Sweet, another impenetrable fortress of planned obsolescence falls to Windows Mobile 6.1's ever-advancing forces. Grab the update now, in Windows 2000 / XP and Vista flavors -- but be warned, we hear it doesn't do anything to fix the i760's weird-ass styling.

Although "innovative" isn't exactly the word we chose to use when summing up Palm's Centro, apparently the public at large sees things a little differently -- or, so says this report, anyway. According to a buyer behavior writeup from Strategy Analytics, the Centro "attracted the most attention from nearly half of the tested US consumers who are intending to purchase a new mobile device" in Q4, and it even ranked ahead of the second-place Samsung i760 in the "appealing" department. Both of the aforementioned handsets were hailed as the top choices (saywha?) for folks "seeking a multifunction, fully integrated device," while the Nokia Prism and LG Rumor also got a few props along the way. Of course, it's always best to take these "studies" with a healthy serving of salt, but if you wanted something to debate about, you've found it.

[Via MobileWhack]

Even though Verizon just released the Samsung i760, we're already hearing rumblings about the carrier introducing another version for its globetrotting customers. Preliminary intel's a bit slim, but we know the device will be both EV-DO for the states and GSM for across the pond -- and get this, there's even a possibility of HSDPA data to boot. Other than that, the feature set appears to be status quo for the i760's world-traveling sib, but we'll pass along more details as we get 'em.

Several months and a few in the wild pics later, Verizon Wireless has gotten around to launching its latest Windows Mobile Professional device, the Samsung i760. Weighing in just under 5.3 ounces and measuring in at 2.28 x 4.49 x 0.77 inches, it's one of the more compact PDAs available for the carrier. The i760 is packed with features like a 2.8 inch touchscreen LCD, 128MB of RAM and 64 MB of ROM, an EV-DO radio (sorry, no Rev. A here), Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi connectivity, microSD expandable memory, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Enough with all this chit chat, though -- how's about some pics?

No surprises in the mix here, but we're delighted to see that Verizon is finally getting official with four smart devices that have been rumored to be in its pipeline for ages. Of the four, only the i760 from Samsung's been priced and slated for release -- October 19 online, November 2 in stores for $350 on contract after rebates -- featuring Windows Mobile 6 Professional, QWERTY slide-out and offset numeric keypads, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The XV6800 succeeds the tired XV6700, going up against Sprint's Mogul by offering the HTC Titan reference design in a custom Verizon skin; it shows up with a 2 megapixel cam, WiFi, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Already released on several CDMA carriers, the HTC Libra sees the light of day on Verizon as the SMT5800 bearing Windows Mobile 6 Standard and a 2 megapixel cam (we loved the Libra's GSM cousin, and we're guessing this one's great too). Finally, make some noise, Palm OS fans -- it's okay, don't be shy! Verizon finally gets down with the Treo 755p, a phone that could ultimately serve as the platform's swan song in the classic Treo form factor. As we mentioned, only the i760 has been priced and dated at this point, but we'll keep ya in the loop just as soon as we know more.

Golly, it's been so flippin' long since this thing was supposed to come out, we'd kinda forgotten about it! We kid, we kid -- it's not every day that Samsung comes out with a creative new Windows Mobile 6 Professional device, particular stateside, and we're as excited as anyone to see examples of the i760 start to find their way into patient buyers' hands. Rumor has it it's not supposed to be released until September 24, but folks have had luck calling Verizon directly and asking for the device by SKU (seriously, how hard is it to get everyone on the same page?). It'll run $519.99 full retail, with a two-year contract earning you a more manageable price of $399.99 before a $50 mail-in rebate. Be sure to spill the gory details of your efforts to evade the 9/24 official drop date in comments!

