Typically, Vodafone saves its name-brand manufacturer partners from having to suffer the embarrassment of offering crap handsets by stuffing all of the super low-end stuff under its own marque, but the new VF830 seems to buck that trend pretty hard. The prepaid-only handset (really, Voda?) totally looks like it could be a midrange model from the likes of Samsung or LG, featuring a full 3.2 megapixels of shooting power and HSDPA in a sleek, all-black slider package. It runs just £80 (about $139), too -- contract-free, of course, since it's prepaid. What's the world coming to?

[Via T3]

As expected, Motorola's VU204 and VU30 flips have teamed up with Samsung's Sway slider for announcement on Verizon today, bringing an interesting range of new hardware from the low to the upper midrange. Unfortunately, this is a case where "interesting" isn't necessarily a good thing; for example, we find it "interesting" that the Sway (pictured right) runs a cool 70 bucks on contract after rebate yet doesn't feature EV-DO, a feature we'd assume was now standard in a handset of this price. At any rate, it's got a 2-megapixel cam and a media player with microSD expansion, so we'll cut it some slack. On the Moto side, the VU204's an ultra-basic piece that "meets everyday, on-the-go needs" (that's code for "ultra-basic," by the way) with a VGA cam and Bluetooth; it runs just $29.99 on activation. The Rapture VU30 (pictured left) does a 2-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive external display, and EV-DO, running a stiffer $129.99 on contract. The Sway and VU30 are available now, while the VU204 follows on come October 14.

Read - Samsung Sway
Read - Motorola Rapture VU30

N85s were originally promised for delivery as early as September, but that didn't pan out; in fact, you can't really get an N85 through any non-nefarious channels at the moment. Or at least you couldn't, but Nokia Italy claims to now have Copper N85s in stock and available for immediate delivery for a cool €549 (about $749). If the product page turns out to be accurate and Italians start taking delivery of their lovely OLED-equipped dual sliders in the next couple days, it'll make Nokia's Italian outpost the first in the world to be delivering the goods.

[Via All About Symbian]

It looked pretty good in silver, but it's looking even better blushed, isn't it? The alleged music-focused remix of the G705 has now made its second unofficial appearance, and while exceptionally little is known about the darned thing, we can pretty much gather that it'll do HSDPA, a 3.2-megapixel cam, and GPS. Of course, Sony Ericsson has a nasty habit of canceling leaked phones that look ready to be released, so we'll be holding our collective breath right up until the moment we see a press release.

[Via Unwired View]

A reasonably attractive pair of phones that have been in the wings for a while now on Verizon are finally hitting next week -- October 6, to be exact. The Motorola VU30 Rapture is the first of the pair, a glossy flip set to do battle with Sprint's VE20 featuring a 2-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive external display (Verizon calls it "vanishing"), GPS, and EV-DO for $179.99 on a two-year contract or $299.99 with no Hancock required. Next, we have the Samsung u650 Sway, a silvery slider coming in at 0.47 inches thick and a feature list eerily reminiscent of the VU30's, right down to the 2-megapixel cam -- though EV-DO is strangely missing, as far as we can tell. Where they got the name "Sway" for a slider, though, is beyond us. Look for this one to run $119.99 on a two-year, $239.99 contract-free.

They say only three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and that SKY-branded Pantechs are destined for the Korean domestic market. No exception here with the IM-S380K, an HSDPA slider with an expansive 7:3 widescreen display, FM radio, microSD expansion, Bluetooth, and navigation. It'll be available by the end of the year -- in Korea, anyhow -- in pink, white, and black for about 400,000 won ($347).

[Via Unwired View]

Our minds are still positively blown at the mere thought of stuffing eight megapixels of picture-snapping power behind some mediocre optics and wrapping it up in a GSM radio, but LG appears to already be looking forward to a time when this kind of thing is par for the course. iDNES.cz has a tiny, blurry shot of a supposed KC780 slider, which tosses out the KC910 Renoir's high style for a homelier look that we can only assume fortells a lower asking price. You get a mere 140MB of integrated storage here -- not bloody much for a phone that's snapping eight millions pixels at a shot -- and iDNES says it's "not clear" yet whether 3G will even be supported, though we'll apparently see image stabilization and face detection in the cam. Low end? High end? What's it gonna be, LG?

