Terminal Technology
Terminal Technology

Samsung's 1.5-GB HDD Phone

Samsung Electronics have unveiled the SPH-V5400 handset [.jpg image], the first-ever mobile phone with an internal hard disc drive. The company’s latest innovation, which also comes with a mega-pixel camera, is currently being exhibited at ITU Telecom Asia 2004. The phone is equipped with a 1-inch diagonal, 1.5-GB hard disc drive; conventional cellys have a maximum of about 100MB of RAM memory. The breakthrough product will be available for Korean consumers in mid-September.

New 3G Memory Design Announced

Three of Japan’s major electronics manufacturers have agreed on a standard interface specification for a type of memory in 3G mobile phones that will allow the companies to use a common component design to help phones function better. The companies will begin production of memory parts based on the specification in March 2005, according to a statement.

Panasonic Develops Integrated Platform For Next-Gen Consumer Electronics

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic brand of consumer electronic and digital communications products, today announced it has developed a new multimedia processor-based platform. The platform, that is to be applied to a wide range of digital appliances including mobile phones and audiovisual equipment, facilitates software development of digital consumer electronics and improves productivity and software design. The new platform can accelerate the speed products are introduced to the market by more than five times the current rate, develop higher sound and image quality, lower power consumption, fortify security, and enhance responsiveness.

Samsung Plans NCF Function

Samsung and Philips announced they are teaming up to incorporate Near-Field Communication technology in future cellphone models from Samsung, giving users the ability to use their phones to make payments. Incorporating an NFC chip from Philips in Samsung’s phones will effectively turn the handsets into contactless smart cards, with the ability to make payments, according to a joint statement. The phones could also be used as a key card to enter a building, for example, this is the same technology, by Sony, that powers mobile FeliCa by in Japan.

Opera Offers KDDI Browser for BREW

Opera Software today announced it will deliver Opera’s port for the BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) application development platform with KDDI, Japan’s second largest mobile operator. “Opera’s full Internet browser offers the greatest advantage with the high-speed and efficient data communication capabilities of the 3G CDMA network,” says Dr. Seiichiro Sakai, Director, Product Management Department, Service & Product Planning Division.