Crave UK had a chance to check out Nokia's 8800 Arte and Sapphire Arte luxury sliders recently, and the reviewer discovered one... uh, "feature" of the Sapphire model not shared by its cheaper (but still very, very pricey) sibling. The box -- it's colossal. Not for any reason, mind you; no, Nokia just saw fit to line up the accessories contained within in a very linear, spaced-out fashion. Pretty weird for a Greenpeace-praised company with an obsession for everything environmental, isn't it?

[Thanks, T.I.]

From afar, it's really, really hard to understand the concept of a €1,000 (about $1,470) cellphone. Touch one, though, and it starts to make sense. The 8800 Arte -- the latest in a long line of luxury phones from Nokia dating all the way back to the trick 8110 "Matrix phone" in the mid 90s -- is a feast for the senses, thanks in no small part to a simply gorgeous 2 inch full color OLED display front and center. Of course, it also helps that the 8800 Arte once again sets a standard for quality materials and craftsmanship in Nokia's line, featuring perhaps the most satisfying slide mechanism we've ever had the pleasure of actuating. Put simply, this little beast feels as though it's crafted from a single hunk of metal, and indeed, that's probably not too far from the truth. The 3.2 megapixel camera is decent for a phone of its size and target demographic, and the same can be said of the 1GB of integrated storage; if it weren't for the lack of US 3G, we'd be just a hair away from being able to fully justify the monstrous price tag. For most of us, these gallery shots will be as close as we ever get to an 8800 Arte, so savor them, won't you?

Thanks to the good folks at Wireless Imports for the hookup!

Well look at what our favorite (and speedy) parcel carrier dropped off at our door today -- it's the BlackBerry 8800 for T-Mobile. For your viewing pleasure, we took some unboxing pics of T-Mobile's latest 'Berry in all its svelteness. Even though the specs are nothing new, we'll run 'em down one more time -- quadband GSM / EDGE, expandable memory via microSD, myFaves support, and BlackBerry's reliable network. Make sure to check out more pics after the break!

Right on cue, T-Mobile; nicely done. The BlackBerry 8800 is now available on T-Mobile's website to anyone will to plunk down the requisite cash, though word has it brick and mortar stores won't be seeing them for a little while yet. The price? A penny shy of $350 after instant discount -- a princely sum, yes, but can you really put a price on BlackBerry nirvana?

AT&T may have had first dibs, but all told, the wait T-Mobile peeps will have had to endure won't be that bad at all. The T-Mobile-branded BlackBerry 8800 hits the nation's number four carrier this coming Monday, April 23, bringing Pearl-like style to the more traditional (read: non-SureType) form factor preferred by many. Just like its AT&T sibling, T-Mobile's 8800 will obviously top out with EDGE data on all four GSM bands and offer microSD expansion, a media player, Bluetooth 2.0, full HTML web browsing, and a variety of instant messaging clients. Unlike other 8800s, though, T-Mobile's offers myFaves support -- a decidedly personal feature for a decidedly business-oriented handset, we reckon (not to suggest we're complaining, of course). Look for it Monday through "select channels" including the carrier's website; no word yet on when it'll be a commodity item in brick-and-mortar stores.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

It seems pretty un-Nokia to us for official variants of one of its phones to hit retail shops before we hear an announcement out of Espoo, but it appears that's exactly what has happened here. The 8800 Sirocco Gold is, as one might expect, merely a gold-hued version of its 8800 Sirocco, combining almost-Vertu style and craftsmanship, almost-Vertu pricing, and a shiny yellow case for those times when neither silver nor black sufficiently express its owner's "my phone's more expensive than yours" attitude. Look for it to hit "select markets" (which we think excludes the US on account of the lack of GSM 850) bundled with a matching headset and desk stand for €1000 (about $1,355).

There are any number of shops around the world that'll happily apply some excessive opulence to a 8800 Sirocco Edition for the appropriate amount of coin, but is Nokia itself getting in the game? This "Sirocco Gold" looks legit enough -- as does its packaging -- and rumors are swirling that the phone is now available in select corners of the world. One of those corners is eBay's German outpost, where an alleged Sirocco Gold can be had for the princely sum of €1,199 (about $1,620), which by our calculations puts the handset within shouting distance of lower-end (ha!) Vertus. Cannibalizing yourself a bit here, Nokia?

[Thanks, Mani S.]

Read - Mobile-Review forum post
Read - eBay Germany auction

Could this devilishly winsome Nokia device be the successor to the much loved (but grossly overpriced) Nokia 8800, the rumored (and potentially cheaper) Nokia 8600 "Luna," or something else entirely? It's clearly a slider, but we lack pics of the business side of the device to get a feel for what it really has to offer as far as keyboard and other goodies go. Also no word on specs dates prices or carrier info in here, folks -- this is purely eye candy -- but we will hopefully see more of this little mystery in the not so distant future.

[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog, thanks David and Yogev]

Sure, the details vary a little bit from jeweler to jeweler, but the result is always the same: a standard-issue phone that's been taken to excessively opulent extremes thanks to an excess of gems and rare earth elements. This time around, the phone is Nokia's already expensive 8800, and the culprit is ISSE of Russia. The handset is naturally covered in gold or silver, while optional heated enamel can add a shade of color to the phone that takes away any resemblance of precious metal. Tack on a few carats of diamonds, rubies, garnets, or whatever, slap it in a box made of "rare timber," and call it good. In our opinion, any self-respecting individual with too much cash for their own good would seek out the newer Sirocco Edition of the 8800, but that's just us.

[Via Unwired View]

Straighten your ties and button your suit jackets, RIM's promiscuous debutante -- the Blackberry 8800 -- is up and dancin' on on Cingular's website. $500 list, or $300 after $50 mail-in rebate and 2-year contract, the 8800 brings everything we expected: quad-band EDGE, GPS, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 2.0, push-to-talk suport, and 5-hours talk / 24-days standby in a 0.55-inch device weighing just 4.73-ounces. 3G data? No. WiFi? Not this time. For that we'll have to hold tight for the anticipated mid-year launch of the 8820.

[Thanks, President and everyone who sent this in]

He got us those original BlackBerry 8800 shots, so we're guessing these unboxing pics of the phone here were no sweat for Boy Genius. We still can't claim to be crazy about the device, which launched last week, but we're sure plenty of suits will be glad to replace their aging CrackBerries with this fancy new QWERTY version. As a side note -- could Cingular's boxes be any more boring?

Ahh, so that's what the WiFi indicator on the 8800's press shot was all about, eh? We've been hearing rumblings of a WiFi-enabled version of the BlackBerry 8800 for months before the darned thing's official release, and Pinstack's fanning the flames with a new comparison chart allegedly pitting the venerable 8700 against an "8820" that sports WiFi. Not much is known about the device at this point, but given the relatively modest bump in model number, we'd expect changes to be minor beyond the addition of the WAN radio. Pinstack's liking the chances of the 8820 launching by mid-year -- and given the 8800's lack of WCDMA, we think it couldn't possibly get out the door soon enough.

If you weren't paying attention these last few months, RIM has been working on a new full-QWERTY BlackBerry, which is finally here: the 8800. Expect the 0.55-inch thick device on Cingular, er, AT&T, this month with quad-band EDGE (blah), a QVGA display, GPS, a microSD slot, Bluetooth 2.0, scroll ball, and a relatively uncomfortable looking keyboard. Still no word on price or an exact date, but we're sure you've got a pretty decent ballpark in your head for what this thing's going to run.

P.S. -What the hell is up with the WiFi indicator on screen? The press release and BlackBerry site certainly make no mention of it.

[Via Mobile Burn]