At CeBIT in Hannover which opened its doors today, Asus made their GPS equipped 2.5G PDA phone official and is called P320. We had already unveiled this device recently under the Galaxy Mini code name. When you hold this PDA phone you are impressed by its compact size and super light weight. From its set of features and price it seems like P320 is positioned as an entry level model; mostly for first time PDA phone owners. Its main features: SiRFStar III integrated GPS receiver Quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), GPRS and EDGE TI OMAP 850 processor at 200 MHz TFT LCD screen with 65K colors 320×240 resolution 128 MB ROM and 64 MB RAM Bluetooth 2.0 Mini USB microSD port 2MP digital camera Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional It should be marketed in April or May and the price should be around 300 €.  

  Siemens announced that it is going to fundamentally change its activity by reorienting its business to software development. This decision is marked by the necessity to dismiss 3.800 employees worldwide, 2,000 of them being in Germany. The Company is going to perform a transfer of 3,000 employees and half of them are German also. Siemens wants to start negotiations with unions as soon as possible, as it is going to sell its plants in Brazil, Greece and Germany. Other plans include selling its call centers worldwide, which will affect approximately 1000 employees. The new strategy is a consequence of large losses that Siemens have been struggling with during years while operating as a mobile phone manufacturer.  

  EMOBILE, a leading Japanese carrier, announced its customers that it’s going to launch two new handsets: HTC S11HT EMONSTER and Toshiba H11T.   The device from HTC is just a rebranded HTC Tytn II, and has all the same specs including the GPS feature. The phone supports HSDPA / W-CDMA networks for high speed data transfer, a front VGA camera for video calling, a 3MP camera on the back and a large 2.8” TFT display. HTC S11HT EMONSTER is based on Windows Mobile 6 and features a full QWERTY keyboard. Toshiba H11T is equipped with a similar display as the one built-in the HTC EMONSTER, but has a resolution of 400x240pixels and prossesses 260K colors. Unlike the slide form factor of the HTC device, the Toshiba handset is fitted in a clamshell form factor. On the rear side there is a more powerful camera of 3.2MP. The GPS option is also present here along with the possibility to visualize TV broadcasts.  

Vodafone adds spices to its GSM collection with Samsung SGH-i640v. The phone gets together the connectivity of a mobile phone and the complexity of a PDA in a slide form factor. The handset operates on Windows Mobile 6, which involuntary involves a sensitive display. The phone supports high speed data transfer networks like HSDPA that along with its front VGA camera enables the video-calling option. On the rear side only 2MP are built-in.  Due to the full QWERTY keyboard the phone looks quite thick; it measures 95х61х16 mm at 126 grams. The phone will be available for Vodafone subscribers for free or ₤150, depending on the contract they choose.

LG Electronics unveiled its latest achievement in the telecommunication sector with LG-SH150A. The phone boasts a unique AMOLED display with the capacity to run 26 mill colors and a refresh rate that leaves no space for competition being 1000 times faster then usual. The device is adapted for streaming TV shows and supports a speed of up to 7.2Mbps HSDPA - an important aspect that makes LG-SH150A a perfect combination. For the start the phone is available exclusively in Korea at an estimated price of $400.

NEC 750 is the new clamshell phone that was recently unveiled by NEC. The latest production shocks with its characteristics and the most notable is the 9.8mm thickness. Although slim, the phone is still pretty well equipped. The display supports 256K colors at a resolution of 240 x 427 pixels, whilst the external display is made of 119 small red LEDs that visualize an images. In terms of connectivity, the handset operates in 3G networks and can be connected via Bluetooth with compatible devices. The microSD slot lets you expand the internal storage up to 2GB, good for saving pictures of high resolutions thanks to the 2MP camera. NEC 750 will be available for the beginning only for DoCoMo subscribers (Japan).  

The leading mobile carriers in USA, T-Mobile and AT&T announced unlimited voice calling plans for only $99. T-Mobile subscribers will enjoy the new product starting February 21, which will include both unlimited voice calls and messaging. AT&T subscribers will have to pay $104 to include 200 SMS or MMS messages, or $134 for unlimited messaging and Media Net access. AT&T will provide the new plans beginning February 22.

Verizon Wireless and Samsung presented the new result of their collaboration: SCH-U550. The new Samsung is a mobile phone fitted in a clamshell form factor. It measures 3.77"x1.93"x.64" at a weigh of 3.35 ounces. The handset is well equipped, featuring the 3G support, the V CAST Music store, a microSD slot, the VZ Navigator GPS, a 1.3MP camera and the text to speech option, that reads menu entries and text messages. The phone is already available for Verizon subscribers at $69.99, after a $50 mail-in rebate.

The mobile phone manufacturer Samsung unveiled the MBP-100 mini projector, to be used with Samsung handsets by connecting them via the TV-out slot. The accessory is equipped with a separate battery that guarantees a life-time enough for viewing a standard movie, and can project a 20” large image. The device is also compatible with other devices like MP3, or DVD players. The accessory will be launched in South Korea for the beginning, starting shipping in March at an estimated price of $200-300.

The latest law-suit in the telecommunication sector is featuring Motorola and RIM. The companies have sued each other for patent infringements. Motorola claims that RIM has been using on its BlackBerry devices, the technology that is protected by seven patents and which is being used in such models as BlackBerry Pearl and the Curve series. RIM’s accusations, on the other side, are referred to unlawful market behavior, as Motorola applied additional fees for its patents that are also used on devices equipped with a QWERTY keyboard. The law-suit tends to become especially important as RIM has over 12 mill Blackberry subscribers worldwide.

In January China Mobile announced that the deal with Apple is down due to unfavorable contract conditions, which certainly turned to reflect negatively on the potential profit that the 350 million subscribers of the network operator would’ve created for both companies. But it happens that another reason drove the parties to brake apart. A rough number of 400,000 unlocked iPhones are already operating in China, which is a greater number then all the iPhones shipped to Europe. It is supposed that the Network operator didn’t want to lock those 400,000 subscribers that are already making a profit for China Mobile.