If Google has its own phone, then Yahoo! should have its mobile phone too. We've waited some time, but now it's over. Yahoo! officially has its own phone: Alcatel One Touch Net. It can't be considered Yahoo!'s phone as the Nexus One is for Google, but it's the first phone that will integrate the Yahoo! mobile services. The phone is manufactured by TCT Mobile and it's way different from the Alcatel One Touch we know like 8 years ago. 

This one has a full qwerty keyboard, is a BlackBerry-like phone, has a 2.4 inch display, EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth, Music player, FM Radio, 2MP camera and 80MN of internal memory. Not impressive at all, would we say. Maybe the only good thing about is is that it integrates Yahoo! services, but besides email and Messenger I am not using any of them, so it's not a suitable mobile phone for me. Besides those two, the new Alcatel will include Yahoo! Search, Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! Social Pulse, Yahoo! Address Book and Calendar, and there is also going to be Flickr.

The phone will cost around $100 and will be available in India next month. The device will also come in other Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Now we all know why it's been released. Asia is a big Yahoo! user, unlike Europe, and the phone won't be successful in the States, so that's the reason why it will only be released in Asia.

Via Unwired View

Today is Sony Ericsson's day for sure. After announcing the brand new full-touch-Walkman called Yendo, the Sweden-based phone producer announced the new Xperia X8 too, and some Android 2.1 updates for X10. The new X8 will be like a smaller brother for the X10, and as expected will be cheaper too.

The X8 will be powered up by a 600MHz processor, will pack a 3.0 inch (320x480) screen, a 3.2MP camera, 3.5mm headset jack, 2GB included microSD card, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. We don't know for sure if it will run Android 1.6 or 2.1, but if it will run the first one, there is probably going to be an update to 2.1 soon after the release. No price is yet available, and the only thing known about the release date is that the phone will come in the third quarter of 2010.

Speaking of Android updates. Besides announcing the new X8, Sony Ericsson also announced an Android 2.1 update for the X10 line, which will also come in the Q3 of 2010. For the original X10 (foto) this will also bring HD video recording capabilities.

Via MobileCrunch

We talk everytime about Android, iOS, smartphones and high-waited new specs of different devices. Well, there are not only users interested in those. Some people just need the phone for what it's been made: calling, texting and maybe listeting to some music now and then. Well, Sony Ericsson has not forgot about them and announces a brand new Walkman-phone, called Yendo. This is the first full-touch Walkman from Ericsson.

The phone has a 2.6 inch display, a 2.0MP camera, 3.5mm headset jack, but nothing known about the storage. The phone will come in different colors, such as yellow, black, white, pink, blue, orange, grey, green and others, so there are plenty to choose form. There's not any price range available, but the phone will probably not be so expensive. It will be launched soon, because the launch date is the third quarter of this year.

Via MobileCrunch

The popular instant messaging soft, Skype, was announced to be available for Sony Ericsson Symbian devices (Satio and Vivaz) in Luxembourg, on 15th June. Now the application can be used over Wi-Fi or mobile data connection (3G, GPRS and EDGE). If you have one of those two smartphones and want free calls to your Skype friends, then access skype.com/m or visit this link, which will be available soon.

Skype for Symbian will run on any Ericsson which uses the new operating system that is Symbian ^1. Some of the features that Vivaz and Satio owners can have now are free Skype-to-Skype calling, cheaper SMS prices when sending messages abroad, instant messaging (similar to Yahoo! Messenger or MSN Messenger), file sharing (videos, pictures and other files) and many others. The full list can be found here.

Skype is a well-known software that aenables instant messaging, used by millions of persons and businesses to make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files. Skype also enable low-cost calling, especially over the border.

Via MobileCrunch

Last year INQ announced they will release a new Android this year, but until today we didn't knew anything about it. Now we know for sure INQ Android will come in the fourth quarter of this year. The phone will be called GigaOM and will run Google's operating system. The handset will be a touchscreen with multi-touch capabilities. We do not know more about it, unfortunately.

INQ's devices are Brwe-based phones with Skype and social networking integrated, including Facebook or Twitter. INQ sold more than 1.5 million units of the INQ Chat 3G, its latest qwerty handset. Many people do not know about INQ devices, but that's because this company is successful in UK, Italy or India. Never heard of INQ devices in the United States.

