Tech Digest

"Oi, where d'you think you're going?"

Ever wished you could jump straight to the front of the queue like a celeb when you go to see your favourite band?  Well if you're a Virgin Mobile customer, now you can. Mobile Marketing Magazine reports that Virgin has launched a queue-jumping facility that runs at selected gigs at Carling Academy venues across the UK.

Ads at the venues give instructions on how to jump the queue by texting 'Qjump' to a dedicated shortcode number. In return, you get a barcode sent to your phone that you scan at a terminal to convert it to a ticket that lets you and a mate jump straight to the front of the queue while all the other suckers shout abuse at you and try to work out which obscure band you're a member of. Clever eh?

Get the full story here. 

One Minute Video Review: Motorola KRZR

Here's Ashley and I looking at the Motorola KRZR, and having heaps of fun trying to figure out how you say it. There's also a respectable amount of time looking at what exactly it does. Expect it to appear in the shops in the next few weeks.

Vodafone launches new call plans and advice for small businesses

Sky has a new show TV show under the name of The Big Idea, claimed to be the UK's largest-ever search to discover the next great British invention or business idea (with the winner pocketing £100,000 to carry it off). Vodafone is sponsoring it - and has taken this ideal marketing opportunity to launch new small business tariffs, starting from £22 per month.

Vodafone has research claiming just under 33 per cent of the population is considering setting up a company in the next five years - which makes you wonder where the staff will come from. But it also shows you the market for business-friendly tariffs. Vodafone's Small Business Plan starts at £22 per month and offers inclusive free calls between company handsets, mobile email for £5 per month, price plan reviews and the option to switch plans regularly. There's also 'same advisor' business support.

The company is also offering mobile access to a range of tools helpful to anyone starting up a business. For more information, check out the Vodafone business pages.

Samsung to launch slim Symbian SGH-i520 HSDPA smartphone in Europe?

According to various online rumours, Samsung is set to launch the SGH-i520 HSDPA (super 3G) smartphone in Europe this week - more specifically, at the Symbian Smartphone Show, which opens tomorrow (Tuesday) in London.

The  SGH-i520 is based on the Symbian operating system and Nokia's Series 60 (S60) user interface. The slider handset is just 1.8cm-thick and is expected to feature full PDA functionality, a 2.3in display, Bluetooth 2.0 on board and a two megapixel camera.

We'll hopefully have more details after the official launch - along with a shipping date for the UK and Europe.

Samsung website

Via The Register

Mint offers credit card payments via sms messaging

We recently covered HSBC and First Direct's forays into banking via text messaging. Well, they're not alone - credit card provider Mint (part of the Royal Bank of Scotland) is getting in on the act, offering the TextDebit service for paying off credit card bills in conjunction with Telrock.

The service allows Mint cardholders to pay their monthly balances on their mobile phones from pre-registered debit cards, as well as being able to request balance inquiries and available credit balances, view mini statements and pay outstanding balances in full or part amount anywhere in the world. It all uses sms - register your card with the company for the service, then use the service via passwords assigned to your phone, with transactions only taking place once authentication by both parties has taken place.

Telrock hopes their system will become the standard for sms banking - which is likely to be next year's big growth area in personal banking.

Mint website

Vodafone and Phones 4u link up: Carphone Warehouse unhappy

Vodafone has done a deal with Phones 4u that will ensure P4U is the only third-party UK company allowed to sell Vodafone mobile contracts. This ends the previous partnership with the Carphone Warehouse who can now only sell pay-as-you-go phones on the Vodafone network.

"Phones 4u is fully aligned with the Vodafone strategy of delivering a superior customer experience. This strategic deal will... ensure we can target all key customer segments through their channel of choice," said Voda UK CEO Nick Read.

OK, but some are speculating that Vodafone is doing some kind of payback for CW getting increasingly involved in broadband by acquiring AOL.

Not surprisingly CW aren't happy, saying that it will limit consumer choice as Phones 4u will now be working towards selling Vodafone quotas. Vodafone had apparently approached CW prior to inking the P4U deal, but CW declined as they said they sold phones based on what was best for the customer, not the mobile phone companies.

Acoustic Energy and Orange launch Orange-branded Bluetooth speaker system

So, you've got a Bluetooth-enabled phone full of tunes and you want to listen to them in the living room. What do you do? Well, Orange hope you'll go out and buy their stereo Bluetooth loudspeaker system.

The Orange-branded (and Acoustic Energy-made) stereo Bluetooth speaker system uses Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) technology for wireless wide bandwidth stereo over distances of up to 10m, which can then be played back through the 20w amplifier. It's plug and play - as long as you have a compatible phone, PDA, PC or MP3 player. Just select a track or playlist, press play and the Bluetooth loudspeaker system blast out your tune. For improved stereo, the stereo mini-monitor loudspeakers can be detached from the Bluetooth receiver/amplifier unit and separated by up to 2m. And if you haven't got Bluetooth, you can plug your device into the speaker system.

The Orange Bluetooth wireless loudspeaker system will go on sale this month at selected Orange shops at around £89.99.

Orange website

Motorola P790 portable power charger

We featured one way of getting power on the move (and without a plug socket) yesterday with the UPB10 by APC. Now Motorola has launched their own solution, with the P790 portable charger.

It's small enough to fit into your pocket and plugs into your Motorola handset or Bluetooth headset’s mini-USB port when you need some extra power on the go. The P790 is fully rechargeable and reusable - a single charge of the unit provides two full re-charges for handsets (approx. 300 - 400 minutes of talk time) or more than ten for Bluetooth headsets before it needs to be charged up itself. 

It also comes with a single wall charger, so you can charge both phone and P790 together. Available in the coming weeks, price to be confirmed.

Motorola website

Palm's colourful Treo 680 smartphone debuts

If the Palm Treo 750v was a bit rich for your tastes, you might be interested in the company's new entry-level model - the Palm Treo 680, which is slimmer than other Treo handsets and also available in a choice of colours.

The Treo 680 is being pitched at the "professional consumer" - which probably means someone who wants the added functionality of a smartphone, but doesn't want to sacrifice the looks. Saying that, it doesn't look much different to the 750v, apart from the colour. The 680 a quand-band phone with 320x320 colour screen, Bluetooth, enhanced sms messaging (you can view as a thread rather than individual messages), 64MB of storage (which can be boosted by card), email, web browsing (via Blazer 4.5), music player, VGA camera, photo album and Documents To Go - so you can view, edit and share Word and Excel documents. The operating system is Palm OS.

It's available in red, orange, white and silver. Or rather will be - Palm isn't being specific about a release date in Europe, but will be clearer towards the end of this year, they assure us.

Find out more

Sony Ericsson launches limited edition James Bond Casino Royale silver K800i Cyber-shot camera phone

Somehow the plain old Sony Ericsson K800i will never be enough with the James Bond Casino Royale silver K800i Cyber-shot camera phone about to hit the stores. But hurry - they're only available for a limited time.

