Mobility Phones - Mobile Phones

Nokia today introduced two new music-enabled devices as additions to its XpressMusic range. The new Nokia 5320 XpressMusic and Nokia 5220 XpressMusic offer a range of affordable music and entertainment experiences with the most fresh, stylish designs on the market. Both music devices are expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008, with an expected retail price range of 160 to 220 EUR, before taxes and subsidies.”Our XpressMusic range of devices continues to deliver the combination of superior music experiences and fresh, innovative designs,” said Jo Harlow, Vice President, LIVE category, Nokia. “Today’s additions to the XpressMusic range up the ante with new ways for consumers to access their media as well as interact and share content with friends and communities anytime, anywhere.”

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic - Dynamic design, 3G social entertainment package

Featuring a dynamic design with 3G social entertainment capabilities, the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic delivers exceptional music and web 2.0 access. With the innovative new voice-controlled Say and Play feature, consumers can merely say the name of a favorite artist or song to automatically play it. Offering an array of additional features, the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic device includes dedicated XpressMusic keys, a 3.5mm audio jack, up to 24 hours of playback time, an audio chip for hi-fi sound quality, extendable memory up to 8GB, HS-USB for fast music transfer and HSDPA for fast access to data.

The full featured Internet browser, access to Ovi and Nokia Search 4.1 allow users to find and share media content and information with ease. In addition, dedicated N-Gage gaming keys and landscape view deliver a true gaming experience, while HSDPA provides fast access to N-Gage, which will be available for download. The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of 220 EUR before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia 5220 XpressMusic - Edgy, unique design, music for the masses

The Nokia 5220 XpressMusic device offers instant access to music on-the-go with a unique, asymmetrical design. Featured for the first time on a Nokia XpressMusic device, a built-in lanyard makes the device easy to carry anywhere. Additional features of the Nokia 5220 XpressMusic include up to 24 hours playback time, dedicated XpressMusic keys and a 3.5mm audio jack. The Nokia 5220 XpressMusic is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008 with an estimated retail price of 160 EUR before taxes and subsidies.

Both handsets are compatible with the recently launched Nokia Music Store and offer easy music side-loading. With Nokia Music Store, consumers can choose from more than 2 million tracks from both major and independent labels; international and local artists and simply browse, download, stream and sync either to a PC or side-load directly to a mobile device.

Nokia Mini Speakers MD-8 - Powerful, portable sound

Complementing the new Nokia XpressMusic devices, Nokia also announced today the Nokia Mini Speakers MD-8. With a sleek, pocket-sized design and crisp stereo sound, these ultra-portable mini speakers feature battery power for playtime of up to 40 hours, an FM antenna to fine-tune frequency, and a tangle-free cable. Widely compatible, the Nokia Mini Speakers MD-8 will begin shipping in the second quarter of 2008.

Go from turning heads to turn-by-turn directions. AT&T Inc. and Motorola Inc. announced today at CTIA Wireless 2008 that the MOTO Z9 slider handset, which is exclusive to AT&T in the U.S., will put customers on the right path in style. MOTO Z9 will be the first phone to include AT&T Navigator, bringing the company’s Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation service to an even greater number of AT&T customers.Motorola’s award-winning CrystalTalk technology also delivers voice quality to match MOTO Z9’s design. The proprietary technology enables consumers to be heard even in noisy environments, so users sound as good as MOTO Z9 looks.

MOTO Z9’s sleek slider design demands attention, and AT&T’s third-generation (3G) wireless network allows it to be as fast as it looks. Available in more than 265 markets, 3G service from AT&T gives MOTO Z9 blazing-fast data speeds, enabling the coolest new services like Video Share,1 which allows users with compatible phones such as MOTO Z9 to send live one-way video and audio from one user to another.

Consumers can use the device’s intuitive music features to find their favorite tunes and playlists and can enjoy one-touch access to a song they want to hear. AT&T Mobile Music1 provides fast access to downloadable music from eMusic and sideloading compatibility from Napster To Go and any unrestricted MP3 audio file. The device supports up to 8GB of memory, with an optional removable microSD card. Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, a lightning-fast Opera 8 browser and 2.0-megapixel camera round out MOTO Z9’s robust multimedia offerings.

MOTO Z9 is now available. It’s exclusively sold at AT&T company-owned stores, authorized dealers and http://wireless.att.com for $249.99 after a two-year service agreement. For more information, specifications and images of MOTO Z9, please visit http://www.att.com/mobilehandsets-news or http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter.

The Samsung Soul(TM) is the completion of the Samsung’s renowned Ultra Edition line of handsets, demonstrating Samsung’s leadership in both technology and design. Continuing in the line of the Ultra Edition’s minimalistic, slim design, the Soul has a full metal body with a premium finish and 12.9mm-thin form factor. Beautiful and functional, the Soul enhances usability for the user with features that adapt to the user depending on the application. With Magical Touch by DaCP, navigation indicators on the keypad of the phone change according to the user’s needs, making navigation of the menus simple and intuitive. The Soul is also equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR), as well as a new series of graphic interfaces that provide three different options for users.Samsung and German sportswear giant adidas have teamed up to launch the miCoach phone, the world’s first true sports music mobile phone. Designed for people with an active lifestyle, the miCoach allows users to enjoy music and other multimedia functions while they work out. The miCoach provides a comprehensive on-the-go personal training system fully equipped with a stride sensor and heart rate monitor, as well as training tips and time updates. The personal coach advises the user and provides instant updates during the workout, including time, heart rate, distance, speed and calories burned. The miCoach combines cutting-edge technology and an advanced interactive sport training system with multimedia features for the active mobile user.

Among Samsung’s line up of global handsets on display at CTIA, the F480 is a slim, sleek handset featuring a full touch screen. The F480 is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus, power LED image and video stabilization, multi-format audio and video, FM radio with RDS, video messaging, e-mail, mobile tracker and mobile blog.

The Samsung F400 is a music-centric handset that offers premium sound quality and features an ICEpower amplifier developed by Bang & Olufsen, as well as a specially designed music navigation key. The F400 slider also features impressive hi-fi loud speakers located beneath the dual slide design.

G810 is the perfect device for users that desire multimedia services without compromising mobility and portability. The G810 is a Symbian v9.2 edition handset with WiFi connectivity, multi-format audio and video support, GPS navigation, geo-tagging support and 5-megapixel camera with auto focus, optical 3x inner zoom and Xenon flash.

