I seriously though that this was the last time I'll ever have a brush with the whole Banana-phone thing. Apparently, I was wrong, and now I'm doomed to die in a puddle of my own blood, hopefully after I transmit the dread song to someone else.

Anyway, what we have here is the Banana handsfree accessory for mobile phones, also known as the "Banokia". According to its makers Mockia, it's a "genuine realistic faux plastic banana wired to work with your mobile phone as a plug in handsfree." You don't see too many genuine realistic faux plastic bananas these days, so you might want to grab one just for the novelty value.

They actually look realistic enough that you might want to try and eat one. Mockia cautions against this, though, as "they taste bloody awful." You can also do a Kirk Cameron and use it to demonstrate God's existence to a bunch of atheists - an argument that would be promptly shot down with shouts of "THAT BANANA WAS BRED BY MAN!" But hey, at least you tried.

You can grab a Banokia for a sale price of UK£ 12.99 (US$ 25) by heading on over to the Mockia website. Mockia also has a bunch of other cool handsfree accessories such as the Pokia (a standard landline handset), the Brickia (a retro Brick phone), and my personal favorite, the Deskia, a handsfree accessory shaped like a rotary landline telephone complete with handset and squiggly cord.

From the looks of the phone alone, you can see that the P310 is not only slim, it's really small also. How small? It's a bit smaller than a normal person's palm. The P310 is actually an upgraded version of the earlier released P300, and upgraded it sure was! The Samsung P310 can aptly be called a mini handy camera because it has a pretty decent camera though it's only 2 megapixels (which is already quite a bump up for the P300 which only had 1.3megapixels). The camera comes with a flash, can take videos, and has a resolution of 1600×1200 pixels.

The tri-band phone, as already mentioned, is very small. It measures 86 x 54 x 8.9 mm and weighs 85g. The P310 sports a 240x320 TFT screen with 256k color and an internal memory of 80MB. Not that massive, we know, good thing it has expandable memory, with the help of a mini SD card (TransFlash). There will also be no problems with connectivity as the P310 has Class 10 GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth v1.2, and USB connectivity.

Additional features of the P310 include Java MIDP 2.0, SyncML, Built-in handsfree, and MP3 player which supports MP3 and AAC formats. The P310 is quite a looker, and the features seem to be at par with the other models that are currently out in the market. However, it's reported that this baby will be sold for 570 euros or around $730 for us in the US. It's a bit on the high-end in terms of price, but if you're looking for a 3G phone that'll easily fit in your pocket or purse, this one's a good bet.

Verizon Wireless has released a firmware upgrade for the UTStarcom XV-7600 Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone on Verizon. The firmware has the following features:

• Microsoft Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 which enables business users to stay connected to their email while on the go and offers better device data protection.
  
• Direct Push Technology which keeps Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Inbox up-to-date. Also allows browsing corporate address book over-the-air with Exchange 2003 SP2.
  
• Faster transfer and synchronization of Oulook data between Exchange Server and a Windows Mobile-based device.
  
• Better protection of device data and management of devices
• Added a Voice Dialing application to allow you to leverage the handsfree capability already on the device.
• Main Today Screen provides you the capability to lock the device and prevent inadvertently activity.
• Fixed issue where unknowingly, to the user, the device would enter into "Flight Mode".
• Added the capability to enable Wi-Fi and CDMA simultaneously.

Important: This is a full firmware upgrade and will delete all existing data on your device if you install it. Be sure to sync it first . All 3rd party applications will have to be re-installed.

Download: [XV6700 Software Update]

Some people are put off by handsfree kits for cellphones. Sure, they can be lifesaving devices while driving, but let's face it, not everyone wants a device sticking out of their ears. Oftentimes, the wires get all tangled up and untangling them is a pain. Thank God there are wireless handsfree kits around. But they're nothing like the Nokia Icon.

Designed by Lopez Revol, the wristband and ring hands-free set has a duochromatic OLED display which shows SMS, incoming calls, and graphics. It also works as a watch.

Whenever someone rings your mobile, the wristband will flash up messages from the handset. The ring changes color to show you've got a message or a call. Both  the rings and wristband are made of rubber so they fit users of all proportions. They come with interchangeable sections for a quick color change.

The Nokia Icon connects to the 7280 phone via Bluetooth. Now, that's one hands-free kit with a personality! No info on price and availability yet, but we'll keep you posted. (This one looks like a keeper!)