Hi-tech Frontier

Hello Kitty Phone 3G is our next impulse buy We aren't usually so taken in by a KIRF. In fact -- we've seen so many knockoff iPhones, we had started to consider ourselves steeled against their charms -- and then along came Hello Kitty Phone 3G. What is it about HKP3G that we love so much, you ask? Is it the happily tooled pink background scene on the facade of the phone? Is it the hideously realized user interface, complete with typos and a blatant disregard for capitalization standards we've all respected since the 19th century? Is it the little kitty on the solo button? Is it the name? Is it the fact that, at $99, it would cost us just as much to own one as a real, actual, iPhone 3G? Answer: it's all of those things. We're getting one.

BlackBerry App World launching in more countries, languages this month RIM is expanding the reach of its on-device software catalog -- the so-called App World -- by taking it to ten new countries by the end of this month: Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belgium. To accommodate the expansion, the company is also adding support for "more languages" (though it isn't saying exactly how many) including French, Italian, Spanish, and German. What's more, RIM plans on adding new software categories to make finding what you're looking for just a little bit easier and will be adding support for URLs, which -- when opened from your BlackBerry's browser -- will take you straight to an app's page in App World. No word on when the new features will launch, but RIM says it'll be firmed up "in the next few weeks."

7Digital to debut BlackBerry direct music downloads Even if no one's ever bought a BlackBerry (or, for that matter, a BlockBerry) for its multimedia prowess, things are starting to get a little interesting for the rock'n'rollers over at RIM. According to the Telegraph (UK), the music download site 7Digital will be launching a service for U2's new favorite handset this September. Based around an application that will be available in BlackBerry's App World, customers will be able to download music (with "most" tracks being DRM-free) directly to their phone for 79 cents a pop. Are you excited? No? Well, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie sure is. According to the article, he believes that the market's experiencing nothing less than the "birth of digital music 2.0." What do you think?

LG Application Store launches, Asia-Pacific gets first dibs With both platform makers and hardware makers suddenly deciding to get into the app store game en masse, it feels like we're risking over-saturation -- but that's not deterring LG from launching its plainly-named LG Application Store. The service will be targeting Windows Mobile devices in the Asia-Pacific region first -- Australia and Singapore to start -- with the goal of getting more than 2,000 apps available by year end. LG's making SDKs openly available for interested devs which should spark some interest -- but without a more global launch and with upcoming competition from Windows Marketplace and others, it seems they've got an uphill battle to garner any success.

LG's LX290 for Sprint touts "compact and sleek productivity" "Compact and sleek productivity" might be a bit over the top, but the bottom line is this: at $29.99 on contract after rebates, LG's new LX290 for Sprint is one of the cheapest ways to get Sprint Navigation and email access in your pocket. The slider packs a 1.3 megapixel camera for basic shooting needs, instant messaging capability, AGPS (naturally), a 320 x 240 display, and a 2.5mm audio jack -- we would've preferred 3.5, of course, but at that bargain-basement price, we'll take what we can get. The phone is available now, so go on, get productive.

Nokia 7020 garners FCC approval Here's one we know you've been waiting for with bated breath: the lowly Nokia 7020 clamshell has earned its FCC wings on its way to a Q4 release. The phone was always designed as a quadband EDGE device, so it's not clear whether the FCC filing is indicative of an intention on Nokia's part to actually offer the phone in the States -- there isn't any carrier branding and there aren't any carrier-customized buttons on the keypad, so this might just be a formality. Then again, it could make a respectable backup phone or a cheapo to take overseas if they do decide to offer it direct or through the flagship stores -- who doesn't like concealed displays and 2 megapixel cameras, after all?

Sprint's crazy "Inferno" BlackBerry Curve 8330 now available We know you. You're the type of self-styled individual that likes to play by your own rules. You effortlessly mix work and play, transitioning from power lunches, to 2PM meetings, to 5PM happy hours, and you never change phones. You want your BlackBerry to make a statement -- a bold statement. For you, Sprint and RIM proudly present a new color of the Curve 8330, "Inferno" -- and as the name implies, it blinds the retinas. It's available for $49.99 on after discounts on contract, the same you'll pay for the far less statement-making titanium and red variations. You do want to make a statement, don't you?

