Stick this one firmly in the rumor category, since all the verbiage that's been thrown around about this story still traces back to one single source: a slightly ill-informed article done up in MarketingWeek in the UK. The article cites unspecified "senior industry sources," and goes on about how this is Dell and Google working closely together on what is more or less the "Gphone." Since we have no reason to believe Google is going to jeopardize its Android OS by getting extra-friendly with one specific manufacturer, the primary weight we can give to this rumor is that fact that Dell picked up a former Motorola executive, Ron Garriques, to run its Global Consumer Group early last year. Other rumors have cropped up over the years about Dell moving in this direction, so it certainly wouldn't signal the apocalypse if a Dell-branded Android phone does show up at this rumored unveiling at 3GSM, but giving how early on Android is at the moment, we'll believe it when we see it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The major manufacturers seem to have done a brilliant job timing many of their 3GSM releases to hit the FCC this week, thus stymieing our typical scoopage. Nonetheless, if radiation reports are your thing, you've come to the right place. Enjoy this very special 3GSM edition of FCC Fridays!

Phones
Read - RIM BlackBerry 8800
Read - Ezze Mobile SLT100Q
Read - Samsung SGH-U600
Read - Samsung SGH-A411
Read - Samsung SGH-I520V
Read - Sony Ericsson K550im
Read - E28 E2831
Read - HP iPAQ 510 Voice Messenger

Peripherals
Read - Sony Ericsson HCB-120
Read - Option GT0201

While we've already seen some still images of the newfangled OpenKODE-based interface for cellphones, and heard plenty of details about the capabilities of NVIDIA's GoForce 5500 mobile chipset, there's nothing like a good video to pull it all together, which Shiny Shiny has thankfully provided on their recent trek through the wilds of 3GSM. As you can see for yourself after the break, the combination definitely impresses, with full 3D games, seemingly high-quality video, and other multimedia capabilities on full display, not to mention a fairly snazzy and customizable interface. Somewhat ironically, NVIDIA seems to have decided to show it all off on the biggest monitor they could get their hands on. Although that may have ultimately been for the best -- the sight of a gaggle of sweaty and tired tech journalists huddled around a cellphone screen probably isn't the best way to attract interest from passer-bys..

We only caught a brief early glimpse of ALP at 3GSM this year before they quickly snuck away all the gear, but PDAStreet claims that ALP has hit 1.0 in its dev cycle, and has screencaps and a lot of info we've been waiting for to make the case. First up, hardware: it should run on current generation devices, requiring at least a 200MHz ARM9 CPU (400MHz+ recommended), 64MB RAM and 64MB flash memory, and has support for input via QWERTY, 12-key with 5-way d-pad, and touchscreen (obviously) or digitizer (interesting!)with four or five hard keys. Interestingly, supported resolutions include QVGA (240 x 320), HVGA (320 x 480), and WVGA (800 x 480) -- where's the 320 x 320 Palm OS Treos have had since the 650? We dunno. ACCESS still hasn't announced any licensees, but unless ALP switches up and adds a square aspect ratio, it doesn't look like we'll see this running on any Treos as we know them today. Oh, app list after the break.

[Via Download Squad]

It was a blast, but it's time to say goodbye to the land of El encierro, tapas, and QWERTY handsets with HSDPA. We came away with the impression that this was one of the most game-changing tradeshows for the mobile industry in recent memory; tri-band WCDMA is starting to become the rule rather than the exception, Microsoft rolled out its next-gen platform, and in general, it seemed like all the major manufacturers brought their "A" game to the party. Follow the links below for a trip down memory lane to see just what made this year's 3GSM so special.

Hands-ons, live shots
Read - Hands-on with Motorola's MOTORIZR Z8
Read - Hands-on with the Neonode N2
Read - Hands-on with Samsung's Ultra Edition II 12.1, 10.9, and 5.9
Read - Hands-on with Nokia's E90 and E61i
Read - ACCESS Linux Platform on display at 3GSM
Read - More shots of Samsung's i760
Read - Hands-on with Sony Ericsson's Walkman W880

Announcements
Read - i-mate goes deep with Ultimate line, five models promised
Read - Samsung shows off Mobile WiMAX wares at 3GSM
Read - MOTOKRZR K3 with 3G gets official
Read - Samsung's Ultra Smart F520: HSDPA touchscreen with dual-sliding action
Read - Toshiba's G900 and E01 with Windows Mobile 6
Read - Motorola's new Qs: Q gsm and Q q9
Read - ASUS Aries
Read - Nokia's 6110 quad-band HSDPA GPS navigator
Read - Nokia's E61i QWERTY and E65 slider announced: some style for the suits
Read - Nokia's N77 with DVB-H mobile TV
Read - Nokia's E90 communicator launched!
Read - Motorola's MOTORIZR Z8: a Symbian "kick-slider" with HSDPA
Read - Motorola's SLVR L9 brings the multimedia
Read - Samsung's Ultra Edition II series loosed at 3GSM: U300, U600, U100, and U700
Read - i-mate adds splash of color, WM6 to SPL
Read - i-mate Ultimate 5150 in the wild
Read - i-mate JAQ4
Read - RIM's BlackBerry 8800 launched
Read - HP iPAQ 510 Voice Messenger
Read - Windows Mobile 6 out, supports new resolutions too
Read - Sony Ericsson adds trio of headsets
Read - Sony Ericsson's entry level J110, J120, K200, and K220
Read - Sony Ericsson's W610 Walkman for US plebes
Read - Sony Ericsson's K810 and K550 Cybershot phones: slim 3.2 and 2.0 megapixel shooters
Read - Sony Ericsson's W880 (Ai) Walkman musicphone unleashed
Read - Goodbye HTC Athena, hello HTC Advantage

We can't 100% guarantee this is for real, but Kosso over at NokLog snapped a pic at 3GSM this week of what appears to be a Samsung WiBro handset with a dedicated RSS button. Yeah, you read that right -- an RSS button. We're as crazy about this RSS stuff as you can get, but an entire button just for accessing your handset's feed reader? Then again, we are hitting the feeds these days as often as we check email, and we definitely don't mind having a phone with a dedicated email button. Anyone recognize this thing or know its model number?

[Via Scripting News and kosso's braingarden]

UPDATE: It's legit, the handset is the SPH-M8100.

Texas Instruments demonstrated its first processor to enable high definition (720p) playback on mobile phones yesterday at 3GSM World Congress. The OMAP3430, first announced last year, is the first in TI's series of OMAP 3 processors and also first to include support for the OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics standard for 3D acceleration. The 3430 gets the muscle to move your HD files and 3D gaming from its embedded ARM Cortex-A8 processor, but from the specs it seems that the video portion is only currently supporting up to 1024 x 768 (XGA) output via composite or S-video connections. Still, with this power available, sometime in the future your common cellphone will be playing back HD on the go or outputting video to a big screen HDTV. We previously expected to see handsets based on the technology this year, but while TI is shipping samples of the processors now, don't expect your HD-capable cell to hit stores until early 2008.

While Athena was far from the worst product name we've come across, HTC seems to think they can do one better, using the 3GSM conference to officially rebrand the desirable device as the HTC Advantage. Apart the spiffy new moniker, however, the Windows Mobile-based device remains otherwise unchanged, with that same 5-inch VGA display, Intel PXA270 624 MHz processor, 8GB hard drive, 3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, WiFi, and GPS, not to mention tri-band HSDPA and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity. Of course, this isn't the first identity crisis that the device has suffered, with it already once undergoing a name change at T-Mobile's behest, who found the friendly-sounding Ameo more to their liking. In case you haven't seen enough of the device yet, you can check out another pic it sans keyboard after the break, and click through to HTC's newly-launched Advantage website for product shots aplenty, including a hypnotizing 360° view.

[Via Laptoping]

We just got the chance to go mano a mano with the MOTORIZR Z8 here at 3GSM. Whether you call it a kick-slider or banana, one thing's for sure: it feels good pressed up to the face. Just check the pics to see how greasy close it's been to the legions of sweaty geek-cheeks here in Barcelona. Eww, man sweat -- but ohhh Symbian.

We had a chance to go hands-on with the Neonode N2 today while trippin' the floors of 3GSM. So how was it? Pretty sweet. Although lacking WiFi and 3G, the device felt excellent in the hand. Text input was a bit buggy but that touch-screen interface and long (theoretical) battery life will likely be a hit in whatever market the N2 ultimately reaches... someday.

As promised, ACCESS has rolled into Barcelona to let its long-awaited ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP) loose on the teeming masses at this week's big 3GSM conference, also taking the opportunity to introduce version 1.0 of its Product Development Kit and a pre-release version of the equally important Software Development Kit. As evidenced by the shot above, the OS is also looking a fair bit more polished than it was in the last few screens of it we've seen, with those in attendance at the conference also able to test out its all-important Bejewled and Solitaire capabilities (sadly, Doom doesn't seem to have been ported just yet). On the hardware side of things, both Marvell and Texas Instruments have hooked up with ACCESS to show off how their respective wares work with the OS, with both not surprisingly touting high performance and low power consumption. While that lone pic above will have to do for now, we're working to sneak in a few more peeks of the OS in action before 3GSM wraps up and we'll bring 'em to you when we've got them.

i-mate is taking a pretty interesting approach with its newest range of Windows Mobile devices -- the WM6-equipped "Ultimate" range -- by shoving a full five models out the door, all differing only in form factor. Clockwise from the upper left, we have all five in purely theoretical, rendered form: the 5150, 6150, 7150, 9150, and 8150. The strategy makes sense, really; everyone wants a solid spec sheet, but getting everyone to agree on a single shape is an exercise in futility. With 256MB of ROM, VGA displays across the board, tri-band 3G radios, Bluetooth 2.0, and FM radios, the Ultimates definitely hold their own in the spec department -- the only question, then, is whether they've nailed the industrial design. The first model being shown all public-like, the 5150 slider, is admittedly an acquired taste, but some of the others really caught our eyes (7150 and 9150, we're looking at you).

Sprint has apparently gotten a few of its disparate Mobile WiMax partners to play nice with each other at least for a little while, with Samsung, Intel, Motorola, and Nokia all sharing a booth at this week's 3GSM conference to help spread the WiMax word. For its part, Samsung has trotted out three WiMax-ready devices, including two handsets we've seen before and a new USB dongle to bring some of that wireless broadband goodness to your laptop (or desktop, if you choose). Likely to attract the most attention is the company's SPH-P9000 "UMPC-like" device, running on Windows XP and packing a 5-inch display, 1GHz Transmeta CPU, 30GB hard drive, a foldable QWERTY keyboard and, of course, those integrated Mobile WiMax capabilities, with some good 'ol EV-DO to back it up. The also-on-display SPH-M8100 wraps that Mobile WiMax into a more traditional form factor, running on Windows Mobile 5.0 and packing a 2.8-inch display, 2 megapixel camera, and T-DMB mobile TV capabilities. Rounding out the WiMax lineup, Samsung's USB dongle is about as straightforward as you'd expect it to be, with a UICC slot to accommodate your phone's SIM card and a handy LED to let you know that it's working. Mac users are apparently out of luck with this one, however, as it's strictly Windows-only for the time being. In addition to showing off its wares, Samsung also confirmed that it's currently conducting seven Mobile WiMax trials with various partners, with more planned for later this year, though there's no indication exactly when or where.

UK-based Omnifone is using 3GSM today as the backdrop to announce its intriguing "MusicStation" service, promising an all-you-can-eat serving of music delivered over the air to handsets for £1.99 (about $3.88) a week -- about 8 quid a month, if our math's right. According to the company itself, Omnifone's goal is to get its service onto customer's handsets ahead of the iPhone's European launch at the end of the year, and if we have a good read on how well the iPhone's going to sell, we think that's a pretty good plan on its part. The first two operators to sign up for a MusicStation launch (of an alleged 23 in total) are Scandinavian carrier Telenor and South Africa's Vodacom, with several more European launches plan over the course of the year. The music selection may not be half bad, either, with a number of independent labels signed up alongside Universal. Music can be kept as long as the user maintains service, though the downside -- as with every other all-you-can-eat download service -- is that the tunes evaporate into thin air just as soon as it's canceled. All told, not a bad alternative to the offerings we've seen from carriers Statside so far, and with 23 operators apparently on the hook, we have to believe (read: hope) one or two might be on American soil.

[Via MocoNews]