When the W880i was first available, it was received with mixed responses. Its ultraslim profile, solid build quality,
attractive design matched with a decent feature set may have been a hit, but the phone was ultimately "killed" by its tiny keys. So when we saw the specifications of its successor, the W890i, and more importantly, the larger keys on the product stills, we knew we had to give the series a second chance.

The good: Chic and slim design; brushed metal finish; improved usability; bundled with 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2; 3.5mm adapter accessory; HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo.

The bad: Proprietary connector port on the left edge; M2 card slot behind battery cover; mediocre camera features.

The bottom line: Design is clearly the focus on the W890i and it's where this Walkman truly shines. At the same time, we can't deny that the W890i is also a solid handset. If you can live with its mediocre camera, this Walkman phone is a keeper.

Source:http://www.bangkokpost.com/gadget/gadget.php?id=449&p=2

Privately-held company, announced today the launch of Pointstreak Mobile, a custom software application that enables Pointstreak users to record live game stats during sports events and immediately deliver game information to the Internet from their BlackBerry® smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM)_(Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM).

Pointstreak, known for its innovation in streamlining the collection and delivery of real-time sports data, has publicly released Pointstreak Mobile version 1.1.0 in order to take advantage of the growing popularity of the BlackBerry® wireless platform. Pointstreak Mobile for BlackBerry will allow users, typically a league scorekeeper or a volunteer parent, to record game stats and deliver live game events to league/association websites from their BlackBerry smartphone. Game data is uploaded directly from the user’s BlackBerry smartphone at the arena or sports field and then fed through Pointstreak’s proprietary stats system, also known as the "Electronic Gamesheet System™©".


Prior to the development of Pointstreak Mobile, the only options for collecting data at the game were Pointstreak's ruggedized touch-screen terminals or downloadable software on the user's own laptop or PC; both of which have inherent limitations when it comes to mobility and connectivity. With Pointstreak Mobile, customers can use their existing BlackBerry smartphones to record and post games instead of investing in new or specialized hardware.

Most significantly, the key advantage of Pointstreak Mobile is the intrinsic mobility of a BlackBerry smartphone in areas or situations where traditional Internet access is problematic or non-existent. The ubiquity of cellular Internet access means that Pointstreak Mobile will be able to operate in remote geographical areas or arenas that do not have traditional cable-based Internet. The connectivity advantage of the BlackBerry platform is central to Pointstreak's strategy in pursing field sports such as lacrosse and soccer, in which the activity takes place outdoors on fields, typically away from power supplies, Ethernet taps or cable networks.

"The launch of Pointstreak Mobile changes the game completely," said Scott Secord, Pointstreak's President / CEO. "Before Pointstreak Mobile, you had to go through the process of ensuring the facility had appropriate Internet access as well as ensure the customer had the required computer hardware to operate Pointstreak. Now a scorekeeper can go anywhere with network coverage and use their BlackBerry smartphone to score and upload games to the web. We are excited to work with RIM to open new markets and eliminate many of the barriers our customers experience in adopting our industry leading sports software."

source:http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=39855&cat=12

Nokia’s new 6555 mobile phone boasts an outer “retro” look, via an analog clock display on the front; and employs a “smoothback” design, which Nokia says rids the phone of the typical sharp edge around the hinge. The Nokia 6555 is currently available from Fido.

Finished in piano black, the 6555 is a flip-styled phone that offers support for Fido’s MobileMail e-mail service, as well as a number of entertainment options, like the ability to browse and download video streams. The large keypads affords easy typing, while the equally oversized five-way navigation button helps when browsing menus and settings.


“Canadian consumers are demanding more from their mobile phones”, said Joe Woo, Director of Sales, Nokia Canada. “With the Nokia 6555 phone, Fido and Nokia are giving consumers the opportunity to take advantage of Fido’s network and full range of services. Now Canadians can take advantage of mobile e-mail and enjoy fast and easy downloads.”

