Apple selling unlocked iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

Apple has made an unlocked version of the iPhone 3G available in Hong Kong, letting consumers pick whichever carrier they so choose.

This is in sharp contrast to Apple's policy for the almost everywhere else on the planet. Unlocked iPhones are rampant worldwide, but that isn't something that Apple has sanctioned.

Freedom doesn't come cheap. The 8GB version is available for about $695 (5,400 Hong Kong dollars), while the 16GB iPhone costs about $798 (6,200 HK dollars), according to Apple's site.

The

"iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier,"

the site states.

"Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation."

RIM shares tank on lower profits for new BlackBerrys

For the second straight quarter, soaring earnings weren't enough to satisfy Research In Motion investors worried about the prospects of lower profits to come.

RIM reported its second-quarter results Thursday, posting an 88 percent jump in revenue and a 72 percent jump in net income compared to last year. The numbers, $2.58 billion in revenue and $495.5 million in net income, were roughly in line with the company's own expectations but slightly below those of financial analysts.

But RIM revealed that its gross margins will be lower than usual for the next several quarters as it introduces new products that are slightly more expensive to build than its current models. In addition, the U.S. launches of the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry Pearl Flip will come a little bit later in the company's third quarter than it had expected earlier in the year, meaning they'll contribute a little less to this quarter than RIM had anticipated.

That news sent RIM's stock down around 20 percent in after-hours trading as investors digested the news. RIM's gross margins are pretty solid, at around 50 percent, but they are heading down into the mid-40s as the company starts building the more expensive handsets in large volumes.

Still, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsille wasn't worried about his company's prospects heading into the rest of the year, on a conference call following the release of RIM's numbers. Balsille compared the current market for smartphones as a bit of a "land grab"--the same term he used last quarter--and said RIM would regret missing out on the opportunity to take advantage of demand for smarter mobile phones if it wasn't willing to take a bit of a cost hit through more sophisticated hardware and increased marketing expenses.

During the upcoming quarter the BlackBerry will be the centerpiece of several so-called "hero" campaigns launched by partners, presumably carriers and software developers, Balsille said.

"Everyone has a hero campaign where we are a featured or the featured device for the holiday season,"

he said.

RIM has been trying to expand its footprint beyond the enterprise to consumers, the target for devices like Apple's iPhone. Right now, consumers make up 42 percent of RIM's subscriber base, but more than half of all new subscribers in the second quarter were consumers, Balsille said.

BlackBerry sales were roughly in line with what Wall Street analysts had expected, at 6.1 million units shipped, but below some of the more optimistic estimates.

Mobile-TV equipped TD-SCDMA handsets delivered to China Mobile

Lenovo Mobile and Spreadtrum jointly presented Lenovo Mobile's TD900, the new digital mobile-TV equipped TD-SCDMA handsets, to China Mobile. The TD900's design is based on Spreadtrum's TD-SCDMA platform and mobile-TV solution. Officials attending the press conference included Mr. Xinsheng Zhang, Deputy Director General, Science and Technology Department, MIIT, Mr. Bo Zhao, Deputy Director General, Electronics and Information Technology Products Department, MIIT, Mr. Xiaojie Wang, Director General, Science and Technology Bureau, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television ("SARFT"), and officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology and from China Mobile.

This batch of mobile-TV equipped TD900 will be distributed to the Beijing Olympics volunteers and staff members. Lenovo Mobile is expected to deliver more TD900 handsets to China Mobile before the Beijing Olympic Games. With the Beijing Olympics approaching, China has become the focus of the world. Currently, China Mobile is increasing its testing of the mobile-TV function while preparing its third round of public bidding for the purchase of TD-SCDMA handsets. Lenovo Mobile and Spreadtrum's distribution of the first batch of mobile-TV TD900 handsets to China Mobile at the earliest opportunity shows the two parties' strong joint efforts and determination to serve the Beijing Olympics.

Lenovo Mobile's TD900 is one of Lenovo Mobile's "new vision" model series released in July 2008. TD900 is a tablet phone; it supports TD-SCDMA/GSM dual mode and 3G applications such as video phone, mobile-TV, auto-roaming, auto-switching and high speed download. As the first batch of mobile-TV equipped TD handsets, several radio programs and approximately eight TV channels including CCTV1, CCTV Olympics and CCTV News, are provided free and with good signal reception and smooth video display. The combination of TD-SCDMA and CMMB, both of which are China owned standards, offers a wonderful solution to serve the Beijing Olympic Games.

