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Hannover, Germany is playing host to next week’s much anticipated CeBit 2006 show, and it is there that BenQ Mobile will be demonstrating some nifty DVB-H handsets that the company developed in tandem with Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS. With BenQ’s recent partnership with Siemens, the company gained access to previous models and prototypes developed by the latter, and this DVB-H gadget is no different. Siemens unveiled a prototype last year that did the DVB-H thing, but this time it seems the software will come from Fraunhofer IIS. Based on last year’s prototype, we should be expecting a VGA-resolution screen, dual stereo speakers, and an almost button-less design. Moreover, videos can be run either full screen, or in a window to allow for multi-tasking. Memory seems to be 128MB built-in, with room for expansion via MMC (though that will likely change).”BenQ Mobile invests in DVB-H enabling technology to prepare a commercial mass market in 2007,” comments Clemens Joos, BenQ Mobile CEO. “The integration of the personal video recording functionality will bring maximum experience to our customers and bridge the gap until the DVB-H coverage is completed.” via mobilemag.com

Trip Boss 2.0 greatly enhances the itinerary section. In addition, some enhancements were carried over into other sections, including improvements to speed, navigation, and layout, as well as the addition of customer-requested features. Please read on for complete details here:

If you are one of those diehard fans of pen-based PDAs, specifically from HP, you best be runnin out to buy a new one right away before they disappear. Chin-Teik See, a VP for Consumer Products and Mobile Devices at HP said recently at a show in Hong Kong that the company will be focusing more on converged devices because the sale of pen-based devices are low and falling fast. That means we will see more smartphones from HP with thumboards and fewer old-style stylus-sporting iPAQs. The market for pen-based devices is reportedly shrinking for the company by 30 percent each year. That isn’t to say that the company will desert the pen-based market entirely. There is still a small market, especially for entry-level buyers. The last device in this segment that they released was the rx1950 which was unveiled last September. It didn’t make much of a splash, though, since the cutting edge has moved so far beyond it. via mobilemag.com

Gameparks XGP console hasnt been heard of for a while but heres the latest screenshot and specs and a surprise mini version too, the XGP is aimed at the commercial market.XGP- 4″ TFT LCD- 1,5 million Polygons.- DDR 64MB- NAND 64MB- SD Card- DMB- wifiEstmated Price 300USD (168 POUND) XGP Mini – 2.2″ TFT LCD- DDR 32MB- NAND 64MB- SD cardEstimated Price 150USD (80 POUND)

Willcom announced the arrival of the silver W-ZERO3 on 8th March. The silver is a “refined tint, to be used by a wider user base including women” There’s a marketing gimmick for you. Still, the “refined tint” is looking good, no complaints here. Price and specs are the same at the black version: a pretty large unit at 70x130x26mm running on Windows Mobile 5.0. Full specs after the jump.Phone specifications:
Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC,
3.7-inch VGA touchscreen
416MHz Xscale processor
128MB of flash,
64MB of RAM
MiniSD slot
mini-USB, 802.11b, W-SIM,
1.33 megapixel camera
70 x 130 x 26mm
220g via uberphones.com

E-TEN Information Systems has announced that its tiny PDA-enabled phone released last year (E-TEN M600) will be shipped with preinstalled Skype 2.0 for Pocket PC. Besides with a special utility developed by E-TEN it will be possible to make VoIP calls not in loud communication mode, but as during an ordinary call, so nobody will hear youк talk. The owners of E-TEN M600 can download the program here. The company also confirmed it will release an updated software version for this device with Skype 2.0 already in it.The device features wide wireless communication opportunities – it supports quad-band GSM, GPRS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The company positions it as the world smallest PDA-enabled phone with integrated Wi-Fi. E-TEN M600 is powered by Samsung 400 MHz processor and Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system. It has 128 MB flash memory onboard, a 2.8” LCD, a 1.3-megapixel camera with flash and 4x zoom. via mobile-review.com

