I’ve no idea when LG announced the KC550, but it was just recently we’ve spot it around the web.

First let’s talk about price. For 179.95 GBP (about $356) on Expansys, you get a sexy, 14.3 mm thin slider which boasts a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus. In addition, the tri-band device (GSM 900/1800/1900 + EDGE) also packs a QVGA screen, stereo Bluetooth support, FM radio, media player, and of course a microSD memory slot. But that’s not all, just like the big boys (Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) K850i, W910i and the iPhone), the KC550 also packs an accelerometer and even comes with few games that support the use of it!

Lack of 3G may be a deal breaker for some folks, but $350 can’t buy you much more, can it?

[Via: Unwired View]

France Telecom has reportedly approached a series of financial institutions to arrange a 10 billion EUR loan that will enable it to acquire TeliaSonera. The French telecom giant, which is also known as the owner of the Orange mobile group, has been negotiating with the Nordic operator for quite some time now. However, it seems that the Swedish government, which owns 37% of TeliaSonera, is opposing the deal. National security reasons were cites as reasons, and at the moment they’re waiting for a report from the Swedish military.

According to the Financial Times, one solution to the security issues would be to spin-off TeliaSonera’s backbone network into a separate company. Still, it’s more likely Swedish government is using the security card to allow time for rival bids to be made.

As for the France Telecom’s financing deal, Financial Times suggests the loan could be a combination of loan and capital markets financing.

Just in time for the Virgin Mobile Festival, the MVNO has announced a special edition of its Wild Card phone. The so called Virgin Mobile Festival Special Edition Wild Card is pretty much the same as the original Wild Card, except that it comes with 50 music downloads from eMusic and a one-year subscription to SPIN Magazine. In addition, lucky 15,000 customers who buy the device will all have special access to the Virgin Mobile Guest Lounge at the festival, where they’ll be able to chat with the man himself, Sir Richard Branson.

Finally, even though this is the special edition device, the price remains the same. It’s available through July 31 exclusively at Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores for $99.99.

More information about Virgin Mobile Festival is available on the official website.

Now, we’ve seen quite a few fake Nokia N95 devices. However, this time Chinese handset makers cloners went one step beyond. The so called “MM95″ is, you guessed that correctly, much smaller than the original device. However, it does keep the dual-sliding mechanism and therefore looks quite nice. Even though I shouldn’t praise fake devices, I must admit this baby (literally) rocks.

Specs wise, it’s a feature phone, boasting dual-band GSM (900/1800 MHz) radio, two cameras (one on front and one on the back), and 2.2-inch QVGA screen. As for the size, it’s not as small as that cute Nokia 5200 toy, but it’s small enough — the mini N95 measures 76.1×41.1×17.8 mm and weighs 72.8 grams.

Actually, this may be a good idea for Nokia (NYSE: NOK), to create a similarly sized feature phone. It would look like the N95, but wouldn’t have all the features the famous smartphone has. There’s an idea… More images follow after the jump.

Read the full article »

Opera Software has ambitious plans to go beyond the browser. They already rule the mobile web browser market and they think it’s about time their software is turned into platform. That being said, they’ve just announced support for Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Gears in their desktop and mobile browsers.

The inclusion of Gears in Opera’s main browsing products supports Opera’s vision of transforming the browser into a full platform for applications, regardless of device.

I’m not sure Opera Mini can handle Gears at this stage, but Opera Mobile 9.5 certainly could. Opera’s CEO Jon von Tetzchner confirmed that, saying: “The forthcoming Opera Mobile 9.5 with Gears will usher in a new era for the Web on mobile devices. Together, these products will create new ways to bring applications to life on mobile devices. Developers will be able to use this along with Opera Dragonfly to develop and debug compelling applications for any connected environment.”

Amen to that!

Gresso’s Avantgarde collection recently got two White Diamond members. The two new handsets aren’t designed for everyone, or at least not many of us can afford even the less expensive of the two.

White diamonds, casing made of 200-year-old African blackwood and a titanium keyboard base plate are there to say “Are you sure this phone is for you?” In addition, the more expensive model (Gresso Royal White Diamond) has all 23 keys capped to a total of 23.5 carats of white diamonds, while the “cheapo” Gresso White Diamond model sports diamonds only on the navigation keys.

The good thing about Gresso’s handsets is that they run Windows Mobile 6, meaning that unlike Vertu and Mobiado model, their functionality can be further extended with third-party apps. So in some sense, these babies sport both beauty and the brains. Other specs include tri-band GSM radio, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a microSD slot.

The Gresso White Diamond costs around 9,000 EUR, while its more expensive brother, Gresso Royal White Diamond, could be yours for 33,000 EUR. Only 200 of these will be made.

[Via: Unwired View]

Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) phones may already be known as one of the top choices among mobile gamers, but that’s obviously not enough for both Swedish and Japanese shareholders, especially in a time when they’re facing the competition from Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s NGage platform.

The handset maker has reportedly signed a deal with California-based GestureTek, which we already covered in the past and which uses the handset’s camera to sense movement. The idea is to bring the Wii-like gaming experience to camera-equipped Sony Ericsson phones, which don’t have an accelerometer built inside (like the K850i and W910i models, for instance); and to ultimately establish Sony Ericsson as a mobile gaming brand.

We’ll watch this closely, have no doubt. In the meantime, if you need a reason to rejoice, you should know that among the first titles that will use the faux-accelerometer are Crash Banicoot and Super Monkey Ball.

[Via: Pocket Lint]

Three days ago we posted a leaked Nokia 7310 Classic press photo. Now it’s time for some real-world experience. As you’re about to see, this baby looks much better live and I’ve no doubt Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will sell tons of these. The materials used look just right and the overall size of the device (or at least thickness) makes the 7310 Classic fit perfectly in one’s hand. Enjoy the photos!

Read the full article »

For those of you still able to use an FM radio transmitter to beam the pop-hits in your iPod or iPhone through your car’s audio system, Griffin has just announced their newest iTrip offering. The Griffin iTrip AutoPilot transmits all your tunes to your car’s radio through an unoccupied FM channel.

Thanks to a cigarette lighter power plug and a dock connector, the iTrip AutoPilot not only broadcasts your favorite music over the air, but also charges your iPod/iPhone at the same time. And, to kill the hassle of searching for an available FM frequency, the iTrip AutoPilot will automatically scan for the clearest FM channel using its “SmartScan” technology and conveniently displays the broadcast frequency for your listening pleasure.

Grab the Griffin iTrip AutoPilot for the iPod or iPhone in your life. A penny shy of a C-note ($100) will get an AutoPilot of your very own.

Griffin iTrip AutoPilot 

[Via: Macworld]

Excuse us if we have a hard time keeping a straight face on this one.

It seems that Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT), T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)’s parent company, has lost its lawsuit against wireless carrier Telia over the use of the color Magenta in their logo. The Danish Eastern Regional High Court today shot down Deutsche Telekom’s push to keep Telia from using the T-Mobile’s trademarked Magenta color in its logo.

Apparently, Telia and T-Mobile don’t directly compete in the same market. And, the shade of Magenta that Telia is using is ever so slightly different – just different enough to keep Telia out of hot water.

Here’s the kicker. In a seeming karmic-backfire to Deutsche Telekom, the High Court ruled that they’ll have to pay Telia’s legal fees – to the tune of 1.5 million kroner ($316,188).

So, how’s that color-trademark treating you, T-Mobile? We thought so.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]