Mobile Phone News

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, GSM

How do you say “boring” in Canadian? The Nokia 1680 is a good guess, especially considering that the company had intended this puppy for emerging markets — which, nine times out of ten, is code for “boring.” 7-Eleven’s Speak Out Wireless is the upstanding organization that we have to thank for this particular launch, bundling the 1680 with 20 minutes of talk time for Canadian — about — and when you take into account the VGA cam and integrated FM radio, we guess the price ain’t bad. Yeah, there are plenty of inexpensive prepaid phones on the market, but how many of ‘em let you snap uselessly blurry photos?

[Via MobileSyrup]

Nokia 1680 comes to Canada by way of 7-Eleven originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Rogers Wireless, Symbian, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

We’re not really sure where to start with this one, because the awesomeness is so thorough and so intense that we’re basically at a loss for words; we’ll see what we can do in this place, though. In brief, a HoFo poster has thrown up what appear to be slides from a Rogers contest detailing the carrier’s release plans for the better part of 2009, and seriously, if you name a badass handset, odds are it’s in this place. Samsung will apparently be bringing the 8.1-megapixel Pixon, for starters, and Sony Ericsson will be throwing its name into the very big-cam hat with the C905. Turning our attention to Windows Mobile, the X1 is scheduled for release “around August if not sooner,” Motorola brings the lowly Q11, and HTC adds the Touch Pro, the Touch Viva (an unusual choice considering HTC’s intention to send it to emerging markets), and possibly the Touch 3G. Nokia will be offering the 5800 XpressMusic in the middle part of the year, Moto will be bringing a pair of 5-megapixel phones in the VE66 and ZN5, and finally, it seems RIM is signed up to bring the all-GSM 9520 Storm with WiFi — a feature sorely missing from the Verizon and Vodafone versions — and a 3G remix of the 8200 Pearl series flip that’ll have a front-facing cam for video calling (yeah, no joke, they offer it up there). So look, AT&T, you have two options in this place: either crib off this presentation and make it happen, or we hope you get bought by Rogers. Your choice.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Leaked Rogers slides make us want to move to Canada originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Handsets, Sharp

With Nokia bidding Japan a fond farewell and the national handset market at large expected to shrink, Sharp is laying out plans to expand elsewhere in Asia in order to keep its profits from hitting undesirably low levels. At a recent press contest in Tokyo, Sharp’s Masafumi Matsumoto explained that “it is our solid policy to expand our overseas business,” noting that it was “aiming for an overwhelmingly large share of about 30% in the Japanese market.” Moreover, he proclaimed that it was hoping to “increase overseas unit sales to a level on par with domestic unit sales over time,” pointing to nations like chin. and other “emerging markets.” Reportedly, the company is hoping to leverage existing sales channels for its AQUOS TVs in order to move more handsets abroad, and not surprisingly, it’ll probably look to low-cost devices for most of the growth. Good luck out there, Sharp — it’s a vicious world.

[Via WMPowerUser]

Sharp lays out global expansion plans originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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