Nokia N96 due for June UK release

The much hyped Nokia N96 will be available to buy in June according to Mobile Choice magazine. Boasting even more features than the Nokia N95, not least of which is the 16GB of memory, the N96 will also be joined by the Sony Ericsson C902 - a 5 megapixel Cyber-shot phone due to be available the same month.

More Nokia N96

Sony Ericsson W910i awarded GSM Association Best Handset

Sony Ericsson's W910i Walkman phone has been awarded Best Handset at the GSM Association's 13th Global Mobile Awards 2008. Launched last year, the W910i Walkman phone is designed for entertainment; whether that be music, games, video, or high-speed web access.
The judges believed Sony Ericsson W910 deserved the Best Mobile Handset or Device title for being "… a superb all-rounder. A compelling, easy to use design that has captured the imagination of consumers around the world in 2007."

Readius to release phone with e-paper display

Dutch company Polymer Vision is working towards a mid-year launch for its mobile phone with e-paper display, named Readius. The 3G enabled device features a 13cm pull out black and white display and boasts a 30 hour battery life. The e-paper screen can be used for web browsing as well as e-books and the phone will support email, RSS feeds and audio books via MP3.

More here

Modu launches revolutionary mobile phone concept

Modu have crated a concept mobile phone that looks to revolutionise the way we integrate mobile phones in to our lives. The modu is the worlds first modular mobile phone. The tiny device is part of a modu ecosystem where the phone can be slipped into a wide variety of modu jackets - stylishly designed phone enclosures - and modu mates -- modu-enabled consumer electronics devices.
modu's ecosystem offers boundless possibilities in a simple and affordable way and already boasts mainstream consumer electronics manufacturers who have signed up to develop modu mates such as MP4 players, digital photo frames, cameras and DECT phones. One of the first such partners is car multimedia and navigation leader Blaupunkt.

Modu was set up in 2007 by leading technology innovator and entrepreneur Dov Moran, the inventor of the USB Flash Drive and other ground breaking personal storage solutions. modu is already attracting widespread support from leading players in the mobile and consumer electronics markets.

A concept video can be viewed at modumobile.com

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Motorola considers selling off its handset business

After continued profit warnings and falling market share Motorola is considering the option of selling off its mobile handset business. Motorola have struggled to create a replacement to the ground breaking RAZR V3 handset and is now focusing all efforts on profitable business rather than growing market share. Recently Motorola told investors it was going to take longer than expected to turn things around, and this week a press release confirms that they are evaluating 'spinning off' the business.
Who the potential buyer could be remains to be seen but Chinese manufacturer ZTE has been touted along with Samsung and LG.

More here

BlackBerry Pearl gets new features

RIM has just released the latest models in the BlackBerry Pearl range of smartphones. The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 receives updates that include a 2 megapixel camera, A2DP Bluetooth profile and built in GPS. It continues to offer the email and net connectivity of previous BlackBerry devices but does not include Wi-Fi.
That is to be released in another Pearl model, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120, but what RIM give with one hand they take away with the other as the 8120 does not have the GPS facility of the Pearl 8110. So it appears users will have to choose which aspect is more important and go for the device that best suits them. Seems like an unnecessary compromise when so many of the competitors offer both navigation and wireless network access solutions.
The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 is available now on Vodafone, while the Pearl 8120 is out now on O2.

Minerva Industries claims rights to smartphones

According to Mobile Gazette a company called Minerva Industries has been granted a patent that effectively covers most modern smartphones and multimedia phones, meaning many of the manufacturers of these devices are now being sued for infringement by the Californian based company. These include Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, RIM and HTC.

US Patent 7,321,783 filed with the US patent office in November 2003 covers "A mobile entertainment and communication device in a palm-held size housing" and follows on from another patent filed in March 2000.

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Virgin Mobile launch new tariff

UK MVNO Virgin Mobile are to introduce a new flat rate pay as you go tariff that sees all calls charged at 15p per minute, to any network. As an added incentive customers will receive 5 free mins or texts for every 5 mins of calls or 5 text messages charged for.
Virgin Mobile are also introducing a customer loyalty scheme taking 10p for every £1 spent and creating a fund that the customer can then use towards purchasing a new handset.

More here

Kyocera now 6th largest mobile manufacturer

Electronics and household product pioneers Kyocera are to buy Sanyo's mobile handset manufacturing business for between $378m-$472m, in a move that will create the sixth largest mobile phone maker in the world.
To ensure a smooth transition in the market, Kyocera plans to offer both Kyocera- and SANYO-branded products in Japan and abroad for the foreseeable future.
Kyocera acquires a comprehensive set of assets from SANYO relating to the research, development, design, materials procurement, manufacture, sales and marketing of handsets, base stations and wireless communication systems.

More here

fonez 2 U diRct

An interesting article sent out in the January newsletter from Phones2U Direct says that Brits currently send 1 billion text messages a week and that the abbreviations commonly seen in them are creeping in to everyday language.
This story might give some useful meaning to terms you don't understand or save you a few characters in your next message!

More here

Hydrogen power for mobile phones

Canadian company Angstrom Power has demonstrated a significant step in the development of hydrogen-powered cell phones. Unlike previous attempts at hydrogen-powered phones, Angstrom Power´s prototype allows the fuel cell to fit comfortably inside the phone, and can last twice as long between refueling than phones powered with lithium-ion batteries.

