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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Nokia N82 Caught In The Wild!

The 'other' next episode phone from Nokia - N82 debuting somewhere in Argentina in a bar?! No surprise here, I think this is again intentional, for the purpose of making us more excited. As mentioned before, according to rumors, N82 will be announced on November 2, Friday. So watch out for the latest update here on mobiladdict! You can find the specs and its first appearance here.

Nokia N82
By the way, Nokia announced today that their music store will go LIVE in UK later, November 1st!

"Millions of tracks from major artists, independent labels, and up-and-coming UK acts will be available alongside a host of interactive features such as music browsing, personal track recommendations, and a favourite artists search function."

"Individual tracks will cost 80p per track and albums from £8.00. The Nokia Music Store will also offer a monthly subscription for PC streaming for £8.00. "

Nokia Music StoreUK Nokia Music Store is available from the 1st November at http://music.nokia.co.uk

Tracks are typically delivered in high quality 192Kbps audio in Windows Media Audio (WMA) format.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Nokia N96 - You Gotta Be Kidding?!

Alright guys, here's the 'so called' leaked pics (or photoshop magic) of the supposedly next Nseries phone from Nokia - N96, heir of N95.. Specifications follows at the bottom, check it out.


Nokia N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96
  • 850/900/1800/1900MHz/WCDMA 2100/HSDPA
  • measures 102.5×56x17.6 mm
  • weighs 115 grams
  • 10 GB internal memory
  • 3.2" screen with 16 million colors
  • Wi-fi, Bluetooth 2.0, miniUSB 2.0 and infrared
  • full QWERTY keyboard
  • 6Mpx camera with Carl Zeiss optics with optical zoom
  • 3.5 mm audio jack
  • built-in quad (four speakers)
  • DVB-H
  • FM Radio
  • GPS
  • Touchscreen plus joystick navigation
  • motion sensor
  • colors: black-silver | silver-black

Monday, October 29, 2007

Nokia S60 Touch UI Official Demo

This video was also shown as part of S60's evolution report several weeks ago, but for better appreciation, here's the full blown version guys.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Sony Ericsson W910 & K850 Hands-On Videos

Here's one (actually two) of the latest previews for Sony Ericsson W910 and K850. Enjoy =)



Saturday, October 27, 2007

SanDisk 8GB microSDHC & M2 Cards Launched!

SanDisk® Corporation, the leader in flash memory, today announced the availability of its 8GB1 microSDHC™ and M2 flash memory cards to retail outlets worldwide. Compatible with the new breed of mobile phones with card slots, the 8GB SanDisk microSDHC and M2 cards are ideal for the growing number of consumers who make their mobile phone—with its built-in music player, digital camera and video player/recorder—the centerpiece of their digital lifestyle.

SanDisk’s ongoing ‘slot education’ program is aimed at raising awareness both of the presence of a card slot in the majority of today’s new mobile handsets and of the benefits available to those who use it. With a high capacity memory card in this slot, consumers can ‘Wake Up Their Phone’ and turn their handset into the ultimate lifestyle accessory, including the ability to store more than 2,000 digital songs, or more than 5,000 high-resolution pictures, or up to 5 hours of high-quality MPEG 4 video.2

Once digital content is stored on a high capacity SanDisk card, consumers can share their world with others, through simple uploading of content onto social networking sites—such as You Tube, MySpace and Facebook—allowing friends and acquaintances to share the experiences they have captured on the card. Content can be transferred through the mobile phone or through synching the card with a PC.

In celebration of the launch, SanDisk has teamed up with festival and event producers Guerilla Union (Rock the Bells, Paid Dues) for the “Sunset Strip Block Party,” an unprecedented event incorporating exclusive headline performances from world-famous artists on the world famous Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, Calif. The massive fete is scheduled for Friday, October 26, and will take place throughout three of the Sunset Strip’s most legendary nightclubs—The Key Club, The Roxy Theater and the Viper Room—making it the first event of its kind to use all three venues in unison. The event is the official kickoff for the SanDisk “Wake up your Phone” education campaign that will be continued throughout 2008.

