Looks like Amazon is officially joining the mobile fray. Today they have announced the beta launch of AmazonWireless, a new site that is offering cell phones and plans. Also unique to this store is a free two-day shipping policy… and, get this… no rebate madness! Yipee! One might have seen this coming, as Amazon has long been offering deals and discounts on phones in recent history.

The devices available at the moment are all on AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ)… no other carriers are on-board at the moment. After taking a quick peek at the site, you can pick up a Samsung Eternity a867 for a penny… Yep, a penny… Actually, quite a few phones are available for a penny (BlackBerry Curve 8900 too!), but all of these deals of course force you to activate a new, or extend an existing contract. You’ll also need to hold on to and pay your monthly bills for a period of 181 days after activation. Policy also stipulates that you can’t change your service plan to a lower monthly rate… Doing so will subject you to additional charges.

Yadda, yadda, you know how it goes. You can check out the full terms and conditions for each device by clicking the T&C link on each device page.

Lots of deals are ready to be had. Check it out for yourself over at wireless.amazon.com.

[Via: BusinessWire]

Everyone’s favourite online gadgets vendor eXpansys is running a competition to celebrate the launch of a new range of Laptops and Notebook devices. The comp is to win a Samsung R510, which is a pretty nice bit of kit!

To launch our new broader range of Laptops and Netbooks eXpansys are running a competition to win a Samsung R510-FAAE Laptop.

You cannot fail to be impressed by the R510 series perfect balance of functionality, style and value. Featuring state-of-the-art Intel processor technology combined with advanced connectivity and an ultra clear 15.4″ widescreen display, the R510 series sets a new standard in optimised performance.

All you have to do to have a chance of winning this great prize is answer one simple question. Don’t miss out, enter now. The closing date for entries is midnight on Friday 31st July 2009.

Click here to enter the competition

Check out the new range of Laptops and Netbooks here

INQ Mobile has been named “Phone of the Year” at this years Meffys Awards, held by the Mobile Entertainment Forum. The Meffys are considered the industry’s official benchmark for measuring success and rewarding innovation, and the awards honor the most influential players from around the world. This category recognizes the importance of mobile handsets in driving consumer discovery and entertainment, and the INQ1 was recognized by the judges for being a mass market phone that offers social media and mobile internet services in an easy to use, simple way, driving mobile data usage.

MEF’s Executive Director, Rimma Perelmuter, said “We are delighted for INQ Mobile, a new entrant to the market, whose focus on usability and social networking features answers the needs of consumers who seek a fun, affordable and connected experience.”

INQ’s innovative approach – building hardware and software from the ground up with social media and internet services at the core – has caught the attention of the mobile industry and consumers. So far this year, the INQ1 has won the “Handset of the Year” at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Mobile News Awards “Best Newcomer,” and now “Phone of the Year” at the Meffys.

I reported on the data usage of the INQ1 here, but no harm in recapping the (impressive) stats they recently too:

The company also recently released data on usage of the INQ1 on the 3 UK network. The numbers seen on an entry-level handset and pay as you go tariff were comparable, or in some cases higher, than what operators typically see on much more expensive smartphones.

• An average of 65% of INQ1 customers are using Facebook , with the majority of users accessing once a day or more
• 30% of INQ1 customers are regularly using email
• Windows Live Messenger usage is 3-4 times greater than on other 3G phones on the 3 UK network, with around 50% of INQ1 customers accessing the service every month
• 19% of the INQ1 base uses Skype

You can check out more on INQ here.

I just got a neat email from Firebox.com, purveyors of all things gadge for menfolk (and the ladies) in the UK….

Basically there are two new Flip camcorders models available now – one ’standard definition’ and one ‘high definition’, respectively. In case you aren’t familiar with the Flip range, they are extremely small (two matchboxes end to end) size solid-state camcorders, that are forming a new wave of tiny, budget, good quality camcorders – a blessing for those weighed down by other gadgets they are carrying!

The two models in question are the Flip Ultra II, and Flip Ultra HD – stats table below:

My suggestion? Well if you need good video from hardware in a diminuitive package, go to Firebox.com and get one of these mini-vid monsters purchased!

