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Sharp has an interesting new smartphone with a sideways-sliding QWERTY keyboard. With this model, Sharp also makes a sharp turn away from the use of Linux in their PDAs and towards the phone-centric Windows Mobile 5.0. Sharp touts the W-Z3 as having a 3.7 inch VGA touch screen, that plays well with Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF documents, not to mention the included Windows Media Player 10 and the integrated web browser. Other features include POP3 and SMTP email support, a 1.3MP camera 128MB of flash memory, mini SD slot, 802.11b, but no Bluetooth. The unit measures 70×130x26mm and weighs 220grams. Only in Japan, and only works (for now) on Willcom’s PHS cellphone networks. W – ZERO3 home page

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Bluebird has a new CDMA phone/PDA combo, the BM-150. Its ruggedized and offered in two varieties: CDMA and WLAN, or CDMA and GPS. The BM-150 comes with a 3.5 Inch QVGA LCD screen, a Intel 520MHz processor and runs on Windows CE 5.0. It has a Mini-SD slot and Bluetooth and an MP3 player. Apparently the unit can be dropped 12x onto a concrete floor from a height of 4 feet. BM-150 - homepage

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Samsung has just announced the SCH-M709, a new 7MP camera phone. It seems to be the Chinese edition of the SCH-v770, which was announced to great fanfare back in March 2005. The M709 is very similar to the V770. External memory has been boosted to a max of 256MB. The size has come down slightly to 123.7×52x27mm. And compared to the V770, its gained 4.3 grams to 184.3. Samsung press announcement - Oct 14, 2005

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The new Belkin TuneFM extracts music and power from your Apple iPod, and beams them both to any nearby FM receiver. It snaps onto the iPod via the headphone jack. FM frequency is selectable via toggle buttons. Belkin TuneFM for iPod Offers Another Way to Play Your iPod - press release dated October 13, 2005

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The new LG KW9200 is a GSM-CDMA phone with a 1.3 MP digital camera, among other features ‘n things. It also has a nice acid-etched metal keypad. The keypad’s resemblance to that of another manufacturer whose logo consists of a stylized letter ‘M’ and whose name starts with the letters “Moto…”, is probably unintentional. Aving News - 2005-10-14

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A wooden case might not normally be suitable for most MP3 players because of the added weight and bulk. But in the case of the Apple iPod nano , it seems entirely appropriate. Despite having written a short piece about the iPod nano, and having made note of the diminutive size of the device (3.5�1.6�0.27 inches), we were taken aback upon actually seeing a nano at the local Best Buy. The nano, sitting there in its cradle, seemed like a toy imitation of an iPod, a minituarized mock-up of the real thing and it seemed too thin to be real. Apple has done a superb job of shinking everything into such a tiny package — we were impressed. Anyway, we digress … iWood offers a selection of nice-looking woods for your nano’s case, and they will even chisel out personlized stuff for you on the inside. iWood nano - website

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MobileBurn has a mini-review of the newly introduced enterprise-oriented Nokia E61 smartphone. Although they had only a prototype to work with, they generally liked what they saw. They thought highly of the device’s look and feel, but were underwhelmed by the keyboard. They had a few other negatives, but were pleased with the raft of email and connectivity and device management features. The E61 works on quad-band GSM and WCDMA 2100 networks. It weighs 144 grams and is 117×70x14 mm in size. The reviewers dubbed the phone as a “NokiaBerry” in acknowledgement of its emulation of the market leading BlackBerry’s form factor, and in anticipation of the BlackBerry’s eventual de-thronement, potentially by the E61. Hands-On With the E61 - MobileBurn, October 14, 2005

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Today’s Washington Post has an article that starts a kind of deathwatch for RIM and its BlackBerry devices. They cite market dominance, patent problems with NTP Inc. and increased competition from Microsoft, Palm, Good Technology and Nokia as things for RIM to fret about. The WP paints a gloomy picture for RIM and suggests that it is all downhill from here. They reiterate the threat from Microsoft with the blunt words “You (RIM) might survive, but you’re diminished”. If Microsoft is, or should be, the main source of concern (to RIM), then the newly-introduced QWERTY/VoIP Nokia E61 smartphone,with its plethora of email and other features is, one supposes, off the radar screen at RIM HQ. BlackBerry’s Dominance Threatened - Washington Post, October 14, 2005

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The company once known as palmOne is oferring a new PDA to be called the TX. Its basically a stripped-down Tungsten T5. At 128MB and 312MHz, the TX has both less memory and a slower processor as compared to the T5. However, Palm Inc. was nice enough to cut the price to $299 and thrown in Wi-Fi access for free. Palm

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Samsung’s new 80-inch Plasma TV model SPD-80X5HD is about to go on sale, thereby making it the largest plasma TV that one can actually buy. The set delivers a resolution of 1080p, a 13-bit-per-color depth and a contrast ratio of 2000:1. The price of $124,000 also affords one the opportunity to enchase one’s signature on the unit. Samsung Electronics, renovation digital media product great movement the poem which it will dance - Samsung Press Release, 2005 October 11th [ Hey , thats how babelfish translated the title of the press release ... ok? ]

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