Both the K800i and Sony Ericsson's M600i appear in the movie, so it's authentic Bond kit. The specifications haven't changed, you're still getting a phone with 3.2 megapixel camera, dedicated shutter button, auto red eye reduction, printing without a PC with PictBridge, video and image stabiliser function, BestPic (pick your best shot out of 9) and fully integrated Picture Blogging. There's also a two inch QVGA 262K TFT display, 64MB internal flash memory with Memory Stick Micro M2 expansion, Bluetooth, full HTML browsing with RSS feeds, support for standard push email, video recording and playback, a music Player supporting MP3/AAC plus FM radio and 3D gaming.

However, you do get some Bond add-ons - Bond wallpapers, music ringtones and the full video movie trailer. The special edition Bond K800i Cyber-shot phones will be available worldwide during the latter part of 2006. Price to be confirmed.

Sony Ericsson

One Minute Review: LG KG810, the Chocolate Clamshell

Too lazy to read? In this instance you're ok, since you can sit back and watch a brief synopsis of the LG KG810 in this video (you might have problems with the rest of this site though). If you want more details, check out the full review here.

Sagem launches myC5-3 clamshell phone through Vodafone

Sagem has another new clamshell in the shops - the myC5-3, which is available through Vodafone on pay-as-you-talk.

Available in a choice of jet black or pale pink with "discrete" white butterflies, it features a 128x160-pixel 65,000-colour screen (along with a second external backlit screen), VGA camera, built-in day planner, WAP and a battery life of 240 hours on standby and 3 hours talk-time.

No, it's not one to consider as an upgrade, but it's smart, small (82.2 x 42.7 x 23 mm) and retails without a contract for a reasonable £60.

Sagem website

Review: LG KG810 aka the chocolate clamshell

The Propaganda

The LG Chocolate phone took over the Razr this year as the phone to be seen with, from Southhampton to Solihull. It was loved for its smooth finish, touch sensitive buttons, and of course the massive marketing campaign LG put into it.

They followed up on this by launching the white and the pink version, and have announced a premium edition with gold and platinum trimming. But essentially, they're all the LG Chocolate.

Until now. The LG KG810 is a chocolate phone trapped in a clamshell boy. The touch sensitive buttons are still there, although now they only work the MP3 controls. Not launched yet, it's currently doing the rounds in Asia.

The Good

The KG810, or chocolate clamshell as it shall eternally be known, is aimed at a market that doesn't want to spend ages figuring out how their phone works, where the shortcuts are, or how to configure their own personalised settings. Some would argue that we're all that market, but ho hum. LG clearly know that, since their keypad may not be the most attractive around, but does make all the basic functions easily accessible. There's a shortcut key for switching it to silent, your inbox, contacts, camera and MP3 player, as well as two soft keys and a favourites button you can configure to show your most used functions. Phew. In fact, there are many times when you'll find yourself having to go into the main menu.

There are also lots of features you'd expect on a phone like this: the numbers appear in different colours as you enter a phone number. There are loads of ringtones to choose from, and thankfully at least one that sounds like an actual phone, for us more reserved types.

The Bad

I'm just going to come right out and say it: I don't like the design of this phone. Where the Chocolate was innovative, this is tired. Where it had excitement, this invokes shrugging of the shoulders and an ill-concealed grunt.  No doubt not everyone will feel this way, but there's something about the thickness and the silver surround which doesn't work. In fact, it looks remarkably similar to the Motorola Razr maxx I took a look at here, which comes with HSDPA and a 2 megapixel camera for a similar weight and design.

There's also the seemingly insurmountable problem of actually touching the phone. Whilst the shiny surface is polished and lovely, it cries out to be stroked and there in lies the problem. It's possible that I have bizarre amounts of finger grease, but I suspect the fingerprints I've left on it would happen to anyone.

The other selling point, the touch sensitive controls, are only relevant to the MP3 functionality. Since they only work whilst the music is on, you still have to open the phone to do anything, including turning the MP3 player on. Incidentally, whilst writing that I realized just how lazy I've become, that I actually object to opening up the phone to use it.

The problem I came up against most with this phone was the battery life.  It requires charging every couple of days, and even then, it's touch and go whether you'd make it home before it concked out. However, having done a bit of digging I did find an power save mode, which dims al the screens, which could eak it out for a further day.

Another really irritating feature is the alarm. I'm sure if anyone ever looked into it they'd find that 123% of people used their phone as an alarm, making this a function it is worth getting right. Unfortunately, LG have neglected to put a snooze button on this one. Yes, I'm lazy. Yes, I love my bed more than is healthy. But no snooze button? Why? Why would they do that?

Geek sheet

Display: Internal(262,000 colour, TFT type, 176x220 size) External(65,000 colour, TFT type, 96x96 size

Dimensions: 92 x 47 x 14.6

Weight: 86g

Standby time: Up to 200hrs

Band (in MHZ): >900 / 1800 / 1900 (Tri-band)

Sound: Polyphonic

WAP browser: 2.0

Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email

Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB data kit

Accessories: Travel adapter, Strap, Stereo headphones and inline remote/Handsfree kit, USB data kit, Pouch

In our opinion

You only have to look at the balance of the good and the bad to know that I didn't like the phone. And whilst some of it is clearly subjective, such as the design, a lot of it seem like pretty obvious mistakes. The alarm for instance. But, if it's your cup of tea, you can get it for £285 from Expansys. It's not launched on contract yet, but if it's anything like its predecessor, it'll be free with contracts of about £30 a month.

Samsung launches SCH-B600 10 megapixel camera phone

Is it primarily a phone or a camera? Who knows - but Samsung is certainly turning a few heads with the SCH-B600 10 megapixel camera phone, which it has just launched in Korea.

The SCH-B600 is actually 6mm thinner and 10g lighter than it's previous big camera phone - the 7 megapixel SCH-V770. The new model features 3x optical zoom, 5x digital zoom and an LED autofocus feature for clearer, sharper images, even in poor light. There's also white balance, manual focus, continuous picture-taking and movie recording, along with Bluetooth for sending your pictures wirelessly, a high-colour TFT LCD screen and TV out to view images and movies externally.

Despite all that - and looking like a camera, it is very much a phone, with all the usual functions, plus MP3 player, business card reader and mobile TV via DMB. Will we see it in Europe? Who knows, but it's on sale now in Korea for the equivalent of around £485.

Samsung website

Via Akihabara News

Vodafone plans its own island in Second Life

It's an increasingly blurry line between real and virtual worlds, with criminals taking advantage of online games, the ability to own and earn from a virtual replica of our world, and now the possibility of linking up your mobile and messaging.

It appears that Vodafone want to create 'Vodafone Island' in the smash virtual world of Second Life. 3pointD.com reports that "Vodafone content should start appearing on the Grid in coming months. Besides activities like sports, music, film and events that are planned for Vodafone Island, the company will also try to give SL residents new ways to interact with each other and with the real world."

