Sharp Corp. today has announced the development of advanced LCD panels that will feature sharper moving images on portable devices such as mobile phones, pitting it against organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.The new panels have a response speed three times as fast as its conventional panels and the world's highest contrast ratio for 2-inch LCDs used in mobile devices. Digital broadcasting targeted at mobile devices is catching on and more digital camera makers are putting a camcorder function in their products, boosting demand for small-sized panels capable of giving finer images.The Osaka-based company plans to make a sample shipment of the new liquid crystal display (LCD) panels by the end of the year for cellphones and aims for 100 billion yen ($836 million) in sales from the new products in the year ending March 2009.   [Read]

AT&T Inc. today announced the availability of the Motorola M900, a powerful and durable mobile voice solution that enables state-of-the-art in-vehicle communications ideal for the needs of homeland security and emergency management professionals.The M900, which is available through AT&T's wireless Government sales organization, is a robust, high-performance unit easily installed into service vehicles used by the military, federal, state and local government and emergency management agencies. The unit's physical design, state-of-the-art technology and specially designed vehicle interfaces are dedicated to delivering dependable, easily accessible communication so that homeland security and emergency management professionals can stay connected when carrying out mission-critical tasks.Motorola's M900 delivers extended network coverage over standard portable cell phones through a 2-watt radio frequency (RF) amplification for enhanced connections in urban and remote locations. The unit also delivers superior hands-free audio quality for clear and sharp pickup, background-noise suppression and echo cancellation.   [Read]

Sharp has developed a widescreen Windows Mobile-based PDA (personal digital assistant) for a new Japanese cellular carrier (EMobile) that will begin service next month. It measures 140 millimeters by 70 millimeters and is 18.9 millimeters thick and weighs 250 grams including the battery pack.The EM-One is compatible with EMobile Co.'s high-speed 3G (third-generation) data service that will launch on March 31 and offer download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps. Also packed into the device is:802.11b/g Wireless LANBluetoothtuner for Japan's mobile digital television broadcastsfull QWERTY keyboard slides out from behind the display for typing and the device also sports a camera, [Read]