The TD900 deploys Spreadtrum's solutions for TD-SCDMA and CMMB standards. As the only wireless baseband solution provider in the industry for the innovative technologies of TD-SCDMA and CMMB, Spreadtrum developed successfully the TD-SCDMA digital mobile-TV application. Spreadtrum's chip solution offers mobile-TV play, simultaneous transmitting and receiving of communication signals without interference, and a good experience with the TV services of the TD-SCDMA digital mobile.

"It is our pleasure to jointly present with Spreadtrum the TD900, the innovative mobile-TV equipped TD handset, to China Mobile. TD900 is designed to address the needs of the mainstream market and is developed independently and to bring us the latest digital mobile TV experience. Being the national industry leader, Lenovo Mobile will make its best efforts to unite the industry's strengths and advance the development of China's 3G technology,"

said by Mr. Yan Lv, President and CEO of Lenovo Mobile.

Dr. Ping Wu, President and CEO of Spreadtrum said,

"We are pleased that Spreadtrum and Lenovo Mobile were able to jointly deliver the digital mobile-TV equipped TD-SCDMA handsets to China Mobile. Spreadtrum has pursued independent innovation and has supported China's self-developed standards for many years. We hope to maintain a strong cooperative relationship with Lenovo Mobile to drive together the next level of development in China's communications industry."

According to a recent forecast from China Mobile, the second phase of the TD-SCDMA network infrastructure will be completed by early next year, when all provincial capitals and select cities will have network coverage by then. With the successful kick-off of the third round of public bidding for the purchase of TD-SCDMA handsets by China Mobile and the mobile-TV TD handsets in the market, it is believed that a new "vision" awaits.

Nokia and Qualcomm Enter Into a New Agreement

Nokia and Qualcomm today announced that they have entered into a new agreement covering various standards including GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMax, LTE and other technologies. The agreement will result in settlement of all litigation between the companies, including the withdrawal by Nokia of its complaint to the European Commission.

Under the terms of the new 15 year agreement, Nokia has been granted a license under all Qualcomm's patents for use in Nokia's mobile devices and Nokia Siemens Networks infrastructure equipment. Further, Nokia has agreed not to use any of its patents directly against Qualcomm, enabling Qualcomm to integrate Nokia's technology into Qualcomm's chipsets. The financial structure of the settlement includes an up-front payment and on-going royalties payable to Qualcomm. Nokia has agreed to assign ownership of a number of patents to Qualcomm, including patents declared as essential to WCDMA, GSM and OFDMA. The specific terms are confidential.

"We believe that this agreement is positive for the industry, enabling the market to benefit from innovation and new technologies,"

said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia Corporation.

"The positive financial impact of this agreement is within Nokia's original expectations and fully reflects our leading intellectual property and market positions."

"I'm very pleased that we have come to this important agreement."

said Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm.

"The terms of the new license agreement, including the financial and other value provided to Qualcomm, reflect our strong intellectual property position across many current and future generation technologies. This agreement paves the way for enhanced opportunities between the companies in a number of areas."

Buy an iPod touch for Same Price as iPhone 3G, Sans Contract

As compelling as the iPhone 3G may be, it's quite possible that you don't want to lock yourself down to a lengthy contract with one of the pre-selected providers. By and large, the Apple iPod touch is effectively the same device as the iPhone, except for the fact that it doesn't have the "phone" part of the picture.

If you're mostly interested in the multi-touch, Wi-Fi, and App Store, then the iPod touch just might be the ticket for you. You don't have to deal with a monthly bill, but you may have to pay for software upgrades when those come along. And now you can get the iPod touch, without a contract, for the same price as the iPhone 3G.

Refurbished models of the iPod touch are available through Apple. The 8GB and 16GB models are going for $199 and $299, respectively. If you want to hit up the 32GB iTouch, that goes for $429. I have a feeling that this could be paving the way for a refresh or a new generation.

Sony Ericsson Introduces Three Walkman Phones

Sony Ericsson is rolling out a trio of cell phones in its Walkman line to enable customers to take their music on the go.

All three of the phones are built to offer a pleasing music experience, and they deliver high-quality audio playback. The music phones also have features like the music recognition application TrackID, shake control to change tracks with a flick of the hand, and the SensMe application.

The W902 Walkman is the top-of-the-range device, and the candy-bar phone sports 2.2-inch screen with accelerometer sensors for auto-rotating.

