Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

While this sounds like just about as strange a name that Nokia could come up with, the rumor train has dubbed the iPhone look-a-like the iPerformer. Personally I am thinking this one has to be false, having an iPhone competitor named the iPerformer sounds like they are just asking for trouble.

This handset has been a long time in the making, the pic alone is courtesy of an image from the GoPlay event that was held back in August of 2007. Along with the vague rumor of a name, the images are just not available and the known specs are just as elusive. The iPerformer, as we can tell from the picture feature a widescreen display, which appears by the lack of buttons to be touchscreen based. It is also rumored to feature NaviScroll, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a QWERTY keyboard as well as an FM radio and FM transmitter.

Just as light as the rest of the details, the price and any possible release date are still a mystery. Wow, such a cool looking and potentially promising phone that we first saw about 9 months ago, with so few details.

Via [Engadget Mobile]

The latest, but still rumored information is now putting the soon-to-be-released BlackBerry 9000 with an official name, the BOLD. According to the folks over at CrackBerry this “appears with *reasonable* certainty that this is in fact the case” however without an official announcement we are still not 100% convinced. Either way it should not be long now before we see the 9000 BOLD officially announced and its fair to say we will also learn the name at that time. More important though is that the BOLD, whether or not that is the true name, is going to be a very nice addition to the current BlackBerry lineup. Here’s hoping that announcement comes as expected on Monday.

Via [CrackBerry]

Yahoo! may have successfully deterred a Microsoft takeover, but it cannot escape the fact that it still has to work with the software maker in its other products. Barring all indifference’s with Microsoft, Yahoo has quietly made available the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 in beta mode for Windows mobile-powered handsets. And no, Yahoo did not underplay the new version of its mobile web browser to get back at Microsoft. On the contrary, it has transformed Yahoo! Go 3.0 into a powerful mobile web portal with features that even the Microsoft guys would love. These new features are; a new mobile web start up page that displays what’s new since the user’s last visit plus previews of users favorites, an improved oneSearch that now includes up-to-date flight information and content from Yahoo Answers as well as Wikipedia, enhanced design and navigation that gives users an option to use the traditional carousel or the icon display, mobile widgets from eBay, MySpace and other sites that fully support mobile widgets, and other customization features. This is suffice to say that Yahoo has transformed Go 3.0 into a more powerful mobile internet facility for mobile phone users.

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It turns out that AT&T is making an attempt at keeping their free Wi-Fi offering a secret. Even though its long past the secret part, thanks to the appearance and disappearance act that is has been putting on recently. According to a statement from AT&T they offered up an official “no comment” about the situation, but they also stated that the issues that have come up were nothing more than “human error.” Which based on that it would be pretty safe to say that its just a matter of time before it goes live for real, until then we can only hope the same human that has been making those errors will continue, we love our free Wi-Fi.

Read [New York Times] Via [Gizmodo]

Originally announced back in February during the Mobile World Conference 2008, Samsung has now officially announced the release date for the rather slim and candybar-shaped i200 smartphone. Measuring 11.8mm thick, the phone is slated for a European launch in June, while other markets will get their hands on the phone in July. The compact, yet stylish, i200 will sport Windows Mobile 6.1, a glossy 2.3-inch QVGA screen, 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, music player, microSD slot and will support Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook). The phone will also support HSDPA (3.6 Mbps), though sadly, there is no Wi-Fi support. Samsung is touting the phone’s “light sensor” which automatically detects the amount of light available and varies the LCD and keypad’s brightness accordingly, saving battery life. Unfortunately, no pricing information was released.

Read [ZDNet Korea]

As if we have not yet seen enough of all these new touchscreen phones that have been jumping out of the woodwork lately, here comes yet another, featuring the same old touchscreen, and almost the same specifications as well. Although this time, it could have one thing that separates it from the myriad of other touchscreen phones out there - herculean battery life. That’s because this new touchscreen phone falls under the Philips Xenium brand, which, in case you don’t know, has a reputation for churning out gadgets with incredibly long-lasting batteries. And knowing that this same company completed its very own touchscreen phone (Philips Xenium 9@9v) a couple of months back, this new rumor becomes quite believable. But until the day that we see it get official, that’s all that it is: a faceless rumor.

Via [Unwired View]

In what seems like its becoming a tradition recently, with releasing live images of unreleased Sony Ericsson handsets on a one at a time basis. Anyway the latest leaked image is of the BeiBei, and it gives us a nice clear shot of the backside. While the BeiBei was previously rumored to have a 5.0-megapixel webcam, after seeing this latest image I am not 100% convinced of that. While a little hard to make out, the megapixels are listed just above the lens and looks like its a 3.2-megapixel. Overall the BeiBei looks like a nice phone, but the stylus makes me reconsider the coolness factor. Keep reading for another image of the frontside, just in case you wanted a refresher…

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An honest and innocent letter sent out as an invitation for application developers has turned out to be the main source of our primary info on two possibly upcoming Palm devices - the Palm Zeppelin and the Skywriter. Nothing about the specs, availability, and pricing of these new phones have been made clear so far, other than the fact that Palm is currently looking for software developers for it. The invitation letter was sent to smartphone blog TamsPPC, who later did a rendering of the Skywriter, which they say could be a Palm 500-style device running on Windows Mobile 6.1. It is also suggested that these new phones might be released by Q3 2008. I know it seems pretty far-fetched but go ahead read a copy of the e-mail for yourself.

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Itching to get your hands on Motorola’s sexy new QWERTY smartphone, the Motorola Q 9c? Well then let this news story be the cure for your itch. Verizon is now offering the Motorola Q 9c in its full QWERTY keypad glory for just $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. Of course that includes a two-year agreement with Verizon, but hey, you win some, you lose some.

And with this deal, you’re actually winning a lot. Because the features of the Motorola Q 9c should be enough to keep you company for the whole two years of your contract anyway. Here’s a quick rundown of the Moto Q 9c’s features:

• Windows Mobile 6
• 2.4-inch screen
• 1.3-megapixel camera
• 128MB internal memory and support for memory cards up to 32GB
• Stereo Bluetooth
• Pre-installed MS Office mobile suite and Opera Mobile

So if you’re in the mood to acquire a new smartphone, and willing to lose nearly $200 (not to mention a bit of your patience), then go ahead and check out Verizon’s web site for more details.

Via [IntoMobile]

The folks over at BGR are calling for the BlackBerry 9000 announcement to be coming very soon. Just a few days away in fact, on May 12 during WES (Wireless Enterprise Symposium) in Orlando, Florida. They have stated this is “100% confirmed” and that we can not only expect the 9000 to be officially unveiled but that a demo booth with be set up to get some hands on time.

And just as a teaser to make you dream a little more the folks over at CrackBerry.com were able to get their hands on the BlackBerry 9000 and were kind enough to offer up a video review for our viewing pleasure. Keep reading to check out the video…

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