Astraware and Pazzazz Games are excited to announce the release of GTS World Racing for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) smartphones and PDAs.
GTS World Racing is the must-have sequel to the highly acclaimed GTS Racing Challenge, and has been created by Pazzazz and published by Astraware.
Fans of classic coin-operated arcade racing games will love the retro style graphics and exhilarating sound effects. Experience the roar of engines as you select your car, race your opponents, set the fastest laptimes, score points for most race wins and burn rubber to gain championship victory!
GTS World Racing offers 64 track layouts across 16 worldwide locations - from snowscapes to dusty deserts; 3 car types to choose from each with their own handling characteristics; and 4 difficulty levels from Easy to Extreme!
The game offers 4 play modes to satisfy every level of expertise:
Single Race - check out the tracks and practice your skills before heading for the main event;
Challenge Cup - race at each of the 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position for your chosen difficulty;
Grand Tour - complete all 64 tracks in all 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position in each; and
Championship - complete the full 16 race season and score the most points to win the championship.
GTS World Racing is available for a wide range of smartphones and PDAs running Palm OS(R) 5 and later, and Windows Mobile(R) Professional, Classic and Standard 2003 and later.
Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) today announced that it has sold its one-millionth Palm Centro smartphone, demonstrating the product’s mass appeal to customers ready to get all the power of a smartphone at the price of a traditional mobile phone. Palm is now shipping Centro in 10 countries worldwide, including Hong Kong, Singapore, India, the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France and Italy, and its already-rapid momentum is set to grow as Palm debuts the product in additional countries around the globe.
“The Palm Centro is flying off the shelves because users who want to step up to a smartphone see it as the perfect first choice,” said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. “It has everything a person needs to stay organized and connected with everyone who is important to them. We’re very excited about the Centro’s near-instant popularity in the U.S. and think it’s going to be a huge hit as it continues to make its way across the globe.”
First introduced in the United States last September exclusively with Sprint, and more recently introduced on AT&T in February, the fully featured Centro smartphone is available from both carriers for $99.99. Centro has reached more young adults and women, as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.
“Smartphones are certainly not new to business professionals; however, now more than ever we are seeing consumers migrate toward these types of devices as form factors have become more appealing and price points are now competing with traditional mobile phones,” said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC. “Palm’s Centro plays right into the hands of the consumer looking for a more robust experience on their mobile phone. We definitely expect to see this trend continue worldwide.”
Increasingly, consumers are making the shift from traditional mobile phones to smartphones, motivated by the desire to do more with their phones and the arrival of lower-cost devices. Smartphones accounted for 11 percent of all mobile phone sales in 2007 in the United States, and this is expected to increase to 35 percent by 2011.(3) A recent Palm survey of Centro customers highlighted this trend, indicating that 70 percent are first-time smartphone users. When compared to other Palm smartphones, Centro also is reaching almost double the number of women, more than double the number of customers under age 35, and nearly three times as many customers with a household income of less than $75,000.
Centro’s full QWERTY keyboard and color touch screen make it easy to quickly type text messages, respond to emails, start instant message conversations, browse the web and more. It offers all of the great organizer functionality for which Palm is renowned, such as a detailed and integrated contacts list and a simple and handy calendar for juggling business meetings and get-togethers with friends.
i-mate(tm) (London AIM: IMTE), the specialist in Windows Mobile powered devices, today unveils the latest devices in its Ultimate range, the Ultimate 9502 (picture) and the Ultimate 8502 at Mobile Congress World.
The Ultimate 9502 and 8502 are the latest devices from the Ultimate range, a collection of four devices in various forms to suit individual preferences, from classic PDA to a notebook replacement and were designed to provide the latest and best in phone and PDA technology. With a wide variety of features ranging from to HSDPA and HUSDPA connectivity to the 262k colour TFT screen , every component of the device is specified at a very high level.
The Ultimate 9502 represents the flagship of the Ultimate range and delivers an all in one Windows Mobile® device. Powered by 3.5G (HSDPA & HUSDPA), and WiFI and Bluetooth connectivity, the Ultimate 9502’s VGA display is perfect for multimedia viewing, or checking through maps using the its integrated GPS functionality for navigation. There are dedicated shortcut keys all around the 9502, allowing easy and fast access to often used applications.. The 9502 includes integrated support for Direct Video Out capabilities, providing you with the option to connect it to monitors or projectors and watch videos off it or even use Windows Mobile on a larger screen. This feature was especially included in a business sense so users can perform video conferencing or project slideshows and presentations from the phone itself, making it a viable alternative to a notebook.
