Unique articles

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Samsung UbiCell CDMA Base Station for Sprint

Mar 28 2007 - 11:33 AM ET | CTIA, Samsung, Sprint Nextel, Unique
CTIA 2007 -- One of the more interesting new devices at CTIA is the Samsung UbiCell base station. A small white box that looks like a WiFi access point, the UbiCell is actually mini cell tower designed for CDMA 1x...

NYC to make 911 work with picture messaging

Jan 19 2007 - 04:24 PM ET | Camera, Unique
New York City will become the first city in the country to upgrade its 911 and 311 call centers to handle picture messaging. Landline callers will also be able to transmit images to operators via the web. “Imagine someone caught...

Nokia 6086 announced, UMA capable

Nov 28 2006 - 03:47 PM ET | Nokia, T-Mobile, Unique
The Nokia 6086 is a new UMA capable handset announced at Nokia's annual Capital Market Days event. Unlicensed Mobile Access, UMA, is technology that routes voice calls over WiFi (WLAN) when possible to save on airtime fees. T-Mobile USA is...

Sprint launches Motrola ic502, dual-mode phone

Nov 14 2006 - 02:27 PM ET | Motorola, Nextel, Sprint Nextel, Unique
Sprint Nextel has launched its first dual mode (CDMA and iDEN) handset, the Motorola ic502. We first heard of this handset when it was approved by the FCC this summer. Ever since Sprint's take over of Nextel the combined company...

Bang & Olufsen begins shipping Serene fashion phone

Oct 28 2006 - 04:19 PM ET | Samsung, Unique
Bang & Olufsen has finally announced a ship date for its Samsung-built fashion phone dubbed Serene. Photos of the device were released over a year ago. The original target ship date was Q4 2005, but Bang & Olufsen has now...

T-Mobile HotSpot @Home UMA service launches in Seattle

Oct 24 2006 - 01:25 PM ET | T-Mobile, Unique
T-Mobile USA has opened up testing of its HotSpot @Home UMA service for customers in Seattle (see our previous coverage). Unlicensed Mobile Access, or UMA, utilizes WiFi and Voice Over IP (VoIP) to provide cheaper calls when in the area...

Verizon Wireless: Miami is most chatty city

Sep 07 2006 - 06:21 PM ET | Unique, Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless did call volume analysis on its nearly 55 million wireless customers and came up with a ranking of major cities by call volume. Miami ranked as the most talkative city, with an average of 298 monthly calls per...

Ryanair announces in-air mobile support

Aug 30 2006 - 01:12 PM ET | Unique
European discount airline Ryanair has announced it will offer an in-flight mobile network for its passengers. Upgrades to its 737 jets will start in mid-2007 and continue through 2008. The company plans to provide Mobile OnAir service in all of...

Tech preview: real time traffic info via cellular network

Aug 21 2006 - 04:35 PM ET | Data, Unique
By Jon Gales -- Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the folks at IntelliOne, a small Atlanta based firm that is attempting to corner the real-time traffic market by monitoring cellular data with software. Traffic monitoring today is...

Introducing iLane , hands-and-eye free email

Jul 24 2006 - 01:06 PM ET | Accessories, Bluetooth, Unique
Intelligent Mechatronic Systems introduced an innovative sounding product today called iLane. The Bluetooth device is intended to be installed in a vehicle and interfaces with a wireless email equipped phone and a speaker (either the vechicles audio system or a...

Whirlpool tests phone savvy washer/dryer

Jul 18 2006 - 05:33 PM ET | Backpage, Unique
Whirlpool and a handful of technology partners are currently testing a washer/dryer set that ties in with computers and cell phones. The "smart" appliances are now in use at three homes in Atlanta. Partners on the project include Microsoft and...

New documentary shot entirely with Nokia N90

Jun 14 2006 - 11:40 AM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
There have been lots of 'mobile only' short film competitions, but New Love Meetings is the first feature-length movie we have heard of shot entirely by a mobile phone. The documentary was filmed with a Nokia N90 in the MPEG4...

Sprint launches text to landline service

Apr 25 2006 - 12:39 PM ET | SMS, Sprint Nextel, Unique
Sprint Nextel announced Text to Landline, a clever service that allows Sprint customers to SMS any landline phone in the US. The text message is converted into a voice message which gets played back for the reciepient. At that point...

