making calls and sending messages. Over the past 18 months, and particularly after its acquisition of Helio, the operator has offered more multimedia handsets and messaging-centric devices with full keyboards. Yet, like many of its prepaid and MVNO competitions, the carrier has not picked up any smartphone or touchscreen models.

According to PC World, Schulman said the touchscreen phones would be targeted to low and middle-income youth on prepaid plans. MetroPCS, another prepaid carrier, introduced a version of the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 last week.

Via CNET Crave

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