The BlackBerry 9000 (you know, the latest BlackBerry that's supposedly being developed with a touchscreen), seems to have gotten a leak. A leaked picture that is. We don't know if it's a fake or a really early version but you might be interested in seeing it for yourself. Leaked picture in the full article.

If you thought that playing NES games on your iPhone was impressive, wait until you get a load at what Lenovo's latest mobile phone model has to offer. The Lenovo i909 cellphone includes an on board NES emulator, complete with its own snap on controller.

Take a look at this innovative cellphone model right after the jump!

A lot of videos have been floating around the 'net about people finally cracking the mystery surrounding the iPhone code, making it work with any sim card inserted into it. However, unlike most anonymous videos regarding the subject, geohot and his group have found a full hardware unlock for the iPhone and made a careful documentary of it in a video on YouTube and on his site.

Geohot has even gone as far as detailing the steps on how to unlock it on his blog, with the standard disclaimer that doing so may inadvertently brick you phone, so do so at your own risk. Even now they are working on a software unlock for the iPhone as well, telling everyone to stay tuned at their site when more updates arrive.

The "legendary" unlocked iPhone was even put on sale at eBay at a starting bid of US $540. So far it has received up to 10 bids and has risen to US $1,575 as of today. The items in the eBay auction bid include: the phone, the serial dock accompanying it, as well as the official unlock switch depicted from the blog.

While this sort of practice may not exactly be something that Apple may approve, it just goes to show that no matter how fool-proof the technology claims itself to be, the industry itself is an ever changing and ever evolving process that people will continually surpass and even improve it when applied properly.

Hats off to Xerox for this tip!

Getting bored with your mobile phone? There's a lot more to it than calls and SMS, you know. Cell phones have evolved into a lot more than communication tools. These days, most models are good multimedia devices which can take pictures, record audio and video, play mp3's and even locate people.

Lifehack has come up with an interesting list of things you can do to take full advantage of your untapped gadget. Among the tips that were mentioned were enabling the AMBER system in your phone to help find missing kids through SMS, which is free of charge. Another is winning eBay auctions by constantly being notified to make sure that you're always on top. They even gave tips on personalizing your handset.

Follow the read URL and see what you can dig up in the list which you think is best suited for your phone, needs and lifestyle. You'll be amazed at what you and your phone are capable of.

 

Remember that custom Dell World of Warcraft laptop that would be auctioned at eBay? Just to refresh your memory, Michael Dell announced during the concluded CES 2007 that two custom airbrushed Dell M1710 laptops featuring some TBC artworks will be auctioned off on eBay, with the proceeds going to the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the U.S. - Second Harvest. It's for a good cause and it's always nice and a bit heart-warming to follow up on stories that bring back your faith in the human race.

You may ask, how is the auction going? Pretty well, actually. The Mike Lavalle airbrushed Dell M1710, Burning Crusade Edition, which bears the signature of Michael Dell would be open for bids until January 25th. The current bid is US$ 4,250.00. Nice to see that people don't mind coughing up some dough for a good product and a good cause, right?

Anyhow, if you're interested to help out or get the laptop, you could click on our read-link below to check out the actual eBay page.

Let's say that you have nothing but praises for the Windows Vista, you're blogging about it every chance you get and talking non-stop about how great it's gonna be with anybody who seems interested. You've spread the word so much that the MS people sent you a gift in the form of an Acer Ferrari 1000, with Windows Vista Ultimate already installed. What do you do?

This happened to Laughing Squid's Scott Beale. According to him, he's been blogging about MS quite a bit lately and last December 20, he received an email from the PR firm in charge of Vista's launch. The mail said that he'll be receiving a gift from Microsoft. And yes, the Acer Ferrari 1000 with Windows Vista Ultimate, was the present. What did Mr. Beale do with it? He auctioned it off on eBay. Clever idea? Yes. Is it for a good cause? Yup.

The proceeds from the auction is going to a non-profit organization who's a staunch defender of online rights and freedom, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The auction will be held until January 4 and if you're interested, you could check out the read link below. 

Expect me to be blogging more about the Vista in the coming weeks, nah just kidding.

From cellphones to TVs and PC's. The founders of Skype have recently announced they're now conducting tests on broadband television service for computer screens. The project's called "The Venice Project," and is currently undergoing beta testing among 6,000 users.

"We are trying to bring together the best of TV with the best of the Internet," said Skype's director of strategy and innovation, Janus Friis. According to Friis and Skype's Chief Executive Niklas Zennstrom, the broadband service was developed using money money when Skype to eBay Inc. for $2.6 billion last year.

