Alltel Wireless is proud to introduce the MOTORAZR VE20, designed for consumers seeking form, function and fun. The VE20 combines the features that helped make the RAZR an iconic handset with a sleek new look and improved talk time and standby time.

The sophisticated MOTORAZR VE20 features a large external screen with touch-sensitive controls to give the user easy access to recent calls, music and messaging, without ever having to open the phone. An impressive combination of communication features and entertainment applications provides users with the ultimate multimedia experience1. Users can also connect and disconnect the Bluetooth function from the external touch screen without opening the flip. The new VE20 is available in navy and licorice and is the lightest RAZR ever, weighing only 3.17oz. The VE20 also features 250 minutes of talk time and 360 hours of standby time2.

“The RAZR is one of the most popular wireless handsets of all time, and Alltel’s next generation RAZR, the VE20, will impress anyone seeking form, function and fun in their wireless device,” said Brian Ullem, vice president of device strategy at Alltel Wireless. “This latest addition to our handset lineup continues our mission of providing our customers with the phones they want at prices that they can afford.”

The MOTORAZR VE20 includes many popular features including a 2MP camera with video, MP3 player with 3.5mm headset jack capabilities, GPS capabilities1 and an expandable memory slot. The phone is preloaded with applications including Alltel Search1, City ID1, Alltel Navigation1, and Aricent Celltop1. The phone also is Music Connect capable1, providing users with the ability to easily move music from the PCs onto their handset3.

Beginning today, Alltel customers can be among the first to order the MOTORAZR VE20 at www.alltel.com/motove20 for $99.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate. The MOTORAZR VE20 will be available in retail stores on and alltel.com on September 25th.

Alltel Wireless continues to provide choice to the customer’s wireless experience with its exclusive “My Circle” feature, giving customers unlimited calling to and from any five, 10 or 20 numbers on any network for free. Alltel Wireless was also the first to offer Anytime Plan Changes, giving customers the flexibility to change their calling plans at any time, without extending their current contract.

To access the multimedia content associated with this release, please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/alltel. Registered members will find broadcast quality video for their purposes, free of charge.

Alltel is owner and operator of the nation’s largest wireless network and has more than 13 million customers. For more information about Alltel, please visit www.alltel.com.

So you’re in market for a new dock for that new iPod you just nabbed, aye? You’re kinda tired of the plain white one from Apple and all those other ones out there really don’t capture you. I mean, you’re sporty and elegant, right? So what could possible match that? Mmm, maybe the Art.Suono wireless iPod dock from David Wiener Collection (DWC). Crafted with machined aluminum and carbon fiber, DWC tells SvenOnTech that it will, “Stand out as a piece of audio jewelry wherever it’s placed.” Designed with the Ferrari feel down to including a start engine button, DWC spared no cost to bringing the most fancy dock to the iPod it could.

“The Art.Suono is designed for individuals looking for beauty, performance and exclusivity,” said DWV founder David Wiener. “It embodies our passion for extraordinary design, our obsession with technological excellence, and our belief that these qualities can be combined to create audio instruments that deliver a new experience in music listening.”

The Art.Suono isn’t all about looks. It’s about sound as well. Using technology originally engineered for recording studios and used for recordings by such artists as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Paul McCartney, “The DWC-APHEX circuitry makes recorded music more “alive” by restoring the harmonics lost in compressed music files and by providing an incredible sense of spaciousness and clarity so each instrument and voice is clear and distinct.”

If this sounds like a worthy investment to add to your stereo system, the Art.Suono will be available next month for $1,499 from authorized resellers worldwide.

Berlin based nova media today unveiled iCON 401, a wireless USB modem for Macintosh computers with memory stick functionality. The iCON 401 supports most kinds of mobile connection speeds and can be used worldwide.

“iCON 401 features a microSD card slot and thus can be used as a memory stick with flexible size.” states Jan Fuellemann, PR spokesperson at nova media. “The antenna is built into the swivel and the swivel’s design also serves as the USB adapter protection ‘cap’. To rule out signal lost due to interference in high bands, the iCON 401 supports diversity reception. A connector for external antennas is built in as well. For future compatibility, the elegant modem is already configured to support high upload speeds with up to 5.76 Mbps.”

The iCON 401 includes the internet connect wizard launch2net which offers a one-click connection to the Internet without the need to enter cryptic configuration details. launch2net already includes connection settings for most mobile network providers worldwide and displays time and data consumption of mobile online sessions.

The USB modem is winner of the red dot product design award 2008 and weighing just around 40g.

The iCON 401 is available today from nova media for Euro 199,- plus VAT if applicable and requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or higher.

For the millions of Americans that send MMS greetings everyday, the future has arrived. Today, Alltel Wireless, America’s largest network, announced the introduction of Alltel Avatars, a 3D animated MMS greeting service that allows users to choose from an extensive library of pre-produced greetings or allows them to use templates to create their own greeting using 3D avatars, photos, voice and more.

Alltel Avatars is powered by Vidiator, a leading 3G mobile multimedia platform provider and its Xend(tm) 3D hosted platform.

