Here’s a neat hole in the iPad’s security, as shown by Cesare Garlati of BringYourOwnIT in the video embedded above. See that guy reading his business email on his super-locked-down enterprise device? The one which locks instantly and needs a passcode?

OK, here’s what you do: after he’s put it down from reading his email (that bit is important), grab it and slap on a Smart Cover (if it hasn’t got one; all the best thieves use them).

Press the power button at the top until you get the “Power off” message; flip the smart cover over the iPad so it shuts off the screen; flip it back open, and then press the “Cancel” button

via iPad security hole lets you bypass lock screen by using Smart Cover | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

PlayBook anyone?

Now then let’s see how fast Apple fixes this. Seriously, there are ultra senior executives wandering around the planet right now with market moving information on their iPads. The moment someone manages to sneak a peak at some acquisition documents or pre-release numbers — and the moment that goes public — the ramifications for Apple could be considerable.

This is why most banks won’t dream of moving off BlackBerry. Fundamentally, you need the basic stuff to work.

Fat lot of good the Exchange 7-character security PIN number is when the device is left on the train and all you need to do is stick on a Smart Cover to see what’s going on.

Don’t leave it for 5 weeks Apple. Get a fix out pronto.

I got this note in from Mark who’s having some trauma with o2 and Palm. Have a read…

Hi Ewan,

I have been a fan of Palm for many years starting back in 1996 with a US Robotics Palm 1000 and over the years have purchased many of their products. Through blind loyalty I even replaced a Treo 650 with a Centro despite being ridiculed by my mates who at the time were all buying iPhones. When the Pre was announced it was fantastic news as I finally had a device to counter some of the stick I was getting from the Apple fanboys. After the long wait between announcement and UK availability I signed up for an 18 month contract on o2 the morning they become available here in the UK (Nov 6th?).

So impressed was I, that when my wife’s Nokia came out of contract in Feb 2010 I immediately convinced her to go for a Pre on an 24 month contract on o2.

We were happy Palm Pre users for months.

Recently though the power switch on my wife’s Pre stopped functioning correctly. It responds if pressed with herculean effort but doesn’t work otherwise. My wife assured me that it just stopped working and she hadn’t dropped it or damaged it anyway.

A bit of googling found that others also reported similar problems:

http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pre/202448-pre-power-button-not-functioning.html

http://forums.palm.com/t5/webOS-Hardware/Pre-power-button/m-p/257899

http://gdgt.com/discuss/power-button-not-working-recently-i-5vp/

Especially interesting is this post which claims Sprint acknowledge it is a known hardware problem:

http://forums.palm.com/t5/webOS-Hardware/Broken-Power-Button/m-p/241625

“I am bumping this thread to report the same problem. I took the phone into Sprint on Saturday and they told me that this is a known hardware problem. They said Palm is aware of it as well and they are replacing the phone with no questions asked. ”

So I took the Pre to an o2 shop, explained that it was broken and required fixing under warranty.

A week later I get a call saying that the phone is damaged and that a repair will cost 117.5 GBP. When asked for an explanation of the damage there was a very vague explanation of “crack behind the screen”. The screen does not have a crack in it (although this is also a common problem with Pres – see http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=30038) so I do not understand the comment nor the relevance to the power button.

I asked for the phone to be returned so as to check its condition. The letter that came with it simply said the phone was damaged and would cost 117.5 to repair which I had declined. No details of damage were given. I (admittedly not a trained phone engineer) cannot see any problem with it.

It seems that many other Pre users have experienced similar problems with o2 refusing to accept liability for a phone repair under warranty due to cosmetic damage of the phones:

http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=50595

http://forums.palm.com/t5/webOS-Hardware/Palm-Pre-repair-service-in-the-UK/td-p/312993

http://forum.o2.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=48955

The fee is always the same – 117.5 GBP

The justifications are often vague.

It appears that o2 are hiding behind a blanket “It is damaged” response as a simple means of not having to cover the cost of repairs themselves and if so, this is unacceptable.

I do not have a problem with Palm – I still love it. I bought 2 Palm Pres from o2 and think they have a duty of service to provide me with a handset fit for purpose and free from manufacturing defects. If they believe my phone fault is as a result of damage then they should provide a detailed explanation in their rejection of the warranty claim. Are o2 simply giving up on Palm and unconcerned if they piss of handset owners? Are o2 hoping people will give up trying to get a problems fixed by o2 and go to Palm direct instead?

