MicroTechXP

Cisco has developed 3D holographic telephony to create the world’s first real time virtual presentation.
Cisco CEO John Chambers, who was live on the Bangalore stage, ‘beamed up’ Martin De Beer, the Senior Vice President of emerging Technologies, and Chuck Stucki the General Manager of TelePresence, live from San Jose, California. Chambers was then able to have a ‘face to face’ discussion with De Beer and Stucki on the future of Cisco TelePresence, demonstrating firsthand the potential capabilities of the system in front of the watching audience. [Neowin]
View: Video Demonstration

We all suspected it, but now it is confirmed: someone very, very close to the 3G iPhone launch has told me that Apple will announce their new model at the WWDC Keynote on June 9th. The second-generation iPhone will be available worldwide right after the launch, and not at year’s end, as previously thought. The new model will also herald new sales policies in some countries.

In Spain, for example, the 3G iPhone will be available for sale at the June 18th grand opening of Telefonica’s megastore—an Apple Store-like shop located in the company’s historical building in Madrid’s Gran Vía— with nationwide availability the next day or after a few hours. The other European countries with iPhone availability will have similar launch schedules.

According to another source involved in the launch, the 3G iPhone will no longer be available at a fixed price point—at least in some countries, and its launch will also bring new sales policies, although these have not been completely specified yet.

The move is a logical step, since the iPhone has clearly solidified its position as the cellphone to beat during the last 12 months, and companies in the cutthroat European cellphone market need to use it as an incentive to capture clients aggressively.

This most probably means the new 3G iPhone will be integrated in the usual marketing systems of carriers, with point-based trade-ups, discounts for carrier switchers and other service-based subvention packages. [Gizmodo]

Note that this is not fake, it is in the beta 5 .ipsw, but will normally not show up on an EDGE iPhone. Turning 3G on will just crash the phone if you use an EDGE phone. If you do not believe me, then decrypt the beta5 rootfs dmg, and see for yourself in /Applications/Preferences.app/Network.plist [The Apple Blog]

Yesterday at a press event hosted in London, HTC unveiled its latest Windows Mobile device, the diamond.
The device is equipped with a generous 528 MHz processor, 4GB storage inbuilt, HSDPA, FM Radio, 3.2MP camera and GPS built in. The Diamond runs on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 which is the latest offering from Microsoft. Unfortunately Microsoft hasn’t made many great improvements to the user interface of Windows Mobile recently and HTC have built applications and customizations for their devices. [Neowin]

Video: >> Click here <<
View: HTC Diamond
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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint-Nextel Corp. is “seriously considering spinning off or selling its ailing Nextel unit.” That’s according to undisclosed people “familiar with the situation,” though Sprint did decline to comment on whether it actually was considering a sale of Nextel. Also of note, Cyren Call is reportedly attempting to “assemble a consortium of investors to acquire Nextel as part of its plans to create a nationwide wireless network for public safety communications,” and while it can’t be confirmed, we are hearing that Sprint is “contemplating other possible buyers such as private equity firms.” Still, these same sources made clear that “no deal was imminent and that Sprint was preoccupied for the moment with other matters.” It’s no secret that the firm would be way more attractive to suitors (read: Deutsche Telekom) if the flagging Nextel division was detached from the deal, but we guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Engadget]

The 3G iPhone will be announced June 9, the likely date of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, analysts said in research notes on Thursday.
The 3G iPhone will be the “first of an impressive wave of new products” from Apple, wrote Citi analysts Richard Gardner and Yeechang Lee. They also expect an updated Mac laptop and iPod lines. The Apple conference is scheduled for June 9-13 in San Francisco.
In addition to a 3G iPhone release in early June, the 2.5G model could have a “minor casing change” and a price drop to between US$299 and $349, compared to the current $399, wrote Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, in a research report.
Those predictions are consistent with a February prediction Gardner made that 3G iPhones will be announced by midyear. The 3G iPhone release will help Apple meet its target of shipping 10 million iPhones in 2008, Gardner wrote at the time. Apple is confident it will sell 10 million iPhones this year, officials said during a conference call on Wednesday to discuss the company’s second-quarter earnings.
View: The Full Article @ Yahoo

In Las Vegas Sprint has announced a new mobile called the Instinct made by Samsung. It weighs in and is about the same size as the iPhone, and seems to use similar interface ideas. One of the most touted features of the Instinct over the iPhone is the ability to run on EVDO Rev. A, which can achieve much faster speeds than AT&Ts EDGE network. Instinct will come with a 2GB microSD card and it can be expanded up to 8GB. It also features a 2 megapixel camera, GPS navigation (using Telenav), Visual Voicemail (using the touch screen to scan through and browse voicemail messages), and two 1000 mAmp batteries giving up to 5.75 hours of talk time each, as well as some other accessories.
No price was announced, but Sprint claims it will be competitive to the $399 iPhone and should be available to purchase in June. [Detroit Free Press]
Click Read More for photos
View: PhoneScoops Video of the Instinct
View: Sprints Instinct Website and Order Reservation

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At CTIA Wireless 2008, Robbie Bach unveiled new features for an update to Windows Mobile, which includes enhanced features for socializing like threaded text messaging and features for simpler navigation. He also announced Microsoft’s plans to bring desktop-grade Web browsing experience to the Windows Mobile phone with an upcoming version of Internet Explorer Mobile.
Updates and new phones are expected to be available beginning in the second quarter of 2008. IE Mobile will be available to mobile phone partners in the third quarter of 2008 with the first Windows Mobile phones using the new version to be available by the end of 2008.
For Windows Mobile phones used in businesses, System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 is now available.
The Microsoft Mobile Services Plan (MMSP) was also announced today in partnership with AT&T, O2, Orange, TaTa Teleservices Ltd. and Verizon Wireless. The plan will help businesses with:
• Securing Windows Mobile phones with the same ease and flexibility as Windows-based PCs and providing access to information behind a company’s firewall.
• Helping businesses meet their mobile device management needs through mobile operators with the MMSP.
• Managing and securing phones with Exchange Server 2007 SP1 advanced mobile policies while enabling people to find, share, and use information no matter where they are
View: Microsoft Press Release

Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phones in the United States.
The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFLO USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.
The channel, to be known as PIX, will be stocked with such titles as “Ghostbusters,” “Philadelphia” and “Stand by Me.”
Mobile has been viewed mostly as a marketing platform for theatricals in the U.S. With the domestic mobile video category for even shortform clips lagging behind markets in Europe and Asia, Sony is looking to entice viewers with more diverse content offerings.
“What you see a lot on the carrier decks is promotional content that people can snack a little on,” said Eric Berger, vp mobile entertainment at Sony Pictures Television. “There’s nothing currently there as deeply entertaining as these movies.”
Films have been made available on handsets on an on-demand basis. Sony was one of several studios that contributed titles to content aggregator MSpot, which teamed with Sprint to launch MSpot Movies in 2006. [Reuters]

Pocket-lint has learnt from sources close to the matter that Microsoft will announce the much-rumoured refresh to its mobile phone operating system, Windows Mobile, on 1 April 2008.
An improvement over Windows Mobile 6 released in February 2007 the new version, unsurprisingly named 6.1, will be a stop-gap measure to keep both consumers and industry happy until the launch of Windows Mobile 7.
Leaked screenshots of 6.1 have already done the rounds in the blogosphere, and show the system has been simplified with the screens displaying less mess than the Vista-inspired version 6. A new look with new fonts, new homescreen and new features such as a task manager and copying and pasting in Internet Explorer all bode well for users of Microsoft’s OS for handhelds. [Pocket Lint]