Mobility Watch

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It said handsets would have a micro USB interface, already used to transfer pictures from digital cameras to a computer.

The initial group of companies that have signed for the change include Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

Operators such as AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, T-Mobile and Vodafone are also part of the initiative.

The GSMA said that eventually it expected mobile phones to ship without a charging plug and cable because everybody would have one.

This should also lead to less waste and could yield energy savings because the agreement calls for chargers to meet efficiency targets, the group said.

2012 sounds a long way off, but if you look at it as the end of the year after next, plus one day, it’s not that distant. Even so, you can’t help wondering if the designs for 2011 handsets are already set in concrete.

Apart from the convenience factor, what other advantages come with the universal charger?

If the chargers are more efficient, then users will see a reduction in the amount of energy used and (in many places) a consequent reduction in greenhouse emissions from power stations.

And the industry suggests that selling chargers separately rather than including them with every phone will eliminate 13.6 to 21.8 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions currently associated with the manufacture and transport of chargers.

The expectation is that charger production may be halved.

“The mobile industry has a pivotal role to play in tackling environmental issues and this programme is an important step that could lead to huge savings in resources, not to mention convenience for consumers,” said Rob Conway, GSMA CEO and board member.

Huawei iMo

Slashgear says i-Mo is roughly the size of a small keychain fob, and also has a microSD slot for data storage. If you would rather have a direct connection between your device and the internet, you can also connect via mini USB cable (7.2mbps down/5.6mbps up). The 802.11b/g wi-fi can also be used to give internet access to other gadgets at the same time.

This wifi modem looks remarkably like Helio’s Ocean 2 and approximately the same size. I wonder if you could get online on the Ocean with the iMo?

From Huawei’s Press Release:

Huawei’s latest innovation in broadband terminals, i-Mo provides a new level of convenience to its users. With i-Mo, you no longer need to carry a bulky Internet cable. The size of a small key chain, it fits in your pocket or wallet. You simply turn on the Wi-Fi switch and enjoy immediate access to a high speed HSPA network. i-Mo can automatically create group Internet access and individual Wi-Fi hot points for network digital equipment such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras, games consoles, and MP4 devices

But that’s not all. i-Mo supports plug-and-play and data transmission speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (downlink) and 5.76 Mbps (uplink). Music and videos can be uploaded or downloaded in seconds. With its built-in Micro SD card slot, i-Mo can also serve as a USB disk. All these features have been integrated into the smallest wireless modem in the world.

Verizon femtocell

It’ll be available in Verizon stores and online starting January 25 for $249.99 — not a bad deal for Verizon, considering you’re saving them the expense of erecting a tower.

Not to be outdone, AT&T seems to still have femtocells somewhere on the front burner with surveys going out to subscribers asking whether they’d be interested in a “small, security-enabled cellular base station” they can call their own (via engadget).

Fierce wireless has this to say: What remains to be seen is what Verizon will charge for the femtocell device and the service plan. Sprint charges around $50 for the product and $15 per month for service. Verizon’s commitment, broader than Sprint’s thus far and the only one by a U.S. telco that has both local wireline and wireless networks, may well bring femtocell deployment to its tipping point in the U.S. market.

Is this a wireless technology you would use? I would, if it would mean cheaper, faster internet connections, download times and page loads.

Seidios Innocell 2600mAh battery

Seidio’s Innocell product description promises quite a bit: “This 2600mAh Super Extended Battery provides up to 140% more capacity than the OEM battery that came with your phone! If you are a heavy user or tend to go for long periods without the ability to recharge, this battery is the solution for you! ”

As big a ‘back’ as it has, and at $55, it had better come through with it’s promises.

My Nokia 9500 Communicator can hold a charge for two weeks at a time, so Seidio’s 2600 battery should be similar. Research on the web has few specifications, but what I did find sounds promising for Blackberry owners. According to others, Seidio’s battery requires a special back cover as well.

If it brings more extended life to your handheld, I wouldn’t complain about looks. On the other hand, if you’re one that’s constantly considering what other think of how your phone or handheld looks, then the Innocell 2600mAh isn’t for you. There are tiny, thin phones out there, like my Nokia 7380 or the teeny tiny LG UP3.

Would you use the ‘baby bump battery’?

