Nokia Corporation sends out word that shipping for the mobile phone/multimedia computer N95 8GB has already begun. Consumers in Europe and select countries in the Middle East and Africa get a bonus treat as the mobile phone comes with several Spider-Man goodies.

N95 8GB reportedly comes pre-loaded with a full Spider-Man 3 movie complete with ten languages and subtitle combinations. Aside from that, Nokia also included unique Spider-Man 3 message and ring tones, wallpaper, and screensaver.

This has been made possible by the recent partnership between the Finland-based phone maker and Sony Pictures. "Pre-loading a film with such fantastic special effects truly shows off the device's advanced capabilities. With its ground-breaking features, users can now fully appreciate the meaning of entertainment on-the-go," said Nokia Senior VP for Multimedia Experiences Ilkka Raiskinen.

Some of N95 8GB's features are as follows:

• Sleek black cover
• 8GB internal memory
• Large 2.8 inch QVGA display
• Superior speakers
• Full multimedia use of the two-way slide design
• Dedicated media keys allow users to control video as they would on DVD: play, pause, fast forward and rewind

OrangePixel, the same company who brought us Sliderkids waaay back in June, is back with another adorably nifty mobile game called Bubble Bee Quicktype.

This time though, they collaborated with South Africa-based developer SmallFry Mobile to bring us Bubble Bee Quicktype, which will not only help you whisk away the hours of boredom but also help you learn to type faster using your cellphones. Think of it as TypingTutor for mobiles.

How to play: all you have to do is type the displayed words in the floating bubbles before they pop and disappear. As you progress through the game, the words become longer and the bubbles float faster -- thus pressuring you to flex those finger muscles as you type as fast as you can.

Bubble Bee Quicktype has three play modes, a massive word list and infinite number of levels. So if you're the type of person who's always on the run yet has grown highly addicted to sending SMS to your friends and/or colleagues, perfecting your typing skills would definitely help a lot so you wouldn't even have to look at your mobile's screen while typing. Make sure you check with your service providers for game availability.

   

Last May, we reported on the teamup of U.S. Cellular, Motorola, and the Global Fund to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. Today, U.S. Cellular and Motorola holds up their end of the sky, announcing that the RED MOTORAZR V3m is now available to support the same cause.

The MOTORAZR V3m is the first in a series of products in the United States to support the Global Fund, as well as to raise awareness in order to help the people of Africa fight AIDS. For every handset sold, US $17 will be directly contributed to the fund by the companies.

Says Ron Garriques, president of Motorola Mobile Devices, "Motorola is thrilled to bring U.S. Cellular into our partnership with (RED) and the Global Fund... Together, we are offering consumers the opportunity to make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa and create real change in the world."

On the other hand, U.S. Cellular is the first wireless carrier in the nation to offer the RED MOTORAZR with the same cause for motivation.

The mobile itself makes a striking statement with its ultra-thin design, aircraft grade aluminum housing and spun metal keypad. With features like the (RED) screen savers, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with 4x digital zoom and video capture, playback and streaming, this mobile was meant to make heads turn. And hopefully, with all the joint efforts of these companies and foundation, it will also help fill heads with the proper awareness on the disease, as well as concern for those affected with it.

The Motorola RED MOTORAZR V3m is now available at MOTO(RED) Chicago through U. S. Cellular for US $79.95, with a two-year contract. For those who would wish to have a handset upgrade, they can purchase the mobile for the same price. As for its availability in U.S. Cellular stores across the country, expect it to paint the town red by November.

Now that's being red hot with a cause.

Remember Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary? He was reputed to have carried a matching pair of silver-plated Colt Peacemakers, with matching ivory handles and ruby inlays. Ivory's always been connected to luxury like this, and we  figured that the next time we'd be seeing it, it'd be on some fancy sculpture, some uber-exotic katana handle...but cell phones?

Guangzhou has recently released news of a new venture that just might be next extreme in cellphone originality: ivory cellphones.

Forget the diamond-studded fare we've seen before - these new phones, made from a mix of ivory, camel and whale bones, have 16 dragons and other assorted designs carved into their case (the innards appear to be a standard cellphone) that were meant to represent the Guangzhou region.

It took a team of three master ivory carvers three and a half months to complete the project,  with only six of these handheld wonders available for purchase.

Did we mention the $23,000 price tag on each, which is enough to buy a family sedan?

