Motorola W220

Samsung X820 - Slim designThe SGH-X820 balances slim elegance with a functional keypad and tops off its supreme design with a beveled cut surface for a natural grip.

BlackBerry 8703e Available From Verizon

Verizon this week launched the BlackBerry 8703e, the carrier's version of Research In Motion's (RIM) most recent QWERTY thumb-keyboard wireless handheld. Although variations on the 8700 series have been shipping for about a year, Verizon's is the first CDMA model, and it is 3G enabled.

For Verizon that means compatibility with its EV-DO network for data transfers between 400 to 700 kbps. Much faster than the 135 kbps EDGE speeds available with Cingular's 8700c or T-Mobile's 8700g. The only 3G-enabled BlackBerry available from a GSM carrier - the UTMS-compatible 8707v - is shipping from Vodafone in Europe.

In addition to accessing the Web, corporate network, and e-mail from their handheld, 8703e users have the option to connect their BlackBerry via a USB cable to a laptop to take advantage of EV-DO to do the same.

The megapixel game continues

LG launched its KG920, the first in 5 megapixel camera phone launched in the Middle East. The KG920 is super slim at just 18mm wide and features a 5 mega-pixel digital camera. The camera can rotate upto180 degrees. The KG920 incorporates an auto-focus charged-couple device (CCD) camera and a 2-inch QVGA LCD screen for VGA-level videos at 30 frames per second (fps). The handset also features a strobe flash, which makes it possible to shoot at a distance of 1.5 metres.The phone boasts a class-leading MP3/ACC/WMA/3GP player, Bluetooth, GPRS, Java and V1.1 USB port, and e-mail client. The battery life is an impressive 4 hours of talk-time and 250 hours of standby time. The 2-inch TFT screen has the resolution of 240x320 pixels, and supports up to 262K colours. It also has the 128 MB of shared memory and a miniSD card slot.

Samsung Z400

It may look like every other Samsung slider, but the new Z400 will delight fans of the D500 and D600 with its 3G speeds and new-look silver finish.

Another Samsung, another slider, another day. Perhaps the malaise emanating from Choice Towers is a bit harsh, but one look at the new Z400 and our hearts sink.

After the delicious touch-sensitive E900 and the slimline D800 we were hoping that Samsung had broken from its creative straitjacket. But for the Z400, the Korean manufacturer has reverted to type, still hawking the if it aint broke, dont fix it design ethos weve seen on umpteen Samsung sliders before the E800, D500, D600, E370, the Z320i the list goes on. Its a shame Samsung couldnt conjure up a fresh approach.

So familiarity breeds contempt? Not so fast.

KRZR goes on sale Sep 16; others in Q4

Motorola today announced at a launch event that the much-anticipated KRZR K1 will be available in stores in Singapore from 16 September. The mobile phone maker also confirmed that the other upcoming handsets which includes the RIZR slider, Moto FONE, W220, RAZR V3xx and RAZR maxx will be expected in the fourth quarter of 2006. Two new Bluetooth headsets, the H670 and H800, will be introduced later this year, too.

While there is no word on whether the Moto FONE will make it to Singapore, a company representative has not ruled out the possibility of launching this basic candy-bar phone in the island state.

Built based on the trademark clamshell design of the RAZR, the quadband-enabled KRZR sports an overall smaller form factor (narrower in width but slightly longer in length) than its popular predecessor but ironically weighs a little heftier.

France Telecom embraces convergence to boost sales

France Telecom unveiled plans on Monday to sell mobile phones that can move seamlessly between cellular and fixed-line networks, becoming the latest European telecoms operator to jump on the "convergence" bandwagon.

Starting next month, customers of the operator's Orange mobile and broadband services will be able to use a mobile handset to make unlimited calls from home to landlines and Orange mobile numbers.

However, users will be charged as much for calls to .

Compal Communications ships 17.8 million handsets in 3Q 2006

Compal Communications shipped 17.8 million handsets in the third quarter of this year, up 5.3% from the 16.9 million units it shipped in the second quarter, according to company sources. The third-quarter shipments brought the company's combined handset shipments for the first three quarters to 49.6 million units.