Mobile Technology
Fully gold-plated iPhone
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November 1, 2007 Given the record sales figures, you could be forgiven for thinking that your iPhone isn’t quite the stand-out showpiece it once was. If you're aiming for a little extra exclusivity this fully gold plated Apple iPhone from UK based Goldstriker International could be the answer.
T-Mobile "Shadow" aims to simplify mobile communication
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October 30, 2007 U.S. telco provider T-Mobile has released the first in a new line of phones designed to provide a playful, easier and richer way to stay in touch with family and friends. In a market that is increasingly flooded with ever more complicated multi-functional devices it is refreshing to see a phone that strives for simplicity at its core. Read More
Sanyo's Gorilla: combined portable car navigation system and digital television
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October 26, 2007 Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. is set to roll-out a new widescreen digital car navigation device that doubles as a portable digital television for use almost anywhere. Read More
iPhone discounts put early adopters offside
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October 24, 2007 Did Apple upset its biggest fans in delivering a significant discount on the iPhone so soon after its record breaking launch? If you forked-out $600 for the sought after device in the first days after the release only to find the price dropped by a third just two-months later your answer might well be yes. But is it simply a question of dollars, or is there something a little deeper at work here - Gene Heratori at Connectthru.com delves deeper into this question with an interesting discussion on the issue of what makes an early adopter tick. Read More
Pantech unveil bone conduction mobile phone handset
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October 22, 2007 Korean handset manufacturer Pantech have unveiled a bone conduction mobile phone that transmits sound to the inner ear using vibration. Not only does the ongoing emergence of bone conduction technology represent a solution for using phones in noisy environments, but it’s also a boon for the elderly or those suffering hearing loss for whom the use of conventional speaker phones is problematic. Read More
Nokia adds N810 Internet tablet to Nseries range
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October 19, 2007 Nokia has introduced the latest addition to their Nseries - the new N810 Internet Tablet - at the the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. The pocket-sized, GPS enabled device allows users to connect to the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over their Bluetooth mobile phone to make internet calls; check email; watch videos on YouTube or update a blog using the device's slide-out keyboard and 4.13", 800x480 resolution touch screen. Read More
WildCharge releases wireless charging pad for Motorola RAZR phones
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October 18, 2007 The idea of wireless charging is an attractive one - do away with messy cords and chargers in favor of a wire free charging pad that does the job for multiple devices by simply placing it on the pad's surface. The concept has been around for several years, but commercialization has been slow. Now WildCharge is offering a wireless charging system for Motorola RAZR phones with an adapter for iPod Nano just around the corner. Read More
Solar GPS unit tracks your travel experience
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October 16, 2007 Here's a clever device for those who return home from holidays with gigabytes of photographs but no idea exactly where they were taken. The dual-powered Super 99 GPS "travel recorder" features the ability to log up to 200,000 waypoints on your journey and supports Geo Tagging of photos along with the ability to share your location with friends via Google Earth. The built-in solar panel also enables the device to operate for up to 48 hours when enough sunlight is available.
