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Fring keeps adding new phones to the list of supported devices. Lately we caught them adding support for the Nokia N78 and N96.

Existing users of the two devices (even though there are not that many Nokia N96 owners at present) will be able to extend the usefulness of their smartphones with one of the most popular Symbian VoIP clients. In addition, fring users can chat with their buddies on multiple IM networks or run some of the third-party fring Add-ons…

To download fring, hop over to their website and take it from there.

[Via: fring blog]

AT&T has recently added a new phone to its GoPhone offering - Samsung SGH-a137. The entry-level device prides itself with a built-in GPS receiver, which makes it kinda stand out in the carrier’s pay-as-you-go phone portfolio.

Other specs include 2-inch screen, Bluetooth support and a music player. Size wise, the Samsung SGH-a137 measures 88.9×45.7×20.3 mm (3.5×1.8x.8 inches). It is already available at AT&T for $39.99 before taxes.

[Via: MobileBurn]

A South Korean businss paper has reported that Samsung is persuing SanDisk, for acquisition purposes. Both companies would not confirm or deny the report, which to me sounds like it’s on baby!

Samsung currently supplies NAND flash memory chips to SanDisk … which is the world’s largest supplier of flash storage card products. Samsung is the world’s largest manufacturer of NAND as well as DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, chips. NAND flash memory is used in digital devices such as cameras and music players. DRAM chips are used mostly in personal computers.

Samsung is no stranger to acquisitions either - last year it bought an Israeli company called TransChip, and turned it in to one of it’s R&D centres - Israel is a hi-tech leader globally, and that purchase further extended Samsung’s already mammoth scale of operations.

[Via: Cellular News]

We’ve talked about it two weeks ago and now it’s happening. The Sony Ericsson TM506 is now available on T-Mobile. You should be able to grab it everywhere, but the point is to use it on the mobile operator’s 3G network — that’s in case you’re lucky enough to live in one of the areas where T-Mobile’s 3G works. Aside from the 3G radio, the device sports a GPS with TeleNav support, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music player, and a Memory Stick Micro (M2) slot. It’s available for $79.99 with a 2-year agreement and $50 mail-in rebate…

[Via: Boy Genius Report]

Don’t know what should we think about this, but apparently Canadians will be able to grab the full QWERTY keyboard equipped Nokia E71 exclusively through Fido. Sure, there are options to grab the device unlocked, but if you want to instantly save on purchase and grab the E71 through mobile operator, you’ll have to sign-up for Fido’s service. That’s kinda strange when we know Fido is Rogers Wireless’ owned MVNO and is primarily geared towards the younger generation…

The rumor is coming from MobilySyrup’s Nokia insider, FYI.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

It seems AT&T is moving forward to launch the HTC Touch Pro. While the details we have are kinda sketchy at the moment — release date and pricing are unknown — we do know the mobile operator will market the device as “Fuze.”

Specs should remain unchanged, though, and include tri-band HSDPA (with U.S. 3G frequencies), WiFi, GPS, full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry Connect support, and a whole lot more.

We’ll be keeping our eyes and ears on the street, and get back to you as soon as we have more to report on the subject. Stay tuned, in the meantime.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

EA has announced that it will bring 9 iPhone/iPod Touch games in the near future. Aside from the long awaited Spore Origins, which we’ve already covered recently, the gaming giant also wowed to bring the following titles to the platform:

• YAHTZEE Adventures
• EA Mini Golf
• Lemonade Tycoon
• Mahjong
• MONOPOLY: Here & Now The World Edition
• SimCity
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09
• Need for Speed Undercover
• The Sims 3

It’s obvious EA is serious when it comes to iPhone as a gaming platform. We’ve no reasons to believe at least some of the titles mentioned above won’t be a hit…

Leave it to the pioneers of multi-touch in the mobile space to apply for a patent on all future versions of multi-touch. Apple’s latest patent filing suggests that Cupertino is working to integrate more than just touch-based input modalities in to future versions of multi-touch.

The problem with the current multi-touch setup is that it’s tailored to touch-based mechanics alone. Multi-touch on the iPhone and iPhone 3G is goo for mechanical manipulation, but without complementary input modalities like voice or finger-recognition, the current multi-touch setup falls short of offering truly immersive user interaction.

Imagine trying to resize and rotate a picture while changing its color and inserting a bit of text. It wouldn’t make sense to resize and rotate the picture using your voice. There are size and rotation-degree parameters that are just more well-suited for manipulation through touch-based multi-touch technology - it’s just easier to pinch/stretch and rotate the picture with your finger than with voice commands. Likewise, it’s easier to use voice commands to change the color of the background picture or add a text string to the picture.

Apple proposes, in their latest patent application, that future multi-touch technologies will integrate almost all foreseeable input modalities to complement touch-based multi-touch. Mechanical manipulations could be assigned to touch-based commands, while voice commands are relegated to functions that require choosing an option from a list.

Futhermore, Apple envisions future multi-touch setups incorporating finger-recognition that would allow the user to assign different functions to each finger - which would allow for more complex commands to be issued. Gaze-vector tracking could allow your future laptop or mobile phone to recognize which menu you’d like to select and automatically drill down to the appropriate category. Then there’s the proposition of using finger-tracking and force-sensing technologies that would allow the user to affect different degrees of control depending on finger-pressure and position.

Combine all that with accelerometer support and some pixie dust and you’ve got the makings of a seriously immersed control environment. We can’t wait for a future filled with multi multi-touch and pixie dust!

USPTO Apple patent application

You mean fashion-forward handsets like the LG Prada KE850 can’t get by on looks and designer label alone?

Even traditionally feature-lacking luxury phones like those from Nokia’s luxury arm, Vertu, are starting to adopt current-generation technology in their super-expensive handsets. And, in keeping with this trend, it looks like LG is working on a successor to their LG KE850 Prada phone.

The LG Prada II, as it’s apparently going to be called, will reportedly sport a 5 megapixel camera and HSDPA 3G connectivity on the coveted 850Mhz band. That’s all good news for feature-hungry fashionistas out there, but will it be enough to compete with the iPhone 3G and its unmatched UI?

We’ll have to wait and see how the LG Prada II fares against the iPhone 3G and the HTC Touch Pro… and the HTC Dream G1… and the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1… you get the point.

LG Prada II specs:

• Quad-band GSM/EDGE, dual-band HSDPA (850MHz/2100MHz)
• 950mAh battery
• 240×400 3.0? screen
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with flash and VGA recording
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Wi-Fi b,g
• Infineon MP-EH + M180 chipset
• Motion sensor
• FM Radio
• 104.5 x 54 x 16.8 mm

[Via: BGR]

Nokia, the clear leader among mobile phone manufacturers, has seen its mobile marketshare reaching upwards of 40% of the global mobile phone market in Q2 2008. At that time, the Finnish cellphone giant announced that it expected its Q3 2008 market share to stay the same. Unfortunately, for Nokia and their shareholders, the company has announced today that they expect their market share to drop in Q3.

Nokia blames a weak global economy for the revision to their third-quarter outlook. The news sent Nokia shares tumbling 11% (as of 1443 GMT), leaving the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer trading at a three-year low.

On the upside, Nokia says that it expects to see its full-year 2008 market share increasing ever so slightly. At the end of the day, it’s all about how a company fairs in the long-term. Quarterly financial wobbles can be indicators of underlying corporate problems, but in Nokia’s case, we’ll see the Finns pull through.

[Via: Forbes]