MOBILE

The Motorola Aura is something special and something Motorola should be proud of, inspired by high end watches, the phone’s switch blade design alone is driven by real mechanical gears of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel and 130 precision ball bearings-working in tandem drive the phone’s assisted-opening blade, custom-engineered rotating mechanism, 200 high precision individual parts used to open the handset up to an estimated 100,000 times before failure.

Motorola AURA

The Motorola AURA also features a 2 megapixel camera and 2GB of internal storage to store your photos in. The 1.5″ diameter circular display is also an industry first, capable of displaying 16 million colors with 300 DPI resolution. Bluetooth 2.0 is on board, with A2DP support for stereo headsets, as well.

The display is the product of fine crafting as well. Just 1.55-inches in diameter, this “word’s first” circular cellphone screen features 16 million colors and 300 dpi clarity, plus it’s coated with 62-carat sapphire crystal to prevent scratching and the main casing is made from stainless steel to give you the weight and feel of luxury.

This hand-sculpted cell phone is also equipped with Stereo Bluetooth connectivity to keep your hands on both wheels while you’re driving despite carrying out a conversation over the Motorola AURA.

The Motorola AURA main features include:

• Swiss-Made Main Bearing - At the center of the mechanical heart is a Swiss-made main bearing, which serves as the foundation allowing the blade to rotate with seamless precision
• Meticulously Crafted - Stainless steel housing with chemically etched textures and patterns takes nearly two weeks to sculpt, etch and polish
• 700+ Individual Components - Comprised of features including up-scaled, nickel-chrome-plated exposed screws
• 62 Carat Lens - created from Grade 1 62-carat sapphire crystal, one of the most scratch-resistant materials on earth
• Custom-Engineering - Custom-engineered rotating mechanism has 130 precision ball bearings that drive the assisted-opening blade — like opening the door on a high-end luxury car. On the 100,000th opening, the blade glides with the same fluidity and grace that it did on its first
• Tungsten Carbide Coated Gears - Gears composed of Rockwell 50-55 hardened steel are protected with the same coating used in high-performance racing engines
• Aluminum Keypad - Individual aluminum keys are formed, anodized, spin-finish applied and assembled
• CrystalTalk™ Technology - CrystalTalkTM technology delivers supreme clarity and deep resonance to every single conversation an AURA owner has, even in noisy environments
• Mirror Polish Finish - PVD coating, the same used when making luxury watches, gives AURA its polished, mirrored shine

Motorola AURA Main Specs:

• 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 1.55-Inch TFT Display - 16M colors/480 pixels diameter
• Vibration
• MP3 & Polyphonic (64 channels) Ringtones
• No Card slot
• 2 GB internal memory
• Photocall & 1000 entries (Phonebook)
• 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls (Call records)
• No 3G, No WLAN, No Infrared port
• GPRS Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
• EDGE Class 12
• USB v2.0
• HSCSD
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• WAP 2.0/xHTML Browser
• MMS, EMS & SMS Messaging
• Java MIDP 2.0
• 2 MP Camera - 1600×1200 pixels plus video
• MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC+ player
• Built-in handsfree
• Voice memo
• MPEG-4/3gp player
• T9
• Up to 410 hours standby time
• Up to 7 hours 20 minutes talk time
• 96.9 x 47.6 x 18.6 mm
• 141g