Verizon Wireless and MTV Networks (MTVN), a unit of Viacom announced the launch of mobile Web sites for MTV, VH1, COMEDY CENTRAL, Nickelodeon, and CMT on Verizon Wireless’ Mobile Web 2.0(SM) service.The MTVN mobile Web sites include:

– MTV offering up-to-the-minute MTV News, show information, and music, featuring bios and more of today’s hottest artists and a dedicated Street Team ‘08 area, featuring blog posts from the 51 citizen journalists covering the 2008 election as part of the Choose or Lose initiative;

– VH1 featuring the “Best Week Ever” Blog, the VH1 Blog, celebrity photo flipbooks, music and artist features, and VH1 News commentary;

– COMEDY CENTRAL with a “Joke of the Day,” a “What’s Your Sign” horoscope and a section dedicated to the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series “South Park”;

– Nickelodeon featuring kid-oriented content including pictures, flipbooks, polls, and games including: a TEENick “Who is It” picture game and a SpongeBob SquarePants personality quiz; and

– CMT with news updates and show information that allow country music fans to stay connected to CMT’s great heartland programming.

In addition to the newly launched WAP sites, Verizon Wireless offers V CAST Video channels for MTVN’s MTV, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, VH1, CMT, Logo, Spike, MTV Tr3s, and Atom Films. Verizon Wireless’ V CAST Video channels join its stable of live streaming channels available on V CAST Mobile TV, including MTV, COMEDY CENTRAL, Nickelodeon, and MTV Tr3s as announced earlier today.

Mobile Web 2.0 can be self-provisioned, eliminating the need for customers to call customer service or visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store to sign up for the service. Customers simply register for Mobile Web 2.0 on their Mobile Web 2.0-capable handsets by visiting the News and Info category under the Get It Now menu on their phones.

Unlimited Mobile Web 2.0 usage is included with a $15 monthly V CAST VPak subscription, which also includes access to V CAST Video, V CAST Music and Get It Now applications. Alternatively, customers can access Mobile Web for free with a Nationwide Plan but will incur usage charges of $1.99 per megabyte. As an example, 50 Mobile Web 2.0 pages equal approximately 0.6 megabytes. Customers should view their customer agreements or see a Verizon Wireless customer service representative for additional details as legacy plans may vary.

AT&T Inc. and MediaFLO USA Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated announced the launch of AT&T Mobile TV with FLO, a mobile television service featuring high quality live programming. The mobile TV service will launch in May 2008 on two new exclusive handsets, the LG Vu(TM) and the Samsung Access(TM). AT&T Mobile TV will also feature two exclusive channels, which will be announced soon.AT&T Mobile TV will deliver full-length television content and sporting events from top networks, including programming from leading entertainment brands CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon.

“AT&T Mobile TV is a powerful new mobile entertainment offering, which will give our customers a formidable lineup of sports, news and primetime shows, including two channels exclusive available to AT&T customers,” said Mark Collins, vice president of Consumer Data for AT&T’s wireless unit. “We are thrilled to team with MediaFLO USA to offer our customers an unmatched mobile entertainment experience that is changing the way we all look at TV.”

“By making the FLO TV service available to AT&T customers, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, MediaFLO USA continues to expand our award winning FLO TV service to consumers across the country,” said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFLO USA. “We look forward to working closely with AT&T to continue the momentum of making mobile TV a staple for more consumers.”

The AT&T Mobile TV service will be launched on two stylish devices: the Vu from LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A. Inc. (LG), and the Access from and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung).

– LG Vu: A sleek and stunning device, the Vu gives you a clear view of TV, Web, pictures or videos on its large interactive touch screen. It also lets you get the utmost in mobile entertainment with a music player, 2.0 megapixel camera and Bluetooth capabilities. — Samsung Access: This stylish handset features a large landscape display, ideal for delivering a rich viewing experience and an internal antenna for exceptional reception. It’s a great device for customers who are looking for advanced multimedia capabilities such as a camera, external stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, AT&T Music, CV, of course, AT&T Mobile TV.

More details on AT&T’s soon-to-be-launched mobile TV service from MediaFLO USA and the company’s exclusive handsets from LG and Samsung will be available soon.

TELUS announced that it will be the first Canadian carrier to bring the next generation of the cell phone interface to life with the LG VENUS touchscreen phone. The LG Venus is the first in a series of LG Electronics touch screen phones TELUS will bring to Canadians this year. Touch screen user interfaces are typically reserved for high-end entertainment and productivity tools such as Smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) and this marks the first time that Canadians will be able to own a touch screen phone.”Today’s cell phones are incredibly powerful communications and entertainment devices. To better utilize the capabilities of these devices, we believe the touchscreen interface is the future,” said Rizwan Jamal, senior vice-president of TELUS Consumer Solutions. “We are very excited to introduce the LG VENUS, the first of the LG Touch series. The LG VENUS will be followed by additional touchscreen phones later in the year to help keep our customers entertained and connected whenever they want, wherever they are.”

“LG is excited to launch our LG VENUS Touch phone in Canada with TELUS. Canadians looking for style and state-of-the-art technology will love this phone,” said, Andrew Barrett, vice-president of Marketing, LG Electronics Canada. “With the release of the LG VENUS, Canadians will be able to experience touch technology while they listen to their favourite songs and view videos, all packaged in a very attractive two-screen design.”

Designed to impress, the LG Touch series has everything to satisfy Canadian appetites for style and entertainment. The LG VENUS is the first of the LG Touch series available this year from TELUS and is the only LG Touch phone that features dual LCD screens and intuitive touchscreen navigation. The LG VENUS is the perfect accessory for fashion conscious consumers on the prowl for the latest must-have phone.

The touchscreen user interface represents the biggest innovation in the cell phone user interface in years. The touchscreen simplifies the traditional phone keypad by eliminating up to a dozen keys that were previously used for navigating the menus of traditional cell phones. To further simplify the user interface, the touchscreen interface only displays user options that are relevant to the task.

The LG Touch series will support a wide range of entertainment services including TELUS mobile music, TELUS Mobile Radio, TELUS Mobile TV and TELUS Navigator.

