HTC Bravo Review

Here’s an update on one of the phones featured in the leaked HTC 2010 line-up. Shown here in a better quality picture is the HTC Bravo. We now know that it will come with a 3.7-inch OLED touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, dual-LED flash, WiFi, HSPA, A-GPS, 3.5mm jack, and packs a 1GHz Snapdragon processor under the hood as well. It’s also another Android phone, and based on its reported specs, certainly lives up to its billing as a phone meant for power-users out there. Physically, it’s hard to deny it resemblance to another HTC phone, the HTC HD2. Well, that’s because this is also considered as the Android version of the HTC HD2. No price just yet, but word is that it’ll be dropping in the US as the HTC Passion sometime in January with Europe to follow (as the Bravo via T-Mobile) in April. This should serve as a good reason for you not to spend all your savings this holiday season so that you’ve got enough left come next year for this sexy new Android touchscreen phone.

Google’s Android Smart Phone Marks New Assault on Apple IPhone

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc.’s development of a mobile phone that uses its Android operating system marks a new push by the company to take on Apple Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd. in the smart-phone market, analysts said.
Google, the most popular Internet search engine, last week gave employees an Android handset for testing. The device has a touch screen like the iPhone, and users can search the Web by speaking search terms.
Google is focusing on the mobile market as growth in its search-advertising business on desktop computers slows. Phone makers such as Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. already offer handsets that run on Google’s Android operating system. Having its own device gives Google more control over how the hardware and software works together, and intensifies competition for Apple, said Ben Schachter, an analyst at San Francisco-based Broadpoint AmTech Inc.
“If all of a sudden everyone is getting on the Internet via their mobile device, Google needs to make sure it has an influence on that,” Schachter said yesterday in an interview. “They need to make sure they have influence on how the mobile Web will develop.” He recommends buying Google stock and doesn’t own it.
The Android phone, made by Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC, may be available for consumers as early as next year, the Wall Street Journal reported. No carrier has been announced for the device.
Mobile Advertising
Creating its own handset reflects Google’s effort to expand advertising sales on mobile devices, a market that may grow to $2 billion to $3 billion by 2013 in the U.S., up from less than $1 billion now, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. In November, Google announced plans to pay $750 million for AdMob Inc., a mobile-phone advertising startup backed by Google investor Sequoia Capital.
Google, based in Mountain View, California, first disclosed that it was working on a phone in a blog posting on Dec. 12, saying that employees were using the device to provide feedback.
“At Google, we are constantly experimenting with new products and technologies, and often ask employees to test these products for quick feedback and suggestions for improvements,” Google said. “We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities.”
Katie Watson, a spokeswoman for Google, declined to comment beyond the blog posting. HTC Chief Financial Officer Cheng Hui- ming, and public relations official Maggie Cheng didn’t answer calls.
More Google Searches
If the handset sells well, it would push more people to use Google when searching from their phones, said Aaron Kessler, an analyst with Kaufman Brothers LP in San Francisco. The number of mobile searches grew 30 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said on a call for analysts in October.
Apple’s iPhone models were the second and third most popular consumer smart phones last quarter, according to research firm NPD Group Inc. RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 8300 lineup took first place. The newest iPhone, the 3GS, sold more than 1 million units in its opening weekend in June. Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California- based Apple, declined to comment. Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for Waterloo, Ontario-based Research In Motion, didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Users Lure Developers
Google needs to attract more consumers to Android phones to spur developers to create applications, said Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein in New York. There are more than 100,000 applications available for the iPhone, while Android has more than 12,000.
“The guy who gets biggest fastest gets the most developers,” Lindsay said. “It’s a fight for scale.”
Google slipped 0.2 percent to $590.51 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on Dec. 11. The shares have gained 92 percent year. Apple, which has more than doubled in 2009, fell 0.9 percent to $194.67.
Google may use the device as a way to show other manufacturers and wireless carriers the possibilities of mobile computing, Schachter said. The company could use its Google.com site to sell the Android phone, just as Amazon.com Inc. used its home page to help increase sales of the Kindle electronic book reader, he said.
“Let’s say it’s not a major success -- then it shows what’s possible,” Schachter said. “They want to have a very powerful seat at the table.”
Motorola Droid
Google and T-Mobile USA Inc. introduced the first Android phone in September 2008, a bid to lure consumers away from the iPhone and BlackBerry. Last month, Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola introduced the Droid phone, which can run multiple applications at once and features voice-driven Web searches.
Google’s phone may be “unlocked,” meaning that it wouldn’t be tied to a specific phone network. Customers would then have to sign up for wireless service from a carrier.
T-Mobile and AT&T Inc., the wireless partner for the iPhone in the U.S., offer service plans for unlocked devices. Michael Coe, a spokesman for Dallas-based AT&T, and Peter Dobrow, a spokesman for T-Mobile, declined to comment. Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson and Sprint Nextel Corp. spokeswoman Michelle Leff Mermelstein didn’t return phone and e-mail messages.
Google has the opportunity to kick start demand for Android phones, even if Apple’s iPhone still dominates, Lindsay said.
“They’ve put all the conditions in place to succeed,” said Lindsay, who rates Google “outperform” and doesn’t own the stock. “Still, Apple’s got the edge.”

Google Phone May Be in Works

Google appears to be preparing to market its own smartphone, a move that would intensify the company’s rivalry with Apple, whose iPhone dominates the high-end smartphone market in the United States.
On Friday, Google distributed a new phone running its own Android operating software to many of its employees. On the messaging service Twitter, some Google employees described the device as a “Google phone,” renewing speculation that the company is getting ready to release a mobile phone with its own brand.
Google employees who asked not to be identified confirmed recently that the company was indeed developing new hardware and software for Android phones and coming up with new ways to get those phones into the hands of consumers, but they would not give more details. One Google employee said the new phone, which is being made by HTC, a major Taiwanese cellphone maker, was designed from the ground up by Google.
The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site late Saturday that Google would sell the phone directly to consumers rather than through carriers, which sell the bulk of mobile phones in the United States.
The move, if confirmed, would signal a more aggressive effort by Google to become a force in mobile devices. Google has long insisted that it is not interested in building or selling phones, saying it prefers to rely on hardware partners and wireless carriers to flood the market with a wide variety of Android-powered phones.
A shift toward branding, distributing or even dictating the exact hardware design of an Android phone could also put Google at odds with those partners, which currently include Verizon Wireless and Motorola.
On Saturday Google acknowledged on a corporate blog that it was indeed distributing a new class of Android phones to employees to experiment with new features.
Mario Queiroz, a vice president of product management, said, “This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.”

