Siimpel, an Arcadia, Calif. based developer of highly precise and low power mobile and digital cameras, has raised $8.7 million in an uncompleted round of venture funding from Qualcomm, Zone Venture Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Fund, and some other individual investors. The company is developing new MEMS chips that would be used in mobile devices of the future.

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The HTC Touch Pro uses a Qualcomm MSM7201A CPU at 528 MHz, runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, and has 512 MB of storage ROM and 288 MB of system RAM. It is 102mm tall, 51mm wide, and 18.05mm thick. It weighs 165 grams with its 1340 mAh battery. It has a 2.8 inch VGA screen, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11 b/g, and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It's a quad-band GSM phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), and this model is set up for Europe/Asia 3G with 900/2100 MHz band coverage for HSPD/WCDMA for up to 2 mbps upstream and 7.2 mbps downstream. The main camera is a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, and there's a front-facing VGA camera for video calling. It also has a microSDHC card slot and supports high-capacity cards, which are currently up to 16 GB in size.

As a side note, I'm still experimenting with Motionbox, so if you see any problems please report them over in this thread. It turns out the day I asked for everyone to test their service, they were doing some back-end networking changes that was the cause of some of the issues people reported. Let me know how it plays back for you today (make sure you have the latest version of Flash installed first), including what browser you're using. I'm seeing something strange in Firefox where the video won't start playing, but if I manually click somewhere on the timeline, it starts working just fine. Anyone else seeing that?

The problem: You need a special phone to watch it, so there's not really such a thing as a free preview or an impulse purchase.

Like the rest of MediaFlo's mobile TV service, it's only available on a few special phones, via AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ). Which means you either already need to have a MediaFlo-compatible phone, or buy one. (No iPhone, no BlackBerry, no Sprint, etc.)

MediaFlo launched more than a year ago and got a lot of attention for its high-quality, live video. But it hasn't had much commercial success. Around 1% of U.S. wireless subscribers watch mobile TV, according to JupiterResearch, and consumer interest has dropped substantially in the last two years.

See Also:
Live CNBC On BlackBerry Bold: Mobile TV That Makes Sense
How Big Is The Market For Tiny, Mobile TV Ever Going To Get?

(Photo: Brandon Shigeta/Flickr)

As we enter the critical holiday shopping period, the future of Apple’s iPod hangs in the balance as two courts consider a patent lawsuit over memory chips. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Spansion Inc. Monday named Apple, along with other customers of Samsung in a dispute over alleged abuse of flash memory patents.

While the Delaware lawsuit, covering six patents, asks for damages and an injunction against Samsung, Spansion’s case before the International Trade Commission could result in blocking imports of Apple and other makers of devices containing flash memory chips, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A wide range of gadgets, from MP3 players to cell phones and digital cameras, use flash memory. The ITC could forego an import ban if it views the blockage would impose undue harm on a company.

Spansion said it named Apple and others after the ITC reversed an order in the patent infringement case against Qualcomm when Broadcom refused to list customers.

Earlier this year, Spansion acquired Saifun Semiconductors, holder of patents on “charge trapping,” a technology comprising a growing amount of flash memory.

In a hint to the reasons for the patent infringement suit, Spansion outlined a strategy “to create a major licensing business” capable of generating increased revenue as the price of flash memory chips continue to fall.

Along with Apple, the lawsuit named RIM, Sony, Sony-Ericsson, Lenovo and others.

No projection of how many devices this will eventually ship with, but it's a great deal for Skyhook. And, if things work out, a possible exit strategy for Skyhook, whose investors include Bain Capital, RRE Ventures, and Intel Capital.

See Also: An Unlikely Macworld Winner: Boston Startup Skyhook Wireless

"Tired of the same 'ole, same 'ole when it comes to Windows Mobile 6.1-based handsets? Yeah, well you probably won't dig the NDrive S400 too much. Sure, it has its own personal charm, but by and large it's fairly predictable. Not that we're kvetching about a 624MHz Marvell PXA310 CPU, 128MB of RAM, quad-band GSM connectivity, HSDPA support, a VGA (640 x 480) display and aGPS, but there's no denying this thing could use a dash of personality. At any rate, we're also informed that it'll arrive with Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, a microSDHC slot, video out, a 1,500mAh battery, accelerometer and an FM radio module, and being just 16.9-millimeters thick with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard isn't too shabby, either. As these things always seem to go, pricing and availability is anyone's guess."

This little guy popped up on the Portuguese website, PocketPC.net. Primarily known for it's GPS devices, last year Portuguese-based NDrive released it's first GPS phone, the S300, in Europe, Africa, and South America. The S300 offered WiFi, 2g connectivity, and GPS, but only had 64MB of RAM and was made by their device partner, TechFaith Wireless.

Perhaps learning a lesson, the S400 has a beefier 128 RAM and a new manufacturing partner in SIM Technology. As you'll note in the specs below, it also contains 2 processors, both the Marvell PXA310 624Mhz + Qualcomm 6280. In this interesting split, the Marvell seems to be for applications and the Qualcomm for utilizing the HSDPA and GSM. (The MWg UBiQUiO 503G also uses dual processors, including the Qualcomm 6280). Interesting, the Qualcomm MSM6280 Chipset can also support video encoding and decoding, still cameras up to 4 MP, and 2D/3D video support, so the S400 might be distributing some graphics tasks to the Qualcomm for faster performance, especially for something like video telephony. It will be interesting to see the benchmarks once this ships.

