Mobile Phones

Gizmondo have been burning VC for a while now in the UK with a shop (”boutique?”) in London’s Regent street (I’d love to know what the rent on that is). I do have a soft spot for them - you have to admire any company that tries go against Sony and Nintendo with a new hand held games console.

Admiration doesn’t pay the bills though and somehow I suspect they may have been a tad optimistic in trying to poach gamers away from the PSP et.al, which is why they’ve repositioned the device as a personal navigator and started pushing the GPS functionality a little harder.

They launched in the US yesterday with an SRP of $229. Actually you get a lot for your money - you get a games console, media player, GPS and GPRS/GSM device. Unfortunately you don’t get Wifi which is fast becoming a desirable feature in mobile electronics.

More details and pictures on the gizmondo website.

[edit: I’ve just looked on their shop and although the device does have an embedded GPS, the mapping software will set you back an extra 250 bucks which could start to hurt. For once we get a better deal in the UK - we can pick up the unit+navigiation package for 200 quid - about $350]

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As RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is becoming part of desktops and laptops users, how about having an RSS feed directly on your hand held devices, such as PDA, small screen smartphone or PocketPC? iAnywhere, a subsidiary of Sybase, announced the release of new RSS features for its popular AvantGo(R) mobile Internet service, in beta version,

Several new features packaged in the beta version, include allowing users greater ease-of-use for viewing mobile RSS subscriptions both online and offline. AvantGo users can add any RSS feed to their account, without installing additional software, and then synchronizing using wireless device, or desktop Internet connection to receive updated feeds in a format optimised for their device.

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Why is it most skirts don’t have pockets when most women carry around a bag the size of a small TV set full of junk. On the occassions when they manage to leave the bag and junk at home and are out hunting in a short and slinky black dress they still need some where to store the mobile phone and cash, to the rescue comes the Tsaya

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The popular perception of Bang and Olufsen kit is that it looks better than it performs and you pay dearly for the privilege of owning it. Early indications are that this “Serene” phone will fit nicely into the same category.

They have at least done one thing right though, they’ve put the screen on the bottom half of the flip so you don’t end up smearing it when you hold it next to your cheek.

A more comprehensive look can be found at trusted reviews, or you can check out the press release here

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Over the weekend at an electronic music festival that took placed in Berlin, Germany, this exquisite Nokia 3250, Nokia’s latest music phone, captured the spotlight of Nokia Trends by several people who attended the festival. Given a unique design, the mobile phone added a twisting axis down the centre of the phone, to transform a traditional phone keypad into dedicated music keys. In addition, it can store up to 1 Gigabytes (approximately 750 songs) of high quality music, offering 10 hours of continuous non-stop music playback. With camera becoming part and parcel of today’s mobile phone, Nokia 3250 comes with 2-megapixels built-in camera for consumers to take advantage of the smart phone’s capability. Equipped with tri-band functionality, it also allows connection to GSM 900/1800/1900 type of network. It is expected to be released to public during the first quarter of 2006, at an estimated retail price of EUR 350 (excluding taxes or subsidies).

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Motorola have finally released their long-awaited iTunes compatible phone/MP3 player. Apple announced the device yesterday but it took until today for pictures and specs to appear on Motorola’s website. Specs look good - bluetooth, camera and all the other bits you’d expect on a current phone. It has some built in speakers (why…?) and as you’d expet it will pause the music when you take a call. It should be available from stores in the US soon and will no doubt make it’s way over here for Christmas.

I’m still left thinking that a standalone MP3 player is a better deal though. The Rockr uses “Transflash” memory which only seems to be available in capacities of up to 256MB at the moment so you’re not going to get a lot of tunes on there, and it seems to be limited to 100 songs irrespective of the storage. Why? Who knows but the cynic in me says Apple don’t want anything getting too close to the iPod shuffle market…

It’ll be interesting to see how well they sell - I doubt many people are going to rush out and replace their phone with this but if you’re in the market for a new phone would iTunes compatibility persuade you to get this over another one?

More details at Motorola’s website or you can get Apple’s side of the story here.

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Even just a couple years ago the idea of having a handheld computer with phone and internet combined seem pretty far fetched. However developers from Research In Motion have designed a line of products that can do all this and much more.

Blackberry’s have been gaining more and more popularity among tech enthusiasts over the last few months. With various styles and features to choose from, including large LCD screens and Bluetooth technology, Reach In Motion are quickly becoming a force in the Industry.
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