Phones

I know that a lot of you are excited by the prospect of the Orange SPV E650 (aka HTC Vox) which is expected to go on sale sometime in April 2007.

Our friends over at CoolSmartphone have managed to get their hands on some official photos of the E650 which you might like to check out.

Orange SPV E650 Specification:

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, HTC Vox, HTC S710, Orange, SPV E650]

Looking for a case for your HTC S620, Orange SPV E600 or T-Mobile MDA Mail device? Look no further! JAVOedge have just added a new JAVOskin case to their range for HTC Excalibur based devices.

These JAVOskin cases are available in Frosted White, Solar Grey and Bronze. Costing just $23.95 (about £13) they are an ideal and inexpensive way to protect your valuable device investment.

Check out the product page HERE.

Product Description
EAD coating treatment enhanced! EAD (Enhanced Anti Dust) coating gives the
JAVOSkin case a softer surface to grab and significantly reduce dust which would
accumulate on the surface.

JAVOedge’s innovative JAVOSkin is designed to protect your device from scratch and impact damage while retaining the sleek look of your device. It features strategically placed cut-outs to allow maximum usability. With these cut-outs, using the case would feel as though the case wasn’t on the device at all! JAVOSkin is easy on your hands with it’s soft texture. Made out of specially blended silicon materials, it can stretch and flex to cushion your device from hard bumps and falls. With this low-profile case, you get the best of both worlds. It will remain fully usable, stylish and protected.

JAVOSkin is the smart way to protect your device!

Key Features

Tracy

[Post tag(s): Smartphone Blog, JAVOedge, JAVOSkin, HTC Excalibur, HTC S620, Orange SPV E600, MDA Mail, Tracy & Matt]

Once again our friends at Clove Technology are offering a new HTC device on preorder. This time it’s the HTC S710 aka HTC Vox.

Combining a sliding keyboard with a numeric pad, all in a compact smartphone form-factor, the HTC S710 looks like being an extremely popular device. To ensure that you get yours promptly you preorder the S710 from Clove Technology for just £249.

Practical and versatile, the HTC S710 is an ideal business and pleasure device. Armed with an array of connection options, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, you stay connected to the world. Also, slide out the full keyboard to make typing messages a snap. Take quality pictures and video with the 2.0 megapixel camera and view them on the large 2.4 screen. The features are endless with the HTC S710.

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, HTC Vox, Clove, HTC S710, Tracy & Matt]

Earlier this week Eten announced their new Glofiish X800 Windows Mobile device. Since the we managed to track down some more details about the device.

ETEN Glofiish X800 Specification:

The Glofiish X800 should go on sale in May 2007. Let’s hope that the T-Mobile GPRS issues have been resolved by then!

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Eten, Glofiish, Eten Glofiish X800, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk today introduced SanDisk Mobile Premier, a new line of performance-oriented microSD memory cards aimed specifically at the mobile phone market. The cards allow consumers to quickly transfer content to and from their mobile phones as well as increase storage for videos, music, ring tones, digital images and other files. Also, SanDisk Mobile Premier cards feature SanDisk’s TrustedFlash technology, which allows network operators to sell premium content that can be downloaded directly to mobile phones, stored on the cards and played on other TrustedFlash-enabled devices authorized by the network provider.

The announcement was made at the CeBIT Show, where SanDisk is exhibiting its products in Hall 23, Stand B28.

SanDisk Mobile Premier microSD cards will be offered in 1- and 2-gigabyte capacities, with suggested retail prices of $53.00 and $82.00, respectively. The fingernail-size cards, which come with an adapter to fit standard SD card slots, are slated to be available this spring at many of the more than 200,000 stores worldwide where SanDisk products are sold.

“SanDisk Mobile Premier, our top-of-the-line mobile card, is designed to take advantage of the latest and greatest features of new handsets that have built-in digital photo and video capture, MP3 music playback and other memory-intensive elements including new security capabilities,” said Jeff Kost, vice president and general manager of the Mobile Consumer Solutions division at SanDisk. “This year, according to analysts’ projections, nearly half of all mobile phones sold are expected to have card slots, and the microSD has become the preferred format for manufacturers.”

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, microSD, SanDisk Premier, CeBIT]

u-blox AG, the leading Swiss provider of GPS receiver technology, today announced a deal that sees its LEA-4S GPS module included in a revolutionary smartphone produced by innovative design house Tranzda Technologies Co. Ltd. The PM328 is a NEWPLUS Linux-Core smartphone that integrates phone, PDA, GPS and other multimedia entertainment functions in a product that is 16 mm thin.

The PM328 has an embedded GPS engine, voice navigation software and maps of 400 cities. This enables users to easily locate and navigate to any location using nothing but their mobile phone. The PM328’s WAP 1.1 / 2.0 browser means users can search for restaurants, museums, cinemas, or similar on the Internet and then use the phone’s GPS functionality to navigate to the chosen location. Other features include a USB interface, Bluetooth support, and Data Synch functions that enable SMS, contacts, email and music synchronization with the user’s PC.

