Motorola KRZR Fire
Motorola has rebuilt its once-diminished empire on the back of the RAZR and its endless variants, milking the platform for absolutely everything it's worth (and beyond, depending on who you ask). Why not continue the trend, then, with the RAZR's heir apparent? The KRZR \"Fire\" is pretty much like any other KRZR, but with a decidedly crimson appearance to its glossy outer shell. For the time being, the Fire appears to be a Korea-only special, but we'd be surprised -- nay, shocked -- if we didn't get our own full spectrum of KRZRs in these parts of the globe over the next couple years.

The LG KE850: touchable chocolate
Little is known about the KE850 from LG, but the folks over at International Forum Design must know a thing or two about it, seeing how they just hooked it up with a Product Design Award for 2007. And hey, with those hot Chocolate-esque looks -- though we have no proof this one'll actually be branded as a Chocolate -- who can blame them? The big draw here, of course, is a 400 x 240 touchscreen that takes the place of virtually every hard button you might find on a more traditional handset, save for Send, End, and a handful of keys on the sides. The posterior reveals a cam, though its specs remain a mystery. Does someone at LG (or iF) want to spill the beans for us?

Sony Ericsson Z310
Sony Ericsson Z310a - GSM 850/900/1800/1900 for the Americas market General Network GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Announced 2006, December Status Coming Soon Size Dimensions 87 x 46 x 24.5 mm Weight 90 g Display Type STN, 65K colors Size 128 x 160 pixels - Second external mono display (96 x 64 pixels) - Reflective exterior surface - Wallpapers, screensavers Ringtones Type Polyphonic (72 channels), MP3, AAC Customization Composer, download Vibration Yes Memory Phonebook 1000 x 27 fields, Photo call Call records 30 received, dialed and missed calls Card slot No - 14 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps HSCSD No EDGE Yes 3G No WLAN No Bluetooth Yes Infrared port Yes USB Yes Features Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML(NetFront), RSS feeds Games Yes + downloadable Colors Jetset Black, Lush Pink, Brush Bronze Camera VGA, 640x480 pixels - Java MIDP 2.0 - MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ player - T9 - Image viewer - Picture editor - Organiser - Voice memo - Built-in handsfree Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 780 mAh (BST-36) Stand-by Up to 300 h Talk time Up to 7 h

Samsung F500
General Network UMTS / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900 Announced 2006, December Status Coming Soon Size Dimensions 116.4 x 50.4 x 10.7 mm Weight Display Type TFT, 256K colors Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches - Dual face and sweeping touch Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3 Customization Download Vibration Yes Memory Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall Call records 30 dialed, 30 received, 30 missed calls Card slot microSD (TransFlash) - 400 MB internal memory Data GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps HSCSD No EDGE Yes 3G Yes, 384 kbps WLAN No Bluetooth Yes, v1.2 with A2DP Infrared port No USB Yes, v2.0 Features Messaging SMS, MMS Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML Games Yes + Downloadable Colors Black Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video - Java MIDP 2.0 - DivX/MPEG4/WMV/AVI video player - MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA music player - T9 - Organizer - Voice memo Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion

HTC Athena UMPC-ish Smartphone
Designed for people who need a bit more computing and a bit less mobility in their mobile computing devices, the HTC Athena looks more like a UMPC than previous HTC smartphones that we've seen. Featuring a removable QWERTY keyboard, the Athena has a 3.5-inch touchscreen QVGA display (they should have went VGA for a screen this size), 256MB ROM, 64MB RAM, 400MHz Samsung processor, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g, 2-megapixel camera, USB 1.1 and a SD expansion slot. Just like the HTC TyTN, the phone has a video camera on the front for video calls, plus a bunch of other call keys as well. it's hard to fit a phone with a 3.5-inch screen into most pockets, so you'll probably be carrying this one in a bag instead.

