These days, it seems staying green and environmentally friendly is on the top of everyone’s list. People drive hybrids, recycle their gadgets (the non-sentimental ones, anyway) and conserve where they can. To help consumers, and the planet, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG Electronics have teamed up to make a common rating system for energy chargers. Believe it or not, when you unplug your BlackBerry, Touch Diamond, iPhone or any other phone from the charger, it will still draw electricity unless you unplug the charger from the wall unit. We all know just how much energy we can drain being gadget freaks, but by removing your charger from the wall when your gadget is done charging, you can save tons of energy. “If the more than three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium sized power plants,” Nokia said in a statement. So, look for energy saving chargers when considering a replacement or a spare. Now all we can hope for is that manufacturers can agree on one universal charger for all gadgets and devices, but it seems hope is all we’re stuck with for the moment.

[Via Phonescoop]

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Eastman Kodak announced on Tuesday that it has filed complaints alleging patent infringement against LG and Samsung in both the United States District Court for the Western District of New York and the US International Trade Commission. The disputed patents involve technology related to image capture, compression and data storage and a method for previewing motion images. The complainant asks for compensation for damages resulting from the alleged infringement, though the the amount of damages was not disclosed. Kodak also seeks injunctions to prohibit Samsung and LG from subsequent importation and sale of products, believed to be the Samsung Blackjack II and the LG Dare, cited in the complaints. Both Samsung and LG will fight the patent infringement allegations with LG’s spokesman Choi Jun-hyuk saying, “Our digital-camera technology is different from the one used by Kodak. We haven’t infringed upon Kodak’s related patents.” That makes it pretty clear LG is not going to lay down, roll over and hand Kodak a big wad of cash. It looks like we have another Battle Royale brewing over emerging technologies, though this time it’s not CDMA chip sets but diminutive camera phones that are caught in the legal cross hairs. We will have to keep our eye on this to see if it is just a bunch of posturing by big companies in order to negotiate a settlement and sign licensing agreements, or if these filings will indeed trickle down and have an effect on consumer camera phone availability.

[Via CNN Money]

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Hey folks, we know a few of you readers out there have been wondering about this slick new phone from Samsung and T-Mobile, and there’s some good news. Last month, we mentioned that the Samsung Gravity for T-Mobile was coming out November 17, and some commenters were chiming in today asking if this slide-out QWERTY is available (it’s not on the website yet). Our confirmations say the Gravity is now in stores, but not on display, so you can go in and purchase one today! Here’s a little recap for those of you who missed out on details last month:

• Pull out QWERTY keyboard
• Aqua with white or Lime with Gray finish
• Web-enabled
• Multiple messaging options (text messaging, picture messaging, video messaging)
• Built-in email clients including AOL, AIM and Yahoo! as well as easy access to popular POP3 email such as Gmail
• AOL®, ICQ, Windows Live®, and Yahoo!® Instant Messenger
• Bluetooth® wireless technology
• microSD™ (up to 4 GB) expansion memory
• Advanced speech recognition
• Music and video player
• Speakerphone
• Personal organizer (calendar, calculator, currency converter, notepad, to-do list)
• Dimensions: 4.53” x 2.07” x 0.70”; 4.3 ounces
• Display: 176 x 220 Pixels, 262K TFT
• Internal memory: 60MB
• Standard Lithium Ion Battery: up to 6 hours usage time; or up to 300 hours standby time

That is some killer battery life, eh? You can text and email for days without a worry. The phone comes in two color options: Lime with gray (pictured) and Aqua with white (we don’t know why they chose the color of the selector to precede the actual color of the whole phone). Grab yours today for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two year contract!

