LG KP500, a priceless touchscreen phone for the masses

In the new spirit of fiscal responsibility, LG have announced the LG KP500, a touchscreen phone at a bargain price. Quite what that price is, though, is anyone's guess, as they don't actually mention it in their press release. All they say is that the LG KP500 will come "...with an affordable introduction price never offered before."

Seriously, LG, if you're going to market a phone based on its price, you should at least give some idea of what it is!

Sony Ericsson Kokura with 12 megapixel camera on its way in 2009

News reaches of a new Sony Ericsson CyberShot phone being worked on for 2009. Currently codenamed the Kokura, it will apparently feature a whopping 12 megapixel camera, come complete with a touchscreen and iPhone-like interface, and will be based on the TI3240 chipset with the Symbian OS version 9.4 and S60 interface.

Also from the same source comes news of another Sony Ericsson CyberShot phone currently codenamed the Yurika. Apparently, this will be a message-based phone designed for the "yoof" market, and so will feature on easy access to Facebook, Yahoo!, YouTube, etc. As it's based aroud messaging, the Yurika will come with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard as well as a touchscreen and similar iPhone-like interface (again, based on S60) to the Kokura.

Interestingly, it'll move away from Memory Sticks towards the more universal SD card storage format, which represents a departure from Sony Ericsson's existing strategy of sticking with Sony's proprietary storage technology.

That said, neither phone will come with mini USB socket or 3.5mm headphone jack, relying instead on Sony Ericsson's usual proprietary connector, so they've not exactly rushed to embrace more open technology.

10 megapixel HD camera phones on their way for 2009

You may have noticed a growing trend in camera phones this year, with the number of megapixels slowly rising. At the start of the year, 5 megapixels was the upper limit and only available in top-end phones. As the year has progressed, 5 megapixels have made their way down to more mid-market phones, while the high-end phones have upgraded to 8 megapixels.

Apparently, this trend reflects the race for megapixels in the dedicated digital camera market, which has seen a steady rise up to a massive 14 megapixels. According to LG, this same trend has now moved over to the camera phone market, with mobile manufacturers racing to cram more megapixels in the mobile phones and so claim the title of the best camera phone.

First Android discussions began in 2003

HTC have revealed that they first engaged in discussions with Google about a new Google phone over five years ago. That, remember, is way before the iPhone, and before anything remotely like a smartphone came into existence. Indeed, back then the RAZR hadn't even been released, and a 1 megapixel cameraphone was unheard of!

The fact that it's taken so long to develop the new Android phone shows just how committed Google has been with the new platform, and how forward thinking the company has been with the mobile market. The Android platform is based on a company of the same name that Google bought a couple of years ago, but Google's discussions with HTC began a couple of years before that.

I'm not sure what's more impressive - the fact that Google has committed five years of work to their new device, or the fact that both Google and HTC managed to keep under wraps for five years!

[Source: EngadgetMobile]

Visa launches mobile payments for Android

One of the big questions surrounding the launch of Google's first Android phone was just how well supported it would be by third party application developers. If today's news is anything to go by, very well indeed should be the answer, as Visa have announced that they're about to launch a brand new mobile payment service on the Android platform.

The new service will alert you to any payments that have been made on your Visa card, ensuring you know exactly what's being spent on your card and when, which should be a great help in combating fraud. You'll also be able to see the locations of ATMs that support your Visa card within your local area, and receive offers from merchants that are redeemable in stores close by.

Download the T-Mobile G1 Manual here

The new T-Mobile G1 Android smartphone hasn't even been released yet, but already the user manual has been found on the Web! You can download it here to check it out for yourself. Gizmodo have already had a gander at it and published 40-odd photos taken from the manual. They complain that it seems a bit complicated, but having waded through my Nokia E90's manual, it's a cakewalk in comparison!

[Source: Gizmodo]

Samsung launch new Tocco 2

Samsung have announced the awkwardly-named Samsung Anycall Haptic 2, which is, in many respects, the Samsung Tocco version 2. Featuring a haptic touchscreen (hence the name, I guess!), it features an updated user interface with 50 new widgets.

The user interface is also fully customizable and lets users create their own menu on the desktop - another sign that the iPhone and now Android are having a big impact on the mobile phone market.

Sony Ericsson flirts with Android

Sony Ericsson have been a bit promiscuous with their smartphones. They started off using the Symbian platform, moved over UIQ (which is a user interface layer on top of Symbian), and then recently moved again to Microsoft's Windows Mobile with the forthcoming XPERIA X1, which they've also created a brand new user interface for.

Now it seems that they're actively looking at the brand new Google Android platform for their future smartphones.

Nokia follows Nintendo as Android takes over the World

If you take a look at the mobile phone news these past few months, there's one thing that's been dominating global coverage: smartphones, and in particular, a confusing plethora of new models, applications and features that have suddenly swarmed onto the market.

Traditionally seen as ugly phones for business, smartphones are set to become the big thing in the mobile phone market for 2009, with no fewer than five key smartphone platforms (all of which, of course, are incompatible with each other!)

There's fierce competition between smartphone manufacturers, not just to attract users, but also developers, as the more applications a platform has, the more likely it is that other developers will develop applications for that platform: success breeds success.

Which reminds me of another, similarly competitive market: games consoles, which has seen some spectacular winners and losers over the years. What's more, if you compare the different strategies of the different console platforms, you'll find them remarkably similar to the strategies currently being employed by the different smartphone platforms.

So is Nokia really following Nintendo's strategy? It certainly is, while Android is set for nothing less than world domination.

Read on after the jump to see why.

Nokia N96 on sale in the UK in 2 weeks time

All the fuss this past few weeks has been about the T-Mobile G1 Android pone, which was announced yesterday, but that doesn't mean it's the only phone in town. For instance, you'll be able to buy the Nokia N96 in the UK in just two weeks' time.

The N96 is Nokia's new flagship phone, and features an unbelievable range of features. You'd expect things such as HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS,MP3 player and video recording (I can't believe I'm so blase about all these features now!), but the N96 adds a few new features just for good measure.

For example, it comes with mobile TV, supports Flash video so you can watch YouTube, has a 16 million colour 2.8" screen, and comes with built-in video acceleration chips for better video viewing and recording (it'll record at 30fps in DVD quality) and enhanced 3D gameplay via the N-Gage platform.

In short, it's like the N95's bigger brother, with everything more refined and working perfectly. Although not quite as revolutionary as the N95 was when it was launched, the N96 is still miles ahead of most other mobile phones on the market.

You can preorder the N96 from Phones4U today, or else go and visit them in two weeks' time and take one home with you.