To promote its new 8 megapixel camera phone, Sony Ericsson C905, the company has worked together with Bauer Media to create a magazine advertisement with photoshot from the camera phone. The full page advertisement will be printed in December 2008 issue of FHM magazine.

  Samsung Korea announced this Morning the T*OMNIA, the OMNIA’s big brother. If basically both the OMNIA and T*OMNIA are similar, the Korean version has however 4 improved features, with : - A slightly larger Screen 3.3” (Regular OMNIA has only a 3.22”)- A Higher Screen Resolution of 480 x 800 (Regular OMNIA has only a 240 x 400 screen resolution)- A DMB TV Tuner (Digital TV Tuner) Except the above mentioned differences and a larger size (115.2 x 58.1 x 13.65 mm), the T*OMNIA received the same features than its little bother.It is interesting to underline here that this T*OMNIA is using the same hardware (Digital TV tuner, Screen Size and Resolution) has the Japanese OMNIA, the 930SC, that we had the chance to play with a couple of days ago, with the exception of having on the Korean Version a Windows Mobile 6.1 OS.

  Fans of soccer currently have three ways of staying updated on an ongoing match via their cell phones: text messages, audio content, or mobile TV – for those who have compatible phones and live in countries where this service is available. All these not only that require a lot of your attention, but might also disturb people around you. So a new way of alerting fans about the events during a soccer game might appear: a vibrating way. Literally. Swedish researchers from Umeå University, together with Jiong Sun from Ericsson Research, are working on a new technology that could send in-game info via cell phone vibrations. Phones should be somehow synchronized with the ball the game is actually played with. This can be done via video, since there are lots of TV cameras that constantly follow the ball’s movement on the field. So, whenever someone kicks the ball, your phone should vibrate. The vibrations should be of different frequencies and lengths, according to the area where the ball is located. If it’s in midfield, for example, the phone should produce a weak, short-time vibration. When someone scores a goal, the vibration could be long and more...

  It’s not that often that we hear about some new Alcatel phone. The French company seems to have almost abondend its handset business, hence the device we’re showing you today, Alcatel OT-I650, is manufactured by China-based TCL Communication Technology. Anyway, the candybar-shaped device is made for those that don’t want a smartphone with its complicated mambo-jumbos. Rather the individuals Alcatels is targeting want a simple and easy to use phone that fits their active lifestyle. That being said, the Alcatel OT-I650 does go beyond “classic” low-end phones we’re seeing thanks to the built in G-sensor (accelerometer), which allows users to switch between apps by shaking the phone. In that sense, this device reminds us such handsets as Nokia 5500 or Sony Ericsson W580, though the mentioned two are way more capable than Alcatel’s baby. In addition to G-sensor, the OT-I650 also comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, Bluetooth, as well as several sport apps pre-installed like pedometer. The Alcatel OT-I650 will first be available in Russia in two colors (black and orange) for 3,190 rubles, which is about...

  The worldwide mobile phone industry felt the impact of the global financial crisis in the third quarter of 2008 (3Q08) as total handset shipments were down significantly over previous quarters. Mobile phone manufacturers shipped a total of 299.0 million handsets in 3Q08, up 3.2% from last year, and down -0.4% over 2Q08. The third quarter of the year has historically been a ramp-up quarter as manufacturers load their sales channels with handsets in preparation for the holiday season, producing year-over-year growth rates as high as 20% as a result. This year has not witnessed a similar ramp up, largely due to the current economic situation. Looking forward to the holiday season, mobile phone average selling prices have already begun to drop and marketing campaigns are ramping up, and competition for buyers will remain high as spending will be a concern to consumers. IDC expects tight economic conditions will make 2009 slower and more competitive as well. Regional Analysis In North America, new releases from Apple, Palm, and Research In Motion, along with the highly anticipated release of the HTC G1, pushed the converged mobile device further into the public eye and into users' hands. Conversely, traditional mobile phones were not able to keep up...