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It took a third-party developer to bring push HTML email support to the world’s most popular smartphone OS. We’re not sure how to feel about that but the bottom line is Dataviz has done what no one else could do to this point with the latest version of its widely-acclaimed Roadsync solution. Roadsync is not the first S60 application to support HTML email - ProfiMail by Lonely Cat Games has supported HTML email for a very long time - however this is certainly the first application to add HTML support to Exchange which is still one of the most popular mobile email / PIM sync facilitators in the world. Also, the native S60 email client kinda sorta attempts to provide a workaround by including the original HTML files it parses as attachments, allowing the user to open them in the S60 web browser. Regardless of whether or not you think that solution is laughable, the native email client doesn’t support Exchange. Nope, that just leaves RoadSync; one of the most popular Exchange solutions available for S60. It provides a direct connection to your Exchange server and supports active email sync, contact sync (with photo support), calendar sync, task sync, access to global address lists and even remote wiping. At $50 for a single user license, Roadsync is certainly not cheap. It does however, come with a more-than-ample 30-day free trial and a 30-day money back guarantee on top of that. In other words, you have 60 days to decide if Roadsync is right for you. Fair enough.

[Via IntoMobile]

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That rumored launch date of November 14th for the Samsung i770 “Saga” was spot on. Right on time, the Saga made its debut on Verizon’s website and is now available for sale online and via telesales / B2B. You will have to wait until December 1st to walk into a store and pick one up. The Saga will set you back $199 after a $70 MIR and a 2-year contract, $269 after a $70 MIR and a 1-year contract or $389 with no contract and no rebate. Remember the Samsung i770 is the first of Verizon’s handsets to require a mandatory $29.99 data plan. All in all, the Saga is a pretty solid handset that might be an attractive upgrade for current Motorola Q users and others who prefer a front-facing physical keyboard. Saga owners wont have to leave their flip phone loving friends behind when they jetset to Europe as Verizon also launched the Samsung Renown, a world phone in clam shell form. Like the Saga, the Renown has both CDMA and quad-band GSM, a 2MP camera and multiple messaging options. The Renown comes in just below the Saga, with a price tag of $179.99 after a $50 MIR and a 2-year contract. Unlike the Saga which is available now, the Renown will not be available until November 19 via B2B, telesales and online. It also won’t land in the stores until December 1. Hit the jump for the full set of specs for both handsets.

Read (Press Release)

Read (Samsung Saga product page)

The Samsung Saga will feature the following specs:

• CDMA 1x EV–DO Rev. A 800/1900 mHz+ Quad Band 850/900/1800/1900 mHz
• 2.55″ Display: 320×320 pixel; 64K color TFT
• 256MB RAM/128MB ROM
• Full QWERTY Keyboard with Virtual QWERTY and additional virtual input options
• 2.0 megapixel camera w/NightShot mode, digital zoom and video capture
• Bluetooth® Wireless Technology (v2.0) including stereo (A2DP)
• WiFi Capable (802.11 g/b)
• Optical Mouse Navigation button
• microSD memory support (up to 16GB)
• Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Microsoft® Office Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, and PowerPoint® Mobile; Adobe® Reader® LE PDF viewer
• Opera Mobile™ and Internet Explorer® Mobile
• Dimensions: 4.88″ (H) x 2.44″ (W) x 0.53″ (D)
• Processor: MSM7500
• Standard Battery – 1300 mAh - Usage Up to 300 minutes OR Standby Up to 325 hours

The Samsung Renown will feature the following specs:

• Global Mode – including Quad Band GSM capability
• Multiple messaging options (text messaging only for use abroad)
• 2.0 megapixel camera with NightShot
• Media Center-capable – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, location-based services, etc
• Visual Voice Mail
• Built-in stereo Bluetooth wireless technology – supports profiles: mono and stereo headset, hands free (car kits), serial port, object push (vCard only), file transfer, basic print and phonebook access
• Organizer – Alarm Clock, World Clock, Calendar, Calculator with Converter, Stop Watch, Notepad
• microSD expansion memory up to 8 GB (card purchased separately)
• Dimensions: 1.95” x 3.87” x .69”
• Display: Main LCD: 240 x 320 pixel, 262K color TFT,  Outside LCD: 96 x 96 pixel, 262K color TFT

For all you guys and gals who have been excited about this phone, for one reason or another, it’s all yours through AT&T’s website. The Samsung SGH-A867, dubbed “Eternity,”  has just hit corporate stores but if you don’t live near one of those then this is the way to go. Whip out your credit card and see $149.99 disappear (after mail-in rebate, of course) for this little cousin of the Behold. What more could you ask for for such a reasonable price? You’re getting 3G / HSDPA, a 3 megapixel camera, AT&T Navigator and MediaFLO on that pretty little touch-screen. If you’ve been looking for an alternative to the Vu, this could be your ticket.

