Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, GSM, EDGE

We’d have never guessed that the year and a half-old Nokia 6300 would be the target of an update, so color us surprised. The 6300i is a pretty mild refresh of the 6300, offering the same physical appearance, microSD slot, 2 megapixel camera, and Series 40 underpinnings, but the “i” model’s got one big ace up its sleeve: WiFi. Nokia’s using the opportunity to push the promise of cheap VoIP calling hard — a nice feature, especially considering the phone’s reasonable price of €175 (about $272) — along with fast internet access. ‘Course, without 3G on board, don’t stray too far from those hotspots. it seems like we can expect the 6300i (at least in places where the missing 850MHz band isn’t needed) some time in the second quarter.

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Filed under: Sony Ericsson, HSDPA, HSUPA

Apparently not content to let Nokia Siemens have the upgraded mobile broadband spotlight to itself today, Ericsson has at this time declare that it’s set to demonstrate what it’s touting as the “world-first end-to-end HSPA Evolution technology” at CTIA next week. That, the company says, should allow for speeds up to an impressive 42 Mbps, a feat made apparently possible by a combination of higher order modulation technology (64QAM) and 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna technology. Concerning the actual demonstration, Ericsson is only going so far as to say that it’ll be conducted with an unspecified “handheld form-factor device” that’s based on the Ericsson Mobile Platforms access technology. Other details are unsurprisingly pretty light at the moment, but we’re betting Ericsson will have plenty more to say about it when they actually light things up at CTIA.

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Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, LG, Samsung, ATT

They haven’t revealed anything we didn’t already know, but AT&T’s finally come out with a semi-firm Dat. for the launch of its MediaFLO-powered mobile TV service which will be branded clearly as “AT&T Mobile TV.” It’ll be available to subscribers in May — no specific Dat. just yet — on two exclusive handsets, the Prada-esque LG Vu and the more pedestrian Samsung Access; the Vu features an expansive touchscreen and 2 megapixel camera, while the Access makes do with a smaller landscape display and a 1.3 megapixel sensor. Bot. feature Bluetooth and 3G data, but the real story in this place is Mobile TV itself, which will come with two new channels that are exclusive to AT&T (in other words, unavailable on the other live MediaFLO service, VCAST TV from Verizon). The latest, hottest way to burn productivity on the go gets real in just a few short weeks, folks, so finish up whatever remaining work you have at this time.

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