The Pantech Matrix Pro is a dual-sliding smartphone that resembles the Helio Ocean, with a slide-out keypad and a separate, slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

It will be powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 with support for Outlook/Office. Some features include a microSDHC memory card slot that lets you carry up to 32GB of data, 3G connectivity, and a small 2.4″ LCD. AT&T will be carrying the Pantech Matrix Pro within the next few days for $180.

The Paul Frank monkey is almost as pervasive as Hello Kitty. I’m not sure which to fear more. But I know that one day they will fight it out Aliens VS. Predator style and we will then know our new master.

Until that day, the merchandising train keeps rolling along. This Paul Frank Monkey shaped mobile phone is not an official product. It’s a clamshell phone with one eye that works as camera. It’s a pretty basic phone that features a 1.6 inch TFT display screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, FM radio, Bluetooth, music player, stereo speakers and a microSD expansion slot.

Smartphone hacking and theft is on the rise and one of the reason is that hackers know many smartphone users have all sorts of sensitive information stored on their devices. Think about the content on your iPhone, you have passwords, email accounts, maybe even personal data like social security numbers on it.

A new software product from Callpod is now available on the App Store called Keeper that makes it easy and secure to keep any sensitive information you want stored on your iPhone. The app uses 128-bit AES military grade encryption and can back up the data to your computer as well.

Samsung and T-Mobile officially let slip yesterday word of an upcoming 8-megapixel digital camera mobile. It is the new Memoir (SGH-t929) and there’s no official word yet on pricing or availability.

The Samsung Memoir, said the two companies, is designed to look and feel like a regular digital camera. It has a built-in flash, 16x digital zoom and five shooting modes. It is also said to be easy to share photos taken on it with others via direct postings to popular online photo sharing Web sites.

So, what can we take away from this image? I think it says that hot women love ridiculous gadgets. In pink. Shaped like a Flipper. I think we can also safely say, judging by this image that, should a woman slide her phone into a flipper shaped case, cleavage will follow.

If you hit the link, you’ll see some more hot women who worship the stupidest phone case ever, as well as some happy looking douche that looks like he should be on the beach trying to bum some money off you. Oh, and there’s also a shot of this thing hanging from your belt loop and looking oh so hip.

The Kyocera NS01 is not the best and most powerful phone available right now, but what it lacks in power, it makes up for in cutting edge geek fashion. The handset features an integrated belt, so it will hold up your pants while taking a call.

The NS01 features a 2.8 QVGA Screen, a 1.97MP camera, and e-wallet. Hey, at least you won’t lose your phone if it’s attached to your pants. There isn’t a ton of info, but I’m assuming it can detach easily while it is acting as a belt, because otherwise things could get comical real quick. Like if your friend needs to use your phone in an emergency, you would want to be able to quickly detach it. Because one guy on his knees, talking to someone in your crotch area in public doesn’t look good. It also doesn’t look good if you walk around hunched over talking to your own belt buckle as you try to pull it closer to no avail.

Remember the Compulab Exeda? It sports a great design and can support multiple operating systems like Android and Windows Mobile, which is a rare treat. We like it more everytime we see it. It’s making news again because it has been seen running Windows Mobile 6.5. You can spot the upcoming OS because of the hexagonal buttons that are easier to use compared to Windows Mobile 6.1.

According to the company, this is an alpha build of the OS, and word is that it takes full advantage of 6.5’s inertial scrolling as well as other touch improvements. So, you get a phone that can run on either OS, that also has an Ethernet port, and both left/right click buttons. What’s not to like?

Hardcore fans of James Bond have another piece of gear to add to their growing collection. Sure, you have the laptop, you also have the James Bond villain watches, but you don’t have this phone.

KDDI will release the limiited edition W63S cell phone with a special 007 Quantum of Solace design from AU. The handset is priced at €110 with a contract and features an internal 2.7 inch organic EL WQVGA display with an external 1.1 inch organic EL display, 100MB internal memory, 1Seg support, EZ FeliCa, and has a 3MP shooter.

