Verizon Wireless XV6800

The Verizon Wireless XV6800 is the ultimate no-nonsense mobile productivity tool, with plenty of functionality for you to do it all on the go. The sleek and stylish XV6800 features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and trackwheel navigation, and includes:

* Windows Mobile 6 Professional
* Microsoft Office Mobile
* Wi-Fi connectivity
* Bluetooth capability
* 2.0 MP camera with flash and video capture
* Touch screen and stylus

Don’t slow down when you’re on the move. Connect and stay productive with the XV6800.

Verizon Wireless XV6900

Experience the future of mobility with the Verizon XV6900. Powered by Windows Mobile 6 Professional, this phone features an easy-to-use touch screen, 3-D interface, stylish white compact shell, and brilliant new home screen. Customizable and optimized for entertainment, you'll have your games, music, videos, and more at your fingertips with the XV6900

Iron Key Could Be Most Secure Flash Drive Ever

Your data is important to you. The last thing you would want is to have those important documents destroyed in a flood or hijacked by a hacker. The people at ThinkGeek understand. They're pretty geeky about their digital files as well. That's why they are now offering the Iron Key.

Not to be confused with a certain Hollywood blockbuster movie, the Iron Key is a metallic USB flash drive that is "built to withstand attacks both virtual and physical." On the virtual front, the data is protected by a secure password. After 10 incorrect password attempts, the encryption chip will automatically self-destruct, rendering all the contents completely unusable.

On the physical front, I'd imagine that this drive can suffer a fair bit of abuse too. They mention that the innards contain all sorts of epoxy. This way, if someone tries to physically pry the thing apart to get at the chips, "he'd more likely damage them instead."

MacBook Touch Tablet Slated

If you'll cast Newton and ModBook aside for a moment, Apple fans have largely been deprived from the real tablet experience thus far. The end to that deprivation may be near, because there are rumors circulating about a MacBook touch that could hit retail as early as this October. In fact, the leaked statement says that it'll be available by October "at the latest."

Nothing has been confirmed by Cupertino, of course, but they say that this portable computer will get a display similar to the MacBook, except it will be Multi-Touch. The display might be a bit smaller than the 13.3-inches offered on the current MacBook and it will be in glass like the iPhone. Other mentioned features include a gesture library, full Mac OS X, possible haptic technology from Immersion, slot-loading SuperDrive, accelerometer, and GPS.

The best part is that Apple will be able to produce these things cheaply from the get-go, resulting in a "low price that will reduce margins." The net result? A super affordable Mac Tablet.

New Walkman Phones Announced by Sony Ericsson

It's a little hard to believe, but the Walkman line of mobile phones from Sony Ericsson has been around for three whole years already. To celebrate this triumphant milestone, Sony Ericsson has officially announced no fewer than three new Walkman phones.

Starting from the left, we have the Sony Ericsson W302. The musical candybar comes equipped with FM radio and a 2 megapixel camera. Given the model number, we can probably expect a rather affordable price point. In the center is the Sony Ericsson W902. This candybar is a decided step up from the W302, tossing in a 5 megapixel camera and super high sound quality for all the audiophiles in the audience. Last but not least, we have the W595 slider with built-in stereo speakers.

Garmin nuvi 500 Series Handles On-Road, Off-Road

When it comes to most portable GPS navigation devices, you find one of two families. On the one hand, you've got the GPS units that are designed for use in the woods and off the beaten path, operating mostly on longitude and latitude. On the other hand, you have personal GPS navigation devices that are more about driving directions.

Seemingly spanning the great divide between these two families is the new Garmin nuvi 500 series. These rugged and waterproof units feel perfectly at home both on the road and in the forest. The idea is that it can transition between driving, cycling, boating, and walking modes. When you're on the road, you've got turn-by-turn directions. When you're off the road (hiking and geocaching), you can see chart-specific information and topography.

Monster Advanced Headphones on Friday

You may have heard some time back that rap guru Dr. Dre partnered up with the team at Monster Cable to create what they believe to be the most advanced headphones ever. The development wheels got in motion and everyone got pretty stoked at the possibility of listening to Guilty Conscience with some kick-ass ear cans. And now they're here.

Dr. Dre's Beats headphones by Monster (and Geffen's Jimmy Iovine) will be available through Apple retail stores and Best Buy starting on July 25. That's this Friday. The headphones have been in development for three years, so this announcement has been a long time coming. Beats are supposed to "accurate reproduce the entire spectrum of music, just like you would hear in a pair of recording studio headphones." And they look great doing it.

