The UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has published some of the feedback that it’s ‘Digital Dividend’ (Double-D to its friends) review has gathered. The Dividend is the 128MHz of airwaves that’s going to be freed-up when the UK shuts down its analogue TV broadcasting between 2008 and 2012 (because the new digital broadcasts use less frequencies). The 128MHz is in the ’sweet spot’ of frequencies that gives the best coverage and bandwidth, about which Ofcom’s says: ‘Our key objective in releasing the digital dividend is to maximise the value that the use of this spectrum is likely to bring to society over time.’
Continue reading ‘UK gears up for its ‘Digital Dividend’ as analogue TV shuts down’
LG has added a fresh, er, green model to its Korean ‘banana phone’ range that was kick-started by the SV80. The new SV280, like its sister handset, is designed to curve around your face using the power of ergonomics.
In fact, we think the SV280 might just be a green version of the SV80 but hey, we’re down with LG’s (probably lost in translation) marketing spiel that the phone is all about individuality and that, ‘green bananas give a lively impression.’ There’s also something we can’t quite make out about ‘firefly glowing effects’ when the phone rings, which sound lovely, dear.
For more pics of the girls new phones, hit the jump…
Continue reading ‘LG goes bananas again with new SV280′
The simultaneous joy and pain of compatibility problems that stems from owning a Mac is a lot more joyful and a lot less painful than it was pre-OS X. The realm of mobile phone connectivity, however, is still a thorn in Mac owners’ sides. While iSync lets you synchronise contacts and calendars, and newer Nokias at last allow USB connections, it’s hard to find a good all-in-one file and phone manager.
Nova Media is setting out to change all that with its new FoneLink app for Macs, which is a well-featured file and phone manager that’s compatible with a range of Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets (although not our old 6680; time for an upgrade!). Features include a system for making multiple back-ups of your contacts and messages, a ringtone converter/ editor, a file browser, and iSync-style calendar synching.
Click here to head over to the company’s site and download a demo version or buy for €25 (£16).
(Press release via MobileBurn)
Leading tech magazine T3 as posted this video clip of the new Nokia 8600 on YouTube in which it says the phone comes with 1GB of on-board memory, not the 128MB that the Carphone Warehouse site states. If correct, that amount of storage makes the phone a bit more desirable — and brings it in-line with the storage on memory cards that ship with a lot of handsets these days.
Anyway, here’s the clip:
(Via CrunchGear)
(Although it could be later today, depending where you are in the world at the time of us posting this!) California-based Palm, maker of the Treo range of smartphones, has just announced that it will be revealing a ‘new category of mobile device’ tomorrow. Handheld device and handwriting recognition pioneer (and Palm co-founder) Jeff Hawkins will be on-hand to unveil the company’s latest creation.
MacRumors notes an extensive report on treocentral that steps through some of the rumours surrounding the new Palm device. Some points of interest:
- Hawkins’ comment that, ‘There is a third business that I’ve been working on… It’s in mobile computing… It’s something different.’
- Various Palm patents for folding displays (see above)
- Palm’s shift to a new Linux-based OS (we covered this here)
- Palm’s registration of a new trademark called ‘Foleo’ back in 2005
The speculation runs that this will be some new hybrid, possibly two-part device (separate screen and keyboard), that sits between laptops and mobile phones. All will be revealed, of course, tomorrow…
This is how you advertise phones in Japan. NTT DoCoMo has brought together some of the most happening/ in/ hot actresses and actors in Japan to put across its message: now is the time for DoCoMo 2.0. ‘Version up your lives!’
(Don’t worry, we’ll have more of those Softbank Cameron Diaz adverts just as soon as we can Youtube ‘em.)
It’s thanks to an unlikely-named Frenchman in Tokyo, Gwenael Nicolas, that we have this ‘designer phone’ to evaluate — with our knowing eye — this afternoon. The LG-produced (Nicolas-designed) SIMPURE L2 is a sliding handset for Japanese provider NTT DoCoMo, which is due for release here in Japan next month. It’s been drawn up and realised with the concept of ‘Curve & Square’ in mind, according to the Japanese press release. From what we can see, there are indeed right-angles and curves at play, evoking a certain whiff of, not so much je ne sais quoi, as… Xbox 360.
But beneath its purportedly stylish design is a robust piece of mobile tech, centred on its GMS-powered capacity for hassle-free global roaming (via NTT’s ‘World Wing’ service). The SIMPURE L2 also has a 3-megapixel camera — not bad, but a distance short of Japan’s 5-megapixel trendsetter handsets — and, more important, the L2 has a comprehensive and user-friendly piece of ‘deco mail’ (SMS/ emails written largely with animated GIFs, ever-popular in Japan) that betters last year’s L1 effort. Anyway, the L1 is so 2006.
(Gwenael Nicolas’ other stuff)
There were four more mobile games reviewed on our sister site Pocket Gamer last week, so here is a break down of the good, the bad, the sexy and the not quite so sexy.
The week in mobile gaming began with Power Rangers: Mystic Force, a game based on the popular TV show that is about five ninja kids dressed in luminous latex suits and biker helmets who have the power to summon massive battle mechs that are themed on various different prehistoric animals. Let’s just say the game was as average as the show is daft, scoring an unremarkable 5 out of 10.
Continue reading ‘Feathery fights and pub bragging rights in this week’s mobile games round-up’
There has been quite a bit of consternation over whether or not Apple will allow third parties a free reign on releasing software for the iPhone, but a recent interview between the Seattle Times’s Briar Dudley and AT&T’s Glen Lurie shed a needle-thick shaft of light on the situation.
When speaking about why the iPhone is worthy of such a vertical steep price-tag, Lurie let slip a potentially revealing little factoid.
You have the widgets, some of the Google applications that are coming — there are just so many things here that the price will not be an issue.
Some of the Google applicationS eh; that sounds awfully plural to us considering the only announced iPhone Google application so far is Gmaps. Chances are Google will be looking to get the likes of Gmail or the Google news reader up and running on Apple’s new toy. Yes, we know this is mumble-news at best, but it is hard to resist the lure of iPhone news so close to launch.
(The Seattle Times via Gizmodo)
Updated: Apple has now confirmed the US iPhone launch date as 29th June — to read more click here. To read all our iPhone coverage, click here. It also seems as though there will be Google Maps directions — and possibly GPS — in the iPhone.
Exciting times if you’re a Facebook user (and if you’re not, get with the times Grandad: MySpace is SO ov-ah). The social networking site has launched Platform, an initiative allowing third-party developers to create widgets that users can then add to their profiles.
Among them is one called, simply, Mobile. Developed by Facebook, it ties into the site’s existing mobile features, allowing cameraphone photo uploads for example, and integrating them with user profiles. Other apps under Platform’s ‘Mobile’ category include widgets from SnapVine, Jaxtr and Tiny Pictures.
(Facebook Mobile applications)
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