AT&T today announced the HTC Fuze, its 3G tri-band HSDPA Windows Mobile smartphone based off the international HTC Touch Pro phone. The Fuze offers multiple methods of control. It features a 5-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard for quick text entry and a large 2.8-inch VGA touch screen with advanced TouchFLO 3D technology. TouchFLO 3D uses one touch to scroll through common tasks like messaging, calendar appointments or making calls. Music, photos, contacts and surfing the web are also responsive. The Fuze runs on With Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, allowing users to use Microsoft Outlook mailbox, contacts, calendar, notes, and tasks; edit Microsoft Office documents or view Adobe PDF attachments; or take advantage of support for multiple email applications including Microsoft Direct Push, Good Mobile Messaging, and Blackberry Connect - all connected with HSDPA broadband speeds, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Push-to-Talk. The HTC Fuze is expected to be released in AT&T stores in the third quarter of 2008.

Joining the Sony Ericsson Z780 clamshell in Grand Onyx (Black), is the delightfully girly Amethyst Silver colour variant. With a hint of purple on the outside and a colourful purple interior, the Sony Ericsson Z780 is just the splash of colour that every girl needs. With HSDPA High Speed Data and 3G connectivity, you can check your emails on the go and receive RSS web feeds keeping you in the know. The web browser itself comes preloaded with a password manager and SSL support for added protection and basic peace of mind.
Get the most out of your MP3 Player and FM Radio with the ability to identify your favourite tracks that you just can’t quite remember the artist or title of with TrackID music recogntion software. Snap pictures with the phone’s 2 mega pixel camera and record video clips and then upload to your own personal blogsite direct from your phone using the blogging tool available. Not only this but the Sony Ericsson Z780 supports video calling, includes the presence of stereo bluetooth and has a 35MB internal memory that can be expanded using microSD card expansion.

According to ComScore United States has caught up the number of 3G users in Western Europe.  The users of 3G services in the US are 28.4% of mobile users, while beyond ocean in 5 of the major European markets (Spain, France, Italy, Germany and England) they are 28.3%. Of course, such a difference in all likelihood is easily osporima, but U.S. increase in 3G users was 80% compared to last year.

If you are using the first generation of Nokia N95, you can now upgrade your Nokia N95 to the new v30.0.015 firmware through the Nokia Software Updater. The change log for the new version is not available, but some users have noticed the following changes:

• Nokia Maps 2.0 built-in
  Full N-Gage client
  Nokia Search 4.0 with Google plug-in
  Share online 3.0
  Enablers for Comes With Music
  Download! application updated (v 3.1.50)
  Upgrade to Music Player
  Update for Flash Lite 3 (improved viewing of sites like YouTube)
  Current consumption improvements (for e.g. WLAN scanning)
  New baseline for VoIP (with significant error corrections)

For the last two weeks Orange Switzerland is advertising for the Blackberry Bold in the Sunday newspapers (Le Matin Sunday).  And the projected date was that that the Blackberry Bold will be available from September 15th (official date of Swisscom). However, in advertising today, the date has passed to Friday, September 19th. No further information about the pricing or others yet but we will keep our eyes and ears open to bring you more infromation.

Sony Ericsson and T-Mobile USA announce that the TM506 clamshell phone is now on sale. “The Sony Ericsson TM506 keeps you connected and entertained with a great sense of style and advanced features, including a 2.0 megapixel camera,” as the T-Mobile USA website said. You can own it for $79.99 after rebate on contract. The TM506, Sony Ericsson’s first handset supporting T-Mobile’s AWS spectrum (1700/2100), is a compact and stylish clamshell phone that delivers an exceptional Web experience in an eye-catching design. A built-in GPS navigation feature in the TM506 along with the TeleNav application from T-Mobile allows users to always know their location.

The Meridiist by TAGHeuer has just been officially unveiled and just as we had covered earlier this new GSM phone is made up of high quality rubber, leather and alligator back plates and enclosed in a 316L steel case. With hand brushed and polished finishing, a backlit mechanical stainless steel keypad making the phone weigh in at 155g. The phone boasts of a 28 day stand-by and 7 hours talk time. Along with 2-megapixel high-quality camera pumping out JPEG, GIF, and BMP images at resolutions of up to 1,200 x 1,600 pixels. It boasts of two screens made of 60.5 carats of sapphire crystal glass on both display screens. The front screen is an LCD, 240 x 320 pixels, 260k colors, TFT – 1.9” and the Top screen is an ultra cool OLED, 96 x 16 pixels. This one has a 2GB storage to keep you engaged in music. It supports USB 1.0 with mass storage for easy multimedia exchange with a PC.

