Samsung's slim offerings

If you're into everything slim, check out what Samsung is up to with its latest Ultra Edition II and Ultra Music mobile phone series.
The Ultra Edition II is the second generation of the company's popular slim mobile phones series and the new models are even thinner than their predecessors.
Three models were launched – the stylish slider Ultra Edition 10.9 (SGH-U600), metallic clamshell Ultra Edition 9.6 (SGH-U300) and candybar Ultra Edition 5.9 (SGH-U100).
As with previous models, the numbers denote the phone's thickness.

The SGH-U600, SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 have a 3.2-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and Bluetooth. They also support MP3, AAC+, and WMA audio formats, and record videos in MPEG4 format.
The quad-band SGH-U600 has a 2.2in display (262,144 colours), 60MB of built-in memory and a microSD card slot.
It has a talktime of up to 4.3 hours and a standby time of up to 275 hours.
Unlike their higher-end sibling, both the SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 only support triband (GSM900/1800/1900) networks.
Because the SGH-U300 is a clamshell phone, it has two displays – a 2.2in display on the inside and an external OLED screen (monochrome).
It has a rated talktime of up to six hours and a standby time of up to 280 hours.
The SGH-U100, which has a 1.93in screen (262,144 colours), has a rated talktime of up to 2.5 hours and a standby time of up to 185 hours.
Also, both SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 have a TV out and 70MB built-in memory.
The SGH-U600, SGH-U300 and SGH-U100 retails for RM1,399, RM1,199 and RM999 respectively.
Meanwhile, the F300, the first model in the Ultra Music series, has what Samsung calls a "dual-face" design – one side is reserved for accessing multimedia features while the other is for phone functions and messaging.
The side for accessing multimedia features has a 2.2in display (262,144 colours) with dedicated keypad and touchpad.

Samsung calls the interface Sweeping UI and you only have to sweep your finger over the touchpad to view and quickly navigate through the playlist.
On the other side you will find a small 1.4in display (65,536 colours) and the usual numeric keypad for accessing phone functions and sending text messages.
The F300 also has a digital amplifier for better bass, an FM radio, and supports the Bluetooth Stereo Music Profile (A2DP) for streaming audio to a stereo Bluetooth headset.
It can play music for 17 hours and if that is not enough, it comes with a leather casing with built-in external battery that extends the battery life to 42 hours.
The triband phone also has a 2-megapixel camera, 128MB of built-in memory and microSD slot.
It has a rated talktime of up to two hours and a standby time of up to 130 hours; the external battery extends the talktime to up to five hours and standby time to up to 330 hours.

First Look: Samsung Q1 Ultra [PC Pro]

It's the form factor that refuses to die. The Ultra Mobile PC has had just about all of the industry's biggest names working on it, and yet only a handful of devices have been released - none of which have taken the world by storm.

But all the best efforts of Microsoft, Intel, Sony and Samsung are now entering their second generation. One of the more successful first attempts was Samsung's own Q1, now followed by the Q1 Ultra - first seen at the CeBIT show in March. It's taken this long to actually surface though, and we've tested one of the first pre-production samples in the country.

The first change of note is the appearance of Windows Vista, which brings much-improved tablet facilities (including enhanced handwriting recognition and touch-friendly icons), as well as the impressive new Origami Experience. From here, you can easily launch various programs (such as a web browser or Office application) with either your finger or the included stylus.

There's a (literally) one-touch setting which optimises all the Windows furniture to more digit-friendly dimensions too, although you might have to resort to a fingernail on occasion.

From the home page, you can also smoothly transition to browse your music, video and photos using a customised interface. It's all very pleasant - even tantalisingly close to Microsoft's early promises of how such a device might work. You don't even need to be that choosy to fit everything you want on the 60GB hard disk, or you could connect to a media-stuffed home network - Vista's Media Center also works well.

While there's Bluetooth and 802.11b/g built in (plus wired Ethernet), that's it as far as wireless connections go - we're yet to see anything as ambitious as GPRS or HSDPA, let alone the heady thrills of GPS.

The hardware itself has undergone a few changes too. In fact, the Q1 Ultra debuts a whole new platform, codenamed McCaslin (officially, the Intel Ultra Mobile Platform 2007) and a new ULV processor, codenamed Stealy (officially the A100). The latter is based on the Pentium M and in this case, runs at just 800MHz - surprisingly, enough to keep the Q1 Ultra feeling pretty pokey.

Physically, the biggest change is the split keyboard across the top, which brings a Blackberry-esque keyboard into play. The keys are a touch small, but we could get up to speed after a little practice, and we'd be happy using it for shorter messages or the odd edit.

Elsewhere, a number of shortcut keys really help to get you around Windows - helped by the reasonably generous screen resolution of 1,024 x 600, which leaves room for applications to stretch their legs.

Being a pre-production unit with early silicon and a sample battery (plus a fingerprint reader, which sadly won't make it onto production units), we couldn't make conclusive battery or performance tests, but it still lasted a couple of hours and felt responsive; even with a couple of programs open. It also remains impressively cool unless really pushed for extended periods.
Taking a step back, we're still a long way off the ultimate goal of a take-anywhere, last-all-day, always-connected device - for all its plus points and keyboard aside, it's arguable whether the Q1 Ultra is really as versatile a media device as Sony's sub-£300 Playstation Portable, so you'll need a good reason to spend £800 on it.

But assuming battery life, performance and the already decent build quality improve further, the Q1 Ultra will be the most tempting yet of its kind. We'll bring you the final results once we see a production sample, but it looks like the UMPC won't be going away anytime soon.

Nokia leads mobile Internet innovation

Nokia launches WidSets and Mobiledu for China market

Beijing, China - Nokia introduced two mobile Internet services serving Chinese consumers -WidSets, China's first mobile Internet service to empower mobile phones with Web 2.0 services; and Mobiledu, China's first interative mobile learning service. Both services will greatly enhance consumers' mobile Internet experience, by providing users with rich, versertile, and personalized content for their mobile devices.

"The rapid development of mobile Internet has made possible new applications and services, and has created unprecedented market opportunities. By integrating Internet capabilities into mobile handsets, Nokia has created new business models with partners. The newly launched services allow users to efficiently manage, organize, and utilize Internet content and services in their daily lives," said Mr. DieterMay, Vice President and Head of Nokia Emerging Business Unit. WidSets - Bringing online communities and personalized Internet tomobile phonesThe WidSets was identified and nurtured by the Nokia Emerging Business Unit.

