The recently released Nokia N97 has been drowned, put on a diet and was unlucky enough to share its launch with the Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS. We still thought it was "quite good," and now it's getting new firmware. However, that said there is as of yet no nanotechnology update process available to us that will physically fix that keyboard. You know, the one with the space bar placed precariously toward the far right extreme of the typing area?

via gizmodo.com

If you hate getting the bath ready once you get home from work and prefer jumping right into the bathtub then here’s a solution. Firstly, get yourself an iPhone since this is an app made for Apple’s spoilt brat. Next, download Bath-o-matic from Apple’s App Store for free and configure it to set the temperature of your bath and the amount of bubbles and soap you would like in it.

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HTC's been known to slap a polished finish on an existing smartphone OS, first with WinMo's TouchFlo and now Android's Sense. But fret not, HTC G1 and/or Magic/MyTouch owners: HTC's CEO hinted that Sense is coming to existing Android phones. This is unconfirmed for now, but Peter Chou, the CEO of HTC, reportedly noted that "HTC sense will be available on some other existing devices," after his announcement of the Hero.

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A new problem has been discovered with the sound files on the brand new iPhone 3G S. After a particular sound is played, the phone emits a high-frequency (around 15KHz) tone. Since most people cannot hear frequencies as high as that, it has gone unnoticed for a while. It seems to be a software related issue since there is no high-pitched tone when the phone is set to vibrate.

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Anandtech went through the trouble of running various speed-based benchmarks on the iPhone 3GS and Pre, clocking the time it took to launch various apps and load web pages. Though they share similar hardware, the iPhone 3GS was deemed "faster." In general, the iPhone 3GS was about 20% faster than the Pre in any given test, loading all but a couple of web pages quicker. And though it's less accurate of a benchmark, the iPhone launched its core apps 3-4x faster than the Pre on average.

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Quick update on the Apple App Store approval process: Shaken babies are OK, but inevitable moneymakers like a licensed, legal Commodore 64 emulator are rejected.
Why the rejection, you ask? Here's Apple's take, form letter style: Thank you for submitting C64 1.0 to the App Store. We've reviewed C64 1.0 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because it violates the iPhone SDK Agreement; "3.3.2 An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means.

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T-Mobile's second Android phone, the myTouch 3G (previously known as the HTC Magic which we reviewed here), has finally been announced in an official capacity for $200. Its official official name is the "T-Mobile myTouch 3G with Google".

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The Galaxy i7500—Samsung's Android handset—is one of the first major, advanced smartphones to feature haptic feedback. PCWorld managed to get their hands on one and report back with their first impressions. Samsung's Galaxy is a 11.9 millimeter-slim handset that features a 3.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera, and also comes equipped with GPS, Wi-Fi and and WCDMA support. Even more, the phone calls attention to the haptic feedback on its virtual keyboard, which is a first for a major touchscreen smartphone.

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The successor of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic was revealed at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore. This phone is the third S 60 5th edition handset for the company, after the very popular Nokia N97 and 5800 XpressMusic. The 5800 XpressMusic phone is a touch phone, with a 2.9" 16M color display with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, along with innovative features like an accelerometer sensor and proximity sensor for precise pictures.

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Not everyone wants a speaker to sit prettily and safely on their desk. For those that are the active types, you might want something more durable. Which is exactly what the creators of SkullyBoom are trying to do. They wanted speakers that were portable, but in the event you wipe out on your skateboard, it’s not going to hurt the speakers. Granted, you’ll need to get some kind of a durable case for your MP3 player too, but at least you know the speaker is safe.

via coolest-gadgets.com

Archos recently became one of the world's first manufacturer to offer a Windows 7 operating system based tablet PC. The Archos 9 PC Tablet is a stylish tablet computer based on an Intel Atom processor. The tablet is basically designed for business professionals and students. Specification-wise its a decent specification, measuring 0.63" thin and weighing only 800g making it very portable. But certainly the most interesting feature of this tablet is its design.

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Despite all the advancements made in the world of portable gaming to date, there is just something appealing about going retro, even more so when you can carry those classic games with you wherever you go to kill time during short breaks at work or on a long commute back. ThinkGeek understands this and has released the Pocket Retro Game Emulator to cater such needs.

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Luxury phones have a class and uniqueness of their own. The features that we look up to be cool and happening, like the camera, screen size and memory, are often quite mediocre in these cases. However, one doesn’t mind the price tag as long as you get those precious materials on its body to work your hands on as you slide your hand into your pocket to unleash these beauties. In the same nerve, we have the Grand 350 PRL from Mobiado has one of the most prominent QWERTY keypads I have ever seen in a phone.

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What we earlier thought to be the Idou has finally got a name. SE have decided to call it the Satio and boy, does it impress. Let’s start off on the best part; the phone boasts a 12.1 megapixel camera with xenon flash, an active lens cover, touch focus, face detection, the self-explanatory Smile Shutter technology, Smart Contrast, Photo fix, BestPic, Geo-tagging, red-eye reduction and 12x digital zoom. (Phew!). The video capture has a class of its own as well.

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Haptic technology has the possibility to make touchscreens so much better, improving accuracy and adding a whole new range of sensory feedback. Immersion, primary developers of haptic technology, presented both a refined onscreen keyboard and an incredibly cheesy "Immersive Messaging" protocol at this year's All Things D conference. The new soft keyboard improvement, called TouchSense, is designed to mimic both the feel and sound of a real, mechanical keyboard, to enable easier transitioning between keys.

via gizmodo.com