Androids go shopping, shoppers buy Terminators and BlueTooth goes on a diet

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Androids go shopping, shoppers buy Terminators and BlueTooth goes on a diet

It's the weekly Pocket Picks round-up

Product: Pocket Picks Update

by Spanner Spencer

Kia Ora!

If you're wondering about that obscure salutation, check last week's Pocket Picks and it'll seem fractionally less nonsensical. But it sounds like quite a jolly and spiritual salutation, and therefore very fitting to the philosophical ambiance of Pocket Gamer, don't you think?

Google and HTC kicked off the hardware-centric week with the first proper look an Android OS-powered handset. The T-Mobile branded phone sports an odd looking slide-out QWERTY on a sleek rig, but the real dish here is the Google-developed OS we've been so heavily speculating about. Google let the string out on the anticipation kite by also announcing the Android Market; an application and media delivery service for Android powered systems along the lines of the iPhone's App Store.

The online Apple shop apparently hasn't gone unnoticed by other computer giants, as our Pocket Picks data squirrels uncovered an intriguing acorn of info in the shape of a job posting over at Microsoft looking for developers for an unheard of platform called Skymarket. It's advertised in the listing as a "marketplace service for Windows Mobile", though we're also speculating it could be a place where you can buy Terminators. It might well become self-aware during beta testing, so keep your Arnie one-liners on standby.

For those pocket gamers locked inside a contract with another provider, who've had their noses pressed against O2's windows to get a look at the iPhone, this next item could be good news – so long as you've been doing quite well on the lottery. The PAYG iPhone has been announced, along with some pretty hefty price tags around its slender neck. We hear tell of a recession looming, but it's going to be hard not to break open the piggy bank for this year's hottest gadget without the shackles of yet another contract.

Bluetooth headsets have been getting smaller and smaller (if they made them in flesh-tones, most would look like hearing aids), but Bluetrek has decided thinner is better. The 'thinnest' Bluetooth headset currently available looks like a decent bit of head candy, and comes at a pretty decent price for an accessory that carries the marketer's favourite slogan of "The world's most [something] [something]."

With all this hardware news going on, you'll not be at all surprised to hear Nokia wanted in on the action. In an effort to borrow some of the iTunes' customers, details of the much-hyped yet factually elusive Comes With Music service are finally revealed. The music download service will apparently kick off with a year's free, unlimited access to the Nokia Music Store. The system is to be included in the 5310 XpressMusic handset exclusively from the Carphone Warehouse before becoming a subscription service, though Nokia also had to reveal this won't provide over-the-air downloads.

BlackBerry, meanwhile, answers a question that we all forgot to ask thanks to being so preoccupied with the iPhone recently, by releasing the hyper-stylish Bold handset through Vodaphone, while LG sledgehammers a whopping eight-megapixel camera into a rather delish, fully touchscreen little beauty with the rather sterile title of LG-KC910.

Completing this week's hardware heavy picks is an intriguing story that crosses back into software territory. Palm has been exceptionally quiet lately, with, we're sorry to say, many previous Pilots feeling forced to look elsewhere for their pocket companions. So the news that StyleTap's CrossPlatform Palm OS emulation is nearing completion for Symbian S60 equipped gadgetry is quite exciting, especially considering the prolific back catalogue of superb software the once proud PDA platform sports.

A great week for tech-heads, and the beginnings of a lot of stimulating Pocket Picks updates to come. Umbongo!

Er, I mean, Kia Ora!

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