Two days after reaching an agreement with Lucasfilm regarding the release of Star Wars franchise on mobiles, THQ managed to close another deal with the latter. The new agreement will enable THQ to create a mobile game and personalization products based on the unforgettable movie Indiana Jones.

THQ Wireless’ successful portfolio of Star Wars titles spans over several genres including the side-scrolling Revenge of the Sith, space shooter Battle Above Coruscant, first person shooter Battlefront Mobile, and action titles like LEGO Star Wars I Mobile and LEGO Star Wars II Mobile.
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It looks like Motorola ROKR E8 will indeed be released before Christmas this year, as expected, since it appears in Fergie’s video for her latest single, “Clumsy”. Actually there is no official information saying that the phone we can see between 3:10 and 3:19 is indeed ROKR E8, but the chances of being another phone are smaller than the smallest microchip from the smallest micro-device existent on Earth.

Now, for those wondering why the new Motorola handset appears in Fergie’s video, the answer is simple: the Black Eyed Peas female singer is a Motorola spokesperson and it’s not the first time she promotes the brand. Besides, ROKR E8 seems to be one of the most evolved music phones that we know of, so what better place to show it than a music video from a popular singer?
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Mobile games revenues generated by end-users will reach $10 billion by 2009, according to a study performed by Juniper Research, due to the fact that casual gaming’s popularity is increasing and the range of mobile phones supporting high quality 3D graphics for core games becomes
wider.

By 2009, at least 460 million users are expected to download mobile games, which represents an increase with more than 100% on the current mobile games downloads. An important role in this growing will be played by emerging markets like the Indian one, where the number of users is expected to reach about 40 million in 2009, from the 10 million of 2007.

“Game downloads have already overtaken those of ringtones in a number of Western European markets,” says Dr. Windsor Holden, the report’s author, “while mobile handsets are now the de facto games console in many developing countries.” (more…)

With such a name, it was probably only a matter of time until seeing a pink version of the LG Venus handset. The phone has yet to hit the market, but it’s great news that there will be room for
some diversity.

LG will bring out a new fashion mobile phone to replace the Chocolate line which wore out in time and fell behind newer devices. The phone follows the same design lines as the previous model, but now brings a feature which few other devices out there have the courage of packing. Below the display, there is also included a secondary touchscreen that replaces regular buttons.

The innovative feature has great potential and could very well make this handset even more appealing if it could change the revealed buttons depending on the menu. Still, it looks pretty useless, although pretty and unusual. Moreover, it takes up a great deal of space, just as regular buttons would have done and even more.

In the black version, it looked like the phone was aimed both at men and women. The pink color is a much too bright one that manages to stand out without having to try too hard. Either way, the phone will also pack a 2 megapixel camera capable of taking only average quality captures. No problem here, as it’s supposed to be more of a music phone, capable of rendering sounds at great quality. Moreover, the handset also packs support for microSD cards of up to 8GB in size.

LG Venus is now ready for pre-orders from Verizon Wireless, although it will officially hit the market only on the 19th of November. The pink version of this mobile phone will come out on the market only later on, starting December 11th. Its price will be that of USD 200 after a USD 50 rebate.

Source: softpedia.com

Web search leader Google Inc is expected to announce advanced software and services enabling handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by mid-2008, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The announcement is expected to come within the next two weeks, the newspaper reported.
No one at Google could immediately be reached for comment.
Google has moved rapidly over the past year to extend its reach beyond text-based, pay-per-click Web search advertising into a variety of new markets, including online video, television, radio and print advertising.
Google has also expanded into enterprise software, which has traditionally been Microsoft Corp’s domain.
According the Wall Street Journal, the Google-powered phones are expected to meld several of its applications, including Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail.
The ground-breaking part of the plan, according to the newspaper, is Google’s aim to make the phone’s software “open,” right down to the operating system which controls applications and interacts with hardware.
This will grant independent software developers access to the tools they need to build additional phone features, the Wall Street Journal said.

The Skypephone coming from UK operator 3 has been seen as one of the most promising mobile phones, especially due to its low price and great advantages when it comes to placing calls with small costs. A leaked live image of it has just surfaced over the Internet, showing the best of its iPod-like perfectly white color.

