Phonesnews.com

“The Sidekick 3’s swivel screen is held in place by a magnet. An incredibly strong magnet. In fact, it turns out, a magnet strong enough to wipe all your credit card or other magnetic strip card data in under a second.Don’t believe it? We have the pictures to prove it.It all started when one of us picked up our Sidekick 3 out of our bag, and found a pen clinging to the edge of it. We thought that a bit odd and wondered if the pen was magnetized. It wasn’t. Could it be the Sidekick?To test this, we held other metal objects up to the Sidekick, and sure enough, they stuck to it as if to… well… a magnet. We then replicated it with a second Sidekick.So we investigated further. Now, if you’ve ever given a thought to how the Sidekick is able to do that cool flippy thing with its screen, well, you may have assumed, or even found, the magnet. But I’ll bet that you never in a million years imagined that they would have used a magnet strong enough to do damage.” Read more about this crazy story here:

“Tired of trying to import the GSM variant through grey market means? Well, LG’s Chocolate phone is about to be offered through an American CDMA service provider: Verizon Wireless has just announced that they will be adding the VX-8500 to their lineup.The music-centric slider will most likely sport V CAST compatibility for loading up the tunes on the go. It almost seems fitting, given the black and red theme found on the chocolate and a similar scheme accompanying V CAST.As far as what features this phone will sport (and which Verizon will be crippling, as they are known to do), nothing has been set in stone just yet, so we’ll just have to wait until the teaser page offers us a little more.An earlier rumour hinted at an October launch, but more recent information seems to be pointing towards a release closer to August 7th launch. Stay tuned for more as it develops.” via mobilemag.com

“Taiwan’s High Tech Computer (HTC) will enter the Japan market for the first time later this month when it begins selling a Windows Mobile-based smart phone with NTT DoCoMo, the two companies said Wednesday.The “hTc Z” will be targeted at corporate clients. It will run the Japanese version of Windows Mobile 5.0 and be able to connect to Windows Server and Exchange Server 2003 SP2 email systems, allowing corporate email, calendar and other information to be pushed to the device, DoCoMo said.The device has a QWERTY keyboard and dual-mode WCDMA and GSM/GPRS network support. There’s a 2.8in color display with QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels), Bluetooth and 802.11b/g wireless LAN support.It will go on sale in late July at a price yet to be announced. HTC and NTT DoCoMo will formally unveil the product next week at the Wireless Japan 2006 trade show in Tokyo “via digitalworldtokyo.com.

“The Linux-powered Rokr E2 phone has FCC approval, and could be sold in U.S., pending carrier interest. As a tri-band (850/900/1900MHz) GSM/GPRS phone, the E2 would most likely be picked up by Cingular, which operates a 1900MHz GSM band in the U.S.Motorola lists the following key features and specs for the Rokr E2:
2-inch, 240 x 320 TFT (262k colors)
Fast data transfers based on “drag-and-drop” USB 2.0 PC networking
Dedicated side-mounted hardware music-player keys
Built-in FM radio
Support for Motorola’s new iRadio service
Support for Bluetooth- and 3.5mm jack-based headsets
1.3-megapixel camera with 15 fps video capture and playback
MMS (multimedia messaging service) client
Opera browser
Unique “airplane mode” claimed to allow safe listening onboard airplanes
PIM (personal information manager) with picture caller ID
“Screen3” technology for “zero-click access to news, sports, entertainment, and other premium content”
Find out more at linuxdevices.com

“RNS:: WiFiTalkie turns your Palm into a Walkie-Talkie. Using a broadband network connection (such as WiFi) it lets you communicate between 2 or more Palm devices. WiFiTalkie uses VoIP (Voice over IP) technology to broadcast audio data.Basic WiFiTalkie applications: as a corporate intercom as a home intercom to coordinate events or meetings to monitor buildings, facilities, and grounds to coordinate workers or crew to manage a warehouse, a store, or a production line to collect orders (e.g. in restaurants, pubs, bars) to communicate between two moving vehicles in various outdoor activities as a baby monitor as a children’s toy” Check it here:

