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Gadget Rewind 2005: BenQ Z2
BenQ may not be a familiar name to some -- at least not in the US -- but its roots in the electronics industry date back to the '80s. The company, formerly a division of Acer, was spun off in 2001 in an attempt to build a brand name for itself. With a background in manufacturing, BenQ began building devices for companies like Nokia and Motorola; devices that were mostly for sale in Asian markets. Soon, it started its own line of mobile handsets and in 2005, BenQ announced a cube-like multimedia device called the Z2. It was poised to compete with the other camera-toting and music-playing cellphones at the time, while also targeting the youth market with its unique form factor and colorful exteriors. Curious to know more? Check out our gallery below.
Lenovo reveals K860 LePhone, quad-core Exynos and a 5-inch screen
It's been a pretty good week for Lenovo all things told, but the Chinese firms isn't stopping to congratulate itself too much. Today, it's business as usual, marked by the official arrival of the new K860 "Music Phone" aka LePhone. The quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos 4412 chip, Mali-400MP GPU, 5-inch (1,280 x 720) display, 1GB of RAM and slight 9.6mm-thick form should come together to sing a sweet song though. The 8-megapixel snapper is no slouch either, with support for 100 frames continuous shooting and 1080p video recording (plus there's a 2-megapixel camera around the front, too). If all this sounds like a recipe for battery-drain, there's a 2,250 mAh cell to help keep you going. This will all be running on Android 4.0.4, but currently no word on price or availability -- but it's not like there aren't any other large phones to think about in the meantime. Update: We got a little excited in the translation for a moment there. The "Music" (or Happiness -- both the same symbol) Phone is of course the LePhone we link to in the article.
LG and iriver unveil the LB4400: the Korean Zunephone without the Zune (video)
Little iriver has long been one of our favorite companies when it comes to innovative product design. Unfortunately, the Korean outfit responsible for about half of all digital audio players sold in its home country has all but disappeared from the international stage. Today it returns with the jointly developed LG-LB4400 musicphone. As the name indicates, LG is the muscle behind the cellphone internals (and apparently the industrial design) whereas iriver contributed the media player and UI elements. Specwise, we're looking at a 2.8-inch WQVGA LCD display, 3 megapixel camera, DMB TV, Dolby Surround Mobile, and support for a wide range of audio codecs including FLAC and APE. No word on price or availability but we've got a slow-loading video for you after the break.
Ears-on with Sony Ericsson MH907 Motion Activated Headphones
What we have here today isn't just another pair of ordinary headphones: Sony Ericsson's MH907s are button-free, minimalistic headphones that activate upon the magical touch of your skin. Well, your ears to be precise. You must bear in mind that the MH907s are exclusive to Fast port-equipped Sony Ericsson phones thus excluding the forthcoming XPERIA X10 -- so chances are you're already not interested. That said, we shall see if Sony Ericsson is really going to change things forever with these gleaming buds featuring SE's SensMe Control technology, or by just stopping everyone from using their 3.5mm headphone jacks. Read on to find out how these €39 ($57) headphones fared. %Gallery-75958%
Sony Ericsson W595 headed to Europe in Sandy Gold hue
If you're looking to sprinkle just a pinch of Mr. T into your life, there's hardly a better way than to pick up Sony Ericsson's forthcoming Sandy Gold W595. Reportedly, the only thing changing is the color, and Europeans enamored by that can get their jollies next February.
Samsung's M3110 clamshell music phone is simple, colorful
There's not a whole lot of excitement packed between the hinges of Samsung's M3110, but the vivacious exterior is certainly worth a look for those who appreciate varying hues. The self-proclaimed music phone does itself a huge favor by offering up a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, and there's also an internal display (160 x 128) there to complement the external 96 x 96 pixel screen. Finally, you'll find a 1.3-megapixel camera and a very traditional numeric keypad, but your guess is as good as ours on pricing / availability.
Sony Ericsson's W595 toyed with on video
Looking for a bit of video on Sony Ericsson's W595, are you? If so, you've come to the right place, as Megawhat has hosted up a hands-on clip toying with the fanciful slider. Far and away the reviewer's favorite feature is the easy upload to YouTube once the handset logs a video clip, and admittedly, it does seem to work well. Hit the read link for 3 minutes (and 3 seconds) in SE heaven.