The LG VENUS from TELUS is expected to be available by mid-April in black with silver trim, with a pink version available later in the spring. For more information about the LG VENUS from TELUS, please visit: www.telus.com

The ever-growing world of mobile music just got bigger. AT&T Inc. announced today the immediate availability of two new music applications — mSpot’s Make-UR-Tones and Remix — and plans to significantly expand offerings for Napster Mobile(TM) over-the-air downloads. Make-UR-Tones allows customers to customize ringtones by using their mobile phone, and the Remix application gives customers access to their PC-based music collections directly from their phone. The result for mobile music lovers is more freedom to listen to the songs they want, when they want, on their AT&T mobile phone.mSpot Make-UR-Tones

With today’s launch of mSpot Make-UR-Tones, AT&T — the exclusive provider of the application — becomes the first national carrier to allow customers to easily use their wireless phone to create a ringtone from their favorite part of a song. The Make-UR-Tones application is designed to give users the flexibility to customize a one- to 30-second ringtone from a full song. AT&T’s Make-UR-Tones subscribers can enjoy exclusive access to more than 250,000 titles from music labels EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, INgrooves and IRIS.

“We are thrilled to work with AT&T to harness the power of the mobile platform to further enrich the musical experience for consumers,” said Amanda Marks, executive vice president and general manager of Digital, Universal Music Group Distribution. “Universal is committed to embracing technologies that are transforming the media landscape, and dynamic and compelling new personalization products, such as those from AT&T, allow us to creatively empower fans while respecting the rights of music creators.”

“mSpot’s collaboration with AT&T and music labels enable us to offer AT&T mobile customers access to the largest ringtone catalog in North America,” said Daren Tsui, CEO of mSpot. “Make-UR-Tones and other mSpot services bring personalized, seamless music experiences to the mobile phone.”

To use the application, AT&T customers simply download mSpot’s Make-UR-Tones from the AT&T MEdia Mall on their mobile phone, use the advanced search engine to select a song and then cut the part of the song they want to customize as their ringtone, up to 30 seconds, by using the application’s easy-to-use waveform editor. Make-UR-Tones lets users listen to the song while it’s being edited and preview the ringtone before downloading a copy to their phones.

The mSpot Make-UR-Tones is available for a monthly subscription of $6.99 for three ringtones. Additional customized ringtones can be purchased on an a la carte basis for $2.99. Make-UR-Tones is currently available for download on the Samsung SYNC, Samsung A737, Samsung A747 and the Motorola V3xx and will expand to additional phones in the near future.

mSpot Remix

AT&T is now offering a music-on-demand application for customers who want the ability to access and enjoy their PC-based music libraries from their mobile phone. Available today, mSpot Remix is the newest music application from AT&T Mobile Music and is available from AT&T MEdia Mall.

The mSpot Remix mobile player connects with a PC over the AT&T network, providing access to stored songs and playlists. When a customer hits Play from the mSpot Remix mobile player, Remix immediately starts playing the song from the PC while downloading the entire track in the background. Remix then saves the song to the phone’s memory card, so the customer has access to the song even when not connected to the network.

The mSpot Remix service is available for a monthly subscription of $9.99, which allows users to download 75 songs a month. AT&T also will offer a Remix booster pack for $2.99, which provides an additional 10 songs. Remix is compatible with the Samsung SYNC, the Samsung A737 and the LG SHINE.

“Kangxi Live Show — 2008 Thankful Heart in Loving House — Shanghai Concert” was held at Shanghai Stadium on Mar. 15, 2008. This concert was hosted by Taiwan’s popular TV hosts Dee Hsu (aka “Little S”) and Kevin Tsai, and features performances by up-and- coming young artists, such as Jolin Tsai, Alan Luo and Rainie Yang. Sponsored by Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD - News), Amoi Electronics (stock code: 600057), and Kuro, the concert attracted numerous fans not only for the hot program “Kangxi Live Show” and the performing artists from Taiwan, but also for the new experience of “Mobile Music Everywhere.”Commemorative cards were presented at the “Kangxi Live Show” event and were special gifts that Kuro prepared for the Concert, which give people free membership to Kuro’s website and allow them to download 250 copyrighted songs from its huge database. People may then download these copyrighted songs to Amoi’s mobile phones, equipped with Spreadtrum’s chips, and enjoy them “anywhere, anytime.”

Dr. Ping Wu, President and CEO of Spreadtrum said, “This concert is another promotion focused on our theme of enabling ‘Mobile Music Everywhere’ and follows the joint launch in January by Spreadtrum, Amoi and Kuro of China’s first solution for music phones offering copyrighted music downloaded to the handset. By leveraging our advanced technology and innovation thinking in wireless communication, multi-media mobile chips, and customized software Spreadtrum was able to build a stable hardware platform for digital mobile music service in China and pioneer the concept of ‘Mobile Music Everywhere’.”

As a major manufacturer of mobile phones in China, Amoi is committed to bringing consumers a richer product experience. For many years, its music phones, GPS phones, and smart phone series have taken consumer requirements into account, with an added focus on differentiated experience and interactive marketing. Consequently, Amoi has succeeded in several segments of the market and gained much praise for its innovations. Now, Amoi continues that differentiated product roadmap by joining with Spreadtrum and Kuro, to integrate the whole food chain of chipsets, terminals and service, into 2008’s first key mobile terminal product — the karaoke music phone series. Besides the new music experience, Amoi will reinforce this interactive music experience with consumers through participating in more entertainment activities such as live show.

“Mobile Music Everywhere” is an integrated music service concept created by Spreadtrum and is designed for the growing number of music mobile phones used by consumers in China. Different from the other current modes of music service in China, “Mobile Music Everywhere” utilizes the convergence of the ‘4Cs’ — Communication, Chip, Content and Copyright to promote China’s music phones and copyright protected music. In January of this year, Amoi unveiled its new portable karaoke music phones, the A616 and A636, as China’s first solution for music phones offering copyrighted music, with Spreadtrum chips enabling both models. The concert highlights a new music service mode for handsets, which are based on Spreadtrum’s chips, carried by Amoi’s portable karaoke music handsets and embedded with Kuro’s service. In this service mode, the powerful chip developed by Spreadtrum enables decoding digital music, displaying photographs of celebrities and synchronizing lyrics. We can say with proud that Spreadtrum’s chip is the key to “Mobile Music Everywhere.” And Amoi’s portable karaoke music phones equipped with Spreadtrum’s chip bestow unique musical experience on users.