I'll be honest I'm starting to get a little confused as to what's completely real, what's completely virtual, and what services float in-between. On the one hand you've got Weblo where people can buy virtual copies of places, people and domain names, and then on the other you've got Second Life with the real world Vodafone setting up an island. What's all that about?

Anyone think this it's a good idea for companies to follow us into online worlds?

(Read (via Mobile Weblog)

O2 launches Jet handset - the phone with added battery life

O2 has launched the Jet handset, aimed at businessmen who want a robust phone with increased talktime.

The company claims the handset offers up to 67% more talktime than any comparable on sale device from leading manufacturers - over 540 hours on standby and 9.9 hours of talktime - double the talktime of Nokia 6230i (O2's most popular model). That's the big selling point - the specification is fairly basic, with Bluetooth and email access (support for pop3 and IMAP4 email) being the only standout features.

O2 has also added a two-year warranty in case it isn't quite durable enough for your working day. along with a package of over £50-worth of accessories free of charge, including a charging desk stand and an in-car charger. Prices range on contract (check with your local supplier), but if you want it on Pay and Go, you can pick it up from October 19th for £59.99.

O2 website

Friday interview: dotMobi's Neil Edwards slams the critics of the .mobi domains

The world of domain names has seen its fair share of controversy, and one of the hottest recent debates concerns the new .mobi domain, which covers mobile internet sites. It's run by mobile Top Level Domain Ltd (mTLD, or dotMobi informally), whose investors include the likes of Ericsson, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, T-Mobile and Vodafone. dotMobi opened up registrations to companies in June, before allowing everyone else to sign up last week.

Controversy? There's been plenty, including claims that .mobi is unnecessary, risks splitting the internet in two, and even accusations that it is purely for squeezing more cash out of companies frightened that someone else may register 'their' domain. Many of these criticisms have been made online, and dotMobi CEO Neil Edwards doesn't mince his words when responding to them.

"It's the most juvenile argument," he says. "We have companies like Microsoft, Business Week and BMW who all spend a lot of money doing proper development of their systems, so it's insulting that guys who write free blogs are passing judgement on how the best minds in the world should do their development."

But let's rewind to some of the facts. Since June, over 13,000 companies have registered .mobi domains, while since the first day of last week's 'landrush', Edwards says that over 111,000 domains have been registered. Around 65% of these came from North America, 20% from Europe and 15% from Asia, with more than 100 countries included. Interestingly, China was the third largest country in terms of .mobi registrations.

The key question, however, is how many of those companies are actually planning to launch .mobi sites, versus those who have simply bought the domain name to stop anyone else buying it. Last week, for example, US telco Verizon's associate general counsel told the FT that they'd only registered verizon.mobi for the latter reason. So are many .mobi sites actually launching?

"We didn't expect to see a lot of these brands go live until sometime in 2007," says Edwards. "The hosting tools have got to catch up with the sale of names. But we've seen Business Week launch a commercial ad-supported mobile magazine behind businessweek.mobi, there's kicker.mobi, the leading football magazine in Germany, and then Microsoft have made a conscious decision to put their  mobile services behind live.mobi."

So how about that Verizon comment then? Unsurprisingly, Edwards is bullish, pointing out that Verizon's 'closed' mobile internet portal doesn't fit with .mobi's philosophy of encouraging better mobile internet sites outside the operators.

"They quoted the junior assistant general counsel of Verizon saying that .mobi's not a good idea. What do you expect?" says Edwards. "That's the company that runs a closed portal! That's their business model. And anyway, she's not the person who's actually making the business decisions."

Moving on, the big challenge for dotMobi now is less about selling more domains - that will be down to resellers - and more about its other aim, of encouraging better mobile internet sites. It's part of what companies sign up to when buying a .mobi domain, and Edwards says that dotMobi will be monitoring all the .mobi sites, and providing diagnostic tools to let people know if their site is up to scratch.

But with over 120,000 registrants, there needs to be more information and assistance out there on how to develop effective mobile sites. Edwards says that dotMobi is working with ten web hosting companies, who are developing hosting and design packages to help people get up and running with their .mobi site.

"A year ago when we built the dotMobi mobile site, we spent $25,000 on it, as there were only three to five companies in Europe who could build a mobile site properly. Now, that same site would cost around $30 or $40. The bottom line is that mobile hosting is now affordable for the average guy on the street. We're also about to launch a big developer program and a user guide on how to do mobile development."

There is one more lot of selling to be done, though. dotMobi has held 5,000 generic .mobi domain names back, including the likes of money.mobi, travel.mobi and cars.mobi (and intruigingly, according to ipwalk, also cocaine.mobi and heroin.mobi). Some of these will be sold through an assessment process, which Edwards says will ensure the sites are reputable and useful for mobile users, while others will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

"Something like travel.mobi we wouldn't auction off, because we want to make sure it goes to a travel site that provides things like online hotel reservations, and real information," he says. "We'll be asking people about their business capabilities, their technical capabilities, their commitment to the market and making sure they build a good mobile experience based on our standards. But something like travelasia.mobi? We'll put that into an auction."

There's plenty of mileage in the dotMobi debate, but whatever you think of the subject, it can't be denied that companies are buying the .mobi domains, whatever their reasons. It's unsurprising, then, that Edwards comes back to the critics.

"They're not happy because .mobi has proven overnight that we went from having no customers to having 120,000 customers embracing the open standards," he says. "You also can't argue with the fact that 13 mobile companies [dotMobi's investors] who are adamant competitors, came together to solve a problem, rather than developing their own standards. That's how we should be judged."

Vodafone offers BlackBerry Pearl on its website

As well as O2, it seems that Vodafone is also offering the BlackBerry Pearl, with pre-orders being taken on the company's website.

Check out our video for a hands-on look at the BlackBerry Pearl. Or if you just want a quick specification, it's got a media player, 1.3 megapixel camera, quad-band GSM/GPRS reception, Bluetooth and  push email. The QWERTY keyboard features the SureType prediction system, and there's a trackball control in place of BlackBerry's usual jogwheel.

Price is dependent on contract, ranging from free to £250. No shipping dater as yet.

Vodafone website

Via The Register

Get your band featured on FreeBe TV

We featured FreeBe TV from ROK recently - the free mobile TV service over GPRS. It's had a successful start - and they're looking to build on that by offering new bands the chance to appear on FreeBe TV.

Bands and indepedendent labels are being asked to send in music videos for the new You-Made-It channel. That channel launches this weekend, adding to the 10 already available. According to Bruce Renny of FreeB TV: "You-Made-It is a mobile version of YouTube whereby people can send us their own clips, comedies, animations short films and music videos and we'll post the best onto the channel so people the world over can enjoy them on their mobiles".

If you want to find out more or send in a clip, visit the FreeB TV website.

One Minute Video Review: Nokia 5500

Nokia has today announced the 5500 Music Edition, which is a super-rugged phone for sporty types. The music version features a 512 MB microSD card, a fitness carrying strap, bicycle holder and sports headset. I took a look at the 5500, not getting too worked up about the sport possibilities, instead focussing on the great game you can play whilst you're not out being fit.

