What's that, you're still holding your breath waiting for the G60 release? Breathe, child, breathe, it's still going to be a little while before you can get your nav on with this celly. Obviously it didn't make the first half of the year as initially planned, but the Garmin-Asus partnership is now saying that the phone will still arrive at its retail destination before 2010, with some places seeing it in just two months time. Why the delays? Apparently its custom flavor of Linux is at least part of the problem, leading the corporate couple's marriage counselors to suggest a move to Android for all future, non-WinMo handsets -- devices that, contrary to earlier reports, will also launch before the end of the year. So, G60 in August, or potentially even hotter Android nav phone a few months later? Decisions, decisions.

We're not sure how we missed this, but it seems the Nokia N900 (aka "Rover") was not only mentioned, but visually detailed in some candor during an Nseries presentation way back in October of last year. If you fast forward to about the three-minute mark in this video, Nokia's next-gen, Maemo 5-powered internet tablet is seen doing its thing, and it differs in a few key details from the last leak -- most noticeably, it's got a big d-pad on the left just like its predecessor and there's no sign of an earpiece for making calls over the rumored 3G radio. In fact, it really just looks like a whited-out N810, which makes us wonder whether this isn't purely conceptual, especially considering the age of the video. Either way, the N810's aging rapidly and the territory's rapidly being encroached on by MIDs of all shapes and sizes, so we imagine we'll see this get launched soon enough -- maybe on T-Mobile USA of all carriers, if the rumors pan out. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, CanisMinor]

Update: We're being told that this was little more than a student-led art project -- and it's one hell of an art project, considering that it looks every bit as slick as Nokia's official marketing. Thanks, Ryan A.!

It's a bit late, but the LiMo Foundation has wrapped up work on specifications for its second major release, aptly named R2. Major improvements over R1 include enhanced support for location-based services, media, integrated PIM functionality, and "advanced security applications," which we take to mean VPN and the like; more importantly, though, R2 integrates the OMTP's BONDI 1.0 specification, which gives manufacturers, carriers, and developers a common target platform for widgets and mobile web apps. If you're itching to run out and buy a LiMo R2 device of your own, hold up -- they won't be in the market until the fourth quarter of the year, assuming the schedule doesn't slip.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Despite the A1600 and A1800, Motorola's soldiering on with variants of the original circa-2006 MING -- for reasons only known to the company's most senior, jaded product managers, we'd imagine -- and the A1200R's the latest fruit of those efforts. The QVGA touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, translucent lid, and Linux core all carry over from the original, but the A1200R ups the ante with a new widget platform that lets the user customize little tidbits of information (news, weather, and so on) to be shown on the home screen. Also new to the model is an Office document viewer, but what isn't new is the fact that the US will almost certainly never get it; it's been announced in Argentina, which makes it a likely target for a variety of South American countries over the next few months.

[Via Unwired View]

After the spec rundown this morning of the long-rumored Maemo 5 tablet from Nokia, we've now got ourselves a potential name and image to pair with the wonderful promise of 3G and OMAP3. According to this shot obtained by Cellpassion, the next-generation Internet Tablet device is taking quite a bit of an N-series turn, with that 3.5-inch WVGA screen (instead of the 4-inch display on the N810), three-row QWERTY keyboard and other refinements making this look to be much more a smartphone than a tablet -- which is presumably exactly what Nokia is going for. Naturally, we can't vouch for the source, and there are enough oddities to the image -- which seems to be gleaned from a presentation slide of some sort -- to voice caution, but if this is truly the marriage of Maemo with handset we've always dreamed of, it's going to be a little difficult to rein in our enthusiasm.

MobileCrunch claims to have pictures (which it can't publish for security reasons, unfortunately) and complete specs for Nokia's next-gen internet tablet -- and although we don't have any corroborating evidence to back up the story, everything they've got makes perfect sense. We've known for the better part of a year now that Nokia has been planning an OMAP3-based N810 replacement with 3G that would run Maemo 5, and that's exactly what this new device seems to be with a 3.5-inch wide VGA display, WiFi, full HSPA, 32GB of onboard storage expandable to 48GB (presumably via microSD), and -- get this -- a 5 megapixel AF camera with dual LED flash. GSM voice and VoIP are both in the cards, making this the closest thing yet to a Maemo-powered phone -- and in a sick, twisted way, the 5 megapixel camera plus sliding keyboard almost put it in direct competition with the upcoming N97. Indeed, carriers are taking direct interest in this thing, with T-Mobile apparently interested both in Europe and the States; it seems we could expect a European release as soon as July, with T-Mobile USA nabbing it in an AWS 3G flavor closer to fall. Makes an eventual divorce from S60 all that much more plausible for Nokia, doesn't it?

Between Android and the myriad of LiMo builds out there, we're not sure the world needs another open-source phone operating system, but Nokia and Intel seem to think differently: the two behemoths have joined up to develop oFono, a Linux-based mobile OS for GSM handsets. We don't know many details, but he project seems to be pulling people from both Intel's Moblin initiative and Nokia's Maemo project, and job postings from a "major handset company" searching for a GUI designer in either Dallas or San Jose have appeared, so it sounds like something big is in the works. We'll see.