Launched last October, the WidSets is an innovative mobile Internet service platform and represents the first step in Nokia's vision to mobilize the Internet. It reached one million registered usersworldwide in May 25 2007.

Now, Chinese consumers can also enjoy the WidSets, and experience the Web 2.0 services on their mobile phones.

Customers can easily download the WidSets software to their mobile phones for free. The software uses mini-applications called widgets to deliver real-time Internet content to mobile phones, that enables users to read news, blogs, e-mails, browse photos, and play games. The comprehensive library currently offers more than 1500 widgets, making the mobile Internet experience more organized, personalized, and exciting.

WidSets is a handset manufacturer-independent service that brings the best bits of the Internet, such as communities, news, blogs, reviews,and weather reports straight to the mobile phone. It uses widgets to deliver up to date Internet content to mobile phones and enables theuser to create their own widgets.

"WidSets service is free, and the easiest and most enjoyable way for mobile phone users to keep in touch with the content, blogs and communities they love because the service is constantly updated with feedback from the users," said Mr. Ding Gang, Director, WidSets China team, Nokia Emerging Business Unit. "Nokia, by driving WidSets, wants to offer people a growing variety of ways to access and interact with the web from mobile devices."

Please visit http://cn.widsets.com for more.

Mobiledu - Learning English on the go

The Mobiledu is China's first interactive mobile learning service, integrating teaching material from a variety of educational organizations. The Mobiledu fully leverages the capabilities of mobile Internet, as the program makes interactive learning available anywhere and anytime with mobile phones.

"As the world leader in mobile communications, Nokia's goal is to continuously bring new innovative applications to the market," saidMr. Marko Vänskä, Director of Nokia Emerging Business Unit, China, "We have seen a big growth potential for mobile learning market in China. By working together with local partners along the ecosystem, Nokia strives to enrich the consumers' learning experiences any time any where in a most convenient way with their mobile phones."

Mobiledu advocates the concept of "Studying Together", and provides rich text, graphics, and audio content. The new service creates a unique real time, interactive platform for studying.It enables users to lead more efficient and fulfilling lives, as users can study at any time or any place. Furthermore, users can access the online Mobiledu Community to obtain the latest learning content updates and, enjoy the mobile learning experiences out of the classroom from renowned teachers in China.

Mobiledu is courseware-based learning service which better caters to the learning habits of consumers. The program is supported and endorsed by various reputable education providers, including Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, New Oriental Education, Dell English, 21st Century, and Trends Group. The Mobiledu program covers the highly demanded TOEFL and GRE vocabulary, provides practice exams, and includes trendy cultural content on subjects such as fashion, cosmetics, sports, and health.

Mobiledu targets to support most Nokia Series 40 and S60 platform based mobile phones and all other branded mobile phones that support KJava applications.

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia makes a wide range of mobile devices and provides people with experiences in music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games and business mobility through these devices. Nokia also provides equipment, solutions and services for communications networks.

Media Enquiries:
Nokia, Greater ChinaCommunications
Tel. +86 10 6539 2828
Nokia, Emerging Business UnitCommunications
Tel. +358 7180 45792
NokiaCommunications
Tel. +358 7180 34900
Email: press.office@nokia.com www.nokia.com

Motorola unveils 4,000 job cuts

Motorola has announced plans to shed an additional 4,000 jobs this year, as it continues efforts to reduce costs and reverse a fall in profits.

The world's second largest mobile phone-maker, US-based Motorola was already on target to complete 3,500 job reductions by the end of June.

It forecasts the combined job losses and other cost-cutting moves will save the firm $600m (£304m) a year.

Motorola has been losing market share to rivals amid tough price competition.

'Weak phone range'
Mobile phone analyst Lawrence Harris said Motorola was also handicapped by a weak range of phones.

"The extra job cuts will certainly help them return to profitability but it's not enough to get them to the double digit profit margins they seek," he said.

"They need exciting new products."

Back in January, Motorola announced that its fourth quarter profits fell 48% to $624m.

Nokia's Do-Everything Phone

The handset maker is betting on the multimedia, Web-prowling, map-navigating N95 to take market share from Motorola—and even from iPhone

If Nokia had its way, you would throw away your iPod, your digital camera, maybe even your PC and TV—and certainly all those road maps cluttering the glove compartment of your car. Instead, you would own a Nokia (NOK) "multimedia computer" that not only makes phone calls but also does the work of a host of other digital devices, including a GPS navigator.

The Finnish handset maker hasn't quite sold the general public on its vision of mobile phones as do-it-all communications portals—yet. But Nokia's N95, its current, top-of-the line, multimedia handset (which launched in the U.S. in April) shows how determined the company is to become the center of people's digital universe.

"It's very important in terms of showing the world and leading consumers what can actually can be done," says Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia executive vice-president in charge of the company's multimedia business unit, which will likely book revenues north of $13 billion this year. "You can expect these features will become more standard over time."

Nokia won't divulge sales figures, but early indications are that the $750 N95 is a hit with the technophiles it's aimed at. As the leading edge N Series phone, the N95 certainly takes some of the credit for the gains in sales of high-end, multimedia handsets that have been helping Nokia take market share from rival Motorola (MOT). And a perusal of N95-related blogs shows that the product is generating significant discussion, as well as a fair amount of enthusiasm. "It should be a flagship product for Nokia," says Jari Honko, deputy head of research at eQ Bank Limited in Helsinki.

VoIP Skype, Google Talk, JAJAH Want You: T-Mobile Signed Deal

While video over IP has a long way to go with big issues on bandwidth, VOIP is here and now.Ever since I installed Skype not long after it came out, it has changed my working life and made it much easier to keep in contact while working from home (much better than 1999 when I started).

I more recently moved over to GoogleTalk as I have found their VOIP service much more reliable, but these two names are big players and there are many more that never get seen.

Well JAJAH is one VOIP name I have never really heard of before, but millions will know them now as T-Mobile adding VoIP to handsets and its JAJAH who gets the deal…well done.

