gsma (3gsm)

Texas Instruments has a new OMAP chip to set upon the world, and this time around it's eyeing more than mobile phones.

The new OMAP3440 made its debut in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2008. This is the latest in TI's line of OMAP applications processors, which are the equivalent of the CPUs inside PCs.

TI sells standalone applications processors like the 3440 to customers such as Nokia for use in high-end smartphones, but it is also talking up the potential for the 3440 as a chip for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). That's Intel's name for … Read more

In an attempt to beat the masses of handset announcements that came out today, LG announced a new candybar smart phone yesterday that not only comes with GPS but also packs full Qwerty keypad and a standard one to boot too--it's called the LG KT610.

On the front you get a small screen and standard keypad, but flip the KT610 open and you're presented with a full Qwerty keypad and medium-sized screen.

Interestingly, the KT610 runs on Symbian OS v9.2 and S60 3rd Edition Feature pack 1--the same operating system as many Nokia smartphones. The advantage of … Read more

LG has launched its first Windows Mobile 6 phone and, if it were a cake, all the fat people would be queueing up around the block to get their hands on not just one, but a whole box. Arms would flail, rolls of gadget-obsessed fat would bounce around and almost everyone would come away injured. And hungry. But LG won't care because it'll be too busy telling the world about this Prada-esque beaut--the KS20.

With it's big ol' touch-sensitive screen, its push e-mail support, its gloriously fast HSDPA connectivity, and its divine styling, it's not … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Prototypes of the first mobile handsets using Google's Android software debuted at the GSMA's Mobile World Congress here on Monday, and I got a sneak peek at a demonstration.

Google launched Android, an open development platform in November. Phones sporting the Android software are expected out later this year. Google also announced the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 handset manufacturers, carriers and chipmakers that have said they plan to support Android products and services.

I was one of several journalists to get a private demonstration of Android at the ARM Holdings booth here at the … Read more

As if the KF700 and KF600 weren't snazzy enough to snag your entire quota of gadget love, LG has thrown another contender into this vicious and competitive arena, and it sure makes us wish we were a girl phone so we could get some "bow chicka wow wow" with his royal sexiness. It is of course the LG KF510.

This is a phone that makes other phones listen to My Chemical Romance and cry about how inadequate they are in comparison to their equally emotional friends. It's the phone that would take pictures of themselves at … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Mobile Internet search and advertising start-up JumpTap said Monday that it will provide search and advertising services for seven TeliaSonera mobile carriers in Europe.

Under the terms of the deal, JumpTap will provide search and advertising technology for TeliaSonera's operators in Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Estonia, and Lithuania.

JumpTap is what is known as a "white label" technology provider. It develops the technology and mobile operators license that technology and use it to provide a service with their own brand on it.

Mobile search and advertising are relatively small markets today, but experts expect spending … Read more

Nvidia wants a piece of the exploding smartphone market, with its first major applications processor scheduled to arrive in phones next year.

The graphics chip company is showing off the fruits of its $357 million PortalPlayer acquisition with the APX 2500, its first attempt at building a true computing processor for mobile phones, said Mike Rayfield, general manager of Nvidia's mobile business unit. The APX 2500 is designed as a standalone application processor for multimedia phones where talking takes a back seat to watching videos and browsing the Web.

The applications processor in a mobile phone is akin to … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Nokia pushed its mobile navigation service to the next level on Monday with the announcement of the latest version of its Nokia Maps service at the GSMA Mobile World Congress here.

The initial version of Nokia Maps, which was announced at last year's edition of this wireless show, was developed for people who wanted navigation while driving, essentially replacing the need to have a separate navigation device, like those offered by Garmin or Tom Tom. On Monday, Nokia took the navigation service a step further by announcing Nokia Maps 2.0, which is geared toward pedestrians. This version … Read more

In addition to the Nokia N96, the N series welcomed another addition to the family today at GSMA 2008: the Nokia N78. Like the other models in the series, the N78 has a heavy focus on multimedia. It has a 3.2 megapixel camara with Carl Zeiss optics, an MP3 player, an FM transmitter that allows you to stream tunes to an FM radio, whether it be in your car or home, and it will be compatible with Nokia's Music Store and N-Gage gaming platform. The N78 is also outfitted with GPS, and what's really cool is that … Read more