Latest phones and cell review

RBC, Visa and Rogers Wireless have come together for the next phase of the mobile phone payment pilot, which will allow Canadians the flexibility to make purchases securely at the point of sale with a wave of their mobile phone. The customer phase of the mobile phone payment pilot is expected to launch in mid-2009, following a brief employee pilot. Pilot participants will be issued specially-equipped mobile phones that can simply be waved at Visa payWave-enabled checkout readers at select retail stores and quick-service restaurants in Toronto’s downtown core.

As part of the pilot, Motorola mobile phones outfitted with Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless chips will enable customers to make purchases using the Visa payWave feature just as they would with a contactless RBC Visa card. The functions tested in the pilot will include the secure delivery and storage of account information to the mobile phone and the security of mobile payments at retailers.

The pilot will be the first in Canada to test secure over-the-air (OTA) delivery of mobile payment software and credit card information to a customer’s mobile phone. Gemalto, who currently produce RBC Visa chip cards, will manage the transfer of credit card information from RBC to the secure SIM card in the Rogers Wireless NFC-enabled mobile phone.

Supported by Visa’s mobile payment platform, pilot activities will allow RBC, Rogers and Visa to better understand customer behaviours and their perceptions of the payment experience before the service is provided to consumers.

Sprint announced that it will offer live NFL game telecasts starting Nov. 6 when NFL Network televises the first game its eight-game schedule. Sprint will be the only wireless carrier to offer the NFL Network game telecasts via its exclusive NFL Mobile Live application and on Sprint TV. The first televised game features the Cleveland Browns hosting the Denver Broncos on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football broadcast. NFL Network’s six subsequent Thursday night telecasts will be available to Sprint subscribers as well as the final NFL Network game on Saturday, Dec. 20.

In addition to the eight live NFL Network game telecasts, NFL Mobile Live offers the following:

• Live radio broadcasts of every NFL regular-season game, including the home and road teams’ broadcasts, new for 2008
• A live, round-the-clock feed of NFL Network programming, including NFL Total Access, the new NFL GameDay Morning pregame show, NFL GameDay Final featuring 90 minutes of highlights and analysis, and NFL Playbook
• Game Center, featuring real-time scores and statistics
• Real-time customizable text alerts when favorite players score or when a favorite team scores or enters the Red Zone
• NFL.com Fantasy Companion, enabling users to manage their NFL.com fantasy team from the phone, along with insight and analysis for NFL.com experts
• Breaking news, season standings, statistics and schedules
• NFL Network video on-demand, including “Can’t Miss Plays,” game previews, highlights and analysis

The eight NFL Network broadcasts that will be available to Sprint subscribers are:

• Nov. 6, Denver at Cleveland
• Nov. 13, New York Jets at New England
• Nov. 20, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
• Nov. 27, Arizona at Philadelphia
• Dec. 4, Oakland at San Diego
• Dec. 11, New Orleans at Chicago
• Dec. 18, Indianapolis at Jacksonville
• Dec. 20, Baltimore at Dallas

NFL Mobile Live is included at no additional charge to customers with a Data Pack, which start at $15 per month. It is also included in Sprint’s Everything plans with data starting at $69.99

The T-Mobile G1 went on sale in the UK today, exclusive to T-Mobile. The T-Mobile G1 is available for free on T-Mobile Combi and Flext price plans from Pounds Sterling 40 a month, including unlimited mobile internet browsing.

The G1 offers a completely new mobile internet experience with full touch screen plus QWERTY keyboard for easy online communication and high speed internet with popular Google services already on board. With Google Maps, T-Mobile G1 users can instantly view maps, satellite imagery, find local businesses and get driving directions. And Google Maps synchs with the built-in compass - an industry first - to allow users to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by simply moving the phone with their hand.

The 50 applications available to download for free at Android Market include Wikitude, which displays local information from Wikipedia live on-screen when scanning your local surroundings using the phone’s camera. There are also a number of applications designed to help consumers make their money go further including ShopSavvy, which uses the G1’s camera to ’scan’ product barcodes and then searches the web using the browser to find the best available prices. Other applications help users indulge their interests. SplashPlay teaches users how to play the guitar by streaming video over the web, whilst Cooking Capsules and Cocktail! comb the web to provide recipes and instructions based on the contents of your kitchen or drinks cabinet.

via [Android Community]

Monotype Imaging Holdings and Vodafone UK are introducing a new way to personalise the mobile user interface on select mobile handsets. Beginning today, with Monotype Imaging’s new FlipFont solution accessible from Vodafone live! and offer downloadable, mobile-optimised fonts to replace the factory-installed, default font.

The FlipFont solution debuts with a selection of 10 scalable fonts downloadable to the Nokia N73, N95 and N95 8GB handsets. Typeface designs range from the ITC Stylus font, with its hand-lettered feel, to the attention-grabbing ITC Musclehead design, starting at £1.99 for a single font. The FlipFont solution also includes a utility that allows customers to ‘flip’ to use a different font, or access additional fonts that can be previewed, licensed and downloaded. Additional fonts are expected to become available on an ongoing basis.

The initially supported phones are based on Symbian OS and the Nokia S60 platform which support Monotype Imaging’s iType scalable font engine.

AT&T has announced it will begin offering free AT&T Wi-FiSM service to current and new customers of select smartphones, including the new BlackBerry Bold, available Nov. 4. AT&T has more than 17,000 hot spots including Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and thousands of other locations.

AT&T is offering the free Wi-Fi service to customers with unlimited data plans. In addition to the BlackBerry Bold, the BlackBerry Pearl 8120 and the BlackBerry 8820 will follow later this year, and AT&T plans to make the offer available to more mobile devices in the future. Additional details, including instructions on how to access the hot spots, are available at www.attwifi.com.

Free Wi-Fi access is also available with all AT&T small business broadband plans, AT&T
U-verseSM High Speed Internet plans and with qualified AT&T LaptopConnect plans. For customers without an AT&T broadband or smartphone plan, Wi-Fi subscriptions are available for $19.99 a month

via [slashgear]