Spreadtrum believes that people will be able to enjoy mobile music anytime, anywhere in the near future. Spreadtrum, Amoi and Kuro will commit themselves to this project to help bring handset consumers richer musical experiences in China.

A new report from Juniper Research has found that the combination of greater 3G adoption and a marked increase in rich media, made-for-mobile content will drive mobile entertainment revenues to $47.5 billion by 2010.However, the Juniper report cautions that entertainment service adoption will be retarded unless improvements are made in areas such as the user interface, network coverage and the excessive cost of data services. It also notes that in some mobile areas — such as gambling, adult content and some social networking services — national and international legislation could either adversely impact on growth, or in some cases prevent any service deployment.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “Traditionally, services such as ringtones and wallpapers accounted for the bulk of mobile entertainment services. However, usage patterns are changing rapidly with the increasing availability of more sophisticated and attractive content such as streamed and broadcast video, social networking services and multiplayer games, which have been designed specifically for the mobile environment.”

Additionally the Juniper report finds that the China and Far East region currently provides the largest market for Mobile Entertainment services and contributes around 41% of global revenues. Despite rapid growth in developing markets, the Asia Pacific region is forecast to retain its leadership through to 2012, when it will still contribute 33% of global revenues.

Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of mobile entertainment market based on interviews, case studies and analysis from representatives of some of the leading organisations in the growing mobile entertainment industry.

Sprint announced that it is offering the industry’s first EV-DO Rev. A-capable handset as part of a software upgrade available for the Mogul by HTC. Introduced in June 2007, the Mogul is a Windows Mobile device operating on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network and is packed with advanced wireless capabilities to keep users productive and connected for personal and professional reasons — all at SprintSpeed. The new software ROM and downloading instructions are available at www.america.htc.com/mogulupdate.EV-DO Rev. A technology supports faster data rates and higher system capacity enabling users to send and receive large amounts of data at broadband speeds (speeds comparable to basic DSL). Wherever EV-DO Rev. A coverage is available, average download speeds will increase from 400-700 Kbps to 600 Kbps-1.4 Mbps and average upload speeds will increase from 50-70 Kbps to 350-500 Kbps. These increased data speeds provide customers the instant gratification of quickly downloading large e-mail files on their phone while in a taxi cab, finishing and sending the sales report before their plane takes off and wirelessly downloading music to listen to directly from a Sprint handset. Because Sprint embraces an open approach to mobile Web access, customers may access the Web sites of their choice and download third party applications to enjoy anytime, anywhere. The Sprint Mobile Broadband Network (inclusive of data roaming) reaches more than 234 million people, 13,453 cities and 1,321 airports, with the vast majority upgraded to the faster EV-DO Rev. A technology.

Besides enabling increased data speeds for e-mail, Web, document management and other tasks, the free software download also provides advanced GPS functionality allowing support of popular applications such as Sprint Navigation. Sprint Navigation provides audio and visual turn-by-turn directions, more than 10 million local listings, and one-click traffic rerouting on compatible phones, similar to an in-vehicle GPS system.

“The Mogul by HTC now delivers the full power of the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network from the convenience of a handset, giving our customers a speed and capacity advantage unavailable anywhere else in the marketplace,” said Danny Bowman, vice president of customer equipment for Sprint. “Besides accessing core capabilities like calendar management, contact lists, personal and corporate email, and viewing documents, customers can use the benefits of SprintSpeed to stay connected, informed and entertained at anytime.”

The enhanced capabilities of the Mogul combined with Sprint’s recently launched $99.99 Simply Everything pricing plan delivers undeniable value to Sprint customers. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan offers customers unlimited voice and data and is available for any Sprint or Nextel Direct Connect handset. Pricing complexity and concerns about overage charges are virtually eliminated letting customers think more about how they can use their wireless device for work and play and less about their bill. For families, Simply Everything includes an incremental $5 discount for each incremental line, up to five lines on the same bill. For example, two lines would amount to $194.98 ($99.99 + $94.99); a third line would cost an additional $89.99. This is in sharp contrast to the multi-line savings offered by some other carriers. Existing Sprint customers can switch to the “Simply Everything” plan without extending their current contract. New line activations require a two-year agreement.

The Mogul continues to be a premium Windows Mobile device in the Sprint device portfolio replicating the familiar Windows PC-based experience and utilizing the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition to deliver key benefits including increased security and added support for HTML email and Microsoft Office Mobile. Other key features include:

* Innovative design with slide-out QWERTY keyboard, large touch screen, a thumbwheel and five-way navigation button.

* Support for Sprint applications including Sprint Music Store and OnDemand.

* ActiveSync software allowing fast and accurate synching of Outlook Mobile applications included on the device such as e-mail, calendar, task lists and contacts.

* Phone as Modem capabilities to use the phone as a wireless modem with a laptop.

* A 2-megapixel camera with flash, auto-focus and camcorder capabilities.

* Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology.

The Mogul by HTC is available in Sprint Stores, online at www.sprint.com and in Sprint business sales channels for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and a $100 mail-in-rebate.

Garmin International Inc. today announced the nuvi 900T, a personal navigation device (PND) that combines cutting edge navigation features with DVB-H mobile television. The device is being co-branded with wireless carrier 3 Italia — the Hutchison Whampoa Group’s Mobile Media Company — and will be available exclusively in Italy.”The nuvi 900T is the ultimate device for those who want to mix business with pleasure,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales. “The new nuvi 900T can play live, streaming digital television and music files. But at its core, the device remains a robust and full-featured navigation device that’s straightforward enough for anyone to use.”

Using the DVB-H format, video TV content is provided exclusively by La3 TV, the Mobile Digital TV provider of 3 Italia. Each unit comes with a six-month free subscription to La3 TV content as well as access to pay per view offerings. 3 Italia launched La3 TV — the first Mobile Digital TV based on DVB-H technology in the world, broadcasting the entire FIFA World Cup 2006 on a mobile exclusive basis in Italy. 3 Italia’s Digital Mobile TV customers can watch news, sports, movies and entertainment content through an array of digital channels, including Sky, Mediaset, Rai and the “in-house” produced channels La3 Live and La3 Sport.

