I wasn’t expecting something like this, but Total Telecom came out with a report saying that Africa has more mobile phone subscribers than North America. Could that be the cause (picture) ?

Quoting Wireless Intelligence, “The number of mobile phone users in Africa exceeded 280 million in the first quarter of this year and will reach the 300 million mark next month“. If we count US and Canada together they have some 277 million subscribers so here’s Africa slapping North America …

via Textually

It was time for us to take a closer look to what the new Sony Ericsson G900 has to offer. This is more like a review because I plan to take it on all sides and look closer to all the details we have about the new G900.

First thing I start with, when I do a preview/review is to see what it has inside and never judge on a first impressions. So let’s start it.

• GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 + UMTS 2100
• 2.4-inch TFT display with 256k colors (240 x 320 pixels)
• 160 MB built-in memory
• Memory Stick Micro (M2)
• GPRS Class 10
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, image stabiliser and flash (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• secondary video call camera
• FM Radio
• Busines card scanner, picture editor/blogging, handwriting recognition, document reader and editor
• Li-ion 950 mAh battery for up to 380h in stand by and 12 hours of talking

These are all interesting features to have inside but let’s take a closer look.

Sony Ericsson G900 PROs

Though it’s pretty identical (at least physically) with its G700 brother the new G900 has a few additions and I’m talking about the interesting 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and image stabiliser. Don’t have your DSLR with you one day, take the picture with your phone. The transreflective display is also something that comes in as a nice surprise and makes it extremely legible under direct sunlight just like Nokia and Apple iPhone.

Another thing that got my attention is the fact that not only it weighs the same 99g as the G700 but it also has the same dimensions : 106 x 49 x 13 mm. So how come they managed to pack more features in the same case? Glad they did!

The keys. They are large enough and the navigation D pad offers a nice response. It’s easy to use.

Sony Ericsson G900 CONs

First thing that I didn’t like is the fact that removing and inserting a memory card has not been made easier. It’s still the old game of using something a sharp pointer (the stylus). Another thing is that the card slot is nowhere to be seen: remove the battery to access it. Too bad it’s not telescopic and too short.

The 960 mAh BST-33 Li-Po battery doesn’t seem to be as good as they say. It seems to be a poor battery for such an electricity eater, the G900 is, but it will take time until we have one in hour hands to confirm it in real life.

Design. Just to build it in the same conservative way of manufacturing mobile phones, Sony Ericsson sacrificed a bit on the design and it cost the new G900 on ergonomics and user friendliness.

These are our thoughts on the G900 so if you have your own, let us know.

Were you expecting it? I wasn’t, but I bet those Japanese with their funky ringtones do. Apparently the new mobile phones from NTT DoCoMo will be equipped with fragrance cartridges accessed via IR if and when you want to download a fragrance playlist on your mobile phones. These are all funny words but it’s going to be real.

But wait, the weirdness is not over. NTT DoCoMo is ready to partner with mobile content providers to match the scent with your horoscope, the weather or the music you listen.

Do you think they’re going to get market share? Probably, in Japan!

via TokyoMango

Announced four months ago during the 2008 CES in Las Vegas, rumors say that the new Motorola RIZR Z10 is going to be available for sale, from April 14, but we have a few hints before other so here is a quick review.

I’ve checked TestFreaks and I must tell you the specs are very interesting.

• 3.5G HSDPA
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• runs UIQ 3.2 Symbian OS v9.2
• 2.2-inch crystal clear QVGA display (240 x 320)
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and auto-save
• Superfast burst that allows up to 3 images / second
• xenon flash for the camera
• a secondary VGA camera
• microSD slot for expandable memory up to 32GB
• Bluetooth
• miniUSB v2.0

I’ll start with the PROs as usual.

The new Motorola RIZR Z10 is actually a pocket sized complete mobile film studio that can shoot high quality video clips, is able to edit and to create transitions between scenes. You also get to add a soundtrack and title slides if you want to.

With these in mind I’m sure it would be a great tool for vloggers (video bloggers) because it supports Youtube, Google, Yahoo and ShoZu for fast image and video uploads.

What are the CONs?

There aren’t much I can comment on, but this sure doesn’t sound like a perfect phone so I have to be mean. So what I would add to make it perfect? Probably FM Radio with RDS and WLAN.

The new Samsung SGH-a827 Access was announced these days to be the first (of two) MediaFLO TV compatible GSM phone for AT&T, that the South Korean manufacturer has built. It’s a quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) GSM mobile phone with 3G support that has some interesting features including stereo Bluetooth, stereo speakers, Wireless, microSD card slot and a 1.3 megapixel camera.

The candybar shaped cellphone comes with a 2.3-inch screen display that was optimized for better TV viewing and offers “exceptional” Mobile TV reception though it doesn’t have a whip antenna. Samsung SGH-a827 Access will also feature Video share, IM and mobile email.

AT&T will launch Mobile TV this year, in May, the same month when SGH-a827 Access will go on sale.

via MobileBurn

BlackBerry 9000 is on its way. You can spot it in the photo above in the right side. The phone comes with an elegant steel margin and looks a lot like the iPhone, I could say. It has full QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi and HSDPA. BlackBerry 9000 has also a new user interface, a new set of icons and some slick animations. Among other features I could mention here are a built-in GPS, a 2 megapixel camera, a 480 x 320 display and of course a trackball.

Rumors say that BlackBerry 9000 could be available either in May, June or August.

via Engadget Mobile

High Tech Computer (HTC) has just named its Android-based mobile. Called “Dream”, the phone would be the first one that runs Google’s software. Nevertheless, a rumor about a Samsung devices was stated in the news. Samsung also develops an Android-based mobile because they are part of Open Handset Alliance too.

A 5-inch long and 3-inch wide Dream will sport a large touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard that will slide underneath the screen. HTC tries to deliver a phone perfect for emailing and web surfing. The Internet navigational keys are placed just below the screen. Also I can tell you that we should expect the Dream by the end of the year. There is no information about multimedia capabilities, storage or network compatibility.

The Open Handset Alliance’s project - the Android - will become the alternative to Windows Mobile and Linux Mobile. Thus many major mobile manufacturers will migrate for the new powerful mobile software.

via Yahoo News

It’s not everyday that I see someone brave enough to say that their mobile phone is able to offer 1 year stand-by. Here we have the Chinese LionKing800 that is able to last 3-5days with a full battery from a 16,800 mAh battery. It’s a GSM900 / DCS1800 mobile phone that allows dual SIM cards, has a 3.5-inch display that does 320 x 240 pixels, 256 MB of memory (microSD), Bluetooth 2.0 and two cameras.

via Mobile Bulgaria

It’s not unusual to see a great phone getting diamonds. Here we have the new Nokia E90 that was pimped by Peter Aloisson with 408 diamonds and an 18 carat white gold shell. No other specs have changed expect the luxurious aspect, which if you want, you’ll have to pay about $80k.  I don’t know if I would pay that much for it or get the money and spend it with my buddies on an island. What would you do?

via NokNok

The Okids Phone concept has been created by Nam Sung-kyu and published on the website Idealist. I find the idea quite intriguing. The author proposes a phone for 5-6 years old kids. Perhaps you too think about supervising your children all the time. So this solution might be a great one.

The Okids mobile won’t do too much. It would have some dedicated buttons for speed dialing - father, mother and emergency. The interesting fact is the phone can twist and transform into a heart. Also the heart becomes a Tetris game. Brilliant! It could be very successful!

via Dvice