Samsung prepping Omnia Pro for July release

This one lies deep in the bowels of Rumorsville for the time being but we can’t say we’d hate for it to become a reality. According to Samsung - HD blog, Sammy will have a new addition to its Omnia lineup come July. Billed as the Omnia Pro — which, by the way, definitely detracts from the believability-factor of this rumor — the new handset will feature a full touchscreen sitting atop a QWERTY slider a la HTC’s Touch Pro and Pro2. Perhaps Sammy figured if it was going to bite the form factor it might as well bite the name, too? Reported specs for the Omnia Pro include a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 AMOLED touchscreen display, Windows Mobile 6.1 (which will be upgradable to 6.5 upon release) and a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, a flash and video recording capabilities. So if you’ve been eying the OmniaHD but aren’t a fan of S60 5h Edition or touchscreen-only handsets, keep your fingers crossed that this rumor ends up panning out. The image above, by the way, is a mock up created by the source.

the i7500 is the first Samsung's Android phone

It’s kind of funny how a phone can phone can appear out of nowhere as a solid rumor and then become official within 24 hours, but that’s exactly what has happened with Samsung’s first Android-powered smartphone, the I7500. Samsung and O2 Germany have both officially announced the device slated for a June release. The specs were also spot on:

Android 1.5 OS
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band UMTS/HSPA
528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU
3.2-inch HVGA capacitive OLED touchscreen display
5 megapixel camera with LED flash
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
GPS
8GB internal flash memory
microSD slot
3.5 mm stereo jack
Metal case, 11.9 mm thick
Official pricing was not made public, but we have no reason to doubt yesterday’s rumored price of €300 ($397 US) considering that the rumor was bang on about everything else. Anyone else dying for the I7500 to make an appearance Stateside?

Android 1.5 has arrived for T-Mobile G1's

All through the night we received reports from ecstatic T-Mobile G1 users who have been letting us know the Android “cupcake” 1.5 update has been pushed out by T-Mobile. We checked ourselves and this is indeed the case but as some kind readers pointed out to us, customized ROMs can completely thwart a G1’s ability to receive the update notification. It’s not a hard fix to remove those cooked ROMs, so if you want to get your official cupcake on you know what to do. Oh, and let us know how it goes.

T-Mobile Sony Ericsson CS8 survives FCC bootcamp

Sure the Samsung Memoir might have been the first 8 megapixel to be carried by T-Mobile, but considering what we thought of it we’re really counting on the Sony Ericsson CS8 to restore our faith in simple phones with beefy cameras. So take it as a good sign that the Cyber-shot branded CS8 just passed through the FCC — now you’re one step closer to having it accompany you to the beach on a hot Summer day as you take photos of bikini-clad girls while cowering behind an ice cream stand. Other than the aforementioned camera that weighs in at 8.1 megapixels, the CS8 is kitted out with GPS, Wi-Fi sans UMA, stereo Bluetooth, FM radio and the all too sparse tag-team combo of 1700/2100MHz UMTS/HSDPA. Just in case you’re wondering, yes, this is basically the T-Mobile version of the C905 and while nothing is confirmed as of yet, it is rumored to be dropping on June 24th.

Facebook 1.5 for Blackberry Handsets

We gave you an exhaustive preview of Facebook 1.5 for BlackBerry handsets back in early March and while it isn’t necessarily a huge improvement over version 1.2, improved OS integration definitely makes it a worthwhile upgrade. We can’t tell you how many comments and emails we’ve received since then asking, begging, pleading and even demanding we provide further details as to the new version’s release date. Thankfully we can put all that behind us now as version 1.5 is available for all to enjoy. That’s right people, no need to email us with threats anymore — just hit App World or http://www.blackberry.com/facebook on your handset and you’re in business. As always, let us know what you think in the comments section.

The new Sidekick LX 2009

new Sidekick LX emerged and we got to enjoy some solid face time with the orchid-colored messaging machine. First things first — the display… is… ridiculous. You can stare at “854×480 resolution” on the spec sheet all you want but until you hold it in your hand you really can’t appreciate just how crystal clear and vivid the F-WVGA display on this bad boy is. Once you manage to avert your focus from the screen, you can move on to what is undoubtedly the most solid Sidekick built to date. Danger/Microsoft and Sharp did a fantastic job on the new LX; it’s slim and sleek, the rubberized feel is perfect and the keyboard is big and inviting. But we don’t want to get too deep into it right now — you know a full and thorough review is on its way. So without further ado, click through to enjoy some hands on pics of the unit complete with a first look into the LX’s social networking integration (Twitter, Facebook and MySpace) and a little taste of AIM image transfer.

Bluetooth new 3.0 is in the house!

Are you happy with your current Bluetooth experience, but aching to give it a little kick in the pants? Fret not because Bluetooth 3.0 is here right on schedule and it’s way faster than its predecessors. With the 802.11 radio Protocol Adaption Layer, transfer speeds can hit up to 24 megabits per second. If that isn’t impressive or means little to you, Bluetooth 2.0 transferred data at speeds of 2 to 3 megabits per second. Almost miraculously, the increase in speed doesn’t mean extra battery drain. On the contrary, Bluetooth 3.0 includes power-saving controls built in. Transferring files via Bluetooth should no longer be a burden or hassle — gone are the days of using Bluetooth file transfers as a last resort for large or bulk files. When will it become widely available? The process has already begun, but the technology really won’t be hitting consumers for another nine to twelve months. Patience, young grasshoppers.