Be prepared to fork out quite the pretty penny for these high-end headphones though

Nokia E71 This Week From Flagship Stores

It's not a BlackBerry, but when you whip out this hot new business handheld in public, you know that's going to be the common public perception. Starting this week, you'll be able to waltz into Nokia flagship stores to get your hands on the Nokia E71.

The latest in a long line of QWERTY-packing smartphones, the Nokia E71 is a dual-band WCDMA (850/1900) phone with GPS, microSD memory expansion, Symbian OS 9.2, Series 60 v3.1 UI, HTML web browser, 3 megapixel camera, video calling, and your usual smattering of personal information management software.

From what we hear, the Nokia flagship store in Chicago already has their hands on the first shipment and has already started to contact customers on the waiting list. If you're on the list, you might be expecting a call soon. Retail is

Samsung BlackJack III (i788)

In many ways, it started with the original Samsung BlackJack. It wasn't exactly a BlackBerry, but the QWERTY-packing smartphone offered a great option for people who wanted a slim Windows Mobile smartphone. Things got a touch better when they unleashed the Samsung BlackJack II, even though the form factor and design remained much the same.

As we anxiously await the arrival of the Samsung BlackJack III, it's good to hear that we can finally attach some sort of timeline to this wait. The current rumor has the BJ3, also known as the Samsung i788, hitting the corporate consumer market this October. The BlackJack III looks much like its predecessors, but that display is now a 320x320 touchscreen.

Other features include Windows Mobile 6.1, 528MHz processor, 3 megapixel camera, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, and HSDPA. More likely than not, you'll find this phone falling into the lap of AT&T and Rogers.

LG KS360

It may not exactly be classified as a smartphone, but the LG KS360 boasts a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard that will certainly make your SMS experience a heck of a lot easier. Using this keyboard, you can keep in contact with all your friends via instant messenger, text messages, and even mobile Twitter.

Other features on this colorful slider include tri-band GSM, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, 15MB internal memory, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, media player, FM radio, and an 800mAh lithium-ion battery.

The LG KS360 will be available in a variety of different color schemes: titanium and bright blue, white and soft pink, black and red, and black and silver. No word on price.

Bringing the DJ Skills to iPhone for Free

As I'm sure you have heard by now, the Apple App Store is up and running, providing you with all sorts of cool games and productivity tools for your iPhone. Maybe the abacus tool isn't your cup of tea. Maybe you'd rather rock out in a miniature dance club instead.

For those of you who have always dreamed about the lifestyle of a club deejay, you can now get into the action on your iPhone via the new MixMeister Scratch application. The best part about this DJ simulator is that the app is available as a free download through the iPhone App Store. As you can imagine, this music-mixer will also work just find on an iPod touch.

Naturally, MixMeister Scratch is nowhere near advanced as its full-size counterpart, but it's also a lot cheaper. At least you've got "lots of sound effects to entertain and/or annoy your pals."

CDMA Getting Treated to Nokia 3608 Clamshell, 8208 Dual Slider

Nokia has a couple of new offerings for the CDMA crowd and while neither will garner the same attention as a certain handset from Cupertino, they are still worth noting. After all, the CDMA guys in the crowd can't get their hands on that multi-touch wonder anyhow.

First up, we have the Nokia 3608 on the left. This clamshell has dual displays with the main display measuring 2-inches across the diagonal. On the outside of the phone, you'll find a smaller display, touch-sensitive music controls, and a cool red flaring paintjob. Other features include a 1.3 megapixel camera, GPS receiver, FM radio, and microSD expansion.

CDMA HTC Touch Diamond Looks Sharp at FCC Offices

Hot on the heels of the BlackBerry Bold 9000, the CDMA take on the HTC Touch Diamond has managed to survive its paces through the FCC offices, emerging out the other side with that precious stamp of approval.

As you recall, the HTC Touch Diamond, complete with CDMA and EVDO radios, has already been announced by Telus Mobility, so it's not a huge stretch of the imagination to have the iPhone-fighter finds its way into the hands of an American provider as well. This is in line with earlier rumors that Sprint and Verizon were in the running for some Diamond action.

There are no pictures of the device in the FCC documents, but the model number is being displayed as DIAM500.