Flip Ultra II

Flip Ultra HD

[Via: Firebox.com]

Now that the dust has settled with the announcement of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK)/Intel tie-up, here comes some industry analysis from IMS Research – in case you don’t know who they are:

IMS Research is a supplier of market research and consultancy services on a wide range of global electronics markets. The company is supported by headquarters in Wellingborough, UK and offices in Austin, Texas and Shanghai, China. IMS Research regularly publishes detailed research on consumer electronics, mobile technologies and handsets, and semiconductor markets.    www.imsresearch.com

So on to the commentary – highlights are er… highlighted:

The recent announcement of a collaborative partnership between Intel and Nokia further illustrates the trend of convergence between the mobile, PC and CE industries. The alliance could provide both Intel and Nokia with important entry points to new markets, namely smartphones and netbooks/smartbooks, respectively, although the lines between the two segments are becoming increasingly blurry.

For Intel, the move is viewed as a way to further expand its business into smaller form factor devices, such as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and smartphones, which are typically powered by ARM-based solutions. Tom Hackenberg, analyst in IMS Research’s Semiconductor group, comments, “Intel has been promoting the MID platform ever since they began developing the Atom microprocessor. The challenge for Intel has been providing mobile connectivity and power/battery performance that allows for MIDs to compete with current smartphone form factors with regards to talk time. This move should provide them with a foothold in mobile connectivity, and we can reasonably assume that they have the expertise to further refine the Atom’s power performance in new generations.”

A leader in the mobile handset business, Nokia has not aggressively pursued the netbook market, although it is openly considering this as a possibility. Bill Morelli, Research Director of IMS Research’s Mobile Technologies group, states, “Some of Nokia’s motivation behind the partnership with Intel is likely a concern about losing share in the handset markets, more than being aggressive about moving into the other ultra-mobile device segments.” Morelli adds, “Historically Nokia has been very cautious in developing new products. They have a definite approach to new product development with a focus on quality first. The partnership with Intel could provide Nokia with a meaningful differentiator for a netbook/smartbook device.”

Based on a recent study Emerging Ultra-mobile Device Markets, IMS Research estimates that over 50 million ultra-mobile devices (UMDs) will ship in 2009, in addition to over 150 million 3G smartphones and nearly 120 million notebooks. In five years, UMD shipments are forecast to reach 212 million. Anna Hunt, report author and principal analyst at IMS Research, comments, “Companies are rapidly creating new categories for the next-generation of devices, be it media phone, smartbook, Internet tablet, or MID, yet the underlying concept is the same: to provide consumers with new mobility platforms. Ultimately, as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) taught us, the user interface will have a strong impact on who is the most successful.”

So there you have it – that’s what some of the industry people think. What exactly is going to come from the Nokia/Intel collabo, only time will tell.

If like me (and the rest of the IntoMobile team) you were all over the iPhone 3GS launch, then you’ll know that there was some mixed reaction about whether Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) did enough with the 3GS to warrant releasing a new device…. well I’d argue yes they did.

Look at it like this – a car manufacturer releases a new model, and realises it’s successful – they then look at possible variants of the model, thinking perhaps something smaller (Nano….) and perhaps something a little more performance-based – like maybe a ‘Sport’ version. Quite often then, you’ll find the ‘Sport’ version of a car with an ‘S’ suffix – et voila – in a similar fashion, Apple do to their 3G model what their counterparts in the car industry do. Check out Audi for example – they even have a specific model (trim) line called ‘S-Line’ – which have uprated performance and internals – just like the 3GS does over the 3G model!

Really the only downsides that I can see for the ‘S’ model are that it comes in at a price premium – but even that is the same for ‘Sports’ models in the car industry. However the upsides are many – new features, new hardware, better performance – and for an incremental upgrade, I’d say it did the job well.

I suppose the only question is now, given that you bought the latest model, what is going to be released next? Will it be something that takes a ‘generation-leap’ and trumps the current model? Well, probably yes. Will it be substantially more expensive if it has uprated hardware? Bet on it. But again when you consider the R&D costs invested in a new hardware platform is it unreasonable? Only your wallet/credit card can answer that one!