All this while you thought you couldn’t do without your handycam, phone, musicplayer etc. but if Sony has its way, you may be able to have just one gadget that does it all for you. It will be your mobile phone, still-camera, video recorder, PDA, music player; in short everything bundled together. This concept phone has a unique twist to it, to lock it or use it; you need to twist the movable base. It sports a 5 MP camera and has dual mode. You can either use the simple keypad or a stylus for inputs. WiFi and music/ video broadcasting capabilities complete the package. It also features handwriting recognition, which is quite an essential function for gadgets. This brilliant concept could give the Nokia Xpress phones a run for their money.

The two things that govern the choice of a mobile phone; One: its looks Two: it’s battery life. The LED Cellphone concept scores ten on ten in both these parameters. Designed by Tao Ma, Yue Meng and Jenny Pan, the phone sports a sleek body that looks groovy in black. It seems to come with it’s own docking station, however I cannot confirm this. All the navigation functions are carried out via the ample LED screen and the icing of course is that it requires only 2 AAA batteries to power it. Besides the batteries you can also juice up the device via USB.

Qik, makers of a popular streaming video application and service for Symbian S60, iPhone, and Windows Mobile devices, has released an update that increases the number of compatible Windows Mobile devices with the application. Some of the newly compatible devices include the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, AT&T Tilt, HTC Touch Dual, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, HTC TyTN II and Samsung SPH-i325 (Ace). Qik is a free application and service. The only recommendations to using the application are to have an unlimited data plan as there is a lot of data involved in streaming live video. For more information, and to download Qik for several mobile devices, visit the http://qik.com/.

AAA has announced the latest version of its wireless navigation program, AAA Mobile, with several new features including fuel prices, live traffic alerts and weather forecasts.

• Find the best fuel prices: With higher fuel prices, AAA Mobile users can quickly find the best prices by receiving a list of gas stations with prices nearest to their current location or in a specified zip code or city. Once they find a station, AAA Mobile will provide audible turn-by-turn directions on how to get there.
• Find out what’s ahead: Whether driving in out-of-town traffic or on the daily commute, AAA Mobile’s new real-time traffic feature helps motorists find out what’s ahead and alternatives on how to get there. AAA Mobile alerts motorists to traffic congestion, accidents and other new developments on their route and provides detour options to compare against their current estimated time of arrival.

AAA Mobile also allows users to take a look ahead at the weather by providing current conditions and seven-day forecasts for their current location or any city around the world. In addition, AAA members they can send their GPS location directly to AAA and be connected to roadside assistance operators.

Current users can upgrade to the latest version of AAA Mobile at no additional charge. For a complete listing of providers, pricing and compatible phones, visit www.AAA.com/AAAMobile.

Samsung, the global leader in manufacturing flash memory chips used to store data in digital cameras and portable music players, has announced that it has plans to acquire SanDisk Corp. SanDisk is the customer of Samsung Electronics. San Disk is globally renowned name on offering flash memory and competitors for companies like Kingston and Seagate. Cited sources that this announcement is just a part of plan with Samsung but nothing concrete has been sketched yet. The company’s chip division will lead the acquisition plan if any such prospect will be there. The report didn’t give any financial terms. Acquisition of SanDisk would help Samsung to save about $355 million in royalties annually. Seagate Technology Inc. has also shown interest in buying SanDisk. Last month it was reported that Seagate Technology may bid for SanDisk. As per market reports shares of SanDisk have tumbled 59 per cent this year.

The worldwide leader in mobile manufacturing Nokia is planning to expand the capabilities of its online content-sharing site, Ovi. The plans are to step up the competition with other providers of services. The enhancement in the features of Ovi will allow Nokia users to synchronize their contact lists and calendars with an online calendar and address book. This will bring Nokia in competition with online services provided by Apple and Microsoft. The new additions will create Ovi services similar to Apple’s MobileMe. The MobileMe pushes changes to and from the iPhone, Ovi synchronizes the changes per user commands.
Ovi will also allow users upload images from the device to online site and remote access to files. But contrast to MobileMe, Ovi does not offer an e-mail service. Against MobileMe, with common features Ovi is generally free. But with premium version of its file access service it has some cost attached to it. Live Mesh is a free online service offered by Microsoft, that lets users share files, programs and data among PCs and Windows Mobile phones.

LG Electronics announced that it would launch the LG-KC910, the only 8 megapixel multimedia phone. When released the LG-KC910 will be the slimmest 8 megapixel handset on the market at just 13.95 mm. Some fo the highlights of this upcoming LG-KC910 are the following:

• A 8 megapixel camera with image stabilization, auto-focus, manual focus, Face Tracking, Smile Shot and blink detection.
• Audio clarity with Dolby Mobile
• Video features which allows it to record in both fast and slow motion.
• Plays DivX and Xvid movies straight out of the box
• A 3.0-inch WQVGA full touch LCD screen
• A-GPS enabled navigation
• Compatibility with the latest 3G HSDPA networks for connections up to 7.2Mbps and Wi-Fi
• A Jogging Buddy program that uses GPS technology to help track workouts

The KC910 will be available for purchase beginning in October. LG will release additional technical specifications and information on the LG-KC910, including details on its comprehensive capabilities and pet name.