The Ultimate 8502 delivers a customised out of the box experience in a slim line QWERTY keyboard form factor. With a 2.6 inch touchscreen with 65k colour TFT backlight, it is fully loaded with Microsoft Office Mobile giving users access to popular applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the go. This device also comes with built-in GPS navigation functionality offering users satellite navigation. The 8502 can play video clips directly and a variety of music file formats on the inbuilt Windows Media Player 10 Mobile media player.
“2008 sees i-mate(tm) continue to deliver on its iconic devices and sophisticated services,” said Jim Morrison, CEO, i-mate(tm). “The Ultimate range has already won plaudits on its design and strong specifications. The Ultimate 9502 and 8502 will continue to build on i-mate’s, the best of breed combination of innovation, design and technology. Each of our devices is designed with different users in mind giving our customers real choice.”
As part of i-mate(tm)’s service proposition, Mobile World Congress will also mark the launch of i-mate’s(tm) I-Q Services, a portfolio of services that ensure the best wireless experience out of the box. With I-Q, i-mate can immediately customise user devices, fully support devices on a 24/7 basis and fully protect and if necessary, remotely wipe devices that are lost of stolen. little as 48 hours. Mobile Operators can use i-Q to improve their services to the enterprise segment and to accelerate their time-to-market with new mobile devices to address the rapidly expanding mobile workforce. IDC estimates that the worldwide mobile worker population will grow to 878.2 million in 2009 to account for 21.3 percent of the global work force*.
Morrison concludes, “The mobile industry is starting to develop an approach where a customer can select a device based on what they want and need, not because they are restricted by available options. With the latest Ultimate devices powered by Windows Mobile and customised for the enterprise, we believe we are delivering what our customers are asking for.”
UPDATED: Take a look at our other post with showing the 9502 opened.
Handmark®, a global leader in mobile media, and the Canadian telecommunications company TELUS announced today an agreement to bring Handmark powered services to TELUS clients. Handmark is providing an updated version of its popular Pocket Express application on TELUS smartphones that features travel services tailored for the mobile professional along with the ability to download content download digital content including applications, games and ringtones directly on their smartphone.
Pocket Express offers a comprehensive suite of breaking news, sports, weather and stock updates, residential and business directory searches and movie times. Pocket Express on TELUS smartphones delivers a powerful collection of travel services with airline schedules and flight status updates from the Official Airlines Guide (OAG® ) including details on more than 75,000 daily departures from more than 3,500 airports around the world.
In addition to providing TELUS with the award-winning Pocket Express service, Handmark is also powering a new desktop Web store at telusmobility.com/mobileapps where TELUS customers can discover and purchase top quality applications, games, and content for their smartphone.
Most new TELUS smartphones will come preloaded with Pocket Express. As well, existing clients can download the Pocket Express application at telusmobility.com/mobileapps.
"Treo, BlackBerry, and other smartphone customers on the TELUS network now have instant, and most importantly, easy to use access to essential information on the go through Pocket Express," said Paul Reddick, Handmark CEO.
Handmark also created an integrated billing system that makes it easy for TELUS customers to purchase content for their smartphone. Any purchase a customer makes within the Pocket Express store on their device or through the Web store will seamlessly show up on their monthly TELUS bill.
“It is our passion and our purpose to present our clients with the best products and services on the market to create the best mobile experience possible,” said David Neale, TELUS senior vice-president of Products and Services. “Handmark has a proven track record of delivering excellent mobile media, including Pocket Express, and we are confident that our customers will be pleased with the outcomes of this partnership.”
For more information about the new Pocket Express Travel Edition, visit www.pocketexpress.com or check out the TELUS store at www.telusmobility.com/mobile apps.
Having both the XV6600, and the XV6700, I probably would have upgraded to this phone if I were still on Verizon. But since I have the far superior iPhone, I won’t. 
But in all seriousness, if you had to buy a Windows Mobile phone, I’d say this is a good bet for you. Still mind you, the system will need soft-reseting at least twice a day, you’ll have to buy a big ‘ol fat battery since the standard one won’t get you past lunch. But again, when you can’t (or won’t) get an iPhone, I’d say this is a good way to slap a smartphone onto your hip. Get yours from Verizon Wireless for $400 without contract or $300 with a two year commitment.
