HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro details for Sprint and Verizon!!

Rumors, being what they are, can always change mid-news-cycle. In this case, the rumors surrounding the HTC Touch Diamond’s arrival on Sprint and Verizon later this month (August 2008) has been updated to reflect new information from PhoneArena that points to the svelte touchscreen offering from HTC hitting Sprint and Verizon in early September and October, respectively.

The HTC Touch Diamond is expected to arrive on Sprint’s network in CDMA form bearing the HTC Victor moniker. The HTC Victor sports the same 528Mhz CPU that we find in the HTC Touch Diamond’s GSM brethren, with 256MB ROM / 256MB RAM and 4GB internal memory.

Verizon’s CDMA-variant of the HTC Touch Diamond will keep the HTC Touch Diamond model name, so there’s a little less confusion to deal with on Big Red’s network. Unfortunately, Verizon’s HTC Touch Diamond will hit market sporting a pared down 400Mhz processor with only 128MB of RAM (compared to the 256MB in the HTC Victor and 192MB in the GSM-variant). Even worse is the rumor that the HTC Touch Diamond will arrive on Verizon’s network without the 4GB of onboard storage - opting, instead, for a microSD card slot.

Sprint’s CDMA-version of the HTC Touch Pro (codename: Raphael) will reportedly be called the HTC Herman. The HTC Herman will mirror Verizon’s HTC Touch Diamond by nixing the 4GB of internal storage in favor of a microSD card slot. On the upside, the Herman should sport a beefy 512MB of ROM.

On the flip-side, Verizon is opting to stay true to HTC’s naming scheme and will brand their CDMA HTC Touch Pro the Verizon HTC Raphael (HTC’s original Touch Pro codename). We’ll likely be seeing 512MB of ROM in the Verizon HTC Raphael, but will swap out the aluminum frame for a steel frame.

We’re also hearing that Sprint could have a 30-day exclusivity on HTC’s new smartphone wares, so Verizon customers will just have to wait to get their hands on the latest and greatest from HTC - which is par for the course anyway.

Otherwise, all handsets should be rocking the same specs as the HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch Pro’s GSM stablemates. That means the glorious VGA touchscreen display, GPS, and 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera will likely make the jump to the CDMA side of things.

As always, it’s healthy to keep perspective on speculation. Don’t take rumors as truth, you’ll end up being disappointed more than not.

New built-to last concept from Nokia, plus more

Today, Nokia showed off a trio of concepts, set to change the way consumers think about mobile phones.

First up – the cleverly named Wears In, Not Out concept – which basically aims for a phone to last five to ten years, as opposed to eighteen months, akin to a television, or a laptop.

Next – the Peoples First concept, this scraps the usual way we navigate through phone menus, instead it will work with what's known as Human Universals, allowing anyone, regardless of their native language, to use the phone. This is achieved by the menu consisting of one big list, which shows the phones history, so the user can navigate up, and down to call people, or activate features. Keeping the trend with Nokia's Eco Green philosiphy, the phone will be able to switch from colour, to mono screen, to save battery life.

Lastly, Nokia showed off a new charger – called Zero Waste, which aims to save electricity in the home. The charger will sport an on/off button,and it may offer a one hour charging time, and, the user's phone may tell the charger that it's full, and turn itself off.

Sony Ericsson P5 spotted once again

We've reported sightings of Sony Ericsson's unannounced P5 smartphone before, and can now show you more images of the device. From the images below, we can see a forward-facing camera, for video calling, a fast port connector on the side, M2 memory card slot, and five megapixel camera on the rear of the device.

The screen looks to be around 2.6”, and as you know, the P5 has the P1/M600-style rocker keyboard, although t looks a tad cramped, owing to the fact that it is not as wide as the M600, or the P1

Yahoo Go version 3.0 launched

Yahoo has released version 3.0 of its Go software, for windows-Mobile-powered smartphones. The User Interface has apparently been improved, to some degree, and their oneSearh feature has seen an improvement too. Version 3.0 now has support for widgets, and a Yahoo screen. Yahoo Go lets users connect to various Yahoo services, such as News, Mail, Maps and Weather. You can get the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 beta here.

