Although the new laws don’t go into effect until July 1, many drivers already are making the switch to hands-free devices. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, all drivers 18 and older can use a cellular phone only with a hands-free ear piece or car kit. Those younger than 18 are prohibited from using any wireless device while driving. Alameda police intend to strictly enforce the law, Alameda Police Lt. Art Fuentes said. “The intent is much like the seat belts law, which we strictly enforce in Alameda,” Fuentes said. “It’s intended to save lives.” Sgt. Les Bishop, public affairs coordinator for the California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division in Vallejo, said the new law will cut down on distractions and distraction-related collisions. “I can’t count how many times I thought I had a DUI driver and it’s a person on a cellular phone,” he said.

Although drivers have six months to change their cellular phones or find a compatible headset, Bishop said people should start changing their lifestyle now. “Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier to use your cell phone while driving if it’s hands-free,” he said. “Do it because you’re a responsible motorist.” Tired of seeing drivers with cellular phones glued to their ears, one hand on the wheel, as they speed past or make an unsafe lane change? So is the State of California. And those drivers will face a traffic ticket and fine in 2008.

Motorola Inc, the world’s third biggest mobile phone maker, on Sunday unveiled two new phones and a plan to buy Asian digital music service Soundbuzz as it looks to stem recent market share losses. Motorola unveiled the Rokr E8 music phone which, when switched on, is controlled by virtual buttons that vibrate when touched. When switched off, it has no visible control keys. The device also highlights and enables different buttons depending on whether the music player, phone or camera is being used. The company also announced the Moto Z10, a videophone with editing capability and enough storage space for 24 hours of footage in an effort to appeal to young consumers who like to share videos with their friends. Motorola has been under pressure to come up with new phone designs as it has been losing mobile phone market share to rivals such as Nokia Oyj and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the past year.

And it has come under criticism for failing to come up with a strong successor to its Razr phone. It also faces competition from Apple Inc, which entered the cell phone market with its iPhone in June. Stu Reed, the head of Motorola’s cell phone unit, said the latest phones were part of the company’s plan to come out with new products frequently to build a broad phone range. “We want to sell a broad portfolio. We don’t want to be dependent on one phone ever again. We’re not about one phone,” Reed said in an interview at Motorola’s product launch event on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Everyone at Samsung probably hates it when people compare their devices to the Apple iPhone. But when you officially announce a cell phone like the Samsung F490, the comparisons are inevitable. Previously, we caught a sneak peek at this handset through a random Ukrainian source, but at the time, nothing was set in stone nor did we have any idea whether this device was even for real. Samsung has now officially revealed the Samsung F490 and, yet again, comparisons to the iPhone are popping up. The F490 features a large 3.2-inch TFT touchscreen display that covers nearly the entire front face of the phone.

Underneath are a few touch sensitive controls for basic stuff like initiating and ending a call. The display can also be used in landscape for video watching. Core features include 130MB of internal memory, Bluetooth, USB, tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, and HSDPA. Look for the Samsung F490 to drop in Europe next month for $780.

Cell phone snatching – or in other words, street crime – has become a headache for the average citizens of Karachi as most of them are scared to use their phones on the street on the off chance that the next person they encounter is a bandit. While reviewing the statistics of the year 2007, it was found that about 90,000 cell phones had been snatched and stolen from various parts of the city. It is noted that the highest risk zone vis-à-vis stealing of phones is the east zone.

The graph shows 15 per cent criminal activity with 14,309 phones snatched and stolen from various jurisdictions of the police stations located in that zone. While in the south zone the activity was of 13 per cent, in the central zone, 12 per cent, 11 per cent from the Malir zone and the lowest was at the west zone, where the crime reported was 7 per cent. In the respective zones, the risk areas were Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Korangi, Preedy, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Ferozeabad, while the towns which were on top inlcude, Saddar town, Gulshan town, Jamshed town, Clifton town, Liaquatabad-North Nazimabad and respectively other towns. The most snatched phone brand was Nokia at 61 per cent, Sony Ericsson at 16 per cent, Samsung at 10 per cent, while Motorola was on the fourth position with 8 per cent.

While commenting on this particular crime situation a senior officer said, “I think this trend started in 2005 where the issue was highlighted, as mobile phones are now more easily available than ever; and obviously Karachi being a major city of the country, there is more usage here and for the same reason, snatching and theft of these devices started this year. To combat this crime we have started working with the stake holders and cell phone companies.” As there was no system laid down previously, the Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) has now started working on collecting the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) through which cell phones can get blocked and invalid since the phone becomes unusable. Initially in 2005, this crime was reported to be hardly 5 per cent; today, however, about 400 to 500 cell phones were stolen. Now the people are encouraged to report this crime, and according to a data, about 130,000 cell phones have been blocked through the process of the IMEI.

Samsung is confronting bad news on many fronts. The South Korean company is facing probes into an alleged bribery scheme implicating powerful sectors of the country’s society, and its money-spinning memory-chip business is in the worst slump in five years. That’s why Samsung executives must be thrilled to have their mobile-phone business. There, executives can get a very upbeat view of Samsung’s future. The numbers tell the story. With Motorola struggling for more than a year, Samsung overtook its American rival in 2007 to become the world second largest handset (BusinessWeek.com, 11/30/07) after Nokia. Its global market share is up about three percentage points from last year, at 14.5% in the third quarter, compared with Motorola’s 13.1%.