Motorola patents electric shock alerts

Apr 21 2006 - 09:12 AM ET | Motorola, Unique
Motorola has patented a novel approach at getting your attention--a mild electric shock. Unlike vibration alert systems that are standard today, the new Motorola shock technology is completely silent. A small pad that contains electrodes is fastened to the...

Google receives voice search patent

Apr 11 2006 - 04:36 PM ET | Unique
Google was granted a patent (# 7,027,987) today that covers converting voice to search queries. While there is not currently a mobile version of the technology (see desktop based demo), it seems like a natural extension. Google's technology converts...

AirPlay to tie mobiles into TV shows

Mar 20 2006 - 02:08 PM ET | Unique
San Francisco-based AirPlay is set to launch a line of mobile games that will tie into live television broadcasts. While big US networks have been slow to adopt mobile participation (about the only exception is that Fox uses SMS...

Pantech G-3600V at CeBIT

Mar 10 2006 - 12:18 PM ET | In The News, Unique
One of the more unique cell phones being shown at CeBit 2006 in Hanover, Germany is the Pantech G-3600V. Pantech is touting this new cell phone with phrases such as a 'global GSM slider' and the ultimate ‘music phone’,...

Scientists developing cell blocking paint

Mar 02 2006 - 01:26 AM ET | Unique
Scientists are perfecting a paint that can switch between blocking and allowing cellular communication. The clever coating uses nanotubes filled with copper to do its magic, but the specifics weren't announced. The Chicago Tribune reports: By filling these tubes...

Yahoo launches S60 geotagging software

Feb 27 2006 - 12:07 AM ET | Camera, Unique
Over the weekend, Yahoo released some interesting alpha geotagging software called Zonetag. It's built for Nokia S60 mobile phones and automatically tags photos with the location where they were taken according to info from the cellular towers the phone...

FCC approves Motorola RC car accessory

Feb 22 2006 - 03:56 PM ET | Accessories, Bluetooth, Motorola, Sprint Nextel, Unique
Motorola and Zigbee have recieved FCC approval today for an accessory dongle that can control Nikko RC cars. The Zigbee dongle can either plug into a traditional looking RC remote or to a Motorola iDen (Java application required on...

Samsung improves LCD readability

Jan 26 2006 - 03:59 PM ET | Samsung, Unique
Samsung announce d a new super-reflective LCD that is easy to read outside, even in direct sunlight. The new screen measures 1.72 inches and is technically called a SR LCD screen. Samsung claims it's three times as bright as a...

Woman attempts to swallow phone [UPDATED]

Dec 24 2005 - 12:17 AM ET | Unique
We've heard of people doing a lot of strange things with cell phones, but attempting to swallow one may take the cake. A Blue Springs, Kansas woman halfway swallowed her phone (model unknown) to keep her boyfriend from having it....

Callwave intros mobile screening service

Dec 22 2005 - 02:32 PM ET | Unique
Voicemail company Callwave recently introduced a new service that allows mobile phone users to screen their calls as if they are using an answering machine. Technically Callwave replaces your carrier's voicemail system and adds a few twists, including the...

Startup aims to sell cam phone pics to news agencies

Aug 06 2005 - 07:45 AM ET | Camera, Unique
A startup called Scoopt recently launched with the idea that news organizations would be willing to pay normal people that witness (and capture) news events. Camera phones took some of the most seen photos of the recent London bombings. After...

Firefly Mobile phone for kids now shipping

Jul 12 2005 - 02:23 PM ET | Unique
Firefly Mobile today announced that its Firefly phone has hit store shelves nationwide at Target. The phone is targeted at children ages 8-12. It uses pre-paid service and has limited functionality: bq. With just five keys instead of a regular...

Samsung develops sectional LCD

Jun 29 2005 - 02:11 AM ET | Samsung, Unique
Samsung announced a new type of LCD that could extend the battery life of mobile phones. The new type of screen has a section that will remain always on, but at a much lower power consumption: bq. The new mobile...

Man's life saved by camera phone

Apr 28 2005 - 04:12 PM ET | Camera, Unique
Some corporations ban camera phones for security purposes (corporate espionage!), but Matthew Stevens is alive because of the tiny camera embedded in his mobile phone. Mr. Stevens was bitten by a Brazilian Wandering Spider, which if not treated correctly can...

