Innovation from an unlikely corner kicks off a handset invasion

In an industry where every company is continually trying to outdo one another in every respect, repetition starts to creep in. Innovation, meanwhile, becomes an uncomfortable concept often sidelined in favour of imitating what the closest competitor does, only bigger (or smaller as the case often the case with mobiles), better and faster.

So it was refreshing that the week in mobile news over on our beloved sister site, Pocket Picks, began with a collection of concept handsets fresh from the supple young creative minds of a collection of students from the Royal College of Art.

It was perhaps fitting that these unique and original designs were followed by news about the handset everyone wants to imitate: the iPhone. Apple's headline spinner was again doing what it does best this week, first by proving that though it may look a little delicate, the device is in fact built like a tank.

The big revelation of the past seven days however was that a new 16GB version of the iPhone will be hitting the high-street soon, though sadly there is still no sign of 3G connectivity. By the end of the week it transpired that analysts are estimating that the iPhone accounts for seven per cent of all smartphones globally, a figure that should have Apple jumping for joy.

For a change, however, the iPhone didn't hog the limelight and was joined by various other handset revelations from various different manufacturers.

First, the camera focused Samsung G810 cropped up, followed swiftly by LG's new KF510 touchscreen effort. There was also the discovery of a new E-Ten media focused handset and another leaked image of Motorola's Z12 slider, raising speculation about whether the handset will make an appearance at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Also tipped to be making an appearance in Spain is Sony Ericsson's rumoured G series of touchscreen-focused handsets, while last of the handset news came from Nokia, with concrete details about the specs of the forthcoming 3120 Classic that is due out within the next few months.

Speaking of Nokia, the week's wildest and least expected tidbit concerned the possibility that the manufacturer might be planning to collaborate with Microsoft on a handset that runs Windows Mobile. Sounds pretty far fetched but stranger things have happened.

In software, by far the most interesting discovery was JoikuSpot, an S60 application that turns your handset into a WLAN hotspot. But there was also a big update from Fring with the added ability to send music, video and other files via the latest version of its mobile VoIP application.

Last of all, we came across a patent for a mobile phone with a built-in charger, which is a great idea by anyone's standards.

That's it for this week, then. Remember to make sure you stay abreast of our comprehensive mobile coverage in Barcelona at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress and click 'Track It!' so as not to miss the next Pocket Picks round-up.