The handset is also capable of using a carrier's 3G-network with a maximum downlink speed of 3.6 Mbps. Customers can use this to browse the Internet on the phone's HTML browser, and the music phone is also capable of receiving push e-mail.

The W902 has a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus capabilities and a flash. There is an image viewer and picture editor on board, and images can be geo-tagged using cellular tower locations. Users can also record video and there's a front-facing camera for video calling.

Along with the music player, the phone has a built-in FM radio, and it's capable of using stereo Bluetooth headphones. It will also come with an 8-GB Memory Stick Micro for storing tunes and pictures.

The W902 measures in at 4.3 by 1.9 by 0.5 inches, and it weighs 99.8 grams. The music phone will have four color options and will roll out to "select markets" in the fourth quarter.

The W595 Walkman is a slider that lacks a few features of the W902, but it still has 3G network capabilities, an HTML browser, and robust music capabilities. The W595 has a 3.2-megapixel camera and comes with 2 GB memory card.

The W595 measures in at 4.3 by 1.9 by 0.5 inches and it weighs 104 grams. It will come out in four colors in the fourth quarter.

The W302 Walkman is a lower-range phone that has a slim form factor. It shares the music and entertainment features of the other Walkman handsets, but it lacks 3G capabilities, and has a 2-megapixel camera. It measure in at 3.9 by 1.8 by 0.4 inches, and it will roll out with the other two music phones.

Apple iPhone 3G Gets Unofficial Stereo Bluetooth Support

Although it is now boasting some blazing 3G high-speed data and some nifty GPS navigation, there are still a few pieces missing to complete the ultimate iPhone package. The second coming of the Jesus phone is supposed to replace your regular mobile phone and your iPod, but where is the stereo Bluetooth support? It's here.

You will not find official A2DP Bluetooth support from Apple, unfortunately, but the good people at Brando have come up with a simple add-on that latches onto the dock connector in the base your iPhone 3G. With this little dongle, you can now have access to full stereo Bluetooth, cutting out those wires for your portable music enjoyment.

Naturally, you will need to throw in a set of stereo Bluetooth headphones of your own, but this $62 device from Brando will get you heading in the right direction.

Motorola V750 Clamshell Acts Tough with Verizon Wireless

The Motorola RAZR might not be able to suffer all that much environmental abuse, so if you're interested in getting a clamshell from Moto that's a little tougher, look no further than the V750. Unlike other military-grade phones from Motorola in the past, this phone does not come with a overly clunky rubber exterior.

The Motorola V750 has been designed to resist shock, vibration, drastic altitude changes, dust, extreme temperatures, and solar radiation. Whether you find yourself scaling cliffs, rumbling through the jungle, or jumping out of airplanes, the V750 should have you covered. Strangely, there's no mention of water protection, so might want to avoid jumping into the Amazon River.

Features include push-to-talk, 2.2-inch internal screen, 1.6-inch external screen, 2 megapixel camera, and Bluetooth A2DP. The Motorola V750 is available through Verizon for $100.

Nokia market share up in second quarter, positive outlook

Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, reported on Thursday an 8.0-percent rise in underlying second-quarter net profit and its shares soared 9.0-percent despite a heavy hit for closing its Bochum plant in Germany.

Nokia also announced that its market share had risen to 40 percent.

Net profit for the April-June period, excluding one-off items, rose 8.0 percent to 1.37 billion euros (2.17 billion dollars) from the same quarter a year ago, while sales grew four percent to 13.15 billion euros, the company said in a statement.

Including one-off items net profit was down by 61 percent to 1.1 billion euros from 2.8 billion a year earlier. The non-recurring items included 259 million euros linked to the closure of the Bochum plant.

Operating profit in the second quarter, excluding one-offs, rose meanwhile by 39 percent to 1.93 billion euros.

In April-June the Finnish company sold 122 million mobile phones and its market share rose to 40 percent, compared to 38 percent a year ago, and up from 39 percent in the first quarter of 2008.

The group's biggest market is now the Asia-Pacific region, where it sold 36.4 million phones, a rise of 42.2 percent from a year ago and ahead of Europe where it sold 27.1 million handsets.

"Looking at the rest of the year, we are optimistic and have had good feedback about the broad range of new products we expect to sell in our device business,"

Nokia's chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in the earnings statement.

Nokia said it expected its market share in the third quarter to stay on the same level as in April-June, while it continued to target higher market share for 2008.

Analyst Jari Honko from eQ Bank told AFP strong sales volumes indicated the global economic turmoil had not stopped people from buying new cell phones.

