HTC, the world’s leading provider of Windows Mobile devices, today launched the world’s first tri-band 3G Windows Mobile Pocket PC [TyTN] and 3G smartphone [MTeoR] under the new HTC brand identity.

HTC will continue to support its operator-branded products and OEM partners as a key priority. At the same time, HTC will provide its new branded products to its existing Qtek channels, distributors, enterprise and operators, who do not carry operator-branded products. Migrating the Qtek brand to the new HTC brand identity will enable HTC to provide better direct support to those customers.

HTC is well known in the industry as the company behind many of the most popular operator-branded devices. It has established unique partnerships with key mobile brands, including the leading operators in Europe, US and Asia, and supplies products to industry leading OEMs. HTC will also continue to support in-life Qtek products to its European channel and distributor partners.

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corp. said: “We have a rich heritage of innovation and aim for our products to continue being the devices of choice on the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform. Our operator and OEM strategy remains key to this success, and we are committed to further strengthening our partner relationships by providing customised and differentiated offerings.”

The package for partners will include: richer device propositions, dedicated customer support, product training and toolkits, online and marketing support. It has also launched its first range of accessories - including Bluetooth headsets and in-car kits.

The first devices to be offered with HTC brand are the HTC TyTN and the HTC MTeoR. These will be available from late July.

“We’re thrilled to see HTC launching the TyTN and MTeoR under the new HTC brand, which further adds to HTC’s stellar record of innovation on the Windows Mobile platform,” said Pieter Knook, Senior Vice President, Mobile & Embedded Devices Division, Microsoft Corp. “These devices are defining a whole new category of phones with a range of entertainment and productivity options. An HTC brand also brings more choice to Windows Mobile customers in a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse mobile market.”

The HTC TyTN is the latest innovation from HTC. It delivers a wealth of rich features, showcasing the ultimate ‘Office in your pocket’ experience for business users on the move. Business critical functionality, encased in a sleek, stylish form factor, offers the ultimate range of connectivity options including: tri-band UMTS 3G which will allow users to roam across Europe, US and Asia, plus GSM, GPRS, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a mini-USB port, making data transfer simple - anytime, anywhere.

Both devices will be available across Europe from late July.

Research in Motion’s 3G-enabled BlackBerry finally made its debut this week, initially in Germany on the Vodafone network.

As expected, the BlackBerry 8707 is based on the 8700 RIM launched in November 2005. The older model supports EDGE-equipped GSM/GPRS networks. The new model will also work across 2100MHz UMTS connections.

The 8707 has a 230 x 240 display, 64MB of Flash memory and 16MB of SRAM. It has Bluetooth 2.0 on board, and can operate as a modem when it’s paired with a computer. It’s based on a 312MHz Intel PXA901 processor like its predecessor.

Via The Register

Samsung will this month ship Europe’s first digital TV phone capable of receiving programmes broadcast on a terrestrial Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) network. It also pledged to ship its latest 3G phone in Europe soon.

The SGH-P900 will initially be sold in Germany where it will be able to pick up local service provider Debitel’s DMB transmissions, which started yesterday. No prizes for guessing that the service will focus extensively on the upcoming World Cup tournament.

The SGH-P900 is Europe’s first phone to support TDMB (Terrestrial Digital Media Broadcasting), which allows you to view live TV which will be a boon during the FIFA World Cup 2006. The triband (GSM 800 / 900 / 1800) SGH-P900 clamshell supports high speed EDGE and has a 262K Color TFT LCD. The display is capable of showing 30 FPS allowing users to enjoy a vivid live broadcasting as if they were at home. To receive TV signals, users can easily flip the 2.2″ TFT LCD screen to a horizontal position for optimal viewing. It has a 2 Megapixel Camera with LED Flash and Video recording. The SGH-P900 has 128 MB of onboard memory and has a Micro SD card slot allowing you to record and save TV broadcasts, videos and games. It also has a MP3 Player, Bluetooth, USB, Document Viewer and supports Video Streaming.

