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Opera made Google the default search engine in Opera’s mobile Web browsers. Now anyone using Opera Mobile or Opera Mini can access Google’s powerful mobile search directly from the browser start page, meaning they’ll be able to quickly and easily get the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it. Opera Mini’s ongoing success is a proof of the mobile Web’s adoption by mainstream consumers. Because Opera Mini targets feature phones that have traditionally possessed limited browsing capabilities, millions of people have made the personal choice to download and install Opera Mini to their phones.

These consumers tend to use the mobile Web more frequently and actively than consumers with more static, less dynamic mobile Web browsers. Every month, Opera Mini users browse more than 1.7 billion pages, with much of that traffic generated through the search function in the browser. Google has been the default search option on Opera’s desktop browser for seven years.

This new mobile collaboration covers all global territories except Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and includes all of Opera’s standard mobile Web browsers.”Google and Opera have established a valuable relationship over the years and we look forward to continued collaboration on mobile products,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “With 2008 poised to be the year the mobile Web goes mainstream, Google and Opera are extending this collaboration to give our users immediate access to the quality and convenience of Google’s search results. We’re excited to extend this productive relationship and we hope that the nearly 100 million people using our mobile products will agree.”

Vodafone UK and Telmap introduced Vodafone Sat Nav, an operator branded mobile navigation solution available for the UK consumer market. The launch of Vodafone Sat Nav for consumers, powered by Telmap, is the first operator-branded mobile navigation service aimed at consumers in the UK. The solution has already been successfully launched into the enterprise market, where it is available on a number of devices. Vodafone Sat Nav provides users with a complete mobile navigation experience, including both in-car and pedestrian navigation.

Featuring 3D maps that enhance the navigation experience, up-to-date maps and directions it also gives the customer instant access to live traffic alerts and millions of points-of-interest such as hotels, restaurants, shopping and attractions.“Following the success of Vodafone Sat Nav with our business customers, we know that consumers too want Sat Nav on their mobile phones,” says Ian Shepherd, consumer business director, of Vodafone UK. “By partnering with Telmap, Vodafone UK customers can now benefit from advanced Satellite Navigation on a range of handsets.

We will continue to deliver location, navigation and mapping solutions that will appeal to all customers regardless of the type of mobile device they use.”“This consumer launch further strengthens the partnership between Telmap and Vodafone UK and allows us to build on the success we have achieved with Vodafone Sat Nav in the enterprise market,” says Oren Nissim, CEO, Telmap. “As the first operator-branded mobile navigation service for UK consumers, this launch marks a significant milestone for both Telmap and the industry in bringing a fully featured Sat Nav experience to the mass-market mobile phone.”Vodafone Sat Nav is available on a variety of consumer mobile devices; launching initially on three of Vodafone UK’s GPS embedded handsets – Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia 6110 as well as the new BlackBerry® Pearl™ 8110 smartphone.

The subscription to the service costs £5 per month with the first month free. When using the service data charges apply. Customers can purchase the service from any Vodafone retail stores, through telesales or directly from Vodafone live! Customers who purchase the BlackBerry Pearl 8110 will get 12 months Sat Nav included.

Apple iPhone fans are going to flip out with the new firmware upgrade 1.1.3. The going around will show exactly why you’ll need to wear a padded suit in case your flip flops. The new features are something we would have expected Apple to have incorporated in the iPhone in the beginning, nevertheless, they’re here now. What the video will show us is that the menu has now become extremely customizable with icons that can be moved all over the place and even onto a new page as well. Icons and applications can also be moved to and removed from the main dock. The newer firmware will finally allow you to send multiple SMS, you won’t need to waste time with a single message that needs to reach a group of people. Hopefully creating groups will be part of the next upgrade.

Google Maps is also looking much better with the My Location addition. There is also a Hybrid Map option that will show users a Satellite view with a Map overlay. The new Google Maps on the iPhone will also allow you to plot routes and as the guys from GearLive state, it’s as close to GPS as it can get. Web page bookmarks can also be added and deleted form the home screen with the new upgrade. This may not necessarily be the final cut of Version 1.1.3, so there are possibilities of the handset hanging wile running a few of the new upgrades, but it’s a start right. However, the bad news is, applying this upgrade to an unlocked iPhone will mean the end of your iPhone unfortunately. Don’t go into your Flip routine just yet.

Nokia’s XpressMusic mobiles are known for their funky design and (obviously) for their musical capability. Of course, music isn’t everything when you’re considering buying a mobile phone; there are other features that should be given due importance. Does the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic measure up? Here are my findings. The 5310 is a well-designed mobile. It’s chic, slim, lightweight, and very easy to carry around and use. So much so that I had to keep checking my pockets to make sure it was still there. It has a 3.5mm earphone socket, a microUSB port, and the power key on the top. On one side is the charging port and on the other you’ll find the volume/zoom keys. Display is handled by a 2 inch TFT screen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and 16 million colors.

On one side of the screen are three ‘quick keys’ to activate the music player. I really liked the keypad. Like most Nokia keypads, it’s easy to use and the smooth 5-way nav pad makes navigation a breeze. There’s a 2 megapixel camera at the back of the camera. As with the 6300, the 5310 too has a microSD slot on the side, only it’s under the rear panel. One thing I’d have appreciated was a dedicated ‘C’ key for deleting characters while composing an SMS. Since you have to use the key above the Call End button, you often end up closing the message.

