Just when we’ve posted about finger massager selling in Japan, we got a news French Health Ministry has issued a warning against excessive mobile phone use, especially by children. According to the ministry, it is recommended to use a mobile phone in moderation, “with good judgment, avoid calling when reception is poor, or during high-speed travel, and finally, keep the telephone away from sensitive areas of the body by using a hands-free kit.” Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin even added that while mobile phones given to children could be useful safety items, parents should be cautious about frequent use.

I’m not sure whether French parents and children dig this, but I’ll keep my phone with me all the time. Screw the moderation.

[Via: Reuters]

It doesn’t surprises that such developed market as Japan has its own gizmos. For instance, I still can’t envision the finger massager pictured above selling outside of the “Land of the rising Sun.” But if you rely on your shiny powerful mobile phone like Japanese do — like all the time — that makes perfect sense.

Anyway, the finger massager helps heavy mobile phone users relieve those aches and pains caused by excessive text messaging. And in case you’re wondering, we’ve no clue where you can get it in the U.S./Europe nor how much it costs…

[Via: textually.org]

While wireless-charging solutions and hydrogen fuel cells are still on the horizon, Stanford researchers have just come across a breakthrough in battery technology that’s available today. We’d love to have our mobile phone charge while in our pocket, or have our fuel cells topped off at the nearest hydrogen charger, but alas, those technologies have yet to even come close to hitting the mainstream. For now we’ll have to deal with the best that current tech has to offer – the Lithium-Ion battery.

The engineering geeks at Stanford have come up with a way to extend the capacity of current Li-ION batteries by ten times. Repeat – that’s ten times longer battery life from the same battery!

The new tech promises to boost a cellphone’s 4 hour battery life to 40 hours of uptime – an incredible feat in any book. The research team leader, Yi Cui, has already filed a patent application and hope to get battery manufacturers to adopt his new technology.

“It’s not a small improvement,” Cui said. “It’s a revolutionary development.”

Lithium-ION batteries are limited by how many ions can be stored on the battery’s anode, which is usually made of carbon. Cui has replaced the carbon anode with silicon to achieve the boost in capacity. His approach uses silicon stored in nanowire tubes that resist fracturing as the silicon swells and shrinks in proportion to the ion-load.

Let’s hope this tech hits the mainstream sooner than later. Who wouldn’t pay a couple more bucks for a a ten-fold increase in battery life?

[Via: Nanotechwire]

Motorola’s had enough troubles last year – it’s time that they turn over a new leaf and get back to the business of making profits from mobile phone sales. Moto has just settled their outstanding patent disputes with Metrologic Instruments, giving them a clean slate to launch those 20-30 new handsets in 2008.

Metrologic and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) have been in a patent dispute since 2002 over barcode scanning and mobile computing technologies. The feuding companies have settled on a cross-licensing deal that should give either side the legal peace of mind to concentrate on making money again.

Bring on the new hotness, Moto. We can’t wait to see what you’re bringing to CES 2008!

[Via: AP]

Even though big retail chains are investing a serious buck in their marketing efforts, American holiday shoppers still need assistance finding local Wal-Mart and Target stores. According to V-ENABLE, holiday shopping directory assistance searches for retail businesses tend to be mostly for big-named, large-numbered retail giants. Other popular retail searches were pharmacies, electronics stores, gaming businesses, restaurants and gas stations.

The top ten retail business searches in major metropolitan areas were:

1. Wal-Mart
2. Target
3. Game Stop
4. Best Buy
5. Walgreens
6. Publix
7. AutoZone
8. KMart
9. Toys R Us
10. Blockbuster Video

And if you care to know, data was gathered from November 23rd, Black Friday, to Dec. 7th from millions of searches conducted by customers of several V-ENABLE partners including major national carriers such as Alltel and MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS)…

[Via: Wireless Developer Network]

Who says Chinese handset manufacturers can’t make a durable, high-quality phone? The latest CK800 handset from China proved the opposite. As a matter of fact, this indestructible and fairly ugly baby — I guess it’s quite hard to pair the looks with durability — seems created to compete head to head with Sonim XP1 which we’ve already covered before.

Just like the “world’s toughest phone,” the CK800 can take falls and work under water. And even though I’m still not convinced it can really sustain all the things Sonim’s device can, it’s certainly a viable option — especially when you know it will cost less. Plus, let’s not forget the Chinese phone can be charged with a portable AA-battery charger. Neat, don’t you think?

One more photo follows after the break.

Read the full article »

Pointui is everything but a first homescreen application we’ve seen. As a matter of fact, following the iPhone launch, there were suddenly quite a few such applications on the market that want to add that iPhone look and feel to the Windows Mobile platform. That being said, I guess that’s the core strength of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s mobile OS — the ability to customize it better than any other mobile OS.

Anyway, the folks behind Pointui made sure you’ll love your smartphone or PDA more after you install their app. It kinda reminds on the iPhone’s menu system, yet manages to keep the originality. As a matter of fact, I find some things to look even better on Pointui. But, at the end — and as always — it’s a matter of personal preferences…

What follows is the 5-minute long video demonstration after the jump. In addition, you may want visit Pointui’s website from where you can grab the application for free. Yap, it’s it costs zero bucks, although if you like the application – you can always donate them few bucks…

Read the full article »

Ok so the press release is from the 19th of December, but it is going to be at least 2 years until we’re going to be using LTE* anyways. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens Networks, on the 2.6 GHz spectrum, reached 173 MB/s in a field trial in Berlin, Germany. All the money shot quotes can be found in the press release. During 2007 we found out that Verizon is switching to LTE, a fact that should make Americans very happy.

Acronym Definition: LTE stands for Long Term Evolution.

A few days ago Dusan posted a picture of a Nokia N82 that he thought was the white version, turns out it wasn’t, but I can’t blame him for thinking it was. You can barely tell the difference between the current N82 and the white variant. The front is still the same blinged out chrome I love to hate; the only difference is the back of the device. Here is hoping that a black N82 will be all black, not just the rear.

Thanks for the hat tip Mr-X

Which N82 is the white N82?

Can you tell now?

3 more pictures after the jump, damn APAC region always gets the best retail package, case and lanyard included!

Read the full article »

How many times have you unknowingly jumped in the pool (drunk, or not) with your cellphone in your pocket? We all know how well that works out. Oh, and toilets are notorious for claiming mobile phone lives, too (and, if you do dunk your phone, this might save it). Don’t ask us how we know.

Anyway, waterproof mobile phones may be the next big thing. P2i’s Ion-Mask coating technology turns any run-of-the-mill mobile phone into hydro-adventurer. While it may not enable you to go for extended dives with a cellphone in your pocket, the P2i Ion-Mask coating will endow your handset with the power to survive casual encounters with water.

The Ion-Mask technology is based on research from the Defence Science and Technology Lab in England, and uses a special chemical that bonds to your cellphone’s (or other gadget’s) internals – repelling water off the actual electrical bits and pieces, rather than relying on seals or external cases to keep the water out of the inside of phone.

We’re hearing that three top-tier handset manufacturers are already in talks to bring the technology to future mobile phones.

All mobile phones should come standard with at least a passing level of water resistance. We don’t all need a handset that will go swimming with us, but it would be nice if the occasional toilet-drop didn’t drown your handset into oblivion.

[Via: Telegraph]