Motorola A1800 – new MING smartphone

The BGR site has posted photos of a new Linux-powered smartphone – MING A1800. Like its predecessor Motorola MING A1200 the new phone is packed in a pseudo clamshell phone with the flip and touchscreen display. This is a dual mode device for CDMA and GSM networks and with dual SIM slot, says the source. The A1800 comes with a 3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth interface, all this in a compact and lightweight shell. However the source hasn’t provided any more details, such as the release date and the price. Next week we’ll probably hear an official announcement of the product at CTIA Wireless.

XV6900 HTC Touch in CDMA.

The Verizon XV6900 is a sleek wireless broadband Windows Mobile phone with an intuitive touch interface. Designed by HTC, the lightweight XV6900 is only 3.95 oz, and sports a 2.0 megapixel digital camera.

Sure to stand out, this attractive mobile phone comes in pearl white with chrome accents. The touchscreen interace allowed the phone's designers to minimize the number of buttons and create an elegant design with only start and end call buttons and a directional pad on the face of the phone.

32GB SDHC storage media to come out in Apri

Panasonic has reported it will launch a 32GB SDHC storage card in April 08. The card complies with Class 6 standard and is marked SDV32GU1K. This is the world first card with such capacity, which can store up to 12 hours of high-quality HD video. The recommended price jumped to $699.

The short specs of the SDV32GU1K:

• Capacity: 32 GB
• Available capacity: 30.979 MB
• Physical specifications comply with SD 2.0 version
• Data transfer speed - 20 Mbps.

LG introduces pioneer 3G handsets for WCDMA roaming

LG Electronics has announced today that GSM Association (GSMA) selected LG-KM560 and LG-KP330 phones to lead GSMA’s Horizon Phone Campaign. The initiative aims to provide a range of multi-band Mobile Broadband handsets and meet the needs of customers around the world. Many manufacturers do often implement the support of a single or dual WCDMA band. While LG’s new handsets boast of tri-band 3G support – 850, 1900 and 2100 MHz in addition to GSM bands, thus they enable automatic roaming in over 220 countries.

Initially LG-KM560 and LG-KP330 will be available through operators in Europe, Asia and Latin America in 2H 08.

GSmart MS800 and MS820 – a pair of GPS-enabled communicators

GIGA-BYTE has come to the Mobile World Congress 2008 with some new products, including GSmart MS800 and GSmart MS820. The first one was announced right before the show.

Both models feature slim housing, HSDPA support and an integrated GPS. Besides the MS820 incorporates a user friendly interface and a g-sensor to operate the device by motion. Unfortunately the company hasn’t shared more details about it so far.

Toshiba Portege G810 – a GPS-enabled communicator

Toshiba has unveiled its Portege G810 communicator at Mobile World Congress 2008. This is a compact Windows Mobile-powered candy bar with a touchscreen and no hardware keyboard. It boasts of the support for 2G/3G networks, HSDPA and HSUPA standards. The company expects to ship the Portege G810 to Europe in 2Q 08, but it hasn’t unveiled the pricing details.

The specs of Toshiba Portege G810:

• OS - Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• CPU - Qualcomm MSM7200 (400 MHz)
• Networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSDPA (3.6 Mbps)/HSUPA (2 Mbps) 850/1900/2100
• Display – 2.83” touchscreen (QVGA, 65K colors)
• Memory - 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
• microSD-slot (up to 4 GB storage)
• Built-in GPS-receiver, A-GPS support
• 3-megapixel camera
• Interface - Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
• FM-radio with RDS
• Dimensions – 110x58x14 mm
• Weight - 120 g
• Battery - 1530 mAh
• Standby time – up to 200 hours
• Talk time – up to 4 hours

HTC P3470 – an entry-level GPS-enabled communicator

HTC has officially announced a new communicator, which popped up in news under the codename Pharos – it’s HTC P3470. Taking into account its specs, we see an entry level device lacking the support of both 3G and Wi-Fi, but carrying a GPS-receiver onboard. The price tag doesn’t seem to fit an entry-level communicator. Late in February HTC P3470 will become available in some European countries from Orange operator at €449.

