Nokia Announces 3 New Audio Enhanced Handsets

Nokia today announced the arrival of new Nokia Music Stores, more Comes With Music launches and three new music devices - the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, 5330 XpressMusic and Nokia 5030. By expanding the music range to different price points, introducing more markets with Comes With Music service and the Nokia Music Store as well as making the integration of these elements as easy as possible, on both on the mobile device and the PC, Nokia aims to change the way music is enjoyed.
"We've sold more than 425 million devices with a digital music player and more than 700 million devices with an FM radio, which clearly shows that the mobile phone is the natural device for listening to the music and carrying it with you," said Jo Harlow, Devices, Nokia. "Combining a connected digital music player like the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic with unlimited access to millions of tracks via Comes With Music means that in addition to their favorite tracks, music lovers can discover, experiment, and keep the new music they find."

Currently available in 15 markets across three continents, the Nokia Music Store lets people browse or purchase music, get recommendations or search for their favorite artists, songs or albums directly from their device. Mexico was the latest country to launch a Nokia Music Store with additional markets such as Portugal, Norway and South Africa joining the fold in the coming months.
Comes With Music gives people unlimited music downloads from the Nokia Music Store for a year or 18 months. People can choose from millions of tracks to download and keep them, even once the year is over. Currently available in the United Kingdom and Singapore, Comes With Music will launch in Australia later this month. Additional launches, including Italy and Sweden are planned for the coming several months. It still seems like a work in progress for India with no clear sign of an official launch just yet, however the Beta version is a available.

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Review: Samsung Omnia HD i8910

Samsung was looking to overtake Nokia's S60 enthusiasts when it launched the i8510 INNOV8, to compete against the N96. It has just reinforced the same strategy with the i8910 Omnia HD, the phone with the largest AMOLED display in the market, HD recording and playback, and 16GB of memory, which is expandable with a microSD memory card.

As said previously, the i8910 has the largest AMOLED screen in mobile phones industry. At 3.7" with qHD resolution (640x360 pixels), the screen is as clear as it gets, and PhoneReport was witness to that. The touchscreen display relies on capacitive technology, which provides better response to "finger operation". The colours of the screen were vivid, providing strong colours and deep contrasts.

The 8 megapixel camera is one of the first in S60 phones. We were not able to test the camera, as the software was at an early stage. The camera supports geo-tagging, business card recognition, face detection, and the Smile and Blink shot technologies, the latter two which make the camera only capture an image when the person is smiling, and not blinking.

The reason that the phone has the HD suffix in its model name is that it can record and playback videos in HD 720p. The recording resolution stands at 1280x720 pixels, at 24 frames per second.Video trimming, audio dubbing, live dubbing, subtitle inclusion, and image capture are the video editing features possible on the phone. One can certainly expect the Omnia HD to be a phone very concentrated on video features, even though Samsung points out that convergance is a very important factor in this device.

Having a 16:9 aspect ration in its screen means that watching a movie on the Omnia HD is similar to being seated in one's lounge watching a movie in a HDTV panel.

Common features required in high-end phones are also present. The i8910 features Bluetooth, Wi-Fi with DLNA certification, HSDPA at 7.2mbps, HSUPA at 5.6mbps, and USB 2.0. The DLNA feature allows the phone to stream a movie in HD resolution to an HDTV panel via Wi-Fi, which can be seen as a wireless TV-out connection. For those that do not possess a DLNA-enabled TV, a dongle with HDMI connection is available for purchase.

The front of the phone is kept relatively simple, the secondary camera, mainly used for video calls, is at the left top corner, and three keys  are located below the 3.7" display. The keys rest on a silver piece of metal which contrasts against the black colour of the phone.

Plantronics Voyager 855 Stereo BT Headset

It’s been a while since a Plantronics Bluetooth headset made its way to our test tables. Plantronics Voyager 855, their Stereo Bluetooth headset that won Bluetooth SIG’s (Special Interest Group) Best of CES last year, is what I tested recently and here’s my opinion on whether or not it’s worth its hefty price tag of Rs. 6, 799.
Form Factor
The 855 is very unlike most A2DP headsets that I’ve tested so far at least when it comes to its design. It can be used as just a singular, regular Bluetooth handsfree by simply replacing the over-the-ear earpiece connector with a regular loop. The loop connector connect to the secondary earpiece via a thin cable that’s encased in a fine cord for protection and durability thereby providing a stereo effect.

