european union

Samsung launches touchscreen F490

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Ah, another day, another touchscreen phone. What we've got here is the Samsung F490, a pricey touchscreen device with some decent specs. Looks like it boasts a 3.2" touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900), UMTS 2100, HSDPA 3.6, 130Mb of storage, Bluetooth 2.0, haptics feedback and a microSD expansion slot. It launches soon in Europe for an expected price of around €530. Those are okay specs but a phone with only 130Mb of onboard storage for over $700? Thanks but no thanks, Sammy.

Still, if the F490 has stoked your interest for one reason or another, you'll be happy to hear that it looks like a modified version of the handset is coming to the Sprint network at some point. The image you see to you right is a leaked photo of what's being called the Samsung SPH-M800. Apparently it's just a CDMA/EV-DO version of the F490 with a 2-megapixel camera in lieu of the F490's 5-megapixel shooter. That's all we know at this point, though we'll likely hear something official from Sprint in the coming weeks.

For more on the F490:
- see this Akihabara News story
- and this Phone Arena article on the Sprint version

Internet gambling downsized

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

CIOs should have no fears that employees will be diverted during the workday to online gambling from overseas. A new agreement between the United States, the European Union, Japan and Canada will keep the foreign Internet gambling market closed to U.S. residents. At the same time, the United States is keeping the door open a crack as it continues talks about the gambling market with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau, and Costa Rica.

"We are pleased to confirm that the United States has reached agreement... with Canada, the EU, and Japan," Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office, said in a statement several hours after the EU announced details of the deal it had reached with Washington last week. European gambling companies unsuccessfully argued that the EU was entitled to as much as $100 billion in compensation for being denied access to the U.S. market. But the idea never got off the ground and apparently has gone nowhere. There is a positive note in this development, too. The agreement "involves commitments to maintain our liberalized markets for warehousing services, technical testing services, research and development services, and postal services relating to outbound international letters," Hamel said.

For more on this ban on overseas Internet gambling
- Check out this Red Herring Article

Dell upgrades to Ubuntu 7.10

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 06:59:53 -0500

How good is Ubuntu 7.10, aka "Gutsy Gibbon"? Good enough for Dell, apparently. The hardware vendor has announced that it will add the latest version of the open-source OS to its lineup of Ubuntu Linux machines, which are currently available in the U.S. and select parts of Europe. "We believe Ubuntu 7.10 is a solid step forward for both Linux enthusiasts as well as the mainstream consumer market," Dell Product Group Strategist Daniel Judd wrote on the company's Direct2Dell blog. What's more, the company is also adding pre-installed DVD playback software to all of the new Ubuntu systems, which should make life a little easier for movie buffs. The new systems are available now from Dell, starting at $500.

For more on Dell's Ubuntu upgrade:
- see this post on the Direct2Dell blog

HTC Shift: Part smartphone, part UMPC

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:59:53 -0500

So, fancy yourself an HTC fanboy, eh? This should test your loyalty: feast your eyes upon the HTC Shift, a UMPC/smartphone hybrid, of sorts. On the UMPC tip, it's got an 800Mhz Intel A110 CPU, up to 60GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, a 7" 800 x 480 touch-sensitive LCD and (gasp!) Vista. On the smartphone side of things you'll find a 400Mhz Qualcomm MSM 7200 chipset, tri-band UMTS/HSDPA, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth. Apparently this thing can only do two hours of Windows on that 2700mAh battery but luckily, that second CPU can handle 53 hours worth of push email without having to boot into Vista. In the form factor department, expect the screen to slide out and tilt--not unlike a giant version of the much-loved, Windows Mobile Tilt. Expect this device to land in Europe and Asia next week for around $1600, with U.S. availability in January.

For more on the Shift:
- see this article from UMPC Portal

Dell laptop rumors abound

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:59:58 -0500

Seems like Dell headquarters has gotten leakier than a screen door in a submarine lately--nary a week has gone by that we haven't had some sort of Dell rumor to chew on. Continuing on with that trend, here comes some new info from French site Les Delliens, the same folks who leaked that first photo of the Latitude XT. Word on the street is that Dell is prepping an update to its Vostro SMB lineup, in the form of a new Vostro 1200 laptop. Though no specs were offered, a leaked image showed a machine that looks nearly identical to the existing Vostro 1000. Meanwhile, that 15" Inspiron 1525/1526 laptop is now said to be launching in Europe on December 14th, though there's no word yet on a U.S. release.

Speaking of that Latitude XT, where the heck is it? At this point, Dell's first-ever tablet PC is looking like the worst-kept secret in the PC industry and there's still no official word on when the thing will be released. The latest development is that Dell has posted the machine's user manual in its entirety on their website in PDF format. Though the manual looks to confirm the specs that were leaked earlier, there's not much new info to speak of, aside from the fact that a low-end Intel Core Solo version will be available. Still, if you feel yourself getting anxious, you might want to page through that manual, just to reassure yourself that this thing really exists.

