Apparently square-ish handsets are the cool new thing for 2010, as Nokia has just pulled a Flipout and announced the X5-01. Said to “plug the gap” between the X3 and X6, the X5 packs 2.36″ QVGA display, 5 megapixel camera and a sliding QWERTY keypad into its aesthetically and ergonomically awkward 74.3mm x 66.4mm x 16.8mm frame. It runs Symbian S60 3rd Edition and comes with support for all major social media networks as well as email from Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail and Ovi Mail. The X5 doesn’t really have much in the way of special features, though Nokia says there are some motion-controlled features such as spinning the phone to switch to a random track and shaking it to check the number of unread messages. The Nokia X5 will be available in pink, azure, graphite black, yellow green, and purple in Q3 for around 165€ ($200 US).

Read

It’s July 4th — America is celebrating its independence at the grill, policemen across the country are turning a blind eye to fireworks, liquor store owners are swimming in the day’s take… And two new Sony Ericsson handsets are getting detailed. Maybe. Consider these unconfirmed rumors for the time being, but it looks like SE’s first Android handset could be a gem and its first transparent display-equipped handset could be the ugliest thing we’ve ever seen. Let’s start at the top… After the jump.

Thanks, Staska and origins81!

Pictured above is a sleek full touchscreen handset codenamed “Rachael”, reported to be the Sony Ericsson’s first Android offering. According to rumor, it will bear the Xperia brand and will feature a big ‘ole touchscreen resting atop Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus, a 3.5mm audio jack, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and 3D graphics capabilities. Hot. It will be announced later this year and, if all this holds up, could very well be the first truly drool-worthy SE handset we’ve seen in quite a while.

Next up from the mill, a hideous handset reportedly codenamed “Kiki”. Beyond the unique design, the Kiki is said to feature a glass display that can be viewed from either side of the device. The handset doesn’t seem to feature anything resembling a traditional keypad so we’re not sure how interfacing is going to work. Bottom line — this is likely a very early mock up that will be changed drastically if and when it ever reaches market.

[Via Unwired View]

Read (Rachael)
Read (Kiki)

WOW! (And we do mean World of Warcraft.) Gaming is about to get a little more fun for those nitpicky about their hardware and peripherals options. Microsoft is releasing the new, and long rumored, Sidewinder X6 gaming keyboard along with the new X5 mouse soon. The keyboard will have a detachable numeric keypad for the times you need to use both and remain ergonomically correct, or when your taxes, bookkeeping, and budgeting can wait. The back-lit keyboard isn’t anything terribly exciting, but it does change color and disable certain keys depending on what you’re doing. All the Windows functions keys are disabled during game play so you don’t launch the menu by accident, for example. As far as the backlights, red indicates standard keyboard function and amber means it’s business time.

The mouse looks much like the older one, but it is smaller and feels less clunky and awkward in the hand — perfect for avoiding carpal tunnel during those long raids and tournaments. While the materials used took a nosedive, the cost followed suit. At $59.99, however, it will still have everything a gamer needs such as a 2,000 dpi laser sensor and customizable buttons. Pretty wicked.

Read