June 29 - 9:30am EDT   Several major cellphone makers today agreed to support a European Union push for a universal charger standard. Apple, LG, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have signed a deal with the European Commission that will see micro USB become the default connector for powering cellphones in the continent. Chipset producers like NEC, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments have also agreed to the deal. [full story]

June 25 - 4:40pm EDT   First unveiled back in March, the Touch Book from Always Innovating is due to ship sometime in July. The device uses an 8.9-inch touchscreen with 1024x600 resolution and can be used as a tablet PC, or like a more conventional netbook-like PC with the addition of the optional snap-in keyboard. [full story]

June 24 - 7:40am EDT   Apple's newest iPhone actually costs slightly more to make than the older version in spite of the more modest update, iSuppli says. The iPhone 3GS' total bill of materials amounts to $178.96 for a 16GB model, or slightly more than the previous $174.33 of the 8GB iPhone 3G. Some of the cost difference is attributed to recent rises in the prices of NAND flash memory; although 16GB costs less to make than it did a year earlier, a small rebound due to economy-driven supply cutbacks means Apple has had to absorb some costs to double its storage. [full story]

June 16 - 8:55am EDT   ARM has teased the future of the iPhone and other smartphones with added early details for its first dual-core mobile processor design. The Cortex A9 will shrink the manufacturing process from the 65 nanometers used on the single-core Cortex A8 used in the iPhone 3G S to 45 nanometers, letting it add the extra core without significantly affecting the power draw. Although it consumes more energy at peak, the smaller process and multiprocessing should ultimately lead to longer battery life. [full story]

June 15 - 12:20pm EDT   At the InfoComm 2009 show in Florida on Monday, ViewSonic announced the availability of its PJD6211, PJD6221 and PJD6381 projectors with 3D display capabilities thanks to their 120Hz refresh rates. All three have network management capabilities and multiple inputs, along with a focus on low energy consumption. The highest-end model, the PJD6381, offers one of the shortest throw ratios among DLP projectors on the market, at 0.68. It is compatible with whiteboards used in school districts across the US, and sports 1024x768 resolution, a 2,500 lumens brightness and 2,500:1 contrast ratio. [full story]

June 10 - 11:15am EDT   The Palm Pre may cost significantly more to make than first anticipated and has surprising similarity to the iPhone's supply chain as it's existed in the past, according to a post-launch cost breakdown by iSuppli. Originally thought to cost $138 in raw manufacturing and parts, the smartphone is now estimated to cost at least $140 and as much as $160. Much of the price is attached to the 3.1-inch Sony multi-touch LCD, which with its Cypress controller costs about $40.60. [full story]

June 5 - 3:35pm EDT   Palm could ship as many as 1.3 million Pre phones before the end of the year, according to estimates from iSuppli. The researchers believe that a Sprint-only launch could result in about 1.1 million of the webOS smartphone trading hands in 2009 and could climb slightly to 1.3 million if a version with GSM and HSPA-based 3G arrives this year. It's not known if the sales factor in sales of the Pre through Bell Canada, though it's rumored that O2 UK will have a GSM Pre for the holidays and give Palm at least one more major carrier. [full story]

May 21 - 4:20pm EDT   Sharp has recently released its new RD-PM10 multimedia e-dictionary that shares many of the same design traits as a Mobile Internet Device (MID). While there is no Wi-Fi connection for web access, users can watch videos and play back music on the device thanks to its internal 8GB of storage and a microSD memory card slot. The interface for the sliding form factor device is via a 4.3-inch, 480x272 touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard and a number of shortcut buttons. [full story]

May 12 - 1:55pm EDT   Specifications have surfaced today that may represent Microsoft's expectations for its "Pink" Zune phone platform. Known as Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1, the design obtained by Microsoft observer Mary Jo Foley appears to set a baseline level of hardware that would outperform iPhones. A system would use either an NVIDIA Tegra, Qualcomm 8000-series, or Texas Instruments 3430 processor at its heart, at least 256MB of memory, and an 800x480 or larger screen. [full story]

April 1 - 12:40pm EDT   The Android platform for mobile phones, developed by Google, may soon be used in netbooks, with HP confirming interest and ASUS and Dell rumored to be developing devices as well, says the Wall Street Journal. HP says its engineers are testing the technology, but the decision has not yet been made to go ahead with the plan. The free open-source software could drop the prices of netbooks, which are entry-level devices with low margins that make ultra-low price points hard to achieve. Taiwan's ASUS has said it is considering Android-powered netbooks; Dell may be more likely to develop Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) with the software, but neither company has elaborated ... [full story]

March 2 - 12:25pm EST   Tech startup Always Innovating is using the start of the DEMO expo today to unveil the Touch Book, a system which its creator considers one of the first truly hybrid netbooks. The system can work both as a traditional notebook or as a convertible tablet but can also detach the keyboard entirely from the system to use it as a stand-alone touchscreen device. A set of magnets built into the back even lets users mount the screen on a refrigerator or elsewhere. [full story]

February 16 - 3:40pm EST   Joining in the slew of mobile introductions, ARM today demonstrated its first 32 nanometer (nm) mobile processor. Part of the Cortex series, the chip is much smaller than many existing designs and allows smaller smartphones while simultaneously increasing the speed by shortening the distance between components. The new design additionally hinges on high-K metal gate process that reduces energy leaks and prevents the chip from wasting much of its power. ARM also expects the chip to be less costly to build. [full story]

February 13 - 11:30am EST   Samsung this morning officially unveiled the first phone to have Texas Instruments' DLP Pico technology built-in. The Show W7900 for Korea (pictured) and its Euro-centric equivalent, the i7410 both take advantage of the small chipset and a compact projector to cast an image on a screen or wall which is much larger than the phone's LCD: images upwards of 50 inches diagonal are possible in suitably low light. Samsung envisions the feature as letting owners present slideshows directly from phones or for playing videos at a TV-like size. [full story]

February 12 - 12:10pm EST   A company that focused on developing a wireless HDMI technology and standard, TZero, is out of business, a Thursday EETimes post notes. The company has been developing wireless HDMI technology using ultra-wideband (UWB) but has been forced to close prematurely by the poor market conditions that began last year. TZero joins Intel and others that have stopped their own in-house development of UWB. [full story]

February 9 - 1:35pm EST   Archos on Monday leapt into the cellphone business with word that it will release a version of its Internet Media Tablets as a smartphone based on Google's Android operating system. The handset will be based closely on the Archos 5 with the same 5-inch touchscreen but a new, faster ARM Cortex processor from TI that the company believes will supply "PC-like" performance: the tablet will not only support full-screen Flash-based video in the browser but play back HD video offline. [full story]