...emotional messaging is what we'll all be doing in the future. That's if Siemens' CX70 EMOTY phone has anything to do with it. I don't know how I missed out on this device when it was launched in Munich a fortnight ago as it sounds quite astonishing. You get a choice of three cute avatars (Wobble, Handy Andy and Cubus) who can be sent out to friends within a multimedia message - and by touching, stroking or rigorously shaking the phone, it's possible to communicate your emotions to the onscreen character who then turns them into a relevant facial expression. Lord knows what'll happen if you try to send a message from the train, car, or while sitting on the washing machine.

This ain't the first phone to employ sensors for, um, physical interaction - Nokia's 3220 got their first. But that only has a modest tilt sensor, and doesn't star three characters called Wobble, Andy and Cubus. Plus, the CX70 boasts a 3D Java engine. It is a work of genius. Genius after seven Red Bulls and a bucket of Skittles, perhaps, but genius nonetheless.

More here.