Novatel Wireless has announced that Pannon, one of Hungary’s leading mobile operators, is the first Hungarian operator to launch Novatel Wireless’ MiFi 2352 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot.

For those of you that don’t know/remember, the funky little MiFi takes a 3G SIM card, and creates a mobile network connection, then spews out a WiFi connection locally that can channel through the mobile connection – meaning in simple terms, you have a portable mini-WiFi cloud at your disposable – a nice change from the chunky USB mobile broadband dongle most of us are familiar with!

The internal (ROM) storage, up to 16GB of expandable memory via MicroSD creates a flexible and robust platform capable of supporting a variety of location-based applications and enabling the storage of personal content such as music, video and pictures.  MiFi does not require any type of installation or previously installed software.  Users simply need to turn on the unit to connect to Wi-Fi enabled handsets or devices.

MiFi is currently available at Pannon’s selected shops and via Pannon’s Netshop.

There’s no denying the almost magical draw of the iPhone and the world of good it’s done for Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s bottom line. A new report from Gartner today backs up that notion with data that has the Apple iPhone accounting for 17.1% of global smartphone sales in Q3 2009. That figure puts Apple in the No. 3 spot, behind Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Research In Motion (BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM)), as far as global smartphone market share.

Apple shipped some 7 million iPhones in the third quarter of 2009. The continued success of smartphones like the iPhone is fueled by a disproportionate growth in the mobile phone market that has the smartphone segment growing 12.8% year-on-year while the overall mobile phone segment languished with just 0.1% year-over-year growth.

It’s clear that smartphones are here to stay and will soon become the “norm” in the mobile space. Can Apple sustain its third-place position in the face of hot new smartphones running the Android operating system? It’s going to be a tough battle, and we can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

[Via: MacRumors]

T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is something of an underdog in the US wireless ecosystem. Going by subscriber counts, T-Mobile trails Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Sprint (NYSE: S) as the No. 4 US wireless carrier. That apparently isn’t going to cut it for T-Mobile. The carrier has announced plans to go big with their 3G network, in an effort to close the technology gap with its rivals. T-Mobile will enable 7.2Mbps HSPA data speeds on its entire 3G network, which is also planned to expand to reach 200 million people, by the end of 2009. And, by the middle of 2010, T-Mobile expects to have 21Mbps HSPA+ data speeds across its entire 3G network. That’s some high-speed data!

With Sprint pushing to roll out its nationwide 4G WiMAX network, via Clearwire, and Verizon gearing up to light-up its 4G LTE wireless network in early 2010, T-Mobile doesn’t want to fall too far behind. T-Mobile makes a lot of money from data plans, making a competitive 3G network all that much more important.

For now, though, Philadelphia is the only market to enjoy T-Mobile’s blazing fast 21Mbps HSPA+ network. Live it up while you can, you lucky Philadelphians, you.

[Via: InformationWeek]

Any smartphone worth its salt these days comes packing an integrated GPS receiver that allows you to pin-point your location on, say, a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Map. But, GPS mapping on a smartphone has a critical Achilles Heel – the handset needs an active wireless data connection to pull down map data. Without map data, the GPS hardware is basically useless. That is, unless you have a Windows Phone with NaviComputer installed. The NaviComputer app downloads GPS maps from your favorite mapping service, allowing you to map your position without a data connection.

Whether you’re out in the cuts without wireless reception, or just don’t feel like paying for an unlimited data plan, NaviComputer will help you make the most out of your smartphone. The app works with Windows Mobile 6.1 and Windows Mobile 6.5 devices with integrated GPS hardware (obviously).

You can choose to download map data from services like:

• GoogleMaps
• GoogleSattelite
• GoogleTerrain
• OpenStreetMap
• OpenStreetOSM
• YahooMap
• YahooSatellite
• VirtualEarthMap
• VirtualEarthSatellite
• VirtualEarthHybrid

Better yet, you can jump between different map data from with NaviComputer. That feature alone is worth the download.

Find NaviComputer here.

[Via: WMPowerUser]

Vuzix Corporation has officially launched its new line of sunglasses-styled Wrap video eyewear products across Europe.

