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MacNN: Tunewear announced last week that it is shipping the ICEWEAR for the iPhone. A clear, frosted, silicone based case, it features the company’s patented ribbing, which is said to provide a strong grip while holding the unit, it protects against accidental bumps and drops.

The Icewear case offers screen protection in the form of the company’s clear Tunefilm. Despite offering a thick layer of resistance to damage, Tunewear states that the headphone jack, dock connector, camera lens, and all other functions remain unhindered.

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Mobile Magazine: Most Microsoft-powered smartphones being released today are powered by some form of Windows Mobile 6, but it seems like the popular mobile operating system is due for another update. It’s not exactly Windows Mobile 7, but the upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 will bring about a whole new user interface similar to the one found on the Vodafone Treo 500v.

The innovation is being called a “carousel.” Instead of launching a series of applications, you are asked “what do I want to do today?” Along the top of the display are a number of “zones” which you navigate between by going left or right. Within each of these zones are various “actions” and these are accessed by moving up and down.

Other updates to be included in Windows Mobile 6.1 are improved WiFi connectivity, Exchange integration, and better implementation of Bluetooth technology. The announcement of the “new” OS is rumored for February with an actual launch on actual handsets tentatively scheduled for May.

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The most influential Industry pioneers will outline their strategies to deliver next-generation navigation and location services beyond turn-by-turn directions at a San Jose annual conference in December.Today consumers are navigation tech-savvy with numerous devices offering navigation applications. Industry pioneers need to differentiate both their products and their companies from their competitors to maintain their stake of the evolving market.

Dramatically falling device price points, fierce Asian competition and growing convergence on mobile phones have impacted the traditional navigation market.

But, as competition between hardware providers leads to lower prices, more and more innovators look to develop ingenious location based services (LBS) and complete next-generation navigation solutions to remain competitive. Desire to lock in repeat revenues from LBS applications has pushed the navigation industry into a new direction.

How to capitalise on emerging markets and opportunities underpins the development strategies of in-car, portable device and mobile phone manufacturers.

Gartner’s vice president & lead auto analyst, Thilo Koslowski, a keynote speaker at the Navigation and Location 2007 event says that the Navigation industry has tremendous opportunities to capture new markets by creating innovative solutions that expand into the location-based, online information and mobile services segments.

“The success of these new solutions will ultimately determine the future viability of a navigation company and open up new business opportunities for other content and service providers,” states Koslowski.

How to seize these new opportunities and provide sticky consumer-centric services remains a contentious topic. Innovation has fluctuated as companies look to provide more dynamic content, including gas prices, parking availability, local weather and traffic information to provide added value to the consumer. But delivery issues still remain.  

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CNet: In the last several years, the display known for excellent picture quality has given ground to the exploding popularity of LCD (liquid crystal display) in the high-definition TV market. Though plasma TVs were first to reach consumers a decade ago, LCD TV manufacturers were able to bring the costs below their plasma counterparts with an efficient panel manufacturing process.

Now researchers are looking at ways to improve plasma’s brightness levels, power consumption and cost, and developers hope that will help plasma regain some of the ground it’s lost. Of course, LCD technology will also improve, but the closer pricing appears between the two, the more viable an alternative plasma becomes.

“Performance will be going up in both (plasma and LCD), but costs will be coming down faster in plasma,” according to Ross Young, president of market research firm DisplaySearch.

That’s good news for consumers. One of the biggest challenges in getting people to switch to high-definition TVs is the price.

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New launches: It’s called the Audi mobile device and is the most intriguing aspect of the Audi metroproject concept. It works as an access authorization system for the vehicle, mobile phone, navigation unit and audio and video player all in one. The menu is based on the Audi MMI interface used inside high-spec Audi models. The control features both WiFi and 3G UMTS technology.

The handset doubles us a cellphone plus works as an MP3 player, a vehicle control system, and an input for the car’s navigation system. It can even be used to turn on the vehicle’s heating systems before you enter the car. The phone can open and close the car for you. The touch-sensitive screen can recognize both Latin and Japanese characters, and is even able to decipher handwriting. It can store images taken by the Audi’s on-board cameras. Hence the car can take pictures of an intruder send you a mug shot via the wireless connection. Then it will switch on the car’s tracker to keep you informed of the car’s location.

The Audi mobile device has just four main soft keys for all the main features. Audi mobile device is still a concept only.

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NaviGadget: We have details on the Samsung i560. The Samsung i560 is a slider type SmartPhone with integrated receiver GPS.It is here to compete with Nokia 6110 Navigator both of which have a very similar form factor.

i560 runs on Symbian S60 and is compatible with the networks 3G and HSDPA (3G+).