The specs of HTC P3470:

Cell networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

• Chipset - TI OMAP 850, 200 MHz
• OS - Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• Display – 2.8” touchscreen QVGA
• 2-megapixel camera
• 256 MB ROM, 128 MB RAM
• microSD-slot
• Bluetooth: 2.0 EDR
• GPS-receiver
• Interface - HTC ExtUSB (miniUSB and audio jack), USB 2.0 Full-Speed
• Battery - 1100 mAh
• Talk time – up to 350 minutes
• Standby time – up to 240 hours
• Dimensions – 108x58.3x15.7 mm
• Weight - 122 g

Sony Ericsson G900 - jam-packed with features smartphone

Another newcomer to Sony Ericcson's line-up that has been revealed at 3GSM Congress. The G900 is a feature-packed smartphone coming in with a touch-sensitive display.

The G900 boasts a 5 Mpix camera with auto focus and image stabilizer, a 2.4-inch touchscreen powered by the Single Touch Control Menu, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth (A2DP) and the ability to tap into UMTS (2100) and GSM/GPRS (900/1800/1900 (networks). The handset runs Sony Ericsson's standard smartphone OS - UIQ.

The Sony Ericsson G900 is expected to go on sale in Q2 2008 in a choice of two colors: dark-read and brown.

Technical specifications

• GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900, UMTS 2100 connectivity;
• Standby time: up to 380 hours;
• Talk time: GSM - 12 hours, UMTS – 4 hours;
• Display: 2.4", 240x320 pixels, 262 K colors, touch-sensitive
• Memory: 160 Mb onboard, M2 memory expansion slot;
• PlayNow, TrackID, FM-radio
• Push Email, Exchange, Active Sync, Handwriting recognition;
• Bluetooth (A2DP), WiFi;
• Camera: 5 Mpix with video recording capabilities and Photo Fix;
• Dimensions: 106 x 49 x 13 mm;
• Weight: 99 grams.

Internet-ready Sony Ericsson Z770 Announced

Sony Ericsson yesterday announced the Z770 clamshell phone, optimised for the Internet, benefiting from HSDPA. The Z770 can easily be used as a modem, and comes with an effortlessly easy Email set-up wizard. It also incorporates the vastly popular Google Maps application.

Martin Winkler, Director Global Marketing and Head of Multimedia Web at Sony Ericsson said “It appeals to busy people who demand hassle-free email and high quality Web access on the move. These people need to be in-touch, need to be on top of their email, but don’t necessarily want a smartphone or PDA. The Z770 is the uncomplicated answer.”

Technical specifications:

• GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSDPA 2100 connectivity;
• Standby time: up to 350 hours;
• Talk time: GSM - 8,5 hours, UMTS - 4,5 hours;
• Display: 2,2", 240x320 pixels, 262 K colors;
• Memory: 32 Mb onboard, M2 memory expansion slot;
• Music player with support for MP3, AAC;
• PlayNow, TrackID;
• Bluetooth (A2DP);
• Camera: 2 Mpix with video recording capabilities and Photo Fix;
• Dimensions: 93 x 48 x 15.5 mm;
• Weight: 91 grams.

Nokia N78 – navigation, music and photo in one

Another Nokia’s product at Mobile World Congress 2008 is the N78 smartphone. The manufacturer stakes on navigation, music and photo capture in this handset. The device supports Ovi services: Music Store, Maps and Share, the latter is a recent service to share personal media content. Nokia N78 will hit the stores in 2Q 08 listed for some €350.

The specs of Nokia N78:

• Cell networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and WCDMA/HSDPA 900/2100 MHz
• Platform - S60 3rd Edition FP 2
• Display – 2.4” QVGA, 16M colors
• 70 MB of onboard memory
• microSD-slot
• Music player - MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
• 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens (digital zoom 20x)
• Frontal CIF-camera
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, USB2.0
• A-GPS
• FM-radio
• FM-transmitter
• Battery - 1200 mAh
• Dimensions – 113x49x15.1 mm
• Weight – 101.8 g

Nokia N96 goes official

Nokia has made an official announcement of the N96 smartphone at Mobile World Congress 2008. This is an heir of the N95, but looking like the N81. Like the predecessor, the new Nokia smartphone comes in a two-way slider form: the bottom part reveals a numeric keypad, while the top one hides the media player buttons. The company positions the N96 as a multimedia PC optimized for video and TV watching. There is the support of Ovi services. The smartphone is expected to be shipped in 3Q 08 at the recommended retail price of €550.

