Phones for MySpace users

A new cellular service will be launched in a few months by Helio LLC, a joint venture of Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. and South Korean carrier SK Telecom Co.

The new service will integrate closely with MySpace, allowing users to read and post to the site for free. Two phone will be offered, dubbed “Hero” and “Kickflip” (pictured). Neither phone offers a keyboard, which would make posting text entries on MySpace a little easier. No word yet on pricing for the phones or the service.

[ Helio web site ]

Motorola W220 – RAZR for the rest

Think of the Motorola W220 as RAZR-lite. It’s got the same striking looks and small form factor, but without all the features that add hundreds of dollars to the price. In fact, this phone may be free with a contract, according to Mobile Mag. Here’s more:

Like the RAZR, the W220 features a super slim design and an internal antenna. However, there is no external display for caller ID purposes; instead, there is a set of three icons on the outer fascia displaying call status, message status, and battery remaining. There is no mention of MP3 functionality, but you do an FM radio if you feel like bobbing your head to some tunes. Flip it open and find the 128 x 128 color screen.

The FM radio is a cool feature, but for some no external display and no camera might be a deal-breaker. Even so, this phone will certainly be a hit if the price is right. Which begs the question: is something still cool when grandma and the kid who cuts your grass both own it?

iPod Nano 1 gb in stock at Amazon

Amazon has the new 1 gb iPod Nano in stock. Both black and white are available, and shipping is free.

FYI: I ordered the black one.

Apple Boosts Mac Book Pro Megahertz

Apple has announced that it will ship the Intel-powered Mac Book Pros with faster processors than originally announced. From Apple Insider :

The $2,499 model now includes a 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, up from the previously announced 1.83 GHz, and will begin shipping this week, the company said in a statement.

The $1,999 model now includes a 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, up from the previously announced 1.67 GHz, and will begin shipping next week.

In addition, customers may now upgrade to a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor as a build-to-order option on the Apple Online Store.

The new MacBook Pro will begin shipping this week.

Sony Ericsson W950i 4 gig WALKMAN phone

Sony Ericsson has announced a new member of the Walkman phone family: the Sony Ericsson W950i. The W950i is an ultra-slim UMTS phone with 4GB of storage, a quarter VGA touch screen, Symbian OS v9.1 on the UIQ 3.0 platform, an FM radio, Opera 8.0 web browser, Bluetooth 1.2, an Infrared port and USB 2.0. The phone will support playback of MP3, AAC, AAC+, E-AAC+, WAV and m4a media files.

You can buy the dual mode UMTS 2100 GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 W950i beginning in Q3 2006…unless you live in the United States. Hopefully, Sony Ericsson will offer a similar phone in the states, but maybe with a color scheme other than “Mystic Purple”.

iPod Mixer for Pre-Teens

According to the Associated Press, Blue Box Toys has announced a line of iPod accessories for kids, including a mixer (pictured below), a stage mike, drumsticks and a guitar. No details about specifications were offered in the AP story or on Blue Box’s web site, but I know plenty of tweens that would love something like this.

LEGO PC

PC Magazine talked LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya into making a pc entirely out of LEGOs. The result is pretty cool. And hey, you can sign up to win it. You can see more of the artist’s work on his web site.

Xbox 360 in stock

Amazon has the XBox 360 in stock. The catch is it’s only available bundled with games. The Xbox 360 Core System Bundle is available for $689.91, and includes the Xbox 360 Core System, Xbox 360 Controller (wired), Xbox 360 Memory Card (64MB), Project Gotham Racing 3, Call of Duty 2, GUN, Condemned: Criminal Origins, and Perfect Dark Zero.

Other Xbox 360 bundles are also available.

New Music Phone from BenQ

It’s a phone that not only plays music, but also looks like a digital music player. Here are the specs on the BenQ EF51, via Mobile Tracker:

* 128 x 128 pixel screen with 262K colors

* Music player with support for MP3, WMA, AAC and AAC+

* Innovative voice control function for music player (speak the name of a track to play it)

* miniSD card slot

* Stereo Bluetooth support

* 1.3 megapixel camera

The BenQ EF51 will be available in black or white sometime in the second quarter of ‘06.

PS3 exposed?

Color me skeptical, but a site called Kikiza has posted a review of the Playstation 3 (actually, a PS3 development kit offered to developers by Sony). The story has a bit of a tabloid feel, but it’s interesting reading. The bottom line seems to be that the console won’t be much better than the Xbox 360.

If you can’t get the site to load (it’s been hit pretty hard today since the story was posted on Digg), go to PS3blog instead. They hit all the highlights of the Kikiza review — and unlike Kikiza, they won’t try to download a mysterious file to your pc (not sure if it was spyware or something worse). If you’re feeling brave, here’s the Kikiza page