French handset and tablet maker Alcatel will bring a new Android handset to the Mobile World Congress show this month. The OT-915 will run on Android 2.3 and sport a hardware QWERTY keyboard, ElectricPig revealed. It also adds a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a 320x240 resolution and is an above-average 11.9mm thick.
Alcatel will soon join the tablet market with an Android-powered device of its own, if a Thursday FCC test is to be trusted. What appears to be a seven-inch device, known as the OneTouch T60, will ship with Android 2.2. It will also connect to North American 850MHz and 1,900MHz networks.
The European Union on Wednesday formally established its micro USB charging standard for phone charging. The approach proposed over a year ago will guarantee that phones and phone chipsets from at least 14 companies, including Apple, LG, Motorola, Nokia and RIM, will support charging over a micro USB connection without needing to switch chargers. The measure was implemented to cut back on both wasted chargers and to let users switch chargers without risking damage or undercharging.
A new MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) launched today in the US in the form of Simple Mobile. The cell provider has its own pick of phones but emphasizes attaching the SIM card over its own devices; customers are encouraged to bring their own unlocked phones, including smartphones. About 180 phones have already been pre-screened, though it should work with other devices.
A judge in a US District Texas court has put an end to a lawsuit filed by Fenner against Nintendo over a joystick patent infringement, EETimes reported on Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed more than two years ago, in January of 2007, and focuses on a patent Fenner says it holds that Nintendo allegedly violated with the controllers used in its Wii console and the older GameCube. The jury trial set to begin today was cancelled as Judge Leonard Davis in a Tyler, Texas court dismissed the case.
