On the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress being held in Macau, China Mobile Ltd revealed positive talks in session with Apple about bringing the iPhone to China. There hasn’t been any agreement reached as yet, according to China Mobile’s Chairman & CEO, Wang Jianzhou. Apple had plans to launch the device in Asia in 2008 and is currently in talks with various operators in the region. Jianzhou also revealed that 3G (The TD-SCDMA standard) will be up and running well in time for the Beijing Olympics next summer. China Mobile, he said, was in talks with operators from around the world to figure out a way for athletes, organizers and visitors to use their existing cell phone numbers at local or at least heavily subsidized rates during the Games.

Jianzhou also told the audience that the operator’s mobile phone recycling CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative was showing impressive results. While only 60,000 users turned in old handsets last year, over 2 million have already done so in the first half of 2007.

On the sidelines of the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress being held in Macau, China Mobile Ltd revealed positive talks in session with Apple about bringing the iPhone to China. There hasn’t been any agreement reached as yet, according to China Mobile’s Chairman & CEO, Wang Jianzhou. Apple had plans to launch the device in Asia in 2008 and is currently in talks with various operators in the region. Jianzhou also revealed that 3G (The TD-SCDMA standard) will be up and running well in time for the Beijing Olympics next summer. China Mobile, he said, was in talks with operators from around the world to figure out a way for athletes, organizers and visitors to use their existing cell phone numbers at local or at least heavily subsidized rates during the Games.

Jianzhou also told the audience that the operator’s mobile phone recycling CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative was showing impressive results. While only 60,000 users turned in old handsets last year, over 2 million have already done so in the first half of 2007.

LG has launched the KF600 EDGE which is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera and new InteractPad touch screen system. The InteractPad is what they’re calling the lower portion of the display that is touch sensitive. This will allow users to navigate various menus in the handset. The KF600 actually has a slide out keypad, so it’s not fully touch sensitive. It’s equipped with Bluetooth, presumably with an A2DP profile as well. The KF600 is apparently the GSM version of the LG Venus VX8800.There’s no official price linked to it yet but it should be out in certain Asian countries soon. Hopefully India will be one of them. Stay Tuned.

Even though the ball is on the cusp of dropping in Times Square, the suits at the FCC are still hard at work determining what we are allowed to enjoy (and what we are not). The latest pair of mobile phones to survive the gauntlet known as the FCC is the Samsung 820SC and the Samsung M130L.Pictures are pretty hard to come by of these two handsets, but we did manage to find out a few details surrounding their specs and features.

For starters, the Samsung 820SC is definitely a GSM/EDGE phone and it’ll rock Bluetooth. Following in the same philosophy, the entry-level Samsung M130L will also have Bluetooth, but its cellular connectivity is restricted to 850/1900 GSM/GPRS. Super stringent confidentiality restrictions have been put in place, so Samsung doesn’t want us to know any more about these phones for now.

Samsung has revealed its newest addition to its SGH line of cell phone with the SGH-i780 on the final day of CES. This Windows Mobile-powered device is packed with features with a full QWERTY keyboard and touch screen. It supports triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz and single-band UMTS/HSDPA at 2100MHz.

The connectivity side passes the test with WiFi of 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The long-rumored GPS is indeed included, which is fast becoming a standard on high-end smartphones. Another interesting feature is an optical mouse, although no details are available on its utility. The 2.55-inch touchscreen display boasts a resolution of 320×320 pixels.

T-Mobile on Tuesday began offering the Nokia 6263, a classic clamshell cell phone with enhancements, such as e-mail capability and a XHTML browser. The Nokia 6263 is not a costly multimedia device like the ones by Nokia as part of its Nseries, but it does fulfill most basic functions required by mobile users. For example, the phone is capable of receiving e-mail with attachments and it can be used for Internet browsing via a built-in XHTML browser.

It also supports Java and Flash Lite, and can be synched to a desktop through Nokia’s PC Suite software, available as a free download. “Many customers are looking to own a device that offers the latest conveniences, and want all of those features in a stylish — but classically-styled — phone. The Nokia 6263 is designed expressly for those people,” said Frank Vium, Nokia’s vice president of sales, in a statement. While T-Mobile is still in the process of building out its third-generation cellular network, known as HSDPA, the Nokia 6263 is capable of supporting it. It also uses quad-band GSM/EDGE on the carrier’s existing network, which is much slower than HSDPA.

Additional features include a 1.3-megapixel camera with video recorder, music player, FM radio, and stereo Bluetooth. The Nokia 6263 can store up to 350 songs on a 512 MB memory card that’s included with the phone. That could be expanded to 3,000 songs with an optional 4 GB card. The phone offers about 3 hours of talk time or over 11 days of standby time. The phone is available immediately online and at select T-Mobile retail stores, according to the companies, but pricing isn’t yet available. Similar mid-range models, such as the Nokia 6103 and Nokia 6133, are being offered by T-Mobile for under $150 (some less with special offers).

Today at CommunicAsia, Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group (IC Mobile) launched the CL50, an inspiring mobile phone designed exclusively for the Asia Pacific Region. The new model is Siemens first clamshell mobile phone. The elegant CL50 has dual screen display, emotive messaging and distinctive aural caller identification, which provides personalized sounds and pictures that cater to user’s individual needs. Siemens CL50 comes with a range of features that include polyphonic sounds, EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) and ring-by-person. Equipped with a WAP1.2.1 browser, users of the Siemens CL50 can access the World Wide Web anywhere, anytime. The CL50 is Siemens first mobile phone designed specifically for the Asian market. It integrates fashion and technology seamlessly, and is tailor-made for the fashion-conscious, dynamic consumer of today, says Ray Yam, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, Mobile Phones within Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group.

He added: This is the first of Siemens forthcoming range of mobile devices addressing the demands of Asia’s fast-paced, style-driven people. The dual band GSM 900/1800 mobile phone offers the latest features with personal, user-orientated options. The Siemens CL50 user will be able to assign different melodies to different callers, resulting in highly recognizable caller identification. The phone also boasts EMS, a technology that facilitates SMS messages embedded with pictures and sounds to be sent to other EMS compliant handsets.