T-Mobile’s wants to embrace JAJAH’s VoIP technology and they signed the deal that puts it ahead of the pack, but the other brands have the money to build their own mobile phones with VOIP (Never know Google Phone).

Deutsche Telecom Company T-Mobile believes in JAJAH so does another partner Intel, with this kind of backing it is now just a matter of time before VOIP goes mainstream with T-Mobile.
At last VOIP on the move may start to get to us mobile phone users (the technology is here now).

Nokia Warns that Qualcomm Dispute Harms WCDMA Sales

Nokia has warned that its ongoing patent dispute with Qualcomm could be holding up the adoption of WCDMA devices and services. Speaking at a news conference in South Korea, Chief Technology Officer Tero Ojanpera warned that the dispute was leaving a door open for rival technologies such as WiMAX.

"This whole discussion might have an impact on 3G technology," he said, adding alternative technologies such as mobile WiMax were gaining momentum due to uncertainties surrounding the licenses." reported the Reuters news agency.

"3G is not about cheap price but about new capabilities," said Ojanpera, when asked by Reuters about its 3G phone pricing policy on the sidelines of the Seoul event. "It's not the first priority to have a cheap phone."

Nokia and Qualcomm have been stuck in legal battles for well over a year - but the activity increased after a licensing agreement expired last month, although Nokia has made an interim payment which Qualcomm is disputing.

Analysts estimate Nokia has paid Qualcomm around $500 million per year and now aims to get a better deal.

Nokia Launches WidSets and Mobiledu for China Market

Nokia introduced two mobile Internet services serving Chinese consumers -WidSets, China’s first mobile Internet service to empower mobile phones with Web 2.0 services; and Mobiledu, China’s first interative mobile learning service.

Both services will greatly enhance consumers’ mobile Internet experience, by providing users with rich, versertile, and personalized content for their mobile devices.

The WidSets was identified and nurtured by the Nokia Emerging Business Unit. Launched last October, the WidSets is an innovative mobile Internet service platform and represents the first step in Nokia’s vision to mobilize the Internet. It reached one million registered users worldwide in May 25 2007.

Customers can easily download the WidSets software to their mobile phones for free. The software uses mini-applications called widgets to deliver real-time Internet content to mobile phones, that enables users to read news, blogs, e-mails, browse photos, and play games. The comprehensive library currently offers more than 1500 widgets, making the mobile Internet experience more organized, personalized, and exciting.

WidSets is a handset manufacturer-independent service that brings the best bits of the Internet, such as communities, news, blogs, reviews, and weather reports straight to the mobile phone. It uses widgets to deliver up to date Internet content to mobile phones and enables the user to create their own widgets.

The Mobiledu is China’s first interactive mobile learning service, integrating teaching material from a variety of educational organizations. The Mobiledu fully leverages the capabilities of mobile Internet, as the program makes interactive learning available anywhere and anytime with mobile phones.

Mobiledu advocates the concept of “Studying Together”, and provides rich text, graphics, and audio content. The new service creates a unique real time, interactive platform for studying.It enables users to lead more efficient and fulfilling lives, as users can study at any time or any place. Furthermore, users can access the online Mobiledu Community to obtain the latest learning content updates and, enjoy the mobile learning experiences out of the classroom from renowned teachers in China.

Mobiledu is courseware-based learning service which better caters to the learning habits of consumers. The program is supported and endorsed by various reputable education providers, including Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, New Oriental Education, Dell English, 21st Century, and Trends Group. The Mobiledu program covers the highly demanded TOEFL and GRE vocabulary, provides practice exams, and includes trendy cultural content on subjects such as fashion, cosmetics, sports, and health.

Mobiledu targets to support most Nokia Series 40 and S60 platform based mobile phones and all other branded mobile phones that support KJava applications.

Software supports Nokia N95 handset for mobile VoIP.

Mobile VOIP Fully Supported on Feature Rich Nokia N95 for all Mobile Networks

Mobile VOIP provider WiFiMobile have announced the release oftheir latest software Version 751 which provides complete support for the Nokia flagship handset, the Nokia N95.

With the much awaited Nokia N95 device now widely available on the market, users will be able to make VOIP calls either over Wi-Fi or through a 3G network. WiFiMobile's OneFone software is fully supported on any Nokia N95, whether it be unlocked or network branded due to the inclusion of a full SIP stack in the application. In addition the software provides presence information in the form of a buddy list.

The Nokia N95 and indeed other select Nokia S60 devices can also be used as an extension to a corporate IP PBX system. This allows IT/Telecom Managers to carefully control their company's continuously escalating mobile phone costs. IT Managers can re-program VOIP parameters for all of their employee's mobiles at the touch of a button.

CEO and Telecoms expert Gerry O'Prey says "This is good news for customers of all mobile network operators. Mobile VOIP is rapidly becoming a must have feature in top end cellular phones."

About WiFiMobile
WiFiMobile was formed in 2002 in Santa Monica, California and has recently opened a European office in the UK. Founder and CEO Gerry O'Prey was instrumental in the nineties by helping to liberalise the European land line telecoms market. Since then his main focus has been developing software for Nokia S60 smartphones to facilitate calls over a WLAN network and over 3G networks. The company is poised to achieve phenomenal growth in the next year as a pioneer in the rapidly evolving mobile VOIP market.For further information visit www.wifimobile.com

WiFiMobile is a member of Forum Nokia PRO, a premium development program from Nokia that provides advanced technical, business development and marketing support to select mobile software companies.
For more information visit www.forum.nokia.com/pro.

Samsung Mobile Tracker to Help Recover Lost Phones

Samsung Malaysia Electronics, a leading innovator in the mobile industry, commended the Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on its recent announcement of plans to set-up a national database for lost and stolen handphones.

Samsung highlighted that its latest range of phones with a "Mobile Tracker" feature can complement this national agenda and aid in the recovery of lost and stolen handphones. "Samsung commends the Government’s efforts in raising the bar on the delivery of customer service to handphone users nationwide. With more than 100,000 handphones reported lost in 2006 alone, the introduction of this database is precisely what the industry has been waiting for all this while," said Mr. Alex Wong, Director of Sales and Marketing, Handphone Marketing, Samsung Malaysia Electronics (SME) Sdn Bhd.

