Among the crop of new phones that LG is displaying at CTIA is the 8100, a small, dual-band (800/1900) CDMA handset that packs in two very desirable features - support for high-speed EV-DO data networks, and Bluetooth.

The 8100 is an update to the VX8000, and features the same clamshell design with dual color displays, but in a smaller, sleeker package. The 1.3 megapixel camera is backed by a generous 512 MB of on-board memory and a miniSD card slot. The extra memory would be a boon to anyone using the 8100’s various multimedia features, which, in addition to the camera, include video capture, a voice recorder, and a stereo MP3 player with built-in stereo speakers. There is also speaker-independent voice dialing and 3D graphics for gaming.

As an EV-DO phone, the 8100 is likely to appeal to users looking to take full advantage of the capabilities of high-speed networks, and support for streaming video and picture messaging are included. Carrier support has not been announced yet. Considering that Sprint is nearly ready to roll out their new EV-DO network, it is conceivable that the device could end up there, but our bets are on Verizon and their currently available EV-DO VCAST service.

The device measures up at 91mm x 48.8mm x 26.1mm (3.58″ x 1.92″ x 1.03″), and weighs 118g (4.16oz). The 1000mAh standard battery should be good for up to 3 hours of talk time and 9 days of standby time. There will also be a 1700mAh extended battery available. Maximum camera resolution is 1280×960, and video clip recording is limited to 15 second clips. The 8100 supports speaker-independent voice dialing and has a hands free speakerphone function. The main display is a 262k color 176×220 TFT unit, and the external sub-display is a 65k color 128×128 unit.

No word yet on when the device will be officially launched with carrier support, nor what it might cost.

Earlier this year, T-Mobile’s German wing announced the latest in the company’s own-brand MDA handset family, the 3G-enabled MDA IV “mini laptop”, made by Taiwan’s HTC and also known by its codename, ‘Universal’. It includes a QWERTY keyboard located below a 640 x 480 display that not only folds up and away from the keyboard clamshell-style, but also rotates. The unit sports two cameras, and comes equipped with a tri-band GSM/GPRS radio. Like the MDA III, the new model features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. There’s USB for wired connections to a PC. T-Mobile also said it would offer a push email service with the unit.

Inside the unit is a 520MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor running Windows Mobile software, though at this stage the version remains unclear. It may be Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, or possibly its successor, T-Mobile said.

Since then, Orange has indicated that it too will offer a network-branded version of a device that sounds uncannily like the MDA IV, and Vodafone has gone on record to say it will offer the machine as the VPA IV. Neither company has put a date to the release of their respective versions of the product beyond a broad “later this year”. HTC hasn’t given any availability guidance, either.

It’s unclear at this stage why the delay has arisen. One possibility is a pause to allow the device to ship with Windows Mobile 2005, aka ‘Magneto’, the next major revision of Microsoft’s smart phone operating system. Most networks have been vague about which version of Windows Mobile the device will support.

LG Electronics has recently made another successful test-run of its 3.5-generation HSPDA (high speed downlink packet access)-enabled mobile phone in North America following its previous test in Europe, and is now pushing to penetrate the global 3.5G mobile handset market.

LG Electronics announced that it has made a successful demonstration of 3.5G high-speed data transmission at CTIA Wireless 2005 using Lucent Technology’s 14Mbps download-supportive WCDMA system, as well as its own-developed commercialized HSDPA-enabled mobile phone.

LG Electronics successfully demonstrated HSDPA mobile handset’s downloading of DVD video and large-capacity multimedia-feature music in a Web server-based 1.4Mbps transmission environment, as well as other innovative services available in a 3G mobile infrastructure.

The model is the same type as the HSDPA whose test run was made successful at Nortel lab on March 6, the first of its kind in the world. It is the industry’s first multi-mode mobile phone that can support not only the existing 3G WCDMA platform, but also 2G GSM, 2.5G GPRS, and 2.75G EDGE. The company’s successful test runs of the model in Europe and the U.S., both promising WCDMA markets, is profoundly meaningful.

The commercialized HSDPA service, which is a pre-4G multimedia technology that will lead the 3G mobile services, will be introduced starting 2006 to Korea, Europe, the U.S. and other WCDMA service-provided countries, after its networks are structured and its technology is upgraded starting in the second half of this year.

The HSDPA service, which can provide a data transmission environment with a maximum speed of 14 megabits per second, i.e., seven times faster than EVDO service, and five times faster than existing WCDMA service, enables a smoother video telephony and downloading of large-capacity multimedia data even on the road. The HSPDA service thus enables high-speed wireless Internet connection via mobile phones, PDAs and notebook PCs while on a bus, subway, and high-speed bullet trains.

In particular, the HSPDA will likely be launched by operators in North America’s WCDMA market in the second half of this year, and the American market is paying keen attention to the expected introduction of HSDPA service, a technology upgraded a notch form the existing WCDMA service.

Since LG Electronics was selected as the strategic handset provider in December 2004 by Cingular, and is fast leading the HSDPA-enabled handset market, it is thus set to widen its presence in North America’s 3G and 3.5G mobile handset market.

Samsung has announced 15 new phones today at CeBit. Only one of those is a UMTS handset - the SGH-Z140. Here are the currently known features for this phone:

• Video Recording in MPEG Format
• Play MPEG4, MP3 and AAC
• Bluetooth, InfraRed, USB

More details will be posted as soon as they become available.

The Motorola V1050 is the mid-high class phone in Motorola’s new lineup, it’s exclusive to Vodafone and features a 1.3 megapixel camera with digital still and video support and 2-way video calling over powerfull 3G networks. It will be available from 2Q 2005.

