Mobile phones are one of the most ubiquitous pieces of gadgetry around. It doesn’t matter if people are into gadgets and electronics or not — most everyone wants a cell phone. As more and more features are being offered like, over-the-air downloads, faster connections speeds are wanted by many users.

Virgin Mobile USA has announced its first EV-DO handset that offers much faster data speeds. The handset is called the Shuttle and comes to Virgin Mobile USA by way of its purchase of Helio. The handset will be available on September 28 for $79.99.

It’s still a concept, but the latest Sphere Sound System rocks it’s name. Obviously aliens are designing gadgets on this planet. The entire music system is round, not just the speakers. It is copletely and utterly spherical. Even those backwards tin hat wearing believers that the Earth is flat can not deny the roundness of this thing. Plus every piece is designed with maximum function in mind.

The subwoofer has the largest speaker and the speaker cone is flanked by two tri-channel speakers, which can be used as a 2.1 surround-sound system. The holes on the sides of the speakers are not ears, but allow deeper vibrating sounds out, which helps to generate ultra deep bass. Every sound is emphasized in the spheres. When using the unit, the main function buttons and the drive glow green. When it’s off, the power button glows red. The LCD screen also glows as the system plays music. Not only is it super functional, but just look at the decorative statement it makes.

It seems like common sense right? Package gadgets in a way that protects them, yet minimizes shipping materials. Not only is it good for the environment, it will save your company a whole lot of dough. How many times have you opened a box full of Styrofoam and other unnecessary packing materials, only to throw most of it away? Apparently it took awhile for HP to figure this out, but they are feeling much better now.

They are selling the new Pavilion dv692 laptop in its own recycled material laptop bag. Other then that, the only packing material in the bag with the laptop are some air bubbles. They ditched the extra cardboard and styrofoam, reducing the packing materials by a stunning 97%. It’s being sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, but I think we’d all like to see this become a larger trend. Hopefully other companies are paying attention. It’s simple, economical and beyond time. I recently bought an Acer Aspire 6920 and at the time I was happy to find that the box was not nearly as full of garbage as I feared it would be. This is a brilliant move.

For those who enjoy thumb-wrestling, but feel that their pudgy digits lack the animation needed for true wrestling drama, you might want to hone your button mashing skills, because Arm Wrestle Mania will take your finger game to the next level. That level being somewhere above redneck and below barstool drunk, but still. This game may be the only way you ever beat someone at arm wrestling, so it’s well worth it.

Commence button mashing and the arm moves. Whoever taps the button quickest wins bragging rights and will have to defend their title with this $25 toy. Who will you be? Backwards hat trucker guy or clean cut 50’s hair dude?

While we’re waiting with bated breath for a possible new updated Nintendo DS model that has been rumored, we thought we would take a look at some of our favorite DS mods. Like the Wii, modders love to spice up Nintendo’s boring design and put their own personal touches on the device. Some are weird, some are awesome, some will make you wonder what’s in the modder’s local water supply, but all are creative.

The olympics are over, but the gadgets continue thanks to Lenovo. How about a set of five wired USB mice named after each of the Fuwa mascots: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and NiNi? If you can believe it, the mouse asymmetrical design took six months to complete, after two hundred or so modifications. We’re taking that one with many grains of salt.

At 1000 dpi optical, the mice are elevated for palm support during prolonged use. The Fuwas are UV painted so they won’t get all scratched up when you make them fight each other on your desk. Each mascot mouse retails for about $20, but it looks like they’re available in China and Hong Kong only.

Teens and tweens don’t normally want to use the same gadgets and electronics that their parents do. The younger crowd wants bright and colorful gear that is easy to use. More and more companies are starting to target this group of younger users with products specifically designed to grab their attention.

Canon announced several new cameras today and one of the new cameras is the PowerShot E1. Canon says that it designed the E1 specifically for the teen and tween age group. The E1 is available in blue, white, and pink colors and has a rounded design.

We’ve covered our share of Batman related gadgets, some good, some bad. But lately gadget makers seem to have rediscovered a long lost love for the Bat-Signal. They’re putting it on everything as if it were just invented in the latest movies. This strange looking clock is no exception.

