All about cellphones and more.
This is a good news for Orange subscribers. They now can get the new low-end Alcatel OT-E227 Clamshell Phone on a pre-pay basis for only USD$19.61.
The phone looks fashionable and offers a choice of three colors including metallic rose, glossy black and fuchsia with flower pattern. Alcatel OT-E227 has a 1.5″ TFT touch screen and provides 10 hours of talk time and 325 hours of standby time.
[Source]
Angstrom Power Inc., a company based in Vancouver, Canada, together with Motorola, the US mobile manufacturer, have completed a six-months trial using a new technology
that promises to reinvent the way mobile phones are powered. Angstrom developed a revolutionary mobile solution intended to replace the standard Lithium batteries with a platform that uses hydrogen to provide the needed power.
The “Micro Hydrogen” platform includes a refillable hydrogen storage tank, advanced micro-fluidics and an innovative fuel cell architecture. Angstrom and Motorola implemented the new platform on a MOTOSLVR L7 (Motorola SLVR L7) phone, without changing the phone’s looks and size (and we must say that MOTOSLVR L7 is a slim handset, having only 11.5 millimeters in thickness). With the hydrogen-powered platform, the phone managed to provide twice the talk-time than it does when equipped with a standard Lithium battery.
“As consumer demand for smartphones and multimedia devices grows, so does the need for efficient powering solutions that help enable ‘always on’ experiences,” said Jerry Hallmark, Manager, Energy System Technologies, Motorola Mobile Devices business. “Motorola is working with Angstrom to develop fuel cell technology that will support the increasing energy demands of next generation devices.”
“Our research shows that insufficient battery run time ranks as one of the leading considerations in the adoption of handheld devices with rich multimedia functionality,” said Stuart Robinson, Director of Handset Component Technologies at Strategy Analytics.
The Micro Hydrogen platform from Angstrom Power Inc. is expected to be commercially available starting 2009.
[Source]
Nokia today announced plans to discontinue the production of mobile devices in Germany and close its Bochum site by mid-2008. The company plans to move manufacturing to its other, more cost-competitive sites in Europe.
As a consequence of the planned shift of production from Bochum to other European sites, Nokia also intends to discontinue other non-production activities at the Bochum site. In conjunction with the announced plans to close its Bochum site, Nokia is also announcing plans to sell its line fit automotive business and it is in negotiations with Sasken Technologies to sell the Bochum-based adaptation software R&D-entity.
The planned closure of the site in Bochum is estimated to affect approximately 2,300 Nokia employees.
Nokia’s decision to discontinue manufacturing in Bochum is based on the lack of competitiveness of the location. Renewing the site would require additional investments but even this would not result in manufacturing in Bochum being globally competitive.
“The planned closure of the Bochum production site is necessary to secure Nokia’s long-term competitiveness,” said Veli Sundbäck, Executive Vice President of Nokia and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nokia GmbH. “Due to market changes and increasing requirements for cost-effectiveness, production of mobile devices in Germany is no longer feasible for Nokia. It cannot be operated in a way that meets the requirements for global cost efficiency and for flexible capacity growth. Therefore we have to make this tough decision.”
Nokia will start the consultations with the employee representatives as soon as possible in order to to reach a satisfactory solution for all parties concerned. The financial costs associated with this restructuring will be determined along with the consultation process and reported in Nokia’s quarterly reporting for 2008.
Source: NOKIA PRESS RELEASE
E-Ten announced yet another version of its Glofiish smartphone, the X650. Based on the X600, the phone returns VGA resolution to a 2.8-inch touchscreen. WIth 500MHz Samsung processor, 256MB of flash storage, and a two-megapixel camera, X650 has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as a native GPS system.
The phone additionally features Windows Mobile with Mobile Office, plus an FM tuner. The 650 should launch in black and purple colors, going to market within two to three weeks.
[Source]
Vivendi Games Mobile, the mobile division of Vivendi Games, announced an agreement with Nokia to bring its mobile games to Nokia handsets via the Nokia Download! and
Nokia Catalogs shopping applications. The announcement follows an earlier agreement between the two companies to make Vivendi’s titles available through Nokia’s N-Gage program.
“The challenge in the mobile games value chain is not only to make great games and attract customers, but also in the effective merchandising of games and the ease with which consumers can find, purchase, and download games,” said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile.
Following the agreement, users will be able to browse and download Vivendi Games Mobile titles directly on their Nokia phones via Nokia Catalogs, a mobile shopping application that is constantly updated with new content.
Vivendi Games Mobiles Catalog currently offers 12 games, including the recently released Brain Shock and Delta Force; titles based on premium entertainment brands like The Bourne Ultimatum and Eragon; and award-winning games like The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and the first-person shooter Urban Attack. Users will also be able to download game-related content like wallpapers and ring tones.
[Source]