“Chrilith has created a new version of ScummVM for PalmOS that now finally runs directly on ARM processors (which are used by all PalmOS 5 devices) instead of running in 68k (PalmOS 4 and before) emulation mode with just a few ARM enhancements. The benefits are (among others): *Major speed increase *Now uses the standard ScummVM interface and launcher*Now uses the standard Adlib emulation (which sounds MUCH nicer) *Fast enough for full speech support *Can use compressed speech files (although this has been reported to cause stuttering on non-Zodiac devices). This brings down Sam n Max and Day of the Tenatacle down to about 60MB instead of 300MB for uncompressed speech *Rock-stable for compatible games (Not a single crash so far, except for the “incompatible” games listed below)Drawbacks*Not all ScummVM supported titles are yet compatible with ScummVM for PalmOS (Seems like the Smush video decompressor doesn’t work). Here are the ones I’ve tested so far:Compatible*Sam n Max *Day of the Tentacle *Maniac Mansion *Zak McKracken/TownsFM *Simon 1 *Simon 2 Incompatible *The Dig (crashes on startup) *Full Throttle (crashes on startup)You can download ScummVM for PalmOS at http://capers.free.fr/ScummVM/ The tools to compress the speech files are available at http://scummvm.org/” via pda247.com

Few countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan have reports on seeing the upcoming RW6800 pocket pc phone on a HP “Embark on a Magical Adventure” new product announcement event. Some of the confirmed specification includes a 2 megapixel camera, SDIO slot, GPS, bluetooth and built in WiFi. The SDIO slot can be useful to addon another attachment for extra functionality.The RW6800 pocket pc phone got a different colors of cover on it to protect the LCD screen. The cover should be detachable if you want. GPS, bluetooth and WiFi give you a complete choices of connection, not forgetting that the pocket pc phone also support EDGE/GPRS service.There will be 2 version of model, most likely RW6800 and RW6828. One of it will have a extra GPS module. The RW6800 / RW6828 also support Microsoft Direct Push Email technology, support Blackberry like service. HP RW6800 will be available in April. Click here for more:

W00t! Nokia’s full-QWERTY keyboard business phone, the Nokia E61 (also called Blackberry-killer), has just been granted approval from the almighty FCC paving its entry into the US market. Apart from the joystick for navigation (like the Nokia 6600), one of the things I like about the E61 is the quick-access e-mail button, which makes sense for a business phone.Sure, on my dusty old 3650, I have set up the right key for opening the default messaging application; but a dedicated button is much better if you ask me. Of course, the E61 also leverages the tons of Symbian S60 applications out there. You also get viewers and editors for the most common features of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.To top it all, it’s not only a quad-band GSM world phone but also supports WCDMA. While the device is heavy (144 grams with battery), its features are not to be missed. The display is a bright 320×240 pixel resolution LCD capable of 16 million colors.The Nokia E61 should be on its way to the US and other markets soon. No pricing or availability is available at this point, but stay tuned. More info from Nokia’s website. Check out the full specs here:

Microsoft today announced its participation as a founding member of the Mobile DTV Alliance, a new organization created to promote the growth and evolution of the open standard for broadcast digital TV on mobile devices, Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H). Microsoft will help promote DVB-H best practices for delivery of premium-quality broadcast media to mobile devices for the North American market.”Demand for over-the-air delivery of digital entertainment to mobile devices is driving the need for broadly supported mobile broadcast technologies like DVB-H,” said Pat Griffis, senior director of Windows Digital Media at Microsoft and Microsoft’s board member in the alliance. “By combining our respective industry expertise, Microsoft and fellow founding members of the Mobile DTV Alliance will help make DVB-H-powered mobile TV a reality for consumers.”DVB-H technologies enable consumers to receive live TV-like experiences directly on their mobile handset and other DVB-H-based devices. In addition, operators will benefit from increased revenue opportunities while preserving cellular network bandwidth for voice and other data services.By participating in the Mobile DTV Alliance, Microsoft will collaborate with industry leaders on best practices both with handsets and services, further advancing Windows Media-enabled solutions for DVB-H and helping deliver comprehensive video broadcast offerings for mobile operators. via slashphone.com