Phonesnews.com

“Gigabyte today announced its next PDA mobile phone gSmart i128, powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2 Push Email technology, to the global market. gSmart i128 is identical to the gSmart-i released in Taiwan.Gigabyte unveils gSmart i128, featuring Multi-lingual internet browsing and Windows Mobile document viewing while traveling to 98 countries worldwide. Together with Alta Vista Babel Fish, gSmarti128 may assist business travelers via real time translation on-the-go. In addition, this flagship phone delivers entertainment values with a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera and an analog TV Roaming with retractable antennae.Now, Gigabyte gSmart i128 may assist business travelers to efficiently manage their time working from anywhere. In fact, gSmart i128 offers efficient and speedy mobile internet access via Wi-Fi or GPRS. Powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2.3 Push Email technology, gSmart i128 activates real time email, schedule, and tasks. At the same time, business travelers may stay productive using Mobile Office programs, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. In addition to its voice and mobile business applications, Gigabyte gSmart i128 delivers entertainment values with a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera and an analog TV Roaming. Powered by a 2.1 Mega Pixel camera, gSmart i128 may take photos of special occasions. Also, gSmart i128 provides real-time TV broadcasting on one’s favorite game or show. ” Specifications and more photos at slashphone.com

“NEW YORK, NY, July 19, 2006 – SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) today introduced the new SanDisk Extreme IV line of CompactFlash digital film cards for professional photographers. The line is targeted at photographers who require the highest possible performance and the largest capacities for their medium format and high-end digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras. The SanDisk Extreme IV cards are available in capacities of up to 8-gigabytes (GB)1 and deliver minimum read and write speeds of 40 megabytes per second (MB/sec.)2 making these the fastest flash memory cards in the world. This exceptionally fast card speed is critical when shooting large numbers of high-resolution images.SanDisk also introduced the new SanDisk Extreme FireWire reader that can transfer images from the SanDisk Extreme IV cards to a computer at up to 40MB/sec. for significantly improved workflow efficiency. These new products were announced at a press conference held today at the NASDAQ Market Site in New York City.The SanDisk Extreme IV cards are targeted at the professional photographer who needs the absolute highest performance and maximum reliability. The company will continue to offer the SanDisk Extreme III and SanDisk Ultra II lines.” Read more here:

“In a move that can be described no other way than to say that Yahoo is just trying to be ahead of Google in something, the big Y! just announced that they’ve struck a deal with Motorola to embed proprietary Yahoo-powered software on new mid- and high-end Moto phones, though we don’t know which models specifically are going to be involved just yet.The whole slate of services is called Yahoo Go for Mobile, which ties things like your address book, Yahoo search, and Yahoo e-mail into one package. Yahoo finalized a similar deal with Nokia earlier this year. Google has said that they are trying to find similar partnerships but have fallen behind Yahoo in this race.By the first half of 2007, Motorola will “pre-load and prominently feature Yahoo Go for Mobile on handsets it sells, worldwide.” Nokia phones with the software are already available, mainly in Europe and Asia.” via i4u.com

“Engineers of several companies did not believe into possibility of creating such phone from plastic, but once they saw Samsung X820 sample, they had great respect for the work done in R&D center of company. Samsung came a long way to create such plastic. In case someone is not considering this being worth attention, than this person is not understanding deepness of goals that manufacturer had to face. Plastic thickness is not the only way to make case thinner, we can also mention element placement on handset chip, their protection. Display is traditionally most unprotected place in the handset, that’s why we can see protective edging made of metal, improved by plastic covers and solutions of same kind. In case with this model, manufacturer decided to limit protection by installing protective glass made of hard plastic and strengthening frame.” Read this review here:

“Wayfinder’s interface remains as quirky as ever, despite the extra polish to the on-screen graphics and a few extra screen displays. The home screen, shown below-right, shows the way into the program. Just to simplify things, ‘Favourites’ is what it sounds, a list of favourite locations, while ‘Services’ is a link to a mobile-friendly web page offering currency conversion and weather reports, though curiously not of the current location – you have to type city and country in by hand. All of which leaves ‘Map’ and ‘Find’. The former is the basic Wayfinder digital map, of which more later, so ‘Find’ is the way in for almost every use.” Find out more here:

