From bricks to the iPhone: 25 years of the mobile phones
They started life 25 years ago as carphones - because you needed a car to take the weight of the battery - and cost a fortune, but today there are more mobile phones in the UK than there are people.
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From bricks to the iPhone: 25 years of the mobile phones
Tech Weekly podcast: Mobile World Congress and Pollution Monitors
A report from this year's mobile phone conference in Barcelona and an interview with the creator of a new personal pollution monitor
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Tech Weekly podcast: Mobile World Congress and Pollution Monitors
Vodafone clinches Google phone deal
Vodafone has landed a deal to supply the next Google phone. Vittorio Colao, the Vodafone chief executive, confirmed this morning that the mobile network operator had secured the rights to supply Taiwanese manufacturer HTC's new G2 smartphone. It will be called the HTC Magic, and Vodafone will sell it exclusively in Europe for a limited period. A formal announcement is expected later today. Colao was speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, following negotiations with Taiwanese manufacturer HTC that continued up to the start of the show. Like the G1, the original Google phone, the G2 runs Google's Android operating system. Rival mobile operator T-Mobile won an exclusive deal to supply the G1, so Vodafone was keen to offer the upgraded version of the smartphone. The HTC Magic has a 3.2 inch QVGA touchscreen display and features a trackball and navigational buttons for quick, easy access. It will support several email options such as Google Mail™, POP3 and IMAP and Google Talk for instant messaging.
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Vodafone clinches Google phone deal
Universal mobile phone charger unveiled as industry gets greener
The mobile phone industry plans to introduce a universal charger as part of a drive to improves its previously patchy environmental record. The plan from industry body the GSM Association (GSMA) is just one of a raft of "green" announcements at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Not only will it mean phone users no longer have to go hunting around for the right charger for their handset, but the specifications for the new device include a 50% reduction in standby energy consumption. All five of the UK's mobile phone companies have signed up to the universal charger, as have the major handset manufacturers, and phones which can use the new charger - which relies upon the micro-USB connection found in the new Blackberry Storm - will start appearing later in the year. By 2012, the GSMA has pledged that the majority of phones shipped around the world will use the universal charger. The mobile phone industry has been attacked by environmental campaigners in the past for being one of the least green areas of technology but mobile phones made from recycled materials or sporting solar panels have been one of the most interesting features in Barcelona so far. Samsung unveiled the Blue Earth touchscreen phone which has a solar panel on the back which can be used to charge the phone. Available in the UK in the second half of the year, the handset is made from recycled plastic from water bottles and is also free from harmful substances such as brominated flame retardants, beryllium and phthalate. It also includes an in-built pedometer which tells the user how much CO2 they have saved by walking instead of using motorised transport. Samsung's SGH-F268 handset was last year named as the industry's greenest in a survey by Greenpeace. A range of solar-powered phones are also being created by Dutch company Intivation, in a joint venture with ZTE, China's largest mobile phone manufacturer, and mobile phone network Digicel, which has operations in such remote places as the South Pacific islands. And Sweden's Flexenclosure has showcased the latest in wind-powered mobile phone masts. LG pledged yesterday that it would remove brominated flame retardants, chlorinated flame retardants and polyvinyl chloride from the manufacturing process by next year. It also pledged to use green packaging across its entire line of 2009 mobile handset models. The company has used the trade fair to unveil a handset equipped with a solar panel battery cover as part of what it termed an "aggressive green initiative"
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Universal mobile phone charger unveiled as industry gets greener
Bond-style wristwatch phone joins gizmo assault on Apple
It is a gadget of which James Bond would be proud and just one of many unveiled at Mobile World Congress yesterday that handset manufacturers hope will give them a much-needed edge over Apple's iPhone as well as countering the deepening recession. The Touch Watch device launched by LG at the industry's largest annual tradeshow will transport wearers of a certain age back to the days when they played at being a secret agent by talking into their wristwatch. The Touch Watch allows them to talk to a real person. Orange is expected to launch the LG G910 in the UK later this year. The phone is packed with all the features that consumers expect, including Bluetooth (so it can be attached to a headset) and a small touchscreen. But for the mobile phone companies, it is just one of many so-called smartphones they hope will keep consumers coming back for more as the recession bites. A host of devices with touchscreens, internet access and ever more powerful cameras were launched in Barcelona yesterday. Much of the development of these devices was sparked by the launch of Apple's iPhone in summer 2007. While that device has sold "only" 17m in a market that equates to a billion handsets a year, the iPhone showed that the combination of cutting-edge technology and ease of use could create a real buzz. It also shook the at times cosy relationship between mobile phone networks and handset manufacturers. Nokia yesterday unveiled its latest smart devices, which it hopes will lure consumers to the world of mobile email. The E55 sports a keypad reminiscent of the BlackBerry Pearl, combining two letters per key to make the phone smaller. "I believe it is going to really introduce mobile email to a whole new generation of users," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice-president of devices. Nokia also unveiled the E75, which has a slide-out qwerty keypad under its full touchscreen. Sony Ericsson, meanwhile, took the wraps off the Idou, which has a 12.1 megapixel camera, good enough for a professional photographer
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Bond-style wristwatch phone joins gizmo assault on Apple
The opening day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has produced a host of new mobiles bristling with technology
The opening day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has produced a flood of smartphones bristling with technology as traditional handset manufacturers such as Samsung and Sony Ericsson play catch-up with the iPhone. In a further attempt to grab back some of the ground lost to Apple, Nokia also announced it was opening an applications store. From May, the Ovi store will allow Nokia users to download a plethora of applications such as Facebook, MySpace, maps and even Lonely Planet guides. It remains to be seen, however, whether the mobile phone operators on whom Nokia relies to get its phones into consumers' hands will accept the Finnish company's attempt to muscle in on their relationship with customers. The world's largest mobile phone manufacturer also unveiled two new smartphones, which it hopes will take the use of mobile email beyond business users, an area which is dominated by bitter rival RIM with its BlackBerry. The first phone, the E55, looks rather like Nokia's answer to RIM's successful BlackBerry Pearl as it also sports a keypad which has two letters per key to make the phone smaller. It also has a 3.2 megapixel camera and will be available from the summer for €265 (£237). The phone, which is essentially an update of Nokia's critically successful E71, is expected to be free to customers willing to take a contract. "I believe it is going to really introduce mobile email to a whole new generation of users," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice-president of devices. The E75 has a slide-out qwerty keypad and will be available from next month for €375. It is also expected to be free with a contract. Sony Ericsson, meanwhile, unveiled its latest phone, codenamed Idou , which has a mammoth 12.1 megapixel camera, making it the most powerful camera phone on the market by just 0.1 of a megapixel.
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The opening day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has produced a host of new mobiles bristling with technology
Mobile World Congress 2009
The fair runs from 16-19 February, with 1,300 companies launching their latest products
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Mobile World Congress 2009
Mobile World Congress 2009
The fair runs from 16-19 February, with 1,300 companies launching their latest products
See original here:
Mobile World Congress 2009