Boo yeah! Now we've got more reason to trade in our Eee PC 701s, and it's because a beefier 900 is definitely forthcoming. Official specifications have been spilled from ASUS itself, and to it we've added other tasty delights such as regional launch dates and target price range. Learn more about the next in line for the million-selling Eee PC series at the full story.

The organizers of the Games Convention Asia (GCA) and Games Convention Asia Conference (GCAC) must be very happy about the success of last year's events. This year's show has already been dated so  those who plan on attending might want to start clearing their schedules. For the venue and dates, head on over to the full article.

The mobile industry continues to boom with its uncanny ability to entice the public to get cell phones and constantly upgrade to the latest models. The pace has been so fast in terms of production and sales that there are now 3.3 billion mobile handsets in the world. That's half of the world's total population.

NVIDIA, US based manufacturer of cutting edge graphic processing units (GPU), has recently came out with the GeForce 8800M GTX GPU. The 8800M is a revolutionary GPU that is geared for gaming grade notebooks and should set the standard for HD mobile gaming.

More details at the full article.

Some of you may remember Motorola's old PEBL model that was the mark of the company's mobile devices during the time. While it isn't exactly called the PEBL 2, don't let the MOTO U9's similar appearance deceive you - it sports a whole lot more in terms of video playback and other features.

The biggest focus the U9 has to offer is the support for syncing with Windows Media Player 11. So if you have any WMA, MP3, AAC, AAC+, and AAC+ enhanced files lying around, you can rest assured that the U9 can play them for you.

Other notable features include the CrystalTalk technology which reduces background noise and increases call clarity, a microSD expansion, and a 2 megapixel camera. Also, the whole "floating" effect the external display has just makes your wallpapers look more realistic than ever.

People can expect the MOTO U9 to hit shelves in the fourth quarter of this year in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. While no North American release plans have been revealed so far, importers can still avail of the phone's quadband GSM/EDGE technology to quell any compatibility issues.

Rob Shaddock, senior vice president of Feature and Mass Market Phones, Mobile Devices, Motorola, explained the new model's best qualities, saying:

MOTO U9 combines the surprising with the familiar, the latest in premium design and inventive controls with the next popular spin on Motorola's classic clamshell design to deliver the most stylish and dynamic mobile music experience. MOTO U9 embodies the stylish side of Motorola’s music-enabled devices, further building on our strong portfolio of products for a diverse global audience.

Two new games are lined up from the Singapore-based dev team who worked on the Phoenix Wright ports to the mobile platform. Mikoishi will be showing off their new titles at the Games Convention Asia on September 6 to 8 of this year. Sorry. No. Not Phoenix Wright games. But they definitely look promising enough to hold their own ground despite the courtroom big shot eating up the market.

SteamIron. This title will be spanning across various platforms; its epic journey will start on 3G mobile phones later this year, with other installments on the Nintendo DS and PC platforms to follow. It's a sci-fi fantasy game that is set far into the future in an alternate timeline where electronic revolution never happened. Think futuristic technology (space ships and satellite radars included), but all of which are designed in a retro fashion. The game isn't called SteamIron for nothing. It probably hints on something very much like a steampunk world.

DropCast. Mikoishi's DropCast will follow the life of Ingrid and her living, breathing plush dolls. While a series of casual games are planned across different platforms, the first installment will drop in as an action-puzzler on the Nintendo DS early next year.

Specific details about gameplay for both titles are close to none, however, if there's one thing to keep an eye on, it's that upcoming game convention in Singapore where Mikoishi will finally reveal their games. And with that, watch this space!

Nokia, the largest mobile phone developer in the world, is in the forefront of the billion mobile user race.  Industry figures at the recent CommuicAsia telecoms trade fair said that their companies were eager to take advantage of the untapped markets in Asia.