On the main earpiece is a micro USB port for charging (can be charged via PC as well). A small Mute button, volume keys and of course, the main Answer key that doubles up as the power/pairing button are present. The earpiece itself is sleek and slim with a smooth slide out feature that extends the mic and can also be used to answer and end calls.
I’m not at all a fan of the in-ear earphones. They make me disoriented and frankly, as Gagan put it and I agreed, are like a ‘violation’ of my ears, if you get my meaning. The design is however very innovative and will be perfect for those users who don’t mind the vacuum and are used to the in-ear styling. 

Performance
The Voyager is extremely easy to pair with Plantronics QuickPair technology. Then again I haven’t found a headset that was a problem when it came to pairing with any supported device. Once it’s paired with a mobile handset or a player that supports a Stereo Bluetooth profile you’re ready to get started.
Calls
Like I said, I’m not personally a fan of the in-ear design but I had a few friends who wore it to give me some feedback. The consensus was that the loop was a minor issue with most of them who had smaller ears as compared to those with average or larger ears. You can’t win ‘em all. On an average the headset was fairly comfortable to use and since it weighs in at just 15 grams, it’s not a weight you can’t bear even for long durations.

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Windows Mobile 7 Announced for 2010

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has recently confirmed that Windows Mobile7 will be available sometime next year. Although no specific data has been set yet, it’s still quite an exciting OS to look forward to. Of course there’s still the version 6.5 to contend with this year with stiff competition coming in from Palm’s Pre, TouchFlow, RIM and even LG’s new S-Class 3D UI.

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Nevertheless, Windows Mobile has been around for a long enough time for users to appreciate the various upgrades it’s been through and with the ‘Touch’ generation taking over, I personally can’t wait to see what the 6.5 edition will be capable of doing and how it’ll handle. According to a few reports , WinMo 7 will have a tighter integration with Windows 7 for PCs that should be out come September of this year. The UI itself will obviously be optimized for finger touch and hopefully do away with the stylus altogether is what I’m hoping.

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It’s something to look forward to for now. To know more of what Ballmer had to say on the subject click here.

Nimbuzz to be Available on Toshiba TG01 Handset

Nimbuzz has recently announced a collaboration with electronics giant Toshiba to develop optimized versions of their Nimbuzz Social Messaging application for its mobile communications division. It was only a month ago that Toshiba showcased their new mobile handset to the world. This agreement will bring instant messaging and social networking capabilities to Toshiba’s new high quality, high performance TG01 Handset. The two companies are working together to provide a device rich with communication features that enhance the usability of the Toshiba device.
Bertand Issard, Head of Product Planning & Strategy of Toshiba Mobile Communications Division in Europe added, “All our application partners are best of breed and are chosen for their mass market appeal and we are pleased to announce Nimbuzz as our social messaging partner. Nimbuzz will complete the PC like Internet experience of TG01 from flash site browsing to social networking,”

Nimbuzz CEO Evert-Jaap Lugt commented, "Device enrichment and differentiation is central to the overall desirability of mobile phones today and Nimbuzz is excited to collaborate with Toshiba to provide a truly world class value experience for Toshiba customers globally."
For more information on the Toshiba TG01 device click here.

LG Launches Versa With Detachable QWERTY Keypad

Although this has no particular relevance to us, just yet, Verizon Wireless and LG have announced that the LG Versa will be available with the US provider from March. The LG Versa sports an elegant bar design with a chrome border, an animated 3-inch touch screen interface with tactile feedback and an attachable QWERTY keypad.




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Customers can personalize their LG Versa phones based on their messaging needs on any given day. They can choose to either attach the QWERTY keypad to their phones or simply leave it at home. The built-in accelerometer rotates screens automatically from portrait to landscape, and customers can use rotation movements to steer games. The HTML Web browser includes Flash and RSS feed support, and customers can keep up to three windows open and switch from one window to the other to view pages.
The LG Versa supports productivity tools – such as Visual Voice Mail. In addition, the LG Versa is compatible with Mobile Broadband Connect to allow customers to use their phones as a modem by linking their laptops to their phones to establish a broadband connection anywhere within their providers Mobile Broadband rate and coverage area. Other features also include GPS, EDGE/GPRS support, Bluetooth, 2MP AF camera with flash and microSD card support for external memor

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SE Unveils 4 New Panels For The Xperia X1

Sony Ericsson has recently unveiled four new panels for its Xperia X1 mobile phone. Available for download from mid-March 2009, the latest panels should help enhance the unique user interface of the X1 that enables users to customize the handset.