Toshiba's fuel cell powered portable media player
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October 10, 2007 Toshiba demonstrated their latest Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) technology at CEATEC Japan 2007 with the unveiling of a prototype version of the methanol powered Gigabeat multimedia player. Building on Toshiba’s previous offerings the new player can run for up to 10 hours on 10 milliliters of methanol, longer than would be possible using a similarly sized conventional battery. The prototype integrates the fuel cell power plant into the back of the player - which runs on nearly 100% methanol - and discharges the vapor created through natural evaporation. Besides playing music and video, the player is equipped with a TV-tuner and features a capacity meter for tracking the amount of fuel you've got left. Read More
Motorola/Boost super thin candy-bar phone
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October 10, 2007 Mobile service provider Boost has added Motorola i425t and i425e handsets – billed as the slimmest iDEN network Walkie-Talkie phones ever – to its self-branded cell phone offering. The 1/2" thick, 3.88 oz handsets are a “candy-bar design”, but if this is your idea of a candy-bar you might well go hungry. Read More
Sharp shows the future of touch screens for micro devices
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October 3, 2007 Sharp yesterday began publicly demonstrating a new technology that could have far reaching effects on the way we interact with the mounting tide of mobile information available to us through diminutive devices such as smart phones, PDAs, cameras and UMPCs – the marriage of sensing function with an LCD screen is not new, but Sharp’s technology puts an optical sensor into each pixel enabling the screen to become a multiple touch-point screen and a scanner. Read More
GPS device provides continuous tracking from origination to destination
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October 2, 2007 Real-time GPS tracking device and service provider Anytrack has announced two new products for both business and consumer markets designed to keep track of everything from important cargo to vehicles, pets... even grandpa. Read More
T-Mobile's two new Sidekicks
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October 1, 2007 T-Mobile has unveiled two new additions to its Sidekick line; the Sidekick LX and the Sidekick Slide. Designed by Sharp, the new Sidekick LX retains its distinctive swivel display but features a thinner profile and larger screen than its predecessor.
BlackBerry 8320 bridges the gap between home phone and mobile
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September 28, 2007 Mobile phones are increasingly taking over as the primary contact number for many people, with home landlines hanging on largely by virtue of cheap local call rates. Aiming to offer the "best of both worlds" in one package, the new BlackBerry Curve 8320 is WiFi enabled, meaning that it can seamlessly switch between mobile calls and unlimited local and long-distance calls in the presence of your home wireless network. Read More
Talking convergence: Nokia 6301 UMA phone
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September 24, 2007 Nokia are looking to a not too distant future where home and office landline based phones are obsolete with the release of the 6301 UMA phone. The stainless steel 6301 enables voice and data mobility across GSM cellular and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) networks via Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology. This allows the phone to integrate the benefits of landline and a mobile phone by providing seamless indoor coverage, sound quality and affordability. Read More
IEye concept aims to increase Personal Media Player functionality
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September 21, 2007 Out with the old and in with the new. That’s the standard approach to keeping pace with rapid developments in consumer electronics. But what if there was a way to delay obsolescence and extend the functionality of devices instead of automatically relegating them to landfill. This is the idea behind the IEye concept by Thomas Miller. Presented as an entry in to the “Create the Future Contest”, the concept proposes extending the life of Personal Media Players by attaching an add on device that includes a video still camera and microphone to boost functionality and re-purpose the existing unit. Read More
"Always-on" mobile Internet device sales to reach 95 million by 2012
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September 19, 2007 Sales of a new class of “always-on”, Internet-connected products categorized as “Ultra-Mobile Devices” (UMDs) will reach somewhere in the realm of 95 million units by 2012 according to a new report from ABI Research. The report covers a range of emerging devices that will vary in form and functionality, with established manufacturers such as Nokia and Apple clearly standing to benefit from this next boom. Read More
Mainnav pairs GPS and Bluetooth in a watch
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September 17, 2007 Mainnav has released the Innovator MW-705 BT GPS watch - a timepiece that teams inbuilt Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality with a Bluetooth transmitter and also manages to pack-in a heart rate monitor, speed and distance sensor, temperature sensor, pedometer as well as the standard countdown timer and alarm.
