Not long after spinning off from former corporate parent O2, Windows Mobile purveyor MWg is moving out of its Asian comfort zone to attempt to sell its wares over in Europe with a splashy press conference to kick things off -- and if the aggressive roadmap they're pursuing for the next year or so holds true, they might just have a fighting chance at making a splash up there. First up are the official European intros of the Atom V and Zinc II, HSDPA-equipped handsets that have been kicking around for a while now, but that's not even close to the interesting part. Looking deeper into '08 reveals a handful of HTC Diamond competitors, devices that are sporting a respectable 7.2Mbps down and 5.2Mbps up, and looking still deeper into the fourth quarter suggests that MWg intends to release its first Windows Mobile 7-powered device -- the Flame II -- with GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and "multimedia features" on board. That seems a little far-fetched considering that 7 hasn't been officially shown off and 6.1 isn't even in broad distribution to users yet, but we appreciate MWg's motivation here. We also see a Shift killer in the wings with Vista and a 3G data connection toward the end of the year, so all told, the future's looking bright for these cats if they can actually execute.

Late's better than never -- usually, anyway -- and a rumored release date finally stuck long enough for the BlackBerry Curve 8330 to make an appearance on Sprint's online store. In fact, as "mid-May" goes, May 9 is actually on the early side of things if you want to get technical about it, so we guess some kudos are actually due here. Sprint's asking $179.99 on contract with rebates for the pleasure of indulging in its latest mobile productivity tool, which you'll ironically be using to respond to emails during meetings that you're supposed to be listening in on. Funny how the world works, isn't it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Times haven't been so great at Helio, but it looks like the troubled MVNO could be snapped up by Virgin Mobile. mocoNews did a little digging after Virgin's recent Q1 conference call, and says that the two companies are currently in merger talks. Since both companies use Sprint's network, the tech would be compatible, and the deal would give SK Telecom a way to keep Helio going as it tries to gain a foothold in the US market. Nothing's set in stone yet and the two companies aren't talking, but we'll definitely keep an eye on this one.

One of the worst-kept secrets in Verizon's stable is finally getting official today; that's right, ladies and gentlemen, meet the Glyde from Samsung. Wearing CDMA guts underneath its F700 clothing, the fashion-friendly QWERTY slider offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash and autofocus, GPS, the full range of Bluetooth profiles, microSD slot, and a true HTML browser. Unlike its crosstown competition -- the LG Voyager -- the Glyde doesn't offer support for Verizon's VCAST TV service, but we imagine most folks will consider that a minor (read: nonexistent) inconvenience. Look for the phone to start circulating into retail channels this week for a princely $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate.

Breaking with the longstanding tradition of granting exclusivity to the carrier in each country that can withstand Apple's vice-like iPhone profit sharing pressure, Italy's Telecom Italia has issued a super-brief statement simply letting the world know that "it has signed a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Italy later this year." No details, no launch date, no word on whether it'll be 3G (our money says yes) -- but either way, this means Italian customers will have the option of not one, but two carriers from which to get their Apple fix since Vodafone will be hauling in the device as well. A little competition never hurt anyone, right?

We've got some hands-on shots and impressions with the newly announced HTC Touch Diamond that we'll be sharing with you shortly, but here are some official press shots to whet your appetite. Tell it to us one more time, HTC. VGA? You really do love us.

Vodafone's just got a tiny, minor, insignificant announcement to make this morning: it's signed with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten markets, including Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy (so much for Telecom Italia), India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey. Expect the phone later this year -- that's all we know for now. Score one (or ten?) for Voda.

[Thanks, iB3nji]

We'd take this with half a tablespoon of salt for now, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint-Nextel Corp. is "seriously considering spinning off or selling its ailing Nextel unit." That's according to undisclosed people "familiar with the situation," though Sprint did decline to comment on whether it actually was considering a sale of Nextel. Also of note, Cyren Call is reportedly attempting to "assemble a consortium of investors to acquire Nextel as part of its plans to create a nationwide wireless network for public safety communications," and while it can't be confirmed, we are hearing that Sprint is "contemplating other possible buyers such as private equity firms." Still, these same sources made clear that "no deal was imminent and that Sprint was preoccupied for the moment with other matters." It's no secret that the firm would be way more attractive to suitors (read: Deutsche Telekom) if the flagging Nextel division was detached from the deal, but we guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out. [Warning: read link requires subscription]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in, image courtesy of Flickr]

