There's no shortage of complaints -- some minor, some not-so-minor -- about the shipping firmware in the N97s that are already out in the field (our wonky backlight comes immediately to mind), but fortunately, it seems that Nokia's looking to tackle the issues perhaps more proactively than it's ever done before. Nokia Conversations' official Twitter account has announced that the "first variants" of the N97 (which we would take to mean the North American version, since the US got it first) will be blessed with firmware 1.1 starting on July 1, which hopefully will be available over-the-air without any Nokia Software Updater silliness. No word on what exactly will be changed in the new release, but honestly, if we can just get the LL Cool J startup screen, that'll be good enough for us.

[Via Nokia Experts]

We still think that the Saga is one of the better portrait QWERTY WinMo phones currently on the market -- the optical mouse is awesome and global roaming is a more-than-welcome capability -- and it's only gotten better with the release of an official update from Samsung. The new build features Microsoft's latest Windows Mobile 6.1 AKU (1.5.1, if you're curious) and adds the capability to send MMS messages when you're roaming on GPRS, but most importantly, it unlocks GPS so that third-party applications can take advantage of it. This is a trend that Verizon's been pursuing full-force this year, and needless to say, it's a welcome one.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We know, we know, it's gonna be awfully hard to part with the comfort of your current beloved Meizu M8, but trust us, change can be good. We've already heard reports of an Android-centric UI refresh, and now company CEO J. Wong has chimed in to outline a tentative upgrade plan for the upcoming M8 3G. Current users of the eerily familiar 8GB / 16GB device will need to pay approximately 1,300 RMB to 1,500 RMB (translation: about $190 to $200 US) for next year's model. Oddly enough, despite these estimates, he's not confirming any market selling price. Wong also adds the screen size has been expanded from the initially planned 3.54 inches diagonal to 3.6, with same 720 x 480 resolution. Keep saving your pennies, last we heard launch date was still (lightly) penciled in for March 2010.

Rogers must know a good thing when it sees it, because it's essentially copied AT&T's modified plans for providing deeper subsidies to more customers looking to upgrade to an iPhone 3G S in the next few weeks. The details are just a little bit different though: with Rogers, the new deal is that anyone who bought an iPhone 3G between July 11 and September 30 of 2008 -- and has averaged CAD $100 or more a month on their bill -- will be able to nab the 16GB or 32GB for $199 and $299, respectively, on a three-year contract. Buyers between July 11 and December 31 of last year or who didn't manage to average $100 a month will get the less heavily-discounted prices of $449 and $549, while any customer will be able to waltz in and spend $699 or $799, a princely sum indeed.

The original plan was to offer mildly subsidized prices of $399 and $499 for the 16GB and 32GB versions of the iPhone 3G S to AT&T customers who weren't currently "upgrade eligible," but the carrier's having a change of heart, ostensibly in response to... you know, people wanting to pay less. The new plan is to let anyone with an upgrade date in the months of June, July, August, or September get in on the fully discounted $199 / $299 price points, which should cover a good number of existing 3G owners. Unfortunately, the way the upgrade date is calculated is black magic involving your monthly bill, your credit rating, your contract, and your astrological sign, so you'll need to log in to AT&T's site or call up a rep to figure out the full deal; we're told customers should start to see those new discounts reflected on their accounts as of tomorrow. And don't worry -- anyone who's already preordered will be receiving a full refund for the difference.

For most Pre owners, updates to the operating system happen silently and with little drama -- just the way Palm and the average user likes it. For the more inquisitive of us, though, Palm is offering a detailed breakdown of how the updates get pushed down to the phone and under what circumstances. For starters, you've got to be on EV-DO or WiFi, because 1xRTT (in addition to being ridiculously slow) would block incoming calls when active. Furthermore, you've got to be rocking at least 30 percent of your battery juice. Unless you update manually, the phone will check all by itself every 7 days, and if it finds something, it'll grab it within 2 days during periods when you're not using your data connection (wouldn't want it ruining the user experience, after all). The download typically gets dropped into non-user accessible storage, but apparently, Palm has a contingency plan in place if an update is truly massive -- if that happens, it can steal some user storage with your permission. As we've mentioned, once you have the download, the phone requires that you install it within 7 days; if you don't, it'll auto-install the next chance it gets. Quite a process, isn't it?

