This might be a shocker out there to many, but we do actually, you know, not leak things from time to time. What’s important here, is that we’ve been rockin’ a BlackBerry Bold for around a month now, and we’ve got a great handle on the unit. From hardware to software, this is going to be the most complete BlackBerry Bold review, period. If you’re really ready, hit the jump. You might need a couple cigarettes and a cup of coffee — it’s long!

RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9000, huh? We knew it was coming since October of last year ever since we broke the news, and since then, this has been the BlackBerry communities iPhone. Sorry for an iPhone reference so early on in the review, but it’s true. This is the device every single BlackBerry user has been waiting for. Finally a BlackBerry that “has it all.” 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, QWERTY keyboard, camera, great screen, clean styling, and more. Since this has been our day to day BlackBerry exclusively, we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with the Bold. Here’s a recap on our first day with the Bold, followed by our full review…

Remember all that talk about overheating and battery drain? It definitely wasn’t crap — we’ll tell you that! Even still, the device gets a little warm, but nothing to get too concerned about. RIM has made strides in regards to updated software builds for the Bold. Let’s bring you back to when we first got the device, ok? We thanked our very friendly FedEx Sameday delivery man (or delivery person since there’s this cute female that sometimes brings us goodies… anyway) and proceeded immediately to remove the SIM card and microSD card from our BGR edition BlackBerry Curve 8310. After that, we took a bat to it, Office Space style. Once the battery was installed in the Bold, we patiently waited for the unit to turn on.

One minute went by. Then two. Then three. What in the heck? Isn’t this supposed to be at least double the speed of the older models? When the unit finally powered up, we were greeted by the usual Setup Wizard. After canceling out of that (I can remove languages manually, athankyou) it was time to explore the device. At first glance, the first thing you’ll see is obviously the gorgeous screen on the 9000. We can safely say that this is the best screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Hands down. So, yeah, after messing around with a couple applications and exploring, it was time to turn on wireless and connect to AT&T’s mothership. 5 bars of service showed up with the GSM indicator. Then EDGE. Oh boy, we’re so close! Finally 3G appeared. We were in business! But not so fast. No sooner than the 3G indicator showed up, the device for some reason restarted. All ‘Berry lovers will know this all too well. Red LED, black screen. After waiting for another three or four minutes for the device to power up again, the same thing happened! Everything was ok until we tried to turn wireless on. Oh bother. What now? The Bold did this in an endless loop for a good two hours. The battery was only at 40% so we figured we’d let it keep passing out until it was fully charged. Bad plan because that didn’t help. After managing to sneak in right at start-up and turn off wireless mode, the device was stable again. Great. What good is a BlackBerry as a PDA? Don’t answer that. By now we practically had a gun pointed to our heads. We messed with a Bold before, but we can’t even use our first unit? After a quick call to one of our BlackBerry ninjas, we were promptly sent an updated software build. Now it was time to update the OS.

We opened up Desktop Manager 4.5 and proceeded to update the device. This part totally blew us away! Gone are the days of a 30-45 minute backup and update. It probably took no more than 6 minutes to backup the device, erase the applications, load the system software and what not. The only part that took a little bit was waiting for the device to initialize after everything was done. As soon as we booted up with the new OS, we were good! The Bold connected to the network just fine and we did our enterprise activation. First thing we did? Check out BlackBerry Messenger! God knows if there’s one thing making us keep out BlackBerrys… The new client isn’t drastically different but has some semi-cool additions. For instance, the layout is the same but graphics for online, away, and unavailable have changed. You can set an alert so you are notified when a buddy comes back online, and you can broadcast a message to everyone you have an open conversation with. Digging a little deeper into Messenger, we found that you can enable an option to change your status when you are on the phone, and even change your status automatically to reflect whatever MP3 you are playing on the device. Totally iChatish, but not that bad.

After Messenger, it was on to the browser. At first, nothing looked different at all. That was until we brought up BGR on it. The BlackBerry web browser has indeed been redone to act more like a web browser and not a piece of garbage 1990’s WAP browser. Pages render awfully quick over 3G, and even on EDGE. They are formatted 90% of the time correctly and images look sharp and crisp. You’ve now got new controls with the trackball. Instead of just a mouse cursor like before, the default setting is a zoom key. Just scroll over what you’d like to zoom into, press the trackball and zoom. This can also be achieved by pressing “i” and “o” for zoom in and zoom out respectively on the keyboard.

We fired off some emails on the keyboard, made some phone calls, and started to sit back, relax, and have fun with our new BlackBerry Bold. Battery life improved 10 fold when the new OS was installed, and the overheating we noticed quickly dissipated. It still gets a little warm when you’re freakin’ it, but oh well. Here’s the full review on the device and the most recent software build. We’re not basing the review on the extremely crappy builds before this.

Design:

Some might say it looks awfully like an iPhone. But not Mr. Lazaridis. According to him, every BlackBerry device is “three years in the making.” They couldn’t possibly have made the device around the iPhone since they started it three years ago, right? In all seriousness, it has a couple similar design features like a chrome border around the unit and black front, but it really stops there. We don’t think they said to themselves, “let’s copy the iPhone.” The chrome you see on the Bold is nothing more than cheap plastic that scratches very easily, though.

