Just a hunch, call us crazy, but these latest numbers from LG and Samsung seem to indicate that touchscreen phones are pretty popular -- both companies have sold over 20 million of 'em. That's somewhere around 1.6 million touchscreens a month for the past two years, and with new Samsung sets like the i7500 and LG's massive array of Windows Mobile devices set to hit this year, we doubt things will slow down anytime soon.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Sure, we're still anticipating -- but not necessarily merrily -- the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, but for those who wish to look even farther into the future, Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer said in a conference call this week that WinMo 7 will be out sometime next year. That jibes pretty well with what we've heard from Motorola and ZDNet before, although there's probably a dozen or so known unknowns that could push it well into 2011 or beyond. For now, however, we're willing to take Steve at his word. Hey, at least they're not gearing up for a Windows Mobile 6.75 in the interim... right?

Researchers in the UK have all but debunked the theory that cell phone towers, or electronic interference, is making people physically ill. A recent study done by Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said that they could find no scientific evidence that feelings of anxiety, nausea, and tiredness occur due to the presence of electronics, or GSM and 3G cell phone equipment. The tests, carried out in 2005 and reported in Environmental Health Perspectives today, claim that when neither the researcher nor the subject knew if cell signals were being emitted, the number of symptoms reported was not related to signals present. Participants did report feeling ill, but it was independent of any cell phone signals, "Hence the range of symptoms and physiological response does not appear to be related to the presence of either GSM or 3G signals," the study said. Yeah, right, next thing you know they'll be telling us those voices we hear aren't "real" either.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

When it comes to loyalty among the wireless handset crowd, we think it's a tough race out there. After all, newer and better handsets are released seemingly every week that are slimmer, geekier, lighter and just plain better. How does a single manufacturer build strong customer loyalty over time? Ask that to Samsung, which is the most favored handset brand in the US, according to the Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. Samsung's position atop other handset brands has been intact since 2002 according to that index. The company blushed and then promptly responded with "The honor of being the top brand for six consecutive years indicates the company's capability of meeting consumers' taste and their ever-growing expectations." With the bevy of standard, advanced and Windows Mobile Smartphone models for both the CDMA and GSM markets in the US, Samsung's product portfolio alone could vouch for the company's market-leading customer loyalty we think. [Warning: subscription required]

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Samsung A640 - Read
LG AX490 - Read
Samsung T709 - Read
Samsung T719 - Read
Motorola ROKR E2 - Read
Samsung X461 - Read
Samsung X481 - Read
Samsung S109 - Read

Computers
Sony PCG-6J1L - Read
Motorola Mobile Laptop 900 - Read

Though it shares many of the same facial features as the Feeler, the XDA IQ (which is really just the HTC Tornado) will benefit from the Tornado's inclusion of 802.11b and EDGE; the rest of the specs aren't much to phone home about (64MB flash and RAM, 200MHz OMAP, QVGA display, Smartphone 5, etc.), so what we're looking to set this thing apart is price (unannounced) and release time frame (same).

We're sure the majority of these devices are tri-band Asian phones, but in the last year Chinese manufacturer Haier has returned triumphantly to CTIA with a veritable cadre of sweet knocks on namebrand cellphones. Take the above W800 rip, the M260, which features 2 megapixel camera, 262k color touch screen, and MiniSD slot. See, sometimes fake can be better than real. Click on for the rest.

Motorola usually has a pretty nice booth, but this CTIA they've injected a couple extra ounces of fancy, being they didn't have a whole lot of new gear to show off this time around. The PEBL amongst pebbles gag got a little old, but they needed to (and did) step up their booth's aesthetic. And you know when we start going on and on about booth aesthetics, we're pretty tapped for some news, so check out the CTIA eye candy after the break.