The specs of Nokia N96:

• Standards - GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and WCDMA/HSDPA 900/2100 MHz
• Platform - S60 3rd Edition FP 2
• Display – 2.8” QVGA, 16M colors
• 16 GB of onboard memory
• microSD-slot
• Media player (MPEG-4/SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, RealVideo, Windows Media (WMV9), Flash Lite 3.0, MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA)
• 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, video capture at VGA resolution, 30 fps (double LED flash active at video shooting too)
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 EDR (A2DP stereo profile)
• Integrated GPS-receiver with A-GPS
• DVB-H Class C
• microUSB-port
• TV-out
• FM-radio with RDS
• Battery - 950 mAh
• Talk time – up to 150 minutes (3G) or up to 220 minutes (GSM)
• Standby time – up to 200 hours (3G) or up to 220 hours (GSM)
• Playback time – up to 5 hours (video), 14 hours (audio) and 4 hours (TV)
• Dimensions – 103x55x18 mm
• Weight - 125 g

Samsung Soul –a touchpad slider in a slim shell

Samsung has unveiled a new flagship product at Mobile World Congress, which started today in Barcelona. The phone is called Soul (standing for “the Spirit of Ultra”). The company has made an unusual step and added a touch-sensitive panel under the display to this slider-type phone. This is a 1.2” OLED display with the control elements customizable with active functions. Besides the Soul is packed in a 12.9 mm shell and equipped with a 5-megapixel camera.

The specs of Samsung Soul:

• Cell networks - GSM (quad band) and UMTS/HSDPA (up to 7.2 Mbps)
• Display – 2.2” (16M colors, QVGA)
• 5-megapixel auto focus camera, 4x digital zoom, face detection, image stabilizer, Wide Dynamic Range
• FM-radio with RDS
• Interface - Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• microSD-slot
• Media player
• Bang & Olufsen ICEpower audio enhancement technology
• Dimensions – 105.9x49.5x12.9 mm

Samsung Soul will come to European stores in April 08.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 goes live

Sony Ericsson's new X1 is a true multimedia powerhouse, employing an arc slider form-factor, sliding the phone upwards reveals a QWERTY keyboard, similar to HTC's Tytn II. The Xperia aims to do it all, in a not-so overly big size.

“This launch, and the announcement of the X1, further strengthens the overall Sony Ericsson brand and places us at the forefront of mobile convergence.”, said Dee Dutta, Head of Marketing, Sony Ericsson.

The Xperia is Sony Ericsson's first Windows Mobile-powered smartphone, running on Windows Mobile version 6. The Xperia will be great for web browsing, thanks to its 800x480 3”, bright touchscreen. The Xperia has several different input methods, you are not limited to just the touch screen, it supports: touch, full QWERTY keyboard, 4-way navigation key, and optical joystick navigation. The Xperia is expected to launch sometime in the second half of 2008.

Technical specifications of theSony Ericsson XPERIA X1:

• GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA 900/1700/1900/2100 MHz;
• OS: Windows Mobile 6;
• Display: 3", touch sensitive, 800х480, 65 K colors;
• Dimensions: 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm;
• Weight: 145 grams;
  
• Camera: 3.2 Mpix, autofocus;
• Bluetooth (A2DP), Wi-Fi, GPS;
• FM-radio
• Bundled storage: up to 400 Mb
• microSD memory expansion slot

SE’s patent for transformer phone

The US Patent Office has got a patent application from Sony Ericsson. The project describes a mobile phone with two detachable connected housings. The idea can be implemented in a clamshell, slider or a rotator-type phone. The phone consists of two parts: the one with the keypad and the battery (GPS-receiver and camera can go in there too) and the other with the display, some buttons and another battery. Both housings communicate with each other via Bluetooth. The developers believe such design serves two opposite goals – while being compact, it provides a convenient hardware keypad. That is, you can use only the display housing and the rest of the phone put deep in your bag. Besides you can joint two parts with the main display on the inside or outside of phone, when closed.

