While we twiddle our thumbs and wait for some sort of official confirmation that this thing even exists, Boy Genius Report has heard some rumblings that AT&T is putting the Nokia E71 through its paces with the intention of launching it -- in your choice of black or white, no less. Multiple Eseries colors certainly aren't without precedent, so we can buy that much -- and AT&T has previously launched the E62, so we can totally picture this going down. What's more, we've now heard from an independent source that the AT&T-branded E71 does in fact exist and is currently being crafted in Nokia's San Diego facilities (production models won't be born in the same place, we presume). Just a warning, guys: if this ends up happening as an EDGE-only device, we're going to lose it.

Look familiar? Even from Nokia's sole subminiature shot -- never mind the model number -- you can pretty clearly make out that the 6122c is a dead ringer for the 6124 classic introduced a couple months back. Sure enough, the fresh S60 candybar is destined for China Mobile packing pretty much the same features as its doppelganger: 2 megapixel camera, 2-inch QVGA display, microSD expansion, and an integrated FM radio. One feature that we're pretty sure won't make the cut, of course, will be UMTS / HSDPA -- both as a cost-cutting measure and the simple fact that... well, China doesn't really do those technologies. No TD-SCDMA gear yet, Nokia?

One device conspicuously missing from Nokia's MWC and CTIA lineups this year has been the E71, the rumored successor to the E61i -- and for QWERTY S60 nerds, the next great hope. No worries, though; if the current rumor pans out, we won't have to wait for another major trade show for this thing to break cover. Dutch site Mobile Phone Helpdesk is claiming that "all arrows point" to an official launch on May 8 -- as in frickin' tomorrow. The site points out that alleged official specs have started appearing on retail sites, suggesting that Nokia's really starting to let its guard down as the ship date draws near. What are those specs, exactly? We can expect HSDPA, naturally, in addition to WiFi, a 3 megapixel cam, and an FM radio all bundled into a package that's supposedly just 10mm thick. Businessmen, businesswomen, we suggest you get your credit cards at the ready just in case this thing's suddenly available in a few hours.

[Via Unwired View]

Nokia fans, S60 fans, Symbian fans of all types, your attention, please! Allow us to set your hearts a-flutter with a few pictures of Nokia's latest two all-business smartphones, the rumored E66 and E71. Both models are pictured here out and about, doing what they do best -- a promising indication that we might be due for an official announcement in the not-too-distant future. We're told that both have 3.2 megapixel cameras (as expected), 128MB of memory, and as we've suspected from the few photos we've seen before, they're "sleek and sexy" in the flesh. Nokia's manufacturing processes appear to be continuing to improve, too, because we're told that the E66 feels "rugged and solid" despite the slide mechanism -- a sore spot with many an N95 owner. Whenever you want to get official with these, Nokia, that would be just fine with us, thanks!

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.

Remember those refreshed Sling apps we mentioned not long ago? They've finished baking and they're ready for prime time (sorry, BlackBerry users, we don't mean you -- not yet, anyway). The players for Windows Mobile, both Professional and Standard editions, now rest at version 1.6 while the S60 player gets upped to 1.1; changes are relatively minor, but notable, the Nokia N95 8GB is now officially supported (even though the old player worked pretty well) along with a slew of new WinMo pieces and set-top boxes, video quality is improved on some devices, new channel logos are included, and some "under the hood tweaks." The update is available now and free for existing SlingPlayer Mobile users; newbs, meanwhile, pay a $30 one-time pop.

Letting the Instinct bask in the limelight back at CTIA earlier this month, Samsung has gone and saved a three-pack of fancy new phones for Dutch show Televisie 2008 this week. First up, the U800 (pictured) is the latest Ultra Edition piece, and at 9.8mm thick, the candybar appears ready for the job -- not to say the 3.2 megapixel camera or 3G radio hurt much, either.

Next, the L870 represents Samsung's newest S60 entry, seemingly slotting in under the N95-killing G810 but still managing to offer a full 3 megapixels on the cam along with Bluetooth, 3G, and quadband GSM. Give us triband HSDPA here, Samsung, and we can be besties forever.

Finally, the long-rumored i900 finally gets some face time, looking ripe to take on LG's fashionable KS20 with UMTS (HSDPA too, if we had to wager a guess), a full 5 megapixels of shooting power, WiFi, and Windows Mobile 6.1. No word yet on when we might be seeing any of these outside the safe confines of a trade show floor, but at least we know they're all real now.

[Via Unwired View]

Read - Samsung U800
Read - Samsung L870
Read - Samsung i900

Like detective work? Good, this one's for you. That's the supposed first picture of Nokia's Tube which we've enhanced a bit to see all the detail. According to Symbian-Freak, the device code-named "Tube" will be Nokia's first touch S60 device but will not be a flagship phone. Another higher spec'd phone will ship "shortly after." The display is said to be between 3- and 3.5-inches with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a camera (with another up front based on the picture) which they say is "way better" than the iPhone's but not on par with the existing N-series shooters. The phone is said to ride atop quad-band GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA radios with built-in Bluetooth, WiFi, uPnP support and a stylus. Something you'll apparently need judging by that skinny scroll bar. GPS? Yup, that too. No multi-touch on this model but it is said to provide haptic feedback in a package supposedly smaller (maybe a little bit wider) than the N73. We also notice an "XpressMedia" label on the phone which would indicate an affiliation with Nokia's XpressMusic class of media devices. You'll also notice that the icons have been slightly revised since we went hands on with the S60 Touch UI back in February. Real deal or not, it's a mystery worthy of your skills.

