Symbian Ready validation program announced!!

Symbian Limited, the market leader in open operating systems for mobile phones, today launched the 'Symbian Ready' technology validation program.

Symbian Ready ensures that Symbian customers, the market leading handset manufacturers, benefit from the highest quality ecosystem solutions and that the ecosystem partners have the opportunity to showcase the quality of its solutions to key decision makers in the mobile space.

Symbian Ready helps partners to make the most of Symbian OS technologies and develop solutions in the most efficient way. Partners joining the program will have the opportunity to team up with Symbian to showcase the quality of their solu... .. .

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Symbian Ready validation program announced - full story

Nokia Concept Designs: Charger, UI, digital upgrades

Nokia is having its first ever "Design Event" in Central London today at their new Studio, pictured above. Several concepts were presented of projects currently being worked on, but are not going to see the light of day for another 3 to 5 years.

First up is this new "People First" concept that is simply a list of people you communicate with based on your last interaction with said person. Pretty cool stuff, but why should such an "advanced UI" be 3-5 years out? I don't get it.

Next is the "Zero Waste Charger" which trys to tackle power consumption. Three ways to achieve this goal are currently under review:

1. Put a button on the charger so that it doesn't suck power until you push said button. Built in timer turns the charger off after an hour.
2. As soon as a device is connected the charger starts charging, but then shuts itself off after an hour automatically.
3. The ultimate goal is to have the device talk to the charger and tell it to activate only when the device needs power.

All great ideas, number 2 is the most practical, number 1 will cause a lot of people to return their charger thinking it is broken. Number 3 is amazing, but the technology to do that isn't cheap enough today and when it is cheap enough in half a decade it is still going to be an extra penny that is added to the BOM which adds up when you ship half a billion mobile phones a year.

Third and final concept called "Wears in, not out" is the most confusing since it is already happening today … anyway quote from the press bulletin:

"As more services become available on our mobile devices this concept explores how people could potentially upgrade their devices digitally rather than physically in the future, giving people an additional choice on how they use and update their mobile phones."

[Via: Nokia]

Real Time Traffic Info to be added to Nokia Maps

Nokia announced today that they are working together with ARC Transistance to provide RTTI or Real Time Traffic Information to users. 

RTTI sill be added as a premium service to Nokia Maps 2.0 and in future versions of Nokia Maps.

"By adding RTTI, Nokia can save precious time for drivers by alerting them of traffic, construction or other road hazards that could affect their journey. When Nokia Maps receives the road updates from ARC Transistance, the application  can dynamicly re-route during navigation and provide a faster route. This is a significant milestone for Nokia Maps, which makes navigation an even more compelling experience for Nokia device owners."

ARC Transistance Traffic  Information services currently aggregates the real time road and traffic conditions of 16 European countries.  Not quite certain if there is a company offering the same type of service for the US as of yet, but hopefully its coming.

Nokia Maps 2.0 can be downloaded from Nokia Betalabs.

Samsung Glyde on Verizon

Samsung U940 AKA the "Glyde," is now available at Verizon. The Glyde has a 2-megapixel camera, HSDPA of 7.6Mbps, a "drag and drop" touch interface, a 2.8 inch color display, VibeTonz technology, and a full QWERTY keyboard. You can purchase a Glyde for $299 with a two-year contract or $420 sometime in May. [MobileWhack]

SlingPlayer Mobile Gets Updated For Windows Mobile and Symbian

Sling's just rolled out new versions of their SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile (both versions) and Symbian S60. It's a free upgrade for current users and adds support for new handsets (Nokia N95, Samsung i760, Treo 500v, etc.) and improves streaming quality (Sprint Mogul) on others. We went to a car wash this weekend and had 10 minutes of downtime. TEN MINUTES! This should ensure that never happens again. [Sling]

The Wubi installer is as simple as it can be.

Wubi is an officially supported Ubuntu installer for Windows users that can bring you to the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other Windows application, in a simple and safe way. Are you curious about Linux and Ubuntu? Trying them out has never been easier!

Skype for Windows hits version 3.8

Less than a month after releasing a public beta of Skype 3.8 for Windows, the company has launched a public version of the updated internet telephony client.

