Motorola StarTACIII Reincarnates Iconic Clamshell

Motorola today gave a modern-day twist to an old classic, announcing the launch of the state-of-the-art StarTACIII in Seoul. Motorola's StarTACIII retains many of the original aesthetic features that made StarTAC a classic. The new handset is instantly recognizable by its chic black coloring, specially-developed scratch-resistant facade, a smoothly contoured front, and the distinctive StarTAC opening chime.
Motorola has also modernized many of the design elements. StarTACIII's powerful antenna, its simple and sleek figure, and stylishly silver trim along the sides are an ideal complement to StarTAC's original classic design, forming a unique meld of the old and the very new.
Reflecting both the change in times and technology, StarTACIII can alert people to any missed or received calls and text messages by means of three signal lights on the outside - users can stay notified without even having to open up the handset. In addition, StarTACIII features a full range of Motorola's most popular features, including a high definition 2.0-inch TFT QVGA LCD screen, clearly displaying all pictures, as well as such useful functions as international roaming, GPS, "Moneta M-Bank," an electronic dictionary with over three hundred thousand words, and high quality MP3 playback.
Not the first time to bring back the StarTAC, Motorola created and released the StarTAC 10th Anniversary Edition in early 2005.
The Motorola StarTACIII will be released in Korea in early March, and priced at 297,000 KRW ($315 USD).


Via Mobiledia

Helio Brings The Heat

Helio today announced their smallest phone to date. The Heat is a slider with touch-sensitive, electrostatic controls on the face. Like the original Chocolate or Sony Ericsson W950, the Heat has two sets of touch controls - one for navigation and a second for media playback. The Heat features a QVGA screen, stereo Bluetooth, a 1.3 MP camera and 136 MB of built-in memory. However it has no memory card slot. It also features access to Helio's GPS and music services like the Drift. Heat is available today in Black or Gold for $150.

Via Phonescoop

Solar Powered Cell Phones

Imagine a cell phone that would power itself by the use of a few tiny solar panels. No more low battery beep, or guilt for forgetting to unplug your charger from the outlet. As long as it sees the light of day long enough to catch a few rays, you're in business. While they aren't on the market just yet, a few companies are experimenting with prototypes that could ultimately revolutionize the mobile phone industry.
CNET just featured Konarka Technologies, a company that makes flexible solar panels out of organic materials. The cool thing about these little solar cells is that they would work in sunlight AND under interior lights (not unlike your solar powered calculator).
Other solar mobiles in the works include researchers at Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. TreeHugger featured this phone last year that uses high efficiency solar cells, which need at least 2 hours of sunlight a day (without the sun it can be powered by the good old fashioned plug in charger.)
Japanese company, NTT DoCoMo, has a prototype of a small solar powered phone featured last fall in Gadget magazine, T3.
I don't know about you, but I think I've developed a mild case of mobile technology envy...