Samsung unveils new smart-phone platform ‘bada’

ISLAMABAD: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, a leading mobile phone provider on Friday unveiled its new smart-phone platform, ‘Samsung bada’. At this unveiling, Samsung showcased the bada Software Development Kit (SDK) for partners and presented the unique benefits and unprecedented opportunities that the bada platform will bring to developers, mobile operators and consumers. Samsung Pakistan Managing Director Steve Han said, “Samsung bada is a driving force in accomplishing Samsung’s vision of a ‘smart-phone for everyone’.” staff report

Acer prepare 8-10 smartphones in 2010

Acer  started to sell its first mobile phone model running on Google’s Android software this week, and will introduce more Android handsets next year, the head of its phone unit said on Thursday.
For 2010, Acer plans to introduce yet another 8 to 10 new smartphones, but this time the line-up will be more balanced between Android and Windows – se we could expect to see half of Acer’s 2010 handsets coming with Android.

iPhone Supreme: the most expensive mobile phone in the world

Goldstriker International has won the questionable first prize in managing to produce the most expensive mobile phone in human history this week, with an iPhone 3G Supreme worth a reported £1.92 million.
This would be one of those phones that you would NOT want to be taking out to Soho on a Friday night bender and then, as you always do, dropping under the seat of an unlicensed mini-cab and totally forgetting about it on the way home.
Just a tip.
The iPhone 3GS Supreme was designed by a scouser, no less - one Stuart Hughes of Liverpool, who spent ten months of his life creating this thing.
We'll repeat that, for effect.
Ten months of his life. Dipping an iPhone in gold.
So how is it worth nearly £2 million? Here is how. It features 271 grams of 22ct solid gold, while 136 flawless diamonds (68 Ct's worth) on the front bezel, the rear Apple logo in solid gold lined by 53 diamonds and the front navigation button houses a very rare diamond at 7.1cts.
A lovely box too!
Oh, and it also 'ships' with 7kg chest made from a single block of Granite, offset with Kashmir gold and top grain Nubuck leather inner lining.
You won't find it on the Apple Store. It was actually commissioned by an 'eccentric' (idiotic) and anonymous Australian gold mining magnate.
If you want to commission your own head to Goldstriker International
Or just wait until they go on sale at Tesco next month and pop down to your local Argos to buy some cheap beads to stick on it.

Motorola Crush from U.S. Cellular

Motorola has recently announced the availability of its touch-based Crush from U.S. Cellular. The phone has:

2.8" 240 x 400 WQVGA display
Virtual QWERTY keyboard
2Mpix camera
Stereo Bluetooth
3.5mm headset
jackmicroSD slot (up to 16GB)
Built-in pedometer

Two New Sliders from Nokia

Nokia has recently unveiled two new slider phones that both support quad-band GSM/EDGE and North American tri-band WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz radios. Other shared features are Bluetooth microSD card support, FM radio and integration with Ovi services. Both will be released in the Q1 2010.

The 6700 Slide is a S60 handset that features a 5Mpix camera with autofocus, flash, Carl Zeiss optics, on-board photo editing functions, and the ability to capture video at 15 fps. It will cost about $240.

The 7230 is a Series 40 handset with a 3.2Mpix camera, and includes Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging. It will be selling for about $150.

Nokia E52 Preview- Great battery life...

 
As a part of the E-Series family, the E52 is a bit of a black shee
It's a messaging phone, but it doesn't have a QWERTY or dual-QWERTY
keyboard. Perhaps its extraordinary battery life will come to its rescue.

Upside

At 9.9mm thick the E52 is the mobile phone equivalent of a size zero. But as with supermodels, is there such a thing as a phone being too skinny? We think not, in fact as long as the phone is sturdy enough not to snap in the middle we say the thinner the better.
The big drawcard for the E52 though is its reported 23 days standby battery life, and eight hours of talk-time. These are startling figures if you consider that the E52 will make use of HSDPA data, Wi-Fi, GPS and Nokia's new push email messaging client. Of course, the quoted figures are most likely excluding extra connectivity like push email, but if the battery can handle 23 days in standby then it probably does better than most at powering always-on features and data transfers during web browsing.
Interestingly the E52 will feature a new ARM processor, a 600MHz chip as opposed to the 369MHz processor found in the E75. This is another feature we'd have thought would significantly drain a phone's battery, and yet the E52 should still be one of the most power efficient mobiles in market if Nokia's claims prove true.

Downside

Nokia's family of E-Series messaging phones is growing faster than we think is necessary. Last year saw two E-Series devices, the full-QWERTY candybar E71, and the slider with a numeric keypad E66. Even with just a choice of two there is no doubting the popularity of the E71, which crushed the E66 into forgettable dust. This year we've seen the E75 in the flesh and heard about the announcements of the E55 and E52, and the differences between all three handsets are smaller still, especially between the latter two.

In line with this train of thought, what is the real purpose of a Nokia messaging phone with a standard numeric keypad? Take away the stainless steel trim and the E52 would look and work like a Nokia 6220 Classic. Nokia will tell us that the E-Series is differentiated by its software perhaps, but the recent Classic series updates used the same processor and version of the Series 60 operating platform, and will run the same software. Plus you'd probably get a better camera with a Classic series handset.

Overall

We don't want to be too unsympathetic before we see the E52, but if it's a messaging handset then we want something about the phone to say this; a QWERTY keyboard is always a good place to start. The extended battery life is not to be sneezed at, and here's hoping Nokia finds a way to incorporate these stellar battery cycles across all phones in its range. The E52 will be in Australia in the second half of 2009.

Review: Samsung Jet

 

Design

The Jet is compact, pocket-friendly and the buttons are well-defined with good travel. Disappointingly, it invites fingerprint smudges too easily. From the side, the front and back of the chassis taper to a point on the bottom edge. The side profile resembles a flattened speeding bullet, possibly a fitting appearance for the speedy 800MHz processor inside.
The real gem, however, lies in the details, starting with the hexagonal button below the screen, which resembles a 3D cube instead of the regular flat key. It has a clear plastic layer on top with a reflective mirror acting as the base — a very elegant design we must say.

Around the back is a hologram of red "railings", visible only when the phone is tilted at certain angles. It's gimmicky, but we like the little touches that Samsung has added on the Jet. The micro-USB port and 3.5mm audio jack sit along the top, while the key lock, Media Gate (more on that later) and camera shutter are on the right. On the opposite side is the volume button.

