Shoot, all Motorola had to do was change from pink mahogany to this nice, normal, compliant shade of black, and that would've been enough of an update to justify a model name change. There's more, though: the V9x will officially offer AT&T Navigator, the Telenav-powered navigation system already found on the Z9, and we can see from these press shots that it'll even work on the secondary display, which is pretty trick. This appears to be the same update that we'd originally heard would drop way back in January, which means we can likely expect Video Share support as well. Check 'er out!

Finally, a piece of news we can actually do something with. AT&T today announced its pricing structure for the next iteration of Apple's iPhone -- which you can plunk down money for come 8 am, July 11th. There's not much that's surprising here -- new customers and those eligible for an upgrade will be able to nab the phone for $199 (8GB) or $299 (16GB), while "early upgraders" will have to fork over $399 or $499, all with a two year contract and $18 upgrade fee, of course. The telco says a no-commitment version of the phone will be available for $599 and $699, though it looks like that will come after the initial launch. AT&T appears to be leaning pretty heavily towards the all-in unlimited plans, but there are options if you don't want to go that route. We've sorted out the basics after the break, and included AT&T's "iReady" video -- certainly good for a few chuckles.

LG and Samsung just love throwing down the touchscreen gauntlet on American carriers lately -- one only need look at the Dare, Instinct, Vu, Voyager, and Glyde to figure that much out. Thing is, none of those devices really fall into the smartphone bucket, much less the coveted "superphone" one. That might just be where the recently-announced Samsung Omnia comes into play, though, which is now rumored to be destined for AT&T with a gaggle of features in tow: Windows Mobile 6.1, 5 megapixel camera, HSDPA, at least 8GB of internal storage, and support for AT&T Mobile TV. If it turns out to be true, that's got to steam LG, who's presently sitting atop the AT&T Mobile TV food chain with the Vu -- but hey, if that means they're going to set to work with another range-topper above this one, we're all for it.

Come on, now, Sony Ericsson, you know what happens when you make too many colors of the same damn phone. The W580i was a serviceable midrange Walkman handset in its heyday, but without 3G, it's pretty hard to justify the $99 after contract and rebate that AT&T is asking for the thing in its latest shade -- a nice, shiny red. Ironically, the 3G-equipped Z750a is a solid $50 less, so yeah, we're really not seeing where AT&T is going with this. To be fair, $99 is the same price being asked for every color of the W580i (and there are many at this point), but shouldn't they be using this golden opportunity to lower prices across the board to somewhere within the realm of reason and logic?

[Via phoneArena]

Look, everyone knows things aren't exactly gangbusters over at Motorola right now, but it's downright depressing when you've got to pat your own self on the back for an award given to you by AT&T. Even worse, the Outstanding Supplier recognition "in the area of teamwork" seems like something that should be expected as one mega-corp works with another, but we digress. Moto was apparently one of 27 that received similar awards, though we haven't tallied up precisely how many others felt the need to publicly gloat. Said Dan Moloney, president of Motorola's Home and Networks Mobility business, "we are delighted to be named amongst AT&T's best of the best in teamwork." And we're delighted for you, Mr. Moloney.

Klausner Technologies' litigious ways have already proven successful with Vonage, and it now looks like the company has got what it wanted out of Apple as well, which it had sued (along with AT&T) back in December over the iPhone's Visual Voicemail feature. As Reuters reports, both Apple and AT&T have agreed to license Klausner's patents relating to Visual Voicemail, and settle the lawsuit that was brought against them, although any other details are expectedly light at the moment. It seems that Klausner isn't quite content to sit on its patents just yet, however, with Reuters also reporting that the company is "in discussions" with both Comcast and Cablevision about them using the very same technology.

[Via CNET News.com]

Yesterday we went over a few of the more confusing bits of the iPhone 3G launch -- and let's be honest, this launch is way more confusing than the original go-round. Of course, there were a lot of burning questions to be answered from the audience, so we got an AT&T spokesperson to weigh in on what's on your mind. The most surprising answer? Contrary to reports implying otherwise, AT&T pretty much categorically claims that no matter where you buy your iPhone 3G, be it from AT&T or Apple, you have to walk out of the store an activated customer. Check it all out over on Engadget!

See that image above? Yeah, that's a sexy new side angle of RIM's BlackBerry Bold, and it's coming to us courtesy of AT&T. Just as Sprint did with its fashionable Instinct, AT&T is launching a promotional site for the forthcoming BlackBerry in order to drum up interest and get you (re)informed. Straight from the carrier's mouth, we've got GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA support, integrated WiFi / GPS, 480 x 320 resolution display, a side-loaded memory slot, 1GB of built-in storage, a 624MHz CPU, 128MB of Flash memory, Bluetooth 2.0 with handsfree support and up to 5-hours of GSM talk time (13 days in standby). You'll notice that the operator makes no mention of an exact release date, but we're crossing our fingers and sticking to that leaked July timeframe until we hear otherwise.