The nuvi 900T features a bright, 4.3-inch WQVGA color touchscreen display, and can serve as a brilliant picture viewer (with photo navigation capability) and has optional travel guide features as well. Users can also play MP3 audio files, audio books from Audible.com, and pre-loaded games. The nuvi 900T boasts front-firing stereo speakers and a removable lithium-ion battery.

For hands-free phone calls, the nuvi 900T can be paired with compatible phones using Bluetooth wireless technology. Users can find and dial phone numbers (specifically supported phones can even access their history log of received, missed and dialed calls) or nuvi’s points of interest database (hotels, restaurants, stores and more).

The nuvi 900T also includes Garmin Locate(TM), which answers age-old questions of a driver’s current location or the location of his vehicle in a crowded parking lot. At any time, with a single tap of the screen, drivers can display their exact latitude and longitude coordinates, the nearest address and intersection, and the closest hospitals, police stations and gas stations. Additionally, the unit automatically marks its last known position every time it is removed from the mount.

Negotiating busy highways with the nuvi 900T is easy, thanks to a lifetime traffic subscription that helps drivers avoid gridlock and adjust routes accordingly. The nuvi 900T is also pre-loaded with safety camera data that can be updated free of charge for 30 days.

The nuvi 900T comes pre-programmed with highly detailed road maps of Europe. At startup, users are presented with Garmin’s intuitive “Where To?” and “View Map” welcome screen, allowing for quick searches of addresses or millions of points of interest like restaurants, hotels, attractions, gas stations, and more. Turn-by-turn, voice-prompted directions guide drivers to

their destination, announcing streets by name along the way. If they miss a turn, nuvi automatically recalculates a route and gets them back on track.

The nuvi 900T will be available exclusively in Italy in July 2008. Visit http://www.garmin.com for more information and pricing.

Today, at CeBIT 2008, T-Mobile and Nokia announced the Nokia 6650, a stylish and easy to use device optimized for use with T-Mobile services. Available exclusively for T-Mobile International customers, the Nokia 6650 is equipped with the latest wireless features, such as an integrated GPS and multimedia player, allowing T-Mobile customers easy access to a wide range of services such as web’n'walk, MyFaves, Mobile Jukebox and NaviGate.The Nokia 6650 will be available from T-Mobile during the third quarter at T-Mobile sales points across Europe at a very attractive price. In Germany for example, the Nokia 6650 will retail for just 1 euro together with the Relax 100 rate.

The Nokia 6650 - exclusive multimedia device

The stylish, stainless-steel clad fold design is equipped with state-of-the-art multimedia features and supports T-Mobile’s services such as web’n'walk, a service that allows easy access to the Internet on mobile devices. High-speed HSDPA data connectibity enables fast web browsing and downloading while the 2.2″ TFT QVGA color display can display up to 16 million colours, making browsing and viewing photos, videos and menus a pleasure. T-Mobile service My Faves keeps you in touch with the people that matter the most while benefiting from the device’s extensive talk time. Mobile Jukebox users will appreciate the dedicated keys for the music player. Furthermore, the Nokia 6650 has built-in AGPS (assisted GPS) to enable quick positioning with NaviGate route management.

The Nokia 6650 comes with a 2 megapixel camera with flash, 30 MB of internal memory and a micro SD card slot, FM radio and many other features. Images and videos can be uploaded to the web, sent from phone to phone via a wireless Bluetooth connection, or viewed in full color on the device’s large display.

Boost Mobile(tm), a lifestyle-based telecommunications brand and wholly-owned division of Sprint Nextel, today announced that it has added the MOTOKRZR phone to its Unlimited by Boost service handset offering. The Boost-branded Motorola phone is available in black with a reflective finish, and includes the first month of service free of charge with new service activation on Unlimited by Boost.The Boost-branded MOTOKRZR handset features an MP3 Music Player with Touch Sensor Music Controls, 1.3 Megapixel Camera with 4X Digital Zoom and Video Recorder, Bluetooth wireless technology, GPS, Text and Multi-Media Messaging, Wireless Web and Email capabilities, access to AOL, Yahoo! and MSN Instant Messaging, Hands-Free Speakerphone with Voice-Activated Dialing and Voice Recorder, MicroSD Card slot for optional upgradeable memory, Bright Color TFT Internal Display and Java enabled games and applications.

The phone also includes — The Latest, a new pre-loaded service that provides fast and convenient access to the most useful and local information throughout the day. Basic channels include breaking news, sports news and scores, stock market updates, showbiz and weather information. Premium channels provide street level maps and driving directions, Oxford American Dictionary with over 250,000 definitions and Unlimited Directory (411) search. For a limited time, The Latest is being offered for free for the first seven days. Following the 7-day promotional offer, a basic channel subscription will cost $2.99 per month and $4.99 per month for a premium channel subscription.

“Now is the perfect time for us to introduce the popular MOTOKRZR to our Unlimited by Boost handset lineup,” said Neil Lindsay, vice president of product development, Boost Mobile. “We doubled our base from 224,000 to 500,000 Unlimited by Boost customers in Q4 alone, and introducing this feature-rich handset will help us keep the momentum going.”

Currently available in 13 states including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, Unlimited by Boost offers unlimited local and nationwide long distance calling from within a large home calling area for a low fixed monthly price. The monthly service fee excludes applicable taxes, including sales taxes, and customers making or receiving calls outside of their home calling area are charged 15 cents per minute. As with all service plans available from Boost Mobile, there are no contracts, credit checks or activation fees.

Sprint announced it will launch a domestic unlimited pricing plan that gives customers unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, Sprint TVSM, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for $99.99 a month. The new pricing plan is available to existing and new customers beginning Friday, February 29.”This is a bold, unprecedented move,” said Dan Hesse, president and CEO, Sprint Nextel. “Wireless today is about much more than just voice. It is about data services — texting, email, video, pictures, music, navigation, surfing the Web and more. Customers want these applications, but without complexity and without having to worry about their bill. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan delivers it all right to the palm of their hand now.

“Today’s handsets are powerful data devices. Each day they get better, faster and easier to use with more intuitive user interface designs and full Internet access. Our high-speed networks were built with this in mind and it’s where we believe the battleground lies — offering fast access to the best content and data services. We are removing the barriers for customers to feel free to use all of the features of their phones.”