I have asked @o2 several times via Twitter for info about justification for repair estimates but have yet to receive a response. Thought you might be interested in this and possibly have some insight into the problem.

/Mark

Next time, Mark, get her to buy an iPhone. Because as long as it’s in warranty, you can avoid all this tossing around. It’s simply too much hassle. That’s why Apple instructs and empowers their team members to take one look at the issue and — provided you’re in warranty — get you a new one from the back. It’s simply not worth winding up the customer. And the amount of to-and-fro just ends up costing everyone more and more money. I wish more organisations adopted a can-do approach.

In the United Kingdom, however, we don’t generally get this, do we? Instead we all arse about with weeks and weeks of back-and-forward.

But who’s at fault with this specific issue.  What do readers recommend Mark does next?

I remember when I was at University back in the year 1997, it used to be possible to disconnect at T-Mobile UK handset from the network by putting your hand over the phone.  Such was the quality of the transmitter and the TMO network, that almost any interference — a hand, a wall, a particularly large book — would turn a five bar solid signal into a ‘no signal’ message very very quickly.

Apple, it seems, has decided to pluck that feature from relative obscurity and integrate it directly into the new iPhone 4.  That’s right — touch the metal casing antenna band at the wrong point and the phone does the telephony equivalent of fainting.

Gizmodo has been on the issue all day and has posted video after video demonstrating and clarifying the problem.  Apparently if you use some scotch tape or mess about with nail polish, you can overcome it.  Or if you hold the phone with your fingertips …

Absolutely ridiculous.

Talking on an iPhone has always been a rubbish experience.  It is really annoying when people ask, ‘Are you on your iPhone?’ when they’re wondering why they can’t really hear me very well.

I haven’t yet tried the iPhone 4 yet and I will certainly purchase one despite this apparent issue.  I’ve no doubt Apple will publish a response shortly with a fix or some advice.

Have you noticed this problem with your iPhone 4?

Goodness me there’s quite an iPad echo-chamber going on around the marketplace. Almost everyone I speak to is craving or mentioning the iPad in one way or another. The launch, of course, has been ridiculously delayed. If you believe Apple’s brilliantly convenient ‘message’, they completely stuffed up their distribution logistics which led to them having to regretfully push back the UK (and international) launch of the device. This from a company with billions and billions of dollars in the bank and a team of geniuses. Are you telling me they can conceive of the iPad but not get their logistics in order? Anyway.

Whatever the reason, all is about to be forgotten. The iPad-is-a-coming. I saw my first one (that doesn’t belong to me or another mobile industry chap) in the wild today at the Westfield shopping mall. The Apple Store is quietly proclaiming the arrival with a little sign.

In London I think we’re going to see more and more of them around shortly.

Have you ordered one?

If so, what model did you go for?

And — if applicable — what network are you selecting for your iPad?

But meantime, if you’re packing an N900, you can upgrade it today:

Nokia today announced availability of a new software update version PR1.2 for the N900, its multi-tasking mobile phone powered by Maemo. Available over-the-air, the update provides access to brand new content available in the Ovi store as well as improved usability through features add-ons including:

- Video calling with Skype
- Facebook IM chat
- Portrait Browsing – with the addition of a navigation bar at the bottom of the screen

- E-mail and Calendar improvements;
>> E-mail: toolbar changes, live text search functionality (body, title, sender and receiver list) and a new copy-paste-send button
>> Calendar: respond to calendar invitations whilst working in e-mail (not in calendar), forwarding from toolbar. Listing of participants and meeting organiser in description field of email.

N900 users can now enjoy brand new applications and services through the Ovi store including Jurassic Rollercoaster 3D, QuickPanorama Pro, Angry Birds level pack, Sygic Mobile maps and more.

Good news. You can find the change log here and you should be able to access the update from the device’s ‘update’ function.

Don’t forget that this update also enables Qt 4.6 for developers. Qt is a-coming!

It’s only 85g, it looks nice, it’s got some big buttons, a large screen and it’s quad-band!

Here’s the vid…

Download M4V Video | Subscribe to Podcast | Embed video

Let’s get started with the Q&A…

1: Glenda, in Barcelona I kept hearing about mobile virtualization and what a big deal it is. But it sounds complex. Can you explain, in a nutshell, what your company does?