Features

The Jet runs on TouchWiz 2.0, an updated version of the touchscreen user interface seen on earlier phones like the F480. There are three home screens, similar to the Android operating system, and you can drag widgets onto these "pages". Each page operates independently. This means it's possible to have the same app on all three screens, even though we reckon no one would do that. One thing to note is that it's not possible to scroll vertically on the home screens, so you're limited to the 3.1-inch, 800x480-pixel AMOLED display. Larger widgets take up more space and you may end up being able to fit only one app on a page.
There are two types of widgets on the Jet: the offline ones and those that require an internet connection. The latter group comprises news, weather and search apps. The Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Photobucket, Flicker, Picasa and Friendster widgets are merely web links, so these are considered offline apps. Admittedly, the variety of widgets is still limited at this moment (34 are preinstalled). And while the widget platform is interesting, other smartphone operating systems have been around for a long time and third-party programs are readily available on the web. The one thing we'd like to see is a software development kit (SDK) for the platform as this may dramatically increase the potential of the system if developers catch on it.
A few other novelties come with TouchWiz 2.0. These include the Media Gate 3D user interface and Motion Gate. The former is reminiscent of LG's 3D S-Class cube interface and HTC's TouchFlo 3D. There's a shortcut button on the side of the phone to access Media Gate, which is simply an on-screen cube suspended in mid-air. You can swipe and rotate it to get to six multimedia programs such as music player and the web browser. The irony is that Samsung also provides a row of on-screen shortcuts at the bottom of the display. We find the latter more useful (and faster) in getting to the apps. When you get to the browser on the cube, you flick up or down to cycle through your bookmarks. Likewise in Album where you can quickly scroll through photo snaps like a pack of cards.
The motion recognition engine Motion Gate is more interactive. We can shake the device to end applications and double-tap to play music and take pictures, but our experience with it fell short. This is because Motion Gate is accessible only via a separate menu by holding down the Media Gate button to get to the two assigned shortcuts. This means that if you use the standard music player from the phone's main menu, you can't snap/tilt to switch tracks. Or if you activate the camera by holding down the shutter key, the double-tap feature wouldn't work. We think these are innovative features, but it's more a showcase of what Samsung can do with the built-in accelerometer rather than being useful and intuitive apps. Still, it's a good attempt even if we find the implementation lacking.
We like the Etiquette pause and Speaker call accelerometer-based functions on the Jet. The former is common enough these days and lets you mute the phone when you face it down. The Speaker call function is a little more unique and smart. Moving the phone away from the face during a call and placing it on a flat surface automatically activates the speakerphone. This worked without a hitch during our review.
There's also a new tap-and-slide zooming feature which Samsung introduced on the phone. This isn't as intuitive as pinching and stretching on the iPhone, but it works (even though it takes a few moments to get used to it) and that's good. Smart Unlock, which we saw earlier on the Samsung Star, is also implemented here. This lets you unlock the phone by writing a predetermined letter on-screen.
Like the home screen, the main menu is now spread over three pages as well. This is similar to the iPhone interface except that you don't have an option to rearrange the icons. The good thing about this layout is you no longer need to have sub-menus. For example, you may need to go into Organizer to get to certain apps in that folder on some devices. With this interface, you can get to the programs directly. The Jet doesn't have a physical keypad, so text input is via the on-screen alphanumeric pad, or a QWERTY keyboard when you rotate the device sideways.
At this point, we'd like to clarify that we tested two Jets on three MobileOne (M1) SIM cards and we encountered several teething problems. We couldn't get the handsets to synchronise with our office Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Assisted-GPS didn't work and web page rendering on Samsung's proprietary Dolfin browser was wonky. Initially, we thought this could be an issue with the hardware and we asked the company what could have gone wrong. It turned out that the data settings sent over-the-air from M1 doesn't work for our sets. Samsung's product manager clarified that the handsets bought directly from the telco wouldn't face these issues since they would have been pre-configured with the right settings. Fair enough.
That said, we still couldn't get the Jet to sync with our Exchange Server with the SingTel SIM card. The explanation from Samsung was that the Exchange ActiveSync implementation on the Jet is meant only for basic Exchange use, typically SMB or SOHO set-ups which have their email systems provided by a hosting company. Although we weren't able to test this out, Samsung's press release said that ActiveSync will synchronise emails, calendar and contacts entries.
The Dolfin browser is a Webkit version, letting you have up to five tabs opened simultaneously. That's helpful if you need to zip between different websites.
According to Samsung, Jet units sold in Singapore are not bundled with a microSD memory card, although the handset has an internal memory of 2GB. This is required to run the mapping software that supposedly incorporates 3D Map Navigation. You can activate the program icon in the phone settings, but you'd get a message prompt that says you should insert the memory card. It can be a little misleading and we feel this option should have been disabled if the accompanying software isn't provided in the box. That said, Google Maps is pre-installed, so you still have basic mapping software on the Jet.

Performance

The Jet packs an 800MHz processor, a clock speed that's considered fast even when compared with smartphones. The HD Icon and Omnia i900 had processors with clock speeds of 600MHz and 624MHz, respectively. Navigating the phone's menus and opening applications was snappy. At the same time, we were impressed with the 5-megapixel camera, which had a shutter lag of only 0.2 second. There was hardly any purple fringing in our snaps and the shooter was able to handle white balance pretty well in our test shots. The dual-LED flash, however, gave us uneven lighting as the intensity was generally focused on the centre of our test shots and dropped off rapidly toward the edges.
We had no issues with call quality and video calls were respectable. The image quality from the front camera was admirable and there was minimal display of sluggishness and lag. The on-board speakers were also loud enough for video calls and music playback. Video capture is at 720x480 pixels (30fps) in MP4 format and a one-minute clip generates an approximate 14.6MB file size. We were able to play our DivX test video smoothly on the handset without having to do any conversion on the Jet. In short, it's a pretty capable multimedia device.
The 800x480-pixel AMOLED touchscreen, which shares the same resolution as the HTC Touch HD and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, was sharp, bright and held up well under the sun. We didn't have to squint while typing text messages or when looking at web content.
The 1100mAh battery has a rated talk time of 8.2 hours and approximately 17.5 days on standby. On average, we managed to get two days of usage before having to reach for the charger.

Conclusion

We didn't think the enhanced TouchWiz 2.0 was a remarkable improvement over the earlier version. Instead, it is more of a showcase of what Samsung can do. What could have made the UI better would be Samsung releasing an SDK for the platform and having developers build apps for it. We encountered some hiccups with the SIM card issue during our review, but safe to say, that's something the end-user wouldn't encounter if they purchase the handset directly from a telco operator.
Did the Jet fulfil its promise as being smarter than a smartphone? Overall, we feel the Jet is an excellent device with the right set of features. These definitely work in Samsung's favour and the Jet's strengths noticeably outweigh its weakness of limited apps. As far as regular touchscreen handsets go, the Jet will be your best bet.

