Author: Duncan Geere
LG's new flagship multimedia handset – the "Arena" KM900
I’ll admit it’s been a while since I was excited about an LG handset, despite my love for the company’s TFT monitors. This phone might change all that, however – it’s the LG Arena KM900, newly announced in advance of its unveiling at MWC 2009.
The biggest feature of the phone is its use of 3D. It’s got a completely new UI which is based on cubes, providing a number of different home screens. A touchscreen allows you to navigate between them, but from the picture to the right, it looks clearly iPhone-influenced.
The Arena will also have HSDPA, Wi-Fi, and aGPS, but beyond that we don’t know anything more. We’ll be finding out full specs, and hopefully a release date, next week at MWC so stay tuned for that. If you want to be the first to hear, then you might like to follow @techdigestnews on Twitter. Just an idea.
(via Official LG Blog)
More on LG: Lucy plays backgammon on the LG KF300 | LG has ‘modular’ VX9600 Versa in the works
RUMOUR: Vodafone to launch Android handset with HTC
Perhaps Vodafone’s CEO has had a change of heart since dissing Android last year. There’s a rumour flying about that the network operator is planning its own Android handset, built by HTC.
The rumour suggests that it’ll be launched next Tuesday, the 17th Feb, at Mobile World Congress, which would make sense. I’ve emailed Vodafone about the device, but if they come back to me with anything other than “no comment”, then I’ll be very surprised indeed.
(via @feebeyer)
More on Android: Last.fm releases Android client application | Video surfaces of the Android-based Dream G2
Even smarter Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition announced
The Samsung Tocco has done rather well since release, becoming the best-selling contract device in the second half of 2008. Guess it’s due for an upgrade, then, and here it is – the Samsung Tocco Ultra Edition. The biggest change is the addition of a slide-out keypad, like the N95, which complements the 2.8 OLED touchscreen nicely.
There’s also an 8-megapixel camera with associated features, HSDPA, GPS, DivX and Xvid playback, FM tuner, and support for 16GB of microSD action. It’s also remarakbly thin, at just 12.7mm. Clearly, this is one of the smartest of all the smartphones. Sadly there’s no Wi-Fi, and no 3.5mm headphone jack, but if you can live without those then you’ll find a lot to like here. It’ll launch in the UK in March, and price will depend, most likely, on contract.
Samsung Mobile
More about Samsung: Samsung Acme i8910 info spills out | Samsung Memoir gets official
8-bit ties, bringing a new meaning to the term "professional gamer"
We’re lucky here at Shiny Media, we get to wear whatever we damn well please to work. Of course, the team from Brandish sit next to us, so we’re almost certainly getting judged, but it sure beats wearing a suit to work.
If you’re unfortunate enough to have to, though, then although you’ll have to shelve your Pac-Man and Left 4 Dead t-shirts, you can replace them with these gaming ties. Featuring Tetris, Pong, Space Invaders and Asteroids, they’re unashamedly 8-bit. They’re available on Amazon USA and cost $25 a pop.
Tetris, Space Invaders, Asteroids and Pong (via Technabob)
More clothing: Amphibious flippers | NES controller varsity jacket
Suspected T-Mobile marketing stunt closes Liverpool Street station
If your journey home last Friday involved traversing Liverpool Street station, you might have had some trouble. The London station was forced to close for an hour and a half, from 7pm, due to an 11,000-strong flash mob mimicking T-Mobile’s recent adverts featuring silent dancers.
Niche of the week: Headset Hotties
Welcome to Niche of the Week, an irregular feature where we highlight the slightly more bizarre corners of the internet. This one looks at models on websites with headsets on, usually promising live support, or customer chat, or something along those lines, called, brilliantly, Headset Hotties.
You can’t deny, this has Gary Cutlack written all over it. Unfortunately I can’t verify whether it’s his work or not, right now. I suspect the former. If you’re not familiar with Mr Cutlack’s modus operandi, then I suggest you go and visit Idiot Toys right now. It’s fantastic.
Headset Hotties (via Instant Rimshot)
More niches: Trukz – a haulage-based MMO | Brokers with hands on their faces
Kid breaks Guitar Hero world record, and Guitar Hero guitar
A 14-year-old has smashed the previous world record for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and managed to break a guitar while doing so. The kid, Danny Johnson, notched up a score of 973,954 on DragonForce’s “Through the Fire and Flames”, breaking the previous record of 899,703.
Danny managed a streak of 3,558 notes in a row, until the blue button broke on the guitar. Harsh luck, considering that there were less than 200 notes to go before the end of the song. His massive score was achieved by calculating the optimum moments to use Star Power – either in the “Red Snake” or “Twin Solo” segments of the song.
Danny plays piano, guitar, drums, saxophone and oboe in real life, and he claims his skills at Guitar Hero help him nail tough real guitar solos. It’s unclear if he’s now an oboe badass, too. Maybe when Oboe Hero is released…
(via the New York Times)
More Guitar Hero shenanigans: Guitar Hero III has made more money than any other videogame ever | Guitar Hero cupcakes are packed with star power
New INQ phone will have Twitter built in
The problem with building an entire device around one service is that when the service becomes obsolete, so does the device. Not that I’m saying Facebook, and therefore the INQ phone, is obsolete, but it’s important to keep things updated.
With that in mind, last night Electric Pig got a nugget of information out of INQ’s CEO, Frank Meehan, about the next device they’ll be releasing. When asked if Twitter would feature in the next INQ, Frank replied: “I think we’d be stupid if we didn’t”. So there you go.
(via Electric Pig)
More on the INQ: INQ1 heading to more networks | REVIEW: INQ1 Facebook phone from 3
YouTube Video of the Week: Learn Binary in 111100 seconds
They say there are 10 types of people in this world – those who understand binary and those who don’t. If you’re in the latter group, then click play on the video above, sit back, and have it explained in a minute flat. It’s certainly the best video I’ve seen in the last 111 days.
Samsung Acme i8910 info spills out
Strange names for products can sometimes work – just look at the Wii. Even so, the Samsung Acme, which info has just leaked about, is a little too close to ‘acne’ for my liking. It’s heavily based on the Omnia, and actually looks to be a pretty decent upgrade to Samsung’s cameraphone.
It boasts an 8-megapixel sensor, GPS, HDMI, Wi-Fi, and a 3.5mm headphone socket. It’ll do HD recording, and it’s DNLA and DivX compatible. There’ll be 8GB and 16GB versions available, and because it’s got a massive touchscreen, it’ll invariably be referred to as an “iPhone Killer” at some point in its life. Sigh. No word on release date or pricing. Yet.
(via Gaj-it)
More Samsung goodness: Samsung Memoir gets official | Samsung to launch app store at MWC 2009
