Hands-on with modu: it's real and plenty fantastic



Modu lives! We had opportunity to check out one of Mobile World Congress' most unique offerings today, and we were impressed to say the least. This handset could completely change the way people use handsets giving them a really simple way to actually use your set for music, in-car, or on the go. Hit up Engadget Mobile for a huge gallery showing off some of what modu can do.

It's alive! Take that naysayers, we were sure -- or at least really hopeful -- that modu was the real deal, and after our visit with them this morning, we can assure everyone it is. The Guinness Book of World Record people have even confirmed it to be the smallest mobile handset in the world, so we stacked three of 'em up next to our favorite N95-3 and they were just a hair bigger -- see the gallery for the goods. The possibilities are endless for branding, as new modu jackets take almost no time to develop and each jacket can even have its own theme that's loaded, translator content, when you pop the modu in. We saw a pile of prototype ideas, including travel guides, a pocket PC version -- this was way cool -- iPod-esque dock with text message display, and a bevy of others. Modu should be hitting retail toward the end of this year, hopefully we'll see a review unit before then.
Follow the link for a massive gallery.


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Optical Disc Drive In Cell Phone



Will cell phones move away from flash-based memory cards in the future with the advent of an optical disc drive at MWC '08? I don't think so, as the latter can probably co-exist peacefully with the former. Spice from India has a handset that comes with an integrated optical disc drive, where each optical disc has enough space to store 2.5 hours of video (no idea on what format it is compressed in). To date, only 40 titles are available with the majority of them being Bollywood hits. Could this be the reincarnation of Sony's UMD?

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AMD Imageon Processors At MWC



[MWC] AMD's upcoming range of Imageon processors will come in a happy trio - the D160, M210 and A250. The D160 is a mobile TV solution that enables mobile devices to receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals which are transmitted via DVB-T and DVB-H standards, letting you catch up on your favorite TV serial virtually no matter where you are. It can also be incorporated in a USB-powerd device, enabling live TV on notebooks, PDAs, PMPs and other USB-enabled handheld devices.

As for the Imageon M210 audio processor, it will bring a fully integrated audio subsystem to your device, offering over 100 hours of audio playback in airplane mode (according to AMD).

Last but not least, we have the AMD Imageon A250 application processor that brings the best of AMD's multimedia technology where video recording and playback are concerned. It should also be good at image processing and managing high resolution displays, claiming to offer a performance that is on par with today's stand-alone consumer electronics devices without being a drain on battery life. it is a bold claims that will need more scrutiny.

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AMD Z180 and Z460 Mobile Graphics Cores



[MWC] AMD has a couple of graphics cores paraded at MWC '08 that could see portable devices getting better and better in the graphical department with the following:

    * AMD Z180 OpenVG 1.x graphics core that features hardware-accelerated native vector graphics for portable devices which have been optimized for animation and Flash-style content.
    * AMD Z460 OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics core for better graphics in mobile games. Shader are programmable, which makes it easier for developers to program 3D graphics - hopefully the device processors (and the bus!) can keep up with the graphics or we'll still be stuck with a bottleneck somewhere

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Vodafone Announces Own Phones




[MWC] Vodafone has taken the step to release its own-brand phones at MWC '08 - the Vodafone 227 clamshell and the 228 slider. The former looks very much like the utilitarian Nokia 2650, while the 228 is uninspiring to say the least. Both look set to be entry-level handsets, featuring GSM dual band, voice and text capabilities, a color display of unknown resolution and size, vibration, and a headphone socket. Definitely the people's phone if you ask me. Pretty rare for a cell phone to come lacking a camera these days though.

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Dolby brings surround sound to mobile phones and portable media players



So it's not just SRS which wants to improve the sound on mobile devices (and portable media players). Dolby also wants a piece of the action, hence at the Mobile World Congress, as we've expected, they've announced Dolby Mobile, an audio processing technology platform that brings "rich, vibrant surround sound" to music, movies, and TV programs on mobile phones and portable media players.

