Samsung's 10.9mm slider phone 'Anycall Mini skirt'

Samsung Electronics launched its 10.9mm slim slide mobile phone ‘SCH-C220’ dubbed as ‘Anycall Mini skirt’ in Korea market, which is a Korea type model of ‘Ultra-edition 10.9’.



Adopting the latest fashion trend ‘minimalism’, the Anycall Mini skirt phone features touch pad on front LCD and mirror type coating design. It supports built-in GPS function enabling you to use real-time traffic information without adopting extra kit. Other features of the Anycall Mini skirt phone include 2M camera, Bluetooth, mp3 player, electronic dictionary, and mobile printing functionality.

(Picture: Idea Sketch)

Palm unveils new laptop-like gadget


The Palm Foleo mobile companion has a large screen and full-size keyboard with which to view and edit email and office documents residing on a smartphone. Edits made on Foleo automatically are reflected on its paired smartphone and vice versa. Foleo and its paired smartphone stay synchronized throughout the day or at the touch of a button. This powerful combination is for productivity-minded business people who want a more complete mobile solution for email, attachments and widescreen access to the web.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Seeking to recapture its innovative streak in mobile computing, Palm Inc. on Wednesday unveiled a laptop-like gadget with a full-size keyboard and 10-inch display to serve as a companion for smartphones.

But the Palm Foleo was already garnering dismal critiques from some analysts who predicted it would do little to boost Palm's position in an increasingly competitive smartphone industry.

The gadget, which will be available in the summer at a suggested price of $599 before an introductory rebate of $100, is designed to let users manage and edit their e-mails and other documents by communicating with their smartphones through a wireless Bluetooth connection.

Files can be synchronized across the two devices. The Foleo has Wi-Fi, Internet-browsing capabilities and a Linux-based operating system, but it lacks a hard drive and other full functions of a computer.

Analysts questioned why consumers would want to carry yet another device when they are already bombarded with computer notebooks that are getting smaller and cell phones, including the Palm Treo, that are getting smarter.

"This is the most disappointing product I've seen in years," said Todd Kort, an industry analyst at Gartner Inc. research firm. "They have some longer term goals for this product in mind, but this is going to hit the market with a thud."

Sunnyvale-based Palm pioneered personal digital assistants more than a decade ago and helped create the smartphone market with its Treo handsets.

But more recently, the company has found itself under a tough spotlight: rumors are swirling that it could soon get acquired while users are complaining about the staleness of the Treo's chunky design.

Palm's founder, Jeff Hawkins, has long envisioned that smartphones would become the most prevalent personal computer, eventually being able to do everything a desktop model can do. On Wednesday, he said the Foleo "completes the picture" of a mobile-computing system.

"There are times when people need a large screen and a full-size keyboard," he said. "As smart phones get smaller, this need increases."

Shares of Palm rose 42 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $16.60 on Wednesday. The stock has ranged from $13.41 to $19.50 in the past 52 weeks.

[Source]

Samsung 4GB MCP for mobile phones




Samsung has developed a four gigabyte (GB) MCP (multi-chip package) for mobile phones that for the first time forgoes the need for an external memory card slot and also eliminates having to develop interface software for all types of NAND memory. The new Samsung moviMCP combines a 4GB embedded memory card, which consists of two 16Gb (gigabit) NAND flash chips and a controller, together with a 1Gb mobile DRAM chip to support the processor and a 2Gb NAND flash chip for general handset operations. This provides a total memory capacity of 35Gbs.Samsung’s new moviMCP is a multi-chip package carrying an embedded (moviNAND) memory solution, which provides a simple-to-design memory package that satisfies the high-speed data transmission needs of mobile phones, while fully supporting the communication features within the handset.

The new moviMCP stacks several memory functions vertically to enable a small footprint. Its high density eliminates the need for having to also provide an external expansion slot. The 3G mobile phone market - which is the main target for Samsung’s new moviMCP - is expected to reach 392 million units in 2007 and show an approximately 40 percent compounded annual growth rate from 2007 through 2010.Samsung’s moviMCP is currently available for OEM sampling

[Source]

Samsung's "Biejing 2008" phone

Samsung presented its handset 'Beijing 2008(model: SGH-P318)' in commemoration of 2008 Beijing Olympic.

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Mobile phone powered by light

Beijing Hengjiweiye presented its solar mobile phone during China Beijing International Expo 2007, which enables users to charge battery just by using any light source.

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The Triagonale Multi Functional Phone



The "Triagonale" is an innovative mobile phone concept that doubles as a functional hearing aid.

A consequently offensive design could provide hearing devices without compromises either in ergonomic or in functionality. The struggle between technical shrinking and usability suggests a separation of steering and hearing. This operating unit provides useful additional functions such as telephone, audio recording and playback, orientation guidance and emergency calls. The whole concept aims for usability by means of simple structure and great usage certitude. The integration of essential communicational and navigational functions and a self-contained appearance enhances the rejected prosthesis to a system for accomplished hearing.

[ESATO via YankoDesgin]

LG to launch its ergonomic design handset ‘Green Banana Phone'

LG Electronics launched its ergonomic design handset ‘LG-SV280' dubbed as 'Green Banana Phone' in Korea market, which features apple green color.



The Green Banana Phone features curved body design to hug the contours of your face for a more comfortable fit when making calls and it adopted lavender-scented keypad. Suggested price is between 300,000(KRW) and 400,000(KRW).

