World / Mobile Communication
25 percent of European households shun landlines for mobiles
02.07.2008 04:23
engadgetmobile.com
Filed under: StudiesThough just over 10 percent of wireless Europeans are allegedly riding the 3G wave, the picture's looking a lot prettier when you compare the adoption rate of mobiles to their tethered equivalents. A survey commissioned by the European Union suggests that roughly 24 percent of households have moved exclusively to cellphones to take care of their telecom needs -- while Finland, Nokia's home turf, came in at a staggering 61 percent. In general, former Eastern Bloc countries are racking up a much higher incidence of mobile-only behavior, apparently because governments have found it easier to concentrate on building out wireless networks rather than a landline infrastructure that could see limited use (in-home broadband excepted, though that's another story altogether).[Via textually.org]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
World
Mobile Phones
Motorola ZN200 slider Announced in Brazil
02.07.2008 03:20
cellaz.com
Motorola announced its ZN200, a new slider handset in the ZINE line. It didn't make much noise, first of all because of its unattractive design and a less-than-expected 2Mpix (non-Kodak) camera, plus it has only 30MB. It will be available in Brazil alongside the Z10 for 499 reais (about $311) in a choice of black or pink, and will include a 1GB memory card.... [These are short news! Click for details]
World
Mobile Communication
Motorola announces ZN200 slider in Brazil
02.07.2008 01:25
engadgetmobile.com
Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, GSM, EDGE, UMTS The second model in Motorola's new ZINE line -- the ZN200 slider -- has officially broken cover, though it's with a whole hell of a lot less fanfare than the first. There are plenty of reasons for that noticeably lower-key intro, of course; a less-than-spellbinding design and unremarkable 2 megapixel camera (with no Kodak branding to be found, mind you) are the two standouts that come immediately to our attention, and the 30MB of on-board storage isn't helping the case, either. It should be launching in Brazil alongside the Z10 for $499 in your choice of black or pink, and Moto'll throw in a 1GB memory card for that price, too, just 'cause they like ya.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
World
Mobile Phones
NTT DoCoMo working on crazy wearable phone tech, as usual
02.07.2008 00:22
engadgetmobile.com
Filed under: NTT DoCoMo Much to the surprise of absolutely no one, there's a lab deep within NTT DoCoMo's hallowed halls where people -- very, very smart people -- are controlling music players with their eyes. This is the Japanese carrier's Frontier Technology Research Group, where people like Dr. Masaaki Fukumoto are perfecting the use of electrical signals generated by eye movements to change volume, skip tracks, and direct the attention of their cameraphones to specific objects to capture QR codes, all in an effort to eventually come up with a phone that requires virtually no finger fiddling whatsoever. Lazy, yes -- but a potential boon for the disabled, and something Fukumoto believes could be commercialized within a few years once his team gets the kinks worked out (translation: we'll see it outside Japan in about 20-odd years). Oh, and don't worry -- a part of that whole "commercialization" business involves turning that headgear into something just a little sexier.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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