[Thanks, Daryl]

Seems there are some rumors floating around today that AT&T plans on scooping up the old iPhones of subscribers that come into stores to upgrade to the iPhone 3G at the tantalizingly subsidized $199 / $299 prices for the 8GB and 16GB models. This feels totally bogus at first glance, considering that some of us have destroyed our iPhones in one way or another, sold them without changing plans, or otherwise made our devices disappear permanently enough to be unavailable to the clerk at the store. We checked with AT&T, and sure enough, we're happy to report that there won't be anyone at the store giving you a pat-down and confiscating it -- the only circumstance where you'll have to turn it in is if you're taking advantage of the exchange deal for folks that bought it since May 27th. So, you know, resume making sure that your eBay and PayPal accounts are in good standing.

Update: To be clear, anyone taking advantage of the $199 / $299 pricing will need to enter into or extend their contract by two years. Though many (most?) will be able to make that happen, AT&T says that there will be a "non-qualified" upgrade price as well, though the terms of that qualification and the actual pricing have yet to be disclosed. Obviously, we're following this one closely.

When we saw the Z780i flip from Sony Ericsson pass through the FCC with AT&T branding, the vaguely disturbing me-too RAZR look left us barely able to muster the energy to even bother writing about the darned thing. We're still not picturing ourselves sliding one of these into our pockets any time soon, but new pictures have appeared of a mysterious woman brandishing a metallic blue version of the phone with AT&T's logo still stuck on there, and we've got to say -- it looks like a promising improvement over the uninspired black version that the FCC was forced to work with. HSDPA's always alright in our book, so just release it to AT&T in this color, guys, and we'll cut you a little slack on this one.

[Via Sony Ericsson Blog]

So wait just a second here -- you say you have to activate the iPhone 3G in-store, and unlimited data is going to run another $10 a month? With the new model comes an entirely new way of doing business, it seems, and that brings on a whole slew of new questions for the good folks at AT&T. Here are a few we've managed to ask so far, the official answers, and in some cases, information we've managed to gather on the side.

AT&T (well, Cingular at the time) and Apple entered into a very peculiar marriage of convenience to bring the original iPhone to American airwaves whereby AT&T shelled out cash to Cupertino each and every month for iPhone subscribers on its network (the exact terms were never publicized). Very simply, Apple had something good; they knew it and leveraged it to the very maximum of their ability, dangling the tantalizing prospect of endless publicity and droves of new customers in exchange for the deal. That same logic left Apple struggling to find partners in Europe, though, ultimately deploying the 2.5G model in just five markets there under AT&T-like terms.

Fast forward to July 2008 and the iPhone 3G, and the picture has changed just a bit. At least 70 countries will see the updated version before the year's out, but why the sudden change of heart by the world's carriers? Turns out the answer might lie in a revamped sales model that more closely mirrors the deals carriers set up with other manufacturers. AT&T has gone on the record saying that it'll take a huge revenue hit -- 10 to 12 cents per share both this year and next before finally planning on profitability in 2010 -- in order to deeply subsidize the phone on its own accord, taking Apple and its precious monthly kickbacks out of the picture. This is presumably the same kind of setup Apple is offering to carriers around the globe, a setup that they're already well acquainted with that provides a clear path to black ink (or so they would hope, anyway).

What does this mean for Apple, then? There's some chatter that the move away from a monthly revenue model will "force" Apple into charging for firmware updates much the way it does for the iPod touch, but that's not really a valid train of thought. We already know that Apple's committed to updating iPhones at no charge, something it can do by virtue of its accounting model where it recognizes revenue from the sales of devices over time. That accounting model was chosen precisely because it looked best on paper while Apple was continuing to churn out fee-free upgrades, not because of the original revenue model in place with AT&T. For what it's worth, they're still going to be rolling in the dough; carriers, on the other hand, are going to be waiting a while to dig out of that deep subsidy hole.

We still don't have a clear answer from AT&T on whether messaging is included, but if not, the data pricing of $30 per month for unlimited 3G when tied to the iPhone 3G represents a $10 bump from what folks were paying for the 2.5G model. Business owners -- presumably expected to consume considerably more bits over the course of a month -- will be paying $45. Meanwhile, voice plan pricing will start from $39.95, and we're told more details will be available on exactly how it all breaks down when the device actually goes on sale.

What are AT&T subscribers buying, downloading, and using on their handsets? The carrier has released its top-selling apps for the first quarter, and we've got to admit, the results aren't very surprising at all. Not including games, MobiTV takes the top spot -- likely in part because AT&T pushes it so hard -- and the ubiquitous thriller Tetris is the number one game. Makes sense, but do you agree? What have you been downloading lately?

[Via mocoNews]

It's just the tip of the iceberg for the legal fallout from deceptive charges rung up by cellphone users hoping for a shot a free ringtones, wallpapers, and winning shots at contests simply by sending off a text message or an online form with their mobile number. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and others are likely going to have to end up taking it on the chin after AT&T was taken to task -- first by the state of Florida and now by a series of class-action lawsuits that the carrier has chosen to settle (without admitting any wrongdoing in the process, for the record). It seems that customers will be able to file for refunds for such charges rung up between January 1, 2004, and May 30, 2008, for a total of up to three bill cycles' worth. AT&T will be sending out notifications of the settlement to its subscribers shortly; meanwhile, the lawyers involved in the suits collect a nice paycheck of $4.3 million -- a shade more than the average class action member is liable to get, we'd imagine.

[Via Phone Scoop]