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Samsung brings SGH-P200 UMA phone to Italy
We've been pining after Unlicensed Mobile Access and the promise of seamless VoIP / cellular handoffs for so long, we've admittedly become a little jaded, so forgive us if we seem a bit desensitized to the news that Samsung has launched its SGH-P200 UMA slider in Italy this week. Samsung's claiming that the P200 is the world's first commercially available UMA mobile, and we're inclined to believe them, despite a string of promising announcements over the past couple years that have yet to materialize. UMA aside, the P200 sports a 1.3 megapixel camera, EDGE, smallish 220 x 176 display, and 80MB of shared internal memory in a 22.5mm thick package -- fairly pedestrian specs, but hey, the draw of VoIP is strong, is it not? Expect the phone to spread elsewhere in Europe shortly, while our American friends shouldn't have much longer to wait for the similarly styled T709 on T-Mobile.
Embarq to embark on UMA?
When Sprint-Nextel became Sprint-Nextel, Sprint's landline service had to go somewhere, so it became Embarq. But now that Embarq's already hit the streets with its 20,000 strong workforce, it's time to introduce some products. We don't know the full rap sheet on their new Smart Connect service, but it sounds like the Plus version of system will allow wireless call roaming onto WiFi networks -- what sounds a lot like UMA, or BT's Fusion service. According to RCR they are also expected to offer user-customizable service packages, but really we just want to be able to move our Sprint-Nextel (or Embarq MVNO) calls off our daytime minutes, and onto our Embarq landlines, thanks.
The Pipeline: Pundits go Wii!
Welcome back to The Pipeline, a weekly feature where we dig through the mainstream media and see what the pundits, prognosticators and and pencil pushers have been discussing over the past week. This week, the media was all over Nintendo's announcement that the gaming console formerly codenamed Revolution would henceforth be known as Wii. And, not surprisingly, most of the mainstream journos covering the story concurred with our assessment that the name somehow isn't going to wiin Niintendo any kudos. "Is Nintendo being desperately silly to attract attention, or is it just desperately short of clue?" asked the Guardian, while the Financial Times headlined its article "Wii aren't too sure about this." However, Nintendo did have at least one defender, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, who pointed out that "N-Gage and Gizmondo are cool names" that didn't help those products win many fans. "Consumers relate to the coolness of the product, not the name." Wii'll see, Michael, Wii'll see.Of course, the Wii announcement wasn't the only story in the news this week, and the mainstream press managed to crank out a few other interesting nuggets. USA Today took a look at the Pioneer Inno, and declared it "a winner," while The New York Times looked at the growing number of home docking systems for cellphones. Meanwhile, Forbes looked at another way to use cellphones at home, checking out the market for UMA-enabled handsets. Our favorite media hit this week, though, came from the Washington Post, which took an in-depth look at the DDR-as-exercise phenom, with the paper's reporter declaring, "Hello, my name is Caroline, and I'm addicted to 'Dance Dance Revolution.'" Hey, at least she's not addicted to the Wii. Nintendo goes Wii ... (not a typo) Guardian - Nintendo Wii is twee Financial Times - Wii aren't too sure about this BBC - Nintendo name swap sparks satire Seattle PI - Wii is for everyone AP - Nintendo names new video game console USA Today - Look out iPod, Inno marries satellite radio, portable music The New York Times - A cellphone in park, even more powerful Forbes - Double-duty phones The Washington Post - Get a move on