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In time with the release of its new smartphone, the N97, Nokia announced that it is releasing new versions of its mapping and messaging services. The upgraded apps will offer a variety of new features

The wait is over: today Nokia announced an N-series touchscreen phone that boasts some truly mouth-watering features. An 89mm (3.5-inch) tiltable touchscreen sits in an elegant white casing that hides a full Qwerty keypad underneath -- think Nokia E90 with a little more style.

Inside this messaging master lies 32GB of on-board storage, with the option to expand via microSD up to 48GB, plus assisted GPS, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 5-megapixel camera with dual LED photo lights.

But it's not just another N-series phone crammed with features -- the N97 also boasts integration with messaging clients such as Windows Live and Yahoo, and gives you fast access to Facebook and MySpace, among others, with just a few clicks.

The Xperia X1 is a refreshing addition to the Sony Ericsson portfolio -- it's unlike any phone the company has ever released. Not only is it Sony Ericsson's first Windows Mobile smart phone, but it also offers loads of features, including a slide-out Qwerty keypad and HSDPA. Does this handset quench your smart phone thirst?

Nokia's latest N-series phone, the N79, lets you swap battery covers that not only make your phone look different they also tell the N79's software what colour to be

Who ever thought we would see the day when we could all live like Bill Gates? If Nokia has its way, with its Home Control Centre we will all be opening our garage doors while in the bathroom and blending our power juices while twittering.

Following a period of growing excitement, RIM finally released the BlackBerry Storm.The Storm boasts GPS, HSDPA and its own app store, but the real draw is the 'ClickThrough' screen, which you physically press down to select things. Andrew Lim got a chance to play around with one -- read on to see if all the anticipation was worth it

O2's latest Xda device is small and chubby and feels cheap. Fortunately, it is cheap, and packed full of goodness too.

We've got Sony Ericsson's latest Walkman phone in-house -- the beautiful W705 -- and this one is for sure a hot contender for sexiest phone of the year

Next week Nokia is launching a new N-series handset that according to certain sources is going to be rather exciting, so watch this space because as soon as we're in the know, you will be too

Apple got one of its iPhone adverts banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after people claimed it was misleading. The advert exaggerated the Web-surfing and downloading speeds of the phone

If you thought the credit crunch meant that Nokia would slow its production, think again! Nokia is still going strong, churning out another attractive slider phone, the 6260

Apple appears to has upped the processing speed of the iPod touch in order to help it go after the portable-game market.

iPhone gaming site Touch Arcade reports that the applications processor inside the second-generation iPod touch unveiled in September is actually running faster than the processor inside the iPhone 3G, which runs at the same speed that the original iPhone and iPod touch used. The new iPod touch's ARM-based processor is running at 532MHz, while the iPhone 3G's processor runs at 412MHz.

A game developer interviewed by Touch Arcade noticed a huge difference in 3D-rendering speed as a result of the speed bump. As we remember fondly from our 'megahertz madness' days of the Intel-AMD competition in the PC, processor speed is not the only measure of performance, but it is an important one.

With the arrival of the App Store, Apple has been marketing the latest iPod touch as a gaming device in its latest round of commercials, almost completely ignoring the fact that it's a music and video player as well.

Just in time for pay day and free pay day beers in the CBS Interactive lounge (if you work here, that is), comes the iPhone's 2.2 firmware. It's a free download for all iPhone users, and includes all the features included in firmwares 2.0 and 2.1, should you have not snagged those yet.

Along with a Chuck Norris of performance improvements, iPhone 2.2 adds support for Google's Street View service, as seen in the recent T-Mobile G1 -- this service is set to go live in the UK sometime soon. Walking directions in Google Maps are also included in the update.

Wrapped in as well is support for over-the-air downloading of podcasts using the built-in iTunes application. Remember that Podcaster app that Apple ejected from the App Store like a Republican from the White House? Well, it does what that did.

After waiting for longer than we've ever waited for a phone before, we've finally got our hands on a final version of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. Cue choir of angels!