And for every quarter this year, Samsung set a new sales record, with the 115 million phones sold in the January-September period exceeding the 114 million sold during all of last year. Samsung believes its record-breaking run is just beginning. This year, its sales are expected to top 160 million phones, up 40% from last year, and executives are confident the pace of its growth will be about double that of the rest of the industry next year, when they expect sales of 200 million. “The growth momentum is accelerating, and there’s no reversal in the trend,” says Samsung’s Executive Vice-President Chu Woo Sik.

Cellcast plc announced that its subsidiary, SUMO.tv, UK’s video sharing community, has extended its overseas network by signing important new mobile distribution agreements with Mobibase in France and Tapuz Mobile in Israel on the Orange networks in those countries. Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with more than 100 million customers on five continents. The mobile distribution agreement with Mobibase in France means that SUMO.tv is now part of the One TV bouquet of Mobile channels on the Orange Gallery. Orange has over 3.5 million high-speed users (3G, 3G+ and EDGE) and the agreement with Mobibase is a significant opportunity for SUMO.tv to grow its community of European users.

In Israel, SUMO.tv will be available via the Orange Network portal through an exclusive agreement for mobile distribution with Tapuz Mobile. Since its establishment in 2001, TAPUZ MOBILE has gained vast experience in development, deployment, production and adaptation of mobile content specific for 3G, GSM, CDMA and TDMA cellular networks. Discussions are progressing on further mobile distribution deals in a number of markets including Australia, Malaysia and South Africa, where SUMO.tv participated in a three-month DVB-H Mobile TV trial in partnership with MTN. SUMO.tv is the world’s first media network to seamlessly integrate user-generated content (UGC) into television programming, internet and mobile services, using its proprietary technical services architecture.

She’s turning 21 in April this year, loves Snickers bars and was in Singapore recently for an exhibition match with Anna Chakvetadze. She’s none other than Russian tennis star, Maria Sharapova. The highly profiled player today pledged her allegiance to Sony Ericsson. Besides undertaking a series of new consumer-brand campaigns off the court, Sharapova will also be working with the Japanese-Swedish company’s designers on “a range of products and accessories,” according to the press release.

Guess what phone she’s using now? The Sony Ericsson W350i! What did you expect? Correction: We were just alerted to the press release dated 8 January that Canon USA has extended its global marketing relationship with Maria Sharapova until 2010. Changes have been made to the original article.

A Samsung cell phone is poised to become Korea’s first phone to reach 20 million in sales. Samsung Electronics says its SGH-E250 phone, launched in November 2006, will definitely top the milestone in February. Samsung developed the model to target emerging markets in Asia and Latin America. Based on the design of Samsung’s high-end Ultra Edition 12.9 phone, the SGH-E250 has a 300,000-pixel digital camera, color display, MP3 player and Bluetooth technology.

Samsung says the phone, which costs about US$150, is sold as a premium model in low-income economies. Among foreign cell phones, global market leader Nokia’s 1100 has sold some 200 million units and Motorola’s RAZR some 40 million. The 1100 is an extremely low-cost phone which sells for less than $50 in emerging markets.

Add cellular phones to the list that includes caffeine and hormones as culprits that interfere with a good night’s sleep, according to a new study released Sunday. Led by a Wayne State University professor, the study found that radiation from cell phones delayed the onset of sleep and shortened deeper stages of sleep, which can hinder the body’s ability to repair itself and possibly lead to long-term health problems. The study also showed radiation from cell phones caused headaches. “We can conclude cell phones do have effects on the body,” said Bengt Arnetz, a WSU professor and lead author of the study. “If you feel like you have problems sleeping, you can always consider moving the phone away from the bed.” Or not talking on it at night before going to sleep, Arnetz added.

The study, considered one of the most comprehensive measuring cell phones radiation and sleep, involved 36 woman and 35 men, aged 18-45.Some received radiation volume similar to cell phone signals, while others did not. Inadequate sleep is associated with a number of chronic health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lack of sleep is also cited in some motor vehicle accidents. The study was published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium and funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, an international association of radio communications equipment manufacturers.

The man accused of bludgeoning a Madera teenager to death may have taken photographs with his cell phone afterward to prove to his girlfriend that he had done it, authorities said on Tuesday. Police have turned over the cell phones of Dustin Robert Gran, 19, and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Brittany Navarra, to the state Department of Justice so that investigators can attempt to retrieve data from them. The two have pleaded not guilty in the death of 18-year-old Krista Pike, whose boyfriend found her slain last week in his home. Investigators have said they believe Gran killed Pike at Navarra’s behest. Navarra had once dated Pike’s boyfriend. “If it is in fact true that photos were taken, you are dealing with an individual I can’t even describe,” said Madera police Sgt. Robert Salas. “How can you be involved in something so brutal and take photographs?” Police also said Tuesday that a five-pound metal dumbbell is missing from the home where Pike was found dead, and investigators believe it may have been the murder weapon.

And investigators are looking for a kitchen knife that may have been used to cut the teen after she died, Salas said. Most likely Gran was let into the house, Salas said, because there was no evidence of forced entry. Gran was arrested hours after Pike’s boyfriend, Tom Hollier, 19, arrived home from school Jan. 14 and found her slain. Police said they were led to Gran by a confession from Navarra. Navarra had been in school that day, but she told police there had been text messaging. While investigators have not said who sent messages to whom, they have filed search warrants for records from Verizon and AT& T for telephones used by Gran, Pike and Navarra.