Unlocking Mobile – Oki Electric Industry intros “world’s smallest MP3 chip”
Oki Electric Industry intros “world’s smallest MP3 chip”
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable AudioAs decreasing chip sizes seems to be all the rage these days, Japan’s Oki Electric Industry isn’t missing out on its own opportunity to go small. The company recently announced that sample shipments of the “world’s smallest MP3 playback chip” were being dispersed, and that manufacturers of cellphones, PDAs, MP3 players (clearly), and essentially anything in which MP3 playback could be crammed into should take notice. The minuscule module — dubbed the ML2011 — packs an MP3 decoder and 650mW amplifier onto a 3.6mm x 4.2mm wafer, and can be conveniently paired with Oki’s reference board and “SoundLib” software in order to bypass that whole headache-inducing “playback software development” phase. If you can spare just a tad more room, and want something that’s instantly mountable, the 5mm x 6mm QFN-packaged version is also on the horizon. While pricing details were kept under wraps, Oki plans to ramp up full scale production by December, and will probably lobby mighty hard to get under the hood of Motorola’s next cash cow.[Via CrissCross] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Logitech’s FreePulse Bluetooth headset leaked
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable VideoThe FCC’s handed us yet another tasty morsel today: the new Logitech FreePulse Wireless headset, and what a headset she is. The minuscule looking device features Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR with A2DP (huzzah!) to control your iPod (via a dongle, of course) if that’s how you want swing it, or other A2DP-compliant devices like that swanky LG Fusic that you’ve got your eye on. And according to the user’s manual the FreePulse will also play nice with other MP3 players too, like that just-released Zune, for example. Unfortunately, the friendly Feds didn’t tell us when these ‘phones would be released, nor how much they would retail for. We do have to applaud Logitech for coming up with a name better than those other Bluetooth iPod packages that we’ve already seen, like the D.Muse iBlue and the horribly named iMuff.[Via TGDaily] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
More S-XGen details emerge
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Full-fledged UMPC it ain’t, but now that we’ve got some more info on this flip-and-fold S-XGen handheld from Seamless WiFi, we’re liking where this one is headed. Sure, the design is pretty frumpy, and we could do with a better screen-to-device ratio, but the Windows CE 5.0 unit runs a 520MHz Xscale processor, a 20GB HDD, 128MB of SDRAM, and a 4.25-inch screen at 470 x 270 pixels. As for connectivity, there’s plenty to love, since the unit can handle 802.11b WiFi, tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz), Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB OTG and even IrDA. There’s also an SD card slot inside the 6.5 x 3.8 x 1.1-inch form factor and a purported 8 hours of battery life. The low screen res might make the rest of the frills a bit less exciting to work with, and Seamless WiFi claims that specifications might change without notice, but we’re still looking forward to spying this one at CES and seeing just how close it comes to its all-inclusive dreams.[Via SlashGear] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
BlackBerry 8703e for sale on Verizon’s site
Filed under: Cellphones We told you it was coming, we told you how much for and when, and now the BlackBerry 8703e is on Verizon’s site — yours for $249 with a two year contract, or $399 for a one year contract. We’re a little sick of writing about this thing, so please, go get it (or not), and let’s all enjoy our Sundays, shall we?[Thanks, Phil] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
AnyDATA intros ADU-E100D USB EV-DO modem
Filed under: Cellphones, WirelessOkay, so maybe these USB EV-DO modems would be a bit more lovable if they were in dongle form, but they’re still a reasonable alternative if your ExpressCard slot is busy handling other (likely frivolous) activities. AnyDATA’s ADU-E100D is a tad larger than a standard business card, but will only add about 4 extra ounces to your trusty knapsack, and sports an integrated battery as well as USB 2.0 connectivity. The modem is based on Qualcomm’s MSM 6500 chipset, is backwards compatible with 1xRTT, supports EV-DO 3G speeds up to 2.4Mbps (down) and 153.5kbps (up), and allows sending / receiving of those oh-so-urgent SMS messages during data operations. Although details regarding pricing and availability aren’t yet known, the snazzy blue ADU-E100D should be bringing that EV-DO goodness to your notebook (or desktop) real soon.[Via TG Daily] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
New switch puts an end to exploding batteries
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Laptops Check it Sony, ’cause if necessity is the mother of invention then you’re about to be calling the ETRI daddy. Coming a bit too late for some, ETRI (Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea) have developed what they call a Critical Temperature Switch to prevent exploding batteries in mobile devices. Smaller, but more reliable than ceramic sensors, the new switches use a Mott Metal-Insulator Transistor or MIT, to prevent batteries from swelling and exploding in a violent discharge triggered by overheating. Ultimately, ETRI expects to integrate over 16,000 of the Critical Temperature Switches or 5,000 explosion-proof systems into a film just 2-inches in diameter. For the time being, they are looking for partners to develop their commercially ready technologies into product. Hey Sony, you paying attention? Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
HTC buyout of Dopod in final stages: i-mate, O2, HP wail
Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsContinuing their skyrocket beyond ODM-dom, HTC’s buyout bid for Taiwanese Dopod has moved into the final stages. Having signed a memorandum of understanding, the only thing left in the estimated $150 million deal is approval from the Taiwanese government. Assuming HTC chairwoman and Dopod controlling shareholder Cher Wang, daughter of petrochemicals billionaire Y.C. Wang and wife of HTC boss-man Peter Chou, has enough influence to push this through (read: she does), then HTC is about to find themselves in direct competition with their own customers O2, i-mate and HP. HTC already confirmed their decision to self-brand phones in Europe, now the Dopod deal could result in HTC designs being sold exclusively under the Dopod branding outside of Europe. In fact, HTC has already cut ties with both O2 and i-mate in Australia, New Zealand, and India. So if Dopod’s claim that HTC manufactures 80 percent of Windows Mobile phones is true, well, O2, i-mate, and HP best be looking for fresh design and manufacturing blood on the quick. [Thanks, Ash] Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.
Source: cellphones.engadget.com