Thanks Praneet!

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Our Verizon ninjas have certainly been doing some damage lately and they’re clearly not done yet. What do we have for you this time - how about the upcoming Verizon Wireless Rebate sheet that covers the holiday season from 11/16/08 through 1/31/09? Several of the upcoming rumored handsets including the Samsung Saga and Omnia and the HTC xv6850 make appearances on the rebate sheet which is clearly a good sign. We also catch a glimpse of few new handsets whose details are scarce. Here is a quick rundown of the handsets listed:

• LG VX8360 (clamshell with  EV-DO, 1.3MP camera, stereo Bluetooth, microSD)
• LG XV9600 (basically a Dare with a detachable QWERTY keyboard and a game-pad)
• Nokia 2605 Mirage (small clamshell with 1xRTT, VGA Camera, and Bluetooth)
• Nokia 7205 Intrigue (small clamshell with 1x/EV-DO, 2MP Camera, Bluetooth)
• Samsung Renown (clamshell with CDMA and Quad-band GSM, similar to the Gleam)
• Samsung Saga i770
• Samsung Omnia
• HTC Touch Pro/XV6850
• USB760 (super small USB EV-DO Rev A “micro” Modem)
• Compass 597 (USB modem with aGPS)
• CDM8950/CDM8975 (unknown?)

All the rumored rebates are spot on with the Renown getting a $50 MIR and both the Saga and the XV6850 getting a $70 MIR. The big item missing on the rebate sheet is the Blackberry Storm which according to our sources will have its own rebate sheet. We guess the Storm is just too “important” of a phone to be slumming around with some “cheap” flip phones on the same rebate sheet. Remember that being on a rebate sheet is not a guarantee that the phones will hit Verizon Wireless in this time frame. That poor XV8360 is on the rebate sheet again, still waiting for an official release date. Hit the jump for some close-ups.

Thanks, Luke!

Sure, the timing might be a little delayed according to the internal AT&T email we showed you last month, but sure enough the Samsung A867 aka Eternity is alive and well. Thanks to one of our trusty ninjas, we’ve got a bunch of live photos for you to soak in along with all the info you need to decide whether or not this puppy will make it to your holiday shopping list. First off, we already know the price is set at $99 after a $50 mail-in rebate thanks to the email linked above. We also know that the target release date was November 4th, which of course has passed. Our ninja gave word that AT&T stores have the green light to start selling the Eternity as soon as shipments come in, which should be very soon. As far as spec highlights are concerned, you’re looking at 3G, MediaFLO for some full screen TV love, GPS nav via AT&T Navigator, and a 3 megapixel camera as opposed to the rumored 5 megapixel shooter. The Eternity also comes packing the TouchWiz UI we know and love, and the display is nice and crisp. There’s even a great little auto-rotation feature for messaging that presents you with a nice big full screen QWERTY. You listening, Cupertino? If you’re in the market for a multimedia-crunching touchscreen handset on the cheap, look no further. Hit the jump for more shots including the retails packaging and a nice little side-by-side with the iPhone.

