Hasta La Gadget!

Chalk this one up to wishful thinking. The Web this morning is awash with rumors about the Google Nexus Two, this morning, the follow up to the not-especially well-received HTC/Google team up, the Nexus One.

Now perhaps it’s precisely because of that device’s lukewarm reception that these latest rumors actually have Samsung producing the Nexus Two–A Galaxy S-like device. Given the evidence available at present, it’s hard to put too much stock in the rumor.

As if that weren’t enough to process this morning, here’s another weird level to the story: a site called ITProPortal is putting forth the suggestion that the Nexus Two is actually the rumored PlayStation Phone. It’s a two-for-one in the rumor mill this morning.

The suggestion (and, really, it can’t be called anything else–well, okay, “wishful thinking” works, too) is that Sony Ericsson, having been given–and subsequently turned down–the opportunity to produce the Nexus One, is now working on the follow up (because the first one did so well?). And that follow up is the PlayStation Phone.

What we know is this: those early leaks of the purported PlayStation Phone have the handset running some form of Android (Gingerbread, apparently). And, yes, it fair to say that Google is losing the casual gaming fight to Apple’s iPhone.

Oh, and Google did partner with Sony for one of the first Google TV units, “so don’t be flabbergasted if the Japanese giant goes ahead and extends its partnership with Google to the Playstation brand as well,” writes the rumor site.

It’s a nice thought, sure, but it’s not really based on any in particular–just some seemingly unconnected bits and pieces from around the Web.

Now they’re just teasing us. Earlier in the week we got some pretty solid visual verification about the existence of an Android-based PlayStation Phone. Now a Sony executive is all but admitting that such a device is in the works.

During an interview with CNN, Sony SVP Peter Dille wouldn’t actually come right out and confirm that the PlayStation Phone was coming, but he did admit that the PSP’s Wi-Fi connectivity just isn’t enough these days. “People are used to having always-connected devices,” he told the channel.

He added that, while the PlayStation 3’s lifespan is expected to be ten years, things move faster in the mobile world. For one thing, the PSP doesn’t make calls or send text messages. Also, the iPhone and other subsequent smarphones have that whole app store things going for them. Though Dille was quick to write off most smartphone games as “time-killers.”

The exec also expressed concern that the PSP isn’t living up to the multimedia promise of its home-based couterpart, “I don’t think we fully realize that vision with a Wi-Fi device,” Dille said. “If it’s not connected [to a cell network] then it does sort of limit people.”

And what about the speculation that the PlayStation Phone will run a version of Android? A spokeswoman fro Sony told the press, “We have relationships with Google.”

Can a simple ottoman lead to marital accord? It can if it’s the LevelUp Universal Versus Storage Ottoman. This functional furniture is designed to stash up to 32 games and other gaming goodies. So if one partner wants a gaming console and the other partner wants the living room to look like adults live there, now there’s an easy ways to hide the toys. This ottoman is durable enough to serve as a foot rest and sells for only $29.99.

If all you need is a caddie for your game gear, consider the Versus Game Tray, available for Wii, Xbox 360, or PlayStation. Each one holds four controllers and more. The Wii tray, for example, has space for four nunchuks, while the Xbox tray has space for six batteries. They sell for $19.99 each.

Since the launch of the Wii in late 2006, Nintendo has sold more than 65.3 million Wiimotes in the US alone. That’s more than the population of the United Kingdom, Italy, and South Korea. That number breaks down to around 46,000 Wiimotes sold a day since the console’s release.

That’s a gentle reminder from the folks at Nintendo about just how well its console is doing. The reminder, of course, comes in the wake of new motion controllers from Sony and Microsoft–the Move and Kinect for Xbox 360, respectively.

The numbers themselves are courtesy of NPD. 30.41 of those controllers have been sold bundled with the Wii itself. 18.56 million white Wiimotes, 2.44 million black versions, 467,500 pink versions, and 465,200 blue versions have been sold by themselves. 12.92 million have been sold with copies of Wii Play.

Nintendo has also moved 52.9 million Wii Nunchuks.

A new version of the Wii Remote–the Wii Remote Plus–begins shipping on November 7th. The device has built-in Wii MotionPlus and promises more precise control.

You know what this world needs? More Silly Bandz. The little silicone bracelets, whose wild popularity has already become the bane of teachers and parents everywhere, are about to go multimedia. Game publisher Zoo Entertainment today announced that the colorful little pieces of stretchy plastic are becoming the subject of their very own Nintendo DS title.

Hitting the market just in time to make the holiday wish list of everyone in the country under the age of 15, the game has “players rescue trapped Silly Bandz by catapulting them to freedom.”

Angry Birds, anyone?

Yep, “To rescue captured Silly Bandz, players use the Bandz in their in-game collection to take aim at the cages in each level. Once free, the Silly Bandz join players’ collections and can then be used to help rescue others.” Sounds like it’s a few ill-intentioned pigs away from becoming the popular Rovio title.

The game is rated E. it will be available in early December for the DS. Priced at $29.99, it will included, naturally, a 12-pack of Silly Bandz shaped like a joystick, arcade machine, and pinball machine.