Nokia propose new mobile wireless standard to rival Buetooth

Nokia are proposing to fast-track a new wireless standard for mobile devices and gadgets that's ten times more energy-efficient than Bluetooth. Called Wibree (no clue as to pronunciation yet), it has been in development for 5 years and Nokia now want to standardise it and roll it out to other manufacturers.

"Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an inter-operable solution that can be commercialised and incorporated into products as quickly as possible," said Bob Iannucci of Nokia Research.

The key advantages of Wibree over Bluetooth seem to be the lower power consumption and smaller chip. Data transfer rates are slower, at around 1Mbps, but this may not be an issue in some of the smaller applications Nokia are proposing the technology is used in, such as intelligent watches, health monitors and sport sensors.

Bluetooth has become a worldwide standard particularly in mobile devices, and analysts wonder if this new system can reach the same status. Do we have enough wireless standards already? Nokia seem to think not. It will also be interesting to see if Wibree stays a proprietary format or is released to be an open standard, as Ericsson did with Bluetooth in the early 1990s.

(Via BBC News)

DAB music downloads to get official launch in new year

Back in June we reported a trial of music downloads via DAB, being undertaken by the UBC media group in the Midlands, more specifically, via Heart FM. Well, things must have gone well, as the service will be rolled out in beta form this year, with an official launch in early 2007.

The idea is that you can download tracks as you hear them, each costing £1.25, but offered as two WMA files. One gies to your phone at 32kbps, with a higher quality 128kbps version accessible to download online. According to The Register, the first handset using the service will be Virgin Mobile's Lobster DAB-enabled phone (pictured).

More details nearer the launch date.

UBC Media Group

Via The Register

HSBC and First Direct offer banking via text message

Never worry again if your salary has been paid into the bank - HSBC and First Direct, through Monilink (the people behind the Link cash machines), have introduced mobile banking, with 24 hour access to banking services via your handset.

To use the service, you obviously need an account with one of the banks, then you download some software. Once registered and authenticated, you'll have secure access to your accounts, wherever you are. You can check your balance, receive statements (on demand or at set times of the month) or top-up your pre-pay mobile. Or for a £2.50 monthly fee, you can receive text alerts - for example telling you when your salary has been paid in or when your account is heading into the red.

Apart from the £2.50 fee, other charges are 20p per balance enquiry and 25p per mini statement, which will be charged on your mobile phone bill.

HSBC website
First Direct website

Bluetrek M2 - the Bluetooth headset that changes with your mood

Bluetrek has a new Bluetooth headset on the market - the M2 - their smallest earpiece yet and one that can adapt to your style and mood, so the company claims.

The M2 is just 51 x 21 x 13.5mm, weighing just 12g - and smaller has to be better when you've got it stuck round your ear. The promise of a mood-changing headset is actually just interchangeable covers - 4 in total - so you can match your mood or your clothes for that day. Bluetrek suggests black chrome for elegant evenings out - I'd suggest not wearing a headset if you're at such a grand occasion. The M2 offers 9 hours talk time, 11 hours standby and comes with a USB charger cable.

Available now and retailing for around £39.

Bluetrek website

Sony Ericsson launches Z558 clamshell phone with touch-sensitive display

Interesting new phone from Sony Ericsson - the Z558 is a clamshell handset with a touch-sensitive display, along with character recognition, which is in preparation for what the company calls "one-touch" text messaging.

Certainly the image is intriguing - bringing back memories of struggles with an old Palm and stylus (never got the hang of writing on one of those). The tri-band Z558's touchscreen has a 220 x 176, 262,144-colour display, along with a 128 x 36 colour sub-display. There's a 1.3 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and 18MB of on-board memory, expandable using Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards. There's also all the phone, messaging, music and gaming you'd expect from Sony Ericsson, along with Bluetooth.

There is Asian character recognition as well as English, with a special version (Z558c) for the Chinese market. The phone is set to ship later this month - whether it will land in the Uk is still not confirmed.

Sony Ericsson website

Via The Register

Sony Ericsson to open first London retail store

  Sony Ericsson is celebrating its fifth anniversary by opening its first dedicated store on Kensington High Street in central London, allowing customers to play with the latest phones and accessories "in a relaxed, fun environment".

According to the company, everyone is welcome to pop in and try the latest products, services and applications, with specially trained staff on hand to help, as well as offering demonstrations of the latest technology. But don't think this is a charitable venture - it's all run in conjunction with Carphone Warehouse, who will doubtless be very keen to get you to sign on the dotted line for a mobile package.

The store opens at the end of November. But if you're not in the UK, don't worry, Sony Ericsson is opening similar retail spaces in the coming months in "key cities throughout the world".

Sony Ericsson website

Review: MobileWear bluetooth watch

The Propaganda

Fossil make watches. Sony Ericsson make phones. Together they make.... phone watches. This is their partnership answer to Motorola and Oakley who created the O-Rokr shades. The MobileWear watch uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone, displaying vital info on the screen in the clock face.  So is it a better deal than the not-so-lovely shades?

The Good

Unlike certain other partnerships that we could name, this watch actually looks like a watch. It's adapted from a number of existing Fossil watches, and to look at it you wouldn't notice anything amiss. There are two buttons on the side which control the Bluetooth functions, as well as a winding wheel to set the time.

To pair with your phone, it's simply a case of choosing the relevant icon and pairing it. Couldn't be easier. The icons are simple and just give you the ability to pair, turn the Bluetooth on and off (so it can just act as a normal watch) and choose whether you want to receive alerts for messages.

Once you've paired it the fun really starts. Receiving a phone call means you'll be alerted via a discreet vibration from the watch. You've then got scrolling text on the screen which alerts you who's calling. You can also reject the call from the phone, in which case the call goes to voicemail. There's also a vibration each time you get a message, and a little envelope icon is displayed.

The Bad

The watch is a chunky metal affair, and is likely to only be attractive to 50% of the population. The strap can either be metal or rubber, but either way, it's not going to set female hearts a-racing.

The functionality is great to begin with, but I was unable to secure a connection after about 30 minutes of use. This might be due to the battery power being low, or the fact that it was an early production sample, but either way, it didn't work.

It's a Sony Ericsson product, so does in fact only work with Sony Ericsson phones. This is contrary to many other Bluetooth devices which connect to everything, despite being made by one particular manufacturer.

In our opinion

When it works, it's fun. There are elements that would make it even more James Bond, such as being able to answer calls from your phone, or text messages being displayed on the screen rather than just an alert that they're on your phone. It's £150 from Widget.co.uk so not a cheap accessory, but you'll pay a large percentage of that for a Fossil watch anyway.

