Digital Tech News - Digital Technology & Consumer Electronics

Dell Venue Pro Windows Phone 7 Vertical QWERTY Smartphone Released

Dell announced the release of the new Venue Pro, a Windows Phone 7 smartphone with vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard for text entry. As we've already seen, the Venue Pro will be available on T-Mobile in the U.S., and it is on sale at Microsoft retail stores and direct from Dell online.

In addition to the QWERTY keypad, the new Venue Pro comes with Xbox LIVE and pre-loaded work/life applications that make everything easier and more beautiful on its sharp, bright and responsive 4.1-inch AMOLED touch display, which features rugged Gorilla Glass® for exceptional durability. Windows Phone 7 Live Tiles keep priorities in focus, and the Venue Pro’s single-button access delivers everything you care about including Bing for search, Xbox LIVE for games, and Zune for music and video.

Samsung Mondi Mobile Device Rolls Out with Clear 4G Mobile WiMAX Service

Samsung Mobile has timed the release of the Samsung Mondi Mobile WiMAX and Wi-fi enabled handheld device with Clearwire's 4G Clear Mobile WiMAX service roll-out in Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Portland. We've drooled over the Samsung Mondi before, but it deserves another look with features that include a sliding full QWERTY keyboard, a 4.3-inch touch screen with 800 by 480 resolution, Opera 9.5 web browser, and instant access to E-mail, Internet, video content and business applications. The Mondi device supports services like Fring Voip, Gypsii, and Windows Live Messenger, and includes GPS Navigation through Route 66 with turn-by-turn directions.

Sony PSP Go Game Device Outed in Video and Photos

Looking a little like Sony's Mylo device (without the QWERTY keyboard) here we have a sneak peek at the new Sony PSP Go gaming device ahead of the company's official announcement at E3 2009 this week. Here's what we know about the Sony PSP Go so far via Engadget, who have also posted a promo video for the device.

Viliv S5 Premium Real Pocket PC

Remember that nice Viliv S5 Atom based MID in the ZDnet video below? Coming straight outta South Korea, the Viliv S5 Premium handheld device, also known as the Viliv S5 real Pocket PC, is making the rounds again. The 4.8-inch, 1024 x 600 touch-screen on this device features a virtual keyboard with haptic feedback, and it's said to offer up to six hours of battery life in video playback mode. The Viliv S5 Premium Real Pocket PC and similar mobile Internet devices might be the future of the UMPC, which has been over shadowed by ultraportable netbook PCs this year.

JKontherun is expecting an evaluation unit soon, and will surely put it to the test. The device can soon be pre-ordered online through Dynamism and is expected to begin shipping in May. Check there for pricing.

Samsung Mondi Mobile WiMAX Device

Samsung's past Mobile Wimax devices never made it to the U.S., but this new Samsung Mondi device is ready to make its debut with Clear mobile WiMAX service from Clearwire. The Mondi has a full QWERTY keyboard for text input, an optical mouse and a sliding 4.3-inch touch screen, making this is a nice compact device for the road. It runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 featuring Microsoft Outlook and Windows Mobile Office, and it also includes GPS Navigation, and Opera 9.5 web browser.

The Samsung Mondi Mobile supports mobile Wimax and WiFi connectivity, so customers can look forward to downloading and watching movies, listening to music or playing games anytime, anywhere.

Peek Pronto Mobile Messaging Device

The Peek Pronto is a pretty affordable option for mobile messaging, the device itself costs $79.95 while the monthly fee for unlimited push email and text messaging is priced at $19.95. Aimed at so-called prosumers and business users, Peek Pronto is compatible with Microsoft Exchange, and you can also read PDF files on it. Those who want to stay connected and keep costs down should keep this device in mind.

LG Versa Phone with Attachable QWERTY Keypad Now Available from Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless has released the LG Versa phone, a versatile messaging device which features a 3-inch touch screen interface with tactile feedback and an attachable QWERTY keypad. Using LG Versa's animated 3D interface, you can customize up to three different home screens with your favorite shortcuts. The phone also has a built-in accelerometer which rotates screens automatically from portrait to landscape, even while playing games. For web surfing, Versa has an HTML Web browser with Flash and RSS feed support, and multitasking customers can keep up to three windows open and quickly switch between each window.

LG Versa is available online and at Verizon Wireless Stores for $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement. The device supports Verizon Wireless V CAST Music with Rhapsody and V CAST Video services.

NVIDIA Touts $99 HD Tegra Mobile Internet Device

Nvidia is introducing a new platform based on the NVIDIA Tegra 600 Series computer-on-a-chip which the company says will enable a $99, always-on, always-connected HD mobile internet device (MID) that can go days between battery charges.

Sound like the end of the over-priced UMPC market to me. If Nvidia can get wide support from manufacturers, this $99 MID device will be a hit. Stay-tuned.

ARCHOS Internet Media Tablet gets Android Smartphone Functionality

The ARCHOS Internet Media Tablet will soon integrate voice capabilities by merging Google's Android telephony stack and ARCHOS' multimedia framework. The new ultra-thin Internet Media Tablet (IMT) will also incorporate the OMAP 3 platform from Texas Instruments, making this device a pretty powerful smartphone / tablet for mobile entertainment and web-browsing. The new Android-based IMT with voice functionality will be released in 3Q 2009.

Amazon Kindle 2 Wireless Book Reading Device Announced

Amazon.com has officially introduced the new Amazon Kindle 2 digital reading device, featuring a slimmer design, longer battery life, faster page turns, over seven times more storage, sharper images than Kindle 1, and a new "read-to-me" text-to-speech feature.

Boasting a high-resolution 6-inch electronic paper display, the Kindle 2 is not cheap at $359, but with over 230,000 books available in the Kindle Store, plus magazines, newspapers and more than 1,200 different blogs available on this thing, it is a good lightweight ebook reading solution. New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are typically priced at $9.99.

Amazon Kindle 2 is available for pre-order today, and will ship on February 24th.