Samsung SCH-B200, satellite DMB phone

Apr 11 2005 - 03:54 PM ET | Samsung, Unique
Samsung has announced the SCH-B200, a satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) phone. The B200 joins two other models, the B100 and B130, in Samsung's DMB collection. Features of the Samsung B200 include: * 2 Megapixel camera with flash * 240...

Toshiba preps fast charging battery

Mar 29 2005 - 03:17 PM ET | Unique
Toshiba has a new type of Lithium-Ion battery that recharges to 80% capacity in just 60 seconds. In "several more minutes" the battery becomes fully recharged. This compares to several hours for other types of Li-ion batteries. bq. The secret...

Toshiba announces Ubiquitous Viewer software

Jan 18 2005 - 06:59 PM ET | Unique
Toshiba today announced software called Ubiquitous Viewer that will allow users to connect to Windows based computers through mobile phones. bq. The software, called Ubiquitous Viewer, is installed on the mobile phone and on a client computer running Windows and...

SAT review app comes to mobile phones

Sep 30 2004 - 03:31 PM ET | Unique, Verizon Wireless
Princeton Review's Prep for the SAT is now available for mobile phones. Currently only available to Verizon Wireless customers (but soon to other carriers), the application is intended to help raise SAT scores. The application was developed by VOCEL and...

Samsung SPH-V5400 announced

Sep 07 2004 - 03:04 AM ET | Samsung, Unique
Samsung announced the Samsung SPH-V5400 over the holiday weekend. the SPH-V5400 is the first cell phone to include a hard drive (yes, a hard drive). The drive is only 1.5GB, but that's more storage than you'll find in any other...

Phone rage causes $2000 in damage

May 14 2004 - 05:14 PM ET | Unique
An angry customer, fed up with bad cell phone service, decided to take action by throwing mobile phones across the Verizon Wireless store he was in. After the incident, the man told authorities he only planned on yelling at the...

Vodafone K.K. ships TV phone

Apr 08 2004 - 01:24 PM ET | Unique, Vodafone
Vodafone K.K., the Japan based arm of Vodafone, has announced it will ship the Toshiba V401T towards the end of the month. The V401T includes a high resolution screen and a built-in analog TV tuner, which should combine to make...

Skype goes mobile, stirs industry

Apr 06 2004 - 12:43 PM ET | Unique
Skype is a popular peer-to-peer voice chat (or VoIP, voice over IP, in industry jargon) application that allows free "phone calls" to anyone else using the Skype application. It is made by the same people who made Kazaa, but isn't...

Control TV recording with your cell phone

Mar 30 2004 - 01:43 PM ET | Unique
Opera Software says your mobile phone will soon be able to control a video recorder. Recorders such as TiVo are quite popular, and are expected to take a large jump in market share in the next several years. The company...

Play a game on NYC billboard with your phone

Mar 24 2004 - 11:51 AM ET | Unique
Yahoo! Autos has a new billboard in Times Square that lets you control a game being displayed on a video monitor. How do you control it? You're phone: bq. "The game works by dialing an 800 number. You find out...

CTIA: AT&T Wireless inks deal with MapQuest

Mar 22 2004 - 10:50 AM ET | AT&T Wireless, Staff Picks, Unique
AT&T Wireless has signed a deal with MapQuest to provide maps to its customers through its mMode service. bq. "Mobile users can quickly find their way with full-color, interactive maps that pan and zoom. Step-by-step driving directions are available and...

Kids using cellphones to cheat

Feb 24 2004 - 08:27 PM ET | Unique
The Constra Costa Times has a piece on the newest way for students to cheat--camera phones. We briefly mentioned this in December 2003 bq. "Jan Burten, a math teacher at College Park High in Pleasant Hill, was shocked when a...

New tech aims to imrove underground reception

Feb 16 2004 - 02:29 PM ET | Unique
The Scotsman reports on a new technology aimed to improve cell phone reception on underground trains. Carrier O2 says it is the first time complete coverage has been offered to the UK metro system. It's not clear if this tech...

Cell towers throw off homing pigeons

Jan 23 2004 - 06:24 PM ET | Unique
Although homing pigeons aren't all that common these days, a group of pigeons enthusiasts is reporting that cell phone towers are throwing their birds off course. One member was quoted as saying: bq. "During the World War II, thousands of...