That is a very interesting question indeed. So which is which?

There are mobile phone charms, mobile phone cases, mobile phone bags, mobile phone stands, and headsets and all other accessories. In the whole world of mobile phone accessories, however, only one can be king when it comes to reaping in the largest amount of income. Now that title belongs to removable memory cards. Yes, removable memory cards take the top.

According to most recent news from the industry, removable memory cards are estimated to give $7 billion in revenue for manufacturers. And that amount is just for this year. Think about that.

Bluetooth handsets and accessories or headsets may be the thing for some however they only can reap in $5 billion compared to the removable memory cards’ $7.

Now, if you’re thinking of having your own business, I suggest you go for removable memory cards. Experts are saying that this trend will remain in the next five years.

[Via TechNews]
[Image from Time2Talk]

Of course we have heard about human-powered mobile phone chargers. And there’re those solar powered ones. But this is going to be the first time that I have heard of a mobile phone charger that uses the power of the wind.

But believe it or not, there is going to be one and it is going to be from Orange, a telecomm firm that is based in the UK. They have recently informed the public about their gadget named as The Orange Mobile Wind Charger.

This gadget is like a mini turbine. It is mounted on the top of a tent. That turbine stores all of the wind’s power. Now all you need to do is plug in your mobile phone and let it take in the juice that the mini turbine has stored.

Hattie Evans is the head for sponsorships over at Orange and Evans shares, “It is important that we continue to innovate and demonstrate how mobile technology can make festival life a bit easier.�

[Via ComputerWorld]
[Image from gadgetcentre]

As one of the leaders of online comparison of mobile phones, accessories, and services, Wirefly has come up with a list of the top ten mobile phone accessories. Here is the list:

1. Motorola H350 Bluetooth Headset (all colors)
2. Car and Travel Chargers (particularly for RAZR, BlackBerry Pearl, LG Chocolate and Samsung Blackjack)
3. Cases and Holsters (particularly for RAZR, BlackBerry Pearl, LG Chocolate and Samsung Blackjack)
4. Jabra BT125 Bluetooth Headset
5. Kingston 1GB Micro SD Memory Cards
6. Anycom Aris-21 Bluetooth Headset
7. Motorola H500 (Project Red)
8. Motorola Mobile Phone Tools 4.0 Software
9. Seidio High-Performance Extended Capacity Batteries (for Treo, BlackBerry and other smartphone devices)
10. Wi-Ex zBoost Wireless Signal Boosters

On this, Brian Westrick, the head of the company, did mention, “Music and multimedia phones like the Motorola Q, Samsung Blackjack, BlackBerry Pearl and LG Chocolate require more power and memory than traditional cell phones, which is driving our memory card, charger and extended battery business.�

So… would you be heading out and buying these listed accessories for your phone now?

[Via Wirefly]
[Image from Treonauts]

At first I thought it was a joke. But I guess it is not.

There is indeed a mobile phone condom and just like the usual condom, this one also protects your phone, well, not from getting pregnant, but from other stuff. Roger van Camp, 29, is the person behind this and he calls it ‘Skins’.

See, van Camp is a hands-on guy and he just likes to putter around with the usual chores. He does his own fence paintjob, takes care of his own garden, and works up his own vehicle. And when he does such, he gets really dirty hands. So he uses Skins so he can answer a call or send a text message while protecting his phone at the same time.

There is a Skins website and it claims, “With Skins, you can now protect your mobile and its information against damage from water, dirt, mud, paint, moisture and much, much more and stop you becoming one of those statistics!�

Good idea, if I may say so.

[Via Absolute Gadget]

[Image from Woodland Organics Distribution Ltd]

No, I do not mean that you should bring your mobile phone in bed with you. You see, what I am trying to say here is that why don’t you try and tuck in your mobile phone in its own bed.

Yes, there is a new mobile phone accessory and this one would allow you to let your mobile phone “sleep� in its own bed. You know, so that your gadget would be able to get some rest and be fully functional come the morning light.

You can try this new accessory out. It looks really comfy, don’t you think? I mean, sure, if I had to buy another bed for me, I’d choose to have something like this one. But since this is small, my mobile phone would have to be the one to spend the night resting here.

This product is imported from Japan though but come to think of it, you won’t have to worry about your mobile phone resting the night away on the hard and cold dresser or tabletop.

