Steve Jobs looks all set to have a merry Christmas this year. It would seem as if his goal of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 is about to be half-achieved.

According to sources, the company is expecting to make a grand announcement at its Macworld Expo in January 2008 to the effect that Jobs’ halfway mark in iPhone sales has been achieved. It’s not official yet – I’m sure the figures will be counted and recounted before the official number is announced. Sales have been apparently been going through the roof and the iPhone has, like Apple’s own iPod, become yet another technological phenomenon. Stay tuned, and have a Merry Christmas.

Mobilephones has confirmed that the Porsche P9521 mobile phone, the first ever mobile phone designed by Porsche and made of aluminum, will be on sale in the UK in early December 2007 through Mobilehones. Porsche and French partner Sagem have collaborated to design the Porsche P9521.The phone is designed with a double hinge system, which allows you to open and rotate the phone 360 degrees and features a touch sensitive screen. It sports mineral glass on the screen and a fingerprint built-in scanning device to protect personal data and even gives you access to a concierge service.

The HTC Touch Dual is finally out in the market, following closely the launch of its predecessor, the HTC Touch. The phone comes with 3.5G wireless/HSDPA connectivity, sliding keypad and touchFLO. This feature, seen earlier in the Touch, enables finger-touch scrolling, panning and photo zooming, and also gives easy access to the music player.

The HTC Touch Dual features a Qualcomm MSM7200 chip running at 400MHz with Windows Mobile software that allows users to stay connected with people and access information and entertainment by a single, personalized device. The phone also comes equipped with a 2MP camera, a second camera for video calls, worldwide connectivity (HSDPA, 3G, and GPRS/EDGE/GSM), Direct Push Outlook e-mail, Live HTC Home featuring time and weather display, quick launcher, and one-touch ring tone settings.

Rumors have been swirling around on the Internet some time now about the Nokia N96, because it was supposed to meld the brawn of the N95 with the gaming goodness of the N81.As far as we can tell, this glossy black wonder totally delivers on all fronts. It really isn’t much of a stretch to say that the Nokia N96 super smartphone marries the best of both worlds for the N81 and N95.

On the one hand it has stuff like Symbian 60 and a 5MP camera like the N95, but it has more of the appearance of the N81, along with the N-Gage gaming platform. But the N96 brings more to the table too. There’s 16GB of internal memory in this puppy, which is double what the N95 8GB offers. What’s more, the display is a glorious 2.8-incher, they’ve tossed in DVB-H for digital TV, a kickstand for desktop viewing, and funky backlit touch buttons that morph to suit the current needs. Music brings up the usual rewind and fast-forward, whereas N-Gage brings up gaming controls. Expect the Nokia N96 to launch with an asking price of about $800, but it probably won’t have support for US 3G.

True to the Cyber-shot branding on its backside, the newly announced Sony Ericsson C902 has a definite focus on digital photography, thanks largely to its 5 megapixel camera. And this isn’t just any regular five-megapixel image capturer either. Revealed at Mobile World Congress (previously known as 3GSM), the Sony Ericsson C902 has a camera with face detection, auto focus, photoflash, and BestPic technology. This last bit enables the candybar handset to snap 9 pictures in quick succession.

Thankfully, part of the back plate acts as a lens cover too. Other features on the Sony Ericsson C902 mobile phone include a music player with Mega Bass, TrackID, FM radio, music tones, Access NetFront browser, and RSS feed support. Expected launch date for this phone is sometime in the middle of this year. No word on pricing.

Samsung Electronics a leading provider of mobile phones and telecom systems underlines its commitment to the telecommunications industry by showcasing an extensive portfolio of mobile handsets and technology at this year’s 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

Diverse, innovative and market-leading handsets and technologies, including a brand new Ultra Edition II range and the first European demo of Mobile WiMAX, further strengthen Samsung’s position as a design-led, forward-thinking company that heavily invests in research and development to advance the market and fuel consumer demand for innovative new technologies. Samsung’s design-driven, premium multimedia handsets are epitomized in its Ultra Edition II and Ultra Special ranges, which will be available during the first half of this year.

Whilst its involvement in Europe’s first mobile WiMAX demonstration, due to be showcased by Samsung and partners, illustrates Samsung’s dedication to mobile technology leadership and investment in market-leading standards. Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunication Network Business, said: “It is always exciting to be part of such an important industry event, particularly because it is my first time attending as the President of Samsung’s Telecommunication Business.

Our strategic focus on premium line-ups will be further enhanced this year by the introduction of our new Ultra Edition II and Ultra Special ranges. In addition, the realization of Samsung’s vision for future mobile technology is clearly supported with our Mobile WiMAX demonstration, putting converged, mobile device at the hub of all communications. In 2007, you will see a continued commitment from myself and Samsung to listen to and respond to the needs of our customers even more closely and ensure we are producing devices that further enhance lifestyles, whether at work or at play.”

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider and innovator of mobile phones, launches a terrestrial Digital Media Broadcasting phone (Model: SPH-B5800) that supports Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG) feature. TPEG feature is a transportation information service based on terrestrial DMB data broadcasting. Personal Media Players or navigation devices that support the TPEG service have been released in the past, but SPH-B5800 is the first mobile phone to support the TPEG service.