“The PM328 offers everything a handset user could dream of, including phone and PDA functionality, several multimedia features and, of course, the latest must-have for handheld devices: A high performance GPS engine that provides accurate, uninterrupted positioning indoors and outdoors,” said Thomas Seiler, u-blox CEO.

Tranzda chose u-blox’ LEA-4S GPS module for its outstanding performance and power consumption of 38 mA that ensures the smartphone has a long battery times. The LEA-4S measures a mere 17 x 22.4 mm and comes with SuperSense®, u-blox’ award-winning -158 dBm high sensitivity technology that enables coverage indoors and other difficult signal environments where other positioning engines lose the GPS signal and interrupt tracking. “We needed a small, low power and cost-effective GPS engine that could be easily integrated,” commented Li Ming, Tranzda CEO. “The accurate and reliable LEA-4S greatly exceeded all our expectations, ensuring our smartphone users enjoy uninterrupted positioning as they navigate through shopping malls, urban canyons and other difficult signal areas,” added Mr. Li.

The LEA-4S’s small size and SMT pads allow for fully automatic assembly processes with standard pick-and-place equipment and reflow soldering, enabling cost efficient, high volume production. Moreover, the module supports A-GPS services such as u-blox’ AssistNow® Assisted GPS solutions that ensure instant positioning anywhere, anytime. The competitively priced PM328 smartphone is now for sale in China and can be bought from www.powermobile.com.cn . Other u-blox and Tranzda joint developments will follow as the two companies continue to deliver innovative mass-market mobile solutions. u-blox will present the PM328 at CeBIT, Hall 11 Booth C09.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, GPS, u-blox, Tranzda, PM328, Tracy & Matt]

We just heard from one of our readers, Anthony, that T-Mobile have the Ameo in stock. After about 20 minutes on the phone to the customer service team I have confirmation that the T-Mobile Ameo is in stock and available to order, not only that but orders placed today should be delivered tomorrow!

We are just trying to find out about tariffs and costs and will get back to you!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, Dopod U1000, HTC Athena, HTC X7500, Tracy & Matt]

Following in the footsteps of T-Mobile Germany, T-Mobile UK are getting set to launch the Ameo.

The Ameo is T-Mobile’s version of the HTC Advantage and it has been suggested that device could be available in just two days time!

Other information is a little limited at the moment but we’ll bring you more as we have it.

Thanks to Amir for the tip.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, Dopod U1000, HTC Athena, HTC X7500, Tracy & Matt]

Vodafone announces today that customers in Europe will be able to surf the internet, check e-mail and access their business network when roaming abroad for a flat rate fee of only €12 for every day of use. The tariff will be available to Vodafone customers with mobile-enabled laptops from 1 July 2007 and will significantly lower the cost of data roaming for business customers and consumers alike.

This move is the latest development in Vodafone’s drive to simplify roaming prices, making them more predictable and understandable for customers. The initiative draws upon two years’ experience of the voice roaming tariff – Vodafone Passport – which has already attracted over 12m customers. Following the introduction of daily data tariffs in a number of Vodafone markets last year, Vodafone is now seeking to extend these benefits to customers throughout Europe who wish to use their laptops when travelling.

Besides the clear consumer advantages of reducing prices, Vodafone is continuing to invest in its networks to ensure customers also benefit from rapidly escalating data access speeds. Building on the strong platform of 3G, Vodafone has recently been rolling out faster technologies, such as HSDPA, which is now available in 11 European markets.

Commenting on the new tariff, Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone, said:

“Following the success of our Passport service, which has made it cheaper and simpler to call home over the past two years, we are now applying the same principles of value and simplicity for customers who need to access their corporate intranets, business e-mail or surf the web when they are abroad.

“With high speed 3G networks already deployed in many European markets, ongoing investment in new technologies to increase download speeds and clear, effective tariffs, Vodafone should be the network of choice for those seeking to use their laptops when travelling.”

Tariff details
The new tariff replaces complex ‘per Megabyte’ tariffs with a simple flat fee for practically unlimited data usage. The daily tariff enables Vodafone customers to send or receive data at ease within a 24 hour period or one calendar day (depending on the Vodafone market) for a fixed fee of €12 (excluding VAT). The fixed fee covers consumption within either a 24 hour period or a calendar day, up to 50 MB of data, after which the customer’s standard per-megabyte rate applies.

Vodafone will launch the tariff across the majority of its European footprint, including its principal European markets, on 1 July. It will be introduced into the remaining European markets soon thereafter.

As with Vodafone Passport there is no activation charge for opting into the daily roaming tariff.

The €12 (excluding VAT) flat rate tariff is applicable when a Vodafone customer is roaming on Vodafone subsidiary networks in Europe. Should a customer roam onto another network then standard per megabyte charging will apply.

Wholesale data rates
Vodafone also announces that from 1 July 2007 it will enter into reciprocal wholesale arrangements with any other European operator or operator Groups at a new lower wholesale rate for data roaming. In doing so, Vodafone is seeking to lower its own costs and increase overall activity in the data roaming market within the European Union. Vodafone expects this initiative to result in significantly lower data roaming costs for customers of both Vodafone and its competitors.

Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Roaming Charges, Vodafone, Windows Mobile blog]