SAMSUNG Propel™ SGH a767 Mobile Phone

The SAMSUNG Propel™ is the slider that makes communication easy. Just slide open up this stylish phone and slide open the possibilities, from texting to email to Instant Messaging – all simplified thanks to a full QWERTY keyboard. The Propel is also packed with fun features like high-speed multimedia access, full Web browsing, AT&T Mobile Music, AT&T Navigator and much more. So slide open the SAMSUNG Propel™ and get the word out like never before.
The Propel™ has a slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard that lets you get the word out faster and easier.
Stay connected with your friends wherever you are. The Propel™ gives you all the messaging options you want – email, text messaging, Instant Messaging and picture messaging.
Welcome, music lovers. With AT&T Mobile Music and the Propel™, you can play and download all your favorite tunes and ringtones. And thanks to the built-in microSD™ memory slot, your play list can go on and on.
With AT&T Navigator, the SAMSUNG Propel™ gives you GPS-enabled turn-by-turn directions, maps, traffic updates and more.
Show off your new car. Be at Mom’s birthday party. Even if you’re hundreds of miles apart, Video Share and your new SAMSUNG Propel™ make it all possible. Any two Propels (or other Video Share-compatible phones) can share real-time, one-way video of almost anything – all while talking on the phone. It’s nice to share.
Specifications
Quad-Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
Size Weight 3.79 ounces
Dimension (HXWXD) 3.85” x 2.33” x .58”
Display Internal 65k Color TFT Screen Size 220 x 176
Talk time Up to 5 hours
Standby Up to 250 hours
Video recording
Video messaging
Music & Sound Music Player
Poly Ringtones 72 Polyphonic Ringtones
MP3 Ringtone
Fun & Entertainment JAVA™ Download
Business & Office Voice memo & Voice mail
Voice memo & Voice mail
Messaging SMS / EMS / MMS
Email
User Memory 50MB Shared
Phone book entries Up to 1000 phonebook entries
Personal Information Management Calendar
To do list Yes
Worldtime
Alarm
Currency converter
Calculator
Call functions Speakerphone
Speakerphone
Dialed/missed/received calls
Dialed/missed/received calls
Logging a kind of calls.

Samsung EPIX SGH-i907 Mobile Phone

When staying in touch is critical to business, corporate executives have a powerful new connection –the SAMSUNG Epix™. This business-savvy touch screen phone offers quick access to the working world for today’s out-of-the-office professionals. With features like Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional, high speed data connectivity and Mobile email, it’s never been easier to connect to corporate email and IT systems. And that’s only the beginning.
The Epix also features AT&T Navigator, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® Wireless profiles, a 2.0 megapixel camera, Video Share and more. It’s all packed into a handsome design that boasts a large touch-screen display and QWERTY keypad.
With Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional, your mobile office has never been more mobile. You’ll be able to create, view and edit most of your documents in the latest Windows environment right on your phone. In other words, you can be just as productive as ever – even if you’re not in the office. Some people prefer a full QWERTY keyboard for faster typing. Some people prefer a touchscreen for faster navigation. With the SAMSUNG Epix™, you get both. The Epix™ has a built-in 2.0 megapixel camera so you never have to miss out on a beautiful picture again. Want to get closer? There’s a 4x digital zoom. Want to join the action? There’s a self-timer. With Wi-Fi connectivity, the Epix lets you take advantage of public or private networks almost anywhere. It’s fast, it’s easy and it doesn’t use up any of your plan minutes.
Specification

• Platform Band 3.6Mbps UMTS/HSDPA (850,1900, 2100MHz) GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900MHz)
• Size Weight 4.4 ounces
• Dimension (HXWXD) 4.6 x 2.4 x .5 in
• Display Internal Size 2.5”
• External Technology 65K TFT Color
• Resolution 320 x 320
• Talk time Up to 7 Hours*
• Standby Up to 14 days
• Input Device QWERTY Keyboard with Optical Mouse
• Camera Resolution 2.0 Megapixel
• Digital / Optical Zoom 4x Digital Zoom
• Brightness Adjustment
• Shot mode Multishot / Self-Timer
• Video recording MPEG4, H.263, WMV
• Fun & Entertainment JAVA™ Download
• Mobile TV allow the mobile user to receive TV-programmes in high quality
• Business & Office Document Viewer
• Messaging SMS / EMS / MMS
• Email
• Instant Messaging
• Connectivity Bluetooth
• WIFI
• Memory User Memory 256MB Internal ROM
• Calendar
• Scheduler
• Clock
• Worldtime
• Alarm
• Currency converter
• Translate some languages with voice recognition.
• Calculator
• Stop watch
• Call functions Speakerphone
• Speakerphone
• Call Cost / Call Time
• Dialed/missed/received calls
• Logging a kind of calls.

Sony Ericsson has just announced their new Walkman phone - the Sony Ericsson W705. The high-end slider is the first music-dedicated feature phone by the company to feature Wi-Fi. Unluckily the rumored GPS connectivity seems to have been dropped out but at least the rest of the specs sheet seems pretty decent.