Nokia to intro Perl/Python on mobiles [updated]

Jan 16 2004 - 07:49 PM ET | Unique
Big news for geeks everywhere--Nokia has announced it will make software to run Perl on future phones! The internal version of the de facto scripting language will run on Series 60 devices like the 6620, 6600 and N-Gage. This should...

ATI ships mobile 3D chip

Jan 07 2004 - 01:36 PM ET | Unique
ATI, a company mostly known for high-end 3D video cards, has announced the Imageon 2300 GPU. The graphics processor is specially made for mobile devices, and could soon power 2D, 3D and video decoding in your phone. Mass production of...

Keep track of your kids via cellular phones

Dec 31 2003 - 01:00 PM ET | Unique
A new service called ChildLocate aims to provide location based services for parents worried about their kids. Although the sercice is only available in the U.K. right now, it will expand into other Euro markets within the next 6 months....

Phone on the field [updated]

Dec 15 2003 - 08:35 AM ET | Unique
Sports Illustrated has a piece on Joe Horn--after scoring a touchtown yesterday, the New Orleans receiver was given a cell phone that was hidden in the goal post padding and placed a call. A 15 yard penalty was assessed for...

Toshiba makes hard drive for phones

Dec 15 2003 - 12:58 AM ET | Unique
Toshiba announced that it created a hard drive the size of a nickle aimed directly at the mobile phone sector. The drive can hold as much as 3GB of information and will start shipping in 2005....

Another bone conduction cell phone

Dec 10 2003 - 12:02 PM ET | Unique
Smart Mobs notes that another bone conduction cell phone has been announced. The technology transfers vibrations directly into your skull and then into your ear drum. It's popular for noisy environments that speakers do poorly in. We saw this same...

Business docs on mobile phones

Dec 09 2003 - 12:04 PM ET | Unique
Sharp has announced that it created software that allows business documents (word processing files, spreadsheets and presentations) to be viewed on conventional mobile phones. The trick is a server must turn the document into a SVG before it gets to...

Sly cell phone jammer appears

Nov 15 2003 - 03:47 PM ET | Unique
A new cell phone jammer dubbed the SH066P has hit the market. It's trick is that it comes disguised as a circa 1998 mobile phone. The device has a range of 10-15 yards, which doesn't seem quite far enough to...

Carrier uses weed to promote sales

Oct 14 2003 - 03:50 PM ET | Unique
Russian wireless carrier Sonet has been spotted using marijuana to help fuel sales. The thought is that the CDMA carrier will become more popular with "the kids" because of its prominent use of marijuana leaves on its ads. We'll let...

4 Siemens fashion phones announced

Oct 13 2003 - 10:42 AM ET | Siemens, Unique
Four new Siemens phones under the Xelibri brand have been announced. All of the models attempt to be at the cutting edge of style. It's not just style though, all of the phones include color displays, voice-dialing, polyphonic ringtones, and...

Another case of cellular explosion [updated]

Oct 07 2003 - 07:24 PM ET | Unique
Back in August we mentioned that a women in Austria had her Nokia catch fire. The company blamed her 3rd-party replacement battery. There has been another case of cell phone fire, this time in Omaha: bq. "When the phone exploded,...

Commodore 64 on your Nokia

Oct 02 2003 - 10:35 PM ET | Nokia, Unique
Rael Dornfest found an interesting application for Nokia series 60 phones (including the popular 3650) called Frodo [scroll to bottom]. It's a Commodore 64 emulator, which means it lets you play all the applications you remember using back in the...

Screens into speakers

Sep 22 2003 - 11:25 PM ET | Unique
Authentic Ltd, a subsidiary of NEC, is working on turning mobile phone screens into a speaker. The technology works by vibrating the front panel of an LCD. The best part is that because screens tend to be large (compared to...

Samsung intros TV phone

Sep 17 2003 - 08:06 PM ET | Samsung, Unique
PhoneScoop noted that Samsung has released the first GSM phone with a built in TV tuner. The company first hinted it was moving in this direction back in June. Here are the details: SGH-P705 * NTSC TV tuner + video...