Performances from Linkin Park, Common, The Crystal Method, Cut Chemist (visual performance) and Z-Trip will come together to celebrate this historic event. Staying true to the campaign and the night's ‘slot education’ theme, SanDisk is encouraging the invited guests to capture the event on their mobile phones.


1 1gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes
2 Approximations based on JPEG images on 5 MP camera with average file size of 1.5 megabytes (for pictures); 4 minute songs at 128 kbps MP3 (for songs) and 5 hours of MPEG 4 video (30 frames per second, 640x480, 3Mb/sec. for video). Actual numbers may vary.


[via: Press release]

Nokia 5310 Hands-On & N810 GPS WayFinder Demo

Presenting - Nokia 5310 XpressMusic review and Nokia N810 Linux powered Internet Tablet GPS at work!



Friday, October 26, 2007

New Sony Ericsson W890 Spy Pics

More Sony Ericsson W890 pics everyone. As reported earlier, this is going to be (obviously) W880's successor. I guess they have now included FM radio, but there were reports that these next walkman phone STILL does not have a built-in 3.5mm audio jack. Who knows, SE may have change their minds before releasing this baby.

Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890
Sony Ericsson W890

Opera Mini 4 beta 3 Available!

Change log from beta 2:
  • Added Link support
  • Added Speed Dials
  • Added RSS feed support
  • Added shortcut *+0 for feeds
  • Added shortcuts for speed dials (*+[speed dial number])
  • Added function to ask the transcoders for the title and favicon of a new bookmark or speed dial
  • Stylus devices can now scroll shortcut help overlays
  • Changed "Fit to width" to "Mobile view"
  • Changed "Autozoom" to "Show overview"
  • Low, medium and high image quality setting
  • Images fit better to the screen (no panning)
  • Improved BiDi support
  • Page position and scaling is now preserved after reload of page
  • Stylus devices without pointer motion events should be able to scroll anyway, just not in realtime
  • Faked transcoding progress when using feeds
  • Show numbers in ordered lists
  • Improved stylesheet handling
  • Focus highlight now looks inactive when loading
  • New and improved server side cookie handling
Opera Mini 4 beta 2
You may download it here

First Ever Live Shot Of The Next Episode Nokia N82!

Here's what we've been all waiting for guys, the first live pictures of Nokia N82 is in the house! If you want all the features of Nokia N95 minus the dual slider and have been waiting for somewhat slimmer multimedia computer with better imaging features like xenon flash, less image noise, faster and more intuitive camera functions & controls (I'm assuming here) from the numero uno handset maker, then Nokia N82 is the best phone for you! According to the blogosphere, the next imaging king will be announced on November 2! I wonder what that oval thing is used for, right on top of its D-pad..


Nokia N82
Though the initial specifications leaked months ago said that Nokia N82 will still run under S60 9.2 platform, this blogger have high hopes of the newer OS 9.3 (Feature Pack 2) will power N82 instead. Yay! =)


Unofficial specifications:
  • Quad band GSM/UMTS/HSDPA
  • 5Mpx camera with Carl Zeiss lens with real xenon flash
  • Auto-focus, up to 20 x digital zoom
  • VGA video capture at 30 FPS
  • Secondary CIF camera for video calling
  • 2.4" 240 × 320 QVGA TFT 16M color screen
  • Built-in GPS
  • FM Radio
  • Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0
  • TV-out
  • 100 MB built-in memory
  • microSD slot
  • Dimensions: 112 x 50.2 x 17.3 mm
  • Weight: 120 g
  • Talk time: GSM: 280min, WCDMA: 180min (Target)
  • Standby time: GSM: 270hrs WCDMA: 250hrs (Target)

Thursday, October 25, 2007

KISS60 - Free FlashLite Screensavers!

KISS60 is a free mobile application that allows you to use, manage and enjoy Flash Lite screensavers on S60 phones. There are already many phones supports Flash Lite screensavers or wallpapers. KISS60 enables S60 phones to use Flash Lite content as screensavers, which increases the number of addressible target devices.

KISS60 is completely free and you can publish your screensavers on KISS60 also for free.

Check out the Dummies Guide to KISS60 for the step by step guide on how to use KISS60!

