Samsung follows crowd, preps M4650 Windows Mobile (Unlocking Mobile) touchphone
Samsung follows crowd, preps M4650 Windows Mobile touchphone
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds Don’t be fooled: Samsung officially calls this the M4650 Multi-Touch, but get this, it doesn’t support multi-touch. It does support single touches of its 2.8 inch screen, though, which’ll have to do seeing how it lacks either numeric or QWERTY keypads. The Korean company is prepping the Windows Mobile 6-based touchphone for its domestic market, matching a recent trend toward keyless, finger-friendly input that LG, HTC, Apple, and others have adopted in recent months. A customized build of Windows Mobile isn’t the only trick up the handset’s sleeve, either: haptics give users a little bit of positive feedback when they make contact with the display, and when Office Mobile finally ceases to be entertaining, the terrestrial DMB tuner should come in handy. Ironically, the M4650 will be offered through LG Telecom — of all carriers — for something in the range of 500,000 won (about $550) before rebates.[Via textually.org] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Google’s Android platform and the Open Handset Alliance: a quick round-up
Filed under: Cellphones, HandheldsCarefully orchestrated announcements for broad, sweeping initiatives like the one staged by Google today don’t always do a great job of diving straight into the meat and telling it like it is, so we thought we’d boil down the Android and Open Handset Alliance sitch as best we could into a tight, easy to digest series of bullets. If this list is still wider than your attention span, though, just know this: you can pick up your Google-powered phone in the latter half of 2008. At its core, Android forms the basis for Google’s operating system and supporting software for phones. In Google’s own words, it’s a software stack. Two separate but related entities form the basis for today’s announcement: the Linux-based Android mobile platform (a result of Google’s 2005 acquisition of a start-up of the same name) and the Open Handset Alliance, a 33-strong group of device manufacturers, component manufacturers, software companies, and carriers that have committed to working with Android. There is no cut and dried “Gphone” and Google doesn’t intend (or at least it hasn’t indicated an intent) to enter the hardware business. Instead, it’ll leave that to established players like HTC, LG, and Samsung — and theoretically, anyone else that wants to have a go at it since the Android platform and its code base is wide open. Unlike the platform itself, there’s no guarantee that devices based on the Android platform will be open to third party developers. Google says that’ll be left to manufacturers and carriers to be decide, although it doubts they’ll choose to lock them down (hmm, has Google ever worked with a carrier before?) Nokia, Apple (on whose board Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits), Palm, and Microsoft are notably absent from the alliance. Palm has come out today to announce that it intends to continue to integrate Google services into its future products. Carriers currently in the alliance include China Mobile, KDDI, NTT DoCoMo, Sprint Nextel, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and T-Mobile. T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel are the two national US carriers that are signed up; AT&T and Verizon are not. The first Android-powered devices are expected in the second half of 2008. Rumor has it that Google has been using an HTC-sourced device, the “Dream,” to demonstrate Android to potential partners. HTC may launch a version of the Dream as one of its first handsets to use the platform. Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Russian spy plane to be re-purposed as cellphone tower
Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation We’ve already seen balloons used to provide cellphone service, but it looks like the Russians could soon be putting that setup to shame, with one of its Myasishchev M-55 spy planes now reportedly set to be demoed as a makeshift cellphone tower early next year. That’ll apparently happen in Malaysia over the course of February and March, but it seems like that could just be the beginning, with one “unnamed Western firm” said to be in discussions with the aircraft’s manufacturer about the possibility of resuming production of the planes specifically for this purpose. Among other things, that would allow the plane to used to provide cellphone service in disaster areas, with its 17,000 meter altitude and 5,000 kilometer range allowing it to cover a wide range on the ground with relative ease.[Via textually.org] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
The Nokia Music Store video review — hint: a “doddle” is good
Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio Unless you’re living in the UK, it’s hard to get your hands dirty with Nokia’s new Music Store. Unless you’re living under rock, you know that it’s Nokia’s intention to take the service global as it vies for dominance over digital downloads. Fortunately, a quickie, video review from Nokia’s new N81 has been posted by NokNok.tv. They claim that “hunting out tracks is a doddle, as is downloading.” A good thing, apparently, judging by the 4 / 5 stars awarded. Check the action after the break.Continue reading The Nokia Music Store video review — hint: a “doddle” is good Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: cellphones.engadget.com
Palm confirms it’ll be skipping the Android party
Filed under: Cellphones We expected just as much, but now it’s in writing: Palm sent us an official response to our gently-worded “assimilate or die” editorial. It goes as follows:”Palm has always been committed to open platforms for developers. And Palm has the added differentiation of being able to tightly integrate the software platform with our hardware design, which we believe gives us an advantage in delivering a great user experience.Palm customers have benefited from the availability of Google services on Palm’s platform, such as Google Maps for mobile on Palm OS. And we look forward to further collaboration with Google to offer great user experiences on Palm products.”While we’re glad they responded, we really hope we don’t have to wait a year and a half for Palm to prove us all wrong here. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Source: cellphones.engadget.com