T-Mobile roadmap shows Dell netbooks, BlackBerry Gemini, and more

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 5th 2009 at 8:30AM

Leaked carrier roadmap documents of unknown age and origin aren't necessarily the most accurate things in the world, but they are one very awesome, important thing: leaked. Pictured above is a fragment of one such spreadsheet that we've had the good fortune of receiving for T-Mobile USA -- obviously it's a little bit on the small slide, but no sweat, we'll walk you through what it's saying. Again, we wouldn't take these dates as the gospel truth, but we'd venture to say they're a good rough guide for what to expect out of these guys for the next few months. Move along for the full list!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Smartphones

The myTouch 3G (originally identified as the "myPhone" internally, so the name could be worse) is listed for 5/18 manufacturing approval and an 8/5 onsale date online and in stores. As we've said before, this feels late given the company's recent comments about an "early summer" Android debut -- we wouldn't be surprised if it's been tightened up for a quicker release.
The Dash 3G -- T-Mobile's version of the Snap -- is lined up for 7/1, but it'll be shipped to retail partners (think Best Buy Mobile and the like) on 6/26.
The Touch Pro2 should be launching in an exciting "mocha" tone (that's the only color listed) on July 22. Notes on this one confirm that it's codenamed Rhodium and is destined to replace the Wing.
The BlackBerry Gemini is actually listed as the Gemini in here, so we don't know if that's a go-to-market name or if it'll be the 8520 or something even wilder and more exotic, but at any rate, it's listed here for June 22 manufacturing approval in two colors: black and frost. No release date is given.

Feature phones

The Samsung t749 Highlight, previously known as the "Spark," is a 3G device listed in T-Mobile's style category that'll be launching in exciting-sounding "fire" and "ice" colors on July 15. It looks like this one's been delayed by several months, so we hope it's been made orders of magnitude more awesome during the lull.
The Samsung t559 Comeback -- yes, Comeback -- was codenamed "XO." It'll launch in frost / silver / cherry and pearl / white / plum with 3G and myFaves 2.0 (we're not sure what's new and improved in 2.0, unfortunately) on July 15.
As you might've gathered from the name, the Samsung t469 Gravity 2 will be replacing the Gravity when it launches on August 5 with a QWERTY keyboard. It'll be available in "berry mauve" and "metallic pumpkin," and unlike the original, it'll be 3G.
The good ol' Sammy t819 gets shown the door on September 2 as the t659 (codenamed "Scarlett") comes in with 3G (notice a trend here?). Its launch was pushed back to accommodate the Gravity 2, which is understandably being considered a more important device for the back-to-school season.
The Nokia 5130 XpressMusic will extend T-Mobile's tradition of launching Nokia's midrange music-centric sets, coming in black / red and pearl white / aqua at an undetermined date -- right now, it's scheduled to hit production on June 22.
Huawei sets have yet to launch on any of the four national carriers, but one of the company's models -- codenamed "Volcano" -- is scheduled for November 11.
Sony Ericsson's CS8 will bring 8.1 megapixel glory in a slider form factor when it finally rocks on August 20, which is quite a bit later than we'd hoped. Its little sister, the "Elle," is scheduled to replace the TM506 flip on October 28.

PCs and data cards

A Dell netbook of some sort will be shipping to retail partners on October 13, followed by direct company-owned store availability on November 11. It's codenamed "Netbook," which is officially the least-creative codename we've ever heard for any product. Ever. (And that's saying something, considering that the Sony Ericsson CS8 is known internally as the "Peter.") We don't mean to start any wild rumors, but considering that Tegra netbooks should be hitting full force with carriers in their sights this October, it's certainly lines up nicely, doesn't it?
The Huawei E1691 looks lined up to become T-Mobile's second 3G data stick; it's being called the "Laptop Stick Lite," and pictures of the device definitely make it look a little sexier than the current webConnect. It looks lined up for November 17 in stores.

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, BlackBerry OS

Tags: 5130, 5130 xpressmusic, 5130Xpressmusic, blackberry, comeback, cs8, data card, data stick, DataCard, DataStick, dell, e1691, ericsson, features, gemini, gravity 2, Gravity2, highlight, htc, huawei, mytouch 3g, Mytouch3g, netbook, nokia, rim, roadmap, samsung, sony, sony ericsson, SonyEricsson, stick, t-mobile, touch pro2, TouchPro2, usb, volcano, xpressmusic

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

netviper @ Jun 5th 2009 9:12AM

Why can't T-mobile release a 3G blackberry? I think I have had it with them. They are so far behind the other companies out there I don't think they will ever catch up.

Neutral

mmaestro @ Jun 5th 2009 10:32AM

My understanding had been that since they're committed to UMA on all of their Blackberrys, and UMA's a big battery drain, they weren't able to make a 3G (also a big battery drain) BB meet their minimum battery life specs (given how poor the G1 is, that's kind of disturbing). I can consistently get 150kbps over EDGE on T-Mobile, anyway, which I've found more than adequate except for downloading podcasts.

Neutral