As a point release, you shouldn't expect to find a ton of new features in Skype 3.8. Most of the changes are under the hood, but users should notice improved call quality, meaning fewer dropped calls, less delay, and less background noise. The new version should also do a better job of automatically configuring your firewall and router settings.

Skype has also hidden away user profile images from incoming requests. This might not sound like a big deal, but if you've ever received a request from someone with an avatar you'd rather not display on your work computer, this update could be a life saver.

Python for S60 gets an update, v1.43 ready for download

My favorite Programming Language gets an update brings bunch of improvements and and it is highly suggestible to get the latest version and update application and shell as well.

Can't find it in the change log but I still hope that just released version fixes the very well known problems with an Accelerometer based application developed in Python and the Nokia N95-3 (US) which desperately need an update by the way.

Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be used for many kinds of software development. It offers strong support for integration with other languages and tools, comes with extensive standard libraries, and can be learn... .. .

Read more:
Python for S60 gets an update - full story

Nokia 6600 Fold Minimalist Clamshell with Double Tap Control

Nokia 6600 Fold More Photos - View Specs

Nokia today unveiled the 6600 Fold, a minimalist clamshell targeting the highly competitive market for mid-priced phones.

With one touch of a button, the 6600 Fold smoothly opens to reveal a bright 2.13-inch OLED screen displaying up to 16 million colors. With the signature "smooth back," the 6600 Fold creates a comfortable contour when open, and remains subtle and compact when closed. The high-gloss surface comes to life when tapped twice to "wake up" the hidden outer display that reveals time, incoming messages, missed calls and more. A double tap on the 6600 Fold also snoozes alerts and silences or rejects incoming phone calls.

Contemporary mobile features such as 3G technology for fast and easy sharing of pictures and videos snapped with the integrated 2.0-megapixel camera with double LED flash. Additional functions include access to Internet services such as Yahoo! Go or Flickr.

The Nokia 6600 Fold has an estimated retail price of 275 EUR ($430 USD) excluding taxes and subsidies and is expected to start shipping during the third quarter of 2008.

- Nokia 6600 Fold Specs

Second Generation Apple iPhone With 3G In Trial Test

According to rumors, the new iPhone is in a field test now. The new 3G Apple iPhone supports a built in GPS and 3G connectivity. The casing is slightly thicker and features a full black glossy design at its back. The second generation iPhone will be announced officially in July 2008. [Slashphone]

Qt to be supported in addition to GTK+

Nokia will introduce Qt to the maemo platform in addition to GTK+. The plan is in the earliest stage and recruitment offers for Qt/C++ developers will pop up soon. Don't expect any Qt application developed by Nokia for the tablets anytime soon, though. The first actual step will be the distribution of the Qt libraries for application development in maemo.org during 4Q2008.

Nokia wants to explore cross-platform possibilities between S60 and maemo. It is interesting also to check the interest in the developer community for Qt in the tablets. GTK+ and Qt coexist in the Linux desktop and the mix could work in maemo as well. This is also a way to attract more attention from the KDE community, a sensible move especially if the Trolltech acquisition gets completed.

GTK+ based Hildon continues defining the UI of maemo and the Internet Tablets. The maemo team is developing Hildon further and after the release of the N810 WiMAX edition there is more in the pipeline.


Nokia has no plans to offer a "hildonized" Qt-based UI. Qt applications will look different in the tablets just like some successful 3rd party applications look different. Cross-platform development has its own challenges: the earlier we start the better. 

Touchscreen Linux Motorola A810 Smartphone Hits FCC [Motorola]

Linux smartphones from Moto aren't new tricks, but they've mostly graced international markets while we get barraged with RAZRs, RKRS and Qs. That might change with the A810, a Linux-based touchscreener that zoomed through the FCC. Few hardware buttons, with onscreen keyboard and handwriting recognition, along with an FM radio. Usually FCC field trips indicate a request to board the starship USA, but it's missing the GSM 850MHz band used in the US market, so it's a little iffy. [FCC via MobileBurn]

JoikuSpot Light Beta 1.21 released

JoikuSpot is a free mobile software solution that turns Nokia Smartphones to WLAN HotSpots. 