Glenda: Sure, first off, VirtualLogix is a mobile virtualization software supplier with a long history. We are here because of smartphones. The big need we address is enabling low cost consumer smartphones.

2: Yes, we are hearing a lot about the sub $100 smartphone. Can you comment on what you see happening in the industry right now and where VirtualLogix fits in?

Glenda: Sure, this is what I see happening and where we play:

1) There is no question that as an industry we are seeing Moore’s Law take affect in lowering the cost of silicon, we saw this help along the PC industry, and we are seeing the need for a similar transition in mobile.

2) Our customers are ultimately the end users of handsets but the way we add value is by helping silicon vendors– including our newest customers announced at MWC, ST Ericsson and Infineon —- to take a low cost single chip implementation and turn it into rich functioning platform that OEMs can design on.

3: Ok, that is a good overview. Can you take it a level deeper to really outline the big benefits we can see from mobile virtualization technologies like yours?

Glenda: Of course. In the past, hardware, operating systems and peripherals were all integrated because there was not enough horsepower. Now, you can slip in a virtualization layer, right onto the metal, which is what we do. This abstracts and removes interdependencies of the hardware and the core layer from the OS and from various platform management technologies. So we are able to remove some of hardware dependencies through our patented technology that ultimately achieves much faster time to market for device makers.

But what is a mobile device now? New e-readers, new classes of handheld devices where gadget guys need lots of resources with video and graphics also want to compete in the handset space. So we create software that allows devices to be customized so it is easier to modify a phone into an e-reader. We will see a whole host of OEMs in Asia with a real strength in electronics doing this.

4: Last year, everyone was talking about Google and how Android was going to be fantastic. But we’ve seen quite a delay. What do you see?

Glenda: Android needs to grow up from an open source OS to a battle-hardened phone platform. Sure, it’s Linux, but look, RedHat and Novell have made businesses around Linux. The challenge with Android is that Google needs to understand how to make a business around open source and be able to lose some control of the brand.

5: Does your software work on any platform?

Glenda: Yes. The background on the company is around an engineering team that has been together for 20 years working with every form of OS environment. Our focus is on mobile with ARM platforms, and we are the only supplier that is both X86 and ARM complaint. Because of the team’s knowledge, we know how to design for mobile.

6: How are carriers part of the virtualization equation?

Glenda: We have had specific carriers that are more involved than others. Some, like China Mobile for example, very actively look at hardware architectures and are aware of how we play into that. The silicon customers or OEMs that we work with are having these discussions with the carrier or us directly.

What we say is they need an environment where they can both create compelling service solutions for subscribers to deliver best and stickiest service and need platforms to do this. We enable them to do that because of what our software enables, faster time to market, lower handset costs, and another piece that is growing issue is that of security. As these carriers subscribers use more resources like licensed video content and e-wallets then security is a huge issue.

Because our software creates safety zones to allow secure resources to stop malware, worms, viruses, etc. at the handset level. Have not seen attacks on handsets yet —- but we are hearing more concerns from OEMs and operators as smarter hackers are born.

- – - – -

Thank you very much for taking the time, Glenda!

You can find out a lot more about VirtualLogix on their site: http://www.virtuallogix.com/

Have a look:

I’ll be doing a video of each one individually in the next few days.

It seems like we’ve been waiting decades for Nokia to release their next N-Series device. Long rumoured, the N8 has finally arrived.

Well, it’s finally been announced. It actually arrives in Q3 this year, so it’s a good 4-6 months away still.

But it’s a looker and it boasts a specifications page about 8 screens long on my browser.

At an expected retail price of around €370 / £320 / $494, it’s going to fit beautifully into the mobile operator stack, free for contract subscribers (I estimate) at somewhere around £30-35 per month.

Notable features include the 12 megapixel camera that will capture 720p H.264 video at 30 frames per second. Plus there’s Nokia’s famed Xenon flash, 16GB memory on-board with support for a further 32GB via memory card.

Qt support has arrived with the N8, too. I have been banging on about Qt for quite a while now and it’s something that mobile developers focus upon closely. You’ll be able to write apps using the Qt developer environment that will run beautifully on the N8. Check out qt.nokia.com for more information and to download the IDE.