Will and I had a chance to briefly test both technologies and honestly we're not sure whether Dolby prepared its demo better than SRS, but they certainly sounded much better. We watched few scenes from The Cars, Spiderman 3 and Harry Potter and the sound simply rocked. That's not to say SRS sucks — quite the contrary — we just found Dolby's demonstration to be a more compelling one.

Anyway, we can only hope handset makers will start incorporating these technologies in the near future…

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Zeemote JS1 brings analog gaming to your Bluetooth-enabled handset



We had an opportunity to play with Zeemote's -- this name is somehow familiar -- JS1 mobile joystick at MWC this week and while we first thought it a bit kitschy, it's actually a pretty amazing little device. Zeemote supplies an API to game developers and in short order -- apparently anyway -- the game can adapted to use the Bluetooth-enabled JS1as a controller. The device features an analog joystick and four user configurable triggers for control in a really comfortable controller that is small enough to pop into a pocket when not being used. The best bit is that it's not a gimmick, it works, and really well. We checked out the Heli game shown in the picture above and the JS1 really made the game fun to play. Games such as Tomb Raider, Hellstrike 3D, and Sonic have already been ported and we hope more to come, no word on pricing but we're not expecting this to be a pricey toy.

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BenQ's MID gets official-er, can be shaken like a martini



You might remember that little BenQ MID prototype which was doing the rounds at IDF and CES. Well, it looks like the folks at HQ have decided to get all official with the newly-repainted gadget -- creatively dubbed the BenQ Mobile Internet Device -- during another three letter party, MWC. According to the press release, the unit boasts a 4.8-inch touchscreen, 0.3-megapixel webcam, and "high-speed mobile internet access." Interestingly, the company appears to be aiming for some fancy-shmancy gesture input, like sliding finger movements and the ability to shake the device to minimize windows -- a feature which should notably increase the numbers of these which get thrown across a room. BenQ still hasn't given any release date or expected price on the Menlow-based device, so don't start any breath-holding competitions just yet. There's one more press image after the break, if you haven't seen enough (and we suspect you haven't).



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Hands-on with NVIDIA's APX 2500, and yeah, it plays Quake


Yet another mobile platform, and this time with NVIDIA power. We had a chance to checkout the APX 2500 and its Quake skills at MWC today and we're definitely enthused about this new toy. Engadget Mobile has all the pics so just wander over via the link to see this thing in action.

In one word or less: wow. NVIDIA's MWC announcement of the APX 2500 cellphone applications processor was a stunner and we expect the cellular community is going to welcome them with open arms. We've covered what the hardware is all about, but we've also found out it'll be packin' 7.2 Mbps HSDPA in many flavors, quad-band GSM, WiFi, Bluetooth, and it frickin' plays Quake 3, like a monster. While gaming doesn't mean it'll be a successful device, the 2500 certainly seems to have the grunt to get some serious work done and with its Windows Mobile 6 underpinnings, it'll play well with current software. The current developer reference sample is a bit on the fat side, though we expect the likes of HTC will put this thing on serious diet before it gets out to and into our pockets. Follow the link to see the admittedly -- by NVIDIA -- iPhone-esque GUI experience -- and bezel, earpiece, face.

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Nokia's "Remade" concept is all waste -- no, seriously



Nokia's been putting quite a focus on contributing to a greener, healthier world as of late -- still running off the high of winning Greenpeace's praise, perhaps -- and its latest concept, unveiled at MWC, takes the commitment to an extreme. The "Remade" phone is exactly that: a handset made entirely of recycled stuff. The case and keypad are fashioned from tossed cans, for example, and apparently, even the electrical components (never mind that the Remade can't actually place a call in its current incarnation) are entirely reused. No plans have been revealed to produce the Remade or anything quite like it, but the way Nokia's going -- and the way we're throwing away tin cans -- we wouldn't be surprised if it happened down the road.

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