Sony Ericsson has filed a patent for “Detachable Housings for a Wireless Communication Device.” Basically you’re mobile’s screen can be detached from the actual device. Is this useful? I’m drawing an absolute blank here.

[Via: Unwired View]

A device submitted to the FCC for approval by RIM looks to be the exact same thing as the Nokia AD-42W (picture below) audio gateway. You pair your mobile phone to this little box that sits in your stereo shelf connected to your (hopefully expensive) speaker system and then proceed to enjoy the latest Britney Spears album. Whether I find this useful or not is irrelevant, the question that is bouncing around in my head is why is RIM suddenly taking an interest in multimedia and how will that effect their perception in the market?

RIM after all is the only enterprise device manufacture I know of using 3.5 mm headphone jacks, a concept I’m hoping the Europeans and Asians catch on.

[Via: Engadget]

Comstar UTS, a Russian operator, has said that by the end of this year they plan to cover 75% of the country of Armenia in WiMAX. No word as yet as to which services will be offered.

[Via: Mobile Crunch]

In November 2002 mobile telephony was switched on in North Korea, within 18 months it was banned and all mobile phones were confiscated. It took half a decade, but Orascom Telecom has been selected to blow through close to half a billion dollars over 3 years to try and get the communist regime back in line.

[Via: Mobile Crunch]

Even though we still wait to see first tangible results from the Open Handset Alliance, that doesn’t stop MIT to partner with Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and offer its student Android based software development class. Google folks obviously have some strong connections — and have poured some serious cash, we might add — at the famous Institute, as despite other platforms like Windows Mobile and Symbian already holding a lion share of the smartphone market, this is the first phone based development course to be offered by the school.

According to MIT’s Andrew Yu, the class will be broken down into teams of 3 to 4 student each that will work on a project for the term. Mr. Yu added that projects will focus on a range of topics, such as those dealing with location based services.

The class starts on February 28th and already MIT invited 25 students to join it. Professor Hal Abelson will lead the class, which will also feature Rich Miner from Google, Dave Mitchell and Eric Carlson from ConnectedBit, and Rajeev Surati and Andrew Yu from MIT as additional instructors.

[Via: MobileBurn]

German company IP-Com is suing Finnish mobile telecommunications giant Nokia (NYSE: NOK) for $17.7 billion over 6 families of patents that were originally filed by Bosch. Fortress Investment Group which owns 50% of IP-Com is paying for the court case. Could this be out of spite for the recent decision to close the Bochum plant?

[Via: Cellular News]

Again we have nothing official from Nokia (NYSE: NOK), just a hint that an online electronics retailer is offering the N95 8GB in Copper color. Actually, the change of color has only been done on the back cover of the phone, while the front remained black. And in case you’re wondering, the electronics retailer is Plemix which is selling the N95 8GB unlocked for $689…

[Via: CellAddictBlog]

The independent semiconductor company founded by Philips – NXP Semiconductors and the embedded Linux solution provider for mobile phones – Purple Labs today announced the low-cost Linux-powered 3G mobile phone. The so called Purple Magic phone is based on the NXP Nexperia Cellular System Solution 7210 for 3G, coupled with the Purple Labs Linux suite.

First it’s important to say this is a reference phone, so I doubt we’ll see it released to the general public. But considering the fact Purple Magic is available as the “fully integrated, turnkey solution”, I guess we’ll we’ll have some handset manufacturers releasing their own versions of the device. Heck, we may even see mobile operators in the regions of Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America offering the device using their brand on the device.

Anyway, in case you want to know more about this, keep reading for the full press release.

Read the full article »

Recently at the MIDEM conference in Cannes, France – Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) launched the updated PlayNow arena mobile content store. The old-new service now has more mobile content than ever before thanks to the deals signed with 10 major record labels — including Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, The Orchard, IODA, The PocketGroup, Hungama, X5 Music, Bonnier Amigo, and VidZone. In addition to more than 5 million new, mostly DRM-free tracks, Sony Ericsson also added 250 new mobile games from its existing partners. Finally, “a music promotional space for new and developing artists” M-BUZZ has been revamped and is now called PlayNow Uncut…

There you have it. Just like (almost) any other major handset maker, Sony Ericsson is serious when it comes to mobile music and the overall mobile content downloads business… Full release is available from here.

Those lucky Brits… I’ve just spotted that Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and Hutchinson’s 3 UK are offering the Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s flagship N95 8GB smartphone for free. There’s a catch of course — you should sign for an 18-month long contract and commit to pay at least £35.00 (Vodafone) or £30.00 (3) per month. But that’s like nothing, considering you’ll get one of the best smartphones ever and will use data services all the time. Plus, your plan will also include 500 anytime minutes and 500 text messages (Vodafone), or 300 minutes or texts (3)…

What are you waiting for? Here’s the link to the Vodafone’s and 3’s offer.

[Thanks to everyone who tipped us about 3's offering]