Hold tight, Alltel -- your US exclusivity on one of your hottest models is just about ready to expire. US Cellular shops are starting to stock up on dummies of the rather lovely LG Glimmer touchscreen slider, and though no official launch date has been announced, we'd imagine it won't be too much longer. Also in the package are a couple colors of Motorola Q9c dummies (including that crazy green one), so yeah, good times. Don't spend all that hard-earned cash in one place, now, y'hear?

[Thanks, Scott]

Don't you dare say green wasn't already in style, as in all actuality, it's US Cellular and Alltel following the crowd yet again. As the run-up to CTIA 2008 continues, the aforesaid outfits have both announced that a lime green variant of the Motorola Q9c will soon be on their shelves. Aside from that, prospective customers can also snap up the WinMo 6-powered Q9c in licorice, and of course, they'll find a 1.3-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch display and 128MB of onboard memory. As for pricing, you can call Alltel's version your own for $99.99 on contract, and while US Cellular is being mum on the subject, both providers will have 'em available "this summer."

[Via CNET]

Read - Alltel's announcement
Read - US Cellular's announcement

A four-pack of carriers is getting sued over the infringement of three 2007 patents that appear to center around the concept of picture caller ID -- but here's the best part, it's actually a different dude from a different company than the one that sued Apple. US Cellular, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Helio are all named in the suit, suggesting that either the remainder of major US carriers have already licensed the technology, or this so-called Intellect Wireless just has a very bizarre way of choosing its defendants. So here's our question: what picture caller ID technology was patented by some random company in 2007 that these guys could possibly be violating?

We're still getting over the shock of three of the four nationals suddenly flipping the switch on sub-$100 unlimited plans within hours of each other, but oh, by the way, the onslaught isn't over just yet. Sprint aside, there are still plenty of regionals that don't offer unlimited plans -- along with some that do -- so we expect we're going to see a few more announcements in the coming weeks (or days, considering the pace at which these events have been unfolding thus far). Next to take the podium is US Cellular, revealing a (you guessed it) $99 all-you-can-eat calling plan that will be available to new and existing customers alike, albeit for a limited time. Data and messaging will still require add-on packages to the tune of $25 if you're craving both unlimited bytes and texts, but it still works out to be a decent deal in light of what its primary competitors are offering -- if you exclude Helio, anyway. No word on when exactly folks will be able to sign up for the plan, but US Cellular says details will be posted to its site "soon."

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Contain yourselves, folks, this is a civilized society! Please, just remain calm and calmly file into the MetroPCS or US Cellular store to pick up one of these two gems, the r300 flip and the r610 slider from Samsung. Neither one is likely to turn any heads, but the prices are right; the $129 (on contract, naturally) r620 does EV-DO with a 1.3 megapixel cam plus A2DP and microSD expansion, while the lower-end 1xRTT r300 gets flashy with a red exterior but keeps a tight lid on the cash outlay with a $109 asking price. Get 'em both now.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Read - Samsung r300 for MetroPCS
Read - Samsung r610 for US Cellular