Samsung Glyde

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The Samsung Glyde is available at Verizon Wireless on May 9, 2008. The Glyde features a full QWERTY keyboard and a 2.8” advanced touch screen.

It can be used to send text, picture and video messaging, is compatible with AIM®, MSN®, and Yahoo!® instant messaging programs, is equipped with VZ Navigator and can be used with Bluetooth.

Other features include a calender, speakerphone, speed dialing, M4 hearing aid compatibility, Get it Now and an HTML web browser.

The Samsung Glyde will be sold at Verizon stores in Circuit City and at Verizon Wireless Communication
Stores throughout the United States.

The Glyde will cost $249.99 after a $50.00 mail in rebate and a new two year customer agreement.
Airtime is not included.

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Nokia On Pace To Sell 35 Million GPS Phones In 2008

Yes, the market for cell phones equipped with GPS is growing at a fast rate. Nokia today announced that they will sell 35 million such handsets in 2008.

“We expect to ship about 35 million GPS-enabled Nokia devices in 2008, which is equal to the entire GPS device market in 2007,” CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told the annual shareholders’ meeting.

Nokia’s $8.1 billion acquisition of U.S.-based navigation firm Navteq (NVT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which is still pending regulatory approval in the European Union, is a good deal, Kallasvuo said.

“When we look at it with the eyes we have now, when regarding pedestrian navigation, map services, digital maps, we are even more excited about the opportunities than when making the decision,” Kallasvuo said.

GPS equipped phones are a big part of Nokia’s strategy for growth in North America for 2008. They recently stated that they’ll be offering a lot more models in the U.S. in order to deal with market share erosion that has them at 7% of the market, down from 20% in just a few short years. GPS looks like a solid growth engine for Nokia in 2008.

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Ericsson Kenya And Telekom Kenya To Build Wireless Network

Telekom Kenya and Ericsson Kenya recently announced plans to build a 3G wireless network in East Africa.

Ericsson was hired to build and maintain the network while Telekom Kenya recruits and provides training
to their technical staff.

The project is expected to cost around $145 million dollars to start. Over the next three years Telekom Kenya is planning on investing another $307 million in the project.

The new network is expected to be finished by years end.

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VZ Navigator Version 4 Available On Select Verizon Mobile Phones

Verizon Wireless has just announced the release of their VZ Navigator - Version 4 - an upgraded mobile program that can help consumers save money by avoiding traffic jams and helping them find where the cheapest gas prices are, just to name a few.

At the time of this writing, VZ Navigator is active in about 75 metro areas and offers the following capabilities:

- Traffic Integration – Customers in 75 cities can access routes that are calculated using both historical and real-time reported traffic information. Historical information allows customers to see on average whether the traffic is impacted by traffic lights, heavy traffic or school zones. Incident and flow information tells customers how traffic is flowing and includes details about reported accidents, disabled vehicles and congestion. VZ Navigator’s historical data covers over 750,000 miles of roads in 48 states. The traffic tracking center continually monitors conditions along the customers’ routes, sending proactive alerts to drivers about conditions ahead of them on their chosen routes. Detour options allow users to compare estimated times of arrival and conditions before selecting a new route.
- Local Movies and Events – Customers can now search for show times, critics’ ratings and other details for movies, concerts, plays, sporting events, and other social events based on the physical location of their phones.
- 3D Perspective View – Enhances navigation by displaying maps from angles customers would see through car windshields, making it easier to visualize turn-by-turn directions.
- Gas Finder – Provides customers with information on the location of gas stations close to their physical locations and even provides gas prices as reported by many gas stations in the area. Once a customer selects a station, VZ Navigator can also provide turn-by-turn directions to the selected gas station.
- Weather – Provides current weather conditions and forecasts based on the physical location of the customer’s phone without manually inputting an address.