KISS60KISS60KISS60

Supported S60 phones:

Nokia 3250, 5500 sport, 5700, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6290, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E70, E90, N71, N73, N73 ME, N75, N76, N77, N80, N80 IE, N81, N81 8GB, N91, N91 ME, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N95-3 NAM

Download it here


Other supported phones (no need to install KISS60):

Nokia 3109 classic, 3110 classic, 3500 classic, 5200, 5300, 5310, 5610, 6085, 6086, 6125, 6126, 6131, 6133, 6136, 6151, 6233, 6267, 6300, 6301, 6500, 6555, 7373, 7390, 7500, 7900, 8600 luna, 8800 sirocco

Sony Ericsson SO702i, SO902i, SO902iWPT, SO903i, V800, W215, W325, W415, W425, W610i, W660i, W710i, W830a, W830c, W850i, W880i, Z712a, Z800i, W43S, W44S

Hands-On LG KU990 Viewty + Samsung G800

Let's take a sneak peek at the flagship models of big time Korean makers Samsung and LG. Both of these phones are equipped with 5Mpx auto focus cameras. LG Viewty features an unbelievable 120 fps video recording at QVGA resolution which is pretty impressive IMO. As far as I know, not even stand alone digital cameras are capable of recording videos with such high frame rate. Just like the mighty Nokia N95, LG Viewty can also record videos at VGA resolutions. LG Viewty is a HSPDA, Flash UI powered touchscreen phone with built-in DivX player and strobe flash for brighter night shots. On the other hand, HSPDA Samsung G800 offers the WOW factor such as 3X optical zoom with true xenon flash, face detection, high ISO option plus the ability to capture VGA videos too. If that's not enough, Samsung G800 comes with TV out feature and comes pre-installed with document viewers for PDF, PowerPoint, Word and Excel.


LG Viewty


Samsung G800

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Yet More Nokia N81 Hands-On Videos

More Nokia N81 hands-on videos for you guys!



Unboxing Nokia 6500 Slide & Sony Ericsson K850

Here are some unboxing videos of almost rivals Nokia 6500 Slide with 3Mpx Carl Zeiss lens and currently best cyber-shot phone K850 boasting a 5Mpx resolution from Sony Ericsson. Both features auto-focus. 6500 Slide can capture videos up to 640 x 480 resolution (VGA) whilst K850 is capable of recording 320 x 240 (QVGA) resolution. What's interesting is that 6500 Slide can record 30fps videos at QCIF resolution..



Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Samsung G800 Hands-On Video

Here's the best equipped (not really meant for the Korean market) Samsung mobile phone to date. Featuring a CMOS 5Mpx auto-focus camera with xenon flash and 3X optical zoom. By the way, Samsung has finally made G800 official just yesterday.



Specifications:
  • WDR (Wide Dynamic Range)
  • Face Detection
  • Digital Image Stabilizer
  • High ISO (High Sensitivity up to 800)
  • Lens Cover
  • Red Eye Reduction
  • Panorama shot
  • Multi-shot
  • Macro shot
  • Video Editor
  • HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps
  • 262K QVGA TFT LCD (2.4")
  • MP3/AAC/AAC+/AAC++/WMA player
  • OMA 2.0/WMDRM with MTP support
  • FM radio with RDS
  • ICEpower amplifier by Bang&Olufsen ICEpower
  • Music Library
  • Shozu mobile blog client
  • Internet Browser
  • microSD slot
  • Multi-format Audio & Video
  • Offline Mode
  • Bluetooth v2.0 / USB 2.0
  • PictBridge
  • Yahoo / Google Search
  • Dimensions: 101.5 x 52 x 18.8 mm
Samsung G800
"The Samsung G800 is the answer for customers needs to have the perfect digital camera and the perfect multimedia mobile combined into one single device. For example, optical zoom is very common in most digital cameras, but the Samsung G800 is the first and only 5 megapixel camera phone to have this capability. Features such as face detection, and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), which are very up-to-date features even in todays digital cameras, are also equipped in the new G800."