In-flight SMS coming soon

Sep 15 2003 - 08:39 AM ET | SMS, Unique
Airline technology provider SITA recently launched technology for commercial two-way SMS service. The company said its working closely with several airlines, and hopes to announce the first customer soon. We've covered phones in planes before [1, 2, 3], but this...

Roll your own phone cover

Sep 12 2003 - 09:33 AM ET | Camera, Nokia, Unique
Nokia recently showed off the 3200 at an event in Spain and at another in Thailand. It's got all the specs you would expect from a high end phone, but its also got one twist--cut-out covers. It comes with 10...

6850 puts cam + more on 6800

Sep 05 2003 - 05:09 PM ET | Nokia, Rumor, Unique
Some rogue pictures of a yet-to-be-announced Nokia which is being passed off as the 6850, show the now familiar "6800 feel" but with a camera and Bluetooth! For unfamiliar readers, the Nokia 6800 looks like a typical flip phone, but...

Cell recording old hat?

Sep 04 2003 - 08:25 AM ET | Unique
According to C|Net, DoCoMo is working with Texas Instruments to produce a phone with the built-in ability to record phone calls. Not mentioned in the story is that this is old news--Sony Ericsson T68i's have the same functionality although it's...

Cell balloons the next big thing

Aug 28 2003 - 12:41 AM ET | Unique
NewsFactor reports on what could be the next big thing in cellular networks--modified balloons that double as cell towers. One company is boasting that a single balloon could service an area as big as Oklahoma due to the fact that...

Trade your dorm room in for a BlackBerry

Aug 27 2003 - 08:23 AM ET | Unique
Wired reports on a Canadian university that is so pressed for on campus housing that it is willing to give a BlackBerry, laptop or a desktop PC to anyone willing to move off campus for at least a year. The...

Cellphone catches fire

Aug 22 2003 - 10:28 AM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
Here's another reason to not use a cell phone when you drive--it could catch fire. A woman in Amsterdam recently was treated for slight neck burns after her Nokia caught fire. Nokia of course blames all cases (yes, there has...

SMS makes movies tank?

Aug 22 2003 - 10:21 AM ET | SMS, Staff Picks, Unique
Here at MobileTracker HQ we've had a lot of extra time. Thanks mostly to not seeing Gigli. We may not be alone--Hollywood is blaming "texters" for bombs. Seems like the easy way out: bq. "Because movie-goers are so quick to...

Another wristphone in Asia

Aug 13 2003 - 03:24 PM ET | Camera, Unique
NTT DoCoMo was the first company to introduce a wristphone (dubbed the Wristomo) and Samsung soon followed suit ny showing off a watch sized phone that is promised for later this year. Now it's China's turn--meet the F88. It's the...

Live traffic videos coming to your mobile

Aug 08 2003 - 04:27 PM ET | Unique
If you're in Taiwan and want to see what the roads look like before you venture out, you can now watch 'em in real-time on your phone. According to C|Net the network consists of 42 cameras in the most congested...

New fridge hooked up with MMS

Aug 03 2003 - 10:08 AM ET | Unique
Wired has the scoop on a prototype fridge from a Swedish company that includes the ability for cell phone users to request an image of its contents via MMS. No matter how lazy you think we are, don't expect this...

Nokia 3300 review

Jul 30 2003 - 03:20 PM ET | Nokia, Review, Unique
Cell phone tycoon Howard Chui has posted his review of the Nokia 3300. The phone is being marketed towards music lovers with features such as MP3 and AAC music playback and a FM stereo radio. It's got other goodies too:...

Platinum cell phones

Jul 30 2003 - 11:42 AM ET | DoCoMo, Unique
Cell phones containing platinum are likely to hit the market next year after an announcement by DoCoMo that it will start shipping 3G phones that use fuel cells instead of batteries. Fuel cells require platinum as a major component to...

Mobile phone throwing back

Jul 28 2003 - 04:22 PM ET | Unique
A few weeks ago we mentioned a story on an interesting new sport--mobile phone throwing. Well, it's gone global. The original story was out of the Ukraine, but the world championships are in Finland on August 23rd. Nokia's HQ is...

Branding with mobile games

Jul 22 2003 - 11:22 AM ET | Unique
If you thought those games on your cell phone were just for fun, think again. WirelessAdWatch is running an article about how advertisers are getting their brands slapped onto mobile games--it reaches the 18-24 demo that is normally very hard...

