NOT. Sprint have just announced the fact that they will be carrying the new Samsung SPH-M800 iPhone killer.

Of course, it is not really an iPhone killer, but it does look an awful lot like one. What on earth it is that makes the Korean manufacturer think a phone that looks like an Apple iPhone will do any good, I am unsure of. As far as I can tell, they have some pretty good phones in the works that are of their own design, and merely turning out a poor copy is frankly ridiculous. It looks suspiciously like they made this one just because the MD muttered something like, “When the hell are we going to have our own version.” And this is what the designers came up with after a three minute consult.

2 megapixel camera, EV-DO, GPS support and stereo Bluetooth. As it’s a Sprint release, you will have access to Sprint TV and the massively unpopular Sprint Music store.

No word on price yet, but I have this strange premonition that it’s going to be cheaper than an Apple iPhone. It looks OK, I guess, but combined with Sprint’s legendary customer service, I won’t be rushing out to buy one.

Unlike your typical Hollywood blockbuster sequel, the FDDI Corporation Infobar Mark 2 is a distinct improvement on the original. The first Infobars failed dismally at their first attempt in 2003 – mainly because this coincided with the fad for slim, tiny little folding phones.

Now we have all begun to hate the fact that the buttons on these phone are all but unusable without a matchstick and Apple have allowed us the benefit of a touch screen, it is time for the Infobar to be reborn.

More facilities than enough – video recording and playback, wifi connectivity with ready-to-go internet software loaded, a built-in camera and speakers, music and video playback. Right down to a built-in FM tuner that will display the name of the artist.

But what is it that has got Mark so excited about yet another new phone on the market? Yes – it’s first and foremost a phone – with big buttons that mean I won’t end up dialing an old girlfriend by mistake when I’m trying to call my Mum.

It is just over 2.5 inches wide with a 2.6 inch wide QVGA screen, is very nicely designed and – I want one. It’s beautiful – just look at the photos. Forget the over-hyped iPhone – this is the one.

At last, a phone I like. Anything that comes in day-glo orange and has a 100db alarm that makes the phone flash the word, “help” in bright orange letters on it has got to be worth buying. It almost reminds me of what I would expect the Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy to look like. A nice friendly orange and the helpful word, HELP plastered on it.

For one thing it’s big – I like big in a phone. A range of colors to satisfy just about any one, built-in GPS and “high waterproof efficiency.” I am not quite sure exactly what that means – is it waterproof or not? In the promo photos, the phones are scattered with a few genteel drops of water rather than submerged in a bucket, so I’m guessing it means, “water resistant.”

Anyway, it looks as though the designers actually had some fun with this one and I especially like the enormous rubber ring that triggers the alarm and is billed as a “crime prevention buzzer.” Love it.

Other features include a 2.7-inch color display, a four-level brightness LED, and a 1.3 megapixel CMOS camera with auto focus. This is going to be the go-to phone next year, mark my words.

Nokia’s latest offering, the N81 looks like it should be all things to all men, but the best way of describing this one would be “middle of the road.”

Not quite as feature packed as the N95, the N81 misses out on full GPS functionality, comes with the usual headphones that need throwing away and replacing with a decent set, a below average camera and, at some time on the future a hopefully decent range of games.

Everything about this phone is average from the design to the functionality. I fail to see the need for another phone of this level. The size is average (102x50x20mm) so they are not aiming for the “my phone’s thinner than your phone,” market.

Mobile review have an in-depth look at the phone here. In fact they go almost to the point of dismantling the thing and I was a little disappointed not to see one in pieces by the end.

All in all it’s just one more phone in an already overcrowded market place. My thinking is the consumer will be so confused by the time the salesman has run through the list of phones available they will just say, “OK, OK, give me the black one.”

Nokia’s detail page is here, and although they describe it as “never a dull moment,” clearly their idea of dull differs from mine.

“Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat.” An old English expression that more appropriately describes most people’s livers around Christmas time. But fear not or in my case, be very, very afraid.

The latest gadget to make it’s way out on to the market from Korea is a cell phone attachment that tests your liver function on the fly….Scary.

Technical details are a little thin at the moment, but this gadget apparently reminds you when to test your liver function by testing two enzymes in your bloodstream. I guess you do a little pinprick test similar to a diabetes test, the sensor in the phone sends the data to a hospital for analysis and, should there be a problem, a doctor phones you and tells you it’s time to put that beer down.

The Korean Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology has apparently filed an international patent for this thing, so we can soon expect full health checks as well as a selection of ringtones and games to come as standard equipment on the next generation of phones.

Speaking personally I’m a big fan of the maxim, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” And I’m not sure I want to know the state of my liver on a daily basis.