The Samsung SPH-B5800 provides users with traffic information updated every five minutes, as well as information about famous local restaurants and travel guides via terrestrial DMB channels. Existing Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are limited to guiding drivers on a specific route using an embedded map, but Samsung’s B5800 shows current traffic conditions as “cleared”, “sluggish” or “congested,” and guides drivers with the optimal route to their destinations. Users can also compare routes that reflect traffic conditions.

Moreover, unlike GPS in the past, there is no longer a need to access servers: Traffic information received via terrestrial broadcasting can be used to determine routes. The B5800 supports a feature that allows users to view all channel lists while viewing DMB programs and thus, enables users to easily browse and find desired programs. Users can also enjoy User Created Contents (UCC) via ‘Photo Movie Maker’, which saves picture slides as videos, and can send and receive text messages while playing a MP3. It also includes a 2-mega-pixel camera, a 330,000 word electronic dictionary, ‘My Pet’ function, file viewer, and audio book.

Samsung today announced a new addition to its Ultra portfolio with the introduction of Ultra Smart F700. This revolutionary mobile phone will be showcased at 3GSM World Congress, the largest telecommunications event, next week. The F700 features unrivalled design and bring a superior range of multimedia experiences to consumers. The Ultra Smart is a part of Samsung’s Ultra portfolio, which boasts a full touch screen as well as QWERTY keypad.

It reflects the recent trend in telecommunications industry of touch screen user interface and, for users who are not yet familiar with a touch-screen-only user interface, it also implements a QWERTY keypad and VibeTonz technology, which allows them to feel the buttons, accompanied by responsive vibrations. A “Drag and drop” method of touch screen was adopted for easier menu navigation along with music play list control for an expanded multimedia experience. Volume, play lists, brightness of screens as well as other menu control can be controlled utilizing the touch screen. As speed is becoming crucial for data are able to view content on a stunning 2.78″ color display.

The device features first class entertainment with a top-of-the-line 5 mega-pixel camera with auto focus and Bluetooth. With 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, it makes it easier to watch videos, listen to songs, share high-quality photos, or catch up on email on the move.” The introduction of our Ultra Smart F700 reflects the needs of today’s consumers by including features such as touch screen, enhanced connectivity to mobile internet, and access to an array of multimedia content,” said Geesung Choi, President of Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business. “The Ultra Smart F700 is a good example of communications, Samsung has included the latest trends in mobile to the Ultra Smart F700.

The Ultra Smart reflects the latest speed of 7.2 Mbps under the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network. Once the 7.2 Mbps HSDPA network completely deployed, F700 users can download an mp3 song (about 4MB each) in 4.4 seconds. A full HTML browser along with the QWERTY keypad enables easy access to the Internet for e-mail and data services.

Sales of smartphones are expected to overtake those of laptops in the next 12 to 18 months as the mobile phone completes its transition from voice communications device to multimedia computer. Convergence has been the Holy Grail for mobile phone makers, software and hardware partners, as well as consumers, for more than a decade.

And for the first time the rhetoric of companies like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola, who have boasted of putting a multimedia computer in your pocket, no longer seems far fetched.” Converged devices are always with you and always connected,” said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia chief executive at last week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Last year Nokia sold almost 200m camera phones and about 146m music phones, making it the world’s biggest seller of digital cameras and MP3 players.

In the coming year the firm predicts it will sell 35 million GPS-enabled phones as personal navigation becomes the latest feature to be assimilated into the mobile phone. Form and functionNigel Clifford, chief executive of Symbian, said: “All of those single use devices - MP3 players, digital camera, GPS - are collapsing onto the phone.” We are going past the point where this was a phone with a few other things,” he said. Symbian’s operating system shipped on 188 million phones last year and a third of those came with GPlS. “We see mobile phones evolving into multi-functional devices that now support consumer electronics, multimedia entertainment and mobile professional enterprise applications; all converging,” said Luis Pineda, from mobile phone chip firm Qualcomm.

Disney launched a mobile phone service in Japan on Saturday in cooperation with Softbank Corp, entering the tough Japanese cellular phone market following its withdrawal from the United States. Walt Disney Japan, the local unit of Walt Disney Co., released three types of mobiles, made by Sharp, all covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse. They also have a special online feature that allows subscribers to jump to Disney websites, while Disney’s iconic characters can be used on standby screens and to decorate e-mails free of charge. Walt Disney Japan has teamed up with Softbank, an Internet conglomerate and one of the nation’s three mobile giants, leasing part of the networks and outlets owned by the Japanese firm. Disney has become Japan’s first so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), or a company that buys capacity from another firm to provide cellphone services. In the US Disney Mobile marketed itself as a family-friendly mobile phone service that would allow parents to talk easily to children.

But the MVNO with Sprint shut down after only 18 months, with Disney finding it more profitable to sell its content through other service providers. Japan, a nation of 127 million people, has more than 100 million mobile phones in operation — which translates into a major challenge for service providers to achieve growth. A Walt Disney Japan official said the firm was confident of success here as Disney already had a strong following in Japan, where Tokyo Disneyland receives tens of millions of visitors every year.