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The latest technology that is becoming more and more popular in mobile phones is NFC, here we have a brief look at what it is and how its going to change your life.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a new, short-range wireless connectivity technology that evolved from a combination of existing contactless identification and interconnection technologies. Products with built-in NFC will dramatically simplify the way consumer devices interact with one another, helping people speed connections, receive and share information and even make fast and secure payments.

NFC provides intuitive, simple, and safe communication between electronic devices. NFC is both a “read” and “write” technology. Communication between two NFC-compatible devices occurs when they are brought within four centimeters of one another: a simple wave or touch can establish an NFC connection, which is then compatible with other known wireless technologies such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

NFC can be used with a variety of devices, from mobile phones that enable payment or transfer information to digital cameras that send their photos to a TV set with just a touch. The possibilities are endless, and NFC is sure to take the complexities out of today’s increasingly sophisticated consumer devices and make them simpler to use.

Making purchases, accessing facilities and transportation systems, and getting information on the fly is about to get much easier. Consider the intuitive simplicity of holding an NFC-enabled mobile phone close to a terminal to purchase products or services – just touch and go. Think about how easy it would be to set up your wireless home office just by holidng your PC, keyboard, display, and mouse close together. Imagine downloading an MP3 of your new favourite song in seconds while you’re on the road. How would you like to stroll right into a sports arena without needing paper tickets? Consider how simple public transportation would be without cash, cards, or tokens.

Millions of people around the globe already have experience with NFC-enabled products and services. In Europe and Asia, trials of this exciting new technology have successfully illustrated how people carrying mobile phones or smart cards with built-in NFC can make purchases, get directions, exchange information, and buy transportation simply by bringing them close to NFC-enabled devices embedded in:

• Information kiosks
• Retail registers
• Advertising signs
• Street posters
• Vending machines
• Thousands of other devices, systems and signage

Current UK Trials

NFC is going to be huge in the future and will be another nail in the coffin of cash sales

For further information see NFC Forum

Dave at Mobility Today has found a very interesting video showing some features of the HTC Diamond that we have not heard about before.

John Wang Chief Marketing Officer for HTC goes over these hidden features and they are extremely interesting features that make you think  “Why didn’t Microsoft think of these. Read on for the video.

via Mobility Today

P960 is also the world’s first DVB-H mobile TV phone that supports both of European mobile TV standards, Digital Video Broadcast – Convergence of Broadcast and Mobile Service (DVB-CBMS) and Open Mobile Alliance Mobile Broadcast Service Enabler Suite (OMA-BCAST). DVB-CBMS is DVB Forum initiated DVB-H standard based on DVB-T standard, currently available in Italy through H3G, TI and Voda.

It will soon become available in France, Belgium, Poland and Russia. OMA-BCAST is OMA initiated DVB-H standard known as the next generation DVB-H solution. It will first become available in Netherland and will continue to be adopted in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

P960 offers an optimized television-on-the-go experience with a large 2.6” QVGA TFT screen with vivid 262K color image-enhancing DNIe. TV watching experience is enriched by numerous innovative DVB-H features such as Electronic Service Guide (ESG) that provides an on-screen TV guide and Picture in Picture (PIP) that allows users to view two channels at once, and Time-Shifting feature that shifts TV program schedule when a show is interrupted by incoming calls. P960 also proudly features Bang & Olufsen ICEPower® technology for a professional quality audio experience. The battery life of 1200mAh ensures up to 5 hours of TV watching time.

In addition to DVB-H technologies, P960 also offers satisfying entertainment features to meet even end-users needs. A 3 megapixel camera with power LED, a music player with Music Library feature and codec support, a FM radio with RDS for around the clock news and music, are all included in P960 to provide the users convenience and enhancement in both audio and visual entertainment life.
As SAMSUNG mobile’s well-known reputation, P960 does not compromise an outstanding design with technologies. The device features all the up-to-date technologies within a slim 16.7mm thin metal body, softly brushed with hairline pattern.

Mark Mitchinson, Vice President of SAMSUNG’s UK and Ireland Mobile division, said P960 is a milestone for mobile TV technology, as the launch of the device will signify the beginning of DVB-H phone era in Europe.

DVB-H was officially endorsed by the European Union as the “preferred technology for terrestrial mobile broadcasting” on March 18. It is an effective technology for deploying broadcast mobile TV among the many digital technologies available to deliver mobile TV services. DVB-H technology offers high service level quality, very low in battery consumption, and offers the end-users the ability to simultaneously receive broadcasts while using other mobile services such as telephony and internet access on their device.

SAMSUNG P960 Specifications
Standard: HSDPA Tri-band (900, 1800, 1900 MHz) 3.6Mbps
Display: 2.6” 240×320 TFT 262K
Camera: 3-megapixel Camera + CIF
Features: ESG Support, PIP, Bluetooth technology v 2.0, Mobile Blog, DVB-H Multitasking, Music Library, FM Radio with RDS
Memory: 90MB (microSD)
Size: 102 x 53 x 16.7

You have to give credit to The Boy Genius, he manages to get devices well before anyone else and the new Nokia E71 is no exception. I have to say this Nokia E series looks way better than any of the other E series devices I have seen before and the build quality looks very good.