This Dark Knight themed alarm clock radio features an AM/FM tuner and will also let you project the Bat-signal on your wall or ceiling. Some other features: 12/24 Hour Mode Display Time, Alarm function with 8 different melodies and tones, Adjustable Snooze Timer, AM/FM Radio Band, 180-degree rotation arm for front or back projection, AC Adaptor (included) or 4 AAA Batteries (not included). For $19.99 it’s a bargain for the kid in you.

If you’re a company that is still making landline phones, you have to come up with something that’s gonna make people want them. Like mimicking the iPhone for instance. Could be coincidence. Maybe. The OpenFrame Platform from OpenPeak sure looks a lot like Apples wonder phone. The frame is the center piece for the wireless phones.

They’ve been working on it for about a year and it should be available in early 2009, priced from $200 and $300, distributed by telecom service providers. I wonder if they’re also planning on providing cool apps so you can really get the whole experience of an iPhone for the home. I wonder if this could fly.

At its Leipzig Games Convention press conference today, Sony unveiled a new wireless keypad peripheral that attaches to the top of your PlayStation 3 controller. It snaps into the mini-USB port and can be paired with phones and other gadgets through Bluetooth. The keypad also has a “touchpad mode” for mouse input. No word on pricing yet, but the device will apparently be released in 8 different languages in November.

Big and bulky electric chainsaws may be good for lumberjacks and serial killers, but what about the average guy who just wants to trim some branches that are fourteen feet up? It’s a situation we find ourselves in all too often. If only I had a cordless chainsaw on a long stick.

In fact, who needs ladders at all when you have a chainsaw on stick? The Black & Decker 18-Volt Cordless Electric Pole Chain Saw can reach up to 14 feet and cuts branches six inches in diameter. It weighs in at 7.6 pounds. Does this mean that all of the chainsaw wielding maniac movies will have to be redone. I mean now they can kill from a distance. You can get one for $120.

Do as many people use scanners any more? I don’t. But if I did, a flatbed scanner would take up a lot of desk real estate. When you do need a scanner, chances are a sheet-fed version would do the trick.

That’s where this combo comes in handy. Hailed as “The World’s Only PC Keyboard With Built-In Color Scanner”, this usb keyboard incorporates a bi-directional 600dpi color scanner that’s capable of scanning a full page document in 14-15 seconds. 5 seconds in gray scale mode. It’s a tad expensive at $159, but you save some space in your work area and are really paying for convenience.

Ivyskin has launched three new touch-sensitive iPhone cases that will up your iPhone’s street cred. The cases don’t just offer screen protection. The Xylo T3, XyloReflect and XyloDuo are built with a special wonder material that let’s you to navigate the touch-screen while the case is attached.

Through Surface Xylo Wave technology, the touch is transferred to the screen using ultrasonic waves. The wave is converted to a touch input then processed by the screen. Pretty nifty. Protection you can leave on. You’ve gotta protect the gadgets that you love, while at the same time giving it the sweet love of touch.

We’ve seen our share of solar powered devices, but nothing so hideous and blatantly dorky as the solar powered necktie. It will not only collect solar power, but it also singles you out as a geek. You can thank a group of braniacs at Iowa State University for creating it. It’s made from newly developed solar fabrics. The solar panels are tiny and laid out in a grid that at least makes it look somewhat like any other tacky tie.

It even sports a pocket sewn into the back so your device can suck precious juice like a parasite that no one can see. This technology can only end with a living symbiote tie that strangles you dead, thereby making it look like you’ve committed suicide. Then they’ll take over the world. No one will know. It will just seem like unusually high suicides. Let’s just stop wearing them now, can we? They’re silly.

Wind up gadgets are becoming more and more mainstream. Just look at the wind up remote. It’s about time too as there are so many gadgets that can benefit from being wound up and not needing batteries ever again. You save money and it’s good for the environment too.

Just crank it up and these devices are good to go. The internal dynamo generates enough electricity to keep th is shaver powered for a full shave. If you cannot be bothered winding it up then you can still charge it via a plug. This is also awesome when traveling since you’ll always be able to get rid of that five o’clock shadow.