Features:
* EV–DO, 1X RTT Capable
* Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
* Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, and PowerPoint® Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF viewer
* View, edit, create Word; Excel files; view only PowerPoint, PDF files
* Internet Explorer® Mobile
* Windows Media® Player 10
* Memory: 64MB RAM/256MB ROM
* Wi–Fi Connectivity (802.11 b/g)
* Slide Out QWERTY Keyboard with Trackwheel Navigation
* 2.0 megapixel camera with flash, auto–focus and video capture
* 2.8″ Display: 240×320 pixel; 64K color TFT
o Touch–sensitive LCD display
o Portrait and landscape orientation
Verizon Wireless, the leading wireless company with the most reliable voice and data network, makes it easy for graduates to stay in touch long after the last yearbook has been signed. As students look to the future, Verizon Wireless gives customers the list for 2007 “Best in Class” featuring the latest phones and accessories from Verizon Wireless.
Samsung SCH-u740 – With its dual-flip QWERTY keypad, making it easy for customers to text message or e-mail, the SCH-u740 gets the prize for “Most Talkative.”
MOTORAZRTM maxx Ve – Featuring an eye-catching design with touch-sensitive music keys, while offering access to V CAST Music and Video, Get It Now® and Mobile Web 2.0SM, the maxx Ve is the “Best Catch” of 2007.
USB720 wireless modem – As the first BroadbandAccess Rev. A-capable USB wireless modem from Verizon Wireless, the compact USB720 is compatible with the latest notebooks, desktops and handhelds via an industry standard USB interface, and is this year’s “Most Likely to Succeed.”
LG VX8700 – The LG VX8700 sports a slim, super-sexy clamshell design with a large color screen, a 2.0 megapixel camera/camcorder for easy access to V CAST Music and Video, beating out competitors for the accolade “Best Dressed.”
BlackBerry® 8830 World Edition smartphone – The first CDMA/GSM BlackBerry smartphone, coupled with “always-on” global e-mail and 24/7 Help Desk, keeps travelers connected in more than 60 countries and earns it the distinction of “Most Likely to Become a Globe Trotter.”
Pricing and Availability
The Samsung SCH-u740 and the USB720 are each available for $129.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. Customers may purchase the MOTORAZR maxx Ve for $199.99 after a $50 rebate and a new two-year customer agreement; the LG VX8700 for $149.99 after $50 rebate with a new two-year customer agreement or the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone for $299.99 after a $100 rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
For more information about Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
A new version of Greenlight Wireless' Skweezer service, which optimizes desktop Web content for mobile devices, is currently wrapping up beta testing and is slated for release on June 18th, 2007.
This latest version of Skweezer has been redesigned from top to bottom with one goal in mind: to get users to the content they're looking for as quickly as possible. To that end, the user interface has been completely redesigned to reduce keystrokes and take advantage of "hot key" navigation that utilizes a phone's keypad. Skweezer will now also use a robust, new search system to produce highly relevant Web, local, and image search results across multiple device platforms. Skweezer's code-base and hosting infrastructure have also been completely updated to provide the fastest Skweezer ever.
Several new features will be included in Skweezer 4.0, including dynamic image optimization, a completely updated directory, improved device-recognition technology, and a feature that will detect mobile-friendly Web sites so they won't be reformatted.
Skweezer is a free service that optimizes Web pages and searches for use on PDAs and cell phones. Skweezer compresses and reformats content being downloaded, so that it loads faster, looks better, and is easier to navigate. Skweezer has introduced many mobile browsing innovations, including the first pagination system that splits large Web pages up into smaller sub-pages for viewing on cell phones with limited "deck sizes", the first mobile Web page translation feature, and the first portal-based mobile RSS reader. Skweezer is completely platform-independent and can be accessed from Pocket PC, Palm, MS Smartphone, Blackberry, Symbian, PSP2, and WAP 2.0 compliant devices. Skweezer is also available as a "private label" solution for wireless carriers and content providers.
Not to be left behind, HTC, a very popular PDA Smartphone maker for Windows Mobile (aka PocketPC) devices, has brought to the world its version of the iPhone. And it’s available today. In Europe. Like the iPhone to Europe, the States can expect the Touch at the end of the year.
