The world's largest mobile-phone maker launched the second generation of its successful E-series business phones at the 3GSM trade show in Barcelona . Leading the trio is the E90 Communicator, a mini computer with support for Wi-Fi and HSDPA-enhanced 3G with integrated GPS and route mapping.
A worthy successor to the previous Communicator 9500 which was launched over two years ago, E90 Communicator comes with a 4-inch wide screen that allows full-width Web browsing for the first time. It also features integrated GPS to allow turn-by-turn navigation.
The phone that could work as a phone, entertainment device and videoconferencing tool, will also offer an FM radio, a music player, a video player and two cameras -- a 3.2 megapixel one with flash and a second camera for video conferencing.
First deliveries of phone are expected during the second quarter of 2007, with global availability during the third quarter of this year.




Another big launch from the company is N77 -- its first mid-priced mobile-TV phone (its second so far). The phone will be able to receive TV signals broadcast in DVB-H (Nokia?s own TV technology platform). While Nokia and other European phone makers favour the homegrown DVB-H technology for watching broadcasts on cellphones, rival formats such as MediaFlo from Qualcomm and DMB are getting there too.
The N77 features a wide 2.4-inch screen, high-quality stereo sound and alerts when programmes are about to start. However, the Nokia N77 is much more than just live TV. Designed to work on 3G (WCDMA 2100 MHz), EDGE and GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) networks, Nokia N77 is based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS.
The N77, which will start shipping in the second quarter, will cost 370 Euros ($480), roughly half the price of the N92.




Here comes a phone with a hard drive. T-Mobile (a unit of Deutsche Telekom and one of the operators in Germany ) has unveiled a phone with a hard disk disk (HDD), saying the pocket-sized device with a 13-centimetre screen would go on sale in Germany just before Cebit show in March.
Called Ameo, the phone contract manufactured by HTC uses Microsoft's operating system Windows Mobile 5.0. It would cost about 500 euros ($650) bundled with two years of phone service.
It has a 8 GB HDDD and looks more like a mini laptop. Its best feature is its detachable 13-centimetre wide keyboard and upright display. However, T-Mobile has no immediate plans to sell it in the US or rest of Europe .




Barely eight months after it introduced its first feature-rich multimedia device Pearl , Research In Motion has decided to give a Pearl-like finish to some other handsets. It has debuted another Pearl look-alike device 8800, a full-keyboard model that can play music and videos, besides handling e-mails as efficiently as ever. The company is billing the 8800 as the thinnest BlackBerry to date, measuring 0.55 inches from front to back.
New features include an instant-messaging client that can chat to buddies on Yahoo IM and Google Talk, plus RIM's own browser. The 8800 also comes with a media player and an external storage slot for removable microSD memory cards.
Above all, it uses a GPS chipset for mapping and navigation that finds its way in a BlackBerry device for the first time and will compete with Nokia's 6110 Navigator phone. RIM has partnered with California-based navigation solutions firm TeleNav, which also offers similar versions of the software for Windows Mobile, the Palm operating system, Symbian, Qualcomm's Brew, and the Java-based J2ME environment from Sun Microsystems. So the advantage to RIM could only be temporary.
Besides, the 8800 is among the new crop of handsets that some feel could also bite into Apple iPhone's marketshare somewhat.




Another big launch at 3GSM World Congree 2007 was the Hewlett-Packard iPaq 500 smartphone. Hewlett Packard unveiled its first smart phone, a slimmed-down iPaq that will be among the first Windows Mobile 6 handsets when it launches by second quarter this year.
The 500 series will be the first iPaqs that look like cellphones, with phone keypads instead of QWERTY keyboards or touch screens and styli. iPaq 500 comes with VOIP compatibility, push e-mail, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook Mobile. The phone features 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, 64MB of memory and 128MB of storage with a micro SD card slot to expand memory.
The iPaq 500 connects to the Internet via GSM/GPRS/Edge networks, as well as via Wi-Fi. The handset also allows users to play music and videos, store photos and play games on the device.




