LG released a new ad for what seems like South Korea, and showed a few more features of the LG BL40′s operating system and it hardware. As I have said in earlier posts it has a 4 inch touch screen, but now it is known that it has the 21:1 aspect ratio and a HD screen, which for me is the first phone I have ever heard has a HD screen. Also it has a complete web display, much like the iPhone. It also has a dual screen UI, that takes advantage of the large touch screen, so once side of the screen is the emails and the other side is the email its self. Also, a panoramic UI for entertainment, much like cover flow on iTunes, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch. Also 1 touch copy and paste, not like the iPhone, but from the video it seems that you double tap then it gets pasted into the email, text message, etc. Also the LG BL40 has passed twice through the FCC, but the first time with no US 3G, which disappointed some people. Now it has passed again with US 3G. Still no word on when it will be released, but there are some speculation that Canadian carrier, Telus, will carry the phone and make its North American debut on there. Also at the end of the advertisement it said “LG BL40 BLACK LABEL SERIES”, so it may not be called “New Chocolate” after all.

LG BL40 advert:

These photos show the user interface of what LG is touting as the “New Chocolate”. Now the user interface looks very much like the interface on the LG GD900, but instead with square icons. LG is saying that the New Chocolate will be a new black label series. Which could mean LG may end the Chocolate series, in favor of the New Chocolate. Now it seems like a step in the right direction, more people are getting smart phones. People don’t want dumb phones, so if LG is changing their strategy to compete with Apple, HTC, Samsung, and others, the LG BL40 is a step in the right direction. As of now, LG has not said when the LG BL40 will be available for purchase or pre-order.

Recently there have been rumors that the iPhone will come to America’s largest network, Verizon. At first Apple offered Verizon exclusivity of the iPhone, and Verizon said no to that deal. Then Apple went to AT&T (then Cingular) and offered the same thing, they gladly said yes. Then the iPhone launched, now as usual with new technology, there were some problems. Then Apple announced the iPhone 3G, now there were more problems with AT&T’s network with this iPhone, people complained of dropped calls, bad coverage, things like that. That’s when rumors started picking up on the iPhone coming to the Verizon cell phone network. Now it seems like when people report this that it will be a snap to move the iPhone to Verizon. Well that’s wrong, there are many standpoints on how hard it is to move the iPhone from one carrier to another. It affects many things, and may take years.

From a technology stand point.

From a technology stand point it is very hard to move the iPhone to Verizon. First, AT&T is a GSM based cell phone network that uses a certain type of band, T-Mobile is also another cell phone network that uses GSM. While Verizon is a CDMA based network, that also uses a certain type of radio in the cell phones that they carry, Sprint is also the other CDMA based cell phone network out of the big four in the US market. Now for the iPhone to function on Verizon it would have to be remanufactured to have a CDMA radio in it, which could take a while.

From a corporate/financial standpoint.

Now it is a bit more complex from a corporate/financial standpoint. First, it’s not easy getting about 10 to 15 million AT&T customers to move to Verizon. Now when Apple does their yearly refresh of the iPhone, and it comes out to be a CDMA Verizon iPhone not everyone is going to have their contracts up. Plus not everyone bought their iPhone at the same time so it makes it even more complex, so as the iPhone is on Verizon some people may still be on AT&T, so unless AT&T waives all contract canceling fees, not everyone will move to Verizon. Also if it becomes a CDMA phone it could also affect other countries, like lets say Apple makes the iPhone CDMA and GSM, that means in another country like Japan it could be on a GSM network (like SoftBank or NTT DoCoMo) and also be on a CDMA network (like au by KDDI). Also Verizon has their own proprietary Application store, and is not letting other phones like a Windows Mobile phone or a BlackBerry to have the Windows Market Place and BlackBerry App World preloaded, so that means that the iPhone may not come with the App Store preloaded if it does go on Verizon. Plus AT&T can lose many customers if the iPhone does go on Verizon. While Verizon will of course gain many customers from the move.

Is T-Mobile more likely?

Now as I said before T-Mobile is another GSM network of the big four in the United States market. People have unlocked the iPhone for it to be on T-Mobile instead of AT&T. Now if the iPhone does go to T-Mobile it will be a little easier, but from the corporate/financial standpoints will most likely still apply. Yet, from the technology standpoint it will be easier. All Apple will have to do is that add support for T-Mobile’s 3G band and its really set to go, and it won’t really affect other countries around the world as much as making the iPhone CDMA, instead of GSM.

The iPhone is a phone that has had major success in its almost 3 year run. It has stayed a GSM phone and may become a CDMA phone. Yet, anything could happen, that’s how technology is, ever changing.

