Phones

TxtBIG! launches cheeky new video text service

We just got an email from a nice guy called Richard who wanted to let us know about a new Video SMS service.

Here’s what Richard had to say:

Forget Britney Spears dumping Fed-Ex by conventional SMS – texting just moved to a whole new level with the launch of TxtBIG!’s range of highly entertaining video texts (www.txtbig.com). This cool new service lets you choose from hundreds of hilariously funny, sexy and cheeky text clips to liven up your messages for just 50p.

TxtBIG! clips are the only videos that can be sent straight to friends’ mobiles from your computer or phone. And you can personalise the message with your own text to really let the message hit home. Whether you want to tell your mates what you really think of their girlfriend ‘She’s a Dog!’ invite your buddies out for a curry ‘Fancy a bite?’, ditch that no-good boyfriend once and for all ‘You’re dumped!’ or even propose ‘Please Say Yes!’ – TxtBIG! has the best video texts to get your message across.

Clip categories include Love, Flirt, Insults, Occasions, Celebrity, and unique Sports Banter. With Football Banter, fans can send up-to-the-minute messages throughout the game. Footie fans can add a kick to their clips with tags like ‘We’ve Scored!’, ‘Result’, or ‘Going Down’, with the extra bonus of some eye candy from the gorgeous TxtBIG! girls.

TxtBIG!’s library of videos is constantly updated with brand new clips to make mobile texting more fun than ever. The TxtBIG! mobile and online sites are now up and running on www.txtbig.com and wap.txtbig.com.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, TxtBIG, video messaging, SMS, Tracy & Matt]

2 new HTC headphone adapters

Our friends over at Brando Workshop have just released two more headphone adapters for HTC devices.

The first is a 3-in-1 adapter/splitter that will allow you to connect standard 3.5mm headphones as well as sync/charge the device at the same time. It also allows for the use of the standard headphones that ship with the device.

The second is an adapter that allows you to plug in standard 3.5mm headphones but that also includes and in-line microphone. The connector is a full 11pin to 3.5mm Stereo Head Jack Converter for HTC devices, with Microphone device, you can answer your call easier.

Both adapters will work on the HTC Trinity, HTC P3600, Dopod D810, HTC Artemis, HTC P3300, Qtek G200, T-Mobile MDA Compact III, Dopod P800W, HTC TyTN, Orange M3100, Vodafone v1605, and many other HTC devices and variants.

Go check out the Brando website for more info.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, spv headphone socket, m3100 spv usb cable, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, Headphone Adapter, Orange SPV M3100, Hermes Headphones]

Bye Bye Cingular

This monday, US operator Cingular will be rebranded as AT&T Wireless

Now, sit down, and read the following very slowly…

Cingular Wireless LLC bought AT&T Wireless, then an independent company, and killed off the AT&T Wireless brand. The owners of Cingular, SBC, then decided to buy AT&T and adopted the brand for its landline services. After AT&T bought Bellsouth Corporation, the other owner of Cingular, the AT&T Wireless brand was restored.

Everything clear?

The timing is slightly odd.. what with some news about an… Apple Phone(?) being exclusively Cingular? Those in the know are fine, but will Apple really be that happy with a rebrand just days after their own CES bombshell?

This first step will put in place a transitional logo with elements of the Cingular logo, and AT & T’s own. The 2000 Cingular outlets across the USA will all be updated with AT&T branding in stages throughout 2007.

[Technorati tag(s): cingular, smartphone, Tracy & Matt, AT&T, wireless, mobile carrier]

Clove memory card bargains

Clove continue to be aggressive with their memory card prices.

This week you can pick up a 2gb MiniSD card for £15 (+VAT) or a 1gb microSD card for just £14 (+VAT) while 4gb SD Cards are down to a mere £29 (+VAT)!

There are lots of other memory offers on the Clove Technology site so why not go and have a look and see if you can bag yourself a bargain. We are pretty sure that Clove are amoung the cheapest for memory at the moment!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Flash Memory, SD Card, Clove Technology]

Cisco to sue Apple over iPhone name

Following Apple’s announcement about the iPhone on Tuesday, Cisco Systems is suing Apple Computer for trademark infringement in a US federal court, for using the iPhone name.

Apple responded by saying the lawsuit was “silly” and that Cisco’s trademark registration was “tenuous at best”.

“We think Cisco’s trademark lawsuit is silly,” Apple spokesman Alan Hely said. “There are already several companies using the name iPhone for Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) products.”

“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, Cisco senior vice-president and general counsel, in a statement.

Cisco has owned the iPhone name since it bought Infogear Technology in 2000, which registered the name.

Jon Noh, a spokesperson for Cisco reportedly said: “This issue is not about money, and it’s not about the phone itself; it is about Cisco’s obligation to protect its trademark in the face of Apple using it without our permission.”

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks.

Source: BBC News

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): iPhone, Apple, OS X, Cisco, Tracy & Matt]

Parrot Hands-Free Music Kit

Parrot introduces their new bluetooth Hands-Free MUSIC KIT:

For the 50 million owners of MP3 devices who would prefer to listen to their own music in their cars, this news will be music to their ears: Parrot plans to introduce the industry’s first hands-free cell phone car kit with streaming audio capability that will allow them to play their favorite tunes through their car’s stereo. The MK6000 will be available in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2007 and will be priced at $239.99 MSRP.