An ultra-lightweight music phone, the Samsung M3510 is aimed at those people who value multimedia playback over other features. The Samsung M3510 weighs only 68 grams and is a shade less than 10mm thick. The 800 mAh battery can provide up to 5 hours of talktime, 10 days standby time or 15 hours of music playback. It’s a pretty simple tri-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE data, a 2″ 240 x 320 pixel display and a 2 megapixel camera, but Samsung have put most of the effort into music. In addition to an MP3 / AAC / WMA compatible media player, the Samsung M3510 also features something called the “BEAT player”, “Find Music by Shazam” and Samsung’s Digital Natural Sound engine (DNSe), plus an automatic audio equaliser and digital rights management support. Usefully, the Samsung M3510 comes with a 3.5mm audio socket and also some dedicated media keys. It could make an ideal Christmas present if bought with a prepay SIM. Samsung haven’t given any details on the M3510’s release date or pricing yet, but we should imagine that it will be out in the next month or so.

The Executive Director of Dell once again confirmed that the company has plans to get in the market for mobile phones and can not compete with any but with Apple. Of course, not it’s a very short-term plans, so you must wait. This time, Michael Del during Citi Technology Conference in New York, is mentions plans for the company to place devices with ever smaller dimensions, which have the capabilities of iPhone. To me, more the competetion better the handsets.

At the Microsoft TechEd Australia 2008 conference keynote this morning, Dr. Neil and Amit Mital teased a very quick preview of the Live Mesh application running on a Windows Mobile Palm Treo Pro which should be publically available in the coming months. During the short demonstration, Dr. Neil took a photo of Amit on stage with his mobile phone which then wireless synced with the Live Mesh computer. In the broader picture syncing of data is just one of three components to the Live Mesh platform. They envision unified device management to remotely manage health, status, location and capability of devices; unified application deployment with synced configurations and settings for those applications; and finally unified data management across any device. Imagine putting a Zune on the Live Mesh and allowing it to sync with your unified music library that spans across different computers, different devices and even different platforms.

The market for Mobile Internet Devices (MID), the new class of Internet connected products offering “always-on” Web browsing, photography and video, navigation, games, social networking and voice communications, is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 167% over the next five years. That impressive growth will be paralleled by the penetration of several wireless technologies that are integral to the MID’s functions: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and eventually ultra-wideband (UWB).  ”All Mobile Internet Devices will feature Wi-Fi from the start,” said ABI Research senior analyst Douglas McEuen. “That is the essential form of wireless connectivity that no MID will be without. But in addition, ABI Research expects to see Bluetooth reach a 95% penetration rate by the end of 2008.” While many MIDs will include voice capabilities, they are larger than mobile phones, and for convenience some users will carry a low-cost phone as well. However many consumers still want an all-in-one device, and the handset/headset configuration enabled by Bluetooth will meet their needs. That will be one of the main rationales for its early adoption in MIDs.

KDDI Corp released the W64SA, an au-branded mobile phone manufactured by Kyocera Corp, in August 2008. One of the features of the handset is the “color therapy” function, which displays illumination in two colors by using LEDs arranged on the back side of the main display. When asked about the technology that enables the illumination used for the color therapy function, the development team at the Corporate Communication Systems Equipment Division of Kyocera pointed out two factors, an LED mounting method and a chassis cover molding method. Kyocera’s W64SA with the light turned on. The light is available in five colors, red, blue, pink, yellow and green. Users can select two colors for illumination, which is displayed when the handset is folded, opened or recharged, etc. The handset is also illuminated when the handset is quickly shaken because the illumination function works in concert with an acceleration sensor.The W64SA features Bluetooth, a 2.8-inch LCD, 2 megapixel camera, remote wipe, mobile wallet, and a huge list of software titles you’ll never, ever, enjoy over here.

Toshiba expects to roll out its new handset ‘824T’ in Japan market via SoftBank, which will be for sale on September 6th. Supporting 1-Seg, the phone has a large 2.8-inch wide screen QVGA LCD, a 2M camera with auto-focus, media player, Digital TV, Bluetooth, microSD memory card, PC site browser and a graphic mail.
Measuring 50 x 103 x 17.8 mm and weighing about 112g it provides 180 minutes of talk time and up to 440 hours of standby time. No word for how much this will be available, but when it is, users can get the Toshiba 824T in pastel pink, pastel blue, pastel purple, and the ever popular vivid pink.