Track Boom

It may have taken Belkin a season or two longer than it would’ve liked, but the TuneCast Auto Live FM transmitter has finally received its shipping papers. Hailed as the first iPhone 3.0 accessory way back in June of last year, this here device is designed to tap into your iPhone 3G / 3GS GPS module and quickly find the best FM station for transmission. Put simply, it takes the guesswork out of selecting the most optimal frequency for use in your vehicle, and it also allows you to switch stations right on your iPhone’s display. It’s up for purchase right now in North America for $79.99, while Europe and Asia / Australia is expected to see it in March and April, respectively.

 Apple’s iPhone has proved consumers’ willingness to sign up for a data plan as well as to purchase cheap mobile content and services. The latter was strengthened by Apple’s introduction of in-app payments. Premium mobile content has always proved difficult to sell though, and even most iPhone users are skeptical when it comes to premium content. Read more…

Well, this was probably bound to happen someday, but we still can’t not sniffle a bit… the Treo Pro seems to have disappeared from Palm.com. The site has of course been mainly trafficking Palm’s webOS devices — the Pre and Pixi — as of late, but until very recently, it still listed its last non-webOS device, the Window Mobile Treo Pro, a much older phone first outed in August of 2008. If you’re hell bent, of course, there are still plenty of places to get one of these bad boys, so we’re not going to sound the death knell yet — but it will be missed.

Poor Bumblebee! This is one transformation that he and his metallic chums wouldn’t be proud of — it’s even got the Autobot logo on the back, presumably without permission.  Read more…

Sony Ericssson has just unveiled a new smartphone with full touch screen features – the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. This phone is officially the second unit to be released under Sony Ericsson’s new family of communication entertainment phones, with the Xperia series as the first model. To be released anytime this first quarter, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz features high quality HD video playback.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a full featured smartphone with great features such as a high resolution camera that lets you capture video in HD quality. It has a dedicated video key that lets you shoot video quickly with continous auto focus. Read more…

Motorola today announced its new MOTOROI, an Android smartphone running with Android 2.0 and would be available in Korea. Designed to take full advantage of the power of Android 2.0, MotoROI gives you a full touch screen with a huge 3.7 inch, high-definition WVGA (480X854) display, making it easier than ever to view full page websites, videos, games, or photos. The display uses a powerful combination of Motorola’s touch user interface (UI) and a capacitive touch sensor for smooth screen flipping and scrolling, and five main displays let you customize your MotoROI with various widgets. Read more…

Samsung today announced the expansion of its application store, Samsung Apps. From late January 2010 Samsung Apps will be available to Omnia II (I8000) and OmniaLITE (B7300, I329) users in Singapore, Germany, Brazil and China. Users will benefit from immediate one-click access to a huge range of applications from games and social networking apps and even e-books. Read more…

LG today announces its InTouch Max GW620 Android smartphone in UK, which will be offered by T-Mobile and Virgin Media from now. The LG InTouch Max boasts a 5-line QWERTY and touchscreen keyboard, making it simple to type and especially convenient for social networking. With a Social Networking Manager built-in application (Linkbook), you can also go straight to your friend’s social networking profiles from your contact list. Read more…

Samsung’s Genio Slide — or CorbyPRO — has just popped up on Vodafone’s site for the sweet price of £free. The Genio starts its retail career as a QWERTY-sliding, 3.2 megapixel camera-toting, HSDPA-blessed Vodafone exclusive, but with these specs, we’d wager it’ll stretch its legs soon — though, not like as far as North America as it lacks the 850 / 1900 HSDPA we need and love. This new Corby also comes loaded with a large touchscreen, a bevy of messaging and social apps, Bluetooth, GPS, and a weak 120MB of RAM that can — and must — be upgraded to as much as 16GB. If you do pick one up, hit us up with your thoughts in the comments — we’re all about first-hand experience, don’t ya know?

Samsung today announced its new Shark series, including the candy bar Shark (S5350), Shark 2 (S5550) slider and Shark 3 (S3550) slider. All three sharks pre-installed with Social Networking Services (SNS), enable users to upload and share photos and personal videos to global SNS or photo sharing sites quickly and easily. The Shark series provide peace-of-mind for busy users through security features, including Mobile Tracker, which helps to trace a lost or stolen mobile by alerting the user whenever the SIM card is changed. In addition, an SOS Message can be programmed to send a distress alert to a pre-selected emergency contact, enabling quick and discreet requests for assistance. All of them will be available from January.

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