Year: <span>2006</span>
Year: 2006

Year: 2006

New Walkman Phone Announced

Sony Ericsson unveiled their latest Walkman handset today at CES in Las Vegas. The W801i comes with Quadband GSM 850/900/1900/850 and EDGE support, dedicated music buttons in the joystick like the W900. Specs include a 2-megapixel camera with autofocus and flashlight, 1.9-inch 176×220-pixel 262k color screen, Memory Stick Duo Pro slot and 20-MB of internal memory. This latest design, however, apparently lacks the FM tuner. Scheduled to be available worldwide in the first quarter of 2006.

CES 2006 Preview

Said to be the world’s largest consumer electronics tradeshow, CES, gets underway 5-8 January, in Las Vegas. While not open to the general public, CES previews consumer electronics and wireless technologies, devices and networks from over 2,500 exhibitors. The conference program, keynotes, SuperSessions, exhibitor news and press releases announce thousands of products. Announcements for new products are available for broadband, home networking, mobile/vehicle electronics, personal electronics, satellite systems, telephones, video, WiFi and wireless communications, as well as mobile entertainment and consumer VoIP. Check out the Wireless TechZone for the full list of upcoming presentations.

GPS for your Yamaha Scooter

Wise Gear Ltd. has announced that the ‘First in Country’ GPS motorcycle navigation system, using an FM transmitter for voice directions, is on the road (literally) as of 26 December 2005. The Garmin Street Pilot 2610 package touts an 84mm x 44mm waterproof touch-screen with a 512-MB Compact Flash memory card and has easy-mount custom brackets for most late-model Yamaha bikes. The unit is also detachable, apparently to enable a little Nabis sidewalk surfing, and at approximately $1,500 per unit, appears to provide some much-needed curb-side theft prevention.

Panasonic and Skype Collaborate

Panasonic Communications have teamed up with Skype to develop Panasonic Internet calling products. As its initial offering, Panasonic plans to launch a Skype-compatible cordless telephone product that will enable select Panasonic cordless telephones to interface directly with Skype. With the new product, consumers will be able to make and receive Skype and traditional calls using the same Panasonic cordless phone. Panasonic’s future Skype-compatible products will give consumers access to Skype services including SkypeOut, SkypeIn and Skype Voicemail using a cordless phone and a computer running Skype.

Challenge Facing Foreign Handsets

At the end of last year, a group of procurement officials from NTT DoCoMo visited China to inspect Nokia’s mobile phone plant. The visit, ahead of the launch in February of the Finnish group’s handsets bearing the DoCoMo logo, was designed to reassure the Japanese carrier that Nokia’s facilities were up to its demanding standards. DoCoMo cancelled its initial contract and scaled back its procurement from Nokia when the launch was delayed due to the difficulty of installing i-mode, according to one official.