Monday interview: mobile advertising expert Russell Buckley

Mobile advertising is going to be increasingly high-profile in the next few years. And I don't mean Crazy Frog or those baffling Phones 4 U TV commercials. Advertising on your mobile has so far been largely restricted to annoying spam text messages – the sort that often arrive at 3am. But that's going to change, with mobile operators and content companies keen to make extra revenue, and big brands eager to find a way of reaching the young consumes who've been deserting print and TV in their droves.

One company that's already doing rather well from mobile advertising – without a spam SMS in sight – is AdMob. The company places simple text adverts on WAP sites, and is picking up some big clients. The company recently appointed Russell Buckley to be its managing director in Europe.

Buckley is something of a mobile advertising expert, being one half of the team behind the respected MobHappy blog, which covers all aspects of mobile technology. I talked to him about the new job, and how he sees mobile advertising developing.

“I’ve been involved in mobile marketing for the last six years, but now’s an exciting time,” says Buckley. “It’s the first time we’ve seen something that really works. When we run an ad, people are clicking on it, with a response rate of up to seven or eight percent sometimes, and we’re driving sales directly off it.”

AdMob basically hooks up companies who want to advertise on mobile phones, with publishers of mobile Internet sites, and then arranges to place text-only adverts, with links, on the latter’s sites. The company has over 150 advertisers, and its network of publishers serves more than 300 million mobile page views a month, including sites from small WAP startups through to huge global brands like MTV.

“It’s great for targeting,” says Buckley. “For a start, the people who see these ads are already using WAP, so it’s not like people seeing an advert in The Sun saying ‘go to this WAP site’, but they haven’t got the right settings. And we can also target the ads by country, by operator, and by handset make and platform. So if you want to advertise to, say, all people with Symbian Nokia phones in the UK, we can do that.”

Isn't WAP old hat, though? It was hyped as being whizzier than it actually was, and then everyone lost interest. Buckley agrees, but crucially says this was just the short-term reaction. He cites a theory coined by analyst firm Gartner, called the Hype Cycle, which described what happens when a technology is launched, overhyped, becomes unfashionable, and then gradually becomes popular again as people actually start using it.

That's a simplification, mind – the actual theory uses high-falutin' analyst terms like 'Trough of Disillusionment', 'Slope of Enlightenment' and 'Plateau of Productivity'. Whatever you call it, it happened to WAP, which is now edging towards that plateau.

“It’s probably where we were with SMS in 1999,” says Buckley. “It’s under the radar, but an awful lot of people, and particularly kids, are using it.”

He also compares the current mobile internet to the early days of the Web, when people were looking for new sites to visit. Many of AdMob’s advertisers are themselves WAP publishers, so trying to attract people by advertising elsewhere. Handset manufacturers and mobile content firms are also advertising – Nokia is one of AdMob’s clients – but interestingly, Buckley says the most popular WAP sites right now aren’t always those run by the biggest brands.

“Some of the bigger names on our network haven’t got all that much traffic in comparison to these new upstarts,” he says. “It’s like when the Internet came along, and traditional publishers were very slow to catch on, so allowed big brands like Yahoo and Google to develop. It will be interesting to see if that pattern’s repeated on mobile. The upstart brands are already pulling in huge traffic, probably bigger than the Yahoos from the internet world. These companies could be the Googles and Yahoos of tomorrow.”

Most of AdMob’s traffic comes from Europe, which Buckley says has been quicker on the uptake for WAP than elsewhere. However, it’s not just about the UK by any means. AdMob’s five top markets are South Africa, India, the UK, the US and Israel, with South Africa by some way the biggest. Buckley thinks European mobile operators can learn from it, as data traffic is cheap there, which has spurred many more people to use their phones for browsing.

“If you make data a fixed-price and cheap, growth explodes,” he says. “It helps in some of these countries, like India, that the penetration of PCs isn’t as high, so people use their phones. And of course, people speak English there, and most of the big global WAP sites right now are in English.”

Right now, few people would complain about text adverts on a WAP page. But how will mobile advertising develop? Several companies are already looking at the next step, for example more graphically rich banner ads. Buckley says AdMob could do this now, but is waiting, as most mobile users aren’t on fixed-data plans. In other words, they pay for every kilobyte of data they use, which isn’t a problem for a couple of lines of text, but could be an issue once adverts become banners.

“The last thing we want in this marketplace is for someone to start pumping rich media down peoples’ phones in advertising form, and pumping up their phone bills as a result,” he says. “For now, we know that text links work, people are happy to click on them, and they get high responses. Why try to run marketing campaigns that are the equivalent of slapping them in the face with a wet fish? We shouldn’t be looking at the aggressive advertising techniques which became prevalent in the initial bubble of the internet.”

One way mobile advertising is developing fast is in the area of search, with mobile operators scrambling to sign deals with the likes of Google and Yahoo to incorporate web-like search on their phones. AdMob is working with Google on a contextual search service, so that its advertisers can include their ads for people searching for certain keywords through Google. But Buckley seems unconvinced in general.

“My personal view is that search seems to be seen by everybody as being as important on the mobile as it is on the Web,” he says. “I don’t actually think it will be. It’s still important and relevant, but not quite in the same way as the Web. You can’t just cram Web-based ideas onto mobile. It works sometimes, but more often needs radical rethinking, not just tweaking. You have to approach mobile with a blank sheet of paper.”

Having seen Nokia make a splash this week with its new N95 handset – the first mainstream phone to feature fully-fledged GPS integrated into the phone – does this offer opportunities for advertising? Location-based advertising has been an industry buzzword for a while now, without any clear signs of people making money from it.

Buckley thinks location is a huge opportunity on mobile, but thinks it’s in the middle of that cycle of disillusionment referred to earlier, particularly in the minds of the mobile operators.

“A lot of them have written it off, because all their trials have been engineering-led rather than usability-led,” he says. “If the application is ‘where’s my nearest cash machine?’, of course it won’t work. You can do that by walking 100 yards in any direction in a built-up area. ‘Find my nearest garage?’ Who cares?!”

Instead, Buckley’s more excited about some of the newer location-based mobile applications which blend elements of social networking. He cites Loopt, a company for whom he has consulted, as a good example, which enables you to see your friends’ physical locations on a map, and send them messages. He says that for kids in particular, it may even be a reason to change their operator, to ensure they’re not left out if a group of friends adopts it.

“Can that be overlaid by some form of advertising? Yes, but the complexities of doing it are a bit mind-boggling,” he says. “That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but for a startup it’s challenging. Say you’re standing outside Charing Cross station. You might receive an advert for a nearby Internet cafe, but it’s difficult to scale. If you walk 300 yards down the road, you might not get any adverts.”

The thing that everybody forgets about location-based services, thinks Buckley, is time. That internet cafe may want to serve an advert up to you at 10am, when it’s quiet, but they probably wouldn’t want to in peak times like lunchtime.

“It adds complexity, as a lot of advertisers won’t want to advertise 100% of the time,” he says. “The time element is something people always forget. But I’m not saying it’s impossible to work these issues out.

Samsung X830 stylish swivel music phone

Samsung have revealed their X830 music phone with a swivel design that's just a little different to the current crop of clams and sliders. It's pretty compact, measuring up at under 2cm wide by 8.4cm long, with a depth of 3cm.

