Hasta La Gadget!

The very first Nokia phone to run on an operating system that wasn’t built by Nokia is reportedly already in the beginning stages of development. It will use Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform.

The partnership between Nokia and Microsoft was announced earlier this year, baffling some who wondered by Nokia wouldn’t go for Android – the leading mobile OS – to bring itself out of an impending grave. Aside from the fact that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop used to be a Microsoft executive, there are reports that MS paid around $100 million for the deal.

It’s still unclear when the phone will be released, or if the new partnership will save Nokia from its draining market share. We’ll have to wait and see.

&Via ZDNet

Rumors that the forthcoming version of the iPhone will sport Near Field Communication (NFC) technology are back, after being shot down by a number of sites, earlier in the week.

Of course, we’re still a ways from a formal announcement for the handset (that will most likely come in the early summer months), so fittingly, the current batch of rumors are third-hand. Forbes is citing an “entrepreneur who is working on a top-secret NFC product” who is in turn citing “a friend who works at Apple.”

It wouldn’t be a shock, of course, were Apple to offer such a technology on the new iPhone–and Steve Jobs would, no doubt, present such a feature as though his company invented it. Google, as present, is pushing the mobile payment technology, having backed in the latest version of Android.

The technology gives users a simple way to make payments via their handsets without actually touching the phone to a retail terminal. 

The Samsung Galaxy Player 4 and 5 will be released this Spring. The mini tablets will be much like the Samsung Galaxy S, minus the calling features. Some have compared the devices to the iPod Touch, or now defunct Zune player.

The specs for the Player 4 are Android Froyo 2.2 (can be upgraded to Gingerbread 2.3), mobile VoIP via SKPYE, front VGA camera, GPS, rear 2.3 MP camera, and, 4 in LCD touchscreen. The Player 5 has most of the same except for video call via QiK, a back camera with flash, and 5-inch touchscreen.

Both models use Wi-Fi and can use microSD up to 32GB. No official release date or retail information has been announced.

Via Engadget

There are some new details about T-Mobile’s re-introduction of its once bleeding-edge Sidekick brand. It will go back to its messaging roots and focus on texting and e-mail, but with a whole new set of toys.

It definitely still looks like a Sidekick. The large, five-row keyboard with individually spaced keys ensures the ergonomics will be identical to previous Sidekick devices.

With a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, 800×480 display, and dual cameras, this 4G phone brings Sidekick into the 2010s. It will be out in the second quarter.

Via Venture Beat

As Twitter nears its fifth birthday, the microblogging service has released some impressive stats outlining its meteoric rise. Arguably most impressive amongst the numbers is the revelation that it now takes a week for the site’s users to generate one billion tweets. The number is doubly impressive when you consider the fact that it took three years, two months, and a day to generate the first billion.