Okay, so first we heard that Nokia's Comes with Music service would be good and ready by October 2nd. Then we heard October 17th. Now, a certain "anonymous industry source" has revealed that the long-awaited XpressMusic 5800 (or the Tube, as it were) will be launching on the 2nd of next month. With so much conflicting evidence out and about, we're firmly in "wait and see" mode at this point, and considering that "launch" gives no indication of a ship date, we reckon you're better off doing the same.

[Thanks, Mikkel]

Let's be honest here -- there's precisely two three things you still need to know about the BlackBerry Storm. Launch date, price and whether it'll play Doom. Sadly, we're no closer to helping you on those last two, but the datasheet you see above does give us a general idea of when we'll see this puppy in stores. Obviously looking to get this out before the holiday rush, it looks as if the carrier will be making things official sometime between September 22nd and October 1st, and that little "eligible for Annual Upgrade (by 11/1/08)" bit gives us hope for a November 1st release. In case you were wishing for the impossible, Verizon gets all red-text up in here with a note that this thing will not, come hell or high water, be sold sans an e-mail / data package. Interestingly, the Boy Genius has asserted that VZW is playing the fiddle by loosing all these "leaks" on the unsuspecting public. We're not very confident of that being true, but it's decent fodder for discussion if nothing else.

Read - BlackBerry Storm pre-launch information
Read - Verizon slipping Storm details?

Nokia's slim and slick E71 has been touted -- OK, rumored, but we're hopeful -- to have its eyes set on the number two GSM provider in Canada, FIDO. While no pricing info is being bandied about, the "news" does see it landing during the November timeframe. Rogers, FIDO's parent company and only GSM competition -- at least for now -- has apparently passed on this little QWERTY gem, though these kind of stories do change with time. Look for more news once we get something a little more tangible.

Usually we'd say that late trumps never, but in this case, we're not so sure. Two months shy of a full year after RIM announced the BlackBerry Pearl 8130 for CDMA carriers, Virgin Mobile Canada is just now adding the handset to its arsenal. We'll go ahead and assume you already know what this thing is packing, so here's the dirt you aren't familiar with: free on a 3-year contract (as if!), $299 on a 2-year plan, $349 on a 1-year plan (have we reached the absurdity ceiling yet?) and $399 on a 30-day contract (ah, there it is).

[Via mobilesyrup]

What, you didn't realize that LG was shipping its KF300 Wine phone in Europe and Japan today? Just open your eyes -- you can probably see the screen from your current position. This easy-to-see handset, unashamedly aimed at folks 30 years or older, is being paradoxically shown off by a couple of minors (just a hunch, folks) as it makes its official debut in the aforesaid nations. Interested consumers can pick one up now in white / gold / pink (Japan) or pink / dark purple / black (Europe) for an undisclosed amount.

[Via UnwiredView]

If you've had your eye on Samsung's forthcoming Omnia, you've known good and well it was coming to Europe sometime this month. Thankfully, Sammy has removed the mystery by announcing that Italy will get first dibs when it launches in said country on July 22nd. We aren't told who will be second, third or last, but most major European locales should have it before September dawns. Obviously, prices will vary depending on operator and contract terms, but the 8GB edition (along with an Xbox 360 Arcade, as part of some random promotion) will reportedly be €499 ($789) without subsidy. Glean from that what you will.

[Via phoneArena]

Don't take a vacation day just yet or anything, but early word has it that Apple's iPhone 3G will actually go on sale at 8:00AM (local time, most likely) on July 11th. If you'll recall (how could you forget, right?), the original iPhone didn't go on sale until 6:00PM on launch day, but considering that the whole checkout process will likely be a fair bit more involved this go 'round, we'd say it's a smart move to get the line rolling early.

You already knew Nokia's evolutionary N96 was all set to be shipped in the fall, but it's about time Nokia came clean with the release information on its leaked-out-everywhere E-series. While Anssi Vanjoki, senior executive vice president of Nokia Markets, didn't specify model numbers, it's widely assumed that the E66 and E71 handsets are included when he states that "a group of E-series multimedia computers" will be brought to market in Q3. No mention of a price or expected launch regions, but at least you've a quarter to circle in your date book, yeah?