Ever since the Samsung M8800 Pixon was first announced, we hoped it would find its way to the US somehow. To refresh your memory, the Pixon is basically a fully loaded 8 megapixel digital camera that just so happens to have a phone on board as well. Here in the US we’ve gotten pretty used to seeing gems like this pass us by but as it turns out, we may have jumped the gun in assuming that Samsung’s sexy 8 megapixel shooter would be passing us by as usual. According to a new rumor, Samsung will be bringing the Pixon, rebranded as the T929 Leica, to the US by way of T-Mobile. Rumors had been starting to surface and now a little hint might have been uncovered by way of Best Buy’s website. It looks like the retailer may have accidentally included the T929 on the list of handsets compatible with a replacement lithium ion battery that indeed fits the Pixon. Oops. Let’s hope that if this rumor does turn out to be true, Samsung manages to tweak this puppy a bit and work some 1700 MHz 3G love in there…

[Via Cellphone Signal]

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A leaked Verizon document reveals that the Samsung i770 will be available via B2B, telesales and online starting November 14th. That is in 3 days! In typical Verizon fashion, the handset will then make its store debut a few weeks later on December 1st. The i770 will come in at a cool $199 after an $80 mail-in rebate. Just as a refresher the i770 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 professional device with both CDMA and GSM support for global roaming. It has EV-DO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD expansion and a 2 megapixel camera. Coincidentally, it will launch the same day as the new “mandatory” data plans so you can expect to pay a minimum of $29.99 per month for data with this hot new phone. Now if Verizon can just get the ball rolling on the Touch Pro and the Samsung Omnia, then Verizon Wireless customers could really have an extra Happy Holiday season! We won’t hold our breath waiting though, as you know how Big Red is with getting new phones out the door.

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It was only a matter of time - Motorola has officially lost its title of number one handset manufacturer in the US to Samsung. Somehow managing to increase sales by 6.2% in the past year despite the US being in the midst of one of the worst economic crises in modern history, Samsung now controls 22.4% of the US market while Motorola stands at 21.1% after its position fell a jaw-dropping 11.6%. Nokia, which has never been a large player, made modest gains in the US and is currently holding an 8.4% market share. This is an historic moment in the US cellular industry. Motorola, in shambles and doing everything imaginable to stay afloat, is still relying on sales of pathetically outdated handsets instead of focusing on innovation and, most importantly, changing its brand perception. It is true that Samsung has not done much to change the general image of its devices as they still look and feel very much like the same old Samsung handsets we have known for many years. Samsung has however, at least been very successful in flooding the US marketplace with a wide array of similar devices that offer innovation, functionality and durability. We all know that in the US market, the way to the top is at the bottom. Cheap low-end phones are of course a must but come on Moto - RAZR lust can only last so long.

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Yeah, you read that one correctly. In addition to announcing a slew of new handsets, the carrier is getting set to unleash a digital picture frame that displays images sent to it via MMS. Dubbed the T-Mobile cameo, the frame is manufactured by Parrot, Inc, and should provide the carrier with a unique new market niche…or a complete disaster depending on how you look at it. If you’re interested, the cameo should be available “in the coming weeks”. Other entries for the holiday season include the Samsung Behold, which features a full touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, Samsung’s Touch-Wiz interface, and 3G data. This bad boy should be available on the 10th of November for the oh-so-reasonable price of $149.99 on a 2-year bid. The Samsung Gravity sports a full slide-out QWERTY keypad, 1.3 megapixel camera, and little else, and will be offered (as predicted) on the 17th of November  for $49.99 with a 2-year contract. T-Mobz also re-iterated the current availability of the MOTOZINE ZN5. The company is also offering its free companion flight promo again for anyone activating a new line of service with a 2-year contract.

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We told you a few weeks about an 8MP shootout between the LG KC910 “Renoir” and the Samsung M8800 Pixon, but GSMArena outdid the folks over at Mobile@Mail.Ru by doing their own 8MP shootout testing four of the hottest 8MP camera phones out there. In their in-depth review, GSM Arena compares the LG KC910, the Samsung M8800 Pixon, the Sony Ericsson C905, and the Samsung INNOV8.  We wont even try to cover all the details of their 7 page review in a single post. Suffice to say that each camera phone has its own strengths and weaknesses. The Samsung INNOV8 is the best universal performer with excellent image quality, capable video recording, and a large display. The Sony Ericsson C905 has the best camera interface, camera handling, and controls. The LG KC910 has a beautiful high resolution touch screen with well balanced camera features and very good image quality. Last but not least, the Samsung M8800 Pixon brings up the rear in terms of image quality and camera features, but has a well organized user interface and above-average video recording. If that piques your interest and leaves you wanting more, then hit the read link and get more one on one mobile camera action than you can stand.

