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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Canada Mobile Phone Revolutoin

Canada is on the brink of a mobile payments revolution that will empower consumers to turn their cell phones into “electronic wallets”—rendering plastic money, as we know it, obsolete.

Global payment giants Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. say emerging mobile payment technologies are not only poised to antiquate conventional credit and debit cards, but everything else we lug around in our wallets – including cash, loyalty cards, driver's licences and coupons.

Those smart-phone technologies, currently being tested around the world, are being billed as a game-changer for the payments industry.

There is already pent up consumer demand, prompting some experts to predict full availability of mobile payments in Canada in about 18 months. The industry, however, stresses it is important to manage expectations.

“I do think you are going to see some movement in 2011,” said Derek Colfer, business leader, global mobile product innovation at Visa Canada.

Still, he cautions the availability of mobile contactless terminals needs to be a “fairly ubiquitous” before Canadians can truly ditch plastic cards.

In fact, mobile payments represent a complex business opportunity that hinges on co-operation from a slew of stakeholders. Electronic payments networks, banks, mobile carriers, smart-phone manufacturers and retailers all need to get on board.

There is some traction on that front. Earlier this year, mobile handset manufacturer Nokia announced that all of its smart phones would be enabled with Near Field Communication technology starting in 2011.

“When you get a device manufacturer with that kind of power globally making a statement like that; that has impact,” Colfer said.

Near Field Communication, or NFC, is wireless technology that allows for the exchange of information between electronic devices over short distances.

The technology is generally embedded in the phone. That allows it to be waved in front of a contactless reader for mobile payment purposes, doing away with the need for plastic cards. After a purchase is made, a receipt is sent to the device.

In addition to emulating credit and debit cards, NFC-enabled phones have other capabilities including a “reader mode.”

That could allow consumers to hold their phones up near a “smart” poster, packaging or billboard to launch applications that access things like weather reports, electronic coupons or loyalty points.

The technology also has the potential to activate electronic home appliances. “You might actually use that to turn on your toaster,” observed Colfer.

Additionally, NFC allows for a “peer-to-peer” mode to link the phone with other devices through a secure connection to employ services like money transfers.

While NFC is only one type of mobile payments technology being explored, industry players are betting it will be the bellwether of the future.

Convenience is the key factor that will fuel consumer preferences for NFC, according to a report by professional services firm Deloitte earlier this year.

“I believe that we are 12 to 18 months away from full availability of NFC phones,” said Scott Lapstra, vice-president of market development with MasterCard Canada.

“It offers a more robust security and user experience in that you can actually control everything from the phone; including downloading new card information,” he explained.

“If you lose your phone, you can have the payment application turned off over the air. And it also allows you to lock the payment functionality by having you put a PIN on it.”

Nonetheless, the industry is also trying to whet consumers' appetites for other mobile payment solutions.

Among them are Micro SD (security data) cards that allow consumers to store banking information on mobile devices.

There are also payment stickers or tags that adhere to the back of mobile phones. Stickers, though, are considered less secure from a theft perspective. Moreover, they can destroy a phone's cool factor.

“The sticker can really wreck the aesthetics of an iPhone for example ... You slap a sticker on it and you really are not doing the design much justice,” Colfer said.

Both Visa and MasterCard have conducted test pilots of various mobile technologies in different countries around the world.

In Canada, Visa partnered with Royal Bank of Canada and Rogers Wireless in 2008. That trial used an NFC-enabled phone to make contactless payments using Visa payWave.

MasterCard, meanwhile, conducted an NFC pilot project in conjunction with Bell Mobility and Citibank, in 2008 using its comparable PayPass technology. It then conducted a second trial involving mobile tags with Bank of Montreal and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion that ended earlier this year.

Friday, October 22, 2010

LG GX500

General

2G Network


GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1

General Misc


GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 2

Announced


Not officially announced yet

Status


/a


. Exp. release 2010, 3Q

Size

Dimensions


108.9 x 53.4 x 13 mm

Weight


94 g

Display

Type


TFT resistive touchscreen, 256K colors

Size




Display Misc


- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate

Sound

Alert types


Vibration, MP3 ringtones

Speakerphone


Yes

Memory

Phonebook


1000 contacts, Photocall

Call records


Yes

Card slot


microSD, up to 16GB,

/a


Data

GPRS


Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps

EDGE


Class 10, 236.8 kbps

3G


No

WLAN


Wi-Fi 802.11b/g

Bluetooth


Yes, v2.0 with A2DP

Infrared port


No

USB


Yes, microUSB v2.0

Camera

Primary


3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus

Video


Yes

Secondary




Features

Messaging


SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email

Browser


WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML

Radio


Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording

Games


Yes

Colors


Black

GPS


No

Java


Yes, MIDP 2.0

Features Misc


- Dual SIM - MP3/eAAC+ player - MP4/H.263 player - Organizer - Document viewer - Voice memo - T9

