Your Mobile Phone is Precious, Says the Govt. Of Japan!

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry -Japan announced that it plans to kickoff a campaign to collect used mobile phones from November 21. During the campaign, which is scheduled to last until February of next year, consumers will be able to turn in their used mobile handsets at about 1,800 locations, including shops run by Kojima, Bic Camera and Ito-Yokado.

When turning in their used handset, customers will receive a ticket allowing them to apply online for a chance to win a gift voucher. The government plans to give out 800 vouchers worth 50,000 yen, 8,000 vouchers valued at 5,000 yen, and 150,000 gift vouchers worth 1,000 yen.

So what what in it for the Govt here ?

Surprisingly, the government is after the rare metals that lurk inside many unused handsets. Since I have a few unused handsets lying around, I wonder how much they’re actually worth in precious metals. I doubt it’s worth 50,000 yen, but what would be the odds of winning one of those 800 50,000 yen vouchers?

interesting!

Nokia Launches 3 new CDMA Phones

HELSINKI (Reuters) – The world’s largest mobile phone maker Nokia launched three new CDMA phones on Wednesday and said it remained committed to the standard, which has long been overshadowed by the more global GSM.

The Nokia 1506 is expected to go on sale in China at the end of 2009, while the Nokia 6316s and the Nokia 3806 are expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2010, the Finnish company said.

CDMA, or code division multiple access, is popular in certain markets such as the U.S. and South Korea. It had 500 million subscribers at the end of June, according to the CDMA Development Group (www.cdg.org).

GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, is the more global standard, with around 3.45 billion subscribers at the end of the second quarter, according to the GSM Association (www.gsmworld.com).

wooden mobile phones ?

NTT Docomo has developed a couple of mobile phone prototypes using surplus wood f trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests. The new prototypes were created in a joint venture between NTT Docomo and Sharp, and the handsets have been given the name ‘Touch Wood’.

“Each TOUCH WOOD handset features its own distinctive grain patterns and natural coloring. No artificial colors or paints are used, so the cypress retains its original natural appearance and aroma. The wood also has an attractive shine that is created during the compression process.

The TOUCH WOOD is made from the surplus wood of trees culled during forest-thinning operations. This new commercial use for thinned wood, which traditionally has only limited applications, helps to preserve other wood resources while strengthening the health of overgrown forests. So far, TOUCH WOOD production has used wood culled from the Shimanto forest in Japan’s Kochi Prefecture. The forest is managed by the more trees project.”

Nokia X-series

Nokia introduced a new range of phones called the X Series at the Nokia World Event 2009 by announcing the launch of the two new X Series touch screen phones, the X6 and the X3. Both the phones target the music lover who wants to have his music on the go especially on mobile. As per Expansys, the X6 is all set for a UK launch on 12th November 2009. The X6 boasts of unlimited music as it comes with the Comes With Music service from Nokia, where users can download unlimited music tracks for a span of 12 months for free (network data charges are not included in this, you will have to pay for that). The tracks will remain with the user even after 12 months. The tracks can be easily downloaded on your phone or PC and transfered. Being a music phone, the X6 is supposed to have 30 hours of song playback time with extended battery, built-in stereo speakers, 32GB of internal memory, integration with the Ovi Store for games and Apps. Apart from this the phone has a 5 meg snapper with Car Ziess optics, 30fps DVD quality video recording, music mixing functionality. I hope they have improved the touch screen experience on the X6, which has a 3.2 inch screen with scratch resistant glass, now thats something, which is really cool. No news on when the X6 comes to India but there was a rumor of the X6 and the X3 coming to India in Q1 2010.

HTC HD2

Finally some thing in terms of mobile technology thats absolutely insane… enjoy

courtesy tracyandmatt!

Most Awaited Mobile Phones 2009 India – Part 1

Nokia 5800 Music Express

Although the 5800 was expected to arrive on our shores by mid-December 2008 , for some reason it arrived only some where in mid 2009.  Nevertheless, the 5800 is definitely one of those phones which you wouldn’t mind waiting for. Popularly known as the ‘Tube’, the 5800 is the first S60 touch screen device. The touch screen isn’t just some QVGA unit but a 3.2″ large 360 x 640 pixel display.  The 5800 runs on the new S60 5th Edition. It has a 369 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM and 81 MB of built-in memory (which can be further expanded with microSDHC cards). The phone also has a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto-focus and dual LED flash and can record videos in VGA resolution at 30 FPS. It also has an accelerometer and a proximity sensor, along with Bluetooth, Wi-fi and A-GPS. The phone comes with an 8 GB microSD card in the package.  Overall the 5800 XpressMusic is an excellent phone and a very good alternative to the iPhones and the Omnias.

Nokia E63

The Nokia E63 is a cheaper version of the incredibly popular Nokia E71. In order to achieve the lower price tag, the E63 loses the slim metal body of its elder brother and gets a thicker plastic body. The camera has been downsized to just 2 megapixels without auto-focus. Another thing to get ticked off the list of features is HSDPA support and GPS. What the phone does gain is a 3.5mm headphone jack and the ability to use the LED flash as a torch.  Overall the E63 is a nice cheap alternative to the more expensive E71

 

Nokia 5130 XpressMusic

Nokia has decided to completely take over the low-end music phone market with new XpressMusic phones coming thick and fast. The 5130 is the newest member of this gang and will be slotted just above the recently launched 5220 XpressMusic and the older 5310 XpressMusic. It has a QVGA display displaying 262k colors. There are dedicated music keys at the side and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The 5130 also comes with a 1 GB memory card and can support up to 8 GB. For those on the look out for low-end music phones, the 5130 XpressMusic is worth waiting for.

