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BBC: A net phone called the iPhone has been launched by Linksys just weeks before analysts were expecting Apple to release a similarly-named device.
The wireless iPhone allows users to make free or low-cost internet phone calls using the Skype service.
It joins a growing market of phones which use wi-fi to make telephone calls instead of traditional mobile networks. (…)

Apple has neither confirmed or denied that it is working on a mobile phone but speculation has continued for months with many analysts predicting it will be unveiled in January in San Francisco.
Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said the speculation around the Apple product – which was expected to be called iPhone – showed there was “pent up demand for something from Apple”.
Many analysts predict that Apple will launch a device which combines the features of a mobile phone with its popular iPod. (…)

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Yahoo: Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s largest corporation, joined Microsoft Corp. on Monday in launching the first mobile phone in Asia and Europe to use high-speed HSDPA wireless technology.

The companies said the phone — the Samsung Ultra Messaging i600 — was the world’s thinnest 3G smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard. It is also the first smartphone that supports Web applications like podcasts and RSS Feeder, which scans Web sites for updates, the companies said. (…)

The companies said the phone, which can connect with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0, was designed for work and play. It has two digital cameras and can be used for 3G video calls.

“The mobile population is increasingly looking to use one device that easily plugs into their life, both in and out of the office,” said Pieter Knook, a senior vice president at Microsoft.

The device, powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, uses the new mobile protocol called HSDPA, or high-speed downlink packet access, that provides faster downloads of video and streaming music. The download speed is designed to be as fast as those provided by ADSL, or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, used in homes.

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