The $99.99 Simply Everything plan is available to customers on both Sprint’s CDMA and iDEN networks. Existing Sprint customers can switch to the Simply Everything plan without extending their current contract either by contacting Sprint customer service or by stopping by any participating Sprint retail location. New line activations require a two-year agreement.

For families, Simply Everything includes an incremental $5 discount for each incremental line, up to five lines on the same bill. For example, two lines would amount to $194.98 ($99.99 + $94.99); a third line would cost an additional $89.99. This is in sharp contrast to the multi-line unlimited rates offered by some competitors. The Sprint plan offers significant savings the more lines a customer adds.

The move to unlimited pricing that includes data signifies a turning point for the wireless industry. Nationally accepted measures of voice quality now show very little, if any, difference among the top wireless providers.

“All major carriers have good voice networks,” Hesse said. “Our network is about more than voice and more than just being the largest wireless data network. It is about allowing customers to connect with people, information and entertainment. It is about simplicity, usability and real value. The $99.99 Simply Everything plan eliminates overage surprises and provides a worry-free environment.

“Our investments in innovation and speed are becoming the new areas of differentiation. These are the areas where we perform best and where we can deliver a wireless advantage for our customers.”

Researchers today unveiled a prototype technology that could bring massive amounts of bandwidth in an energy efficient way to all kinds of machines — from supercomputers to cell phones — that could revolutionize the way people access, use and share information across many different applications.The new technology uses light instead of wires to send information and could allow, for example, the transmission of 8 trillion bits (terabits) per second of information — equivalent to about 5,000 high-definition video streams — using the power of a single 100-watt lightbulb.

This kind of bandwidth can drive energy efficiencies inside of datacenters and speed the sharing of large datasets, whether it’s scientists crunching data to discover new drugs and forecast the weather, people sharing high-definition movies between devices and friends, doctors sending high-definition medical images to a specialist in seconds for diagnoses while patient is in office, or bringing the power of high-definition to mobile phones.

Consistent with green computing initiatives, the new optical technology could save massive amounts of power in supercomputers. For a typical 100 meter long link, the power consumed by the optical technology is 100 times less than today’s electrical interconnects, and offers a power savings of 10 times over current commercial optical modules.

This prototype “green optical link” is designed to meet the bandwidth requirements for peta- and exa-flop supercomputing, marking a significant leap from related work unveiled by the same research team a year ago. The new technology puts optical chips and optical data buses in a single package with standard components.

“Last year we unveiled an optical transceiver chip-set that could transmit a high-definition movie in under a second using highly customized optical components and processes,” said IBM Researcher Clint Schow, part of the team that built the prototype. “Just a year later, we’ve now connected those high speed chips through printed circuit boards with dense integrated optical ‘wiring.’ Now we have built an even faster transceiver and have moved the optical components away from custom devices to more standard parts procured from a volume manufacturer, taking an important step toward commercializing the technology.”

The applications for this technology range from cell phones to supercomputers and span industries from consumer electronics to healthcare, including:

– High-definition content everywhere: As high-definition video becomes more widespread, this technology will enable widespread HD video sharing and video on-demand by dramatically increasing the bandwidth of video servers. Web-serving sites that host videos could use the technology to access libraries with millions of high-definition movies and video clips in seconds, speeding up access for users. By incorporating an optical data port in laptops, HD video recorders, personal mp3 and video players, cell phones, or PDAs, HD video content could be stored and displayed on high-resolution external screens.

– Patient Care: Physicians and researchers could send high-definition images such as MRIs, heart scans which are huge files, for real-time analysis and 3-D visualization.

– Consumer electronics: “Scaled-down” versions of the optical interconnect technology may find applications in a range of consumer products. For example, in cell phones, one chip could sit in the base of the phone and the other could sit in the display, allowing for very large files, even high-definition content move from one to the other. The advantage is that by using optics instead of wires, the display can be flipped up and down or moved from side-to-side without being impeded by electrical wires.

– Massive Bandwidth for Supercomputing: The improved bandwidth of data interconnects will enable massively parallel supercomputers to have a profound impact in many fields: offering improved molecular dynamics calculations, accelerating drug discoveries, providing accurate weather/climate modeling, as well advancing our understanding of sub-nuclear physics such as quantum chromodynamics.

The prototype that the IBM scientists revealed today is the world’s fastest and most integrated optical data bus that could lead to connecting an unprecedented number of high-performance computers to work as a single system.

TECH SPECS BEHIND IBM’s GREEN OPTICAL NETWORK TECHNOLOGY

The optically-enabled circuit boards, or “Optocards,” employ an array of low-loss polymer optical waveguides to conduct light between transmitters and receivers. The complete databus constructed with these Optocards not only incorporates a large number of high-speed channels, but also closely packs them to achieve unprecedented density: each waveguide channel is smaller in size than a human hair. The packaging approach for the complete system is unique in that it utilizes hybrid chip integration to produce a highly integrated optical module, or “Optochip.”

The Optochip is a multi-component 3-D assembly, that is constructed with conventional surface mount solder processes similar to those currently used in the mass-production of electrical chips. The 10 Gb/channel databus is the first ever demonstration of an integrated module-to-module, 32-channel optical datalink on a printed circuit board. The need for high-bandwidth photonic communications between chips or modules has been discussed in technical literature for more than a decade, and various small pieces of the technology have been shown. IBM has assembled a fully functional and integrated solution, significantly advancing the field of chip-level optical interconnects. By proving the viability of high-density parallel optics, IBM has accelerated the prospect of real-world deployment of practical, high-capacity interconnects between chips.

In addition to the optical data bus, IBM also has developed a parallel optical transceiver module with a higher number of channels and an increased speed of operation: 24 transmitters and 24 receivers that each operate at 12.5 Gb/s. The resulting total bi-directional data transfer rate is an unprecedented 300 Gb/s, nearly doubling the performance of the earlier generation. Compared to current commercial optical modules the transceiver provides 10x greater bandwidth in 1/10 the volume while consuming comparable power. To enable low-cost volume production, the new transceiver uses standard 850-nm vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), high-speed versions of the inexpensive devices found in many computer mice. By focusing on innovative packaging of low-cost and low-power technologies such as VCSELs and CMOS chips, IBM Research is paving the way to the widespread adoption of optical communications.