[Via Mad 4 Mobile Phones]

It is called an ultracompact LED (although its official name is PicoLED SML-P12) and I believe it measures only 0.04 by 0.02 inches. This cool keypad can be used for compact devices like small units for dot-matrix, and, you guessed it right, your mobile phone.

This ultracompact LED keypad has been designed and created by Rohm Co. Ltd. and I do certainly believe that this one really rocks.

The key pad also does come with various colors so you would not get bored using it. You see, according to Rohm, their device uses quite a high range of colors which includes red, green, yellow, white, blue, and orange. Take your pick.

The PicoLED SML-P12 can be quite useful in your everyday lives. It’s sold for 80 cents a piece but that is for the samples. It is not yet mass produced at the moment but in a couple of weeks, it soon will be.

[Via EE Times Asia]

[Image from Urbanzeitgeist]

One of the things that I hate about mobile phones is that it is so prone to scratches. And it is especially frustrating for me when I find out that the screen of my mobile phone gets slashed by these nasty scratches.

It is a good thing that I learnt about this new polyester film that is hard coated. This has been developed by MacDermid Autotype and this new mobile phone product is going to shield your mobile phone’s screen from scratches.

They call this new product the AutoForm PEG. Because it is hard coated, it is very resistant to the ugly scratches. And when you do use one, you would be so assured that your mobile phone’s screen would remain as clear as if you just bought it yesterday.

I believe that you can use this product for various models of mobile phones. And I’m looking forward to getting one for myself (and my mobile phone).

[Via Cellular-News]

[Image from University of Bath]

CEBIT has been the chosen place to let the public meet the very first universal mobile phone charger. And this gadget sure means that it can be used to give juice to all kinds of mobile phones you can find in the market.

Professor Luigi Colani is the person behind this gadget. Despite being 80 years old, he has been able to create the AnyFix, the given name to the universal mobile phone charger. Colani even did say that this charger can be used for more than 80% of those units which are already out in the European market.

Colani also boasts that the AnyFix holds a bio-design. All you need is to push a button and you can charge up whatever mobile phone you have there. However, the professor also did say that this one has been created not exactly so as to bring in sales and bring him money.

[Via Gizmag]

As a child, you may have dressed up your little dolls with clothes that you yourself has made. And now that you have all grown up and had set aside the dolls for mobile phones, you still have that knack for dressing them around.

You may not have all the time in the world to create your own dresses for your mobile phones right now but there are already quite a few ones that are available in the market. Like this set of mobile phone dresses that are available for you to buy and use on your phone.

They would not only give your mobile phone that really different kind of look but you also would be giving extra protection for your gadget. You see, the mobile phone dresses would work as a shield against scratches and nicks. Getting these little critters out can be quite a big deal for you so your mobile phone may just be better off dressed in these crocheted little things.

[Via popgadget]

You may be harboring a disease (or an illness) that need you to have medication on a given schedule. But old age may have already taken its toll on you so much so that the simple act of remembering to take your medications with you has become quite so hard. In fact, you constantly forget to take your medicines because you forget to bring it with you.

You may try using your mobile phone charm to place those pills and medicines in. Because you know that you would be bringing with you your mobile phone anywhere, you would most certainly be able to also bring your medicine with you. You can also put in a reminder on your mobile phone so that it would remind you when it is time eto take that pill.

Just make sure that your mobile phone charm has the right amount of space and storage to keep your medications. I believe there are some which are only sold for $6.50.

[Via Gizmodo]

Are you looking for the coolest? Or are you looking for the weirdest? Are you looking for the most bland? Or are you looking for the one with the most colors?

You may be confused on what you actually like for a mobile phone especially with the tons of mobile phones that look almost the same. The features sure are not a big deal for you anymore for almost every mobile phone in the market share the same ones.

So maybe you may want to try out this handset for your mobile phone that looks like a banana and is shaped like a banana. Its creator, Mockia, calls the handset the Banokia. Really cool name for such a weird phone!

If you own a mobile phone, you can connect it to the Banokia so you can use Banokia for the usual ways of using a mobile phone only that it looks quite different. But you would have to spend $25 to own this one. So you may want to think things over first before you do decide to buy this one.

[Via Gizmodo]