LG lets loose glitzy KC560 slider
We've been staring for hours, but no matter how hard we attempt to think outside of the box, we can't figure out what LG's attempting to do with the design of the KC560. It is for disco lovers? Tweens? Fanatics of anything gilded? The mobile, which is clearly having an identity crisis at its core, has just been revealed over in China. Specs wise, it's packing a 2.4-inch QVGA display, plenty of LED accents, a 3-megapixel camera, inbuilt music player, Bluetooth 2.0, USB, an FM radio, microSD card slot and tri-band GSM connectivity. Word on the street places a $300 to $350 unsubsidized price tag on it, which makes us even more sure this is really a limited run meant specifically for Diana Ross and her loyal posse.[Via UnwiredView]
Samsung officially unveils Beat s and Beat b musicphones
Lowish-end tunes are the name of the game with Samsung's latest pair, the M3200 "Beat s" slider (pictured) and M3510 "Beat b" candybar. The Beat b you may remember from IFA, offering EDGE data, 2-megapixel camera, and FM radio all packed into a 9.9mm body. The Beat s, meanwhile, goes just a tiny bit upmarket with an integrated Bang & Olufsen-sourced ICEpower audio processor. Both phones feature 3.5mm headphone jacks, stereo Bluetooth, and something Samsung calls "Motion Play," which smacks of Sony Ericsson's Shake control by letting you knock your phone around in various ways to start playback, change tracks, or mute the sound. Both models will be available this month.
LG's simplistic KP265 slider skids into Russia
Lookie here -- LG has a fresh new slider built for making / receiving calls, listening to tunes and not taking up too much space in your front pocket. The KP265 comes with a multimedia player capable of understanding AAC, AAC+, MP3 and WMA file formats, and the FM radio keeps things interesting if your jams get stale. There's also support for Bluetooth stereo headsets, and if the 5MB of internal capacity proves too small (surely not!), the microSD slot is there to alleviate any space constraints. You'll also find a 1.77-inch 160 x 128 resolution display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, 900mAh battery and GSM support. As for when it will leave Russia? That's a good question, friend.
LG takes KM380, KM710 music phones to emerging markets
The roll-out of LG's KM380 and KM710 models has already started, but the company has announced that it wants to take them to a whole pile of emerging markets by the third quarter. When all's said in done, it looks like customers throughout most of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will be able to snap them up locally, offering solid music control (just look at that big honkin' wheel on the KM710!), advanced equalization capabilities, and in the case of the KM380, a whopping 40 hours of continuous playback. Given the target markets, we'd expect the pricing to be pretty reasonable at every local launch, too.[Via Unwired View]
iPod Touch/iPhone Music Round-Up
Peter Kirn over at Create Digital Music has posted a great round-up of all the tools people have put together to make music with the iPod Touch and iPhone.The post touches on some of the more technical aspects of music app development on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and there's a great list of links to cool apps you can download and mess around with.Music apps are still in their infancy on the iPhone, but hopefully, as the SDK gets out there to more developers, we'll begin to see more robust and feature-heavy apps.Me? I want to see Ableton Live on the iPhone.
China-bound Philips M600 touts SRS WOW technology
Not that we haven't ever seen a mobile get that mildly interesting SRS WOW badge slapped on it before, but Philips is becoming the next to do so with its M600. This oh-so-sleek candybar makes a play for the music lovers heart -- well, so long as said adorer is in China, anyway. Aside from providing one click access to your stored tunes (not to mention easy access to volume / track controls), the handset packs a 2-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD expansion slot, Bluetooth, a very welcome 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, support for MIDI / MP3 / WMA / AMR files, USB 1.1 connectivity, dual-band GSM / GPRS connectivity and a number of preset equalizer settings to boot. Best of all, Philips keeps its tradition of providing ultra-longevous phones alive by giving users up to 40-hours of music playback on a single charge. 'Tis a shame there's no information on pricing just yet.
Motorola debuts ROKR E8
This one's no secret, Moto leaked the ROKR E8 way back in September, but the company is finally getting official with the musicphone at CES tonight. The phone is free of physical keys, with a completely smooth face and vibrating haptics to denote key "presses." There's a nav wheel in the middle, which might not be the revolution Motorola is touting it as, but sure looks nice. The handset has 3.5mm headphone jack, 2GB of flash storage, a microSD slot, FM radio and a microUSB plug. The phone is Linux-based, and Moto is quite proud of its audio fidelity, but we suppose the proof is in the listening. No launch or price info just yet.
