Details are scarce right now, but you can make of it what you will. Sprint hasn't been in the best of situations since it acquired Nextel in 2005, and while this move may not be seen by everyone as definitively negative, it certainly is worth noting. The flagging carrier sold off "nearly all" (around 3,300) of its wireless communication towers to TowerCo for some $670 million in cash. According to Sprint Nextel's Bob Azzi, the move to lease rather than own these network facilities will enable it to "better focus on its core business of providing communications services to consumers, businesses and government customers." He continued by noting that the transaction "provides Sprint Nextel with additional liquidity [for] greater flexibility in managing the company." Whatever you say, sir.

[Via InformationWeek]

Well, there you have it: the very real-looking Katana Eclipse pictured in that leaked Sprint roadmap is, in fact, real. The upcoming clamshell flew right on through the FCC recently (filed under new parent Kyocera's name, no less) bearing the expected external music controls and an evolutionary design that's kinda sorta reminiscent of everything that makes the Katana series, the Katana series. We've got EV-DO in here, too, so if we had to guess, this will end up slotting in somewhere toward the bottom of Sprint's midrange when it goes on sale -- which may or may not be August 17 depending on the accuracy of said roadmap.

[Via Cell Phone Signal, thanks Marco]

Verizon has gone ahead and jumped its own gun by a week, launching the rugged Adventure V750 today for a penny under $100 on contract after rebates. The phone becomes the very first on Verizon's network to support Rev. A-based push-to-talk, a quantum leap in robustness and functionality over the older 1xRTT fare; the G'zOne Boulder is expected in the next few weeks, bringing Big Red a pair of durable units that should appeal to the typical PTT crowd. Buyers of the V750 can expect a 2 megapixel camera, external music controls, microSD expansion, GPS, and of course EV-DO Rev. A data, so it's a pretty well-spec'd setup considering its lot in life.

[Via phoneArena]

Looks like that agreement between Nokia and Qualcomm to postpone the dozen or so lawsuits they've filed against each other worldwide while an arbitrator tries to help sort out the mess is starting to bear some fruit -- the two cellphone giants are headed to court in Delaware on Wednesday to start the healing. In essence, Qualcomm says that Nokia still owes license fees on a CDMA agreement that expired in 2007 since it's been using the patented tech, and Nokia says that it doesn't owe anything because it's shelled out over $1B since 2001 and giving Qualcomm any more cash would be unfair. Not surprisingly for these two, it's likely that the outcome here will essentially be a draw, with the judge ruling that Qualcomm can charge whatever it wants, but that Nokia didn't extend the agreement. We'll see how things go, though -- this is just the beginning of what could very well be the early start of close to the end. Video summary of the entire dispute after the break.

Now that the earliest of adopters have had nearly a full month to test out Samsung's self-proclaimed iPhone killer, we're interested to see how it has fared. If you're anxious to toss your two pennies into the bucket, head on over to Engadget Classic and make your deposit.

Just because Virgin's scooping up Helio doesn't necessarily mean the product parade needs to stop (not to say it was moving at anything more than a glacial pace to begin with), and to that end, the MVNO has just released its Mysto and Heat models in white and red, respectively. The creatively-named White Mysto and Red Heat are initially available exclusively to the Korean community -- a strategy Helio has used before -- and there's no word on if or when they'll be outed on a wider scale. We would've preferred an Ocean 2 release here, but at the very least, you've got to admit that these new colors suit 'em well.

[Via Heliocity]

Sure, you might be the biggest Christian Bale fan in the world right now, but what about this time next year when The Dark Knight DVDs are already collecting dust on bookshelves around the globe? That was the million-dollar question on our minds when we heard that Verizon was commemorating the launch of its Nokia 6205 and the latest Batman flick with a tied-in version of the low end flip. Turns out it's all good, though -- a look through the custom packaging revealed a grand total of two battery covers, one with the Batman logo and one without, so it should be pretty easy to avoid those embarrassing "what's with the batphone?" queries in a few months' time. Otherwise, there's very little to say about the phone -- it truly is a minimalist flip -- though we're definitely excited to see Nokia's apparently renewed commitment to working not just with CDMA, but with CDMA carriers in North America.

