Cell Phone Ratings

The fabled BlackBerry Media Sync for Mac that'll sync your iTunes library (including album art) and other media to your BlackBerry is here: You can download a preview build of it right now. [RIM]

Interphone researchers are conducting the largest-ever study investigating if cellphones cause cancer, examining studies from 6,400 tumors in patients from 13 countries. Final results are expected in early 2009, but the preliminary ones are badbadbad.

Israeli researchers in the study found that regular cellphones users are a whopping 50 percent more likely than non-users to get brain tumors. Another Interphone study looking at the UK and Scandinavia found a 40 percent greater tumor risk in people who've used cellphones for over 10 years, though on the bright side, nothing scary for people who've used them for less than a decade.

The final results of Interphone's study are highly anticipated as the first study to provide close to a definitive answer on the cellphone cancer question, since as PopSci notes, most of the other studies "have been statistically useless," since they didn't survey enough people and looked at too many that had less than 10 years of cellphone use under the belt, which is how long it takes brain cancer to develop "in most cases."

PopSci's assessment of the gravity of the situation is close to spot-on—definitive proof that cellphones cause cancer would probably be the along the same lines as discovering that tobacco causes cancer, but you know, huger, since almost everyone uses a cellphone, from pre-schoolers to grandmas. I guess it's a good thing I rarely use my iPhone for talking. How would you react if cellphones definitely caused cancer? [Pop Sci]

A supposed 2009 Blackberry Roadmap posted on TmoNews Forums suggests that we'll not only be seeing the Curve 8900 next year, but also a touchscreen Bold and a Storm with a slide-out keyboard.

Forum moderator Godzilla posted the roadmap, which offers minimal details actual specs. It only says that the touchscreen Bold (9900, codename "Pluto") will maintain the same form factor and keyboard, and that the Storm slider is unconfirmed and targeted towards Europeans. which in addition to the aforementioned phones, also makes reference to HSPA and EV-DO versions of the 8900 (referred to as the 9220 and 8930, respectively), a 3G Kickstart, as well as an EV-DO/HSPA Bold. There was also talk of a refreshed line of Pearls with the new UI. The EV-DO products are due for a release in the first half of 2009, while the potential heavy hitters are slated for a release at the end of 2009. [TmoNews Forums]

The SD Association has announced a new card spec dubbed SDXC (eXtended Capacity) that can support memory capacities up to 2TB with read/write speeds to 104MB per second.

According to their calculations, that would mean you could store 100 high-def movies, 60 hours of HD recording, or 17,000 fine-mode photos on a portable device. Again, keep in mind that this is spec at this point—not an actual product. But we could see something based on it as early as next year. Obviously, there aren't many devices out there that could make full use of it right now, but a card with this kind of capacity and bus speeds could pull the industry forward.

SDXC SIGNALS NEW GENERATION OF REMOVABLE MEMORY
WITH UP TO 2 TERABYTES OF STORAGE

SDXC Memory Cards Provide Consumers with Massive Storage,
Incredible Speed in Familiar, De Facto Standard

LAS VEGAS – CES Booth South 3 #31277 – Jan. 7, 2009 – The next-generation SDXC (eXtended Capacity) memory card specification, announced today at the 2009 International CES, dramatically improves consumers' digital lifestyles by providing the portable storage and speed needed to store weeks of high-definition video, years of photo collections and months of music to mobile phones, cameras and camcorders, and other consumer electronic devices. The new SDXC specification provides up to 2 terabytes storage capacity and accelerates SD interface read/write speeds to 104 megabytes per second this year, with a road map to 300 megabytes per second.

The SDXC specification, developed by the SD Association, leapfrogs memory card interface speeds while retaining the world-leading SD interface. Specifications for the open standard will be released in the first quarter of 2009. SDHC, Embedded SD and SDIO specifications will also benefit from the new SD interface speeds.

"SDXC combines a higher capacity roadmap with faster transfer speeds as a means to exploit NAND flash memory technology as a compelling choice for portable memory storage and interoperability," said Joseph Unsworth, research director, NAND Flash Semiconductors, at Gartner. "With industry support, SDXC presents manufacturers with the opportunity to kindle consumer demand for more advanced handset features and functionality in consumer electronics behind the ubiquitous SD interface."

Turning mobile phones into media centers
SDXC allows users to enjoy more from their mobile phones. Larger capacity and faster transfer speeds allow for expanded entertainment and data storage. A 2TB SDXC memory card can store 100 HD movies, 60 hours of HD recording or 17,000 fine-grade photos.

"With SDXC, consumers can quickly download higher quality content to their phones, including games, video and music – giving consumers a richer media and content experience," said James Taylor, president of the SD Association. "The SD interface already has proven itself valuable in mobile phones. Now, SDXC memory card capabilities will spur further handset sophistication and boost consumer content demand."

