In order to grab a piece of the demanding Korean mobile phones market, companies must do something really extraordinary. This isn’t to say there are some unheard-of features in Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s Z6m slider phone — it’s just that its black-orange color combination makes the device look quite cool, and that we can easily imagine it’s selling well if properly priced.

Anyway, the Z6m is designed for music lovers and among other things boasts the standard 3.5mm audio jack, 2 MP camera, stereo Bluetooth support, and 2GB on-board storage. And in case you’re wondering, we’ve no idea how much does it cost in Korea…

[Via: MobileWhack]

Verizon Wireless announced that it is now offering mobile banking services to enable its customers to access and manage their financial relationships while on-the-go for a “seamless, real-time and secure user experience.” In order to use the new service and as an additional security measure, interested customers first need to register with their financial institution’s online banking service, download the Firethorn application, and they’re ready to use their mobile phones to check bank account balances, transferring funds between accounts (within the same bank), and/or review and pay select bills.

List of Verizon (NYSE: VZ)’s partners include Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM)-owned mobile banking and payments enabler Firethorn Holdings, as well as such financial institutions as Wachovia, SunTrust Bank, Regions Financial, BancorpSouth, Synovus, FirstBank, Arvest Bank, and America First Credit Union… Full release follows after the break.

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Just before the holidays, we’ve posted that among other improvements, fring is now supporting Yahoo! Messenger and AOL’s AIM. In case you haven’t figured that out, the support was added for Symbian S60 and UIQ based devices only. fring is also working on Windows Mobile based handsets, so we knew the support for Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s mobile OS is coming sooner rather than later.

And, voila… it’s here! Now you can add your Yahoo! Messenger and AOL’s AIM buddies to the list and chat with them while on-the-go. In order to use the new feature, download the latest version of fring, log in and then under “Options” > “Settings” > “Configure Services” scroll down and select the service you would like to add and… that’s it, you’re ready to go!

If you enjoyed playing Civilization “back in the days,” you’ll certainly want to try HeroCraft’s latest mobile game called Revival. Just like the mentioned famous title, Revival is a turn-based strategy that puts you in a position of a tribe leader — or that’s a God — with a mission(s) to grow your civilization, trade with others, conquer other nations and territories, and explore various science fields.

HeroCraft promises true Civilization fans will find the game both entertaining and challenging. There are 7 planets and 27 continents to conquer, 13 missions, artificial intelligence, adjustable difficulty level, and “stupendously funny music.” Revival works on all major platforms — including Palm (NSDQ: PALM) OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian S60 and UIQ — and more information is available from here.

UPDATE: Revival is now out! Go ahead and start conquering the world.

Here’s something for those of you travelling around the States these days. Although we’re sure you know you shouldn’t use your mobile phone and/or other gadgets like MP3 players while driving, sometimes you just gotta answer that call or check the new message. And while it’s suggested to use some sort of Bluetooth headset or carkit, not all people have one. That being said, it’s good to know where — in which U.S. state — you’re allowed to use a mobile phone while driving, and where that’s strictly banned.

Thanks to Jalopnik, we have this great map picture above, which shortly illustrates cell phone usage laws across the States. Full document is available from here.

[Via: Gizmodo]

The so called Gold Star P1i may remind you on the Sony Ericsson P1i, but the look is where all the similarity ends. The original device is the Symbian UIQ3 based smartphone, while the copy is… well, the ripoff.

To be fair we do find the Gold Star P1i to be an interesting device in terms of specs. It’s just that copying the Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE)’s — or some other handset maker’s — design doesn’t impresses at all. On the contrary…

Anyway, in case you care to know, the “fake P1i” sports two SIM card slots (which is good), TV receiver (we’re not sure which standard is supported), media player, Bluetooth, camera that can also record videos, FM radio, and of course the microSD memory slot… And that’s it. If you wanted the P1i, go for it — no clone can replace the real thing. One more image and a short video demonstration of Gold Star P1i’s interface follow after the break.

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Just recently, Alegent Health — the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care system in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa –announced that it has launched a new mobile website, allowing users to access breaking health news headlines, updates, and, directions. In addition, users can also get phone numbers, addresses and driving directions for Alegent Health hospitals, clinics and physicians.

Finally, in their release — which follows after the jump — Alegent vowed to keep improving its mobile site to make it even more useful for people… And now the mentioned press release.

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If you grab a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95 8GB with the latest firmware then you can start playing with widgets built on top of the web run time. Here is where you can get more information about WRT, a link to some sample code to get you started and a screen I just took on Symbian-Guru’s phone as he is sitting next to me in a coffee shop:

Notice that all you have to do to get this running is extract the “Horoscope” folder in this zip file, compress the folder into one zip file and change the “zip” extension to “wgz.” Bada bing, you got a widget.

Sprint (NYSE: S) has announced that the switch to IPv6 from IPv4 has started and should be complete in the second quarter of 2008. This does not impact you in any way, at all, but it is press release worthy. – Mobility Site

Just before the New Year, GIGA-BYTE Communications launched its GSmart i350 Windows Mobile 6 smartphone in Italy. What’s significant about this all-in-one device is that aside from such goodies as WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD memory slot, and the built-in SiRF III GPS receiver, it also packs the full 2.6″ VGA (640×480) touchscreen!

The bad thing — there’s always the downside — is the somewhat last yearish 2 MP camera with autofocus, as well as only 64 MB of RAM. Marvell’s powerful PXA270 CPU at 520 MHz should provide users with enough processing power, though.

Finally let’s talk about the availability and pricing. In case you live in Italy and dig the GSmart i350, you’ll have to call Gigabyte’s distributor for Italy, Brightpoint, which is currently selling the device for 499 Euro.

[Via: the::unwired]