"Chocolate" is a storied word in the phone industry. In terms of brand recognition, it's right up there with RAZR and iPhone thanks to well-executed marketing campaigns by both LG globally and Verizon in the US, but more recently, LG has moved on to other marques -- Shine and Secret, to name a couple -- leaving Chocolate to trickle downmarket. We wouldn't exactly call the Chocolate 3 "downmarket," but its launch is definitely not being played up to the same extent as, say, the original VX8500's was; these days, those honors seem go to iPhone fighters like the Dare.

Nary a month after launching on Verizon Wireless, LG's Decoy is apparently ready for a limited edition makeover. Yeah, we're a bit miffed at why this handset -- of all devices -- deserves a LE model, but we digress. Reportedly, the new iteration will simply include a Bluetooth desktop charger with integrated speaker, and it'll run $20 more on a 2-year contract than the vanilla $179 model. Way to make yourself feel special, Decoy.

At first, we figured our Instinct here at Engadget HQ had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed, but we're now receiving a flood of tips from individuals nationwide having the same issues. Put simply, it seems that certain data services are thoroughly borked, with our Weather app being unable to refresh for at least the past 18 hours (some are reporting even longer). Additionally, we're hearing that folks are having to manually refresh their email and deal with all sorts of error messages when attempting to use any of the data services. So, what gives? Are you having data-related issues with your Instinct? C'mon Sprint, this is your best-selling EV-DO device of all time -- it'd be nice to have it working for the weekend. Oh, and great job showing all those angered iPhone 3G users that your network doesn't have issues, too.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Last we knew, a 436-page Treo 800w manual popped up from deep within the confines of Sprint. Fast forward a few days, and a few diehards are already trumpeting the receipt of their precious new Palm. Yep, that handset you see above is indeed the 800w, and if you care to ask some early adopters how things are going, feel free to hit the read link and surf on over to the forums.

Heads-up, INpulse users! Okay, sorry for calling you out like that, but Verizon Wireless has a new messaging plan on the horizon that may please those of you texting your bill straight to absurdity. Beginning on July 14th, VZW prepaid customers can choose to get unlimited text, picture and video messaging to all other Verizon customers nationwide in addition to 250 messages to anyone else for $10 per month. Huzzah?

[Via phoneArena]

Wait, Verizon actually decided it would be a good idea to make official a cellphone today? Oh yeah, that's right -- the Chocolate 3 was announced with a Sunday availability date today, but for those hoping to see the wrapper unfold a few days early, today's your lucky day. The cats over at Laptop were able to acquire the new flip and test it out ever-so-briefly, and while initial impressions seemed rather positive, we reckon it's the photos you're really after. Dig into the read link for the full gallery.

We'd heard that the latest incarnation of the Chocolate series from LG on Verizon would be launching next Monday, but we've got some great news to close out the week, fans: you'll be able to plunk down your cash a full day early. It turns out that the Chocolate 3 will actually be launching this Sunday, July 13 for the expected $129.99 after rebate, featuring a 2 megapixel cam, GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an in-your-face set of external music controls, all in your choice of black or light blue. Just add an 8GB microSD card and the Rhapsody tie-in, and you've got yourself a little musical powerhouse here.

Well, looky here! Not happy with the Touch Dual or Touch Pro, you saucy CDMA lovers, you? Try this one on for size then: the last piece in HTC's EV-DO puzzle for 2008 has now hit the FCC, the Touch Diamond -- and though only Telus has managed to announce it so far, we're feeling good about plenty of other carriers on the CDMA train recognizing the importance of this device and signing on before too long. We see test reports for WiFi, too, though we imagine it'll be at carriers' discretion to disable it if they're so inclined. Let's get a move on, Sprint. You too, Verizon, don't think we don't see you whistling over there in the corner.