N-Gage ships Oct. 7th

Jul 20 2003 - 03:28 PM ET | Nokia, Unique
The report back in May turned out to be correct--the Nokia N-Gage will ship in October (the 7th to be exact), and will cost $299 US. The high-end gaming device sports a high-resolution screen, Bluetooth and an MP3 player. Not...

Keytouch promises fast input on the go

Jul 18 2003 - 11:09 AM ET | Unique
infoSync noted a new text input technology dubbed KeyTouch aims to speed up mobile text. Most users are now using a predictive text engine called T9 which is owned by AOL. It uses a combination of buttons and 4-way keypads...

Phone throwing competition

Jul 14 2003 - 12:14 PM ET | Unique
If you've ever wanted to throw your phone, you'll be happy to know that you aren't alone. Lonely people in Ukraine have made a competition out of it--57 meters is the current record. If you are able to beat 57...

Custom Ringback's Coming--Cover Your Ears

Jul 10 2003 - 01:33 PM ET | Unique
Ringback's are the tones you hear when you call someone else and hear a "ring". It's pretty standard to have the plain jain tone we are all used to. A few asian companies think we'll all be jumping on custom...

AT&T Wireless Says Shh

Jul 09 2003 - 02:20 PM ET | Unique
Every once in a while a real odd story of corporate policy comes along... Today is that day. InfoSync says that AT&T Wireless will be hiring "faux grannies" to tell rude mobile phone users to be quiet and give polite...

Multi-Mode Phones Via Software

Jul 07 2003 - 10:12 AM ET | Unique
A company called Sandbridge Technologies is working on a chip with some special software that will make it possible to use several different wireless standards with just one device. For example, your phone could be GSM/CDMA/WiFi. Very cool....

Send An SMS From Aim

Jul 02 2003 - 03:43 PM ET | SMS, Staff Picks, Unique
Readers have sent this in so many times that it must be cool. You can send SMS messages from AIM (works in iChat as well, let us know about other clients). All you do is send an IM to +1FULLNUMBER....

Zoo tracks children with Bluetooth tags

Jun 26 2003 - 07:11 PM ET | Bluetooth, SMS, Unique
A zoo in Denmark is starting up a system that tags the children with a little Bluetooth device which pings transponders across the park that relay the location of the child to a database. Parents can send a text message...

Mobile Printing

Jun 16 2003 - 12:30 PM ET | Camera, Nokia, Unique
We swear this is the last Nokia post for the day... Nokia and Kodak have teamed up to make mobile printing a piece of cake. bq. "Users of Nokia imaging phones, such as the Nokia 6600, will be able to...

Nokia 3100 Introduced

Jun 16 2003 - 12:29 PM ET | Nokia, Unique
In Singapore today, Nokia introduced the 3100 which is aimed at style-conscious mobile consumers. You know how people customize their phones to be wacky? The 3100 is just like that except it comes straight from the factory. The default case...

Barcode Scanner For Your Phone

Jun 13 2003 - 01:15 PM ET | Accessories, Motorola, Staff Picks, Unique
We've gotten word from Motorola that they've teamed up with Nextel and Symbol Technologies to make the first wireless barcode scanner for mobile phones. This looks to have a real use in warehouse environments and even in certain retail applications....

Location Services On Nextel

Jun 11 2003 - 12:02 PM ET | Unique
Motorola and Nextel teamed up for several location-based services, ranging from voice-enabled driving directions to asset tracking solutions, using Motorola's GPS-enabled iDEN mobile phones. New location-based services are available directly to Nextel customers, as well as to developers, for integration...

TV Tuner Built Into Phone

Jun 09 2003 - 12:36 PM ET | Samsung, Staff Picks, Unique
Samsung is making a new phone dubbed the SCH-X820 that includes a TV tuner. The cool part about that is the signals come directly from the TV stations to your phone--no extra charges. The Kora Herald has the details (strangly...

Music execs look to cell phones for cash

Jun 08 2003 - 02:48 PM ET | SMS, Unique
CD's aren't selling well for several reasons (according to the record labels it's just one reason, but that is a gross simplification). The new thing on the block is selling ring tones and backgrounds for cell phones. That's not news,...

