Linking iPods, the Nobel Prize and physics in one sentence might seem unusual and is sure to spark interest from the public. Read all about it:

Two scientists whose work allowed the development of the iPod and powerful laptop computers were rewarded today with the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Albert Fert, a Frenchman, and Peter Grünberg, a German, have been jointly honoured for creating the technology used to read data on hard disks.

Their research has been critical to shrinking data storage systems, and without it modern MP3 music players and laptops with gigabyte memories would be impossible.

Borje Johansson, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, which awards the prize, said: “The MP3 and iPod industry would not have existed without this discovery. You would not have an iPod without this effect.”

Verizon Wireless has released four new phones in anticipation of the holiday season, including the much touted LG Voyager VX1000:

Exclusive to Verizon Wireless, The Voyager by LG sports a large external touch-screen and opens laterally to reveal a full QWERTY keypad, giving customers a choice on how they access the phone’s features. Sleek, stylish and shiny, the innovative LG Voyager comes packed with the hottest services to satisfy any mobile multimedia addict, including HTML browser, full V CAST- capabilities — including V CAST Mobile TV, V CAST Music, with the ability to play .mp3, .wma and unprotected .aac files, and V CAST Video. These capabilities, coupled with high-speed wireless broadband access, make downloading music on-the-go quick and easy. With all these features, for customers who purchase The Voyager by LG who want to download music, take pictures and do so much more than talk with this stylish device, there is a removable microSD memory slot that holds up to 8 GB of memory.

For more detail, read PCMag.com’s review of all of these phones or watch this brief demo of the Verizon Voyager:

Also of great interest and note, the new Armani-Samsung cell phone has just been unveiled at Milan Fashion Week 2008:

Italian designer Giorgio Armani’s announcement that he is teaming with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. to develop a line of high-end electronic goods underscores how top fashion houses are stretching the boundaries of the luxury-goods industry as they search out new products to brand.

Under the alliance, Mr. Armani will design electronics such as handsets and liquid-crystal-display television sets manufactured by Samsung, and will distribute them through his world-wide network of boutiques. He will unveil the alliance’s first product — a credit-card-sized cellphone — at his fashion show in Milan today, the companies said.