Hasta La Gadget!

A company called iMainGo has combined two commonly requested tasks into a nifty little case called iMainGo 2. It is a protective case and an ultra-portable speaker in one.

Considering how much smartphones and music players cost, having a case to keep them safe is plain practical. And sometimes, we like having speakers to listen to the music without headphones. It’s about time someone thought to combine them into a single box.

Smaller than a mass trade paperback, the iMainGo 2 has a pair of 2.5W speakers on one side. It has a tuned bass port and it will connect to any 3.5mm headphone jack.

The speakers are powered by four AAA batteries.

A clear sleeve on the other side lets you see and control your device. The touchscreen functions work fine through the sleeve.

The case is made from neoprene that is waterproof.

The iMainGo 2 is currently available for $40.

Wal-Mart is getting into the wireless game, kind of sort of. The retail goliath announced this week that it will be offering phones that run on its own branded network. The new Wal-Mart Family Mobile network will piggyback on T-Mobile USA.

The network is set to launch next week. The store is selling five Wal-Mart Family Mobile handsets, including the Motorola Cliq XT (which runs $329 sans contract through T-Mobile) and a $35 Nokia handset.

The contract-based plans run $45 a month for the first line and $25 for additional lines. Wal-Mart also has the exclusive rights to Straight Talk and Common Cents, which run on Verizon and Sprint, respectively.

“What we saw was an opening in the marketplace for really bringing family savings and a family plan and T-Mobile was a great partner there,” Wal-Mart VP Greg Hall told the Associated Press.

For those folks who are still clinging to their T-Mobile G1s (and I know there are a few out there) even though they’re officially end-of-life, T-Mobile announced today that its successor, the T-Mobile G2, would be available for pre-order later this month. They didn’t mention how much the new phone would cost, but T-Mobile did lay out a number of its features.

The G2 will ship with Android 2.2 “Froyo” installed, along with an 800-Mhz Snapdragon processor that’s built for longer battery life with a little less performance. The G2 will feature a slide-out keyboard and come with 4GB of internal storage and an 8GB memory card installed. The G2 will also be the first HSPA+ phone in the US, meaning it can take advantage of T-Mobile’s fastest 3G networks. You can read more about the announcement, why it may be the “Googliest phone ever,” and exactly how fast the phone may perform when it’s released over at PCMag.com! 

File this under: we’ll believe it when we see it. It’s a crowded file these days, filled most with iPhone carrier rumors. They tend to surface in the lead up to Apple events, but really, they can happen when you least expect them.

The rumors usually involve Verizon–a logical choice, really, given the size of the network and the loyalty it tends to provoke. There are boatloads of Verizon customers ready to jump on the iPhone, the moment it comes to their network.

This time out, however, the rumor involves T-Mobile. And, unlike those out-of-nowhere rumors we hear all the time, it comes from a pretty reliable source–Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired.

Anderson earlier this week tweeted,

A T-Mobile manager casually mentioned to me that they’re going to get the iPhone 3GS (but not 4, oddly) later this year. Common knowledge?

The comment is interesting on a number of levels. First there’s the whole T-Mobile/Verizon thing. Second is the “casual” part, as thought the wireless employee was saying something that everyone knew, rather than sharing a secret or just letting something slip.

Also fascinating is the idea that the network would only get the 3Gs, rather than the brand new iPhone 4. Perhaps there’s something in the fine print of AT&T’s deal that bars a competitor from selling the latest version of the handset.

Of course, this is all in the realm of pure speculation, and if Apple has its way, we won’t hear anything solid about the deal until the company is good and ready.

Lean on me, says the iCarpus. Or it would if it could talk. It’s a little stand that can hold whatever smartphone you have at whatever angle you’d like. Now that your phone has a big beautiful screen, enjoy hands-free viewing of those TV shows and music videos. This stand is simple, compact, and even works with devices that already have cases around them. The spring-clamp design and non-slip edges ensures that it’ll hold your phone just where you want it.

The iCarpus is available in white and has a list price of $12.99. You can find it on Amazon. Pink, green, and graphite versions are coming later in the fall. As for the weirdly bad name, who knows? Is this stand really named after the eight wrist bones collectively called the carpus? Perhaps, but it’s better not to think about it.