Samsung's 8-megapixel beast is now ready for carrier-free consumption -- but it's going to cost you an arm and a leg. Actually, it'll probably cost you both arms, at which point you'll need to find a more creative (but still very worthwhile) technique for steadying that insane cam and navigating its S60 3.2-based interface. Just how much are we talking here? Well, for reference, you can nab the INNOV8 for as little as zilch on Orange, but Expansys' UK outlet now has the little badasses in stock for £534.99 (which is basically a grand in US currency, give or take). Extreme, yes -- but that strike against your credit limit's going to buy you 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, and the envy of an N96 owner or two, so it might be worth the bankruptcy proceedings after all.

[Via IntoMobile]

That Knick isn't even out yet, and it looks like AT&T might already be gearing up to stuff a competitor right alongside it in the lineup. Boy Genius Report is showing a picture (possibly a rendering -- hard to tell) of a reasonably-spec'd QWERTY slider dumbphone from LG dubbed "Xenon" that is claimed to be wrapping up testing as we speak in preparation for a holiday launch. Rumored goodies include dualband HSDPA, a 2.8-inch QVGA display, 3-megapixel cam with VGA video recording, microSD expansion, and WiFi -- so needless to say, we're not really seeing a free-on-contract future for 'er.

A Nokia promotional video has apparently been leaked to YouTube revealing a pair of an unannounced, business-minded handsets: the E72 QWERTY candybar and E75 QWERTY slider. Check all the hot corporate, S60 video action after the break -- who knew architectural planning could be so easy?

[Via Symbian Freak]

Lowish-end tunes are the name of the game with Samsung's latest pair, the M3200 "Beat s" slider (pictured) and M3510 "Beat b" candybar. The Beat b you may remember from IFA, offering EDGE data, 2-megapixel camera, and FM radio all packed into a 9.9mm body. The Beat s, meanwhile, goes just a tiny bit upmarket with an integrated Bang & Olufsen-sourced ICEpower audio processor. Both phones feature 3.5mm headphone jacks, stereo Bluetooth, and something Samsung calls "Motion Play," which smacks of Sony Ericsson's Shake control by letting you knock your phone around in various ways to start playback, change tracks, or mute the sound. Both models will be available this month.

So we've gotten a little more clarity on the situation with AT&T's next round of releases since we reported on pricing earlier today, and in a nutshell, things are looking up -- it's already mid-September, and it turns out that every single one of the phones we mentioned is scheduled to ship before the end of October. Specifically, the cheapo Samsung a637 should hit any minute now, followed by the Motorola V9x and the Nokia 6650 toward the end of this month; the Sony Ericsson W760a and Pantech C740 Matrix, meanwhile, are the stragglers of the bunch with releases planned for late October. Let's see how closely they can hold to this, shall we?

[Thanks, Kal]

It's always a good sign when rumored handsets get slapped with price tags, because that means that releases are right around the corner, too -- usually, anyhow. To that end, AT&T's latest stock information indicates that the S60-powered Nokia 6650 will run $129.99 in your choice of red or silver, as will the Sony Ericsson W760a; the Samsung a637 will be coming in for $49.99, so we're expecting some pretty low-end stuff there; the Pantech C740 "Matrix" is priced at $79.99, and finally, the Motorola V9x we found out about way back in early July is checking in at a princely $199.99. All prices are after rebate, too, so we wouldn't expect any miraculous deals on these -- at least for the first few weeks.

[Thanks, Kal]

As 3G sliders go, the Shuttle won't rank terribly high on anyone's hot list, but as Virgin Mobile handsets go, specifically -- well, the Shuttle is pure gold. We toyed with it a bit at CTIA, and yeah, okay, it's not going to blow any minds. But if we put on our prepaid hats for just a moment, we can see how this is exactly what the doctor ordered: it's definitely the best-looking and feeling handset in Virgin's lineup, and at the same time, it doesn't come close to encroaching on Helio's higher-end territory. Granted, the 3G support doesn't mean terribly much considering the small screen (and we dare not mention "Virgin" and "tether" in the same sentence), so the Shuttle's gonna have to push units on the strength of its strapping good looks and support for Buddy Beacon. We think it'll manage.