Sony Ericsson Aino - a PlayStation 3 orientated phone

If you’re a serious gamer, you’ve probably been feeling slightly left out all these years without a phone that properly “clicked” with what you love the most. Now all that is about to change. The latest Sony Ericsson Aino has got everything you’ve been missing in a phone.
The Aino is a slider phone with a large three inch touch enabled display screen with 16 million colours. Running a modified version of Sony Ericsson’s phone OS, do not dare to mistaken the Aino with the likes of business orientated smartphones as it is exactly the opposite. Running a feature familiar to PSP owners known as Remote play. The Aino has been equipped with the privelge to allow its user to connect to his / her PS3 from anywhere around the globe. With the Aino, all the content on your PS3 .

iPhone Dev Team Posts Ultrasn0w Update for 3.1.x IPSWs

By releasing PwnageTool 3.1.4 last month, the infamous iPhone Dev Team provided jailbreak support for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, out of the box. However, at the time, those relying on ultrasn0w to unlock their phones for use with an unsupported carrier would lose their ability to unlock employing the tool, should they perform the 3.1.2 firmware update with a stock IPSW download via iTunes.

“If you are using a iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G(S) with ultrasn0w and rely on ultrasn0w to obtain cellular service then you should only update your device with an .ipsw that is made with the new PwnageTool,” the Dev Team stressed last month. “There are no second chances with this. You need to remember that PwnageTool will provide an upgrade path to newer versions of the iPhone software in the future,” the hackers’ blog update said.

Now, the team of internationally-known iPhone OS hackers have released “an ultrasn0w update that fixes an issue for those running firmware 3.1.x with the 04.26 baseband,” according to their latest blog post. “That specific combination resulted in a missing carrier name in the upper left-hand corner of your home screen,” the team adds. “Today’s ultrasn0w update from 0.91 to 0.92 fixes that problem (which was an important issue for roaming). You should see the update available if you have http://repo666.ultrasn0w.com as a Cydia source.  Enjoy!”, the post ends.

As such, ultrasn0w now supports all iPhone models, hence the latest IPSW (iPhone firmware) update / restore files from Apple: “iPhone1,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw”; “iPhone1,2_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw”; “iPhone2,1_3.1.2_7D11_Restore.ipsw”.

Softpedia doesn't condone jailbreaking / unlocking the iPhone / iPod touch or any other device. This article has a purely informational purpose and doesn't, in any way, suggest that you should hack your Apple device. Using hacks may render your device unusable, or may reduce the quality of your experience using the respective device. If you choose to download and install jailbreak tools, you will do so at your own risk. Unlocking / jailbreaking your iPhone / iPod touch may violate your warranty or the EULA with Apple and / or your cellular-service provider.

Zune HD 4.3 Firmware Brings Support for Apps and 3D Games

Microsoft Zune Team today has rolled out a new firmware update, version 4.3 for Zune HD players. This update is the third revision since the Zune HD launch in September of this year. The latest firmware update brings support for upcoming 3D games and apps, along with other performance upgrades and bug fixes. Some of the changes that we have noticed in this new firmware update are listed below.

Zune HD firmware update: Today we released the v4.3 firmware update for Zune HD players; this update adds support for upcoming 3d games and applications, as well as an auto-suggest feature for better text input, and other minor improvements. Enjoy!

What’s new in Zune HD 4.3 Firmware

Zune HD 4.3 firmware brings: 

Support for the upcoming 3D games and applications.
Auto Suggest feature for text input.

Faster web browsing experience.
Landscape keyboard
Keyboard option has been added in the settings section.
New toggle between seek and presets under Radio.
Under the Internet in settings, you can now toggle to default mobile or desktop webpage layout.
Artists bios are updated; embedded links to other artists in text.
Other bug fixes.

See the attached video below to see the improved text input feature in action:

Support for upcoming 3D games and applications for Zune HD sounds exciting! Rumor has it that we may get to see the first batch of 3D games and apps for Zune HD as early as 17th November, the same day on which Xbox 360 update is scheduled to arrive.

Protect iPhone 3GS Against ikee Virus Attack

In continuation from our last post, here is yet another development which took place in the last few days when some jailbroken iPhone users found their home screen background a little different than it was last seen by them. If your jailbroken iPhone has changed its background automatically to that of Rick Astley (some 80’s singer) with the words "ikee is never going to give you up", then you are most likely a victim of ikee virus which infects iPhone’s via SSH. The virus in question has originated from Australia by a hacker named Ikee and it is now quickly spreading to other parts of the world. If you have been affected, luckily there is no harm done as this virus was more of an experiment than anything else.

ikee is basically a worm which infects an iPhone via SSH. Once an iPhone has been infected by ikee, It automatically starts searching for other iPhone’s on the cellular network that use the root:alpine username/password combination. Once it finds another vulnerable iPhone, it installs itself and begins the process again and this goes on like a nuclear chain reaction. ikee virus will disable SSH access on your iPhone and will change the background image to that of “Rick Astley” as can be seen in the screenshot above.
Here is an excerpt from the recently held interview with the hacker Ikee over IRC:

First I was curious to how far something like this would actually spread, I think what most people were unaware of is the fact it is a worm and every phone that got infected with it was spreading it (I initially only infected 3 phones when I woke up I checked Google and found out a fair few people were hit with it). Secondly I was quite amazed by the number of people who didn’t RTFM and change their default passwords. I also didn’t think that many people would have not changed their passwords. I was expecting to see maybe 10~ or so people, at first I was not even going to add the replicate/worm code but it was a learning experience and I got a tad carried away. I heard a few stories about it, that would have been sheer luck, the code itself is set to firstly scan the 3G IP range the phone is on, then Optus/Vodafone/Telstra’s IP Ranges (I think the reason Optus got hit so hard is because the other 2 are NAT’d) then a random 20 IP ranges. I’m guessing a few phones hit a range that another vulnerable phone was on. I don’t think it was an Optus fault (Being an Optus user I quite like the fact I can access my iPhone services from the outside world), I think it was mainly the fault of people being too lazy to change their passwords (It only takes a couple of seconds guys) and I hope this taught a few people that.

To protect your jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch from ikee virus attack or any other similar attacks in the future, you must change your default SSH password now. Follow our detailed step by step guide posted here which explains how to change your SSH password. Remember to secure your iPhone is yours and only your responsibility, else there are many hackers out there with brilliant minds who can easily infringe on your sovereignty.

Pre-paid mobile phones banned in Indian Kashmir: state TV

SRINAGAR, India — India banned pre-paid mobile telephones in Kashmir on Friday, state television reported, following concerns that militants were using them to trigger bombs and hide their identities.

Mobile phones were launched in Kashmir only in 2003 after security agencies gave the go-ahead, but pre-paid versions are suspected to have been used in attacks since.

Pre-paid phones -- phones that come with a set number of minutes charged on them -- are easier to buy than their post-paid equivalents.

Post-paid -- mobiles paid on a monthly basis -- can only be bought after a series of security checks and official registration of personal details and passport photographs.

"All pre-paid mobile connections will stop functioning from November 1 after the home ministry's order in this regard," India's state-owned television Doordarshan announced Friday.

India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram during his trip to Kashmir this month had raised the possibility that pre-paid mobile telephones might be banned in the disputed region as "they were prone to misuse."