“Skype has literally been a Godsend to people who make a load of long distance calls as it can save them a rather substantial amount of dough. But what about when you want to make that VoIP call while away from your home PC? Fret not, long-D lovers, because WebMessenger Mobile for Skype has officially been launched, allowing users to make and receive VoIP calls from a number of compatible mobile devices, including BlackBerry devices, Palm handhelds, WinMo Pocket PCs, and J2ME Java phones.Essentially, you can call anywhere in North America absolutely free of charge (well, after you factor in the data costs involved, but Skype and WebMessenger themselves charge you nothing), with overseas connections based on Skype’s low rates. The free version of the software allows for click-to-Call, text chat, and 20 contacts, whereas the $3.95 monthly version adds hundreds of contacts and 4-way conferencing.The catch — of course there had to be one — is that you have to leave the Skype software running on your desktop computer in order for WebMessenger Mobile to work. You see, you’re essentially connecting to your buddies via your PC and not forming a direct link.” via mobilemag.com

After three consecutive months on top of this list, Motorola RaZr V3/V3i/V3c has to leave its top position to our new number one, Sony Ericsson W810i. – We are not surprised that the black twin of the W800 is finally taking over this list, says Ulf Sandberg, Managing Director at Krusell International AB. – The upgraded version of the W800 is one of the most versatile phones on the market, a must have for both music lovers and shutterbugs.1. (4) Sony Ericsson W810i2. (1) Motorola RaZr V3/ V3i /V3c3. (2) Sony Ericsson K750i/D750i/W800i4. (3) Nokia 6230/6230i5. (6) Nokia N706. (5) Nokia 6280/62827. (-) PalmOne Treo 600/650/7008. (7) Qtek 9100/ I-mate K-Jam9. (-) Motorola V1150/Razr V3X10. (10) Qtek S200/I-mate Jamin( ) = last month’s position.The Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, Krusell, has released their “Top 10”-list for June 2006. The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smart phone cases that have been ordered from Krusell during June 2006. Krusell’s list is unique due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe.

“Pavion launched their newest portable navigation to the market, the KCN 9000 sports a 3.5-inch QVGA Samsung TFT touch screen LCD with resolutions of 320 x 240 pixels, brightness of 200 cd/m2, and a SD memory card slot. KCN 9000 uses the new GPS SiRF Star III module. The whole system is powered by ATLAS2 with 300Mhz processor, 32MB ROM, 64MB RAM running on Microsoft Windows CE.NET 4.2 (core version). On the surface, it has a built-in RS-232 port, USB port, Stereo output port and AV In port. The things that were included in the package are a cradle, SD memory card, cigar jack, USB cable and AC power adaptor. No words on the pricing yet.” via mobilewhack.com

“If you cruise around your home town quite often, you really shouldn’t get lost finding your way to any major attraction, but when you find yourself in foreign territory, it’s easy to take a wrong turn and end up in a not so nice neighbourhood. Prices for GPS handheld devices are getting cheaper and cheaper, and it seems to best compete in the market, you need a large-ish screen, in a small-ish form factor, with loads of extra functionality. The G4 GPS navigation device for d-Media System Company is the latest addition to this craze of electronic map-reading and way-finding. With a wide 4-inch display and a number of additional features, the G4 is quite the sight to behold. The e-compass and G sensor ensure that you are still heading in the right direction when you drive through tunnels or over bridges, and the built-in Bluetooth support is a definite bonus.Already know the route? Then shut off the GPS side of things and play some MPEG4 videos to entertain the kiddies on the long drive to grandma’s house. No word on pricing, but you can probably figure out the North American availability thing.” via mobilemag.com

“The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the TX-215A cellphone made by the South Korean company Pantech. This phone is packed in a clamshell form and supports CDMA 2000 1x networking in addition to ordinary AMPS / CDMA and PCS CDMA.The short specs:
Graphical menu
Internet surfing, downloading of pictures, melodies and so on
Main LCD: TFT, 262K colors
External LCD: CSTN, 65536 colors
Speaker phone and voice recognition
1.3-megapixel camera
SMS, MMS, E-Mail messages
Other functions: calendar, alarm clock, world time, notes, calculator, stopwatch” via mobile-review.com