Aimed at the mobile music lover, it features a 1GB flash memory and is able to play MP3, AAC and WMA files. It has click-wheel navigation and an internal music library so you can sort and play your music tracks as you wish.

There's a 1.3 megapixel camera built in - no news on whether it has any extras like optical or digital zoom. There's also Bluetooth for syncing and sharing photos.

It's available in glossy black, white or... oh look, more pink. Want some hype? Ender Yavas, Head of Product Management at Samsung Mobile said: “The Samsung X830 is perfect for any fashion conscious music lover. It effortlessly combines style and functionality and is a great phone to look at and to use. Now there’s no need to spend your money both on a fashion phone and a music player- the Samsung X830 has got everything you need.”

It should be available this month and is being offered up to O2, Orange, Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U on both contract and pre-pay. Price? We'll keep you posted.

Samsung

Road Angel Mobile - locate speed cameras with your mobile phone

Whatever your feelings towards speed cameras, they're unlikely to go away - and ignoring them could be the end of your driving licence. A number of sat nav systems have started to add software to locate cameras, but now you can add it to your phone, courtesy of Road Angel Mobile.

Road Angel Mobile enables compatible smartphones to warn you of various hazards, such as fixed and mobile camera positions, average speed monitoring areas, accident blackspots, primary school locations and congestion charging zones.  Whenever a potential hazard approaches, Road Angel Mobile provides visible and audible alerts to get your attention. It runs on most Nokia handsets using Symbian Series 60 2nd Edition (check here for compatible handsets).  In addition, to provide the application with the satellite signal needed, you'll need to use a suitable Bluetooth GPS receiver, such as the Holux GPSlim 236 or GR230. 

You can download it for a limited period for free, with the price rising to £5 at the end of October. In addition, there are data charges of £1.50 per week, charged to your handset.

Find out more

Samsung FX media phone with 5.1 channel audio

Samsung has launched another handset in South Korea that we may or may not see in some form, going under the name of the FX.

It's a slider at just 1.9cm thick and with phone and PDA functionality, along with Wi-Fi, digital TV reception and 5.1-channel audio. There's also a 2.4-inch colour screen, front-mounted VGA camera and a two megapixel camera on the back. It features all the call and media playback facilities you'd expect, and of course, with virtual 5.1 audio support, one you wouldn't. According to Samsung, the phone can mix the audio into two channels for a better-sounding stereo experience. Storage of media is on the phone or via Micro SD cards.

No news as yet of it coming to Europe - we'll keep you posted.

Samsung website

Via The Register

Fossil’s Abacus Bluetooth watch

  So, what's the difference between the Fossil Abacus Bluetooth watch and the Sony Ericsson MBW-100 Bluetooth watch we featured yesterday? Both are made by Fossil and both feature technology from Sony Ericsson to connect to your mobile phone. However, there's a marked difference in looks - and this one retails for around £50 cheaper.

The Abacus was developed from one of Fossil's bestselling analogue watches. In terms of functionality, it seems very similar to the MBW-100, with auto-pairing to your phone to offer caller ID information on your wrist (and the ability to reject a call) via an OLED screen, along with notification of incoming texts by vibration. There's an out of range warning if your phone and watch separate, time/date from your phone and it's water resistant up to 3m. The battery lasts for around 7 days before it needs a charge via AC adapter or USB.

Available in two styles, with a stainless steel case and bracelet or with a stainless steel case and black PU strap. Both retail at £149.99. Check your phone will pair with it before buying.

Find out more

Vodafone launches cut-price Pay As You Talk deals

Vodafone is launching new sets of tariffs from 1st October - Anynet and Anytime - which removes higher call rates to other networks, with call charges to any network from 10p per minute and texts from 3p.

The 10p call price is for evenings and weekends, whille the text rate is only applicable if you buy a 500 text pack, which retails for £15. The prices will work in conjunction with Free Weekends and Vodafone Stop the Clock offers. In addition, you'll also receive 10% back when you buy a top-up card by credit or debit card worth £15 or more.

All new customers activating after 1st October will go onto the new plans, whilst other customers can switch by calling 2345.

Vodafone website

Sony Ericsson announces K320i - the businessman's snapshot camera phone

Sony Ericsson today announced the arrival of the K320i, which it describes as a "snapshot camera phone", with enough business-friendly features to make it useful for the working week.

As a business tool, the K320i includes PC synchronisation straight out of the box, support for push email, a full (HTML) web browser and storage for up to 1,000 contacts. And if you've got some time off, the K320i also offers a camera with 4x digital zoom (amazingly, only VGA), along with a media player for music and video playback on the 1.8-inch UBC (Ultra Bright Colour) screen. However, internal storage is just 15MB, with mo mention of being able to expand this.

It's a Bluetooth handset and one of the first Sony Ericsson phones to feature Automatic Bluetooth pairing, which allows you to easily connect with a compatible Bluetooth accessory (like a headset) without the need to enter a pass code when first linking the two devices. 

The K320i is available in Misty Silver, Graphite Grey and Light Brown and will be available from October 2006. Pricing dependent on contract.

Sony Ericsson website

Sony Ericsson launches MBW-100 Bluetooth watch

Sony Ericsson, in assocation with Fossil has introduced the MBW-100 Bluetooth watch, a mobile accessory/fashion item that allows you to keep in touch with your phones functionality as easily as checking the time.

As an analogue watch, it's certainly a looker, crafted from high quality (and scratch-resistant) stainless steel with a silver facia. It's also water-resistant up to 30m. But it's the Bluetooth functionality that's the big selling point.  An OLED display beneath the watch face displays who is calling when a call is incoming. A simple key press on the watch can reject the call. You can also control your music from the watch (play, pause and skip tracks), get notification of text messages and there's out-of-range notification when you are separated from your phone.

There's also a battery level indicator, with Bluetooth functionality good for seven days between charges, with the time going for a further seven days after that. The watch will auto-pair with the following Sony Ericsson phones -  K610, K610i, K618, K790, K800, V630, W710, W850, Z610, Z710.

Available in time for Christmas, it should retail for around 300 Euros (around £203).

Sony Ericsson website

Vodafone to launch own brand 3G handset - Vodafone 710 clamshell

Vodafone is the latest company to launch an own-brand phone - in this case the new Vodafone 710 3G clamshell handset, which will be the first in a series of own-brand models.

China's Huawei Technologies will supply the Vodafone 710 clamshell phone. "The move will assist the uptake of 3G services, due to the lower cost per handset and the fact that the Vodafone 710 will be offered on prepay as well as contract, and will provide wide market access to 3G," Vodafone said in a statement.

"White label" phones can typically cost a third less than those sourced from more established handset brands - and they give operators greater flexibility to customise the phones to their own services. Details so far released on the 710 indicate it features an MP3 music player, a 1.3 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. The launch is expected next month.