FCC Leaks the VP 6500 and VP 6000 Philips WiFi Video Phone:
Here's a WiFi phone excavated straight from the bowels of the FCC's electronic filing system. It's a VOIP phone by Philips with a new twist -- a VGA quality webcam on a 240-degree pivot for video calls. This will be useless. Unless it works with AIM chat, or Skype Video, I'm not going to get excited about this. Wide open popular standards, please embrace them. And suppose you buy a pair for you and your lover on Valentines day, well, the 2.2-inch screen's 176 x 220 pixel count isn't going to do much justice to the higher res images. The 6500 has a TV out over the 6000. Still, I admit this WiFi voip phone is still a neat concept. CONCEPT.

Neo Tries Funky Design with 808i Cellphone
All of the rage lately with simple, minimalist phones was completely thrown out the window by Neo. They have entered the competitive cellphone market with the 808i. This is a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone that has one hell of a strange form-factor and includes \"3D graphics,\" Bluetooth, 1.3-megapixel camera, FM radio, MP3 player, microSD expandability and more. Slap me around and call me Sally, but there is something strange about having to use the phone in a horizontal form, then rotating it vertically to talk (yeah Sidekick fanboys, I'm calling you out). Don't let the picture deceive you, the 808i is also small as hell at 2.6 inches by 1.6 inches and weighs in at 3.2 ounces.

Pantech IM-U160's Display is Too Nice For a Cellphone
Wow, looks like someone was paying attention to all those video iPod mock-ups from earlier in the year. The IM-U160 cellphone might be the last gasp of air for Pantech, since the company seems to be going through some financial troubles. From a feature perspective it's pretty much a standard issue Korea-only phone: basic multimedia support, two megapixel camera, microSD, etc. The display, on the other hand, is something to behold. It's 2.6-inches and dominates the phone's design. When closed, the phone appears to be little more than an attractive display. You bet your bottom dollar there's more pics after the jump. It's really a shame to hear that Pantech is having some hard times since they consistently release things that are very easy on the eyes. Granted, they almost never come out here, but every product release of theirs does give us the opportunity to check out their lovely models.

Even Simpler: Tiny Phone Makes Phone Calls and That's It
While we were perusing the Willcom R9 cellphone in hopes of finding the most simple handset in the world, into our inbox pops this design by a talented amateur that's about as straightforward as a phone can possibly be. What a concept: a 3.14-inch cellphone that just makes phone calls. Easy as Pi. There's no email, no Web browsing, no garage door opener—nothing but the necessary voice in-and-out functions and four simple keys, each of which lets you enter three numbers. Rock the key to the left and you've entered one number, push it downward, there's another and rock that key to the right, and you've entered another. Simple. Just look at the pics of this tiny and useful thing And look at that spring-loaded see-through display for caller ID info. Pop the display open and it looks like a straight razor. The next RAZR? Perhaps it could be called the STR8 RAZR. Somebody, build this phone, now.

