Mobile Choice Blog

Fuwa Phone: the official kiddie mobile of the Beijing Olympics

Looking for a cutesy-yet-rare mobile handset to make your friends think you're a gadget maven? Of course you are. Check out the Fuwa phone, which is being launched in China as part of the build-up to next year's Olympics.

The character is Fuwa Huanhuan, who's the official Games mascot. You get a 1.5-inch screen, a 256MB memory card, music and video playing capabilities, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Well, it is designed for children: they're not so fussy when it comes to specs. Probably.

Maybe the organisers of the 2012 London Olympics should get working on a similar idea for that event, as long as they don't use that godawful official logo, of course. We'd shun any phone that featured that.

(via New Launches)

New York subway to get mobile reception

Bad news for anyone who enjoys the blessed relief of travelling underground without hearing people blather away on their mobiles. New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that all 277 of the city's subway stations are going to be kitted out with mobile masts.

However, it's not as bad as it seems: the actual tunnels will still have no reception, meaning that commuters will be able to make and take calls while waiting for trains, but will have to keep quiet when actually on board.

If anyone's reading from London Underground, we have one message for you: RESIST! The Central Line is bad enough in rush hour without having to listen to foghorn-voiced city blokes shouting about their latest bonus.

(via Textually)

3G touchscreen watch makes telling the time a high-tech treat

People have been banging on about watch-phones for years now, yet they've still not taken over the world. It's unlikely the IMOBILE Flying C1000 will change that state of affairs, but if you're a full-blown gadget geek, that won't stop you wanting one.

It's a mobile phone with 60MB of built-in memory, and the ability to play MP3s and video files (not that you'll have room for many of either in 60MB, but we hope there's also a memory card slot). It's got Bluetooth built-in so you can use a Bluetooth headset for voice calls, and even has a touchscreen - so you can control it by jabbing at the screen with a mini stylus.

Don't expect to see it in Carphone Warehouse any time soon, but if you're planning a visit to Hong Kong, it might be worth picking one up. Now, when are Swatch going to get their behinds into gear to make something like this?

(via Akihabara News)

Hidden iPhone feature: it's got Sauna compatibility!

Anyone in Finland who owns an iPhone will know this already, but just in case you were wondering: yes, Apple's handset does still work if you take it into the sauna with you.

SMS Text News blogger Ewan MacLeod has proved it, although he did wrap the handset in a towel to keep it away from the direct heat. Sadly, he didn't then whip it with birch twigs and dip it through a hole in a nearby icy lake...

(via SMS Text News)

Japanese people love the mobile internet

Everyone assumes that Japan is lightyears ahead of the West when it comes to mobile phones, even if the gap's narrower than it used to be. But new statistics released by analysis firm ComScore appear to bear out the theory that Japanese mobile users are more advanced than us Europeans.

The research claims that in June this year, almost as many people accessed the internet via a mobile device there as through a work or home PC (the exact figures are 53.6 million and 53.7 million respectively). The same report reveals that Japanese mobile users spend on average 8.1 hours a month surfing on their phones. 8.1 hours!

Meanwhile, 80% of Japanese people have taken a photo using their mobile, while 40% have used their hanset's barcode reader (ah, yes, that's something they are ahead in), while the most popular types of mobile internet usage are (in order): email (75% of users), news/information (52%), and search/navigation (51%).

(via MocoNews)

Nokia 6301 wants to give your home phone the boot

What do we think of UMA? Well, she was good in Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill movies, but she's gone off the boil a bit since. Oh, hang on... No, UMA is nothing to do with Ms Thurman - instead, it's the acronym for Unlicensed Mobile Access technology, which is about combining mobile with Wi-Fi based landlines.

Nokia has just announced its latest UMA phone, the 6301. When you're out and about, it's a normal mobile phone, but when you get back home, it connects to your home Wi-Fi network to act as your landline too. Nokia is working with operators to sell the handset, with Orange already signed up - although we're not sure if that means Orange UK yet.

There's been a lot of talk about mobile phones killing off landlines in the past, but if UMA catches on, that supposed battle will become a moot point. We think one nice touch is that you'll automatically put the phone into a charging dock when getting home, so running out of battery life when out and about should become a thing of the past.

Navizon launches virtual GPS for iPhone using Wi-Fi positioning

The iPhone doesn't have a GPS chip inside for proper satellite navigation, but rumour has it Apple may include the feature in its next-generation iPhone, which is due out next year. However, a new 'virtual GPS' iPhone application from Navizon may prove whether such a feature is much desired by users of Apple's handset.

The application works by calculating your position using cellular signals and Wi-Fi access points, which apparently lets it get your position down to a few hundred feet. That's not good enough for turn-by-turn driving navigation, but fine for pinpointing your local area and serving up maps.

The app has launched in the US, and has a free trial period of two weeks, after which users have to pay $25. If Apple is considering introducing full GPS, they'd be wise to keep an eye on the popularity of Navizon's application.

(via NaviGadget)

Mobile advertising reaches a lucrative audience

There are lots of companies looking to make their fortunes from mobile advertising, but it's still quite early to decide whether they're on the right track. However, a new survey conducted by M:Metrics and AdMob indicates they might be.

According to the survey, 65% of people who respond to ads on AdMob's publisher network are in the 18-34 age bracket that's much coveted by advertisers. The survey also suggested that advertisers can easily target specific types of people, for example by gender or ethnicity, by advertising on certain sites.

In theory, this means more targeted advertising, which won't be seen as intrusive by mobile users, because it'll be more relevant to their interests. However, it's fair to say that the biggest advertisers will need more data than this before they plough serious money into mobile advertising. As we said, it's early days...

(via MobileCrunch)

Top 5 reasons to buy a UK iPhone

The iPhone goes on sale in the UK on 9th November, so should you be digging your wallet out to hand over £269 to Apple and O2? There are plenty of pros and cons to Apple's handset, so we thought we should round them up. Today, it's the five reasons to splash your cash on an iPhone, but don't worry cynics: we'll get to the reasons to hold back tomorrow.

1. The user interface is streets ahead of the competition. There are other touchscreen phones, but their UIs simply don't compare with Apple's super-usable iPhone interface. Navigating between applications, through your songs, and surging websites is seamless.

Orange gives no Christmas cheer to Nokia and Motorola

They might together account for over half of all mobile sales, but it seems Nokia and Motorola have fallen off Orange's Christmas (SIM) card list. The Register has noticed that in Orange's Christmas handset line-up, there aren't any new phones from either manufacturer, despite them being respectively first and third in the phone makers chart.

There's already speculation that Nokia's absence is due to its decision to launch the Nokia Music Store in competition with the operators' own services, but that argument wouldn't apply to Motorola, which has stuck to its guns in making its handsets work with the operator offerings.

It's not great news for either manufacturer, although it's not exactly tip-top for Orange users hoping to upgrade to the latest shiny phone from Nokia or Motorola. It's more evidence of the upcoming battle between operators and manufacturers as the latter try to launch their own mobile services though.

(via The Register)