mobile

Intel CEO predicts a more 'personalised' Internet

In a visionary speech to the CES trade show in Las Vegas, Intel chief executive Paul Otellini predicted the rise of a more "personal Internet" - one which will be proactive in serving users the information and entertainment they need in a more intuitive and personalised way.

Today's Internet, he said, is a "go-to" Internet.

"The Internet reacts to our requests rather than anticipating them," he told the conference at the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

In the future, he predicts Internet services will be more proactive, predictive and context aware.

"The Internet … Read more

T-Mobile to link Panasonic cameras to Google galleries

Panasonic announced a partnership Monday by which customers will be able to use forthcoming 802.11-equipped Lumix digital cameras to wirelessly upload photos to Google's Picasa photo-sharing site.

Panasonic announced the partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Buying the camera comes with a 12-month subscription to use any of T-Mobile's 8,500 wireless hot spots for free, similar to an earlier deal that Nikon announced with the telecommunications company.

Panasonic didn't share further details about the Wi-Fi-enabled camera.

Verizon Wireless SMT5800 debuts

Today, Verizon Wireless added a new smartphone to its lineup, and it looks to be a goody. Manufactured by HTC, the Verizon Wireless SMT5800 takes after the HTC Vox in design and boasts a compact cell-phone-like form factor yet manages to pack in a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard. There's also an alphanumerical dialpad on the exterior of the device.

The features are pretty much standard fare. It runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition and has a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 (with support for the A2DP profile), and EV-DO. Onboard memory is 128MB Flash/64MB RAM and comes equipped … Read more

ATI releases new laptop graphics

While AMD has been quiet on the CPU front at this year's show (unless you count the introduction of a logo as news), its graphics division has something of substance with the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000 series. This new laptop graphics lineup comprises two models, the HD 3400 and the HD 3600, and is optimized for AMD's next-generation mobile platform (codename Puma) due out next quarter. The new GPUs support DirectX 10.1 and PCI Express 2.0, and can display Blu-ray and HD DVD movies at full 1080p resolution. They also come equipped with ATI'… Read more

Hands on with the Ibiza Rhapsody

A few select reviewers got an early hand on the Ibiza Rhapsody player from Haier, but CES was my first chance and I walked away quite impressed, and wondering again why Microsoft hadn't done this much--or more--with the 2nd generation Zune player.

The devices are not exactly objects of art--the 30GB player, available now from Amazon.com for $288, is a simple metallic block, and the forthcoming 4GB and 8GB players look like smaller versions of the same design--but the screen is adequately bright and clear, and the company is offering a wide array of downloadable skins and themes … Read more

Yahoo hopes developers don't pass 'Go'

Updated at 12:10 p.m. to include potential Yahoo Mail features.

LAS VEGAS--Yahoo is hoping to prove it can be as mobile and open as its rivals.

As expected, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang used his speech at CES to announce several mobile efforts including a redesigned mobile home page and a beta of Yahoo Go 3.0, which is open to widgets created by outsiders.

However, for those in the crowd hoping to see the new face of Yahoo, he apologized.

"It's still the same old face," he said pointing to his head.

But, he said, … Read more

Talk cheap with Samsung BlackJack II smartphone, free with activation

It's a new year, so why not start it with a new phone? Buy.com has the Samsung BlackJack II smartphone for free, zilch, zip, nada with a two-year AT&T activation. Free shipping, even.

Like its popular predecessor, the BlackJack II runs the Windows Mobile OS (version 6, in this case). I'm not a fan, but if you can live with the abysmal navigation and sluggish performance, you'll find a lot of power under the BlackJack's slim hood. It features GPS, a 2-megapixel camera, and HSDPA support (which helps make up for the lack … Read more

Green light for Yahoo Go 3.0

As part of the Consumer Electronics Show extravaganza in Las Vegas this week, Yahoo has opted to announce the next iteration of its mobile offering, Yahoo Go. The new beta product arrives at a time when just about every other huge name in tech--Google, Apple, you name it--is making a bigger push for the handset market, and (slightly) smaller brands like Facebook and MTV have been tweaking their mobile products.

Yahoo, however, isn't about to put out a Yahoo Phone. The new Yahoo Go 3.0, rather, is a free downloadable application compatible with about 30 different handsets so … Read more

LG introduces MPH, a new mobile TV standard

Even though we as a country still haven't quite caught on to the idea of ubiquitous mobile television, it appears that LG is stepping ahead anyway in its introduction of yet another standard for mobile TV. Called MPH, or Mobile Pedestrian Handheld, this standard utilizes bandwidth from the existing ATSC signal to broadcast live television to an MPH-compatible product, be it a cell phone, a laptop, or an in-car navigation system.

This sets it apart from other mobile TV standards right now -- both Qualcomm's MediaFLO (which is behind Verizon's V Cast TV) and DVB-H utilize their … Read more