Samsung G800
Samsung G800 will be available in some European countries next month, November. Sadly, price is yet to be known..

Monday, October 22, 2007

Nokia N95 8GB - Smartphones Show 45 Style!

Here's the latest from the Smartphones Show in London. This time they have an extensive outline of the greatest multimedia computer Nokia N95 8GB! Mr. Steve also mentioned in his review that N95 8GB indeed features "demand paging" (which is supposed to be available only from S60 3rd Ed. FP2 devices, I guess the latter is an exception). "Demand paging" is designed to help S60 devices to be faster, for example, from opening and running multiple applications and booting up your N95 8GB. Microsoft also utilizes this technique within their Windows OS. Without further ado, here's the show!

Nokia N81 Now Shipping Globally!

Get and play music and games on the move

Mobile entertainment just got more fun with the Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB multimedia computers now available globally. Designed for the best in music and gaming, these devices come with dedicated music and game keys and are loaded with memory so you can store more and play more.

Nokia N81The 3D Multimedia Menu introduced in these devices is the first step to bringing a new user interface to the Nokia Nseries range. The new menu makes it easy to discover and enjoy your digital content and the Internet, and share your experiences with others.

"Accessing your portable music and games collection is not enough anymore," said Jonas Geust, vice president, Multimedia, Nokia. "Today people want to be more in control of how and where they consume their digital entertainment. They want to discover new favorites and share them without being confined to one location - and it's devices like the Nokia N81 that facilitate this."

The Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB also offer the discovery of millions of tracks through the Nokia Music Store*. And, with their integrated Nokia Music Players, creating playlists and managing music collections on the move is a breeze. For enhanced sound quality, compatible high-quality headphones or speakers can be used with the standard 3.5mm headphone connector.
Nokia N81 8GBA preview of the N-Gage games service is also available in the devices, including playable demos of EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA 07, Asphalt 3: Street Rules and Space Impact Light. After the launch of N-Gage later this year, the full N-Gage application will be available for download. Players can then try all N-Gage games for free and buy only the ones they want.

The estimated retail price of the Nokia N81 is 360 EUR before subsidies or taxes. The Nokia N81 8GB is expected to retail for 430 EUR before subsidies or taxes.

[via: Press release]

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Nokia N810 Internet Table Hands-On Video

It's raining video previews everyone! Here's an excellent one by "ThoughtFix" from TabletBlog.com. The Nokia N810 internet tablet is a pretty cool device embedded with Maemo platform based on Linux OS which is also used in its predecessors N770 and N800. If you're an internet guy or gal, these gadgets are great for mobile browsing!


Saturday, October 20, 2007

One Very Long Levi's Phone Hands-On Video

Here's the first hands-on video of the famous denim jeans maker Levi's who apparently have entered the fashion mobile market. By the way, it reminds me of cute Panasonic mobile phones. You can check out the specs here. The phone is now available in select European countries initially.




***Update***

Here's another one!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Another Nokia N81 Unboxing & Lil' Hands-On Video

Here's another great demo of Nokia's new music king - N81! This one is from my kababayan (fellow Filipino [townmate]) Mark Guim of the Nokia blog.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Nokia N81 8GB Unboxing Video

Wow! Here's one of the first unboxing video of Nokia N81 8GB guys! Thank you IntoMobile for the video! =)

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet Unveiled!

Web 2.0 Summit 2007, San Francisco, CA, USA - Nokia yesterday introduced the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, signifying a new phase in portable internet communication. You have ability to connect this pocket-sized device to the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot or over your Bluetooth mobile phone. The Nokia N810 allows you to make internet calls; check your Google Mail or Facebook Account; watch the latest videos on YouTube or update your blog using the device's slide-out keyboard along with its stunning touch screen. Its built-in maps and satellite navigation helps you to find your way. It is expected to start shipping mid November with an estimated retail price of 479 USD (excluding local taxes).

