Some screen captures of the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) 9500’s simulator have bubbled up, showing us what it will be like to navigate RIM’s first touchscreen device. You’d think RIM would have to make a lot of changes for a smartphone so significantly different from everything they’ve done before, but they seem to have kept pretty much the exact same feel as before by simply cutting the screen in half and putting the keypad below when needed. A shortcut bar along the bottom of a couple of apps is new, and could definitely make up for those used to keyboard shortcuts. Seeing the spreadsheet in widescreen reminds us of the business applications for the BlackBerry Storm, but honestly, the 3.2 megapixel camera and integrated Rhapsody music store will make this device appeal more to the multimediaholics out there and pitch it squarely against the iPhone. The Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) branding is also noteworthy, adding them to the list of carriers for a potential Christmas launch (Telus (NYSE: TU), Bell, Verizon (NYSE: VZ)).

After first glance, OS 4.7 doesn’t look like it’ll be a huge leap. The virtual keyboard will offer its challenges, and all of the applications (like Clock and Sheet to Go) will need a bit of an overhaul, but long-time BlackBerry users should be able to work their way around the 9500 without any problems. The bigger question is if the OS will be simple and friendly enough to invite new users to the platform, especially those who will also be scoping out the iPhone.

[via Storm Reviews]

More pics of the BlackBerry Storm’s OS after the jump…

Artificial Life released “Klitschko Boxing – The Official Mobile Game”, featuring renowned boxers, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

You can either play as Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko as they’re shown in their early career as semi-pro boxers to fight for the boxing championship and defend multiple world championship titles. Klitschko brothers can train to gain boxing experience from “Quick Match Mode” or play the “Career Match Mode” for consecutive matches before challenging other boxers to achieve a higher ranking.

Matches take place in various venues — from gorgeous arenas to primitive training rooms, and are elaborately introduced with “atmospheric ring entrances.” Then there’s a trainer advice that is featured between rounds, and so are “Goodie Codes” which are available for activating locked features.

Naturally, the ultimate goal is to fight and defeat top opposing boxers of each advancing league to achieve and defend world champion titles…

Quickoffice has recently release eOffice 4.5, the newest native mobile office suite that CrackBerry addicts can use to more efficiently manage their email attachments and office files while on-the-go.

eOffice 4.5’s improved user interface allows users to easily access and view Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF and graphics files in a rich media format that looks exactly like their desktop documents. Users also have comprehensive editing capabilities for Word and Excel documents. eOffice 4.5 users can additionally fax or print their documents directly from their BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) device, giving them control over their office files while they are on the road.

The software, compatible with phones running BlackBerry 4.5 and pre-4.5 operating systems, also includes support for Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Docs and Spreadsheets and is available at the special introductory rate of $29.95 through Dynoplex.

dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi internet domain, announced a special online auction for 200 highly desired premium .mobi domain names — including actors.mobi, bands.mobi, blackjack.mobi, boys.mobi, cellphones.mobi, doctors.mobi, games.mobi, homeloans.mobi, house.mobi, model.mobi, quotes.mobi, racing.mobi, stamps.mobi, vip.mobi and xxx.mobi.

Popular domain name auction company Sedo will do the “dirty job” for dotMobi in an auction scheduled for November 5th, 2008.

Anyone can bid on the Premium Names, but a certified Sedo account is required to participate. dotMobi also has minimal requirements for the buyer, including:

• A dotMobi-compliant parking page to launch within 10 days of the initial domain transfer date
• Full web site with content relevant to the domain name within nine months of the initial domain transfer date
• Web site to be compliant and to have a mobiReady.com score of at least 4/5
• Notification to dotMobi in the event of a sale, and contractual bind for any new party to the terms of the End-User Agreement.

Full information, including the list of auction names, is located at dotMobi’s Premium Auction website.

The latest research from Wireless Intelligence shows that total revenues generated by mobile operators in Western Europe reached 155 billion EUR in 2007, 3.32% growth from 2006. In EU15 countries, mobile phone revenues represent 1.5% of GDP, and have been growing faster than GDP in most countries.

According to Wireless Intelligence’s Senior Analyst, Joss Gillet, this year they expect to see a similar relatively healthy growth in mobile revenues.

Non-voice revenues appear to be driving growth as voice remain under strong pressure. As market penetration continues to rise, mobile operators are looking at increasing revenue share and focusing on customer retention.