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If you’ve been holding out on getting a T-Mobile G1 in hopes that the Samsung T919, or “Behold,” will be coming soon, it looks like it might be coming much sooner rather than later. Making an appearance on the My T-Mobile site, the Behold is apparently for all you stylish fashionistas out there trying to make a statement with your phone. What could be more appropriate with this sexy 5 megapixel touchscreen phone? T-Mobile customers are finally getting another touchscreen device, and what’s more, the Behold will be utilizing the fresh 3G network from the boys in pink! Other features include a QWERTY keypad in landscape mode for all your messaging needs, assisted GPS, video recording and playback, and Bluetooth support. We’re not quite sure why T-Mobile would break out such an awesome phone without Wi-Fi and UMA, but we suppose they’re taking little steps at first - long, patience-testing steps. Either way, this could be a nice little alternative for you folks looking for something different from T-Mobile.

Thanks, Shawn!

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Just a few days ago, Verizon pulled the brakes on the Samsung Glyde stopping all sales and pulling units off the shelves for unspecified issues (we think they were turning into evil Transformers, but that’s just us). Whatever the issues were - whether it was the screen, new bugs or network issues, it has all been resolved by a simple software update. It seems like a complete halt of sales was pretty drastic because the Glyde was back in business in no time after the halt of sales was called. So if you have the Glyde and are suffering from bugs and general problems with the phone, your software update is on the way some time this week.

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A document leaked by VZW E, a well known tipster over at Howard Forums details the training dates of some upcoming Verizon Wireless smartphones. The Blackberry Storm and Touch Diamond were mentioned in a previous leak of training information but this information about the Samsung Omnia is new. Rumored to be coming to Verizon in November, previously leaked documents contained the very broad “coming in November” target release date. According to this new document, the Omnia training is slated to begin November 15th which means we can expect the Omnia to hit the shelves soon there after. The optimistic among us are hoping for a possible release during the last week of November but we will most likely see the phone arrive sometime in December. This is great news for all of you who are anxiously awaiting the Omnia but the document does leave us wondering what happened to the HTC XV6850 a.k.a. Touch Pro, and the Samsung i770 Saga both of which were rumored for a November release along with the Omnia. With no apparent training dates showing up on this document and rumors of delays circulating for both handsets, it looks like we may have to wait a bit before we can get our grubby mitts on the XV6850 or the i770.

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Finally, a little more holiday love from the jolly red giant. Sure the BlackBerry Storm will be out before Santa rolls around this year but it’s always nice to have options - especially since the Storm’s touchy clicky screen will surely not appeal to everyone. Worry not, it looks like the boys in red have a few treats for you. First up, the Samsung Omnia. Pictured above sporting a Verizon Wireless boot screen, the Omnia is one of Samsung’s answers to the, dare we say, iPhone. Optical mouse, nice big touchscreen, Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, 5 megapixel camera, GPS, 8 GB of internal memory… You know the drill. Next up, the HTC Touch Pro. There’s no way that Verizon would let Sprint have all the QWERTY HTC fun. Interesting to note that the image (after the jump) shows the Touch Pro with a standard Windows Mobile today screen - what a massive fail that would be! Expect pricing right around $300 to fall in line with Sprint’s offering. Last, and least, is the Samsung i770 Saga. We found out that the i770 was coming to Verizon earlier this month and it will replace the aging i760. The d-pad / mouse mode setup is kind of cool but we doubt we’d opt for it over the Touch Pro or Omnia. There you have it people - hit the jump for a pic of Verizon’s Touch Pro and Saga.