Screen:

We said this before, but this really is the screen to beat. It might be a little too “contrasty” at times, if you know what we mean, but overall, it steals the show. It is the most vibrant, color-rich, sharp screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. It can be extremely bright if that’s how you like it, or subtlety lower. The auto-dim features on BlackBerry devices let the screen adjust to your surrounding so it doesn’t disrupt you. One major problem with the screen, though? It, like the chrome border around the device, is made of cheap plastic and scratches incredibly easily. We kept the Bold in either pants pockets with nothing else in there or a BlackBerry leather holster. After only a day or so, scratches started to appear out of no where on the gorgeous display. They better ship this thing with free scratch protectors!

Keyboard:

If you know us, you know we don’t let keyboards off easy! And if there is anyone who understands keyboards, it’s usually RIM. Think of the 9000’s keyboard as a cross between the 8800 and the Pearl. The keys are pretty large in size, a little squishy, but still firm. They are not plasticky-feeling like the Curves. After only around 10-15 minutes we found ourselves typing almost as fast as were on our 8310. The layout of the keyboard is exactly the same as you’d find on other BlackBerrys. Even all symbols and other markings are in the same spot. This makes it easy to jump right into the device. The send, BlackBerry, back, and end keys are abnormally large, though. It’s not bad. It’s just awkward for some reason. They all work fine, but we can’t figure why RIM decided to make them so big. Possibly a design situation where they had an overall device size ready, couldn’t make it any smaller, and ended up filling the dead space with larger keys. Keyboard back-lighting is great, too. Just the accents, letters, and symbols light up white. Not the entire key like the Curve.

Connectivity:

Every BlackBerry users’ dream lies in the Bold. 3G data, GPS, and Wi-Fi make this a hit. Unless you’re really trying not to be found, there’s a good chance the Bold is going to help you stay connected no matter where you are. A-GPS in the Bold works wonderfully, always getting a fast and accurate lock on location whenever requested. The included BlackBerry Maps works well, but since TeleNav hooked us up, we’re using that for the moment without a hitch. Er, AT&T Navigator. If you’ve ever used a BlackBerry with Wi-Fi, it’s pretty much the same concept. Select a Wi-Fi network and off you go. This is especially useful when you’re in a low or no coverage area yet have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. We found no issues while using the 3G cell network and Wi-Fi at the same time, though it was actually using Wi-Fi for data. You can’t use Wi-Fi if you turn the cell radio off, but you can use Wi-Fi when you have no cell signal. Food for thought? We’ve noticed that sometimes while using Wi-Fi, the device will lose connection to the BlackBerrt network on the cell network. Possibly a battery-saving enhancement?

OS:

We said this from the start… the 4.6 OS is 99% the same as your current BlackBerry. Assuming you’re not using an 8700 or something like that. Little things have been tweaked to make using the device a little easier and quicker, but for the most part, you’re basically looking at a skin on the top level. That’s not to say there haven’t been some changes beneath the surface, but for the average BlackBerry user, you’re not going to really notice anything besides the semi-pretty UI enhancements. It’s now July 15th, and even running the latest 4.6.0.93 build, we’re still pulling the battery out a good 10 times a day. Why? Between the constant java errors, and the BlackBerry completely losing service and informing us it’s “Searching for Network…”. That’s why. What’s sad is that even with this bad-ass 624MHz CPU, we still get slow downs and we still get freezes. Don’t get it mixed up, it is 100% faster than any other BlackBerry. We just can’t understand why this thing isn’t really optimized like it should be. Ah! Because the OS is from 1999. That’s it.

Applications:

Again, mostly top level stuff, but there have been a couple added applications. These include WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, WordMole, and a couple other games that have been around for a while. There’s something beneath the surface called BlackBerry Game Service, and what this does is allows true multi-player games over either the cell network or Wi-Fi. We beat the crap out of our friend in WordMole who was half way across the country. Sorry, buddy. One of our favorite applications, if not the favorite, is BlackBerry Messenger like we said before. In the updated BlackBerry Messenger, you’ll find added functionality such as being able to broadcast a message to all open conversations, letting your status change automatically when you’re on the phone, and also changing your status to reflect whatever song is playing on the media player. HTML email is obviously a go assuming you’re on a BIS 2.5 carrier or your company has hacked HTML email back into BES 4.1.5. Totally awesome feature, though? If you’re downloading an attachment and highlight that email, it will show you a status bar indicated how far along the download is. Welcome to 2008, RIM. Now could you please stop being pansies and show us a progress bar for outgoing messages please? You know, some of us actually like to send videos and pictures and what not. Oh yeah! Video over BlackBerry Messenger too, while we’re at it. Kthnkz.