Angstrom Power has hydrogen-powered Motoslvr cell phones currently in testing. The fuel cell version looks identical to the battery version, but another advantage of the new technology is that it can refuel in as little as 10 minutes.
There are some issues to overcome though, such as the methods refueling, availability of fuel and safety issues such as vulnerability to heat. Angstrom Power is working on various solutions and hopes to have the technology commercially available by 2010.

More here

Palm OS II devices expected for 2009

Palm is working on a new linux-based version of its operating system which it expects to be available in devices during 2009. Form factors for these new devices have not yet been revealed but it is believed Palm is looking at developing the Treo range. In the mean time Palm will continue to offer devices with the original OS and Windows Mobile while development of the Palm OS II, rumoured to be codenamed 'nova' continues.

More here

LG Prada now in silver

Following on from the success that saw LG sell 700,000 of its black Prada model worldwide in 2007, a silver version is now to be launched. Featuring updated software to improve the QWERTY keyboard the KE850 Prada launches in 18 European countries simultaneously including France, Germany, Spain and the UK.

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Bus tickets on your mobile phone

Go North East, operators of public transport buses in the North East of England, have introduced an SMS ticket service for 2008. Called "txt2go" it enables bus passengers to order a digital ticket for their journey which is then shown to the bus driver on boarding the bus. The cashless, paperless ticket can be ordered any time, anywhere by sending a text to 60060.
New tickets are locked to the handset it was ordered from and users must pre-register for the service at Go North East's website.

More here

Battery life to get a whole lot better in 2008

Researchers from Stanford University have made a breakthrough in the design of Li-ion batteries which looks set to drastically increase the period between charges for a typical mobile device from a week to up to two months!
The breakthrough comes from nano technology that allows the battery to store ten times more power than previously possible through the use of expandable nanotechnology wires one-thousandth the thickness of a paper sheet.

Sounds incredible to us, read more about the battery technology here

Unlocked iPhone - 999euro from T-Mobile

Following Vodafone's recent court order against T-Mobile in Germany hindering the sale of Apple iPhones on contract only, T-Mobile have responded by offering an unlocked iPhone for sale.

Priced at 999euro, the SIM free Apple iPhone will only be available through T-Mobile stores in Germany and is not open to telephone or internet orders.
The good news is mostly for the customers who bought the iPhone between the 19th of November and the day the first unlocked handsets are released. Their iPhones can be unlocked for free.

More here

8 megapixel Samsung camera phone in 2008

Expect the imaging capabilities of mobile phones to continue to improve as Samsung announce it has developed an 8-megapixel CMOS module for use in a mobile phone.

The module is the same size as Samsung's current 3.2-megapixel module at 10.5 x 11.5 x 9.4mm, which bodes well for a continuation of slim slider phone designs. The 8-megapixel module captures 3264 x 2444 pixels, has autofocus capabilities and will be able to produce 300dpi picture output for prints as large as 10 x 8-inches.

The module is expected to go into mass production in the first half of 2008 and should be available in high-end Samsung phones later in 2008.

Nokia confirm N82 - shipping immediately

Nokia have finally confirmed the N82 as part of the N-series range and surprised many by confirming that it is ready to launch. By the time you read this shipping will have already started and the phone should be in stores before Christmas.

The Nokia N82 will set a new standard in what to expect from Nokia smartphones. Offering many of the same features as the N95 but in a bar shaped device updated to accommodate an improved flash, Nokia describe the N82 as being "the latest multimedia computer optimized for photography, navigation and internet connectivity".

More here

Apple says more iPhone features in future

Apple has confirmed that it has plenty more upgrades to come for the Apple iPhone.
They claim the complaints and feature requests can be fixed and added by software upgrades.

"We didn't want to include something for something's sake. For the average mobile phone most people only use around 10%, Apple didn't want that to happen with the iPhone."

Some believe that not including all the software features from day one will allow Apple to entice new customers over the next few months.
Others think if the reason to upgrade the software each time is compelling enough, then you are less likely to hack the software, meaning Apple gets to earn the substantial revenue agreement it has with the official operator.

We here at TMPC look forward to seeing the iPhone develop in to its full potential!

10 iPhone Tips

Further to the ongoing news and rumours about the UK launch of the Apple iPhone this Friday (9th November), mobile magazine have published some user tips that will be useful to know for those of you planning on purchasing an iphone over the weekend...

See the "Top Ten iPhone Secrets"

UK iPhones to be re-locked in firmware update

T3 magazine report that any Apple iPhone bought through official UK channels (Apple stores, O2 and The Carphone Warehouse) will be supplied with firmware 1.1.2. This will mean the current 'known' unlock methods will not work.
It closes the so called 'TIFF exploit' and ability to use third party applications.

Apple are also expected to release the new firmware for existing iPhones through an iTunes update on Friday - the day the handsets go on sale in the UK.

More here

Truestory - next Nseries launch could be N82?

Nokia have another "preview" web page complete with countdown clock, similar to
our story here from last month which turned out to be for the launch of the Nokia Music Store.

Continued rumours around the Nokia N82 music phone and recent leaked images of this 5 megapixel camera device on the net lead us to believe that this page is the lead up to its launch.

Only time will tell, the clock is due to run out on Wednesday 14th November...

Link - Nseries Truestories