Dual-SIM mobile eliminates the need to carry two phones
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September 11, 2007 Plenty of people these days have multiple SIM cards for their mobile phones; business and personal, personal and VERY personal, different SIM cards for better rates at night, or in foreign countries. Matsunichi’s D620 is among a small number of mobile phones coming out that can handle two SIM cards at once – meaning you can choose which number you dial out from, and receive calls to both numbers. Read More
Sansa View video enabled MP3 player from SanDisk
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September 11, 2007 It's been a week for small format, video enabled MP3 players with the release of the new iPod nano and now the announcement of a new device from SanDisk that offers a range of features including full-motion video support, long battery life and slim line design. Read More
The world's smallest 1.8 inch HDD - 160 GB
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September 8, 2007 With hard disk capacity accelerating faster than Moore’s Law for computer chips, Toshiba nudged ahead of Hitachi today when it announced the commercialization of the world’s largest 1.8-inch hard disk drive. Dubbed the MK1626GCB, the device offers a storage capacity of 160GB, and Toshiba has started to shipping samples. The disk is clearly destined to end up inside the next generation of consumer electronics requiring high capacity storage in a small form-factor – notebooks, personal media players, and high def digital video cameras. Read More
Happy 20th birthday GSM – look how you’ve grown
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September 6, 2007 Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the signing of the document which created the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network and the fastest technology adoption in history. GSM now serves more than 2.5 billion people, with another 1.2 million new connections every day and there will be 4 billion mobile connections in the world by early 2010 – with GSM accounting for 85% of the world’s mobile connections, mobile is heading for ubiquity in even less developed countries - 64% of mobile users are in emerging markets. The first text message was sent in 1992 and now 7 billion text messages are sent every day. Mobile operators have spent more than US$234 billion building GSM and 3GSM networks in the last five years and last year cellular services accounted for 1.6% of the global economy. So it’s a big happy birfy from us to a technology that, all PR prose aside, is changing the world. The pic is the Nokia 1100 which is the world's best selling phone with more than 200 million units sold. Read More
Magellan releases next-generation GPS navigation systems
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September 6, 2007 In-car GPS navigation systems are marvellous pieces of technology, going far beyond the simple but fundamentally useful ability to give accurate directions to a destination. Magellan’s latest release units are designed to guide you safely around backed-up traffic and accident sites, tell you where the nearest coffee shop is, and even act as a Bluetooth hands-free kit for your mobile phone. Read More
More iPod news – 160GB Classic, new iTunes, custom ringtone maker and video nano
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September 5, 2007 Apple’s major announcement of the iPod touch was accompanied by a raft of other significant announcements including the introduction the new iPod classic, featuring 80GB or 160GB of storage, an iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, a new version of iTunes (7.4) with a custom Ringtone Maker, an all new iPod nano, with video playback on a two-inch display with 204 dpi (effectively the same resolution as the video iPod) and the news it is lowering the price of the 8GB iPhone from US$599 to US$399. Read More
New Apple iPod Touch with multi-touch interface & Wi-Fi & widescreen & …
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September 5, 2007 Yes folks, they’ve done it again. If the share price has been looking rosy, it’ll be better again tomorrow. Apple today introduced the new iPod touch featuring the same multi-touch interface used on the iPhone, a 3.5-inch widescreen display, Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a new version of the Safari web browser designed for mobile. It’s super slim at just 8mm and pricing starts at US$300 for the 8GB flash-based model and US$100 more gets you 16GB. It has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When playing music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork. When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio; and when in Safari it displays the web page horizontally. iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness. The new design puts Apple waaay ahead of the pack ans sales start this month. Read More
PocketSurfer 2 - lightning fast web surfing device that fits in a pocket
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“If your PDA or Smartphone downloads web-pages faster than the PocketSurfer, you get a free PocketSurfer.” It's a brave challenge but one that the distributors of PocketSurfer 2 were happy to stand behind at the world’s largest consumer electronics trade show, Germany’s IFA 2007. We’re not aware of anyone who’s taken a prize home yet – please let us know if you saw any device beat this one for speed. The PocketSurfer 2 is tiny, fits in a shirt pocket and for the price (EUR 230 - US$310), you can overlook a few of the device's less than premium features such as the screen. Read More