Browser:

The web browser was actually one of the last things ready on the Bold as we were told. The earlier versions had a browser nowhere near what we’ve been using, and we have to say… it’s pretty darn good! It’s no iPhone, but it definitely does the job. Any BlackBerrry user whether corporate or consumer will definitely appreciate the new browser’s improved rendering, speed, and controls. It actually shows web pages how they are supposed to be shown, but the navigation can get a little tiring. Instead of the regular mouse pointer that we’ve been used to lately, the pointer is now by default a zoom in pointer. A couple clicks of the trackball, and you’ve zoomed into the web page. Sometimes the page will reformat to the screen, sometimes it won’t. Forget about Flash or anything sexy, but the browser has definitely been upgraded pretty nicely.

Battery life:

Another concern possible Bold buyers have is battery life. There’s been so much information floating around, what’s the real story? Up until around 3-4 weeks ago, every build of the OS we tried had major battery problems. Random restarts, device totally dead within a couple hours, etc. With the latest software version, we can safely say we’re getting as good or better battery life than we did with our Curve. Yes. Isn’t that awesome? Thanks to 1500mAh battery and a crap load of engineering on RIM’s part, they’ve finally got it nailed down. To give y’all a little usage detail: 300-500 emails a day, one hour of web surfing over 3G, Wi-Fi usually turned on, Bluetooth turned off, JiveTalk connected, and around one hour of phone calling (we don’t really use the BlackBerry as a phone) lasted us from 9AM until 4:30AM.

Sound quality:

RIM is trying to step it up in the sound department, and it shows. Instead of a covered speaker like the Curve, there are speaker grills on both sides of the device, and also on the top as well. Sound quality from playing back music sounds decent. Not great, not terrible. It could be a little louder, but even as it stands, music is still distorting on the loudest volume setting. Also, the speakerphone volume could definitely be louder as we found it lower than our Curve.

Call quality:

We’ve found call quality to be fantastic. It’s definitely the most phone-like BlackBerry to date. People we spoke to sounded crystal clear and they said we sounded great. The earpiece volume was also sufficiently loud, so there should be no problems there. That 3G network is also probably helping a lot with call quality as well, no?

Build quality:

This one is a tricky one. We have a production hardware unit, and the trackball can get a little shady. Then again, don’t all BlackBerrys? There are no creaks with the device, and it seems sturdy as heck. The screen could possible be an issue as it looks like it’s a cheap plastic, and the “chrome” border around the body is also a lower-grade plastic. At least it seems that way to us. Expect for the screen to be scratched to all hell, and for nicks, scrapes, and dents to show up on the device body. On our unit, the back battery cover is a little loose towards where the release button is and kind of moves in and out when you press it. We’re not sure if that will be resolved when the device is released, but it can definitely get kind of annoying. We wouldn’t call the Bold fragile but we don’t think its built as well as the Curve.

So what do you guys think? Happy with our review? Want a Bold even more now… even less? Sound off. And look for some more posts on the Bold coming shortly.

That didn’t take too long, did it? We finally have it people — it’s alive and confirmed. The BlackBerry Bold is indeed the official name for the BlackBerry 9000 device and it should be available starting "this summer." AT&T is the first carrier to launch, but there is also a 1700MHz model coming which will support T-Mobile’s 3G data network. Here are a couple highlights:

• 1GB on-board memory with encryption.
• Tri-band HSDPA.
• Pricing in the $300-$500 range with a carrier.
• Launching on AT&T "this summer."
• Interchangable color back plates.
• 5 hours of talk time, 13 days of standby time.
• 624-MHz Marvell Tavor PXA930 processor.
• Taller and wider than the Curve.

One more shot and full press release after the jump!

For customers seeking a smartphone that makes a bold statement, Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) today introduced the admirable BlackBerry® BoldTM smartphone. Crafted from premium materials, inside and out, that radiate elegance with a dramatic presence, the BlackBerry Bold is designed to give business professionals and power users unprecedented functionality and performance in an intuitive BlackBerry® smartphone. It is the first BlackBerry smartphone to support tri-band HSDPA high-speed networks around the world and comes with integrated GPS and Wi-Fi®, as well as a rich set of multimedia capabilities. From its lustrous black exterior, satin chrome finished frame and stylish leather-like backplate, to its stunning display, sophisticated user interface and newly designed full-QWERTY(i) keyboard, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone is a symbol of accomplishment and aspiration.

"The new BlackBerry Bold represents a tremendous step forward in business-grade smartphones and lives up to its name with incredible speed, power and functionality, all wrapped in a beautiful and confident design," said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO, Research In Motion.

SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone’s support for tri-band HSDPA and enterprise-grade Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g) networks and its next-generation 624 MHz mobile processor make short work of downloading email attachments, streaming video or rendering web pages. The BlackBerry Bold also includes 128 MB Flash memory plus 1 GB on-board storage memory, as well as a microSD/SDHC memory card slot(ii) that is conveniently accessible from a side door. It comes with the renowned BlackBerry productivity applications, including phone, email, messaging, organizer and browser, and works with thousands of mobile business and lifestyle applications, making it easier than ever to stay connected, productive and entertained. With this powerful new smartphone, users can even talk on the phone while sending and receiving email or accessing the web, and download Word, Excel or PowerPoint files and edit them directly on the handset using the preloaded DataViz® Documents to Go® suite.

