Philips’s entry-level mobile phone dedicated to music announced back in April should be coming very soon. The best part of it - it has surround sound.

The M600 has a 3.5mm audio jack, dedicated navigation shortcut buttons on the side of the phone, 512MB internal memory, microSD memory card support, USB, and a 1.3 megapixel camera.

The phone lasts continuous 40 hours in music playback, and should retail at 200US$. The mobile phone has no 3G or EDGE, only GPRS, so we consider the pricetag a bit too hefty.

[via Cellaz]

Bharti Airtel has stated that it is not making any profits on the iPhone 3G. The mobile phone is sold at the prices fixed by Apple, while Airtel enjoys the subscription from the network users. This statement came after the controversy of the price, which is about Rs31 000 (720US$) for the 8GB version and Rs 36 100  (840US$) for the 16GB version, close to the upcoming Nokia N96.

The network’s users were upset by the hefty pricing, as they had learned that in the USA, the iPhone 3G would sell for about 199US$, far lower than the price in India, which reciprocates to Vodafone as well. Even with such a high price, over 200 000 iPhone 3Gs have already been booked, although they are unconfirmed bookings.

Sanjay Kapoor, president, mobility, Bharti Airtel explains that the reason why the iPhone 3G is so expensive in India on their network is that the “model does not work as majority of users are pre-paid and even post-paid subscribers do not sign any commitment with the carrier,” unlike US carriers.

Airtel will be bundling a 500MB data bundle every month for 12 months so that it can justify the price. The phone will be sold in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata, from today, and in 65 other cities from tomorrow.

[via Cellpassion]

T-Mobile has few 3G mobile phones in its portfolio, and Sony Ericsson has just joined in with the first phone from the company on this network, but also the first 3G phone.

T-Mobile’s 3G network supports the UMTS 1700Mhz band, and the network is planning on rolling out HSDPA as well.

The Sony Ericsson TM506 is a mid-range device with a 2 megapixel camera, a M2 memory card slot, 3G (obviously), and built-in A-GPS with TeleNav navigation software.

The price hasn’t been announced yet, but the release date for the TM506 should be in early September.

Sony Ericsson TM506 official specifications:

TM506 Phone At-A-Glance

• Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Size: 3.7 x 1.9 x 0.69″
• Talk Time: Up to 9.5 hours GSM; up to 3.5 hours UMTS
• Standby Time: Up to 250 hours GSM, up to 250 hours UMTS
• 2.0 Megapixel Camera
• Media Center
• aGPS Built-in
• TeleNav®  Navigator
• RSS Feeds
• MyFaves-enabled
• Audio Postcard
• Quicksend
• Mobile Backup (T-Mobile Address Book)
• Bluetooth® 2.0 / A2DP / Stereo streaming
• Tri-Band GSM (850/1800/1900)
• Dual-Band UMTS (1700/2100 & 2100)
• GSM/GRPS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA

[via Electronista]

The Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot comes with both a PC Suite and a Media Manager application.

As it is usual, the application allows connection via Infrared, Bluetooth, and USB cable. Usually applications for a phone to be installed on a computer include interaction that is usually needed to complete the phone’s capability.

On the K850i, you can backup, synchronise, use the phone or the computer for internet connection, edit and transmit files, messages, contacts, calendar entries, but also manage all your multimedia, be it photos, videos, or audio, which Sony itself is already experienced at.

As an added bonus, the application self-updates, which is a great way to cover flaws.

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BlackBerry Bold users have noticed that there are 3G issues on the device, as the signal drops in certain locations and the same goes to the iPhone 3G. The Bold apparently has a software issue, while the iPhone 3G fault hasn’t been pointed out yet.

“We had a few occasional 3G signal dropping troubles at some locations especially on high-rises building streets & on our 34th floor (EDGE picked up immediately but slower internet speeds),” wrote Suva, a Citigroup analyst. He thinks RiM have delayed introducing the Bold because they want to iron out the 3G kinks with a software patch.

The Bold has been released not long ago and is set to compete against the Nokia E71 and the upcoming Palm Treo Pro. The phone is a business smartphone, also known as the BlackBerry 9000.

The iPhone 3G has had many more complaints, but it has been available for longer than the Bold. Apple’s second phone is in a market where it usually crushes the competition, but it isn’t available in many countries. 50 more countries should receive in by the end of the year.

Below is a video portraying the differences between the iPhone Safari browser, and the Bold’s browser. Download the video, or embed it.

[via The Mobile Gadgeteer via jkOnTheRun]