Alltel Wireless announced it will offer Voicemail MAX(TM), an application which enables customers to personalize outgoing voicemail greetings with the voices of Hollywood stars, comedians, celebrity impersonators, and top-selling music artists. Developed by 9 Squared, a Zed Company and leading provider of mobile content in the U.S., Voicemail MAX features content from Larry the Cable Guy, Steve Harvey, Orlando Jones, T.I., and popular voices from COMEDY CENTRAL’S “RENO 911!”"With Voicemail MAX from Alltel Wireless, our customers now have a fun way to personalize their wireless service,” said Kristi Crum, director of multi-media content for Alltel Wireless. “With hundreds of messages to choose from, customers can select voicemail greetings that match their personalities for incoming calls from friends, family and colleagues.”

Voicemail MAX is available on select phones and provides access to over 500 audio clips recorded by premier voice talent. The application is available for download and preview at no additional cost via the phone’s main menu. One greeting may be purchased for $2.99, and customers can choose from a wide variety of content categories including Hip Hop Celebrities, Rock Stars, Sports, Business, Holiday, Cartoon, and many others.

“Voicemail MAX establishes a new category for mobile personalization. Our unique content from providers like Warner Music Group and MTV Networks allows Alltel Wireless subscribers to customize their voicemail greetings with entertaining clips from the worlds of comedy, music and pop culture,” said Brian Casazza, Chief Executive Officer for 9 Squared. “We are pleased to team with Alltel Wireless, a leading provider of cutting-edge, fun and engaging solutions for their subscribers.”

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users surpassed 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16 per cent increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile phone sales at the end of the year were consistent with the yearly trend, as fourth quarter sales reached 330 million units.”Emerging markets, especially China and India, provided much of the growth as many people bought their first phone,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. “In mature markets, such as Japan and Western Europe, consumers’ appetite for feature-laden phones was met with new models packed with TV tuners, global positioning satellite (GPS) functions, touch screens and high-resolution cameras.”

“After another strong year, we expect the growth in sales of mobile devices to end users will decelerate in 2008 and fall to about 10 per cent growth as mature markets become more saturated,” added Ms Milanesi. “However, the global mobile devices market will remain relatively immune to a recession in the US and Western European economies as the majority of growth in 2008 will come from emerging markets. The mature Western Europe and North America markets are driven by operator contract terms and replacement cycles and will account for just 30 per cent of the global mobile devices market in 2008.”

Nokia achieved its long-term target of 40 per cent market share in the fourth quarter of 2007 when it sold slightly more than 133 million phones across the world. Despite some component shortages, Nokia increased its market share sequentially in all regions except North America, which remains a challenging market for the vendor. In emerging markets, products such as the 1110, the 1600 and the 2630 were in demand by consumers, while in mature markets such as Western Europe high-end phones like the N95, N82 and N73 were sought-after devices. In 2008, Nokia will need to continue to improve its portfolio, offering not only more applications and functions, but also novel designs and improved user interfaces.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Samsung maintained second position, and although its market share slipped slightly, the gap widened between it and third-placed Motorola. Its success relied on its Ultra and Ultra II family of products. In 2008, Samsung needs to diversify its portfolio further with more form factors and colours so that single products stand out from the overall line-up.

The problems that beset Motorola in the third quarter of 2007 continued through the fourth quarter, and it recorded sales of 39 million phones across the world, taking 11.9 per cent of the market. It retained second place in terms of annual sales to end users in 2007, largely thanks to the inventory it disposed of in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the extent of Motorola’s troubles can be seen in the 9.7 percentage-points market-share drop in its fourth quarter of 2007 result from the same period in 2006.

Sony Ericsson ended 2007 with another positive performance, growing its market share on a quarterly basis to 9.0 per cent from 8.7 per cent. Its Cyber-shot and Walkman products, such as the K850i, K610i, W910i, K550i and W300i, remained popular among consumers around the world. As Sony Ericsson widens its reach, adding features such as Wi-Fi and GPS, as well as more low-tier products, it will stay competitive in the coming quarters.

LG’s mobile phone sales totalled 23.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007, maintaining its 7.1 per cent market share despite the increase of more than three million in sales volumes. The success of the Viewty, the Venus and the Voyager helped LG gain brand awareness across the world as well as improve its margins. Ms Milanesi commented: “In 2008, LG will need to continue strengthening its high-end portfolio for mature markets as well as its mid tier. In the low tier, LG will increasingly be challenged by vendors such as ZTE, which has already been eroding its market share in key markets such as India.”

The market saw three new entrants into the top ten in the fourth quarter of 2007. These vendors included Research In Motion (RIM), ZTE and Apple. “On one hand, we have aggressive pricing and a focus on emerging markets (ZTE), and on the other, RIM with targeted functions and Apple with brand and design,” said Ms Milanesi.

“Phone manufacturers need to continuously adapt their portfolios to respond to operators’ demands for open platforms, lower pricing and more personalisation,” recommended Ms Milanesi. “They should also try to meet consumers’ desires for fashionable, easy-to-use phones.”

Regional Analysis

In Asia/Pacific, 112 million mobile devices were sold in the fourth quarter of 2007, representing 9.6 per cent growth over the previous quarter. Over the holiday season, operators and distributors offered a wide range of mobile phone options at reasonable prices, tempting new users to sign up to service plans. “Driving factors for growth in emerging markets in Asia/Pacific included huge numbers of new subscribers, lower-priced phones based on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) technology, as well as ultra-low-cost CDMA phones and low-cost global system for mobile (GSM) phones,” said Ann Liang, Gartner principal research analyst for mobile terminals, based in Taipei.

Sales in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region remained strong in the fourth quarter of 2007 and reached 61.8 million units. Mobile operators continued to add new subscribers to their networks, especially in Africa where countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa saw healthy net new additions.

In Japan, sales to end users numbered 12.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007, a decrease of 3.6 per cent year-on-year. Strong sales in the early part of the year brought total sales in 2007 to a record high of 52.3 million units — more than in 2003, when many Japanese bought their first camera phones. “In 2007, music player functions and embedded TV-tuners with large, high-resolution displays persuaded users to replace their devices,” said Nahoko Mitsuyama, principal analyst for mobile communications research at Gartner, based in Tokyo.