Nokia N810Bringing you closer to communities
Whether you are at home, in the park or in a coffee shop, with the Nokia N810 you will never be far away. With the ability to check emails, read the latest gossip online or IM to your friends, share your moods on your favorite social sites; call via Skype, or get closer by the Gizmo video chat - with the integrated VGA camera - you'll never be far away from those you want to keep in contact with..
Nokia N810
Keeping you on the right track
You may feel lost without it, but with the Nokia N810, you'll never lose your way. The Nokia N810 has an integrated GPS receiver which allows you to pinpoint your position and find a wide variety of points-of-interests using the pre-loaded maps. Upgrade to Wayfinder's voice-guided navigation for turn-by-turn directions and explore the world on foot or in the car.

Nokia N810
Never be bored again
Whether you're traveling on the trip of a lifetime or on your daily commute to work, the Nokia N810 is the perfect traveling companion. No Wi-Fi connection on your journey? No need, the Nokia N810 offers up to 45 hours of music playback and memory to store up to 7,500 songs on an optional 10GB memory card*. Its large (4.13"), sharp (800x480 resolution) wide screen makes for a magical experience right in the palm of your hand.

Nokia N810"The Nokia N810 packs the power of a traditional computer into a pocket-sized format. Its open standard technology accelerates the convergence of multiple functionalities and services into a single device", said Ari Virtanen, Vice President, Convergence Products, Multimedia, Nokia. "Our new Nokia N810 offers users a true Web 2.0 experience in a compact, stylish, yet affordable package - it connects people to what matters to them."
Nokia N810The Nokia N810 is powered by maemo Linux based OS2008, updatable also on the Nokia N800, the previous internet tablet generation hardware. The Nokia N810 features a highly customizable user interface and contains various novelties such as a Mozilla based browser with Ajax and Adobe flash 9, Bluetooth headset support as well as enhanced video and audio features. The refreshed Video Gizmo, Skype and Rhapsody highlight some most popular downloads available while Boingo Wireless, Earthlink and The Cloud enable Wi-Fi connectivity, across thousands of different locations globally.

Nokia N810Today, Forum Nokia also announced the launch of maemo platform support services for software developers and companies around the world via forum.nokia.com. Currently, Forum Nokia has more than 3.4 million registered users, developing leading mobile applications on Symbian Series 40 and Series 60 platforms. This professional support service complements the developer offering with maemo.org, an open source community sponsored by Nokia.

*Capacity based on 3:45 per song and 128 kbps MP3 encoding.

[via: Press release]

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Nokia's Full Touchscreen S60 Demo Phone - Only

Wanna see a glimpse of Nokia's probable full touchscreen device based on S60? These are shots taken from their live presentation. Though this particular device (shown here) may not actually hit the shelves, (nevertheless, it looks awesome with its slick design and large screen) but at least we do get an idea on how future Nokia touchscreen devices might look like.. So far, looks great!


S60 Touchscreen
S60 Touchscreen
S60 Touchscreen
S60 Touchscreen

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Nokia 5710 XpressMusic - For Real?!

Is Nokia really cooking up 5710 right at this very moment? How I wish.. Here are some more proofs of its existence. Pay attention to the screenshots of the software version, it does look indeed Symbian 9.3 version. See, it shows horizontal Symbian Application Manager instead of the traditional vertical.


Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic
Nokia 5710 XpressMusic

S60 Smartphone Software Evolves!

Expanding the platform with intuitive touch user interface, sensor technologies and complete web video experience

Symbian Smartphone Show, London, UK - As Internet is entering into the core of mobile experiences, Nokia continues to implement new innovations for S60 on Symbian OS(TM), the market leading smartphone software, to develop the best possible mobile experiences for people.

S60 will introduce new features that enhance the user experience and enable manufacturers, developers and operators to design new types of mobile devices, applications and services.
The touch user interface in S60 smartphone software offers licensees the opportunity to develop devices with a variety of input methods, whether it is a touch screen with a traditional keypad, touch screen with a qwerty keyboard or touch screen alone, supporting both finger or stylus optimized input, in addition to the range of access options that already exist today.

S60 touch user interface comes with support for tactile feedback, which means that there is a physical pulse and feedback when the user taps on the screen. This provides better awareness of the device's response improving the user experience.