LG's next-gen Chocolate BL40 teased on video, looks good enough to eat We can't verify the authenticity of the video, but it seems a little far-fetched to believe that even LG diehards out there would've been able to toil away making a very legit-looking promo piece for the company's recently-teased new Chocolate in such a short period of time -- so we're tentatively going to say we think we're looking at the real thing here. That said, what we've got is nothing short of drool-worthy: the rumored 21:9 800 x 345 display appears real (which is said in the video to be 4 inches diagonal), plus there's a gorgeous Flash-based 3D UI, multitouch, AGPS, WiFi, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and a glass screen surface that's said to be scratch-proof, all packed into an impossibly thin case. Yes, we know everyone's been trying to sound the dumbphone death knell for years now -- but frankly, you'd have to have a grossly miscalibrated monitor to not have a special place i...

LG GB130 Coming off that epic BL40 tease, it's hard to take something from the same company that looks like this very seriously -- but hey, you've got to cover every market segment to be a global top-five manufacturer, and that's exactly how LG rolls. The GB130 is an ultra-simple slider destined for the Russian market, featuring a 2-inch screen at 160 x 120 resolution, an integrated FM radio (conveniently accessed via a dedicated button), and 6.5 claimed hours of talk time. Look for it on your next trip to Moscow for 2,990 rubles (about $91).

Nokia's Surge official on AT&T, ships July 19 for $79.99 We've known about Nokia's so-called Surge for months now, but at long last, AT&T has done its duty by making things official and giving us a price and release date to consider. The Symbian S60-based smartphone is aimed squarely at social media freaks, boasting a full QWERTY keyboard, a browser with Flash support (imagine that, right?), a pre-installed JuiceCaster app for easily updating your Facebook / Twitter status and a price tag that's sure to turn heads. For just $79.99 after rebate, you'll also get a 2 megapixel camera, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Video Share and the pleasure of handing over at least $30 per month for a required data plan. If you're sold already, you can get yours on July 19th.

T-Mobile UK lands LG's GT500 as an exclusive Want a peek at a phone you'll almost certainly never have the opportunity to own? Look no further than T-Mobile UK for the GT500 from LG where the well-equipped HSDPA full touch handset that we've been tracking for a while now is apparently now shipping. Headlining features include a 5 megapixel cam with image stabilization, AGPS, tethering capability, 130MB of onboard storage, and microSD expansion (though really, what phone in 2009 doesn't have a microSD slot besides the Pre, the iPhone, and a weird Pantech here and there?). Rumors persist that this might eventually show up on Rogers, so one way or another, you're probably going to have to end up in a Commonwealth nation if you want this thing badly enough.

BlackBerry Onyx with optical trackball leaks out Looks like RIM's getting serious about optical trackballs -- first the Curve 8520 ditched the spinner and now it looks like the Onyx has been upgraded as well. That's pretty much just as we've all expected ever since we first laid eyes on this 3G mashup of the Bold and Curve 8900, and we're pretty stoked about it, since we find optical trackballs to be pretty great. Of course, there's no word on a ship date, but we're hoping it'll be soon.

Samsung i321 unlocked Tri-Band (900/1800/1900) QWERTY – $89.99 If you’re on a GSM carrier and need a replacement QWERTY phone – here’s a deal that you should look closely at. This Samsung i321 is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported. It will not work with CDMA carriers like Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Sprint. Still how can you go wrong with an out the door price of $90 for a QWERTY smartphone. Under the hood there’s Windows Mobile 5.0 software. Add Bluetooth Wireless Technology, a 1.3 megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard and a host of other fun and functional features, you have a world class communications supertool. The main feature here is that the phone’s unlocked so you can buy it without a contract for use on nearly any GSM based carrier.