• A new CNN panel will allow users to constantly get updates of the latest news, sports, or weather and a host of CNN content including access to CNN’s  popular citizen journalism tool, ‘i-Report’. Users will also be able to browse information by category, personalize their experience or plug in their location and get instant updates for wherever they are in the world.  
• A unique Skype panel brings quick access to Skype on the X1, allowing users to get instant information on friends online. Users can easily browse through their contacts and call or IM them in just a couple of clicks, or customize their handsets using the evening, daylight or event based effects.
• A new Mytopia panel will let users play bingo and poker games with people around the world. Users can even collect virtual coins and improve their rank by winning live matches.  
• The specially developed ‘On the Road’ panel includes large touch icons and a simple layout. Offering direct access to your music playlists and tracks, navigation tools and easy to use call-handling, this panel will make a users driving convenient and entertaining while on the go.

According to Sony Ericsson, since its launch in Q4 2008, close to 420,000 panels have been downloaded onto X1 devices around the world with half a million unique hits for X1 panels on the Sony Ericsson Fun & Downloads service.

Catherine Cherry, Global Marketing Business Manager, Sony Ericsson commented, “We are very pleased with the success of the Xperia X1 and will continue to evolve the device to meet the consumer demand for a rich, individualized multimedia experience on their phones. By partnering with some of the world’s most popular content providers and applications we are giving consumers the opportunity to customize the device bringing the applications that they use most directly onto the desktop. Users can personalize the device to suite their mood and lifestyle making the mobile experience even more enjoyable and entertaining.”

As you may already know, the X1 comes pre-loaded with a range of panels including a Google search panel. Facebook and Windows Live panels are already available on www.sonyericsson.com/fun for download onto the Xperia X1.

Via Tech2

Sagem Aims to Beat Rivals With Speed

Sagem Wireless, the successor company to French phone maker Sagem, is reinventing itself as a white-label company with a strong research and development team it hopes will help it beat rivals to market with new ideas.
The company, now majority-owned by technology venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners, will make phones that customers such as Vodafone, Sony Ericsson or Porsche Design will market under their own brands.
Sagem, a survivor among once-thriving European phone companies that included units of Siemens, Alcatel and Philips, says it has phones in the pipeline including one that can last a month on standby without being charged. Under Chief Executive Thierry Buffenoir, Sagem Wireless has slimmed down to 470 people from 3,000 but still has a contract with the company that took over its R&D team, and will choose a outsourcing manufacturing partner later this year. Buffenoir told Reuters that Sagem's continuing access to R&D expertise will allow it to bring innovative products to market faster than bigger rivals, thanks to its ability to modify the software around the chipsets at the heart of its phones.
"Frankly speaking, Sagem cannot compete on the left with tier one - we're too small, not a huge brand - and cannot compete on the right with ultra-low cost companies." "We have to concentrate on niche markets where the big, tier-one companies are not there," he said. He said Sagem would aim to use its small size and nimbleness to bring innovative phones to market faster than bigger rivals, as quickly as six months, and to get out and chase the next idea when those bigger rivals followed. "The idea of Sagem is... to be present during the first six months, the first year with this kind of technology... and to leave the market to switch to another when the big companies decide to come to this technology." Sagem's other plans include making mobile phones with integrated solar cells, which it wants to produce by the end of the year, and making phones that use fingerprint recognition instead of a password to unlock.

Nokia 8 Megapixel camera phone N86

It’s now as official as it can possibly get. Nokia’s very first 8 Megapixel camera phone, the N86, is a reality. Although it already seemed like that earlier today, we were just hoping that a release and some higher resolution images would hit the Nokia site soon so we could be 110 percent sure. Thankfully that was a short wait.

"People demand mobile cameras that take excellent pictures in all light conditions," says Juha-Pekka Sipponen, Director, Nokia Nseries. "That's why the aperture of the Nokia N86 8MP is comparable to that of a high-quality, stand-alone digital camera. Whether it's running with the bulls in Pamplona or capturing the panoramic beauty of a sunrise over Sydney, the Nokia N86 8MP will take brilliantly clear, wide-angle images that are instantly geotagged to be uploaded onto sites like Ovi Share or Flickr."
The Nokia N86 8MP camera includes a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter latencies and variable aperture for super sharp photos in challenging bright and low light conditions. A fast mechanical shutter will help ensure pictures with less motion blur. What could be construed as a disappointment would be the presence of  a dual LED camera flash instead of a Xenon.

