Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

While we have already seen the BlackBerry Bold announced as a soon-to-be AT&T and Rogers handset, up till now we just knew that the Bold would be available “beginning this summer.” It seems the answer to the release date as well as some other interesting tidbits have just been leaked.

While the Rogers release date is still unclear, we can tell you that AT&T will make it available in July for $300. However, in a little more interesting news it seems that the Bold is also headed for T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint just a few months later. They are all set to offer up the Bold beginning in September. Verizon and Sprint customers will have to shell out the same $300 as AT&T customers, however T-Mobile seems to be a slight bit higher coming in at $350.

Of course, these have not been confirmed by any of the carriers, so these dates and prices are still subject to change. Lets at least hope that the T-Mobile price drops just a little, otherwise that seems quite unfair.

Read [InfoSync] Via [EngadgetMobile]

Typepad bloggers who use the BlackBerry Curve or the Pearl will have no more reason not to update their blogs a little more often, as Six Apart is bringing its native mobile blogging application to both BlackBerry handsets. This means that these bloggers can now upload photos, manage comments, as well as draft, edit and post to their Typepad blogs directly from their phone.

Whereas before, BlackBerry users were able to use post to their blogs using their phones’ mobile web browser or the email-to-blog feature, now with Typepad’s native application, they can just do the same task without opening their phones browser. The post-to-blog feature is now embedded as one of menus of the their BlackBerry Curve or Pearl. 

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For those who are caught between choosing an iPhone because of its musical features particularly its tie up with the iTunes music store and the BlackBerry Bold’s productivity features which are not supported by the iPhone, a new application might actually make them forget about the iPhone and get a BlackBerry Bold instead.

RIM is said to be developing a new application called the BlackBerry Media Sync that would allow synchronization of purchased music from iTunes to the BlackBerry Bold. This means that Bold users would have the luxury of listening to their iTunes purchased music via the BlackBerry’s excellent internal stereo speakers. You don’t usually get this kind of experience with the iPhone’s speakers.

Of course one must also take into consideration the upcoming 3G iPhone which just around the corner, when considering whether to get the BlackBerry Bold which is about to have the same iTunes synch features, or to wait up for the 3G iPhone or even contend with the current iPhone models for both their mobile application and mobile entertainment needs.

Read [CNET]

Just surfaced is what appears to be a live image of the upcoming Palm Treo 800w, which is nice because up to now we have had plenty of blurry and junky images of the Palm’s new Treo. Of course this image, while nice and clear is simply of the prototype and not an official model to be released, it still has the generic “carrier” name instead of an actual carrier.

What we have seen is that the Treo 800w will be CDMA and have a microUSB plug. The previous rumors also placed the handset with a 320 x 320 touchscreen, having EVDO Rev.0 support, Wi-Fi and is going to be running Windows Mobile 6.1. The rumored release date is currently looking at July 22, of course that is still subject to delay.

Via [Phone Mag]

LG Korea has officially announced the LG KF600 aka “Bikini” phone with touchscreen features. This new phone will come in either the HSDPA model (LG-SH640/KH6400) or the Revision A model (LH6400). Now, before we get really excited as to what this new phone has got in its arsenal, you may notice its resemblance to the previously released LG Venus, that’s because this new phone is just an upgraded version.

Basically, the LG KF600 pretty much carries the same features as the Venus. It has the InteractPad which replaces the physical navigation keys with context-specific virtual keys. Plus a 3-megapixel camera with video recording, MP3 player, FM radio and Bluetooth.

Currently there is no information on whether the LG KF600 will be released internationally, and possibly to replace the current LG Venus. The Bikini retails between $478-$574 in the Korean market.

Via [Aving USA]

Verizon Wireless joins the ranks of 40 other handset suppliers such as Samsung, LG Electronics, and Korea’s SK Telecom Co as the company joined a consortium working on a Linux-based mobile operating system. The company said it would take a seat on the Limo Foundation’s board and projects to have its first phones based on the LiMo operating system in the market by 2009. The decision to join LiMo follows recent indications that rival AT&T plans to support Android, the Linux operating system being developed by Google and about 30 partners. Verizon Wireless Vice President Kyle Malady said that while the company would continue to support other operating systems—such as the one used in BlackBerry – but the LiMo system would be its primary operating system.

Read [Reuters]

It looks like AT&T will not be the only North American carrier to pick up the recently announced BlackBerry Bold, in addition it will be available for Canadian customers through Rogers Communication. The release date and pricing still remain a mystery, however there is a notification page to keep you up to date. Of course we will also keep you posted here as well. With the AT&T release coming in the beginning of this summer, we can only imagine that Rogers will not be that far away.

Read [Rogers]

Strengthening its bid to become a major player in the smartphone and Pocket PC industry, Asus recently released its newest offering -– the Asus P560. Aside from the P320 (small Windows Mobile 6.1 handset), M536 (QWERTY Pocket PC) and the drool-worthy Lamborghini ZX1 Smartphone, the Asus P560 is another touchscreen-enabled smartphone packing a whole gamut of tech-savvy features.

Measuring a slim 4.58 x 2.53 x 0.53-inches and weighing only 4.25-ounces (battery included), the elegant P560 provides support for both tri-band WCDMA networks and quad-band GSM.  The smartphone is powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1 OS and features Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, USB 2.0, music player, video player, Java and Internet and email capabilities.

The Main features of the Asus P560 include:

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Following the release of the Touch Diamond, the official accessory lineup from HTC is beginning to show up as pre-orders. While the handset is still a little ways away from release, as previously announced it is expected to drop in Europe beginning in June, with Asia and the Middle East to follow later in this quarter and both Latin and North America to follow during the second half of 2008, it should be a little while before the accessories will actually be shipping.

The first to show its face is the desktop cradle, which is available at Clove Technology and is retailing for £25 (around $48 US). However, as expected, also included is a note that the “official price and availability to be confirmed.” The cradle will, of course dock and charge the phone but also offers a 3.5mm line-out connection. It also offers a “sleek and stylish” look that according to HTC will be the “perfect accessory” to the Touch Diamond. Basically it will not only look good sitting on your desk, but also keep the phone from getting bumped around and knocked down to the floor.

Product [Clove Technology]

Philips has official announced the touchscreen based X800 (pictured above) and Xenium X-Connect (pictured below) handsets. The X-Connect aims a little more at the high end of the spectrum, while the X800 seems to have a nicer look than feature set.

The X800 will feature a 2.9-inch display with a 240 x 400 resolution, 2-megapixel camera, microSD card slot and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity. Sadly even with the nice look and touchscreen, the X800 is lacking some important connectivity, namely EDGE or Wi-Fi, instead it gives just 2G GSM for all your data needs. The X800 will allow you send or receive both SMS and MMS messages but the mobile web browsing is limited, not only by the previously mentioned 2G coverage, but the WAP 2.0 browsing experience.

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