3Skypephone launching November 2nd?

We aren't etching this in stone just yet, but we've seen numerous reports claiming that the recent partnership between 3 and Skype will soon lead to an actual piece of hardware. Reportedly, the 3Skypephone will be available on October 29th "for a pre-launch," and will be officially official on November 2nd. Specs wise, it should feature free calls to other Skype users / 3Skypephone owners, a two-megapixel camera, video capturing and an MP3 player. Interested consumers can supposedly choose from three different colors, and it should be available on the "£12 ($25) Mix and Match 100 tariff which offers 100 minutes or texts or any mix of the two." Ah well, at least we've but a few days left to find out for sure, eh?

Boynq rolls out Wake Up iPod speaker / alarm clock

Yeah, what you see above actually is yet another iPod speaker / alarm clock mashup, but being that it's from Boynq, it looks noticeably better than most of the alternatives. The interestingly designed device does quite a few things aside from wake you from your slumber, as it also includes an FM radio and line in / out ports to compliment the built-in equalizer and 20-watts of amplification. Best of all, this thing plays nice with every dock-connecting iPod ever created (including the iPhone "on models produced after January 1st"), and the remote controllable snooze practically guarantees that you'll never be on time for anything again. Talk about user friendly..

Vero ENB-100 Bluetooth kit offers solar-powered hands-free calling

Those that make a habit of chatting it up all day in their vehicle may want to consider Elan's new Vero ENB-100 device, which the company claims is the "world's first" solar-powered Bluetooth hands-free car kit. As you can no doubt surmise, it promises continuous charge-free operation as long as there's sunlight, and it'll even give you 15 hours of operation on a single charge if the weather isn't cooperating. Otherwise, you can expect the usual array of hands-free calling features, including a noise-canceling, omni directional microphone, a 1 watt "high-performance" speaker, and a voice dialing feature to let you keep your hands on the wheel. From the looks of it, however, this one's only available in the U.K. at the moment, where it'll set you back £60 (or about $120), although there's nothing to stop you from ordering one.

The T-Mobile Shadow

T-Mobile today has announced the long-rumored Shadow, a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device that looks not just better than its Wing stablemate, but arguably better than just about any comparably-equipped smartphone on the market today. Besides the "slick, slider design" and a juiced version of the standard Windows Mobile 6 UI, the Shadow features a rotating jog dial front and center, 2 megapixel camera, WiFi, and a new version of T-Mobile's myFaves interface allowing users to call, email, text, or MMS the peeps in their "fave five." Like what you see? If you do, good, because it turns out this is just the first in a whole line of upcoming Shadow-branded phones for the carrier -- a line that'll be focusing on multimedia connectivity and slanting the work / life balance a little more to the "life" side than some of HTC's and T-Mobile's other smart devices (ahem, Wing, we're looking straight at you). Grab the Shadow starting this Wednesday in "sage" or "copper" for a surprisingly reasonable $149.99 on two-year contract.

Lenovo's Y410: their first consumer laptop hits the big box

US netizens can now call dibs on Lenovo's 3000 Y410 laptop for the home. That's right, a consumer laptop -- their first for the US market. Released without fanfare, the new 14.1-inch glossy 1,280 x 800 model starts at about $700 depending upon the configuration you track down at your local big box -- another first for Lenovo. That gets you a 1.46GHz Pentium Dual Core T2310 proc, 1GB of memory, 160GB 5400rpm disk, dual-layer DVD writer, 6-in-1 media card reader, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, ExpressCard, and Intel X3100 graphics with 1.3 megapixel camera, Dolby Home Theater speakers with sub-woofer running atop a Vista Home Premium OS. The 1.02-1.45-inch thick / 5.5-pound sled doesn't look half bad either... for Lenovo. Now we're just wondering if the build quality and support matches that of their ThinkPad lineup. If so, then Lenovo's got themselves a winner here.