Tera Patrick does mobile porn, the iPhone does intrigue, while Wild Jack Casino does the loot
Our weekly roundup of mobile handsets and content, courtesy of sister site Pocket Picks
If Apple continues to be a media magnet, this weekly article (which usually covers more mobile happenings than you can shake a kinetically charged handset at) could soon be renamed the iPhone round-up.
New Apple phone rumours flying this week included one about a price point for the device in both of its promised flavours (4GB $299 and 8GB $399). However, Apple might need to sell skiploads of the things to afford its legal bills, with Quantum Research taking yet another pop at relieving the company's pockets. At least Cisco has decided to play nice with Apple, agreeing to share the iPhone name with the electronics giant. Meanwhile, another obscure handset manufacturer has been illustrating that imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.
Fate also delivered a mixed bag of smiles and smirks for Microsoft. Windows Mobile 6 has been enjoying a fairly warm reception, as have plans for a new content distribution process for mobiles called PlayReady. But the big M is also faced with a $1.5b payout to Alcatel-Lucent over the use of MP3.
There was better news for Japanese fans of mobile games, as new content provider Mobi-Ge Town rolled out a free mobile games service. Sticking with games, Qualcomm's Mike Yuen consulted his crystal ball to provide some thoughts on the future of mobile games, whilst a lucky bod known only as 'Colin B' proved once and for all that mobile games are worth everybody's time by winning £20,000 in a game of Wild Jack Mobile Casino.
Mobile TV firm Rok was feeling festive this week offering a mobile broadcast of the Chinese CCTV 2007 Spring Festival Evening Gala (or the Chinese New Year's celebrations as they are more commonly known). Panasonic was also keeping the mobile TV flame burning, with the first European unveiling of its forthcoming P903iTV. Incidentally, why are uninspiring names still so common in the mobile world?
The biggest news of the past seven days though is that noted thespian and star of such highbrow classics as Asian Street Hooker 7 Tera Patrick proved that the porno pun is not dead with her endorsement of 'Moistmob', a mobile adult entertainment portal. At the slightly less glamorous end of the mobile content scale, news came that for a mere £6.39, sci-fi hounds can purchase The Science Fiction Mega Collection, comprising of 50 e-books.
So another week of hot stories and hot air in the mobile world. Good thing Motorola has implemented a network of wind & solar-powered mobile signal relay stations in Namibia.