Greetings are available starting at only 99 cents, with hundreds of cards to choose from at launch. The service also provides users with the ability to add emoticons, personal audio tracks, and personal digital signatures to their messages. In addition, users can create an animated image from their photos, combine it with their typed or audio message and send to mobile devices or e-mail.

“Taking messaging beyond simple text, the introduction of 3D avatars represents the next evolution of wireless communications,” said Craig Kirkland, vice president of messaging and voice services for Alltel Wireless. “The vast level of personalization offered to our customers via Alltel Avatars provides them with a new vehicle to express their emotions, style and personality.”

Unique avatar-based content that Alltel is launching includes branded greeting card content, personalized greetings created using consumers’ own photos, advertising campaigns and corporate communications. Alltel Avatars is available to any Alltel MMS subscriber with a video enabled handset that can play 3GP files.

“3D animated avatar-based mobile messaging driven by Xend 3D goes well beyond simple text, and is the next big leap in mobile messaging. It enables carriers to easily bridge the gap between SMS and new “entertainment-focused” MMS messaging applications and advertising; and for consumers, we think these type of services will change the way people communicate with their mobile devices by allowing them to richly express their emotions through voice, animation and 3D like never before,” said Connie Wong, CEO Vidiator.

Alltel Wireless continues to provide choice and flexibility to the customer’s wireless experience with its exclusive “My Circle” feature, giving customers unlimited calling to and from any five, 10 or 20 numbers on any network for free. Alltel Wireless was also the first to offer Anytime Plan Changes, giving customers the flexibility to change their calling plans at any time, without extending their current contract.

To access the multimedia content associated with this release, please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/alltel. Registered members will find broadcast quality video for their purposes, free of charge.

Does a GPS with a constant connection to the Internet make it the best way to travel in your car? Can it find the lowest gas prices, the nearest Starbucks, an ATM near your friends home, and the best pizza joint in town? Will it show you how to get to work quicker than you have ever made it before IN traffic? Does the volume setting of 11 make it that much better than anything else available?

Yes, we know so many questions to be answered but we think we do a pretty good job of answering those and even more with the newest craze hitting cars across the country in this new GPS unit. An Internet enabled GPS device that taps into Yahoo! Local and lets you send your addresses from within your web browser on your computer to your Dash Express sitting silently on your, um, dash.

Now, is it all worth it? Read on.

So you’ve got to go somewhere this Labor Day weekend, huh? Looking for the right GPS to take you there? But you want one with some sweet swag? Easy to use? Maybe even something the “other guys” don’t have? But, its got to be a good brand. Well, the TomTom GO 930 may be your catch. With address voice input, Bluetooth speakerphone, Advanced Lane Guidance, traffic updates, and Mr. T to tell you where to turn, we couldn’t think of another GPS to suggest (until our next review, maybe.)

Before you shove off to your long weekend, we suggest reading the long and full-of-meat review of the TomTom GO 930. If you don’t have too much time, like all of our reviews, you can read The Bottom Line and the Overview for the quickie. But do at least print it out and read it sometime this weekend. It took us a long time to write.

Verizon Wireless today introduced Visual Voice Mail, an application that works much like Apple’s iPhone Visual Voicemail. The application is available for the LG Voyager, an iPhone-clone of sorts, that gives the Verizon user the ability to check voicemail right on their phone. Going beyond the iPhone’s simple listen at your conveniences, Verizon’s Visual Voicemail allows for customers to forward voice mail messages in addition to the ability to listen, delete, and reply to. The non-linear system allows a Verizon customer to retain up to 40 messages for 40 days on their LG Voyager.

Verizon also notes that customers can create up to 10 greetings, 20 distribution lists and 50 distribution members to receive messages.

Verizon relies on the Alcatel-Lucent 5150 Messaging Applications Broker (MAB) for visual voice mail, “Which provides enhanced notification and content delivery services for voice, text and video messages through an intuitive visual interface.”

One of my early complaints with the first generation iPhone, which remains to this day, was the inability to send my “card” to another iPhone or smartphone user. Just days before the purchase of the Apple phone, I was able to transmit my contact card to any other Windows Mobile or Symbian user via Bluetooth or even Infrared. So why wasn’t this greatest phone ever allowing me this same convenience? Well, with no IR port and a severely retarded Bluetooth stack, it just wasn’t going to happen. What a shame and yet another ding against the Enterprise user by Apple.

Tapulous, a group of guys in Palo Alto (home to Apple CEO Steve Jobs), have thought that iPhones should be able to share contacts. Not just your contact but any of your contacts. The makers of the widely popular Twitter application for the iPhone, Twinkle, will be releasing a new application called friendBook. In its third application for the iPhone (the other the popular game Tap Tap), Tapulous brings a more powerful contacts manager to the iPhone. Not only will one be able to trade contacts, but better manager them right on the iPhone away from the connected computer. Easily find duplicates, merge contacts, and even dial a member of your virtual black book by a picture of the person, friendBook is surely to be a hit once on the App Store.

There is no immediate release date or pricing details for friendBook but rumor has it that the application has already been submitted to Apple and is merely awaiting approval. So look for it through the week and download it quickly! Who knows, Apple may deem this “bad” and remove it like it did Netshare.