According to an anonymous source, Apple's iPhone will soon be sold at Wal-Mart. Boy Genius Report's insider says that sales will begin on November 15.

The truth or falsity of this claim will be a nice litmus test of either (a) how far retailers will go to accommodate Apple, or (b) how far Apple will go to conquer the world. Wal-Mart typically demands heavy compromises from its suppliers, including control over distribution and packaging. For Apple to agree to this would go far beyond demonstrating that it never wanted to be a "cult," or that it has no interest in maintaining an elitist image: it would mean the hot breath of The Other America on the back of Steve Jobs' neck.

More likely is that Wal-Mart has simply agreed to take iPhones the way Apple sends them, as Best Buy does, (and remember, Best Buy had to retrain staff and sell at close to cost, hoping to profit on accessories), or that the rumor is bogus.

iPhone 3G may be coming to a Walmart near you [BGR]

Product Page via Gizmodo

Sharp DM003SH FCC Image

Disney Mobile has already said no to its US-based MVNO operations, and are now going to try out the Japanese market with time leased already from Japan’s Softbank.

Having announced the DM001SH in Febuary 2008 they decided to keep going and in June 2008 Sharp announced the DM002SH mobile phone which was dubbed as the Cinderella phone, it featured a 2.6 inch internal display with a WQVGA resolution (400×240 pixel), a 0.5 inch external OLED display, 50MB of memory, a 2MP camera, Bluetooth, microSD slot, and a 1Seg Tuner. Both models were available in three colour variants which basically were Crystal, Brown, and Pink

Sharp DM001SH & Sharp DM002SH

I can almost say hand on heart that if the DM002SH was ever released in the UK it would sell to our female teen to young lady market like there was no other phone out there.

Judging by the previous two attempts made by Disney and the fact the the FCC details are being restricted just now we can only guess that the new DM003SH will also be a flip styled phone following in a similar style to the 2 predecessors.

So what can I tell you so far about this new phone? Well here is all I know:

• Triband
• Bluetooth
• 3.2 MP Camera
• 3G

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this phone and will keep you all updated.

Posted by: John McKenzie

When done with batteries we usualy tend to discard them anyway possible, because who keeps empty batteries anyways. Easiest thing to do is to just throw them away where ever you are at that moment. Even though we cause some sort of demage to the surrounding nature we still do it from time to time. Energy Seed concept by Sungwoo Park is a type of a solution for faster battery recycling and lesser energy consumption. You collect all the batteries that no longer power your digital cameras, baby toys and TV remotes, and you deposit them in the base of this lamp. The lamp then glows, because even a mostly spent battery will be able to power an ultra-efficient light source. The problem is that this idea is not overly practical in reality. It would probably be expencive to install these, not to mention the fact that the amount of people participating (in lets say cities liek NYC or LA) would probably be unsatisfactory. Non the less it’s still a cool idea.

via techfresh.net

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 wireless carrier in the US, has announced that they will start charging content vendors a cool 3 cents for every MT (mobile terminated) message that gets pushed through Verizon’s network on its way to customers’ handsets. MT traffic usually includes text message responses to search queries, text alerts (news, sports, stocks, etc.), and interactive voting notifications. Starting November 1, Verizon will be banking 3 cents for every MT message sent to Verizon customers - the new fee will be charged in addition to the fees that MT vendors already pay. All MT vendors will be subject to the fee increase, with the exception of free-to-end-user campaigns (where the sender assumes all costs associated with sending text messages), non-profit organizations, and mobile donation programs.

The move is apparently aimed at recouping overhead costs associated with delivering text-based content to customers. “Just like any business, we reassess our charges to make sure they align with our costs for providing the service and sometimes it becomes necessary to make adjustments,” Verizon Wireless representative Brenda Raney said. “In this instance, this is the first increase the company has implemented since the service began in 2003.”

Verizon’s decision to levy an additional fee on MT vendors could set a precedent that might just put increasing pressure on the booming MT business. Vendors like  cellphone coupon startup Cellfire and SMS-search service ChaCha are most affected, but even political campaigns like Obama’s text-message campaign could feel the pinch.

It’s just too bad that the additional MT fee won’t stop SMS text message spam. Way to go Verizon.

[Via: RCRWireless]

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After a bunch of leaked photos over the last couple of weeks, the KC780 officially joins the LG sharp-shooter ranks. Succeeding the affordable LG KC550, the KC780 is aiming at the mid-range market.

LG KC870

The main highlight of LG KC780 is quite obviously its 8 megapixel autofocus camera. It is also capable of shooting D1 (720 x 480 pixels) resolution videos at the cool 30fps. The camera has a long list of sweet sounding features. Those include face and smile detection, beauty shot, image stabilization and ISO 1600.

The display of LG KC780 is a 2.4" 262K-color unit of QVGA resolution. Some of the other niceties on-board are Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR, USB v2.0 and a microSD card slot that tops 140MB of built-in storage. There is no 3G support, so EDGE will have to do for network data transfers.

The LG KC780 is also able to stream live video over Bluetooth connection with PC, which is a great way to have a webcam on you at all times.

The LG KC780 will be the mere 13.9mm thick, which is a feat considering the 8MP shooter and the large display. The tri-band (900/1800/1900) handset will start shipping as early as November this year at a price that's yet to be announced.

Posted by: John

Written by: GSM Arena

When combined, in that adorable spooning position, you can plug 'em into the computer to load your songs, but when separated, they can only play back the tunes you and your partner have chosen together. Just the one playlist. Forever. At least it's easier to throw away than a matching tattoo. It's definitely just a concept for now, with no mention of basics like how you control the thing, let alone price or release date. [Yanko Design]