For those of you that are not familiar, eyewear is an accessory that connects to your (mobile) device, and displays video outputted from it – think two small screens in the glasses that give you a virtual 44-67″ inch screen, and you are getting there!

The Wrap video eyewear range is compatible with (mobile) devices which have composite video-out and comes complete with an iPod/iPhone adaptor. Other devices the Wrap video eyewear connects to, with the appropriate cable adaptor, include: camcorders, portable DVD players, PCs and game consoles. All Wrap devices can also play back 3D content – which as we all know is the buzzword of the moment, but actually when you experience it is very, very, cool indeed!

There are going to be three versions of the Wrap. The Wrap 230 (£129.99 inc VAT), Wrap 280 Widescreen (£179.99 inc VAT), and the Wrap 920 (£249.99 inc VAT). You’ll be able to get them from The Vuzix Store,, and major online retail outlets including the Apple store, Firebox, and Play.com.

I’ve played with these devices before and they are very cool – once you get past the effect of watching the screens, and pop some headphones on, you get an immersive and very coherent viewing experience – and the Wrap rage looks even look vocal too!

My buddy Ron over at picoprojector-info.com has come across a new NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) device that is packing some serious goodies!

The handset is called the “Separate Keitai F-04B” (made by Fujitsu, and can be separated into a display unit and a keyboard unit. The two can communicate via Bluetooth, and when they are connected they behave like a QWERTY slider. The display unit contains the main board with the communication chip and the application processor. It also includes a 3.4″ touch LCD.

The phone also includes a Pico-Projector unit. This is a DLP projector (LED source) with a 854×480 resolution, 6 lumens and a 800mAh battery (about 2 hours at the highest luminance). The projector unit will be sold separately (no pricing info yet).

That is a bruiser of a device – but it’s certainly got some utility!

[Via: picoprojector-info.com via: Tech-on]

RadioWeave has released Soundbiter, an iPhone and iPod touch app that makes it easy for users to capture and instantly share short-form audio content. When the app is running, Soundbiter is always recording, continually saving the last 60 seconds (or preset length) of audio until the user presses its one giant button. Then – bite! – your sound bite is captured, ready for editing and uploading. Soundbiter is a free application available for download from the iTunes App store and is ideal for the likes of us journos

Like I said, neat and to the point – that’s what we like from our utility apps

RadioWeave has released Soundbiter, an iPhone and iPod touch app that makes it easy for users to capture and instantly share short-form audio content. When the app is running, Soundbiter is always recording, continually saving the last 60 seconds (or preset length) of audio until the user presses its one giant button. Then – bite! – your sound bite is captured, ready for editing and uploading. Soundbiter is a free application available for download from the iTunes App store and is ideal for the likes of us journos

Soundbiter features include:

• Continuous recording mode; users press “bite” to grab the last minute of audio
• Wallpaper customization for the recording screen
• Simple crop-and-preview audio waveform editor
• Ability to tag your bites (for Twitter, these can be automatically posted as #hashtags), including a unique picture with every bite and set per-bite location reporting and listening restrictions
• Batch uploading of captured bites including the ability to lock individual bites to prevent them from being uploaded
• Ability to search for, hear, rate and flag recent and top-rated bites from around the world, including your own
• Option to create your account with your Twitter credentials so all uploaded bites are auto-tweeted

Like I said, neat and to the point – that’s what we like from our utility apps

There’s not to much more to say on this other than it looks like a quality game – let’s home it comes in at a reasonable price, then we can all go out there, download it, and pretend to be Scrat

Two Tribes and Chilligo are just putting the finishing touches to the game “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”, and it appears to have some pretty gorgeous visuals. The game will be available to download from Apple’s App Store in November 2009, packing a good set of features too:

• Alternative storyline focusing on Scrat’s journey.
• Unique touch-and-go iPhone control system.
• Scrat can climb, hang from the ceiling, shove blocks, break ice, float around, solve puzzles and much more.
• Four environments, each with its own unique gameplay.
• Features Manny, Ellie, Diego, Sid and Scratte as supporting cast.
• Many hours of playtime.
• Replay value due to collectible system.

There’s not to much more to say on this other than it looks like a quality game – let’s home it comes in at a reasonable price, then we can all go out there, download it, and pretend to be Scrat