Nokia 6260 Slide

Nokia’s S40 OS has always got a stepmotherly treatment as compared to the S60 OS, as far as features are concerned. But not any more! The upcoming Nokia 6260 Slide has a spec sheet that will make a N-Series phone blush. For starters there is 2.4″ 16M color 320 x 480 pixel display (which is much higher than the usual 240 x 320). There is a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto-focus, dual LED flash and can record videos in VGA resolution. The 6260 Slide is also GSM Quad band handset with HSDPA support along with Bluetooth v2.1, Wi-fi and A-GPS.  So far the 6260 Slide is the most feature-packed S40 handset out there (or one of most feature-packed non Smartphone). It’ll be a good alternative for those who need a feature-packed phone but which needn’t necessarily be a Smartphone.

Dont Grab this Mobile Fone…

i know i haven’t really written too much yet, but before i continue writing about amazing mobile fones in my upcoming posts; i want to dedicate one entire post to all those mobile phones you absolutely DO NOT want to own under any circumstances. So if you see any of the following mobile phones, ever .. run, run as far away from them as you can!

so here are the 10 ugliest/ ridiculously useless mobile phones of all time

The Siemens Xelibri Line

and what went wrong here … The Xelibri phones from Siemens were so odd and ugly that instead of becoming the ‘consumer must have’ as many first envisinoed, the brand only lasted 18 months before all handsets were taken off the market.

Bang & Olufsen Serene

Launched in 2006 for over $1000, the Serene from Bang & Olufsen was a classic example of all design and no brains. Sporting an iPod-style click wheel with a numeric keypad around the wheel, B&O switched up the architechure of phone and placed the display underneath the keypad, aparently cutting down on dirty smudges from your face.

The camera has been place on the side of the phone, and with no twist mechanism on the hinge of phone, you can’t face someone while taking a picture of them.

Dual-LCD Cellphone by Hong Jeong

This phone, created by Hong Jeong of Korea, is supposed to enhance web and media experiences with its dual screen layout. Seems like they have wasted a lot of screen realty for a phone that claims visual enhancement.

Nokia 7380

With no physical keyboard the Nokia 7380 has to be the most difficult phone to send an sms. Critics labeled it the most unusable phone ever, noting the only thing you could fast with it, is to answer an incoming call. To add more insult to injury, the fashionable tiny mirror screen that was suppose to give the phone edge and finess, turned out to be completely illegible in sunlight.

Besides the long-winded text input via the iPod style wheel, the 7380 only supported 52MB of storage space with no room for expansion. A slight design fault considering the 2-megapixel camera and the MP3 player functions.

Toshiba G450

This strange device is a combination of useful gadgets, a USB broadband modem, a cell phone, MP3 player and mobile storage unit. However, with the odd split keypad making texting and even dialing a chore, the G450 never really pleased as a phone, and with only 160MB of storage space, it didn’t really cut it as thumb-drive or MP3 player either.

This device is best used as a wireless broadband modem, supporting 3G, HSDPA, EDGE, and GPRS connections.

Nokia 3650Another oddball from Nokia, curvaceous candybar-shaped 3650 was another attempt at moving away from the traditional keypad, this particular design was actually supposed to make mobile messaging more easy, instead the result was, confusing and impractical.

Samsung Bang & Olufsen Serenata

Bang & Olufsen teamed with Samsung to create another oddity that adopted the same imprcatical design as its predecessor, the Serene. With the screen underneath the iPod-style click wheel interface, designers have added a slide function to reveal a high-def surround-sound speaker. Launched in 2007 for $2000, the phone did support 3G (HSDPA) connectivity, a 256KB TFT display, USB 2.0, and Bluetooth A2DP support but lacked a camera.

F88 Wrist Watch Mobile Phone

A device for the ultra-geeky. Super-tacky, bulky, and a monster of watch, phone, camera, calculator and speakerphone. I have to admit the features are cool, but the design, and price tag – $1100 – are not.

Virgin Mobile Lobster 700TV

The name inspired by it’s crustacean-like shape, was the first phone to offer mobile TV without the added costs, Unfortunately, this oddly shaped bulky beast never really caught on. First released on the Virgin Mobile network in October 2006, the phone is now no longer available, and the mobile TV service was discontinued in January 2008.

Vertu Bucheron Cobra

The prize for the most most expensive, ugly and unfuctional cell phone has to go to the Vertu Bucheron Cobra – basically a dolled up Nokia. Encrusted with precious stones from French jeweler Boucheron this phones comes with a ridiculous price tag of $310,000. The phone phone from Nokia’s deluxe division is wrapped by a gold cobra with 439 rubies, one pear-cut diamond, one round diamond, and two emerald eyes. Only 8 of these tacky monsters were ever produced, but there were another 26 “more affordable” units, prices at $115,000, which came with a python instead of a cobra. Unfortunately no high-end specs here, just gems.

Now you know what i’m talking about … if you come across any other phones that are if not as but more hideous and useless as the ones i’ve shown you please write in, let me know .. and do leave your comments and suggestions !

Tell next time

Ciao!