"The added advantage that Samsung can offer to consumers is that, whilst most Malaysian handphone users will soon be able to rely on the national database to disable their handphones, those who are using Samsung phones embedded with the Mobile Tracker feature will be able to activate this anti-theft device to further track down their missing handphones," said Wong.

With this latest technology from Samsung, when a handphone is lost or stolen and a new SIM card inserted into the missing handphone, the anti-theft Mobile Tracker will prompt the handset to send an SMS to two pre-selected numbers, giving the contact number of the new user without the latter's knowledge. This will ensure that owners are aware of who is using their handphones at all times.

"The cooperation of mobile and telco operators is a critical success factor. Samsung hopes to work with the MCMC to help more consumers leverage the benefits of its Mobile Tracker feature and looks forward to being a part of this important landmark industry collaboration," said Wong.

For more information on the anti-theft Mobile Tracker feature, please visit www.samsungmobile.com.my

Sony Ericsson W999i in the Works

Although it has not yet been confirmed by Sony themselves, it looks as though we may very soon have a new Walkman slider phone in our midst. The phone appears to be branded under the name Sony W999i.

If this is in fact a real phone that Sony is producing, it is likely to include such features as HSDPA connectivity, 2.4" 262K color QVGA screen, a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus, and should be about 12.5mm thick.

These images surfaced on a Swedish website, after rumors and grainy images hit a couple forums last week.

Via UnwiredView

Sony Ericsson, Justin Timberlake and Vodafone - one big happy family

I don't understand the fascination with Justin Timberlake, but that's probably because I'm not down with the kids. Sony Ericsson and Vodafone obviously are - as they've both jumped on Justin's promotional bandwagon.

The companies have signed exclusive deals with the man, backing his current 2007 European Future Sex/Love Show tour, which heads round Europe until October 2007. According to Stephan Croix, Global Marketing Director at Sony Ericsson: "We are thrilled with the partnership and to be sponsoring his live shows. We are looking forward to giving our consumers and Justin Timberlake fans a unique experience."

That "unique experience" is exclusive content via Vodafone through Sony Ericsson handsets, with a chance to win tickets (and meet Justin himself), as well as accessing a WAP site to stream some tunes, recorded live and specifically for the site. And to follow, there will be exclusive mobile content of wallpapers, ringtones, and screen savers plus a unique remix of JT's Cry Me A River.

Vodafone website

FCC Approves Sony Ericsson W660i Cell Phone

The Sony Ericsson W660i Walkman Phone got the FCC's nod. Get ready for this sweet little 3G phone, which we saw only a few weeks ago on The Whack.

The W660i comes with a 512MB memory stick micro (M2), allowing you to store as many as 470 songs (eAAC+ format). Memory is expandable to 1GB which means you can't throw away your iPod just yet. Even otherwise, it's got some neat features packed, including Bluetooth stereo support.

Thanks to the Track ID support on the phone, if you don't recognize a particular song playing on its FM receiver, you can record a few seconds of it, and the Track ID feature will send the clip to Gracenote Mobile MusicID database. Once identified, the song info is sent back to your phone.

No word on the pricing, but it should hit the streets soon.

Sony Ericsson

Samsung i620 (SGH-i620) Preview

The Samsung i620 (SGH-i620) has yet to be officially announced by Samsung, but it follows closely in the pattern of the Samsung i600 which allows us to draw some conclusions about the SGH-i620's technical specifications.

However, the first thing to notice is that this is a very unusual looking device - the "squashed" look that you can see in the photo on the right isn't a sizing error.. as far as we can tell, the SGH-i620 is a wide and squat phone at around 59mm across by 94mm tall when closed, opening up to a 131mm device with a QWERTY keyboard using a sliding mechanism. Samsung have clearly tried to keep the i620's layout as simple and as elegant as possible when it is closed - there's a sort of iPod-esque simplicity to it.

Open the Samsung i620 up and there's a fairly ugly but practical looking QWERTY keyboard in a layout similar to the classic BlackBerry. The keys appear to be well spaced and ergonomically arranged, indicating that Samsung have concentrated more on function than style with the SGH-i620's main keypad.


There are two cameras on the SGH-i620, so this is a 3G phone like the i600. We also know that it supports tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and has a two megapixel camera with flash. There's a wide 320x240 pixel display too, which is a more practical arrangement for a smartphone than the typical "tall" display found on other phones.

Assuming that this is an updated slider version of the i600, we expect the Samsung i620 to support HSDPA (3.5G) data in addition to UMTS (3G) and come with 802.11b and g WiFi capabilities. This should be a Windows Mobile 6.0 device with a wide range of supported multimedia formats, and this would mean that the SGH-i620 also comes with the usual array of Windows Mobile software. Stereo Bluetooth and microSD expandable memory are also to be expected. There are a lot of assumptions there - as yet there is no official word from Samsung as to the SGH-i620s exact technical specifications, and some of these could be wrong.

The design of the Samsung i620 is certainly appealing. If you're not using the QWERTY keyboard, then the simple controls allow access to most of the phone's functions without opening it up.. and if you want to type then the sliding keyboard is a no-compromise approach that may well give the best of both worlds.

Price, availability and the exact specification of the Samsung i620 are not known at the time of going to press.

Samsung unveils 4GB mobile phone chip - smaller handsets on the way?

You buy a mobile phone and a day later, you buy some memory. Most mobiles just don't have the on-board memory - although that could change with Samsung's introduction of the 4GB multi-chip package (MCP).

This solid-state flash-memory chip aims to cause serious harm to the memory card market, offering small-form internal storage with an adequate capacity for most users.

That simplifies things for phone manufacturers - there's no need to add a memory slot and there's less electronics needed for phone software to access the memory. Which should mean smaller handsets.

According to Samsung director Jim Elliot: “[It] allows handset manufacturers to significantly reduce development time while deploying an extremely robust design that will result in higher performance for smaller phones, with higher storage capacities.”

The downside is obviously we always want more memory as the years pass. But as we also change our phones as often, maybe it's not an issue.



Samsung website


Via Digital World Tokyo

Samsung launches ultra thin mobile music phone

Samsung Electronics, a global leader in communications and mobile phone technology, has joined the music phone race with the launch of the new Samsung F300.

The device is the world's first mobile phone to feature a double-face design housing two LCD screens embedded in the front and rear respectively.