Motorola ROKR E6 Released in China
Motorola today announced the launch of its new flagship entertainment PDA - the ROKR E6. A complete re-visioning of traditional music and PDA devices, the E6 is an elegantly designed entertainment handset that is a productivity enhancer as well - a device created to enhance the lifestyles of professionals on the go. Motorola ROKR E6 Photo 1 Photo: Motorola ROKR E6 Photo 1 The Motorola ROKR E6 provides a winning balance in portable entertainment and business efficiency. Dedicated music keys, expandable memory, movie watching and moviemaking capabilities, plus all of the essential business tools, are just the beginning - the E6 is truly the ultimate entertainment PDA. The new handset offers users a superior mobile multimedia experience in a stylish device that lets consumers create, enjoy, and share their music, videos, photos, and games. With ROKR E6, Motorola has created the thinnest entertainment PDA ever. Measuring a mere 14.5 mm thick, the E6's sleek lines exude the classic understated prestige of Motorola's iconic handsets like the KRZR and the SLVR. Unlike its predecessors, however, most of this handset's stylish exterior is taken up by a super-sized 2.4-inch 240 x 320 px TFT Touch Window screen - a first in a mobile handset - which allows users complete access to any of the E6's functions in seconds. With such additional external features as a high-resolution 2.0-megapixel camera, 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack, dedicated music keys, and a removable SD card memory slot, ROKR E6 from the outset evokes true multimedia style. With its built-in 2.0-megapixel video camera, ROKR E6 raises mobile video to a new level. With high-quality CIF (352 x 288 px) video recording, making movies has never been easier. Consumers can enjoy their favorite videos with the SD card storage and MPEG-4, H.263, RV compliant Realplayer. Unique among mobile handsets, the E6 can even be transformed into a Webcam for a PC or laptop, thanks to the handsets USB connectivity. With the superior quality of ROKR E6's camera, which includes a macro view and 8x zoom, users will be able to capture detail like never before, preserving all the special moments and people in their life with incredible clarity. SD card memory also means that they can keep their whole photo album with them, syncing it with a computer and, with suitably equipped printers or photo shops, printing copies immediately and sharing them with friends and family. The E6 comes with a high-resolution 320 x 240 px TFT Touch Window screen and a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack that together delivery a superior gaming experience. The E6 lets users take their computer game play with them, since it can connect easily to MOTOGames, a virtual hypermarket for China's gamers, via the Internet or WAP to expand their play of popular online games to your handset. And when consumers want their music, ROKR E6 turns tunes into the soundtrack. Choose any song without worrying about formats - the E6 supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, RA, WAV, MIDI, AMR-NB and AMR-WB. And enjoy the music through any headset - even wireless Bluetooth stereo headphones! Thanks to the expandable memory slot, consumers can also carry hundreds of songs with them on the E6 then sync them seamlessly with a computer via USB or the memory card. When users want to hear something new, the ROKR E6 has them covered with its built-in FM radio. Or, better yet, head over to www.motomusic.com.cn, where you can discover, buy, download, enjoy, and share the very la-*test*-('") in music, including exclusives from Linkin Park, Jay Chou and all your favorite artists. The E6 comes with Motorola's award-winning business-card reader software, taking the hassle out of staying in touch by conveniently creating and share of contact information. Its handwriting recognition software is the fas-*test*-('") way to enter text for Chinese users and can be used with any of the E6's productivity tools. Check email on the go with the E6's internet email client, or keep track of time and appointments with the powerful Calendar and To-Do Lists, then sync it all with the computer or with colleagues through Motorola Phone Tools. Motorola ROKR E6 Key Features - 2.0-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom to capture the moment - CIF and QVGA video capture for up to 5 hours; full screen video playback - Integrated MP3 player with dedicated music keys and built-in FM radio - PDA featuring Business Card Reader, POP3 email, Document Viewer to view PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, PPT, etc. - Connectivity includes Integrated Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, HTML Browser, Hi-Speed - USB 2.0 EMU, 3.5 mm stereo jack - Removable SD memory card slot, up to 2GB SD Card support; 8MB dynamic user memory The Motorola ROKR E6 is available immediately throughout China at authorized Motorola retailers.

Samsung W200 with HSDPA
Samsung has today launched the SCH-W200 slider cell phone in Korea thereby becoming the first ever HSPDA technology enabled phone in that market. Weighing 115 grams and measuring 99 x 48 x 22.8 mm, the W200 allows for rapid data transfers (audio and video) of upto 1.8MBPS therefore allowing consumers to enjoy high resolution and high quality streaming videos, music and video phone calls. Users of the SCH-W200 can view mobile TV via S-DMB (Satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). An MP3 player is also built in so that you can always carry with you your favourite tunes and live up the moment! Here is an overview of all the features of the SCH-W200: - Built-in 2.0 megapixel digital camera with Zoom/Flash, Video Recording & Playback and more. - Independent video recording and messaging (via MMS, etc). Supported file formats include H.263, H.264 and MPEG4. - Built-in MP3 player with supported file formats including MP3, AAC and AAC+. - Support of 2G, 3G, and 3.5G wireless communication services thanks to built-in Dual-Band Dual-Mode (DBDM) chip. - Faster internet surfing and download speeds thanks to HSDPA. HSDPA provides 7-10 times faster surfing speeds than the traditional WCDMA. With this service, users can download DVD quality movies on their phones, as well as play high-definition pictures and games. - TV-Out port feature allows you to connect the phone to an external big screen or monitor (TV) to view pics/videos or when it comes to making presentations using the built-in document viewer software programs. - Additional memory allocation via a microSD/Transflash memory expansion slot. - Text-to-speech conversion software. - Downloadable games via J2ME. The SCH-W200 is expected to be released in June 2006 and will be available in Korea.

