October 13, 2006, 3:08 PM PDT
Red Razr for AIDS charity
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Along with the red iPod Nano announced yesterday, Motorola has jumped on the AIDS charity bandwagon with the very luscious red Razr, available from Sprint. As with the red iPod, this is part of Bono and Bobby Shriver's recent Red initiative to help combat HIV and AIDS in Africa. This new red Razr will be available in November from Sprint, and you can get it for $304.99 retail or $64.99 with a two-year service agreement.

If you're more of a Slvr fan, however, you might have to move to the U.K. to get the red version of the slim candy bar. That's right; while the red Razr is exclusive to the States, the red Slvr is exclusive to the U.K. And to up the ante of the Product Red experience, Motorola has also launched Studio Red, a site where you can download wallpaper, ring tones, and exclusive video content and learn more about the Red initiative.

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October 09, 2006, 1:08 PM PDT
T-Mobile begins to roll out 3G network
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Long left in the dust by Cingular, T-Mobile has only just announced that it plans to implement its new UMTS-based 3G service soon, with most of the work done in 2007 or 2008. As it's the fourth nationwide carrier to get on the 3G bandwagon, we're sure T-Mobile is feeling the heat to get the 3G ball rolling, especially since Cingular has already implemented HSDPA-level speeds, and there's already talk of a potential 4G network in the works. Here's hoping that the carrier also begins to bring more 3G-enabled devices into its lineup.

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October 02, 2006, 3:17 PM PDT
T-Mobile launches MyFaves
Posted by: Nicole Lee

T-Mobile released MyFaves today, a new cell phone software package that the company refers to as a new "wireless communication experience." MyFaves lets you have up to five photos or icons that illustrate your five most favorite people on the phone's home screen, and here's the kicker: You can get unlimited nationwide any-network calling to any of those five people, even if they're on another network or on a landline. However, there will be a monthly fee; starting at $39.99 per month for individuals or $69.99 per month for families. And you can change each of the five people only once per calendar month. Also, not all phones will be compatible with the service; presumably because the device would have to support the MyFaves user interface, though T-Mobile plans to have most of its phones MyFaves compatible by the end of the year.

This concept isn't entirely new. Alltel has had a similar My Circle service for a while now, which lets you add up to 10 friends in an unlimited any-network plan. Alltel is a regional carrier, though, making T-Mobile the first national carrier to have this type of service. All of which begs the question: if you really call only five people on a regularly...

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September 29, 2006, 7:16 PM PDT
Sony Ericsson MBW-100 Bluetooth watch
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Sony Ericsson has partnered with Fossil to launch the MBW-100, the first mainstream Bluetooth watch that lets you control your calls and music and be notified of incoming text messages. While it's not quite sophisticated enough to be worn by secret agent James Bond, it certainly appears stylish enough not to be sequestered into the geek ghetto like other high-tech watches. Decked out in stainless steel and scratch-resistant mineral crystal, the MBW-100 has an OLED display that shows caller ID and incoming text messages. It will let you switch calls to voice mail, reject and mute calls, and even control your phone's music player (play, pause, and next track). It features Bluetooth 2.0, and is water resistant up to 30 meters.

Because of all these extra features, you do need to recharge the watch periodically. With Bluetooth functionality turned on all the time, it's said to last up to 7 days, while simple analog time keeping will keep it ticking for 7 more days. The phone is compatible with a variety of Bluetooth phones, and is guaranteed to work with the Sony Ericsson K610, K610i, K618, K790, K800, V630, W710, W810, W850, Z610, and Z710. It comes in silver and black (limited edition), and will be on sale worldwide at the hefty price of $399.

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September 28, 2006, 3:31 PM PDT
LG Chocolate gets a speakerphone update
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Like many other reviewers, we were disappointed when we found out the LG Chocolate didn't have a speakerphone. Of all the fancy multimedia functions the phone had, it was surprising that such a basic feature wasn't included in the package. Well there is finally a firmware update that addresses this issue. You can now take your LG Chocolate to any Verizon store and ask for firmware update V04 to get the speakerphone feature added to the phone. If you feel a little more daring, you can also update the firmware yourself by following the instructions on this forum page. Good luck; tell us how it went in the TalkBack section!

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September 25, 2006, 4:06 PM PDT
Cingular releases the Sony Ericsson W300i
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Sony Ericsson has finally released the W300i, its entry-level Walkman clamshell, to Cingular customers. As expected, it comes with a music player, external music controls, and an FM radio with RDS support, and it supports MP3, WAV, and AAC formats. Unlike its higher-end cousins, the W300i has only a VGA camera with 4X digital zoom, though it can still record and play back video. It retails for $179.99, but you can get it for $19.99 with a new two-year service agreement with Cingular. For more information on what we thought of the phone, please read our review of the W300i.

Source: Cingular

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September 25, 2006, 3:29 PM PDT
New Nextel i615 has military specs
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Long known for its bulky and rugged cell phones, Nextel has come up with yet another handset built for durability. Certified to Military Standard 810F, the i615 is not only tough, it features Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a color display, GPS, voice dialing, and a large 262,000 color display. The retail price is $399.99, but you can get it for $249.99 with a two-year agreement.

Source: Nextel via Engadget Mobile

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September 21, 2006, 3:10 PM PDT
The buzz about M-Buzz
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Until recently, if you wanted to get tunes onto your Sony Ericsson Walkman phone, you had to do it the old-fashioned way of downloading existing songs from your PC. Well, now you don't have to, thanks to Sony Ericsson's new mobile music space called M-Buzz. M-Buzz will be easily accessible via an enhanced version of Sony Ericsson's PlayNow service (the current PlayNow service is used mostly for downloading ring tones and not full-length songs), and serves as a gateway to new Sony Music artists. It will initially showcase a limited number of breaking new artists, where not only can you download their songs, but also listen to interviews, watch videos, and even check out their concert schedules. The first few phones that will have M-Buzz support are the W850 and W950 Walkman phones, scheduled for release in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Source: News.com

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September 20, 2006, 11:37 AM PDT
Samsung Trace is available now
Posted by: Nicole Lee

We told you last week that Samsung had launched a brand-new, skinny candy bar-style handset, the Samsung Trace or SGH-T519. You can officially get it today from T-Mobile for only $99 after a two-year contract. As a reminder, the Trace is even skinnier than the SGH-T509 at only 0.33-inch thick and comes packed with Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a Micro SD card, and EDGE support. Stay tuned for a full review from us in the near future. UPDATE: Read our full review of the Samsung SGH T519 (Trace).

Source: T-Mobile

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September 12, 2006, 6:11 PM PDT
Samsung Nimbus for Alltel
Posted by: Nicole Lee

Amidst the cell phone excitement at CTIA in Los Angeles, Samsung slipped out a sleeper slider on Alltel. The U420, or the Nimbus, is the first Alltel phone to feature Axcess technology, which will let users surf the net, download XM radio content, ring tones, games, and more. As far as features go though, the offerings are pretty standard: a VGA camera with flash, Bluetooth, speakerphone, voice dialing, text and picture messaging, picture caller ID, and basic PIM functions. You can currently get not one but two of them for $49.99 for a 2-year plan.

Source: Alltel via Mobile Whack

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