[Via Palm Infocenter]

We don't have confirmation whether BlackBerry connectivity is in there, but that rumored new firmware release for the X1 is apparently out and about. It's supposed to make the phone generally more responsive -- we always like to hear that -- but you'll also get a brighter keyboard backlight, improved messaging, and better signal strength. In other words, they seem to have hit a bunch of things that we wouldn't imagine could be fixed with a firmware update alone, so we're counting our blessings -- as long as this doesn't think they're allowed to slack on getting that X2 to market, that is.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

Typically, you expect Flash Lite updates (or updates to pretty much any module that comes bundled with the phone, for that matter) to be delivered via firmware bump -- a long, slow, frustrating process that can take weeks or months across all regions and product codes for a given Nokia model -- but refreshingly, a new version of Flash Lite is now available to 5800 XpressMusic owners by a very different method. The rarely-used App Update mechanism in newer versions of S60 is being used to push out Flash Lite 3.1, which is said to "improve web browsing, " add Flash 9 support, MP3 streaming, and add a host of other goodies -- and perhaps most importantly, YouTube's now more usable. Let's hope the N97 has this out of the gate, eh?

An incredible way to start the weekend, Storm owners: Verizon is finally pulling the trigger on a firmware update, which will be available to all comers starting on Sunday at 3PM Eastern time. If that's too much trouble, you'll alternatively be able to sit back, chill, and wait for the over-the-air version to hit, which should follow on at 10PM. Verizon tells us that it'll be releasing 4.7.0.148, as rumored -- just a tiny bump from the failed build 141 that had been rumored before that, but all told, far, far too long since the last official update was rolled out. We can only assume this has been tested better than a NASA launch at this point, so you're on notice, guys.

The link appears to have been pulled for the moment, but HTC briefly offered a promising firmware update for AT&T's Fuze that brings a variety of goodies to the carrier's branded version of the Touch Pro. Among other things, you get AKU6, a new version of Voice Command, PTT button reassignability (because -- let's be honest -- not many people are using PTT on this device), an FM radio app, improved TouchFLO performance, and faster GPS locking. Again, the link's currently dead -- but here's hoping it comes back shortly (or at the very least, before the Fortress drops).

[Via Mobility Site and WMExperts]

After delays, multiple false alarms, and staggered launches, we'll admit: our patience is being tested with this whole Android 1.5 situation on T-Mobile USA's G1, and we imagine there are plenty of users who feel the same way. Previously, it took root access -- a process many lay users would rather not undertake -- to shoehorn 1.5 onto an official carrier-branded unit, but we now finally have a legit, signed build that'll install without any hackery whatsoever. This release will give you all the splendors 1.5 has to offer, preserve myFaves access, and requires little more than a file copy to your microSD card plus a couple key combinations to install, so it's pretty much a must-have if you're tired of waiting for T-Mob to do its thing. Now on to Donut, eh?

[Via Phandroid]

SEMC Blog -- which tends to have an inside line on these matters -- is claiming that a new firmware for the awesome-but-pricey X1 is just around the corner. That in itself isn't really notable since we've seen new firmwares for the device hit in the past, but the juicy morsel here seems to be that the latest build will include "support of BlackBerry connection," which we take to mean integrated BlackBerry Connect. That'll certainly improve the X1's street cred in the business world, but we can't help but wonder whether it's too late to eke out a major sales push on this one -- especially now that buzz over the X2 has swelled to a rolling boil.

Often you'll come across a firmware update for your beloved (but buggy) S60 handset that does nothing but fix issues without giving you anything awesome or new to play with, but happily, that turns out not to be the case with 20.175 for the popular N79 and N85. Yes, there are the usual fixes in here, thankfully -- but you've also got the addition of turning controls (as seen on some other devices like the E75) for performing actions simply by turning your phone over and email notifications on the home screen. It's available over the air, so don't bother with that tethered Nokia Software Updater noise.

[Via All About Symbian]

Why other CDMA carriers can seamlessly roll out newer builds of the Storm's firmware without fanfare or drama when Verizon can't is beyond us, but for whatever reason, Big Red's been totally unable to put its finger on a build that it has liked lately. First we heard they'd been eyeing 4.7.0.113, then we heard they were learning toward 141 -- and now, who the hell knows, because the latest rumors claim that 141 has failed validation. Ominously, it seems that no game plan has yet been put in place to succeed 141 in the official roadmap, so it's unclear whether they'll be looking at continuing down the 4.7 path or moving straight to 5.0. One way or another, it goes without saying that Verizon's version of the 9530 needs new software -- so if you haven't yet, you might want to consider nabbing one of the countless leaked builds rather than waiting for your carrier to get its butt in gear.

The ratio of firmware leaks to official, carrier-endorsed releases for the 9500 and 9530 Storms is something ridiculous like 7-to-1, so when we do see an official update, it's kind of a big deal. On that note, we present to you 4.7.0.141 -- Vodafone UK's weapon of choice for upgrading its fleet of Storms deployed in the field. Don't bother trying to shoehorn this into your units, Verizon customers; it's a different model, and you'll hopefully be getting yours soon enough.

[Via CrackBerry]