Music all Feel like composing an aria that would rival anything in Puccini's La Boheme while waiting for a bus? Then Samsung Electronics' new Anycall X488 mobile phone might come in handy when inspiration strikes. This clamshell, tri-band GSM phone features a melody composer program with enhanced music graphic user interface. This enables users to create their own polyphonic ring tones in addition to the handset's 40 built-in tones. The Anycall X488 is a sleek phone, weighing just 75 grams and measuring 92.5x44x24mm. Priced at an affordable $1,480, the silver phone is also packed with several interesting features such as six megabytes of memory, voice memo, multimedia messaging capability, and a so-called 'emotion box',
which supplies icons to vividly express a user's feelings when creating text messages.
No strings People say that the best things in life are free. Money, obviously, cannot buy the most important things but how about a little less muddle for no extra cost? Managing mobile phone calls without tangled headset wires would be a boon and handheld communications systems firm palmOne wants people to consider its Treo 650 Bluetooth headset. For a limited period, palmOne is offering a free Treo Bluetooth headset worth $638 with each purchase of its Treo 650 smartphone. The handset alone would set a buyer back by $5,480, yet palmOne insists that the investment is worth it to enjoy the benefits of hands-free and cord-free phone conversations every day. The Treo 650 smartphone is available at CSL, 3, SmarTone and Sunday outlets, and various electronics chain stores and retail shops throughout Hong Kong. The free Treo 650 Bluetooth headset promotion runs until the end of next month, or while stocks last.
Dialicious Pink is in. This is the message from phone maker Vertu, which caters to seriously wealthy consumers who want carefully handcrafted, luxury mobile handsets. The Britain-based firm, an independently run subsidiary of Nokia, has unveiled its latest accessory for women: a limited-edition, $39,500 Ascent Pink phone. Vertu craftsmen contrasted the feel of the phone's soft, hand-stitched leather with a custom-developed liquid metal alloy case. This durable, scratch-resistant material is twice as hard as stainless steel and is two times more resilient than other metals, including titanium. The Ascent Pink has 240 individual components. The flat panel keypad alone contains more than 150 different parts, all of them patented. Each key is manufactured by injecting a stainless steel mixture at high temperature and pressure into an oversized mould. As it cools, the key shrinks by 14 per cent to produce the bevelled keypad design. The keys are then each set on two jewel bearings to create the unique pivoting action and to guide each key's movement. The Ascent Pink is a tri-band GSM handset that comes with a matching pink holster. The phone has Bluetooth connection and voice-dialling capabilities, exclusive Vertu ring tones and supports both text and multimedia messaging.
Sweet suite Desktop publishing giant Adobe Systems has piled on plenty of functions in the latest edition of its powerhouse design platform, Creative Suite 2. The product delivers the essential software tools designers need to create their best work efficiently: online, in print or for the latest handheld device. The Premium Edition integrates new full versions of indispensable design software, including Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe InDesign CS2, Adobe Illustrator CS2, Adobe GoLive CS2 and Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. The new Adobe Bridge acts as a hub for productivity, imagery and creativity, providing multi-view file browsing and smooth integration. It also provides access to Adobe Stock Photos, a new stock photography service that offers one-stop shopping for high-quality, royalty-free images for layout and design. The estimated price is $11,000. The Creative Suite 2 Standard Edition costs $8,200.