The Samsung SGH-P900 has TV out so you can view the T-DMB broadcasts and Video Recording on the big screen. It has Dual Speakers and Digital Power Amp for enhanced music experience. It measures 94.5 x 47.5 x 26.6 mm and weighs 124 grams. Samsung plans to release the SGH-P900 in the second quarter of 2006 before the ‘2006 FIFA World Cup Germany’ gets underway.

Tags: DMB, TDMB, Mobile TV

SK Telecom has launched the world’s first handset-based next-generation HSDPA network in cities across southern Korea using wireless broadband technology from LG-Nortel, a joint venture of LG Electronics and Nortel.

SK Telecom’s network is the first to provide HSDPA performance on handsets as well as data cards - ensuring high-speed, broadband wireless services are available to subscribers using either a handset or laptop computer. The services include high definition video-on-demand, MP3 streaming, multi-user mobile gaming, video calling, multimedia messaging and a host of other high bandwidth services. SK Telecom’s service is branded “3G+” and will initially cover 25 cities across the country, with roll out to an additional 59 cities planned by the end of the year.

Read more on Slashphone

Tags: HSDPA, SK Telecom

Samsung this week launched the SCH-W200 phone in Korea . This is the first HSDPA phone commercially available for consumers in the Korea market.

Samsung’s new slide-up SCH-W200 employs the next-generation technology to transmit audio and video data at speeds of 1.8Mbps. The SCH-W200 allows users to enjoy a wide range of high quality multimedia, including video phone calls, music and movies.

The SCH-W200 is also the first phone equipped with a unique ‘Dual Band Dual Mode (DBDM)’ chip that supports 2G, 3G and 3.5G mobile communication services. It also supports multitasking functions allowing users to receive and send messages during video telephony and while listening to MP3 files.

Users can also enjoy watching mobile TV via Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (S-DMB) and take pictures with a high resolution 2 megapixel camera with auto focus function. It also offers other sophisticated multimedia features such as MP3 player function, text-to-speech (TTS) conversion, file viewer and supports an external memory (microSD) slot.

HSDPA, a new form of mobile broadband, is capable of transmitting data at speeds about seven to ten times faster than that of WCDMA. Users can enjoy large-scale multimedia downloads, such as DVD-quality movies and interactive multimedia games, with high-speed wireless Internet access comparable to speeds of fixed-line ADSL services.

The launch of the Samsung’s SCH-W200 marks the world’s first commercial HSDPA services in cooperation with SK Telecom, Korea ’s largest mobile service operator. Samsung will also be providing HSDPA handsets for KTF, Korea ’s second largest mobile service operator, in June.

SCH-W200 Specification:

• Standard CDMA 2000 1X EVDO / HSDPA
• Camera 2 Megapixel Camera
• Display 2.12” 240×320 262K Color TFT LCD
• Features Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (S-DMB)
• Video Recording & Messaging (MPEG4 / H.263 / H.264 )
• Video Telephony & Streaming
• MP3/ AAC / AAC+
• Dual Speaker / Digital Power Amp
• USB
• Document Viewer / TV-output
• External Memory (microSD)
• Size 99 x 48 x 22.8 mm
• Weight 115 g

Via SlashPhone

Tags: Samsung, HSDPA, DBDM

LG Electronics announced the launch of the LG-U900, the world’s first commercially available UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phone. The LG-U900 will be available early May through Hutchison, a leading global telecommunications services provider, in time for the 2006 World Cup.

Hutchison Italy, the country’s largest 3G telecommunications provider, has exclusive DVB-H broadcasting rights for the 2006 World Cup. The company will provide video footage of all World Cup matches beginning June 6, through the Hutchison’s service channels, ‘La3′. Hutchison plans to offer the LG UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phone to customers world-wide, after initially establishing a base in Italy.

