FCC OKs Philips Xenium 9@9W

The Philips Xenium 9@9W was given the green light by the FCC, a candybar phone whose main attraction is its longer battery life. The mid-level phone specs include: a 220×176 262K pixel display, a 2.0 megapixel camera, a microSD card slot and Java support.

[ The Philips Xenium 9@9W via Mobile-Review ]

Cell Phone Rumor: Motorola Zante, Newest Sidekick?

The newest Sidekick version, otherwise known as the Motorola Zante PDA phone, has found its way to mobile phone blogs such as ours. Its features include a 2.4″ sliding QVGA display, QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 megapixel camera, an MP3 player, Bluetooth connectivity and microSD cards and it operates on GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. Though there has been no official confirmation about this phone yet, it is expected to be released this October.

[ The Motorola Zante/ Sidekick 4 via HandCellPhone ]

Blackberry Approved for Sale in China

Blackberry has been trying to penetrate the Chinese market for years — eight to be exact. In 1999, RIM (Research in Motion) has registered the Blackberry trademark in China and since then, has been working on granting access to the 500 million Chinese subscribers.

The Globe and Mail newspaper based in Toronto has reported that RIM has finally been granted the much awaited approval of the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry. It is definitely worth the wait asd there is a reported 5000 advance orders of the Blackberry 8700g, which will be for sale in China come August for the equivalent of around US$700.

[ Blackberry Approved for Sale in China via MobileBurn ]

News Flash: Apple iPhone not Smash-proof

User Ficharker family on Flickr has posted pictures of his brand new iPhone, with the upper part of its glass display shattered. Apparently he tried to answer a call while his iPhone was plugged in, and the short cord pulled the phone out of his hand and swung it against the corner of his table as it did so. And he hadn’t even owned it for more than 24 hours at the time. Any iPhone owner would be horrified by such a catastrophy, and morn their $600 investment. Lucky for him though, after showing his smashed phone to the folks at the Apple store where he bought it from, they replaced it with a new one absolutely free. Let us give him privacy as he pledges his undying allegiance to Apple for the extraordinary customer service and pray that we may be so lucky if we ever get as unlucky.

[ The Smashed iPhone via Flickr ]

Have you ever experienced waiting anxiously for a call or a text, and then suddenly your phone’s battery just dies on you, and you have no way to charge you phone? God, I hate it when that happens!

I’m glad that it will soon be possible for a cellphone to charge on its own, just by opening the LCD and face up to the sun (well, atleast it can charge by itself during daytime, just make sure to charge when you go out at night!)

But here’s the thing, you’ll have to go Moto — Motorola! (if you haven’t already, that is).

“Motorola has scored the patent technology that will make it possible to recharge the battery of mobile phones through solar cells embedded within the liquid crystal display (LCD),” as SlashPhone writes.

[ Motorola Scores Patent for Solar Phone via SlashPhone ]

Have you ever experienced waiting anxiously for a call or a text, and then suddenly your phone’s battery just dies on you, and you have no way to charge you phone? God, I hate it when that happens!

I’m glad that it will soon be possible for a cellphone to charge on its own, just by opening the LCD and face up to the sun (well, atleast it can charge by itself during daytime, just make sure to charge when you go out at night!)

But here’s the thing, you’ll have to go Moto — Motorola! (if you haven’t already, that is).

“Motorola has scored the patent technology that will make it possible to recharge the battery of mobile phones through solar cells embedded within the liquid crystal display (LCD),” as SlashPhone writes.

[ Motorola Scores Patent for Solar Phone via SlashPhone ]

Cellphone Emergency Charger: Powerpal and one AA battery

CeBit 2007 saw the launch of a new battery pack from Powerpal. The charger, which features multiple interchangeable connectors, runs on a single AA battery, enabling users to charges their handsets or iPod. Such an innovation makes this charger truly portable and adaptable. No info on how much it would cost or how long a charge an AA battery could provide. It’ll be good for emergencies though.

[ Cellphone Emergency Charger from Powerpal via MobileWhack ]

Cellphone Innovation: Nokia’s Twisting Keypad Patent

Nokia recently updated a patent it filed in 2005 for a mobile phone with rotating numeric keypad. The patent speaks of a handset that initially looks like a candy bar phone, but it might as well be a mini computer with QWERTY keyboard and dedicated numpad. Holding the handset on its side, with the numpad on your right, one could slide the display upwards revealing a QWERTY keyboard. While that alone might not be worth an “ooh” or “ah”, the fact that the handset’s numerical keypad can also rotate in essence making it a dedicated numpad, just like on your traditional PC keyboard.

[ Nokia's Twisting Keypad Patent
via Reghardware ]

FCC Approves Samsung Ultra Music for Sprint

The FCC recently approved a phone with a Sprint model number which bears a striking resemblance to the Samsung Ultra Music. Available information points to the possibility that this handset might just be the CDMA version of the Samsung phone, but under a new model number: SPH-M620. The Ultra Music possesses a 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, built in 100MB with microSD expansion slot. This dual-faced phone has a small screen and numeric keypad on one side and a larger touch sensitive display coupled with music controls on the other.

[ The Samsung Ultra Music via PhoneScoop ]

The new Nokia 6234 is now available exclusively through Vodaphone

The new Nokia 6234 is now available exclusively through Vodaphone shops. The UMTS enabled 6234 is the successor to the Nokia 6230i and features an integrated 2 megapixel camera with a 8x digital zoom, 262K color screen, 64MB microsd included, it only weighs 110 grams, UKW stereo, music player and can also be used to watch Vodafone Mobile TV and make Vodafone Music Downloads. The Nokia 6234 has an internal 6 MB memory to store files of all formats, plus a microsd expansion slot. It also has Bluetooth, Infrared and USB connectivity.

The Nokia 6234 is available in conjunction with a Vodafone customer contract in the Vodafone At Home CombiPackage 250 tariff with 24-month minimum term, one-off connection fee of EUR 25 and low-cost connection charges.

[ Read More | via Phonemag ]