The European Commission backs DVB-H standard

BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Monday made mobile TV technology Digital Video Broadcasting for Handholds, or DVB-H, the official EU standard, a move that is expected to push broadcasters, operators and handsetmakers to speed efforts to introduce mobile broadcasting across Europe.

The commission said only a common European standard will create a pan-European mobile TV market, and it urged industry to quickly settle any outstanding issues over interoperability and intellectual property rights. “For mobile TV to take off in Europe, there must first be certainty about the technology,” EU Media and Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding said.

Sony Ericsson W760 demo

Here’s a quick look at the Sony Ericsson W760

* Shake Control
* 2.2″ display
* Built-in motion sensor with accelerometer for tilt gaming
* Integrated stereo speakers
* 3.2 megapixel camera
* Memory Stick Micro media slot

Nokia N95 firmware Updated

Nokia have now released V21.0.016 of the N95 firmware

New features
* Flash Lite 3 support added
* Widget (Web runtime) support added
* Default year changed to 2008

Improvements
* General stability improvements.
* Pre-defined access point kept after switching to different type SIM card.
* Localization improvements.
* Standby time improvements.
* Improvements to BT headset interoperability.
* Improvement to Calendar data restoring.
* Switch from landscape to portrait mode & screen rotations improvements.

Browser
* Improvement to long text writing to web page text boxes.
* Browsing from WLAN wizard improvement.

Media Player
* Localizations improvements in Music player.
* Windows Media Player recognizes device as Nokia N95.

Gallery
* Image rotation improvement in album view.
* Gallery & Slideshow performance improvements.

Messaging
* Improvement to SMS reception.

Java
* Midlet installation improvement.
* Improvement to Java application start.
* Java midlet certificate checking improvement.

Navigation
* General improvements to Maps application.
* Localization correction to Search in Maps application.
* Improvement to Navigate To -function when started from search application.

SIM
* Contact names with accents and more than 11 characters can be copied to SIM card.

Samsung SGH D880 DuoS Dual-SIM Mobile Phone

We looked at the Samsung SGH D880 a few months ago, the dual SIM card slider has a stylish look featuring a shining front surface and measures at 18.9mm thick, it comes with a 2.3-inch QVGA screen, a 3.2MP camera, FM radio, Bluetooth, tri-band GSM and EDGE connectivity.

Steve Han, general manager of the hand-held phones division at Samsung Gulf Electronics commented: “Samsung D880 automatically switches between SIM cards according to the consumer’s needs and network access. The phone enables the user to use two active lines separately which eliminates the need to carry one phone per active SIM card. With the new D880, the user can enjoy a hassle free mobile experience along with the functionality of two mobiles in one sleek unit.”

Hands on with the Sony Ericsson SO905iCS

The Sony Ericsson SO905iCS is really for the Japanese NTT DoCoMo network but looks like a nice phone.

The new Samsung G810

Here’s a quick video of the new Samsung G810, the phone comes with a 5 megapixel camera and has HSDPA connectivity at 3.6 Mbps.

iPhone Now on Sale in Ireland

Finally the iPhone is available in Ireland, after months of waiting and weeks after the announcement the iPhone is now available from Carphone Warehouse and O2 Stores.

I’ve been using one for a couple of days now and it’s really an impressive phone and easy interface to work with.

Apple have Announced iPhone 2.0 Beta

Apple have previewed its iPhone 2.0 software, which will come with some nice added features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.

Today Apple also introduced its new iPhone Developer Program which will give developers everything they need to create native applications, and the new App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to iPhone and iPod touch users.

They plan on releasing the 2.0 software for the iPhone sometime in June and the upgrade will be free for all iPhone customers.

LG Shine pics in Pink

Just came across these LG Shine picture that I wanted to share - the shine has been around a while but the pink is new and looks nice in the brushed metal exterior.

The Blackberry 8110

The BlackBerry Pearl 8110 smartphone features a 2 megapixel camera with 5X digital zoom and enhanced flash. The camera also supports video capture in two resolutions (240×180 or 176×144) for sharing via email or MMS.