harman/kardon announce first GPS device

The GPS navigation system market seems to be heating up with more and more companies introducing new models to the market and now harman/kardon, the American company especially known for good audio gear, is introducing their first GPS device, the GPS500 Satellite Navigation System. The GPS500 is not only a satnav system, but like many others brings along multimedia features, such as being able to play back several audio and video formats (MP3, OGG, WAV, MP4, OGWMA and ASF). The display is a large 4″ WQVGA and battery life is 5 hours, but a cigarettelighter charger cable and AC adapter are supplied with the GPS500.
And as expected of a harman/kardon device: the design looks very good. You can expect this to come out on the US market March time for around $500.

SonyEricsson’s Bravia phone announced for Japan

I still own a SonyEricsson mobile phone (the old T610), but the newer models including the smartphones have not been impressing me much lately and it seemed to me as if they were doing what most mobile phone companies and telcoms are doing: targeting the teenager group.At first this seemed to have changed: SonyEriccson’s SO903iTV is going to be the first to include a 3″ Bravia display and offer some nice features, such as built in TV receiver with time-shifted recording options, a microSD for memory and a 2 megapixel camera. So this seems like a rich feature handset with a nice design by a decent company. But once again: the phone is to be released in Japan.
I have to wonder why it is that the Japanese market, a quite small one in fact, is so much more technologically advanced than for example our quite large European and American markets.

Verizon Wireless launches V-cast Mobile Television Service

America’s second largest cell phone operator, Verizon Wireless announced Sunday it is planning a new service, V Cast Mobile TV, which will help people on-the-go to watch TV programs. The service is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007.
With initial launch planned in several major U.S. markets, the ad-supported service will offer live content and other programming 24 hours a day from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox, MTV, NBC News, NBC Entertainment and Nickelodeon. Other content providers, including ESPN, are expected to join the lineup, the company said, which will take the total number of channels to ultimately 20.

The company will be partnering with MediaFLO USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, to deliver the content. MediaFLO USA operates a dedicated multicast network that delivers programming in a linear format.The service will be accessible on new V CAST Mobile TV handsets through a dedicated V Cast Mobile TV key.

John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon Wireless, told a news conference at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show the service is intended to provide something for everyone. It will be in a TV-format.
The company did not reveal pricing details for the service. Samsung and LG Electronics will be initially making the handsets for the service. The handsets, the Samsung SCH u620 and the LG VX9400, will also have features like V Cast Music, V Cast Video, Mobile Web 2.0SM and Get It Now capabilities. The Samsung SCH-u620 will feature a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, Bluetooth support and enhanced speech recognition with dictation for multimedia messaging. The LG VX9400 also has Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, integrated speakerphone and an external memory expansion slot for music, pictures and video clips.
Verizon Wireless already offers on-demand video clips via its V CAST multimedia network, but the MediaFLO service will be the carrier’s first live mobile television offering.