mobile

Plant a tree, save a phone strap

Craver Kent German gave us an excellent tour last week through the bizarre and sometimes disturbing universe of phone straps and dangles that is Strapya-World, but it's not done yet: Its latest offering is going green.

The "Babytree Cell Phone Strap" features tiny capsules containing an assortment of equally tiny trees from various parts or the world from which you can choose, Tokyomango says. The trees--from Argentina, South Africa, Mexico, and the United States--are alive and, according to the Web site, will stay that way for six months as long as they're watered once or twice … Read more

Checking e-mail at 17,000 feet on Mt. Everest

China Mobile has opened a wireless service center and Internet cafe at an altitude of 17,000 feet at the Everest base camp, making it the world's highest such site, according to People's Daily Online.

According to reports, the Internet cafe is aiming to effectively protect the Olympic torch relay teams' communications needs at Mount Qomolangma in Tibet. China Mobile has built a business office and Internet cafe at an altitude of 5,200 meters at Mount Qomolangma base camp to provide mobile services and Internet services to government officials, mountain climbing members and journalists.

Maybe they'll … Read more

Could Sprint ditch Nextel? Makes sense

Is Sprint Nextel getting ready for a fire sale?

It sure looks that way following speculation around Wall Street on Monday of a possible sale or breakup of the beleaguered wireless operator. First, The Wall Street Journal reported that German phone company Deutsche Telekom was considering buying the company. Later the same day, another Wall Street Journal article cited sources who said Sprint Nextel is considering unloading its Nextel assets, a move that might make the $22.3 billion wireless operator more attractive to potential buyers.

While a Deutsche Telekom sale seems like a long shot, it's not surprising … Read more

First Look: WeFi hot-spot-finder

Not every social networking concept strikes gold, even when the coalescing factor is the common interest of finding a good Internet cafe. In the case of WeFi, a hot-spot-finding application with a social community tacked on, various CNET editors have raised a collective eyebrow at some of the more intense methods of attaining human connection, but largely agree that being able to chat with verified friends or nearby Internet surfers adds a useful dimension to the search for reliable Wi-Fi access in comfortable coffee shops.

This First Look at WeFi for Windows laptops and WeFi for Pocket PC tours WeFi'… Read more

Possible mid-September release for Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

Let the Xperia hysteria begin. Thanks to loose-lipped mobile content provider Handango, we may now know the general launch date of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. According to a newsletter Handango sent out to its partners, the highly anticipated Windows Mobile smartphone will launch in "mid-September 2008" with the Handango InHand service onboard. The company also noted that if partners want their software to be considered for the catalog, it must support "International English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish," so presumably, the smartphone will be available in appropriate markets. Now, we're not taking this as … Read more

No new 3G phones for T-Mobile (yet)

Remember last October when T-Mobile launched the Samsung SGH-T639? Though the carrier lacked a 3G network at the time, the SGH-T639 debuted with support for 3G UMTS services. When we asked T-Mobile what was up, a representative responded by saying that the SGH-T639 "is positioned to be among the first devices to take advantage of a future UMTS network." No, we weren't satisfied with that answer, either.

But starting Monday, that time has come. Less than an hour ago T-Mobile announced it was launching its long-anticipated 3G network in New York City. More markets are expected later … Read more

HTC Touch Diamond to be announced tomorrow?

Fact: HTC will hold a press conference in London tomorrow (May 6) to make an announcement that will highlight the "next wave of HTC innovation." Rumor: the company is expected to introduce the HTC Touch Diamond, the next-gen HTC Touch, as well as a couple of other possible smartphones. Now, we're not really ones to gossip but chances are fairly good that the Touch Diamond will, in fact, show its pretty face tomorrow.

The rumors have been swirling around the blogosphere for a couple of weeks now, but just last week HTC executive Cheng Hui-ming confirmed the … Read more

T-Mobile launches 3G network in NY

T-Mobile USA said Monday that it's finally launching its long-awaited 3G wireless network.

New York will be the first city to use the new network, which will initially use a technology called UMTS, or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, but will eventually use an even faster technology standard called HSDPA, or High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. T-Mobile will continue rolling out the network across other major cities throughout the year. By the end of the year, the company expects that its high-speed data network will be up and running in most major metropolitan areas.

T-Mobile, which is a distant fourth place … Read more

T-Mobile 3G launch should come early next week

As we expected, May 1 did not bring a formal announcement of T-Mobile's anticipated 3G network. But according to RCR Wireless News, the long-waited launch will come next week. The magazine didn't cite any specific sources in its story, but it promised that in the next few days the carrier would reveal its 3G plans for New York City and beyond. Also, RCR refuted earlier reports that T-Mobile's wireless broadband network would not support data. The story didn't give details on potential 3G devices, but T-Mobile should be ready to go on that front. The carrier … Read more