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Could it be? A mobile phone from Motorola bearing a design philosophy that we can actually commend?

No, you aren't dreaming. Motorola is preparing to give the popular Motorola Q9 series a bit of a design and hardware revamp. And, Boy Genius has gotten a chance to play with the device - the Motorola Q9 Napoleon. Verizon, and their globe-trotting business users, are the target of the new Verizon-branded Motorola Q9 "Napoleon."

Verizon is set to offer Motorola Q9c fans a taste of the GSM lifestyle with the Napoleon. Not only does the Motorola Napoleon Q9 feature a CDMA radio capable of EVDO Rev. A data speeds, but it also boasts full support for all the world's GSM bands - which means the quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM radio supports the 850Mhz and 1900Mhz GSM frequencies used in the US. For those of you that don't exactly trot around the globe, the Napoleon represents the first carrier-branded handset to be fully CDMA and GSM savvy - Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint (theoretically), take your pick.

With the expected complement of 2 megapixel camera (with flash) and WiFi, the Motorola Q9 Napoleon is a true network-hopping handset. And, with a newly added fingerprint scanner (security is a chief concern amongst jet-setting executives) and Windows Mobile 6.1 powering the handset (just like its GSM brethren), the Napoleon is a seriously impressive device.

And, with a bit of chrome-trimmed flair added to the Moto Napoleon's bezel, Motorola has really steppe up their design-game - taking a page out of the BlackBerry Bold's chrome-lined playbook. This here CDMA and GSM compatible handset is shaping up to be the first truly innovative handset to come out of Moto's ailing handset business in quite some time.

Well done, Moto!

Head on over to Boy Genius Reports for the full gallery of pics.

Side note: Could the Napoleon be headed to Sprint? That would make sense of all those Sprint Motorola Q9c end-of-life rumors…

[Via: BGR]

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Apple and Adobe have been at something of a crossroads for some time now. The clashing of these titans has resulted in Apple refusing to let Adobe bring Flash plug-in support to its iPhone Safari browser. But, that may all change in the near future.

First let's explore what Adobe's working on.

The new Adobe Flash Player 10 beta 2 pre-release is now available for those of you that just like living on the stability-edge. But, the real significance of the Flash Player 10 pre-release is that it's promised to bring a 3-fold performance increase to Mac OS X machines. Specifically, Adobe Player 10 runs the GUIMark benchmark 3 times faster than in its previous incarnation.

Now, how does that point toward Adobe bringing Flash support to the iPhone?

Well, Steve Jobs essentially barred Adobe from porting their "unacceptable" Flash Lite to the iPhone. And, the full desktop-version of Flash Player is just too bloated and slow to work with the iPhone's pared-down processor. So, Adobe has resorted to crafting its own iPhone-optimized Flash player with enough punch to satisfy Steve Jobs and svelte enough to run decently well on the iPhone.

Unfortunately, the iPhone has been locked down to exclude the use of Safari plug-ins and preventing third-party apps from running executable code.

Is Adobe tweaking its Flash Player to give Apple's Mac machines a performance boost in a bid to try and sway Jobs's stanve on allowing iPhone Safari plug-ins? We sure hope so. Steve Jobs isn't exactly known for his kind heart, but if he can find a way to cut Adobe some slack and allow a Flash plug-in for the iPhone, we'd be more than a little grateful. Perhaps there's some light at the end of the iPhone 2.1 OS firmware-tunnel?

[Via: MacRumors]

ACCESS wants a piece of the "mobile widget action," hence they're launching a beta version of NetFront Browser Widgets community site. Available in English and Japanese, the site allows users to download and try free mobile widgets. You'll need, however, to install NetFront Browser Widgets Player, which initially is compatible with Windows Mobile versions 5.0 and 6.0, in order to start using these widgets.

NetFront Browser Widgets is a solution that is based on the NetFront Browser engine and enables widgets for mobile handsets and consumer electronics to be created on the basis of open Web technology. It provides widget players, development tools, and widget content in one package for carriers and device manufacturers, helping businesses to quickly implement a diverse range of widget services.

Tools for widget developers are still not available, but ACCESS wowed to released them in the near future.

Russia's largest mobile phone operator MTS has announced a partnership with local version of MySpace to develop and promote solutions for the subscribers of MTS Russia.

Under the terms of the partnership, MTS and MySpace will develop an exclusive service for the subscribers of MTS Russia that will become part of MTS' WAP-portal. In addition, the two companies are planning to launch an MTS-branded community on MySpace Russia website to drive usage and support the partnership.

