Motorola has launched a new mobile-imaging handset that combines imaging, software and online storage technology from Kodak with a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone. Designed to let users click and instantly share photos in several ways.

Motozine ZN5 is a candybar shape and it is the first true photo-centric phone with 5 megapixel camera.  ZN5 is capable to fast image capturing which means fastest click-to-click ratio. ZN5 key features include  GSM 850/900/1800/1900, a sharp 2.4″ display, a touch-sensitive keypad, and 3.5 mm audio jack (which doubles as A/V out).

ZN5 has a robust 350MB of built-in memory with optional 4GB microSD expansion. Users can upload their photos to Kodak Gallery and other services with its Wi-Fi capability. However the phone lacks any other popular services which are widely available like add-on support for Flickr, Facebook and Photobucket.

LG Electronics, a worldwide technology and design leader in mobile communications, announces the launch of LG KP500 with an affordable introduction price never offered before. This attractively-priced full touch screen handset is complete with the latest touch technology and features found in the existing high-end full touch screen handsets currently available on the market.

As a slim and stylish handset, the LG KP500 is a GSM phone which can operate in four frequency bands, giving it a far-reaching reception range, and upon its global release, the LG KP500 can be used in 39 languages. But no matter what language one speaks, the vivid and intuitive user interface of the LG KP500 is simple for anyone to understand with vivid icons on the wide 3 inch screen.

Main Features Of LG KP500:

* 3-inch wide full touch screen display.
* Active flash UI (user interface) allowing users to attach friend’s photo for the speed dial feature.
* Easy-to-use smart handwriting recognition function allowing users to send text messages without using  the touch keyboard.
* Embedded stylus pen for advanced handwriting recognition program.
* Motion sensor games that requires eye-hand coordination to balance, flip, shift, and twist the handset to play the games, using advanced motion sensor technology.
* The QWERTY onscreen keyboard slides into view when the LG KP500 is held horizontally, and the auto rotating display always shifts images or documents for proper viewing no matter which way the cellphone is turned.

The LG KP500 will be available at the end of October 2008 in Europe and then on to the rest of the world. The price of the LG KP500 will be announced during the launch.

According to sources cited by Reuters, Nokia will unveil its first touchscreen phone at an event in London on October 2. Earlier this year, Nokia confirmed that it would offer a touch-based phone by the end of 2008.

In launching the device, the world’s largest handset maker takes its stab at the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone, which set off a wave of copycat devices that attempted – often with little success – to emulate its slick user interface. Nokia is the last of the major handset makers to put out a touchscreen device, which it hopes to integrate with its Comes With Music service.

“Nokia is under enormous pressure to deliver something that’s good,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner Inc. “People have been waiting for this for over a year now.”

The Comes With Music program takes on Apple’s iTunes software, which is the No. 1 retailer of music, according to NPD Group.

With the Tube, Nokia will be entering a crowded field. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.SE) and LG Electronics Inc. (066570.SE) have tried their hand with multiple touchscreen devices. Motorola Inc. (MOT) has its Ming product in China. Sony Ericsson plans to launch its Xperia X1, and Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) is working on a touchscreen Blackberry.

Nokia is typically late in the game when it comes to bringing innovative features into its products. But Milanesi said the company typically designs with a platform mindset, and added that she expects more touchscreen devices to show up soon.

The Tube will also test the appeal of the S60 platform that powers many of Nokia’s devices. S60 is software developed by Symbian, which Nokia said it was acquiring.

While it is likely to be a hit in Europe and other international markets, where Nokia phones dominate, it’s unclear how successful the Tube will be in the U.S. Many Nokia phones don’t receive carrier support, and are sold through third-party retailers such as Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) and its own stores. High- end products such as its N95 appeal to a niche market.

Philips has a new basic cell phone for music lovers, the M200. It is a cool looking candybar handset with an FM tuner, microSD support, and a dedicated music key to quickly access the player.

The company Philips posted on its website information on the new GSM mobile phone – M200, the main purpose of which is in addition to making calls – to listen to music. Now, with stylish mobile phone Philips M200, performed in the classic form-factor “monoblock”, music lovers can dive into the world of 3D-sound system, to gain access to all your songs by pressing a button and enjoy a variety of uninterrupted music, as with the built MP3 player, and the FM-radio, which also takes place in the M200.

Specifications Philips M200:

• Support for communications standards: GSM 900/1800 MHz, GPRS Class10
• Dimensions: 105×44, 5×13, 2 mm
• Weight: 70 gr.
• Display: 1.8-inch, a resolution 128h160 points, cSTN, displaying more than 65 thousand colors
• Sound: 64-tone polyphonic ringtones, MP3 ringtones and MP3 player with EQ
• FM-radio
• Messaging: SMS / MMS
• Communication: WAP2.0, USB1.1
• Memory: 3 MB, microSD cards
• Battery: Li-Ion, a capacity of 1050 mAh
• Other features: Alarm clock, calculator, calendar, currency converter, stopwatch
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Samsung Electronics recently launched an entertaining mobile phone, Samsung Innov8 or i8510. The phone comes in two flavors with either 8G or 16GB Flash memory and external memory slot up to additional 16G. For video recording it has QVGA @ 120 fps or VGA @ 30fps with full editing suite on board. The phone also supports variety of video playback formats including DivX, WMV, Real Player and MPEG4. According to the press release:

Samsung innov8 is also ideal for enthusiastic gamers. It comes pre-embedded with two of the world’s most famous games, Asphalt and FIFA 08. The handset has been chosen as the official phone for the World Cyber Games 2008, which begins on 25th July.