The VZ Navigator costs $9.99 for unlimited monthly access or $2.99 for one day. VZ Navigator works on mobile phones that have “Get It Now” access. For more information, please visit Verizon Wireless.

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T-Mobile Launches 3G Mobile Service In NYC

T-Mobile is launching 3G service in New York City. The company is using UTMS technology, and will offer 4 available handsets that take advantage of the architecture. The price for the plan varies, depending on which handset you choose.

At the start, data rates will be the same as its slower EDGE service and therefore somewhat indecipherable, since T-Mobile charges widely varying rates–$5.99, $19.99, $39.99 and so on–depending on whether you use a regular phone or different types of smartphone. (Only the wireless-phone industry can come up with so many different ways to charge for the same service of unlimited data access.)

T-Mobile will begin selling phones compatible with a faster flavor of 3G called HSDPA later this year. Henderson said those should yield “an average data rate of 600 kbps with a peak of 1 Mbps.” He also suggested that prices could change at that point, writing that “T-Mobile will continue to evaluate pricing for HSDPA services later this year.”

T-Mobile said this is the first of many such product launches this year as the company rolls out 3G service in more American cities.

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Cell Phones Top South Korean Childrens’ Gift List

The appeal of cell phones has made an impact everywhere.

According to a poll conducted by Yahoo in the Korean language, cell phones top the list of gifts that South Korean children want.

37% of the children polled said that a mobile phone was the best gift.
30% said they preferred a Nintendo Game Console.
9% thought that an MP3 player was the best gift.

If kids have been good, they might even get one for Childrens Day. Traditionally parents
give their children a gift to celebrate.

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Nokia To Offer Many New Cell Phone Models In U.S.

Nokia is in a bid to increase market share in North America. The Finnish company, already the world’s largest make of cell phones, announced they’ll be offering a large variety of new handsets to capture more share of the lucrative North American market.

Nokia has increased its focus on the U.S. market under Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who took over from long-term chief Jorma Ollila in 2006 and committed to spend on average a week each month in North America.

Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted Nokia’s chief designer as saying design cooperation with U.S. operators will soon bear fruit.

“In the next few months (U.S.) operators will carry a lot of new products from us,” Alastair Curtis told the paper.

Nokia now controls just 7% of the North American market, down from as high as 20% just a few years ago. We'll be seeing a barrage of new product announcements in the next few weeks as the company tries to change its' fate in 2009.

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Green Rumor By LG

Want to add a little color to your wireless communications? The Green Rumor by LG is just the phone to add a splash to everyday life.

The green LG Rumor is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, a music player and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Bluetooth technology enables you to connect without the hassle of wires. You can use it to send TXT messages and IM’s, browse the mobile internet, and check Sprint mobile Email.

The Rumor by LG also comes in black. This phone is serviced by Sprint.

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AT&T Pulls Free Wi-Fi Service For iPhones

Not that long ago, AT&T announced plans to offer free wi-fi access to iPhone users in their hotspots
located in Starbucks and Barnes & Noble.

Not soon after the free wi-fi was being dished up, AT&T suddenly canceled this offer. According to reports, internet savvy customers found a way to “spoof” the system with their laptop computers - something AT&T wasn’t offering.

No word on when (or if) they’ll once again offer free wi-fi connectivity at Starbucks, but we’ll keep you posted either way.

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Xperia X1 By Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson recently unveiled their newest mobile phone, the Xperia X1. This phone is meant to compete with Apple’s iPhone with tons of features including web browsing, multimedia capabilities, a wide pitch full QWERTY keyboard and a widescreen VGA display, just to name a few.

The Xperia X1 operates on 3G and has an integrated camera with video recording capabilities, push to send Email, and can be used as an RSS reader. Video calling is another feature that consumers will love.

The Xperia X1 can operate in wi-fi hotspots and can even be used to blog.

This Smartphone is not yet available for sale. We’ll keep you updated with pricing and the release date of the Sony-Ericsson Xperia X1.

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