STUNNING DISPLAY

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone comes with the most vivid and bold display ever introduced on a BlackBerry smartphone. Its half-VGA (480×320 resolution) color LCD is fused to the undersurface of the lens, making images leap out with stunning definition and clarity. Pictures are vibrant and razor sharp, while videos play smoothly and web pages, documents, presentations and messages snap with exceptional quality and contrast.

DESKTOP-STYLE WEB PAGES

With its newly enhanced, high performance browser and high-resolution, ultra-bright display, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone gives users an on-the-go web browsing experience with desktop-style depiction. The trackball mimics a mouse, making it easy to navigate sites in "Page View" or "Column View" or to zoom in on specific parts of a web page, while various emulation settings allow users to choose between the full desktop-style HTML content and layout or the mobile version. Attachments can also now be downloaded from within the browser and there is support for watching streaming videos (RTSP - real-time streaming protocol).

RICH MULTIMEDIA

While it is designed to meet the extensive requirements of the business professional during the day, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone also caters to the business person’s consumer side during evenings and weekends. It features a 2 megapixel camera with video recording capability, built-in flash and 5x digital zoom. The enhanced media player can display pictures and slideshows quickly, play movies smoothly in full screen mode, and manage an entire music collection. Audio can be played over the handset’s dual speakers in rich, stereo sound, and when using wired headphones or external speakers, the media player gives the user an equalizer with 11 preset filters - like "Lounge", "Jazz" and "Hip Hop" - that boost or soften audio ranges to create the perfect ambiance.

For managing music and video, the BlackBerry® Desktop Manager software includes Roxio® Media Manager for BlackBerry® as well as Roxio Photosuite® 9 LE, which makes it easy to enhance pictures and create photo albums on the computer. For users that manage their collection with iTunes®, the new BlackBerry® Media Sync application provides a simple way to sync iTunes digital music collections with the smartphone(iii). Support for High Speed USB 2.0 allows all files to be transferred quickly from a desktop computer to the BlackBerry Bold smartphone.

POWERFUL WI-FI & GPS

For even broader high-speed network coverage, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone supports the 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi standards, ideal for use in enterprise or campus wireless LAN deployments, over Wi-Fi hotspots and on wireless home networks. A new "Push Button Setup" is included, making it faster for users to connect to protected wireless networks that require a sign on process.

Through its integrated GPS, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone can pinpoint its exact location, supporting applications like BlackBerry® Maps and other location-based applications or services. With its improved rendering capabilities, faster download speeds and ability to support simultaneous voice and data, the BlackBerry Bold smartphone even allows users to navigate while on a call.

FIRST CLASS PHONE

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone features a new acoustic design that increases the size of the phone’s audio sweet spot, improving listening quality and clarity. It also comes with numerous premium phone features including Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR) for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD), Bluetooth® 2.0, with support for hands-free headsets, stereo headsets, car kits (including car kits that adhere to the Bluetooth Remote SIM Access Profile) and other Bluetooth peripherals. It is a quad-band EDGE and tri-band HSDPA handset that supports global roaming(iiii) and features dedicated ’send’, ‘end’, and ‘mute’ keys, smart dialing, speed dialing, conference calling and call forwarding. It also features noise cancellation technology that offsets background noise, a powerful speaker phone and support for polyphonic, mp3 and MIDI ring tones.

ROBUST EMAIL & MESSAGING

Like all BlackBerry smartphones, the BlackBerry Bold gives users the industry’s leading mobile messaging solution. It works with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, which enables advanced security and IT administration within IBM® Lotus® Domino®, Microsoft® Exchange and Novell® GroupWise® environments, as well as BlackBerry® Professional Software for small businesses. It also works with BlackBerry® Internet Service, which gives users access to up to 10 work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), and the BlackBerry® Unite! software for SOHO and home users.

CONVENIENT ACCESSORIES

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone comes with a variety of convenient accessories including a stereo headset, travel charger, carrying case or sleeve and USB cable. Users will also be able to personalize their BlackBerry Bold smartphone by purchasing replaceable leather-like backplates that come in a range of colors. The removable / rechargeable 1500 mAhr battery provides multi-hour usage with a target talk time of approximately 5 hours and 13 days standby time.

Accessories for BlackBerry smartphones, including leather holsters and totes, charging pods, premium earphones, the BlackBerry® Remote Stereo Gateway and Bluetooth headsets, are available through retail outlets or online at: www.shopblackberry.com.

AVAILABILITY

The BlackBerry Bold smartphone (model number: 9000) is scheduled to be available from wireless carriers around the world beginning this summer.

For more information please visit: www.BlackBerryBold.com.

