Nokia has started selling the N85 and N79 in the United States, available unlocked through the Nokia Flagship stores in New York and Chicago, online and from independent retailers.

Nokia N85

Nokia N79

Both devices integrate a 5.0-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash to capture high-quality images and video clips at 30 frames per second.
Photos can be geotagged to record the capture location and shared online on sites like Share on Ovi or Flickr.
They have ample storage space included inbox for favorite tunes – an 8GB microSD card on the N85 and a 4GB microSD card on the N79. A built-in FM transmitter lets users enjoy music wirelessly through a car or home stereo.

They come with Nokia Maps for pedestrian and voice-guided navigation, free maps for more than 200 countries, satellite view and close to 15 million points of interest.

Consumers can play N-Gage games with players from across the globe. The N85 and N79 are compatible with high-speed 3G HSDPA networks in the US (850 and 1900 MHz). The N85 additionally supports European 3G networks (2100 MHz).

“The Nokia N85 provides a great mobile gaming experience, lets you capture high quality videos, browse the web, shoot amazing high resolution pictures and enjoy a great music experience and everything else that consumers have come to enjoy with Nokia Nseries,” said Alessandro Lamanna, Vice President of Nokia America. “Behind the slender exterior of the Nokia N79 is a wealth of wizardry to make discovering and sharing experiences with friends a real pleasure, any time of the year.”

The Nokia N85 is available for an estimated retail price of $539 and the Nokia N79 for $439.

Mail on Ovi, Nokia’s free email account, has launched today and can be set up directly on Nokia phones.

Users with Nokia Series 40 devices can create email address on their handsets. The Ovi email account has features typical to PC-based email accounts.

“Mail on Ovi is the first-ever email service which allows people to create an account directly on their mobile phone,” said Tom Furlong, Senior Vice President of Nokia. “Rather than focusing purely on push email, we are mobilizing email across Nokia’s mainstream device portfolio.”

Consumers will be able to choose from 12 languages based on the settings of their device, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Bengali, Tagalog, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia.

Mpowerplayer announced today the launch of the Mplayit Mobile Arcade application for MySpace.

MySpace users can discover and play free mobile game demos in the Mplayit Mobile Arcade application and add their favorites to their user profile pages to share with their friends. Users recommend games to others, and receive updates on what games others are playing and recommending.

“We see this as a critical milestone in our drive to reach new and untapped markets for mobile games,” said Michael Powers, CEO of Mpowerplayer. “MySpace remains one of the most popular social networks, and the recent addition of applications makes it even more powerful,” Powers said. “MySpace is a perfect fit for the Mplayit Mobile Arcade, and we’re excited to bring something both useful and fun to that audience.”

The availability of the Mplayit Mobile Arcade on MySpace follows the launch of the application on the Facebook platform. Powered by Mpowerplayer’s award-winning demo engine, users can demo mobile games online for free in an interface that mimics the look and feel of a mobile phone.

To download the Mplayit Mobile Arcade application for MySpace, please visit http://mplayit.com/myspace.

Thanks to Yotam Noy, Marketing Coordinator at eyeSight, who reached out to us last week to tell us about their companies innovative technology that provides a new way to play mobile games.

Based in Israel, eyeSight was established in 2004 and is a privately held company. Their goal is to change the way users interact with their mobile phones. Their core product for mobile gaming is called eyePlay.

eyePlay enables gamers to play by using real hand motions, imitating real life actions. eyePlay enables the user to act as if he or she holds an object in his hand and perform real-life movements, while eyePlay translates that movement to corresponding actions in a game. The technology utilizes the mobile phone’s built-in camera, along with advanced real-time image processing algorithms, to create a new gaming experience.

Sound a little confusing? Well, I suggest you check out the video they have put together on the first game they have released using the technology – Ninja Strike. In the game, you throw ninja stars at the bad guys by moving your hand in a real throwing motion in front of the phone’s camera.

The game works on Symbian Series 60 devices only for now, and if you want to check out a demo version of the game, click here. I read a couple reviews including this one from the folks at PocketGamer and it sounds like the usability is a little hard to get used to, but once you learn it can be pretty fun.

I’ve been told that iPlay (one of the Top 10 mobile game publishers worldwide) is going to distribute this game through carriers around the world but I haven’t read any news on this subject yet. That would be a huge win for eyeSight and would certainly validate the technology. A number of companies are trying to improve mobile games by getting away from the awkward cellphone keyboard and eyeSight’s approach looks promising.

Last week the Wall Street Journal wrote an article titled: “Newly Budget-Minded Turn to Prepaid Phones” that indicated a growing number of US consumers were moving from long term cellphone contracts to prepaid cellphone plans.

Prepaid wireless carriers charge based on minutes used instead of a monthly fee so generally consumers would pay less per month. Prepaid phones are cheaper if you don’t make many calls and they also don’t lock you into long-term contracts.

According to Informa Telecoms & Media, during 2007 and into 2008, the market for prepaid mobile services grew more than twice as fast as the cellphone contract market.

There are no national statistics for how many consumers are switching from cellphone subscriptions to prepaid services, since the plans don’t require you to sign a contract or provide much personal information. But individual carriers are reporting growth. MetroPCS says it added 249,000 net new customers in the third quarter, doubling its year-earlier increase, and Leap Wireless says it gained 156,000 net customers, more than tripling its year-earlier growth. T-Mobile, which also has traditional cellphone plans, says it added 670,000 customers in the third quarter, more than half of which were prepaid. By contrast, prepaid represented 35% of the company’s new customers a year earlier.

I have never been on a prepaid plan but as my kids get closer to cellphone age, I will probably start here. If you are considering getting a prepaid cell phone here are a couple of sites that you should check out:

1. ConsumerSearch.com: It’s a bit old but provides a decent comparison of different service options.

2. Prepaid Reviews: Reviews of different prepaid options.

3. CNET Quick Guide to Picking a Prepaid Plan: Pretty thorough overview of things you should consider.

Know of other sites that provide a good resource on this subject? Send them in the comments and I will post them here.

According to federal figures released last week, the portion of homes with cell phones but no landlines has grown to 18%, led by adults living with unrelated roommates, renters and young people.

An additional 13% of households have landlines but get all or nearly all calls on their cells, the survey showed. Taken together, that means about three in 10 households are essentially reachable only on their wireless phones.

The figures, covering the first half of 2008, underscore how consumers have been steadily abandoning traditional landline phones in favor of cells. The 18% in cell-only households compares with 16% in the second half of 2007, and just 7% in the first half of 2005.

Stephen Blumberg, senior scientist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and an author of the report, said there is no evidence the trend is slowing. He said the recession may fuel it further, especially as cell phone prices drop and their coverage and features improve.

“There’s clearly a reason to give up a landline phone if budgets are tight,” he said in an interview. “Given the current economic environment, I’d not be surprised to see more and more people give up their landline phones for economic reasons.”