Looks like the most popular gadget in Europe this Christmas is the Wii if online searches are anything to judge by. According to the figures released by comScore Inc., the gadgets most frequently searched for in online engines in Europe during the first three weeks of November is the Nintendo Wii followed by the iPod. Next comes the DS lite, the PSP and the iPhone. More in the full article.

This time it's not a delay, but a deadline extension: in order to give people more time to participate in their Give One Get One Program, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation (OLPC), has decided to extend their Give One Get One program up to December 31.

OLPC chairman and founder Nicholas Negroponte explained why OLPC decided to extend the original two-week deadline. Read more about this after the jump.

    

It appears Motorola has four new models laid out for the gadget scene in 2008, as details and photos apparently seeped through a presentation conducted by the company in Amsterdam last month. While Motorola unveiled its Christmas line-up of mobile phones, four models were also shown as the company presented its vision of their future line-up.

The four new phones include the Motorola Skarven, the X Pixl, the Texel, and the Genghis - the first two of which are planned as phones aimed for the photo savvy users. The Texel and the Genghis will address users on the music and the business slice of the market, respectively. Note that some of these names are codenames for the devices and may not reflect the final product's name.

The Skarven and the X Pixl are two products that fit into Motorola's Zoom assortment of phones. Their most marketed function is the photo-capture capability, and the Skarven will spearhead the line as the top model. The kick-sliding Skarven will sport an 8-megapixel camera and a 2.8-inch LCD screen rendering images at 16 million colors.

The X Pixl in contrast will enter the 5-megapixel line (the middle market so to speak), already populated by the Nokia N95, the Samsung G600, and the Sony Ericsson K850i. It's speculated that the phone will have little new to offer and may carry the official product name of Motorola Z12.

The Motorola Texel will be a new addition to the music-player ROKR category, though it will carry the Motorola ROKR E8's Morph technology. That would basically mean that each key would execute and display nine underlying functions. It will also bear the universally-accepted 3.5-millimeter headphone jack.

The Motorola Genghis will serve the quasi-business oriented consumer as part of the Multi-Q line. The phone sports a full QWERTY keypad and speculators believe that Motorola has plans to keep the model customizable with different faceplates. It will enter its own line at the entry level with a reasonable price tag.

If you got excited by reports of a PSP Phone patent and you drooled over the prospect of getting a Bravia mobile TV in the UK, you'll be a little disappointed that Sony Ericsson senior marketing director Richard Dorman has shot down the rumors.

"It is not a focus for us with the UK and western European market at the moment," says Dorman. "I've seen our road map for the next 12 months and neither of those two handsets will feature in it."

This is contrary to Sony Ericsson gaming chief Peter Ahnegard's statements during the GC 2007 gathering in Germany a few months ago. Ahnegard said a PSP Phone was in the works and that it should be around before this year's Christmas.

That's a confusion yet to be cleared by the people over at Sony Ericsson. Is this another case similar to the Dual Shock 3 controller rumors for the PS3 which were vehemently denied by management but was later announced? We'll see soon enough.

 

Hang on your elf ears mobile fans because Electronic Arts just announced an upcoming port and sequel of its award-winning title Orcs & Elves. The title will find its original form ported to the Nintendo DS while the company develops Orcs & Elves II for the mobile.

EA's decision to port Orcs & Elves to the DS makes the title one of the first games originally made for the mobile platform to cross over to another "game-specific" device. Redesigned in order to utilize the DS' two screens, the Orcs & Elves port will feature better graphics, hybrid gameplay, expanded item lists, and a bigger bestiary as players explore the game's levels. "With the franchise expanding to the popular DS platform, we're reaching a real milestone in handheld gaming," says David DeMartini, vice president and global GM of EA Partners.

Orcs & Elves II for the mobile expands the franchise's universe. With the fall of King Brahm, evil begins to spread throughout the land. Taking control of a novice thief named Valin players must steal the legendary wand Ellon, quest to liberate Valin's home town from a siege, all the while trying their best to convince the wand to aid them. This title promises new creatures, challenges, allies and enemies, and seven largely interactive areas which includes fantastic locales which any fantasy title can't do without.

The title is set for release during this coming holiday season, making it a good contender for a slot in the Christmas gift lists for those who love the game.

As the saying goes, you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. Well after the day we've had here at QJ Central, I hope everyone's hungry, because we've got breakfast for all ... as long as you don't mind your eggs scrambled.

So what's the dish? As many of you might've known already, QJ.NET keeps growing and coming into its own with each passing day. As we grow, so does our audience (hey, that's you!). For some time now, the site has been dragging its feet, and we practically have to get out and push it to your browsers sometimes. That's no fun for you, and we're tired of having to buy new shoes.

Today we saw the first (of two) changes to our server structure, including a new addition. But like a little boy on Christmas morning, that brand new bike doesn't put itself together, and Santa isn't always the greatest when it comes to reading the French instructions. The short of it is that things didn't go as planned, and we should've taken the proper precautions and made offerings to the server gods... may thine bandwidth bless thee and keep thee free from lag.