Vodafone website

Via Reuters

Yay or Nay: Nokia N95

This week's Yay or Nay Wednesday is the just announced Nokia N95 (watch Katie's NY preview).

It's a monster-featured multimedia phone/camera/music player with all manner of communication possibilities, with Bluetooth, HSDPA, GPS amongst others.

What do you reckon. Is it hot or not?

Wednesday interview: Michael Kornhauser of ALK on why satnav is going mobile

Could the next killer app for mobile phones be satellite navigation? ALK certainly hopes so. The company has been selling its CoPilot Live application for PDAs and smartphones for some time now, but in the latter case it's always been dependent on a separate GPS receiver, which connects to your phone using Bluetooth.

However, developments like GPS-enabled phones and HSDPA networks point to a bright future for mobile satnav, and other location-based services. ALK has certainly come a long way since the 1970s, when it was working with the US government computing routes from Earth to Mars.

"From the start, we've been providing consulting, services or applications that help people get from A to B," says managing director Michael Kornhauser. "Now it's happening on mobiles."

"In the mid-1990s, we took it a step further by attacing a GPS receiver to a laptop computer," says Kornhauser. "At the time, the laptop was the only entity available that had the computing power and memory to do satellite navigation. But we always had a view to ultimately reduce that in size for mobile phones."

From the early days of its CoPilot product, ALK was working closely with Microsoft on the latter's handheld platforms, initially WinCE and then Pocket PC. ALK was to launch the first mobile edition of CoPilot for the Cassiopeia PDA. From there, the company has developed its CoPilot Live product for smartphones, and according to Kornhauser is looking to extend that to more mass-market phones. He also says that CoPilot Live has been built with mobile in mind.

"A lot of navigation systems are either on-board, where all the data is stored on the system, or off-board, where you effectively dial up to a server," he says. "CoPilot Live is something we call hybrid-compliant, so it takes advantage of the tremendous computing power on these smartphones and the diving cost of smart memory, to do all the computing and map storage on-board, but goes off-board for value-added services and other elements of navigation."

How does this work? Well, in most cities, street-level map data doesn't change that much, but information like traffic conditions, weather, speed camera placement is more dynamic, so more suited to being pulled down over-the-air. So how else does a product like CoPilot change between platforms? Is it essentially the same application on mobile as it is on a laptop?

"A lot of the guts are the same, and the product has similar functionality and overall look and feel," says Kornhauser. "But the UI is tweaked fairly significantly for each device. On a tablet, you have up to a 15-inch screen, so you can have a lot more information on there. But then on a Pocket PC, and even more so on a smartphone, it's imoprtant that the information is simple to understand, concise, to the point and can be understood at a glance."

So who uses this stuff, and who picks the mobile over the tablet version and vice versa? According to Kornhauser, the laptop and tablet PC versions of CoPilot Live don't sell that well in Europe, but are popular in the US with people who own camper-vans, as well as professional truckers – who may even go for the fully-fledged FleetCenter version (left). Meanwhile, smaller businesses tend to go for the PDA version, while the smartphone edition appeals more to regular punters.

"We're seeing more and more devices with these capabilities," he says. "It's not just enterprise users who have smartphones any more. Devices like the Nokia N73 and Sony Ericsson W950 are great examples. They're powerful smartphones, yet they also have great cameraphones and video or music capabilities too."

Two big trends that could make mobile satnav more common in the next year are GPS in phones, and HSDPA networks. Nokia's announcement of the N95 yesterday is sure to be the first of many GPS-enabled handsets, which removes the need to have a Bluetooth-connected GPS receiver to use applications like CoPilot Live.

"It's an absolute killer for us," says Kornhauser. "Take a look at the satnav market to date. In Europe, the big push for PDA navigation came when it was first put into a bundle in 2004. Then when that petered off a little bit, the GPS receiver got put into the device itself, and there was another big uptake. It's about having less things to buy, less things to power, and it's cheaper, which naturally gets it out to more people. And we see the same happening in the smartphone market."

Meanwhile, handsets like the N95 are also likely to work on faster HSDPA networks. Kornhauser says it's feasible for someone living in, say, Munich to have the surrounding 50 miles of data stored on their device, but when they travel somewhere else, they'll be served the additional local data directly over the air. "You can do those kind of advancements if you can get five to six megabytes of data down to the handset in a reasonable time," he says.

So where do the mobile operators fit in, if at all? Will they launch their own navigation services, or partner with people like ALK, or just keep out of the market altogether? Kornhauser seems to think the second option is most likely, with operators charging customers a set fee per month for, say, traffic information which can be overlaid onto a phone's mapping software. It does seem that there's scope for more of what he calls "value-added services" with this kind of satnav technology.

"We're taking it from something you just use when you're lost or on holiday, to something you use every day in various different aspects of your life," he says. "So you might be using the speed camera information, or getting walking directions when you're not in your car, or getting other location-based content, or route-based content as we would call it. From ALK's perspective, it's not about finding stuff around where you are, but around where you're going. We know where you're going, how we're going to get you there, so we can serve various bits of relevant information along that way."

Jajah launches Mobile Suite VoIP service - up to 86% saving on international calls from your mobile

Jajah, already known for their home phone VoIP service, has today launched a new VoIP service for all mobile handsets - the Jajah Mobile Suite - which promises savings of up to 86% on international calls and again, without the need to be connected to a PC.

As an example of the savings, the company says a 10 minute call from London to New York with the Jajah Mobile Suite will cost £1.10, compared to £12.90 with Vodafone, £1.50 with Orange, £7.00 with T-Mobile and £9.90 with O2. You can get the deal by downloading a plug-in from the Jajah website or by sending an SMS. The plug-in will allow the service to operate on any mobile phone, regardless of geography, service or manufacturer.

Overall savings are obviously dictated by how much you're currently paying for calls, but are greater if both you and the person you're calling have the plug-in installed. And the cost of each call is clearly displayed before the call is made, so you can make sure you are making a saving. 

Find out more at the Jajah website

textandsell - buy and sell on the net with your mobile phone

Just launched is a new classified service under the name of textandsell, which, as you might have guessed, uses the mobile phone to place adverts on the internet. 

Here's how - take a photo of the item you wish to sell with your phone. They then add text that describes the item and desired sales price. Text the photo with details to the textandsell number - 07740 827827. The cost is the cost of a premium-rate text, which is initially £1.50 for ad advert lasting two weeks. According to Tobi Hardy, co-founder of textandsell: "Our service combines ease of use and access with modern technology and low cost of entry.  For all ages it has never been quicker, easier or cheaper to sell your stuff."

Will it dent eBay? I'm not convinced to be honest, but you can have a look for yourself and make your own mind up at the textandsell website.

Find out more

T-Mobile offers Motorola KRZR K1 and exclusive champagne Samsung E870

Two new mobiles available from T-Mobile in the UK - the Motorola KRZR K1 and the Samsung E870 in an exclusive champagne colour.