For more on the rumors:
- see this Engadget story on the Vostro 1200 and Inspiron 1525/6
- and this story on the Latitude XT user manual

Nokia announces N82 media phone

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

Nokia's N-series devices are pretty much the cream of the crop as far as Symbian-powered media phones are concerned, so it's welcome news that Nokia is adding yet another phone to the lineup. Say hello to the newest member of the N-series family, the N82. Tucked inside this candybar you'll find that familiar Symbian S60 variant, a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and xenon flash, a microSD expansion slot, WiFi, A-GPS and a 2.4 inch QVGA display. As far as cellular radios are concerned, you'll find a quad-band GSM/EDGE radio. Not so fast, Americans--HSDPA is only available on the 2100MHz band--so non-Eurasians should look elsewhere for the time being. With any luck, however, we'll see a North American version of this device soon, as we did with the N95. Available now direct from Nokia in Europe for €450 (just over $650).

For more on the N82:
- see this Engadget article

First look: HTC's Touch Cruise

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Over here in the good old U.S. of A, we're getting pretty excited for the impending release of HTC's Touch, that touchscreen-sporting Windows Mobile 6 phone that has been so well-received elsewhere in the world. In Europe, however, they've already got the Touch's successor, the QWERTY-sliding Touch Dual, in their hot little hands. And if the rumormill is to be believed, the true heir to the throne, the HTC Touch Cruise, will be touching down in Europe before the end of November as well. Here's what we can expect: an improved version of TouchFLO (with new functions like rotate and zoom), quad-band GSM, tri-band UMTS, HSDPA/HSUPA, a 400Mhz CPU, 128MB RAM/256MB ROM, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, microSD expansion slot, 3-megapixel camera and a 2.8-inch, 320x240 QVGA touchscreen display. Could this be the phone that has it all? I believe we have a winner. Allegedly, the shadowy image that you see to your left is a prototype and may differ from the final product, though the face buttons and navigation wheel are likely to stay. I've got to say, that's a pretty tacky name but it's not like it matters--this device looks like it's set to become the Top Gun of WM6 handsets.

For more on the Touch Cruise:
- see this article from Unwired View

UPDATE: For the official lowdown on the Touch Cruise, including an official photo from HTC, click here. To watch a video demo of the Touch Cruise, click here.

HTC sells 800,000 Touches

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

HTC's Touch handset might not be out yet in the states but that hasn't stopped the company from selling plenty of units elsewhere in the world. The Taiwanese company has revealed that they've sold 800,000 Touches since launching the unit in Europe and Asia this past July. While that's not quite 1 million iPhones in 74 days, it's still an impressive number--especially for a company that doesn't really have any sort of brand presence. As we noted yesterday, the Touch's successor, the Touch Dual, is now available in Europe with the original Touch set to launch in the U.S. later this year.

For more on the announcement:
- see this FierceWireless story

HTC's Touch Dual gets demoed

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

While the original HTC Touch still has yet to make its way to our fair shores (soon, my friends, soon), the folks in Europe are already looking forward to the next version of the device. The Touch Dual, which we previewed yesterday, adds a slide-out 20-key QWERTY keypad to the mix while also shaving a few millimeters off of the device's thickness. What else is new? As you might expect, the Touch's UI sees a few changes to accommodate the new hardware. Upon sliding out the keypad, the device automatically provides you with a list of keyboard-centric options (create a new email, SMS, etc.). Other than that, however, it looks like the Touch Dual offers up a whole lot of the same--not to say that that's a bad thing. And for the folks complaining about the European version's lack of WiFi? Check out the web browsing over 3G in the video--it looks mighty snappy.

For more on the Touch Dual:
- watch this video demonstration

HTC launches Touch Dual in Europe

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

We've seen it in Japan, we've been hearing rumors of its overseas release and now it's official: HTC's Touch Dual is landing in Europe. Essentially a thinner version of the Touch that features a slide-out T9 keypad in addition to the Touch's touchscreen, this little guy should be available now in select European markets on the Orange network. Here's what's inside: support for WCDMA/HSDPA, GSM and EDGE (sorry, no WiFi like its Japanese counterpart), Windows Mobile 6 Professional, a 2.6 inch QVGA touch-screen, 400Mhz CPU, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of flash and support for Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. On the battery life tip, this device supposedly boasts 4 hours of WCDMA talk time and 6 hours on GSM. And while that T9 pad isn't quite QWERTY, this should hopefully be enough to silence those touchscreen critics who have been clamoring for some true touch-typing on the Touch.

For more on the new Touch:
- see this Gizmodo article