We knew good and well China Mobile was all geared up to launch its homegrown 3G standard in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Shenzhen (among other locales), and though China's government hasn't issued 3G licenses yet, TD-SCDMA has finally made its soft launch. In order to garner interest in the service, said carrier has also opened up "experience shops" in the aforementioned cities "to allow the public to experiment with TD-SCDMA handsets and gain confidence with TD-SCDMA's capabilities." During the initial launch, some 60,000 dual-mode TD-SCDMA / GSM handsets and 15,000 data cards will be on sale in these outlets, with most of the units being in the "mid- to high-end range" and costing between $286 and $572 (those are subsidized prices). Here is where we suppose China Mobile holds its breath and hopes for things to take off.

[Via mocoNews]

So that rumored June 15 launch date for QChat in retail channels was pretty much spot on, it seems, according to the latest Brightpoint launch sheet for the month. The shot, posted on the always-chatty HoFo, reveals that Sanyo's PRO-200 and PRO-700 are expected for $249.99 and $279.99, respectively, while the Samsung Z400 comes in at $299.99 and the LG LX400 at $279.99. That's not a very wide range of price points for the initial round of QChat devices, a sign that Sprint's probably totally cool limiting interest in the service to business customers initially. Also due on the 15th is a fresh USB modem, the U680, which is being touted as "the only USB Modem that fits the design of the MacBook AIR [sic] without using USB connection cable." It's the Franklin CDU-680 in its generic form, and it's indeed pretty small as external data sticks go -- music to the ears of Air owners, we'd imagine.

[Via PhoneNews]

No surprises here -- particularly since LG's Vu has been on sale through a number of AT&T retail outlets since late last month (whoops!). Today, however, the carrier is officially listing LG's latest for sale, and the Mobile TV-supporting handset is going for a stiff $549.99 sans contract, or $299.99 after giving away your cellular soul for two years and waiting anxiously for a $100 mail-in rebate to arrive. Check out our hands-on gallery to see if you're really ready to make this kind of commitment.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Get this: the first North American carrier to offer up Nokia's 8GB N95 isn't AT&T. Heck, it's not even a US-based operator. No friends, it's Canada's own Rogers Wireless. Just as we had heard late last month, the N95 8GB has officially landed in the Great North, and starting on May 6th, consumers up that way will be able to secure one for a hefty $399.99 with a three-year activation on the Rogers Vision Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan. Don't weep too heavily, AT&T users -- your time should be coming soon.

It wasn't too long ago that Acer was finalizing paperwork to acquire E-Ten, and now that it's moving on, we're hearing that the company should be launching its very first (aw, how cute) smartphone in around eight to ten months. According to the firm's president, it's aiming to introduce the handset "near the end of this year or early next year," and it will indeed "be Microsoft-based." Gianfranco Lanci also suggested that smartphones could represent up to 10-percent of the company's revenue within the next few years. Notably, the outfit is apparently planning to move its phones via mobile network operators, and while it typically takes six to nine months to sweet talk a carrier into marketing a new smartphone, it hopes to use its "existing relationships with telecommunications companies to speed up such sales." Sadly, we're not given any clues about what carriers it's aiming for, but it won't be too awfully long before we're sure to find out.

Just days after Telus picked up the attractive LG Venus, the carrier has officially started offering up the Motorola Mike i877. The half-rugged, half-sleek looking flip phone was designed by Pininfarina and features integrated Bluetooth, a multimedia player (MP3, AAC, WMA), microSD expansion slot, miniUSB port, 1.3-megapixel camera, VibraCall, a digital voice recorder and the obligatory push-to-talk support. If it floats your boat, you can snag it now sans contract for $349.99, or anywhere between $149.99 to $299.99 if you're cool with signing the dotted line for varying lengths of time.

[Via MobileInCanada]

Just months after Alcatel Lucent and SFR hosted DVB-SH trials across the pond comes word that the mobile TV technology is headed Stateside. ICO Global Communications is donning the party hats and going through buckets upon buckets of ice cream in celebration of a successful satellite launch that will eventually bring those yearned-after mobile television goods to the US, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The ICO G1 was placed into its initial geosynchronous transfer orbit yesterday afternoon, and now the company is eagerly awaiting certification that the bird is fully operational (and can pass the final FCC milestone) by May 15th. If all goes to plan, Las Vegas, Nevada and Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina will be gifted with ICO mim (mobile interactive media) service trials "later this summer," though a commercial launch isn't slated to occur until "later in 2009."

[Via phonemag], image courtesy of WESH]