JoikuSpot software is installed directly to the phone. When switched on, laptops and iPods can establish instant and fast wireless internet connection via smartphone's JoikuSpot access point using phone's own 3G internet connection. 

Multiple devices can connect to JoikuSpot in parallel and seamlessly share the same 3G internet connection. JoikuSpot acts thus as an internet gateway to external WLAN devices. 


Release notes for JoikuSpot Light Beta 1.21:
-Landing page works now with all operators
-Encryption support with WEP including automatic 128bit key generator
-Battery threshold shutting down the client when battery level is too low (adjustable)
-Default Access point can be set
-Support for secure SSH tunnels with Putty
-90 days free trial. JoikuSpot Light will stay FREE also in the future. We shall later on introduce new Premium version with small payment. Naturally Premium will include even more advanced features.

http://www.joikuspot.com/

Skype for mobiles now out in beta

As I have already said a month or two ago, if you are waiting for the native Skype client for Symbian phones you have probably already suspend your hopes and/or got some of the 3rd party solutions like Fring that works seamlessly with its service and transfer voice over the cell or wi-fi to Skype network.

Actually bunch of other companies have produced Symbian VoIP clients, but Fring differs in offering interoperability with other networks, necessitating a different business model. For more than three years we are waiting for Skype to solve its battery drain and latency problems since the prototype was reported in February 2006. It is truly shameful th... ..

Read more: 
Go mobile with Skype - full story

Mobilemo launches beta site to allow anyone to create its own mobile website

Here's something for all of you that wanted to launch a mobile website, but just couldn't find a way around it. Note that I'm not talking about way-too-simple WAP websites, but fully fledged mobile websites for users with more powerful handsets. The process is now easier than ever, thanks to Mobilemo.

Mobilemo provides a simple and easy way for creating a mobile site, which is simply a mini-website whose size has been adjusted to fit mobile phone screens. Its platform automatically converts sites into the right size, layout, and format for mobile phone viewing. The easy-to-use interface allows virtually any user the freedom and flexibility to create mobile sites according to their interest. Users can promote themselves or auction their products, blog, share files, and more. The possibilities are endless.

Again, and I can't emphasize this enough, I'm NOT talking about simple and ugly WAP sites. Mobilemo's "results" (i.e. mobile websites) don't have to be simple at all. As a matter of fact, you can even use Mobilemo's interactive tools and allow users to post informative content, engage site visitors in discussions, or interact with their customers through mobile polls, forms, comments, guestbook, or file sharing. In addition, Mobilemo also features a mobile phone emulator which shows how mobile sites will look in the real world.

Interested? You should be, especially now when they are offering free one-year premium memberships to anyone. The offer will expire at some point, so you better hurry. Just follow this linkand take it from there.

Qualcomm throwing down with no less than 5 Android handsets

Handset manufacturers are scrambling to get their wares mated to Google's Linux-based Android OS, and it looks like Qualcomm's lending a helping hand. The chip-making giant has announced that it's hooked up with several OEMs looking to launch an Android-powered handset by 2009. It makes sense for Qualcomm to help these handset manufacturers develop their hardware for the Android platform, those handset are going to be packed with Qualcomm's chipset bits, after all.

Sayeed Choudhury, product manager for system software at Qualcomm's chip division stated that Qualcomm is working with OEMs to push out "more than five handsets that will use Android." The hardware offerings in question should offer features similar to that on the iPhone, but at a lower price point. And, Choudhury says that, "Google has really thought through what Apple has just begun to unlock."

Keep your eyes peeled for no less than 5 handsets running Android . We can't wait!

[Update]
Handsets coming by 2009, not this year. 

[Via: EETimes]

Linux Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Officially Released, Flapping in the Free Air [Ubuntu]

A month after the beta dropped, Linux distro Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron is officially out. Besides running GNOME 2.22 and Firefox 3 Beta 5, a big new feature is Wubi support, which'll let Ubuntu live on the same partition as Windows and makes it easy to uninstall if you want to retreat back into Microsoft's bosom. If you're Li-curious, now's a good time to try. The site's getting hammered so torrent might be your best bet. [Ubuntu, Thanks nutbastard]

Google AdSense adds images to mobile ads

Google AdSense's mobile division announced the launch of mobile image ads, which are still priced on a cost-per-click basis, yet can also serve as a branding tool for advertisers. Apparently, they have shown to have good click-through rates.