Affordable Kodak Zi6 Pocket Camcorder Does 720p High-Def

RCA Small Wonder. Flip Video. Creative Vado. Flip Mino. There are a lot of these pocket camcorders bandying around these days, but the one advantage that the new Kodak Zi6 will have over them is its ability to record high-definition video.

It won't do 1080p, but this little pocket camcorder is perfectly capable of capturing 720p HD video at 60fps. That's mighty impressive, assuming that the image quality turns out half decent. The kooks at Gizmodo gave it a whirl and they determined that the video "looked great" when projected onto a 40-inch flat panel TV.

Aside from high-def video, the Kodak Zi6 can also do lower quality VGA video and regular stills. The SDHC slot will swallow cards up to 32GB and power comes by way of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries. Look for the Kodak to launch this September for $180.

Samsung Instinct is Best-Selling Handset in Past Two Years

Although it may be a little overshadowed by a certain phone dreamed up by Steve Jobs, the Samsung Instinct is actually doing very well for itself in the marketplace. In fact, it's doing better than just about every other phone out there in terms of sales.

Best Buy recently sent out a press release stated that the Instinct has become "the retailer's best selling handset in the past two years." It's selling better than any other phone sold through the big box electronics retailer. Will that change if Best Buy starts selling the iPhone 3G? Maybe.

I wonder if the haiku contest has anything to do with it. Will the Canadian launch through Telus and Bell be just as successful? We'll find out in a couple of months.

Live Look at Sony Ericsson W302 "Feng"

Cell phone companies are typically pretty creative when it comes to the codenames for their upcoming handsets. HTC is known for calling its phones everything from Hermes to Wizard. RIM is working on the BlackBerry Thunder and Javelin. Sony Ericsson was supposed to bring us Paris, but now it has apparently turned its musical attention over to a handset called the Feng. Maybe it's the name of the designer...

In any case, the Sony Ericsson W302 "Feng" will be one of the newest entries into the company's Walkman line of mobile phones. The slim candybar, as you can tell from its model number, is going to attack the low-end to mid-range end of the market. Features include a 2 megapixel camera (no flash or autofocus), A2 software, and a 176x220 pixel display.

You can expect Feng to find its way into the hands of retailers in the middle of October. I don't know about you, but I'm more interested in the Xperia hiding behind the SE W302.

No.new 3G phones for T-Mobile (yet)

Remember last October when T-Mobile launched the Samsung SGH-T639? Though the carrier lacked a 3G network at the time, the SGH-T639 debuted with support for 3G UMTS services. When we asked T-Mobile what was up, a representative responded by saying that the SGH-T639 "is positioned to be among the first devices to take advantage of a future UMTS network." No, we weren't satisfied with that answer, either.
Subscribers using one of those handsets shouldn't need to do anything besides turn on their phones. As T-Mobile said in a statement, "The phones are designed to automatically connect to the best available network (3G or GSM/GPRS/EDGE)." What's more, 3G use will be free for the time being. That's great news for anyone already using one of those models, but other customers will have to trade up if they want to use the new network.

Samsung announces new mobile

The Symbian Smartphone show at London displayed many a showstopper - the Samsung i550 was one such from Samsung's stable. With a candy-bar design, the new mobile is based on Symbian OS. Based on S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1, users can choose from thousands of apps from the S60 library.

This is the first mobile from Samsung to pack in smart nav GPS feature. You can choose your GPs mode - activate voice and get turn-by-turn guidance while driving or find your way around specific locations and directions by switching to pedestrian mode.

NYC on 2 Nokias

A couple of weeks ago, I took the family on a trip to New York City. We got a pretty good deal on travel in the form of a package deal from Hotwired.com that included four round-trip tickets and two hotel rooms for about $600 per person for a four-night, five-day visit. The purpose of the trip was to attend a family event, see relatives and friends, and spend a bit of time in the city.

