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Samsung has launched the i8520 Beam smartphone today, featuring Android 2.1, a projector, Bada user interface, and TouchWiz 3.0 for widgets.

The built-in DLP pico projector "casts a 6-lumen image and has its own customized interface when blown up to the larger size. Samsung has a unique implementation that can show the 5-megapixel camera's sensor image through the projector for specialized situations, like viewing documents in a classroom," says Electronista.

The device has a large 3.7-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and 16GB internal memory.

No word on price or availability, but Samsung has likely in time for Summer.

Following months of uncertainty, NetEase has been given official approval for a World of Warcraft launch in China. The notice was posted on the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) regulatory body Web site.

NetEase can now operate the world's most popular game in the world's most populous nation.

The new approval should also lead to eventual approval of the WoW: Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack, which will benefit Blizzard and NetEase.

"We believe NetEase is well positioned to benefit from continuing strong growth in the Chinese online gaming market. Additionally, NetEase’s licensing deal with Blizzard gives the company the most diversified portfolio of games among its peers," reads one analyst's opinion.

According to Sony senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold, PlayStation 3 hardware shortages are likely imminent in the upcoming months, following the extremely high demand of the holiday 2009 months.

"We're working very hard with our retail partners to meet consumer interest, but the demand is tremendously high for the PS3 and we expect tight inventory in the coming months," says Seybold.

Overall, the PS3 saw 36 percent growth year-on-year for January, while rival consoles saw a slowdown.

"The strong demand carrying through the holidays was evident and early in the month we [knew] there was going to be limited supply of the PS3 at retail in January," Seybold continued. "We're working closely with the retail channel to meet this demand, but expect tight supply for the coming months."

Amazon currently only allows sales of one PS3 per household, given the shortages.

Square Enix has confirmed the Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 bundles for the UK, today, following the recent confirmation of the bundles for the U.S.

The more expensive bundle will include a 250GB FFXIII-engraved console, two wireless controllers and exclusive avatar downloads (outfits and a Chocobo pet).

The second bundle will include an Elite 360 (120GB model) and a single controller.

The game and bundles are set for release on March 9th.

Pic via CVG:

According to a new survey by Cision and The George Washington University, most journalists and editors now use social media sources when doing research for stories, although most that do agree that information may be less reliable than information gathered from traditional media sources.

All of those surveyed use Google for research, 96 percent use corporate websites, 64 percent use blogs, while 61 percent use Wikipedia, 60 percent use sites such as Facebook and 57 percent use Twitter.

"Mainstream media have clearly hit a tipping point in their reliance on social media for their research and reporting," says Heidi Sullivan, Vice President of Research for Cision. "However, it's also clear that while social media is supplementing the research done by journalists, it is not replacing editors' and reporters' reliance on primary sources, fact-checking and other traditional best practices in journalism."

The results are based on 371 responses from journalists, conducted in September of last year. About 50 percent of those questioned had over 20 years of experience in the field.

Motorola has announced the sequel to the original MOTOBLUR-based phone, the Cliq, launching the Cliq XT (Quench in Europe).

The device will run on Android 1.5 with BLUR for the time being, with an update to 2.1 in the works. The 3.1-inch screen has 320x480 resolution, a 5MP camera with flash and autofocus, support for Adobe Flash Lite, Wi-Fi, 3G, and full GPS.

In terms of availability, Motorola says: QUENCH with MOTOBLUR will be available in multiple regions around the globe beginning in Q1 2010. In the U.S., the device will be called CLIQ XT with MOTOBLUR and will be available exclusively through T-Mobile USA beginning next month.

Announced today at the Mobile World Congress, 27 of the world's largest telecoms have announced the creation of the Wholesale Applications Community, an app store that they hope will rival the iPhone App Store and the Android Market.

The store should encourage developers to create applications for all smartphones and operating systems.

A few of the biggest names involved in the store are AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, Wind and LG Electronics.

"For customers this means a broader choice of innovative applications and services available on a wider choice of devices than ever before," says the group.

Combined, the group has access to 3 billion customers worldwide.

"Today, I'm proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones," stated Steve Ballmer, CEO at Microsoft. "In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people's lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences."

