Posts filed under Barcelona 3GSM 2007

After years of prototypes and hype, a brand new display technology was on display at 3GSM that looks set to revolutionise mobile phones. Polymer Vision were showing off their Readius, which is a gadget that features a foldable, rollable display.

As smartphones get ever smarter, their ease of use is still restrained by the fact that you just can’t see all that much on a screen that is at best just 3″ in size. The obvious way around this is to creat a screen that folds out, rolling up scroll-like when you want to put the mobile phone in your pocket, and unrolling it when you want to see its display.

This holy grail of technology has finally been demonstrated by Polymer Vision, who, not surprisingly, have won 3GSM’s Most Innovative Technology Award for their Readius eBook reader, which features just such a display. Not a mock-up, or restricted prototype that only works for 10 minutes – a genuine foldable display on a real working gadget.

Just watch the video, and you’ll realise that the mobile phone we know and love is going to be transformed beyond recognition next year.

Amongst all the mainstream mobile phone manufacturers’ goodies at this year’s 3GSM, one unexpected entrant to the mobile phone market was Nvidia, the legendary graphics card specialist, who were showing off what seems to be a brand new smartphone OS and graphics chip.

More details and video of Nvidia’s new smartphone technology after the jump.

We’ve seen some pretty exciting new phones at 3GSM this year, most notably from Nokia and Samsung. But seeing pics of the new phones is only part of the deal – we want to see live video of the glorious new phones in the raw! So here, for your delictation, is a giant list of 18 videos of all the new phones fresh from 3GSM

Motorola also announced two new Motorola Qs at 3GSM – the Motorola Q q9 and Motorola Q gsm. The new Q q9 features HSDPA, offering super-fast download speeds of 3.6Mbps, while the qQ gsm offers quad-band GSM and EDGE connectivity. Both new Motorola Qs are based on Windows Mobile 6.0, but on the plus side, they also offer up to 2GB of onboard storage via a microSD card, and come with a new 2 megapixel camera and video recorder capable of 30fps at VGA resolution.

Motorola haven’t been quiet at 3GSM, either. This is the, er, unusual looking Motorola MOTORIZR Z8, with built-in HSDPA, video playback at 30 fps, user memory of up to 4GB, and a whopping 15.3mm thick in an unusual banana-style form factor.

This is the first banana phone I’ve seen since Nokia launched their banana phone back in 1997. I think there’s a reason they never caught on. Sure, your face isn’t flat, but your pockets sure as hell are (or should be!)

OK, so maybe not all that mobile, the Possio GRETA is nevertheless a completely new take on the mobile phone. It’s a fax machine, printer, scanner and copier complete with tri-band GSM connectivity! Designed for people who have to send faxes no matter where they are, its novel combination of last-century’s tech with this century’s must have gadget is surely this year’s “why did nobody think of this before?!” winner.

Launched at 3GSM, the GRETA is perfect for all road warriors everywhere – it even looks good!

[Source: NewLaunches]

Samsung went quite mad at 3GSM, as you’d expect, showing off no less than four ultra thin Ultra phones. Each phone is the world’s thinnest in its category (even if that category is just “world’s thinnest Samsung phone!), with the Samsung Ultra 5.9 (U100) taking the crown as world’s thinnest phone in the world ever!

What we have here are the Samsung Ultra 10.9 (U600), 10.9mm thin slider featuring quad-band and 3.2 megapixel camera; the Samsung Ultra 9.6 (U300), a 9.6mm clamshell, again with 3.2 megapixel camera; and the relatively lardy Samsung Ultra 12.1 (U700), a 12.1mm slider with, yup, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and HSDPA too.

Full details and specs after the jump.

Samsung have regained the world’s thinnest mobile phone crown with the new Samsung Ultra Edition 5.9 (U100). Not the best-sounding name for a phone, granted, but as the name suggests, it’s just 5.9mm thin.

Of course, the previous world’s thinnest phone was also by Samsung (the X820), but by showing off the new U100, Samsung are flexing their technological prowess. Even more amazing is the fact that somehow they fitted a 3 megapixel camera into the U100!

Samsung have been showing off a raft of its new Ultra phones at 3GSM. Possibly the most interesting-looking is this, the Samsung SGH-F520. As you can see, it’s another smartphone, though not as smart as the F700 – only a 3 megapixel camera, for starters.

It does, however, feature a bigger screen (3″), and a glorious double-sliding mechanism, which really gives it the wow factor.

Samsung will be showing off its new Samsung Ultra Smart F700 smartphone at 3GSM this week. Not content with leaving Nokia to have all the glory, the new F700 is a fantastic looking smartphone that looks set to beat Nokia’s new E90 Communicator at its own game.

Hyped as the iPhone killer (but then what new phone isn’t?!), the Ultra Smart F700 is fully loaded, as you’d expect from a Samsung smartphone. But it’s the looks that make it really stand out. When closed, it bears a close resemblance to the iPhone, at least in terms of minimalism. Oh, and the features – when Samsung say smart, they really mean smart!

More details and pictures of the Samsung Ultra Smart F700 after the jump.