Filed under: Handsets, HTC, LG, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE

Good times can be had over at our sister site, Engadget Chinese, which has managed some alone time with two recent releases, the LG KG800 Chocolate and Dopod S300 HTC Star Trek. Both phones are plenty sexy in their own way, with the KG800's obvious aesthetics leading the charge, but the S300's ability to pack in all that Windows Mobile goodness in such a small package earning it plenty of kudos as well. Decisions, decisions.

Read: LG KG800
Read: Dopod S300

Filed under: Handsets, GSM, GPRS

The Philips Xenium 9@9 series is traditionally a rather low-end group of candybar phones, but this new 9@9t isn't looking too bad. Sure, the miniSD slot, MP3 playback and 1.3 megapixel camera are fairly standard by now, but the phone features some sort of touchscreen, along with touting 30 days of standby -- if the text on the screen can be believed. The slim phone is also supposed to be tri-band GSM, but that's about all we have for info right now.

[Via Slashphone]

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola

We can't help but think the jewlers involved here could've found something a bit more snazzy to glue 260 diamonds and a platinum plate to, but that's just us. This extra extra shiny edition of the SLVR was recently shown at the Fresh Art "Zoom" Exhibition, and sells for a mere 75 grand. It seems quite ironic that after spending enough money to ice up a $75,000 version of the SLVR they couldn't manage more than cameraphone pics to promote it, but perhaps it's a subversive method to make their product appeal to the everyman. Right.

Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, LG

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Filed under: Software, Sprint-Nextel

Instead of launching a separate child-friendly handset or just farming out the idea altogether, Sprint is launching their new "Family Locator Service," which involves software to enable existing Sprint phones for tracking. A total of 28 GPS-enabled Sprint phone models can be located with the service, and a bit of downloaded software is compatible with 17 of their phones to track up to four handsets, and even display a child's location on a map. The service is $10 a month, and it's based on software by WaveMarket Inc., which can also be used on your PC. Sadly, we missed the press conference, which somehow managed to involve Sprint getting all defensive about this being a "Big Brother" tool, and stating: "It's not about tracking. It's not about monitoring." Uh, right.

Filed under: Handsets, Others, Windows Mobile, GSM

No word as to a date or even the possibility of a US release for E-Ten's G500, but at least the FCC thinks everything is looking good with the unit, so we've got that going for us. Announced in Europe this January, the quad-band GSM phone features Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC, GPS, Bluetooth, and a QVGA display. Its lack of WiFi makes us think the unit would be a good fit for those WiFi haters over at Cingular, but your guess is as good as ours.

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, MVNOs

With all those MVNOs cropping up for the youthful crowd, it's about time the seniors got one of their own. The new Jitterbug MVNO will feature a special Jitterbug phone from Samsung with oversized keys, a large display text, and loud audio. There will be a second version that sounds similar to the firefly offerings for children, featuring only three main buttons: one to a Jitterbug operator to help make a call, one for 911, and one to call a dedicated number like that of a relative or perhaps the Home Shopping Network. The new MVNO is powered by Sprint, but sounds to be one of the last for a while since the carrier claims it's not going to be adding many more new MVNOs, and is currently taking a break to get their current MVNOs figured and see how well they do. We'll be sad to see these heady days go of four new MVNOs a minute, but perhaps it's for the best.

Read: Jitterbug MVNO
Read: Sprint holds off on new MVNOs

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Is it just us, or are RIM's Blackberry devices getting svelter by the minute? The latest pictures to surface are of their unannounced 7130c phone for Cingular. The device shares the keypad ethics of the rest of the 7100 series, though it does seem to have its very own sense of style, a definite departure from the 7130e which was launched last year. The good news is that the phone seems to be trimming the bulk, with its front dominated by the screen and keypad. The bad news is that's all we know so far. We'll keep you posted.