Read

There was a little bit of confusion with the 3G-less BlackBerry 9000 we posted. We heard two different codenames: Javelin and Niagara. Well, we were just told some more information on both devices. It seems the BlackBerry codenamed Niagara is actually an EV-DO device slated to hit Verizon in May of 2009. That seems a long way away but here are the specs on that model:

• "Large screen family"
• QWERTY keyboard
• 480×360 LCD
• EV-DO Rev. A
• aGPS
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 4.7 OS platform
• BES 5.0 support (HTML email, etc)
• Qualcomm MSM7600 processor

That’s the Niagara. What about the BlackBerry Javelin? Well, here you go:

• QWERTY keyboard
• 480×360 LCD
• Quad-band GSM/EDGE
• GPS
• Wi-Fi
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• 4.6 OS platform
• BES 5.0 support as well
• ArgonV processor

Both devices look extremely similar in physical appearance, thus the confusion. So, look at that. You just got two devices for the price of one. Who’s out there in Verizon land and excited for this one? May of next year, though…doesn’t seem right does it? Then again, you never know with Big Red.

Well, we’re not sure what we think of the device just yet. We’ll have our hands-on shots and first impressions up in a bit, but for now, here are the offical specs of the HTC Touch Diamond handset:

• Size: 102 x 51 x 11.33mm
• Weight: 110 g
• Connectivity: WCDMA / HSPA: 900/2100MHz. HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA
• Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
• Display: 2.8-inch VGA touch screen
• Camera: 3.2MP, with video calling
• Internal memory: 4 GB Internal Storage, 256 MB flash, 192 MB RAM,
• Bluetooth: 2.0 with EDR
• Wireless: WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS: GPS/AGPS
• Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
• Battery: 900 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: up to 4 hours
• Standby time: GSM: up to 300 hours/100 hours with push email
• Chipset: Qualcomm MSM® 7201A™ 528MHz

What do you guys think? It most likely won’t be out in the U.S. for a couple months at best. Will you buy it? Couple more pics after the break.

So you know how we’ve been talking about the BlackBerry 9000’s ridiculously high selling price? Well, it looks like RIM is gearing up to launch a 3G-less BlackBerry 9000 so to speak. It looks pretty similar but there are also a few changes to the design like a larger bezel around the front, and a whole different back case. Besides no 3G, we’d imagine the specs to be pretty similar to the BlackBerry 9000. Enjoy a larger-sized photo of this conceptual sketch after the jump!

You didn’t think we’d actually leave you hangin’, did you? To follow up on on yesterday’s post of the BlackBerry KickStart photos, we’ve got here a couple more images of the phone with T-Mobile branding and some interesting details on the physical design attributes. It looks like the screen is monochromatic with a color glow. Whatever that means. We’re imagining the border around the screen to possibly "glow" different colors and when the outer display is off, it’s invisible. You just see the shiny black face. There’s a whole bunch of colors set to launch with the KickStart and they’ll be anodized. Additionally, the back battery cover will either be a soft-touch rubberized finish, or a low gloss finish. We’d imagine some sort of customization opportunities for the end user with the low gloss finish. Perhaps you could get the battery cover with personalized images and things. Sounds fun. Ready for the hard specaroonies? Who are we kidding — you know you are!

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• "Next Gen" SureType keyboard
• 2 Megapixel camera
• 16-bit color LCDs
• Internal LCD is 240×320, external one is 160×128
• Wi-Fi b,g
• 3.5mm headset jack
• OS is 4.6

We’re not going to flat out call it, but look for a release around September on T-Mobile! Hit the jump for the rest of the shots!

• Radio - GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA
• Bands - Quad-band GPRS/EDGE: 800/850/1800/1900MHz
• HSDPA: 850/1900/2100MHz (praise the lord!)
• Expandable memory - microSD
• Display - HVGA Color LCD (480×320)
• TrackBall Navigation
• Camera - 2MP (Boo!)
• Wi-Fi - a,b,g
• A-GPS
• Battery - 1500mAh
• High quality material, high-end finish
• Software - 4.6

So there you have it — full specs on the much-awaited BlackBerry 9000. Ah, the carriers! AT&T, NTT DoCoMo, and Vodafone are indeed the launch carriers with AT&T having a U.S. exclusive and being the first carrier to launch worldwide. What would we do without our carrier ninjas? First yesterday’s document and now this! Shout out to y’all, you know who you are!

You know we had to go and do it! In all honestly though, not that much is of interest with the new BlackBerry 8110. If you’ve been a die-hard Pearl user since the beginning and are in love with that SureType thing, you’ll most likely want to refresh your pocket with the 8110, but for newcomers in this area, it might not be what you’re looking for. For anyone that’s been following, the updated Pearl lineup includes a refined keyboard, external MicroSD slot, video camera, and a couple other features. Our recommendation is to stick to a Curve and hope RIM releases that 4.5 OS soon. That way you can make fun of all the Pearl people that bought it just so they could record video on their BlackBerry. We got a titanium version in hand, but it does come in a crimson red color as well. You know, in case you’re into that sort of thing. Hit the gallery for the unboxing pics!

Click on over to our AT&T BlackBerry 8110 Unboxing gallery!