Nokia upgraded its forecast for the mobile device industry's annual sales growth and said it saw sales increasing more than 10 percent.

"Many research institutes have cut their forecasts, but Nokia is hiking its estimates. It is a positive signal on mobile phone markets,"

Pohjola Bank analyst Hannu Rauhala said.

The company saw its average selling price for handsets continue to fall. In April-June its phones on average sold for 74 euros each, down from 79 euros in the first quarter.

Analysts said the figure was a slight disappointment, which could partly be explained by the weakening dollar.

After the results were released, Nokia shares were up almost 9.0 percent to 17.17 euros on the Helsinki stock market, which was 3.8 percent higher.

Opera Mobile 9.5 beta is released

Opera Software today released the much-anticipated, first public version of Opera Mobile 9.5 beta. A powerful foreshadowing of what is to come, this beta takes mobile browsing speed and features to a new level, complete with visual effects and a new look. Download the new beta from http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/.

Opera has changed the face of its mobile browser in this beta release. As with the latest version of Opera Mini, Opera Mobile 9.5 beta now defaults to page overview mode, allowing the user to view the entire Web page and instantly recognize the Web site. With panning and zooming options, the user is able to focus on specific page content. Opera also introduces a sleek, new user interface for easier navigation.

"Our fans have been eager for the release of Opera Mobile 9.5 since it first appeared at the Mobile World Congress this year,"

says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software.

"We are now answering the call of the people and delivering what we proudly proclaim to be our best Opera Mobile browser to date. It is a totally new user experience."

Developers go cross-platform

With developer needs at the heart of this first beta release, Opera Mobile 9.5 includes several features to enable easier development on the mobile platform.

Opera Dragonfly, Opera’s developer tools, officially goes cross-platform with this release. It allows developers to debug JavaScript, inspect Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and the Document Object Model (DOM), and view any errors, making development for the mobile phone even easier.

Your quick reference guide to new Opera Mobile 9.5 beta features:

Faster – Opera has always been among the fastest browsers — if not the fastest — available. Opera Mobile 9.5 beta continues this fine tradition with improved performance over Opera Mobile 8.65.

Pan and zoom – Just like Opera Mini, Opera Mobile 9.5 beta defaults to full Web page viewing and allows users to pan and zoom into their desired content easily.

Improved user interface – Opera has completely renovated its mobile UI. Cleaner and more intuitive, the new UI is designed for quick and easy navigation.

Opera Dragonfly – Use your Opera desktop browser to debug sites on your mobile phone through the Opera Mobile 9.5 debug menu.

Improved standards support – Opera Mobile 9.5 is the most standards compliant browser available, and the company remains steadfast in its commitment to make the Web accessible for all.

Save pages and/or images – With a click, simply save pages to your phone.

Review Opera Mobile 9.5 beta 1 A comprehensive reviewer's guide to Opera Mobile 9.5 is available at http://www.opera.com/press/reviews/mobile/.

Aircell Selects LTE as 4G Wireless Standard for Inflight Connectivity

Aircell®, the world's leading provider of airborne communications, today announced its intention to base its fourth generation (4G) mobile broadband network on Long Term Evolution (LTE), the emerging standard for advanced mobile broadband networks and services. Having pioneered the first commercial Inflight Internet service in North America, Aircell plans to deploy LTE to enable the next generation ultra-high bandwidth mobile services such as hi-definition and interactive TV and multi- player immersive gaming that passengers will come to expect. As Aircell migrates toward full LTE deployment, planned network and technology developments will enable Aircell to serve North American airlines with state- of-the-art mobile broadband technology.

Aircell's LTE announcement expands on the company's vision and leadership in the airborne communications market. With a 16-year history in airborne communications, Aircell's continuing innovation and leadership were confirmed recently by the company's demonstration of the first and only air-to-ground mobile broadband Inflight Internet solution for commercial airlines, Gogo(TM). Gogo turns a commercial airplane into a Wi-Fi hotspot, providing full Internet access - including Web, personal IM and email accounts and VPN access to corporate email and systems - to passengers with Wi-Fi enabled personal devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs.

Aircell is working with the standards organizations that support Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and its global membership of networking, device and technology partners to advance the LTE standard that will enable Gogo to deliver unprecedented wireless broadband services. Aircell joins wireless giants AT&T, Verizon and Alltel in selecting LTE as the choice for 4G network technology. LTE will enable networks to deliver mobile data with greater speed, better throughput performance and lower latency. The end result is the availability of the ultra-high bandwidth mobile services and pervasive Internet that consumers are coming to expect.

