Phonesnews.com

PMPs are growing in popularity and exposure. The latest update comes from Hama, and it is the Mobile MediaSafe VSV2.An upgrade of the company’s VSV-20, the new PMP sports a 3.5-inch screen, a 30GB drive, and a battery that can last 10 hours. Support options include DivX, MPEG4, and Windows Media 10 DRM. Data transfer can take place via USB, CF, SD, MM MemoryCards, MemorySticks, or MicroDrives. And not as if you need it, but it also has a remote.The size of a deck of cards, the VSV2 has an FM tuner and can also double as a DVR if hooked up to a television.It will be formally unveiled at the CeBIT show in a few weeks and available commercially shortly thereafter. via mobilemag.com

“What’s amazing about the 9300i (and its close cousin the 9300) is the size of the device. A few years ago the size of a closed 9300i would have been a great size on its own for a new phone (the Nokia 6230 springs to mind in terms of size). And while it’s a little bit bigger than the norm, it’s now possible pull out a communicator in the pub without getting laughed at. One of the biggest benefits to this is that it’s comfortable to use as a phone, it fits nicely in the hand, and can stay welded to your ear with no problems.” Read this review at allaboutsymbian.com

The Nokia N91, the music focused phone with a hard disk, and the E70, the enterprise focused phone with a gulwing form factor, have been approved by the FCC. The documents available include internal pictures (where the N91’s hard disk is visible) and the user manuals. The N91 user manual reveals the N91 will innclude UPnP support and includes details on the Music Shop application which will allow users to download music over the air to their phones and the PC Music Sync (which uses Windows Media Player Highlights revealed from the manual about the music functionality of the phone include: Music Shop allowing purchase and download over the air from a client application. PC Sync of music files via Windows Media Player 11 (via USB Cable), including Janus DRM protected WMA files. View as a external hard disk and transfer files (via USB, Bluetooth or WiFi/WLAN). Creation and editing of equaliser presets. Creation and editing of playlists via the Music application on the phone. Edit details of music file (ID3 tags editing) via the Music application on the phone. Support for Album Art (including choosing your own image from the Phone’s Gallery application). Set as song as the ringtone of the phone.The Music Shop application is a generic ‘service type’ application and has settings that can be specified by the user (although these can be locked by an operator). This service/settings based architecture is similar to that used in SMS / MMS services. In most instances the user will use the default settings provided by an operator. However the Music Shop application is service agnostic, meaning it can be connected to any service which supports it. The music shop allows you to search for and download music to your N91 directly from the phone.Other new functionality of note includes: UPnP support which allows for the sharing of files (the extent of this functionality is not clear as it looks like a later addition to the manual [see indexes]). Universl Plug and Play will almost certainly facillitate the sharing of playlists and music talked about by Nokia at the phones launch. It should also allow you to play music from your N91 to your home WiFi provided it is UPnP compatiable (or has a UPnP adaptor). Flash Player allow playing of Flash Lite files which may include simple animation or videos or full fledged mobile applications (examples at the Flash Lite exchange). Support for SVG Graphics which are viewed in the Gallery application as Presentations. SVG Graphics are often used for maps and cartoons and maintain their appearance when viewed at different resoltuions.There also details on the usual S60 application including (deep breath) Messaging, Contacts, Calendar, Camera (max. image capture at 1600 x 1200, max. video capture at 352 x 288), Gallery, Services (not the newer KHTML based web browser), Real Player (video and audio), Recorder, Visual Radio, Notes, Log, Calculator, Converter, Voice Commands, Application Manager, IM (now supports saving of Chat transcripts), and Push To Talk.Of course the usual caveats apply – this is a draft manual and is subject to change, and your operator may remove some of the mentioned applications of functions.

Wall Street reporters are having a field day with a letter written by major Palm shareholder, Mark Nelson, calling for the sale of Palm to a larger company. That seems reasonable enough, but now everyone is speculating on potential buyers. A short list from Bloomberg includes Apple, Dell, RIM and HP.Research In Motion Ltd., Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. are among potential buyers, Nelson, who is the third-largest holder with about 7 percent of the company’s stock, wrote in a letter to the board disclosed today in a U.S. regulatory filing. “Palm will face significant threats to its business,” Nelson wrote. “Now is the time for the Palm board to act, while Palm still has category-leading products, marketplace momentum and a terrific balance sheet.” Competition from devices such as Motorola Inc.’s Q handset and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry may undercut Sunnyvale, California-based Palm’s efforts to increase profit, Nelson said. Palm’s new Treo phone, powered by Microsoft Corp. software, debuted to mixed reviews last month with complaints about the Windows operating system. From BloombergOf course the Apple name is very exciting and seems to mesh, since Palm is in an Apple-esque position in the handheld industry. But would Apple really want a company that offers products based on the Microsoft operating system? Also, Jobs has been vocal about his happiness that Apple left hte PDA business when they did. But at this point it’s more about the smartphones and Palm has built a very good brand with the Treo.Dell is another interesting name. With rumors circulating that the Axim handhelds are going away, maybe they’re looking to replace them with Palm’s units. The Dell rumors point to Michael Dell wanting to get out of all pen-based input though.HP could certainly afford Palm, and with their new management, the company appears to be more nimble and organized. HP has several Smartphone irons in the fire, so could they effectively absorb Palm? HP’s handhelds have not been very good of late though, so perhaps they’re ready to throw in the towel, bringing in experts in the field.RIM has so many legal problems at the moment, it’s hard to imagine they’d be able to divert resources toward buying Palm. Palm deices might make a nice compliment though to their BlackBerry offerings, since many corporations use Exchange rather than RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server. This is all speculation though, these four names might be real or the results of this writer’s imagination. If I had to place a bet, assuming a sale is consummated, I’d put my money on a larger handset manufacturer, though any of these four could be a reasonable fit in unique ways. via bargainpda.com

