In The News (May 5, 2006)

- Samsung admits to knocking off Apple
According to Telecoms Korea, in an interview with Korean publication Yonhap News Samsung fessed up to plagiarizing the menu icons and design work in their SCH-V890 and SPH-V8900 handsets from none other than Cupertino’s finest (Apple). Not that anyone should really be surprised or anything that a company knocked off Apple’s design, but you know what they say about the steps to recovery: the first step is admission that you have a problem.
EngadgetMobile

- Cell phone that automatically adjusts for the elderly
Often the special needs of the elderly can be a disadvantage when attempting to use cell phones, and these options can be especially confusing to consumers with minimal technical abilities. To help ease the problem, Motorola has patented cell phone technology adaptable for the hearing impaired. By automatically detecting speech patterns of the elderly, the technology automatically boosts incoming and outgoing audio while simplifying menu structure and increasing font size.
Mobiledia

- Another early review of the Helio KickFlip
The Helio team really spared no expense, it looks like at first glance… The phone comes in a beautiful magnetic closing hard box… The phone itself is small, compact but feels the way a reliable machine should when its in the palm of your hand… The two megapixel camera (with flash) takes great pictures… My one big complaint is that the sync software to sync the contacts from my computer to the phone is not available yet.
MoPocket

- Smart phones to replace most mobile gadgets
This article explains why increasingly powerful and useful smartphones are beginning to proliferate. Noting the different categories of devices that smartphones are likely to supersede – such as music players, games consoles, messaging terminals and digital cameras. The author suggests that “all this functionality will be held together and enhanced by the low-cost high-performance core computing intelligence at the heart of a smartphone.
LinuxDevices

- Ad-supported comic strips coming to cell phones
A California startup plans to launch a free daily comic strip service delivered to mobile phones supported by advertising revenue. SmashPhone will soon roll out Girls & Sports and The Meaning of Lila, with help from Creators Syndicate, a provider of comic strips to newspapers. A new comic strip called Mostly Heads will debut, too. The free service will run on an advertising model, where the ads appear before the comic strip.
TechWeb