"The 4G market is still evolving but one thing is for sure, passengers will want the same mobile broadband services in the air that they have on the ground,"

stated Joe Cruz, CTO, Aircell.

"Aircell's choice of LTE ensures that our network will continue to support the services customers demand today and in the future. With LTE, Aircell's Air-to-Ground (ATG) Inflight Internet technology is future-proofed."

In addition, airline operations will benefit directly and significantly from Aircell's deployment of 4G technology, which will enable a wide array of powerful operational applications such as high-resolution weather-to-the- cockpit.

Aircell has pioneered ATG technology to deliver its mobile broadband service, Gogo, to the airplane cabin. Using an exclusive FCC frequency license, CDMA Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) Rev A protocol and network optimization and acceleration technology, Aircell is able to deliver an effective data rate of more than 12 Mbps peak to Gogo-equipped aircraft. By the end of 2009, further advances in existing technologies will enable Aircell to deliver a raw data rate of up to 22.7 Mbps to aircraft. By the beginning of 2011, Aircell expects to deploy its 4G LTE network, which will enable a throughput of up to 300 Mbps to aircraft.

"The unique advantage of ATG inflight connectivity is its rapid scalability,"

continued Cruz.

"Unlike satellite-based systems, which must contend with significant technology hurdles and a slow technology evolution path, ATG benefits from every ground-based advance in wireless technology. The result is a highly scalable, rapidly advancing inflight connectivity technology."

SanDisk WORM SD Card Goes a Little Backwards

Remember when blank CD-Rs first hit the market? It was pretty cool being able to "burn" your own CD, but soon people started itching for discs that could be used again and again. Shortly thereafter, we were introduced to the CD-RW. A similar progression happened with DVD media. Strangely, the progression is going a little backwards with flash memory.

While all other SD cards have no problem being used again and again, the new SanDisk WORM SD cards will not come with this functionality. Instead, you can only write on the memory card once. The WORM -- Write Once Read Many -- cards are meant to store information that has to be kept unchanged, and the cards are supposed to last 100 years.

Naturally, the SanDisk WORM SD cards won't be very useful to the average consumer, but they could prove to be a reliable storage medium for court records, police departments, medical applications, and so on. The WORM cards currently top out at 128MB, but I can't see why similar tech can't be implemented in larger capacity cards. No word on pricing.

AT&T Will Be Selling iPhone 3G in White on Friday

Steve Jobs told us that the new iPhone 3G, complete with the new rounded plastic back, would be offered in your choice of black or white. It has now been confirmed that the white version will be available for sale on launch day this Friday.

The confirmation, as it stands, only applies to AT&T and Apple Stores in the United States for July 11th. Shipments of the white 16GB version have already been received by many of the stores in anticipation for this Friday. There is no mention of whether white versions of the iPhone 3G have arrived in Canada.

On the flip side, there's news that the UK inventory offered through O2 will be without the white edition, selling only the black iPhone 3G on launch day. In the words of one BGR commentator,

"I guess white phones can't jump... the pond."

CDMA Getting Treated to Nokia 3608 Clamshell, 8208 Dual Slider

Nokia has a couple of new offerings for the CDMA crowd and while neither will garner the same attention as a certain handset from Cupertino, they are still worth noting. After all, the CDMA guys in the crowd can't get their hands on that multi-touch wonder anyhow.

First up, we have the Nokia 3608 on the left. This clamshell has dual displays with the main display measuring 2-inches across the diagonal. On the outside of the phone, you'll find a smaller display, touch-sensitive music controls, and a cool red flaring paintjob. Other features include a 1.3 megapixel camera, GPS receiver, FM radio, and microSD expansion.

The other phone is the Nokia 8208. It's a dual slider with 3G, 3 megapixel cam, GPS, FM radio, and dedicated music controls that pop out of the top.

Toshiba Protege G910 Smartphone Has Big Potential, Ultimately Disappoints

When you look at the spec sheet for the Toshiba Protege G910 Windows Mobile smartphone, it looks incredibly impressive. Perhaps the most notable feature is that glorious WVGA display, boasting a pixel density that's about the best in the business. Unfortunately, it seems that the cons outweigh the pros on this phone.

