Sony Ericsson W910 snatches Best Handset award

The Sony Ericsson W910 Walkman phone is the best handset for 2007, and we have the GSM Association's word on that. The high-end music handset won a tight group of nominees in the Best Mobile Handset or Device category.

Busy as we've been giving you the future stars, the 13th Annual Global Mobile Awards of the GSM Association proved a more than welcome chance to slow down and look back at the time-tested achievers, which back in 2007 used to have the spotlight all to themselves.

Well, last night in Barcelona it was less about the star debuts, as the GSM association announced the winners in fifteen categories. Quite as expected, we were keen to see who walks with the gold in the Best Mobile Handset or Device. It was a tight game with 3 Skypephone, LG KU990 Viewty, Nokia 6500 classic and Samsung G600 putting pressure on the Walkman W910.

The judges believed Sony Ericsson W910 deserved the Best Mobile Handset or Device title for being "… a superb all-rounder. A compelling, easy to use design that has captured the imagination of consumers around the world in 2007."

The Best Mobile Handset or Device category was the only one with a consolation prize. Hutchison 3 and Skype were given a good pat on the shoulder as their 3 Skypephone got highly commended. The judges appreciated that "… in addition to the headline Skype service, the phone offers extremely good value for money with a wide range of features not previously seen at this price point."

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Philips 9@9j with AAA Backup Battery



[MWC] As low tech as it might seem, we have to admit that AAA batteries are really ubiquitous. That’s why the Philips Xenium 9@9j has an AAA slot at its base. This is, to our knowledge, the first cellphone that can support an AAA battery natively that would give it up to three hours of talk time.

It is an interesting idea, but the tradeoff is: added bulk and more limited design options. The 9@9j should be commercialized in April. Do you think that other manufacturers should bother doing it, or do you think that it is not useful and that’s why no-one has done it?

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SE:Why we choose windows 

Why has Sony Ericsson 'succumbed' to Microsoft? The way the company's CTO Mats Lindoff explained it to us, is that you can't crack the US market without it. He was giving El Reg a glimpse into the future.

"We need products in all categories, maybe not in the ultra-low segment, but a broad portfolio. Windows Mobile in the US and in Nordic countries is the IT manager's choice."

Lindoff doesn't expect the Windows-powered Xperia to be a volume seller. Sony Ericsson is going for the "techie" niche which wants high performance and is willing to meet a high price to get it.

"It's not that UIQ can't deliver," Lindoff said. SE has put UIQ, a graphical user interface built on the Symbian OS, into two excellent new handsets, in the mid-range for the first time. The only serious disappointment with the G700 and G900 is that we won't be able to get hold of them until the end of the summer. They're as slim as the mid-range favourites like the K800i that they replace, but much more powerful – with touchscreens and (in the case of the G900) Wi-Fi.

Sony Ericsson stopped making CDMA handsets three years ago, but Lindoff doesn't think this will handicap its latest parry into North America, where 50 per cent of the market now uses CDMA. The Xperia X1 is GSM/W-CDMA. SE's parent company Ericsson is showing LTE at 25Mbits/s, Lindoff pointed out - and is happy to wait.

Tech bets
The main strategic bet is on DLNA, or the Digital Living Network Alliance, which is producing specifications for home media interoperability, built on UPnP.

Phones will be able to act as a universal remote control and sling photos around the house next year, Lindoff predicted.

He said much of his work involved pulling R&D out of parent Sony into the handset division, and trying to make it smaller and less power-intensive on the way. An example is the C902 Cybershot imaging phone, which began life as a Sony research project.

Two minor innovations which got a lot of excitement here in Barcelona are Tap To Focus (you obviously need a touchscreen phone like the new UIQ models) and face detection - that automatically finds a face in an image and focuses on it.

How well does it works for eyepatch-wearing pirates? We have no idea. But Tap To Focus is so obvious in retrospect, you wonder why nobody thought of it before.

