San Francisco-based company said Android users will be able to receive near real-time alerts about transactions via their mobile devices. Customers will also be able to use location-based mapping technology to find ATM machines and nearby stores.

 

The announcement came two days after T-Mobile unveiled its G1 phone, the first handset to feature Google's technology. The T-Mobile G1 is schedule to arrive in U.S. stores Oct. 22.

 

"By developing these mobile services for the Android platform, Visa has taken a major step toward achieving our goal of combining two of the world's most powerful and ubiquitous consumer innovations, electronic payments and mobile technology," said Elizabeth Buse, Global Head of Product at Visa. "U.S. consumers will, for the first time, be able to download Visa mobile service applications directly to their handsets."

 

The software will be available to U.S. consumers by the end of the year, starting with Chase Visa cardholders. Visa is also developing payment software to let consumers make mobile payments in stores.

 

 

 

SEOUL, Korea (AVING) -- LG Electronics launches its new 'Secret' phones coming with Ruby Violet and Titan Gold in Korea market.

 

Featuring timeless and elegant design of the phone enhanced by stylish materials such as carbon fiber and tempered glass, the Secret phone boasts its smart technology including the slimmest 5MP camera with face detection, ISO 800 and video recording at 120 fps.

 

According to the company, the Dark Silver, Aqua Blue and Ruby Violet models will be available in Europe market and the Titan Gold model in Asia market. Suggested price is around 690,000(KRW).

 

 

 

Enjoy music videos, films and streaming like you never thought possible on a mobile device. Experience internet browsing so exhilarating... it feels like you never left your laptop at home. It's all delivered to you on a pixel-packed 3.8" WVGA screen and seamlessly tied together with touch-responsive TouchFLOTM 3D.

The ultrafast 3.5G technology lets you surf and download at true broadband speeds. On HSDPA networks, the Touch HDTM delivers downlink speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps - there is no need to slow down while you work or play.

The newly added Stock tab keeps you informed of the latest stock quotes, while the connected Home screen puts e-mail, messages and calendar only a finger-stroke away.

Get directions, view satellite maps and find your location using Google Maps. The maps are bigger and crisper thanks to the expansive screen. Tap the onscreen controls to zoom in and view more detail. This is navigation taken to a whole new level.

Highlights

3.8-inch wide, WVGA (480 X 800 pixel) display offering a cinema experience on the go

Vibrant TouchFLOTM 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media

Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity

Google Maps enhanced by the wide screen viewing platform

5 megapixel camera for quality stills and video

3.5 mm audio jack makes the Touch HDTM compatible with the majority of audio equipment available

 

 

 

 

The new BlackBerry Pearl Flip provides flip phone fans with all the power of a BlackBerry smartphone in a fun and familiar design. One quick flip of the handset opens up a world of possibilities with the industry's leading mobile messaging solution and a wide range of impressive Internet and multimedia capabilities, all in one powerful yet approachable smartphone. You can send a message to your friends or family, make a call, browse the web, snap a picture, watch a video or listen to your favorite song. It's all in your control with a simple flip.

 

The quad-band EDGE based BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone presents a sophisticated look with a sleek design and a chrome-finished frame surrounding its smooth, luminescent face. Packed with an abundance of powerful features, it weighs only 3.6 ounces and measures approximately 3.9" x 1.9" x 0.7". Featuring two high-resolution, light-sensing color displays, the external LCD makes it easy to preview incoming emails, text messages and phone calls without opening the handset, while the large, 240 x 320 internal LCD displays messages, videos and web pages with impressive detail and contrast.

 

"The popularity of BlackBerry smartphones has grown tremendously around the world and the introduction of this exciting new flip phone will help extend the reach of the BlackBerry platform even further," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion. "The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is a full-featured smartphone with a unique and friendly design and it is a natural choice for flip phone users who want to start doing more with their phone than just talk."

 

FIRST CLASS PHONE

 

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone is a top of the line mobile phone that flips open and cradles the face naturally and comfortably during phone calls. It delivers exceptional voice quality and includes many premium phone features, including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), support for mp3 ring tones, smart dialing, conference calling, speed dialing, call forwarding, voicemail attachment playback and enhanced background noise cancellation. It also features a speakerphone and Bluetooth® 2.0 for use with hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits and other Bluetooth peripherals such as a GPS receiver. The removable/rechargeable 900 mAhr battery provides four hours of talk time and over 14 days of standby time.

