Mobile Phone News

It already kicked off this process in India a while back, but it seems like Nokia is finally ready to bring its faltering Comes with Music brand and service under the reign of the Ovi mothership on a more global scale — or in markets where Comes with Music has launched, anyhow — at this time that UK customers have started getting the news. There doesn’t seem to be word yet on precisely how this is plan to work, but it would make sense to see Nokia structure this the same way Microsoft does with Zune — Ovi Music for a la carte purchases, Ovi Music Unlimited if you want to pony up a monthly fee (or, if they keep the original Comes with Music model, you pay more for the phone upfront). Seeing how the service still hasn’t launched in the US, this would be a good opportunity, it seems — particularly with the N8 launch around the corner.

Nokia at this time Comes With Music morphing into Ovi Music Unlimited everywhere originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you thought the aging i290 was about ready for replacement, we’ve got some great news for you — the updated i296 is upon us. It’s an ultra-basic device by any measure, seeing how it lacks a camera, music player, and web access, but if you’re just looking for a marginally stylish way to get your chirp-chirp on, this might be a decent way to do it. As with many (if not most) iDEN devices in recent memory, the candybar is mil-spec 810F compliant for dust, shock, and vibration resistance, and it runs just $59.95 contract free — let’s see you try to get that kind of a deal on a smartphone, eh? Follow the break for Boost’s press release.

Continue reading Boost Mobile rolls out Motorola i296

As many smartphone operating systems as Sony Ericsson is actively supporting simultaneously (three, at our latest count), its featurephone business continues to solider on, too — after all, there’s that whole Walkman brand to pimp, right? The latest models to break cover — the oddly named Spiro and Zylo sliders — were declare this week with the promise of bringing high-end music capability at an “affordable entry point,” and considering the specs, we don’t doubt that the company will be able to meet that goal. Starting at the decrease end of the range, the Spiro offers a 2 megapixel camera along with a 2.2-inch QVGA display; the Zylo ups the ante with a 3.2 megapixel shooter with geotagging, a 2.6-inch display, 3G, and some advanced audio capabilities. Both models will hit “selected markets” early in the third quarter; follow the break for some promo video of both models in action.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s Zylo and Spiro offer music, weird names on the cheap