News

Today Nokia unveiled its latest candybar smartphone, the N79. The handset features a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and an LED flash, with a 4GB microSD card included in the box for storing plenty of photos, an FM receiver and transmitter, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and a built-in GPS receiver.

It also comes with the innovative smart Xpress-On covers, which are user-changeable colored housings. When you install a new Xpress-On cover, the theme of the phone's user interface also changes to match the cover. The phone's d-pad is also a touch-sensitive NaviWheel, allowing you to quickly scroll through long lists using your thumb.

The Nokia N79 supports quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) and dual-band UMTS (900/2100MHz) partnered with WiFi for lightning-fast local data transfers.

Motorola has announced its new Push to Talk (PTT) technology for EV-DO Rev. A networks. Like the original technology seen on Nextel, Motorola claims its new system will provide instant, direct connections between users. Motorola spearheaded the consumer PTT movement with its popular iDEN network technology, and hopes to improve on that with this recent announcement.

Motorola's new PTT system allows for faster connection speeds, lower latency, and improved quality of service. The new system also supports PC-based connections, which could allow for companies to more effectively manage their field representatives.

Sony Ericsson is excited to unveil an exclusive partnership between the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures release of EON Productions' 22nd James Bond adventure, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, and the C902 Titanium silver edition. The phone, as used by James Bond - played by actor Daniel Craig in the new film - will be available for a limited period and include a memory card loaded with a host of 007 content.

The phone comes with an exclusive pre-loaded spy-style game, the full colour trailer of the film, behind-the-scenes interviews with the stars and exclusive content such as wallpapers and screen savers.

The C902 Cyber-shot^TM phone is used throughout the film by James Bond to capture evidence and assist the agent on his mission. The movie will hit theaters in November 2008.

The C902 Cyber-shot James Bond Edition will be available in titanium silver this July.

LG Voyager owners will be the first to take advantage of Verizon's free Visual Voicemail service. The software is integrated into a new "refresh" of the LG Voyager VX10000 phone.

Visual Voicemail was previously announced by Verizon as a free offering that would be integrated into popular phones. Both Visual Voicemail and the LG Voyager itself are answers to Apple's iPhone, as is the free price-point of Verizon's visual voicemail service.

New Voyager units will come with the update pre-installed. Existing Voyager owners can get the update by taking their phone to a Verizon Wireless store. As usual, we suggest that you call your local store first, to confirm update availability, before taking the phone to the store.

The Samsung Instinct has received a firmware update that includes a number of small tweaks as well as updates made to its base code. Users should notice increased audio volume when using Bluetooth, less fluctuation in the phone's signal and battery indicators, and the ability to set a saved image as the background wallpaper.

Samsung Instinct owners can manually update their cell phones over the air by going to Menu, Settings, General, and choosing Update Phone. Sprint will be pushing out a text message to all Instinct owners over the next few weeks that will also alert them of the update.

This firmware update also makes changes to the base code of the Instinct, in preparation for a much more significant upgrade that is planned for later this year.

AT&T begins selling iPhone 3G today in its retail stores at 8 a.m. local time across the United States, along with a variety of attractive monthly plans that combine voice and unlimited data use. iPhone 3G uses the nation's fastest 3G wireless network, which reaches 300 major metropolitan areas.

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

• iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
  
• Customers activating a new line with AT&T
  
• Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount

Current customers who are not eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. Current customers may also choose to wait until they become eligible for an upgrade discount. Eligibility is generally determined by amount of time remaining on a current contract and payment history.

The FCC approved a new version of the HTC Touch Pro ("Raphael"). The CDMA version seems to sport the same features as the GSM version, meaning a 2.8" VGA resolution touchscreen display, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera for taking photos, though it will probably lack the GSM/UMTS version's front facing VGA camera that is used for video calling.

The HTC Touch Pro is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and uses HTC's TouchFLO 3D user interface.

Just a few days after hitting store shelves, Samsung Instinct has become the fastest-selling EVDO handset in Sprint (NYSE: S) history. Instinct was first available exclusively to current Sprint customers on June 19 breaking records for the initial launch of any Sprint product. Instinct became available to all customers on June 20; sales continued to be brisk with Instinct breaking Sprint's record for the first week of sales for any device.

"We had high expectations going into the launch so our initial order to Samsung was the largest for any Sprint EVDO handset to date," said John Garcia, President of Sprint's Wireless Division. "The strong early response tells us that wireless customers recognize Instinct as a highly-innovative and convenient touch-screen device combined with the fast speeds available on the largest national mobile broadband network. In the first few days of availability, many Instinct devices were purchased by existing customers upgrading their wireless device we thank our customers for their endorsement of this device, our Simply Everything pricing plan and our company."

The record pace of Instinct sales has led to temporary shortages of the device at some locations across the United States. Sprint and Samsung are diligently working around the clock to increase inventory in all sales channels. Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand.

Passengers flying Delta Airlines through New York's LaGuardia airport can now check-in much quicker, thanks to their cell phones. Delta is testing a new system that allows passengers to check-in up to 24 hours before their flight, and download their boarding pass right to their mobile phone.

Delta is not the first airline to use cellphones to speed up the check-in process, as Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines both began testing a similar system earlier this year. The ability to check in from your mobile phone, anywhere, anytime, is certainly a welcome convenience in a time when commercial air travel has become increasingly inconvenient in the United States.

Verizon and LG bravely introduced the LG Dare today, also known as LG VX9700. The new handset it's a full touchscreen featuring a 240 x 400 pixel touchscreen display, a 3.2 Megapixel camera with flash and video, GPS (or A-GPS), Bluetooth 2.1, miniUSB, Music and Video players, advanced Web browser, email, a 3.5mm headset jack and expandable memory.

On-board photo editing tools allow you to have fun with your photos, and the handset also allows for quick uploading of photos to popular social networking sites.

The LG Dare supports Verizon's high-speed EV-DO 3G network in addition to the V CAST Music and VZ Navigator services.

Verizon prepares to release sometime this summer and its retail price will probably be of at least $400.