Commenting on the announcement, MySpace Russia's general director Aleksandr Turkot said: "This partnership with MTS is a key strategic move for MySpace, allowing us to give Russian customers unprecedented access to networking via their mobile phones. Our brands are built on providing high quality communication and networking experience and our partnership will allow us to develop many new exciting services for our customers."

French developer of Linux-based mobile software, Purple Labs, announced that it has completed its acquisition of the mobile client software business of Openwave Systems for about $32 million.

Under the terms of the deal, Purple Labs has acquired the products, software code, patents and customer contracts of the Openwave business. The Linux mobile software developer will continue to invest in the browser and related technologies.

For the quarter ending in March, Openwave had reported $11.1 million in revenues from software license fees and related engineering services. Openwave's browser and messaging products are among the best-selling mobile applications in the world, having already shipped in more than 1.5 billion mobile phones.

Brits are definitely going to be living it up on news that they'll be surfing the wireless web at true HSPA (HSDPA and HSUPA) speeds. The UK has just gone live with their first nationwide HSUPA network, bringing broadband-like upload speeds of 1.4Mbps to complement the 7.2Mbps they enjoy on the downstream. And, wireless junkies have T-Mobile to thank for their high-speed mobile connections. Go figure.

Enjoy all that bandwidth, guys. We can't say we aren't just a bit envious…

[Via: Tech Digest]

Like they're not already the largest mobile operator in the world in terms of revenue (China Mobile has more subscribers), Vodafone is acquiring 70% stake in a leading Ghana's telecommunications operator, Ghana Telecom, from the Government of Ghana for $900 million (which would get to keep the remaining 30% of the company).

Ghana Telecom is number 3 mobile player with approximately 17% market share and 1.4 million customers as at 31 March 2008. At the same time, they are leading fixed line and broadband operator with about 99% of the total number of lines and around 90% market share of the retail ADSL market. During last year, Ghana Telecom's revenues grew 9.3% to $290 million.

Vodafone plans to leverage its experience of rapid network deployment in India and other emerging markets and hopes to see Ghana Telecom raising its mobile market share over time to around 25%.

Nokia has a new partner for its clever Ovi scheme - Telenor. Under the agreement, the Nordic operator will enable its customers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Hungary to "experience one of the best Internet services on their devices in the simplest way."

Select Nokia devices will be customized to provide easy access to such services as Nokia Maps, N-Gage, Telenor Music Store and Mobile TV, and more services will follow in the future. The two companies will launch Ovi on Telenor during H2 2008 across a wide range of devices.

Full release is available from here.

Mobile coupons are set for boom and Cellfire (which we've already covered in the past) is at the forefront of the growing market. The mobile coupon and discount offer service recently introduced Cellfire 3.0, which is now even more powerful than ever.

For consumers, Cellfire 3.0's new features include:

• Clip 2 Mobile Offer Discovery and Capture - allows users to discover mobile coupons featured by Cellfire advertisers within both interactive and traditional media. As they do, they can "clip" the mobile coupon with a simple command and the selected offer is automatically saved in the user's Cellfire Saved Offers page, where the offer can be easily accessed and redeemed in the future.
• Rich User Experience - filtering offers by category for easier finding of an appropriate deal.
• Seamless web-phone integration - you can browse, sort, and select Cellfire offers both online and using your mobile phone. Any changes made are simultaneously reflected across both platforms.

As for the advertisers, the new Cellfire version brings:

• Mobilize Traditional and Interactive Media - allows merging of both traditional and interactive media to reach a wider audience. The advertisement source is tracked as consumers respond and capture offers, enabling advertisers to learn which advertisements are most effective in driving transactions.
• Dynamic Targeting - Advertisers can target offers by age, gender, location and other attributes, ensuring their offers are most relevant to their intended audience.
• One to One Offers - Advertisers can deliver unique offers to individuals that have previously interacted with their offers on Cellfire.

Cellfire 3.0 is now available to more than 170 million cell phone users across most carriers and handsets.

O2 is all proud to announce they're the first British mobile operator that will offer Sierra's latest Wireless Compass 885 USB modem. Announced at this year's Mobile World Congress alongside AirCard 885E ExpressCard, the device provides users with download speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 2 Mbps. Additionally, it includes TRU-Install automatic software installation and a microSD memory card slot to expand its functionality (very neat). In a nutshell, it's one of those accessories that will make you a true mobile warrior, if that's what you're craving for.

The Sierra Wireless Compass 885 USB modem works on both Mac and PC computers, and is available through O2 direct, corporate and business sales channels and online on O2's website.