Existing S60 3rd Edition applications will run on touch enabled devices unmodified. Tools will be made available for developers to further optimize the touch experience of their applications.
From motion and orientation to proximity and light, sensor technology is expanding to new areas and shaping the future for mobiles. S60 brings sensor support to the platform as a generic solution enabling support for a range of sensors in S60 devices. These technologies open up a new kinetic world to the user and offer completely new opportunities for application and game developers.


video via AllAboutSymbian

Also, the new UI Accelerator toolkit will allow device manufacturers to develop rapidly and easily impressive graphical effects and new types of interactions, further increasing the user appeal and excitement.

S60 will be the first mobile software platform to deliver the complete Web video experience as Flash Video will be integrated with the Web Browser for S60. This allows people to view on the go Flash-enabled Web sites and Flash Video, such as YouTube, as they would do on their desktops.

S60 and 3, the mobile media company that launched the first 3G network in the UK, will demonstrate at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London X-Series devices based on S60, and the vision both share of creating great Internet experiences on mobile devices.

"We are constantly on the lookout for new innovations to enhance X-Series, our offering for Internet on the mobile", said Ken Johnstone, Director of Products, Global 3G Handset & Application Group, at 3. "The user experience is central to everything that we do, and we believe that X-Series provides the best-in-class Internet experience on the mobile."

"S60 on Symbian OS offers a great platform to innovate with Internet services", said Matti Vänskä, Vice President, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia. "We see experiences converging, and people demanding more and more of the functionalities that smartphones offer, both of which highlight the significance of ease of use. The focus of our strategy is to give people choice and simplicity - both key to delivering the best user experiences to add value to people's lives."

These technologies will be available for all S60 device manufacturers during 2008.
At the event, Samsung showcased their latest S60 devices, the new Samsung i450, Samsung i550 and Samsung i560. To date, 65 devices based on S60 and Symbian OS have been launched, 36 of which are based on the latest S60 3rd Edition.

S60 has been the leader in converged device software since the introduction of the first S60 device and continues to lead by a clear margin, with 53% global market share in Q2 2007 (Canalys, 2007).


About 3

3 is a mobile media company delivering a convergence of communications, entertainment and information to customers on the move.

The three areas which form the core of its business are:

- Communications - including all forms of personal communications, voice and video calling; text, picture and video messaging; and mobile blogging

- Entertainment - including television, music audio and video, computer games, and media publishing

- Information services - including wireless web, access to the best of the internet and a range of news services


3 UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Sweden and soon Norway.

Three facts about 3:

- 3, a mobile media company, launched the UK's first 3G network

- 3 has over 4.1 million customers in the UK and over 15.9 million worldwide (August 2007 figures)

- The 3 network offers national coverage for calls and texts, and over 90% population coverage for 3G services.
For further information, please visit: www.three.co.uk or call the 3 Media Office on +44 845 6038333.


About S60

S60 software built on Symbian OS is the world's leading smartphone software, and is licensed by some of the industry's foremost mobile device manufacturers. The flexibility of the S60 software allows for various hardware designs and software configurations, as evidenced by the multitude of S60 devices already available on the market. Through its award-winning user interface, extensive support for new mobile services and the innovation potential for partner solutions, S60 provides an open and scalable business opportunity for mobile operators and 3rd party developers. For further information and news about S60 and the S60 community, please visit www.s60.com.



[via: Press release]

Motorola To Join Sony Ericsson In Ownership Of UIQ

Motorola Sony Ericsson UIQ AgreementUIQ to be established as vendor independent open OS interface

London and SCHAUMBURG, IL – October 15, 2007 – Sony Ericsson and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) today announced a definitive agreement under which Motorola will acquire a 50% interest in UI Holdings BV, the parent company of UIQ Technology AB, which is currently wholly owned by Sony Ericsson. Under the agreement, Motorola and Sony Ericsson will work together and jointly invest in the development of the UIQ open user interface platform. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. As previously announced, Sony Ericsson acquired UIQ Technology from Symbian Ltd in February 2007.

UIQ Technology licenses the UIQ open user interface and development platform to mobile phone vendors around the world. Motorola and Sony Ericsson are committed to further advancing UIQ as a strong, independent cross-vendor user interface for smartphones and media-centric phones. Today’s announcement should be seen as an invitation to other mobile device vendors to participate in the UIQ community, either as shareholders or licensees.