To round out its features, it also support GPS and will run on Symbian OS V9.3, S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. Now that you have drooled on the features and can’t wait to get your hands on it, close your mouth if you live in US. Since this is a GSM phone without WCDMA 850 support, it is being launched in Europe in August and subsequent launches in other markets in September.

Mr. Geesung Choi, President of Samsung Telecommunication Business said, “Samsung innov8 is made for tech-savvy users who want to enjoy the best possible multimedia entertainment with their mobile phone. With the 8-megapixel camera, pre-embedded 3D games, high speed data connections and much more other features will help users gain the true benefits of mobile entertainment.”

Besides, the Samsung innov8 phone is equipped with latest connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and HSDPA high speed Internet. It also has GPS technology which offers navigation and geo-tagging service.

The phone comes loaded with two famous mobile games Asphalt and FIFA 08. The information regarding pricing and availability has not been disclosed as of now.

Nokia launched a new music service Tuesday in the U.K. that bundles free access to music with the purchase of a phone.

The new service called “Comes with Music” offers users of certain Nokia phones a year’s subscription to the company’s music service. The program will initially be offered through Carphone Warehouse in the U.K., but Nokia has plans to eventually roll it out globally.

Nokia first announced the comes with Music services last year. The service essentially bundles access to digital music with the purchase of a new handset. The first phone to use the service is the 5310 XpressMusic device. With the free one-year subscription to the service, Nokia users can download as many songs as they want and keep the songs even after the subscription expires.

It Comes with Music handset will be available only from the UK’s Carphone Warehouse on a pre-paid basis.

Although the music catalogue available will be far less than that offered by Apple’s iTunes, analysts forecast it could become a serious rival.

The bundled phone goes on sale in October and Carphone Warehouse is currently taking pre-orders.

The service gives people a year of unlimited access to the Nokia Music Store catalogue.

Users can transfer downloaded music to their PCs and will be able to keep all downloaded tracks after the year is over.

It’s not known yet how much Nokia will charge for the new 5310 XpressMusic with the one-year music subscription. Carphone Warehouse currently sells the prepaid version of the 5310 for about $145, including $18 worth of talk time. T-Mobile USA has subsidized it for about $50 with a two- year contract, making it much cheaper option than Apple’s iPhone 3G, which costs $200 with AT&T’s subsidy.

Nokia is clearly going after Apple with the launch of the new music store and the bundled offering. The company, which is the No. 1 maker of cell phones in the world, sees services as a key component of its strategy going forward.

While Nokia’s music store is much smaller than what is currently offered by iTunes, the company has managed to sign up three of the largest music labels, Universal, Sony BMG, and Warner Music Group.

Nokia hasn’t said when it will begin rolling out the Comes With Music bundle in other countries. The Nokia Music Store is currently only available in a handful of markets, including much of Europe, Singapore and Australia. U.S. customers will likely have to wait awhile before they can get access to the Nokia Music Store or the Comes With Music bundle.

Microsoft will keep focus on Windows Mobile and not worry about creating an iPhone clone.

Microsoft has mobile operating systems designed for mobile phones and the Zune MP3 player, but does not have any plans to roll both services into a Microsoft-branded phone any time soon.

During an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Robbie Bach, Entertainment and Devices division president, said the company has no concrete plans to release an Apple iPhone clone in the future.

Microsoft has mobile operating systems designed for mobile phones and the Zune MP3 player, but does not have any plans to roll both services into a Microsoft-branded phone any time soon.

During an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Robbie Bach, Entertainment and Devices division president, said the company has no concrete plans to release an Apple iPhone clone in the future.

“We don’t make phones ourselves“. We don’t have any plans to make phones ourselves. Our focus is on the belief that a phone is a very personal thing. Different people want different types of phones,” Bach said during the interview.

Microsoft will instead focus on Windows Mobile, which has shipped on 20 million mobile devices already. When asked about Steve Jobs’ announcement of the new 3G iPhone, Bach said Microsoft already ships “lots” of 3G phones that are powered by the Windows Mobile operating system.

Furthermore, Microsoft expects cell phones shipping with Windows Mobile will outsell the iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry smart phones, which use the OS X and a proprietary OS provided by RIM.

The demand for more interactive software will increase while the cell phone market, most notably smart phones, continues to rise.

“In general, what you are seeing in that phone space is tremendous growth in what people have called smart phones. (It’s) growing dramatically. That means more opportunity for us. There is more opportunity for services on top of those phones. There is more opportunity for a richer experience. It’s not just about the phone. It’s about browsing. It’s about music. It’s about video. It’s about e-mails, text messaging and photos.”

Keeping the Zune simply a multimedia device may seem risky since many music listeners internationally are listening to music using their cell phone, but Microsoft believes the MP3 player market is still big enough to justify making stand alone MP3 players. Software is becoming increasingly important for owners of MP3 players, as Zune owners can already play TV episodes and Microsoft may add movies to its portfolio in the future.

In the rest of the interview, Bach discusses Blu-ray and the Nintendo Wii’s international dominance and popularity.

Microsoft reached the 10 million consoles sold level before Nintendo or Sony, but the Wii is quickly catching up and is expected to overtake Microsoft in overall sales numbers shortly. But Microsoft understands that even though the consoles are competing in the same market.