Yesterday we sashayed along to the launch of the chic new LG Prada phone -- aka the LG Prada 2 -- to find out what the fashion-conscious phone has to offer. The original Prada phone was one of the first touchscreen handsets to hit the UK market, but it was fiddly to use, especially for texting. LG has taken this on board and tailored the Prada 2 to include a dedicated slide-out Qwerty keypad.

But there's much more -- the Prada 2 might look similar to its predecessor, but our first impression is that it's one of LG's best touchscreen phones yet.

From the model number, you'd think the N85 is a lesser version of the famous N95, but it's actually an upgrade. It boasts Wi-Fi, HSDPA, GPS and a 3.5mm headphone socket. Is this a case of Nokia running out of ideas, or is it merely honing a deservedly popular phone?

If you're too lazy, too tired or just too annoyed to use the iPhone's text interface to search for something on Google, you'll be pleased to know you can now just say what you're looking for.

No, you haven't woken up in an episode of Star Trek, it's just plain old voice search, similar to Nuance's technology. What's great is that it's very accurate -- most of the time. We tried 'CBS Interactive' and it came up with results for 'CBS Construction'. But while it's not perfect, it's still very useful for simple terms.

All you need to do is download the Google search app or upgrade to the new version and go into settings -- you'll see an option for voice search that you'll want to turn on. Once it's on, a little mic icon appears next to the search app.

Inspired by a new generation of smartphones, Adobe has begun a new, higher-power effort to spread its Flash technology to mobile devices.

The company has worked for years on a lightweight incarnation of its Flash technology for mobile phones, but now it's working to bring the fully fledged Flash Player 10 to higher-end smartphones, chief technology officer Kevin Lynch said at Adobe's Max conference in San Francisco.

"We are in the midst of evolving Flash Player 10 for mobile," Lynch said. "We're taking the full Flash Player and making that run on the higher end of the mobile market."

Samsung's love affair with touchscreen phones has produced some gems -- and some stinkers. The latest direction both Samsung and its Korean arch-rival LG are taking touchscreens is the high-end camera phone. The Pixon packs 8 megapixels and a dual LED flash, but can it outshine its rivals?

If you're on a tight budget this Christmas, but still want to get a loved one something techy, a mobile phone could be the perfect fit. You may be surprised to hear that for only £20 -- or even less -- you can pick up a pay as you go phone.

These aren't cutting-edge handsets, but hey, they'll make calls and send and receive text messages, which is better than no phone at all. Take the Samsung B130, for example, which we reported on the other day -- it's pretty basic, but it's only £5 (plus £10 of credit), from the Carphone Warehouse.

LG KP100, on the other hand, will set you back a swingeing £10. For this extortionate fee, you get a colour screen and a slim candybar design.

If you're a little strapped for cash these days, but still need a new mobile phone, you'll be amazed to know that for as little as £5 you can buy a Samsung B130. For the price of two McDonald's meals you could be blabbering away on a brand-new mobile, which we think is pretty impressive.

To keep costs down, the Samsung B130 is totally basic, as you'd expect. It features a slim casing that weighs only 65g, a colour display -- and that's about it. But the B130 keeps things admirably simple and has a large, easy-to-use keypad. It's definitely not one for smart phone fans, but if you need something simple it's ideal.

The Samsung B130 is available for a fiver on pay as you go from the Carphone Warehouse when you buy £10 of credit from T-Mobile or Orange.

3's latest phone has neither GPS nor Wi-Fi, but it keeps you connected to your friends in a simple way and is incredibly good value

If you're not impresed with the BlackBerry Storm and you want soemthing a little more simple that will fit in your pocket, the Flip 8820 could be it

Sony Ericsson has always produced good camera phones but the C905 outdoes them all. The high-resolution camera with xenon flash produces sharp shots even in low light and we were impressed by all the extras, such as GPS and Wi-Fi. If you're looking for a serious camera phone that could replace your camera, this is it

Virtualisation company Parallels said last week that it plan to launch a facility to let PC users access their software from the iPhone, using the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0