"When it comes to taking the best digital photos, it's the quality of the lens and the sensor that count, not just the quantity of pixels. The Nokia N86 8MP is the first mobile device with variable aperture, adding to the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for excellent results. It has never been easier to capture special moments in such a great quality," says Helmut Heier of Carl Zeiss.

The handset features -

• 2.6 inch OLED, scratch resistant hardened glass display with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• Dual Slider
• 8GB of internal memory (microSD card support)
• HSDPA, Wi-Fi, EDGE
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0 (micro)
• GPS with A-GPS support (Nokia Maps)
• FM radio with RDS and FM transmitter feature
• 3.5mm AV socket
• Rear kickstand

With full Ovi integration, users can share their location with personal content like geotagged photos. The Nokia N86 8MP comes with a built-in compass, along with an integrated 3-month license for full voice and pedestrian navigation.

The Nokia N86 8MP is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009 at an estimated retail price of Rs. 23, 331 (EUR 375), before taxes and subsidies.

VIA Tech 2

Sony Ericsson unveils world's first 12MP phone

Sony Ericsson jumped the gun on its competition at Mobile World Congress this year by announcing the world's first 12MP cameraphone, as well as a new Entertainment Unlimited service.

The Idou, which is currently only a concept but will launch in the second half of 2009 features a 12.1MP sensor, a large 3.5-inch touchscreen with 'intuitive touch features' according to Sony Ericsson and a 16:9 widescreen screen ratio.

The Idou will also launch a new interface for Sony Ericsson, based on the work from the Symbian Foundation, so all those who have loved SE's interface for all these years will possibly weep (though the rest of us will cheer).

United we stand

Sony Ericsson also unveiled Entertainment Unlimited, which it said will be "Uniting best in class entertainment experiences into one offering such as the Walkman music experience, the Cyber-shot imaging experience, Java gaming and messaging integrated with services and applications."

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Leaked Images of New Samsung Slider Surface

Leaked images of a new Samsung handset have been making the rounds. The handset being called the S3500 is a slider with a look that one could describe as a ‘toned down version of the U900 Soul’.

According to these same reports the handset will feature -

1. QVGA display
2. EDGE connectivity
3. Bluetooth (possible with A2DP which is now quite average in most handsets)
4. 35MB internal memory and microSD card support for external
5. An integrated Stereo FM radio
6. 2 megapixel camera

There is no word on pricing or availability, but it’s quite possible the handset would be showcased at MWC (Mobile World Congress) this year.

Samsung W7900 Comes With Integrated Projector

Samsung is once again in the news. This time they’ve showcased a mobile phone with a built-in projector. The W7900 also being called ‘The Show’ (aptly named) features integrated mobile phone projector technology (pico-projector) in what seems to be a rather slick and stylish body.

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Other than the projector, which is of course the primary feature the handset is also equipped with –

• a 3.2-inch, 240 x 400 pixels, OLED touch screen display,
• 5 megapixel camera, secondary VGA video-call camera
• 3G data connectivity, EDGE/GPRS
• TV tuner
• Bluetooth with A2DP

The W7900 is capable of throwing images up to 50 inches on to any flat clear surface and warms up to 10 lumens worth of bright-power according to the reports. The projector was developed by Texas Instruments.

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There’s no pricing on this baby nor information on availability, but again it’s quite likely to be seen at MWC (Mobile World Congress

Review: The Nokia E71 is a Tough Device to Beat

,moIt has been over 2 months since I wrote up my first impressions of the Nokia E71. At that time I was getting flooded with review and purchased devices such as the Palm Treo Pro, Samsung OMNIA, Touch Diamond, Treo 800w, MWg Zinc II, iPhone 3G and loads of applications with iPhone 2.0, Touch Diamond updates, and the iPAQ 910. Most of those devices are gone now, but the one that keeps earning the honor of carrying my AT&T SIM card is the Nokia E71. The fantastic hardware, valuable notifications on the standby screen, outstanding 3rd party application support, and form factor keep it in my pocket most of the time.