We just got word that the Motorola Z9 we’ve got sitting in our office draw is about to get a whole lot more company come April 1st. AT&T is said to finally be launching the device, but there’s also another thing. We heard TeleNav is going to be renamed AT&T Navigator and that’s going to be the launch device for the switch. Last we checked, our Motorola Z9 didn’t have GPS, so this might be an A-GPS solution unless Motorola has actually added GPS support to the handset. No idea on pricing at the moment but we shall all find out soon enough for all you Motorola fiends.

Besides the long list of people that waited and waited for the HTC Shift to finally be released, any BGR reader will know our own personal fascination with it. Considering how much we’ve craved, wished, hoped, and wanted, we’re going to take you into a full review of the HTC Shift. Everything possible will be broken down for you. The screen, keyboard, connectivity, battery life, software, problems — it’s all fair game on this side of town! If you’ve got any specific questions we’ll be glad to answer them for you. Just drop a comment below. And now, of course, the review…after the jump!

Design

You’d be hard-pressed to find a UMPC that is as cleanly designed as the HTC Shift. Taking into account the mechanics with the tilt + slide mechanism, they did a wonderful job. There’s not a huge amount of ports or buttons or switches on it, and that’s a good thing. On the right side, you have the HTC Communications Manager button, the screen resolution adjustment button, the trackpad, right speaker, and finally fingerprint reader. Moving to the left side, you have the right and left mouse click buttons, left speaker, and below that is the SnapVue/Vista button to switch between the two operating systems.

As we travel around the unit, we see the Power/Hold switch, USB port, and charging port. On the back, you’ll only find the VGA out port which is perfectly placed. All we have on the left side is the 3.5mm headset jack and nothing on the front side of the unit.

Keyboard

The keyboard is a tricky subject for any hardcore user. And the point of a portable device is that it should be able to function for all your needs when you’re not at the office or at home on your main computer. After all, if you can’t even manage to enter a web address, you can forget about answering those emails in Outlook, and editing those Word documents. I’m happy to report that the HTC Shift’s keyboard is the most usable out of any of the ultra portable devices I own or have ever used. This includes the Sony UX490, the OQO 02, and most definitely the Samsung Q1 Ultra. It’s a different keyboard though, so comparisons to the UX and OQO are not completely fair. Those keyboard are typed BlackBerry or Sidekick-style with two thumbs. The Shift keyboard is to be used in more of a traditional setup using your fingers to type. Unless you’re Yao Ming, there’s a good chance you won’t be holding it with two hands and using your thumbs to type. The keys are smaller than your average keyboard, but travel well when they’re pressed and have a good feel to them. The setup is a little weird, though. The numbers on the top row of the keyboard are not completely aligned. So the "1" key is over the "W" key instead of the "Q" key. This throws you off a little bit when you’re trying to type as if you were on a normal computer, but you get used to it after a while and it’s manageable. There is no F11 key (F1-F10) so you might need to remap it to another key if you use a program that needs it. Here is my big issue: the damn keyboard is not back-lit! This is a huge issue. The problem is even more obvious in low-light conditions, the screen is not angled over the keyboard (obviously), it’s tilted back. So the screen doesn’t give off enough light to be able to see the keyboard, and this makes it nearly impossible to type in low or no light conditions. That’s a real problem when you’re on a plane, on a train, or just laying in bed at night trying to get some work done.

Screen

The screen is good. It’s not great. The default resolution of 800×480 is fine for most applications and you have the option of changing to 1024×600 which will help with those cutoff windows. Running the brightness all the way to the top was too bright, and that’s a good thing. You’ll have to adjust the brightness if you’re outside, but we’re happy to report the screen is perfectly viewable even in direct sunlight. The screen is also, of course, a touchscreen. It’s a passive touch screen, so you’re free to use your fingers to tap and select items. The included stylus works fine for navigating, handwriting or anything else you’d like to do with it. We just had a bitch of a time getting the stylus out from the unit.

Performance

To give you the hard specs: 800MHz A110 Intel CPU, 1GB RAM, 40GB 4200rpm hard drive. That’s probably the bare minimum in terms of today’s advanced specifications for a mobile computer, but we’re happy to report that the HTC Shift doesn’t act like an under-powered machine. Yes, even in Vista. After almost a week of usage and putting it through the paces (we left the SSD MacBook Air at home), we were pleasantly surprised with no lock-ups, slow downs, or any kind of issues related to the speed of the device. As long as you don’t try to edit feature-length films on here, you should be alright. Office 2007 ran perfectly, Internet Explorer gave us no troubles, and AIM worked well, too. Playing videos and music also didn’t cause the computer to hiccup. We’re really pleased with how usable it is even with below-standard hardware.

Power / Battery

This could be be one of the biggest hurdles the HTC Shift has to face. To be fair, the specs are exactly as HTC specified: 2 hours of battery life in Windows Vista. You might be able to squeeze out a couple extra minutes, but don’t fool yourself — you’re not watching a whole Lord of the Rings movie on here anytime soon. On the upside, SnapVue lasts for a hell of a long time, even with the 3G connection on. HTC states around 2 days with push email enabled, and we agree. This is awesome for anyone on the go. A great move on HTC’s part is the power adapter. The charging brick is tiny and the charging cable itself is super lengthy. They get points for that one. We’d love to see a high-capacity battery soon, though. Some people have resorted to an external power station, but that’s a little extreme for our taste. Sure, you could strap on enough juice to power the city the of Los Angeles, but the point of an ultra-portable is to be portable, not weighed down by the extra batteries and power supply boxes attached to it.