Here are more features:

• 2.4″ screen with 320×240 pixels (QVGA) resoulution
• integrated GPS receiver
• Tri band (900/1800/1900 MHz), GPRS, EDGE, 3G and HSDPA with 3,6 Mbps (3G+)
• 3.2 MP digital camera with 16x zoom
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 150 MB of internal storage
• High capacity compatible microSD port (which means more than 4GB)
• Symbian s60 v3 Operating system

It should be ready for holiday season for about 400 Euro.

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Engadget: For every gimmicky workout product that comes along like the push-up counter or talking grip master, there’s also one such as the Nike+iPod or Entertrainer which actually seem to prove useful or motivational. Well you can add the upcoming Informance sunglasses from German lenscrafter Rodenstock to that list, which take your regular sports shades and tack on a tiny LED display that shows stopwatch or pulse data from a wirelessly-linked watch.

Developed in cooperation with the UK’s Cambridge Consultants, the display projects a 160 x 120 pixel image through a wedge-shaped prism, occupying 12% of the left eye’s field of view in a reportedly unobtrusive manner when peering straight ahead. Look for actual products to hit the market sometime in 2009, for an estimated €700 to €1.000.

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Electronista: Car audio specialist Alpine has just launched the B200 Blackbird II, the second generation of its unique GPS device. The revamp adds Bluetooth to the mapping unit and grants hands-free calling when the Blackbird is used either as a handheld device on foot or cradled in a windshield mount. It can still dock into Alpine’s double-sized IVA-W205 head-end unit to provide GPS navigation on a larger 6.5-inch screen without taking away from the receiver’s music or video playback functions.

A handful of software features are also new, Alpine says. A Traffic Events List mixes up the conventional approach to traffic warnings by sorting traffic problems by distance rather than just their order on the travel route. Searches for any of the preloaded 6 million points of interest can also be made by keywords rather than just by their names.

Voice direction, a 2D/3D split view, and playback of MP3 and WMA songs on removable SD cards (up to 4GB) translate from the original B100 Blackbird.

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HDTV News: Ofcom, the British communications regulator, does not support the use of the analogue TV spectrum, which is now being vacated, for broadcasting high definition TV in the future.Ofcom’s chief executive, Ed Richards, has said that he would prefer broadcasters to use more efficient MPEG4 compression and the DVBT2 broadcast standard to provide high-definition channels over the existing Freeview band.

This would mean that high-definition TV could be available to Freeview households by 2009, significantly earlier than waiting for the completion of the analogue TV switch-off in 2012.

Ofcom’s view conflicts with the BBC, which would prefer to deliver HD over the internet. Ofcom questions whether this approach would benefit the general public.

Ofcom’s plan would require consumers to purchase new set-top boxes to receive high-definition channels, as current ones are not compatible with the MPEG4 format.

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News.com: The likelihood of mobile-phone usage being allowed on flights within Europe increased on Thursday after telecommunications regulator Ofcom issued a consultation on the matter.The issue has been brewing for many years but has been hampered until now by concerns over safety and the commercial viability of business models. The regulator’s new proposals are the result of negotiations within the European Union, and will therefore cover all European airspace–although what will happen with flights leaving that airspace remains to be seen.

Ofcom is proposing a situation where a mobile base station would be allowed to be installed on a plane. Calls would be routed by satellite and would be treated as if the user were roaming. The revenue would come from a deal between the airline and an onboard operator. There are two operators currently able to offer such a service: OnAir and Aeromobile.

According to an Ofcom representative, the drive toward the new proposals has come from OnAir (a joint venture with Airbus and the airline industry body SITA) and Aeromobile (a joint venture between the Norwegian telco Telenor and the transport communications company ARINC), rather than the airlines themselves. However, many airlines–including Ryanair, BMI and Air France have previously expressed interest.

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PC World: LG.Philips LCD has developed an LCD panel that is less then 20 millimeters thick, it said Thursday.

The announcement from the South Korean company follows news of similar developments from Japanese competitors in recent weeks and reinforces a growing trend in the flat-panel display business. No longer is the emphasis on making LCD panels bigger; now it’s on making them thinner.

The 19.8-millimeter thick LG.Philips LCD panel is a 42-inch screen with full high-definition resolution making it suitable for use in future televisions. It’s 40 percent thinner and 10 percent lighter than current comparable screens, the company said.

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Mobilewhack: For around 400 euros in December you’re going to be able to get the latest UIQ 3.1 powered device from Motorola that packs a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 30 fps recording at 320×240 and apparently a 2.2 inch 320 x 240 16 million color display with touch resistant glass.

The Z8 looked a little too much like a toy, this one on the other hand will be for grown-ups. It will eat babies around the world too with its quadband GSM support, 3G is dual band.

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