Ndrive S400 Specification:

* OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
* CPU: Marvell PXA310 624Mhz + Qualcomm 6280
* Memory: 256 MB ROM / 128 MB Ram
* Network: Quad-band GSM/UMTS/HSDPA 7.2MBps
* Display: 2.8-inches with VGA (640 x 480) resolution
* Camera: 3.0 megapixel with auto focus
* GPS: A-GPS
* Bluetooth 2.0
* Wi-Fi
* MicroSDHC card slot
* 1500mAh Battery
* Video Out
* Accelerometer
* FM Radio with RDS

In looking over SIM's website, the picture and specs look a lot like the U1, so it will be interesting to know if NDrive requested anything special for their version. At this point, costs, release dates, and carriers are all unknown, as well as whether North America will ever see one.

"Tired of the same 'ole, same 'ole when it comes to Windows Mobile 6.1-based handsets? Yeah, well you probably won't dig the NDrive S400 too much. Sure, it has its own personal charm, but by and large it's fairly predictable. Not that we're kvetching about a 624MHz Marvell PXA310 CPU, 128MB of RAM, quad-band GSM connectivity, HSDPA support, a VGA (640 x 480) display and aGPS, but there's no denying this thing could use a dash of personality. At any rate, we're also informed that it'll arrive with Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, a microSDHC slot, video out, a 1,500mAh battery, accelerometer and an FM radio module, and being just 16.9-millimeters thick with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard isn't too shabby, either. As these things always seem to go, pricing and availability is anyone's guess."

This little guy popped up on the Portuguese website, PocketPC.net. Primarily known for it's GPS devices, last year Portuguese-based NDrive released it's first GPS phone, the S300, in Europe, Africa, and South America. The S300 offered WiFi, 2g connectivity, and GPS, but only had 64MB of RAM and was made by their device partner, TechFaith Wireless.

Perhaps learning a lesson, the S400 has a beefier 128 RAM and a new manufacturing partner in SIM Technology. As you'll note in the specs below, it also contains 2 processors, both the Marvell PXA310 624Mhz + Qualcomm 6280. In this interesting split, the Marvell seems to be for applications and the Qualcomm for utilizing the HSDPA and GSM. (The MWg UBiQUiO 503G also uses dual processors, including the Qualcomm 6280). Interesting, the Qualcomm MSM6280 Chipset can also support video encoding and decoding, still cameras up to 4 MP, and 2D/3D video support, so the S400 might be distributing some graphics tasks to the Qualcomm for faster performance, especially for something like video telephony. It will be interesting to see the benchmarks once this ships.

Ndrive S400 Specification:

* OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
* CPU: Marvell PXA310 624Mhz + Qualcomm 6280
* Memory: 256 MB ROM / 128 MB Ram
* Network: Quad-band GSM/UMTS/HSDPA 7.2MBps
* Display: 2.8-inches with VGA (640 x 480) resolution
* Camera: 3.0 megapixel with auto focus
* GPS: A-GPS
* Bluetooth 2.0
* Wi-Fi
* MicroSDHC card slot
* 1500mAh Battery
* Video Out
* Accelerometer
* FM Radio with RDS

In looking over SIM's website, the picture and specs look a lot like the U1, so it will be interesting to know if NDrive requested anything special for their version. At this point, costs, release dates, and carriers are all unknown, as well as whether North America will ever see one.

In the last few weeks, the global economic slowdown, combined with unprecedented currency volatility, has resulted in a sharp pull back in global consumer spending. The weaker consumer spending has impacted many industries, including the global mobile device market.

Nokia cut its 2008 industry-wide unit shipment estimate by 20 million to 1.24 billion cellphones, including 330 million industry-wide shipments in Q4. Nokia expects to maintain its market share in Q4, but warns that the smaller market will ding its revenues and profits.

Nokia also now thinks global cellphone shipments will be down next year, impacted by the continuing overall economic slowdown.

Investors are pulling out of mobile stocks this morning, including Nokia, which was down 12% in pre-market trading, Qualcomm (QCOM), down 4.85%, Apple (AAPL), down 2.5%, and Research In Motion (RIMM), down 4.3%.

We think a global slowdown will affect all levels of the mobile industry, from high-end smartphones to emerging markets. Which means Nokia is perhaps most at risk here, because they are by far the world's biggest cellphone company, spread the most broadly across the industry. Meanwhile, we think companies focusing exclusively on the rapidly growing smartphone market -- such as RIM and Apple -- could be better insulated. (Especially Apple, which also sells computers and MP3 players.)

See Also:
Nokia Cuts 600, Trims Research Center
Battered Nokia Offers Glimmer Of Hope, Margins Hang On
This Winter's Smartphone Wars Are Set: Who's Going To Win?

The Treo Pro is Palm's new Quad-Band GSM phone (850/900/1800/1900MHz) with Tri-Band 3G HSDPA/UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz) support. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition on a 400 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201 processor with a 320x320 pixel flush touchscreen, 256MB memory (100MB user available), microSD expansion (up to 32GB supported), built in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, and 801.1x authentication), Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and a 2.0 megapixel camera.

The good news for carriers and companies like Qualcomm (QCOM) and MobiTV, who sell mobile video services: That's up almost 50% from last December, when about 1.9% of the market watched video on their phones. (M:Metrics has changed their polling methodology since then, so these stats aren't precisely apples-to-apples. But they sufficiently point out how small the market is, and that the needle is moving in the right direction.)

The bad news for Qualcomm and MobiTV: We think most of the growth in the market is coming from free services like the YouTube (GOOG) app built into Apple's (AAPL) iPhone -- not broadcast TV-like services that cost an extra $10-$15 a month.

Indeed, M:Metrics says amateur video clips are the most popular -- watched by 38% of mobile video viewers this summer -- followed by music videos, comedy videos, and movie trailers.

See Also:
Motorola: No Google Android 'GPhones' Til Next Christmas
AT&T Finally Ready To Give iPhone Owners Free Wi-Fi At Starbucks
Will Apple Sell A $99 iPhone Next Year? Yes