To give you guys an idea of the distribution of cellular phones in Asia, only one out of three people own one in this continent. With the huge population of Asia, grabbing those two-thirds of the market will be a huge jump for any company seeking to boost their profits. However, before the profits comes the difficulty of breaking into new markets.

Places such as India can be a goldmine if penetrated, Nokia has already solved this dilemma with their well established distribution channels. They currently hold a whopping 40% of the Asia-Pacific market. What makes this amazing is the fact that they're currently holding a 36% worldwide global share, which is less than their Asian percentage. Now if Asia is the next big market and Nokia already has a commanding lead over its competitors, can this company rise to even greater heights?

Nokia has further solidified the lead by beating out Motorola and Sony Ericsson in the low-end market. If you've been keeping up with the mobile news, Motorola's low end campaign has driven it into the red while Sony Ericsson has completely dropped the low-end market altogether. Strategy Analytics Neil Mawston spoke on this trend and Nokia's apparent iron grip on the market.

Nokia has access to a huge salesforce in emerging markets that no other vendors or operators can match today. Motorola, Samsung and the rest remain some way behind.

With Nokia already established in India, a huge 300 to 400 million new users are expected to be added to the mobile market from that location alone. So Nokia is solidly in the lead of this race, what can the other competitors do to catch up? Or will they simply focus on other niches which haven't been tapped as much? Keep checking back her for more news on the Mobile industry.

Bloody pirates. Bloody gaming phones pirates. It is they, without a doubt, who cause cause severe headaches to companies. Although sometimes, it's hard not to marvel at their ingenuity. Do you remember the phone V191 from an anonymous Chinese manufacturer? The name's from Motorola and the look's from Sony PlayStation Portable.

Turned out, that's not the worst one. Somewhere in Asia, there's this mobile phone manufacturer called Anycall with their hybrid phone known as |Anycall 5200. We say hybrid because we honestly are seeing a lot of similarities compared to more established products. Some of which are:

• A Windows Mobile-like Operating System
• Sony Ericsson-looking back side
• Sony PSP logo
• Samsung F520 double slider
• Loaded with NES games
• Dual-band GSM 900 / 1800
• 3.0 megapixel camera
• Support for up to 2GB of memory
• A touchscreen interface

We're pretty sure this Anycall 5200 won't be officially making its way to the U.S. or Europe, or any other place aside from certain markets in Asia. But still, we have to give it to the company for, err, "paying homage" to established brands and companies.

See the rest of the pics after the jump!

THQ announced that it has acquired Finland-based mobile game development studio Universomo Ltd. THQ's mobile offerings will be bolstered by Universomo's proprietary game development environment and automated porting solution which supports all major mobile platforms, a key component in THQ's growth strategy.

Kelly Flock, THQ's executive vice president of worldwide publishing, said that Universomo's development skills and porting solution will enable new technology efficiencies for THQ Wireless, giving the company the "scalability to focus on building ... cornerstone brands and new, owned properties across Europe, Asia and North America."

"THQ's global publishing footprint and leading brand portfolio made them a natural fit for Universomo," said Universomo's marketing director Markku Hakkala. "The easy integration of Universomo's development and technology means that we are on track to take full advantage of continued market growth opportunities worldwide."

The battle of rhetorics rages on. Most recently, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific head of smartphone strategy Chris Sorenson told press in a recent visit to Australia that while Apple's iPhone is a "great music phone", it'll be irrelevant to business users because it's a "closed device" and "there's no support for Office documents."

"If you're an enterprise and want to roll out line of business applications, it's just not an option," said Sorenson. "Even using it as a heavy messaging device will be a challenge." Sorenson also added that with Windows Mobile 6, Microsoft is bringing "more of what you can do on a PC, onto the devices. Manufacturers can innovate heavily in their designs, but keep that consistent [Windows] look and feel."

Sorenson also believes that user familiarity with Windows Mobile's interface will help keep the iPhone off the corporate market. Microsoft is currently battling against the dominance of Nokia and RiM in the converged device market.