If Nokia has kicked so much dust in Barcelona , could Samsung be far behind? With its newest handset Ultra Smart F700, the
Korean giant has joined Apple and its arch-rival LG into the club of touchscreen mobile phones manufacturers.
The phone is Samsung's first that is compatible with 3G (third generation) WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) in addition to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). It also works with HSDPA and EDGE data transmission systems on 3G networks and can receive data at up to 7.2Mbps (bits per second).
The phone features a 2.8-inch 440x240 screen to control calling, Internet access, and music functions. Media playback support includes multiple AAC audio formats, Real, and variants of MPEG-4 including H.264.
It also includes VibeTonz, a vibration system introduced in the recent W559 that simulates tactile feedback to touchscreen presses. And unlike Apple's iPhone, where typing on a small screen with your thumbs can leave you sore, F700 includes a slide-out keyboard to accommodate typing.
And that is not all! The phone has a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus that is far superior than iPhone's meager 2-megapixel offering. But of course, it has a microSD slot that will help expand the memory you would require for storing the humongous 5 MP photos, and music.




The iPhone, which has no conventional buttons, instead uses a large touch-screen. The firm has patented keyboard technology on the 11.6 mm thick phone calling it "multi-touch". The 3.5 inch touch-screen-controlled device plays music, surfs the Internet and delivers voice mail and email differently.
The iPhone comes with a built-in, 2 MP digital camera as well as a slot for headphones and a SIM card. It runs Apple's OS X operating system, and has the Safari browser for Web access. The handset dispenses with buttons altogether, in favour of a powerful screen that responds to touch. It has a proximity sensor that automatically deactivates the screen and turns off the touch sensor when the device is raised to a user's face.
Music is automatically muted when a phone call comes in. The phone will play videos in widescreen format and automatically senses whether the screen is being held vertically or horizontally.
Has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and includes free BlackBerry-style 'push' email service from Yahoo. Apple is partnering with Yahoo Inc. on Web-based email and Google Inc on maps. To make a call, users can tap out the number on an on-screen keypad or scroll through their contacts and dial with a single touch. To zoom in on a photo or Web site, tap twice. To zoom out, tap once with two fingers.




This is the phone for which the maker LG Electronics has officially accused Apple of copying the design for its newly launched iPhone last month.
LG Electronics and PRADA unveil the first completely touch screen mobile phone. The PRADA Phone by LG introduces the world?s first advanced touch interface which eliminates the conventional keypad. The phone comes with 3.0-inch display and Bluetooth 2.0 and a 2 megapixel camera featuring Schneider-Kreuznach lens and LED flash. It also features a player supporting MPEG4, H.264, a document viewer and an audio player with support for MP3/ACC/ACC+/WMA/RA format.
The PRADA Phone by LG will be available with prices starting from 600 Euros at selected PRADA stores in the UK , France , Germany and Italy by the end of this month, followed by countries in Asia such as Hong Kong , Taiwan , and Singapore by late March.




Motorola, the world's second-biggest mobile phone maker introduced a new phone design, which slides open and bends to bring the microphone closer to the user's mouth. The Rizr Z8, unveiled at the 3GSM wireless trade show in Barcelona, uses software from Symbian, which specializes in advanced cellphones and is more often found in phones from Nokia, Motorola's bigger rival.
The new high-speed wireless Rizr Z8 slides open to reveal a keyboard and, unlike traditional sliders, it has an automatic hinge that tilts the keyboard and locks the phone into a V-shape to make it easier to talk into.
The Rizr Z8 will also support television-quality video playback and has a slot for a memory card with up to 4 gigabytes of storage space. The product will be Motorola's fourth phone based on Symbian technology.




One of the hottest buzzwords in the mobile industry since sometime has been: Location-based services. The services primarily allow people to view where they are on a map, search for points-of-interests (POI) around them and create routes to get them there free of charge. However, navigation by mobile phone has been slow to catch on. Courtesy, small phone screens, short battery life and the directions and maps that often lacked accuracy.
Taking a cue, the world?s biggest cellphone manufacturer Nokia unveiled its first mass market navigation-enabled phone, the N6110 Navigator. The launch unwraps company?s plans to make a big push in location-based services.
Nokia 6110 Navigator is a GPS-enabled mobile phone that features integrated maps and turn-by-turn directions with voice guidance and turn arrows pointing users in the appropriate direction. The Nokia 6110 Navigator can also provide users with traffic information, weather services and travel guides. According to a company spokesperson, Nokia would launch "a number" of navigation devices in 2007.