Nokia's 'iPhone killing' Tube emerges as Fujitsu snaps its handsets in two

Kia Ora!

It's a shame for the mobile phone companies that Martini already tagged the slogan, 'Anytime, anyplace, anywhere'. Considering the prolific nature of personal communications hardware right now, it seems we've very much become the Martini generation.

This week, our Pocket Picks news Umpa Lumpas looked at the research suggesting that by December, two-thirds of the world's population will be mobile phone equipped. There are obviously a lot of factors throwing those figures off, but it's still impressive to think the world is getting so much smaller, while cyberspace expands like a balloon inside a shoebox. Indeed, Arthur C Clack predicted that the next human revolution would be one of communication – and it seems his prophecy is all but realised.

Much of this mobile phone proliferation undoubtedly comes from the ever increasing affordability of basic handsets – some of which are practically disposable, these days – but that doesn't mean we aren't still utterly fixated with top of the range technology. And this is a hell of a week to get excited about telephonic gadgetry.

First, Samsung attempted to beat the traffic by announcing its heavily camera orientated Pixon M8800 handset; an eight-megapixel beast capable of slow-motion video capture (up to 120fps), an LED flash, 16X digital zoom and an accelerometer for altering the orientation of photos in the gallery.

The news of this deliciously sleek little number was almost immediately followed up by Samsung's arch-nemesis, LG, with the release of the 'most affordable full touchscreen handset available': the LG-KP500. As sweet as affordable full phone fondling sounds, LG has yet to actually hang a price tag around its shapely neck, though we should be hearing more as we approach the handset's imminent release.

The anticipated Nokia N96 was also finally released in the UK, though it seems many early adopters are feeling rather perturbed by the bug ridden firmware. Cries went up regarding an almost immediate firmware upgrade that apparently exacerbated the deep rooted problems in the fully-featured handset. Nokia's forums immediately lit up, of course, and a lengthy complaints thread seems to be growing every day.

But Nokia's had other things to think about, as you well know. The big news this week was the unveiling of the company's answer to the iPhone, the Tube. Or the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, as it's inadvisably been christened. Its thunder was stolen a little when an official photo of the handset was leaked a few days early, but enthusiasm didn't seem to suffer. Come October 2nd, the press were lined up to see the handset at its launch party in London, and to hold it up to a very bright light to compare it to the iPhone. Head on over to Pocket Picks to see what out gnome on the scene discovered.

And as if all this touchscreen, camera-laden technology wasn't enough, Fujitsu jumped from the shadows like some kind of corporate ninja with a bizarre new concept phone. The unit, which is a long way from production (if it ever gets there at all), actually splits in two – allowing the screen and keypad to be separated and put together in a variety of different configurations. Communicating through Bluetooth and coupled back together using magnets, quite what this intriguing device means for the mobile market is unclear. But one thing's for sure; it looks awesome, and we want one.

We close this week by offering unwelcome condolences to Microsoft, which has been systematically ignored ever since the iPhone became the new WinMo. The computer giant might allow itself to fall way behind in the handheld market by reportedly pushing the next instalment of its aging OS back to 2010. This news comes just after Microsoft's Steve Balmer attempted to play down the iPhone's success and the serious reduction of market share the Windows Mobile platform has seen in recent years – dropping no tasty crumbs from his table regarding the resurgence of the Zune. Oh well.

So start saving for Christmas, Pocket Pickers. If your handset still uses buttons instead of a touchscreen by the New Year, people are going to laugh and point (at you, that is, as well as their fancy new mobile phone screens).

Kia Ora!