  Other than creating more smartphones for 2009, apparently LG is also looking towards the low-end market for additional market share. LG CEO Jung Do-hyun himself said in a statement that the company will go with aggressive price points for its products in emerging markets. Jung further adds, “We will settle for a single-digit profit margin in the low-end market by 2011,” and says that the company will expand outsourcing channels to help cut costs and maintain flexibility for the rapidly changing emerging markets. Currently, the majority of LG handsets are either high-end smartphones, or luxury phones. Hopefully, they will start on a new campaign soon that will see the rise of lower-end but still highly functional handsets from them. As one insider points out, LG knows that they are “weaker than rivals in low-end portfolios in emerging markets.” But the company is “in transition and mulling over whether to go one-step further,” regarding this.

  ComScore, Inc. reports for the first time the demographics of iPhone owners and reveals that while 43 percent of iPhone owners earn in excess of $100,000 annually, the strongest growth in users is coming from those earning less than the median household income, particularly since the launch of the iPhone 3G. According to a new comScore report, “All about iPhone,” iPhone adoption since June 2008 rose 48 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 per year and by 46 percent among those earning between $25,000 and $75,000. These growth rates are three times that of those earning more than $100,000 per year. Overall, iPhone penetration grew 21 percent. While the number of consumers in the $25,000 to $50,000 income demographic declined marginally from June to August 2008, their ranks among smartphone owners and mobile content users grew, in most cases above the rate of the overall market. According to comScore Mobile, the number of people earning between $25,000 and $50,000 accessing news and information via their mobile browser grew by five percent since June, while the market overall grew by three percent. comScore also reported seven percent growth in mobile e-mail usage and five percent growth in mobile music consumption among...

We met Mauricio of Visto walking round the Symbian Smartphone Show last week and — well — you could hear an audible squeak of excitement from us as he brought out a Nokia ‘Exx’. That’s right.. it’s an E— something. We thought it could possibly be the E63 — and Mauricio did let slip that name.

  Asustek Computer plans to launch its first Android-based Google phone in the first half of 2009, according to company sources. Asustek may initially sell the Android-powered handsets under its own brand in the Taiwan market before also launching customized models for overseas clients, said market sources close to the company. In other news, the company sources also noted that Asustek plans to gradually phase out EMP-based handsets and instead will switch to handset platforms from Qualcomm and Marvell. While launching its 3.5G P552w PDA phone in the Taiwan market on October 28, Asustek plans to launch one 3G handset model built using Qualcomm's dual-core solutions in the first quarter of next year, the sources noted. Asustek's shipments of smartphones in the Taiwan market totaled 30,000 units in the first nine months of this year, and the company expects the annual shipment volumes to reach 40,000 units by year-end.

  On the ceremony of rewarding MOBO AWARDS in London it was noticed the Bluetooth- set Of discovery of 925 Jewel from Plantronics. Novelty is not simply to set, but the expensive stylish accessory: Discovery of 925 Jewel is concluded in the housing from 18-[karatnogo] gold and is decorated with 40 diamonds and 31 by natural pearl. The design of this sets in the [vintazhnom] style was developed By [febom] [Koulmanom] (Phoebe Of coleman). In the characteristics and the construction gold version, apparently, differs in no way from the usual Of discovery 925. The cost Of plantronics Of discovery of 925 Jewel is 50000 of pounds sterling (about 70000 dollars).

  According to a new study, people are increasingly choosing which phone to buy based on the ability to customise their applications. The study, conducted by Mformation, reveals that 68% of mobile phone users find it frustrating being locked into the apps that come preinstalled on their smartphone. It's a situation Apple has recently tried to take advantage of, with the launch of its apps store for the iPhone and iPod touch. A similar, though free, service is expected to be offered on Google's Android platform. The apps store has already been a runaway hit for Apple, shifting 200 million applications since launch. The survey suggests 67% of mobile phone buyers are willing to pay a premium for a similar service on their handsets. Indeed, the survey argues that 81% are so attracted by the ability pick and choose their apps that they're willing to switch provider to achieve it. "Services are very locked down. You get a device and that's what you have until you upgrade," Rob Dalgety, Mformation's marketing director tells PC Pro. "There's a lot of pent-up demand - people would use services more if there was more flexibility in provisioning. If you target services to customers and segment needs, you get more usage." This is backed up by the findings that...