Mobiles

Good news for travelers in Europe - European regulators this week opened the way for air passengers to use mobile phones to talk or text during fights throughout EU airspace.

"From today onwards Europe's sky is open for business by mobile phone operators," said European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr.

The EU has been investigating in-flight calls for six months, and this approval means that the first services could launch as early as next month. This follows a trial late last year by Air France, so things must have gone well. The EU Telecom Commissioner sternly warned mobile operators to keep pricing reasonable, and asked that airline operators make sure those with phones do not disturb those without.

In terms of how the system works technically; the plan is to install small mobile phone base stations, called pico cells, in aircraft that will be switched on after take-off. The base station generates a bubble of coverage in and around the aircraft.
Calls made via the pico cell will be routed to terrestrial networks via satellite link. Across Europe radio spectrum has been set aside for the technology. The services could stop working once aircraft leave European airspace.

The EU has also approved a set of rules so that in-flight use of mobile phones is safe. Last year, the FAA put the idea of making phone calls from airplanes on indefinite hold in the U.S.

The thought of a disposable cellphone is enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the most casual environmentalists, but US manufacturer Hop-on would like you to know that their basic $20 handset, while marketed as “disposable”, is really more intended to be an emergency option living, say, in your car’s glove compartment.  Someone certainly seems to think it’s a good idea: an unnamed European distributor has placed a test purchase order for 10,000 of the inexpensive cellphones, which lack screens and - in their US form at least - have a shortcut quick-dial key for the emergency services.

“Response to our simple, inexpensive, $20 phone was phenomenal. The initial test purchase order with multiple purchase orders behind it is a big step in introducing Hop-on to Europe” Peter Michaels, president, Hop-on 

Hands-on’s phone is dualband (900/1800Hz) and based on a Texas Instruments chipset.  The company apparently received plenty of interest at CTIA earlier on this year, which led in part to the current deal.

There’s no suggestion as of yet where the Hop-on handset will be available, nor how much it will be priced at.

[via Pocket-lint]

After Samsung’s dual-SIM D780 the other day, I thought it’d be a while before we saw another new handset capable of operating two cellular accounts simultaneously, but HKC (not a typo) have surprised me with what they’re calling the world’s first dual-SIM Windows Mobile smartphones.  The design of the W1000 and G1000 (the former being dual CDMA and GSM, the latter dual GSM) may not light any new aesthetic fires, but their functionality is reasonable: a 200MHz Qualcomm CPU, 256MB ROM and 64MB RAM, microSD slot and USB, crowned by a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen.

Of course, the real reason we’re interested is the ability to not only have two SIM cards fitted but to access them at the same time (or, in the case of the W1000, registered to a CDMA account as well as have a GSM SIM in place), including being able to separately deactivate one or the other from the Windows Mobile interface.  That way you could keep your personal account active (just in case your pregnant wife is about to give birth) but avoid the office calling you by turning off your business account. 

Both versions are apparently available now, with 2-megapixel cameras, Bluetooth (with the A2DP wireless stereo profile) and the usual WM office suite. No WiFi or GPS, which HKC lose marks for, though there is a dedicated stock market hotkey.

[via Unwired View]

Press Release:

The HKC Dual SIM Windows Mobile Series, W1000 & G1000

~ SIMply double your connectivity ~

April 10, 2008, Hong Kong - HKC, HKC Communication (Hong Kong) Limited., is proud to announce the launched of two pioneering models of dual SIM Card Windows Mobile Professional™ PDA phones with dual network (GSM + CDMA) or Dual Standby (GSM +GSM) capabilities.

The two members of the 1000 series, W1000 and G1000, both designed with a slim and stylist body are equipped with different double network capabilities.

The W1000 is equipped with one GSM and one CDMA SIM slot, making phone calls and data communication on different networks using one phone a possibility. The W1000 is a great communication tool for the frequent business flyer who travels to different countries with different network protocols. The W1000 makes calling simple without the hassle of changing SIM cards or misplacing SIM cards.

The G1000 on the other hand has two built-in GSM SIM slots, which allows voice and data communications between two different GSM networks concurrently. The user who needs to carry two phone numbers can simply insert the two GSM SIM cards into the G1000! There is no need to carry one extra phone in the pocket. This is ideal for frequent or seasoned travelers to maintain connectivity with his or her home country number and at the same time take advantage of the relatively cheap local charges by using an additional SIM card from the local mobile network.