Warner's Music On Nokia 3300

Jun 02 2003 - 02:10 AM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
Nokia and Warner Music International today announced a new marketing collaboration to make music mobile for the Nokia 3300 music device. An inbox MMC memory card will include short music clips from emerging artists, as well as True tone ring...

Nokia 5100 Info

May 31 2003 - 03:02 PM ET | Site News, Unique
We've posted an info page on the Nokia 5100 over at MobileTracker Phones. It's got some really unique features (integrated flashlight, calorie tracker, thermometer). Also, it's decked out with a skin to protect it from dust and liquid. It should...

Fired By SMS

May 30 2003 - 03:51 PM ET | SMS, Unique
British Amulet Group fired 2,500 employees recently via a mass SMS. The message said, in part, "you are being made redundant with immediate effect". [via BoingBoing]...

Whoopie-Cushion Ring tones Big Biz

May 26 2003 - 10:10 AM ET | Unique
What happens when you give kids with a lot of spare time a tech-toy with way too much horse power? Rude ringtones. According to a Wired story, "bodily functions" are hot for ring tones: bq. "After offering various sound effects,...

Nokia 6800 Review

May 22 2003 - 08:01 PM ET | Nokia, Review, Unique
Mobile Burn has posted a review of the innovative Nokia 6800. It's got a built in QWERTY keyboard via a nifty flip motion. The folks at Mobile Burn were impressed: bq. "The 6800's keyboard differs also in that there is...

Hutchison 3G Mobile to Include Playboy Pics/Video

May 21 2003 - 12:20 PM ET | 3G, In The News, Unique
Reuters is running a story that states Hutchison inked a deal with Playboy to sell porn over 3G. Sounds like they are desperate to sign people up. 13 million photos and 2,000 hours of video will be at the finger...

Nokia Turns Phone Into Credit Card

May 14 2003 - 01:02 PM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
Nokia and MasterCard yesterday launched a new breed of mobile phone technology that lets people use their Nokia phones as credit cards. It's just a trial, but it sounds pretty neat: "The phones are equipped with MasterCard's new "PayPass" payment...

N-Gage In October

May 13 2003 - 05:35 PM ET | Nokia, Unique
Nokia's N-Gage will being shipping in October according to Reuters. The phone/gaming device looks quite similer to a Gameboy. It will cost $299 in the US which is quite a lot more than a Gameboy, but you can't make phone...

Combating Spam On Cell Phones

May 12 2003 - 03:11 PM ET | Unique
Japan’s J-Phone mobile service provider plans to introduce a new e-mail header information viewer function as part of its efforts to combat spam. The function allows users to view e-mail header information received on a J-Phone mobile handset within the...

Grab A Cab With Your Phone

Apr 29 2003 - 06:21 PM ET | Unique
UK readers will be happy to note that The Register is reporting you'll soon be able to hail a cab in London via your mobile phone. The service will be available to customers of Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2 but there...

Push To Talk

Apr 21 2003 - 01:51 PM ET | In The News, Unique
Throughout the day, several media outlets have been discussing the recent development of "push to talk" phones. They sound basically like audio instant messengers. Instead of a ring, the voice message just blurts out. Unlike traditional "walkie-talkies" the audio messages...

Real Time GPS Tracking

Apr 21 2003 - 08:47 AM ET | Unique
MobileTracker reader Allen Smith wrote in to us with a link to his unique Java application for Motorola i88 phones (just $9.99 after rebate). The phone has a built in GPS which the application uses to post coordinates to a...

TV Interaction Via Mobile Phones

Apr 18 2003 - 03:56 PM ET | SMS, Unique
C|NET is running an article about the state of "interactive TV" by way of cellular phones. It sounds like a good idea, but it's hard to imagine a cell phone being more useful for interactive TV than the PC. Most...

Intra-Office WiFi Phone

Apr 17 2003 - 01:44 PM ET | Unique
Cisco Systems is bent on building a WiFi powered phone. It's meant to work inside enterprise (we assume on the corporate wireless network) and since it doesn't work on anything else but WiFi, companies won't have to worry about employees...

DoCoMo To Launch GPS Phones

Apr 16 2003 - 09:39 PM ET | DoCoMo, Unique
NTT DoCoMo will launch its first GPS savvy handset dubbed the F661i on the 22nd of this month according to a release sent out earlier today. "The new, easy-to-operate mobile phone features a one-touch GPS button that lets users quickly...