Starting with the good, the PocketNow reviewer makes mention of the great display, very usable QWERTY keyboard, plenty of wireless options (aGPS, WiFi, HSDPA), and even an OLED-backlit screen. In its closed position, the Protege G910 is simple, yet elegant. That extending stylus looks pretty good too.

And then you get the bad. The performance is "laggy", the USB 2.0 support is missing, and the keyboard doesn't keep pace with your fingers. It also sucks that it's only running on WM6 when everyone else is doing Windows Mobile 6.1. Going further, this smartphone has a sub-par camera, huge size, nearly useless fingerprint security, dim display, and a tiny external screen. Boo.

New LG Chocolate debuts on Verizon Wireless

The latest eye candy from Verizon Wireless and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. (LG Mobile Phones) will make its debut on the nation's most reliable wireless network on Sunday, July 13. The new flip style LG Chocolate(TM) 3, the third- generation of the iconic Chocolate music phones, supports all of the latest features in mobile music technology including Verizon Wireless' V CAST Music with Rhapsody subscription music service. The LG Chocolate 3 will be available in black or light blue beginning Sunday in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, including those in Circuit City, and through the company's online store at www.verizonwireless.com.

The marquee music phone for the new V CAST Music with Rhapsody service, LG Chocolate 3 allows Verizon Wireless customers to access more than 5 million songs, create playlists and load hundreds of songs on their phones to take with them wherever they go. Designed to be a powerhouse music player, the LG Chocolate 3 sports a built-in FM transmitter so customers can play music through a car or other stereo system, dual speakers, Bluetooth® headset for wireless stereo sound, and multitasking capabilities while listening to music. An easy-to-use external front navigation wheel and center select key makes music navigation easy, and the phone will satisfy music appetites with its optional expandable memory using a large 8 GB microSD(TM) card.

"We are proud of the success and popularity of the Chocolate series of handsets, and are excited about the upgrades made with this new edition,"

said Mr. Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy and marketing for LG Mobile Phones.

"The LG Chocolate 3 helps Verizon Wireless customers minimize the number of electronic devices they need to carry at one time, allowing for a large capacity of music storage and connection to a car stereo without any wires."

Entertainment doesn't end with music on the LG Chocolate 3; this feature rich flip phone also packs a 2.0 megapixel camera and camcorder and supports V CAST Video and ESPN MVP, giving customers an on-demand link to news, scores and more. The LG Chocolate 3 can be charged via a computer with its micro USB charging port.

The LG Chocolate 3 is the first Verizon Wireless phone to feature Dashboard, a graphically rich portal powered by Adobe Flash® Cast(TM) technology, which delivers personalized multimedia information and entertainment services directly to the phone. Dashboard features 13 channels -- Mobile Web, VZW Showcase, Get Channels and Search, as well nine more to customize the wireless experience. Verizon Wireless customers can select from News, Community, Comedy Central, MTV News, IGN.COM, FOX Sport, Tones & Extras, Sports, ESPN, Music, Entertainment, Weather, Business, and Games channels to appear on their phones.

Additional features and capabilities of the LG Chocolate 3 include:

-- Additional Music Features

* Music player that supports .mp3, .wma, unprotected .aac and unprotected .aac+ files

* Dedicated music key and preset sound effect equalizer

* Create and manage playlists

* Music library -- organized by artist, genre, album

* Music only mode (RF off except Bluetooth) -- supports up to 24 hours of music playback

-- 2.0 Megapixel Camera/Camcorder Features

* Camera resolutions: 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 pixels

* Zoom: up to 2x

* Image editor -- zoom, rotate and crop images

* Video resolutions: 320 x 240, 176 x 144 pixels

* Video recording time -- 30 seconds (for sending) or up to 1 hour (for saving) depending on available memory

* Video player for WMV, MP4, 3GP, 3G2 formats

* Customizable brightness, white balance, shutter sound, night, photometry

* Self-timer: off, three, five or 10 seconds

* Color effects: normal, negative, aqua, sepia, black and white

* Self portrait/video recording capability with flip closed

-- Mobile Web-capable -- customizable, enhanced wireless access to the latest in news, sports, weather and more

-- Mobile Email -- access MSN® Hotmail®, America Online® and Yahoo!® accounts to exchange e-mail

-- VZ Navigator(SM)-capable -- get visual and audible directions to thousands of destinations, locate businesses and other points of interest, get maps of a location and share directions with others

-- Media Center-capable -- downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, location-based services and more

-- Mobile IM capabilities

-- Chaperone® Child-capable -- allows the LG Chocolate 3 to have its location shared with family members via the Chaperone Web site, the Chaperone® Parent application or Child Zone® SMS alerts

-- Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)

* Save up to 20 Bluetooth pairings

* Supported profiles: headset, hands-free, dial-up networking, advanced audio distribution (stereo), phone book access, basic printing, object push for vCard and vCalendar, file transfer and basic imaging

* Send all contacts and calendar events via Bluetooth

* Print and send user generated pictures (JPEG) via Bluetooth

-- One-touch speakerphone

-- Speaker-independent voice commands

-- Voice-activated dialing up to 1,000 entries

-- Voice recording -- 1 minute or 1 hour (standby) up to 1,500 memos

-- .mp3 music ringer support (clips from hit songs)

-- 27 unique ringtones as well as vibrate and silent modes

-- Text, picture, video and voice messaging

-- Phone book with 1,000 contacts -- each entry stores five numbers, two e-mail addresses and a Picture ID

-- Speed dial -- 999 entries; one voicemail default

-- Calendar, calculator, EZ tip calculator, alarm clock, stopwatch, world clock and notepad

-- Flash® user-interface for clear images, text and fun animations

-- Simultaneous GPS for enhanced location accuracy

-- Standalone mode (RF off)

-- TTY/TDD support

-- Hearing aid compatible = M3

-- Headset jack: 3.5 mm

-- Technology: CDMA

-- Frequency: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA (Digital Dual-Band)

-- Data transmission: EV-DO

-- SAR: head 1.26 W/kg; body 0.367 W/kg

-- Dimensions: 3.87" (h) x 1.94" (w) x 0.64" (d)

-- Weight: 3.36 ounces

-- Display:

* Internal LCD: 260K Color TFT, 320 x 240 pixels, 2.2"

* External LCD: 260K Color TFT, 176 x 220 pixels, 1.76"

-- Standard battery: 800 mAh

-- Usage time: up to 270 minutes

-- Standby time: up to 350 hour

Howard from Howard Forums Prefers Nokia N95 over iPhone, Instinct, Bold

Howard Forums is easily home to the largest community of cell phone enthusiasts on the planet and its bold leader, Howard Chui, made an appearance on television yesterday to lend his expertise.

In the clip, Howard goes through the pros and cons of three of this season's hottest new mobile phones. Today marks the official launch of the Apple iPhone 3G and everyone is pretty excited about that. Howard goes on to discuss the $10 unlimited data on the Samsung Instinct, before moving on to the slick business handheld known as the BlackBerry Bold.

At the end of the day, Howard may like those phones, but he doesn't use any of them himself. He prefers the Nokia N95, largely because he can use it without looking at it. Not everyone needs a touchscreen, you know.

Motorola Releases Touchscreen Linux Smartphone

The Moto A810 entry-level smartphone features Bluetooth capabilities, handwriting recognition, and a multimedia player.

Motorola introduced Wednesday a touchscreen handset that's aimed at young mobile professionals looking for their first smartphone.

The Moto A810 is not as powerful as the updates to the company's Ming line, but it should still have enough features for the workers on the go.

The Linux-powered handset has a sleek candy-bar form factor, and the 2.2-inch touchscreen with 240 by 320 resolution. The included stylus can be used with the built-in handwriting recognition software. The smartphone will also come preloaded with stock trading and dictionary applications, and it's capable of receiving corporate e-mail.

Users will be able to surf the Web on an integrated Opera browser, but this device cannot access 3G networks. Instead, the handset uses EDGE data for browsing and retrieving e-mails, with a top downlink speed of 236.8 Kbps.

The smartphone will have a microUSB port for transferring files, and the internal storage can be expanded via the microSD slot. Motorola's handset will also have built-in hands free controls.

To help balance work with fun, this smartphone has an integrated music and video player. There's a built-in FM radio, and a standard audio output jack. There will also be a 2-megapixel camera on board that can shoot photos and videos.

The handset measures in at 4.1 by 2 by .5 inches, weighs 100 ounces, and will come in black or white. The A810 is currently available in China, and the company did not say how much it would cost or if it would debut in other markets.

Oracle Launches iPhone Apps For Business

Trying to figure out how to justify the company paying for Apple's new 3G iPhone? Oracle wants to help.

Oracle became the first major business software vendor to deliver applications for the iPhone, joining hundreds of software developers, many of them tiny or consumer-oriented, hawking wares at Thursday's opening of Apple's online App Store.

