Sagem vectroTEL X8 crypto phone

Sagem vectroTEL X8 crypto phone
Shh, keep this on the down-low, but there's a new crypto phone on the scene dubbed the vectroTEL X8 apparently manufactured by Sagem. It goes tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 and features a 240 x 320 pixel, 256k color display, Bluetooth, and 1.3 megapixel camera no self-respecting spy should be without. Clearly, the most important feature, however, is end-to-end call encryption via 1024-bit Diffie Hellman Key exchange and 128-bit AES encryption. Slap in a miniSD card / crypto module (with PIN activation) and you too can make "tamper proof" calls to uh, all the other nefarious peeps with vectroTEL handsets. So get to planning your conspiracy now kid, this game ain't for the shortsighted.

Palm Treo 700p approved by FCC

Palm Treo 700p approved by FCC
As much as we'd like to blame other parties for the long wait for Palm's Treo 700p (and we will, we will), there's one source for at least some of the wait: the FCC. According to public filings, the smartphone just cleared the government agency, paving the way for its impending rollout. Of course, Palm did file a confidentiality request with the FCC, so we're not entirely clear exactly when this baby got the thumbs up, but the important thing is that it did, which means nothing (short of mobs at Sprint and Verizon's stores) should stand in your way if you're planning on picking one up very soon.

The million dollar cellphone

The million dollar cellphone
How much would you pay for "the Bentley of cellphones"? $1,000? $10,000? Try a cool million bucks. This one-of-a-kind quad-band handset by Goldvish sports a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit, and as you'd expect from a seven-figure phone, features such amenities as Bluetooth, a camera with 8x digital zoom, MP3 playback, FM radio, included 2GB memory card and an EDGE connection (though curiously no 3G option or WiFi -- it seems a million bucks isn't what it used to be). For those of you not willing to drop such an obscene amount of money on a phone that even the designer likens to a boomerang, Goldvish also offers several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow, or white, starting at a much more reasonable $25,600.

Nokia's E50 business class quad-band cellphone

Nokia's E50 business class quad-band cellphone

Nokia just dropped their new E50 candybar for business users on a tight budget, i.e., anyone not employed by Google. Billed as the thinnest (which isn't saying much) of the E-series quad-band phones, the E50 goes S60 3rd edition and features the usual support for mobile corporate email solutions like BlackBerry Connect, Visto Mobile, and the like as well as featuring a 1.3 megapixel camera good for a little corporate espionage work and an MP3 player which doubles as that "can't talk now, on a call" boss impresser. And since it's business focused, it's corporate PBX-ready if the infrastructure is in place and supoprts two numbers linked to personal or bidness use. And yeah, they use the word "phone" more than a dozen times in the press release which means there's a run on cod liver oil in Espoo right about now.

Sony Ericsson's W850 Walkman tri-band GSM/UMTS slider

Sony Ericsson's W850 Walkman tri-band GSM/UMTS slider
Sony just announced their new W850 Walkman cellphone and this baby's hot. Available in black or white as designs tend to go these days, this tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 slider also delivers UMTS 2100. It comes pre-loaded with the latest Walkman 2.0 player 2.0 with TrackID allowing you to lookup and identify recorded music samples via the Gracenote Mobile MusicID service. Not only that, but it ships with a 1GB of Memory Strick PRO Duo'in storage (with up to 4GB supported) and features a horizontal mode 2 megapixel shooter with LED light. Rounding out the features are a 2-inch QVGA TFT 260k color display, RDS FM Stereo radio, and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP stereo audio. No price but we can expect these to ship sometime Q3 2006... in Europe. More pics after the break.

Microsoft blends platform lines with Live Anywhere

Microsoft blends platform lines with Live Anywhere
The latest ambitious endeavor by Microsoft might have "monopoly" written all over it, but we have a feeling they wouldn't want it any other way. Microsoft's new Live Anywhere that they announced at today's E3 keynote takes their Xbox Live concept and extends it to the PC, Windows Mobile and even Java-enabled phones. Whether you're at your PC or rocking a mobile, you'll be able to track your gamer tag, message friends, purchase content for that device or set it to download to another device, and of course compare rankings with your buddies on various gaming titles. Halo isn't going to run so well on your RAZR, so for actual cross platform titles, Microsoft is sticking with XBLA-esque games that can translate easily to different platform, such as Bejeweled. There will, however, be major games that can be played on your Vista PC and Xbox 360. Microsoft is banking heavily on third party support for Live Anywhere, in the form of mobile friendly value-adds for 360 games, and just straight up phone-friendly casual titles. In order to get more support, they're claiming to approach this from a "platform agnostic" (hah!) angle, and after supporting the 360, Windows Vista and Windows Mobile, will move on to Java, S60 and possibly even Palm if they deem it worth their while. Microsoft obviously has the muscle to launch a service like this, and the features they demoed look quite entertaining and welcome, but we'll still be (pleasantly) surprised if they actually manage to pull it off. Keep on reading for screenshots and impressions.

After the keynote we got a personal showing of prototype Live Anywhere functionality, mainly running off of a Windows Mobile device. Here's what we saw.
Teh Gamez. Once again, if you were hoping for some mobile version of Halo or even something like Geometry Wars, you'll be sorely disappointed. With that said, everything looked fairly snazzy, and there is definitely a difference between games supported by the more powerful Windows Mobile and those plain-jane Java phones.
In keeping with its XBLA roots, Live Anywhere allows for trials of games, which are suddenly terminated with a request for payment to purchase the full version. A bit janky, but at least they offer trial versions in the first place.
Be sure to bother MajorNelson with challenges to beat your high score, everybody else seems to.