Sony Ericsson gets official on the W910 and K850
For you Walkman / Cyber-shot buffs out there who've been dying to get your hands on some new phoneage -- look no further. The Sony-Ericsson dreamteam have just announced the official release of two of its new mobile phones sure to have player haters... um, player hating. The W910, which we took a look at back in June, apparently has music-playin' on its mind, though with HSDPA, a 1GB Memory Stick, and its "shake" feature (which allows you to jostle the device to switch songs or randomize playback), you might find other uses for it. If you're more of an Ansel Adams-type, you can get your mitts on the K850, a camera-minded phone that's got a considerable 5-megapixel camera (with a Xenon flash / video light), has more of that beloved HSDPA, and can do 30fps video -- if that's your thing. Both of these sweet babies will be available in "selected markets" this month, no word on price.
Samsung's musicphone lineup ready for Europe
Samsung just got busy with a trio of MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+, WMA, and WMDRM supporting musicphones: the dual-sliding SGH-i450, slim SGH-F330 with HSDPA, and SGH-F210 swivel stick. Most impressive is the €360/$508 Symbian i450 with Touch Wheel music navigation pictured above. Slide 'er up and you're holding an S60 3rd Edition smartphone with 3.6Mbps HSDPA data beneath a 2.4-inch LCD. Slide 'er down to expose metallic speakers with a B&O ICEpower amplifier and Samsung music UI for controlling the tunes stored in its 35MB of internal memory or up to 4GB on microSD expansion. Sure, Bluetooth A2DP stereo audio, 3.5-mm headphone jack, and FM radio as well. The €260/$367 F330 features the physical music controls of the F300 while packing 3.6Mbp HSDPA, a 2 megapixel camera, and up to 2GB of microSD expansion in a slider measuring just 13.5-mm thin. The F210 then, is a GSM version of the U470 already nabbed by Verizon as the Juke. It offers up to 20-hours of audio playback from the included 1GB storage or microSD expansion -- we hear it makes phone calls too. Sorry US Americans, all these phones are tri-band GSM and set to launch around Europe starting this month.%Gallery-8370%
AT&T launching LG CU575 "Trax" HSDPA musicphone later today
With those last minute bugs now apparently eradicated, LG has officially announced plans to deliver their 3G CU575 "Trax" clamshell to AT&T. Touting 850/1900MHz HSDPA 3.6Mbps-capable downloads and quad-band GSM, this flip fancies itself a part-time media player with the inclusion of a Touch Pad bar and up to 4GB of microSD expansion for your AAC, MP3, and WMA music files. Still no word from AT&T but we expect the announcement later today with all the pricing detail you crave. Update: The joint press release is finally out: available August 14th for $130 after mail-in rebate and two-year contract.Read -- launch announcementRead -- CU575 specifications
LG, Samsung handsets on top in entertainment phone study
Although the necessity (or desire, actually) for integrated mobile entertainment in one's phone has long been argued over, we can't help but notice that the fad is ever-so-methodically catching on. Recently, a consumer study from Parks Associates found that LG and Samsung handsets led the way in "advanced mobile entertainment features," noting that their cellphones were more likely to support mobile TV, music, and games in the US. More specifically, nearly 12-percent of LG / Samsung owners reported having the aforementioned features, while just eight-percent of Moto users checked the box and nary a single Nokia respondent claimed to have such luxuries. Hmm, we're guessing the N95 owners were all too preoccupied to represent?[Via mocoNews]
LG Shine gets Titanium Black makeover for Europe
As if the original Shine wasn't hot enough, LG is bringing a Titanium Black edition to those across the pond in hopes of wrangling a few more customers who have an eye for anything covered in metallic grey. A member of the coveted Black Label series, this handset won't deviate feature-wise one iota from the original, but the classy all-metal exterior should catch quite a few eyes regardless. You'll still find the two-megapixel camera, scroll wheel control scheme, media player, Bluetooth, and compatibility with GPRS and EDGE networks, and while pricing details on this sexy handset are currently unavailable, those dwelling in the UK can expect it to land late this year, while those in France, Netherlands, and Austria should receive it sometime thereafter.[Via UnwiredView]
Verizon poised to launch LG VX8550?
It looks like Verizon and LG are gearing up to release to their latest addition in the Chocolate lineup, the VX8550. This round, the VX8550 is sportin' two new colors than before -- this time "black cherry" and "blue mint" will make your mouth water, and lets not forgot the traditional black. The device is expected to hit the street around around July 9 and cost $100 with a two year contract. There's even talk about reducing the cost of the music essentials kit that includes a microSD card, data cable, Bluetooth headset, and a gift card for music. Could this be Big Red's attempt to persuade consumers away from AT&T's music phone for their own latest addition? We hope not.[Thanks, HTC Kid and SC]%Gallery-4335%
