One of our crafty readers just let us know that U.S. Cellular will indeed be joining other state-side CDMA carriers in offering the BlackBerry 9630 to their subscribers. The specs page, listed here on their website, has no real surprises but seems to point to a looming release date. We do have to ask, with all this Essex this and Essex that talk, are you going to pull the trigger on a BlackBerry Tour?

Thanks TW!

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U.S. Cellular subscribers have plenty to be excited about this morning as we’re pointed to a brand new rebate sheet about to take affect. In short, your current hit or miss selection of handsets is about to get a whole lot more hit and a whole lot less miss. Highlights:

• HTC Touch Pro2
• Blackberry Tour
• HTC Snap
• Motorola W845
• Motorola Crush
• LG UX310 (replaces the UX300)
• LG UX700

We already scooped the UX700 back in June but the highlights here have to be the always-sexy HTC Touch Pro2 and the ever-popular BlackBerry Tour 9630. As for when all these new phones might drop, we all know that a rebate sheet is hardly a solid time line — especially considering the validity period of this particular rebate sheet is 07/17/2009 – 11/12/2009. Unfortunately the only safe bet is to say all these handsets will be on store shelves at some point before the holidays. Hit the jump to check out the sheet in its entirety.

Thanks, TW!

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The LG Tritan was rumored to launch in June on U.S. Cellular and starting today it is officially available. The Tritan features a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, 3G connectivity, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and a 3 megapixel camera. Pricing details are still elusive, oddly, but expect it to be under $100 after rebate. Hit the jump for the full press release.

SAN DIEGO and CHICAGO, June 19

LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. (LG Mobile Phones) and U.S. Cellular today announced the all new LG Tritan(TM). Customers can now enjoy a 3″ full touch-screen and sliding QWERTY keyboard, 3.0 mega-pixel camera and camcorder and 3G network speed all in one sleek wireless handset.

LG Tritan incorporates all the best of today’s mobile technology, utilizing a next generation user interface and a large 3″ touch screen with tactile feed-back. Its sturdy form factor and swift touch screen slides out to reveal a 4-line QWERTY keyboard for quick and easy messaging.

Users can tune-in to premium stereo sound from the music player via headset or Bluetooth(R) wireless technology. LG Tritan comes packed with a 3 megapixel camera and camcorder allowing users on the go to take high quality close-ups of friends and family. The phone supports up to a 16GB microSD card that is great for expanding the memory space for pictures, music and videos.

“LG Tritan is the best of both worlds – A sturdy full QWERTY keyboard and responsive touch screen,” said Ehtisham Rabbani, vice president of product strategy and marketing for LG Mobile Phones. “U.S. Cellular and LG came together to deliver a wide range of assets in this handset.”

“LG Tritan’s built in browser gives our customers the convenience of quickly accessing the Web and downloading content,” said Alan D. Ferber, Chief Marketing Officer at U.S. Cellular. “Customers also have a choice between using the full touch screen or the QWERTY slide out keypad for texting or while on the Web.”

By including easyedge(SM), U.S. Cellular’s suite of enhanced wireless data application services, LG Tritan allows customers to send and receive e-mails and provides access to news and weather applications, games and hundreds of other useful applications. The phone also comes preloaded with Your Navigator, which provides voice turn-by-turn directions and a mobile browser.

LG Tritan is available at U.S. Cellular retail locations, or via www.uscellular.com.

Reaching out to all the U.S. Cellular customers out there who might feel a little left out with new phones being announced for other carriers, we’re trying our best to stay on top of the handful of handsets due out this month. While the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 and Samsung Code might not be the most exciting of the bunch, one of our sneakier readers managed to snoop dedicated pages for each handset live on U.S. Cellular’s site. Don’t try this at home kids — they’re not easily found from the main site. Hit the read links for each handset to see the full specs and sit tight as both the fliptastic 8230 and, umm, Windowstastic Code are set to drop later this month.

Thanks, TW!

Read (BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230)
Read (Samsung Code)

Earlier today we firmed up a whole mess of U.S. Cellular release dates through the end of June. Of course, some of the handsets were more exciting than others and it just so happens that one of our ninjas snapped a live shot of the LG Tritan, due out on June 8th — definitely one of the more exciting phones due out for the small carrier this month. To recap what we know so far about this side-sliding beauty, it sports a 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and a 3 megapixel camera. As far as pricing goes, nothing is confirmed yet but we’re hearing it could be $100 or less after rebate — and don’t forget, a $20 per month data package will be required. Excited, U.S. Cellular customers? Hit the jump for a larger image.

According to an alleged internal memo courtesy of one of our ninjas, it looks like U.S. Cellular is jumping on the “month of the mobile” bandwagon by releasing not one but five handsets this month. Ranging from a simple flip phone to a Windows Mobile smartphone, there really is something for everyone:

• Motorola Hint QA30 – June 4th. Re-release of the somewhat problematic handset.
• LG UX840 Tritan – June 8th. Slider with 3-inch QVGA touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, G sensor, Bluetooth and 3 megapixel camera. Will require US Cellular’s premium data/Internet package for $19.95 per month.
• Samsung Axle R311 – June 10th. Your basic clam shell feature phone.
• Samsung Code – June 18th. Windows Mobile 6.1 candybar with front QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth and 2 megapixel camera. Will require Windows Mobile Package.
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8320 – Expected release late June, possibly around June 20th.
• LG UX700 – Late July/Early August. Slim candy bar with a 3-inch touchscreen, virtual QWERTY keyboard, full HTML browser, music player, Bluetooth, and a 2 megapixel camera. Will require U.S. Cellular’s premium data/internet package for $19.95 per month.

