As the market for ultra-portable computers continues to expand and manufacturers scramble to meet demand while also trying to keep consumers interested in their products, originality and uniqueness are sometimes lost and products start to blend into a sea of blandness.

Leave it to Korea to buck current trends and release an ultra-portable that is truly without peer. The HiPAD (or HiPDA I've seen it written both ways on the same site!) is a tablet PC, or at least it looks like one. At the heart of the machine is an AMD Geode LX-800 CPU; a processor that is a compromise between power and efficiency.

With an available Gigabyte for memory (256MB standard) the processor will not have memory bottlenecks to slow it down. The most unique thing about the HiPAD has got to be it's ability to run both Windows XP (tablet edition) and Windows CE. The touch screen allows you to take advantage of the best features included with XP tablet edition while still giving you the option to run "normal" PC software designed for Windows XP.

WiFI, DMB and HSDPA provide connectivity and media services for the device. PCMCIA and CF slots provide effective expansion capabilities to the little portable that hint at some interesting possibilities. With Windows CE underpinning the media player and PDA-like functionality and XP tablet edition taking care of the tasks that involve heavy lifting (or heavy processing), it's almost like having two devices in one.

There is also a camera and navigation software embedded within the device. This hybrid-like device has a 10.4 inch touch screen, is one inch thick and weighs 2.9 pounds. For those who care about looks, the HiPAD isn't at all bad looking either! It has a sleek, smart design that only hints at the amount of productivity it can help you to achieve.

There's no word on cost as of this post. The amount of features packed into this tiny portable make it attractive, but price is always an issue. Hopefully, we'll see a version of the HiPAD in the US. American consumers would go crazy for a device like this if it was marketed well. (hint!)

HTC's TyTN business phone hits Europe this month, and it's cooking up a storm. And why not? It's said to be the most powerful phone in its class because it offers download speeds five times faster than standard 3G, courtesy of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) support. That alone will pique the interest of European businessmen who are always on the go.

While you might think that being a download speed demon is the only thing going on for this smartphone, you're quite mistaken as it's brimming with features starting off with a large display and a slide-out thumbboard. It offers a broad suite of messaging and productivity applications, as well as multimedia features - a music player with MP3, WMA, and stereo Bluetooth headset support. It has 128 MB of ROM and 64 MB of RAM. It has a memory card expansion slot so you wouldn't have to worry about not being able to download content.

The HTC TyTN is being sold for €675 ($860) without subscription.

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.

Tripod Data Systems has released an updated version of its "military grade" PDA. The Recon-X series of handheld computers now features 256MB of flash memory, Bluetooth and is Wifi enabled. The device is designed to run the Linux operating system or a version of Windows Mobile. The "military grade" designation is earned because the PDA meets the MIL-STD-810F standard for drops, vibrations, and temperature extremes. The device also has the IP67 rating, meaning that it is impervious to dust and water!

There are two models of the Recon-X device:

The Recon-200X (with 200Mhz processor and 128MB flash memory)

• processor- PXA 255 (200Mhz)
• memory- 64MB SDRAM, 128MB flash
• display- TFT with touchscreen
• ports- USB, serial 9-pin D connector
• audio- built in microphone
• expansion- type 1 and 2 compact flash slots
• wireless- built in optional Bluetooth, Wifi 802.11g
• Dimensions- 6.50 x 3.75 x 1.75 inches (16.5 x 9.5 x 4.5 cm)

The Recon-400X (with 400Mhz processor and 256MB flash memory)

• processor- PXA 255 (400Mhz)
• memory- 64MB SDRAM, 256MB flash
• display- TFT with touchscreen
• ports- USB, serial 9-pin D connector
• audio- built in microphone
• expansion- type 1 and 2 compact flash slots
• wireless- built in optional Bluetooth, Wifi 802.11g
• Dimensions- 6.50 x 3.75 x 1.75 inches (16.5 x 9.5 x 4.5 cm)

Both models have a built in microphone, a redesigned keypad and improved color touchscreen.

What did I tell you - don't build your Canary dreams yet because more pictures of the Capri will soon surface and get you all confused again. As I predicted, here are new images for what is said to be the slider version of Motorola's RAZR. Although this Motorola baby is yet to be announced, the netvine says it will include a 2 megapixel camera, memory card expansion, 256k colors screen, dedicated camera button, USB connection, and Bluetooth that supports "A2DP" and "AVRCP" Bluetooth profiles.

I don't know about you, but I'm sure confused which is the better phone  - Canary or Capri? I guess we'll have to wait for both phones to be available so somebody can test drive them and let us know which is the better choice.