[Via MobileWhack; thanks Jon]

Filed under: Cellphones

That 0.39-inch thick SGH-T509 phone from Samsung -- the slimmest candybar phone so far announced for the US -- just got confirmed today, and should be available in the states this May. The phone features EDGE data, Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity, and a camera of undetermined resolution. Samsung actually isn't spilling much info on this phone for as hyped up about it as they are in their PR. We still know barely more than we skimmed off the FCC site in March, but it does look like this phone will be making its way to T-Mobile users. Catherine Zeta-Jones will be so proud.

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Sprint-Nextel

If push-to-talk isn’t too sissy for you now that those href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/02/cingular-goes-live-with-push-to-talk/">Cingular kids can do it, Motorola
is prepping a rugged version of their href="http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/31/motos-i870-antibacterial-widen-phone/">i870 iDEN phone, the i580. The
phone has the same WiDEN connectivity, PTT (of course), Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera, and dual displays of the i870,
though the external display on the i580 is a smaller grayscale one. The phone does lose the external MP3 controls,
though it can still play your tunes off of the internal microSD slot. Of course, the main addition is the rubberized
shell and military grade resistance to rain, dust, shock, and vibration that the new handset includes. The i580 should
be available in Q2 of this year for an undetermined price.

[Thanks, Allen]

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Filed under: Software

This being a World Cup year, it's only fitting that some of the slickest ways to digest sports stats will be coming our way before the tournament hits in June. Along those lines, Yahoo! has partnered up Everypoint to develop Yahoo! Mobile Matchcast for Java enabled phones. The downloadable app "pushes" scores and stats to a user's handset, along with photos, previews, and tournament news. It all works in real time, and the content is displayed by Everypoint's vector display engine to keep things looking sharp. The app will be available for download at the official tournament site, we're not sure on the price.

Filed under: Handsets, Others, GSM, GPRS

DNet's new DS801 music-centric slider might not be the most exciting thing around, but it seems a large improvement over their crazy-go-nuts DM751 iPod mini phone. The handset sports a 1.8-inch 176 x 220 LCD, 1.3 megapixel camera, and tri-band GSM radio, along with a bit of MP3 music and MPEG video playback functionality. You can add memory via miniSD, and scroll through your music with that convenient, if slightly "familiar", scroll wheel. No word on price or availability.

[Via MobileMag]

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio

That Sony Ericsson Walkman line-up just keeps growing and growing. Today, SE announces their 8th Walkman phone, the W700. Said to appeal to "lovers of classic and discreet design," the W700i throws-down tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900, Bluetooth 2.0, FM radio, a 2 megapixel cam, and ships with 256MB of Memory Stick Pro Duo'in storage. Expect these to ship in Q2 nought-six in both "titanium gold" and "smooth white." Hey, wait a second, other than being gold and shipping with a 256MB (not 512) MS Pro Duo card, there's nothing to distinguish this Walkman from the W800i released last year. Hell, it even sports the exact dimensions. A bit trivial for a full model number change especially when the addition of EDGE, an extra GSM band, and new controls only warranted a 10-point bump.

[Via GadgetCandy]

Filed under: CES, Peripherals

It's a Sony mouse with MPD that thinks it's a phone. It's not completely delusional, because it does function as both mouse and as a phone for VoIP appplications, say -- but we're getting it some psychotherapy anyway.

Filed under: Handsets, Misc

Sure, we’re guessing the belt holster is a bit unwieldy, but the decades-old chassis on Spark Fun’s “portable” rotary phone is probably every bit as sturdy as the Symbol MC70‘s for one-quarter the cash. We’ll take ours in beige, please.

[Via The Raw Feed]

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Filed under: Software, Palm

What’s better than a Skype client for Palm? A VoIP client compatible with any SIP provider, that’s what. Hampton Software has released Articulation, which appears to be the first true provider-independent client for any Palm 5.x device with a mic and speaker (though rumor has it the 700p doesn’t quite make the grade yet due to sound issues). The app may not have superstar looks, but the feature list is nothing to sneeze at with support for the GSM codec on low-bandwidth connections, echo cancellation for speakerphone use, touch tones for automated menus, and pretty much anything you could expect from a lightweight VoIP setup. If anyone gives this a whirl on their 650, be sure to hit us all up with the rundown in comments!

[Via VoIP & Gadgets Blog]

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