"The LG Touchscreen Watchphone is one of several 'future phones."

The highly promising LG-GD910 is set to hit the shelves next week for only UK residents for now, and will be exclusive to the Orange network. In addition to the release, the price has been announced at £500, are we still in the credit crunch?

For those of you know that have not heard of this ‘WatchPhone’, below are the features it provides:

• 1.43 inch touchscreen with software keyboard
• Voice recognition features including Text to Speech (TTS)
• MP3 player
• Bluetooth 2.0 for hands free kits
• 7.2 Mbps 3G HSDPA ( high-speed data transmission) compatability via camera.
• Quad Band

The ‘Bond-like’ gadget was first noticed by spectators at this year’s Barcelona Mobile World Congress and is set to be released on the 27th August at Orange’s Bond Street branch as a first come, first server method. However, do not worry, the LG-GD910 will be available on local stores by the middle of september.

Francois Mahieu, director of devices at Orange UK said this phone will make you stand out in the crowd and have already dubbed it the ‘must have gadget of the year,’

“The LG Touchscreen Watchphone is one of several ‘future phones’ we are bringing to UK consumers this year. Being handmade, the device really is highly original and exclusively limited, so you’ll be the envy of all your friends if you’re fortunate enough to get your hands on one.”

It can be seen to many of the public, that Orange have succesfully completed a futuristic genre of mobile phones. Hyundai had already released a much more bulkier watch-phone but did not make it as a success.

How do you think the spectators will react when purchasing this £500 phone and finding out it is simply quite normal? Who would spend £500 on a phone right now on pay as you go, in these hard economical times? Please feel free to comment below.

Microsoft try to aid new Tony Hawk Ride in the software section

For those of you who are not aware of the revolutionary step forward in gaming, here it is -The Tony Hawk Ride, with a skateboard controller. It will deliver a completely different experience to the conventional Tony Hawk game, which will be available for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 in the USA.

Surprisingly, the man himself has put a lot of his own input into the project. Here is more from head of Marketing for Activision Publishing, Rob Kostich who said:

“Tony Hawk Ride is a massive step forward for the franchise and the gaming industry as a whole…The skateboard controller will redefine sports games by offering players a true skateboarding experience, hands-free, playing with friends and family at home or online in a variety of different locations.”

Good for United States but bad news for United Kingdom!

Now, back to news which is that Activision’s Tony Hawk Ride could be exclusive to the Xbox 360 in the UK. Though, partner Microsoft have not been able to finalise the deal but are doing everything they can to see the deal go through. But more promisingly, The UK arm of publisher Activision Blizzard has already publically said that the game will exclusive to the UK on Xbox 360. Not good news for a PS3 user living in the UK Lucky America!

Ideally, Microsoft are trying to lift some of the recent bad news put on them such as blocking messenger in certain Eastern countries, especially in the states. Also, this is not the first time Microsoft have helped with gaming exclusivity as when EA’s hyped Rock Band made a deal with the software giants for an UK exclusive but available to US habitants on many other platforms.

However, some good news for us UK workers, is that reports have suggested that it may not even be exclusive as for all we know the game producers could have a breakdown in talks with Microsoft, resulting in the game being released on to multiple platforms.

Are you a UK inhabitant? What are your thoughts on the issue? Feel free to comment below as well as others showing your thoughts on the gaming issue!

It would not be surprising if you purchased a Nintendo DSi over the weekend, perhaps for you or one of the family. Chart Track figures validates that Nintendo shocked the world in selling an astounding 92,000 consoles on the initial weekend.

Dorian Bloch (UK director of Chart Track) quoted,

“I would expect this launch to very much stimulate the DS software market,”

“It’s difficult to know how many of these 92,000 consumers were new and how many upgraded from their DS or DS Lite. But the next software chart will show the effect of those that have never before owned a DS. The DS market is primed for Easter, and we expect big numbers.”

Many would now anticipate that, having sold that many consoles on a day which has no real significance meaning there is no major holiday such as Easter or Christmas taking place, as Easter is upon us, surely all the high streets in the biggest cities based in the UK will have this newly bred console to advertise suggesting it could break double this time.

The Nintendo DSi now achieves the status of The Fourth Biggest Console Launch in UK History, trailing after the PSP, PS3 and Wii.

What gives the DSi such high regard in comparison to the DS?

As the Nintendo DS was launched over 5 years ago, there have been many new features established including connection to the DSi Shop, where you are able to purchase games and applications, similar to the iPhone store. Another new feature integrated is a dual camera capability.

In my opinion, I think the DSi has the potential to spread throughout the world especially as, for example in the United States, Nintendo have hired celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Beyonce Knowles to advertise the DSi to the public, which is sure to be a big hit.