Filed under: Multimedia, O2

Well well, what have we here? Nary a fortnight after Qualcomm committed $16.3 million in the UK to scoop up about 40MHz worth of nationwide spectrum to test MediaFLO there, along comes word that two huge across-the-pond players may be interested. If you’ll recall, Qualcomm noted that it wouldn’t be launching commercially in the UK sans a partner, but according to the Financial Times, O2 has expressed interest in the chipmaker’s plans, specifically noting that “MediaFLO is a technology well suited to providing TV to mobiles.” Beyond that, Auntie Beeb proclaimed that she was “watching the current situation with interest.” We know, this could all boil down to nothing in a matter of seconds, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on until that does / doesn’t happen.

[Via IntoMobile]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

The folks at Konami have been trolling the forums again, kids, and this time they’re fighting back. Reps from the game-maker have issued a statement on the company forum addressing the furor over the inflated cost of the forthcoming, limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. According to Konami, the bumped up price ($600 for a 40GB version of the PS3, plus Dual Shock controller and MGS4 game) is due to the special material used to create the gunmetal gray system and controller casing. The company seems to take issue with the fact that some are calling it simply a “paint job,” and points out that the run of units is only 10,000, and the package also includes a version of the game with an extra disc of additional content. To put it another way: this is the deal of a lifetime!

[Via Wired]

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

In a move of unsurprising proportions, StyleTap announced today that it will be bringing its Palm OS emulator to the iPhone and iPod touch… officially. This basically means that every one of those precious Palm apps you couldn’t live without will now be easily accessible via Apple’s devices, thus seriously threatening the argument for keeping your Treo 600. Gregory Sokoloff, CEO of the company, said that the response to a video posted in February of a demo version of the software convinced them to take the plunge. Palm, now might be a good time to stun us with your new OS.

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Original post by Joshua Topolsky

Filed under: Cellphones

With all this hubbub floating around about the elusive 3G iPhone, let us not forget about the latest touchscreen smartphone to land at AT&T: LG’s Vu. After getting official earlier this month, we were able to sit down with the Mobile TV-supporting handset and form a few opinions of our own. Here, however, we’re interested in your take — do you feel the $549.99 (or $299.99 on contract) price tag is reasonable for what you get? Are you pleased with the hardware / software? Are you feeling buyer’s remorse like never before? Go on and spill it, we’re all friends here.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

If you’re anything like our boy Ryan, you’ve been wearing that Wii Fit out ever since you took delivery. Unfortunately, you’ve probably been doing a bit of unintentional jogging when logging miles back and forth to the local mini-mart for batteries. If you can’t seem to keep your Wii Balance Board charged, Nyko has introduced a novel solution: the Energy Pack for Wii Fit. Our pals over at Nintendo Wii Fanboy were able to get ahold of this very unit and put it through its paces, and generally speaking, they were quite impressed with the $20 peripheral-for-a-peripheral. Head on over for the full writeup and a smattering of pics.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Windows Mobile

Brushing aside threats from Android, the impending 3G iPhone juggernaut, and all other comers, Microsoft’s managing director of embedded devices for the Asian region says that the company fully expects Windows Mobile to do double-digit volume growth in both 2008 and 2009. Oh, but wait — not just double digit growth, but a full 50 percent is being tossed around as a minimum. Them’s fightin’ words, and though much of that growth is said to be coming from the US and Europe, more is being seen in emerging markets like Brazil and India where the platform is less likely to be stealing market share from its competitors as it cashes in. If all goes according to Microsoft’s plan, 20 million WinMo-equipped units will have been sold in the fiscal year ending next month, so any way you slice it, they’re projecting some serious numbers as we round out the decade.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Gaming

It’s not confirmed by Sony just yet, but Videogaming247 says it has it on “good authority” that the upcoming version 2.40 firmware update for the PS3 will at long last bring with it in-game XMB, as well as the slightly less-anticipated trophy support. If those sources are to be believed, the update will be dropping sometime in June, with some speculation further pointing to a release in advance of Metal Gear Solid 4′s June 12th launch. There’s apparently still some testing to be done to ensure that the in-game XMB will work with all titles, however, and it seems like features like trophies and user-music via XMB will only be supported in games created with the new developers tools that have apparently already been released in advance of the firmware update.

[Via PS3 Fanboy, thanks John]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, GSM, EDGE

So the phone everyone thought was going to be the 7310 classic (Nokia’s been in the habit of appending “classic” to midrange phones lately, don’t'cha know) turns out to be the 7310 Supernova, a rather fantastical name for a rather ordinary candybar. The phone’s now available in parts of Asia — and probably won’t make it outside of the Asian market, either, on account of a triband GSM radio that mopes along at EDGE speeds. Series 40 comes through loud and clear on a 2 inch QVGA display, while an FM radio, 2 megapixel camera, and microSD slot should be enough to keep users entertained for a while. Look for the 11.95mm-thick chunk of mirror finish to retail for something in the range of $230 in pink or blue.

[Via Slashphone]

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Original post by Chris Ziegler