Joikusoft has launched the popular JoikuSpot app for the Nokia N900 in beta to enable users to turn their Maemo 5-powered device into a hotspot. As you may know, JoikuSpot uses 3G connection to act like wifi hotspot, so you and your friends can connect multiple devices ie laptops to the net and is a welcome addition to the Maemo app list.

Some words from the press release:

JoikuSpot is world’s most used and popular solution for on-demand mobile WiFi internet and mobile 3G HotSpotting. During 2009, more than 5 million mobile internet experiences were made via JoikuSpotting, and the overall JoikuSpot user base grew to over 500.000 actual JoikuSpotters. Altogether this resulted into more than 100 Million Megabytes of mobile data consumption across more than 200 countries and 750 operator networks worldwide. Average global JoikuSpot internet consumption grew from 8 Mb to 22 Mb per JoikuSpot internet session, which speaks to the improvement in 3G operator network qualities in 2009.

JoikuSpot Linux Edition launches today as FREE Beta and you can grab it from Joiku’s website.

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Acer has announced the latest handset from its Liquid range of Android phones – the Acer Liquid e.

The Acer Liquid e is an update of the company’s Liquid S100 handset and uses the latest Android 2.1 OS.

Essentially this means it has a chip in it which isn’t going to wheeze and splutter every time you ask the phone to do two things at once. This chip is a graphically aware Qualcomm 8250 Snapdragon processor, which pumps out info at 768 MHz.

Liquid Es are good

The screen on board is a 2.5-inch WVGA LCD, there’s a 5MP camera, video recording and GPS as well.

Media capacity comes in the form of a micro-SD slot (up to 32GB) and there’s also a 3.5mm jack so your everyday headphones can be used with it. As it packs Android 2.1, you will be given the use of five home screens, quick contacts and double tap zooming, no word on multitouch yet.

Release date, price or carriers not yet known. Stay tuned.

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Toshiba has announced the TG02 handset, a capacitive touchscreen Windows Phone using the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform and sporting a 1GHz processor.

The Toshiba TG02 is an update to the original TG01 which had a woeful 3D UI and a resistive screen, this update brings a much needed 4.1-inch capacitive WVGA touchscreen and a newly retooled 3D menu.

Toshiba believes that a newly designed ‘3D’ menu system on the handset will boost the phone’s popularity billing the phone as an ‘ideal device for users who demand high-quality entertainment on the go’.

Enhances user experience

"Based on the very latest Windows Mobile 6.5 platform, the TG02 enhances the user experience with its quick and easy operation," says Tosh’s release

"An internal 1GHz processor also makes the TG02 an ideal device for internet browsing, enabling users to quickly access and load websites or stream content."

There is no UK release date given for the TG02 yet or a price for the British market.

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Toshiba has announced the K01 mobile phone sporting a full slide out QWERTY keyboard and a 4.1 inch OLED capacitive screen.

The phone – which was announced alongside the Toshiba TG02 – brings the ever-popular QWERTY keyboard but it is the device’s screen which will garner the most attention.

"The K01 also offers Toshiba’s first-ever Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) capacitive 10.4cm (4.1 inch) widescreen – providing bright colour, contrast, lower power consumption and faster response times than ever before," said Toshiba.

A sliver under 1.3cm

The K01 is 12.9mm thick – with the keyboard obviously boosting the size somewhat , running Windows Mobile 6.5 with a 1GHz processor, up to 32GB storage (through a MicroSDHC slot) and the company’s new user interface which it hopes will "let users quickly browse to their favourite features, saving time and making the mobile experience more enjoyable."

There is no UK release date or price available as yet for the Toshiba K01, but the moment that we find them out we will, of course, let you know.

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Nokia and Intel today announced the merging of two Linux based mobile OS’s to become a powerful, open source platform called MeeGo that will create a "software platform that will support multiple hardware architectures across the broadest range of device segments, including pocketable mobile computers, netbooks, tablets, Smartbooks, Smartphones, connected TVs and in-vehicle infotainment systems."

Based on QT, it will be open sourced and open to all OEM’s to build devices around. Current Maemo and Moblin applications will be forward compatible and there will be some kind of app store.

You can check out the website for more. MeeGo.com

Big goings on over at Mobile World Congress today. Twenty-four telecom operators, with the support of the GSMA and three major hardware manufacturers, have formally announced they will come together to form the Wholesale Applications Community.

Essentially, the goal of the alliance will be to create a viable, cohesive and open industry platform for mobile app developers. Members of the Community will include AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, TeliaSonera, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone among others, and they’ll be supported in their endeavors by LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. The total customers of the group is about 3 billion, giving WAC some considerable — albeit theoretical for the moment — power. The group plans to work on coming up with a standard for working across platforms over the next twelve months.

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For those of you waiting for Nokia to hurry up and make Symbian usable and generally rocking, the road to glory took a step forward recently with this preview of Symbian ^3, whilst not completely rocking the cross platform code that is QT which also powers Maemo 6, it still never the less looks pretty nifty and will be seen on handsets later this year.

If this video is anything to by, its going to please Symbian fans no end. It even has the mythical ‘pinch to zoom’.

The first devices running the new platform are expected to ship as early as Q3 this year. Along with more efficient memory management, allowing more apps to run in parallel, Symbian^3 also includes support for HDMI, so users can plug their device into a TV and watch a 1080p movie. The new graphics architecture will use hardware acceleration to offer users a much improved user interface, with a refresh rate of 60fps as opposed to the current 15fps.

The new homescreen supports multiple pages for widgets, enabling the user to just flick between each one. Across the board we’ll also see a range of network improvements, including the ability to automatically switch from cell network to WLAN automatically, without user interruption. The platform is also ready for 4G networks.

Motorola has just announced its eighth Android phone at MWC, dubbed the Quench or Cliq XT in the US.

Highlights include a 3.1-inch touchscreen with a 320×480-pixel "pinch and zoom" touch capabilities, 5 megapixel camera (with autofocus and LED flash), a navigation touchpad and a dual-mic noise cancellation system. It’ll ship with Android version 1.5, rather than the Dext’s 2.0 or the Nexus One’s 2.1, but an upgrade’s always a possibility. The rest of the features include Stereo Bluetooth, AGPS, FM radio, Motoblur and Adobe Flash Lite.

Unlike the Cliq there’s no physical keyboard here, but if that’s how you roll then look out for launch and pricing for this phone next month.