The issue of cellphone radiation is not often backed with hard facts in casual conversations so it was quite refreshing to find some clarity at http://www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation

What many consumers know for sure is that radiation can have serious health consequences and that exposure should be limited. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) has created a current cellphones radiation list from which consumers can make a more informed decision when buying a handset, beyond the shiny and attractive features.

The Samsung Rugby (US model) came out 2nd while the I8000 (Omnia II in some regions) took 4th place at 0.22 - 0.57 W/kg and 0.22 - 0.62 W/kg, respectively. The legal limit in the US is 1.6 W/kg. These values are known as SAR (specific absorption rate) and are measured in Watts per kilogram of body weight.

See the entire list of phones (mostly US models) according to radiation output levels here.

[Via]

Samsung's first open mobile OS 'bada' will run on some of Samsung's new handsets to be launched as early as Q2. Will they support multi-point touch or not?

The official Samsung bada fan page on Facebook has stated the following:

Samsung Wave supports Multi-touch. a first from Samsung.

The folks over a the unofficial bada dev site have also demonstrated that it's possible to include this functionality in the code. Check it out at http://www.badadev.com/multi-point-touch-example/

82% of social network users in South Africa use Facebook, making it the most popular social service locally (Friendship 2.0 survey, 2009). How are all these accessing this mega social site? Many smartphones and slightly advanced feature phones have Facebook apps and/or widgets but the mobile browser remains quite popular with many.

For touchscreen phones, Facebook has what they call a Touch Site at http://touch.facebook.com and it's as feature-rich as any Facebook app I've ever used.

Not only is it pretty, it's also quite easy to use and, as you may have judged from the name, is touch screen finger-friendly, moreso than the dedicated mobile site or even the full site via a mobile browser.

Below are screenshots of my experience on Facebook's Touch Site.

This 3-minute video shows some highlights from Samsung's big event at Mobile World Congress on 14 February 2010.

Web AddiCt is giving away a Samsung S5233 to a random person that can answer their simple question. It's a very simple way to win yourself one of Samsung's popular phones so head on over there to get your entry in. They have a cut-off at 100 entries so make sure that you make the list!

The Samsung S5233 has the following key features:

- 3.2 MP Camera + Edge
- Qwerty soft keypad
- SharePix and On-line Widgets
- FM Radio wirh RDS
- 50 MB onboard memory + micro SD slot

I bet you've been putting off getting your sim card/s registered for RICA. This is just a reminder that you only have until the end of this year to do it and although that may seem far, you may want to to get it over and done with before the last-minute chaos that is sure to ensue closer to D-Day (31 December 2010).

What is RICA

RICA is short for the Regulation of Interceptions of Communication and Provision-Related Information Act. This law requires that all new and existing active mobile phone numbers be registered (starting from 1 July 2009).

Where can you find more info on RICA?

Cell C - http://www.cellc.co.za/content/rica/index.asp
MTN - http://www.mtnsp.co.za/MTNServices/RICA/Pages/Overview.aspx
Virgin Mobile - http://www.virginmobile.co.za/rica.html
Vodacom - http://www.vodacom.co.za/rica/index.jsp

The much anticipated keynote address by Samsung one day prior to the official start of this year's Mobile World Congress was worth the wait for many.

In what some consider to be Samsung's most important phone yet, the Samsung Wave S8500 has a lot to live up to. And it does. It's currently Samsung's most powerful mobile platform and not only because it boasts a 1Ghz application processor.

In true Samsung style it boasts a couple of firsts: it's the first mobile phone to support Bluetooth 3.0 as well as WiFi 802.11n standard. In the Samsung context, it's also the first phone to run their first smartphone OS, bada and with TouchWiz 3.0.

Daily Mobile has revealed leaked images of an announced Samsung phone, the S5620 (Monte?). It's apparently only meant to be announced at the upcoming MWC but someone obviously couldn't wait to show it off to the world.

It looks quite impressive and not just its hot bod. Features include a 5MP camera, HSDPA, 3G, WiFi, a full touchscreen, and apparently runs "TouchWiz OS". I guess we'll know the full details once it's been officially announced in about two weeks.

See more images at dailymobile.se

The 15th Annual Global Mobile Awards nominees have been announced. Two Samsung mobile phones have been nominated in the Best Mobile Handset or Device category.

The Samsung Star is an entry-level touchscreen phone that has enjoyed a massive amount of success with over 10 million unit sales worldwide within six months of its release.

The Samsung I8910 HD is a super multimedia phone that boasts the titles of world's first mobile phone to record and playback HD video as well as the world's largest AMOLED display on a mobile device at 3.7".

Other nominated phones in this category include the Blackberry Bold 9700, Nokia N97 Mini, HTC Hero and Huawei U8220. Winners will be announced at GSMA's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

See the full GSMA 2010 nominees list at http://www.globalmobileawards.com/awards/nominees.shtml

The Samsung W9600 has an integrated pico-projector that makes use of Texas Instruments' DLP Gen 2 chipset technology. The last one of these projecting phones that I'd seen was the Samsung i7410 (W7900 in Korea) at Samsung's Mini Mobile Conference in Johannesburg last year but it sadly never got to see the light of day in this country. The W9600 (not scheduled for SA release as far as I know) has an AMOLED display and supports a higher projection resolution: 60" at WVGA with a contrast ratio of 2000:1.