The ivory trade is a heavily monitored industry by the United Nations due to its resulting decimation of elephant population in Africa and other parts of the world. "tusk, tusk"

Criminals are going high-tech in their search for good marks. In this case, cellphone cameras are doing the bidding of robbers in getting their targets.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa is the scene of these crimes. Robbers observe clients in banks and photograph them if they're withdrawing large sums. They can then send that photo to their accomplice or accomplices to determine who to rob and trail the victim until the perfect opportunity strikes them.

The latest victim of tech-assisted robbery was Brian Hibbert, who was assailed by two men and robbed of R12,000 (approximately $1,750 U.S.). The victim was also stabbed thrice in the right hand, but was otherwise unharmed.

This trend of using high-tech to help in otherwise low-tech schemes is getting to be quite a bad trend for tech. It does show, however, that tech isn't bad in and of itself, but rather, the users determine just how these products can be used, and for what purpose. The sad thing about it is that it can just about happen anywhere if people are lax enough about their safety, and others are desperate enough to take something they feel they need.

You think fingerprint recognition in mobile phones is a thing in sci-fi books or movies? Think again. The Pantech PG 6200 mobile phone actually has that feature, which is the first cellular phone to do so...so far.

The clamshell phone also features voice recognition, as well as a built-in camera with self timer, video recorder and player, MP3 player, a Micro- SD card slot for memory expansion, Bluetooth and tri-band features. But certainly, its fingerprint recognition feature will catch everyone's attention. It will surely heighten the mobile phone's security. Imagine this scenario:

Sneaky Little Brother: Hey! Guess what I have here!
You: (Indifferent)
Sneaky Little Brother: I have your mobile phone, dummy!
You: Okay.
Sneaky Little Brother: (getting irritated) I'm gonna delete all your contacts! (tries to access the phone) I'm gonna delete all your contacts! (still can't access the phone, fingerprint incorrect)
You:(laughing) You were saying?
Sneaky Little Brother gives up, and hands the mobile phone to you.

Security measures aside, having it in a mobile phone is just plain cool. In fact, it seems that this innovation has placed mobile phone technology into a whole new level. Who knows? Maybe the stuff we see in sci-fi movies won't be that "fictional" anymore.

Pop quiz. You were given $300,000 that you have to spend within a minute or lose every penny of it do you:

a) donate it to charity to feed thousands of starving children in Africa

b) add it to your Congressman's re-election fund

c) buy a phone

Wait did we say buy a phone? A single phone with a $300,000 price tag. Just the unit and no company stocks? Meet the Black DiamondWM5 Smartphone which is also an insanely expensive phone. Designed by Singaporean Jaren Goh and created by Swiss company VIPN, not much ios known about the publicity shy Black Diamond.

The ones that we heard about is that the Windows Mobile 5 device has a quadband GSM, WiFi, 128MB of memory with SD expansion, a 2-inch display, and a 400MHz XScale. The keypad is touch-sensitive and completely invisible when not lit. The skin is made of titanium alloy sprinkled with diamonds. (Minus the diamonds, the WM5 retails for as low as $100). The Black Diamond is also quite rare with only five units planned for production. Go ahead and indulge yourself with the Black Diamond. Your Congressman will be waiting for you in hell for letting those poor kids starve to death.

For many people, the cell phone is a gadget of convenience or a flashy fashion statement. But in African it is an agent of change. Big change. In Congo, Zadhe Iyombe makes a 400 mile, eight-day boat trip up the Congo River to his jungle hometown just to talk to his mother or even check if she is still alive. But now with a cell phone in hand, he talks to his mother every day.

"Now I know immediately how she is doing," said Iyombe. Cell phones are also saving lives. "Before, if you had a sick baby in the middle of the night, he could easily die. Now you can call somebody to help," he says.

With the advent of mobile communications, people call a doctor, mechanic or police officer instead of walking for miles to find one. Farmers and fishermen have now eliminated middlemen by using text messaging to check market prices. News of births, deaths and illnesses are relayed instantly from one point to another. For people like Iyombe, the cell phone has become a business tool. He and countless others charge people to make calls, known as airtime economy, in which minutes on a cellphone are a commodity that can be used, bartered or sold for cash.

Africa is now the fastest growing region in terms of cell phone usage with a dramatic increase in subscribers from 63 million to about 152 million in just two years. As a result Africa has attracted multimillion-dollar investments from major cellphone companies, including Finland-based Nokia and UK-based Vodafone.

"People would rather be without a shirt and trousers," said Gilbert Nkuli of Vodacom Congo, "and they'd rather go for days without food, instead of not having a phone." Think about that the next time your cell phone rings.