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release posts

HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!

by Vladislav Savov posted Nov 4th 2009 @ 6:02AM

Be still, our beating hearts! HTC has just pressed the "Go" button for European and Asian shipping of its latest object of desire, and it's served notice to American phone lovers that the HD2 is coming to them soon as well. Slated for a "major US carrier" some time "early 2010," it'll land squarely in the same time bracket as the XPERIA X10, which should lead to some really quite interesting decisions to be made, presumably by March 2010. The WinMo 6.5 device might be shipping now, but you'll have to wait at least until the 9th of November before you can spill your Euros for it, and we expect to see a flurry of pricing and contract information filling that short waiting time. Full PR after the break.

[Via MobileTechWorld]

Continue reading HTC HD2 officially coming to US, out in Europe and Asia today!

Garmin-Asus nuvifone finally coming to America in Q4 (or so they say)

by Darren Murph posted Aug 7th 2009 @ 4:32AM

With Garmin-Asus' nüvifone G60 already on sale in Asia, it makes sense to hear that said smartphone will soon make its way over to North American soil. Of course, it also made sense to think that this thing would be launching on AT&T about forever and a day ago, so we're not holding our collective breath just yet. At any rate, Garmin recently made abundantly clear on a quarter-end conference call that the GPS-infused handset is in the final testing stages with an undisclosed amount of US carriers, and if all goes well, it'll hit the streets in Q4. What's crazy is that every last specification remains unchanged from when it was announced back in January of 2008; meanwhile, Apple has shipped two new iterations of its iPhone, Android has blown up significantly and even Motorola and Palm have seemingly resurrected themselves from the grave. Knowing all that, will anyone even bother to show up to snag one in "just a few months?"

Amazon's Nokia N97 release date slides back to June 30

by Chris Ziegler posted Jun 7th 2009 @ 4:18PM

We'd hoped that June 25 date would stay put -- or even move up a bit in our overly optimistic, idealistic world -- but at this point, things aren't looking good. Amazon has now updated its N97 availability date from June 25 to June 30, possibly reflecting some insider information they've received from Nokia that the phone's running a little behind schedule. Of course, first-party preorders aren't expected to ship until July, so if the June 30 thing seriously pans out, this still puts you ahead of the game. At any rate, there's one silver lining to this cloud: you can drool over the hands-on our colleagues over at Engadget Spanish have put together while you wait.

[Thanks, Albert G.]

Nokia E71x finally coming to AT&T on May 4?

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 21st 2009 @ 9:13AM

We've been teased by the promise of the E71x for months now -- and of that time, we've been teased on a very official level for a solid three weeks -- but we've yet to get a solid release date out of AT&T. The popular rumor is that last-minute problems in the phone's custom FP2-based firmware (the original E71 runs FP1, you may recall) affecting email caused the holdup, and naturally, a mass firmware update on an endless sea of already-manufactured devices can be a bit of a production. Now, Nokia Experts is reporting that we'll finally see this thing hit shelves on May 4 and has a screenshot to back up the claim; at $99.99 on contract, it'll still be a steal by then, but we'd recommend they not wait any longer than that. Please, seriously.

Palm Pre launching no earlier than May 16 according to leaked doc?

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 13th 2009 @ 2:50PM

We've been made privy to some Sprint planning documentation that implies that the carrier is looking to get all its Pre ducks in a row by May 16, which would suggest that there's no way in hell it's launching any earlier than that. Ultimately, that could mean we're looking at a launch on the 17th -- a Sunday, as Sprint launches often are -- or any time after that, but since Palm continues to reaffirm its first half commitment, we'd say that we're now down to a window between 5/17 and 6/30. Awesome.

HTC not bringing Touch HD to the States

by Darren Murph posted Oct 7th 2008 @ 12:32PM

This shouldn't be surprising at all to anyone even remotely familiar with HTC's tendencies, but the Touch HD is officially not ever shipping to America (unless you import, obviously). The news was dropped via a Tweet (of all things), but evidently, the outcry over what we figured was common knowledge has caused some windows to be rattled in the penthouse offices. Another official Tweet followed to thank everyone for "expressing their desire for the HD," with the author noting that "US management now knows there's a grassroots demand for high-end HTCs here." Really, HTC? You needed a flood of angry Twitter comments to understand that Americans would give their second born for a phone like the Touch HD?

[Via WMExperts, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We've received official word from HTC that they've been really overwhelmed by the "strong" demand for the HD in the States and other markets where no launch has been planned (with that insane display, it seemed like a no-brainer to us!). Sadly, due to the engineering time required to get a North American 3G version in the pipeline, they say they're better off just waiting until the next round of products launches -- hopefully with some extra bands in the radio this time, eh?

