Mobile News and Mobile Info

AT&T is set to release the Motorola Karma QA1, an entry-level slider with full QWERTY keyboard and homescreen access to several social network sites including Facebook and MySpace.
The Karma phone not just comes with a high-resolution display, but it also comes with a 2.5-inch 240 x 320 display, 3.6Mbps HSDPA, 2-megapixel camera with video recording functionality and a microSD card slot. The media player supports audio and video and has both a 3.5mm headphone jack and A2DP stereo Bluetooth 2.0 support. There’s even A-GPS and AT&T load their Navigator PND app onto the handset. Its JuiceCaster, a pre-loaded service, boasts of quicker network connection to get hooked up family and friends. This feature can also be used if you want to share your videos and photos.
Some of Karmas other features include a full HTML browser, mobile email support including AOL, Yahoo!, and Windows Live Mail, and it can receive and send SMS and MMS messages. There is also voice-memo recording, a speakerphone, and CrystalTalk active background noise filter. It operates on he following bands; GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz and UMTS 850/1900MHz with data capability of 1xRTT/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA.
Motorola Karma QA1 phone is slated to be rolled out from July 28 via wireless.att.com and select AT&T stores. It is prized for $79.99 after a mail-in rebate along with 2-year service contract for wireless voice plans of $39.99.

In the vein of the previous yawnfest, the YP-R1, Samsung‘s apparently got this baby — the YP-R0 — on the decks as well. Maybe it’s just the naming scheme that bores us — after all, it’s not a bad-looking slim little device, with a 2.6-inch touchscreen display, and this model will supposedly house 8GB of storage, an RDS FM tuner, a microphone, plus a microSD card slot. It’ll support a host of formats, including MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, FLAC, WAV, AAC, MPEG4, WMV, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and GIF — just to name a few. The whole thing weighs in at about 60 grams, and is expected to run about €130 (about $183) when it is made available, though we don’t know yet when that will be. There’s one more shot after the break.

The Samsung U960 first spotted in a leaked roadmap for Verizon not too long ago, and now we’ve got some pictures of it from the user guide. As expected, it’s very much in the same vein as the U940 Glyde, namely in that it’s a mid-range landscape slider, and should be knocking on Verizon’s door on August 15th. GPS, EV-DO, and a a 3 megapixel camera are all expected on the U960 (to be named Rogue), but we’ll have to wait until launch for further specs.

Samsung has issued a firmware upgrade for its first Android phone - i7500 Galaxy. The update brings firmware to version I7500VIAIG6, but we’re not exactly sure what’s changed after you’ve hit the button.

We do, however, know that we’re always for keeping our devices’ firmware up to date, and hence, recommend all Galaxy owners to proceed and make their smartphone run the freshest firmware possible.

You’ll need Samsung’s new PC-Studio software and all your data should remain intact, though backup is always advised. You’ll also need an Internet connection so that software could download the firmware file, which usually is not that small. If you notice and changes after the update, don’t hesitate to drop us a comment.

In related news, the i7500 got the FCC approval. Actually, that’s the “L” version (i7500L), which stands for Latin America. Hopefully, the real U.S. Galaxy will follow soon, and who knows, maybe we see at AT&T till the end of the year. Keeping your fingers crossed can’t harm…

LG has unveiled a new clamshell for domestic Korean market called LV7500 aka Whistle. It’s a simple CDMA-based feature phone, which distinct itself from the rest of the pack with its high-tech front face that packs some 115 user-customizable LED lights. Lack of mobile OS may be a dealbreaker for many, but that doesn’t stop LG from asking around 400,000 won (about $325) for the device. LG Telecom got it and I doubt many of us will be able to see this baby in its (LED) action…

The next generation of LG’s Chocolate lineup was spotted two weeks ago has been officially announced for a third quarter release in 54 countries. Although we don’t have any solid information on which countries, nor price point, we’ll certainly take these pictures and drool over the 4″, 800 x 345 “Real VGA” screen in a crazy-long 21:9 aspect ratio. Other reported specs include HSPA, WiFi, GPS, FM transmitter, 355 MB of on-board storage, and a respectable 5 megapixel camera. If you’re hoping to nab one, we heard Telus will be picking up this beauty, so keep your eyes peeled.

A little less than a month and a half ago, someone from Vodafone fucked up and mistakingly leaked details about the Nokia N97 Mini. I took a screenshot of what he leaked inside in a public forum, and it was the right thing to do because less than an hour later he deleted his blog post. Other than “competitive pricing,” not much else was revealed … until now.

A tipster has sent Engadget 2 images, and I’ve found a third. Check them out below:

No timing, no pricing, no spec sheet, so don’t ask.