Tons of little accessories from Griffin today -- here's a quick breakdown, pictures in the gallery!

• SmartTalk Bluetooth headset: dual-mic headset featuring STEPvoice "acoustic voice separation" technology to kill background and wind noise, and features voice feedback during pairing. $100, now shipping, or wait until February to buy it in a bundle with the PowerJolt car charger for $120.
• TuneBuds Fit: In-ear headphones with 10mm drivers in an "anatomically correct" aluminum curved design. Sure, okay. They'll be $50 in February.
  
• Noise-reducing auxiliary audio cable: Car-oriented headphone cable with an inline dual-element noise filter to eliminate hum from vehicle electrical systems. If you need this -- you know if you do, trust us -- it'll be well worth the $20 in February.
  
• SmartShare USB: Sure, lots of people could use this $20 two-port USB hub with a unique splitter-like design, but Griffin's targeting it at MacBook Air owners, because let's face it -- it's fun to point out how limited the MacBook Air is.
  
• PowerBlock Reserve: Adds a removable battery to the popular PowerBlock USB charger that allows it to charge your iPod / iPhone away from an outlet. A little steep at $40, but the battery is held in place magnetically for extra awesomeness.
  
• PowerJolt Reserve: Same deal as the PowerBlock, but in an iPod / iPhone car charger package.
  
• Charge Converter FireWire to USB: We're still unclear as to why all these iPhone 3G FireWire charging adapters are all so expensive, but $30 will get you Griffin's take on the idea sometime later this month.

We're getting way too many tips on AT&T being down for it to be a coincidence -- how's it going for you? Both EDGE and 3G are pretty spotty for us at the moment in Illinois, but they're working in NYC, which jibes with reports of a Midwest-specific outage, but we're also hearing there are troubles nationwide. We've pinged AT&T for an official statement, but in the meantime let us know if things are working for you wherever you are.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We had an inkling that Casio and Verizon were up to something when we caught an Exilim-branded phone working its way through the FCC, and it looks like that hunch was right-on -- check out this hot snap of an Exilim NX9250 that just turned up. We're told that the chubby-looking handset features a 5.1 megapixel camera (right, Exilim) and "possibly" a WVGA screen, and those hinges suggest a swivel-flip design -- too bad it doesn't look as slick as that W63CA we were secretly hoping for. We'll see what this one looks like all dolled up -- we've got a feeling we'll find out soon enough. One more shot after the break.

The iPhone's camera may be thoroughly eclipsed by several of its competitors, but the insane popularity of Apple's baby means that we've seen tons of accessories aimed at making that 2.1 megapixel sensor somewhat more useful -- like the Snapture Flash here, which tucks a xenon flash with red-eye reduction into a sleeve-type case. Although it's powered by the phone, it's apparently quite low-power -- SnaptureLabs estimates that you'll take 1000 shots before going dry -- and there's some sort of "speaker amplification" built in as well, just in case you're super into enhancing mediocre parts of the iPhone experience. Bad news? You'll have to jailbreak your phone to get the Snapture app working -- hopefully that'll be remedied by the time this thing ships. Check out some sample shots at the read link.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Online shoppers looking to spend the holiday season firmly planted on the couch can add the iPhone 3G back to their lists -- we've just confirmed that Apple and AT&T have quietly brought back in-home activation. Sure, it's been available in limited circumstances before, but now it's here and for real, just like with the first-gen unit. Would-be unlockers looking to score a phone for $199 flat can't start celebrating just yet, though -- you'll still have to provide your billing details and face an ETF if you don't activate within a set period of time. Oh well -- at least it's convenient, right?

[Via Boy Genius Report]

If you're anything like us, you've been waiting for Android to work its way onto basically every device you own, so this video of the plucky open source OS getting busy on an HTC Touch is an encouraging glimpse of the future. Work has actually been going on for a while now, but this is the best we've seen so far --it's all there, including a custom soft keyboard, and it looks like it runs pretty well, although we're told there are some issues with scaling the UI to QVGA and that GPS, Bluetooth and USB aren't operable yet. The hack is actually available, and you don't have to be too daring to try it out -- all it takes is a restart to go back to WinMo. Who's taking the plunge?

[Thanks, Justin]

We first caught wind of Sprint's plans to launch a couple dual-mode CDMA / WiMAX devices under the "Sprint 4G" brand a couple days ago, but we're thinking about it a little more, and we're struck by the carrier's decision to run its 4G services as an MVNO on Clearwire's new Clear network. Sprint's balance sheet is basically upside-down at the moment, so we sort of understand why it's not eager to directly invest in a build-out of 4G infrastructure, but at the end of the day, leasing access to a network for general voice and data services is a totally failed business model -- there's a reason we have an MVNO graveyard. We're not saying Sprint's turning itself into the next Helio, but you just don't see the other major carriers doing things like selling off almost all of their existing towers and then letting a spinoff handle their 4G buildouts. We'd say there's some deep juju going on behind the scenes here, and with company spokespeople saying things like "nothing's off the table," it feels like some radical changes are about to hit Overland Park. We'll see how it shakes down soon enough, we think -- the status quo doesn't seem like it can last much longer.