InFocus Work Big IN10 portable projector
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September 5, 2007 Though not yet meeting the promise of palm-sized, ultra-portable nano-projectors the InFocus Work Big IN10 Ultra-Mobile Projector does offer a boost to portability weighing in at 2.4lbs (1.09kg) and measuring 2.5in (6.3 cm) x 6.1in (15.49cm) x 7.8in (19.81cm). Read More
Sanyo SCP-7050 mobile phone meets military standards for toughness
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September 4, 2007 Sanyo has added the rugged SCP-7050 to its range of mobile phones. Adhering to military standards for dust, shock and vibration, the clam-shell type phone features a durable rubber non slip exterior designed for use in physically demanding environments, full Bluetooth functionality, high quality display and built-in GPS capabilities. Read More
Quellan's QNx220 Noise Canceller boosts mobile signal strength
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September 3, 2007 Quellan has announced a new RF Noise Canceller that extends the advantages of the technology beyond the realm of purely audio applications to enhance signal strength and clarity for video reception. In a weak signal area such as underground roadways or in high rise environments, a cell phone using the QNx220 can recover several bars of lost signal strength and a GPS receiver can obtain a location lock in just seconds rather than minutes. Read More
The credit card size Creative ZEN music, video and photo player
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September 2, 2007 Creative’s new credit card-sized (well, try 55 x 83 x 12mm) Creative ZEN music, video and photo player was one of the stand-outs in the incredibly crowded personal media player space at IFA this week. The top-of-the-range Creative ZEN comes with a 16.7 million colour 2.5-inch screen and 16GB storage plus an SD memory slot and includes a built-in FM radio with 32 station presets, a voice recorder, and a personal organiser which
can synchronise contacts, ‘to do’ lists, and calendars with Microsoft Outlook. Read More
Panasonic 16GB SDHC card due in November
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September 3, 2007 UPDATED - NEW IMAGES With memory’s inexorable bang-per-buck march outstripping even Moore’s Law of doubling every 18 months, it’s not surprising that we constantly announce new record capacities. It’s nonetheless exciting because the number of HD camcorders and high-resolution digital still cameras demanding card-based recording media with larger capacity and higher data transfer speeds is dependent on the development of more and faster memory cards. Panasonic today announced it will release a 16GB Pro High Speed SDHC Memory Card with a data transfer speed of up to 20MB/s. The new RP-SDV16GU1K card will be globally released in November with a retail price of US$320. Read More
Sony releases new open format digital media players and kills ATRAC format
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August 30, 2007 Sony today announced two new series of digital media players that will use MP3, AAC and WMA formats, at the same time as announcing it will discontinue use of the ATRAC format and begin closing its Connect online Music store in March 2008. Sony’s role as a music distributor has long compromised its position as a manufacturer of digital media players and the long-time stand-off between the two arms of the Japanese giant that threatened to make its digital music players irrelevant is over as it seeks to make up lost ground in the booming market created by digital file sharing over the internet. Ironically, though it can now compete on an even playing field with the likes of Apple’s iPod, one wonders what the consequences of abandoning its loyalest customers will do to the market’s perceptions of the famous Walkman brand. Read More
Sleek new Nokia 6555 3G mobile phone
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August 28, 2007 Nokia’s 6555 3G mobile phone is just that, a new 3G mobile phone. But in the 21st century where phone equals fashion accessory, what sets it apart at first glance is its stunning looks - the sleek clamshell design features a recessed hinge that creates a seamless line when open, an external analog clock, and inside, a 16 million color display. Read More
Quadcharge universal charging station
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August 28, 2007 The Quadcharge is an inexpensive, all in one hub that allows you to charge four devices simultaneously whilst decreasing the number of AC adaptors that need to be connected to a power source, while at the same time cleaning up the tangled web of cords that otherwise pervade your kitchen bench-top or home office space. Read More
World Record 304km Wi-Fi connection
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August 27, 2007 A new world record distance for a 5 GHz Wi-Fi link has been achieved by the Italian Center for Radio Activities (C.I.S.A.R), and Ubiquiti Networks, a leading innovator in outdoor wireless broadband solutions. The distance of 304km (188.89 miles) was established from Sardinia Island to Central Italy achieving data-rates of about 5Mbps, using Ubiquiti’s XtremeRange5 (XR5) High-Power Carrier Class mini-PCI radio module and 35dBi 5 GHz parabolic dish antennas. Read More
