Back in the day, a mobile device that could browse the Internet was incredible, expensive, hard to find, and often cumbersome.  I remember how absolutely cool it was to browse the mobile web from my Sprint PCS Vision phone, although it was only black-and-white text, of course.

Before the advent of the iPhone, the Palm Pre, the BlackBerry Storm, HTC Mogul, T-Mobile G1, and other phones fully capable of browsing the Internet gracefully - the Internet tablet attempted to bridge the gap. 

I always wanted an Internet tablet, but they were far too expensive and limited to make it worth it, and besides, only a few years later I was able to browse the web reasonably well on my PocketPC with a tethered Bluetooth connection.  My phone didn't have a decent browser or PDA capabilities, but my PDA did.

Now, though, I've caught wind of a brand new device that is now available in Korea - the Mintpass Mintpad, and I really want one.  I don't need one, I want one.  Why?  Because it's relatively inexpensive and it looks like a LOT of fun to use.

This nifty little gadget is compact and features a bright 2.8" touchscreen.  They seem to have taken a cue from the Palm Pre; the OS has you "flicking" about to navigate from screen to screen, and looks very intuitive in the video.  The Internet browser supports Flash, which a LOT of mobile phones do not do, and you can watch movies, read blogs, view pictures, etc.  You can do virtually anything you wantwith the Mintpad - and it would be an awesome device for those who want a capable Internet enabled gadget but don't want to upgrade their phone.

I guarantee you the gadget world will be keeping close eyes on this puppy - apparently, English firmware will be available later this month, and it better be on its way to US shores soon.  Right now, the price in Korean won is about US$157.

[Video and First Impressions at SlashGear]

In case you didn't notice, on June 5th, one of the most famous puzzle games of all time celebrated it's 25th anniversary... Tetris.  Even Google honored the puzzle-shifting masterpiece with its own custom search page logo.  Game Informer featured a wonderful interview with Alexey Pajitnov - the original creator, who to this day is delighted that his brainchild has inspired generations of gamers to exercise their neurons.

In fact, Tetris is thought to be the raw material from which all other puzzle games have been wrought.  Reading the GI article and a recent game of multiplayer Tetris DS showed me how truly addictive puzzle games can be... and how I've been playing puzzle games for a very long time.

So, for those who haven't branched out from the world of colored falling blocks and catchy chiptunes, here's some of my other favorite puzzle titles of all time:

The Lemmings

Oh come on, you haven't played this one? Seriously? OK, you probably have played Lemmings... a true classic.  Instead of falling colored blocks, you get falling... Lemmings - humanoid creatures that only do what you tell them, and otherwise will happily march off of cliffs to their certain squishy doom.  It's your task to assign each Lemming a unique duty, such as bridge builder or traffic cop, to guide them safely towards the exit.  Only problem is that you only have so many of each role to give out, thus the challenge.   Tons of ports are available for this game, although it was originally released on the Commodore Amiga to great success.

The Incredible Machine

This gem is a little more obscure, a Rube Goldberg-inspired romp through whimsical, cartoon-like contraptions designed to boggle your brain.  In each given setup, you'll have to perform a simple task (such as dropping a ball into a hole or something like that) by using whatever components you are given.  This will almost always end up in the creation of a ridiculously impossible string of unnecessary components, as in "cat-falls-down-hole-hits-seesaw-then-bounces-on-trampoliine-hitting-lighter-which-ignites-fuse-that-blows-up-bomb-to-beat-the-level."  Endless hours of crazy fun.

Lumines

Jumping waaaaaay forward in time from the early 90's, Lumines really defines what I love about puzzle games - tying in elements previously held separate, such as music and gameplay, and fusing them into something greater.

In Lumines, blocks of 4 smaller blocks will fall from the top of the screen, and your job is to group similar colors together to clear the screen.  Sounds simple, and it is at first, but becomes increasingly more difficult as time goes on.  

The truly unique feature of Lumines is how the soundtrack is combined with the gameplay.  Various beautifuly composed tunes play on the background, some pulsating techno, others hard rock, and the music ebbs and flows with your performance in the game.  Clearing large amounts of blocks results in a symphonic, triumphant crescendo, for example.  In addition, there is a "metronome" line that sweeps the screen, which is the catalyst for clearing blocks.  This enables you to time your drops *just right* so that the metronome will clear larger and larger amounts of blocks.  This is a game I find irresistible and dust off my PSP as often as I can to give it a go.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

My affinity for the Puzzle Quest series started with Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords, and continues on with Galactrix, the newest in the series.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is set in a futuristic setting, and melds unique puzzle based gameplay with RPG elements: think Wing Commander: Privateer but with hexagonal pieces instead of warships.  The player must match rows of these pieces by color, and matching each will grant more action points, defense, etc - and clearing rows of mines will damage the other player.

As you progress from planet to planet and system to system you'll be able to upgrade your ship, buy new weapons, and upgrade your skills.  If you haven't played this one yet (or its predecessor) you'll be shocked at how seamlessly puzzle blends with RPG, and you'll be instantly addicted.

Tetris still lives on...

All of that being said, I still love my Tetris.  I'm a huge fan of Tetris DS, even though I continually get whomped by anonymous puzzle-players in the Internet play mode.

Make sure that you give the 'ol boy some playtime, even if just for old times' sake, and enjoy a "piece" of puzzle history.

What are your favorite puzzle games?  I'd love to know... I'm always on the hunt for a new brain twister.

I hate it when new cellphones come out.  Even if I'm happy with the one I already own, I inevitably lust after whatever's new, eagerly rationalizing the extra costs involved, and at some points in the past, even considered owning two phones (and on two occasions, actually did.)  Which is, like poodles and most vacations to Vegas, wasteful yet entertaining.

As such, here begins a new chapter in my endless gadgetry novel... the Palm Pre.  I'm seriously wondering whether Apple/AT&T is going to lose some customers over this little beauty... there's a lot that it does that's really tempting.  Here's some of the reasons why I (and probably others) would consider defecting to the Palm-side...

Multitasking

Duh!  I could multitask on an old Windows 95 computer, why can't I do it on my iPhone?  The Pre allows you to have multiple apps open, drag stuff between each, have more than one browser window open, etc.  This is a long missed feature in the iPrecious and is not to be underestimated.

A Real Keyboard

Being a big guy, I'm somewhat ham-fisted at times.  I've gotten pretty nimble with the iPhone's not-keyboard, but I still type up my fair share of "Eat up Martha's" from time to time, and it's annoying.  I recently unearthed some old gadgets to sell on the 'Bay, and realized how much I miss a hard keyboard.

Better Notifications

This sounds trivial, but it's not.  I have a lot of calendar entries that will pop up on my iPhone from time to time in addition to text messages, voicemails, etc.  The iPhone does a crappy job of organizing these on screen, truncating them and lumping them all together.  The Palm's solution is much more elegant, displaying them in neatly organized categories on your dashboard.

Conclusions

Well, just when you thought Apple was on top of their game, longtime favorite Palm comes out with this gorgeous phone with an all-new OS that's already knocking geek-socks off around the world.  True, the iPhone features much of the functionality of the Pre, but Palm is beating Apple to the punch on a few key features... which will easily be enough for iPhone lovers to migrate.

I'm still a bit married to my iLove and MobileMe (not to mention that I have, like, 1 year and 10 months left on my new contract since I just upgraded to 3G) but I didn't think that something would come along that would cause me to question my loyalty quite this soon.