Connectivity

How could we say something negative in this department? The HTC Shift is a powerful man-beast of connectivity options. We have Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, quad-band GSM/EDGE, and tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850MHz/1900MHz/2100MHz). It’s all managed by the HTC Communication Manager and usually works flawlessly. You can have your 3G connection on at the same time as your Wi-Fi connection so in Vista you’ll browse over Wi-Fi and in SnapVue you’ll use 3G. There is a little quirk, though. Wi-Fi can’t be used in SnapVue, but 3G can be used in Vista. So you won’t be able to take advantage of anything on the SnapVue side unless you have a valid SIM card with data access in the Shift. That brings us to…

SnapVue

SnapVue is basically the Windows Mobile side of things, if you will. It’s not full Windows Mobile (though the people we love all over the world are working on "fixing" this), so there are some problems. On the SnapVue homescreen, you get a nice Today plugin. It shows the time, date, weather, emails, contacts, SMSs, calendar and settings. The issue is that since HTC has not provided us with the full Windows Mobile experience, you are limited in what you can do.

Let’s take the email program, for instance. You have your Exchange server all set up, your emails are being pushed to the device, and everything is all well and good in Shift land. Then you get an email with an important attachment. No problem, just click the attachment and it will download. Sure, it downloads, but try opening it. You can’t open any attachment in an email in SnapVue. PowerPoint, Word, Excel, PDF, image, movie, sound, MP3 — nothing! You’re forced to switch over to Vista and handle your business. I don’t think most people are asking for document editing, though that would be nice, but we should at least have the ability to open simple rudimentary attachments in SnapVue. That brings us to another snafu…phone calling.

HTC has not included the ability to make phone calls from the device. Not in Snapvue, not in Vista. From what I heard internally, this caused a bit of concern corporately in HTC as their customers were pretty ticked off about the possibility of a dedicated SIM card to a data device and not having the possibility of using it as a phone. We’re not saying you should walk around holding this up to your head (although we wouldn’t put it past some people), but you should have the option of using a Bluetooth headset. After all, with 3G, you could be talking while browsing the web. That’s a real must for a lot of people. So, no phone calls, but texting is included. Say what? Yeah, you can send text messages in SnapVue using the traditional Outlook program we’re all used to. To be clear, the actual applications are not stripped down at all.

The email application, calendar, contacts and all that are the full programs you’d find on a normal Windows Mobile device, it’s just the whole attachment and phone thing. In terms of applications you don’t get, well then, that’s another story. Besides the couple we mentioned, there isn’t anything else. No Pocket IE, no file browser, or anything of the sort. And that’s alright for most people including me personally. You really need to get something done, flip that switch to Vista and get on with your business. Attachment support should 100% be included in SnapVue for emails, so we’re going to have to see if HTC fixes this in a later firmware/software upgrade.

Sound

Stereo speakers, people! They sound really good. They’re loud and clear, but lacking a little bass. That’s alright. It will get you by anything you have to do in the audio world like watching videos or listening to music. The stereo speakers really are a pleasant surprise, though. We didn’t expect that. The only thing that could take on the Shift in the speaker department is the Samsung Q1 or Q1 Ultra. Those are probably the upper-echelon of UMPC speakers.

User Interface

The design and usability of the add-ons including SnapVue and other HTC bits of software like the Communication Manager are very straight forward. Big buttons and good descriptions. The only feature we’d like to see, as minor as it is, is the ability to hold a button down in the Comm Manager. I don’t want to click Volume Up 100 times, I want to hold it and let it do its magic. Besides that small annoyance, they’re off to a good start designing and making applications for Vista.

Problems

Now, every device isn’t perfect, though some will be more polished than others. We have had a ton of issues with HTC’s Communication Manager. This has crashed a bunch of times, and while it’s not the biggest deal if you can’t access that bit of software, it is. That controls all wireless connectivity options, so you can forget about using Wi-Fi or 3G when that bugger crashes and doesn’t perform. You can also forget about SnapVue as that has to be on in order for the Windows Mobile side of things to start up. Thankfully it’s a software issue, and we’re more than positive this will resolved quickly. Right, HTCizzle? Besides Comm Manager, all is well in HTC Shift world. Though that’s a funny statement considering the device is a glorified PDA with that bit of software not working. Oh yeah! XP drivers, please! Come on guys, give us the option to install XP and get our world-traveler on. Please?

Price

This is one of the most important factors in determining if the HTC Shift is right for you. Early pricing around the globe is in the $1600-$1800 price range, though that is guaranteed to come down shortly after supply increases. That’s a lot to pay for something which can’t replace your main computer and is just a conduit of information while you’re away. It’s hard to replace your main travel laptop if you do more than answer emails and browse the web, but we’re happy to report than if you’re in the market to get an ultra-portable anyway, the Shift is worth a long, hard look. It’s pretty much the only game in town with a real keyboard and 3G connectivity. As long as HTC supports the device with software updates and little fixes, we’d be totally comfortable recommending this to anyone who would listen.