SARS Alerts Wirelessly In Hong Kong

Apr 14 2003 - 03:54 PM ET | In The News, Unique
Sunday Communicatons Ltd is launching a service that allows its users to dial a number and get the low-down on possible SARS infections within a kilometer of her current location. Sounds like a hi-tech version of the leprosy bells from...

Motorola's Harley-Davidson Phones

Apr 11 2003 - 12:06 PM ET | Motorola, Unique
Motorola announced today that it will be selling two versions of its popular V60i phones decked out Harley style: "Based upon one of the most popular mobile phone models in North America, the phones are available in black with leather...

Nokia's 6310i To Be Lexus Savvy

Apr 07 2003 - 04:00 PM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
Nokia and Lexus have announced the Lexus Integrated Phone System. It lets owners of some (higher end most likely) Lexus vehicles and a Nokia 6310i phone to integrate the phone's data and capibilities into the vehicle. "The phone transfers its...

Snapfish Mobile On 3 More Phones

Apr 04 2003 - 12:03 PM ET | Camera, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Unique
Snapfish Mobile is a wireless application that AT&T loads up on its mLife subscribers' phones that lets users share, print, and store photos. It's just recently been ported for three new handsets: * Panasonic GU87 * Nokia 3650 * Sony...

Al Jazeera Launches SMS Service

Apr 02 2003 - 10:29 PM ET | Unique
Al Jazeera is starting up a service to send news updates in English and Arabic to people across the world via SMS. The service can be yours for $5.99 a month US. This is just another sign that SMS is...

RealOne On Nokia 3650

Mar 29 2003 - 06:32 PM ET | In The News, Nokia, Unique
According to 3G NewsRoom, the aforementioned Nokia 3650 is able to have RealOne installed. It's not yet clear if the mobile version has to be installed seemingly every two weeks or if the installation process is as annoying as it...

New DoCoMo Wrist Phone

Mar 27 2003 - 12:20 AM ET | DoCoMo, Unique
NTT DoCoMo announced that it's going to start marketing a new wristwatch style phone dubbed "WRISTOMO". The concept is neat--it's a water proof watch that opens up into a phone. The only obvious downside is that you have to put...

A Phone For The Blind

Mar 24 2003 - 03:50 PM ET | Unique
Celluar News notes that a ALVA has a phone coming out with Braille to cater to blind users. Most people don't know how to use 10% of their phone's features even when they have sight. Sounds like a cool idea...

1 Month Standby Time

Mar 24 2003 - 09:09 AM ET | Unique
At CeBIT, Philips neglected to show off a phone with a reported standby time of a month--the longest ever for a GSM phone. Kind of odd that the talk time is a mere 7 hours, but for people that aren't...

Ogg Player For P800

Mar 24 2003 - 09:00 AM ET | Unique
Steve Ballmer is working on a Java application dubbed AudioMagic for Sony Ericsson's P800 that allows users to play audio encoded the popular music format Ogg Vorbis. It's not quite done yet, but he's got a demo posted as well...

Web Server on the P800!

Mar 17 2003 - 02:38 PM ET | Bluetooth, Camera, PDA Phone, Sony Ericsson, Unique
A really smart guy with way to much time on his hands wrote up a web server (in Java) for the Sony Ericsson P800 [previous mention]. You can serve pages via GSM or GPRS. It's even got built in real...

Pen Sized Mobile Phone

Mar 10 2003 - 11:55 AM ET | Unique
ThreeGMobile is running a story about the world's thinnest phone. It's dubbed the Pen Phone, and is made by Haier. Very intersting phone....

Motorola V70 For Free

Mar 03 2003 - 01:18 PM ET | Bargain, Motorola, Unique
The stylish Motorla V70 is still free after rebate at Amazon.com with a new service activation from T-Mobile. The phone has a cool swivel design (yes, that's what the cool transparent stuff is in the picture). The screen is...

Matrix Cell Phone

Feb 28 2003 - 03:10 PM ET | Unique
If you are an über geek, and feel the need to talk on the same phone as the gang in the Matrix, you may be in luck. here are pics of the phone used in the next two Matrix films....