Shooting pictures at the speed of life
SDXC is also the first memory card specification to provide 2TB storage without hindering the high-speed performance necessary for high-end photography. It will provide maximum speeds even when the SDXC specification achieves its maximum 2TB storage capacity.

"SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use, and 17,000 of the fine-mode most consumers use. That capacity, combined with the exFAT file system, increases movie recording time and reduces starting time to improve photo-capturing opportunities," said Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon. "Improvements in interface speed allow further increases in continuous shooting speed and higher resolution movie recordings. As a memory card well suited to small-sized user-friendly digital cameras, the SDXC specification will help consumers realize the full potential of our cameras."

SDXC will enable camcorders to provide longer, professional level HD video recording with a small form factor.

The SDXC specification uses Microsoft's exFAT file system to support its large capacity and interoperability in a broad range of PCs, consumer electronics and mobile phones. The exFAT system was designed for increased compatibility with flash media, from portability of data to interoperability with multiple platforms and devices on removable media.

"The SD Association is committed to answering and anticipating consumer demand for easy-to-use memory card storage that is interoperable in any device with a matching SD slot," Taylor said. "The SDXC card gives consumers a new, yet familiar, high-performance card that will be used in hundreds of manufacturers' device offerings."

SD Association
The SD Association is a global ecosystem of more than 1,100 technology companies charged with setting interoperable SD standards. The association encourages the development of consumer electronic, wireless communication, digital imaging and networking products that utilize market-leading SD technology. The SD standard is the number one choice for consumers and has earned nearly 80 percent of the memory card market with its reliable interoperability and its easy-to-use format. Today, mobile phones, Blu-ray players, HDTVs, audio players, automotive multimedia systems, handheld PCs, cameras and camcorders feature SD interoperability. For more information about SDA or to join, please visit the association's web site, www.sdcard.org.

Just days before its CES debut, the Kogan Agora Pro Android phone has been captured in the wild for the first time with a standard array of blurry photographs.

To refresh your memory, the Kogan Agora Pro is available now for international pre-order at $399 with a 2.5-inch touchscreen, 3G, a 624 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 2 MP camera and a 400 minutes of talk time. A second model comes without the Wi-Fi, GPS and camera for $299. Both are slated for release on January 29th. [Kogan and modmygphone]

As part of Verizon Wireless's open device initiative, Verizon exec Tony Lewis said that the company will support wireless downloads of content such as electronic books to devices similar to Amazon's Kindle. Competitors to the Kindle have not been ...
(follow link to read)

In today's Q3 Conference Call, Verizon stated that the Blackberry Storm has been their top seller over the last month, attracting new BB converts in droves.

RIM wouldn't release specific numbers, according to Alley Insider, but did say that the Storm launch brought in the highest number of new RIM subscribers for a single day. Following that trend, over 75% of Storm buyers have been new Blackberry users, as opposed to former Pearl/Curve/8800 users (they're all buying the Bold).

And either they had low expectations or sales are actually great, but Verizon is having trouble meeting demands at the moment. Take THAT, David Pogue! [Alley Insider]

SlingPlayer for BlackBerry, which was previewed in a usable state nearly a year ago, is finally coming to BlackBerry in a public beta.

The player will run on most BlackBerry phones, with the notable exception of the Storm, which it seems would be best suited for such purposes. According to the company, the app will run straight away and without caveat on the BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900, 8820, Curve 8320, Pearl Flip 8220, and Pearl 8120, assuming they are updated to OS 4.5.

Beyond that, Sling says that the program may run fine on a variety of other OS 4.5 EDGE-only handsets, though these configurations will be unsupported. If our early hands-on is any indicator, a solid EDGE connection will generally do well enough, so for all intents and purposes this release will cover most of the operational BlackBerry line. The beta will open on 12/30. [Sling]

Today Motorola announced three new handsets that will become available through several different carriers over the course of the next few months.Renew W233: According to Motorola, the W233 is the first phone made from recycled water bottles. It has ...
(follow link to read)

Just days after preliminary data gathered in the largest cellphone cancer study thoroughly depressed us, a new study claims that exposure causes red blood cells to leak hemoglobin—leading to kidney stones and heart disease.

During the study, scientists exposed samples of blood to varying degrees of microwave radiation (including levels well below those emitted by cellphones) for periods between ten to 60 hours. No matter how you cut it, the result was hemoglobin leakage (which just sounds nasty). Obviously, heart disease is the most serious condition of the two, but I can tell you from experience that you don't want any part of a kidney stone either. Those things could make even Chuck Norris cry like a little girl.

I wouldn't say that this test was the most thorough ever conducted, but I think deep down we all know that when all is said and done, the final verdict about cellphone use is going to be grim. [MINA via textually]