It's rare that Apple's patents actually show the exact form factors of devices they have in development, but this "dual sided trackpad" patent for a phone seems to definitely show that they've got some flipphone version coming up. The patent itself outlines a phone that has two multitouch sensors, both on the "bottom" part of the phone. When it's closed, the phone acts like your current model iPhone. When it's open, only the bottom part of the phone is touch-sensitive, whereas the top part is just a display.

The top/bottom touchscreen difference has the interesting effect of bringing some new features such as actually drawing out a number on the touchpad, rotating and old school dial (?), simulating a T9 dialpad, or even having both sides of the touchscreen active at once for some crazy control. More at Gizmodo.

Feareth not as there is only going to be one winner here in this clash of the titans. Yep, I fully intend to put the young whippersnapper McGill firmly in his place, teach him a lesson he won't forget, let him know what is what and show him and those windows mobile cronies over at the pda247 forums exactly what platform rules the roost. In the hugely likely unlikely event that I end up looking like a complete numpty then I will of course take it squarely on the chin but rest assured, I will go in there will all guns blazing defending the dignity and honour of our gracious and noble iphone....although I'm not exactly sure why I am bearing in mind I've been using a Centro for the last few weeks.

Yep, Shaun has been talkin' the talk...let's see if he can walk the walk."

I'm not going to say too much before the debate, because that would show weakness. Trying to bully an opponent before battle commences rarely works, so I will rely on my younger mind to think quicker and win the debate with ease. Anything you would like me to ask Murray?:)

The iPAQ 614c has been with me for three days now, and is really starting to grow on me. The navigation options and front mounted shortcut keys are a real advantage and I find myself rarely pulling out the stylus. Turning it on and off is done on the front keypad, and the smart touch wheel has come in handier than I would have expected. It somehow manages to be useful, without getting in the way when using the keyboard on which it sits.

There is robustness to the design which gives a feeling of confidence, and this can be mostly attributed to the fact it is a single structure. Slide out keyboard phones have their advantages, but can feel slightly delicate in day to day use.

Call Quality

The call quality is good and probably the best I have experienced in a Windows Mobile Professional device, and the speakerphone option is also very clear with only slight distortion from time to time.

Screen

The 614c is far from small, but this does offer the advantage of a larger screen and many people will prefer the bigger screen over a smaller unit. The landscape / portrait key has proved to be a bigger bonus than I expected, and is especially handy when browsing the internet or viewing films. Surprisingly switching screen orientation has almost no delay at all, which is highly unusual. The only downside I can see is the high ridges around the screen which can hamper stylus navigation when using small scroll bars near the edges.

Battery

I cannot fault the 614c in this area. The battery is excellent, as should be expected considering its specification, and so far I have not recharged it once. It is easy to forget just how important power is in a smartphone, but once you suffer the hassle of recharging every day the 614c will save you from that hassle and after all, isn’t a smartphone meant to save hassle and not cause more?

Keyboard

I love the shortcut buttons and the way the 614c can be used almost all of the time with just the front mounted keys. They are big enough for the fattest of fingers and will suit the majority down to the ground. Personally, I need a QWERTY keyboard and the addition of one to the 614c would have meant Clove getting my credit card details, rather than the phone back. The 914c, which is coming in May, could be my next smartphone though...

Camera

Like the majority of smartphone cameras the 3MP model on the 614c does not quite live up to the specification. It is definitely better than the TyTN II camera and has a fairly fast shutter speed, so it is definitely good to have. Video recording was not too bad either and worthy of inclusion.

Communication

Wi-Fi worked perfectly the first time I tried it and there were no issues with Bluetooth connecting to a headset either. I haven’t had time to test the GPS for long periods, but the included Google Maps showed that signal lock was not a problem and it seemed to perform as well as the TyTN II in this area, which is very well. The large screen is also a bonus when navigating especially because it performs quite well in bright conditions.

I am struggling to find fault with the 614c. It is not the best looking smartphone in the world, nor the smallest but it has the crucial marriage of performance, practicality and power which so many smartphones fall down on in at least one area.

From a starting point of not being very impressed, the 614c has grown on me and shows that HP’s recent foray back into the PDA market has continued successfully on the smartphone side.

Available from Clove for £364.25 (minus £50 rebate)

Luca has sent in links to parts 1 and 2 of the Treo vs. BlackBerry In-Depth Analysis over at CrackBerry.com- "From 1997 to last month, I carried a Palm OS device exclusively, virtually every day of my life.  I upgraded almost every year to add additional features until I finally got an integrated organizer and cellular telephone, my personal Holy Grail. Unfortunately, over time, my needs have changed and I have finally come full-circle, back to the point where I no longer need extensive shareware, and instead primary application functionality and stability are paramount for me.