Hey, just because using secret undocumented iPhone SDK calls might get you booted from the App Store doesn't mean it's not a good time -- Ars Technica commissioned Freeverse to mod its Moto Chaser game to use the hidden video-out features in iPhone 2.2, and we have to say the results turned out pretty decent. It's not perfect -- it looks like it only works in landscape mode, and rendering to TV resolutions strains the processor and slows framerates down on all but the faster 2G iPod touch -- but it works, and it's a taste of where iPhone app development could go if Apple ever opens up the gates. Or you could just be Google and do whatever you want, we suppose. Video after the break.

Look, we know haphazardly stapling an iPod dock onto nearly any product can cause almost-paralyzing fits of hyperbole amongst marketing personnel, but Scosche's description of its sad little reviveLITE nightlight charger as "cordless" because it plugs directly into the wall might take the cake. Oh, wait -- you know what actually takes the cake? It's priced at a delightfully insulting $40. Yeah, we'll stick with the monster under the bed, guys. At least it respects us.

Come on, you didn't think Nokia's only response to the G1, iPhone, and Storm would be the 5800 XpressMusic, did you? Word on the ground at this week's Nokia World conference is that Espoo is planning a major announcement tomorrow -- and hey, is that a countdown timer to the keynote that just went live on Nokia's site? Interesting. Our pal and yours Robert Scoble says that Nokia execs are running around bragging that "the Internet" is totally in the dark on this one, and that only a small number of people within the company have seen the new device. That's certainly got our ears perked up -- we're guessing this is something a little more major than that hinted-at touch Communicator. We'll let you know right away if you want to stay up with us -- the event is scheduled for 3:15AM EST.

Read - Scoble's take
Read - Nokia countdown clock

We knew this day would eventually come, but somehow we're still misting up a little -- Linux has been ported to the iPhone and iPod touch. Dev Team member planetbeing is the mastermind in charge of bringing everyone's favorite open-source OS to Apple's handhelds, and while it's a little rough around the edges (read: no touchscreen drivers, sound, or WiFi / cell radio support), it's definitely the first step on the road to hacking nirvana. The team is hard at work, and it even sounds like they're thinking about porting Android in the near future (!), so hit the read link to try it out and lend a hand if you can -- or just head on past the break for a quick vid of the port in all its text-scrolling glory.

[Via iphone-dev.org; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We figured Apple would've learned its lesson after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned those "the real internet" iPhone commercials, but it looks like Steve's back in detention -- the ASA just ruled that another ad claiming that the iPhone is "really fast" is also misleading enough to be pulled. You've probably seen the similar US version of the ad, which shows the iPhone 3G loading a web page, switching to Maps to locate itself, downloading an attachment, and then finally taking a call, all in 30 seconds -- yeah, that doesn't happen. Apple claimed that its "Network performance may vary by location" disclaimer was enough to keep it safe, but the ASA wasn't having that: it said that the ad was likely to lead viewers to believe the iPhone was really that speedy. Of course, we're pretty certain most people understand that reality and advertising don't really have anything do with each other, but we're not the ones in charge -- just wait till the ASA finds out that drinking gallons of beer doesn't actually make you more attractive. Check the ad in question after the break.

[Thanks, David]

Whittling might have been a hoax and Blackberry massages just a ruse, but the Awethumb is all too real -- and all too freaking amazing. Yeah, we're not at all sure that these $8 plastic thumbguards -- available in your choice of colors! -- will actually protect you from repetitive stress or even make typing easier, but all the dudes and dudettes on the El train will know you mean business when you slip 'em on. As an added bonus, lack of compatibility with the iPhone will allow you to express your disdain for touchscreens in a satisfyingly dramatic way -- if you can't rock it with an Awethumb, you're not rockin'. Ah, to be young and ensheathed in plastic thumb protectors. Frankly astounding video after the break.

We don't have official confirmation of this yet, but we're hearing from all over that Verizon's launch of the BlackBerry Storm has so far been a raging success -- from what we can tell, it's sold out nearly everywhere, and the online store is buckling under the load of thousands of eager buyers. Sounds like RIM's on track for a hit -- any of you have any luck scoring a Storm today? How'd it go? Digging the SurePress screen? Hit us up in comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We knew Orb was working on an iPhone port of its media-streaming app, and it looks like Orb 2.0 just stealthily went live in the App Store. The $10 app lets TV junkies watch live TV from a tuner connected to a Windows PC, as well as stream music, videos, and photos from their libraries. Even cooler, Orb allows you to monitor a webcam, so you can finally nail those Diet Coke thieves from the comfort of your cube (or keep an eye on your infant, whatever.) Sadly there's no date for the Mac and Linux versions, but Orb says they're on the way. Alright Sling, looks like the ball's in your court.

[Via jkOnTheRun]