Today’s Top Stories (June 21, 2006)

Today’s the first day of the summer, the longest day of the year, my grandma’s birthday (82 and as amazing as ever) and today is loaded with mobile phone news! Below are the top stories as selected by yours truly: – Sprint and Bell Mobility announce North America data roaming deals Bell Mobility (Canada) and Sprint (US) customers now have more international locations to easily access mobile data applications, thanks to new reciprocal wireless service deals. Under the reciprocal agreements, customers will be able to access email, Internet and corporate applications in Canada, the US and Mexico using select PCS phones, smart devices and mobile broadband cards. A data services subscription is necessary. Customers do not need to add any special services or permissions to their account in order to use data services over CDMA networks in other countries. – Samsung unveils ultra-edition cellphones Samsung has unveiled three phones that are part of the “Ultra-Edition” line of cellphones. The three phones include the Ultra Edition 6.9 – or X820, which is a candybar style phone being labeled as the world’s slimmest phone, the Ultra Edition 12.9 – or D900 – which is a slider phone targeted at business professionals and the Ultra Edition 9.9 – or D830 – which is claimed to be the world’s thinning clamshell. Gizmodo – Poll: What’s most important when buying a U.S. phone Results: Seems that when you walk into your neighborhood wireless store, you’re all about the specs, such as built-in cameras, 3G access, music players, Bluetooth support, mobile Web, and memory expansion. Can’t say we blame you. InfoSync – London launches Restroom Locator SMS service A mobile phone texting service that directs users to the nearest public toilet if they are caught short is to be launched, it was announced today. Anyone needing to spend a penny can text their location to a short number, and then receive a text giving directions to the nearest public convenience, along with opening hours and facilities. SMSTextNews – An SOS text message from a disaster zone When no one seems to listen, pick up the phone to make your point. This is exactly what one refugee in a Kenyan camp did say there just was not enough food. The SOS went all the way to London, where Greg Barrow picks up the story in Reuters AlertNet. The following text messaged – short and to the point: – landed in the London offices of the United Nation World Food Program: My name is Mohammed Sokor, writing to you from Dagahaley refugee camp in Dadaab. Dear Sir, there is an alarming issue here. People are given too few kilogrammes of food. You must help. Textually – Mobile music sales seen nearly doubling over five years Sales of music for use on mobile phones are expected to nearly double over the next five years. From an estimated 7.4 billion US US dollars this year, sales are expected to reach 13.6 billion US dollars in 2011. Ringtonia – T-Mobile Sidekick 3 debuts to Hollywood’s elite T-Mobile unveiled the Sidekick 3 at an exclusive, invite-only launch event last night at the Palladium in Hollywood. A-list stars attending included Nicole Richie, Mischa Barton and Serena Williams. Yahoo! – Nokia’s Widsets: widgets for the phone Not only is Microsoft jumping on the widgets bandwagon (and calling them gadgets), Nokia’s also appropriating and renaming widgets to “Widsets”. Widgets + Handsets, or Widgets + Set? All you need on your phone is Java MIDP 2.0, 128×128 screen and internet access. You can sign up for free and get the client sent directly to your mobile. Gizmodo