Interested mobile publishers will need to update their AdSense code to start displaying mobile ads with images on their site. As for the supported banner sizes, four dimensions are included in the mix: 305×64, 215×34, 192×53, and 167×30 pixels.

Mobile image ads are currently available in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the US.

What follows after the jump is the short interview with Google's mobile ads engineer Sanjay Agarwal and his demo. Enjoy!

T-Mobile USA confirms they'll offer Android device by year end

Joe Sims, VP and General Manager of T-Mobile's Broadband and New Business Division has played with Android prototypes and he is impressed. He has also confirmed that T-Mobile USA will be offering at least one Android based handset by the end of this year and that there will be "more than one" Android product.

I usually don't talk about operator news, frankly they're nothing more than bit pipes to me, always have been, always will be, let the best pipe win, that's my motto, but in the states where people don't buy a mobile phone unless it is free on 2 year contract I think a lot of potential can be had here if costs are brought to a low enough level that the mainstream will be able to get such devices.

Wait and see. I know I'm looking forward to buying the first Android device that is announced, probably the HTC Dream.

[Via: CNN Money]

Motorola kicks out Motorola Z8m with 7.2Mbps HSDPA

Having taken up a position on the back burner, the Motorola Z8 has been thoroughly overshadowed by its more powerful, kick-sliding, bigger brother, the Motorola Z10. Unfortunately for the "Banana Phone," that means the Moto Z8 is destined to fade off into the distance.

But, if Motorola has anything to say about it, the Z8 that kicked off the kick-sliding form-factor at Motorola will live on in the Moto Z8m. Motorola has outfitted this revised Motorola Z8m slider with a speed 7.2Mbps HSDPA radio - hopefully offering enough oomph over the Z8's 3.6Mbps HSDPA connection to get South Koreans to keep shelling out for the unique slider. The Moto Z8m offers a 2.2-inch QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and 4GB of storage.

The Motorola Z8m should hit Korean shores soon with a 500,000 won ($500) price tag.

iPhone SDK Beta 4 Now Available, Comes with OpenGL ES 3D Graphics Support

The latest iPhone SDK is now available, and unlike last time, it actually comes with an awesome new feature: OpenGL ES support! Now the iPhone simulator can render OpenGL ES that "mirror behavior on the iPhone and iPod Touch." The ES in OpenGL ES stands for embedded systems, and is the official graphics API in both Symbian and Android as well. As a side note, Open GL ES 2.0 is also supported by the PS3 as "an official graphics API" according to Wikipedia, in case you're playing the world's nerdiest game of Trivial Pursuit. [iPhone]

MythTV FrontEnd for the iPhone

Want to watch TV on your iPhone? Yesterday we would have said the best way to do this is to purchase TV shows from the iTunes store or transfer recordings (or downloads) from your computer to your iPhone the old fashioned way. But now Chris Carey has released a MythTV FrontEnd for the iPhone. 

The application lets you browse recorded shows, check out program information, and stream videos from your Linux PC with MythTV BackEnd installed. 

While Sling Media is considering developing a version of its SlingPlayer software for the iPhone that will let Slingbox owners stream content from their home TV or PVR to a handset, Carey's MythTV FrontEnd application is the first tool I'm aware of that actually lets you stream live and recorded TV to an iPhone.

You can check out a video of MythTV for the iPhone after the jump.

[via Automated Home]

Continue reading MythTV FrontEnd for the iPhone

Apple Buys P.A. Semi CPU Designers

Apple has shocked people in the technology world today by buying P.A. Semi for $278 million.

For those of you who are not already aware, P.A. Semi is a fabless chip designer, one that specializes in low power PowerPC processors.

Computer World reports that:

P.A. Semi was in the running as Apple's processor of choice three years ago when Apple was making a decision between PowerPCs from P.A. Semi and IBM or Intel x86. Apple obviously chose Intel but P.A. did offer a compelling choice at the time - but wasn't perhaps tested enough.

