LG and Samsung join forces on U.S. Mobile Digital TV Standard

Topic: Mobile Phones

LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics announced today that they will propose their jointly developed technology as the North American technology standard for mobile DTV.

Samsung and LG agreed to cooperate in order to assure rapid adoption by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) of a single common in-band mobile DTV standard.

Technology for the jointly proposed system will reflect the findings of the IDOV (Independent Demonstration of Viability) conducted by the Association of Maximum Service Television (MSTV) on behalf of the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC). A report on IDOV will be submitted by the OMVC to the ATSC. Read more

Posted on Wed, 14 May 2008 00:08:41 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Giant Cell phones are the new Trend in Korea

Topic: Mobile Phones

We all look to Korea to see what the future in mobile phones is. Now the latest trend seems to be going towards huge cell phones that are bigger than notebooks.

Yes, of course this is not true, there are no giant cell phones in our future. Korean SK Telecom sent out this press photo though today over the wire. It was not me going crazy with Photoshop. Read more

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2008 23:49:02 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

BlackBerry Thunder Touchscreen Smartphone Rumor

Topic: Mobile Phones

BlackBerry is rumored since last year that they are working on a touchscreen phone to really go head to head with the Apple iPhone. Last year one rumor suggested that the BlackBerry 9000 will be a touchscreen phone. Well that has proven as false, as the BlackBerry 9000 aka Bold has a QWERTY keyboard and just got announced this week.

The latest BlackBerry touchscreen phone rumor is that the codename for it is BlackBerry Thunder and it is scheduled for Q3 2008. Read more

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2008 23:32:43 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

BlackBerry to come to Korea

Topic: Mobile Phones

SK Telecom is apparently planning to introduce the BlackBerry smartphone in Korea. It is actually surprising that BlackBerry phones are not ubiquitous by now.

Apparently regulations have prevented RIM from marketing the BlackBerry in Korea. Cell phones in Korea are required to use the Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability (WIPI). Read more

Posted on Tue, 13 May 2008 01:48:09 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Quickoffice Gives BlackBerry Native Office Document Support

Topic: Mobile Phones

Quickoffice announced today that it has a new version of its office productivity software, eOffice, which allows BlackBerry handhelds to open, view, edit and create native Microsoft Office documents in their original format.

The application works on all currently shipping BlackBerry handhelds connected through both BlackBerry Enterprise Server and BlackBerry Internet Service. The eOffice for BlackBerry is available now and requires no upgrades to the device or the server to function. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 12:00:36 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

DreamCatcher Launches iPhone Video Recorder

Topic: Mobile Phones

There were a few things that Apple left out of the iPhone that really made iPhone users wonder what Apple was thinking. Like 3G connectivity the first time around, GPS capability and full fledged Bluetooth. Another thing the iPhone was lacking to go along with its camera was the ability to record video. DreamCatcher has fixed the lack of video recording for the iPhone with its iPhone Video Recorder.

The application allows the iPhone to record video and sound in compressed MPEG4 format. An hour long video in the format will require only 60MB of storage. The application can’t muster full motion 30 fps video and makes due with 15 fps. The application encodes the video at the end of a recording session and the encoding can be paused if needed. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 10:24:24 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

NIM Gets Patent for GPS Social Networking System

Topic: Mobile Phones

Networks in Motion (NIM) has been granted a U.S. patent for a social networking application that uses the GPS chip inside some mobile phones. The patent issued was titled “Position Determination System” and is said to protect its intellectual property for networking applications that request and or push a users GPS location through a wireless network.

The patent features a method of providing real-time position information from one person to another via the mobile phone, land line or a computer network. The method patented also allows for users to exchange location information including address, GPS coordinates, or nearby fixed locations. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 06:35:36 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Blackberry Bold

Topic: Mobile Phones

RIM officially introduces the new BlackBerry Bold smartphone.

The Blackberry Bold is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi, as well as a rich set of multimedia capabilities.
Under "bold" RIM understands not just a rich feature set but also a lustrous black exterior, satin chrome finished frame and stylish leather-like backplate. Read more

Posted on Mon, 12 May 2008 00:09:05 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Virgin Mobile and Helio said to be in Merger Talks

Topic: Mobile Phones

The WSJ reports that Virgin Mobile and Helio are rumored to be in advanced merger talks.

A deal of Virgin Mobile and Helio could be announced in the coming weeks.
Virgin Mobile has about 5 million subscribers with mostly low-cost and pre-paid plans. Helio only has a couple hundred thousand subscribers, but makes on average a very high $85 revenue from each subscriber. Read more

Posted on Sat, 10 May 2008 23:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New iPhone 2.0 Firmware has 3G On/Off Code

Topic: Mobile Phones

Developers finally found some 3G related code in the latest iPhone SDK Beta 5.

The code is specifically a preference setting allowing users to switch off 3G.
With this the option Apple gives users the ability to extend battery life. Read more

Posted on Sat, 10 May 2008 22:54:13 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

iPhone unavailable in online Apple Store

Topic: Mobile Phones

The online Apple store has currently no iPhones in stock. Both the 8GB and 16GB iPhone are marked as "Currently Unavailable".

This could also just be a store glitch, but we also already learned that week that O2 has run out of iPhones in the UK.
It is suspected that this shortage already heralds the 3G iPhone, but I still think that Apple will continue to offer the normal iPhone for a while. Not everybody gets 3G coverage. Read more

Posted on Sat, 10 May 2008 13:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr