RIM's BlackBerry Storm 9500 / 9530, which is more affectionately known 'round these parts as the Thunder, is definitely within striking distance. Still, just because you don't have too much longer to wait doesn't mean you aren't anxious to get your hands on as many details as possible beforehand, right? The Boy Genius has managed to procure a few mundane stacks of PowerPoint slides that just so happen to contain some pretty scrumptious information on the touchscreen-based BlackBerry, and while there aren't any mind-melting surprises in there (like, confirmation that it can indeed read and reply correctly to each e-mail automatically), it's not the kind of data any real RIM fan would want to overlook. Go on and hit the read link, what exactly are you waiting for?

T-Mobile USA's busy with... ahem, another launch at the moment, but Italians on TIM now have access to RIM's first and only clamshell (TIM, RIM? Coincidence?). The Pearl 8220 is ready for shipment to the Mediterranean villa of your choosing for 269 (about $372), though TIM's only offering black at the moment -- so maybe T-Mobile's taking so long because they have to prepare some specially formulated dyes for that red version. Or something.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

If you've been dying for the full rundown on Motorola's upcoming low-end VU204 flip for Verizon -- well, first of all, bless your heart. Secondly, here you are. Key features include a VGA cam, Bluetooth, GPS, 220 x 176 primary and 96 x 80 secondary displays, and styling that'll make passers-by think you opted for the pricier VU30. After rebate and a signature on the dotted line, it'll run $29.99 ($199.99 commitment-free) when it launches on October 14.

As much as we hate that true, no-strings-attached unlimited data plans are being killed off one by one, we appreciate that carriers have had the common decency (well, sometimes) to impose caps as "soft" ones -- going over repeatedly might irk 'em into throttling your bandwidth or tearing up your contract, but at least you wouldn't be getting a bankruptcy-inducing bill in the mail without any warning. Watch yourself, boys and girls, because that's now changed on AT&T, where the one and only domestic DataConnect plan offered for laptops -- 5GB for $60 -- now features an overage charge of $0.00048 per kilobyte. Running the numbers, that works out to a staggering $480 per extra gigabyte -- and on a laptop, a gig isn't hard to burn through at all. We guess AT&T would probably either cut you off or give you a call if you went way over, but by then, you've dug yourself a pretty deep hole. It's all pretty ridiculous, and we're hoping they're only a few lawsuits away from reconsidering the way they're handling this.

[Thanks, Bill]

Update: Several tipsters have written in to let us know that AT&T shuts you down after you've racked up $100 in overage, which seems awfully arbitrary. If we're seriously going to keep going with this per-kilobyte model, can we get a configurable hard cap or something? Thanks, everyone!

Yeah, the wait for October 22 (or after) is absolutely excruciating; trust us, we know. We'll take every scrap of information and imagery we can to hold us over until G1s start showing up on doorsteps in a few weeks, but T-Mobile's really gone above and beyond the call of duty here by setting up a surprisingly functional and feature-complete emulator to satisfy our urges to touch icons and click buttons. Obviously, you're not going to get a GPS lock, so don't get your hopes up that you're going to be playing around with Street View or anything wild like that -- in fact, most apps lead you to a "this screen is not fully functional" message -- but it's got more goodies than the Android SDK's emulator, and it's just enough to get you acquainted with the phone's personality by the time it's actually in your paws.

[Via Cell Phone Signal]

Now that Sony Ericsson's mighty X1 has earned the FCC's love and affection, you won't be an outlaw for using one in the States -- but unfortunately, you won't be a speed demon everywhere, either. The version that just nabbed approval here is the X1i, and anyone familiar with Sony Ericsson's naming scheme can tell you that an "i" means a phone's not really meant for North American consumption; in this case, we're lucky to squeak by with UMTS Band II support, which means we'll theoretically be able to pick up some of AT&T's 1900MHz signal. On 850, though, you'll be stuck with EDGE. Of course, a true global launch has been in the cards for the X1 from day one, and we're not worried that we won't see a more 3G-rife model getting torn down by the feds -- this just ain't it.

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung E3010
Read - Samsung SGH-F266
Read - Huawei T156
Read - Sharp W64SH
Read - VeryKool i410
Read - VeryKool i800
Read - Ezze Mobile MEGA4E
Read - Kyocera S2410

Peripherals
Read - Samsung WEP850

Just because MetroPCS' unsolicited advances to Leap got rejected doesn't mean it can't check its damaged ego at the door long enough to get some other business put away. The two regionals sat down recently to hammer out a pretty comprehensive package of collaboration, throwing in a new 10-year roaming agreement, a spectrum swap whereby Leap gets coverage in San Diego, Fresno, Seattle, and parts of Washington and Oregon while MetroPCS picks up Dallas / Fort Worth plus some Louisiana and Florida territory, and a mutual agreement to drop any pending litigation against one another. Can't you just feel the love in the air?

So the good news is that T-Mobile has decided to keep right on taking pre-orders for the G1 through October 21, just one day before the handset's official launch. The bad news, though, is that it doesn't mean you'll be getting your Android on come October 22. Turns out that the initial allotment of G1s set aside for pre-orders is now sold out completely, and any names taken between now and launch will be allotted phones being shipped "at a later date." It's not clear if a "later date" means a week, a month, or a decade after the 22nd, but for the sake of everyone involved, we hope its the former.

Update: T-Mobile's site says that pre-orders taken from here on out will be delivered "as early as November 10," so it looks like you early birds are going to have a nice little period of exclusivity. Thanks, everyone!

Outside of China, TD-SCDMA isn't going to do you very bloody much good -- but inside China, it's just about the best thing going right now for 3G data. That makes devices like this here ZTE U990 particularly useful if you happen to be in the area, offering the People's Republic's oh-so-special flavor of high-speed wireless in an attractive package loaded with Windows Mobile 6, GPS, and EDGE roaming. The U990 also happens to be ZTE's very first Windows Mobile device, a surprising revelation for a manufacturer that currently sits at number six in the world for production volume. Look for it to launch into the retail chain "soon" -- which in corporate doublespeak could mean "tomorrow" or "2010."

[Via wmpoweruser.com and cellular-news]

We've long since known that RIM's BlackBerry Bold was AT&T bound, but in case you haven't noticed, the rumored October 2nd release date has come and went, and there's nary a Bold on any of AT&T's store shelves. According to RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, the handset is still undergoing testing at AT&T, suggesting that it wanted to avoid the complaints that arose when the newest iPhone hit in July. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel remained mum on the subject when asked, only affirming that the handset would eventually be available this year. Ah well, you've been looking for a reason to vacation in Chile, haven't you?

[Via phonescoop]

Details on this one are about as light as can be at the moment, but The Wall Street Journal has it that HP is aiming to expand its iPAQ smartphone line into the consumer market with a new model that it'll market to both average consumers and corporate users alike. According to "people briefed on the plan," the phone will have both a touchscreen and a keypad and, naturally, it'll run Windows Mobile 6.1 -- oh, and it'll be able to "send and receive emails, and access the Internet." While there's no indication of a price just yet, word is the device will be available in Europe first within the next two months, with a worldwide release to follow sometime thereafter.

[Via Gearlog]

If you recall, Motorola's 5-megapixel ZN5 was slated for release last month, and sure enough, some units are starting to slip out -- enough units, in fact, that we now have ourselves a video unboxing out there somewhere. The packaging seems... dare we say, awfully ordinary for a phone that rests at the top of Moto's featurephone pyramid, especially considering Kodak's much-ballyhooed involvement, TV-out, WiFi, and a ModeShift morphing keypad. S'pose it's just the contents we really care about anyway, though, right? Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, CrossBow]

We haven't the foggiest idea where Samsung got the inspiration for the name "Style Report," but if we look past the unusual name for a second, we have a decent little phone on our hands here. The flip is vaguely reminiscent of the RAZR 2, featuring an expansive (2.2 inches, to be exact) secondary touchscreen that can be used to work the phone's media player, photo viewer, and T-DMB tuner. It's also got Bluetooth, a 3-megapixel cam, and global GSM / HSDPA -- but don't count on finding 'er for sale outside South Korea, where she'll run somewhere from 600,000 to 700,000 won ($505 to $589).

If you blinked at some point over the past two years you may have missed it, but somewhere in there, Sony Ericsson had a flagship retail location in the heart of London. Actually, they still do -- it's not closed quite yet -- but it'll be gone by the end of the year, just one casualty of the manufacturer's cost-cutting measures in an effort to turn its weak financial position around. Worried about the prospects for immersing yourself in the Sony Ericsson lifestyle after the new year? Rest easy -- the company says it has no plans to get rid of its 200-plus stores in Asia.

[Via Slashphone]