According to sources cited by Reuters with knowledge of Nokia’s plans, Nokia will introduce a new flagship device called the E7 at its Nokia World event on September 15. The only details shared about the E7 are that it has a large touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard.

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Samsung Mobile Display expects that a new plant, scheduled to open in July 2011, will help it meet the growing demand for its displays for smartphones and other products. The new plant will increase Samsung’s production capabilities tenfold, jumping from 3 million per month today to 30 million per month when the plant opens. Samsung is going to spend about $2.1 billion to set up the plant, which will be located near Seoul. It will primarily be used for 3-inch smartphone screens. Lee Woo-Jong, vice president of marketing for the display business, said to Down Jones Newswire in an email, “We’ve put in a great deal of effort to move up mass production.” Lee said Samsung has not given its own Galaxy S Android phones priority over orders from its smartphone competitors. He noted that the shortage has affected Samsung, too. Demand for Samsung’s AMOLED displays has left phone makers unable to manufacture enough of their own devices. Companies such as HTC have been impacted, which eventually had to use Super LCD displays from Sony in order to keep up with orders of its devices from carriers such as Verizon Wireless.

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LG today announced that it will be branding its Windows Phone 7 devices LG Optmus 7. LG also announced that it is incorporating DLNA media sharing technology into its forthcoming line of Windows Phone 7 devices. The unique feature that LG is introducing will allow users to automatically share media content by simply swiping the content up off the top of the screen. The Korea Times explains that the Optimus 7 device will see other compatible DLNA equipment that’s in range, and users will be able to choose which device they flick the content to. Files that can be shared include 720p HD videos, high-resolution photos and high-quality music files. LG’s Optimus 7 Windows Phone 7 line is expected to launch during the fourth quarter of 2010.

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The Chinese government recently implemented a new policy that requires those wishing to purchase a SIM card for cellular service to display proof of identification. The move is being made in part to help squash spam, fraud and other crimes. In the U.S., the major wireless network operators already require ID for users signing contracts for service. Pre-paid customers often don’t have to show identification, but lawmakers have floated a bill that would change that policy. Pre-paid cell phones are frequently favored by lawbreakers, as they can be used anonymously. Senator John Cornyn said in May, “While most Americans use pre-paid mobile devices lawfully, the anonymous nature of these devices gives too much cover to individuals looking to use them for deviant, dangerous means.” The U.S. bill needs to be ratified by congress before it could become law.

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Swype and Nokia today announced a beta version of Swype text input for Symbian S60 5th Edition phones. The limited beta of Swype works as it does on other touch devices, and allows users to trace out words on their touch screen rather than peck at them. The predictive software analyzes the trace patterns and helps cut down on text entry time. Right now, the devices that can run Swype for Symbian include the Nokia N97, N97 mini, X6, 5800, and 5230. Nokia and Swype hope that beta testers will provide feedback about any bugs or problems they may encounter.

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Apple today announced some new features to iOS 4.1 for the iPhone. First, Apple says it has fixed a lot of bugs, including the proximity sensor and performance on the iPhone 3G. It will also introduce a number of new features, including High Dynamic Range (HDR) image capture. Basically, it takes three pictures (one normal exposure, one underexposed, one overexposed) and merges the three images to make sure all the detail is present. This feature can be turned on and off. Game Center is now also built into iOS. Game Center is where iPhone users can use multi-player games with friends or strangers. iOS 4.1 also adds the ability to upload HD video captured with the iPhone via Wi-Fi. iOS 4.1 also includes TV rentals. Last, iPhone users will able to conduct FaceTime video chats with users of the new iPod Touch. Apple says iOS 4.1 will be available for free download from the iTunes store starting next week. Apple also talked a little bit about iOS 4.2, which will be specifically targeted at the Apple iPad. Essentially, iOS 4.2 will bring all the features of iOS 4.0 and 4.1 to the iPad. It will also include wireless printing, wireless streaming of video and audio from the iPad.

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AT&T on Sunday made the LG Encore available for sale. The Encore is a touch phone with a three-inch display and LG’s feature phone touch operating system. The Encore has quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band 850/1900Mhz 3.6Mbps HSDPA 3G, aGPS, accelerometer, and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR with support for A2DP. It has a 3 megapixel camera with video capture and is compatible with AT&T’s Video Share service. The Encore has a robust media player that includes streaming radio stations and certified Dolby Mobile playback. It is pre-loaded with AT&T’s SocialNet software for social networking. The Encore has a 3.5mm headset jack, supports microSD cards up to 16GB, and has 32GB of storage built in. It is available starting Sunday, September 5.

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Apple today announced a new version of its iTunes media player with new social networking features. The new features, which fall under the name Ping, allow users to share and like music, as well as create social circles with friends and artists. In addition to the social network being available within iTunes 10, it also works within the iTunes application on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The new version of iTunes 10 is available for download today, but Apple didn’t specify when the Ping social networking feature will be added to the iPhone-based version of the iTunes Music Store.

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