The device I took you on a tour around before was a European version and since that time I picked up the North American version that supports 3G on AT&T’s network. The hardware is the exact same as I detailed before, with the exception of the internal radio now supporting the U.S. bands so I won’t go over the hardware again. I will say what I keep on saying to everyone that I talk to about the device, the hardware ROCKS!

Looks and feel: The E71 is targeted to the enterprise user and as soon as you pull the device out of the box you realize this is one classy and professional device with the sleek stainless steel and dense body. The front facing QWERTY keyboard challenges the BlackBerry and the business user who have Exchange should be pleased with the device. The E71 is one of the first Eseries devices that no longer supports the BlackBerry Connect functionality, which some people may understandably miss. I use an Exchange service and have been using RoadSync because it provides an advanced Exchange experience compared to the free Nokia Mail For Exchange utility (for example, better folder support).

I did notice there is more light present between the display and keyboard than there was on the European version and haven’t seen folks mention this on the forums so I think this is just a slight device flaw that is not present across the line.

Keyboard: The keyboard is surprisingly very good and I actually like it better than my BlackBerry Curve for the most part because the keys feel more solid and smooth (the Curve buttons are hard and a bit loose) and I rarely enter text I didn’t intend to enter. I love that there is a button for the @ character, comma, period, and question mark that do not require any press of a FN button like they do on my Curve. Unfortunately, Nokia hasn’t fully embraced the keyboard into the device since there are very few shortcuts that you can perform on your device and most shortcuts are application specific. For example, did you see the TON of fantastic shortcuts I listed in my Nokia Email service post I would like to see Nokia integrate these types of shortcuts throughout the system and applications. (Source full Story)

HTC Touch HD

HTC’s Touch HD has taken mobile display to the next level. For the vidiots like me a display this large sporting the kind of resolution it does is a godsend. I have to admit I was anxiously awaiting its arrival to the Indian market place and was proactively trying to get a handset to test even before it got here. Though that didn’t work out and disappointment was an understatement, I got it! The big question I was asking when I un-boxed it was - does it manage to deliver on all fronts and actually make the high price tag of Rs. 43, 000 seem like money worth spending? That’s what I’m here to help you decide.
Form Factor
The only word that comes to mind is ‘Sexy’. The slim black design that houses this ‘powerhouse’ of features is all snugly fit into a 115 x 62.8 x 12 mm dimension casing. The large 3.8-inch TFT LCD touchscreen display sports a 480 x 800 pixel, 65K color resolution which is the highest to be found on a mobile handset on the market. This is also the first truly totally touchscreen mobile there is with touch sensitive controls for answering and ending calls and also returning to the Home page.

It’s a very simple and yet stylish design. The only external controls that are actual physical buttons are the volume controls on the side and the power/screen off button on the top. The HD also has a standard 3.5mm earphone socket on the top. The bundled handsfree is all you’ll need though, but it’s good to have the open option. The 5MP camera is located at the rear of course with a secondary camera placed above the display. The two disappointments in design are – No flash for the camera and the rear panel HAS to be opened for a memory card to be accessed. An odd shaped USB 2.0 port is located at the bottom, but it still manages to easily accommodate a standard miniUSB connector.

The drawback of having a screen this large is of course the space it takes up in your pocket as the handset, slim as it is, is still a bit big and weighty at 146g. But that’s expected of course, so we’ll just have to live with it. Like some of the other HTC handsets the HD tends to get unusually hot after charging and while on long calls. The HD also tends to get a little warm when applications that you may be unaware of are running in the background. It was on more than one occasion that I was quite worried why my thigh was freakishly warm on a cold night.
Features and Performance
While I was mesmerized by the large display, let me just begin by saying that what comes after this note is quite depressing, but I’d just like to add that I’m willing to concede that some of the issues could be singularly with this particular test handset I received, then again, like I always say, why would they give a reviewer a handset that’s not running at it’s optimum capacity? Forward at your own risk.
Interface
If you’ve used or seen the HTC Touch Diamond with its TouchFlo 3D interface, the HD has nothing different to offer except a better laid out view considering the display. I do like the TouchFLO interface as it gives quick and easy access to all relevant functions and features with simple finger control. It can also be customized to user requirements which is perfect. The down side is that the sensitivity couldn’t be adjusted and that could sometimes be a bit of an issue. Other than that the regular Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and UI remain very standard.