And while there aren't any details of when Beta testing will be finished, this could spell good news for PC with broadband internet connections, the broadband service promises high-quality channels over your choice of desktop. We'll let you know if there's any developments for this new broadband service.

It has always been said that if you need something, you'd find it on eBay. As for the stuff that you DON'T need... well, you'll find those on eBay as well. With a reputation for having been the online auction place which sold things like private jets, cornflakes, sandwiches in the shape of Jesus, ex-boyfriends, used toothpicks and wads of gum chewed by celebs, eBay can now add yet another item to its repertoire: mobile game companies.

If you would recall, a company called Tesseraction Games previously leased out their talents via online auction. This time around, the entire company Robotube Games is up for grabs online with a starting price of US$ 850,000. The winning bidder of this auction (if any) will be getting intellectual property rights to eight mobile phone games, and 34 flash games, as well as all their assets, and even the whole staff who promise to work for you for at least three years, provided you pay them salaries that are "equal to current industry standards".

Though Robotube is mainly a company that makes games for mobile phones, it has been noted that given the right funding and materials, they can possibly develop games for the Nintendo DS as well.

Anyone interested?

Stuck in a dilemma between getting a Samsung Q1 and an Apple Newton? Well, the guys at CNET pitted those two against each other just for fun. The verdict? Read on.

Undeniably, Apple's Newton MessagePad 2007 has been around for quite some time - since 1997 to be exact. It features handwriting recognition, and touch-screen display plus a stylus, all packed in a simple design. It doesn't boast of a full color screen, but runs on an efficient and virtually virus-free OS.

The Samsung Q1, on the other hand, has a sleek, shiny look as opposed to the "industrialized" design of the Newton. Its screen has 16.7 million colors, so you would be able to watch your favorite movies here. It also has better networking capabilities and handwriting recognition than the Newton.

However, the Newton can run up to 30 hours with four AA batteries, which dealt the final blow on the Q1, which only runs for 2.5 hours. And while the latter costs £799, the decade-old Newton can be bought in eBay for £50.

So take your pick. If you're more into practicality, you might want to get a Newton. But if you're into sleek, modern gadgets, maybe you'd consider getting a Samsung Q1 instead.

Finding out how to see and navigate through the Skype cloud to be able to find a Skype client, how to publish a client's profile into the Skype cloud so other Skype clients can find that one client, and how to negotiate starting the call session. These are the things needed to be figured out to be able to build a Skype-compatible client and are the things that a Chinese firm had to unearth to be able to come up with this application that allows Skype-compatible softphone calls.

The said Chinese firm has been successful in reverse-engineering Skype's communications protocol, leading them to build a Skype-compatible softphone. The firm aims to release their app to the public by the end of the month but they have not given word yet if they'll just offer consulting services or if they'll also publish the protocols and offer Skype-compatible consumer software and Skype-compatible engineering products to other developers.

Publishing this Skype calling protocol will not only benefit Skype users but will also open up opportunities for developers. Skype connectivity can now be built into a third party's own software without the need for an official Skype client. Also, it is possible to create Skype-compatible server software plus Skype to PBX integration allowing users to preserve their Skype identity, authentication, encryption, and presence while routed through an Asterisk server.

While this opening up of the Skype protocol is good for third party developers, it may kill Skype. They do have options on how to prevent an inevitable death with this application. Skype Journal's Phil Wolff suggests the following:

Open. They're already on the path to opening up more of their apps at the API level. Skype could embrace this at the protocol level too. This is the hardest thing to do, but may pay off in the long run. Exposing these protocols is the only way for the Skype network to become an industry standard. And it would put Skype in a position of leadership the way Microsoft is for dot net, Sun is for Java, and Adobe is for Flash.

Switch. Skype could change the protocols, breaking the new software. This is a costly and temporary solution; tricky but doable. Replacing Skype clients for updates is hard enough; getting everyone to migrate could kill the brand love. It won't be long until the Chinese engineers figure out how to get in again.

Quash. Skype might try to blow out the startup's fire. eBay has a powerful combination of PR, lobbyists, litigators, and business allies. Even in China. Skype could try to accuse the startup of piracy. My guess is Skype will tread litely. These tactics rarely work in China and often tarnish the reputation of the outsider applying the pressure.

Ignore. Skype has enough to do. Wait and see.

Invest. Buy the team, put them to work.

Since we're already halfway through the month, we'll just see how Skype reacts to this Skype-compatible softphone.