There is little time
left to wait until the Skypephone will be out on the market to be of service to a large number of people. Still, there was not time left to best enjoy leaked images of it, with the announcement taking place on such a short notice.

A leaked image shows the Skypephone in a beautiful white color, although it’s not much of a looker, overall. The handset features a classic design that should do nothing for it in order to stand out from the wide range of similar devices. The display screen proves to be quite large and should make browsing easy and pleasant. Other than that, it’s all pretty basic, just as it is the case with the handset’s performances as well. (more…)

Some stunning new mobile phone concepts have surfaced over the last period, although there is no way the handset producers will take them into consideration. Sony Ericsson never did, although some great concepts appeared throughout time and there are low chances that other such companies will.

LG has
been less of an inspiration to concept developers throughout time, although its Prada phone seems to have triggered some ideas for YankoDesign. The name is not the most fortunate one, as the concept is called LG Touch. After HTC Touch, the iPod Touch and the huge number of touchscreen enabled handsets, another device bearing this name is almost out of place.

LG Touch
Enlarge picture
The innovation with this idea rests in the LCD displays added to the top side of the device for easily viewing track information. There is also a concept with a name worthy of a race horse, called “Lucky Goldstar”, which also has a monstrous LED dock with full, if cramped, keyboard. (more…)

AT&T yesterday unveiled the Samsung A737, an ultra-thin sliding phone with accelerated multimedia and entertainment features. The A737 offers Video Share, AT&T Mobile Music, stereo Bluetooth 2.0 technology, a 1.3-megapixel camera with video record, external memory microSD cards up to 4GB and advanced messaging options. The sliding design allows for a larger screen, which is ideal for browsing, reviewing photos and Video Share calling.
Users can share one-way live video while participating in a voice call. Both customers must be in an area served by the company’s 3G network and have a Video Share-enabled phone. Users can also send messages to friends and families any way they choose with Text Messaging, Mobile Email, AOL, Yahoo! and Windows Live Instant Messaging.

AT&T Mobile Music allows customers to use Napster and eMusic to load music on the handset. The A737 supports over-the-air music downloads through eMusic Mobile, and other services including Music ID, XM Radio, music video viewing, The Buzz music news portal and more.

Inside the A737, users will have 3G connectivity to AT&T’s network in more than 170 major metropolitan areas across the U.S. Data coverage outside 3G service areas is available via AT&T’s nationwide1 EDGE network. AT&T’s EDGE network is available in more than 13,000 cities and towns and along some 40,000 miles of major highways.
Source: mobiledia.com

Flip Sidekick LX’s screen around and up, revealing the QWERTY keyboard underneath. Noted LCD Maker Sharp manufactures the Sidekick, and given Sharp’s display manufacturing prowess, it makes sense that the high-quality, 3-inch, WQVGA (400-by-240-pixel) display would draw on Sharp’s Aquos LCD technology.

You can customize the device’s alert lights–which include the trackball positioned at the right–to illuminate depending on the activity (for example, when you have an incoming SMS, MMS, IM, e-mail, or phone call). Sharp equipped the slide with support for up to 4GB of microSD memory (a 128MB card comes included).

The unit also has a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera with flash. Additionally, an integrated MySpace application (delivered over the air) is part of the Sidekick’s instant-messaging experience. Messaging and MySpace are huge components of the Sidekick: According to T-Mobile, 85 percent of all Web page views on the Sidekick are to MySpace.com, and typically more than 1000 IMs are sent per month.
Source: cellphonenews.com

Apple has stopped accepting cash for the iPhone. Leaving credit and debit cards as the only means by which you can now buy one from the company. For Apple, the point of this new policy is to allow them to better track who buys an iPhone. Apple is also limiting iPhone sales to two per customer.

The new cashless iPhone economy is the direct result of the market for unlocked iPhones. Those that have been altered in some way to work on a wireless network other than AT&T’s, the exclusive service provider for the iPhone thus far.

With its new payment policy, Apple is attempting to stem the tide of iPhones that are bought to be unlocked and resold. According to Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, it is a number that is nothing to sneeze at. Last week, during Apple’s financial call, he said more than 250,000 of the 1.4 million or so iPhones that have been sold so far have not been connected to AT&T’s network.
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