What really ticked me off was the fact that the accelerometer is absolutely useless for screen rotation when it comes to any of the screens expect the browsers. I had to install a third party application to rotate the display. The QWERTY keyboard could not be used in landscape mode when trying to send messages or emails. While the handset offers multiple options for data entry including a regular WinMob QWERTY keyboard, Transcriber, Block and Letter recognizer, alphanumeric and half QWERTY, the large screen is not always very effective. Except for the Half QWERTY and alphanumeric keypad the others will take some getting used to more so than these.

Samsung P3

A while back Samsung had launched their YP-P2 PMP with its touch screen capabilities and Bluetooth functionality. While it wasn’t much of a comparison to the iPod Touch, the additional features both players employed like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth was what made me a personal fan. Not particularly of either device, but of devices in general that offer something a little more than just video and music playback. Samsung’s latest, the P3 is also equipped with Bluetooth and tries to offer a more iTouch-like interface. Here’s how it fares as a standalone device though.
Form Factor
It’s an eye-catcher, no doubt. Its sleek and slender lines with a metallic finish also gives it a little bit of a classy feel. It’s light weight, so portability is one of the few things you won’t have to worry about. The 3-inch TFT touchscreen display has a 480 x 272 pixel resolution and also supports very intuitive haptics. A touch sensitive quick access bar to the currently playing music and skip keys is located just under the display.

A hold/power key along with volume control keys and a tiny speaker are located on the top of the device. Samsung’s proprietary connectivity port is located at the bottom near the 3.5mm earphone socket.

While I do like the overall design, the speaker is negligible. Some of the cheaper mobile handsets provide louder and better quality sound.
Features and Performance
Interface
The P3 comes loaded with features. First off is the display characteristic and touchscreen functionality. Like the P2 before it, Samsung hasn’t managed to fix the sometimes awkward touchscreen. It tends to be a little too responsive at times and sometimes annoyingly non-responsive. I do like the interface though. It's vibrant and colorful, depending on the theme you choose and can be spread across more than one screen, just like in the iTouch.

Trying to keep pace with Samsung’s Omnia and F480 mobile handsets, the P3 also has a Widgets section that can be accessed by simply pressing the screen at any place. The widgets themselves are very animated and serve a variety of purposes. Some are useful, like the dimmer for the display, clock, notes, access to the photo album and calendar. Some don’t seem to serve any purpose at all like the flower or the butterfly and some other odd animated characters. Other than some inane provision for entertainment in those moments of sheer boredom, they don’t do much else. You can also adjust the layout by moving the icons around just like you would in the... wait for it... iTouch.

Going Mobile: A Whole New World of Web

The mobile Internet is fast becoming mainstream. One reason is clearly the growing prevalence of high-end handsets that are less telephones than they are entertainment centers, fashion statements, and content-consumption vehicles. And every bit as important as the devices are the all-you-can-eat data plans that come with them. These two factors alone explain much of the growth in mobile content consumption; but let's not forget the other key dimension, which is the content itself.

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Nokia, Securitas to Bring Security to Mobile Devices

Nokia and Securitas have announced a new cooperation regarding mobile services for personal security and every day safety.
By combining the main competencies of companies within security and mobility, Securitas and Nokia plan to cooperate by introducing attractive and affordable security services in Nokia mobile devices. GPS enabled mobile devices are soon to be as common as the camera making this a mass market service.
The service Securitas Safe-2-Go makes it possible to, for example, get help in an exposed situation, but also gives increased security through information regarding the location of friends and family.  
Securitas Safe-2-Go initially contains four services.
- Assist where you can - With the touch of a button, get connected to Securitas alarm central which has information about who is connecting, where this person is located and which people related to the person need to be contacted
- Find - where you can get the current position on where friends are located.
- Zone - where you receive an SMS if someone leaves or comes into a predefined area, like a school or a home.
- Friends - which gives an overview of where all friends are located.
Securitas Safe-2-Go will be launched commercially during the first half of 2009 in Sweden and be launched in other European countries later during 2009.
Securitas will now be offering services, which will work in all GPS enabled phones based on the S60 platform. This way it will possible to reach a large customer base of mobile users who can increase the personal security and create safety in everyday life in an easy and affordable way.

HTC Revamps Touch Cruise

HTC has announced its latest personal navigation handset with inbuilt GPS - The new HTC Touch Cruise. The handset is an update to 2008’s HTC GPS device of the same name. This one however, boasts a new, more compact design and a host of new capabilities.

