Pantech’s new phone wears two names. The first one is more techy and it’s “SKY IM-S730.” The other one, though, is let’s say more casual and seems “invented” to make the device more appealing to younger generations. It’s “Blue Wink” and no, we don’t have a slightest clue what that means nor how that name is perceived in South Korea, where Pantech released the new slider.

Specs wise, the SKY IM-S730 Blue Wink (guess we could make a single name out of it) sports a 2.6-inch QVGA screen, HSDPA support, GPS, FM radio, 1.3 megapixel camera, and a microSD slot. In addition, I think it’s kinda safe to bet there’s some media player app on board and it would be also fair to argue this phone will be available for free with a wink and with a contract.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

It’s a Windows Mobile update week folks. First we saw the AT&T Tilt getting the update, and soon afterwards the Verizon XV6800 was also blessed with the Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade treatment.

Now another device is jumping on board - Samsung BlackJack II. Unfortunately, the update is almost or not yet ready - the server crashed as many people rushed to get their favorite QWERTY smartphone’s firmware up to date. Still the update pages are there and if you run either Windows XP or Vista, keep your eyes on these two links to grab the update as soon as it’s back online.

• Windows XP download
• Windows Vista download

Hopefully, you’ll be able to update the BlackJack II in no time…

[Via: WMExperts]

The popular provider of new and used car information Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) has recently announced the launch of its website optimized for iPhone users. The free, feature-rich mobile site not only provides provides Apple’s handset and iPod Touch owners with the latest information, but also allows them to view videos, images, new car reviews and submit free dealer price quotes.

To put it in other words - if you’re an iPhone/iPod Touch user in the midst of buying a new or used car, kbb.com is the resource to check out. You can do that from wherever you happen to be, even while on-the-go. Simply point Safari to www.kbb.com and take it from there.

Commenting on the announcement, Kelley Blue Book’s Andy Lapin said: “Whether the shopper is sitting at home or standing on the dealership lot, they can easily locate Kelley Blue Book’s new and used car information with a few simple stokes to ensure they are making the right choice and getting a great deal.”

Back in January, we covered the mobile social media platform Next2Friends. Now they’ve announced the availability of their innovative “Live” mobile video streaming application on the Motorola Q series and the Samsung Blackjack II.

Next2Friends Live allows people to share real life moments from anywhere, be it through live broadcasted news developments, capturing major life events, or bringing happenings across the world closer to home. The application, soft-launched in late 2007 and officially released in June 2008, is continually being enhanced by the Next2Friends development team to deliver the optimal service for all the people already sharing their lives through real-time, rich media. Some of the new features that have recently been incorporated are one click streaming, the ability to zoom, pause or re-start live streams and automatic quality selection that guarantees the best streaming experience independent of location, carrier or connection speeds.

Previously, Next2Friends was designed for the Symbian S60 based smartphones. Fully supported devices include most popular models from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and LG, as well as an ever increasing number of Motorola and Samsung phones…

DataViz has recently released Documents To Go Premium Edition 3.0 for devices running Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.x Professional and 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition.

Already available for Windows Mobile Standard, BlackBerry, Symbian and Palm OS, Documents To Go will now allow users of Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices to “view, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as well as view PDF files on their devices and in their native formats.” I could only add I don’t see that many people paying an additional $29.99 to go beyond the built-in Microsoft Office Mobile.

Documents To Go features include support for password protected Word and Excel files, InTact Technology for retaining 100% file formatting when editing files on the device, the ability to view, edit and create Excel charts and decompress, zip and send e-mail attachments.

At the moment application only works on devices with QVGA screens, but Dataviz vowed to release the version for the HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Diamond — both of which sport a VGA touchscreen — in the “next several weeks.”

We don’t usually post news from Africa. However this one caught my eye.

Apparently, mobile phone operators in Zimbabwe have increased their prices by 1,000% as the country’s inflation spins out of control. The end result is that an SMS within the country costs between $5 and $7, while sending the same SMS outside of Zimbabwe costs between $12 and $20.

And you thought you’re paying too much for your mobile service?

Hopefully, inflation in Zimbabwe will stop soon and as the things get back to normal, SMS prices will also decrease…

[Via: textually.org]

Audi of America is all proud to announce that they’ve released the first ever iPhone application from an auto manufacturer. The so called “Audi A4 Challenge” is a driving game that utilizes the iPhone’s accelerometer to steer the new Audi 2009 A4 through a series of “progressively challenging courses.” You won’t be competing against other players, though — you’ll race against the clock to beat you own personal best time.

