(Credit:
Boy Genius Report)
Fess up. Who doesn't have fond childhood memories of playing with Lego? My own recollection of the building blocks harken back to a fascination with constructing Lego handguns, though fortunately for my parents that latent violence remained inert. Many have since gone on in adulthood to worship the cult of Lego.
We even have a fan base of one within our ranks squeeze out his creative juices on a Lego phone desk stand, possibly inspired by this reader. Not a bad attempt.
Now it seems he'll be able to get hold of a Lego phone to match the stand. Boy Genius Report has a leaked slide of an actual Lego Phone that's been, quite literally, assembled by Lego, Alcatel, and Digital Blue. Odd as it may seem, it looks like a product we could actually see.
Not surprisingly, the face plates on the phone are detachable, with everything more or less modular, just like the building blocks. Beyond that, we know only that it'll be priced at $20-$60, at a price more suited to wee pockets under the Lego-centric electronics program aimed at kids, which will include an MP3 player, walkie-talkie, and digital camera. Hopefully, we might even catch a glimpse of the Lego Phone at Mobile World Congress next week.
(Via Crave Asia)
Alcatel OT-E206A
(Credit: Locus Telecommunications)After introducing its cell phones to North America at the 2006 CTIA show, Alcatel has remained silent on exactly when its handsets would arrive here. But this weekend Locus Telecommunications and O2 Wireless announced they were adding the Alcatel OT-E206A and the OT-ET227A Alcatel to O2's lineup. MVNO O2 is the first wireless operator in the United States to offer Alcatel handsets.
The GSM OT-E206A is a black candy bar phone. Its features are limited to text messaging, polyphonic ringtones, games, a 250-contact phone book and a 65,000-color display. The GSM OT-ET227A is equally simple. It sports a light brown color, the flip phone even lacks an external display. It also offers text messaging, polyphonic ringtones, games, a 250-contact phone book and a 65,000-color display.
(Credit:
Luxurylaunches)
It's hard to know where to begin in dismissing this telephonic atrocity. First, it's a prime example of the proliferating trend we refer to as luxury phones gone bad. As if that's not bad enough (and it is), this 24k "Signature Collection" handset from Alcatel is a special edition done for Sharper Image, which seems to be getting more tarnished all the time.
Making matters still worse, Luxurylaunches describes the specs as disappointing, with a "substandard 2-megapixel camera, flimsy keys, and small screen." Other than that, it's terrific. We were going to mention Alcatel's Playboy phone too, but now we're too depressed.
Alcatel phones in the company's booth
(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)At last year's CTIA cell phone show, French telecom giant Alacatel announced that it was entering the U.S. and Canadian handset market. It showed off a gallery of phones and even staged a fashion show. But now almost a year later, none of the handsets have hit the market (AT&T was supposed to be in a testing phase) so at the GSMA World Congress to check out the company's booth. On display were many of the same models we saw last year, including the OT-C707A and the OT-C717A (not the best naming conventions, I know). Not that I'm particularly itching to see these phones land in North America, but I wanted to see if there was any update on availability just the same. And as of now, there's not.
Microsoft has won a reversal of a $1.5 billion jury verdict against it for infringing on a patent for MP3 technology held by Alcatel-Lucent.
Judge Rudi Brewster of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California tossed out the damages after finding that a jury improperly ruled that Microsoft infringed on one of two patents at issue for MP3 sound technology. The new ruling holds that one of the patents in the case was not actually owned outright by Lucent, and since Microsoft had a license to that particular patent through its co-owner, it's off the hook.
There were two patents at issue in the case over the technology used in MP3 files. One of those patents, the judge ruled Friday, was actually co-owned by AT&T, Lucent's former parent company, and a German company called Fraunhofer, with which Microsoft had a licensing agreement to use the patented technology. This is the opposite of what a jury concluded in February, but Judge Brewster ruled that some of the technology in the patent was developed after Fraunhofer and AT&T signed a joint-development agreement in 1989.
That would give Fraunhofer co-ownership rights to the patent (known as the '080 patent), and the right to license it to Microsoft. Furthermore, it doesn't allow Lucent-Alcatel to sue Microsoft for infringement because Fraunhofer wasn't included in the original suit, the judge ruled.
So, bottom line: Microsoft won't have to pay Lucent-Alcatel $1.5 billion--at least not yet--there could be more appeals in this case. That's a drop in the bucket to Microsoft, but Lucent-Alcatel, which is losing money, probably could have used the cash.
Microsoft was pleased with the ruling, as you might expect. "Today's ruling by the judge reversing the jury's $1.52 billion verdict against Microsoft is a victory for consumers of digital music and a triumph for common sense in the patent system. For the hundreds of companies large and small that rely on MP3 technology, the Court's ruling clarifies that these companies have properly licensed the technology embodied in the '080 patent from its co-owner and industry recognized MP3 licensor--Fraunhofer," the company said in a statement.
Lucent, not so much. "The reversal of the judge's own pre-trial and post-trial rulings is shocking and disturbing,'' Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward told Bloomberg. "The jury unanimously agreed with us. We believe their decision should stand."
The opening day of the CTIA show in Orlando was a little quieter than in past years but Crave still found plenty of new and note-worthy products on the show floor. Though the iPhone made only a brief appearance we caught glimpse of several new cell phones, smart phones and accessories.
Samsung Ultra Video
(Credit: CNET Networks) Cell phones
Besides complete photo galleries of the new cell phones from such companies as Sony Ercisson, Nokia, Kyocera, LG and Pantech, I caught the announcement from Alcatel that the company is entering the North American cell phone market for the first time and saw a number of cool phones in Samsung's booth including the Samsung Ultra Video phone, the QWERTY keyboard Samsung F700 handset and its selection of high-end phones in the Samsung gallery. I also got to play with Sony Ericsson's new W580 Walkman phone (a stylish and slim slider model) while Nicole Lee got face time with the new Helio Ocean and LG's VX8700.
Smart phones
Smart phone expert Bonnie Cha covered on the Navigator GPS kit, the U.S. availability of the Nokia N95 and N76, the GSM version of the Motorola Q, a new Symbian OS and a Windows Mobile 6 update to the Palm Treo 750.
Cell phone accessories
On the accessories front, Nicole Lee saw new Bluetooth headsets from Plantronics, Motorola and Cardo while I caught a gallery of Nokia Bluetooth products and a selection of Sony Ericsson stereo speakers.
And be sure to check out our full reviews of the new Samsung Upstage and the Sanyo SCP-7050.
Cellatel's logo
(Credit: Cellatel)Every year, as we approach the annual CTIA cell phone blow-out, the industry's rumor mill kicks into high gear. And this year, the latest gossip to pop out of the blogosphere concerns the possible entry of French telecom giant Alcatel into the North American handset market. Phonescoop is reporting that the company will appear at CTIA to introduce a lineup of midrange and basic GSM phones. Specifics are few at this point, but it appears Alcatel is partnering with a company called Cellatel (catchy name, no?) to actually manufacture the handsets. Besides confirming the CTIA debut, Cellatel's Web site doesn't say much either, but it does list a gallery of current, mostly candy bar, models sold in Europe and South America. You can be assured Crave will get the full story as we report from CTIA March 27 through March 29.
Phonescoop also says that last year Alcatel ran trials with Cingular, but the carrier has yet to pick up any of the phones. And, as for this year, Alcatel may choose to go the MVNO route instead.
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