The third edition of Symbian (“Symbian ^3 for Nokia”) also makes an appearance so it’s going to be interesting to see how that functions on the device. Indeed, the whole N8 experience is something that deserves further investigation. The zippy, flashy, gorgeous promo videos may well do the handset justice. But we have been there before though, haven’t we?

I’m excited to see how the N8 performs. It’s shaping up to be one of the company’s top handsets, the specifications are fantastic, the Ovi Store is integrated as are the now-familiar Ovi suite of services (including unrestricted Ovi Maps navigation and voice directions).

The device looks promising. I think the N8 experience may well surprise and delight. Will it be enough to persuade customers to turn away from a similarly priced iPhone or Android device? We shall see. There’s a lot of love in the room for Nokia.

Find out more and check out the whizzy videos here: http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n8

The BlackBerry Bold 9650:

The Pearl 9100 3G:

Now here is the Pearl 9100 with the 14-key keyboard:

And then here are the IntoMobile and Crackberry chaps checking out the devices:

Turns out, however, that this is not the case.

The Nexus One is now available to pre-order from Vodafone UK, on their site, like you would pre-order any other handset:

This is very good news for the legions of geeks who — for whatever reason — cannot stand the iPhone and have been looking for an Android device to really fall in love with. The Nexus One is free on a 24-month £35/month deal too.

That’s if you haven’t already decided that the HTC Legend, Desire or the Sony Ericsson X10 should be yours.

It’s time to find out almost everything about the all new iPhone due to be announced in mid-June. At least, it certainly looks that way. For Gizmodo, you see, has what amounts to as Stefan from IntoMobile describes it — the mobile industry scoop of the year: A pre-production next generation iPhone handset.

Here’s a 9-second video to whet your appetite…

So, let’s take a step back. Here’s the background. On Saturday evening, Engadget scooped the planet with the blog post ‘iPhone 4G: Is this it?‘. Of course the image was predictably blurry and highly dubious.

Until 10am today when Jason Chen of Gizmodo published This Is Apple’s Next iPhone. Here’s a screenshot complete with Jason and the iPhone:

And here are some super-resolution photos of the device:

Jason reports that the iPhone …

was found lost in a bar in Redwood City [California], camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It’s the real thing, and here are all the details.

It is, apparently, a 4th-generation prototype. The Gizmodo chaps have disassembled the device and spotted Apple components. They appear to believe it is entirely genuine.

There are a number of issues to consider here. Why would Apple — who are famed for their zealous security policies — allow a pre-production iPhone out in the wild? Could an Apple employee actually lose such a device? If I was carrying one out in the wild, I’d have it glued to one of those satellite tracker things you get for cars and motorbikes. And I’d never, ever lose it. I just.. you know, I’d keep it ON me. IN my pocket. At ALL times. Some of the comments on Gizmodo explain that it’s necessary to actively test the device out in the real world. Of course it is. By all means do your testing. Just don’t leave it behind. How stupid could you be to actually ‘lose’ an iPhone?

Unless, of course — and now it’s time to crank up the spin to 11 — this was precisely what Apple intended. Having already delivered the 4.0 operating system announcement, the Monday morning 10am post from Gizmodo has predictably set the mobile industry alive with speculation.

It’s also effectively neutered the upcoming announcements by other handset manufacturers desperate to jump ahead of the Apple hype. Instead of collectively wondering if the next generation iPhone will sport a flash, or a front-facing camera, it now appears the answer is yes and yes.

And there’s a whole lot more to know. Here’s what Gizmodo reckon is new:

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It’s unclear if it’s the 960×460 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the “Connect to iTunes” screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

Head over to the rather exhaustive Gizmodo post and read some more.

They’re consummate PR geniuses over at Apple so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was — in some way — created by Apple. At least, even if it wasn’t, if I was the PR, I’d be tapping noses and delivering my best coy looks in response to any such questions, because this is a heck of a lot more palatable than ‘yeah, one of our idiot staffers left it in a bar in Redwood City‘.

Whether deliberate or not, I wonder what Apple’s strategy will be come launch day. We usually have some kind of dodgy photos and ‘speculating’ analysts commenting in the week or so leading up to the Steve Jobs keynote, but to have got a look at the (apparent) full package almost two months before the public launch date is both disappointing and exciting.

It’s disappointing because — admit it — Steve Jobs Apple Keynotes are some of the only events that grown males can get genuinely excited about. Now there doesn’t appear to be much to be surprised about. Although, we haven’t yet seen the thing working — and I’m sure there will be a few interesting things to demonstrate, not least the screen itself. Gizmodo reckons the resolution is simply fantastic.