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According to an article at Telecoms Korea, Samsung may have some high-end camera phones on the way for 2009. Two of Samsung’s subsidiaries have already produced an 8 megapixel camera module that has 3x optical zoom, autofocus with a 57% performance increase, a 1/2.5 inch CMOS sensor and a lens that supports F2.85. The new camera modules are expected to make their debut in phones starting in early 2009. Awesome! The same article suggests that Samsung has a 12 megapixel camera module in the works that is even smaller in size than the 8 megapixel module, making it ideally suited for mobile phones. There is no indication as to when a 12 megapixel Samsung shooter will make its debut but we can tell it won’t be soon enough. Then again, knowing Samsung it won’t have US 3G anyway…

[via Unwired View]

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Samsung BD-P2550 owners, it’s time to get your firmware update on. Non-Samsung BD-P2550 owners, it’s time to add this puppy to your wishlist. Until this morning, we had our eye on the LG BD-300 as the player / set top box combo du jour. As it turns out however, we’re jumping ship faster than Lady de Rothschild. The BD-P2550 just got a major firmware update that brings not only Netflix streaming, but Pandora streaming as well. In other words, for $50 more than LG’s box you can throw Pandora streaming into the mix and add DTS-HD audio support in another firmware update coming on October 30. We’ll take two.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

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Well, this has been a long time comin’, hasn’t it? We just got our grubby mitts on that much-debated Samsung Epix i907 and boy… it’s thick! Counting out the AT&T Tilt, this is probably the thickest phone in their line-up. Now, you do get Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with a touch screen with Haptic feedback, a QWERTY ‘board, optical mouse, 850MHz/1900MHz/2100MHz HSDPA and GPS. So, for some, that might be enough of a reason to overlook the beast-like form of the Samsung Epix. We’re highly disappointed with the screen in general as it looks extremely dated and pixelated — much like the Samsung Omnia. We haven’t had much time to put the phone through our rigorous tests, so check out the unboxing shots in the meantime.

Click on over to our AT&T Samsung Epix i907 unboxing gallery!

The new Samsung i7110 is slim, sexy, Symbian-powered and it hates Americans. Huh? Ok, we made that last part up, but this is yet another instance of a high-end Samsung phone that we would have loved to get our hands on if not for the all-too-common lack of US-appropriate 3G spectra. Samsung, dude, you deal with US approval on tons of your crappier other phones and a quick radio tweak to ready a US version is hardly complicated. What’s up? Is America unworthy of your high-end feats? Can we not handle the awesomeness that is your upper class handsets? Nokia came around after a while and sure, it hasn’t done much for its US market share but Nokia has other problems. Just try it. Once, for your pals here at BGR. Make a hot high-end phone, toss an 850/1900 3G radio in there and see what happens. Anyway, here are the specs for the Samsung something-or-other that will be available sometime in some markets somewhere:

• Quad band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Dual band HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, 900 / 2100 MHz
• 2.6 inch AMOLED screen with 262K colors and 240 x 320 pixels
• Accelerometer
• Optical mouse
• GPS
• WiFi, DLNA
• DNSe 2.0
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, Smile Shot, Blink Shot and VGA video recording at 30 fps
• FM Radio with RDS, FM transmitter
• Bluetooth 2.0 & USB 2.0
• 50MB of internal memory
• MicroSD & SDHC card support
• 118 x 52 x 12.9 mm 1200 mAh battery
• Talk-time: up to 11 h / 6 h (EDGE / WCDMA)

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Ready for your buying pleasure from Sprint are two new QWERTY texting phones and one dual-sliding music phone. The LG Lotus and the Samsung Rant give texting fanatics two new choices for finger flying messaging. The LG Lotus is the more compelling of the two with a square design that looks like a someone took a steamroller to a flip phone. The flattened, wide phone enables LG to fit a full QWERTY keyboard and widescreen display in a flip form factor. Impressive if not a bit ugly looking, the LG Lotus is available in purple and black for $149 with a contract. Rounding out their QWERTY-enabled offering is the Samsung Rant. The Rant is a standard candy bar QWERTY slider with EV-DO, SprintTV and GPS that comes in at a low $49.99 contract price. Bright Red and Black are your choice of colors. If you prefer music to messaging then the Samsung Highnote may be your cup of tea. The Highnote features a dual slide that reveals stereo speakers when the LCD is slid down and a standard keypad when the LCD is slid up. It also has a rotating 5-way navigation ring for your music playing pleasure. The Highnote comes in Red and Blue and will set you back a reasonable $99 with contract. Nice to see Sprint getting some interesting new phones this season - what do you guys think?