It seems INQ wants to go after Samsung and Sony Ericsson, following them in the Android market. Now we will just have to wait and see if they are also going to manage it. Hutchinson Whampoa has lots of it and it seems it will not hold back when putting money into this business, especially when talking about a business that brings billion dollars each year.

Via Unwired View

It seems Fujitsu and Toshiba, two of the biggest IT companies in Japan and two important players on the market in the world are already in the "final stage" of the negotiations to merge their cell phone negotiations this year. This would create Japan's second largest cell phone maker, (18.7% shares) after Sharp, which owns 26.1% of the market. Fujitsu, now the third company in Japan, will probably be the "head" of this joint venture, because Toshiba is just on the 8th place.

It's clear why Toshiba and Fujitsu want to emerge together. The incredible success of smartphone devices (most of the outside Japan) puts a lot of pressure on Japanese devices. The two companies now hope that by emerging together they will create a powerful player on the market of smartphones. The two companies also hope they will reduce costs and produce competitiveness, as NEC, Casio and Hitachi (becoming NEC Casio Mobile) did just a bit time ago.

Via MobileCrunch

Because of its big success in France, the LG Pop GD510 was re-launched in the same country, but as a different version. The new edition is called "Twilight Edition" and was introduced to celebrate the launch of the new saga, called Eclipse. This is the thirs installment of the saga, and should hit the French screens on 7th July.

The new version comes in black with Twilight logo on the back and also include some wallpapers for Twilight fans. As a bonus, everyone who buys the phone from Orange France, will be able to download for free "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" until the end of this year. The phone costs €199 and has the same features as the first version of the handset: 3.15 MP camera, Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0, 256K color TFT touchscreen, 240x400 pixels, microSD internal memory and weighs 87 g. 

With 2G network, Flash UI as operating system, launched for the first time in October 2009, the phone was sold in more than 1 million pieces in France and is one of the mobile phones many people like, maybe also because the price isn't so big.

Via Unwired View

If there are football fans out there (I mean European football, not the awful American one), then you might have expected this period for a long, long time. Yes, it's that time in a decade when one of the World Cups happens and there are some new mobile phone applications for coverage, for news and many other things that you might be interested in. The Associated Press launched FIFA World Cup 2010 Application, which can be used in English, Spanish, Portugese and French. The user can modify the UI skin as he wants. 

Think about some exclusive photos, videos and interviews and you have pretty much everything you need before the start of the World Cup this Friday. You will have in your pocket every information you want, like stadiums, training grounds, crowds or regions showcased by the tournament.

Unfortunately, this will not be like AT&T's video live coverage from the World Cup, but as long as you have every information you need, you can also see the game home or in a bar. Video live coverage would also mean lots of money spent on something you can even see free on the internet.

Source: PhAndroid

LG GT350, called LG Town or LG Tribe Next, is the succesor of LG KS360 and is now shipping in different European countries, such as Germany, UK or Italy. The launch of this phone is the debut of the "Town" series, which will have a set of phones focused on social networking serives, such as Facebook, Orkut or Twitter.

The phone comes with a special user interface (based on the S-Class UI), features a 3 inch WQVGA (240x400) touchscreen display, full QWERTY keyboard (which I don't like at all), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, FM Radio, 2MP camera and microSD card support. Unfortunately there's not such thing as 3G. For the price it's being offered, I wouldn't really rush to buy it.

In Italy, for example LG Tribe Next (as it is called there) will cost $183. The price for the other markets will be set a different way, so don't expect the same price in Germany or Uk, because it will probably be different.

Via

Altek Leo, a 14MP cameraphone capable of HD recording was announced by Altek this week. The cameraphone with both xenon and LED flashes is set to be released in less than a month now. The touch-screen phone also pack Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity with HSPDA support. Unfortunately, Altek failed to say which operating system this phone is running, but they consider it as being a smartphone. Altek will present the phone at the CommunicAsia 2010 in June.

Never heard of Altek yet? Don't bother with this, Altek is a digital camera OEM and their products are most of the time rebranded, so that's why people don't really know who is Altek.

Source: GSM Arena