Thread: Mobile News

It’s hard to imagine the full variety of tools ever integrated into multi-function Swiss knives. In July 2004 Swissbit released the first knife with 128 MB of flash memory onboard and USB 1.1 interface, it looked like an interesting trifle. However the company didn’t leave its idea and continued releasing updates, the other day the company has announced its 1 GB SwissMemory Victorinox with USB 2.0 interface.

Well, let’s wait for a Swiss knife with a phone or digital camera. ;-)

Samsung Electronics has announced the mass production of MMC Micro flash-cards. It has become a tradition for Samsung products to set another record in its class, this time it concerns diminutiveness. The new card measures 12x14x1.1 mm.

The write speed of the MMC Micro is up to 7 Mb/s, the read speed – up to 10 Mb/s. There will be released cards capacious of 32, 64, 128 and 256 MB, and in the second half of 2005 the company plans to release a 512 MB model. The MMC Micro is made under NAND technology, it works under 1.8 v and 3.3 v.

The cards will be evidently applied in mobile devices, such as cell phones and digital cameras. Already now Samsung SPH-V7800 and SCH770 camera phones can work with the MMC Micro.

Yesterday in the framework of the Miami Music Multimedia (M3) show Motorola introduced 3 new “music handsets” – Motorola E680i, Motorola E725 and Motorola E685. The new handsets feature extended opportunities to download music and other entertainment content.



Motorola E680i is a GSM900/1800/1900/GPRS model based on a 312MHz Intel XScale Bulverde (PXA270) processor, featuring SD/MMC cards capacious of up to 2 GB, 50 MB of internal users memory, FM-tuner, Bluetooth interface to plug headphones such as Motorola HT820 Bluetooth. The E680i provides easy synchronization with PC to download music. There is the support of MP3, WMA, RealAudio/Video, MIDI, WAV, AAC etc, capture and digitization of video, manuscript input, e-mail client.

The volume is 105 cm3, weight – 133 g, screen – 240x320x65K TFT, time in active use – 3-6 hours, standby time 110-180 hours. The device is equipped with 3D stereo dynamics, a VGA camera with 8x digital zoom. Motorola E680i will be introduced in the Asian Pacific region in April 2005.

Motorola E725 designed for EV-DO networks is equipped with built-in stereo dynamics, 5-band equalizer, 41 MB of users memory, MiniSD slot, the opportunity to download music from the net or PC, built-in FM-transmitter of music to car-player or home audio system. As for the advantages the E725 has a 3.5” jack for headphones and a folded form. The device will come to the North American retail in the second half of 2005.

Motorola E685 is a CDMA 1x phone packed in a slider form, equipped with an MP3-player with stereo out, a VGA camera. The model will be available on the Chinese market in the first half of 2005

The 1src.com site published the info in the net about the upcoming handheld PC by palmOne – the Tungsten E2. As you may remember, you could come across this kind of info in January at the site of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), however it disappeared soon. Recent rumors suggest some specs of the new device.


Well, the Tungsten E2, which is in essence the update of the non-expensive business handheld Tungsten E, will be equipped with a 200 MHz Intel XScale processor, 32 MB of flash memory, Bluetooth interface, an improved 320x320 screen and a more capacious battery. The handheld will be powered by Garnet OS (v5.4) and have SDIO slot and new connector HotSync, which is already installed in new models by palmOne.

There is no info on the price and the release date, however it is rumored to come out on April’s Monday…

The Taiwanese site DigiTimes referring to the local industrial sources informs that Nokia plans to place ODM orders for new handsets with Chinese companies instead of BenQ, Nokia’s ODM-partner since late 2004.

Market sources say, Nokia is likely to switch to the Chinese makers, as the models are targeted at the Chinese market, and that a Chinese contract maker may have a better understanding of the specific demands of the local market. Potential ODM makers include Yuhuatel and CECW (China Electronics Corporation Wireless).

The recent GPS-receiver Micro RoadPilot has 47x50x16 mm dimensions, that is unprecedented little for such a device. It’s a full value GPS-receiver with the location accuracy up to 10 meters, the maps can be downloaded via USB. In addition, the Micro RoadPilot contains a road scanner, which can trace road cameras within a 20 miles distance. It’s hard to say, how the device will be used on the Russian roads, where you can see road patrols with hand radars instead of cameras.


A 1.8” monochrome LCD backlit screen occupies most of the surface. The Micro RoadPilot comes with the dynamic, compass function and own speed detector. In the UK the device costs some 389 pounds.

The Chinese company Alifa Groop has released a tiny flash-player AW690. The peculiar thing about this player is that the dynamic is located at the detachable cap of USB connector. Such a construction highlights the double assignment of the player, which can be used as a flash-drive and a music player.


The AW690 has a 4-color OLED screen and FM-tuner. It supports MP3, WMA and ADPCM formats. It’s possible to record sound from the external source or FM-radio into MP3 format. The built-in Li-Ion battery provides 10-12 hours of work. The player measures 79x29x13.4 mm and weighs 42 g. For the sale there will be offered models with 128 MB to 1 GB of memory onboard.

TEAC has released a portable DVD-recorder DV-R05. Such devices got popular following the emergence of notebooks without integrated DVD-players for the sake of compact size, however that’s not the only application of the DV-R05: the device has a DV-port for direct connection with digital video camcorders.



It supports DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, besides video can be recorded at HQ MPEG-2 (720x480x9.5 Mbps), SP (720x480x5.1 Mbps), LP (352x480x3.3 Mbps), EP (352x480x2.5 Mbps), SLP (MPEG-1, 352x240x1.7 Mbps), SVCD (MPEG-2, 480x480x2.5 Mbps) and VCD (MPEG-1, 352x240x1.15 Mbps).

The DV-R05 measures 142x26.7x196.3 mm and weighs 680 g. In Japan the price is supposed to be $280.

Rightech has demonstrated its new 15.4” TFT screen for car TV- and video systems. The RTC-A154X1 has a 1280x800 pixel resolution, brightness – 200 cd/m2, it can receive signals in NTSC, PAL and SECAM, there are 2 AV-in and an infrared port for wireless headphones. Optionally, the device can have a TV/FM-tuner.


The car enthusiasts, who are tired to peer into tiny screens of common car TV-sets, will like the device, especially if there is enough space in the car to install the RTC-A154X1.

Samsung Electronics has announced its new handset with a landscape display, the SCH-V600, which is an upgrade of the SCH-V500. It differs from the predecessor in smaller dimensions and additional games, two of which are specially adapted to the landscape screen orientation.



The SCH-V600 is based on the MSM 6500 processor and meant for CDMA 2000 1X EV-DO networks. Dimensions are 92.5x48.7x29.3 mm, weight – 127.2 g. Its 1.9” 176x220 TFT screen supports 262K colors. The SCH-V600 is equipped with a 1.3-megapixel camera, a slot for TransFlash cards and stereo dynamics located at sides of the landscape display.

In Korea the SCH-V600 will be available very soon.