The stylish phone also comes equipped with a 2” LCD screen, 1.3 MP digital camera and video recorder, Internet browsing capability, voice dialing, Bluetooth technology, and 30 MB of internal memory, expandable up to 2 GB via a microSD card slot.

Nokia’s 6555 is currently available exclusively through Fido for $75 with a three-year agreement. As a bonus, the phone comes with a 1 GB microSD card.

source:http://marketnews.ca/news_detail.asp?nid=3539

OpenMoko has taken the stance to sell cell phones to general consumers as announced at the O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. Before we proceed any further, here’s a little bit of history on OpenMoko. This company is run by Openmoko Inc. of Taiwan, a subsidiary of First International Computer Inc. of Taiwan, and is proud to be a developer of cell phones which rely on open source hardware and software. To date, OpenMoko has developed OpenMoko Linux and Neo, whereby both of them are open-source software platform and hardware for cell phones. Currently, OpenMoko Linux utilizes Linux as its OS kernel and employs X11 and GTK as its window systems. company is now concentrating to make the necessary steps in order to start selling individual cell phones to consumers as yet another stream of revenue.



Neo, the hardware platform developed by OpenMoko comes with a 400MHz microprocessor and an ARM core, a 640 x 480 display with a touch panel display, GPS navigation and wireless LAN functionalities among others. The Neo also doubles up as a controller for USB, enabling one to hook it up to different peripheral devices. Currently, OpenMoko’s Neo 1973 cell phone that was specially developed to run OpenMoko is sold out after being made exclusively to developers, and they are currently working on a new and improved version known as the Neo Freerunner. The Freerunner won’t be that easy to use though, as you will still need to go through the trouble of reinstalling all your previous software. OpenMoko is ready to make the Freerunner a consumer product, but that will only come sometime in the next half dozen months.

Will you be rocking on with an open source phone in the future, or do you prefer to stick to the tried and tested handsets which hail from the headquarters of Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Apple?
source:http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20080311/openmoko-begins-to-sell-cell-phones-to-consumers/

LEADING MOBILE handset builder Nokia is expected to ship its next Nseries model N96 this coming August, at least in Europe and the UK, according to the mobile retailer Carphone Warehouse.

North America, Asia and the rest of the world will probably see the Nokia N96 arriving a bit later, as has been Nokia's wont with its pricey flagship handsets.



The N96 model will succeed the N95 at the top of Nokia's line. It is a dual-slide design with both media player and phone keypads

It will reportedly have a 2.8 inch high, 240 x 320 pixel TFT display with 16 million colour resolution and a five megapixel camera sporting Zeiss optics, auto focus, flash and 30fps VGA video recording.

The N96 will come with 16GB of built-in memory. It will also have microSD card support for up to 32GB additional memory.

Connectivity capabilities of the N96 will include quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA, Wi-Fi, DVB-H TV, and GPS.

The estimated retail price for the Nokia N96 will be about €550 (approximately $850, currently). Blimey. Might even compete with the Iphone.

source:http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/11/nokia-n96-ship-august

It's more of a news when Boost Mobile adds additional phone to its offering than when the same thing is done by lets say AT&T or Verizon. The reason is obvious - Boost only got two phones in its portfolio, while the big boys have few dozen.


Anyway, the mobile operator for the youth's offering includes Motorola c290, w385 and now MOTOKRZR. With suggested retail price of $249.99, the new phone is also the most expensive one, and arguable the best looking one you can get from Boost Mobile.

As for the specs, you probably already know everything about Moto's clamshell. I'll only repeat there's a 1.3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and video recording function, built-in GPS receiver, Bluetooth, and of course the microSD memory slot. Preinstalled software includes universal IM client (works with AOL, Yahoo! and MSN), web browser, email client and music player…

Source:http://www.intomobile.com/2008/03/05/boost-mobile-adds-third-phone-to-its-offering-motokrzr.html