Battery

Battery


Standard battery, Li-Ion

Stand-by


-

Talk time


-

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Latest Mobile Phones Review in Uk

Latest phone reviews
Sony Ericsson Xperia X8, Nokia C3, LG Cookie Lite T300, Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, HTC Desire HD, Nokia E5, Sony Ericsson Spiro, BlackBerry Curve 3G
This month's most popular mobile phones


HTC Desire reviewHTC Desire
The HTC Desire is one of the most impressive phones of all time. Despite being significantly cheaper than the iPhone, it can match or beat everything that the iPhone does. An Android smartphone with a fabulously responsive touchscreen, the Desire packs in a huge choice of apps, brilliant web browsing, one of the biggest and best screens ever, a good camera, a music player and GPS too. You want more? Add in a superfast processor, monster battery, WiFi and a 3.5mm headphone jack and you've got the perfect phone.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk (Graphite) or Mobiles.co.uk (White).


Samsung Galaxy S reviewSamsung Galaxy S
The Samsung Galaxy S is quite possibly the best phone on the market today. It runs the latest version of the Android operating system and has a host of world-beating features including a 4" Super AMOLED screen, HD video recording and playback, a superfast 1GHz processor, surround sound, GPS with Google Maps, a monster 8GB or 16GB of memory and good battery life.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk (8GB) or free from Mobiles.co.uk (16GB) or direct from Three (8GB).







Samsung Tocco Lite reviewSamsung Tocco Lite
The Tocco Lite is Samsung's answer to the LG Cookie. Available in black or pink it's a bargain touchscreen phone. Although it lacks 3G, it offers a fabulous fun user interface with easy access to Facebook and YouTube, plus all the features that you'd expect: a 3.2 megapixel camera, video recording, music player, FM radio with RDS, memory card slot and Bluetooth. Available free on contract with a choice of free gifts: from free line rental to a free laptop or XBOX 360.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental or a free XBOX 360 Elite from Mobiles.co.uk (Black) or Mobiles.co.uk (Pink) or Dialaphone (Pink); or £49.90 on PAYG from Mobiles.co.uk (Black or Pink) or £49.95 from the Carphone Warehouse (Black or Pink).


HTC Wildfire reviewHTC Wildfire
The HTC Wildfire brings Android technology to the budget smartphone sector. Incorporating the latest version of Android and HTC Sense plus a superbly responsive capacitive touchscreen, the Wildfire is both easy to use and supremely powerful, with access to thousands of apps. Combined with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, a media player, GPS, Google Maps, fast internet, a fast processor, plenty of memory and a big battery, this is quite probably the best smartphone in its price range. Available in Black, Graphite, Red or White.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk (Graphite) or Mobiles.co.uk (Silver) or Three (Graphite or Red); or £189.99 on Pay as you Go from Three (Graphite or Red).







BlackBerry 8520 reviewBlackBerry 8520
An entry-level BlackBerry Curve, with a new-fangled Trackpad to replace the annoying trackball on previous Curve models. The 8520 offers a full QWERTY keyboard, mobile e-mail, a basic camera and a media player, plus good memory and connectivity. But it cuts corners with the display, camera and lack of high-end features that are common in many smartphones.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk (Black) or Mobiles.co.uk (Violet) or Dialaphone (Black) or Dialaphone (White); or £149.95 on PAYG from Dialaphone (Black or White).


Nokia 5230 reviewNokia 5230
The 5230 is an entry-level touchscreen smartphone. Its key features are its large touchscreen, A-GPS with Ovi Maps, 3G, downloadable apps from the Ovi store and outstanding battery life. In other ways it's a disappointment, with a poor camera, a mono speaker, no WiFi and no video calling.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Dialaphone (Black) or free from Three (Black or White); or £77.95 on PAYG from the Carphone Warehouse (Black, Pink or White) or £78.95 from Dialaphone (White).







Samsung KP500 reviewLG Cookie
The LG KP500 is a touchscreen phone for those on a budget. It's a compact device but with a large touchscreen display that's easy and fun to use. With a 3.2 megapixel camera, a media player, an FM radio, Bluetooth wireless connectivity and a memory card slot, this phone has all the essentials. Although it misses out on 3G and a top class camera, it has most features that most people will want, and for the money you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than this!

Best buy: £49.90 on PAYG from Mobiles.co.uk (Black or Pink) or £49.95 from the Carphone Warehouse (Black or Pink).


Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 reviewSony Ericsson Xperia X10
The Sony Ericsson X10 is a superphone! It's a touchscreen smartphone running Google's Android operating system and layered with Sony Ericsson's unique user interface specially designed for the phone. It's supremely powerful, but very easy to use too. Tech specs include an absolutely enormous 4 inch screen, an 8.1 megapixel camera, GPS, HSPA, 1GB memory plus an 8GB memory card, and a monster battery.

Best buy: *Free* with free line rental from Mobiles.co.uk (Black).