The 1000 series was designed with both functionality and style in mind. The casing for both model are crafted in a cool dark titanium color with an easy to type keypad. Both models run on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional, which gives seamless integration with thousands of third party software, making the user experience as personalized as possible. The Bluetooth™ feature is enabled, perfect for consumers on the move. To top off these qualities, its large 2.8” inch screen gives off crystal clear images making viewing multimedia on the go an enjoyable experience.

Other key features include:

• A two megapixel macro-enabled camera
• A micro SD memory card slot for adding up to 4GB storage space.
• WorldCard Mobile software to manage business cards

The HKC 1000 series is the first two members of the HKC family and is now available for sale. For more detail specifications, please visit our official website: http://www.myhkc.com/en/index.asp or contact us by email: <!-- var prefix = \'ma\' + \'il\' + \'to\'; var path = \'hr\' + \'ef\' + \'=\'; var addy17441 = \'sales.m\' + \'@\'; addy17441 = addy17441 + \'fim18\' + \'.\' + \'com\'; document.write( \'‘ ); document.write( addy17441 ); document.write( ‘‘ ); //–>\n sales.m@fim18.com

If you’ve been thinking about picking up an HTC Touch but have held off because the design is just too sober, think again: the company has collaborated with Nicholas designer Nic Wong to create four limited editions of the smartphone.  Ranging from the subtle (a powder-blue Anaglypta-style design) to the strident (crazed red and white triangles), each handset is unique as in one-of-a-kind.  All proceeds from the four sales - which are taking place on eBay - will go to the Children’s Cancer Foundation.

Now for the bad news: if you’re not in Singapore, forget about bidding.  Sadly HTC are only willing to ship to addresses there, so if you fancy a unique Touch in your own country you’ll have to pester them to come to a similar arrangement wherever it is you live.  Still, I wonder if the eventual buyers can write off the cost as a charitable donation?

With the auctions ending on April 19th, as of writing the bids are just kicking off: the cheapest is at 1.05 Singapore dollars ($0.78) while the highest bid is 151 Singapore dollars ($111.49).

[via Pocket PC Thoughts]

Celebrate 4-11 Day on April 11th and Remember 130 Years of Americans Searching
Read the full story here.

Under the ROKR branding, Motorola introduces a new MOTOROKR EQ3 portable speaker that offers rich sound in a compact design. Its lightweight and compact foldable design enables easy carrying for instant music anywhere.

(more…)

Early this month at CTIA Wireless, Bell have announced a mobile partnership with Home Box Office (HBO) to deliver premium HBO programming to mobile phones. The on-demand service will bring full episodes of HBO series to subscribing clients, as well as ringtones, wallpapers and, soon,
mobile games.

(more…)

While a large number of phones today still use browsers with very limited web browsing capabilities, many smartphones are incorporating browsers that support the latest capabilities such as AJAX and RSS, as well as websites optimized for viewing on a mobile device. ABI Research sees this segment of the mobile browser market accounting for the vast majority of growth over the next five years, as the open-Internet browser (OIB) segment for mobile grows from 76 million in 2007 to nearly 700 million browsers delivered in 2013.

“The focus today for mobile browser developers is to take advantage of the latest web standards while also developing solutions tailored towards the unique experience of using a browser on a mobile phone,” says research director Michael Wolf. “The most recent commercial solutions from Opera, Openwave and ACCESS, as well as those using open source solutions such as Webkit, are targeted towards allowing consumers to access content on the web without limitations due to browser constraints.”

Still, it’s important to note that despite the best efforts of browser vendors and handset manufacturers, web usage on mobile devices has a significant distance to go in closing the gap with PC-based browsers. The absence of important plug-ins such as Flash on many handsets and the constraints of many phones compared to the PC mean that even OIB browser vendors such as Skyfire continue to see a need for server-assisted architectures for transcoding and web acceleration.

“There is a lot of development momentum for web content on mobile phones,” adds Wolf. “The move towards web-based applications means browser and web services engines will become increasingly important for mobile, whether these are in a commercial browser implementation or a customized widget. Ultimately, the long-term trend away from native applications to web-based applications means browser and web services engines will be increasingly important components in the mobile environment.”

At CTIA Wireless 2008 in Las Vegas last week, BlueAnt was showing off its Supertooth 3 Bluetooth handsfree speaker. Designed for in-car use, the Supertooth 3 clips onto your visor and offers voice control for initiating and answering phone calls while driving.
Read the full story here.