The Samsung F300, which goes by the alias of Ultra Music, represents the convergence of basic devices with one side featuring a mobile phone and the flip side acting as a fully-fledged multimedia center providing an MP3 player, FM radio, 2.0 mega-pixel camera, a 128 mega-byte music library and voice memo recorder.

The MP3 player provides superb sound quality through the integrated speakers. Consumers can further use the music controls and 2.1 inch color screen to view their play list and music settings.

According to Steve Han, General Manager of the hand-held phone division at Samsung Gulf Electronics, the new innovative phone comes with a unique twist and design that promise to entice music and gadget lovers everywhere.

Han said: 'The F300 tends to both the professional and the free spirit in every person, with features and functions ranging from strong music capabilities, e-mail, document viewing, and Bluetooth, to Java games, TV output, MMS, and a web browser.

Part of Samsung's new Ultra series (along with the Ultra Edition II, and Ultra Messaging), the F300 measures 103.5 x 44 x 9.4 mm and weighs 77 grams, making it an ideal and convenient size to be carried around as both a phone, and a personal music player.

'The phone brings together the true elements of digital convergence. At the click of a button and a quick wrist flip, the classy and sleek mobile phone is transformed into a funky and innovative personal music library, while the mobile phone function continues to operate,' continued Han.

The music-face of the phone has a 33x42 mm screen with a resolution of 176x220 pixels, showing up to 262 thousand colors.

R&B singer, Beyonce, has previously been announced the face of F300 to promote the phone including world tour sponsorship, product endorsement and providing exclusive mobile content.

The F300 has a built-in battery which takes only two hours to recharge. The phone also comes with a hard case which acts as a backup battery in times of emergency which also gives users 210 hrs of music play time.

ViewRanger And Nokia N95 Create A New Horizon For Outdoor GPS Navigation

Topographic Maps, GPS Navigation and Location-Based Services for the Outdoor Enthusiast
Cambridge, UK – 30th May 2007 – Augmentra, a leading innovator in gps-enabled navigation software for smartphones, today announced the latest version of its award-winning ViewRanger off-road mapping, navigation and information software, and announced support for the Nokia N95 with integrated GPS.

ViewRanger is specifically designed for the off-road user, whether hill-walker, mountain biker, geo-cacher, birdwatcher, or rural tourist. It offers a unique combination of 2D and 3D mapping, GPS navigation, sports performance analysis, content sharing, and buddy tracking.
Running ViewRanger on the Nokia N95 with integrated GPS removes the need for a separate GPS receiver.

The N95’s high-resolution, bright and crisp screen is perfect for displaying the fine detail of 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 topographic maps. The 5 megapixel camera allows the sharpest images to be captured, marked on the map, and shared over-the-air via the ViewRanger Information Exchange. All of England (or Scotland) at 1:50,000 scale can be held on the Nokia N95 via a single microSD memory card.

Whether a frequent outdoor sports participant, or just an occasional visitor to the countryside, ViewRanger and the Nokia N95 deliver capabilities and convenience that cannot be found elsewhere.

This latest version of ViewRanger includes many features that allow outdoor enthusiasts to locate, identify, navigate and connect:• High quality multi-scale mapping licensed from Ordnance Survey• Unique 3D Panoramic Viewpoint display that identifies features in the landscape• GPS trail navigation and tracklog recording, with support to import/export waypoints, tracks and routes to many PC applications including Google Earth• TripView sports computer to monitor data during a journey and analyse performance• Buddy Beacon to transmit location to friends and family; see the location on your ViewRanger handset or through the web• Exchange notes and photos to share experiences of the landscape via ViewRanger’s over-the-air Information Exchange

“Having achieved Symbian Signed status, we are delighted that ViewRanger is one of the first third-party mapping and navigation applications to support the Nokia N95 and its integrated GPS,” said Mike Brocklehurst, CTO, Augmentra Ltd. “ViewRanger and the N95 set a new benchmark for functionality, ease-of-use and convenience in outdoor GPS.”

ViewRanger runs on the Symbian S60 smartphone platform, and transforms a Nokia or other S60 handset into a full-featured trail navigation system. ViewRanger is available to use internationally with no base-maps, and with Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain.

Further international coverage will be announced shortly.
ViewRanger is available from

http://www.viewranger.com/ and selected retailers.

For a complete list of supported handsets and ViewRanger resellers please visit ViewRanger at

http://www.viewranger.com/

- ENDS -

Nokia to use Chinese 3G technology

TD-SCDMA back-end hardware sales near $1bn in first quarter

Nokia will begin selling phones based on China's TD-SCDMA technology next year, according to local press reports.
The world's largest mobile phone maker expects to have handsets available during the first half of 2008.

TD-SCDMA is China's home-developed 3G standard. The government has strongly backed the standard in an attempt to reduce China's reliance on expensive foreign technology.

However, the rollout of 3G phones in the country has been delayed for years while bugs in TD-SCDMA are ironed out.

Although 3G networks have still not been officially launched in China, the market for TD-SCDMA equipment reached $910m in the first quarter of 2007, according to research firm Analysys International.

The spending is believed to be almost entirely devoted to infrastructure, as 3G handsets are not yet on sale.

Local firms ZTE and Datang are leading TD-SCDMA sales with 46.3 per cent and 26.8 per cent of the market respectively.

TD Tech, a joint venture between China's largest mobile manufacturer, Huawei, and Europe's Nokia and Siemens took only 14.8 per cent.

The hardware sales reflect the actions of the world's largest mobile carrier, China Mobile, which recently doled out TD-SCDMA infrastructure contracts for six major cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, which both have populations over 10 million.

These 3G networks, despite their size, remain off limits to the general public as the government has yet to grant 3G licences.

Trial networks based on the foreign W-CDMA and CDMA2000 3G standards were established last year, and are still awaiting government approval to start public operation.

In related news, Nokia has announced the establishment of a research facility at Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University.

"In some ways, the future of mobile technology is the future of all technology in China," said Professor Niu Zhisheng of Tsinghua University.

"The country has set itself the goal of developing indigenous innovation and, with four times as many mobile subscribers as internet users, the opportunities within mobile technology are clear.
"In addition, a world class communications network is essential to breakthroughs in all areas of science and technology research, rendering mobile technology doubly important."