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Want an 8MP shooter but cant decide which one?  With four sweet phones currently filling this category we feel your pain. The folks over at “Mobile@Mail.Ru” also understand your dilemma and have done a very detailed comparison of two of the latest 8MP phones, the LG Renoir and the Samsung Pixon . Besides the awesome 8MP capability which they have in common, what features differentiate these two camera phones and which one is the best for the shutterbugs among us? We will start off with the LG Renoir. The Renoir offers a Schneider-Kreuznach Lens and a Xenon flash which on paper (and in practice) outperforms the cheap plastic lens and dual LED flash of the Pixon. The Renoir also has an active autofocus which the reviewer deems superior to the Pixon’s passive autofocus. Mark that as two in the column for the LG Renoir. You can score a few for the Samsung Pixon as the reviewer notes that the speed of the Pixon camera is higher than the Renoir and the Pixon’s UI is easier to use. One caveat, the reviewer does not clarify (or our Russian is a little rusty and we missed it) what is meant by the “speed” of the camera; whether it is the time to first picture, the number of frames per second or the ISO. We will have to take his word for it that the “speed” is better on the Pixon. Hit the jump for some side-by-side sample photos.

Read [Google translated]

Wondering what your shopping list might look like this holiday season? One of our AT&T ninjas got his hands on an internal control document outlining new release between now and the holidays so if AT&T is your carrier of choice, here’s what Big Blue has in store for you between now and the holidays:

• Pantech Matrix: $80 after MIR
• Samsung Propel:$80 after MIR
• AT&T Quickfire: $100 after MIR
• Samsung Eternity: $150 after MIR
• Samsung EPIX: $200 after MIR
• LG Incite: $200 after MIR
• HTC Fuze: $300 after MIR

Last but certainly not least, our ninja did in fact report that the Bold is on the list - with no pricing specified of course. At the very least, this may put the Bold on store shelves by the time the holiday shopping season starts, though we expect that it’ll drop sooner rather than later. Then again, as much as it has been delayed thus far AT&T may just be holding the spot without any real indication that it will be ready in time. Fingers = crossed.

The Samsung Style Report has a horrible name, I think we can all agree on that. It also, however, highlights some tech that Samsung should consider bringing over to this hemisphere. Showcased recently at KES2008, we have little doubt that the Style Report will only be released in the Asian region but this is the kind of handset that could really do well here, if well-subsidized. Sure, we don’t have DMB here which would greatly detract from one of the biggest selling points of this handset - the external touchscreen capable of displaying videos and DMB TV - but throw a MediaFLO chip in there and younger AT&T customers would likely be fighting for position in line. Spec highlights:

• 2.2-inch color external touchscreen display
• 2.2-inch internal display
• ‘Personal UI’ desktop customization
• 3-megapixel camera
• Quad-band GSM
• 3G
• Bluetooth
• T-DMB TV tuner

The price point will be somewhere north of US $500 when the phone is released in South Korea which would likely give it a subsidized price in the US of well under $200 if Samsung did bring the phone to the US via a carrier.

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A sweet little Samsung is coming to T-Mobile in the form of the Gravity T459. This slider phone should be a nice alternative for messaging freaks who don’t want to shell out for (or be seen with) a Sidekick or a more expensive QWERTY keypad device. The phone is packed with your standard features and then some, including a music player, ability to sync with PC (for easier transfer of songs and data), web2go and it’s MyFaves capable. The GSM/EDGE phone comes in Lime with Gray (as shown) and Aqua with White. Hit the jump for full specs and additional images!

