Brains need exercise just as much as bodies, and now there’s a new way to meet the challenge with entertaining online exercises that take just 10 minutes a day. It’s Lumosity, a scientifically developed online brain fitness program demonstrated to improve memory and attention with fun and effective brain workouts. The 30-session program developed by Lumos Labs offers a daily mix of games, exercises, progress reports and brain health tips.

Designed for adults of all ages, Lumosity was developed in collaboration with experts in neuroscience and cognitive psychology from Stanford and UCSF, and then tested in a randomized, controlled study that was presented at neuroscience conferences in 2006 and 2007. Significant improvements in cognitive functions such as memory and attention were noticeable within a few weeks of training. In the NIH-funded ACTIVE study, researchers observed that gains made from cognitive training were maintained five years later.

Lumosity Beta users have reported clearer and quicker thinking, improved memory for information such as names and numbers, increased alertness, elevated mood, and better concentration at work or while driving. A survey revealed that over 95% of the users considered the program to be fun.

SanDisk announced the availability of its 8GB microSDHC and M2 flash memory cards to retail outlets worldwide. Compatible with the new breed of mobile phones with card slots, the 8GB SanDisk microSDHC and M2 cards are ideal for the growing number of consumers who make their mobile phone–with its built-in music player, digital camera and video player/recorder–the centerpiece of their digital lifestyle.

NS BASIC Corporation announced their 2007 Programming Contest. There are three categories: Windows Mobile/CE, Palm OS and Desktop. All registered NS Basic users are welcome to participate in the contest. Prizes are $100 USD in each category.

You may enter more than one program. Judging will be by NS Basic’s experts. All judging is arbitrary and final. They are looking for quality, performance, ease of use, sophistication and overall coolness. Apps can be whatever you use NS Basic for: Enterprise, business, commercial, education, games or even something whimsical.

Extreme Text is a premier Threaded SMS Texting application. It allows you to view all of your Texts as separate conversations for each contact you SMS, much like an Instant Message Conversation. It also adds great features including emoticons, following links in the text, User Defined Text Support, Photo Contact Support, and more… And it works with your regular WM databases so all your current messages will be included and you can switch back to the regular Text program at any time without losing a message.

As part of a proposed class-action settlement Sprint has agreed to provide customers with codes to unlock their mobile phones for use on other compatible networks. Should the settlement be accepted Sprint will begin providing departing customers with unlock codes for Sprint PCS phones.

The lawsuit Zill v. Sprint Spectrum, L.P., is currently pending in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, Case No. RG03114147. It alleges that Sprint is violating CA law by locking its handsets and that the practice violates California’s Unfair Competition Law by making it more expensive for customers to switch carriers. T-Mobile and AT&T are also facing similar pending class action suits in California. The settlement covers customers who bought a Sprint phone between Aug. 28, 1999, and July 16, 2007.

People looking to walk into an Apple retailer and buy an iPhone with cash will be out of luck. The company is now accepting only credit or debit card payments for the devices so that it can track who purchases the phone, according to an employee at the Apple Store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood.

The new policy is Apple’s attempt to prevent people from purchasing and then unlocking and reselling iPhones, a situation that has been a problem for the company. Apple won’t let anyone without a credit card or debit card in their name purchase iPhones, according to an unidentified Apple Store employee in a phone interview.

Microsoft built a custom Windows Mobile user interface for a new phone that T-Mobile USA expects to announce on Monday, evidence that Microsoft may be getting more serious about pursuing the consumer mobile market.

The phone, built by HTC, will be the first in a line of phones from T-Mobile using the new Shadow brand, said David Sholkovitz, marketing manager at T-Mobile.

While Microsoft has worked with operators to help modify the operating system to fit their needs, this project represented a new level of partnership, said Doug Smith, director of marketing for Microsoft’s mobile communications business. “I’d say this was one of the deeper partner involvements we’ve had on a new product,” he said.

T-Mobile announced the upcoming availability of the T-Mobile Shadow–the first phone in a planned franchise of phones under the Shadow brand, a name that will become synonymous with playful, easier and richer communications experiences offered only by T-Mobile.

Available beginning October 31, the T-Mobile Shadow is designed to significantly reduce the complexity often associated with many feature-rich devices, while maintaining all the powerful calling, messaging and picture sharing capabilities people crave to keep them connected. Highlighting the phone’s distinct features and its complete ease of use, the T-Mobile Shadow offers:

An enhanced myFaves functionality that allows even more flexibility and ways to communicate and connect. Through this experience customers can now call, send an email, text or instant message, and share a picture, video or voice note, all with a push of the button right from the myFaves home screen. An enhanced user-interface integrated with the Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 platform. A sleek, slider design, and a spin navigation wheel that make it a breeze to scroll through the polished user interface, myFaves icons, and other core phone features. One of the largest, most-radiant screens on any T-Mobile phone. When combined with its high-quality, 2.0-megapixel digital camera with video capture, it enables customers to record and share those special moments in vibrant ways. Plus, a multimedia player provides a convenient way to listen to and share favorite music and video. An array of lights and sounds that differentiate one function from another, whether you’re receiving an email, picture message or calendar appointment notification. Wi-Fi and EDGE-enabled high-speed Internet access to power Web surfing so that connecting to your favorite social networking site is quick and easy. A reminder feature, so customers need never forget another friend’s or family member’s birthday or anniversary with the ability to set reminders for these important days in the lives of their “fave five.” T-Mobile Address Book that lets customers easily import contact information from Yahoo!, Gmail, Microsoft Outlook and other email services onto their phone using my.t-mobile.com, and automatically back up their phone’s address book online.

ZATZ Senior Editor James Booth really isn’t much of a Blackberry fan, he does like the mini-trackball though. Imagine his surprise when he learned that Blackberries did not have WiFi access. AT&T has changed that with recent release of the Blackberry 8820.

Read this Computing Unplugged article.

MobilityFlow.com announced Touch Commander, a unique application for controlling PDA and smartphones by recognizing and responding to the touch and sweep of a finger across the screen. With Touch Commander in place, you get a one-touch access to phone calls, emails, SMS messages, calendar, appointments, applications and other commonly used content.

The “touchy-feely” effect provided by Touch Commander is much the same as the finger touch scrolling, browsing and spinning a three dimensional interface by the finger in the Touch phone by HTC TouchFLO or Apple iPhone. Touch Commander is customizable, letting you configure many of its settings. Another nice touch in the program is support for any model of PDA powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 or higher.