palmOne announced that the Treo 650 smartphone is tested and available in Hong Kong on CSL’s GSM and EDGE (Enhanced Data for Global Evolution) networks. The quad-band-capable Treo 650 on CSL’s network brings quality GSM data network capabilities and voice clarity to users. With CSL’s commercial EDGE network, customers using the Treo 650 have access to mobile multimedia services at higher speeds, providing them an enhanced user experience.

Rubi, a teacher’s assistant at the Early Childhood Education Center in San Diego, has eyes sometimes in back of her head, along with antennas and a couple of microprocessors. The robot is part of an experiment at the University of California San Diego to study how robots and humans interact. Rubi is capable of tracking heads, detecting faces and interpreting basic expressions. Additionally, it can teach songs and–through the touch-screen–conjure up interactive games.

A number of BlackBerry handheld wireless devices experienced service problems on Wednesday, marking the second time in less than a week that the popular devices lost their data connections. A RIM representative said a hardware failure Wednesday triggered a backup system that operated at a lower capacity “than expected.” Service has been restored, she said.

After years of impunity, America’s 190 million cellular telephone subscribers are now more apt than ever to encounter telemarketers. There was a rash of complaints to federal regulators 18 months ago when telemarketers were confused by new rules allowing people to transfer their home telephone numbers to cell phones, which then started ringing with telemarketing calls. Then in March, BellCanada cellular customers were targeted by a company pitching a low-cost trip to Mexico. The same message has recently surfaced in San Francisco.Just about the only recourse a consumer has is to subscribe to the National Do Not Call Registry.

BoxWave is pleased to announce the newly released Styra Ballpoint Pen/Stylus for Sony Clies. Styra is more than just a stylus -it provides both a ballpoint pen and reset pin for additional functionalities that your regular stylus doesn’t have. The Styra is custom desgined to fit your handheld’s built-in stylus holder perfectly.

Pendragon Software, provider of database software for handheld devices, announced a new, multi-platform version of Pendragon Forms Enterprise Edition. Pendragon Forms Enterprise Edition is a business forms solution that synchronizes PDAs and smartphones to enterprise databases. Using Version 5.0, companies can quickly create data collection applications for mobile devices running on both Palm OS and Windows Mobile for Pocket PC platforms.

Using a cell phone–even with a hands-free device–may distract drivers because the brain cannot handle both tasks. Imaging tests show the brain directs its resources to either visual input or auditory input, but cannot fully activate both at the same time, the team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found. So stop talking on the phone while you’re driving!

Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit, the basis of the computer chip revolution and foundation of what is now a trillion-dollar industry, died of cancer on Monday. Kilby, 81, made the discovery 47 years ago, when, as a recently hired engineer at Texas Instruments Inc., he was left to work alone in a laboratory while most of his 7,500 colleagues were taking a company-wide summer vacation leave. By hand-wiring together multiple transistors, Kilby’s invention

Sony will have 20 video games and 10 films on sale in September for the European launch of the PlayStation Portable. The company has already sold 100,000 prerecorded movies around the world. The European launch of Sony’s new gadget, which plays video games, movies and music, was initially scheduled for the spring, but was pushed back by six months because of supply shortages. The PSP, better known as a device for playing video games than movies, is already on sale in Japan and the United States.

palmOne announced the election of D. Scott Mercer, interim chief executive officer of Adaptec, to its board of directors. Mercer has served in a wide variety of management roles in high-technology companies during the past 20 years, including senior management and chief financial officer roles at Western Digital Corporation, Teralogic, Businessland, and LSI Logic Corporation, as well as senior management positions at Dell in the United States and Europe. He brings to the palmOne board broad operational, sales, product development, and international experience in the computer industry, as well as strong financial expertise.