Don’t get us wrong, we’re just as psyched as anyone else for the release of Nokia’s flagship N97 handset — the company’s first Nseries device to pack S60 5th Edition. We just can’t seem to work our way around the price tags that have been popping up. The N97 recently appeared on TIM’s website as its impending release draws closer, and the price is currently listed at €599. For those keeping score at home, that’s $793.38 in US dollars at today’s exchange rate… From a carrier! Now granted, all of TIM’s pricing is pretty outrageous — the Nokia N96 is available for €599 as well (?!?) — but we have to wonder about the N97’s cost to partners if TIM has to charge this much. Of course it’s possible that TIM is simply relentless and shameless in gouging its customers, but let’s not forget Expansys UK currently has the unlocked N97 listed at £669.99 ($980 US). Crazy.

[Via Symbian Planet]

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Break out the champagne because the BlackBerry 8220 Pearl Flip has officially gone on sale in Italy. The first clamshell device from Waterloo is being sold for relatively competitive price of 269 € ($372 USD). It’s also currently offered in any color you want as long as it’s black. The only question now is what self-respecting Italian would buy such a device? It’s certainly not those hipsters who wear Diesel jeans, D&G shirts, drive tricked-out Fiat Punto’s, and listen to Duran Duran.

Here’s a breakdown of the specs from TIM’s website.

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• 128MB internal flash memory, 1GB microSD card
• OS 4.6
• 900 mAh battery w/ 240 minute talk-time and 336 hours of stand-by
• 240 x 320 internal display, 128 x 160 external display
• 2.0 megapixel camera with flash, zoom, and viedo recording
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP/AVCRP , microUSB
• Integrated modem for tethering
• 100 x 50 x 17.5 mm, 102g

Thanks, Joe!

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How fantastic is this? According to BB World, the BlackBerry 9000 aka BlackBerry BOLD will be making its way to Telecom Italia Mobile during the second week of July. It will also carry a hefty price tag; 450€ – 500€ in fact. That’s not the fantastic part though. According to their sources, the long awaited 9000 series debut will be marketed as the “BlackBerry GOLDFINGER” by TIM. The rebranding still has “rumor status” and we’re not entirely sure that TIM would do something like that, but we definitely think they should go for it. In fact, if they market the upcoming BlackBerry Thunder as the “BlackBerry Octopussy”, we’re moving to Italy. Note that the read links are in Italian.

[Thanks Stefano]

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There’s been a flood of news over the past couple weeks regarding the iPhone and carrier partnerships. Almost every single major carrier across the globe has chimed in, telling us what markets they’re going to bring the iPhone to. It’s actually gotten to the point we’re we feel we should list the announced markets up to today. Remember asking your best friend to pickup 10 iPhones during his trip to the U.S.? No more, people. No more. Here’s the complete list as of 05/16/08:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Dominican Republic
• Egypt
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• India
• Italy
• Jordan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Various countries in Latin America

Who’s planning to buy an iPhone when it’s finally released in your country?

We found the references to TIM in /System/Library/Carrier Bundles/TIM_Italy.bundle

The Moto KRAZR K3 has shown up on Italian mobile provider TIM’s site. The handset, which is available immediately for 399 Euros, is Motorola’s uber slim 3G flip phone, positioned as a solid upgrade to the current generation of KRAZR that have been circulating on various providers worldwide. Featuring two cameras, a rear facing 2 megapixel shooter, and a front facing VGA cam, allowing for two way video conferencing support the K3 is obviously the phone you want to have if you’ve got 3G fever . Other features include , a gorgeous external screen, but not as nice as the RAZR 2, and support for streaming audio and video. Moto has been tight lipped about American release plans for the K3, but lets hope that the company manages to drop an AT&T branded version before their own RAZR killer shows up on showroom floors. If you happen to be in Italy, and in the market for a sexy, slim, 3G capable Motorola, there’s no time like the present.

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A lot of people including myself were just a little disappointed that the Motorola Maxx didn’t support the ever-growing 850 MHz band here in the US. Luckily for us, I’ve grabbed some deets on a Motorola Maxx that might make sense for the US Moto fans. According to my source, it looks like TIM in Italy will be the first to launch this quad-band phone. The juicy part? It has also been reported to me that the Motorola Maxx will support the US 3G bands offered by AT&T. Yep, that’s right! 850/1900 WCDMA flavors. As usual nothing is confirmed, but with being this late in the game does anyone think it would actually even come out? Damn it.