Archive for the ‘News’ Category
A little URL hacking by Engadget fan Leo, has revealed Sprint’s new My Xohm site and loads of service information. The site is clearly in a preparatory state with plenty of dead links and Latin dummy-text holding the pre-launch site format together. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of detail here, some of which is certainly more than just idle filler. For example, based on the current text, we can expect the following at service launch in September:
- Nokia’s N810 WiMAX Edition — looks like a lock based on the liberal use of its image (above) across the pages.
- XOHM USB (ZTE’s TU25) modem.
- XOHM Express Card (Samsung’s SWC-E100) modem with optional PCMCIA adapter.
- XOHM Modem (ZyXel’s MAX-206M2) Ethernet hub / router with optional 4-hour battery — unfortunately, XOHM will not offer static IP addresses at this time.
- The XOHM portal (whatever that is) supports both Windows and OS X. However, the modems listed above and Sprint’s XOHM Connection Manager software are PC-only, sorry Mac owners.
Unfortunately, we can’t find any specific pricing information but the site does tell us that access will be sold by the day or by the month without binding contracts or cancellation fees. It also promises speeds between 2-4Mbps for downloads and 1-3Mbps for uploads. Not sure that’s worth the move to Baltimore but it’s certainly given us cause to pause at the thought. See the modems pictured after the break.
And indeed one can use 2 fingers to zoom-in/out on photos: 
Which company has managed to achieve it?
It is Chinese company Meizu, specialized by now in making of MP3 players, that is preparing a clone of iPhone called "Meizu M8" however by now some people doubted whether this phone will support multi-touch but in a video demonstrating this phone one can clearly see multi-touch:
While Meizu M8 is not a Windows Mobile phone as it runs Windows CE as a basis, not Windows Mobile, it is a phone powered by Microsoft’s operating system - Windows CE (here: Windows CE 6.0), that is also the base for Windows Mobile itself. Apart from multi-touch it offers also virtual keyboard with pop-up keys - like in iPhone - that are not offered in HTC phones though.
Conclusion: multi-touch is supported in Microsoft Surface, will be supported in Windows 7 (successor to Windows Vista) and it would be huge mistake not to include multi-touch in Windows Mobile 7 that is being released in February 2009. Meizu company clearly proves, that multi-touch in mobile devices can be done also in phones powered by Microsoft software.
While Apple’s App Store was far from being the first of its kind, we’re now seeing a job posting over in the Redmond area that suggests that Microsoft is looking to produce something similar for its Windows Mobile platform. The news comes hot on the heels of Google’s own Android Market announcement, and if the Product Manager position writeup is to be believed, said platform will be christened Skymarket. Described as a "marketplace service for Windows Mobile," Skymarket could seemingly be a critical part of WinMo 7. But don’t take our word for it, the proof is the pudding — or in the read link, in this instance.
You may not be able to afford it, but you’ll probably still want to know that TAG Heuer’s Meridiist phone is now available at London store Selfridges. 3,300 Euros will get you a phone that has been meticulously built by hand, an external steel case complete with a leather trim back cover, 1.9-inch QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. The phone will be available in 15 other countries throughout the world before we greet 2009.
Documents made public by the FCC today show a version of Nokia’s 6650 clamshell 3G smartphone sporting an AT&T logo. The 6650, announced overseas in March, sports a stainless steel cover, HSDPA data, GPS, 2 megapixel camera, QVGA display, and memory card slot. The smartphone runs the latest version of S60: 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2. The version announced in March supported WCDMA 850/2100, for use in Europe, Asia, and Australia. The version just approved by the FCC supports WCDMA 850/1900 instead.
Nokia, the leading handset maker, has been a favorite of ours for two reasons –- it ruthlessly promoted and added Wi-Fi connectivity to its handsets and added VoIP functionality to its devices.
Carriers did not view these technology developments too kindly since it prevented them from extorting exorbitant amounts of cash for costly long distance connections, leading to the rise of mobile-VoIP players such as Truphone, Fring and Gizmo Project.
But now the Finnish giant seems to have developed cold feet, and some of its new handsets, such as the new N78, are not VoIP compatible anymore. Many of these new phones are not on the list of Nokia’s VoIP compatible handsets. It is not clear how the older phones are going to be impacted. A reader tipped us off about this apparent change in the latest N-series phones.
Sigh. We’re still stoked about phones with built-in projectors, but we’re not at all okay with the first commercially-available unit being the nasty Epoq EGP-PP01 iPhone clone — yet we’ve got to hand it to China King for being the first out the gate with a handset that’ll beam a 30-inch VGA image on the wall for two hours off the built-in battery. Of course, that doesn’t mean we think anyone should actually drop $550 on this uninspired piece, but if you’ve absolutely got to show off you witty texting banter to the entire bar, this is your only option.
Nokia today fulfilled a promise from earlier this month with two new Nseries devices both aimed at driving down the cost of getting into full smartphones. The N85 as flagship appears set to replace the N81 and upgrades the camera from two to five megapixels, also adding GPS both for mapping and for geotagging shots. It also switches to a 2.6-inch AMOLED screen that should supply richer color and as much as 28 hours of music playback on a single charge.
Like the N81, the N85 slider is considered an N-Gage friendly phone and has controls suited to playing games from Nokia’s service in landscape view. Music is also an emphasis, though the handset maker has opted against the built-in storage of the N81 8GB and instead bundles an 8GB microSDHC card, giving owners the option of an upgrade to 16GB or beyond in the future. Internet access is supplied either through HSDPA.
AT&T has partnered with LG to announce the CB630 Invision, a candybar cell phone with support for AT&T’s MediaFLO-powered Mobile TV service. The LG Invision sports a low-end 1.3 megapixel camera and features support for AT&T’s Video Share video calling service.
The LG CB630 Invision is said to be available in stores and online, though we did not see it listed on AT&T’s online store at the time of this posting. Pricing is set at $99.99 with a 2-year commitment, after $50 mail-in rebate.
Sharp is going to launch its new 1-Seg handset ‘SH706ie’ in Japan market via NTT DoCoMo on August 19.
Adoting a 2.8-inch WQVGA LCD display and a 3.2M built-in camera with auto focus, the SH706ie supports global roaming service and 2GB of SDHC card slot. Measuring 106*48*16.1mm at 106g, it comes three different colors such as black, white and pink.