Morpho's NFC / WiFi-enabled keyfob brings wireless payments, card management to the everyman (video)

Not interested in picking up an NFC-enabled smartphone? No matter -- Morpho's got you covered. The outfit was demonstrating a newly finished Simlink NFC keyfob here at Mobile World Congress, intended to provide contactless payment capability for those who lack it in their existing mobile. Rather than stopping at just payments, this dongle also supports frequent flier cards, membership accounts and pretty much any other members-only situation that may ever use NFC check-ins and registration. There's even a WiFi module here and an onboard web server, enabling any WiFi-enabled phone to immediately see your most recent transactions as well as what data / cards you have stored on the device. We're told that the onboard battery can last around a week if you don't use it continuously, and a simple micro-USB connector is responsible for charging. The only unfortunate part is the size -- it's hardly inconspicuous, but we're guessing revision two will lose quite a bit of weight. This particular model should go on sale by the end of Q4, with pricing to be determined. Head on past the break for a brief demonstration, you big spender, you.

Morpho's NFC / WiFi-enabled keyfob enables wireless payments, card management at MWC 2011

See more video at our hub!

Bahrain News Latest & Maps: Top 2 iOS Apps

The news covering the Bahrain protests is still in force and the news keeps coming in such as F1 cancellation and three people so far are dead, well we decided that you should be kept up to date with our top 2 iOS apps.

According to reports via CNN three people were left dead and the Formula One feeder series event has been canceled, the two apps below covers the Bahrain news latest and also a pro map system.

Bahrain News app via iTunes (59p) is a really good e-news reader for the people of Bahrain and features categorized news such as Bahrain (National Stories), World, Business and sports. This app does not feature any ads and reads news headlines and stories with the benefit of a scrollable list.

The second app is called iMapsPro, which is also 59p via iTunes and features very easy to use and quick access to the world without the Internet. This is the best offline most accurate offline map of Bahrain, features such as zooming, reset button, GPS pin pointing and much more will help you where you are and where not to go.

Please do let us know what you think of the two iOS apps mentioned above, your reviews are important to us.

Sony S1 PlayStation Tablet vs Apple iPad 2: Poll

When it comes to tablets and gaming and the combining of the two it seems that the Sony S1 PlayStation tablet and the Apple iPad 2 will have a challenge competing against each other.

Earlier on today phonesreview.co.uk writer James reported via PC World and Engadget that Sony is upping its game by releasing a brand new tablet called the Sony S1 PlayStation Android Tablet, and with a new Apple iPad apparently releasing this year of 2011 the game will be hot.

Sony already has the gaming smartphone called the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play so to add a tablet to its gaming line only makes sense with the amount of tablet PC’s releasing of late, the new Sony Tablet aka The S1 will apparently feature a 9.4-inch display featuring Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

The Sony S1 will be about the same size as the Tegra 2 processor Apple iPad 2, the S1 is apparently going to be released around September and should be priced at about the same price as the iPad around $599 for the WiFi only version.

So here is the question “Will there be a new Sony S1 Tablet release and if so what would you choose to buy?” please answer our poll question below.

What Tablet PC Would You Buy Once Released?

Sony S1 PlayStation Tablet

Apple iPad 2 Tablet

None of the above

View Results

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Image above via Tamar

Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac OS walk off Gold, Strikes the Mac App Store

It’s being accessible since October in form of beta.

But Microsoft has just turned its Windows Phone 7 Connector product to a shiny shade of gold, giving Mac owners a solid (if not Zune-free) option for hooking up their Windows Phones without firing up Boot Camp.

We’re told there aren’t any new features in the latest build worth noting, so you’ll get the same options as before: media synchronization, iTunes compatibility, and support for Windows Phone firmware updates. A full Zune client would be choice, of course — but we’ll take it. And you can take it, too: it’s now in the Mac App Store.

Source: engadget

Intel's Otellini insists company is committed to MeeGo, says he 'understood' why Nokia moved to Microsoft

We've already seen some evidence that Intel was still pushing strongly ahead with MeeGo despite Nokia's deal with Microsoft, and now CEO Paul Otellini has chimed in on the matter to reassure folks that the company is still committed to the mobile OS. Speaking with Bloomberg at Mobile World Congress this week, Otellini said that he doesn't see that "Nokia changing its strategy changes the industry strategy," and added that "operators still look for an open, operator-friendly operating system." Otellini further went on to say on a panel discussion that he "understood" why Nokia made the decision it did, and even said that if he were in the same position he would have made "the same or a similar call." That doesn't mean he wasn't disappointed by it though -- in fact, he revealed that he used a word that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz "has often used" when he first received the news from Stephen Elop himself (we'll let you look that up if you don't know it).

New Android Navigation Apps Unveiled at MWC 2011: Videos

During Mobile World Congress in Barcelona ROUTE 66 unveiled two new navigation applications for the Android platform, the ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation app, and the ROUTE 66 Drive & Walk app, both with “Follow Me” augmented reality navigation feature.

The ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation app features TomTom maps and content and delivers access to the latest maps for over 100 countries with links to information on such things as weather and Wikipedia, along with stunning 3D graphics, and clear spoken directions in 57 languages.

The ROUTE 66 Maps + Navigation app also features “Follow Me” augmented reality which shows views of the street from your Android smartphone or tablet and adds a virtual 3D car in front of the user with indicator lights to let you know when to turn left or right.

The ROUTE 66 Drive & Walk app for Samsung Android handsets also features “Follow Me” augmented reality navigation and maps are supplied by NAVTEQ, and delivers instant access to maps of 94 countries.

If you are looking for a landmark of address the ROUTE 66 Drives & Walk app features a unique free text search which understand what is meant by entering a search term such as “EIFF PAR” for the Eiffel Tower in Paris and users can also run “smart searches” for points of interest and contacts stored on their handset.

Both ROUTE 66 Android app will become available for download from the Android Market soon as lifetime free apps, while turn-by-turn navigation is a premium feature and can be purchased via the in-app store.

We have a couple of app demo videos courtesy of ROUTE 66 for your viewing pleasure below, one of the “Follow Me” augmented reality and the other a demo of the Map Viewer, so jump on down and check them out…enjoy.

Nokia Delays Adoption of Windows Phone

As you are no doubt aware, Nokia has opted to make the Microsoft Windows Phone platform their chosen operating system for future Nokia devices; however apparently Nokia to has delayed the adoption of Windows Phone until sometime after October.

According to an article over on The Guardian, rather than opt to go with the current version of Windows Phone 7, Nokia has made the decision to hold off until Microsoft release the next major update, which is apparently codenamed “Mango.”

Having said that, apparently Nokia boss Elop, has been careful to refer to Nokia’s adoption of the platform as Windows Phone and not Windows Phone 7 as apparently there are some differences between the two.

According to an article a while ago by Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, “Mango” is to be renames to possibly Windows Phone 7.5 and will add such features as HTML5 and word is that Windows Phone 7.5 won’t be ready until autumn with Windows Phone 8 possibly following by the end of 2012.

Apparently this is the reason Elop has only referred to Nokia’s adoption as Windows Phone because he didn’t wish to reveal any of Microsoft’s future plans for the Windows Phone platform.

Apparently when asked to comment on the delay a Nokia spokesperson stated that Nokia has committed to Windows Phone but would not comment any further.

So there you go, you probably won’t be seeing any Nokia smartphones sporting Windows Phone 7 or otherwise for some time yet. I’m still not convinced Nokia has made the right decision not to go with Android, but I guess only time will tell.