Mobile slash gaming enthusiasts who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Nokia’s latest N-Gage platform will be happy to know that it will be launching next week. While that’s definitely good news, here’s some bad news. Although the N95 and N95 8GB also have the N-Gage option built in, it’ll do them no good. The application is totally useless as the platform will be launching only for the N81 handset. That includes the 8GB version as well. Why Nokia has chosen this cockeyed way to launch it eludes us completely. Let’s hope they have a change of heart ASAP.

Nokia India has announced the launch of the Nokia 6110 Navigator, the first dedicated phone optimized for GPS and navigation functionality. The 6110 comes with pre-installed maps of eight cities including Delhi and NCR, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

These maps include the locations and details of 75,000+ km of roads, 10,000+ restaurants and hotels, 10,000+ banks and ATMs, 5,000+ schools and colleges, 3,000+petrol pumps, 3,000+ places of worship, 2,000+ hospitals and medicine shops, 2,000+ car and auto service stations, and 1,000s of other places of interest. Users can also download maps of over 150 countries on their phone.

The 6110 features integrated maps, routing and navigation available with the click of the one-touch Navigator key. This handset features the full turn-by-turn 3D navigation feature that suggests the best route to follow to reach a location. Instructions by voice guidance and turn arrows on a map ensure finding the fastest way to the destination. The Nokia 6110 Navigator will be available in the Indian market from end December at an MRP of Rs. 20,869.

It’s quite an obvious fact our mobile phones are not just for taking and making calls. Let’s face it, those days are gone. Even our parents get that. No offence mom n dad. There’s plenty we can do with our mobile, we know that, but here area few basic tips on what you can do to make your phone a bit jazzier than what it looks like out of the box.

First off, and this is important – the wallpaper. You can customize even your old monochrome phones. For newer phones you can of course make your own. Simply crop the images you want using software like Photoshop or Fireworks to an appropriate size for your screen and send it to the phone. For entry level phones you will have to get them through SMS, so it will cost you.

But hey, having a picture of your girlfriend on your phone screen is worth it, right? Let me say this first: having a screensaver has a downside. Depending on how vibrant and animated they are, they could run down your battery quickly. But they do give your phone a funky look. You can have a ‘watch screensaver’ that shows you the time and date. It’s preferable to use animated images like .GIF files, provided your phone can read them.

Today announced that it has acquired the assets related to digital cable set-top products of Zhejiang Dahua Digital Technology Co., LTD and Hangzhou Image Silicon (collectively, Dahua Digital). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Dahua Digital is a privately held, developer, manufacturer, and marketer of cable set-tops and related low cost integrated circuits for the emerging Chinese cable business. Dahua Digital’s leading set-top portfolio includes basic set-tops, two-way interactive set-tops and the high-end media-center class of products.

Dahua Digital also has a substantial China cable operator customer base. Its strong, established support infrastructure for digital cable customers includes focused development resources, a direct sales force for the existing regional customers, an established field engineering team and an integration team to ensure that customer requirements are met rapidly.

The transaction will expand Motorola’s digital set-top box offerings in China and significantly improve Motorola’s time to market in the region. Further, Dahua Digital’s low-cost chipset solution, designed specifically for the Chinese set top business, will enhance Motorola’s product line. With Dahua Digital’s extensive R&D network, strong, locally focused set-top solutions, and industry expertise, Motorola will enhance its ability to meet customer demands in the dynamic and rapidly evolving China set top business.” We are very pleased to announce this transaction with Dahua Digital, which will significantly expand our existing capability in China and position Motorola well to address the tremendous growth opportunities this market presents,” said Dan Moloney, president of Motorola’s Home & Networks Mobility business.

“Dahua Digital’s strong time to market advantage, R&D capabilities and sales reach are a compelling fit with Motorola’s strategy in China. We look forward to teaming with Dahua Digital’s experienced employees, whose expertise in the China digital cable market will be an invaluable asset to us in this important emerging business.”

LG Electronics India Pvt. Limited (LGEIL), has launched two new mobile handsets - KG 288 and KG 285. These handsets are an addition to LG’s entry portfolio and are targeted at the entry-level customer. Both models are loaded with an anti-theft tracker and have features like Sudoku and in the case of the KG288, a hot key for FM radio. Anil Arora, Business Group Head, GSM said, “LG has always been on the forefront in launching new technology and wrapping it up with the style quotient.

In our latest offering, we have continued with this trend by providing the customer attractive features at unbeatable prices.”The KG 288 and 285 are equipped with TFT 65K Color Displays; 300 entry phone book memory and 100 SMS memory. Both models also have speaker phones and are dual band handsets. Other features include a stopwatch function, calendar and an alarm. The KG 288 also comes with an inbox headset for listening to FM. The KG 288 and KG 285 will be available in the market for Rs. 1,949 and Rs.1,649 respectively.

What if you could power your mobile phone with nothing more than good old H2O? That would really be something. Angstrom Power and teammate Motorola seem to have developed a way to power cellphones with a hydrogen fuel cell. Of course, it’s still in the testing phase, with a prototype, but the concept is certainly interesting. Imagine, all you’ll need to do is fill up your cellphone with water – and voila, it’ll start working again. Angstrom has already developed that runs on a similar concept of a hydrogen fuel cell. The good thing is perhaps we can look forward to a cleaner planet in the not-so-distant future.