There is also the issue of how the founder of P.A. Semi has a history of designing StrongARM chips, which are used in many of our most popular mobile devices including the iPod Touch and iPhone.

Now that Apple has decided to buy this microprocessor chip company, we wonder if it was a great idea, as it is rather hard to see Apple embracing their power-based 64-bit PWRficient processors. Maybe this means that Apple will be switching back to the PowerPC processors.

This comes as quite a surprise to many of us but it does seem to appear that Apple will be heading down the two platform road. We will definitely keep you updated on this.

Mobile number portability hitting Singapore on June 13

Starting from June 13, mobile phone users in Singapore will be able to switch service providers without changing their numbers.

At the moment, about 130,000 mobile phone users have ported their numbers under a current call-forwarding solution, which assumes that consumers have to use their old and new mobile numbers concurrently. These consumers will have until May 14 to decide which number they want to retain.

Mobile number portability traditionally works against incumbent players such as SingTel, which has a 41% market share, while Starhub and MobileOne have 31 and 27 percent share, respectively.

[Via: Reuters]

Sony Ericsson’s G502 to be unveiled on Apr 24th

This sounds more concrete than the rumored beibei, coming from the unofficial authority on everything Sony Ericsson. The G502 will be officially announced on this Wednesday, April 24, 2008.

It lands smack in the middle of SE range with not many notable features to speak of.

The design is reminiscent of many other Sony Ericsson's phones from the past, like the K530 and the K660. Even the feature sets don't stray too far from those predecessors. Here is a quick look at what it offers:

• HSDPA
• Measures 109 x 46 x 13.5 millimeters and weighs 83.5 g
• 2 inch QVGA display with 262k colors
• 2 megapixel fixed focus camera with 4x digital zoom and video recording
• A2 software platform
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Access NetFront browser with RSS feed support
• Google Maps
• Exchange ActiveSync
• USB 2.0 support
• 32 MB internal memory which can be expanded up to 8GB via M2 memory stick

The phone is a bit more thicker than the K660 but weighs lesser than the latter. They are otherwise almost similar to each other in every aspect. The only other notable differences are the Exchange ActiveSync and RSS feed display while the device is on standby. The Access NetFront browsers seems destined to play ball on all web-oriented SE cell phones.

The device makes for a nice low-to-mid end 3G phone but if Sony Ericsson is pushing out identical devices to bridge the gap between now and Xperia's release, we definitely aren't buying in.

Apple iPhone getting prepped for true GPS support?

If the latest find from the iPhone OS 2.0 firmware is any indication, then Apple could be readying the iPhone for true GPS support in the near term. It's not clear whether the GPS support will come in the form of integrated GPS hardware or support for dock-connected GPS peripherals, but it does seem likely that GPS is coming to the iPhone.

In addition to the previously discovered location logging feature in the unreleased iPhone OS, Steffen Voigt found references to NMEA positional data within the "locationd" component of the newest iPhone developer OS. NMEA is a data format that is used by positioning devices to communicate positional data - like a GPS receiver communicating the current position to a mobile phone.

There are also references to strings mentioning satellite status, GPS time, type, position, accuracy, latitude, speed, magnetic variation, etc., which is a good sign for iPhone users looking for GPS integration.

Apple's announcement that the iPhone's dock connector will be off limits to third-party developers had iPhone GPS add-on manufacturers scrambling to come up with a wireless GPS solution for the iPhone. With this new find, it seems that GPS hardware could be allowed to play through the iPhone's dock connector. Will Apple roll out support for GPS add-on hardware with the major iPhone Mac OS refresh that's slated  for later this year? Or will Apple actually build a GPS receiver into the 3G iPhone? In either case, GPS on the iPhone is most likely on the horizon.

[Via: iPhone Atlas]

New LG-KF700, a touchscreen phone for touchscreen haters

LG have launched the new LG-KF700, a new touchscreen mobile phone that comes with no less than three different input methods. In case the touchscreen wasn't enough for you, you can also use an alphanumeric keypad or a shortcut dial. Which, if you think about it, is a bit odd. If the touchscreen is up to scratch, you shouldn't need the other two forms of input. It's like adding a high-tech Tiptronic gearbox to a car, and then bolting on both a manual and an automatic gearbox just for good measure!

