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Apple beats BlackBerry, LG Prada returns, the iPhone hotel checks in and Imovio releases iKIT, a smartphone without the phone

It's the weekly Pocket Picks round-up

Apple beats BlackBerry, LG Prada returns, the iPhone hotel checks in and Imovio releases iKIT, a smartphone without the phone
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Kia Ora!

Did you ever hear about the Irishman who caught a leprechaun and was granted two wishes? For his first wish, he asked for a never ending pint of Guinness, and sure enough a full pint o' the black stuff appeared. He drank it down in one go, and the glass magically refilled itself. The leprechaun asked him what he wanted for his second wish, and the Irishman says, "Be Jesus, that's brilliant! Oy'll have another one a' deez!"

Well, that's exactly what's happened with the iPhone this week. Our Pocket Picks leprechauns picked up on (no, not on a peck of pickled pepper) two developers fratching over bottomless beer on the iPhone. We understand that business is business, but it's hard for consumers to care about which particular time waster gets to treat us to virtual booze. At least they're making a couple of thirsty lawyers happy, so good luck with that one lads.

In real news, Nokia's brand new Comes With Music service disappointed a few early adopters by omitting a few big name bands from the line-up. Securing digital rights to music catalogues is no small task, however, and Nokia spoke with our Pocket Picks pixies to reassure its customer that it's working on bringing bands onboard as soon as possible.

Services like these digital download systems highlight how mobile phones are barely used for actually making phone calls these days. Taking that concept one small step further, Imovio has developed a clamshell smartphone without the phone – including a QWERTY, wi-fi, a 2.8-inch screen, Bluetooth and a bunch of other typical smartphone features into a neat little clamshell 'mobile multi-media device'. The iKit definitely looks like a pretty splendid idea for those who'd rather message than chat, and weighing in at only £99 it's got value on its side. Of course, the further thought occurs that this is actually a new take on the old PDA concept, which seems to have died off a bit lately. But I for one miss my Palm T3, so hopefully the iKit might rejuvenate the electronic companion idea a bit and put computing power back in our pockets.

Personal computing is an idea that's been extended to an iPhone-powered hotel recently, where each guest in possession of an iPhone or iPod touch (those without are supplied with a 16GB iPod touch) can use it for various functions in the establishment. So you can order room service, set up your wake up call, check your messages, switch your door message to Do Not Disturb (because sometimes getting up from the bed is too much trouble) and other such things.

Speaking of Apple, the company's been busy making money. Its recently announced quarterly sales surpassed BlackBerrys by some 1.5 million units, which considering the short amount of time the iPhone's actually been on sale in comparison is a pretty decent achievement. On top of which Apple has announced that, thanks to the iPhone, its revenue this year has shot up a whopping 27 per cent. Seeing as how the App Store has clocked up 200 million downloads in 100 days, it's not entirely surprising.

And it wouldn't be Pocket Picks without a couple of new handsets to round out the round-up, and this week has a couple of beauties. First let's look at the sexy little LG Prada follow-up phone. With a stainless steel slide-out QWERTY and touchscreen added to the elegant mix, this is real mobile chic at its finest. It'll cost you, but the prestige it comes preloaded with will be worth it. Also trying to get in on the style-phone scene is the Motorola AURA, though being modelled after HAL-9000 it's somewhat lacking in panache.

And finally we have an awesome concept design that you're never actually likely to own, but this pretend OLED covered handset is a technophile's wet dream.

Kia Ora!

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.