Qualcomm is throwing its weight behind the Android platform where smartphones are concerned, aiming to release at least five Android-powered handsets by 2009. This makes perfect sense (especially financially) since Qualcomm's chipsets will be used in these Android phones after all. The hardware on offer ought to be rather similar to the iPhone in terms of features, albeit at a lower price point to make it more competitive. All the better for the consumers, that's what I say. Bring it on, Qualcomm!

This concept phone definitely reeks with imagination, looking like a digital picture frame and acting like one, and yet throwing in phone functionality as well. Not only do you get to view images of your family and friends in a continuous loop, it will show a previously saved portrait of whoever is calling you now. Should you fail to have an image of the incoming caller, it will revert to a pretty scenery instead. I wonder when will something like this actually be realized - it would be nice to have one of these at home to match the rest of the 21st century thingamajics we own.

The almighty FCC has just given their nod of approval for the Motorola A810, which means we ought to be able to see it hit the market sometime in the near future. The A810 will be a Linux-based handset, and in some ways like the Motoming, it does away with a physical keyboard by relying on a pure touch screen interface instead. Some critical touch sensitive controls are located right below the screen, working in a similar manner as selected Samsung MP3 players. Further details concerning its specifications are unavailable, but we do know the A810 has a stylus stored in the back, a virtual QWERTY keyboard, handwriting recognition and a 2 megapixel camera.

The Vodafone 1615 (also known as the HTC TyTN II) will be getting Windows Mobile 6.1 pretty soon, as it is currently being tested by Vodafone. Owners of the Vodafone 1615 will be able to receive the upgrade sometime at the end of this May, assuming all goes well in the testing phases. How much longer do you think other networks will follow suit with the Windows Mobile 6.1 after Vodafone rolls theirs out?

Talk about running dry of ideas - it seems as though Kyocera engineers are still stuck in the mid-1990s with the S1000 cell phone. You won't be able to find the latest and greatest in this CDMA handset, as it not only lacks a digital camera of any kind, but it also fails miserably when it comes to playing MP3s (no MP3 playback support here). The only pre-21st century features are an alarm clock and vibration alert to notify you of an incoming call or text message during a meeting. With such meagre features, this ought to be a pretty cheap handset. Sub-$50, perhaps?

Motorola's Z10 slider handset ought to be available in O2 shops by now, and will also be up for purchase SIM-free from your favorite cell phone haunts. How many of you folks out there are looking forward to the Z10? It looks rather bulky to me, but hey - to each his/her own. I'm still waiting for the RAZR phase to finish at Motorola, and wish to see fresh design ideas propel the company back to its former glory.

Word on the street has it that the fabled 3G iPhone will hit Belgium as an unlocked handset, potentially bringing about choruses of "Hallelujah!" to Belgians. Apparently, Apple is now more open to different business models where its iPhone is concerned and would not mind offering unlocked versions of the 3G iPhone - at a price. Still, to see people pay $599 for the original iPhone last year was a phenomenon, and I'm sure the folks at Apple think they can pull the same trick twice, this time with a much more desirable 3G version. What do you think? How much are you willing for fork out for an unlocked 3G iPhone?

Motorola engineers are currently working on a new handset - the ZN200, and some details concerning this relatively unknown phone has just been made available thanks to a leak (intentional or otherwise, we don't know). Very little is known about the ZN200, but it doesn't look as though it will be feature-packed. From an early version of the User Agent Profile, we do know the ZN200 will feature a 2 megapixel camera, but lacks 3G connectivity and A2DP Bluetooth so far. Hopefully it will win some brownie points with the general populace based on its looks though.

Sony Ericsson's latest 3G handset, the G502 has just been launched, bringing HSDPA connectivity to the masses without having you to break the bank in order to own one. Underneath its candybar exterior lies a 2 megapixel camera, an integrated MP3 player, HSDPA, and pre-installed Google Maps for you to move around easily. There is no word on pricing, but the G502 has a tentative release date of sometime this Q2. It will be a UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 phone, coming in Champagne Black and Brilliant Hazel colors.

Guess the Motorola RAZR2 V9m will finally hit the Great White North, available from Virgin Mobile Canada. This RAZR-inspired handset is one of the latest higher end cell phones available on the Virgin Mobile Canada network, retailing for approximately $147 on a 3-year contract. Features include :-

• 2 megapixel camera
• 2" external QVGA display
• External music controls
• 2.2" internal QVGA display
• Stereo Bluetooth
• microSD memory card slot
• EV-DO connectivity

Alltel can boast in being the first carrier to provide the HTC Touch with EV-DO Rev. A upgrade, and this comes shortly after Sprint upgraded the HTC Mogul to Rev. A technology. This upgrade has been looked forward to for quite a while now since the HTC Touch and Mogul use the same chipset, so it doesn't take much to get them fitted with Rev. A support. Strangely enough, the GPS is not enabled in the Touch even though it is PS compatible. Other improvements that come with this upgrade include greater stability and connectivity, while the improved Bluetooth stack makes it so much easier to connect with other devices. You can download the new ROM here.

Social networking has been the buzzword for quite some time now, and Gypsii is yet another addition to the already crowded social networks available on a cell phone. Built primarily around photo sharing as well as tagging thanks to GPS-derived location data, you will be able to share where you've been on the Gypsii network. It is compatible with S60, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile clients, so unless your friends rock on to these operating systems, you won't be able to get much social networking done.