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Aside from the obvious upcoming release of the iPhone 3G, it looks like AT&T customers will have a good remainder of the year device wise. Based on a recently leaked 2008 roadmap there is a nice selection of phones that will soon be available.

It looks like the upcoming 3rd quarter is going to be dedicated to the BlackBerry with an anticipated release of the Curve 8320 with Wi-Fi and the Bold. In addition it looks like the updated BlackBerry OS will also be released during Q3, which will put the 8820, Pearl 8120, Curve and Curve 8310 up to version 4.5.

Then for those who are not quite as excited by the BlackBerry, it looks like Q4 will be the time for you, of course its almost like a flip with the 4th quarter focusing a little more on Windows Mobile 6.1 goodness. Expected to be released is the Pantech Duo, Samsung Blackjack 3, AT&T Tilt 2 and also a still unknown handset from Samsung. Of course that unknown handset is rumored to be the Samsung Omnia. The four handsets that are on track for the fourth quarter release are all going to be running Windows Mobile 6.1.

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The buzz on Wall Street is speculating that Sprint-Nextel may be on its way for a turnaround. Executives from Verizon Wireless and AT&T are saying they see fewer Sprint subscribers are moving to their own networks.

As unsupported as this rumor stands, the speculation boosted Sprint’s stock price to a 13% growth last week and another 5.84% jump last Monday. 

Several things, at least, is happening with Sprint.  An aggressive marketing campaign starring its CEO Dan Hesse is on the way.  New products, such as Samsung’s Instinct smartphone, have been released.  The company also announced it will begin to rollout its WiMax assets.  And there have been rumors that Hesse wants to let go of the Nextel business, which has been its weaker leg.

The Wall Street Journal, however, warns investors not to expect a quick turnaround for the company.  The coming of the iPhone 3G and Verizon’s BlackBerry Thunder could only mean more problems for the struggling Sprint.

Read [CNET]

AT&T has just added yet another color to the rainbow of Sony Ericsson W580 handsets already available. The W580 was previously available in black, white, gray, pink or green and it will now also be available in red.

Aside from the color addition, the features and pricing remain the same. The W580 is a music centric Walkman handset that has a slider style design. It features a 2.0-inch TFT display, a 2.0-megapixel camera and stereo Bluetooth support. It also has the exclusive Shake Control, which allows you to control the music playback such as skipping and playing tracks simply by flicking your wrist. The W580 remains priced at $99, which comes after a two-year agreement and along with a mail-in rebate.

Via [phoneArena]

The highly anticipated BlackBerry Bold may be on track in Canada, however it seem to be having issues and will be delayed for while here in the US. The new date of it’s release is sometime in August, and although according to BGR this has been confirmed by “two high-level sources,” it is has not been officially confirmed from AT&T at this time.

AT&T and the manufacturer of Blackberry, RIM, are reported to be having problems with the software, battery life and overheating problems. It looks like AT&T and RIM have disappointed a lot of people recently, and now with this, people are just going to be more and more annoyed. Hopefully they can get these problems sorted out soon and maybe it could be launched earlier than August. Stay tuned for more information on this as it becomes available.

Via [BGR]

While Rogers has still not officially stated when consumers will be able to purchase a BlackBerry Bold, they have officially announced a series of “by-invitation-only” launch party dates. One would begin to assume that the handset would be available following those events, but we also know what happens when we assume, so we are going to sit back and wait until Rogers is kind enough to make a new announcement.

The special events are taking place across Canada and run from July 8 and end on July 17. The first event is in Toronto on July 8, then Montreal a day later, with about a week in between they pick up on July 15 in Calgary and finish up in Vancouver on July 17.

While we here in the US are still awaiting more information from AT&T, at least Canadian Rogers users have something, albeit little to look forward to as far as a potential release date.

Via [CrackBerry]

A few weeks ago, there had been much more information released on the highly anticipated Samsung i900. However, at that time, it still wasn’t known which carrier would be selling this phone, but now, it is rumored that AT&T will be the carrier.