First up is the KRZR K1, previewed here back in July and offered by T-Mobile with web'n'walk - which means full internet on the handset. It's got the looks, with a  deep blue glass-reflective finish and a decent set of features, including a 2 megapixel digital camera with 8x digital zoom, video capture and playback, MP3 player and an external memory slot for storing and sharing. The music player can also connect to an optional stereo Bluetooth headset while 'Airplane mode' lets you listen to music with the phone switched off. The Motorola KRZR K1 costs from free on a T-Mobile pay monthly plan or £299.99 on pay-as-you-go. 

Also in T-Mobile stores is the exclusive Samsung E870 Champagne handset. It's a fashion-friendly clamshell handset with an MP3 player (compatible with AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA formats), a 1.3 megapixel camera, 80MB of storage (expandable via a card slot), Bluetooth, dual colour displays and an unusual TV out function, which allows easy transfer of all files tp a projector for display on a TV or PC.

As well as the champagne colour, you can also get this in white, with prices from free and up to £199.99, dependent on price plan. It's also avaailable now.

T-Mobile website

DIY your own very tiny mobile phone (even if you're ugly)

Heck with the Xun Chi 138, what we all want is a tiny tiny mobile that demonstrates that we're really, really, ridiculously good looking. The DIY budget for Zoolander's mobile is only £15, which is quite a small price to pay for such proof of attractiveness. (Though unlike in the movie, it has no dial tone.) [GT]

Zoolander's Cellphone DIY

Related stories: Xun Chi 138 - the world's smallest mobile phone | The world's smallest smartphone? | Website of the Day: Daily DIY

One Minute Preview: Nokia N75

Next up we have the Nokia N75, the handset that's being launched in the US. I really like the look of this phone multimedia device - very nice slim design with a smart matte black finish. In fact, I wouldn't mind it if they launched it over here so I could have a proper go with it. I'm reliably informed that if the demand is high enough, they will consider launching it in the UK and Europe.

One Minute Preview: Nokia N95

So here it is, the new Nokia N95, which I've been checking out over her in New York. The video is a bit dark and noisy, but that's about par for the course at these launch events. The GPS features weren't working since the building was restricting the signal and no one was allowed to step out into the sunlight with one of the multimedia devices for fear it would burst into flames presumably (NB: it's not a phone - they get uppity if you call it a phone). All in all, I was pretty impressed, but I'd like to find a quieter spot to actually try out those stereo speakers (which sounded crap to me). Not sure how many people would use the GPS, but I know I could do with it since I spend most of my life lost and looking for press launches. Oh, and I think the two-way slider design is a really nice feature - especially as it launches all the apps automatically for you.

Nokia N75 'smallest multimedia computer'

Nokia have unveiled their N75 'multimedia computer' mobile phone, which offers music, camera, phone and Internet in one thin silver clamshell package.

Optimised for music, when the phone is closed the 1.36 inch colour cover display acts as a music guide, with controls on the cover. Naturally it syncs to PC for up to 1500 tracks worth of music. There's a built in FM radio as well. The camera is 2 megapixels with 16x digital zoom and integrated LED flash.

The built-in screen can be used to display downloaded videos, and the camera will capture MPEG-4 video with audio. The phone is Internet-ready (3G), and features Nokia's web browser which includes an RSS feed reader.

It's due out in the US later this year - we'll keep an eye on when it appears here.

Nokia

Nokia announce updated N91 8GB phone

Nokia is pushing its N91 forward as the music phone of choice, as it expands its hard drive to an 8GB capacity, enough to store up to 6000 songs. It features dedicated music keys, a premium music-optimised headset with remote control, synchronisation with Windows Media Player, and Bluetooth.

Nokia say its the 'jukebox in your pocket' and will probably be hoping once you get your hands on one you'll sign up for their new music service.

More details to come as we get them.

Nokia

What's so hot about the .mobi top-level domain

Yesterday saw the start of the free-for-all domain registration process for the new top-level domain extension (TLD) .mobi (dotmobi).

Unlike other top-level domains like .com and .net, the .mobi TLD will put certain requirements on the websites that can be hosted, in order to make them mobile-friendly. Quite what these standards are isn't totally clear yet, but they'll address issues of download speed, types and quality of content.

CEO of MTLD (Mobile Top Level Domain organisation), Neil Edwards said: "The mobile web from the standpoint of content is in its absolute infancy. In terms of the number of sites and the content; it is not very good. If you try your favourite websites on a mobile phone, the chances are they are not going to work."

Certain sections of the Net get excited when a new TLD becomes available, but I'm not one of them.

Sure, it opens up a whole new set of naming possibilities, but other than that it isn't going to do much on its own to improve the quality of the mobile Internet experience.

More important factors are the speed of mobile Net access (the emerging HDSPA standard will help) and a flat-rate for access. Of course good content is also vital, but simply sticking existing sites on a dotmobi domain is not going to make them appealing or useful to mobile users.

According to the BBC report, more people have a web-enabled mobile phone than a PC with Internet access, so the potential is definitely there, and it's something that mobile manufacturers, network operators, and large website operators are all keen to tap into.

Tapping into .mobi is fine, but there's a lot more to get right as well if mobile surfing is to really catch on.

Nokia N95 HSDPA mobile announced

Nokia have just announced their innovative N95 mobile phone, boasting a shed load of features. We'll have a hands-on review very shortly courtesy of Katie who's at the New York launch, but in the meantime here's a quick rundown of some of its features:

* Double-slide design with multimedia controls
* Nokia's first HSDPA phone
* Wi-fi, WCDMA, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth
* 5 megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss lens
* Video capture at 'near DVD quality'
* GPS
* Music player
* v2 of Nokia web browser

Reading first description and seeing the snaps at All About Symbian (pic from AAS) it looks like a highly capable phone with lots of juicy features to drool over. Availability from early 2007 at unsubsidised price of €550.

Nokia's new range of accessories for music mobiles

Possibly with an eye on new music mobiles heading our way soon, Nokia has launched a new range of music accessories for its phones.

First up are two sets of headphones that are actually for use with any audio device. The HS-81 stereo headset (pictured) is a joint effort with Sennheiser (which should gibe you an idea about sound quality) and features a strong neckband for support and comfortable earpads. In addition, the HS-62 Advanced Music Headphones feature 40mm stereo speakers and fold away for easy storage.

Nokia has also launched the MD-4 Mini Speakers. Weighing just 130g, they feature a v-shaped design that folds flat to slip into your pocket. And unlike similar products, they a built-in FM antenna. There's also the MD-3 Portable Speakers, a more obvious speaker unit that promises excellent bass and sound. And finally, Nokia has three new Bluetooth headsets - the BH-801 (pictured), BH-302, and BH-207. The BH-801 is the top-end model and offers six hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby. The BH-302 offers 10 hours of talk time and features an adjustable earloop and multifunction button. The BH-207 has 7.5 hours talk time and also features the multifunction button.

Due in the shops in the coming weeks, prices are still to be confirmed.

Nokia website