Cell Phone Hub

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

Manually converting videos to play on your cellphone is often a pain in the neck -- so thankfully our friends in Hong Kong have come up with a way to solve this incessant problem: the mobile Digital Video Recorder. According to the company's site and Slashphone, you simply plug the mDVR into the television via three "CA AV" jacks (we're assuming that means composite) and presto, you're now able to record your favorite shows direct to an SD card that you can later pop into your Treo or the handset of your choice. We know, never been done before, right? And as you can imagine, this isn't really H.264 codec quality we're talking about here, but how many phones are great at playing that anyway? You get 3GP and H.263, at QCIF, CIF and QVGA resolutions -- and you'll like it In other words, it'll probably do the job -- assuming that at some point iTech lists the price and get some distribution channels lined up.

[Via Slashphone]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

While we'd secretly hoped we'd see the T-Mobile Dash before September was out, we've gotten hold of some internal T-Mobile documentation that tells us October 16 is the date. We've always been told not to look a gift horse in the mouth (whatever that means) so we're going to keep our mouths shut and just thank the good folks at T-Mobile for seeing fit to launch HTC's Q-munching Excalibur at all. Keep reading for a transcript of their "Selling Aid" cheat sheet for the Dash -- something tells us it'll pretty much sell itself, but kudos to T-Mob for making sure their peeps are properly informed!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Introducing T-Mobile Dash
The exclusive T-Mobile Dash is a sleek Smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard that brings e-mail and familiar Outlook right to your phone. Using Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile (R), T-Mobile Dash delivers important information and e-mail on the go. Now you can have your Outlook calendar and contacts up to date and always with you. Easily check e-mail and access Internet information virtually anywhere with T-Mobile's EDGE network or blazing fast T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband. As a bonus, T-Mobile Dash supports myFaves rate plans, which allow customers to choose their top 5 contacts and make or receive unlimited phone calls for one low price.

Availability
T-Mobile Dash launches in all markets on October 16th 2006.

Audience
The T-Mobile Dash is an excellent choice for family-focused working individuals who are trying to master a busy life. They do a lot of personal and work e-mail from their computer and desire a way of doing this e-mail and using Outlook from a mobile phone. They are brand-conscious, tech-savvy individuals who rely on various organizational tools (phone, PDA, home calendar, home/work computer, etc.). They've thought of making the transition to a "converged device," but worry that these devices may be too bulky, too difficult to use or too focused on business applications to meet their personal needs.

Key Selling Points
o. Sleek Device
Sleek Smartphone with a full keyboard
o. Familiar and Easy-To-Use Messaging Options
T-Mobile Dash has the most familiar communication and organization features (personal e-mail and Outlook), plus the ability to share and view pictures, video, and other large attachments.
o. Best Value Data Plan, including high speed Wi-Fi
UNLIMITED access to e-mail, Internet and T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi service on T-Mobile's powerful nationwide data network for $29.99/month when added to a T-Mobile voice plan.

Key Sales Considerations
o. Perfect handset for customers who want the convenience and access of a Smartphone without the bulk of a converged device like the MDA, and who don't need or want the ability to edit e-mail attachments or use character recognition.
o. To get the most out of the T-Mobile Dash, use the T-Mobile Total Internet Plan for general GPRS and Wi-Fi data service.
o. Using the T-Mobile Dash with myFaves requires the separate myFaves plan.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

Although the experience of browsing the web on a mobile phone has improved greatly over the last couple of days five years or so, there are still sites out there that refuse to load or function as smoothly as they would on a personal computer. A possible solution to this problem comes in the form of yesterday's launch of dotMobi: or if you prefer it cold and impersonal, the new .mobi top level domain name. Yeah, so you're thinking "how's another domain name gonna improve things?" Well, unlike other domain names, dotMobi has a relatively stringent style guide for anyone wishing to register a .mobi domain: mandatory rules for registrants include the requirement that the site can be loaded without typing "www." (a pain on a numerical keypad), and a complete ban on cellphone-browser busting frames. Time will tell whether or not the bar of entry has been set high enough, as all of the tips in the "Highly Recommended" section of the style guide are optional: for example, registrants don't even have to test their website on a mobile device. A giant leap for cellular mankind this is not, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Laptops