The company has launched their Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 series today, bringing together a new interface that connects Zune music and video, Xbox Live gaming, and an intuitive smartphone operating system.

Trying to differentiate itself from the iPhone and Android phones, which use home screens of widgets and icons, Microsoft says it has tried to blend applications together for a more "integrated experience," allowing the OS and applications to "share information with the user in a natural and seamless fashion."

Today DivX announced a new licensing agreement with mobile phone manufacturer Pantech to develop DivX Certified devices. They will also be working with Qualcomm to certify the Snapdragon IC platform.

Since the inception of the DivX certification program in 2007 more than 60 different phones have been certified. Last year alone they certified 41.

In total more than 250 million DivX Certified devices, ranging from mobile phones to Blu-ray players, have been sold.

In addition they've recently introduced DivX TV, a streaming video solution, for the Android OS. They are demonstrating DivX TV at the Mobile World Congress, going on now in Barcelona, Spain.

"The explosion of video capability on mobile phones clearly illustrates that consumers are seeking out new devices that will allow them to easily move and share the video content they care about across all the screens in their lifestyle," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "We believe that mobile devices will play an incredibly important role in the future of video distribution and consumption, and we're pleased that multiple manufacturers recognize the importance of the DivX brand in providing their consumers a seamless, high-quality video experience."

The latest version of the Symbian smartphone platform was unveiled today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Named Symbian^3, or S^3 for short, it is expected to be completed by the end of March.

The first devices featuring S^3 should start shipping from Nokia in the third quarter of this year.

New features in Symbian^3 include a multi-touch interface, integrated online music store support, HDMI output capabilities at full HD (1080p) resolution, and a new graphics architecture which takes advantage of hardware acceleration.

Nokia has also released a video previewing what Symbian^3 will look like.


Despite competition from newer platforms such as Apple's iPhone OS and Google Android, Symbian continues to make up about 50% of the global smartphone market.

According to new figures from the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association), the Australian music industry has seen growth for the first time since 2003.

Says Slyck: "...wholesale revenues over the full year increased almost 5% when compared to 2008. An increase in overall digital revenues was the key contributing factor to this growth, with digital albums demonstrating an increase of over 60% by revenue, more than offsetting the relatively modest decline in physical CD sales..."

Surely piracy is still killing the music industry?

Defunct online video streaming site TV-Links has won its court case this week, years after it was taken down by Dutch law enforcement officials.

TV-Links was one of the most popular online directories on the Internet, indexing TV shows hosted on streaming video sites, legal and illegal.

In October 2007, following complaints by the U.K.’s Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), the site was taken down and its admin arrested. The case against the admin and the site was the illegal distribution of copyright protected content.

A judge ruled today that the site was not liable as linking to TV shows is not the same as distributing it.

The decision follows the recent win by Alan Ellis, the former admin of large music private tracker OiNK.

Verizon and Skype are expected to announce a new deal on Tuesday that will bring the VoIP company to the largest cell network in the United States.

The Skype software will work via Wi-Fi and 3G, and seems to be a direct response to AT&T's recent addition of the software.

Skype is currently developing a 3G iPhone app, but it appears that it is still not completed. If the Verizon deal is accurate, the app could be available as soon as the announcement.

We will keep you updated.

In what can only be considered a disappointment, Adobe has confirmed today that the upcoming Windows Mobile 7 will not have Flash support at launch.

"Microsoft and Adobe are working closely together. While the newest version of Windows Phone won't support Flash at initial availability, both companies are working to include a browser plug-in for the full Flash player in future versions of Windows Phone. More details will be shared at Microsoft MIX next month," reads the Adobe statement.

Windows Mobile 7 is expected to be officially launched tomorrow.

VG247 has come upon some screenshots of the debug build of the upcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update, version 3.20, which shows that 3D video output will soon be an option.

With developers now testing the 3.20 update, it shouldn't be too long until it hits gamers, likely within the next couple of months.

The new leak follows what Sony's John Koller confirmed last month, that "It’s gonna take just a simple firmware update which most people do regularly anyway, and that’s all it’s gonna take to accolade the PS3 to 3D gaming."

Users will of course need a 3D-capable HDTV and 3D glasses, which many consider a gimmick, but it is nice to know the option will be there, regardless.