The new HTC Touch Cruise is the first mobile phone to offer HTC Footprints, an application experience that enables people to permanently chronicle their special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Once captured, Footprints provides the ability to take notes and an audio clip of a favorite restaurant or special place while identifying its specific geographical location. In addition to identifying each postcard with its specific GPS co-ordinates, Footprints also auto-names each postcard with its general location or area. Geo-Tagging in a whole new way!
Flipping back through their photos, HTC Touch Cruise users will be able to retrace their steps to that exact location in just a few touches. Unlike other devices with geo-tagging functionality, HTC Footprints works effectively outdoors and indoors, offering a more accurate record of location for future reference and navigation.

"Just as we have seen GPS technology transform how people navigate to new places, we are now seeing location-based applications like HTC Footprints changing how we interact and carry our memories," said Peter Chou, President and CEO, HTC Corporation. The HTC Touch Cruise is also an advanced in-car navigation system. When placed into its accompanying car cradle, the HTC Touch Cruise automatically transforms its user interface into an easy-to-use, one-touch interface that provides seamless turn-by-turn directions.
The handset's features include -

• Connectivity: WCDMA/HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps
• Operating system: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Qualcomm Chipset MSM7225, 528 MHz
• 512 MB flash ROM, 256 MB RAM microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
• 4-Way navigation wheel with Enter
• 3.2 megapixel camera with fixed focus
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Wi-Fi
• Mini-USB 2.0

The new HTC Touch Cruise will be available to customers across all major global markets in spring 2009. There’s no pricing mentioned yet.

Leaked Images of Nokia's E75 Surface

In September of 2008 we had informed you of two possible E-Series handsets the E75 and E72. The images that were out back then were not too great and the video soon disappeared as well. The latest scoop is in the form of leaked images of the handset.

The source of the images – Dailymobile.se somehow managed to get a hold of the device and has showered us with plenty of good angles. Take a look –

The handset features -

• 2.8-inch QVGA TFT LCD
• Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (FP2) OS
• Slide out QWERTY Keypad (not very unlike the E90’s)
• 3G, Wi-Fi, EDGE/GPRS, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• USB 2.0
• MicroSD card support

There’s no official word on when the handset will be out and no price tag either.

Nokia E71 Review

It has been over 2 months since I wrote up my first impressions of the Nokia E71. At that time I was getting flooded with review and purchased devices such as the Palm Treo Pro, Samsung OMNIA, Touch Diamond, Treo 800w, MWg Zinc II, iPhone 3G and loads of applications with iPhone 2.0, Touch Diamond updates, and the iPAQ 910. Most of those devices are gone now, but the one that keeps earning the honor of carrying my AT&T SIM card is the Nokia E71. The fantastic hardware, valuable notifications on the standby screen, outstanding 3rd party application support, and form factor keep it in my pocket most of the time.

The device I took you on a tour around before was a European version and since that time I picked up the North American version that supports 3G on AT&T’s network. The hardware is the exact same as I detailed before, with the exception of the internal radio now supporting the U.S. bands so I won’t go over the hardware again. I will say what I keep on saying to everyone that I talk to about the device, the hardware ROCKS!

Looks and feel: The E71 is targeted to the enterprise user and as soon as you pull the device out of the box you realize this is one classy and professional device with the sleek stainless steel and dense body. The front facing QWERTY keyboard challenges the BlackBerry and the business user who have Exchange should be pleased with the device. The E71 is one of the first Eseries devices that no longer supports the BlackBerry Connect functionality, which some people may understandably miss. I use an Exchange service and have been using RoadSync because it provides an advanced Exchange experience compared to the free Nokia Mail For Exchange utility (for example, better folder support).

I did notice there is more light present between the display and keyboard than there was on the European version and haven’t seen folks mention this on the forums so I think this is just a slight device flaw that is not present across the line.

Keyboard: The keyboard is surprisingly very good and I actually like it better than my BlackBerry Curve for the most part because the keys feel more solid and smooth (the Curve buttons are hard and a bit loose) and I rarely enter text I didn’t intend to enter. I love that there is a button for the @ character, comma, period, and question mark that do not require any press of a FN button like they do on my Curve. Unfortunately, Nokia hasn’t fully embraced the keyboard into the device since there are very few shortcuts that you can perform on your device and most shortcuts are application specific. For example, did you see the TON of fantastic shortcuts I listed in my Nokia Email service post I would like to see Nokia integrate these types of shortcuts throughout the system and applications. (full Story)