The built-in media player supports MP3, AMR, MIDI, AAC, WMA, Real and XMF formats for audio and H.263, MPEG4, WMV, 3GP and Real media for video. Data can be exchanged easily with Bluetooth and MMS, or even add up to 256MB more via the TransFlash memory slot providing the ultimate storage solution for data and music downloads. Additional features include: Web access and POP3/IMAP4 E-mail, a large brilliant 2.2” colour TFT display.

Key features:

• 1.3 megapixel image capture with 8x zoom and LED lighting
• 2-way video conference calling1 via CIF camera
• Video record and playback; support of H.263, MPEG4, WMV, 3GP and Real files
• Rapid video downloading and viewing in either landscape or portrait modes
• 5 way navigation key for supreme gaming
• Up to 256 MB of removable optional TransFlash memory
• MP3 player and 24 polyphonic ringtones, supporting: AMR, MIDI, AAC, MP3, WMA, Real and XMF formats to let you download full length versions of favorite music tracks
• Downloadable J2ME games, musical ringtones, images and more
• MMS1 with message receipt and POP31, IMAP41, SMTP1 email support
• Built-in speakerphone
• WAP 2.0 and GPRS for ‘always on’ Internet access1
• Connectivity USB

For those of you that are into music on your handsets, there is a very interesting article at The Feature which points out some of the main problems handset manufacturers are dealing with in providing powerful music players on their devices. Here are some of the main points.

The temptation for many manufacturers seems to be to put a relatively full-featured media player on a handset, when simplicity would be best, and hide the music functions behind a number of clicks and menus. But the best solution will offer one-touch access to music and external controls for basic features like pause and skip. Vendors should take advantage of the increasing power of mobile platforms and offer users full-featured media players where users can manipulate files and playlists and do other functions, but the primary interface should be a simple play button that quickly fires up the tunes. In the same way that the iPod Shuffle offers a great UI by not having one, mobile phones’ music functions should be exceedingly simply and easy to use.

But there are other usability concerns apart from just the user interface. One high-level concern is the compatibility of phones with existing download shops and players. One selling point of the Motorola iTunes phone was that it would be the only phone that could play music from the iTunes Music Store. Plenty of handsets can play AAC files; none yet can handle Apple’s DRM. Some devices support WMA files, but not AAC, while some only play MP3s. Some can handle Windows Media DRM, some only support OMA DRM standards. This creates a mess for mobile users, and it can also create problems for handset manufacturers. If a user’s got a hard drive full of music using one DRM flavor, why would they buy a phone that can’t play it? By picking and choosing what formats to support, vendors are limiting their potential pool of buyers. It’s good to see some companies taking this into account, such as Sony Ericsson, which isn’t even supporting the much-maligned ATRAC format favored by its Japanese parent in favor of the more widely used MP3 and AAC in its Walkman phone.

There are other places where these closed approaches rear their head too: headphones and memory card formats. There seems to be a fascination with using non-standard headphone jacks, forcing users to ditch their favorite earphones in favor of whatever few choices are available to fit vendors’ proprietary connectors. Memory card formats are perhaps even more frustrating. While it’s unrealistic to think that manufacturers will all converge on a single format, it’s hard to see how embracing so many different formats benefits end users, who are increasingly forced to buy relatively expensive cards that often aren’t available in large sizes. Maybe there’s some financial benefit to using something unpopular like RS-MMC or Transflash, but in the end, it just annoys users. If manufacturers want to push phones as music players, and they’re using removable media, they’ve got to choose a format that’s got cheap, big cards.

Full article

Today Motorola introduced the new V1150 at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany. The V1150 is a new UMTS 3G handset that packs all sorts of new functionality into a clamshell. For example, not only does the V1150 support video calling, but it also supports video clip editing. The V1150 also makes use of Motorola’s new SCREEN3 standby mode that puts updated information right were you can see it at all times, for zero-click access to current events and other premium content.

Also worth getting noticing is the new 2 megapixel camera that the V1150 has. There is also a second VGA resolution camera for use in video calling. The V1150’s 2 megapixel camera has a macro mode for shooting closeups, and also has an assist light for shooting in low light conditions. You can store those large 2 megapixel photos on a TransFlash memory card. Motorola expects 512MB TransFlash cards to be available by the time the V1150 goes on sale in the second half of 2005. Currently 256MB TransFlash cards are coming to market.

Also new is the V1150’s 3D graphics processor, which will allow for high-performance 3D Java J2ME games to be played on the large 2.2″ QVGA resolution display. The V1150’s media player application supports MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG4, and AAC+ media files. We’ll also see the latest version of the speaker-independent voice dialing system in the V1150.

The V1150 weighs around 130g (4.6oz). No word yet on pricing or which markets the V1150 will be available in.

Key features:

• Slim, sleek metal housing with large, color internal and external displays
• 2 megapixel camera with 8x zoom, macro mode setting, LED flash
• VGA camera for real-time 2-way video calling
• Mobile Internet portal via Dynamic Idle for scrolling news updates and compelling Web experience
• Multimedia editing options
• Video and audio streaming and the ability to view a media file as it downloads with progressive download
• Integrated Bluetooth for the ultimate in wireless convenience
• Enhanced graphics processor for high performance 3D graphics and J2ME™ for the ultimate in gaming choices
• 64 MB embedded memory; up to an additional 512 MB of removable memory
• Support of AAC+, MPEG4, WMV, WMA, MP3 and Real Video/Audio files
• Advanced speech recognition to state a number or name and be connected without dialing or pre-recording
• Over the air synchronization with the PC via SyncML
• WAP 2.0