We get all sorts of phone designs all the time, but somehow, an individual design often falls short of everything we'd like in a phone. So a 15-year old Korean high school student studying in Canada decided to make a phone that he thought would fit all of a student's needs. The results were quite impressive.

Andrew Kim wanted to enter a high school design competition focused on social networking. His entry was "The Butterfly", a slide phone that features a touch screen and a main screen that interacts with each other. It features an SD card slot for memory expansion, an SVGA camera, the aforementioned touch display and an AMOLED display. It also boasts of conveniences such as a lockable hold switch, 18-hour rechargeable battery and a flippable design.

It's a great concept, but it's still far from being professional. Of course, we cut Andrew some slack, him being in high school and all. We think he could be trained to become a great phone designer! And we wish we'd get to see all the other entries in this contest. That'll be interesting...

 

Remember when we introduced you to the Deep Fish? Microsoft's new mobile phone browser comes with a lot of perks. There's an analysis of the Deep Fish browser in a video from Gizmodo, enumerating the downsides of the free mobile browser. But that doesn't mean Deep Fish doesn't have its uses.

So far, Deep Fish is a lot easier to use than most Windows Mobile web browsers. It takes snapshots of a web page on the server side and sends the images on your phone, minimizing CPU use. Such a method, however, doesn't support dynamic pages, JavaScript, flash and other web advances.

Bandwidth's quite slow in a skinny pipe and whenever you zoom in, the high quality definition has to be downloaded from the server which slows down the web browsing experience. There are noticeable delays when you browse, and the page actually cuts off to a certain distance down the page.

Gizmodo's verdict? It's nice for an experimental browser. Of course, different strokes for different folks. Just test this free browser to see if it works for you.

Nokia 8800 was truly a bling phone. It has stainless steel housing, real glass screen, an SVGA camera, bluetooth capabilities and an option to even have 24-carat gold plating. So when we saw these leaked pics of a Nokia 8800 lookalike featuring a more modest appearance, we were aptly intrigued.

Howard Forums poster micrors4racer posted these shots on the said forums, claiming that he got the pics from a guy who IMed him saying he got the pics from somebody else. Whoever they got these shots from, the 8800-looking unknown model sure looks sassy. From the shots we can only figure out that it's a slider and it has a camera on the back.

The keys look good on this mystery phone, and for sure this won't end up as a "fingerprint magnet" which some Nokia 8800 users call their stainless steel units. Too bad the specs didn't come with the pics. Maybe there'll be more info on this one in times to come...

  

Rumor has it that Sony is set to make more gaming phones through the Sony Ericsson line. But don't get too excited just yet, it's just talk (for now at least), what with all the success of the Playstation Portable and all...

Come to think of it, such a move will be very logical for the electronics giant Sony. The PSP is considered a success, and there has been a measured increase in support of the mobile gaming platform. Already, Sony's Cybershot and Walkman phones pack a lot of media features, boasting of a PSP-like interface. The next big move might be an all-out PSP phone.

Some very excited sources say that after the Cybershot and the Walkman phone, which do take after Sony's great ideas, a PSP phone will come out eventually - sort of like being part of the line. People wonder, though if a gaming mobile unit is ever going to take off or not, like the not-so-successful Nokia N-gage. Then again, if this comes out, it'll be a PSP - and a phone!

Guitar Hero for the Xbox 360 is already available on some areas, and so Ars Technica caught up with Harmonix producer Daniel Sussman to ask his views of this hit game. Although Harmonix and Red Octane has been bought by MTV and Activision respectively, Daniel says that he honestly feels excited about what other developers could bring to the table of the music game genre. We are, too...

There may be some gamers who think that while the gameplay updates are great in GH II, the songlist is not quite as varied as the first game. Daniel thinks, however, that with 10 more songs on the Guitar Hero II song list, there is actually more variety in there than in the first title. Releasing GH song downloads is also a new and exciting opportunity for record companies, bands and developers.

Daniel also wonders about the possibility of Sony releasing one of their titles on Live Arcade. The idea came from bringing the Sony-owned Frequency/Amplitude brand to the Live Arcade or as a PS3 download. Daniel's team is also considering trying to incorporate custom soundtracks in Guitar Hero for the Xbox 360.

Daniel says that he's living his dream, making a game like Guitar Hero. His last words may be up to the reader to digest well; when asked about his fave platform for GH, Daniel replies Guitar Hero can be a great experience for all platforms, albeit you don't really need much CPU mojo to run a great rhythm game...

There are some who are just stricken by the god-syndrome. They think they are godlike and they behave as gods. In a game like Townsmen 4, you can be a god. As a matter of fact, you are one in this high-rating Handy Games-developed title.

A short time after the release of Townsmen 4, the god-game has already achieved accomplishments. It has won five awards in just a week. But what's this game about, anyway? Simon Biedermann, chief editor of games magazine Airgamer says that Townsmen 4 is for the mobile phone what The Settlers is for the PC.

Townsmen 4 is a build-up-strategy game with cute graphics and an endless mode. You play as a monk and try to grow your little town, setting about building and managing your metropolis towards financial prosperity. The great gameplay and the funny story is probably what sets the game apart from the rest. Already a lot of gamers have been stuck with it for endless of hours, and the fifth installation of the series is being anticipated eagerly.

