iPhone bows out for a week to give Bluetooth skateboards a look in
It's the weekly Pocket Picks round-up
Last week was the calm after the storm over on Pocket Picks. That storm being the release of the iPhone in Europe and the accompanying media typhoon. This meant Apple iPhone news was mercifully thin on the ground – not that we don't love the iPhone, it's just nice to get some breathing space sometimes.
At any rate, the device still got in on the blog early with guesses about how many units were sold during the launch, followed by an obligatory snippet about business users finding the text entry system a bit fiddly. We obliged the deficit later with our own review of the device (part 1), which left the rest of the week open for mobile news galore.
O2's new Stellar handset made an appearance, as did the latest HTC Touch device, the HTC Cruise, together with three new E-Ten Windows Mobile smartphones. Nokia weighed in with some big reveals in the shape of a new 8800 line, which comes in two elegant but high-priced flavors. The showstopper this week however, was the N82, a camera-focused effort packing more features than a multiplex cinema.
Elsewhere we got our hands on the Nokia Music Store, which we threw into an arena against Vodafone's equivalent offering, MusicStation. We also found out that Vodafone is set to roll out EDGE Network in the UK, which is a welcome if tardy bit of news.
Google's Android mobile OS, meanwhile, did its best to claim space as the new hot topic with news that HTC is developing two to three handsets that'll use the platform for launch next year. We also got a look at the first Android application, a Google Maps style search function and news that the OS may bear an uncanny resemblance to another recent and fairly revolutionary mobile OS (hint: Apple makes it).
Also, there it transpired that Google is offering the scraps from is cash table, $10 million (£5m), in rewards to those that develop revolutionary applications for the device – time to get working, codesmiths.
In other news, it came to light that up to a staggering two million mobile phones could be spending Christmas on the rubbish tip when in fact the discarded devices could easily be recycled. If you are one of these wasteful sorts you should at least ensure that your replacement device is Bluetooth equipped. Why? Because some absolute genius has invented a working motorized skateboard that you can control with your phone via Bluetooth. Yes, really.
That is the end to this week's shorter-than-usual Pocket Picks round-up. We changed server mid-week, meaning that all you discerning news hungry mobile fiends had to go without while we all went swanning off for days in the countryside, health spa breaks, calligraphy lessons and other leisure activities.
With things back in order however, expect next week's round-up be packed to bursting. Click 'Track It!' to make sure you don't miss it.