phones

MP3 player manufacturer Cowon has announced that their iAudio X5 MP3 player will soon be discontinued. To fill the void, reports claim that Cowon will release an iAudio X7 model sometime this summer. The X5 has enjoyed a loyal following since it debuted in 2005, due partly to its excellent sound quality. There's no word on exactly what the X7 has in store. Plenty of rumors abound and even a suspicious mock-up has surfaced.

Here's what we do know. Cowon's latest D2 MP3 player uses a touch screen. Cowon's upcoming Q5 uses a touch screen. The … Read more

Motorola CEO Ed Zander today took a page from the Steve Jobs school of product announcements when he showed off three new cell phones and two new smart phones at an event in New York City. After the "media monster" cell phone tuned out to be a handset that we covered already (the Moto Z8) we were thinking the whole thing might be bust. But then Zander saved the biggest news for last with the unveiling of the Motorola Razr 2.

As we told you yesterday, we've been hoping for a while now that Moto would give … Read more

Today, Motorola showed off a portfolio of new and some not-so-new cell phones and smart phones at a press event in New York. Along with the unveiling of the Razr 2, the company announced that the Motorola Q 9 (nee Motorola Q q9) would be available starting this week...in Italy. What the?! Motorola said it expected the Q 9 to ship in other parts of the world this summer, and let's hope this includes the United States. The Moto Q 9 will run Windows Mobile 6 and support HSDPA/UMTS networks for data speeds of up to 3.… Read more

Each week, we track the most popular ringtones.

Maybe it's due to the success of the Nintendo Wii, or it could be some magic mushrooms, but Koji Kondo's "Super Mario Brothers Theme" has jumped to the third spot on Billboard's Hot Ringtone chart. The ringtone has been in the top 40 for more than two years, and gamers of all ages can't help but smile when that classic theme plays.

The mustachioed one is behind Rascal Flatt's "What Hurts the Most," and Unk's "2 Step" on the charts. … Read more

The Boy Genius got his hands on a Cingular/AT&T sales brief for the upcoming Apple iPhone. Though we don't know for sure if the document is legit, it doesn't have any red flags that would denote it as a fake. And while it doesn't answer the biggest iPhone question (the release date), it predicts the handset's software will be five years ahead of any cell phone.

According to the document, presales of the iPhone will not be allowed, and there will be no waiting lists for interested customers. The document then repeats the … Read more

Apple won't say exactly when the iPhone will arrive, and you won't find it in any of AT&T's wireless stores, but eBay sellers are taking orders.

Apple's 8GB iPhone is available from several eBay sellers who promise to ship the coveted phone within 30 days of the date the item is purchased or when the listing ends, in line with eBay's policies on pre-sale listings. The iPhones went up for sale over the weekend, and several auctions are ending today with winning bids around $1,000--well over the starting prices of $499 and $599. … Read more

The Chinese manufacturer that came up with this "VIP 007" phone apparently had its decades mixed up when contemplating the retro-styled handset. Either that or it was particularly fond of Roger Moore, because the design of this so-called James Bond phone looks distinctly like one of those caveman versions (sorry, Geico guys) from the early '80s, though 50 or 60 pounds lighter.

True to that unfortunate form, this GSM handset sports a gigantic antenna and has its receiver on the edge of the phone, as shown on Akihabara News, but it does apparently have a color display to … Read more

Sure, smart phone users need productivity and work programs, but according to Handango's Yardstick (the company's quarterly sales report of software for smart phones and PDAs,) they also want entertainment applications, games, and even dieting software.

Business software was the most popular category (17 percent of sales), but entertainment apps (13 percent), and games (12 percent) weren't far behind. In fact, the BlackBerry best-seller list had three ringtone, one instant messenger, and one poker game applications.

An Outlook syncing program, PocketMirror Standard, topped the Palm OS list, and synchronization applications did well across the board, as expected. … Read more

Just when you got your hands on the Nokia N95 and the Nokia N75, it seems there's something cooler on the horizon (as usual). Images and specs have surfaced on two new Nokia N series phones: the Nokia N81 and the Nokia N82. The N81 looks to be a sleek quadband (EDGE; 2100MHz HSDPA-lovin') slider phone with 8GM internal memory, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. It's said to be replacing the music-centric Nokia N91 and comes equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the other hand, the Nokia N82 seems to be going the camera route with … Read more