HTC CLIO: no mystery any longer

Late in November 2007 the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved HTC CLIO200, which wasn’t officially introduced then. It was unclear whether it was a UMPC or a communicator at that time. Now we‘ve got the info it is the very UMPC HTC Shift with two versions – CLIO100 for GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA and CLIO200 for CDMA/EVDO.

The specs of HTC Shift (CLIO):

• Networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 or 800/2100 (CLIO100); CDMA2000 1xEVDO/1xRTT.0A 850/1900 CLIO200
• Intel Stealey 800 MHz+ Little River (945GMS) + ICH7U
• Chipset - Qualcomm MSM 7200, 400 MHz for GSM/HSDPA
• Chipset - Qualcomm QSC6085 for CDMA/EVDO (probably)
• 1 GB DDR2 RAM for Windows Vista + 64MB RAM
• 64 MB RAM and 128 MB ROM for SnapVUE
• 40 or 60 GB 1.8” HDD
• OS - Windows Vista Business
• Display - 7”800x480 pixels, 262K colors
• Built-in GPS-receiver
• VGA-camera for video conferences
• Connectivity - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g, USB 2.0
• VGA-out, 3.5-mm stereo jack, microphone, SDIO
• Battery – Li-Ion 2700 mAh
• Battery life in Windows Vista mode – up to 2 hours
• Battery life in SnapVUE mode – up to 11 days (Push e-mail off) or 53 hours (Push e-mail on)

LG Prada in silver coming

LG Electronics has announced an upcoming European release of LG-KE850 Prada in silver shell. The device won’t have any functional changes and will come with the big touchscreen display, no keyboard, a 2-megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, 2G cell networks support and 12 mm slim shell. It also features a screen QWERTY-keyboard. The device comes with the silver leather carrying case and the elegant package of the same color. The shipments of LG Prada silver will start later this month in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy and then in 13 European countries.

LG-KE850 Prada debuted in Europe last March. Initially it came in Black. It got quite popular despite the €600 price tag. The model hit the 700 000 sales mark since the release date.

AD-HSM10: tiny Bluetooth headset

Add Tech has announced a tiny Bluetooth headset AD-HSM10. The company says this is the world smallest and lightest headset. If it’s not so (a number of such solutions is already on the market), the AD-HSM10 belongs to the most compact class. Measuring 23x22x31.5 mm it weighs 5 g. It ensures up to 100 hours standby and up to 3 hours of talk time. The device is available in Titan and silver colors. The AD-HSM10 will come out in Japan late in January 2008 with the price tag of 8980 Yen (about $78).

UMPC LimePC on Freescale MPC5121e

China’s Tsinghua Tongfang has unveiled its ultra mobile PC LimePC. It’s a touchscreen device without a hardware keyboard. Powered by Freescale MPC5121e mobileGT processor it is running on Lime OS (based on Debian Linux). As for the connectivity, the LimePC supports USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11g and 10/100 Ethernet.

The Chinese shipments will start in 2008, then the UMPC would come to the US market.

PQI Traveling Disk i201 - slimmest flash drives

PQI has announced compact and slim flash drives – Traveling Disk i201. They involve Intelligent Stick patent interface and are fully compatible with USB 2.0. The drives carry from 1 to 4 GB of memory onboard. They are available in 3 “tasty” color solutions: Strawberry Rose, Banana Yellow and Bilberry.

The Travel Disk i201 is just 2.7 mm thick and weighs 1.35 g. Besides it features resistance to moist, dust and shock. You can download protection and synchronization software from the PQI site. The new ultra slim drives will debut at CES 2008 in January.

Ultra mobile clamshell by Sony Ericsson?

Sony Ericsson is rumored to release its first slim clamshell. It will be called Z660i. The phone will be just 14 mm thick, reports the source. It features UMTS support, a 2-megapixel camera and A200 platform. Probably the announcement of Sony Ericsson Z660i will take place today (no official confirmation). Meanwhile a SE fan has offered his version of this ultra mobile clamshell.

Motorola A1600: new Linux-smartphone with touch sensitive display

Some Chinese source has posted info and a picture of Motorola A1600 smartphone (MOTOMING 2). I’d remind you that another Linux-powered smartphone with the touch-sensitive display Motorola A1200 (MOTOMING) hit the Chinese stores last March and got high popularity. Probably Motorola A1600 will follow the steps of the predecessor. The new model features enhanced specs – a faster processor being one of them. The official announcement of the MOTOMING 2 might take place in February 2007 at 3GSM Congress.

The short specs of Motorola A1600 (MOTOMING 2):

• Networks - GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Linux operating system
• 3.2-megapixel camera with auto focus and LED-flash
• Wi-Fi
• AGPS
• 3 preinstalled games
• Thickness – 17.5 mm

Motorola Z8 for Ferrari fans

Motorola is about to release the Z8 Ferrari Limited Edition smartphone. Its design speaks louder than words: Black and Red colors and Ferrari logo. In addition it comes with two preinstalled clips, theme ring tones and wallpapers, registration at Ferrari’s official site and “Bourne Identification” movie. The new edition doesn’t have anything different from the original Motorola Z8 RIZR. This is a side-kick slider powered by UIQ 3.1. Ferrari Limited Edition will come out in 1Q 2008 at Ferrari Store and Motorola’s sales centers.

Early live pics of Nokia N96 smartphone

At our English-language forum you can see live pics of a new Nokia smartphone marked N96. It looks like Nokia N81, though the form is close to Nokia N95: the numeric keyboard sliding from the bottom and the panel sliding from the top (it is empty on the photo, so we don’t know its destination, probably it carries sensor media player buttons). Taking into account the pictures, Nokia N96 is powered by S60 3rd Edition FP2 (Symbian OS 9.5), the platform hasn’t been announced yet. The rear panel hides a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED flash. The source hasn’t provided more details about the specs or the release date.

World smallest Bluetooth USB adapter

The world smallest adapter by Trust – Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter can be used with notebooks or PC and for plugging Bluetooth-devices (a mouse, a mobile phone, a smartphone), and now you don’t have to connect/ disconnect receivers. The Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter will help connecting a phone with PC by wireless means for data exchange. Besides it’s possible to build a wireless network of several PCs.

Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter is so tiny that it sticks out only by 7 mm from the slot. When you finish your work, you can place the notebook with the adapter plugged into the case. The adapter supports Bluetooth 2.0 and also previous Bluetooth standards for optimal compatibility.

In addition to the size Trust Ultra Small Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter features high data transfer speed, which is 3 times faster compared to ordinary Bluetooth adapters.