We know HTC's got a big announcement coming this Tuesday, and while we can't say for sure it's going to the Touch Diamond, if today's leaked images and specs are at all accurate we think they might have something big on their hands. Check it out:

• 2.8-inch VGA display
• WinMo 6.1 Pro
• WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
• eGPS, FM tuner
• Quad-band HSDPA 7.2
• 4GB internal flash, microSD slot
• 528MHz CPU
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
• 10.7mm (0.47-inches) thick
• Supposedly also features an orientation sensor / accelerometer
  

Whether it's got a QWERTY keyboard could still be up for grabs, especially since that configuration might belong to the CDMA-based Raphael. Still, the it makes sense HTC wouldn't want the XPERIA X1 they made for Sony Ericsson to be their best engineered device on the market for long. We'll be watching this one closely.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Over the years our pals at Deutsche Telekom haven't exactly played the most aggressive game in the States, but finally we have word about the first possible suitor for the ailing Sprint. Although the rumor originates from German paper Der Spiegel and doesn't cite sources, word has it Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA are making the possibility of snagging Sprint (and all its heavy baggage, read: Nextel) a "top priority" in a bid to take a competitor out of the game and pick up the number three spot. Supposedly formal negotiations haven't even begun yet, but if you thought the integration between Sprint and Nextel was messy, just watch what happens when you bring a third carrier into the mix -- and did we mention the infrastructure would be GSM with AWS, PCS CDMA, and iDEN, all competing for spectrum and handset allocation? Good luck guys.

[Thanks, Khattab]

Well here's an interesting one. French iPhone blog iPhon.fr got these pics from an anonymous and unverified source, and while there's no way of telling if the shots are legit, they certainly have a truthy ring to them. They follow what we know so far about the shape, size and color of the upcoming 3G iPhone, and while there's always the possibility of knockoff, a Photoshop job, or some other evil plot to mislead us, we're certainly not going to discount these shots entirely in the runup to iPhone's second coming.

[Thanks, Janvier]

We know it's coming in Q3 but the price of Garmin's hotly anticipated Nuvifone has always been a mystery. Until now. We just received a screenshot that a helpful reader snagged from a Garmin survey. In it, our tipster was asked the following question:

"Now, how likely would you be to buy the Garmin nüvifone (for yourself or as a gift) if offered by AT&T for $499.99 with a two year contract? You would be required to have both a data plan that would include unlimited Internet browsing and unlimited Navigation for $19.99 per month and one of the standard voice rate plans for a monthly fee."

So dear readers, we ask you... does that sound reasonable for a 3.5-inch touchscreen cellphone with GPS navigation, 3.5G data, WiFi, audio and video playback, and 3 megapixel camera?

MediaFLO is about to cut loose for AT&T customers this morning and we've got video to prove it. After the break you'll find Mobile TV running on LG's new $300 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Vu, one of just two Mobile TV compatible handsets launching on AT&T May 4th -- the other being the $200 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Samsung Access. Performance looks reasonably snappy when scrolling through the channel guide although some of the exclusive PIX and CNN Mobile Live content is not yet available. S'ok, AT&T has three more days to throw the big blue switch on the broadcast TV service which includes a $15/month unlimited Mobile TV access plan. Hear that Verizon? AT&T's about to step all over your portable TV game in the US market.

[Via MyFoxUtah]

Ready to have your brain blown out through the top of your head? Look above -- you're staring at the heretofore unseen BlackBerry clamshell, the Kickstart. The Boy Genius snagged a handful of photos of the device (which apparently he's known about for "a while"), and has decided to share his good fortune with the rest of the world. The phone sports a Pearl-esque keyboard, typical trackball navigation, and apparently utilizes both an internal and external LCD screen. No word on specs, carriers, or a release date, but BGR is saying this puppy is due before the end of the year. You'll know more when we know more!

Stores have started stocking up on Vus ahead of their launch next week, and we're getting a little photography here to prove it. It looks like this one is an honest-to-goodness CU920, too, meaning it sports MediaFLO reception -- either that, or AT&T was too lazy to put the Mobile TV-less CU915 model in a different package without the "TV" icon on the screen. We're still hearing May 5 is the official launch day for these, but it seems some locations are selling early, so try your luck and let us know how it goes, k?

[Thanks, Kal]