Samsung OmniaHD hands-on



We're not sure if it's the 720p video or the simply breathtaking 3.5-inch display that does it for us, but one way or another, Samsung's ridiculously-spec'd OmniaHD is a sight to behold. The team at Engadget Spanish had a chance to swing by and check out the high-end handset's goodies today, and let's get right down to the point (and the main reason you'd buy this phone): the video that's getting shown off on the phone looks as good or better than anything we've ever seen before (it does have "HD" in its name, after all). Follow the break for the video!

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GSM Palm Pre spotted with Vodafone SIM card



We would've wagered 50 euros there'd be a GSM Pre announced at MWC this week -- but strangely, it didn't happen. If we had to guess, a grand unveiling was probably held up by behind-the-scenes manfacuturer-operator drama in the course of trying to nail an exclusivity agreement, but that's not to say there weren't still SIM card-toting Pres floating around the show. PreCommunity happened across one of these today and astutely noted the presence of a Vodafone SIM around back -- not damning evidence that the Pre will be announced as a Voda exclusive, granted, but it kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? See for yourself in the video after the break.



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Samsung M7600 Beat DJ touchscreen music phone now official



As if a giant billboard wasn't enough of an unveiling, Samsung has released some official shots of its M7600 "Beat DJ" touchscreen handset. Like we knew already, the Quadband GSM / HSDPA music phone sports a 2.8-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, GPS, 3 megapixel camera, and Bang & Olufsen amplifier. It's also got codec support for DivX and XviD, microSDHC card slot for up to 16GB, Bluetooth A2DP, FM radio, and a very welcome 3.5mm headphone jack. As for those DJ features, the turntable-inspired "Disc UI" uses a spin wheel for navigation, and the included software lets you both create your own music and sounds as well as remix other songs by adding effects and filters. Unfortunately, mum's the word on pricing or availability.

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Video: Garmin-ASUS' nuvifone M20 navigation smartphone

Garmin-ASUS is showing off its Windows Mobile 6.1-powered nuvifone M20 here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain and we were lucky enough to get some one-on-one time with the new handset. The Garmin-ASUS nuvifone M20 is a compact 3.75 inches tall and 2.06 inches wide, only a half-inch thick, and weighs 3.5 ounces. The color accent on the right side of the device, available in yellow, magenta, aqua, or gray, offers something different than the devices we've seen recently.

Created for busy professionals, the nuvifone M20 is a great match of Windows Mobile's business class operating system and Garmin-ASUS' extensive GPS technologies. Helping bridge the gap is an attractive front-end for the OS that gives users quick access to a large variety of features. The software we saw today is early-stage, but it at least gives a feel for what we can expect, with its nice finger-friendly home screen.

The M20 device would not be complete without Garmin's industry-leading navigation experience. Voice-prompted, turn-by-turn directions will get users where they're going. Users can point their navigation system to contacts, email locations, and local search results with a one step process. Its likely that users will find the in-box car mount a valuable addition for the mobile device, as well.

The nuvifone M20 will be available in North American and for Asia-Pacific and European release. The North American device features tri-band GSM (850/1800/1900MHz) support and dual-band UMTS (850/1900MHz) support with HSPA for the fastest 3G downloads available today. The model that will be available to Asia-Pacific and Europe features tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz) support and dual-band UMTS (900/2100MHz) support with HSPA for high-speed downloads. WiFi connectivity, available on both releases, gives the phone access to high speed local networks.



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Live video of the Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60

While in Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress 2009 event, we had a sit down with Garmin-ASUS and took time to get to know the nuvifone G60, which was originally announced at last year's event. At 4.4 inches tall and 2.3 inches wide, the nuvifone G60 manages to fit a large, vivid 3.6-inch WQVGA touchscreen display into its black matte frame. Weighing in at a hefty 4.9 ounces, the G60 may look and feel more like a GPS navigation device than a phone. But the G60 packs many features that make it a viable alternative to traditional smartphones. Built on a Linux operating system, the phone's simple UI offers one-touch access to calling, searches, maps, contacts, messaging, and the web.

