At first sight there is nothing special in the Samsung B2100 mobile phone. Well, you just don’t know what to pay attention to. The B2100 phone has a shock-proof casing and withstands sand, dust, and water. The manufacturer claims that the mobile phone can be run over by a car and there will be no consequences after it. The Samsung B2100 mobile phone will be appreciated by those who like to spend time outdoors. Samsung B2100 has the built-in torch, altimeter and pedometer. As for the battery, the phone can work 14 days without the need for a charge.  

  ZTE is going to present 10 devices at the Mobile World Congress. Some of them are: • Windows Mobile-powered VF 1231 developed for Vodafone. It has a single chip for GSM and EDGE; • the “XIANG” series of 3.5G super slim HSDPA/HSUPA handsets; • the e760 (a GSM-based handset for China Mobile); • the D820/D810 (a CDMA-based handset for China Telecom); • the U981, a top-end smartphone deployed by China Mobile.  

  Today Samsung reported that this phone will be shipping in Q2 2009 and not in spring. Moreover, the new Android smartphone will not be announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At present the company is in negotiations with mobile network operators about taking the new Android phone.    

  Advasense and Creative Sensor have jointly developed as they say the world’s smallest next-generation 5MP autofocus camera sensor. The Advasense ASIO5 5MP CMOS camera sensor is aimed at the camera phone market and uses a ¼” optical format sensor and is only 8.3 x 8.3mm in size (see the photo). The manufacturer claims that their innovative FCP™-based CIS technology achieves excellent image quality for all lighting conditions and significantly improves low-light sensitivity and dynamic range.    

  The company has confirmed its plans to close R&D site in Jyväskylä, Finland. The change concerns 320 employees. Other R&D sites in Finland will continue working. Nokia has also said that it plans to scale down production at Salo plant by means of temporary lay-offs. Lately the company told that all these measures would help it to save 700 million euros in annual costs.    

  MediaTek today announced everything it is going to present at Mobile World Congress 2009. These are the world's largest portfolio of TD-SCDMA phones, latest wireless communication solutions, a 5MP phone, a host-based GPS solution, and a smartphone. MT6516 is the first smartphone made by MediaTek that is really rich in functions. The MT6516 has an LCD display with WVGA resolution and a 5MP camera. TD-SCDMA mobile phones to be presented at MWC 2009 support HSUPA up to 2.2Mbps and HSDPA up to 2.8Mbps. A 5MP camera phone MT6239 features excellent color reproduction and picture quality. You can record video with VGA resolution at the speed of 30fps. Moreover, the MT6239 has a DVD player and supports DV video recording format. As for GPS, MediaTek is announcing the MT3338 phone with host-based GPS/Galileo solution and MT3329 with the most sensitive GPS solution in the world.    

  GestureTek Mobile, world leader in gesture control interfaces for mobile devices, will present new motion control games at Mobile World Congress. There will be 4 games with EyeMobile optical tracking software for Windows Mobile by TiltnTwist, and 2 games for Sony Ericsson F305 by Digital Chocolate. With GestureTek's EyeMobile® optical tracking software you can play games by shaking, tilting, rocking or rolling your phone, rather than by pressing buttons. GestureTek Mobile's EyeMobile engine uses a mobile device's camera to measure movement of the phone or user. Thus, you can control all functions of your mobile phone without touching buttons or the screen. EyeMobile can be easily integrated into any handset with a camera and is extremely cost-competitive compared to touchscreen systems. Moreover, EyeMobile has low system requirements. Handsets embedded with EyeMobile optical tracking software include models from Sharp, NEC, Fujitsu, Panasonic and Sony Ericsson, the DoCoMo 904i, 905i, 906i and 706i series. EyeMobile can also be integrated in post-2006 camera phones supporting the Brew, Symbian and Windows Mobile. ...

  Xilinx is participating at Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona from February 16 through 19. The company announced it today and said it would unveil next-generation programmable LTE design platforms aimed at improving wireless infrastructure. Product demonstrations will show all the flexibility of hardware solutions and LTE IP used in the development of both baseband and multimode radio subsystems for 3G and 4G mobile basestations. Xilinx will demonstrate that the integration of a great number of functions on a single programmable silicon device enables operators to reduce expenditures and improve reliability and system performance. Multi-mode Radio This is a single-chip radio subsystem that supports all major air interfaces and has all signal processing and connectivity components. LTE Baseband Platform This is a complete baseband processing subsystem with pre-optimized IP and software solutions used for both uplink and downlink. The platform significantly reduces system power consumption and cost.  

  Venturi Wireless, the trusted leader in broadband services optimization for mobile and wireless operators, announced the Venturi Video Optimization solution. Venturi Video Optimization or VVO enables mobile operators to deliver high-quality and cost-effective video to mobile broadband-enabled devices. The product optimizes video for the wireless environment and minimizes the impact on network resources. End users get video as though they are using wired broadband Internet, with fast download speeds and high-quality video without re-buffering or interruptions. Tomas Isaksson, Chief Executive Officer of Venturi Wireless, says that the company is “thrilled to launch Venturi Video Optimization” because video is “a driving force on the Internet”, and “the growth potential for video over a mobile broadband connection is endless”. Venturi Video Optimization solution is a very nice thing for operators because video optimized with VVO is smaller in size that increases network bandwidth and results in faster download time. Moreover, operators can feel confident in investing in a solution with such a great prospect. All other advantages of VVO will be disclosed at the GSMA Mobile World...

  Schlage, a well-known door lock manufacturer, announced the first wireless-controlled door lock called Schlage LiNK. To access the lock you should use any web-enabled device, be it either a cell phone or a PC. There is a 4-digit access code set by means of a keypad integrated in the lock. You can set, activate, delete or disable it via the Schlage LiNK website as well. With Schlage LiNK you won’t have to carry keys. Moreover, you can turn on text or email notification service on the website and track the lock activity over the past 3 months. Schlage company has been engaged in lock manufacturing for more than 85 years and is the most trusted brand of door locks.  

  BGR reports that the BlackBerry Curve 9300 would have a larger display with higher resolution exceeding 480x360 px. It is possible that the Curve 9300 would support GPS and Wi-Fi and have a camera above 3.2MP. The BlackBerry Curve 9300 will also be equipped with a faster processor. Other changes would involve a silver hue and more rounded keys. Shipping date is unknown so far but the new smartphone is more likely to hit the market in the end of 2009.