Now, car – and music – enthusiasts can turn their vehicles into their personal “jukebox on wheels” while at the same time enjoy the convenience of hands-free Bluetooth® cell phone capability.

It’s easy to use, says Parrot. Just start you car, pair your Bluetooth-enabled smart phone or other MP3 device with the MK6000, and enjoy listening to your music library over your car’s stereo system. And because it’s Bluetooth-based streaming, there are no tangled wires or concerns about having the right size jacks or adapters.

“The MK6000 is the second in a new series of advanced Bluetooth products from Parrot that take advantage of today’s fastest growing consumer technologies – audio streaming and Bluetooth,” says Ed Valdez, president and COO of Parrot, Inc.

“Mobile music is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity for millions of people who take their music with them on their smart phone, iPod™ or other portable music device. This latest innovation allows consumers to enjoy their personal music in their vehicles — without compromising sound quality — with any device that enables Bluetooth A2DP. A few months ago we introduced the Parrot SOUND SYSTEM with audio streaming – our wireless speaker system for home and office use. Now, Parrot is introducing a breakthrough technology for consumers’ vehicles by combining audio streaming with hands-free Bluetooth cell phone capabilities. Audio streaming is poised to be the next “big thing” in mobile electronics.”

In addition to audio streaming, the new MK6000 features two other ground-breaking Parrot innovations for car kits: “beamforming” technology for exceptional voice quality while phoning, and a new text-to-speech synthesizer that will read back the phone book listings.

Parrot MUSIC KIT specifications:

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Parrot, MUSIC KIT, Speakerphone, Bluetooth, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk Cruzer Contour

SanDisk introduce the Cruzer® Contour™, a USB flash drive with the elegant look and feel of a fine fountain pen or wristwatch. The elegance extends inside Cruzer Contour, with state-of-the-art engineering, support for Windows® ReadyBoost™, and, a generous gallery of pre-installed U3™ software applications.

What especially sets apart Cruzer Contour, with its glossy black top and silver metallic body, is the drive’s unique sliding USB connector. Using your thumb to slide the top of Cruzer Contour back and forth brings out or hides the connector – there’s no visible switch, and no cap to lose.

The sliding USB connector requires nothing more than two flicks of the thumb. Sliding the top back and then forward brings out the connector, while sliding the top forward and then back pulls in the connector. Although no bigger than previous SanDisk flash memory drives, Cruzer Contour has the weightiness and cool metallic feel associated with fine luxury goods.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Cruzer Contour, U3, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk Sansa Connect

In yet another annoucement at CES, SanDisk introduced the Sansa Connect™, a Wi-Fi enabled MP3 player that lets consumers enjoy and recommend music from almost anywhere. The Sansa Connect un-tethers consumers from their PCs allowing them to connect to music and online photos through any open wireless “hot spot” Internet connection.

The Sansa Connect will boast innovative Internet capabilities designed to keep music aficionados connected to a wide range of new music via subscription services and streaming Internet radio with no PC required.

Sansa Connect feature set includes:

The 4-gigabyte Sansa Connect will be distributed to store shelves in the United States in late March with a suggested retail price of $249.99

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): MP3 Player, SanDisk, Media Player, Sansa Express, Tracy & Matt]

SanDisk unveils USBTV

SanDisk today introduced USBTV, a new, industry-wide initiative that is expected to enable consumers to easily move digital content from their PCs to their televisions for viewing in full, big-screen comfort.

“We believe that USBTV represents an exciting new category of flash-based products that will bring digital downloading of video to a broad spectrum of new consumers who prefer viewing on their TV sets rather than on a PC screen,” said Eli Harari, SanDisk CEO. “USBTV has the potential to become an industry-transforming category as significant as the introduction of the DVD and VHS players, because in the convergence of the Web and home entertainment, USBTV solves in a simple, elegant way the ‘last 10 feet’ of the content portability problem in the home between the PC and the TV,” he said.

A USBTV player can tackle the problem by plugging directly into the USB port of virtually any personal computer, where it acts as a USB storage device for a rapid “drag and drop” of any desired file. At a press conference at CES, SanDisk demonstrated a product concept that employs a TV cradle and a remote control, allowing USBTV to connect to virtually any TV set. A key innovation incorporated into USBTV is a multimedia processor that converts the stored files into various TV video/audio formats for direct playback on virtually any TV without the need for any changes to the TV set.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): USBTV, SanDisk, Media Player, Sansa View, Tracy & Matt]

Kingston Technology Releases microSD Dual Adapter Pack

Kingston Technology Company, the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is launching a special microSD card with dual adapter bundle to maximize compatibility and interoperability of microSD Flash memory cards among multiple device platforms. Given the myriad of Flash memory formats available to digital device manufacturers and the gain in popularity of the tiny microSD form factor with sleeker multifunction mobile phones, the new dual adapter pack is the first of its kind to offer increased flexibility for using microSD cards at a cost savings to consumers.

Consisting of a 1 GB microSD card; a microSD to miniSD card adapter; and a microSD to full-size SD card adapter, the new microSD dual adapter pack is priced at $39.99 and is backed by a lifetime warranty for the 1 GB microSD card and 24/7 technical support.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Kingston, microSD, Flash Memory, Tracy & Matt]