Read - Touch HD not coming to the US
Read - Thanks for the concern

Verizon training schedule hints at BlackBerry Storm / Touch Diamond release dates

by Darren Murph posted Sep 26th 2008 @ 12:22PM

Let's do a quick recap, shall we? So we pretty much know everything there is to know about Verizon's forthcoming BlackBerry Storm save for the price and release date, and so far as we can tell, Verizon's version of the Touch Diamond is still expected to be totally underpowered compared to Sprint's iteration. Now that we've rounded the tables, let's have a look at this image above. This here is Verizon's internal training schedule, and given that employees have to complete their Storm courses before November 2nd and their Touch Diamond courses before December 3rd, we'd say you now have a pretty good idea of when these two will be landing. Hey VZW -- think you could make that "Blocking Features Assessment" available to the public? We're guessing it'd be a real hit.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

BlackBerry Storm pre-launch datasheet surfaces

by Darren Murph posted Sep 17th 2008 @ 1:16PM

Let's be honest here -- there's precisely ~~two~~ three things you still need to know about the BlackBerry Storm. Launch date, price and whether it'll play Doom. Sadly, we're no closer to helping you on those last two, but the datasheet you see above does give us a general idea of when we'll see this puppy in stores. Obviously looking to get this out before the holiday rush, it looks as if the carrier will be making things official sometime between September 22nd and October 1st, and that little "eligible for Annual Upgrade (by 11/1/08)" bit gives us hope for a November 1st release. In case you were wishing for the impossible, Verizon gets all red-text up in here with a note that this thing will not, come hell or high water, be sold sans an e-mail / data package. Interestingly, the Boy Genius has asserted that VZW is playing the fiddle by loosing all these "leaks" on the unsuspecting public. We're not very confident of that being true, but it's decent fodder for discussion if nothing else.

Read - BlackBerry Storm pre-launch information
Read - Verizon slipping Storm details?

UK's Orange getting BlackBerry Bold on August 16th

by Darren Murph posted Aug 14th 2008 @ 3:16AM

Though it won't have the pleasure of being the first carrier on planet Earth to offer up the BlackBerry Bold, Orange will be the first provider in the UK to do so. Reportedly, the handset will be available for purchase on August 16th, a few weeks earlier than T-Mobile's purported September launch. We're told that the unit will likely be free on contract, but buyers will be politely forced to sign an 18-month agreement and hand over £45 per month (for unlimited data?). Just a few more long, painful days to wait.

HTC report says Touch Diamond is coming to Sprint this month

by Darren Murph posted Aug 2nd 2008 @ 3:20PM

Don't rule out the possibility that this is a complete and utterly disgusting fib, but a recent writeup in The China Post about HTC's financial situation very clearly states when the hotly-anticipated Touch Diamond is coming to Sprint: this month. If you're looking for the play-by-play, the article proclaims that the "company released its Diamond phone in Asia in June and will begin selling the handset through Sprint Nextel Corp. in August." Look, we've seen a CDMA version of this thing donning Sprint garb, we've watched it fall into the capable hands of the FCC and we know it has to arrive sometime. If all of this doesn't add up to Sprint getting the Touch Diamond in August, well, we'll let you do the math.

[Thanks, Sumit]

LG's Decoy gets priced, set for June 16th release

by Darren Murph posted Jun 2nd 2008 @ 12:23AM

Seems that rumored June release window for LG's VX8610 (Decoy) was right on. phoneArena has it that the peculiar slider will be launching just over a fortnight from now on June 16th, and if you're looking to get one with a 2-year contract, the pricing isn't so bad ($179). It also mentions a $249 post-rebate price with a 1-year agreement and a $349 sticker if you aren't signing any dotted line other than the credit card receipt. Guess it's wait-and-see from here, yeah?

LiMo Platform Release 1 gets loosed, R2 to come later this year

by Darren Murph posted Mar 31st 2008 @ 3:14PM

Don't look now, but mid-2008 is almost here, and for those waiting intently for the release of a LiMo SDK, you're one step closer to having your dreams realized. Announced today, the LiMo Foundation has made available what it calls the "first globally competitive, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices." According to Morgan Gillis, executive director of LiMo Foundation, the consortium is hoping that R1 will "spur rapid innovation and contributions from all LiMo members," and it's restated that software development kits for Native, WebKit and Java operating environments are set to launch during the second half of this year. Not one to sit idly, the entity has also announced that Release 2 is currently "being specified and developed," and should escape testing and greet the real world in late 2008.

[Via PhoneScoop]

LG's teeny tiny KF510 unleashed on providers worldwide

by Sean Cooper posted Mar 25th 2008 @ 1:41PM

Announced during Mobile World Congress earlier this year, the LG KF510 is expected to be hitting retail late this month. Slated for release in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it would seem the small touchscreen slider is taking everywhere but here by storm -- an HSDPA-free storm we'd like to add. As a refresh, the KF510 packs a 3 megapixel camera, VibeTouch haptic feedback, comes in either Stardust Dark Gray or Sunset Red, and all packed in a 10.9 mm-thick metal housing. No mention on pricing and exact ship dates, though we're sure your provider will be filling you in on those bits and bobs as soon as they have 'em to hand out.

Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 delayed until next year? We think (hope) not

by Chris Ziegler posted Mar 2nd 2008 @ 3:40PM

A table of release dates dug up on Sony Ericsson's own site suggests something powerfully depressing, which is that the XPERIA X1 has been pushed all the way out to February 10, 2009 (notice that the date is in European format -- we'd just give up now if it were actually October 2, 2009). While the presence of the page on the company's very own domain is pretty damning evidence, we're still holding out hope that it's a typo or an oversight; late Q2 of '08 was mentioned at MWC, and we really don't see how it's possible to push out a phone nearly three-quarters of a year just weeks after its initial announcement. Please tell us we're right on this one, Sony Ericsson. Please.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

iPhone launching in Ireland on March 14th?

by Ryan Block posted Feb 28th 2008 @ 4:04AM

Looks like the iPhone is launching in Ireland with O2 on March 14th, according to Pocket-lint. It's supposed to go for the low, low price of €399 (including VAT) on the 8GB and €499 for the 16GB; we haven't heard anything solid either way, but we'll let you know if we do (and you do the same, would ya?).

[Thanks, John and Ronan]