 

MESSAGING POWERHOUSE

 

Featuring a large SureType® QWERTY* keyboard that makes typing messages and dialing numbers fast and easy, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, like all BlackBerry smartphones, provides integrated access to the industry leading BlackBerry wireless services. Users are able to easily access up to 10 supported personal and work email accounts, send and receive text and instant messages, and connect on popular social networking sites with friends, family and co-workers. The DataViz® Documents to Go® software suite is also preloaded, allowing users to edit Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip is supported on BlackBerry® Internet Service, BlackBerry® Unite!, BlackBerry® Professional Software and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which provides tight integration with corporate email systems and the security and IT policy controls that enterprise customers require to confidently allow smartphones in their organization.

 

MULTIMEDIA TO GO

 

With an advanced media player for displaying pictures, listening to music and watching videos, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip is the perfect on-the-go entertainment center. Videos play smoothly on the large internal display, playlists can be managed directly on the handset and there's an equalizer with 11 preset filters - including "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" - for customizing audio ranges when using headphones or external speakers. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip works with the new BlackBerry® Media Sync application that makes it easy to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone*** and it also features a conveniently accessible microSD/SDHC memory card slot that supports up to 16GB** for plenty of storage. High Speed USB 2.0 support allows files to be quickly transferred between a desktop computer and the smartphone and the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software includes Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry® to help users easily manage their music and video files. Roxio Photosuite® 9 LE is also included for creating photo albums and editing pictures.

 

FULL FEATURED FLIP

 

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip packs an impressive range of features into its compact design, including phone, email, messaging, organizer, browser and multimedia applications, and it can also support thousands of other mobile lifestyle and business applications. It features a 2 megapixel camera with flash, zoom and video recording**** to capture memories while on the move, and includes BlackBerry Maps to deliver maps and step-by-step driving directions quickly and easily. An enhanced HTML browser displays web pages beautifully in either "Column View" or "Page View" and different emulation settings allow users to choose between desktop-style HTML content and the mobile version of web pages. The browser also supports RTSP for watching online streaming video from sites like m.youtube.com. In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphone features built-in Wi-Fi® (802.11 b/g) with support for UMA (unlicensed mobile access), extending wireless email and data coverage and supporting carrier enabled voice calls over home Wi-Fi networks, enterprise wireless deployments and Wi-Fi hotspots.

 

ACCESSORIES

 

The BlackBerry Pearl Flip comes with a variety of accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger and USB cable. Additional accessories for BlackBerry smartphones, including holsters and totes, charging pods, premium earphones, Bluetooth headsets and the BlackBerry® Remote Stereo Gateway are available through retail outlets or online at www.shopblackberry.com.

 

 

 

As expected, HTC officially took the wraps off the HTC Touch Diamond at a press conference in London Tuesday and great googly moogly, does this thing look hot! Not only does it look sexy from the outside with its sleek, black casing, but the Touch Diamond also features a revamped TouchFlo 3D interface that gives you a more animated and easier way to access your contacts, messages, and other content. You can do all this via the Diamond's gorgeous 2.8-inch, 680x480 VGA (yes, that's right, VGA) touch screen; plus, there's a new touch-sensitive control below the display to help you out.

 

The Touch Diamond is a lot more than just looks, though. The quad-band smartphone runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and has integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, and HSDPA support. HTC also noted that it will ship the Touch Diamond with a customized mobile Web browser that provides an optimized view of pages and lets you zoom and pan sites with one hand. In addition, the page orientation will automatically go from portrait to landscape mode when you turn the device sideways (hmm, sounds familiar. *cough, iPhone, cough, cough*) Other goodies include a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage, 256MB flash memory, and 192MB RAM.

 

The HTC Touch Diamond will start shipping in European markets this June, and then later in the quarter for Asia and the Middle East. As for us, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that we're actually getting our own version but unfortunately, we, as well as Latin American markets, will have to wait till the second half of 2008. Now, while the Touch Diamond certainly looks like a gem (sorry, had to do it), we're hoping it's more than just flash. And we couldn't help but be reminded of a similar-looking smartphone from Velocity Mobile. Mmm hmm, things just got interesting. Check out CNET UK's hands-on examination and our photo gallery of the HTC Touch Diamond.