I think that I might start giving an annual award for the most painfully ridiculous product. If I do, I may already have the winner for this year. The MobilePen is a Bluetooth keypad for your PDA or smartphone that runs on Windows Mobile or S60. If your device has a keyboard that is too small for your chubby fingers or lacks a touchscreen, the MobilePen can hook you up. It has an onscreen QWERTY keyboard you can operate with the stylus, or it can recognize your handwriting in either English or Chinese.

Why is the MobilePen so deserving of my award? Forget the fact that the majority of new devices have either good keyboards or a touchscreen of their own, making an extra device unnecessary. First of all, to use the MobilePen effectively, you have to hold the device, the MobilePen and the stylus. Unless you are an octopus that will require more hands than you have, making it all but useless in many situations on the go.

If that doesn’t convince you that it is worthy, the price tag will. You would have to shell out $430 dollars to get a MobilePen of your own! If that seems like a good deal to you, spend the money instead on a new PDA with a better keyboard. It will be cheaper. Or better yet, send me the $430 and go away, because you obviously don’t deserve good technology.