(Credit:
LG)
We reviewed the original Prada phone more than a year ago and loved its style but weren't happy with its lack of support for 3G. On Monday, LG announced the second generation of the phone, and guess what? It will support 3G and more.
Design-wise, the new Prada will look almost identical to the original, with one major difference: a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from under the handset. The keyboard is very thin and therefore won't make the phone much thicker.
The keyboard is definitely a welcome addition for those who like typing on the phone. You can, of course still, use the onscreen button to manage calls the same way you would with the original phone.
Apart from 3G support, the new Prada's features include video calling capability, a full HTML browser, a 5-megapixel camera, and Wi-Fi capability.
The new phone will be available with a starting price of 600 euros (about $820) though major EU mobile dealerships in the fourth quarter of this year. For now, it's unclear when or if the phone will be available in the U.S.
(Credit:
Global IP)
If talking over the phone is not enough (as it's never enough for me, personally), you will probably soon have the option to place video calls, too. That is, of course, if your mobile phone supports VideoEngine Mobile platform Global IP Solutions (GIPS), the company that introduced the VoiceEngine for iPhone recently, announced on Monday.
The technology enables peer-to-peer video calling as well as multipoint video conferencing on mobile phones. GIPS says that its VideoEngine Mobile pave the way for wireless carriers, application developers and mobile handset manufacturers to provide high-quality video calls, even under adverse network conditions.
The VideoEngine works by implementing GIPS' existing industry standard real-time communications capabilities to leverage network effects and hardware limitations. This results in a better way to solve the most complex voice and video-related challenges in IP communications, such as packet loss and lip synchronization.
Currently the new VideoEngine works only with Windows Mobile hardware that is powered by the Marvell chipset and Intel XScale PX310 processor, such as the HP iPAQ series, Samsung's SGH-i780 and Gigabyte's GSmart MS808. This is because GIPS has partnered with Marvell Technology to make sure that its new VideoEngine is optimized for the mentioned hardware.
Still, this is a first step. In order for video calling to work, carriers have to adopt the technology and handsets need to be designed for it. For example, you can't have a video call if the camera of the phone is facing the other way from the screen. It is predicted that mobile TV and mobile video services are going to be popular by 2013.
Future releases of VideoEngine Mobile will also support other popular mobile platforms, including Symbian and Apple's iPhone, as well as additional hardware platforms for Windows Mobile.
The question is: when this all happens, what would be the excuse when "seeing" somebody is still not enough?
VGA resolution means bigger beards.
Skype and Logitech have partnered, hoping to do for video calling what Loggins and Messina did for yacht rock. The beautiful music the two companies hope to create with their union is high-quality video calling, with promises of VGA (640x480) resolution and a smooth 30 frames per second. To get the goods, you'll need one of three Logitech cameras: the QuickCam Pro 9000, the QuickCam Pro for Notebooks, or the QuickCam Orbit AF and the latest version of Logitech's Webcam software, QuickCam 11.5. You'll also need the latest Skype client, version 3.6, along with a broadband connection and a dual-core processor.
Coincidentally, I'm working on a handful of Webcam reviews this week, including the QuickCam Pro 9000. Unfortunately, I can't put these high-quality video claims to immediate test because, strangely, Skype isn't releasing 3.6 to coincide with this announcement. (It's expected in November.)
Having tested the QuickCam Pro for Notebooks two weeks ago, I can tell you that while the video quality was impressive when using the QuickCam software, the quality dropped noticeably when using Skype. Next month, I'll put Skype and Logitech's high-quality video claims to the test.
[Via Gizmodo]
AT&T's Video Share service
(Credit: AT&T)After months of waiting, AT&T has finally made its Video Share service available nationwide. It launched the service in three cities back in June--San Antonio, Atlanta, and Dallas--but it is now available in 160 cities across the country. The video-calling service is pretty limited for now--it only supports one-way video streaming--but it's still a first in the country. The service is supported on only a few handsets: the LG CU500V, the Samsung Sync, the Samsung A717, and the Samsung A727. Also note that both the sender and the recipient will have to have 3G phones on a 3G network. The service will cost a pretty penny as well: $4.99 per month for 25 minutes, or $9.99 for 60 minutes. If you don't have a Video Share subscription, you can still use it for 35 cents per minute. (Only the sender will be charged.)
LG CU500
(Credit: CNET Networks)
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