Nokia’s VP of corporate strategy, Antii Vasara, admitted to Vnunet that the N-Gage did not meet the company’s projected targets. Vasara said, “N-Gage is still being sold but it was not a success in the sense of developing a new category.” While the company does not plan to introduce further iterations in the N-Gage handset line, it will continue to support existing N-Gage and QD handsets.

This does not mean the N-Gage has been completely disappointing, as Nokia is able to use the N-Gage software platform to expand its entrance in gaming. “We learnt that people want to play games on all devices. As such we are integrating the gaming software into Series 60 phones.”

Claremont Creek Ventures, a startup investment firm specializing in early-stage information technology and biotech startups, has closed its first fund of $130 million in committed capital. The fund will focus on the “un-tethered workforce”, which includes wireless, workforce mobility, and voice/video over IP; applications for healthcare, which includes medical instruments, bio-informatics and home care; […]

As the Xbox 360 release date has approached, everyone continues to ask if their games from the original Xbox will play on their new 360. We can tell you that more than 200 games have already been tested for backward compatibility on the 360, and Microsoft continues to add others.

Here are the most frequent questions:

Why are will all original Xbox games not play on the 360?
The architecture (i.e. hardware components) of the 360 are drastically different than the original Xbox. To allow games to play on the new system, an emulator must actually be created (or tweaked) to account for the differences.

Are their benefits to playing Xbox games on the 360?
Yes. Every original Xbox game will be playable in high definition. The 360 has the ability to upscale the games to 720p and 1080i.

Is a hard drive needed for backward compatibility?
Yes. It does not matter if a hard drive came bundled with your 360 or if you purchased it at a later date, but one must be present for backward compatibility.

What games from the original Xbox will play on the Xbox 360?

According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends more on entertainment than they do on gasoline, household furnishings and clothing combined, and nearly the same amount as spent on dining out.
Household spending on entertainment has outpaced overall expenditures over the past 10 years, by more than doubling during this time. Household earning […]

Radiance Technologies, a small Huntsville, AL company, has created a system that can instantly determine the exact location of a gun being fired and its model. The U.S. Army is currently testing it and three similar ones to give soldiers an edge in battle conditions, by allowing them to return fire more rapidly.

Unlike other known systems, the Radiance’s WeaponWatch is powered by infrared sensors that can literally detect missiles or gunfire at the speed of light. It even works while under heavy attack and at longer sniper distances.

WeaponWatch is one of the major reasons Radiance has grown from only three employees six years ago to 275, making it one of the 500 fastest-growing small businesses in the United States.

Korea Telecom (KT) will roll out a new mobile wireless broadband service by mid-2006 called WiBro.
WiBro is one of the next steps beyond 3G known as mobile WiMax and will provide subscribers up to 10 Mbytes of data transfer per second while driving at 75 miles per hour. Current trials have already […]

A new lie detector, the GK-1, tested in Russia for airline security shows significant promise towards improving airline security. The GK-1, developed by Israeli firm Nemesysco, uses a minimally invasive two stage process to tell if a passenger is being untruthful.

The initial test takes between 30 to 75 seconds and can be performed as part of the standard security screening. Passengers simply put on a pair of headphones and look at a console to answer “yes” or “no” questions into a microphone. For those that fail the initial test, they are taken aside for a more extensive test.

At $10k to $30 per installation, the added speed and accuracy of the tests may be a good step towards improving airline safety and helping you get through the “line” that much faster.

A new study by Pyramid Research shows that mobile subscribers in emerging markets have high interest in mobile internet and data but little interest in paying much.

The study asked 2500 mobile phone users across the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) “under which of the following circumstances they would use data services like wireless internet and mobile TV - if it were free, if the price were right or not interested at all”.

Navio Systems has closed its second round of funding with $25.4 million of venture funding.

Navio sells multimedia networking software to media companies that allows subscribers to buy, share, download, store and access content while protecting the content. Their technology can be integrated into customers’ storefronts through the internet, mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks. It also allows customers access and redownload their purchased content when they lose or upgrade their devices.

Lead participants in this round were the WK Technology Fund and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

LOC-AID Technologies announced that it has secured $5 million in its first round of institutional financing. The round of funding was co-led by H.I.G. Ventures and Intersouth Partners.

Loc-AID was founded in 2001 to add functionality and interoperability to cell phones with location based services.

The Wireless Association (CTIA) has announced plans to adopt a voluntary content guideline system, similar to the ESRB, to “proactively provide tools and controls to manage wireless content offered by the carriers”.
The system will not only provide ratings for content but will also allow parents to block access to particular content on their […]

In-game advertising firm double fusion Monday announced it had hired Geoff Graber, the former general manager of Yahoo! Games, as its CEO. The company, which intends to soon move its headquarters to New York City from Jerusalem, also announced that it had closed a $10 million financing round led by Accel Partners and Jerusalem Venture […]

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According to Marketing Insight, a consumer research institute, 14 million out of 37 million cell phone subscribers in Korea play mobile games. To put it another way, four out of every 10 people are mobile gamers. More specifically, 2.3 million play mobile games everyday, accounting for 6.2 percent of the total cell phone subscribers, including […]

The Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) is acquiring Living Mobile, a European mobile game developer and publisher, as part of its ongoing strategy to expand its footprint in the mobile games category.
Disney first entered the mobile market in Japan through a deal in August 2000 with NTT DoCoMo which propelled its to become the number […]

The most recent Mobinet study, from consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the Judge Business School at Cambridge University, shows that shows that consumers are eager to use mobile data and content, yet uncertainty still exists.
The study has been conducted eight times since 2000 and uses a sample of 4000 mobile phone users in 21 countries. […]