Motorola and Sony Ericsson also plan to significantly increase their cooperation and support for the UIQ developer program. More details will be unveiled to developers at a special event today following a media and analyst briefing.

Both companies have agreed that UIQ will be vendor and chipset independent. In addition, UIQ will be licensed on equal terms to all mobile device vendors in the industry. Sony Ericsson and Motorola are committed to expanding the shareholder base of UI Holdings to include other handset vendors.

Sony Ericsson and Motorola each have been UIQ licensees for many years and have launched several successful Symbian/UIQ based products including, the Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone, the new W960 Walkman® phone and the Motorola MOTO Z8. UIQ, offered the industry’s first touch-screen interface back in 2002, and now supports both QWERTY and classic numerical keyboard configurations as well as finger touch data input. UIQ’s single code base greatly simplifies customization for handset vendors, operators and third-party developers.

Miles Flint, President of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, said “This is an important transaction that demonstrates the increasing importance of open operating systems for all handset vendors. By working together in a strong, mutually beneficial partnership, hand-set vendors can reduce development costs and help operators launch more consistent services with greater efficiency. At the same time, service providers and applications developers benefit from a more robust environment to create compelling end-to-end solutions which benefit consumers by enabling a more personalized user-experience”.


Motorola Sony Ericsson UIQ Agreement
Motorola Sony Ericsson UIQ Agreement

Alain Mutricy, Senior Vice President, Platforms, Motorola Mobile Devices stated: “Motorola’s investment in UIQ will enable us to bring feature-competitive multimedia devices to market. Its flexibility will enable us to bring devices to market that meet regional preferences or specific operator customisation requirements. We look forward to working closely with our partners, Sony Ericsson and UIQ.”

Johan Sandberg, CEO of UIQ Technology, said, “We are extremely excited to be working closely with Motorola and Sony Ericsson, two well-established industry leaders. UIQ offers a truly personal and rich user experience plus important flexibility for developers, operators and phone vendors as it supports many form factors in one code base. UIQ has benefited greatly from our partnership with Sony Ericsson and we are confident that Motorola’s interest will create new and important growth opportunities for UIQ, our customers, employees and consumers around the world”

Motorola’s investment in UI Holdings BV is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Sony Ericsson and Motorola confirmed their aim is to further expand ownership of UIQ in the future and hope to make further announcements about new shareholders and licensees in due course.


Last two images from IntoMobile

[via: Press release]

Nokia 2135 Budget CDMA Phone

New CDMA handset combines contemporary design with a "not too much, not too little, but just right" feature set

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Responding to the needs of customers who want an easy-to-use, affordable handset to stay connected to friends and family, Nokia today introduced the compact and popularly priced Nokia 2135 phone. A generous 400-entry phonebook ensures that the largest circle of friends or the biggest of families can always be close at hand, while a full 3.5 hours of talktime or 11 days of standby time means that the Nokia 2135 phone will remain a faithful companion, even between charges.

"Many consumers are looking for a simple, affordable phone to keep them in touch with the people who mean the most to them, and the Nokia 2135 is designed with those consumers in mind," said Larry Paulson, senior vice president and general manager of Nokia's CDMA business group. "The large easy to read keys and familiar Nokia user interface makes the Nokia 2135 comfortable to use. The modern design and compact size makes it easy to carry, and the attractive price makes it easy to afford."

Nokia 2135
Although designed with simplicity in mind, a carefully selected set of features adds to the utility of the Nokia 2135 without adding any unneeded complexity. An integrated speakerphone allows the whole family to join in the conversation at once, while user-assignable ringtones can announce who is calling without ever picking up the phone. For keeping everyday life organized, a built in calendar means that birthdays and anniversaries are never forgotten, and a built-in voice recorder can store up to 60 seconds of audio notes at a time, providing an effortless way to be reminded of everything from picking up milk at the store to where the car is parked at the mall.

The Nokia 2135 is expected to be available in North America during the fall of 2007.

[via: Press release]

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