The Nokia E73 Mode was announced today in the USA and will soon become available on the the T-Mobile network. The E series devices from Nokia [NOK] are based around business users. The E73 has a QWERTY keyboard built in and is still the operators thinnest phone on offer.

The Nokia E73 follows on from the older E72. Specifications show that it has WiFi, 3G and a new Switch mode feature that allows you to easily change the home screen to show status updates from friends.

As the E73 is a business phone it comes with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync client allowing it to connect up to a corporate email server. IBM Lotus Traveler is also included that lets you switch between multiple inboxes. [Read more…]

Nokia [NOK] has announced the Nokia C2 dual-SIM mobile phone. The target market for the C2 is the developing world. As the dual-SIM suggests, the device is capable of running two SIM cards at the same time.

What this exactly means is that the Nokia C2 can receive texts and calls to either SIM at the same time giving you two numbers to work from perhaps with one SIM card having the better deal on text messages and the other card having a better deal on voice calls.

What makes this even better is that the second SIM card is hot-swappable allowing it to be removed and another put in place while the phone is switched on. [Read more…]

Nokia [NOK] is launching a new charger that attaches to a bike and uses a dynamo to keep a phone charged. It is called the CD-14 and comes in two parts with the dynamo and Nokia phone holder (CR-124).

The charger is compatible with the 2mm charger jack that is seen on phones such as the Nokia E72 or the Nokia X6. It can also work over mini USB also.

To get the phone to charge the bike needs to be moving at about 6 KPH. It stops charging below that and above 50KPH. At 12KPH it reaches the efficiency of a regular plug in the wall charger. [Read more…]

On Tuesday we heard rumours that the Samsung Galaxy S was launching simultaneously around the globe. This rumour has now been squashed in that the US wont get it till later this year and neither will the rest of the world. However, for those in Europe it is expected that the Samsung Galaxy S will happen any day now.

The press release mentions that 100 operators across the globe have selected the smartphone due to it being a key device.

“The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S will set a new standard for smartphones, and the excitement we’ve seen from operators and retailers for this device is testament to that,” said JK Shin, president and head of mobile communications business. “The Samsung Galaxy S is the perfect device for people in all corners of the world who want that extra edge; to be more effective, productive, better connected, and in tune with their smart life both personal and professional all in a very easy and simple way. We’re extremely confident that this device is going to be very successful in every market.”

[Read more…]

Sprint [S] is preparing for the launch of the HTC EVO 4G tomorrow by introducing the first ad for it.

The ad is very good and shows the evolution of technology from the wheel to a train, car and various other technologies ending up going through a bunch of mobile phones right to the end where the EVO 4G is unveiled.

We have embedded the ad below for you to take a look at in preparation for the launch of the device tomorrow. [Read more…]

The Samsung Wave S8500 started shipping recently in Germany and those who purchased it could be in for a surprise as it is believed many of the devices have been infected with a virus. The virus is on the microSD memory card that ships with the smartphone and it contains the Win32/Heur virus that effects computers that use autorun.

It isn’t known how the virus got there although we suspect that it was put there in the factory when the memory cards were perhaps tested. Maybe one of the machines used to test cards contained a virus, or perhaps they were purposely planted on there by someone. [Read more…]

If you follow the progress Google [GOOG] has made with the Google Android OS, you will notice that they release updates quite often. Many smartphones are about to get an update to Android 2.1 although Android 2.2 is due out any week now. Also many are still on 1.5 and 1.6 with a few on 2.0. In total, eight releases were made in the first 18 months.

All this fragmentation has happened due to the quick updates that Google has made and now it seems that they are now beginning to slow down over the next few months.

Andy Rubin from Google said that the slow down would bring it down to about two updates per year and eventually on to just one update per year which basically follows in line with what Apple pretty much do. [Read more…]

Some people have reported problems with their HTC Legend smartphones. The problem appears to be the way it shows grayscale colours in that it cannot show them properly.

The HTC Legend uses an AMOLED display which was criticised for the problems which prompted Tweakers to investigate further.

To do this the website used colour-testing equipment where the could test to see exactly what was happening under a microscope. The screen on the Legend did show problems with pink, grey, brown and green showing up rather than just grayscale (seen in the larger image below). [Read more…]

Verizon [VZ] has announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9650 will be launching on it’s network on June 3. The Bold 9650 can be ordered this Thursday with the device showing up in stores on June 10.

Features on the BlackBerry Bold 9650 include an optical trackpad, WiFi that can connect to 802.11b/g networks and Push to Talk functions.

The phone it’s self measures 4.4 x 2.44 x 0.55 inches and weighs 4.8oz. It has a glossy black finish with chrome highlights. As can be expected from all BlackBerry devices, there is mobile and messaging capabilities on this smartphone allowing users to easily have access to emails whilst on the move. [Read more…]

The Motorola FLIPOUT has been spotted a couple of times in the past. After a few months of details here and there, we now have official word from Motorola about the FLIPOUT and what it exactly is.

The Motorola FLIPOUT runs the Android 2.1 operating system. It has a smaller 2.8 inch QVGA touchscreen and a unique keyboard that flips out by rotating the device around the top corner.

Features include a three megapixel camera that is fixed focus. 3G connectivity is included. It has 512MB of memory built in and this can be expanded by a microSD card.

The device is square and measures 67mm by 67mm and is 17mm in thickness. It has an 1170mAh battery. For music playback, regular headphones can be used in the 3.5mm headphone connector. [Read more…]

Skype launched it’s update VoIP app over the weekend by releasing version 2 of the software. New features in the Skype update included the ability to make VoIP calls over 3G rather than being restricted to just Wi-Fi like the previous version.

However, when installing the software update and running it for the first time, a message popped up saying calls over 3G are currently free (ie, Skype to Skype), but that in the near future from August 2010 a small monthly fee would be charged for the service.

Skype has changed their minds on this and is now extending the free period from August 2010 to the end of 2010 and will start charging the small monthly fee beginning next year. [Read more…]

AT&T [T] today pushed out a press release detailing new wireless data plans which they say aim to make mobile broadband/internet access cheaper.

Plans start with a $15/month entry plan or a $25/month plan with 10 times more data ie, 200MB vs 2GB. The plans will not be forced on users unless they want or need to sign a new contract, ie when getting a new phone for example.
out a contract extension.

“AT&T helps mobilize everything on the Internet – your favourite web sites, TV shows, music, games and social networks. Virtually everything previously done while sitting at a computer can now be done on the go,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “To give more people the opportunity to experience these benefits, we’re breaking free from the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ pricing model and making the mobile Internet more affordable to a greater number of people.”

[Read more…]