Word is that Google is cooking up a voice-based system to allow searches to be done by just speaking to the iPhone. According to the report, it will be an update to the Google Mobile app in the iPhone. Using voice recognition, one simply has to speak into the mouthpiece of the iPhone and ask a question and Google will perform an appropriate search. I’m not quite sure how effective this new system will be in recognizing voice commands and how well it will interpret questions, but having such an option available does seem faster and easier to use than typing a search term using the onscreen keyboard.

Excited? Well, you won’t have to wait long for this new free app to come out as it was also reported that it could hit the App Store as early as Friday. On a personal note, I’m dying to find out what Google has to answer when I ask where I can find true happiness. How about you guys? What would be the first questions you would ask Google?

[nytimes via unwiredview]

The phone is actually available now at Chinagrabber. Yes, I know it looks just like SE’s Xperia and the matching name is no coincidence either though I think they are guilty of mispelling. It has a 2.9-inch screen (non-touch) and a regular numeric keypad slides out from the side. Curiously there’s an 8 MP camera at the back with some sort of zooming capability. You know the Sany Ericssan A8000i is a smartphone because of the VAIO branding at the back. Should be smarter than most smartphones. Get one of these babies for $193.

[product]

Unbelievable Microsoft’s Zune PMP is now cheaper in Canada than down below the border. Traditionally Canadian pay a premium for their hi-tech gadgets (like the iPhone 3G). At Canada’s future shop, an 8GB Zune is on sale for $99.99 Candian, which converts to just above $82. This is $50 cheaper than the same Zune when you cross the border. Merry Christmas, Canadian Zune lovers!

[via engadget]

The 3G iPhone is finally making its way to Thailand via True Move, the third largest mobile telecom firm in the country. The company has inked a deal to release the iPhone in Thailand at the earliest during the holidays. With this latest development, Thailand joins other countries in Asia like Singapore, Japan and the Philippines to name a few who are already enjoying Apple’s little mobile phone. The question is; how much will it cost? Details about the entire deal have not been disclosed so we’ll have to wait for further announcements to find out how much they’ll offer the 3G iPhone. For now, the only thing confirmed is that True Move will officially be selling the iPhone in Thailand.

Will it come loaded with firmware 2.2 already? We don’t know, but we’re pretty sure that a 2.2 jailbreak is just waiting in the wings if it does come preloaded with the latest firmware.

[reuters via unwiredview]

Nothing much here except Tradestead Corporation’s 1GB PMP. The big buttons below the 2.4-inch TFT screen, if you’ve noticed, line up in an unusually pleasant formation. Now, I’m not surewhat goes on in Tradestead’s mind when they decided to provide an especially friendly outlook to fans of portable media, but if it has something to do with the world economy we’re pretty much on board. Needs branding though and a decent price, and perhaps additional capacity.

[via alibaba]

The successor of the popular Samsung YP-P2 PMP is on its way to store shelves. After so many interesting Blue Wave firmware updates, Samsung finally decided its time to update their PMPs hardware. The Samsung P3 will have a 3-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen with Haptics and an aluminum body. It will have Bluetooth 2.0 and A2DP, FM, the usual photo, audio and video files including FLAC audio and OGG and capacities starting from 4GB to 32GB. The biggest difference of the P3 from the P2 is form factor. It’s still a piece of wood tile but it’s perfectly rectangular this time and doesaway with the eye at the bottom of the screen in lieu of touch-sensitive buttons. The P3 is pretty heavy at 85g. Unveils officially January but no pricing yet or release date.

[via journaldugeek]

While Google may have already come out with their very own Android phone, it doesn’t mean that they’ll completely ignore the iPhone and its devoted following. In fact, Google is now making their site more iPhone-friendly by changing the layout by which the search results are displayed eliminating the need to scroll left-to-right just to read them. Local search results also now include click-to-call and Get Directions links. The iPhone is such a tremendous internet mobile device that major websites such as Google are customizing their services to make it easier for iPhone users to browse their site on the said device. However, this new mobile Google version only works with firmware 2.x and is only available in US English, but future revisions will likewise include added language support and more devices such as the G1. I’ve tried this out and if you still receive the classic desktop-like Google scheme, just go to google.com and select Mobile.

[google mobile blog via unwiredview]

iRiver has a cellphone, finally, after showing of the W10 with calling capabilities at CES earlier this year. The official specs of the iRiver Wave includes a 3-inch touchscreen, 4GB of storage space, WiFi and excellent audio/ video support. It’s an iRiver PMP with a phone and it will be available at Korea’s KT Telecom March 9 for 150 euros ($188) with a one-year contract.

[via gmp3]

Rumor has it the iPhone will get even cheaper. Apple may just shave another $50 from $199 price point and sell it through Costco starting January next year. While I would’ve preferred iPhone to come out with a $100 iPhone Nano, I forseeing Apple eating up more percentage points in the smartphone market. Rivals like Nokia, Samsung and T-Mobile can’t seem to find a way to drop prices in their iPhone rivals, allowing Apple to cement its dominance in the multimedia smartphone category. The others haven’t thrown in the towel yet but I don’t see an upset in the future.

[photo, source]

It looks like Apple is indeed pushing through with the release of iPhone firmware 2.2 and if the latest rumor is to be believed, we’ll see it go live on November 21st. Aside from the Google Maps Street View and new layout of Safari, you’ll also be able to turn off text auto-correction, download podcasts from the App Store, and use the headphone jack as a Line-in port when you upgrade to firmware 2.2. We’re not sure if this is the complete list of new features in the latest firmware for the iPhone, but unless Apple has done something to make it more jailbreak-proof (which I suppose is nearly impossible), then we’re almost certain that an iPhone 2.2 jailbreak won’t be far behind when it’s released on November 21.

[iphone hellas via gizmodo]