3 gives mobile internet a boost while Nokia rules the roost

With the technology press contingent resigned to covering every last detail of the Leipzig Games Convention last week and little else, it's easy to overlook other areas in the field. But in its own corner of the internet, our sister site Pocket Picks has been fastidiously covering all of the mobile news worthy of attention.

And it was 3 who got in early for a change, announcing its new, faster-than-a-leopard-hurtling-down-a-very-steep-hill HSDPA mobile broadband service called, 3Turbo. The service promises blisteringly quick realistic running speeds of 2.8Mbps and should be available across muck of the UK before Christmas.

And the network provider made headlines again later in the week by announcing that it is going to be carrying the super sexy LG KU990 'NYX' handset.

Going from a network giant to a handset giant, Nokia took the lion's share of headlines in the past seven days. First, there was the introduction of the company's new luxury clamshell, the 6555, which sports a rather elegant analogue clock on its face when closed. Second, there were some solid details about Nokia's planned flagship store on Regent Street in London.

Then, some tid-bits about the new N-Gage platform's launch titles filtered through, though Nokia's branding department should take note that confusion over the nature of the platform (which will not be tied to one specific piece of hardware) still seems to be enduring.

Following on, Nokia announced the release of a special edition of the N76 featuring an array of additions aimed at celebrating the Islamic Holy Month, Ramadan.

The momentum continued with another announcement, this time about the addition of a new Microsoft suite for S60 phones, enabling access to Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts and Windows Live Spaces. The following day, Nokia released a flash demo of Windows Live suite which revealed, much to our abject disappointment, that the party will not be without a cover charge. Which just seems a very, very weak decision.

Moving on, the iPhone camp was unusually quiet, with little more than an errant software update and yet more unconfirmed speculation about the European carriers for the device.

Sony Ericsson maintained its ever solid presence, albeit in slightly dramatic fashion with a leaked shot of a new handset featuring a 3x zoom lens surfacing, as well as confirmation of a new colour for the S500 slider.

In software news, we saw an app for detecting the presence of speed cameras, another Mobiola phone cam to web cam app, and (slightly belated) news about how the Worldmate travel app for S60 and UIQ devices is now offering a large part of its service for free.

And lastly, one of those ultra cool and modern things that you only ever seem to read about but never get the chance to actually experience. The chaps behind the patronizingly 'street' Marc Ecko brand have come up with a concept for public LCD screens that you can draw on using your Bluetooth equipped phone as a sort of digital ink wand. It's, like, totally fierce and makes us feel foodizzle… Or something. All cynicism aside, though, it looks like great fun.

We'll leave it there. Click 'Track It!' to be sure to catch next week's Pocket Picks Update.