He said there was "a vast difference from the security point of view" between pre-paid mobiles, which can be bought without detailed identification, and contract-paid mobiles.

Kashmir's insurgency against rule from New Delhi has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count, though separatists put the toll at between 80,000 and 100,000.

The region is divided between Pakistani and Indian zones, but both countries claim it in whole and have fought two wars over it.

T-Mobile ad boosts iPhone app sales

A T-Mobile advert, which is promoting the new MyTouch3g has inadvertently boosted sales to a popular, but year old iPhone app.

Israeli iPhone developers ApParty we’re major beneficiaries, seeing takings spike completely out of the blue. The increase was later linked to the T-Mobile ad, which features several ‘celebrities” playing around with various apps on the phone. When it’s passed to comedian Dana Carvey, he writes “call me” with a steam like app.

The app originally took off upon release in December 2008, with over 200,000 copies sold. Overtime sales leveled out to around 250, until a few weeks ago they sales quadrupled (x4). Evidently, the ad stuck a chord with iPhone and touch users, who seemingly jumped on the app store to download a similar app. The exact reason may be purely a sort “yeah, we already have that” move, or perhaps users totally forgot about steamy apps in the first place.

Here’s the video that sparked it all:

Blackberry Email – Increase Your Productivity.

These days, you will see that most businessmen would use BlackBerry mobile phones. The reason for this is that they find this mobile phone very much helpful for their business. This mobile phone has been made in order to receive BlackBerry emails. In this way, they will not miss out on any client emails since they will be receiving the mails on their phones.

BlackBerry email is being received to the mobile phone because it has the capability to synchronize the mails received from the email account directly to phone. This means that there is no need for clients to check on the website anymore just to access the email.

So why are the businessmen configuring their Blackberry phones to receive BlackBerry email? This is because it is now very convenient for them to check the contents of their emails on the mobile phone especially when it has attachments from the employees or clients.

And with the applications such as viewers are already available on these types of mobile phones. In this way, any types of files that are attached on the mail can be downloaded and viewed on the computer whatever the file type is.

With this new technology, it will now be possible for businessmen to view files such as the spreadsheets sent to them or even slideshow presentation. Because of this, they can monitor and check the sales’ status even if they are out of the office.

People who own Blackberry phones are also getting the features of receiving Blackberry email due to its easy to set up feature. All you need to have is your email address and the relevant information of your email account. After this account creation setup in your mobile phone, then you are ready to receive and create Blackberry Email.

But you may check with your wireless carrier if BlackBerry email will have a charge or not. You may also ask them for any data access charges if you will be setting up BlackBerry email on your BlackBerry phone so you will be ready with possible charges on your next bill.

So in business, BlackBerry phone and BlackBerry email are the ones that will help businessmen to monitor all aspects of their business. These are their clients that will send them email deals, sales inventories and reports that are coming from their own companies.

Introducing BlackBerry Javelin 8900.

Toshiba to Sell Portable Fuel-Cell to Recharge Mobile Phones

Japanese tech giant Toshiba plans to sell a portable fuel-cell that can recharge mobile phones and other digital gadgets on the move, starting next week.

The company said palm-sized fuel-cell, called Dynario, generates electricity through a chemical reaction -- injecting methanol with oxygen -- to recharge mobile devices in a few seconds through a USB cable.

Consumers buy refill cartridge, each generating enough power to charge two handsets.
The company has been researching fuel-cell technology since the 1990s but postponed commercialization until now.

Toshiba said the Dynario fuel-cell will sell through its direct-order Web site at a price of $325, with each set of five fuel cartridges costing $35. 

Quarter of US iPhones 'unlocked'

More than a quarter of iPhones sold in the US have been "unlocked" to work on network providers other than Apple's exclusive partner AT&T, a study says.

One million iPhones, or 27% of those sold last year, have been adapted to work on other networks, said Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi.

Apple recently admitted that the number of unlocked iPhones was "significant".

The iPhone, which was launched last summer, is tied to a single phone network in each country it is on sale.

While AT&T is Apple's chosen partner in the US, in the UK the iPhone is only officially available through O2, while in Germany it is tied to T-Mobile.

'Lost revenue'

Mr Sacconaghi said the high number of unlocked iPhones in the US would be a concern for Apple, as it receives a percentage of AT&T's contract fees from iPhone users.

He estimates that if Apple sells 10 million iPhones in the US by the end of 2008, but 30% of them have been unlocked to work with other phone networks, Apple will lose $500m (£251m) in revenues.

Apple and AT&T have declined to comment on the detail of the report.

Last month Vodafone failed in the German courts to get T-Mobile's exclusivity deal over the iPhone overturned.

Vodafone enters UK iPhone market

Vodafone has reached an agreement to sell Apple's popular iPhone in the UK.

The announcement follows news that network operator Orange had secured a similar agreement with Apple.
The deals mark an end to the exclusive UK arrangement between O2 and the US technology firm, which has been in place since 2007.
Vodafone says users can register an interest online, with the handsets becoming available to customers from early 2010.
Orange said its customers would be able to buy the phone "later this year" but did not specify a date or pricing.
Vodafone is one of the biggest mobile operators in the world with an estimated 300 million customers world wide, making it the second largest carrier after China Mobile.
The agreement sees both Orange and Vodafone selling both the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.
A spokesperson for Vodafone said the firm was "delighted" at securing an agreement with Apple and that the phone was going to be primarily for existing Vodafone customers.
This is a different model from that adopted by O2, which used the iPhone as an incentive to attract new customers.
Exclusivity
O2 has offered the handset in the UK since its launch in 2007. In February, it said it had sold more than one million of the handsets.
The launch of the latest iPhone 3GS in June significantly boosted sales, with many stores running out of stock.
The phone has also allowed the firm to win subscribers from other networks, according to analysts.
Dave McQueen, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms and Media told BBC News said that the smartphones - which have the ability to surf the web and send e-mail - has put a burden on the O2 network.
"IPhone users to tend to use data quite extensively - perhaps more than anticipated," he said.
O2 will continue to sell the handset in Britain, alongside iPhone rival the Palm Pre.
The Palm phone, described by some as an "iPhone killer", will be available exclusively to O2 from 16 October.
O2 said that it always knew that its exclusive deal was for "a limited period of time".
In countries where exclusive deals still persist, such as the US, some customers choose to "unlock" their phones using third party software so they work on an unlicensed network.
However, Apple has warned that the practice can cause "irreparable" damage to a handset and has engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse, releasing periodic software updates which prevent unlocked phones from working correctly.