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Samsung has announced a new set of notebooks and are hoping to steal a little of Apple’s thunder (good luck with that one!). The new line-up should see some pretty sleek, thin, lightweight laptops with loads of power - definitely nothing to sneeze at. Samsung’s main target is the Macbook Air and it is hoping that its new X-Series netbook will the a “Macbook Air Killer.” Really, guys? Everything seems to be a “killer” of some sort these days though many products fail to even bruise each other - let’s see if Samsung is up to the task. The X360 will be going for $2,499 and will be carrying 128GB of solid state goodness. Weighing in at 2.8 pounds, your spaghetti arms should have no problems with it. The X360 also claims to have 6 to 10 hours of battery life depending on usage - not bad at all. If you’ve been looking for an alternative to the MacBook Air this looks like it might be a good contender, but a killer it is not.

[Via Reuters]

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Back in August, we told you about this pretty Samsung making its way to T-Mobile. Well, now there are release dates and pics galore! Apparently called the “Behold” rather than the “Tocco” (both ridiculous names, really), this 5 megapixel camera phone will be hitting T-Mobile on November 10. Word on the street is that the damage will be $149, but we’ve yet to confirm if that is post-rebate or not, but you can bet the attractive pricing is going to involve a contract. Also, here’s a quick reminder regarding some of the specs in case you forgot or were wondering what such a bargain phone could offer:

• 5 megapixel camera
• Front-facing secondary camera
• GPS WITH voice command
• Streaming video support
• Video ringtone support
• Capacitive touchscreen
• MicroSDHC support
• Brushed aluminum back
• Consumer email functionality

So far nothing has been solidified in carbonite yet, but for the most part this phone will be packing some serious features. How will it fare against the G1? Well, we really don’t need to tell you… hit the jump for more pics!

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A spy shot of the Samsung i770 next to its predecessor, the i760, emerged on Tuesday courtesy of Howard Forums member TK093. The upcoming i770 is longer and a lot slimmer than the i760. The i770 maintains its slim profile by shedding the slide out keyboard of the i760 in favor of a full front Qwerty keyboard. The front of the phone is dominated visually by a giant silver ring that encircles an optical touchpad. Similar to the i780, the optical touchpad can be used to control the onscreen cursor. Confused by the idea of a touchpad on a touchscreen device? Don’t worry, there is a toggle switch on the side of the phone that allows you to switch from this unique virtual mouse mode to regular D-Pad mode. According to TK093, the i770 still has the top power button that is used to wake up the phone. Ugh, a minor annoyance but at least there is a system setting that allows you to switch between “wake up with the power button” or “wake up with any button”. No release date or pricing has been announced. We can only hope the release is soon as the aging i760 really needs a replacement and Verizon desperately needs some fresh, new Windows Mobile Professional phones, even this mediocre offering, in its lineup. Hit the jump for a snapshot of the ultra-slim side profile of the i770.

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• 2.2” display
• Media Center capable (downloadable games, ring tones, wallpapers, location-based services)
• Mobile Web-capable (customizable, enhanced wireless access to the latest in news, sports, weather)
• Mobile IM capable
• Text, picture and video messaging
• Bluetooth
• 2MP camera/camcorder with NightShot to improve low light photos
• Expandable memory up to 8GB with external microSD card
• Hearing aid compatibility = M4
• Bilingual user interface (English and Spanish)
• Personal organizer with calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, stop watch and notepad
• Dimensions: 4.15” (h) x 1.96” (w) x 0.47” (d) with standard battery Weight: 3.56 ounces
• Usage time: up to 270 minutes with standard battery
• Standby time: up to 312 hours with standard battery

Available now online and in stores starting October 14th for $69.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a two year contract, $139.99 with a year contract, or $239.99 with a month-to-month contract. Any takers? Oh stop it, you’re waiting for the Storm.

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