The nuvifone G60 is based on Garmin's line of nuvi navigation devices and its nav features are top notch. Users can share location-based data in email, SMS messages, photos, and on social networks via Garmin-ASUS' Caio! social networking integration platform. The nuvifone G60 was built with automobile use in mind. Just pop the G60 in its included car mount and hit the gas. On-board maps include millions of points of interest (backed up by Google), turn-by-turn directions, and voice-prompted instructions. Real-time traffic information, gas prices, weather, and local search are also included. The main features are all easy to access, and the software seemed to respond to finger inputs well, and was relatively snappy.

The Garmin-ASUS nuvifone G60 includes quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) support and tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz) support with HSDPA for quick downloads. WiFi is on-board for high speed local downloading.



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Live photos of the Samsung SGH-t929 Memoir 8 megapixel camera phone

This week at the 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, we had a chance to check out the new Samsung SGH-t929 Memoir, which launches on T-Mobile USA on February 25. This cell phone features a large 3.1-inch touchscreen display with Samsung's TouchWiz user interface. TouchWiz uses a set of widgets, which the user can drag and drop to position on the standby screen, to offer glanceable information.

The Samsung Memoir also features an 8 megapixel autofocus camera, the highest resolution offered at a U.S. carrier, with a real Xenon flash and convenient dedicated shutter button. The Memoir's camera features a handful of software enhancements, such as blink detection, smile detection, digital image stabilization, and red-eye reduction. Photos can be instantly uploaded directly to the user's Flickr account or one of several other online photo-hosting services.

The Samsung SGH-t929 Memoir features a built-in aGPS receiver, which supports TeleNav turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation to help users find their way. In addition, the aGPS receiver can be used to geotag photos, adding location information to photographs that can then be shown on a map, according to where the photograph was taken.

The Samsung SGH-t929 Memoir is expected to be available at T-Mobile on February 25, priced at US$249.99 after a 2-year commitment and mail-in rebate.

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Samsung Omnia HD [i8910] Samsung Unveils Its First S60 Touch Device!



Samsung has for years been very active at the Mobile World Congress and this year Samsung confirmed its status as the industry’s most innovative and exciting handset vendor by launching few high-end multimedia focused handsets.

Beside the last week announced the Ultra Touch and the solar-powered Blue Earth Samsung today unveils Omnia HD as its leading multimedia device!

Samsung Omnia HD has the repeatable 8 megapixel cam sensor and is the world's first mobile phone with 720p (1280x720-pixel) high-definition video recording and decoding as well.

Samsung Omnia HD also known as i8190 is powered with the 5th edition of the S60 platform and equipped with the largest AMOLED display that measures 3.7 inches and comes with a resolution of 640x360 px.

Omnia HD is a quad band phone that also has a wide range of connectivity options: Bluetooth, uPnP, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and WLAN. Phone is capable to process most common multimedia formats inclouding DivX, XviD, H.263, WMV, MPEG4, RV.

Furthermore there is proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, compass and the A-GPS on boiard. There is an also samung's 3D TouchWiz UI running on top of the S60 platform with support for the widgets, soemthign similiar to N97.

that's all for now folks, more to come shortly

Basic specifications:

    * Quadband GSM, EDGE, Triband UMTS
    * HSUPA/HSDPA data
    * 3.7-inch 16M color Full Touch QHD AMOLED screen
    * 8MP autofocus cam with Smile Shot/ Blink Shot/ Panorama Shot
    * Support for DivX, XviD, H.263, WMV, MPEG4, RV
    * 24FPS@HD (1280 x 720p) video recording
    * FM Radio with RDS
    * GPS with A-GPS
    * Proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, compass, accelerometer
    * 3D TouchWiz UI with widgets
    * Stereo Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi
    * 8GB / 16GB models with support for external microSDHC cards up to 32GB
    * 12.9mm thickness
    * 1500 mAh battery



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