Vertu Releases New Luxury Vertu Monaco and Nürburgring Cell
Nokia Vertu, cellular phone manufacturer that make luxury cell phones that are ranked number 5 in the world’s most expensive cellular phones ranking, releases two new models of luxury phones - Monaco and Nürburgring. Luxury Vertu Monaco and Nürburgring Cell Phones The Vertu Monaco and Nürburgring cellular phones have stainless steel shinning case are being stored as shown in the picture (seems like as valuable as gold and diamond).

Google and Orange Discussing Google Cellphone
Google In Your Hand, The Google, Orange Mobile Phone. Google Corporation and Orange Communications in talks to create a mobile phone with Google software and technology. They dominate the search engine market and now it's coming to your mobile phone. The dominate Google and Orange Communications are in talks to create a Google phone branded with Orange's logo and Google's technology. The talks are not a surprise to industry insiders who have seen these on and off relationships with Google and various communication companies. Orange execs flew to Silicon Valley recently to discuss the innovative projects they are working on in the near future. The device, in itself, won't be revolutionary. It will be manufactured by Taiwan's HTC, so it will be on the bulky side, but the primary focus is on Google and that name alone carries enough clout. Apparently, Google is working on compression technology to get wireless data to your mobile phone faster so surfing the Net will be a breeze and the emphasis will be on Google search and results. The Google software will optimize your websurfing experience on your HTC mobile phone by giving you hotel, street, school, and other listings based on your current location. It sounds like GPS will be included in this device since real-time data is crucial for tracking. This multi-billion dollar deal could spell success for both giants or it could be a billion dollar mistake. If it were a success, Google's stock would most likely skyrocket because the idea of a Google cellphone sounds too futuristic and the masses would flock and buy it a heartbeat. Honestly, many users are content with simple phones that dial out and accept calls so only time will tell. Commonsense tells me this more than just a rumor because of Google's aggressive stance towards Microsoft. Google wants to dominate search, telecommunications, and all of the above. If this partnership is victorious, Google's market value will peak and it's time to sell.

Cingular Treo 750 to be announced this week?
BoyGenius is reporting that demo units of Cingular Treo 750 is arriving at few Cingular stores. The phone is exactly the same as Treo 750v, the Vodafone version except the brand name. No fix date is available but rumor date is set to be available in Q4 this year.

Vonage UK gets the V-Phone
Following the success of the V-Phone in the US, UK customers can now get their hands on Vonage's convenient USB VOIP adaptor. Available in the US since June, Vonage's V-Phone is a simple (and bright) USB adaptor that, when plugged into any broadband-connected PC, gives access to a user's VOIP account. With Vonage Talk pre-loaded, and all contacts and call history stored on the 250MB of internal memory, it's a plug-and-go way to take your landline with you - even when abroad. A standard 2.5mm earpiece microphone, included in the £19.99 price, means it's useable right out of the box (and upgradable should you already have a wired headset you prefer), while line rental comes in at £7.99 a month including caller display, call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail, 3-way calling and 999 / 112 emergency services, as well as free calls and low-rate international and mobile calling. This seems like a great idea for the approaching holiday, when many are travelling to stay with family and friends all over the country (and, in some lucky cases, all over the world). No need to worry about missed calls or expensive cellphone roaming charges, since you're reachable on your normal landline number.