Europe’s top 5 operator groups (Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Orange, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) O2 (NYSE: TEF) and TIM) generated revenues of 106.6 billion EUR, or 69% of the total revenues for the region. In markets such as Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria, revenues have decreased year on year, partly due to new European roaming regulations, domestic regulations (Bersani Decree in Italy), weakened ARPU, and decline in effective voice price per minute…

According to Informa Telecoms & Media’s new report, “Mobile Broadband Access at Home: The Business Case for Femtocells, UMA and IMS/VCC Dual Mode Solutions,” mobile traffic generated in the home environment was estimated at 40% in 2007. By 2013 it is expected to reach an overwhelming 58%, thanks to the increase in Femtocells deployment, which will at the same time offload up to 8% of total mobile traffic.

The report finds that mobile voice minutes of use (MoU) in the home environment will approach 42% of total mobile voice traffic by the end of 2008. As the price gap between fixed and mobile calls narrows mobile voice usage at home will gradually increase to reach 49% by 2013. The office environment will come in second position with a 30% market share, while only 9% of calls will be initiated on the move – when walking, driving, or on the train or bus – and the remaining 21% of calls will be generated from other public environments.

Read the full article »

Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) has announced its unlimited music download service – PlayNow plus. According to the official release, the service is “due to set a new standard for the unlimited music experience on a mobile with unrivalled download speeds, high-quality audio and access to the largest music catalogue of any unlimited download service.” All of the music offered through PlayNow plus will be available to the users both on their PCs and mobile phones.

Telenor in Sweden will be amongst the first to launch the service in the fourth quarter of this year. Their offer will include a special edition of the Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman phone, which will come pre-loaded with 1000 of the recent most popular songs — who’s “coming with music” now, eh Nokia (NYSE: NOK)?

At the end of the subscription, users will keep a large number (what that means exactly is not known) of their most played songs, forever that can be played on any MP3 player.

Needless to say, the Swedish-Japanese handset maker plans to go beyond Telenor in Sweden and we’re quite certain they’re pitching mobile operators around the world, as we speak.

What we have here are two images from “the wild” of the upcoming Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Cyber-shot phone. Apparently, the device codenamed “Kate” will supersede the K770 model. As you can see from the blurry image, it looks very much like the W902. Specs wise, Kate will come with a 5 megapixel and an innovative lens cover like Sony Digital Camera T2. Furthermore, we’ve heard the Swedish-Japanese handset maker will officially “go out with Kate” in their next announcements during this, fourth quarter.

One more shot follows after the jump.

Read the full article »

Scanbuy, the folks behing ScanLife mobile 2D barcodes, announced a new “partner in crime” – Samsung. Under the global agreement, the Korean giant will preload the ScanLife mobile 2D barcode application on its camera phones, and will begin selling these in Spain, Italy, and Denmark starting as early as next month. Availability will quickly expand to other major markets, including Mexico and the United States.

ScanLife technology uses camera phones to connect the physical world to the digital world. The application reads EZcodes and other major 2D barcode formats designed to quickly recognize and process information. Marketers and content providers use the ScanLife Code Management Platform to extend brand engagement onto mobile devices, while end users scan EZcodes to get information quickly and easily. The ScanLife solution gives consumers and code publishers both national and international interoperability for the use of 2D codes.

This is a huge deal for Scanbuy as they’ve just scored the second largest phone manufacturer in the world. The company’s (Scanbuy’s) CEO Jonathan Bulkeley said that it’s a “watershed moment for the 2D barcode market.” He went on to add, “Scanbuy is wholly committed to working with all organizations including carriers, manufacturers, and content creators to ensure 2D barcodes reach their full potential in enabling the mobile phase of the digital information age.”

Another two of the existing Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) devices are getting new colors. The first of the two is the T280 candybar, which will apparently be available in “Firmanent Blue” and “Blossom Pink.” As you can see from the images, with the two new color additions the Swedish-Japanese handset maker wants to make the device more appealing to the younger crowd.

Then there’s the Sony Ericsson W595, which is now available in an array of colors. Some of the new color options include blue, white-maroon, grey-cyan, black-gold, black-blue, and black-maroon.

We’ve no idea where you can grab these devices, but we guess the price remains unchanged…

[Via: SEMC blog, JampBLOG]