SK Telecom’s Android SIM prototype combines CPU, storage and OS into one (video)

This is the future , we tell ya! Not the immediate future, mind you, as it’s a humble prototype with no commercial intentions behind it, but it sure looks like the right direction for us to be moving in. SK Telecom has somehow fit a processing chip, memory, a gigabyte of flash storage and Google’s Android OS onto the SIM you see above. The concept is pure genius — you store your entire mobile environment on the SIM card, including your contacts, operating system and customizations, which should then allow you to switch up your handset hardware as often as you like without the need to set it up anew each and every time.

BlackBerry Essex sighted with Sprint branding (update: probably not)

Well, we’ve been seeing the BlackBerry Essex out in the wild for quite a while now, but this is the first time we’ve seen it with some Sprint branding, which we’re sure is enough to get at least some folks plenty excited (or regretful as the case may be). As most BlackBerry fans are no doubt well aware, the Essex is a Tour refresh that, among other things, adds some much needed WiFi capabilities to the phone, and ditches the Tour’s trackball in favor of a trackpad. Of course, this still isn’t a done deal just yet, especially considering that the branding seen is only in the OS and not on the device itself — not to mention the fact that the phone seems to have a curiously crooked trackpad. Hit up the link for a closer look. Update: As we’d mentioned, the trackpad looks vaguely weird — and on closer examination, it looks downright uncool when you’re zoomed in.

iPhone 3GS emulates N64, blows minds in the process (Update: it’s a fake)

Look what we have here — a preview of 3G4, a N64 emulator developed by NWorksDev. Compatible with the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch 3G, this bad boy appears to be rendering down the graphics (as one would expect) but all in all it seems to be running pretty smoothly. Of course, this is a work in progress: the developer (who claims to be 14 years old) says that he has to overcome duplicate button registers, delayed presses, and some crashing — and he has yet to implement the L, R, and Z keys. That said, this thing is pretty sweet! Hit up the YouTube links for info on becoming a beta tester — but not before you see the thing in action after the break.

LG / Cyon SU630 caught in the wilds of South Korea

Were you shocked and surprised when LG put out a Christmas Edition of its Korea-only LG-SU630? Neither were we — but we are mighty amused that a certain reader named James Roberson was cool enough to take us up on our (joking) plea for pictures of the handset when he came across one at the electronics market in Seoul recently. This isn’t the Christmas edition, but it’s all LG-SU630 — as indicated by the Cyon logo and 8 megapixel camera ’round back. Get a closer look in the gallery below. And for our next request, do you think you could send us a Sciphone Dream G2 ?

FLO TV for iPhone proof-of-concept caught in the wild

We don’t know if watching TV on a 3.5-inch display is your bag, as it were, but it looks like Qualcomm is moving onward and upward with its plans for FLO TV on the iPhone . Not too many details at the moment, just some pics that Electricpig snapped of a handset running a proof-of-concept app that relys on an external device for reception, streaming re-runs of Mayberry R.F.D. to your handset via WiFi. No word yet on the when this device might actually go “prime time,” but with any luck the five pocket TV enthusiasts out there may someday be freed from the tyranny of the FLO TV Personal Television

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXXXX: HTC Hero gets iPhone flair

Filed under: Handsets , Others , GSM It’s just like the old riddle: what looks like a Hero , thinks it’s an iPhone , and does double-duty as an old-school FM handheld? Why, it’s the TVG3 — and when combined with some prototypical shanzhai flair, its (con)fusion of attributes from all over the cellphone space make this one a stunning exemplar of KIRFness. Behold! 3.2-inch touchscreen, G-sensor (aka gyroscope), dual sims, Bluetooth, WiFi, built-in TV tuner, HTC looks and an almost-iPhone UI: not bad for $130, eh?

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXXXIX: Genuine Android shipping on a counterfeit Storm

Filed under: Handsets , Others , Android Looks like someone in Shenzhen had time to kill overnight at the Storm factory — and they’ve put it to good use. Instead of giving us a faux-BlackBerry with a horribly mangled KIRFed-out UI (or at most WinMo) what we have here is a genuine clone with a trackball thrown in for good measure running honest-to-goodness Android 1.5. Dubbed the Broncho A1, this guy features a 600MHz CPU, 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, WiFi, GPS, and an FM radio. That’s the good news. The bad

Layar goes 3D, reality now more augmented than ever

Filed under: Software , Android The Layar Reality Browser for Android has already managed to stir up quite a bit of interest in its current state, but it looks like the mad geniuses behind it aren’t about to rest on their slightly augmented laurels just yet, and they’ve now announced that they’re adding full 3D capabilities to the app. That, of course, doesn’t mean you’ll have to start wearing goofy glasses every time you walk outside, but you will soon be able to tag real-life objects with 3D text, or place 3D objects in a real-world space (like the Pac-Man fever dream above, for instance). Of course, the potential uses for the upgrade are limited only by the developers working with it, and they’ll have a bit of time to toy around with things before the 3D-enabled version of Layer launches to the public in November. Head on past the break for a quick video, and hit up the link below for a closer look at what’s in store. Continue reading Layar goes 3D, reality now more augmented than ever Layar goes 3D, reality now more augmented than ever originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:13:00 EST

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