Livescribe Launches

Livescribe today unveiled a new chapter in mobile computing - a new paper-based computing platform. The Livescribe platform turns plain paper into a computer screen and bridges the gap between the paper and digital worlds. The platform enables a broad range of new applications in personal productivity, learning, communication, and self expression. The Livescribe platform includes: Smartpen, Dot Paper with Dot Positioning System (DPS), Software Applications and Development Tools. Just slightly larger than a Montblanc, Livescribe’s smartpen is designed to replace the everyday pen as a user’s primary writing instrument. The possibilities for paper-based applications are endless. Livescribe’s first key application is “Paper Replay.” When taking notes during a discussion or lecture, the smartpen records the conversation and digitizes the handwriting, automatically synching the ink and audio. By later tapping the ink, the smartpen replays the conversation from the exact moment the note was written. Notes and audio can also be uploaded to a PC where they can be replayed, saved, searched and sent

SCH-B550, the new Samsung mobile

The SCH-B550 has many other features, such as the DMB mobile TV, an MP3 player, a 2Mpix camera, Bluetooth…This phone is only available in Korea.

Siemens SX45i

Siemens has earned itself a reputation as a mobile phone maker, thus it's only fitting that the company is one of the first to put a hybrid PDA-mobile phone device on the market; the Siemens SX45i is an update to the SX45, which delivers on the promise of not only integrated GSM but also GPRS capabilities in a device that's also a PDA. Also; it's the first color device to offer such integrated functionality, except for Nokia's 9210 and the Motorola Accompli 009.

The SX45i is a combination of PDA and mobile phone for mobile business communication. Based on Microsoft’s Pocket PC operating system, the SX45i with an integrated GSM/GPRS phone is set to redefine the standard of mobile voice and data based communication. The SX45i brings seamless integration of PDA and mobile phone functionality allowing the sending and receiving of e.g. emails or SMS in one compact device.

Motorola V70 Phone

Simply amazing and amazingly simple. The sleek, micro-sized design of this phone, coupled with the incredible swivel motion of the flip, truly reflects an amazing attention to detail and passion for communications. The black, easy-to-read display allows you to view the screen even with the phone closed. Dialing in the dark is never a problem with the translucent Motoglo keypad. Other features include: GPRS * , voice-activated dialing, microbrowser * , 3 pre-loaded games, up to 1000 phonebook / date book entries, and SMS*.


Motorola introduces in June the V70 mobile phone. The small phone features a unique swivel motion of the flip cover. The display is always visible. The keyboard is glowing in the dark. The celebs on this years Academy Awards receive the V70 in their Gift bags

Pogo Mobile Technology in U.K

Pogo has developed a unique platform to provide high-speed web access over existing GSM and GPRS networks.

It enables the delivery of existing rich-media web sites and provides real, usable access to web-based email services, such as Freeserve, Yahoo! mail and Hotmail.

At the heart of the Pogo platform lies our unique compression algorithms, which produce an average compression ratio of 6:1 for standard websites, and we have 2 separate patents pending to protect this core Intellectual Property.

The complete platform consists of three main modules – each providing our network partners with increasing levels of commitment to enabling a new generation of mobile data services on their existing networks:

1. Browser/Gateway combination

2. Email/Contacts data store and synchronisation process

3. Low-cost, colour-screen mobile devices

As part of the product development and in order to demonstrate the potential of this web-based platform, we implemented all three of these modules by launching our own handheld device into the UK market in February 2002.

Initially available exclusively through The Carphone Warehouse, this trial has proved that mobile users will make good use of wireless access to the real web if they are enabled to do so (ARPU figures available on request).

Selling for anything between 100 and 350 GBP depending on subsidies and contracts, the device measured 150 mm across diagonal, 20 mm deep and weighed 240g (8.5 oz.).

Despite the initial Pogo product only supporting GSM, Pogo Mobile Solutions also aims to incorporate support for GPRS in its offerings.

When applied to standard GSM mobile networks, this breakthrough innovation provides real-time access to the web at an effective download rate of more than 56kb/s. And over GPRS networks, the download speeds range between 100kb/s and 150kb/s - using only two timeslots.

Palm Tungsten T Mobile

The Tungsten T's most immediately noticeable feature is its sliding front panel, a first for a Palm OS device. The handheld slides in half, the bottom part of the device sliding up to cover the Graffiti area in "Compact" mode and sliding down to reveal a standard, silk-screened writing area. When in compact mode, the Tungsten T measures 101 x 77 x 15 mm (HWD), making it the shortest Palm OS device to date. When opened, it extends to 121 mm. When it is open, the Tungsten T is about the same length and width as a typical Palm OS handheld and slightly thicker than the Palm V design.