GEAR4 Wireless Charger PowerPad for the iPhone

iPhone users love their phone but the battery can be a disappointment at times. An effective solution can be a wireless charger and that is exactly what GEAR4 has to offer for the iPhone 3G and 3GS users. The product uses inductive charging that directly transfers the charge to the battery. Dubbed the PowerPad this product will hit Europe in November and can also be ordered through the GEAR4 website. The news is that this product will cost £79.99 which is a tad expensive but we can ignore it for the sheer utility of the product is appreciable.

Telenor Launches ‘easypaisa’ in Pakistan

Telenor Pakistan and Tameer Microfinance Bank yesterday announced the launch of ‘easypaisa’, described as ‘a uniquely convenient and safe way for the people of Pakistan to carry out financial transactions.’ This is the latest chapter in Telenor’s strategy to offer financial services in Pakistan, which began in November 2008 with the purchase of a 51% stake in Tameer Microfinance Bank for USD$12.5 million.

It will be exciting to track the progress of easypaisa in the months to come, but even from day one the service sparks conversation as the model looks more like Grameenphone’s Billpay service available in Bangladesh and less like other mobile money launches that have made headlines in 2009 from the likes of Zain, MTN and Vodafone.

Here are three main ways that Easypaisa differs from others:

1. Primary Focus on Bill Payments

Telenor has focused their consumer messaging on one specific service - bill payments. It’s been publicly acknowledged that money transfer (which was a lead offering from Vodafone, Zain and MTN in their markets) and other services are on the roadmap, but it’s clear that the initial value proposition will seek to address the inconvenience and security issues associated with current options for paying bills. In a country where just 12% of the adult population is formally served with financial services, the potential to add and promote subsequent offerings is immense.

2. Agent Network Designed to Service Customers of Any Mobile Network

Telenor and Tameer Microfinance Bank have created a network of more than 2,000 easypaisa shops at which bill payments can be made. easypaisa is unique in that customers do not need to have a mobile account with Telenor (or even a mobile phone) to pay their bill at an easypaisa shop - they simply present their cash and bill to a representative who completes the payment on a mobile phone (it’s worth noting that the mobile can be used to find out the outstanding account balance of a bill via SMS). The decision to enable anybody to pay their bills at easypaisa shops could stem from the mobile market share structure in Pakistan. Mobile penetration is approximately 56% and the market is fragmented. Three players (Telenor, Ufone, and Warid Telecom) each have roughly 12% market share, while Mobilink (Orascom) has 17%. Thus, restricting access to easypaisa agents would have significantly reduced the addressable market. Additionally, it could be a strategically advantageous to enable customers of all utility companies regardless of network to use easypaisa agents for bill payments as a means to offering them other services at a later stage.

3. Method of Transaction

In the Zap, M-PESA and MTN Mobile Money models, end customers conduct transactions on their own mobile phones and must be comfortable with the idea of storing value on their handset. In the case of easypaisa, it is the agent who actually completes transactions on the mobile phone at this stage. However, in Bangladesh Telenor does enable Grameenphone end customers to make payments from their mobile phones.

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Other ways that this model is unique? Share them below.

Sony Ericsson K330 Mobile Phone

The speciality of Sony Ericsson K330 Mobile Phone is its vibrant features that attract all. This mobile phone weighs 75grams and has dimensions of 100 x 45 x 12mms. All the images are displayed on its 1.7 inches TFT display having a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and 655K colours. The phone comes with Gold on Black and Green on Black enclosures.
This mobile phone has an internal memory of 10 MB. We can store about 1000 entries in its phone book; the unit supports photo call function. It also stores about 30 received, dialled and missed calls each in the call record. Its inbuilt camera is a VGA camera of resolution 0.3 mega pixels that captures videos at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The WAP 2.0 browser helps in accessing GPRS services. In addition to this, the phone also offers wireless connectivity by Bluetooth facility. Messages can be sent using the SMS and MMS facilities. One of the specialities of this phone is that, it supports dual bands having operating frequencies of 900 and 1800 Hz.
Both MP3 and AAC formats are supported by the media player of the phone. Ringtones are supported in polyphonic, MP3 and AAC formats. FM radio and speaker phone are additional features of this mobile phone. Java games, Health Mate calorie counter, Animated wallpaper, Personal organiser functions, Vibration alert, Clock, Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Voice memo, Torch and Image viewer are some other applications included in this mobile phone.
Sony Ericsson K330 Camera Mobile Phone operates on a Li-Po 770 mAh battery which offers 300 hours of standby time and 7hours of talktime. All these provided features make this mobile phone more appealing to the consumers.

General Information
Brand	Sony
Model	Sony Ericsson K330 Mobile Phone
Colours Available	Gold on Black Green on Black
Year of Launch	2008, September
Weight	75grams
Dimensions	100 x 45 x 12mms
Display Features
Display Type	TFT
Size	1.7 inches
Memory
Phone Memory	10MB
Ringtones
Type of Ringtones	Polyphonic, MP3, AAC
Vibration Mode	Yes
Connectivity & Internet Features
Bluetooth	Yes
GPRS	Yes
WAP	Yes
Features
Messaging	SMS, MMS,
Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML
Camera	Yes
Camera Resolution	0.3MP
Other supportive features	MP3, FM Radio, Organizer, Voice Memo
Battery Information
Battery Type	Standard battery, Li-Po 770 mAh
Battery Life in Stand-by Mode	300 hours
Battery Life in Talk Time	7 hours

Nokia 6710 Navigator review

Nokia’s so keen to shovel Nokia Maps into any half decent phone it fires out these days, that it’s easy to forget that it makes handsets dedicated to mobile mapping too. The Nokia 6710 Navigator is the third in the series, but with so many smartphones now packing satnav as standard, can this focused phone beat down the competition? Read our full Nokia 6710 Navigator review now and we’ll let you know.
Unlike the iPhone, the Nokia 6710 Navigator doesn’t require any pricey extras to get you from A to B in your motor. Crack open the box and you’ll find a charger for the car, as well as a suction pad for slapping the cell on your windscreen. That immediately gives it the jump on Apple’s effort, especially since the TomTom Car Kit for iPhone costs a massive £100, even without the app thrown in.
And the good times certainly don’t end there. The Nokia 6710 Navigator has a button made just for starting up the Maps software. Tap it and you’ll find it loads up quick sharp, with very little lag. It locks onto your position in mere seconds, so you can get navigating without wafting your phone in the air for a signal. Oh how things have changed since the days of the original N95.

Samsung YP-CM3 Portable CMMB Mobile TV

Samsung announced in China the Samsung YP-CM3 portable TV/media player that comes with built-in tuner for CMMB, China’s mobile TV standard. The CM3 features a 3-inch 400×240 16 million color LCD display for you to enjoy mobile TV and media playback.

Samsung CM3 supports most media formats, including RM/RMVB, DivX, MP3, WMV and included FM tuner, voice recorder, e-book reader. The player will be available in Pink and Black.
Also introduced is Samsung’s YP-R0 portable media player that comes with a similar design as devices above. It has a 2.6-inch LCD display and lacks CMMB support.

