Fanboys the world over swooned over the HTC Touch HD when it launched last year, but word is that HTC's planning on making a major change to its high-res handset for the sequel: it's switching to Android. That's at least the hot whisper 'round the tubes this afternoon, and while that would ordinarily be enough to make the 'droidboys to go crazy, there's even more -- the CPU is reportedly a 628MHz Qualcomm chip, not the slightly overtaxed 528MHz number we've seen in every other Android handset to date. Sure, it's just a measly 100MHz, but if that's enough to make Sense and HD video on the 3.8-inch 480 x 800 display run smoothly we'll be all grins. If any of this is true, that is.

[Via BGR]

German site NokiaPort has rounded up a nice little cache of juicy Nokia details that it says is culled from "official information from Nokia, confirmed rumors and reputable sources of information," and while we can't personally vouch for most of what we're seeing here, it's all sounding reasonable enough -- and with Nokia World right around the corner, we figured this would be a grand opportunity to lay it out and see how the chips fall. First up, Cseries and Xseries are said to be presented at the show, with the first Xseries model being an upgraded version of the just-launched 5530 XpressMusic with 3G thrown in, probably spelling doom for the 5800 -- in other words, Xseries is very likely a wholesale rebranding of the XpressMusic line, which totally makes sense. Speaking of touchscreens and Nokia branding, the site says that we'll see another touchscreen Nseries model to keep the N97 company before the year's out, followed by Eseries' first S60 5th Edition model in 2010. Coincidentally, they've got a part of a supposed new touch model pictured on the site (see above), though we're not clear on what we're seeing. In the Maemo department, the N900 is likely to be the only Maemo 5 device for the better part of the year, though there's apparently a mysterious N920 already making the rounds in the Espoo campus.

As technologies go, xenon flashes are apparently on the outs with Nokia -- better hang onto your phones, N82 owners -- while capacitive screens should start to take hold. Samsung has already proven that S60 works just fine and dandy with a capacitive display on the i8910, so we're stoked to see where Nokia takes it. Finally, OMAP3 cores are said to be working their way into the lineup following a Cortex A8-based introduction in the N900; Nokia has historically lagged its competition as processing power goes, so it'll be great to see them start to match up with the Pres and the iPhones of the world -- at least as far as raw computational might goes, anyhow.

[Thanks Hermann S., image via Eldar Murtazin]

We've yet to see a Satio or XPERIA X2 or X3 at retail, but it looks like Sony Ericsson have yet another full touch phone in the works as it tries to revitalize and reinvent itself with a renewed focus on Android, Symbian Foundation, and Windows Mobile for its smartphone lineup. What we're looking at here is claimed to be a spy shot of the Jalou -- that's a retail name, not a codename, by the way -- which is said to run S60 5th Edition (just like the Satio) with WiFi, GPS, and some form of HSDPA on board. The Sony Ericsson fan base is pretty notorious for crafting beautiful, very believable concept devices using nothing more than Illustrator and an overactive imagination, so we'd urge caution here -- but other than a display that seems to have been blacked out, it all seems believable enough. The bigger question might be whether the world's ready for two Symbian-based touchscreen smartphones from Sony Ericsson in the next few months.

Update: Yep, sure enough, that "notorious fan base" we just mentioned came out swinging with this one, a heavily-modified concept based on the W995. In other words, if the Jalou exists, this isn't it. Thanks, synn!

At a glance, you might think that this thing is ripe to succeed the Eternity -- it's clearly a better- and fresher-looking device -- but alas, the specs tell a different story. The so-called Infinity (we don't know if that's a go-to-market name or just internal) will feature a 3-inch WQVGA display and a 2 megapixel camera, down from the Eternity's 3.2 inches and 3 megapixels, respectively. It'll also do HSDPA plus quadband EDGE and microSD expansion; no word on MediaFLO support, but if we had to guess, we'd say it's probably missing here. The Infinity is tentatively scheduled for July 20 availability -- but like all of these AT&T leaks we've seen in the past handful of hours, we wouldn't drop money on that date. Follow the break for an ever-so-slightly larger view of the phone.