It’s the perfect size — a cross between the Nokia E51 and E61 — and it’s built like a tank. Did we mention that it has US 3G bands? Oh, ok then. The keyboard is going to take some getting used to, but it’s worlds better than the old E61 and E61i. Also, this bad beast of an Eseries is thin, and thin is in folks. It is noticeably thinner than the reigning thin smart phone champ, the iPhone. All in all, we can’t seem to put this thing down.  In terms of specs, the E71 we have is a quad-band GSM EDGE phone with 850MHz/1900MHz UMTS/HSDPA. It’s rocking a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Via The Boy Genius

Our friends over at TamsPPC site have managed to get some specs on the forthcoming GSM Treo 850.

They have a source within Palm allegedly who has given them the specifications as printed on the packaging, it all sounds pretty believable to us, until that is they mention 32 Mb Ram, surely not!!! We all know that 128Mb is the sweet spot for Windows Mobile Professional devices.

Specifications

• 14 mm in thickness, width 60 mm and length 113 mm
• GSM, EDGE and UMTS HSDPA 3.6
• assisted-GPS receiver
• Wi-FI b/g
• 320*320 screen, touch panel
• micro-SD slot under the battery
• 2 MP camera
• 1500 mAh battery
• a micro-USB connector for both power and sync
• bluetooth 2.0 EDR + A2DP, 256 MB NAND-Flash (> 175 MB for user), 32 MB SDRAM
• Windows Mobile Pro 6.1.

Via TamsPPC

Pic via TBG

Just changed my car to a BMW 3 Series and I have been looking around for a while at ways of integrating my iPhone with my car stereo so I can enjoy podcasts and my music collection while I am driving. I have tried many FM transmitters before and although they are a quick and easy solution the sound quality just does not cut it for me. I eventually stumbled upon the Denison Gateway 100.

  This small black rectangular box connects into the rear of your car stereo via a supplied cable harness (Specific to car model) and then provides two inputs, one for your ipod and a 3.5mm jack for any other mp3 player etc.

Installing the kit was really easy apart from one bit, more on that later, you simply remove the factory fitted stereo, unclip the existing cable connections, plug the existing connections into the new harness and plug the new harness into the stereo. The kit can be supplied with a proper cradle for the ipod (only available for ipod video or older at this time), or a standard ipod flyng lead with the normal dock connector. I went for the latter as I wanted to use it with the iPhone.

Now comes the hard bit, with the extra cable harness and black box clogging up the small slot where you withdrew the stereo from originally you have to get your hand in and try and get the cables etc out of the way so the stereo can be positioned back inside. This was very difficult to do and took me about half an hour to get it back in with a lot of cursing and skin removed from my knuckles.

Once complete I finished the installation with a brodit mount for the iPhone which is a fantastic mounting solution, plugged it in and turned the stereo to CD changer mode and wow was I blown away.

I have full control of the iPhone screen for selecting tracks etc and the sound produced through the stereo is simply fantastic quality just like listening to a CD.

The iPhone is charged whilst it is playing and works fine with my existing bluetooth headset or wired headset for calls at the same time.

This is a fantastic solution if you are looking to integrate your iPod or iPhone into your standard car stereo, highly recommended.

Steve Trotto over at Mobility Today has also just installed the brodit / Proclip in his car, you can check out his thoughts here.

Virgin Mobile today announced plans to sponsor Channel 4’s biggest event of the summer, Big Brother 9.

Following the success of its involvement in Big Brother 8 and Big Brother Celebrity Hijack earlier this year, Virgin Mobile will be the lead sponsor for the second year running. New sponsorship idents are being created for the new series, primarily featuring Virgin Mobile, but also other Virgin Media services.

James Kydd, managing director of marketing and brand for Virgin Media said: “Big Brother is a ratings powerhouse, it is a perfect fit with the Virgin Mobile brand, and the audience it delivers includes many of our customers and staff.

Big Brother is still the biggest reality TV phenomenon on the box and we’re really pleased to be aligned with the show again. When it’s not being broadcast on Channel 4, we look forward to keeping fans up to date via our mobile, TV and web portal platforms.”

Now in its ninth year, Big Brother has withstood the test of time and due to its ground breaking content, is still hugely popular with viewers UK-wide. In 2007, the show reached more than 80 pc of 18-34 year olds (a total of 11.5 million 16-34s) and in general averaged around 4 million viewers per show. Out of the top 20 highest rating shows over the summer last year for 16-34’s, nine of these shows were Big Brother episodes.

“Big Brother is still immensely popular and resonates with the youth and popular culture in general today. We’re looking forward to meeting the housemates and seeing what Big Brother has in store for them soon,” said James Kydd.

David Charlesworth, head of sponsorship at Channel 4, added, “We’re delighted to have Virgin back on board for BB9. Virgin Media are perfectly suited as they offer multi-platform opportunities that help satisfy consumers’ insatiable appetite for all things Big Brother.”

via Virgin Mobile

HTC TyTN II WM6.1 available on HTC.com site as of 5/23/2008.

Summary of features:
* Messaging now comes wit auto-complete feature for message recipients.
* Direct Push version 2 reduces bandwidth usage by up to 60% and improves battery life by an average of 33%.
* Threaded SMS lets you see exchanged messages (similar to a chat program) with a contact on the screen.

* Internet Explorer Mobile – Zoom Level has replaced Text Size in the View menu. Navigating large-sized Web pages is easy by using the Page Overview feature.
* Windows Mobile 6.1 supports the Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP) for Bluetooth that allows for the transfer of phone book information between Bluetooth devices.
* Windows Mobile 6.1 supports System Center Mobile Device Manager. System Center Mobile Device Manager is a server-side solution that provides a more secure and efficient management of Windows Mobile-powered devices.
To get this upgrade please log-in to HTC eClub.

via MS Mobiles