Motorola (NYSE: MOT) i410, which we saw at the FCC roughly a month ago, has been officially announced and it’s heading to Sprint (NYSE: S)-owned Boost Mobile. As it’s usually the case with iDEN phones, specs won’t impress many, and the same is true for the phone’s design. To be fair, that keyboard kinda reminds me on the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N93, a phone that I had for a year and loved it. However, i410’s specs are far from the N93’s, which actually is an S60 smartphone.

The Moto i410 comes with two screens (96×32-pixel external and 128×160-pixel internal), Bluetooth, push-to-talk functionality, speakerphone, and that’s about it. No camera, no microSD card slot. It’s a super basic phone for those who need to text and call someone from time to time, and eventually rely on the walkie-talkie service (PTT) for some reason…

[Via: Engadget]

Even though most carriers around the globe still have to get the LG BL40 Chocolate, the Korean company has prepared a special edition of the device to celebrate the Christmas season. The so called New Chocolate Christmas Edition BL40 will drive the built-in camera’s megapixel count to 8, up from the “default” 5, and will hit South Korea on December 10th. In addition, this special edition handset comes in a special color – black case with golden accents, while each buyer gets a voucher that can win them up to 5 million KRW (more than $4,000).

And that’s about all we know at this stage. No word on pricing, nor whether the improved BL40 will ever hit the Western hemisphere. We think it will, but you never know…

[Via: Unwired View]

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has tweaked some of its mobile web apps for Android-powered smartphones and the iPhone. Affected services include GMail, Latitude, Calendar and Tasks. The whole point of the tweak is to make the services slightly user friendlier with a bit larger, darker buttons. The image above illustrates best what’s new, so I’ll stop there leaving you only with the URLs of the tweaked services:

• Gmail – gmail.com
• Calendar – google.com/calendar
• Latitude – google.com/latitude
• Tasks – gmail.com/tasks

Or just visit google.com on your Android device/iPhone and look for these services under the “more” link.

[Via: Google Mobile Blog]

Am I seeing things here? Is that really a laptop stand designed to clip to your steering wheel? Yessir, it is. What you’re looking at is the AutoExec WM-01 Wheelmate. This product was designed as a ‘tray’, but you’ll surely notice how well the thing doubles as a laptop stand.

Of course, this product could never be used while driving… and if you did use it while on-the-move, consider yourself a royal dirtbag for doing such a thing.

A little offbeat I know, but it’s late and I had to share. Steering wheel laptop stand FTW? Not a chance!

[Via: GeekWithLaptop]

CellPhoneSoft’s Swiss Manager Pro used to be one of the top utility apps for the Symbian UIQ platform. For quite some time now, the mobile software company is also known for its S60 apps and their latest such application is Swiss Manager Pro 3.0.

As you may recall, this “composite utility” (as they like to call it) features enhanced memory and task management, detailed system information, and a fully fledged file manager. Additional features include memory cleanup functions, floating menu for instant access to all major services, Favorite/Recent list for quick applications launch, and more.

Swiss Manager Pro is compatible with all Symbian S60 smartphones, working equally well on keypad-based phones and on the latest touchscreen devices, like the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N97 and X6, the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD), and the Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) Satio…

Snappy is a perfect application for iPhone-ownin’ paparazzos around the globe. The idea is launch the camera in shortest time possible and quickly snap a photo (of a celebrity?). Snappy is ready to shoot in just 1-2 seconds, requiring users only to tap and hold the status bar from anywhere, application and lock screen included.

Unfortunately (or not), it’s a jailbreak thing only, meaning you’ll need to fully unlock your beloved handset prior to installing Snappy. The price is $1.99 and you can grab it from the Cydia store.

And now the video, as screenshots can’t tell the full story. Enjoy!

[Via: JustAnotherIphoneBlog]

Social networking in Latin America and Africa is set to increase ten-fold to 527 million users by 2015, according to research by Frost & Sullivan and Colibria. Within six years, the research company estimates the combined market will be worth almost $2.4 billion, with growth being driven by increased availability of the mobile internet.

In Africa, there are ten times more mobiles than landlines. Similarly, in South America, 80% of the population have a mobile phone compared to just 25% with regular fixed internet access.

Not surprisingly, mobile is the channel of choice for many social networks to get more customers. On that note, Colibria’s CEO Keith Gibson said: “The specific conditions in these markets have led to an increased need for solutions that make Mobilised Social Networking affordable and easy to implement. This is why we developed the Social Center – to provide operators with a reliable and cost-effective solution that provides all of their subscribers with access to social networks. With the growing consumer interest in social networks, it is important for operators to be able to deliver these services on top of the basic offerings to attract new customers.”

At the end, Colibria talks about its Social Center, which is presented in more details at their website.

[Via: CellularNews]

As we near the end of the month, it is time to read the latest “State of the Mobile Web” from Opera. Thanks to Opera Mini’s server-client architecture, the Opera folks in Norway have the ability to provide detailed analytics and insight as to what is popular in various parts of the world. This month’s episode focuses on Latin America, but let us focus on the global statistics:

• Opera saw double digit growth in unique users, pages viewed and data consumed
• There are now 39.6 million Opera Mini users, 11.3% more than September 2009, and 155% more compared to October 2008
• Those users viewed 17.2 billion websites, up 14.8% compared to last month, and up 238% compared to October 2008
• Opera’s server pumped out 250.8 TB, 16% more than last month, and 233% more than October 2008
• The top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage are (in order): Russia, Indonesia, India, China, Ukraine, South Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Poland and Vietnam

We’re still waiting for Opera Mini 5 to get out of beta. It’s by far one of the best browsers on the market, and it’s my browser of choice on my Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E71. That’s right, even with Opera 10 Mobile available for Symbian devices, I still prefer the J2ME Opera Mini 5 beta. Read my review to find out why I love it so much. Hint: SPEED.

Like many (including my bud Ronen over at BerryReview), I could have sworn the New York Times already had a BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) App available for download. Guess I was wrong. The app I must have been thinking about was/is for the iPhone (I have it installed on my iPhone), and it’s a pretty darn good news app. All of the Times offerings to this point have been desktop shortcuts.

If the iPhone edition is any indicator, the BlackBerry edition should be solid for anyone wanting to get their fill of the Times. Articles are downloaded to your Berry’s memory for offline viewing, which is kind of handy. Especially if you find yourself in a ‘dead zone’ with no network coverage. Content is also optimized for your BlackBerry’s screen resolution, for optimal viewing and ease of use.

To check it out, head on over to http://www.nytimes.com/bbapp from your BlackBerry, or read more from your desktop here. The New York Times BlackBerry App is available for the Tour, Storm, Bold and Curve 8900.

Note: You can check out the New York Times for iPhone App right here (iTunes link).

[Via: EditorandPublisher]

Earlier this month you may recall the TELUS LG IQ making a cameo in a Best Buy mobile ad. The device that was once a bit of a mystery is starting to come out into the light, today in the form of a few spy shots.

The IQ features a 3.2″ touchscreen, 5.0MP camera with video, and a full and somewhat luxurious slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The IQ will be TELUS (NYSE: TU)’ first device to offer Windows Mobile 6.5… I can’t imagine there being much (if any) demand for Win-Mo, but good on TELUS for mixing it up a bit here.

I’m by no means a Windows Mobile fan, but I’d sure like to get my hands on this bad boy… I’ll see what I can do…

[Via: TheMobileNinjas]