Just a note to everyone who carries around a spare smartphone Li-ion in their rear pocket: buy thicker underwear. The scene you see above was all caused by an obviously volatile HTC Touch Pro battery, one that the pants-wearer claims is an authentic HTC cell and not a cheap-o alternative from eBay. As the story goes, a foul odor led him to a laundry pile, where he uncovered eight moist socks, a torched battery and a ruined pair of pants. Look, we're glad this guy's okay and all, but seriously, can you imagine what this testy little thing would've done when tossed into the dryer? It's a blessing in disguise, kiddo.

[Via phoneArena]

Attention, Orange and the random supplier who's manufacturing these ripoffs: the world has moved on from the original HTC Touch's design language. Hell, we've actually moved on twice now; once to the Touch Diamond, and once to the Touch Diamond2. On that note, we're not sure what's possessing a Western European carrier to release a cheesy rip of a such a well-known late model phone -- whose manufacturer Orange has a great relationship with, no less -- other than the fact that they're looking to give entry-level customers a really inexpensive way to get into the touchscreen game. Indeed, the prepaid device will apparently run just £48.50 (about $71) when it launches, but in return, you're only getting a 1.3 megapixel camera, presumably EDGE data, and the mocking of everyone you've ever known -- including your own mother, who we understand uses an actual HTC Touch.

[Via mobile-review]

Update: If T-Mobile UK is more your style, turns out they're offering the very same device as the Vairy Touch. Thanks, everyone!

Okay, now it's official. After a misstep late last week, LG's ready to pull the trigger for reals on the Viewty Smart, the follow-on to one of its more successful high-end feature phones in recent memory. Pretty much every major feature has been improved or revamped over the original Viewty, including bumps to WVGA display resolution, an 8 megapixel camera with claimed ISO 1600 sensitivity (we'll see about that), DVD-quality video recording, LG's recently-introduced S-Class user interface concept, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, integrated WiFi, AGPS, and 1.5GB onboard with microSD expansion theoretically to 32GB. What's more, LG has somehow smushed this all into a package just 12.4mm thick, which makes this just about the most desirable non-smartphone on the planet -- on paper, anyhow. Look for it to start hitting European carriers next month, with availability elsewhere to be announced later on.

[Via Akihabara News]

HTC's been pretty coy with pricing on the Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2, but now that units are starting to trickle out overseas, the numbers situation is getting slightly clearer. HTC's just announced that an unlocked Pro2 will set Singaporeans back S$1,328 ($887), while a Diamond2 will hit 'em up for S$1,088 ($726) -- a little more than in Taiwan, but probably close to what we'll see off-contract in the States. A little rich for our blood, though -- let's hope T-Mobile cleans the goo off soon.

[Via Unwired View]

We haven't heard much about the appearance of the HTC Touch Diamond2 on US shores apart from a few AT&T-related whispers, but the squared-off handset is starting to pop up overseas, and the requisite unboxings and video tours have started flooding in. Sadly, these early units are still running Windows Mobile 6.1, so beauty's only skin deep -- or at least as deep as TouchFlo2 3D. Hardware video after the break, but there's plenty more at the read links.

Read - Windows Phone Mix
Read - Tracy and Matt

One look at the N97 will tell you that Nokia intends to take this whole touch thing pretty seriously, and considering that we're talking about the largest handset maker in the world here, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that they've got new touch models in the pipe; the volume and style of those new models, though, might be a little shocking. TheStreet.com is reporting "people familiar with the plan" as saying that Espoo will launch up to three different thin touch-enabled models by this fall using the VibeTonz tech it licensed from Immersion back in the day, suggesting that the company's more traditional non-touch S60 devices might have to start to share the spotlight equally with touchier brethren. VibeTonz should give Nokia plenty of options for tailoring haptic feedback based on user interaction, but here's our question: what the hell ever happened to Haptikos?

[Via Unwired View]

We're well past the point of touchscreens being relegated to the high end, and Samsung's out to drive the point home with a pair of fresh ones destined for Europe over the coming months. Starting at the bottom, the S5230 tops out at EDGE speeds but features a commendable 3-inch WQVGA display, 3 megapixel cam, microSD expansion, FM radio, and naturally, TouchWiz -- and it's all shoved into a mere 11.9mm. The real high-speed action starts up in the S5600 that we heard a bit about after MWC, where we pick up 7.2Mbps HSDPA on the 900 and 2100MHz bands -- only problem is, you've got to step down to a 2.8-inch QVGA display to get it. It'll slide into retail come May, while the S5320 gets a little bit of a jump start, hitting shelves in April.