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We first laid our eyes on the F400 back at MWC this year amidst the F490 and Soul. Now, this music-oriented phone is all set to invade France later this month.

The Samsung F400 has all the makings of a good music phone including a very significant inclusion, a 3.5mm headphone jack. All the major manufacturers tend to ignore this vital feature on their “musicphones,” although there are a few exceptions. Along with the jack, the phone appears packed pretty good for the music lovers with Bang & Olufsen amplifier technology and DNSe 2.0 to enhance listening experience, which should be good either on a pair of headphones or its dual speakers. 

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LG has announced the world’s first “skin phone,” the SH240, aimed at the Korean market. This 3G HSDPA phone has a 2-megapixel camera, video-calling, a media player, Bluetooth and a microSD slot. It also has a dictionary and a subway map (the utility of which escapes me). But the major selling point of the SH240 will definitely be its keypad, which, according to AVING has an almost skin-like feel to it. The keypad is manufactured using a combination of metal and silicon, giving it texture and elasticity similar to skin. I am not sure if people would want to feel like they are poking someone’s skin every time they dial a number. The SH240 is going to retail for around $400.

Via [AVING USA]

The N95 from Nokia gave us very little to complain about as far as its innards go, but for some the price may have been a little on the high side. If that was the reason you skipped buying it in the first place, the N95-3 in its fiery red incarnation begs for a change. This limited-edition N95-3 is now on sale at Amazon for $504.99, not a big price to pay for those who know what it’s made of. The N95-3, as you already known, is the American version of Nokia’s successful N95 but offers better battery life, more memory, and is known to work seamlessly with AT&T’s HSDPA network. Apart from this, nothing else has changed, it still retains the 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with autofocus, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, and TV-out.

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While their name might sound weird, their concept definitely isn’t. The zzzPhone is trying to do to cell phones what Dell did to computers in the 1990s. Customization. And when we say customization, we mean just that, complete customization. Customers will have the option to build their device from a base model, with the liberty to choose if they want GPS, more storage, a better camera or any other feature on their cell phone. The choice of operating system is still unknown although Windows and Symbian seems to be the strong contenders with hopes of Android making an appearance too. The base model boasts a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, 2GB of memory, and a 3-megapixel camera running Windows Mobile 6. This can be upscaled to a 7-megapixel camera, 4GB of memory, dual-SIM support, GPS, and many other high-end features at lesser cost than what the major manufacturers demand.

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After the Asus Eee PC’s remarkable success, we have seen many others jumping on the mini-notebook bandwagon. The latest to take the plunge is Elitegroup Computer Systems, with their G101L “Netbook.” Compared to the EeePC or the rumored Intel Netbook, the G101L does have some better specs like a built-in tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA modem, which is not available on any of the EeePC models, and also the power-efficient Intel Atom processor. It is a bit more sizable compared to other products available in the same category, measuring in at 10.19 x 7.08 x 1.12-inches, but this is attributed to its bigger screen, which offers a choice of 8.2 or 10.2-inches.

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The Chinese are at it again. Their latest victim? The N95 8GB. If you don’t have the heart or a big enough pocket to pony up the $650 or so that the original N95 will set you back, the CECTN95E should be right up your alley. For just $145 you get a 5-megapixel camera, GPRS, WAP, Bluetooth 2.0, and handwriting recognition with a bundled 512MB TransFlash card. There are some features we really have to admit as improvements, like the 1600 mAh battery x2, multilanguage support, 3-inch QVGA touchscreen display, and dual SIM support. Not bad, eh? Care to take a few pointers, Nokia?

Via [Solomobi]

One more Motorola Z heading for AT&T’s bonnet. The Motorola Z9 was leaked almost a year ago in 2007 and has taken its own sweet time to arrive at the FCC’s door. The Z8’s successor is also 3G capable and runs on Motorola’s Linux-based Synergy OS. While we weren’t too impressed by Z8’s weird sliding action, we did appreciate its multimedia versatility nonetheless. Motorola has now ditched the curved slider design, sticking to the more conventional straight slider approach in the case of Z9. Other known features include a 2-megapixel camera with flash, hot-swappable microSD expansion, a QVGA display, and Bluetooth with Stereo A2DP profile along with AT&T’s 3G-dependent Video Share feature. No details on when this phone will turn up, but as always we will keep you posted.

Via [PhoneNews]

If you were impressed by the LG watchphone, take a look at General Mobile’s newest addition, the GM500 phone. This marvel was shown off recently at the CeBIT 2008 and works on triband GSM (900/1800/1900MHz) networks. While there is obviously nothing as fancy as 3G or Wi-Fi, you do get GPRS, Bluetooth, and USB support along with a 1.5-inch OLED touchscreen. There is 128MB of space with no word on expansion and a host of applications including a stopwatch, world clock, calendar, and voice memo functions. It can play MP3’s, although with only 128MB of memory we are not sure anybody would be too enamored by this idea, but with its A2DP Bluetooth stereo profile, might as well load up some good ones to listen to on the go, right? There are no details about its pricing or availability yet but the question still remains: Are you ready to play Dick Tracy?

Via [MobileBurn]

With features like these, it’s a pity that not many people know about Bluebird and its Pidion series. The latest in this Korean company’s Pidion line is the BM-350, a PDA phone with HTC-esque looks and specs. Supporting quad-band GSM and 2100MHz HSDPA, the BM-350 is powered by a pretty decent Intel PXA270 520MHz processor, 256MB ROM, and 128MB RAM. The phone has a touchscreen 2.8-inch display with a resolution of 240x320 pixels and runs on Windows Mobile 6.0. Along with USB 2.0, the BM-350 also features Wi-Fi in 802.11b/g flavors, Bluetooth 2.0, and an infrared port.

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It looks like we don’t have to wait long before Nokia’s next flagship phone hits the shelves, at least in the UK that is. According to Carphone Warehouse, the Nokia N96 is scheduled to be released in August, barely six months after we first got the whiff of such a device and five months after the dual slider was officially announced at the MWC 2008. On the list accompanying the N96 are also the Sony Ericsson G900 and the Samsung G810 with release dates of April and July 2008 respectively.

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