Reports out of Japan say NTT DoCoMo will stop development of 2G handsets, the first move towards shifting all its existing users to its 3G network.

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The SGH-Z300, announced earlier this year, will soon be available in Europe. It comes with video telephony, streaming, messaging and video recording, features a 1.3 mega pixel with flash and a VGA camera for video telephony and 262,144 colour TFT.

This model offers an MP3 player plus AAC and AAC+ players. It is a phone for music lovers, comes with a dual-speaker, digital amplified stereo sound, 3D sound, an acoustic design and it is rumoured that it comes with a range of unheard ringtones. Don’t worry if the built-in 50MB of memory doesn’t sound like much, the Z300 supports removable TransFlash memory modules.

Its keypad is large and responsive with positive tactile feedback including a blue back light. Navigation has been simplified with this setup.

The Z300 also features powerful connectivity including Bluetooth, IrDA, USB.

SCN LTD, a leading creator of VoIP Wireless LAN technology, today launched Truphone. Truphone allows you to use your cell phone to make calls over Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or 3G using VoIP. This allows you to mix the benefits of carrying a single mobile device with all your contacts while gaining the cost benefits of IP telephony when in range of an access point. Access points are now widely deployed in companies, homes and public areas such as airports and coffee bars. If you are in the middle of a call and move away from the access point Truphone will transfer the call to the cellular network allowing you to continue without interruption. For enterprises this provides the ideal converged device so that employees need only use one phone for all their communication needs connecting to the cellular network when traveling and connecting to the corporate SIP system when in the office. Consumers get the benefits of coverage into mobile blind spots and can make lower cost VoIP calls when near an access point on their favourite personal device - the cell phone.

Nokia created the Series 60 Platform and licenses it to leading cell phone vendors LG Electronics, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung, Sendo and Siemens, who together with Nokia make up nearly two-thirds of global cell phone sales.

The first product to ship from SCN Ltd supports the Nokia 6630 phone operating over Bluetooth. This will operate with a Bluetooth enabled computer or an inexpensive Bluetooth Truphone adapter turning that computer into a low cost access point. Wi-Fi enabled phones, such as the N91 just announced by Nokia, will follow shortly allowing the use of Truphone in public hotspots and enterprises where Bluetooth is less commonly available. Calls can be terminated by a range of carrier partners or using SIP application software that can be deployed in the network.

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The Nokia 6680 imaging smartphone is the new “Best in Class” 3G device according to a report by Strategy Analytics. Four leading 3G devices currently available on the Western European market were rated by Strategy Analytics’ Advanced Wireless Laboratory (AWL) panels in London and Milan. The devices rated were Nokia 6680, Sony Ericsson V800, Motorola E1000 and Nec e338. Each device was assessed on the basis of four categories: Video Features, User Interface & Input, Display, and Style/Design. The Nokia 6680 smartphone achieved the highest individual rating in two categories, Display and Style/Design, as well as a joint highest score for User Interface. The Nokia 6680 was also the only device to score above the mean score across all four categories.

Particularly in the Style/Design category, the Nokia 6680 scored well ahead of the others. When asked which of the four devices they would consider the “coolest”, 98% of the research participants nominated the Nokia 6680. Users were also virtually unanimous in praising the clarity, resolution and brightness of the Nokia 6680 smartphone’s display.

A market research firm says that advanced features on mobile handsets are eating into operator revenue — but users certainly don’t, and shouldn’t, care. USB connections, removable memory cards and Wi-Fi capability cause a “problem” for mobile operators. Evidently those pesky subscribers would rather transfer content from their computers to their handsets via a cable, memory card or Bluetooth and access the Net over Wi-Fi than use carriers’ closed, and often expensive, systems.

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HTC today formally introduced ‘Universal’, the palmtop-like PocketPC phone a number of European network operators have already announced, but on which the handset’s vendor has kept quiet.

Microsoft’s announcement yesterday of Windows Mobile 5.0 - aka ‘Magneto’ - provided the motivation for HTC, which claimed Universal is the “world’s first” WM5 handset.

Universal first appeared in February, when T-Mobile announced the MDA IV in Germany. Soon after, it emerged Orange was planning to rebadge the same device. Since then, Vodafone has joined the others. It will offer Universal as the VPA IV.

All three branded Universals are expected to ship this later this year, though T-Mobile revised its original summer release to an autumn debut. HTC provided no better guidance beyond saying Universal will ship in the second-half of the year.

Universal builds on HTC’s previous PocketPC phones by adding 3G support, along with a clamshell casing that reveales the device’s QWERTY keyboard. Universal’s screen can rotate and fold back to present the user with the more traditional tablet PDA form-factor. To support 3G video calls, there are twin cameras on board, and twin stereo speakers. There’s quad-band GSM/GPRS in there too, along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Windows Mobile 5.0 provides software support for 3G communications. It also integrates ‘push-to-talk’ functionality.

Sanyo’s first 3G phone, the S750 was launched last December and it received complaints regarding its cumbersome design. The new S750i is an enhancement of the S750, functionally the same, but comes with a sleeker rounded design and improved controls, making it lighter and more streamlined.

The S750i now comes with a 32MB SD card (the S750 used to come with an an empty slot) but is capable of handling up to 256MB, which is very handy for storing MP3s and videos. It can connect to your PC via Bluetooth, Infrared and a USB connection and can also do Direct photo prints if you are using a Pictbridge printer.

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