A pretty decent lineup and impressive launch schedule for this small US carrier. Golf claps. Hit the jump for a closer look at the above memo.

Amidst a less-than-impressive lineup, U.S. Cellular has finally launched the HTC Touch Pro and kicked its smartphone offering up a notch or two. Earlier this month we reported that the Touch Pro was making its way to this scrappy young carrier but things were still at rumor status. Now that it’s here, we can likely make the assumption that the BlackBerry Pearl Flip, Samsung Gloss and LG UX840 won’t be far behind. As for the Touch Pro, it’s not exactly a new handset so we won’t bother covering the specs for the umpteenth time. You know all about it, you love it and if you’re a U.S. Cellular customer you’d be remiss if you didn’t check it out. Sure you might see the Touch Pro2 pop up soon in the hands of a few pals, but at least you can take solace in knowing they probably paid around $800 for for it while you scored your Pro for $250 after a $70 mail-in rebate.

Thanks, Sams!

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The next few months will be busy for U.S. Cellular customers as five new handsets are rumored to be hitting the shelves by the end of June. Coming first is the HTC Touch Pro which is slated to arrive on April 17th. Following close on the heels of the Touch Pro is the Samsung Gloss U440, a white or charcoal clam shell with a QWERTY keyboard, integrated music player, stereo Bluetooth and 1.3 megapixel camera. Targeting a feminine audience with a penchant for texting, the Gloss will hit the shelves in early May. Shortly thereafter in mid-May, U.S. Cellular will debut the entry-level Samsung R311, a simple clam shell with Bluetooth, one-touch speakerphone and a VGA camera. Last but not least to arrive in mid-June are the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, which needs no introduction, and the LG UX840. The LG UX840 will be a QWERTY slider with a 3″ QVGA touchscreen, 3.0 megapixel camera, integrated music player, stereo Bluetooth, full HTML browser, email support and GPS. The lineup is hardly confirmed considering the source is an anonymous forum post, but we imagine U.S. Cellular customers will be glad to hear about the possibility of some fresh blood coming their way.

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The Motorola QA4 gets even more mysterious as additional information about this touchscreen slider is uncovered. The handset made its way through the FCC way back in September 2008 with 800/1700/1900 CDMA bands, suggesting that the phone was intended for use on US Cellular, MetroPCS or Cricket. As of Monday, the supporting FCC documents (manual, test images, etc) surrounding this handset are now available for public view. From these documents, we can glean that the QA4 has EV-DO Rev. A, aGPS, Bluetooth with A2DP, AVRCP and DUN support, on-screen landscape QWERTY keyboard, widget support and built-in syncing with Google contacts, YouTube and Picasa. The QA4 reviewed by the FCC also sports a slightly different keyboard than the recently leaked press photos suggesting that the model the FCC approved was an early design. The handset was initially rumored to land at US Cellular but was shelved indefinitely as it reportedly failed to pass carrier testing. Dying but not dead, the handset made a second trip through the FCC on 3/5/2009 with a Class II permissive change. This latest revelation coupled with the handset’s recent appearance on Motorola’s website suggests that the QA4 may still be on Motorola’s radar for launch in the near future.

[Via Phone Arena]

Read (FCC 9/17/2008)
Read (FCC 3/5/2009)
Read (US Cellular rejection)

Ahhh, the good old FCC. Once again, our pals in Washington have treated us to a preview of an upcoming handset that had previously been under wraps. This time around we get a peak at the Samsung R470, a saucy CDMA clamshell destined for US Cellular. No, it’s not quite the Delve, but the R470 does have a bit of allure. Seemingly somewhat focused on multimedia, it looks like the handset has a nice big external display with a sizable control pad and (stereo?) speakers beneath it. When flipped open, the R470 becomes far less interesting and looks like any old clamshell of 10 years ago. Actually, this phone is kind of like a cellular mullet — business on the inside, party on the outside. While there is a big piece of the puzzle missing from the FCC documents, namely EV-DO, we’ll just hope those tests are covered in separate filings that will appear on the site down the line.

[Via Phone Scoop]

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We just got our hands on this snap of what we’re told is the Samsung Delve. If your spectacles are currently on your nightstand, the branding at the top says U.S. Cellular. You could sort of consider it a cross between the Samsung Instinct and Samsung F480 we guess; there’s even an on-screen QWERTY keyboard. Some of the specs include a 2 megapixel camera, full HTML browser, YourNavigator (U.S. Cellular’s Nav software), and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Our tipster tell us that the unit seems pretty stable and the device is completely user-friendly, even in it’s current beta state. We weren’t given pricing information, but look for the Samsung Delve to hit store shelves around mid-November! Full set of specs are listed after the break…

• 3.0″ touch screen
• On-screen QWERTY keyboard
• Second generation TouchWiz interface
• Customizable widgets
• 2 megapixel camera
• Pre-loaded Toneroom, Facebook, Myspace, and various games
• Threaded email and SMS
• HTML browser
• Navigation software
• Bluetooth including A2DP