But it’s not just the iPhone app Audi has launched. A dedicated A4 iPhone experience website featuring videos, wallpapers and more has also been created as part of the campaign. From there you can experience and learn more about the new Audi A4, which BTW will hit dealerships nationwide starting from September 2008.

The application is now available free of charge on Apple’s AppStore.

Mobile live video streaming service Qik announced that Netscape veterans Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz have made a significant investment in the company. As a result, the experienced pair is also joining Qik’s Board of Advisors.

Currently co-founder and chairman of social networking platform Ning, Andreessen invests in several Internet startups and serves on the board of directors for Facebook and for Open Media Network. Best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and co-founder of Netscape Communications, Andreessen’s experience also includes his work as CTO of AOL, as well as chairman and co-founder of Web infrastructure company Loudcloud, later named Opsware and acquired by Hewlett-Packard.

A veteran of Netscape, Opsware and AOL, Ben Horowitz co-founded Loudcloud with Andreessen in 1999 and served as CEO of the company before it was acquired in 2007. He currently serves as vice president and general manager of Hewlett-Packard’s Business Technology Organization Unit.

Commenting on the announcement, Qik’s CEO Ramu Sunkara said: “We are thrilled to have Marc and Ben involved in Qik, both as investors and advisors… It is great to have them both on board to help us grow Qik and guide us on how we can change the way people communicate and share live experiences around the world.”

The iPhone 2.0.2 OS was publicized by Apple and AT&T as the solution to all iPhone 3G users’ 3G network problems. Unfortunately, users that had updated to the new iPhone 2.0.2 OS didn’t immediately realize any improvements with their iPhone 3G’s network performance.

Then AT&T sent out mass SMS text messages urging iPhone 3G users to hurry up and update their handsets to the iPhone 2.0.2 OS. But, if the iPhone 2.0.2 OS didn’t fix any 3G issues on the iPhone 3G, why would AT&T urge customers to adopt the latest iPhone OS?

Apparently, iPhone 3G customers weren’t getting much of a performance boost with the latest iPhone OS due to the way AT&T’s 3G network infrastructure handles 3G connections. Roughly Drafted cites “a source close to AT&T” in their report that explains why users weren’t seeing immediate improvements.

Here’s what the “source” said:

“In UMTS, power control is key to the mobile and network success. If the UE [user pool] requires too much downlink power then the base station or Node B can run out of transmitter power and this is what was happening. As you get more UEs on the cell, the noise floor rises and the cell has to compensate by ramping up its power to the UEs.”

“The power control issue will also have an effect on the data throughput,” the source said, “because the higher the data rate the more power the Node B transmitter requires to transmit. If the UEs have poor power control and are taking more power than is necessary then it will sap the network’s ability to deliver high speed data.”

“In a mixed environment where users are running 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2, the power control problems of 2.0 and 2.0.1 will affect the 2.0.2 users.”

So, it seems that when iPhone 3G users first updated their handsets to the iPhone 2.0.2 OS, there were still a good number of iPhone 3G users rocking the older iPhone OS. The pool of devices with the older firmwares were causing the network to become overloaded, forcing even those with the newest iPhone OS to experience laggy 3G performance. iPhone 3G users in more densely populated cities were largely at the mercy of their iPhone 3G-toting neighbors than users living in less populated cities.

It’s obvious now why AT&T urged users to update to iPhone 2.0.2 OS. And, with Pwnage Tool 2.0.3 now compatible with iPhone 2.0.2 OS, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t update. If not for yourself, do it for the betterment of the community.

[Via: RoughlyDrafted]

Palm has traditionally played both sides of the fence with their Palm Treo lineup of QWERTY keyboard-toting smartphones. They’ve pushed out CDMA and GSM variants of past Treos in an effort to spread their marketbase as wide as possible. So, it’s not too surprising to hear that Palm may be working to manufacture a CDMA-variant of the recently unveiled Windows Mobile-powered Palm Treo Pro.

Apparently, a few folks in the know over at China Economic News Service are reporting that the Palm Treo Pro will not only be manufactured by HTC, as we previously noted, but will hit Verizon and Sprint in CDMA guise sometime in the “future.”

The move would make sense, as Palm’s relationship with CDMA carriers like Sprint and Verizon go way back. The Palm Treo Pro is definitey the sleekest and most attractive Treo offering to date, and to deny CDMA carriers in the US a chance at Palm Treo Pro glory.

[Via: CENS]