Samsung & LG For China Mobile 3G Mobile Phone

Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, ZTE (China), Datang (China) and Motorola (USA) are being mentioned for mobile phone supplier for China Mobile, the biggest Chinese telecommunication service provider, which is processing TD-SCDMA type 3G mobile telecommunication service.

According to Shanghai Daily on 29th, China Mobile, which is processing TD-SCDMA service, is planning to purchase the terminals from 18 manufacturers worldwide with 4 billion wian (490 billion won).

TD-SCDMA Forum managing director Chen Haofei said, "China Mobile invested 6 to 7 billion wian for 3G network structure and is planning to purchase 2 million units of TD-SCDMA type mobile phone. 18 companies including Samsung, LG, Haier, ZTE and TCL will share the order for TD-SCDMA mobile phone, and prior 6 to 7 suppliers will take 60%."

Even though he didn`t specified the suppliers, but Shanghai Daily reported that Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, ZTE, Datang and Motorola were on the list.

Officials of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics said, "We`ve been processing the network interlocking test with sample products. Since Korean products have higher technical power for video call and others, we expect the good result."

Chinese government hasn`t given 3G service license but China Mobile is constructing TD-SCDMA network in 10 cities including Shanghai and Beijing. It seems that the company would process the rapid 3G business with mobile phones as soon as the network is completed and the government gives the permission.

The price of TD-SCDMA mobile phone will be around 2,000 to 3,000 wian and the phone that China Mobile is testing now is 2,500 wian. Nokia has announced that the company would sell TD-SCDMA mobile phone in China in the 1st half of next year.

Motorola Krzr Goes Gold

Motorola has unveiled a special edition champagne gold model of its Motokrzr mobile phone for the fashion conscious.

"Motorola has released the Motokrzr K1 in this special edition colour to meet the growing demand from consumers for a beautiful but functional phone that makes them stand out from the crowd," said Motorola's Andrew Volard.

Apart from a style update on the outside, the phone's functionality has undergone an upgrade also. Motorola has updated the sharing function, with quad-band and EDGE technology.
The phone also has an integrated mp3 player which can be used in plane mode and supports stereo Bluetooth headsets.

The K1 is available in black, silver and blue in addition to the new bling bling model, which will be available later this year through all networks, Motorola said.
RRP: $630

See: http://www.hellomoto.com/

Going Hands On with the Motorola RAZR 2 V8

It's not quite the production model that you'll be seeing in stores, but the lucky ducks at Mobileburn have been fondling a prototype Motorola RAZR 2 for a little while and overall, they like it. Also known as the Motorola V8 (as well as V9 and V9m), the RAZR 2, as you probably suspect, is the true successor to the slim flip phone that had everyone abuzz many moons ago.

This is after years of releasing SLVRs, upgraded RAZRs, RAZR MAXXs, and KRZRs. The external touchscreen is easily the most attractive feature on the RAZR2, given that it's just as large and in charge as the main display housed within. The buttons have all received a "usability upgrade" as well, except the camera button is still "fairly loose." The user interface has been completely revamped, offering consumers more customization, flexibility, and speed. All in all, the RAZR 2 is like the RAZR of old, only better.

Sony Ericsson T250i Cell Phone

Sony Ericsson T250i with its two available versions (GSM/GPRS 900/1800 and GSM / GPRS 850/1900) which launched recently in this Month, is giving tough competition to the other new mobile phones up in the market. Its elegant structure with 100*45*13 mm dimension's and 82 grams in weight has made it quite handy phone for any age group. Its eye-catching silver and black color option has made the customers more finicky about their choice.

While the phone blinks for SMS and MMS, which are with the option of group messaging and send and receive concatenated in SMS, and quick share and predictive text input option in MMS, its color display carrying 65.536 colors (16 bits) and 128*160 pixel quality provides smooth impression on the eyes of the owner. Its downloadable screensaver and picture wallpaper is again other eye stopper for the customer.

Its VGA camera along with the options of digital zoom, self –timer, landscape mode, effect/camera settings, quality settings can capture the memorable moments that can be stored in its 2 MB internal memory space. Along with the digital camera, other external phone features included here are 4way directional key, vibrating alert, integrated antenna and many more. While it’s integrated hands free speaker provides the facility of listening its polyphonic ring tones and FM radio (Mono and RDS), it can be good music to the ears of the listener.

Along with its GPRS connectivity facility, other facilities included in SE T250i are HSCSD, WAP Browser, 1.2 WAP, PC-Modem connection, synchronization via Infrared and RS232. Agenda, alarm clock, automatic key guard, calculator, photo phonebook, stopwatch and count down timer, date and time notation, downloadable games etc. should be mentioned as the other key features of this mobile phone. Accessories found inside the standard kit are rechargeable battery and its charger, stereo portable hands free, user guide etc. Customer can also opt for other accessories like Micro travel charger TMT -60, Cigarette lighter adapter CLA -60, portable hands free HPA- 64.

Via: Phonedaily

Sony Ericsson Joins the Forum

Sony Ericsson today announced it has become a member of the WiMAX Forum, WiMAX allows high-speed internet access from laptops, phones or other mobile devices over larger distances than previous technologies such as Wi-Fi.

The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led non-profit organization comprising more than 440 companies committed to promoting and certifying interoperable WiMAX products. WiMAX products are designed to deliver wireless broadband services to both residential customers and businesses by creating economies of scale made possible by standards-based, interoperable products.

A complete list of current WiMAX Forum members is found Here
"Sony Ericsson is committed to delivering state-of-the-art technological services and solutions to our customers," said Mats Lindoff, Chief Technology Officer, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB. "Sony Ericsson's membership in the WiMAX Forum is a logical step as we seek to understand the technology and the opportunities in the marketplace."

About WiMAX Forum(R)
The WiMAX Forum(R) is an industry-led, not-for-profit organization formed to certify and promote the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products based upon the harmonized IEEE 802.16/ETSI HiperMAN standard. A WiMAX Forum goal is to accelerate the introduction of these systems into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) products are interoperable and support broadband fixed, portable and mobile services. Along these lines, the WiMAX Forum works closely with service providers and regulators to ensure that WiMAX Forum Certified systems meet customer and government requirements. http://www.wimaxforum.org/

Motorola RAZR V3, V6, RAZR2 V8 & V9

So, it's finally reached the point where I'm thinking it's time to upgrade my mobile.Reasons are, exisiting one has taken a beating and the battery cover is loose, the battery life is starting to lessen and I'd like the ability to check my mail through the web.