[Thanks Jose and to everyone who sent this in]

App certificates have long been a bane to S60 users and developers alike, causing pain, frustration, and an almost obligatory cash outlay to get your hard work certified to run on the very platform Nokia is so quick to call "open." Finally, it truly is, thanks to the hard work of the Symbian hacking community that has developed an easy (or easy sounding, anyway) method of "jailbreaking" the Symbian 9.2 device in your life (S60 3rd Edition FP1 users, that's you). After that, installed apps won't need a certificate at all -- let alone an invalid one -- to do their dirty work. Open, indeed.

[Via Part-Time Phone Reviewer, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

So Mobile Review's got its Sony Ericsson G700 review up in all its epic, War & Peace-style glory that the site is so well known for. Don't get us wrong, that's all well and good; it's an interesting phone and there's no question that we'll get around to reading the sucker from beginning to end in the near future. What really has our immediate attention, though, is one of the test photos taken with the G700's camera depicting some sort of touch user interface on a Nokia N95. Judging from everything we've seen of Nokia's own S60 touch UI, we can say with confidence that this ain't it; besides, the N95's design language is dead (just take one hard look at the N96 to confirm it) so we can't imagine some future device out of Espoo retrofitting a touchscreen onto an N95's shell. So what's going on here? Even if it's a third-party program, it can't work. It just can't. Or can it?

[Via Perpetuum Smoking Mobile]

Update: Turns out this is from the new Knight Rider series. Cars with Mac keyboards, modified N95s with touchscreens -- what other implausible goodies do these guys get? Thanks, everyone!

Our sights are sort of irreparably set on the N78 and N96 at this point, but let's not forget a killer handset out of Espoo that's already launched, already available at retail, and holds its own in the technical arena: the N82. The 5 megapixel Nseries badass offers a candybar alternative to the N95, thanks to a 5 megapixel autofocus camera that's ready to take the place of your average point-and-shoot -- and the xenon flash actually one-ups the N95's weakling LED unit. We really liked the original pearlescent white when we saw it in the flesh with our very own eyes, but if you simply must have something just a little meaner looking, consider this: black. Yep, the N82's been relaunched in a rather menacing gloss black, and even better, it comes preloaded with the model's latest firmware that offers photo geotagging out of the box thanks to the phone's integrated GPS receiver. Grab it now for €400 (about $618).

[Via MobileBurn]

Seems like Nokia could've used this press release... oh, about two weeks ago when we first got the fateful call from our local store about its availability. Alas, a late press release is better than no press release at all -- especially for a device of this magnitude and symbolic importance in the North American market -- and maybe this is indicative of broader availability. In fact, the release specifically mentions that the N95 8GB "will be available through Nokia Nseries retailers across the United States, such as the Nokia Flagship stores in New York City and Chicago, as well as many online e-tailers," so if you can stomach the $749 outlay, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to come across.

Adobe's Flash -- Silverlight's sworn enemy -- is already well-entrenched on a number of devices (including Nokia's) in its Lite incarnation, so it'll be interesting to see just how far Microsoft can really take this beyond its own Windows Mobile territory. Nabbing Nokia is certainly a big win to that end, and even crazier, Nokia has announced that it'll be bringing Silverlight not just to S60 devices, but also to its extremely capable Series 40 dumbphone platform and to Maemo. S60 development is already well underway with an early cut to be shown off at MIX08 this week and developer tools in the pipe for later this year; timelines Series 40 and internet tablet versions, meanwhile, will be "confirmed later."

It'll be a little while yet before devices running S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 are expected to hit the market, but thanks to mobile-review, we have enough visual stimulation to hold us over for, oh, at least another 15 minutes, anyway. Little changes have proliferated throughout the entire user interface, but biggies appear to be the addition of a third soft key, a heavily reworked and more flexible home screen (thank goodness), and improved application management. We strongly recommend having a thorough look at all the screen shots -- those media player visualizers are bangin', are they not?

[Via MobileBurn]

Nokia used CeBIT as its stage today to introduce two new models destined specifically for the European marketplace (fine, Nokia, be that way). The 6550 flip will be found exclusively on T-Mobile -- and seriously, we really wouldn't mind having it on the US T-Mobile with its clean looks, external music controls, HSDPA, 2 megapixel cam, and QVGA display. Even better, it should be basically free on contract when it launches in the third quarter. Next up, the 6124 classic candybar is made just for Vodafone customers like the 6234 before it, offering tight integration with its services atop S60. Pricing wasn't announced, but it should hit Voda shelves next quarter.

Read - Nokia 6550
Read - Nokia 6124 classic