I for one thing the device looks pretty cool. I’ll have one.

Check out what Stefan from IntoMobile has to say on the subject too.

Update: So, just to keep the story spinning nicely, the iPhone is now considered ‘stolen’. Of course this is all third-hand from a chap who apparently knows Apple pretty well. The Next Web reports:

Gruber goes onto clear up virtually any doubt that this is in fact the iPhone 4G. “That this belongs to and was made by Apple is almost beyond question at this point.”

He does however remain unsure as to whether this is exactly the design Apple will ship this summer.

Ooookay. Expect this one to run for a little while.

That there is the Novophone.

It’s a fashionable and functional ‘retro’ receiver. At least that’s how the manufacturers explain it, and you know what, I tend to agree with them.

Think ‘bluetooth headset’ without the bluetooth — and with a curly wire instead. And if you buy it in ‘fire’ red, you’ll be guaranteed to stand out in the office. I also reckon the Novophone might be rather comfortable compared to the current crop of headset offerings.

What’s it look liked plugged into a phone? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s a shot of the retro Novophone with an exceedingly retro Palm from yesteryear:

That little switch you see is a nice little answer/end button — used to hang up. Using the retro look handset really does appeal.

There are a ton of different adapters available just in case the 2.5mm jack won’t work with your device, so it should work with whatever handset you wish. Especially with an iPhone (adapter required).

The Novophone itself will set you back $27.95 and a few dollars more for the adapter.

Everything you need to know, including ordering details (and a pre or possibly post-orgasmic looking model showing off the Novophone) are right here:

http://www.novophone.com.

I’ve been checking out the Acer Liquid Android handset — Acer’s first Android device. I’ve been looking forward to actually getting hands-on with the device because I’m excited to see what manufacturers make of the platform. Initial impressions are good. I like what they’ve done with the device.

Just to be clear, the Liquid is a mid-market handset. A few months after launch and you can pick one up for a fairly reasonable £280 sim-free if you shop around. Carphone Warehouse will, for example, give you a Liquid free on a £25/month T-Mobile contract (24 months).

So with the target market in mind, I won’t be comparing it to the likes of the Nexus One. It’s a workhorse handset that I think will be appreciated by anyone who’s been stuck on a feature phone for the last five years. The fact that you’ve got all Google’s glorious services accessible by a touch of the button is nothing short of wonderful — compared to the laborious click-click-click send-receive nonsense of yesteryear’s feature phones.

Google’s Android really does let the manufacturer sit back and relax. Oh, Acer have done their own set of customisations as Android manufacturers are wont to do — but they’ve not gone overboard. I don’t think they need to. Instead, Google steps in. Setting up the device is a total doddle, especially if you’ve already got a Google account. It’s nothing short of miraculous. And from then on, the basic stuff just works. That’s the magnificence of Android.

There are problems with Android. Significant problems — but from the end consumer viewpoint, the fact you can get your email, IM and related services (Google Maps, for example) easily and without friction will be good news. Acer have turned out a decent device. I’d be quite delighted to put this into the hands of my wife, my brother, my mother — although perhaps the Android UI isn’t quite ready for her (she’s very comfortable using the iPhone).

But for any feature phone refugee, the Acer will be a revelation. Reasonable price, good features, capable 5 megapixel camera and all the services we’ve come to expect with any Android device (e.g. integrated GPS, speakerphone, expandable SD card, WiFi, Quad band, HSDPA). I like that things such as this come as standard. You don’t have to think.

The phone is only 135g in weight. Of course, that’s because it’s encased in plastic which — well — it’s not got the Nexus One metal sheen. But it’s also not got the Nexus price tag either.

I’m going to do a a video of the phone shortly and I’ll be using over the next week or so and let you know how I get on with it.

Here’s a little series of photos I took of the box and phone with the Photo Booth Classic Plus iPhone app earlier:

(iTunes link for the app)

Good news for Qualcomm and HTC as they continue their race across the simply stupendously large development marketplace. To India, then — Bharti Airtel have announced that they will launch the HTC Smart in 30 Indian cities. The ‘market operating price’ will be 9,990 Rupees — or approximately 148 Pounds Sterling ($222).

