The Palm Pre is set to send a wave of enthusiasm back to a brand that hasn’t seen the spotlight in many years.  With all the hype surrounding the Pre, does it have what it takes to revive the fledgling Palm brand?

If online rumours are to be believed, it appears that Apple may be planning to launch a new version of its popular and wildly successful iPhone  in 2009.

The popularity of the Apple iPhone has many companies taking note of this extremely popular mobile phone and creating their own mobile devices to compete. Google announced that they would be releasing their own mobile device called the G1. The G1 hasn’t been released yet, it hasn’t stopped people from pre-ordering phones from the number one search engine in the US.

One of the more immediate effects of the CDMA network shut down is an increase in recycled cell phones. Statistics say that the number of recycled cell phones has doubled since the network shut down started. That’s quite a jump.

Vodafone representatives have declared that mobile advertising is on the upswing, whether users like it or not. With revenues from mobile ads set to reach $108 million dollars AUS within the next few years, you know the next level of assault on the consumer is set to begin. The companies, like Vodafone who are gearing up to bring these ads to the masses certainly don’t seem to care whether the consumer wants one more area of invasion or not.

A show based out of Queensland called Dojo Monkey has become the first Australian show to go completely cross platform. The animated show is based on a character named Dojo Money. Dojo Monkey got his start as the ninja monkey in a video game, but the creator immediately saw the potential for a show and the ability to make that work on multiple platforms.

Telepathy in any form has long seemed confined to science fiction books and movies. People with disabilities and problems speaking due accident or other issues seemed condemned to a life of silence, restricted to the written word, typing and TDD terminals. Thanks to a new device, that is all about to change. The first voiceless phone call has now been made.

Telstra claims their new Next G network did not cause a farmer’s recent death by bee sting. How could Telstra have been responsible? When the man tried to use his mobile phone to call for help, he was unable to make the call.

It was only a matter of time, really, until advertising hit your mobile phone. Like it or not, that day has arrived. Certain advertisers have been sending text ads to their customers already, but now the game has changed.

Telstra has started a person to person campaign seeking converts to their new Next G technology. They plan to go door to door to people currently on the older CDMA network and try to talk to them about the virtues of switching to Next G.

In a move toward innovation, Cisco, another telecommunications giant, partnering with Intel, has invested over $9.5 Million USD into a company called Soonr. Soonr offers a way to access your desktop from your mobile phone. Soonr lets you access, restore, edit and back up files fro your mobile phone, and from several other mobile devices like PDAs.

The airwaves of Australia have been abuzz with the Telstra CDMA network closure. Telstra has been planning the closure of its CDMA network and the opening of a new Next G network to replace it for some time. The CDMA network has provided Telstra customers with a certain level of performance they have come to expect. While Telstra claims the new Next G network has the same level of efficiency and service, a key report on the matter has been delayed.

In the news today are two stories that should grab the attention of any analog cable and cell network user, including people who have OnStar and analog cable television (think rabbit ears, or television that works without a cable box). The analog network that has been in place for nearly 25 years is shutting down by order of the FCC in February 2008. What this means is a lot of unplanned expense for a significant segment of the population.

But no word on which Monday they mean…

Well, when it comes to the iPhone, sadly, no-one besides Steve Jobs, his inner circle, Chinese manufacturers and specially selected Internet pundits like the Gizmodo guys or a drunken Digg founder (Kevin Rose) really know.

With Telstra recently launching a range of Foxtel channels on its Next-G handsets, Vodafone has launched an even bigger range of TV channels to watch, with 22 in total. They also have an Australian-first EPG on your phone that shows you what’s on right now. Vodafone have also had to change advertising details for their new 3.5G HSDPA modem thanks to Telstra.

At less than half an inch thick, or 0.464 inches to be precise, Samsung’s new i600 is a pretty cool phone. But then, ever since the Motorola RAZR, thin has been the in-trend since 2005 with 2007 set to see some of the slimmest phones ever.

The rumours are flying thick and fast that Apple is set to introduce two new iPhones at the US Macworld expo in early January, and it’s threatening to change the world of mobile phones and music as we know it.

Microsoft wants us to believe that Zune’s wireless feature is innovative and original. But hey, any mobile phone with Bluetooth can do the same thing today and has been able to for years. C’mon, Microsoft, show us some REAL innovation!

Remember the Opera browser? Now in version 9 for PCs, it’s free and has advanced features you won’t find in Firefox or Internet Explorer 7. It also works with a range of devices and not just PCs, meaning that ‘a night at the Opera’ can now be a 24×7 browsing experience!

With talk of virtual click wheels, full screen iPods and even iPod phones, speculation and debate has raged on how Apple might outdo its existing iconic design. A touch controlled bezel is one possibility Apple is publicly considering through a US patent application. And that iPod phone? It’s already here. Want to see it?