Posts filed under Rumours

Back in May 2007, Motorola announced that it was teaming up with Kodak to develop a 5 megapixel camera phone. Since then, every other mobile phone manufacturer has released their own 5 megapixel camera, each of which produces excellent results that are on a par with low-end digital cameras from a few years ago.

Every manufacturer, that is, except Motorola, who, despite their announcement over 7 months ago, still haven’t produced an equivalent phone.

Now, though, a new leaked photo has emerged that shows what could be an actual Motorola-Kodak 5 megapixel camera phone – exactly what Motorola promised all those months ago.

Nokia may be working on an 8 megapixel Nokia N-series camera phone for 2008, if this new patent is anything to go by. Not that we should be surprised by this – 2007 has already seen 5 megapixel camera phones become the norm for high end phones, while 3.2 megapixel cameras have made their way down to the mid-range. As such, 8 megapixels is simply the next level in the progressions of pixellage.

More details after the jump.

Nokia are on a bit of a roll at the moment, having just released the excellent Nokia N82, and now comes news of a possible forthcoming model, the Nokia N96. As you can see from the pics, the new form factor is a little, er, interesting. Featuring a slide out QWERTY keyboard that doubles as a keypad when turned vertically, the N96 is bound to cause a bit of a stir…

…or at least it would if it wasn’t a fake!

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google will be announcing its plans for its long-rumoured Google gPhone in just two weeks’ time. In contrast to Apple, with its locked iPhone, Google is going totally open – Google will provide a reference model for the phone that any manufacturer can build, and the phone’s entire software will be open, including the Operating System itself, enabling anyone to develop any type of software for the device.

Even more interestingly, TechCrunch have been tipped of that Google will also be announcing its strategy for a huge new social network platform that will take on Facebook. Looking at the two rumours, and their timing, it seems that Google’s mobile plans might be a lot bigger than many people had realised.

Find out how big after the jump.

Rumours of Google’s GPhone have taken a low-tech turn, as analysts are now speculating whether the phone will either be a stripped down inexpensive device, or simply a button on other manufacturers’ handsets.

The speculation comes after Google’s recent purchase of Jaiku, a Finnish company that specialises in SMS applications. People such as Richard Doherty, research director at The Envisioneering Group, believe that Google are aiming to get people used to querying the search engine giant’s database via SMS, either through Google’s own phone, or a “GButton” on other manufacturers’ handsets that would let you communicate with Google instantly.

More Google gPhone rumours for you, this time apparently from an ultra reliable source. Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins has spoken to several people inside the mobile phone industry, and has the scoop on what we can expect from the new Google phone.

Full details of the new Google gPhone runours after the jump (and no, it won’t look like the pic!).

More iPhone rumours, this time about the features of iPhone 2.0. According to GPS Magazine, Apple will be releasing a new 3G version of the iPhone in 2008 that will also incorporate GPS Sat-Nav.

The current iPhone already has Google Maps built-into it, but has no GPS module, so you have to manually type in where you are and where you want to go.

Ah, those Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone rumours just won’t go away. After a variety of Sony Ericsson execs were quoted talking about the company possibly working on their own gaming phone, none other than outgoing CEO Miles Flint has told the Financial Times that applying the PlayStation brand to a Sony Ericsson phone is a “possible future activity.”

Now rumours can be a tad tenuous at times, but Miles Flint telling the Financial Times that it’s a possibility is certainly what you’d call an authoritative source!

Mind you, there may be a few hurdles along the way before we really do see a Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone…

Apple have sent out invites to the UK’s technology journalists for an event to be held on September 18th, headed “Mum is no longer the word”

Obviously this has everyone expecting them to announce finally the UK iPhone. It ties in quite nicely with other rumours suggesting the announcement will be made at the end of the month. Unfortunately, it also ties in with O2’s recent rush to upgrade its network to support EDGE, which the iPhone uses, implying a 3G iPhone may not be on the cards just yet after all.

[Source: RegHardware]

More 3G iPhone rumours doing the rounds, this time from wireless chip and DSP sector analyst Will Strauss of Forward Concepts.

Strauss is convinced that Apple are working on a 3G iPhone, and expects it to be announced at the same time that Apple announces which operator it has chosen for the iPhone in each European country in which it will be sold. According to EETimes, this announcement “…is expected imminently, and could come as soon as this week.”

Why wait for the iPhone, though, when you can get the same user interface in the Apple iPod Touch, which is out now and much cheaper.

More details after the jump.