LG GM750, a new Windows Phone running Windows Mobile 6.5

LG unveils a new smartphone running "Windows Mobile 6.5", a new comer in the LG's Windows Phones range. Here are the details and specs. 

LG GM750 with Windows Mobile 6.5, "iPhone like design"

3G is not reinventing the wheel : they applied the successful recipie of Appl's iphone to this new smartphone's design : the LG GM750 obviously adopts an iPhone design. Even though Windows Mobile 6.5 will definitely be an efficient operating software, LG has added its own software layer to the msartphone, mainly to allow it to be operating through its touch-screen interface, the "S-Class 3D". The LG GM750 is said to be very well built but… on an iphone like design which we may dislike or be tired of.

 

LG GM750, high-end features

As the most of the latest windows phones announced, the LG GM750 is rather well equipped and benefits of a comprehensive technological bundle. It is 3G+ / HSDPA compliant, gets wifi and bluetooth, offers a 5 megapixels camera with autofocus and a nice 3" screen with a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. In addition to that, the GM750 embeds a radio tuner (FM RDS) and a storage space of 300 MB in its internal memory which can be upgraded thanks to the microSDHC slot.

 

LG GM750 Main Characteristics 

3G+ / HSDPA

3" touch-screen (240x400 pixels)

tactile S-Class 3D interface

5 megapixels camera with autofocus

FM radio RDS

Wifi + Bluetooth 2.1

A-GPS chip 

microSDHC slot

Windows Mobile 6.5

Talking battery life : up to 10 hours

109,8 x 53,4 x 12,9 mm and 120 g

LG GM200 Mobile Phone with 2.1-channel speakers.

LG launches in India the GM200 candy-bar style mobile phone with 2.1-channel speaker system including dual side speakers and a active subwoofer. Dolby Mobile is included to deliver “clear, crisp and well-balanced sound”.
LG GM200 gets a 2-inch color LCD display, a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, built-in media player, FM tuner, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and a microSD card slot.

Hottest New Cell Phones of 2009..!

Every year, cell phone companies bring out their new models of the wireless phones into the market. With more features and better designs, the companies compete with each other to create a bigger impact on the cell phone users. Now cell phones have such features, that a whole computer, instant messenger, camera, radio, and so many other cool things are all present in a small package that you can carry around with you wherever you go. So those people, who love to get their hands on the latest models of cell phones, then do check out these three really awesome new cell phones that have been introduced in 2009. Grab one before everyone has it!
RIM Blackberry Curve 8900
The latest model of the Curve, the RIM Blackberry Curve 8900 is a sleeker, more improved version of the other Curves. Equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera, a full HTML web browser, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, the Curve 8900 is a great phone for Blackberry users. Despite the fact that it lacks 3G support, the Curve 8900 does offer a faster and smoother performance. The phone offers Wi-Fi with UMA support, so users will be delighted to know that they can make unlimited phone calls over a Wi-Fi network. The display has improved in this version as well, making it very sharp; taking pictures is a joy with this cell phone! Do go out and take a look at this fine phone that is a great asset to mobile professionals as well as anyone with a liking for high-tech cell phones.

LG enV Touch
A great phone with TWO displays! Probably the thing that fascinated me the most about this cell phone were the two amazing display screens, and the perfectly sensitive touch-screen. Another cell phone with a full HTML web browser, this phone allows users to browse the net with such ease because of the size of its screen. The enV Touch is a successor to the LG Voyager VX10000 and after two years, the enV Touch sure has made us proud by the improvements in the features, performance, and design. The cell phone is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera, a QWERTY keyboard, and other features such as where you can fit in your own headphones into the 3.5 mm headset jack, and the EV-DO Rev. A, allows you to browse the web faster. However, the only drawback of this cell phone is the lack of Wi-Fi technology. But all in all, the LG enV Touch is a great successor to the Voyager.
Samsung Memoir
The Samsung Memoir is a great camera phone, and actually looks like a camera in first glance. Taking pictures and uploading them directly onto photo-sharing sites is a joy, as this phone makes it so easy. The TouchWiz interface makes browsing the web and navigation within the phone a breeze. The cell phone is equipped with an 8-megapixel camera, and a full HTML web browser. Users can directly upload photos on to sites like Flickr and Photobucket without any hindrances. This Samsung Cellular Phone also features T-Mobile’s 3G network, a music player, and more. The Samsung Memoir is a great phone for people who love to immortalize memories by taking pictures. The camera is definitely comparable to normal cameras any day. Definitely worth the price for such a sleek design and excellent features!

Motorola DEXT CLIQ MB220 quick review.

Available At:

I've finally gotten my hands on the Motorola DEXT though only for a few minutes. I've thoroughly wanted this to be my first Android phone but after a few minutes with it, well, here's what I think.

Design

The Motorola DEXT is a bit too chunky for me, it's even bulkier than the HTC Dream. I have two Motorola phones which are more than 2 years old and aside from some paint peelings and scratches here in there, I'm glad to report that those two mobile phones are still complete, intact and pretty much useable. That's why I'm a bit surprised with the build quality of the Motorola DEXT. The slider mechanism is a bit wobbly and I'm worried that over time, it might come off. I think there are some other reviews which says that their Motorola DEXT suffers from the same problems so I was surprised that it wasn't isolated with the units they were testing.

The Motorola DEXT has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard which even though the buttons are somewhat cramped, still manages to be quite useable.



User Interface

I was pretty excited about the Motorola Blur. I was hoping it could match the HTC Sense. However, I was disappointed that all the Motorola Blur really is is widgets for your social network contacts. Now for those addicted to Facebook and Twitter, this is good news but for those who, like me, only uses Facebook to play games, well, then the Motorola Blur UI is pretty much useless. However, screen responsiveness is really top notch. Everything is snappy and yes, very much comparable with the iPhone. Although the Motorola DEXT has a capacitive screen, it doesn't offer multi-touch which is really a bummer. The UI also lags a bit when multiple applications are open.

The Motorola DEXT's UI is limited to the homescreen which means you get Android on everything else. Now there's really not much problem with that except that I hoped Motorola would do some more with the UI, like add their own icons perhaps, kinda like what Samsung does with their WinMo phones.

Messaging

The Motorola DEXT is a message-centric mobile phone. Your Facebook, Twitter contacts can be linked with the messaging feature so you can choose whether you want to Tweet your contacts or just send them a text message. This is good advantage again, for those whose life revolves around social networking, and those with unlimited data plans.



Web Browser

Browsing on the Motorola DEXT is quite good and pretty fast. I haven't quite browsed that much Android mobile phones so I was surprised that browsing on the Motorola DEXT is almost comparable with iPhone's Safari. Of course, it doesn't have flash support which is too bad.