The Samsung i900 is set to come with AT&T Music, AT&T Video, AT&T Navigator, AT&T Mobile TV support. The other specs are going to be pretty much the same as they were when the information was first released a few weeks ago, but here is a mini recap; Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, 5-megapixel camera, quad-band EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, a 3.2-inch WQVGA touchscreen display with a 240 x 400 resolution, Bluetooth and either 8GB or 16GB of storage. It is expected to be available during Q3 of 2008.

Of course, as of now, there has not been any official announcement, stay tuned for more information as it becomes available!

Via [BGR]

Klausner Technologies has finally received what it wants from Apple, Ebay and AT&T following a lawsuit which they filed against the three companies requiring them to license its patent for its voicemail technology.

If you would recall, Klausner sued thse companies for $360 million in damages and future royalties over their unlicensed used of the company’s visual alert technology that alerts computers or mobile phones when a user received a voice message. Likewise the technology can also selectively retrieve messages.

Although the financial details of the settlements were not disclosed, it must be too good an offer that Klausner is also reportedly negotiating with Comcast and Cablevision for the use of their technology.

“The patent litigation with Apple has been settled. The patents have been licensed to Apple,” said its founder Judah Klausner.

The licensing deal adds up to Klausner’s other licensees which include Vonage and Sprint Nextel.

Read [Reuters]

AT&T has recently added the BlackBerry Bold in all its glory to their website. While tons of AT&T (and other carrier) customers have been focusing on nothing more than the iPhone 3G lately, both RIM and AT&T have also been getting ready to launch the BlackBerry Bold 9000.

The Bold will feature a 480 x 320 resolution display, have GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSDPA support, built-in Wi-Fi, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, 128MB of flash memory and will be powered by a 624MHz processor.

The Bold will also include 1GB of internal storage as well as a memory card slot that is accessible from the side, as opposed to hidden under the battery like other BlackBerry models.

The more I see the Bold featured, the more I consider moving back to the BlackBerry platform. While a specific launch date has not been released yet, one can only hope it lands close to the iPhone 3G, I for one would like to see some real competition.

Product [AT&T]

The lawsuit that has only recently come to light, has seemingly gone away just as quickly. I am of course referring to the recent announcement that T-Mobile was suing Starbucks claiming “breach of contract” and “unfair competition” in regards to how they let AT&T quickly move in and take over and begin promoting their services.

According to reports T-Mobile, along with Starbucks and AT&T have reached a “memorandum of understanding” in an attempt to resolve their issues. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, however Starbucks spokeswoman Stacey Krum stated that they are “committed to providing a high quality WiFi experience for customers, including Starbucks Rewards Customers, at Starbucks locations nationwide.”

Which makes it sound like nothing will be changing, at least on the customer side, after all some of the new programs including the 2-free hours per day from AT&T is part of the Starbucks Rewards program. I am glad to see an issue get resolved, especially quickly, lets just hope that does not mean my free Wi-Fi is going away.

Read [CNN Money] Via [Starbucks Gossip]

T-Mobile has decided to sue Starbucks over their recent agreement with AT&T to begin providing free Wi-Fi. The lawsuit claims that both Starbucks and AT&T are not living up to their end of the agreement dealing with the switchover. They are claiming “breach of contract” and “unfair competition” and seeking an unspecified amount of damages.

“Starbucks and AT&T ... secretly developed a promotional plan under which they would offer ‘free’ AT&T/Starbucks Wi-Fi even in stores” that were still reliant on T-Mobile’s infrastructure, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that “to date, only two markets—the San Antonio, Texas, and Bakersfield, California, markets—have been transitioned from T-Mobile to AT&T.” However we have used a few and also seen reports from many other Starbucks locations now offering AT&T Wi-Fi. While T-Mobile is understandably upset, the agreement that the stores would be converted “on a market-to-market basis” leaves a great deal of judgment room. It looks like this one could get messy.

Read [Reuters]