Apacer player with touch control

Apacer Technology Inc has announced the release of a new MP3-player AU860. In 2007 the AU860 concept was awarded G-Mark – the highest design award in Japan.

The AU860 player is equipped with a 1.8” color LCD, which provides the clear picture. You can control the player with a touch-sensitive panel with blue backlight.

The company draws attention to battery performance. The player can run music for 20 hours continuously due to the special technology. There is an external equalizer button and high quality headphones, which let you listen to the music comfortably.

The player comes with 2 and 4 GB of memory onboard.

Spy pics of Asus M930 smartphone

We’ve already mentioned an upcoming Asus M930 smartphone – a landscape oriented clamshell with two keyboards (numeric and QWERTY) and two displays. This time some spy pics and info have leaked to the Internet from a private presentation in Germany. The specs of Asus M930 agree with the preliminary ones – 2G/3G support, Windows Mobile 6 Standard OS, TI 2431 450 MHz, 2-megapixel camera, wireless modules and so on.

Asus M930 will be shipped in 2Q 2008, its price will range from $500 to $600 depending on the kit.

Toshiba SoftBank 921T – waterproof, hinge display, TV-tuner

It has become a tradition with many Japan’s handset makers to give names of big TV brands to mobile displays and phone image processing systems. For example, Toshiba has equipped its new 921T handset (announced yesterday by SoftBank operator) with a widescreen OLED display called “REGZA”.

This clamshell phone has a waterproof shell, which complies with IPX5, IPX7 standards. Its hinge display can be revolving in two directions. The 921T comes with a TV-tuner receiving “one-segment” digital TV-programs, specially designed for mobile devices.

The short specs of Toshiba 921T:

• National networks only - W-CDMA with HSPDA (up to 3.6 Mbps)
• Dimensions: 51x106x19.4 mm
• Weight: 132 g
• Display: 2.8” widescreen, 240x400 pixels
• microSD cards (up to 2 GB)
• Main camera: 3.24-megapixel, auto focus, image stabilizer
• Camera for video calls: CMOS, 320-kpix
• Connectivity: Bluetooth (stereo sound), IrDA
• Navigation and payment services
• Terrestrial TV programs

Skyfire – the fastest mobile browser

Soon we expect the release of a new free browser for mobile devices called Skyfire. Currently the company is about to release a private beta-version for Windows Mobile smartphones, and later it will add the support of Symbian smartphones. According to Skyfire, the advantage of the new browser is that it implements the same capabilities as PC solutions. The browser supports Flash 9, Ajax, Quicktime, Java, Windows Media and other technologies, so the users can view web-pages on a mobile device quickly and easily. The smartphone screen displays all essential info, including dynamic content, audio and video. Besides the company claims Skyfire features the fastest work speed among other mobile browsers.

Reportedly, the users can participate in tests of the new mobile browser. They need to fill in the registration form on this page and wait for the test start notification.

Sony to update notebook lineup

Sony has launched updated notebooks of the following series: VAIO AR60, FZ30, SZ70, CR30 and TP2 based on Intel Core 2 Duo CPU. Besides most notebooks to be released this year will be equipped with Blu-ray Disc. The senior models of the AR60, FZ30 and SZ70 series will carry 4 GB SDRAM onboard, which should have great effect on their productivity.

Sony highlights the capabilities of the VGN-AR61ZU: it can play HD video, based on Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 processor, 4GB SDRAM and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512 MB VRAM. The model can also write dual-layer Blu-ray Disc.

Sony VAIO TP2 Home Entertainment Centre is really a home entertainment center. The updated version works on Intel Core 2 Duo T8100. It features Blu-ray Disc Combo and BRAVIA technology, so it can be connected with Sony BRAVIA TV sets. Besides the VAIO TP2 is packed in a stylish black shell.

EazzzY: tiny USB camera

Sungwoo Park has created an original USB called EazzzY. The device indeed features a flash drive size and nothing unnecessary. Packed in a tiny shell it has no room for a viewfinder, a display or buttons except for the main one, the camera button. However this compact solution outpaces all current models and supports direct PC connection via USB. However there are some doubts that such device will ever come to the market and be in demand.