In Latin America, sales reached 38.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007, a 12.5 per cent increase from the same period in 2006. “In December, the holiday season, along with accompanying promotions, meant sales hit a new record level,” said Tuong Nguyen, analyst for mobile terminals at Gartner, based in Arlington, Virginia.

The fourth quarter of 2007 was another record quarter in North America, as sales to end users continued at a rapid pace, reaching 49 million units, an increase of 9.2 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2006. “AT&T and Verizon Wireless continued to be the strongest performing operators, while Sprint Nextel lagged,” said Hughes De La Vergne, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner, based in Dallas, Texas. “Replacement devices continued to dominate sales and growth in new subscribers slowed down as penetration rates climbed.”

In the fourth quarter of 2007, mobile phone sales in Western Europe totalled 55 million units, up 2 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2006. Features such as music players, GPS and cameras proved to be significant attractions. In the same quarter, operators in Germany, the United Kingdom and France introduced Apple’s long-awaited iPhone to the market. Although sales have been small, this iconic device renewed consumers’ interest in high-end phones, which in most Western European markets are still heavily subsidised by operators.

The total value of the global mobile music market is expected to rise to more than $17.5bn by 2012, driven by rental music services and full-track downloads, according to a new report by Juniper Research.According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “I think it’s fair to say that 2007 marked the tipping point as far as mobile music adoption was concerned. Far more subscribers began downloading and subscribing to music content in developed markets, and it must be said that that the publicity surrounding the iPhone launch undoubtedly contributed to consumer awareness of mobile music services per se.”

However, the Juniper report also argues that current prices for ringtones are unsustainable and that the market for such services may already have peaked in a number of developed markets, arguing that competitive pricing allied to a steady migration to ad-funded and/or self-generated ringtones will lead to a gradual decline in global ringtone revenues.

“With some operators now offering full-track downloads at a comparable price to iTunes, there is little justification for a ringtone retail price point that is in many cases two or even three times this level,” said Holden. “Furthermore, those aggregators whose portfolios are largely dependent upon the polyphonic ringtone will be unable to survive in the medium term unless they both rethink their pricing strategies and substantially diversify their product portfolios.”

Other findings from the Juniper report include:

The China/Far East region will remain the largest regional marketplace for mobile music services, accounting for around 43% of sales per annum over the next five years

Ringtones, which accounted for 62% of the mobile music market in 2007, will account for just 38% by 2012

The report argues that more operators should emulate the Vodafone model and introduce similar subscription-based music rental services

Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of mobile adult services based on interviews, case studies and analysis from representatives of some of the leading organisations in the growing mobile adult services industry.

Sony today unveiled three new Walkman video MP3 models that for the first time in the United States support noise-canceling and Bluetooth technologies.All three NWZ-S710F, NWZ-A720 and NWZ-A820 Walkman players also support common audio formats, including MP3s.

“Achieving the highest audio quality is one of our top priorities when designing our players,” said Steve Haber, senior vice president of the Digital Imaging and Audio Division at Sony Electronics.

High-Quality Audio and Video

The new Walkman video players offer great video resolution and brightness, along with high-quality sound and an extended battery life. They come with Sony’s EX series in-ear-buds with 13.5 mm drivers that passively block out ambient noise and help create a better listener experience.

Sony’s clear audio technologies are also included and significantly improve sound quality when playing back digital music files. They fill in the high tones that can be lost during file compression, enhance the bass, minimize distortion and maintain a consistent channel signal.

The devices have a standard user interface that makes it easy to enjoy songs, videos or pictures. For exceptional image quality, the video players have a large Quarter Video Graphics Array (QVGA) LCD screen that displays video at 30 frames per second. QVGA is a display mode for small screens in which the resolution is 320 pixels vertically by 240 pixels horizontally.

The battery life is up to 33 hours of music playback for NWZ-S710F models and up to 36 hours for NWZ-A720 and NWZ-A820 models. The battery life is also up to nine-and-a-half hours of video playback for the NWZ-S710F model and up to 10 hours for the NWZ-A720 and NWZ-A820 models.

Integrated Noise-Canceling Walkman Players

For business travelers or families who want to keep the volume down and the audio quality high, Sony has created the NWZ-S710F series of noise canceling Walkman players.

These Walkman players have a built-in noise-canceling system that can reduce up to 75 percent of the ambient noise. Five clear audio technologies are built into the device to create sound clarity that maintains the same quality of the original source.

Because the system diminishes intrusive noise, listeners can avoid turning up the volume. Travelers can turn on the noise canceling feature and get peace and quiet even without listening to music.

The compact and lightweight NWZ-S710 players have a 1.8-inch QVGA (320 by 240 pixels) LCD screen (measured diagonally). They include an FM tuner with 30 presets that make it convenient to listen to the radio on the go.

With or Without Wires

The NWZ-A720 series has a bigger 2.4-inch QVGA (320 by 240 pixels) LCD screen (measured diagonally). Incorporating the design ethos of both the previous A and S Series Walkman players, these models have a slim body and a sleek industrial design.

With the same look and feature set as the NWZ-A720 series, the NWZ-A820 and NWZ-A820K series adds Bluetooth technology. This technology eliminates the inconvenience of wires while streaming tunes from the MP3 device to headphones or other devices with Bluetooth technology. It also makes it easier to listen to music virtually anywhere, anytime: in the living room, bedroom, office or even outdoors.

These Walkman players have a 2.4-inch QVGA (320 by 240 pixels) LCD screen (measured diagonally). For NWZ-A820 and NWZ-A820K series, users can manually delete videos directly from the devices’ internal memory without connecting to a PC.

For fitness enthusiasts, the NWZ-A820K Walkman player comes bundled with both the EX-series earbuds and the DR-BT21G Bluetooth wireless technology enabled headphones. With a wireless behind-the-neck style, the DR- BT21G stereo Bluetooth headset has built-in remote control features that play, pause and forward tracks. Fully charged, this headset offers hours of listening to music, watching videos or hands-free talking while connected to a compatible cell phone.

These devices use stereo Bluetooth Stereo technology with Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) to deliver high-quality sound. The Walkman players support multiple digital music devices and accessories, including headphones, headsets and speakers with Bluetooth technology.

“Texas Instruments In. unveiled new application chips on Tuesday that can be used in everything from music players to medical equipment, with an aim of expanding its business beyond the cell phone chip market.”