Now in a country where the average income per head is just over $1,000, spending a quarter of that income on a phone is not necessarily a sensible decision.

But there’s an emerging middle class in India, thirsting for the latest and greatest handsets — so I’m looking forward to seeing how they react to the HTC Smart. Of course the Smart, at the £148 price point, is a heck of a lot more reasonable than some of the other HTC Devices — e.g. the HTC Legend will top out at around $660. Three times the cost of the Smart.

The Smart is a handsome phone. It boasts HTC’s rather swish Sense UI and it looked like quite a capable device when I played with it at Mobile World Congress. You’ve also got HTC’s Friendstream integration too — which puts Facebook, Twitter and Flickr into one stream of updates. Compared to your bog standard Nokia 1600 series, the Smart is going to look pretty nifty.

Good luck to everyone. Get it right in India and the rewards could be massive.

And just to put this in context, the Indian Regulatory Authority reports that India added 19 million new subscribers in December or about 630,000 customers every day. That’s the equivalent of adding an o2 UK every month.

Every single customer will be looking for a handset, too.

Hardly a week goes by when I haven’t had a piece of news in from the nice ladies at Shine Communications telling me about yet another flippin’ cool handset launching on Big Red.

This morning they’ve announced the HTC Legend is heading their way. Here it is:

It’s a mighty nice looking Android device and it’ll be free on £25/month (on a 24/month contract). Order now and you’ll get it around April 6th — i.e. next Tuesday.

If you’re thinking of going Android, you might also check out the HTC Desire — another one heading to Vodafone in the coming weeks. And of course you’ve got the Vodafone Nexus One in the background too.

Or if you’d like a little more familiarity, check out the Sony Ericsson X10 — also running Android — sporting Sony’s excellent 8 megapixel camera. That’ll need £35/month on a 24-month deal but might be worth taking a look at if you’re been a long Sony Ericsson fan:

Lots of choice on Vodafone at the moment. Good work!

The all new Amplicom M600 hits the marketplace shortly priced at £99 (pay as you go).

Do consider this for your mums, dads, grannies and so on.

Here are the details from the release:

For those who want simplicity, the PowerTel M6000 has SMS text message, a 500-memory phone book, Bluetooth and loud hands-free speaker.

The big buttons combat dexterity or visual problems. Whilst people with hearing loss will benefit from the extra loud ringer (up to +100 dB), extra loudspeaker (up to +30 dB) and powerful vibrating alert.

Two crucial features, the “Man Down” fall detector and hidden “SOS” panic button will bring peace of mind to those who are vulnerable. Both activate hands-free operation and pre-programmed emergency numbers until a response is received. Three dedicated quick dial buttons also help in an emergency.

The large clear 4.3 cm colour screen has big easy to read fonts and the keypad has an automatic lock.
With a desktop charger the M6000 is Hearing Aid Compatible so great for those with Hearing Loss. The phone is ready for use on any network with Pay As You Go SIM card or contract billing.

You can pick them up at silverphone.co.uk.

That there is the next Nokia handset — the X9 — supporting 720p quad LED, microSD, HDMI, dual mini USB, AMOLED screen…

No wait…

Alas, it’s just a concept.

Yup, it’s made-up — but it’s a really-good made-up set of images. It’s been published by the chaps over at Greek technology site, Pestaola and I picked it up from MobileLivingRoom.de via Chanse.

As MobileLivingRoom points out, this handset is technically feasible.

I hope that Nokia are working on something like this. Something fit for the ‘i’ generation. Something that, when you put it next to a (rather old looking) iPhone 3GS, it doesn’t look like it was conceived in the Bronze Age.

Bring it on.

I’d have one of those X9s, definitely.

INQ, the handset manufacturer owned by parent company Hutchison Whampoa was always going to have an easy time of it with the 3 group of companies. A couple of phone calls from the big man and woosh, INQ had clients coming out of its ears. And their handsets, targeted at the mass market, have been very positively received by end-users around the planet (not least because although the devices are certainly capable, they’re also priced in a very attractive manner).

The challenge has been unlocking the rest of the non-Hutchison marketplace. That challenge gets just a little bit easier today though, as INQ have signed a deal with Indian network, Aircel, to distribute both the INQ Mini and the INQ Chat. I think the devices — with their data laden capabilities and attractive price, will be a roaring success in India.