The typical for the Walkman family niceties - Shake control and SensMe are also available in the W705. The phone will come with 120 MB of internal memory that can be expanded through the M2 card slot for storing your favorite tracks. In addition there will be a 4GB memory card included in the retail package to grant generous storage capacity straight out of the box.
The Sony Ericsson W705 comes with a 2.4″ QVGA display capable of showing up to 256K colors. Some of its more important features include a 3.2 MP fixed-focus snapper, FM radio with RDS, quad-band GSM and dual-band (900/2100 MHz) 3G support.
Using Wi-Fi™ to connect to broadband hot spots, consumers can use their W705 to go online for the best songs or most popular YouTube™ video clips or stream tunes wirelessly to the stylish MBS-900 speaker via Bluetooth™. With Clear Bass, Clear Stereo and premium headphones, the W705 delivers a sound that has crystal clear clarity and is dynamic, rich and natural.
To compliment the W705 is the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900. Perfect for those who want to be first with all the gadgets, the unique innovative design of the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 makes a real stylish statement in a home. The MBS-900 connects wirelessly to your mobile phone through Bluetooth™ giving crystal-clear sound through the high quality, dual speaker and sub-woofer system.
The Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 is a complete speaker system to be proud of. Make the most of a wireless world and adjust the music settings from the other side of the room with your phone, or use the touch controls on the speaker for smooth control of the music. Users can even listen to the built-in radio and make a phone call at the same time, or if the phone rings the speakers will cleverly automatically mute. Just plug the Wireless Home Audio System MBS-900 into a power socket, sit back and enjoy
Sony Ericsson W705 will hit the shelves in two different flavors - W705 and W705u (exclusive to Orange). It will become available in Luxury Silver and Passionate Red color versions starting from Q1 of 2009.

Features
Camera
* Geo tagging
* Digital Zoom - up to 3x
* Camera - 3.2 megapixel
* Photo feeds
* Video recording
* Video light
* Video blogging
* Picture blogging
* Photo light
* Photo fix

Entertainment
* Radio - FM radio with RDS
* Video viewing
* Video streaming
* Java
* YouTube™
* Motion gaming
* 3D games
* Media

Communication
* Video calling
* Vibrating alert
* Speakerphone
* Polyphonic ringtones

Music
* Music tones - MP3, AAC
* TrackID™
* Shake control
* SensMe
* PlayNow™
* Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
* Album art
* Clear stereo
* Clear bass
* Walkman® player

Connectivity
* WiFi™
* PictBridge
* USB support
* USB mass storage
* Synchronisation
* Modem
* Bluetooth™ technology
* DLNA Certified™
* Google Maps™

Design
* Wallpaper animation
* Picture wallpaper
* Navigation key
* Auto rotate

While it's easy to associate Japan as a land flourishing in all that is electronic technology

, Finnish handset-giant Nokia has announced decision to pull out of the Japanese market permanently today.

Nokia will not only cease selling phones in Japan but will also end marketing campaigns as well. An early market leader, Nokia started selling mobile units in Japan way back in 1994, but witnessed a falling market share ever since (estimated at just 1 percent before today's announcement).

The mature Japanese market is dominated by local manufacturers. More surprising is that studies prove that unlike Americans, Japanese customers have little desire to upgrade or replace functioning devices.

Mobile sales in Japan have been falling since last year, when network operators led by NTT DoCoMo cut their subsidies on certain handsets, driving up prices for new handsets.

This news comes at a time where Nokia has issued profit warnings for the upcoming year as a result of slumping global sales in this period of economic downturn.

Despite discouraging news that Nokia was pulling the plug on its Japanese market, the Finnish handset producer continues to lead the global smartphones market despite having lost significant shares to Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry.

To combat these powerhouses, Nokia's launched its new flagship smartphone, the N97 today. With a 3.5-inch touch display and full QWERTY keyboard, they've got the potential to lure business users but what really makes the N97 unique is the new "social location" function, which uses A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass to automatically update social networks with real-time information with not only status updates but social location as well.

The N97 supports up to 48GB of storage, including 32GB of on-board memory (expandable with a 16GB microSD card) for music, media and documents and a 16:9 widescreen display is fully personalizable with widgets suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch keyboard make for convenient blogging, chatting, texting or emailing. Finally, since no converged device is complete without an internal camera these days, Nokia pulls no punches with a 5.0 megapixel, Carl Zeiss lens and flash equipped, still shot/ video recorder.

