Ok, we had a bit of a rough start after getting open the box and all, but we've given the Zune, and its software, sharing, wireless, etc. as good a looking over as we could hope to. We've got things we like, and things we don't; rough edges to go right along with the well thought-out niceties. We came away underwhelmed and not at all surprised -- and why?

O2 who have always been known for innovation with their ever developing Xda range have now excelled themselves with the O2 Xda Orbit. In the past we have seen slight case customisation as with the blue LEDs of the Exec, but with the Orbit O2 have designed an entirely new 'Cruiser' housing to contain their variant of the HTC Artemis.

Rob Dickinson, former band leader of "The Catherine Wheel" (and cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson), has shot the video clip of his new single, "Oceans" (iTunes), using a Nokia N93 cellphone. The Symbian-based smartphone has a 3.2MP camera that is capable of capturing VGA video at 30fps with its Carl Zeiss optics. You can view the video at Yahoo!'s Music site (with IE) or via VLC. When the N93 was first launched Nokia tried to market the phone as the first DVD-quality capture phone in the market, but this is the first time that such a device is used for serious, professional purposes.

Stylish is not a word that can be associated with the i-mate JAQ, though the Windows Mobile 5.0 PDA phone certainly is unique. Unfortunately, firmware issues mean that despite a great keyboard, shoppers should steer clear.

Java virtual machine (JVM) specialist Aplix has licensed the Linux-based mobile phone software stack co-developed by NEC, Panasonic, and NTT DoCoMo. The company plans to offer reference implementations (RIs) based on the stack to handset manufacturers wishing to create handsets for use with NTT DoCoMo's 3G FOMA network in Japan, it says.

Do you remember where you were the day Palm announced they were making a Windows Mobile device? OK, so maybe on a global scale it wasn't THAT important, but i'm pretty sure that it shocked a lot of people in the industry when Palm annouced that they would be releasing the Treo 700w, their first Windows Powered Treo in the USA. It sure shocked me! Check the 750v review.

Mess with a good thing, go ahead. The Cingular 8125 which we praised highly in our February 2006 review, was loved not just by us but by our readers. That review has been one of our most popular in 2006 and the 8125 has sold incredibly well. In the US, large, pricey PDA phones are generally a small percentage of overall phone sales, and the 8125 was the first to challenge that balance.

It's not like we haven't been teased here at Engadget Mobile with all the spy pics taken of the LG VX9900 lately. And with release dates coming and going, it's begun to wear a bit on our patience. Well, it turns out that a Howard Forums user who shall go unnamed managed to sneak a copy of the spec sheet.

One of the world's largest computer and consumer electronics manufacturers will ship a completely open, Linux-based, GPS-equipped, quad-band GSM/GPRS phone direct, worldwide, for $350 or less, in Q1, 2007. First International Computing's (FIC's) "Neo1973" or FIC-GTA001, is the first phone based on the open-source "OpenMoKo" platform.

Sony Ericsson today announced it has reached agreement in principle for acquiring the Swedish software company UIQ Technology AB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Symbian Ltd. UIQ Technology, which uses Symbian OS, licenses the UIQ user interface and application development platform to mobile phone vendors worldwide.