Read - oFono web site
Read - PhoneDog post about the job listing

We've been waiting on pins and needles for confirmation, but it looks like an all-too-vague Reuters report actually is referring to the Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60. After a senior company official noted that a "Linux-based operating system" would be used in one of its two smartphones, we pinged Garmin directly to cut through the mystery and get down to the meat. What we were told was this: "The Garmin-Asus nüvifone G60 has a proprietary Linux-based OS, and we're still working towards delivering the nüvifone G60 in the first half of 2009 in limited markets, which haven't been named yet." Of course, the tandem is quickly running out in months in that window, so we're pretty jazzed to be all up on top of an imminent release. Now, if only we knew where those patience pills made off to...

[Via Boy Genius Report]

We've always had a soft spot for the OpenMoko FreeRunner open-source phone, but it looks like quirky and charming weren't enough -- the company's discontinued work on handset's planned successor and laid off 50 percent of its staff in an effort to stay afloat. CEO Sean Moss-Pulz says that work will continue on a new-non-smartphone he's calling "Plan B," with plans to work on a new phone in the future -- we're guessing Android might figure prominently into that plan, since it's already been ported to the hardware and the rumor mill was already churning. We'll see.

P.S.- Along with the Dash Express, that's now two different FIC-built Linux devices that have met an untimely demise, and not for lack of effort or enthusiasm -- the beginnings of a trend, or merely a coincidence?

Update: OpenMoko pinged us to say that the current FreeRunner will still be produced and components will still be available for devs -- but it won't be succeeded by the planned next-gen model. Check a video statement from marketing director Steve Mosher after the break.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Say it ain't so! Some three years after the original A1200 MING drew attention overseas with its then-flashy design and Linux OS, we're finally hearing that somewhat of a direct successor is on the way. Oh sure, we've certainly seen others in the MING family surface over the past little while, but this one follows right in line even in name. The A1210 sports a 2.8-inch QVGA (400 x 240) touchscreen, a 3.1 megapixel camera, FM radio, tri-band GSM support, Bluetooth, USB, a TI OMAP850 processor and a microSD card slot. The most interesting part, however, is the homegrown Linux build that'll reportedly be loaded on. Sadly, it's too early to tell whether that system will be all new or partially regurgitated, but the Chinese market should be able to tell in the not-too-distant future.

This table pretty much speaks for itself as a snapshot of the year in smartphones that was 2008 (according to Gartner) -- a breakout year for the category particularly in the US. As you'd expect from the smartphone device tallies we saw yesterday, RIM and Apple have the momentum largely at the expense of Symbian's declining market share and the stagnation of Windows Mobile in an otherwise growing market segment. Palm's also a bit of a surprise showing 42.2% growth for the year. With any luck, Palm could turn this table upside down in 2009 with a successful global launch of WebOS. Regardless, you can bet that developers are paying particularly close attention to these numbers as they decide where to best align their resources for maximum financial gain.

Android may be doing its best to exterminate Linux on the mobile platform, but a dedicated group of fans is doing its best to keep it alive and on the move. One of those is a G1 user by the handle ghostwalker who managed to get a full X-Windows environment running on his handset. Building on the already working Debian version for the G1, he installs LXDE (the Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) on top and then connects to that using the Android VNC viewer. The process sounds straightforward (as far as these things go) and is fully detailed at the read link, but as always don't blame us if you break your poor Android's shell -- and heart.

[Via Hack A Day, thanks Neerhaj]

We got a quick look at the latest version of the Access Linux Platform (ALP) today, running on an early build of TI's OMAP 3-based Zoom hardware. Access seems excessively enthused with widgets, and really isn't doing a bad job at them, featuring transparency galore and even a second home screen for housing a separate set of them (perhaps "work" or "home" or "really great world clocks"). The machine also run's Access' own NetFront browser, which isn't quite as butter as we've seen WebKit get lately, but might be about on par with Microsoft's new builds of Internet Explorer Mobile. Unfortunately, aside from a jerky, barebones "flickable" photo browser, that's all Access is showing off of LiMo-compliant 3.0 at the moment, and we didn't get a look at that Garnet OS compatibility layer we all know and love. Still, if you suffer from some irrational fear that we'd be short on mobile operating systems here at MWC you can at last rest at ease. Video is after the break.

While Android is sure enjoying the spotlight underneath that HTC Magic display, the LiMo Foundation is quietly building an army to rule the mobile realm once and for all. Dramatics aside, the Linux consortium did manage to secure another six members here at Mobile World Congress including Telefónica SA, Aromasoft Corporation, Casio Hitachi Mobile Communications, Marvell Semiconductor, Opera Software ASA, and Swisscom. Of course, all these formalities really mean nothing if the group can't manage to get a reputable handset out the door, so for now, we'll say "congrats" and "hurry up, why don'tcha?"