LG's reasoning is that not everyone likes a touchscreen. We realize that touchscreens are a wonderful advancement, but they are not the solution for every problem or every user," said Dr. Skott Ahn, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. "We looked beyond just touch when designing the LG-KF700 and studied how people actually use their phones. The LG-KF700's three separate input methods provide unmatched convenience and mean that users don't have to give up anything to gain a touchscreen."

But surely the idea of a touchscreen is that you give up the older forms of input becaus ethe newer one (the touchscreen) is actually much better? In other words, you're not actually giving anything up, you're gaining an enhanced experience. Just ask an iPhone owner. No matter what you think of the Jesus Phone, its touchscreen interface is almost universally loved (at least for standard numeric input and menu navigation).

Forgive me for being cynical, but this seems a bit like a tacit admission by LG that its toucshcreens aren't all that good, and are a bit, well clunky.

But enough of the cynicism. More details of the LG-KF700 after the jump.
(more...)

Samsung Soul, the last of the the Ultra Edition phones

Samsung have launched the new Samsung Soul, a new mobile phone from the company that actually has a name, rather than an awkward array of seemingly arbitrary letters and numbers (who could forget the charmingly-named Samsung SGH-P310 for example?!). Samsung chose the name Soul as it stands for "Spirit Of ULtra" (yes, really!), and it apparently "honours the completion of its exclusive 'Ultra Edition' series." Not entirely sure why "soul" denotes the end of something, but it does imply that this will be the last in the extremely successful and highly-rated Ultra Edition range of phones, thereby paving the way for an ever better crop of phones from Samsung for the rest of the year

The Soul is Samsung's new flagship phone, meaning it's a high-end monster packed full of features. Better still, continuing Samsung's recent theme, these aren't just gimmicks - each feature is designed to work and work really well, rather than just acting as padding for the spec list.

More pics and full details of the Samsung Soul after the jump.
(more...)

Nokia reveals two new XpressMusic candybars

Though what we really want from Nokia just now is some solid details about the forthcoming Tube touchscreen handset, two new XpressMusic handsets certainly won't go amiss in the meantime.

In the blue corner we have the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic and in the red, the Nokia 5220 XpressMusic. The big focus here as you might expect is music (we don't miss a thing, do we?) so both handsets are compatible with the Nokia Music Store for side loading tracks and each device has the standard XpressMusic dedicated music keys with the 5320 making use of them for landscape N-Gage gaming too.

(more…)

The future for Samsung phones: gesture-based UI and water-powered batteries

Samsung might have just released its new Soul handset here in the UK, but the company also has one eye on the future of mobile technology. Samsung recently patented a mobile user interface that translates your real-world hand waggling into actions on-screen. You'd be able to control a pointer and click through pages by finger movement alone.

And that's not all. The company has also announced that it's developed a way of generating hydrogen by exposing water to metal, which could be used to power phones. Apparently, you'll be able to top up with water to get about ten hours of battery life.

Of course, whether this technology will be in commercial use by the time the Earth runs out of water and we all die fiery climate-change-induced deaths, is anyone's guess…

Skype to launch unlimited international calling plan

Have friends, relatives, or business contacts located in faraway lands? Internet telephony company Skype is launching its first plan that lets you make unlimited international PC to telephone calls, assuming you're calling a landline in one of 34 countries covered by the plan.

Most of Europe is covered, as well as the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.The $9.95/month plan doesn't cover calls to cellphones in all areas, but you can call mobile phones in the US, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Or you can just convince everybody you know to install Skype on their computers and mobile phones so you can make Skype to Skype calls for free.

[via AP]

Google's Send to Phone Opens Up For The US

Over the weekend, Google released a cute plug-in for Firefox users called "Google Send To Phone." Highlighting any text in your web browser, and then click the phone icon on the toolbar to send the text to your phone as an SMS. One caveat, it's for US based phones only.

