CES is a handsetopia while Microsoft and Nokia make big gestures

It's time to sit back and take stock of the week in mobile news from our alter ego site, Pocket Picks. It's been a big week, what with the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) taking place in Las Vegas, but the news began with a trio of software releases.

The first of these was Message Mirror, an application that keeps a locked back-up of all your SMS messages so that you can delete anything potentially incriminating from your inbox and still be confident that you have a record of your illicit deeds. It's something that the less honest/more paranoid among you should find useful.

The second application, SymSMB, is another program that allows your S60 phone to talk to your PC but with the advantage of better encryption and Mac/Linux support. Lastly, Ask.com added voice command support to its mobile navigation search engine, which is about most common sense idea we've come across in a long time.

Then it was over to the big CES news which came in the form of a triple whammy from Sony Ericsson. The new fashion conscious clamshell Z555, the GPS-enabled Walkman-branded slider W760 and its scaled down cousin, the W350, all made their debut.

Then Motorola took its turn to do some announcing in the shape of the very capable-looking touchscreen E8 and Z10 handsets. Finally, LG took to the floor to announce its next offerings, comprising of two tasty-sounding touchscreen offerings in the shape of the LG Venus and the LG Voyager as well as various other lower spec handsets, bringing the company's unveiling list up to ten.

Elsewhere at CES there was the confirmation that Skype is indeed coming to the PSP but only to the Slim & Lite variant unfortunately.

In non-CES related news, Microsoft launched a training site for the Windows Mobile operating system, which according to supposedly leaked info is to get a complete redesign for version 7 including motion and gesture-based interface methods. On that topic a very interesting Nokia patent cropped up that seemed to reveal all manner of details about the forthcoming S60 touchscreen interface – it looks like keys really will be a thing of the past soon.

There was also a sighting of what is apparently a Google phone, though given the underwhelming design, the likelihood is it's merely a handset designed to run Android rather than an actual branded bit of Google hardware. News of a much more concrete sort came from T-Mobile later in the week with the announcement that the company will offer free wi-fi access to all of its new customers that take advantage of the Web N' Walk data plan.

And lastly, a little something for financial risk takers who hate traipsing down to the local bookies whenever they want to place a bet. A company called betNOW (check out those morally questionable capital letters) has launched a text betting site, making it easier than ever to use your mobile to fritter cash away.

That dear readers is all there is for another seven days. If you are new to Pocket Gamer and are thinking to yourself, 'what on earth is Pocket Picks?' do take a minute to pay the site a quick visit. For the rest of our seasoned regulars, click 'Track It!' to make sure you don't miss next week's round up. Until then, may good reception follow you.