Everyone texts today, even my mother in law uses texts and she didn’t get a cell phone until last year. With text messaging being so popular, even the most basic handsets are now being designed for friendly texting.

Sprint has announced a new mobile phone that is aimed at entry-level users and has a QWERTY keyboard for texting. The handset is the Sanyo SCP-2700 and it sells for only $29.95 after instant and mail-in rebates and a new 2-year contract.

MIDs and mobile phones are growing in capability and performance all the time. Intel launched its Moorestown MID platform not so long ago that promises higher performance computing in portable devices with low power consumption.

At Computex this week Elektrobit (EB) has unveiled a reference design for a MID that is built on the Intel Moorestown platform. The design is targeting wireless and PC OEMs looking for a MID design that can be customized to meet their needs.

The Mobinnova élan netbook, a NVIDIA Tegra-powered machine, weighs just two pounds, but can deliver 720p video on its 8.9-inch screen. We aren’t sure what OS it’s running, but we do know that it has an “innovative 3D graphical user interface,” supports hardware-accelerated Flash video, has both WiFi and 3G, and can play video for five to ten hours on a single charge.

NVIDIA claims that its Tegra platform can play an audio file continuously for 600 hours (thats 25 days!) assuming that the display is turned off. Take a deep breath. We don’t know what the pricing looks like after all. Mobinnova’s Tegra announcements also include the T8 tablet, which repackages the élan in a 10.1-inch tablet form factor with GPS and HDMI out.

NVIDIA and icar have teamed up and are working on a 3D gauge cluster for cars. The pic above is a concept, but if the final product is that awesome, they will really be onto something. The proof of concept shows how adaptable a 3D gauge cluster could be and it is capable of displaying a whole lot of info.

The images show the standard speedometer and fuel gauge, along with radio and navigation information. Relocating this information to the gauge cluster could reduce the need for a second screen in a car’s center stack.

Those living in the UK will be able to get the Samsung i8910 HD, aka the Omnia HD. The Symbian S60-powered device is a reasonable £97.50 on a £35 monthly plan.

That sounds like a bargain since some features include: a 3.7″ capacitive touchscreen at 640 x 360 resolution display, an 8-megapixel camera and a modified TouchWiz 3D implementation that works in the S60 environment. That’s some good value for money. We don’t often get such good value in the states.

Those living in the UK will soon have a chance to pick up LG’s Viewty Smart handset as it will be available in that part of the world next month. To refresh your memory, it sports a 3″ touchscreen display, WVGA resolution, 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity, aGPS support, Wi-Fi and the 3D S-Class UI.

If you Brits like what you see, you’ll want to pick one up next month. You’ll also dig this handset’s 8-megapixel camera, which should give you nice crisp images. No word yet on pricing.

I have seen several of the new breed of 3D films at the theater over the last year. The most recent was the Aliens vs. Monsters flick that used RealD technology for all the 3D goodness the film offered. I will be happy when 3D finally comes affordably to the living room so I can watch my favorite shows in 3D.

RealD has announced today a new accessory for 3D ready projectors that is design for use in the home or office on screens up to 17-feet across. The accessory is called the RealD LP and promises to bring the 3D quality from the local cinema to small venues like conference rooms and other places.

It’s been a long time now since Logitech purchased 3DConnexion, the company that makes those somewhat odd 3D mice. The company was most well known for the short time that Second Life was a big deal with a 3D mouse that make traveling in the virtual environment easier.

3Dconnexion has announced its latest’s 3D mouse called the SpacePilot Pro. The massive device looks like it belongs in the space shuttle with a design more like a game pad than a mouse. Features include a large color LCD screen that shows function key assignments and direct access to applications like Outlook, calendar, and tasks list.

The LG Viewty II is now official, and along with a bunch of specs, it arrives with a new name: The Viewty Smart. Will it live up to its namesake? Have a look at the specs and decide for yourself.

The Viewty Smart features an S-Class 3D UI, 3″ WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) touchscreen display, Quad-band GSM/HSPA, Wi-Fi connectivity, aGPS navigation, 8-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach camera, Xenon flash, 32GB storage, and DivX playback.

There’s no way to know for sure if this new image is the real deal. However, some sources of Zunited’s have chimed in to say that it is an authentic ZuneHD. The specs seem too good to be true.

Some of those specs are: multi-touch capacitive OLED screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio, 3D Xbox game support, playback of “HD media” available from Zune Marketplace, TV-out from what looks like a mini-HDMI port on the left-side, HD Radio, choice of 16GB or 32GB of storage, wireless sync, multi-touch “browser”.

JVC Japan has unveiled the GD-463D10 a 46 inch HD LCD TV which can…wait for it… display images in 3D. The LCD features a contrast ratio of 2000:1 with a maximum of 10000:1 in dynamic mode and is super thin at just 39mm.

The panel was developed using the Xpol polar screen system and much to our sadness requires special 3D glasses to watch the image in its full 3D glory. The 3D will look excellent, you’ll just look like a dork. The onboard speakers deliver an output of 10W×2ch and the unit comes with two 3D glasses. Though I am sure they are willing to sell you more.

HTC makes some of the coolest smartphones on the market and is the maker behind the T-Mobile G1 running Android. HTC has all sorts of different smartphones with features like touch screens and other niceties.

HTC’s latest smartphone, the Touch Diamond, will be available starting today with Verizon Wireless through its business sales channels. The handset has a 2.76-inch touch screen display and uses Opera web browser for surfing the net. The device has a 3.2-megapixel camera and offers memory expansion via microSD cards up to 16GB.

Mitsubishi just announced a whole bunch of new LCDs. DLPs too. The one that has us most interested is an 82-inch DLP for $4200. It isn’t just frakkin huge, it’s also equipped with “3D-ready viewing technology.”

With this baby you’ll be all ready to go whenever 3D content enters your home. It’s part of their 737 “home theater” TV line. The company also updated their soundbar-integrated LCD TVs, which start at $1800 for a 40-inch model up to to $3,300 for a 52-incher.

MSI’s new AMD based notebook, the GX733 is aimed at gamers and multimedia fans. Hence the 17-inch screen and a 5.1 Dolby Theater class sound system, with a sub woofer. The notebook sports MSI’s ECO Engine so you can switch between five different power modes, each with offering different energy consumption and performance options.

Some other features include: 17-inch widescreen display, AMD Turion X2 dual-core CPU, ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4670 3D Graphic Card with DDR3 512 MB VRAM, AMD RX781+SB700 Chipset, HD Audio, 4 Speakers + 1 Sub Woofer, Maximum 500 GB SATA HDD, 2 GB DDR2 RAM, max 4GB, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WLAN Card.

We’ve seen some awesome Lego creations, and this one is just as cool. Philo Hurbain built this 3D scanner because he was looking for a way to model complex Lego parts for use in the LDraw CAD program.

Even the drive components and sensors are made from Lego pieces, except for the probe needle, which is apparently a sewing needle. The “brains” of the device is the Mindstorms NXT. Below, you can watch the device in action as it models a Lego frog.