Tags: DVB-H, World Cup, Hutchinson

Nokia today introduced the Nokia N93, the ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording. Offering uncompromised digital camcorder, telephony and rich Internet communication functionalities, the Nokia N93 features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, DVD-like video capture and 3x optical zoom. You can connect the Nokia N93 directly to your TV for a widescreen movie experience or upload your images and video to online albums or blogs. Moreover, you can create high-quality home movies and burn them to DVD with the included Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software.

Offering the best mobile video and photography experience, the Nokia N93 is packed with exceptional camera features that enable high-quality photos and DVD-like quality video. Unfold and twist the main display, and the Nokia N93 is ready to shoot video and photos using the color landscape display as a full screen viewfinder. Whether special events or just fun, impromptu everyday life, you can capture moments conveniently and impulsively and share them with others as they happen.

Featuring MPEG-4 VGA video capture at 30 frames per second, the Nokia N93 delivers an unparalleled video experience with stereo audio recording and digital stabilization, enabling smooth and shake-free movies. The Nokia N93 incorporates a 3.2 megapixel (2048 x 1536 pixels) camera with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens, 3x optical zoom and up to 20x digital zoom, as well as autofocus and close-up mode for amazing clarity and accuracy. Furthermore, the Nokia N93 has an active camera toolbar which displays all available capture features, from exposure value to color tones and white balance. There are dedicated keys for shutter, zoom and flash and also a camera mode key that enables you to switch quickly and easily between image and video capture.

The Nokia N93 features large internal memory of up to 50 MB, which can be further expanded with a hot swap miniSD card of up to 2 GB, allowing users to capture up to 90 minutes of DVD-like quality video or close to 2500 high-quality photos. Furthermore, you can easily transfer your photos and video from the memory card to a compatible PC for storage, and yet always carry a collection of your favorite resized images on the Nokia N93.

Sharing your photos and video clips captured with the Nokia N93 is a snap. Show off your content on the up to 262,144 color 2.4″ QVGA display (240 x 320 pixels) featuring a super-wide 160 degree viewing angle. Share your uncompressed photos and video clips instantly via email, Bluetooth technology or by uploading them directly from the Gallery to compatible blogs. You can even share your captured memories with family and friends on a large compatible TV screen, using either the included TV cable or wirelessly over integrated WLAN and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) technology. Furthermore, from browsing the web to reading your emails and office documents, you can even play games on the Nokia N93 using the screen of your compatible TV.

While editing your photos and video clips directly on the Nokia N93 is simple, you can also easily transfer them to your compatible PC, allowing for more creative control over your video output. The standard Nokia N93 sales pack comes bundled with Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0, which makes it easy to import video clips, photos and music and to start experimenting with hundreds of transitions and effects, as well as create professional looking home videos with customizable templates. And to top it off, you can effortlessly burn those great home movies to DVD and export formats for Web streaming and email.

Part of the Nokia Nseries multimedia computer range, the Nokia N93 offers great functionality in one beautifully shaped connected device. Designed to work on WLAN, 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, the Nokia N93 provides broadband Internet access for browsing, uploading content, and sending and receiving emails, allowing you to stay connected on the move. You can also set the device on a surface, flip the display horizontally and use the landscape screen to browse the Web, watch TV over 3G networks, or make hands-free video calls.

The Nokia N93 includes a stereo FM radio and a digital music player that offer a fantastic music experience. You can create playlists and enjoy your music hands-free via the speaker or use the stereo headset provided. With the Nokia Music Manager, you can also easily rip your CDs and transfer your music collection to your phone. In addition, you can store up to 1500 songs on your Nokia N93 with a separately available 2 GB miniSD card. You can also enjoy high-quality 3D games with the pre-installed N-Gage franchise System Rush: Evolution.

The Nokia N93, which is based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS, is expected to become commercially available in July 2006 with an estimated, unsubsidized sales price of approximately 550 euros.

Tags: Nokia N93, N93, Symbian