Kids today. They live and breathe Facebook, eat MySpace for breakfast and sleep in a bed made from Twitter tweets. That's why they're going to flock to the new INQ1 phone like tabloid journalists to Stephanie Rice's Facebook profile.

The INQ1 (which is made by INQ, a new mobile phone manufacturer backed by Hutchison Whampoa) brings Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Skype and email to the core of the user interface, as well has supporting RSS feeds and widgets for other social networks. The phone itself is a HSDPA-enabled handset with a 3.2MP camera, 2.2-inch QVGA screen, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and up to 324 minutes talk time and 327 hours standby. It weighs in at 100 grams and measures 47.6 x 14.4 x 97.0mm. It has upgradable memory to 4GB, comes in silver or black and has a two-year warranty.

If this sounds like your kind of social experience, the INQ1 will cost $179 on 3 prepaid, or available on contract from $39 a month, which includes a heap of stuff like free Skype to Skype calls.

Full presser is below for all you young'uns and Facebook addicts.

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One of the main reasons I won't go near prepaid mobile internet options is because I hate not getting what I pay for. I mean, if I buy 1GB worth of data, I should be able to use that 1GB whenever I want, not just within the next 30 days. And although that's unlikely to change with any of the networks in the near future, 3 has just slightly improved the situation by offering pre-paid mobile internet that has a 365 day expiration period.

For $149, you get 12GB of data that you can use any time you wish over the next 12 months. Of course, you'll also have to pick yourself up an internet key ($129) to use the service, but that's not too bad. And if you, unlike me, reckon you could fly through your mobile data within 30 days, there are also a heap of other options for you, which are detailed below the fold...

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It's been coming for what seems like a very long time, and now, thankfully, Samsung's Omnia Windows Mobile smartphone has hit retail shelves in Australia.

It's available through Vodafone's $79 cap and Three's $69 cap, for those of you looking for a non-Apple touchscreen smartphone. And considering that Samsung announced this phone on the same day that Apple launched the iPhone 3G, you can expect a few direct comparisons between the two handsets as reviews start hitting the Australian interwebs. Of course, if you can't wait for that to happen, remember that Jesus had a hands on back in August and was not impressed. So hopefully it's been tweaked a little since then, although it is running Windows Mobile - and we all know how hard it is to polish that...

[Samsung]

If you're flying one of Europe's many discount carriers and you're not violently hungover, you're probably doing something wrong--the cabins of those single-class A319s are bubbling tempests of unshowered, throbbing rage that always seem a fraction of a degree away from boiling over. Now on your sunrise flight from Krakow to Berlin, you can enjoy constant mobile phone blabbing from up to six surrounding seats thanks to the good folks at Ryanair, 3, and O2.

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Well Gizmodians, one of this year's most anticipated smartphones has finally hit Aussie shores. Months after we first caught a glimpse of the smartphone, HTC showed off their brand spanking new HTC Touch Pro to a bunch of curious tech journos today. And the verdict: it's surprisingly impressive.

In the flesh, the Pro looks a hell of a lot like its little brother, the Touch Diamond. In fact with its TouchFlo 3D interface, 3.2 megapixel camera, direct printing capabilities, internet access and a whole bunch of other fancy stuff, you can't help but ask: why did HTC even bother releasing the Diamond?

The answer to that question lies in the phone's profile.

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Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Three's latest mobile content offering isn't that they're taking episodes of TV shows and shortening them for mobile phone viewing, but the TV shows that they've selected to offer.

I mean, there are lots of great 1/2 hour TV shows out there that would benefit from being made into Minisodes. Who's the Boss, The Young and the Restless and The Partridge Family aren't exactly what springs to mind, although I do have a soft spot for Married With Children.

The minisodes are cut back to between four and six minutes long, which make them perfect for watching on the go. So long as you're prepared to sacrifice a little plot, character development and entertainment, that is.

The good news is that the minisodes are free for 3 customers, so they probably are a good way of killing time while you wait for the train or bus. It's only available in their 3G network areas though, which is a good thing considering their 2G roaming costs.

[Three]

Are you a Three customer? Do you feel inadequate when you travel outside the major metropolitan areas as your phone drops back to Telstra's 2G network while all your friends boast super-fast 3G speeds on their "other network" phones?

Well, feel inadequate no longer, with Three today announcing that they're expanding their 3G network to cover 96% of the Australian population by next year.

The expansion looks like it will be a combination of using 3's own network, plus piggybacking on Telstra's NextG network as well, although just how much of the latter will be happening is unclear. What is clear is that 3 are already working on the expansion, with 50 new sites, including Newcastle and the Central Coast of NSW, scheduled to go live by the end of the year.

At the moment, Three reaches a paltry 56% of the population with 3G. For me, I just hope they patch up the black spot near Sydney airport for when I'm on the train, so I can spend more time on Giz. Cos I love you guys.

UPDATE: I've heard back from 3 on a couple of questions I asked them - turns out that the extra infrastructure they're building will take them to over 60%. To get up to 96%, they're jumping in bed with Telstra's NextG (the 2100MHz network NextG also uses is a 50/50 joint venture with 3).

On top of that, once the ink has dried on their deal with Telstra, it should bring down roaming costs. To what, we'll have to wait and see, but if it's cheaper than the current roaming charges, then it's good news.

Press release is below:

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Despite the fact that they launched a petition to Apple to get the iPhone for their customers, 3 still can't sell you an iPhone. But thanks to Optus letting you unlock their pre-paid iPhones, we know that you can get an iPhone working on 3's network anyway, no hacking required.

So, in what can only be considered a brilliant move (under the circumstances) they've launched plans specifically for the iPhone - where you supply the iPhone.

What's more, they'll actually pay you for your iPhone. That's right! 3 will actually offset some of the cost of buying a pre-paid Optus iPhone outright and unlocking it so you can use it on 3.

So, you can spend $809 (8GB) or $949 (16GB) to get an unlocked iPhone, and when you take it to 3, they'll give you $300. The catch, of course, is that you need to sign up to a 24 month contract.

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Despite all the rumours and tips we'd received about the iPhone launching on 3, it looks like the mobile network isn't actually getting the iPhone 3G any time soon.

Yesterday afternoon, 3 sent out a press release for their new online iPhone petition to Apple, where 3 customers can voice their hopes and dreams for an X-series Jesusphone to browse the web from their pocket cheaply.

Noel Hamill, the Director of Sales, Marketing and Product at 3, said:

"Ever since Apple's announcement that a 3G iPhone is coming, we've had lots of calls and emails - the main flavour is people wanting to get the value that 3 offers with the iPhone.
"While we've been engaging with Apple to secure the iPhone for 3, we don't know whether we can range it.
"We want Apple to see just how much our customers want the iPhone."