A while back I switched to Motorola and have been quite happy with them since then. Traditionally I'd been a Nokia user and occassionaly tried Ericsson.

I was down town the other day and the Motorola RAZR V6 MAXX caught my eye. Nice looking phone and it appears to have all the features I want, including audio controls on the front of the clam.

So I had a look around on the web and found a mixed set of feedback from users, which is never a good sign, it was either, love this phone or hate this phone because of hardware complaints.

I then stumbled acorss GSMArena, they were talking about the RAZR2 V8 & V9So I get the feeling the V6 is the "stepping stone" product between the series.

The V9 sounds more like me, it uses the Motorola Synergy UI and has microSD expansion, whereas the V8 uses a new Linux/Java UI and has mixed memory sizes of 420MB & 2GB.

Motorola Specs for V8Motorola specs for V9Availability is July for the V8 and Q3 for the V9.

Of course, I'll be looking at the product reviews once the phones rather than just buying blindly.

I've complied this picture below of the three phones together, the V8 & V9 look the same to me from the front. Images taken from GSMArena.

Hands-On With Motorola's RAZR2 V8

I've spent the last couple of days playing around with a prototype Motorola RAZR2 V8.

Physically, the device is a real stunner. It feels very solidly build, is good looking, and offers most all of the flash and style of the original. The most obvious differences between the RAZR2 and the original RAZR are the massive external display and the lack of an antenna bulge, or chin, on the newer V8.

The external display is interesting for more than merely its 50mm (2") diagonal measurement, though. Three electrostatic touch keys are built onto the surface of the glass that protects the display. Each button is approximately 6mm square in size, which leaves about 6mm of space between each of them. This spacing helps ensure that only one button is hit at a time. The lables for the touch buttons are drawn on the display, such as the previous, play/pause, and next keys seen when using the music player. These buttons could be drawn as something else for a different function, such as the camera, but I have not seen this used anywhere in the V8.

Perhaps the best part of the buttons is the vibration feedback that the V8 offers when one of the touch keys is pressed. Thanks to this haptic feedback, you will always know when the phone has recognized your intentions. I've been very pleased with them so far.

The vibration feedback is also used with the volume and smartkey controls on the left edge of the phone, as well as with the camera shutter button that is located on the right edge. I find the camera shutter button very hard to use in this pre-production unit, though. The button offers poor tactile feedback that - it feels as if the button is broken since it is somewhat loose and doesn't depress very far at all. Hopefully this is just an issue with the prototypes.

One of the changes in the design of the new RAZR2 line that I didn't notice at the launch event in New York was that they use the newly defined micro-USB connector for charging, wired headsets, and, of course, USB connectivity. I've included a few photos that show the differences between the traditional mini-USB and the new micro-USB connectors. Personally, while I appreciate that the new mobile specific micro-USB port will allow for marginally thinner devices, it seems to be quite a bit more difficult to use than the larger mini-USB connector we've grown used to. My guess is that I'll build up quite a collection of micro-USB adapters over the course of the next year, since I expect we will see them on many devices from a number of the major manufacturers.

Motorola Cellphones to get Kodak's 5-Megapixel CMOS Sensor

Several Motorola cell phones to feature 5-Megapixel cameras by the end of the year.
Kodak also plans to release a digicam under its own brand name and offer the 5-Megapixel chip to Cellphone manufacturers in second half of 2007.

Kodak President Antonio Perez declared serveral key developments made by Kodak at the JPMorgan Technology Conference in Boston. The most important one being the development of a 5-Megapixel CMOS camera chip. The chip would be first to feature in Motorola cellphones by the end of this year. Besides, Kodak also plans to release a digicam based on the same CMOS camera chip under its own brand name.
Perez also informed that, Kodak has been working with IBM to develop CMOS sensors. He added, "Our CMOS sensors have been well advancing for many years. And now we will have the ability to embed the sensor in the phone with all the richness we have with our imaging software. It will allow us to make the sensor, the most important part of the camera, able to manage the light, color, and the like."
Another striking revelation was regarding Kodak's exit from entry level digital camera business owing to lack of profits from the same.
With the development of the new 5-Megapixel CMOS sensor, Kodak plans to release more products using this in-house manufactured chip to earn more profits.

Samsung SCH-W290 and SPH-W2900 Hit Korea!

Samsung has announced two new mobile phones launching in Korea - the SCH-W290 and the SPH-2900. Both are HSDPA phones featuring a slider form factor, camera, MP3 capability, expandable memory, and built-in printer support.

The phones don't look to have any out-of-the-ordinary features, but have an overall good look and adequate features.

Pricing and launch date aren't yet available, but we do know that these two models will launch on the Anycall network in Korea.
Via Samsung Korea

Nokia 8600 Preview

Although not yet announced by Nokia, details of the sliding Nokia 8600 phone have now been released by the Carphone Warehouse group who say the the 8600 will be available from 30th May onwards, exclusively to CPW and its companies throughout Europe such as the Phonehouse, OneStopPhoneShop and e2save.

Clearly closely modelled on the Nokia 8800 Sirocco, the 8600 is a stylish slider phone aimed at fashion conscious consumers and executives. Featuring an unusual smoked glass sliding cover, the Nokia 8600 certainly scores well for "wow factor". Other features are a general improvement on the 8800 series, with a 240x320 pixel display, quad-band GSM support for worldwide roaming, and the Nokia 8600 also has a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB of internal memory and an FM radio.

As well as the stylish semitransparent cover, the Nokia 8600 features quite a lot of stainless steel in its construction which brings the weight up to a heft 140 grams while adding significantly to the 8600's structural strength. Despite the weight, the Nokia 8600 isn't a 3G device although it does have 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM with GPRS and EDGE. Of course, the Nokia 8600 also has Bluetooth and an MP3 player.

One major limitation is the lack of any memory expansion - the Nokia 8600 just has the 128 MB of internal memory and no more can be added. The 8800 suffered from a similar problem. This means that the available memory can fill up pretty quickly with photos and music tracks which limits the enjoyment to be had from the handset a little. The battery life isn't great either, with just 3.5 hours talktime and 10 days standby time.