Audio quality

I've always found that Motorola makes phones with great speakers, I mean, they're the pioneer for surround sound on mobile phones, right? My aging Motorola V6 Maxx still trumps some of Samsung's latest mobile phones when it comes to audio quality, speaker-wise. The same is true for the Motorola DEXT. Audio quality through the speakers is pretty good, better than some Samsung mobile phones. The music player is standard on all Android phones and you can view your Album Art for all your music.

Conclusion

After being silent for these past few months, you'd expect that the Motorola DEXT would put Motorola back in the game, right? Well, for those into social networking, this is definitely a must-have mobile phone. The Motorola Blur UI makes social networking a breeze. You'll also get a nice web browser and pretty decent music playback. I'm just a bit torn with the MotoBlur. Obviously, those who are addicted to social networking are mostly tweeners but you can't really expect them to shell out £35 a month for the next two years to get the Motorola DEXT for free or around £450 for an unlocked version, only business users can afford that kind of dough. So putting MotoBlur on a smartphone is not really that great of an idea. Still, it's an Android phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard, a good option other than the aging HTC Dream which is currently the only Android mobile phone with a physical keyboard in the market, until the LG GW620 shows up in the next month of course.

iPhone Killers Just Not Strong Enough….Yet!

I’m not one to disagree with competition in any given market as you the readers should know, in fact I actually think competition should be there to create a buzz. An interesting point however is along the lines of “the iPhone killer”, a statement that is often branded on new phones just before release that just aren’t ever going to be the next big thing.
Now it pains me to say this because I love Apple don’t get me wrong, but with the iPhone I wont purchase one simply because they are too expensive in my opinion. And I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but if your sat there reading rumors that an iPhone price war might go ahead because the iPhone has just received wider distribution, it’s very unlikely to happen because sharp drops in price would lead to the operators making next to no money on the handset.
Due to this it was back to the drawing board for me, as i attempted to write a list about why the iPhone is so popular and why it’s rival phones just aren’t cutting it right now. My conclusion was that the iPhone is actually too good if that makes sense, as the feature rich phone is practically the only phone in the last few years that was totally brand new and brought something dazzling to the market. You just don’t see anything new nowadays. Sure you see new handsets from mobile giants that make you believe they could be the next big thing in rumors, but then you see it and have a play with it and you realise that it’s just the same old phone you’ve had for the last 10 years with a major facelift.
This begs the question about the iPhone….why is it so popular and what did Apple do to make it so good? Well in truth, Apple invested a lot of money in the iPhone design which could of been a disaster but it turns out they found something innovative. Anybody who has been on an iPhone will know that it can still do the things any normal phone can do such as txt, ring people and access the internet but it’s in the design where it stands out. No menu as such, 3G, the App Store, an iPod and the iTunes Store are just a handful of things that make the iPhone unique.
I believe this is where Mobile Giants such as Nokia, Blackberry and Samsung are going wrong in the release of their new phones. None of these “iPhone killers” have got enough to excite consumers and make a difference in the market as the companies have not invested as much time and effort as Apple did in bringing out the iPhone. I think this is where the problems lie for Apple’s opposition.
What do you think? Do you think Apple did start a new era of handsets with the iPhone or do you think Apple were just lucky at the time? We’d love to hear your opinion!

BlackBerry Storm 2 and Bold 2 are coming soon.

Two new BlackBerry handsets are about to be released – BlackBerry Storm 2 and Bold 2. There still isn’t anything official on these phones, but the Internet rumor mill is beginning to lean towards “coming soon”.
We’ve seen photos of BlackBerry Storm 2 and you can also find some videos, which demonstrate its amazing touchscreen powered by piezo-magic. The omens of its imminent coming are a spy-ninja style blurry Verizon training video and a Vodafone display snapped at the Carphone Warehouse. The rumor says that in the box is BlackBerry OS 5.0 and 16GB microSD card (plus 2GB internal).

The BlackBerry Bold 2 (its code name’s Onyx) trades the traditional trackball for a touchpad and offers 3G, GPS and Wi-Fi. It has some really nice looks too. According to Engadget Bold 2 will be officialy annonced on October 21st. However, prices, plans, and the release date are still a mystery.

Sony Ericsson C903 is the best Cybershot Camera Mobile Phone launched ever in India. This mobile excels majorly for its Camera quality.

Features of Sony Ericsson C903 Mobile Phone:

The perfect entertainment organiser - Media Go™ makes it easier than ever before to bring your media with you, wherever you go. 

Cyber-shot™-Sony Ericsson’s megapixel digital camera gives you crisp high resolution every time and added features more common to standalone cameras.

Face detection function activated

Memory cards are IC recording media that use flash memory to record various digital media on a single stick

Accelerometer - auto-rotate

3G high-speed Internet

Wayfinder Navigator™-Stay on track with turn-by-turn navigation instructions 

PictBridge - print straight from your phone

Specifications:

97.0 x 49.0 x 16.0 mm

262,144-colour TFT

240x320 pixel

Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) support (up to 16GB)

Phone memory 130MB*

Camera-5 MegaPixel

Digital Zoom-up to 16x

Face Detection

Geo Tagging

Access NetFront™ Web Browser

WAP 1.2.1

Radio - FM radio with RDS

Motion gaming

Bluetooth™ technology

GPS
Price in India:

Sony Ericsson C903 is available in India at a Price of Rs.18,850 with 1GB M2 Card.

Windows Mobile to reach 15% of smartphones in 2013?\

In spite of common perception, Windows Mobile could take second place in the smartphone market in as little as four years, an iSuppli study predicted today. Analysts estimate that the phones shipped will triple from 27.7 million by the end of this year to 67.9 million in 2013, or enough to give it 15.3 percent of the industry behind Nokia's predicted 47.6 percent. Microsoft is expected to slip to third this year but to recover over time.

The return to form is founded in a belief that Microsoft has the "major cards" needed to have a successful mobile platform. Windows Mobile is already well established with carrier support and a substantial app library, while it now also has an app store (Windows Marketplace for Mobile).

Its age is considered a problem, as its interface is harder to use than an iPhone's and doesn't support the capacitive touchscreens needed for multi-touch and other more intuitive finger input. However, senior analyst Tina Teng believes the launch of Windows Mobile 7 in 2010 will render Microsoft "much more competitive" precisely because it should solve both of these problems. She also dismisses the losses of Motorola and Palm as clients for Windows Mobile, saying that neither were significant enough to make an impact while the recent addition of LG will be much more important. Windows Mobile has more licenses than anyone with 14 versus Symbian's 10.

The study doesn't address Nokia's own falling market share or outside factors, such as the maturation of younger platforms like Android and iPhone. Android has often been cited as the most direct competitor to Windows Mobile as it can be licensed by nearly any developer but is significantly less expensive to license and develop than Windows Mobile.