Of course all of this innovation doesn't come cheap. Nokia plans to begin moving the N97 in the first part of 2009 for an MSRP of $700

Before the proverbial smoke has even cleared on the G-1, the first handset designed specifically for use with Google's Android operating system, the all-new Agora has been announced.

Boasting of a full QWERTY keyboard, central navigation key, a 2.5-inch touch screen, microSD slot and 3G connectivity, the Agora is set to have the honor of being the world's second phone to run Android.

A more thorough look of the feature set reveals some pleasant surprises: 2.5-inch TFT LCD flat touch-sensitive screen, integrated QWERTY keyboard, high-speed 3G network connection, one-touch Google search, easy web browsing, email attachment support for images, videos, music, and documents, customizable home screen with instant email, text message and IM notifications, instant access to mobile internet services

, music player, Wi-Fi, GPS navigation, and 2.0 megapixel camera. Finally, keyboard backlighting, built-in microphone and speaker, headphone jack, MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, PCM ring tone formats, MPEG2 H263, H264, MPEG4 and AVI video support.

Developed and manufactured by Australian firm, Kogan, the Agora will be available nationwide January 29, 2009 for an MSRP of around $399.

Ever hear of a femtocell? No it's not a woman-activist's smallest unit of life. AT&T is hoping the word will become much more common in months to come. Femtocells are small boxes that beam low-power wireless signals to cell phones and relay them back to the carrier through the subscriber's high-speed Internet connection. They are, in essence, miniature cellular towers right inside the home.

AT&T is testing technology to improve cell phone signal strength in subscribers' homes and plans to make this tech available in a trial market next year.
Competitor Sprint launched femtocells under the brand name Airave last year. Verizon Wireless has claimed to appreciate the femtocells concept for their own applications. T-Mobile has taken a different route entirely by selling phones that can connect calls over Wi-Fi routers.

AT&T is looking at femtocells that provide full cellular broadband 3G speeds. Sprint's femtocells are currently for voice and low-speed data connections.

If there's one criticism my blog is guilty of, it would most likely be my penchant for writing about the latest converged high tech handsets, the likes of which obsolete even the best laptop computers of yesteryear. It turns out that sometimes users don't want to have to read a manual the size of a phone book to get started or break the bank to bring home the latest gadget. To you I present AT&T's latest candy bar, the Pantech C630.

The compact C630 has numeric keys that glow white when pressed and comes with a small joystick to provide easy handling during text and instant messaging, advanced turn-by-turn directions via AT&T Navigator, music listening via AT&T Mobile Music, and fast Internet browsing.

An integrated 1.3-megapixel camera captures both photos and videos, and AT&T Video Share lets customers have two-way video conversations over fast 3G speeds. Finally, Bluetooth wireless technology allows for wireless communication.

The Pantech C630 will be available starting this Friday for $39.99 after a two-year service agreement and mail-in rebate.

Earlier today, at Nokia World 2008 in Barcelona, a new addition to the Nseries family was announced. The Nokia N97, a 3.5 inch touch screen, full qwerty device, is the latest smartphone from the Finnish manufacturer and, after a long line of mediocricies, a good one. Sure it has only a 5 megapixel camera, but the other specs are pretty nice and together add up to form the best Nokia to date.

Target has tapped upstart mobile media publisher Snakk Media to promote its exclusive sale of the deluxe version of Christina Aguilera's Keeps Getting Better: A Decade of Hits.

Snakk Media, which launches in beta on Monday, has signed exclusive deals with 100 top bloggers to present their posts in a mobile-friendly format. Its first destination is 310.tv where pop culture junkies can get the latest news, updated every five minutes, directly on their mobile devices.

"Every day, we did one thing often, check the blogs. But, it was a terrible experience on the phones," said Joe Kavanaugh, vp of strategic development at Snakk Media. Snakk technology optimizes the experience for 9,000 handsets, including most notably the Apple iPhone and Blackberry.

Prior to its launch, Snakk inked a wide swath of bloggers from DJ Steve Aoki to Glosslip and Blogcritics (the last two signed on prior to being acquired by Technorati).

Target's media buy includes banner ad placements at both the top and bottom of the mobile site. However, Kavanaugh said, advertisers will also have the opportunity to create integrated campaigns with the blogger's sites, as well as through events.

Yet, the strength of the model is the constant updates, he said. "Once you start reading, it becomes addictive."