“Research and Motion (RIM) has been very up-front about its plans to add multimedia features to its BlackBerry line of cellular-wireless devices. What this company isn’t talking about, though, is the rumor that it is collaborating with Apple, Inc. to make this happen.In recent interviews, RIM’s Chairman James Balsillie has been promising that, in the near future, BlackBerries will be released that offer MP3 players and cameras with both image capture and video capabilities.According to rumor, at least one of these upcoming devices — nick-named the AppleBerry — will include support for Apple’s iTunes music download service. When asked about this, Balsillie declined to comment.iTunes Everywhere?The idea of Apple collaborating with another company to release a phone with iTunes support isn’t inconceivable for one simple reason: it has already done so. The Motorola ROKR has audio software that allows it to download songs from a PC running iTunes.There have also been unconfirmed reports that Apple intends to release a smartphone under its own brand name.” via brighthand.com

“Motorola today introduced the Motorola i670, a new multi-function mobile communications device that offers a wide range of productivity-enhancing solutions for business users at an affordable price.The new Motorola i670 is loaded with technology-rich features, including: Original Push-to-Talk (PTT) communication An integrated Assisted GPS navigation system that provides latitude and longitude coordinates to help users track fleets and obtain directions quickly and easily. JAVA Direct Talk off-network digital walkie talkie capability Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) offers users the ability to transfer messages comprising text, sounds, images and video to MMS capable handsets. Group Walkie-Talkie allowing the user to establish a private conference call, of up to 20 people, saving time and improving productivity.The Motorola i670 is available through all Sprint (NYSE:S) and Nextel distribution channels, including retail stores, at a price of $249.99, or $49.99 with a two-year service agreement, new activation and credit approval. Taxes, fees, early termination fee, phone setup fee and other charges apply” via slashphone.com

“SEOUL, Korea – July 19, 2006: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing an 8-Gigabit (Gb) NAND flash memory device, providing a much larger and more affordable storage density for consumer and mobile applications such as mobile phones, MP3 players and gaming consoles. The high-density MLC (multi-level-cell) memory is being produced with 60-nanometer (nm) process technology – the smallest used today. Samsung’s 8Gb NAND flash memory, developed in September 2004, is the fifth consecutive NAND flash memory to follow the New Memory Growth Model of double density growth every 12 months, a pattern conceived by Dr. Chang Gyu Hwang, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Business.Mass production of the new 8Gb chip allows Samsung to offer an 8-Gigabyte (GB) solution by vertically stacking two 4GB packages, each package carrying a vertical stack of four 8Gb dies. The 8GB NAND which can store 2000 MP3 files or 225 minutes of DVD-quality video is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2006.Samsung plans to further utilize its 8-Gb NAND flash memory chip in Samsung’s high-density MLC NAND, called moviNAND, to produce a 2GB-level NAND market solution. The recently introduced moviNAND combines NAND flash memory and a NAND controller and can be embedded in mobile handsets to accommodate the high data storage requirements that accompany the increasing number of multimedia features on mobile phones.The newest technology advancement brings 25 percent higher manufacturing productivity over the previous 70nm design technology. It follows the introduction of 80-nm production process technology for DDR2 DRAM a little more than a year ago (March 2005).About Samsung ElectronicsSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2005 parent company sales of US$56.7 billion and net income of US$7.5 billion. Employing approximately 128,000 people in over 120 offices in 57 countries, the company consists of five main business units: Digital Appliance Business, Digital Media Business, LCD Business, Semiconductor Business and Telecommunication Network Business. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones, and TFT-LCDs.”For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

FREMONT, Calif., July 18, 2006 – Lexar Media, Inc., a leader in advanced digital media and accessories, today announced that it has increased the performance of its popular Professional 8GB CompactFlash memory card to 133X. This performance improves the digital imaging workflow for both professional and advanced amateur photographers working with and managing large files. Lexar’s new card is capable of a minimum sustained data write speed of 20MB per second and is currently available in CompactFlash Type I flash memory card format, the most popular format for today’s digital SLR cameras. “Lexar has encouraged photographers to ‘keep shooting’ while consistently introducing products that improve digital imaging workflow once images are stored on their flash memory cards,” said John Omvik, director of professional product marketing, Lexar. “Those who shoot in RAW format require a vast amount of storage capacity, but also need reliable high-speed performance at all steps in the digital imaging process. Our new 133X 8GB cards directly address and satisfy both needs and, as a result, are ideal for photographers shooting in all situations,” he added. Read more at photosnews.com

“Spectec Computer is presenting its new SDIO(Secure Digital Input/Output) video-out card for PDAs. With a standard cable, it supports XGA(1024×768) display and it can be used with projectors as well as other mobile devices. Remote controller with 10 buttons and adapter is provided. It supports S-video and composite video interface. The model was presented during Taipei Telecom 2006 from June 14 to June 17 and the Taiwanese Company has already shipped hundreds of item to European market according to a report in Digitimes.” via aving.net