Nokia makes 3720 official, its "most rugged mobile handset to date" Nokia's not exactly known for its beefy, ultra-survivable gear, but unless the human race plans on getting a whole lot less clumsy, rugged phones will always be a good idea -- and Espoo's 3720 certainly seems to fill the bill. The Series 40-based candybar features a 2 megapixel cam with LED flash, triband EDGE (sorry, North Americans), FM radio, microSD expansion, and the latest and greatest Bluetooth 2.1, but the real news here is that the phone is built to meet IP54 standards. A quick check with our handy-dandy IP code reference tells us that means that "ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact" -- in other words, your phone might get nasty dirty, but it'll keep chugging -- and it can withstand "splashing" water. Scuba divers, the s...

HTC's Hero appears in soft and sensuous pink We've now seen the HTC Hero in white, black, and a full-on hot ugly pink, and thankfully HTC's apparently seen the light and pushed this softer pink version Carphone Warehouse's way. The cell superstore has it slated for launch in July -- subject to change, of course -- with the other members of its clan, so if pink's the color of your Hero, you're golden. Nice to see these things slipping outside of the realm of black and white, so now that we have a pink version, how about some other colors HTC?

Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 The HTC Hero and T-Mobile myTouch 3G aren't the only Android phones making waves this week: the Samsung Galaxy GT-I7500 also launched on O2 Germany, and this is the first unboxing we've seen. Continuing the confusion over what handsets actually get the full Google blessing, this version of the I7500 runs pretty much bone-stock Android, but isn't a "Google Experience" phone, which in this case apparently means that firmware updates have to be loaded manually over USB instead of being pushed over the air. If you're keeping track, that's now a third axis of differentiation between Google-branded Android handsets and everything else, and we're starting to think no one really knows what all the rules and differences actually are -- hey, Eric, maybe you could set down that BlackBerry for a minute and sort all this out?

S-Vision Concept Mobile Phone for Business People S-Vision is a concept phone, specially designed by concentrating on business peoples, allowing to be carried out their presentations directly on its surface through projection. The extraordinary shape of this design phone holds sheer elegance and an exceptional format. S-Vision features an integrated LED Micro-beamer that helps projecting the presentations. This technology has already been introduced with some products available around but this phone is stimulating its functionality to the max. The projector activates by folding the side out of the mobile, therefore, the surface starts to adapt itself. The user can navigate easily through the screen by using the backward and forward keys.

Nokia E71 (White or Gray) Unlocked – $270 Whether you’re a Nokia fan or just looking for a solid QWERTY GSM based phone – here’s a great option for you. This Nokia E71 is unlocked and ready to go on any WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900 frequencies. Featuring a 3.2 megapixel camera, digital music player, FM radio, GPS, and 802.11g Wi-Fi. You can also have it in any color you like – so long as the colors you like are white or gray.

LG's GW300 looks like a low-end WinMo phone, but isn't For some reason LG's just-announced GW300 screams "cheap smartphone" to us, but don't be fooled -- there's not a trace of smartphone-ish-ness to be found here. Instead, you've got goodies like an integrated Facebook client to keep the young ones happy, piled atop a 3G-free EDGE radio, 2.4-inch QVGA display, USB mass storage mode support, stereo Bluetooth, and naturally, a full QWERTY keyboard. No word on pricing or availability, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this one become a prepaid superstar in some parts of the globe.

Trimble Outdoors app will make an adventurer out of your T-Mobile G1 Trimble may make plenty of GPS-equipped devices of its own aimed at adventure-minded folks, but its Trimble Outdoors software has also made quite a few cellphones a bit more outdoors-friendly, and it's now finally found its way to the T-Mobile G1. As with on some other phones, the app will let you plan your trip online and sync it up with your G1, and give you the ability to geotag pictures, log your trip and share it with others, take text and audio notes and, of course, simply use it as a full-fledged GPS navigator. That won't come free, of course, but the $19.99 app price sure is a good deal cheaper than a separate outdoors GPS device, and you can grab it right now from Android Market.