Tech.Wapline

Pantech U4000 kicks off Orange deal

Written on December 28, 2006 – 12:25 pm | by admin | No Comments |
Posted in » Mobile News

   Could Pantech be the next Samsung or LG? It may have a way to go yet before we can start drawing those kinds of comparisons, but their latest deal to supply Orange with 3G handsets in France brings it one step closer — particularly considering that the deal means the Korean company is now delivering handsets to all three of France’s major carriers. The first product to come out of the agreement will be the U4000, a black slider with a 220 x 176 display, 1.3 megapixel primary and VGA secondary cams, Bluetooth, and 30MB of user-accessible storage plus microSD expansion. All told, the specs make the U4000 a fairly unremarkable handset, but seeing how this is a multi-phone deal, we’ll just have to stay tuned to see what else in store for our friends on Orange.

Sprint’s Treo 700wx can’t text Verizon, T-Mobile

Written on December 27, 2006 – 2:21 pm | by admin | No Comments |
Posted in » Mobile News

 

   Is there trouble in paradise? In a story that’s been developing for a few weeks now, it seems that at least some of Sprint’s Treo 700wx user base has been stripped of its ability to send SMS messages to Verizon and T-Mobile customers. Now, we would never take the conspiracy theorist route (that’s not true, by the way) and accuse Sprint of purposefully hosing outbound text messages to its bigger CDMA rival Verizon, but it does seem like a huge, inexplicable, and unacceptable screwup of epic proportions. For its part, Sprint is promising a fix by the end of November (feel free to take your time, fellas) but in the meantime, rumor has it that affected customers can call up Sprint and get some sort of compensation for their troubles.

Read - mytreo.net
Read - TreoCentral

ActiveSync Out, Windows Mobile Device Center In

Written on December 25, 2006 – 3:14 am | by admin | No Comments |
Posted in » Mobile News

   As we anxiously await the release of Windows new Vista OS, we are learning more and more about the integration of Windows Mobile devices into Microsoft’s new baby. ActiveSync has been been pushed aside for what Microsoft is calling Windows Mobile Device Center (or WMDC for short) which on paper, is looking to be easier for the end user and IT departments to install and maintain. WMDC is a built in function of Vista so it will not require additional software needing to be installed and will receive automatic updates when a Windows Update occurs. Now if we can only get our hands on the newest Crossbow OS for our phone, that would make us happy.

[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]

Nokia project puts red boxes on things

Written on December 24, 2006 – 2:08 pm | by admin | No Comments |
Posted in » Mobile News

 

 

   ”Copy that, Echo 1, I’ve got a lock on Pizzeria Dacca. Permission to take the shot?” Borrowing cues from heads-up displays you might find in the cockpits of fighter jets, Nokia’s Research Center has cobbled together the MARA (Mobile Augmented Reality Applications) project for identifying the user’s surroundings. Using a Nokia 6680 specially equipped with a big, ugly box containing accelerometers in all three axes, a compass, and a GPS receiver, the phone has enough information to precisely identify objects seen through its camera by appending stuff (like the aforementioned red boxes) to the on-screen viewfinder — useful for identifying buildings, streets, and even friends (or “bogeys” if you want to stick with the fighter jet lingo). Though MARA is strictly a research project, it’s apparently been under development for a good while now, lending hope that the system might eventually see production some time down the road. We have to admit, the cool factor is extremely high on this one, and we’d love to see it happen.

[Via GigaOM]

BenQ P51 lands on the FCC’s doorstep

Written on December 21, 2006 – 2:02 pm | by admin | No Comments |
Posted in » Mobile News

   Some of us might of had a quick glance at the BenQ P51 this year at CeBIT and hoped it would of made its way stateside for release sooner than later. Unfortunately for us, it is turning out to be the latter of the two as the device was just given the FCC’s approval. This quad-band 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 Mhz GSM/GPRS device is packing Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC, adds WiFi (thankfully), integrated GPS, and a 1.3 megapixel camera all viewable on a 2.8 inch touch screen display. Standard SD slot, mini USB, and storage space for an extra SIM are also on this device. Now our only question for you BenQ, why no EDGE?