Vertu is pleased to announce that they signed a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) deal with NTT DoCoMo to provide communication services to Vertucustomers. In the second quarter of 2009 Vertu will provide a premium membership called Vertu Club through their partnership with NTT DoCoMo. In addition, on 19 February 2009 Vertu will open its first store in Japan called Ginza Flagship Store, where customers will be able to see the whole Vertu collection and pre-orders of handsets will be taken for delivery.  

  Omega Pharma, a Belgian pharmaceutical company, is going to launch a chip reducing the level of cell phone radiation. Representatives of the company state that tests were successful: the chip, which is built in a cell phone, lessens such symptoms as headaches and loss of concentration. The E-waves chip trial consignment of 30 thousand items is already on offer for 38.95 euros per a chip.  

  The Open Handset Alliance announces the membership of 14 new companies ready to support Android open mobile platform and namely to modernize the operating system, develop new mobile devices supporting it, and software applications. The new members of the Open Handset Alliance are Ericsson, Vodafone, Huawei Technologies, Toshiba, AKM Semiconductor Inc., Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, ARM, Teleca AB, ASUSTek Computer Inc., Borqs, Atheros Communications and Garmin International Inc.  

  Recently it became known that Intel is developing sensors to capture energy from body heat and sunlight, the amount of the energy obtained in this way being sufficient for mobile devices to run without recharging. The company already has prototypes of self-powered devices. They are watches powered by body heat and smartphones with displays that double as solar cells.  

  Western Union and Vodafone are going to test the possibility of sending money to Kenya from Western Union office in Reading. Cell phone users will be able to transfer money to subscribers of Kenyan cell carrier Safaricom. Due to cooperation of Vodafone and Western Union M-Pesa subscribers will be able to make international remittances easily.  

  Mobiado announces the Mobiado Professional 105GMT GOLD. The phone  has a unique dual mechanical watch movement. Each Swiss mechanical watch movement is a self-winding automatic mechanism with ball-bearing containing 25 jeweled bearings, performing 28,800 vibrations per hour, and has 28 hours of power reserve. The mechanism case is CNC machined from brass and plated with 24-Carat gold. When the keypad lights up, both movements are illuminated, allowing the watches to be viewed in low light conditions. Each 105GMT GOLD has two 24-Carat gold plated crowns that are inset into the frame of the phone for the setting of time. The DiscoveryTM watch mechanism with the front and back of the watch movements being completely open, allows for the setting of two international time zones. The mechanism is protected with large sapphire plates. Even under the removable sapphire battery cover, the movements, which are attached with a Mobiado 3D shock absording system (patent pending), are protected by a second sapphire plate. The 105GMT Discovery mechanism is available in Diamond Option (26 diamonds), where the watch hours are set diamonds, and a diamond shaped “M” placed between the two watch mechanism becomes illuminated when the keypad lights...

  Most probably, Russia and Western Europe will be the first markets for the new smartphone. JT Wang, the company chairman, believes that Acer will be very successful in manufacturing and distribution of its smartphone, and that is why the smartphone division staff is going to be increased to 500 employees by 2009.    

  Portio Research, a research company, suggests that SMS will continue to be popular even during the global economic downturn. In 2008 the whole SMS industry was worth USD 130 billion and in 2013 it is expected to be USD 224 billion. High popularity of SMS can be easily explained. There exists no other cheaper and simpler technology that can be supported by all mobile operators and all kinds of cell phones. Filipinos are the record holders in SMS sending – an average user sends 755 messages each month.  

  At the Division of Neurosurgery at Lund University in Sweden an experiment on rats has been carried out. Rats exposed to cell phone radiation for more than a year turned out to have poorer results on a memory test than those that had not been exposed to it. The experiment supervisor thinks that cell phone radiation affects the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from substances in blood that are dangerous to nerve cells. It was previously discovered that a protein albumin leaks into brain tissue while the latter is exposed to radiation, and nerve cells become damaged in 4-8 weeks. Two types of nerve cells suffer: those in the cerebral cortex and the memory center of the brain. Within the experiment alterations in the activity of a large number of genes belonging to functionally related groups have also been found.  

  A team of Texas researchers have discovered a way to produce energy from energy resulting from vibration. It turns out that electrical energy can be obtained if a certain type of piezoelectric material about 21 nanometers thick is exposed even to vibration of voice. It is interesting that 21 nanometers seem to be the best value from the 20-23 nanometer range, within which electrical energy can be produced. Usage of nanotechnologies regarding piezoelectric materials may result in the appearance of self-powered devices including phones, which will not have any replaceable power supplies.  

  The body of the Samsung S9402 Ego is made by a liquid metal alloy developed by the California Institute of Technology that is 3 times stronger than titanium. Compared with other metals used for body of expensive phones, the new alloy has 3 times better vibration absorption and 100% lower thermal conductivity. Russian market will be the first one to get the Samsung S9402. The phone is expected to start shipping this month at an estimated price of 1400 euro.    

  Land Rover and Sonim have signed an agreement to launch co-branded mobile phones. At present 3 phones are already being developed together with Scott Wilson, a designer. Two phones and namely the Land Rover S1 and Land Rover S2 G4 are planned to start shipping in the first half of 2009, and the third one later in the year. All the phones will be able to withstand a 1.6-meter drop, salt, humidity, and high temperatures.  

  Launched alongside The Museum of Modern Art “Design and The Elastic Mind” exhibition, the Morph concept device is a bridge between highly advanced technologies and their potential benefits to end-users. This device concept showcases some revolutionary leaps being explored by Nokia Research Center (NRC) in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanoscience Centre (United Kingdom) – nanoscale technologies that will potentially create a world of radically different devices that open up an entirely new spectrum of possibilities. Morph concept technologies might create fantastic opportunities for mobile devices: * Newly-enabled flexible and transparent materials blend more seamlessly with the way we live * Devices become self-cleaning and self-preserving * Transparent electronics offering an entirely new aesthetic dimension * Built-in solar absorption might charge a device, whilst batteries become smaller, longer lasting and faster to charge * Integrated sensors might allow us to learn more about the environment around us, empowering us to make better choices In addition to the advances above, the integrated electronics shown in the Morph concept could cost less and include more functionality in a much smaller space, even as interfaces are...