Yeah, we're trying to hold back the snickering too. It seems the IEEE has chosen now as the time to start looking over those (previously innocent) battery protocols, and the timing couldn't be any more convenient. Rather than buckling down and getting a finalized 802.11n standard out the door, the task force is being silently forced to take a good, hard look at battery criteria. Currently focused on IEEE P1825 -- the designation for lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries used in digital cameras and camcorders -- the crew is hoping to set more uniform regulations for the "design, production, and evaluation" of said cells. The update is supposedly aimed at revising "design analysis, testing and qualification checks" to ensure those QA reports filter out any, um, potentially explosive misfits, and while the project is scheduled to be completed "within 18 months," we know how quickly these folks let their deadlines slip. But the force isn't letting those increasingly-concerned computer manufactures get too much of a head start, as the IEEE 1625 is also slated for a (very necessary) revamp -- which makes perfect sense considering its label: "laptop battery standard."

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

We're not getting played for a fool again until we actually have a real, actual device resting comfortably in our hands, but Nokia's promising to bring the 3G love to the US for reals this time with its new N75 clamshell, announced today as part of its Nseries onslaught. The S60 3rd Edition handset looks to pack a decent punch into its 95 x 52 x 20.2mm form -- which Nokia is dubbing its "smallest multimedia computer," bearing in mind the E50 isn't considered such a device -- bringing a 2-megapixel cam, 40MB of internal storage with microSD expansion to 2GB, integrated stereo speakers, Bluetooth 2.0, QVGA internal and 160 x 128 external displays, quad-band GSM / EDGE, and some of that sweet, sweet WCDMA on the 850 and 1900MHz bands. Best of all, it's being promised for US release in the fourth quarter of 2006; we don't if you-know-who has decided to pick it up, but if not, we've every reason to believe the unlocked versions will be flying out of Nokia's own warehouse at a brisk pace. Check after the break for more smooth, creamy, flippable S60 goodness.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

According to some juicy and totally unverifiable rumoring by Think Secret, Apple is prepping their "still totally unconfirmed but fairly likely to happen" iPhone as a Cingular exclusive for when it launches next January. The exclusivity, which will expire mid-2007, doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched given the ROKR exclusive Cingular scored last year -- not that it worked out too terribly well for them. Apple is also purportedly in talks with other carriers across the world, but no word if O2 is going to score the Europe exclusive again. Think Secret is also sticking with their story in regards to specs: a 2.2-inch display and 3 megapixel camera, and we figure we might as well throw HSDPA into the mix given the predicted Cingular launch. The word from "insiders" is that Apple is estimating shipments of 25 million or more iPhones in 2007 alone, which seems quite optimistic given the fact that Moto's RAZR took two whole years to hit the 50 million mark, but when it comes to Apple and potentially fabricated launch deets and market predictions, we suppose the sky's the limit.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Features

You guys have voiced your concerns, and we heard ya: the new Engadget didn't play very well with some mobile browsers (Pocket IE, we're looking at you...), so we figured now's as good a time as any to get a proper mobile version of the site rolled out. We've been promising it since forever, but now you can just point your WAP compatible mobile browser at engadget.com and let the magic happen -- no need to fuss with those annoying mobile subdomains, or worse, crappy .mobi TLDs. It works with most of phones and browsers we've tried it with around here at Engadget HQ, like:

• Pocket IE (Smartphone and Pocket PC)
• Blazer (Palm OS)
• BlackBerry handsets

That should be about 85% of you right there (or so we hope). Thus far we've seen problems with the Sidekick3, PSP, Opera Mini (Java), and some Motorola handsets that weren't so happy with our WAP site; for almost everything else that's WAP enabled, however, it should serve up the new mobile version just fine. We're still working to roll out new portions of the site to our mobile users (including mobile Engadget Mobile -- aw yeah!), so stay tuned for future features. Please leave us your feedback in the comments, and let us know if your phone isn't working right with mobile Engadget (just don't be surprised if we email you for to help us troubleshoot). Enjoy!

P.S. -If you want comments and the rest of the stuff on Engadget, or are still having issues in the mean time, we recommend using IYHY (for now).

P.P.S. -As always, mad props to our tech team! Especially Gavin for working on his damn birthday!

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.