That Gamercard is looking good.
There's enough platform support here already that it quickly seems like overkill.
Friends and what platform they're on.
Messaging isn't just email, it can include video, voice, or even game content
Java version doesn't look too different, but most of the games are different
Our friendly presenter.
They finished up with a bit of Gamercard trading, which works over IrDA between phones and syncs across all platforms. In this case they showed the Xbox 360 Dashboard show the request, ask for approval, and then update automatically once the request was approved with the other mobile phone. Pretty slick.

Nokia announces six games for N-Gage, N-series, S60 devices

Nokia announces six games for N-Gage, N-series, S60 devices
Just because you're a Mobile reader. doesn't mean you can't join in on the E3 fun. Nokia used the world's biggest gaming show to unveil several upcoming titles compatible with not only the N-Gage, but N-series and some S60 devices as well. Among the six games announced were three sequels to popular franchises, Space Impact, System Rush: Evolution, and ONE-Who's Next?, which improves upon the 2004 fighter with better graphics, frame rates, and support for landscape mode. The new titles also look rather promising, and include an Internet-enabled version of Texas Hold'em called Pocket Aces, which allows players to convert winnings into digital swag for their online avatars, and even allow those avatars to play in their stead. Rounding up the bunch are the N-Gage Arena-compatible Pro Series Golf and a fishing simulator called Creatures of the Deep that uses vibration feedback to enhance the otherwise boring activity of watching a fishing pole on your phone's tiny screen.

Pantech releases PG-6200 securityphone in Taiwan

Pantech releases PG-6200 securityphone in Taiwan
Pantech has just released a new handset for the security-conscious Taiwanese citizen who also wants some pretty capable multimedia features in his/her cellphone. To keep sensitive data out of the wrong hands, the tri-band PG-6200 features a fingerprint scanner rather curiously placed right above the smudge-prone two megapixel camera lens, along with a music player that handles MP3 and AAC files from either the 20MB internal memory or a microSD card. Other nice touches include Bluetooth (no word on A2DP compatibility, though) and JAVA 2.0 so you can get your Opera Mini-on, along with the obligatory email, SMS, and MMS functionality.

Treo 700w coming to Sprint this summer

Treo 700w coming to Sprint this summer
By now pretty much everyone (at least everyone who cares) knows full well that Sprint is getting ready to intro Palm's new Treo 700p sometime later this month, but what's been a little less clear is when (if ever) Sprint was going to get the Treo 700w, the Windows Mobile-powered version which Verizon currently has an exclusive on. Well, we don't have an exact release date, but a highly reliable source has been able to confirm for us that Sprint will indeed be getting the Treo 700w and that they'll be launching it about four to eight weeks after they launch the Treo 700p.

P.S. - Yup, that's the Verizon version of the 700w pictured above; we have yet to see any images of the Sprint-branded version.

T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless not supplying data to NSA

T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless not supplying data to NSA
If you make most of your calls via cellphone, there's a good chance your call records aren't being provided to the National Security Agency -- if, that is, you're using Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile and most of your calls are between you and other cellphone users. Both companies say they haven't supplied data to the government, with T-Mob specifically stating that it was not involved "in any NSA program for warrant-less surveillance and acquisition of call records, and T-Mobile has not provided any such access to communications or customer records." If you're a Cingular or Sprint Nextel customer, well, it looks like you're in the same boat as the vast majority of landline users: those companies refused to deny participation in the NSA program.

SavaJe releases Jasper S20 Java phone

SavaJe releases Jasper S20 Java phone
To call this new Jasper S20 from SavaJa much more than a Java phone would be doing it a disservice. It's basically a vehicle for introducing the SavaJe mobile Java platform to the world, with all sorts of developer functionality to allow for gaming, multimedia and other possibilities. As far as a phone goes, the S20 is a tri-band GSM unit, with a 2.2-inch 176 x 220 pixel screen, 1.3 megapixel camera, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 1.2, and miniSD expansion. There's only 4 hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby listed, and the phone is a bulky 0.8 inches thick, but if you're a Java developer or you just like dated tech running a relatively untested software platform, the Jasper S20 might be the phone for you.

Nokia and Digita Oy team-up to deliver DVB-H in Finland

Nokia and Digita Oy team-up to deliver DVB-H in Finland
You've heard of Nokia's DVB-H handsets (N92 to right) for months, but did you know they're also a major player behind the scenes? Nokia just inked a deal in their native Finland to supply Digita Oy with their MBS 3.0 service management platform for DVB-H mobile TV services. Nokia's MBS delivers consumer necessities such as an interface for searching services, an EPG, and the ability to set alerts for upcoming programs in addition to packing-in industry faves like OMA DRM 2.0 to protect content which can be offered within flexible pricing schemes. Digita, which already purchased those precious broadcast frequencies earlier this year, will operate the network and offer-up broadcast services to the likes of cellphone operators. Mobile TV services are expected launch later this year reaching 29% of the Finnish population by the end of 2006. So next time you hear Nokia slaggin' off DMB or Qualcomm's technically superior FLO mobile TV standards, well, now you know why.