Forbes has an article on recent statements made by Caris & Company Equity Research analyst Susan Kalla about Palm. The analyst states that Palm’s stock has seen a sharp increase in recent weeks due to a takeover rumors on Wall Street, but believes the company will remain independent. The real news of the statement is that she believes the new Treo 700 with the Palm OS may be delivered in April, before expectations of May, and may also be released initially at Verizon.The forbes article also mentions that sales of the Treo 700w have been strong and is sold out in many Verizon stores. Kalla also thinks that Palm will also have three new international phones out of four total new phones in 2006, and at least one new model could be for Vodafone. The same analyst previously remarked that the Treo 700p would also have an EVDO radio and would be out before May, in an article last November. via palminfocenter.com

A big trend in mobile phones these days is to get them to be as slim as possible, and many will attribute this phenomenon to the Motorola RAZR thin clamshell. Even Motorola itself has taken the concept of the RAZR and made it into a candybar-like design (the recently available SLVR). The only other main design yet untapped is the slider, until now. Some company in China has created a RAZR clone that has a slider-type design and a large TFT LCD screen. This GSM copycat has an adequate 1.3 megapixel camera and 60MB of available memory at its disposal. Interestingly, this RAZR wannabe is even lighter than the real thing at a mere 90 grams (Okay, so that’s only 5 grams less than the original V3).If you’re interested in picking this up and shocking all your friends when you slide open your “RAZR”, you’ll have to head over to China to grab one at a price of around $215 USD. To keep with the four letter Motorola formula, let’s refer to this thing as the RAZR SLDR. via mobilemag.com

Last December Gigabyte released g-smart smartphone under its brand in Taiwan. Now there is some info the device will be released with the name i-teq BOND in the Near and Middle East. The release should take place on February 15. I’d remind you that the smartphone is powered by Windows Mobile 5.0. A peculiar feature about it is that it is equipped with a TV and FM-tuners. The i-teq BOND is likely to come out with the English OS version onboard.The specs of the i-teq BOND:
Standards – GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and GPRS class 10
2.4” TFT touchscreen, QVGA (240×320 pixels), 262K colors
2.1-megapixel camera
Intel PXA 272 416 MHz processor
64 MB RAM and 64 MB flash memory
Wi-Fi (802.11b), Bluetooth 1.2.1, IrDA and USB
Slot for miniSD cards
Li-Ion 840 mAh battery
Dimensions – 109×53.5×24 mm
Weight – 153 g via mobile-review.com

Spb Software House releases Spb AirIslands – a new Pocket PC game based on a unique concept. This game is a combination of a real-time strategy game where you have to build a colony on an isolated island, and a set of mini-games. The 3 included mini-games are used to earn resources you can use later to develop your island. This unique concept allows Spb AirIslands to combine all the benefits of a desktop strategy game with all necessary attributes of a funny Pocket PC game. It submerges you into a unique world of an isolated island with its own history, rules, success strategy and spectacular story line. And, at the same time, you can always play one of the three mini-games when you have 5-10 minutes of spare time (for example standing in a line), thus earning resources for the big game. Amazing qVGA and VGA graphics, fantastic sound, hundreds hours of gameplay, and a game community website make playing Spb AirIslands an experience you don’t want to miss. Check this great game here:

All you homebrew artists now have another toy to play with. Nokia has released Python for the S60 Platform software package to the community at large, in line with its continued commitment to mobile open-source software application development. The S60-platform, based on the Symbian OS, is a popular one among users, and now developers can fiddle with Python scripts and applications, easily loading them onto any S60-based device.Hop onto SourceForge.net, the world’s largest Open Source software development web site, to grab the source code for Python for the S60 Platform. Nokia hopes that by releasing the code, application developers can create new and innovative programs for S60 handsets, allowing users to maximize the functionality from one of the world’s most popular smartphone platforms.The creator of the Python programming language, Guido van Rossum, is glad that Nokia is providing Python to the public: “I was excited last year when Nokia announced its port of Python to its advanced phones. I’m even more excited now that Nokia is open-sourcing the port.” So are we, Guido. via mobilemag.com

Bear Stearns analysts Andrew Neff, Bill Hand and Ted Chung sent a note to clients regarding Palm’s launch with Sprint of the much-anticipated Treo 700w. Key excerpt: Sprint to offer PALM Treo 700w ahead of schedule, as early as end of February. Based on our channel checks, it appears that Sprint is likely to offer the latest PALM Treo 700w (Windows version) as early as end of February, which would be ahead of schedule (following its launch with Verizon on 1/5) — Sprint version of Treo 700 was not expected until end of March at the earliest based on the historical length of the exclusivity agreements with carriers (i.e., 3-6 months). Sprint is likely to price Treo 700w at $449, at parity with Verizon and a $50 premium to Treo 650. Sprint will offer both models. Stock impact: positive for PALM.