Communications Briefs

NEW YORK — Motorola and Nextel teamed up with hip-hop fashion label Baby Phat to offer a limited-edition phone as a fashion accessory for women. The $549-suggested pearlized-pink flip phone features the Baby Phat logo and the signature of designer Kimora Simmons. The Java-based color-screen phone supports Nextel's push-to-talk service, and it can be customized with downloadable ringtones, wallpaper, and applications. The 4-ounce phone will be available in mid-March in Bloomingdale's, the Phat Farm flagship store in New York City, and www.babyphat.com.

FORT WORTH, Tex. — Nokia will ship its N-Gage wireless-phone/game deck/MP3 player in the U.S. and overseas in the fourth quarter, when T-Mobile plans to offer it globally. The triband 900/1800/1900MHz device will allow for portable multiplayer gaming over a GSM/GPRS network and locally via Bluetooth. Game cards using the MultiMediaCard standard will be available from Nokia and leading game publishers such as Activision, Eidos, Sega, Taito and THQ. The games will be available in cellular distribution channels as well as video-game stores and major retail outlets, Nokia said. The device also features MP3/AAC playback, FM radio, WAP 2.0 (xHTML) browser, MMS, Symbian OS, 176x208-color screen with 4,096 colors, Java and PDA functionality. The 4.8-ounce device is 5.3x2.7x0.8 inches and delivers up to 4 hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby. Games can be played for three to six hours, depending on the game. MP3 playback lasts up to eight hours.

WARREN, N.J. — Virgin Mobile USA built a subscriber base of more than 350,000 people in the six months since it launched service on Aug. 1, 2002, exceeding the performance of Virgin Mobile's U.K. launch in 1999, the company said.