[Source]

LG announces launch of LG Wine phone (LG-SV300/LV3000) in Korea

LG Electronics announced the launch of its ‘Wine Phone(model: LG-SV300/LV3000)’ in Korea market, which enhanced voice calling and SMS sending and receiving functionality targeting for 30~40 year old consumers. Adopting 2.2-inch wide LCD and double size buttons and speaker, the LG-SV300/LV3000 can enlarge even invisible words via built-in camera and offer words format twice bigger than that of the existing phone. It supports four key buttons directly practicing frequent menu such as alarm, schedule, voice recording and condition setting.



According to the company, the LCD panel was designed from wine surface making concentric circle pattern. It is expected to be available in Korea market via SK telecom and LG telecom on June 25th for between 300,000(KRW) and 400,000(KRW).

LG Taking Global Action on Fakes





In mid-April a Chinese cell phone called the Diamond began selling very well on online shops in Britain, Germany, France and other European countries. The phone was a duplicate of LG Electronics' Shine phone, the popular follow-up to LG's hit Chocolate phone.

The imitation looked almost exactly the same as the Shine, including its overall design, color, screen size, buttons, and even packaging, but it cost just half the price. LG quickly demanded retailers in China and Europe stop selling the Diamond and the company is preparing a lawsuit against the Chinese manufacturer and a French importer.

Meanwhile LG Chem caught a Korean building supplies dealer distributing Chinese imitation marble under LG Chem's brand "Z:IN HI-Marcs" and submitted a complaint to prosecutors.

According to LG Group, pirate versions of 39 LG products were found in China last year, which is a huge increase from 2005 when just five products were found to have been copied. In the Middle East, Dubai has become a major distribution center for fake products, with the number of pirated products there increasing from one in 2005 to six in 2006. In Urumqi, China, 27 1.5-ton trucks were found packed with pirate televisions and air-conditioners last year. They were seized and destroyed by the Chinese government.

The pirating of LG products is a building trend, and LG Group is now taking serious steps to deal with the problem. Individual cases will be handled by the legal teams and the license teams of affiliate companies, while the group will implement measures to halt the distribution, import and export of pirate goods as a whole.

Apart from registering its trademarks in various countries, LG is registering the LG brand with customs agencies of major countries. That way when pirate goods are discovered passing through customs during import or export, immediate action can be taken. The company has so far registered its brand with customs in the U.S., China and Bulgaria.

The group is planning to register the brand with the customs agencies of Dubai, the European Union, and Russia. In the Middle East, LG's legal team and license center is educating customs officials how to tell if something is a genuine LG product.

An official with LG said the group will gather information using professional inspection firms in territories with high numbers of pirate goods, such as China, Dubai and Hong Kong, and use that to better inform local agencies how to check for imitations. [Via Chosun.com]

Samsung Sliq Concept

[Via Coroflot] Sliq is a cell phone for buisiness travellers who need a sleek mobile device to take over the features of their PDA and cell phone. Attatched bluetooth earpeice/crank power up/all touch screen/NAV pad

Samsung SDI is ready to commercialize the world's thinnest 2.2-inch AMOLED

This translates into even thinner mobile phones and other handheld devices for us. [Via Aving]


Unlike TFT-LCD, AMOLED can be made as paper thin without back light unit and it boasts off outstanding image quality with color gamut 100%(NTSC). It supports 180-degree viewing angle and depending on the application, images can be display on two sides of the panel.






Samsung SDI announced the mass production of its 0.52mm-thick 2.2-inch AMOLED(Active-Matrix OLED) in Q3 2007 in Korea market.

The thickness of this newly developed AMOLED panel is nearly one third of conventional TFT-LCD modules that are currently being produced; it is 0.48mm - as thin as a credit card.

An official of the company said that with the successful development of 0.52mm AMOLED Samsung consolidates its leading status in OLED market as Sony is being more aggressive with the introduction of 11-inch AMOLED and Taiwan companies are seeking to enter the AMOLED market.

Being asked an opinion about Sony's launch of 11-inch AMOLED featuring 1,000,000 contrast ratio, Hee Jin Yoo, a director of Samsung SDI AMOLED division is confident, saying "Sony's announcement is more than welcome, and I hope more companies enter the market to make the market grow”. As for the contrast ratio, the difference between 10,000:1 and 1,000,000 is not much meaningful in terms of real picture quality, he added.

For the price, Yoo said that price is set from the customers’ awareness of its value. He said "In the past TFT-LCD used to have a price tag of 45 dollars and now it is priced at 15 dollars. Likewise, to discuss price competitiveness between TFT LCD and AMOLED would not be meaningful and Samsung will make a price based on the values that are acknowledged by customers".

The 2.2-inch AMOLED is going to be on display to public during SID 2007 to be held from May 22 to 24 in USA together with 2.6-inch QVGA(240×320) AMOLED and 2.8-inch LQVGA(240×400) AMOLED.

[Via Aving]

Samsung to develop 8GB microSD card for mobile phone



SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- Samsung Electronics announced that it has developed an 8GB microSD memory card for mobile phones.

Featuring the highest capacity today for a microSD card, the new fingernail-sized card is capable of storing 2,000 MP3 music files, 4,000 digital photos, or approximately 5 DVD-quality movies. The 8GB card features a read speed of 16MB/s and a write speed of 6MB/s, which is about 1.5 times faster than conventional microSD cards. (Full article at Aving)