A Kenyan cellphone company has released a Barack Obama-branded cellphone. The red and blue cellphone is covered with fun phrases like “Yes We Can” all over it. The company, Mi Phone, is calling it the Mi-Obama. It’ll cost around $30 there. You may or may not know, Obama’s father was born in Kenya.

Needless to say they are a hot seller. The product in it’s first week of availability has already sold over 1000 units in Nairobi alone. The Director of Mi-Fone says, “The coming of the new President of the USA is an auspicious moment for all Kenyans and the people of Africa. It is our pleasure to be able to launch the Mi-Obama phone as a memento that will always stay within the user’s hearts and minds”.

It was previously announced that Samsung’s Armani Night Effect would be available for 300€ on November 2008 in Europe. As for other regions, we have no idea. There’s some good news for people in the UK however. The Samsung Armani Night Effect is available now in the UK, from January 9th 2009.

The phone comes with 2.2-inch AMOLED display screen, 3.2-megapixel camera, 120 MB internal memory, microSD card slot and supports HSDPA/GSM network. It’s by no means the top of the range in handsets, but it’s focus is on the beauty of simple design and ease of use.

The Pantech IM-S400L Sky Oz handset will only be available exclusively in Korea. What makes this CDMA phone interesting is that it relies on a mechanism called the Glide Sensor that turns the phone’s keypad into a notebook touchpad, making it easy to use when you’re browsing the Web. Other features include : 2.6” LCD display, a Digital DMB TV tuner, Subway map, Electronic dictionary.

We’re pretty sure there must be more features since most Korean handsets are pretty advanced. We may learn more. At any rate, this slider model looks pretty interesting and we don’t think it will disappoint.

Mobinnova has finally launched its feature-packed flagship handset named ICE. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional-powered smartphone will be equipped with some of the following features: 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201ATM chipset, 3” WQVGA flat TFT LCD touch-sensitive screen, GSM850/900/1800/1900MHz, WCDMA/HSPA 900/1900/2100MHz, HSDPA 7.2Mbps & HSUPA 2 Mbps, 3 megapixel autofocus camera, Secondary video camera for video calls, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, microSDHC memory card slot, Wi-Fi, Integrated FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity and Built-in GPS.

Yes, the outside looks ho-hum, but the specs out it as a nice feature packed phone. We hope it has a decent battery to keep up with all that functionality. No word on pricing or availability just yet.

The Wynn is one of those super luxurious hotels along the Strip at Las Vegas, so of course they host a whole bunch of high-end items such as exotic cars, designer clothes and expensive phones. The Vertu shop there is currently displaying it’s latest luxury cell phone, the Vertu Signature Dragon. Just like the Vertu Signature Cobra, the Dragon is not yet featured on the company’s website.

It’s a pretty cool looking phone. I think the only thing they could have done was to make the dragon’s eyes glow red when there’s an incoming call. Sadly, it doesn’t breath fire either, but it will burn a hole in your pocket with it’s enormous cost.

Do I laugh or not? German company Neoi introduced the 906E. It claims to be the thinnest QWERTY phone in the world. Who are we to argue? It’s almost as thin as the credit card. The Neoi 906E is packed with a lot of features including, a camera, Bluetooth, MP3 player, microSD card slot expandable up to 8GB.

The handset also supports Tri-Band GSMGPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz and comes with an integrated hands-free speakerphone. Problem is, they want you to purchase a minimum quantity of 500 units to get this handset. Hmmm. On one hand, it’s the world’s thinnest, on the other I don’t really need 500 since I’m not Santa.

It looks like that mystery Korean handset we spotted awhile back has been identified as a MID from Compal with the strange name of Tabasco. The shot that we saw was taken at Computex 2008 in June.

The non functioning prototype features a rear facing 3.2 megapixel camera with 2x optical zoom and a flash, a front-facing webcam, and it measures about 6.3 x 3.3 x 1.3-inches with a 4.5 or 5-inch screen. The processor, as well as OS and storage capacity are unknown. So there’s still some mystery here. We have no idea if it’s on track for release or just a prototype. We may learn more at CES.