Radio Disney goes mobile

With over 40% of U.S. tweens having mobile phones, it is important for all parts of the Disney empire to get mobile. Radio Disney is the latest in line which just recently joined forces with Disney's mobile content arm mDisney to launch a mobile site, allowing its listeners to receive "fast delivery of Radio Disney information and services." That being said, interested tweens can listen to Radio Disney, see the last ten songs played on Radio Disney, find local Radio Disney stations, send shout-outs, request songs, view Radio Disney's Top 30 and take a Radio Disney quick poll — all while on the go, from the comfort of their web-enabled mobile phones.

Commenting on the announcement, Executive VP at mDisney Larry Shapiro said: "The new Radio Disney Mobile Web site is the perfect example of how we can leverage extremely popular content on the mobile platform to create new and compelling entertainment for Disney fans. This site is one of the first of what will be a long line-up of compelling mobile Web sites built around key Disney franchises and content offerings."

Happy Birthday N95, you've sold 10million!

April is the month that the N95 started selling in shops around the word. April of 2007 is when the revolution began. Unfortunately, April of 2008 has not been fruitful in the sense of groundbreaking new Nseries devices, but we can celebrate that the N95 has now been available for a year and has reached an impressive milestone!

Yesterday, along with Nokia's Q1 results, it was revealed that the N95 had sold 3 million(also in Q1). If you add this to the announcement earlier this year that it had sold 7 million it means that in total the N95 has been bought around 10,000,000 times in the past year.

Congratulations on the milestone, Nokia! Now that the N95 has sold so many, can we finally have a worthy successor to the phone that changed it all?

April 22nd Nokia Music Event

Nokia is holding a live webcast from London on the 22nd April at 12:30pm CET. Few details are available as of now as to what would this cover. More details have been promised closer to the event, but as of now there have been no updates and we'r left speculating. I doubt there would be any device launches this will most likely be something to do with 'Comes With Music' or the company's 'Music Store'. Time will tell!

Via: Nokia Users

Motorola hardware and software engineers working side by side in new organization

According to an internal memo that has been floating around Motorola since Wednesday, the structure of the new mobile unit that is about to be spun off will merge hardware and software engineers into one group in hopes that this will decrease time to market. Hardware designers and the people who actually write the software that goes on the hardware will be working side by side and reporting to the head of their respective groups.

The feature phone and multimedia product divisions within Motorola will be merged since "distinctions between the categories are already blurring, given the pace of change in the overall handset market," said Jennifer Erickson, Motorola Spokeswoman.

Motorola CEO Greg Brown admitted that "software is a major weak point for the company's mobile handsets." You think?

[Via: Chicago Tribune]

N95 8GB Firmware v20.0.016 Available - Automatic Screen Rotation Is A Go

We had previously reported about the upcoming N95 8GB firmware v20.0.016, the good news is that it is now available via the Nokia Software Updater (via: AAS). The firmware as usual brings us some bug fixes and improvements, but this time it brings a new feature too - Automatic accelerometer based screen rotation a.k.a. the N82. Other changes include:

• Improvements in HTML format handling from Gmail IMAP server.
• WLAN, BT and USB connectivity improvements.
• Improvements to the Switch application.
• Stability in the Gallery when there is a lot of content.
• Startup functionality improvements
• The browser also gets some attention with improvements to embedded video functionality while sending email via browser flash plugin.

Make sure you do a full backup before flashing via NSU and it is best to re-install applications and only restore contacts, calender, notes and bookmarks. This firmware as always will still not be available for operator branded handsets and for some product codes. Full changelog after the break.

New features:

• Automatic Screen Rotation (ASR)
• Support for new combo memory added

Browser:

• Improvement when creating a voice call from WAP page.
• Improvements to embedded video functionality in browser.
• Sending email via browser flash plugin improvements.

Messaging:

• Mail in HTML format handling from Gmail IMAP server improved.

Connectivity:

• WLAN connection stability improvements
• BT connection stability improvements with certain BT headsets
• USB connection stability improvements

Telephony:

• Voice call handling improvements after certain type U.S.S.D message receiving.
• Stability improvements to gallery for case when there's lot of content in Gallery
• Improvements to switch application
• Voicemail icon handling improvements

Localization corrections:

• Deletion of all contacts now possible even more than 6000 contacts in phonebook
• Startup functionality improvements