The folks over at Consumer Report reported that iPhone 3GS took the top spot in smartphone ratings with strong performance in every category except for voice quality – an area many phone struggles with. Of course there are other smartphones-ranking pretty close to the iPhone 3GS, including the Palm Pre.

Dubious doesn’t even begin to cover it, but a listing for a silicone skin case for the “iPod touch 3G” has shown up on online store Uxsight. The anti-slip case has a large cut-out on the top left-hand corner, supposedly to accommodate the third-generation iPod touch’s integrated camera.

The iPhone Dev Team may have held off on releasing their ultrasn0w iPhone 3GS jailbreaking and unlocking tool, but that hasn’t stopped long-time Apple hacker George Hotz.  He’s released a tool called purplera1n which, while not unlocking the iPhone 3GS, does at least jailbreak it so that unofficial third-party apps can be installed.

More and more notebooks and netbooks are getting multitouch-capable touchpads, but if you’re chugging away with your existing machine and you want some straightforward multi-directional scrolling then you may need to take things into your own hands.  As you can see from the newly-acquired nubbin in the right palm-rest on this Eee PC 901, modder Dave Astolfo decided to extract the trackball from an Apple Mighty Mouse and implant it into his netbook.

LG have revealed their plans to launch a number of new luxury phones, including a new PRADA design, which they hope will help usurp Samsung from their number two cellphone maker in the world position.  According to LG’s mobile business president, Ahn Seung-kwon, the current number three is aiming to step up by 2012, and one of their first steps in doing so will be releasing a new “Black Label” series phone in Q4 2009 to take on Apple’s iPhone 3GS.

If you’re going to watch a video about the Samsung Omnia II (i8000) then you may as well watch a long one, and thankfully Hdblog.it have just the thing.  Their 10 minute video review – which you can see after the cut – puts the 3.7-inch WVGA 800 x 480 touchscreen smartphone through its paces, and you can see that Samsung have done a pretty decent job covering up Windows Mobile.

With the abundance of gadgets people have these days, it’s no wonder you have more items than USB ports. That’s why the USB hub was invented. And if you’re going to get a USB hub, why not get one that’s in the shape of an octopus.

If hump-day is treating you roughly, how about a few nameless Chinese OEM MIDs to brighten your mood?  Inkia International have thrust their latest 5-inch and 7-inch models into the limelight, each offering Intel Atom processors, 800 x 480 touchscreens and up to 32GB SSDs.

Is a “no comment” statement even more of a confirmation than a staunch denial ever could be? That certainly seems to be the case with Foxconn, who have declined to comment on rumors that they’ve been picked as an OEM supplier of the much-rumored slimline PS3 by citing “customer confidentiality”.

T-Mobile’s latest Windows Mobile smartphone, the Dash 3G by HTC, is set to land this week, but over at PhoneMag they’ve already been playing with the QWERTY candybar.  Vincent has suffered a bout of nostalgia with the new handset, comparing it to the original Dash, but the new Dash 3G keyboard racks up the kudos as “one of the best if not the best” he’s used.