Oracle's Business Indicators applications let users of several Oracle business intelligence applications get information sent to their iPhones. Finance, sales, and manufacturing managers can get alerts and updates based on predefined business metrics, such as if sales goals are met or shipment levels dip.

The mobile apps are free to Oracle BI customers, and data can be viewed in graphical or tabular format. Oracle plans to broaden the line to include apps that let managers make approvals -- for things such as new hires or expense reports -- using their phones. It's also promising apps that bring capabilities from its CRM software, such as contact management and sales forecasting, to iPhones.

Oracle isn't the first to develop BI capabilities for the iPhone. Information Builders has provided iPhone access to its BI reports running on servers for months, and open source BI vendor Pentaho last week announced a similar capability. On-demand ERP vendor NetSuite provides iPhone access to data in its systems.

Apple is trying to push the iPhone further into business. The 3G iPhone, to be released on Friday amid the now typical sleep-on-the-sidewalk anticipation, supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for pushing e-mail, calendars, and contacts to the devices. It has the ability to view Word and Excel attachments within e-mails, and Apple offers a secure Cisco-based VPN into corporate networks. Apple released a software development kit for the iPhone earlier this year; its first application store coincides with the 3G launch.

Apple iPhone debuts to lines in Japan, elsewhere

Gadget lovers worldwide are already camped out ahead of Friday's global rollout of the new model of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which is also the first iPhone to go on sale in many countries.

Japan, is planning a countdown ceremony at its flagship downtown store. By late Thursday, a line of nearly 800 iPhone fans snaked around the block, with some sleeping on the streets to ensure they would be among the first customers.

The iPhone goes on sale there five hours earlier than other nationwide outlets, helping to kick off a global rollout in 22 nations. The first model, which launched in the United States a year ago, ended up being sold only in six countries.

Because of time differences, the new iPhones are going on sale first in New Zealand, then Australia, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In the United States, phones will be available at 8 a.m. in each time zone.

Japan, though, is the tech-mad market that analysts like to watch. It is home to powerful electronics brands such as Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.'s Panasonic, but its consumers are trend-chasers and have long adored Apple products such as the iPod.

Japan has about 107 million cell phones, or about one for every person. Many of the phones already work on 3G, or third-generation, wireless networks, offering the speedy Internet access that the new iPhone will also deliver. The old iPhone used a relatively slow cellular network combined with the ability to use fast Wi-Fi hotspots.

The iPhone's capabilities are less revolutionary here, where people have for years used the tech-heavy local phones for restaurant searches, e-mail, music downloads, reading digital novels and electronic shopping. They tend to shrug off foreign models, such as those of Nokia Corp.

The latest Japanese cell phones have two key features absent on the iPhone — digital TV broadcast reception and the "electronic wallet" for making payments at stores and vending machines equipped with special electronic readers.

But they don't have the iPhone's nifty touch screen or glamour image.

Another key difference is that the iPhone is designed to browse the Web in the much the same way computers do. The networks promoted by Japanese carriers, such as "i-mode" from NTT DoCoMo, are more closed than the Web. Such systems have allowed carriers to control services and charge fees.

Masayuki Otani, deputy chief of research at Maruwa Securities Co. in Tokyo, said the iPhone faces competition from emerging rivals, who offer mobile Internet devices in Japan, and the iPhone may attract a limited following.

"The iPhone is a fad,"

he said.

"There are lots of people who love it and jump at it, but there are those who are going to be less impressed."

Norikazu Sasaki, a 20-year-old student among those in line for the iPhone in Tokyo, was already won over.

"The iPhone is so user-friendly, more than any other mobile phone. It combines the best features of a PC with the best features of a phone,"

said Sasaki, who's been taking turns with two friends to save his spot in the line since 1 a.m. Wednesday.

"There isn't anything else like it,"

Sasaki said.

The iPhone has sparked similar enthusiasm in Australia.

In downtown Sydney, Brett Howell, 36, didn't mind fighting the chill of the Down Under winter for the distinction of being first in a line of about 40 at an Optus store Thursday.

"I wanted to make sure I got one,"

he said as he huddled on the sidewalk with a small blanket and a book.

"It's only 11 hours in total."

Ben Thomas, 27, had his own explanation for iPhone mania.

"It's a chick magnet,"

he said.

Apple plans to sell its 8-gigabyte iPhone for $199 in the United States and the 16-gigabyte version for $299. The company, based in Cupertino, Calif., says it has sold about 6 million iPhones since last year. It hopes to sell 10 million by the end of 2008.