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

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

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.

Inexpensive fashion phone Sagem my220x

Sagem has unveiled its new product – the my220x mobile phone. Like its predecessor my150x the new device features compact size and light weight – mere 10 mm (thick) and 65 g. In all, we can call Sagem my220x an inexpensive fashion phone. Golden slim edges and golden navigation wheel add some elegancy to it. At the same time the phone has quite standard specs – GSM networks, a 65K color display and hands-free support. Sagem my220x lasts for 180 minutes in talk mode and 240 hours standby. Argos offers the device for 12.49 pound sterling (about 25 USD) and Woolworths – for 14.99 pound sterling (about 30 USD).

Dirt-resistant LCD panel for notebooks

LG.Philips LCD has developed a 15.4” dirt-resistant LCD panel for notebooks. Now you can easily clean off dust, fingerprints and even ink. According to the manufacturer, ordinary LCD coating holds onto dirt and oil, and most annoying – fingerprints. To make the display dirt-resistant many manufacturers apply additional coating, which is a time consuming process, besides it adds to the cost of the product. LG.Philips LCD has developed a brand new technology to solve the problem. Dirt and oil can be easily wiped away.

The mass production of 15.4” dirt-resistant LCD panels is scheduled for the first half of 2008. The company plans to expand the lineup with panels of all sizes by the end of next year.

Samsung G800 with 5-Mpx camera goes official

Today Samsung Electronics has unveiled a 5-megapixel handset G800. We’ve mentioned it in news and provided live pics.

In addition to 5-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash it features 3G support and HSDPA technology. The camera functions include face recognition, panoramic and macro modes, new graphical user’s interface draws the G800 closer to digital still cameras.

Samsung G800 is expected to hit the stores (starting from Europe) in November 2007.

BenQ C30 music phone with buttons on the top

BenQ has unveiled the C30 music phone. The device is made in the candy bar form with media player buttons on the top. The C30 features an FM-radio and a VGA-camera. On the whole we have a low-mid range handset.

The specs of BenQ C30:

• GSM 900/1800 MHz, GPRS class 12
• Display – 1.8” 128x160 pixels
• VGA-camera
• Built-in MP3-player (MP3, WAV, MIDI, AMR and AAC)
• FM-radio
• WAP 2.0, Java
• USB 1.1
• microSD-slot (up to 1 GB)
• Li-Ion 650 mAh battery
• Talk time – up to 4 hours
• Standby time – up to 250 hours
• Dimensions – 108x47.3x14.43 mm
• Weight - 77 g