- Palm Tungsten T handheld with its 320x320 reflective TFT color display supports more than 65,000 colors.
- The new five-way button makes it easy to navigate application
-support Bluetooth
-OPERATING SYSTEM use Palm OS 5
- PROCESSOR Texas Instruments OMAP� 1510 (ARM) processor
- HOTSYNC CRADLE USB Cradle with power supply (120 VAC, 60Hz)

Nokia 7600 phone as its second 3G phone. Running on Nokia's Series 45 platform, the device incorporates a 16-bit (65, 536 colours) screen and offers functionality such as capturing pictures and videos, sending and receiving multimedia messages, mobile e-mail and listening to music.

Nokia 3650 New Moblie

Nokia's 7650 will no longer be the only Series 60 phone; meet the youth-targeted Nokia 3650 sporting tri-band GSM, GPRS, Bluetooth, MMC expansion, a 12-bit color display and MMS.
The 4096-color screen and icon-based navigation have all been designed for easy video (Camcorder) and picture shooting and sending.You can capture video clips with Camcorder and play them with RealOne Player. Send, receive, and forward multimedia messages, download JavaTM and Symbian applications, and talk on five continents.

The Nokia 3650 phone weighs 130 g, and comes with an 850 mAh Lithium ion battery where the Nokia 7650 only has a 650 mAh battery, giving 3650 a talk time of up to 4 hours hours, a standby time of up to 8 days and a faster charging time of approximately one hour. Also, user-changeable Xpress-on covers which will be shipping along with the 3650 in early 2003 will be available to allow owners to personalize their handset as with other youth-targeted phones from the company.

A Better Look at BlackBerry Thunder and Its Music Player

Large touchscreen displays and integrated media players seem to be all the rage these days. Research in Motion's initial entry into this arena will be the BlackBerry Thunder and we've got the first glimpse at its music player.

As you know, the BlackBerry Thunder will be the first BlackBerry to feature a full face touchscreen display. It's also the first BlackBerry to be missing a standard keyboard of any kind, relying instead on that touchscreen for all of your input. The only hard buttons are the four along the bottom for call, menu, back, and hang up.

The BlackBerry Thunder (aka BlackBerry 9500) will have a carrier-specific music player, granting you the ability to purchase new songs on the fly. Strangely, the Thunder will not have Media Sync like the BlackBerry Bold. At least you'll be able to watch videos in landscape.

Playing Portable NES Games on an NES Cartridge

What will they think of next? A member of the BenHeck forums has taken it upon himself to shove all the internals needed to run full-blown NES games into the tiny confines of a classic NES cartridge. If the system is the cartridge, where do you insert the games?

Well, you don't need to insert any games, because this "enterprising individual" has shoehorned no fewer than 99 games into this single cartridge. I think that most of us have enjoyed one of these multi-game packs in the past, but I don't think any of us have actually played those titles on the cartridge itself.

Power comes by way of three N-cell batteries, which are commonly found in certain scientific calculators. The start and select buttons are hidden on either side of the bottom notched portion. If this is the trend, would it be possible for someone to shove 99 games into a DS cartridge at some point in the future?

Sony Ericsson W595 Linda Follows in Footsteps of W580

Sliding its way into the realm of spyshot superstars is the Sony Ericsson W595 Linda. Sony Ericsson has already proven that it has a long pedigree of fantastic music phones and the Linda appears to be no exception. The W595 looks to be the spiritual, if not official successor the W580, a phone that is already available through AT&T and Rogers Wireless.

In terms of specs and features, you should expect full Walkman capabilities (it is a W-series phone after all), FM radio support, Walkman 3 player, A2 software platform, pre-installed Google maps, and some sort of camera. There's also mention of a 3D accelerometer, possibly for gesture-based music controls.

Although all we really have is a leaked photograph, word on the street has it that Sony Ericsson will launch the W595 Linda some time this month. That's pretty soon!

iPhone Gets Unofficial Support for Flash Lite

Adobe and Apple haven't exactly kissed and made up over the whole iPhone Flash situation just yet, so a rogue coder has decided to take it upon himself to bring Flash Lite to the Apple iPhone. Thomas Joos of Belgium doesn't have a perfect port of Flash Lite and his creation is far from having any sort of official endorsement from Cupertino or Adobe, but it seems to be working just fine.

In the video embedded below, you can watch as Thomas walks you through at least one website that is powered by Flash. The support does not come natively, as he has go through b.Tween and eyeGT in order to get Flash to go on the iPhone. I wonder if he'd able to slip this into the upcoming AppStore without anyone noticing...