Just to give you an idea of the potential of this deal — the INQ devices will shortly be available in over 5,000 outlets. Plus, cricket legend M.S. Dhoni is fronting the introductory marketing campaign. Yup. That’s a recipe for success in India.

Congratulations INQ and congratulations Aircel. I look forward to posting the ‘we’ve sold a million already‘ news in short order.

(Here’s the INQ blog post announcing Aircel)

Well, here I am… Rafe filmed me doing an intro to the device here:

Download M4V Video | Subscribe to Podcast | Embed video

And for anyone who’s interested in the phone, we also got the Sony Ericsson chaps to take us on a walk through of it, here:

Download M4V Video | Subscribe to Podcast | Embed video

I would seriously consider getting one of these ‘for the weekend’. I particularly like the ‘Pro’ which comes with an integrated QWERTY keyboard…

The delicious Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry has posted some nicer photos and more details about the all new BlackBerry Bold Slider handset. All the smart money is — as Kevin points out — on the slider being part of the Bold category of devices.

For those burning to find out more, Kevin has helpfully compiled a ‘slider-rumour’ frequently asked questions post.

I’m content to let nature take it’s course and for the Slider to be launched as and when RIM decide. I could be tempted. I absolutely adore the BlackBerry keyboard (although I was shocked, last night, to find I can type really fast with both thumbs on an iPhone 3GS). The Slider configuration would give a heck of a lot more screen real estate on the BlackBerry — and I’m a fan of that. Although I’ve never taken to the Storm(s), I always loved the amount of data you could pack into their giant screens.

Kevin reckons the Slider might hit in the summer. Bring it on!

One of the most valuable pieces of kit in my mobile hardware collection is my trusty Novatel Wireless 2352 unit that I have been testing for a long time. Novatel sent me a review unit a while ago and goodness me I’ve been putting it through it’s paces. It’s simply fantastic to be able to bring up a wireless hotspot wherever I go.

It’s so good, that I turned to Novatel when I was in New York and needed a decent CDMA data connection. I bought one of Verizon’s branded Novatel units and used it on a pay-as-you-go basis for a week. Super, super, SUPER fast. Faster than my hotel’s fixed line internet connection — a victory for both Novatel and Verizon.

Turns out that a 4G Novatel MiFi unit might not be very far away. This is particularly relevant given that Sprint are busy rolling out 4G in various metropolitan areas across the United States right now. This week, Novatel performed a test with one of their 4G prototype units, thus:

Novatel today announced that it has successfully completed over the air testing of its new MiFi(TM) Intelligent Mobile Hotspot prototype based on 4G-WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). Novatel’s WiMAX implementation immediately achieved throughput of 18Mbps in over-the-air testing and can support theoretical peak throughput speeds exceeding 30Mbps downlink and 10Mbps uplink in a 10 MHz channel.

Good good. More please! I’m looking forward to the point whereby I can actually use a MiFi unit to send a 200mb Mobile Industry Review video up to the web in a couple of seconds.

As I walked around the MobileFocus event last week I spotted this rather swanky 5-inch Dell Mini 5 tablet unit on the Dell table. The chap behind the table obliged us with a hands-on demo. It’s just a preview unit but goodness me it’s looking gorgeous.

It really did look highly attractive — and whilst it’s definitely not an iPad, I could imagine using one of these around the house and for work, especially if it was competitively priced.

What do you think? Would you have one of these Android devices?

Also: Check out this interview at Laptop Mag with the Mini 5 creator.

We spent a lot of time on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz at Mobile World Congress. A lot of time. We even managed to get some time with one of the Product Planners responsible for the device (and sister unit, the Vivaz Pro).

Since Symbian helped cover out costs to get to MWC, it was a dream — a rareified dream — to actually be able to sit down and cover the device in-depth. So much so that I’ve just produced 6 different videos of the Vivaz (on top of the couple we’ve already published). The device is one of the next breed of Symbian devices really does have me reaching for my wallet. I’m looking forward to seeing what Nokia are able to deliver but until then, the Vivaz is clearly one of the front-running top-of-the-range Symbian devices hitting the Western markets.

And it’s coming soon from Vodafone UK. March 9th, to be precise. I seriously might get one of these. The key reason? It’s camera. It comes with an 8.1 megapixel camera that captures HD video — AND it’s got a wickedly cool autofocus function.

Standby, I’ll be publishing these videos shortly.