I’ve rounded up some freebies that I’ve heard about in recent weeks for this week’s column, including Facebook interfaces, an open beta of the Skyfire web browser, and services such as free GPS route recording and free mobile blogging.

"We opened up the floodgates to our beta program, so no more waiting to be invited to download. If you have a Windows Mobile or Nokia N or E Series (3rd edition) phone in the US, get it now and spread the word. "

This week I have updates on two mobile services: KeyToss mobile portal, and the Slifter mobile shopping service. Plus, we have the news from HTC that the Touch HD won’t come to the U.S. — but that the HTC Fuze is supposedly coming from AT&T later this month.

As we've noted before, Google's Android isn’t related to Windows Mobile, but we cover it here because it’s one more indication of the trend toward Internet-centric touch devices. Plus this week we’ll note new mobile video sharing sites that even let you stream live video from your device.

The Spb folks have just released their online portal, Spb Online. Three other reviews have already been published (some hours ago) on it. Therefore, I've paid special attention to elaborating on issues not discussed in the other reviews, particularly when it comes to comparing Spb Online to the competing alternatives – after all, I've published several articles on several areas Spb Online implemented: radio and TV streaming, podcasting and multiplayer games.

This week I want to give you an update on two mobile search services — ChaCha and Google. And although you may be tired of hearing about HTC Touch devices, there’s big news in that arena: the HTC Touch HD, which has an impressive 3.8-inch screen. Plus, we offer other Touch news, including an unlocked Touch Diamond from Best Buy.

This article may be of interest to not only BlackBerry users, but also those of Windows Mobile; particularly ones that would like to know more about Sid Meier's Civilization IV: War of Two Cities from Concrete Software, also promised for Windows Mobile. I’ll also elaborate on three titles also existing for Windows Mobile.

There’s a world of content out there on the Internet, as you well know, and it doesn’t always come conveniently packaged for the small screen of your device. Mobile portals have been a real boon, and this week I want to tell you about some new ones that deserve a look.

Listening to or watching podcasts is great fun. If you think they are boring, meaningless or can’t entertain you during, say, a long fight, you’re wrong. For example, watching all the clips of X-Play, played back on my VGA HP iPAQ 214 (thanks to Smartphone & PPCMag / iPhone Life’s Hal Goldstein for the gift!) could entertain me for long-long hours.

This is your chance: the impressive Skyfire browser is freely available until August 30. Also, this week there’s lots of device news, including the official announcement of the Palm Treo Pro, the September arrival of the first Android device (from T-Mobile), and Reviews of the HTC Touch Pro.