LG teased the LG BL40 has the Chocolate 4, now in the video it said “Black label series”. Now the LG BL40 has been seen in some photos, along with the LG BL42. Now the LG BL42 has a more traditional Chocolate design, the iconic slider design. No specifications or features are known as of yet, except that it will have a 5 megapixel camera on the back, but the Chocolate series could be changing soon. The BL40 could be the touch screen version of the LG Chocolate, and the BL40 the music based one. Also it has been said from a report that Verizon has ordered the BL40 and the BL42, so this could be very interesting.

The new LG Chocolate leaked out this weekend, and it has many changes in store. The previous LG Chocolate models were mainly music feature based. Now the LG Chocolate will have a major overhaul, so now it seems that it will become a smartphone. So it may have other phone makers like Samsung, RIM, Sony Ericsson, and others having a run for their money.

New Features

There are many new features in the LG Chocolate 4. First, it will ditch the slider/flip design and go  to a design like many touch screen smart phones, a large screen on the front, and a dew extra buttons. Now when I mean large I mean LARGE. The LG BL40 will have a 4 inch touchscreen with scratch proof glass, which makes the Chocolate 4 look very big. With the new design comes a new flash based active user interface. It will come with the standard fare of smart phone features, like a scheduler, email, etc. It will feature 7.2 mpbs HSDPA internet browsing with Wifi. Also new is A-GPS, multi touch, and a 5MP camera with a active shooting UI.

Now it is not known if the LG Chocolate 4 will come to Verizon or not. LG has said that the LG BL40 will be coming some time this year.

iPod Shuffle

Most likely there might not be many changes with the iPod Shuffle. Maybe a price drop, but there are slim chances of that happening. Apple could also introduce more colors, considering the fact that the iPod Shuffle only comes in Silver and Black.

iPod Nano

As usual there will be big changes for the Nano. So far there are rumors are that the screen will go from 1.33:1 ratio to 1.5:1 ratio. This means that the screen will be a bit bigger. Also there are rumors of a camera will be on the next Nano in odd placement. As for a camera it could happen, but it may just be a still camera. Now it might be true, coming from the fact that the iPod Nano has an accelerometer. Also I think the price will be $150 or $200 and will only come in a 16GB capacity, maybe a 32GB later on in the year.

iPod Classic

The iPod Classic will most likely be a wild card. It is really just the same as the 5G iPod, only using a new OS and aluminum body. It will most likely have many new features and design changes. Now so far it is not known what maybe a few of the features of the new classic. As I said, the iPod Classic is a wild card, so anything can happen. Now as for capacities, it could come in any size over 120GB. Also the usual $249 and $349 price points, but it could be less, since Apple has been cutting prices on their products.

iPod Touch

The iPod Touch will most likely have major changes. First off, I predict that there will be a camera. Now it will either be the old 2.0 megapixel camera on the iPhone and iPhone 3G, or the 3.0 megapixel camera that is currently on the iPhone 3G S. Also, most likely there will be a microphone that will be added. The design can also go 2 ways, the flat back of the first iPod Touch, or the curved back that is currently on the iPod Touch. Now the iPod Touch will most likely come in 16GB and 32GB capacities, dropping the 8GB model. The price points may be lower than they currently are, since Apple has been cutting prices. I predict $275 for the 16GB model and $375 for the 32GB model.

Apple certainly has some surprises up their sleeve for us. Apple has surprised us for the last few years. This year will most likely not be an exception.

T-Mobile has said the HTC Magic will come to the carrier. Yet, again the name will change for the carrier, it will be called the T-Mobile myTouch 3G. As for T-Mobile UK it will be called the, T-Mobile G1 Touch. It is called this because it doesn’t have a physical keyboard, unlike the G1.

What are the features of this phone?

This phone is a very feature packed phone. First they both run Google’s mobile operations system, Andriod. Also it also has the same set of physical buttons. A scroll bar, home, menu, call start, call end, and power. Although there is a nice button on there, a search button, so when you just need to Google something you just press the button, and type it in, which is very nice. Also, this has support for Microsoft Exchange and Wi-Fi. It will also have support for T-Mobile’s 3G network, quadband EDGE, and global roaming.

When is it available?

If you really want the T-Mobile myTouch 3G/T-Mobile G1 Touch, you’ll have to wait a while. T-Mobile will allow existing customers to pre-order it on July 8th. Then it will be available nationwide sometime in August. The myTouch/G1 Touch will come in 3 colors, black, white, and a new color, “merlot”.

Overview

Photo Clock is much like the Animal Crossing Clock, in which it features a clock and an alarm clock. What this application does is show your photos in a slideshow with a clock. Though, one thing that I don’t like about it is that the pictures have to be on the system memory, not on the SD card. The alarm clock does come in handy, and it’s a very nice feature.

Background information

The Photo Clock application is available for the Nintendo DSi via Nintendo DSi Shop. It will cost 200 Nintendo DSi Points.

I give Photo Clock 4 out of 5.