Everything seems to be in order now, and hopefully the change in loading speed has been noticed (if you can tell, let us know in the comments - we could use the affirmation right about now). We apologize for the huge, unanticipated outage today, but now that you're surfing the site a bit faster, hopefully you'll forgive us.

And there should be another dramatic boost to speed by the beginning of next week as we make another change to our setup. This will result in a few hours of downtime for DL.QJ.NET, but like Santa, the plan is for us to sneak in while most of you are asleep, so leave out some cookies. Both DL.QJ and the front pages will benefit from this shakeup, but the front pages should remain unaffected as far as downtime is concerned.

Thanks for sticking with us and being patient! Now who's up for some spicy Denver Omelettes?

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the site, all the banners were snowing and consoles alight! As a holiday gift to all our readers, I'll end the poetry abuse right there. On behalf of the entire QJ.NET staff, I'd like to wish all of our readers a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, a cheerful Kwanzaa and any other yuletide tradition you might practice.

It has been quite a year for the gaming industry with the rounding out of the next-gen console list, and here's hoping some of you are lucky enough to find your favorite gadgets in your stockings tomorrow. But even if you don't, you can count on our fantastic writing team to keep you up to date on all the latest news and happenings over the holidays. They're sacrificing quite a bit of their own holiday time to keep the articles flowing over the next few days, so be sure to drop them a line and let them know you appreciate their unwavering commitment to keeping you in the loop! There's no rest for the wicked, and we've got that covered in spades.

Aside from sparing everyone from my pathetic attempt at poetry parody, we do have one small present for you guys in the form of a new feature! As many of you probably know, the QJ.NET Blog of Blogs is a compilation of every news story posted across the entire network, making it a one stop shop for all your news needs. But since not everyone will be interested in everything we cover, you can now make the Blog of Blogs (or as we lovingly call it, "the BoB") display just the news you want to read about.

All you have to do is register an account (for free of course) and then click on Blog of Blogs Settings at the top of the right-hand column. From there, you can select which subjects you want displayed on the BoB and voila! - a custom front page chock full of all the news you want to see!

Happy Holidays!

HeroCraft has launched a new mobile puzzle game that will come in handy for people who will be spending the holidays alone.Smile Lines: Winter Season is a logic game where the goal is to organize a Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa party.

Sounds simple? In Smile Lines: Winter Season, you need to find a place for a holiday, prepare the party food and to round up and gather guests in time. The game poses enough challenge to stump Martha Stewart and the entire Queer Eye team.

There are several playing styles available and its increasing difficulty is designed to grab your attention away from the reality that you are as isolated as Scrooge. Smile Lines: Winter Season features:

• Attractive festal graphics
• Funny music
• User-friendly interface
• Four 4 different types of game

Smile Lines: Winter Season can be downloaded directly to compatible handset for €3.99 (US$ 5.27) from the Herocraft website.

Aside from gaming consoles, one good Christmas gift is a brand new mobile phone. With lots of brands and models to choose from, your Christmas gift-giving ain't going wrong with these thingamajigs. And joining the growing family of Sony Ericsson cellular phones is the Z310, a mirror-finish clamshell phone.

It has the usual features - VGA camera, Infrared, Bluetooth, SMS and MMS, and WAP. But what makes this phone a stand-out is that its front icon display is integrated into the design, hidden discreetly beneath the surface until a message or a call is received. Eye-catching colored light effects are also at hand so as you could assign them to your contacts and you would know at first sight who's trying to reach you.

This phone comes in three very individual colours: Jet Set Black for those yearning for a classic look, Blush Bronze, or Lush Pink for the girls. It would be available in selected markets from Q1 2007 and for now, there is no word about its price tag. But still, functionality and great looks, what more could ask for?

The latest accessory for your Sony Ericsson mobile is small, makes a ticking sound, fits on your wrist, tells the time and displays Caller ID. Of course, it's the Sony Ericsson MBW-100 Bluetooth watch, the next must have item on your list of wireless devices you want for Christmas. The Sony Ericsson MBW-100 is actually made by watch company Fossil and not Sony Ericsson themselves and features an analog display with stainless steal casing and a small OLED display that shows incoming calls using Called ID and Bluetooth technology which wirelessly links your phone to your watch.

Pushing a button on the watch can decline the call, allowing you to get rid of that unwanted call without even reaching for your phone - the ultimate feature to keep your phone calls discreet. Other features include out-of-range warning (for when you exceed the bluetooth range limit), SMS indication and play, pause and skip control for the your Sony Ericsson's MP3 player.

What more could you ask for in a watch? It looks good, has great functionality and is compatible with a huge range of sony Ericsson phones - the K610, K610i, K618, K790, K800, V630, W710, W850, Z610, and the Z710. The Sony Ericsson MBW-100 Bluetooth watch will go on sale globally during Q4 of 2006, just in time for Christmas with a guideline retail price of approximately $380.