The Touch uses many of the iPhone “flick” and “scroll” techniques Apple’s phone has but “pinch” couldn’t be found and HTC unfortunately didn’t think it prudent to put in its own SIP (Soft Input) large keys keyboard. So you’re stuck with…yup, using a stylus. Since the Touch is so small, that makes the stylus small and very difficult to use. HTC did do a worthy job on the camera, music player, and the phone dialer as well as the speed dialer. All quickly remind you of the iPhone in the way you navigate. Other than the main menu, though, the rest of Microsoft’s operating system lies beneth and navigating it can be difficult at time even with the “flick” and “scroll” of your finger.
In short, it looks like the Touch doesn’t quite have that iPhone touch. But, if you desire to be killed, my cat, let your curiosity head over to Phone Scoop for a full video presentation of the HTC Touch.
Bamboo Technology today announced the release of Vault360 Smartphone Edition, a simple point-and-click conversion software tool that allows consumers to transfer, manage and organize their music, photo and video files on popular smartphones freeing them from carrying multiple devices when they travel. The $29.99 application, as well as the full Vault360 product line, are Vista-compliant and available at retail stores nationwide.
“Many users want to transfer videos, music, and photos to and from their Smartphones but to date converting DVDs, tapes, CDs and even TiVo recorded media requires in-depth knowledge of codecs, bit rates and formats,” said Todd Porter, president of Bamboo Technology. “Vault360 allows you to simply connect your Smartphone or insert its memory card into the computer and move a vast array of media to it or pull the media content from it, quickly and easily. Vault360 Smartphone Edition puts a theater, scrapbook and jukebox in the palm of your hand for anytime, anywhere entertainment.”
Vault360 Smartphone Edition is compatible with popular models such as the Blackberry Pearl, Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack and Palm Treo. Users simply load Vault360 Smartphone Edition on their PC, directly connect the device to the USB port and begin transferring content in three clicks of the mouse. Smartphones that are not capable of direct-connect are supported through the phone memory card whereby media is converted and transferred directly to the memory card via a card reader.
Vault360 Smartphone Key Features:
Following are Vault360 Smartphone’s key features in the areas of music, photos and video. A comprehensive feature set can be found at www.bambootech.com.
Music:
- Imports audio CDs, MP3, WMA, or WAV files
- Automatic audio CD title lookup using an Internet database
- Audio file preview that converts and transfers to your smartphone or memory card
Photos:
- Connects directly to all digital cameras and/or digital camera media such as memory cards
- Imports and scale photo files
- Preview individual photos
- Easy no-click animated zoom preview of photos
- Exports selected photos to the most popular media devices (video iPods, PSP, ZEN)
Video:
- Converts video files such as AVI, DivX, MPG, ASF, WMV, etc. to DVD format
- Converts DVDs to video files such as AVI, Mpeg2, WMV, and Mpeg4 SP AVI
- Imports video to computer from: DVDs (entire movie or chapters) and Analog or Digital camcorder; Digital Video Recorders (TiVo, Media Center PCs, DVRs); computer video files (AVI, Mpeg1, Mpeg2, Mpeg4, ASF, WMV, DVR-MS, TiVo); VHS tapes; VCDs/SVCDs
- Exports videos from computer to: personal media players (Video iPod, ZEN Vision, M/W) and portable game systems (PSP)
- Video preview before and after import
- Auto-fit card technology fits movies to 256MB - 4GB memory cards (PSP only)
- Organizes video library by predefined and custom genres
- Full audio and subtitle language selection for DVDs
- Customize videos with preset or custom thumbnails
Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, today introduced the first Global CDMA/GSM BlackBerry. The BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone will be available on May 14 through Verizon Wireless’ business sales channels and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores on May 28.
In addition, Verizon Wireless announced the May 14 availability of its new Global BlackBerry service, an “always-on, always connected” wireless e-mail solution that provides quick, easy access to e-mail, contacts, calendar, organizer and the Web while on-the-go. With the BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone and Global BlackBerry service from Verizon Wireless, customers get wireless e-mail and the convenience of one local number for domestic and international use in Australia, Europe, parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America.
Verizon Wireless’ new Global BlackBerry service allows customers to place and receive voice calls from more than 150 countries and send and receive e-mails in the United States, Canada and more than 60 countries worldwide. With Global BlackBerry service, Verizon Wireless customers receive the Global Support Pack, which includes a SIM card, a user reference guide and details on accessing the Global Help Desk for 24-hour customer support, seven days a week. Customers also receive a calling card for free support calls while traveling outside of the U.S. from any landline phone to technical support if the BlackBerry 8830 is lost, broken or stolen. Read the rest of this entry »