[Via Boy Genius Report, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

phoneArena scored a wealth -- nay, a veritable cornucopia of information detailing Verizon's releases for the rest of 2007, and we can say with some confidence that there's something in here for everyone. Starting with smartphones, SMT5800, XV6800, Samsung i760, and Motorola Q9m should hit in October, October, September, and August (yay, this month!) respectively. A second, business oriented variant of the Q9, dubbed the Q9c, will follow on in the fourth quarter. If Windows Mobile ain't your cup of tea, have a gander at the Palm Treo 755p and RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (pictured), both coming in November. There isn't much to say about the 755p that hasn't already been said, but the 8130 is indeed a Pearl of the "new" variety, upping the cam to 2 megapixels while adding A2DP and a 3.5mm jack. Turning to dumbphones, Verizon's got the full spread from low to high end. The Samsung U410, self-branded CDM-8630 and LG VX8350 all appear to be pretty simple flips coming some time this half of the year. The Motorola Z6c looks to be a MediaFLO-less version of the Z6tv slider; the former drops in November while the latter is nebulously scheduled for the second half. Finally, the fancy U700 and U900 flips from Samsung offer 2 and 3 megapixel cams, respectively, and will both be available before the year's out. Whew!

We can take this picture and file it under "sneak peek" and "blurry" all at the same time. From what we can make out here, it seems Verizon sets in motion plans to launch several devices in the month of August. From the Motorola Z6tv at top left, to the Q9M (remember the iPhone killer?), the Motorola RAZR 2 (aka V9m), Samsung i760, and UTStarcom XV6800 should all be making an appearance this coming month. Let's hope Big Red can pull off these launches we can be a happy bunch!

[Thanks, HTC Kid and Omie]

Update: Thanks to everyone who submitted the new picture!

Just in case there was any lingering doubt that the feds would look kindly upon Samsung's upcoming i760 for Verizon, we can (thankfully) put those doubts to rest now. As is quite common for a Samsung FCC filing, details are kept to a bare minimum with only the ID label documentation giving us visual confirmation that this is the phone we think it is. No matter; we've seen the Windows Mobile 6 Professional-equipped device in the public domain plenty at this point -- only thing left, it seems, is to get it out the door.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We came by a few "wild" shots of Samsung's i760 -- it's finally powered on and we can finally confirm it's running Windows Mobile 6 Professional. Unfortunately, it looks like they've yet to fix that godawful frontal-key layout (call and end on the sides? no Windows and ok button? are you kidding?). Judge for yourself in the photos, friends. Coming soon to a Verizon-covered neighborhood near you.

Every time we see Crossbow, we're reminded of something else... oh yeah, that's right, Windows Mobile 5. Don't get us wrong, it looks a little slicker, but the i760's attraction is more likely to lie the hardware itself -- not the ultra-mild update to the Pocket PC Phone Edition guts we've loved (and hated) for the past couple years. We expect this thing to hit Verizon stores before the first half of the year is out, but with Verizon, Samsung, and Microsoft all potentially weak links in the delivery chain, we're having a bugger of a time staying positive. Don't let us down, folks!

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

What a better way to usher in the Crossbow Age than with this hot little number from Samsung? Roc A Fella and HTC Kid have again hooked us up with some details on the CDMA rendition of its i760 Pocket PC phone, taking on a decidedly different appearance from its GSM cousin by pushing the keypad to the right and the directional pad to the left. It looks like Verizon is all lined up to get this bad boy come Q2 of next year, packing a little next-gen Windows Mobile action in the process (though what we've seen so far suggests it ain't much more than a reskin). Specs (for those who can't be bothered to peep the image) include 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM, 802.11b / g, microSD expansion, and a sliding QWERTY keypad. Mix in just a touch of that glorious EV-DO broadband, and it looks like we've got yet another winner in Verizon's '07 bumper crop -- if Crossbow stays on schedule, that is.

[Thanks, htckid]

We're always up for getting to the bottom of corporate conspiracies to shield our eyes from upcoming products. This time the culprit is Samsung (along with its partners in crime, Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint), which sent out a rough copy of a press release introducing new products to be showcased at CES; in it, they made mention of three phones that are now mysteriously missing from the final release on Samsung's site. Our good friend Sascha Segan over at Gearlog keenly picked them out: the i760 "Robin" for Verizon, the "Spear" for Cingular, and the "Flipper" for Sprint. Now, we've previously heard of a 3G (albeit HSDPA, not EV-DO) Pocket PC going by the i760 monker, but the Spear and Flipper are both totally fresh to us. Sascha has since picked up on some intel that the Flipper might be the F300, but it's all speculation at this point. Care to elaborate, Samsung, or are ya going to make us wait for CES?