Pocketgamer says about Townsmen 4,

It's refreshing to play a mobile game as complicated as Townsmen 4, especially one so well-executed. A world away from the one thumb games we've been seeing lately, in Townsmen 4 there's a million and one things to manage, keep track of, and adjust, and we can't get enough of it. This game will suck you in with its unique, cutesy, but ruthlessly in-depth brand of town management, and once you've started, you won't be able to stop.

  

 

Remember when we introduced you to Ozura? In case you've been out of the loop, Ozura Mobile
is responsible for such games as Lava Kroft, Underground Racer and Beauty Queen. Recently, Ozura Mobile has even announced a partnership with Zingy, Inc. to distribute Ozura's new games such as Antopia, R.A.T.S., Peng The Guin, WWD and others.

What about Zingy Inc.? The US-based company licenses, publishes and distributes all sorts of mobile content. Zingy Inc's Director of Games, Matt McEnerny says that they are very excited about such a partnership. It will give them access to some fantastic titles for all of distribution outlets. Zingy is also hopeful that the relationship with Ozura will put a greater impact on their business.

Ozura believes that their partnership with Zingy will help them distribute their games in a more global market including U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Australia. It's been forecasted that the market for mobile games is going to increase. Revenue generated from mobile content is expected to grow from US$ 7.7 B in 2005 to US$ 36 B in 2010. Ozura is optimistic that it will take advantage of such growth.

 

If you're the sort who craves for adrenaline-pumping racing and aerial combat, you probably love M.A.C.H. (Modified Air Combat Heroes). And you'd probably be happy to hear this: M.A.C.H.: Air Combat for Mobile has just been released by Vivendi Games.

Some features of M.A.C.H. Mobile include barrel rolls, G-turns and fly-bys. Playing the mobile game, you would experience air combat at super-fast speeds; you may even use a variety of powerful weapons including machine guns, missiles and flares to blast out your airborne enemies. And read: all of these are available rights on your mobile phone.

Don't worry about seedy gameplay, because the graphics promise to be good and the sound is proclaimed to be of high-quality. In the game, you are supposed to defeat 10 enemies, unlocking 6 different planes in the process. There are also power ups and speed boosts to be had playing the game.

The PSP version of M.A.C.H. has been proclaimed a "good" game by some game-rating sites. Would the mobile version also garner such a rating? Or would it be better? Vivendi Games Mobile president Paul Maglione says, "Mobile gamers have been waiting for a good air combat title for some time, one which involves flying skill as well as shooting." Let's see if M.A.C.H. mobile actually sates mobile gamers' hunger for such a game.

  
 

Trying to climb the Mount Everest is already old news, so a Brit named Rob Baber has thought of a new gimmick in doing something on the world's highest peak. He wants to make a phone call on top of the world.

Three things make this deed not-so-easy to accomplish. One: the cell phone unit must be able to withstand the harsh environmental conditions on the pinnacle of the earth. Two: there might be no cellphone signal available at the summit of Everest. And three: climbing the world's highest mountain has never been easy.

Rob and his team has already taken care of the first two details. Motorola is sponsoring Mr. Baber in his herculean task. The phone he will use to make a call and send a text message from the summit has been tested by the American electronics company to be able to withstand very low temperatures.

A mobile base station located in China has line-of-sight to the north side of Everest, making it possible to call on the summit. But staying in contact with this base station requires that the climbers follow the north ridge to the top, also known as the toughest route to the summit of the mountain. Which brings us to number three.

Mr. Baber is extensively training to prepare for the phone call he is about to make on the world's highest place. He may be an experienced climber holding the world record for climbing more of the world's highest points than anyone else, but he still needs to prepare. He has to strengthen himself for the physical exertion of the climb, and he has to eat a lot. Putting on more body mass helps to survive the hostile conditions in the Himalayas.

But according to Rob, sometimes it doesn't matter how fit you are. The key reason to success is 80 percent psychological. Which may be why he'd like to make that phone call so much. Having someone you can speak to on the other end of the telephone can overturn those invisible obstacles.

Phones, phones and more phones are being planned to be released by Alcatel this May 2007. From what we hear, the planned release of phones will be dubbed as the fashionable bunch. There are designs dubbed to be of "soft-touch plastics", "leather-like finish", and phones adorned by "dots of liquid metal." There are even floral finishes for the very ladylike phone buyer in everyone of us.

The French multinational company calls this 20-phone model May launch, a "Spring lineup of fashion" phones. Apart from the looks department, though, the phone models are reported to boast techie features such as 1.3-megapixel camera, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, dedicated music controls, and support for 1GB TransFlash cards.

Sounds yummy. But if you're thinking a unit from such a well-designed selection of phones is going to cost you mucho dinero, fear not. There are such models in the selection of 20 that will surely belong to the budget of any mid-ranged or lower-ranged buyer. Alcatel is also working with GSM handsets approved by the AT&T; the CDMA phones should also be good to go on several "smaller regional carriers".

Interesting and all, but how will this lineup appeal to the Wi-Fi phone-hungry crowd?