T-Mobile announcing USB stick

Now that T-Mobile has a 3G network in place, even though it is still quite limited, they announced the T-Mobile webConnect USB Laptop Stick. The USB Laptop Stick is priced at FREE with a 2-year contract, $49.99 with a 1-year contract, and $149.99 with no contract. Like the other wireless carriers you can consume up to 5GB of data per month for $59.99. T-Mobile also includes their WiFi HotSpot access with your data plan. If you are in an area without 3G, the Laptop Stick works over EDGE.

The webConnect USB Laptop Stick has a microSD card slot that supports up to 8GB cards. The photos show it has a rotating end so it can easily be adjusted to fit in your laptop. The Connection Manager is integrated into the USB Stick and T-Mobile seems to be listening to customers since the software includes a usage meter and a notification system that can be setup to send you a message when you reach 80 percent of your 5GB limit. Now this is customer service and a very welcome feature of this new card. There is no mention of Mac support yet for the card so you may need a Windows PC to use the USB Laptop Stick.

T-Mobile also stated that their 3G network is now available in more than 120 US cities with plans to double the coverage in 2009 and reach more than 200 million people.

T-Mobile USA continues to aggressively expand its 3G wireless broadband services, and the company’s 3G high-speed data network is available in more than 130 U.S. cities as of the end of 2008. In 2009, the company plans to double the population currently covered by its high-speed network to reach more than 200 million people in the U.S., which includes expansion to an additional 100 cities by the end of the year.

Rumor Alert: Sony Ericsson Idou to go on sale in October

We’re sure you hate it every time tech bloggers say “take this with a grain of salt,” but you’re just going to have to take this with a grain of salt. According to the folks over a mobile.se, a German PR rep for Sony Ericsson has gone on the record to state that the Idou — a Symbian-powered device with a 3.5″ touchscreen, monstrous 12 megapixel camera and GPS — is slated to commence retail sales in October with November being the fall-back date. When asked for comments, Gustaf Brusewitz of Sony Ericsson Sweden would only reconfirm the companies previous commitment to ship the Idou “sometime in the second half of the year,” something that we hope means that the Idou will go on sale well before Christmas to help the struggling Japanse/Swedish owned company get back on its feet. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to have a 12 megapixel camera phone in your pocket on Halloween to document your best friend almost blowing his hand off with an M-80? Yeah, that’d be so sweet.

Nokia E75's begin journey to retail shelves

We can’t say that we’re as excited as we could be, but we’re still pleased nonetheless that the latest entry in Nokia’s business orientated E-Series, the E75, has begun shipping and has arrived safe and sound in some retail locations across the globe. Nokia seems to be quite proud of the E75 as it is the first of their handsets to ship with Nokia Messaging pre-installed, a service which not only includes support for Nokia’s own corporate email client, Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveller but consumer email services like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail. We guess it can’t hurt that the E75 has a sliding QWERTY keypad, 2.4″ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, aGPS, WiFi and quad-band EDGE/dual-band HSDPA connectivity and runs on , either.

Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile Team Up on Widget Platform

Today Verizon Wireless announced that it and mobile network operators China Mobile, Vodafone and Softbank are forming a new joint venture. The Joint Innovation Lab is meant to focus on creating a single platform for developers to use for the creation of mobile widgets. The widgets should work across a wide variety of smartphones and non-smartphones. The tools being offered by JIL include a common mobile widgets specification; SDKs; and an online repository, distribution and payment mechanism that will allow developers to sell their widgets in more than 70 countries.

HTC's Snap to Succeed the Dash

Today HTC announced a true successor to its Dash smartphone in the new HTC Snap. The Snap is a bar-style phone running Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard with a full, physical QWERTY keyboard. HTC has replaced the D-pad on the Dash with a track ball on the Snap. Its stand-out feature is a new email filtering program called Inner Circle. Snap users all several close contacts to their Inner Circle. When they press the dedicated Inner Circle button on the keyboard, it opens a filtered email inbox showing messages received only from those contacts that are part of the inner circle. The Snap has quad-band GSM/EDGE and has two HSDPA variants, including 850/1900MHz. It has a 2 megapixel camera with video capture, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, GPS, and Wi-Fi. The Snap also supports microSDHC cards. HTC didn't announced a price point or exact availability.

HTC means business, unveils HTC Snap and "Inner Circle"

Fresh from CTIA day 1 in Las Vegas, HTC is about to unveil its latest Windows Mobile handset that sets its sites on the likes of BlackBerrys and the Nokia E71. Slim and sleek, the HTC Snap sports a sexy 12mm-thick case and a smooth QWERTY keyboard. At first glance the Snap may seem a bit behind the times as far as specs go — the 2 megapixel camera is pretty underwhelming and Windows Mobile 6.1 standard is soooo 2008, but let’s put things in perspective. Consider the handset’s competition: The BlackBerry Bold has a 2 megapixel camera and the Nokia E71 has a slightly beefier 3.2 megapixel shooter, though we’ve seen sun prints that come out clearer than E71 pictures. Beyond that, neither handset wields what we would call an up-to-date OS. Instead, they rely on tried and true platforms known for stability and functionality over sex appeal and zip — just like Windows Mobile 6.1.

The HTC Snap is a messaging handset for people whose first priority in terms of handsets is communications. In that vein, the Snap will be HTC’s first handset to feature its new “Inner Circle” email prioritization system. It’s pretty clever, actually — Inner Circle allows users to define a group of high priority contacts. When inboxes start to get a bit out of control, a simple tap on the dedicated Inner Circle button will automatically place any emails from high priority contacts at the top of the inbox. Simple yet pretty smart, we’d say. Add to that the fact that email/PIM is without question one of Windows Mobile’s strong points and you’ve got yourself one hell of a work horse. As far as the US is concerned, expect an unlocked version dubbed the HTC S522 (with AT&T-compatible 3G) to drop this Summer. Hit the jump for the full specs, a bunch of additional images and the full release.