Last year, I upgraded my Treo 700p on Sprint to a 755p.  This was because my 700p was simply unusable.  I had issues with the hardware lagging, the phone randomly crashing, often in the middle of critical telephone calls.  I had issues with the Bluetooth dropping connections or refusing to reconnect. I couldn’t get Versamail to operate properly through my new job’s Exchange Active Sync, so I ended up registering ChatterEmail, a wonderful program that Palm purchased and immediately ceased supporting.  After about seven months, every one of these symptoms had appeared on a brand new Treo 755p.  So after eleven years, I decided to abandon the Palm platform completely and switch to a BlackBerry 8830.

This article is my comparison of the two platforms after a little over a month of use.  In the end, I think I made the right choice personally.  I require my handheld to be absolutely reliable, and after a month of use, my BlackBerry has not crashed once.  There are certainly things about my Treo that I miss, and things that the BlackBerry does (or does not do) that annoys me, or are more difficult than they would have been on my Treo.  But for my needs, the BlackBerry is the superior device."

The Echo - Mirrored Screen Protector (Apple iPhone) is a great idea and one that is sure to sell very well- "The Echo Mirrored Screen Protector protects your Apple iPhone a treat and offers more than meets the eye. When your iPhone display is switched on, the Echo acts as a simple (yet brilliant) screen protector, but as soon as your display backlight is switched off, the screen protector acts as a mirror meaning you can look almost as good as your iPhone will."

Prevents screen scratching and other damage
Easy to apply
Includes application card and screen cleaning cloth
Can be washed and replaced
Acts as a mirror when your LCD is switched off

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft  Corp co-founder Bill Gates urged U.S. communications regulators on Thursday to free up more vacant television airwaves to be used for wireless services such as broadband Internet access.

During an appearance before a Northern Virginia technology group, Gates said the so-called "white space" spectrum between analog broadcast channels could be used to expand access of wireless broadband  service using Wi-Fi technology.

"We're hopeful that that will be made available so that Wi-Fi can explode in terms of its usage, even out into some of these less dense areas (of the United States) where distance has been a big problem for Wi-Fi," Gates said in response to a question from the audience.

Microsoft is part of a coalition of technology companies that has been lobbying the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to allow unlicensed use of white space spectrum.

The group also includes Google Inc , Dell  , Intel Corp , Hewlett-Packard Co and the north American unit of Philips Electronics. More at i4u. Thanks to Luca.

If CNET News.com's readers are any indication, Microsoft's Windows Mobile has a better base of support than one might think, but all the winds are blowing toward Apple.

The results of our first annual (maybe) smartphone survey are in, and thanks to everyone who left comments here on One More Thing or over on Crave, and those who flooded my inbox with responses. Yes, I know we should have a survey tool, but we're working on other stuff right now that's more important. (You'll have to trust me on that one.)

Between the comments and the e-mails, we received 159 responses. I must note that this is not a scientific study; we're not going to be putting market research firms out of business anytime soon. But I thought it was time for a look at what some of our readers are using, and I was surprised at some of the results. More at CNET.

Today's free eBook is Blindsight by Peter Watts- "It didn't start out here. Not with the scramblers or Rorschach, not with Big Ben or Theseus or the vampires. Most people would say it started with the Fireflies, but they'd be wrong. It ended with all those things.

For me, it began with Robert Paglino.

At the age of eight, he was my best and only friend. We were fellow outcasts, bound by complementary misfortune. Mine was developmental. His was genetic: an uncontrolled genotype that left him predisposed to nearsightedness, acne, and (as it later turned out) a susceptibility to narcotics. His parents had never had him optimized. Those few TwenCen relics who still believed in God also held that one shouldn't try to improve upon His handiwork. So although both of us could have been repaired, only one of us had been.

I arrived at the playground to find Pag the center of attention for some half-dozen kids, those lucky few in front punching him in the head, the others making do with taunts of mongrel and polly while waiting their turn. I watched him raise his arms, almost hesitantly, to ward off the worst of the blows. I could see into his head better than I could see into my own; he was scared that his attackers might think those hands were coming up to hit back, that they'd read it as an act of defiance and hurt him even more. Even then, at the tender age of eight and with half my mind gone, I was becoming a superlative observer."