I have.

Having upgraded the iPhone 3G just around a week ago, I’ve been using the device and noticed a bunch a stuff….

• battery consumption seems a bit worse
• email client unstable
• things generally running a bit more dopey

So what gives?

Well my usage pattern isn’t any different than usual, and yet I seem to sometimes have trouble getting a day’s worth of function out of the device – bearing in mind I have all radios turned off (except Bluetooth), and run my device on 2G only (3G off), that’s a change that I am not enjoying since upgrading the firmware…

Mail, mail, mail – what happened? You and I were once good friends, and yet now your spurn me at every turn! More accurately, you crash regularly, or hang. Oh, mail, you make me sad. Seriously though, whatever happened in the good work Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) did to make Mail incrementally more stable seems to have been undone with 3.0…. crashes are now a sad reality!

OS 3.0 heaps improvements on the operating system – but I wonder if some of these mean we get temporary hangs, and slower running, more often? I say this is the case, but of course everyone has their own experiences…

So what I want to know is: what ailments, if any, have you been suffering from on OS 3.0? Does your iPhone 3G run slow? Let us know!

If you’ve been reading IntoMobile in the last few days, you’ll know of Will’s woes with iPhone 3GS case rattle (buddy, I feel for you big time, I’d be gutted also) – various anecdotal evidence suggests Will’s troubles are not isolated (well at least all the ones in the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) shop Will tried had the problem!)

(I should probably say at this point that a rattle wouldn’t even be classified as an issue to some people, but is to others – perception of an issue is key here)

Mercifully, the iPhone 3G (my one that is) has been creak-free up until now – and I have to qualify that by saying I’ve had some REALLY poor devices in the past that have creaked and cracked their way along through normal usage. I’d not really experienced any of that with the iPhone 3G.

However, the last few days have been bad for creakage . The iPhone now has developed a creak when I hold the device at each end in one hand, then press the on/off button. Given Apple’s legendary build quality, that ain’t good. Of course, I thought it wouldn’t be a long term problem as I’m planning to get an iPhone 3GS, but given Will’s issues, I might just hold off!

Anyone else’s device doing the creak?

The camera in the phone you’re going to buy next year may record HD video, and take better pictures if OmniVision has anything to say about it. Today they’ve announced the OV5653, OV5650 and OV2665 camera sensors based on the 1.75 micron process technology. Each of those tiny pixels packs a light sensitivity higher than 1400mV/lux-sec, which is a 40% increase over previous models. The higher end models, the OV5653 and OV5650, will do 720p video at 60 frames per second and 1080p at 30 fps. Both are only .33 inches small, and support the RAW image format, but the probability of a mobile phone maker supporting that is between slim and none. The OV2665 is a 2 megapixel sensor that is .2 inches small. All of these new sensors will start being produced in volume during the second half of this year, so expect to see them in devices hitting the market in 2010.

OmniVision also that in terms of volume, the 2 megapixel sensor clearly leads today. By 2011, which is only 2 years away, they predict that 5 megapixel sensors in mobile phones will be common place. I don’t doubt that for a second.

[Press Release PDF link]
[15 page presentation in PDF, recommended read]
[8 page technology backgrounder, for the imaging professionals out there]
[Video explaining OmniVision's technology process]
[Via: DigiTimes]

During Sony’s E3 press conference yesterday, they revealed an update to their Playstation Portable gaming device.  The PSP Go is smaller and lighter than the PSP 3000 since the UMD drive has been removed.  It has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 16GB flash memory and a memory stick micro slot for expanded memory.  It also features a sliding panel that allows consumers to slide-up the device when a game is going to be played, and slide-down the device when music or a video is being played.  Sony states they will continue producing and support the PSP 3000 and reassures consumers the PSP Go will in no way replace the original PSP.

Sony also mentioned they will work with third party developers to beef up the Playstation Store to prepare for the launch of the PSP Go.  More PSP titles will be made available as both a digital download as well as being made available in UMD format at retailers.

The PSP Go will retail for $249.99 on October 1st, 2009.