Despite the shortcomings, one thing that the Nokia 8600 will have is common with the original 8800 and later 8800 Sirocco is looks, and the overall design and usability of the 8800 has appealed to many people in the past. This device certainly won't suit everyone - especially when you take price into consideration - but it is appealing in many ways.

The Carphone Warehouse say the that the Nokia 8600 should be available from the 30th May 2007 on the O2 network in black, exclusively to them at launch. More details can be found here and here. In the UK the 8600 will be about £140 with a £35/month contract.

Nokia showcases The New Dual-mode Nokia E65 and Nokia E61i Business Devices

At the Interop show in Las Vegas, May 22-25, Nokia demonstrated the combination of Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco solution running on two of the latest Nokia Eseries devices, Nokia E65 and Nokia E61i.

With this demonstration, Nokia highlights not only its role in accelerating the adoption of business mobility solutions, but also the importance of the mobile business device in bridging the converging worlds of mobile telephony, corporate telephony, and Information Technology (IT).
Nokia E61i, Nokia E65, and all dual-mode Nokia Eseries devices support the full range of Nokia business voice solutions, including Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel, Nokia Intellisync Call Connect for Cisco, and Avaya One-X. Nokia Eseries devices run a variety of email, business voice, security, and mobile workforce management applications and other business application software.

Dual-mode Nokia Eseries devices with wireless LAN are ideal for implementing a business voice solution integrating mobile devices into fixed corporate telephony systems. With an integrated system, business users need only carry a single device with a single business number for fixed and mobile telephony. They can take advantage of the rich feature set of corporate telephony systems as well as cost savings from features like least-cost routing.

For personal use, the integrated SIP VoIP capabilities of dual-mode Nokia Eseries devices allow users also to make and receive Internet calls over the wireless LAN networks in homes, airports, and other hotspots.

The immediate success of Nokia E65 device, a business smartphone slider, in key European and Asian markets, further fueled by fast and efficient availability in other markets, has accelerated the momentum established by the first wave of Nokia Eseries devices - particularly Nokia E61 and Nokia E50. The recently released Nokia E61i is an ideal device for users demanding a superb email, business voice, and Internet browsing experience. Equipped with a full keyboard and brilliant screen, Nokia E61i provides easy access to Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email and other business and consumer email applications--such as BlackBerry Connect, Visto Mobile, Seven Always-on Mail, and Mail for Exchange, a Nokia solution that wirelessly synchronizes email with attachments, calendar, and contact information directly from Microsoft Exchange servers.

Designed to mobilize the most-used business applications and processes, Nokia Eseries business devices bring advanced voice features with superior voice quality, business email with attachment handling, and manageability with business-class device security to the most demanding business users. The devices are also easy to deploy within IT infrastructures, further facilitating the adoption of mobility solutions. By also featuring cameras, video capabilities and music players, and giving users access to travel, weather, news, and financial information, second-wave Nokia Eseries devices let customers bridge their work and personal lives.

The combination of Nokia Eseries devices and the Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite 8.0 mobileware platform significantly increases the potential for businesses to achieve new levels of productivity and competitive advantage. Nokia Intellisync Device Management capabilities allow businesses to comprehensively deploy, provision, secure and manage mobile device fleets, allowing over-the-air provisioning, software installation, security policy enforcement, remote device control, and easy lock and data-wipe for devices that are lost or stolen, helping protect company and personal data.

With the highly anticipated arrival of Nokia E90 Communicator in select markets later this quarter, followed by global availability in Q3, second-wave Nokia Eseries devices will be available across the business smartphone, messaging, and mobile office categories.

Nokia Patents Mobile Lightning Sensor

sNokia's patent for a lightning sensor that would be embedded in mobile phones notes that lightning strikes can actually occur when there are no visible clouds indicating a thunderstorm. Nokia said the most benefit from a mobile lightning sensor would be to outdoor workers whose livelihoods and, often, lives depend on knowing the weather.

The ad campaign could almost write itself. A couple stands under a threatening sky and the woman holds up her phone -- but not to send a text message or call her friends. "You can play music on your cell phone," the voiceover says somberly, "or take pictures, play games, even make phone calls -- and now you can detect lightning."

While that campaign might still be some future fantasy of mobile phone marketing execs, the idea behind it is now owned in a patent by leading cell phone maker Nokia.

Measuring the electromagnetic noise created by lightning, new phones from Nokia might someday not only be able to detect lightning, but also be able to determine how far away a recent lightning strike occurred. This would be done by detecting the electromagnetic signal in both the phone's channel and in another channel, such as FM radio, RFID, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
Lightning Frequencies

Lightning bolts generate frequencies as low as 10 Hz and as high as 5 GHz, with a peak around 500 Hz. The device described in the Nokia patent could actually be any mobile radio-frequency device with "at least two communication channels or frequency bands, whereby at least one of which is normally a telecom channel/frequency range."

Nokia's patent notes that lightning strikes can actually occur when there are no visible clouds indicating a thunderstorm. While anyone could benefit from any amount of advance knowledge and location of a strike, Nokia said the most benefit could be to outdoor workers whose livelihoods and, often, lives depend on knowing the weather.

The patent notes that, on the high end, meteorological and single-band radio-frequency detectors are large and require a specific orientation, making them not well suited for mobile devices. On the low end, Nokia said in the patent, there are existing portable detectors that are susceptible to human-generated electromagnetic signals and, especially near cities or highways, are prone to false alarms.

Beginning of Sensor-Phone?
Gartner analyst Todd Kort said he didn't think a lightning-detection capability in a cell phone "would give much of a competitive advantage, unless you happen to live in an area where there is a lot of lightning."

While calling it an "interesting application," he said he didn't think it would help Nokia sell phones. He also noted that there might be other ways to provide lightning detection, perhaps with more accurate or detailed information, such as a weather service like weather.com providing "lightning alerts" to location-sensing phones.

Kort also noted that there are at least dozens of different sensors being developed to make the cell phone, already a kind of electronic "Swiss Army Knife," into more of a mobile safety detector for a variety of dangers.

"It wouldn't shock me," he said, "if, in 10 or 20 years from now, these kinds of sensors become common." A sensor that uses Bluetooth communication, for example, could alert a pacemaker owner of a problem with the life-critical device.