We’ve tried to take you through the HTC Shift as best as we could. There’s a whole lot of information, so below we’ll break down the most important points that we found after using the device for a little under a week.

Pros:

• The speakers are very, very good.
• The GSM/3G reception is probably a little better than HTC’s Windows Mobile devices. It’s really strong and HSDPA on AT&T flies! We’re seeing around 1800kbps
• The screen is pretty good but not perfect. It looks good and is very responsive when using it as a touch screen or tablet
• While the specs might look pretty poor on paper, that shouldn’t be an automatic turn off. Try it before you buy it. More than likely you’ll be impressed.
• The keyboard itself is really good and fun to use. See below for back-lighting problems, though.
• The fingerprint reader works well. The included software called VitaKey serves it purpose but we prefer the one Sony included and uses on their UX-series.
• The design and button layout is super friendly and clean. You can’t get confused even if it’s the first time you’ve picked one up, and there is a nice tactile feel to them.

Cons:

• There’s no back-light on the keyboard. While this might not be a huge issue for some people, it really is incredibly difficult to see the keyboard in low-light conditions
• On the SnapVue (Windows Mobile-ish) side, email works great. But, you can’t open any attachments! Nothing! No Word, PowerPoint, MP3s, pictures, etc.
• Our HTC Control Center utility has crashed repeatedly and rendered our whole device useless at times. If this crashes, you can not use the 3G connection or Wi-Fi, and SnapVue will not work. We have had to remove the battery for a couple minutes and sometimes that solved the issue.
• Random quirks…for instance, all of sudden, they’ll be a pop-up in Vista saying that you just plugged something into the audio jack. Uh, OK?
• Battery life is fair. But at least it is exactly what HTC stated. 2 hours. No more, no less in Vista.
• Where are my Windows XP drivers?
• The touch pointer mouse square thingy works alright but is a little awkward to use when the keyboard is out.

• title: HTC Shift Review

So, yeah…we totally raided the Nokia Store last night in New York! We snatched up a brand new Nokia N95 8GB NAM model, or N95-4 for you hardcore Noke fans, and we gotta’ say it is awesome! Mind you this is our first encounter with the N95 8GB so those of you who have had the European model have experienced this, but combine that bigger screen, redesigned navigation keys, the awesome OS update (which is supposedly coming for the N95-3 soon), US 3G, and you’ve got a real winner! FlashLite 3 is the truth, friends. Only one problem we noticed, and that’s because of the small redesign of the slider and larger screen. It might be hard to explain, but when you slide the screen up, the slider rails are not rounded anymore since they have to make it flush with the larger screen, so the rails are a little sharp and uncomfortable when holding it. Small price to pay for one of the sickest phones this side of the Mississippi, right? Scratch that; $799 + tax is quite a lot to pay. Hit up our gallery for all the goods!

Click on over to our Nokia N95 8GB NAM unboxing gallery!

Yeah dudes, we actually have the HTC Shift in hand! We haven’t had a chance to put it through our normal tests yet, but believe we’ll have that soon. The Shift isn’t as big as you’d think even though it has a 7" screen, and the while the slide mechanism is not spring-assisted like the AT&T Tilt, it’s pretty smooth and solid. The low processor freaks us out a little bit, but again, we haven’t really used it yet. Hit the jump for the full unboxing gallery, and we’ll have our full review up soon! Oh yeah…we’re in the "giving" mood. You know what that means!

Click on over to our HTC Shift unboxing gallery!

As if you didn’t know already. Well, the Centro is officially on AT&T and it’s going for $99 with a 2 year service agreement. Want the hard specs? Quad-band GSM/EDGE, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, QWERTY keyboard, microsD slot, and support for AT&T’s push-to-talk app. No word on BlackBerry Connect, but we’re guessing the average businessman won’t be dropping any coins on the Centro, so it doesn’t really matter now does it.

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We’re not really sure where to begin…It’s the Palm Centro on AT&T. You know the Centro, right? Outdated OS, tiny, miniscule puke-lime-green keyboard, EDGE, camera, and phone. We didn’t get a solid feel for pricing when it launches on February 19th, but we’ve heard $99 and $149 for a 2-year agreement. We’d wager it being $99 (how could it be more than Sprint’s?). If you want more Garnet madness, we suggest you don your favorite sunglasses and grab one of those airline-style puke bags. You’re going to need it!

Click on over to our AT&T Palm Centro gallery!

Ever wish you could grab a new Sony Ericsson handset with a full QWERT keyboard, 3.2 megapixel camera, aGPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HSDPA/HSUPA, all running atop a beautifully skinned version of Windows Mobile 6? Turns out today might be your lucky day. SE has just unleashed the XPERIA X1 at the Mobile World Congress, and from the looks of things, this is going to be one hell of a competitor. The handset sports a slide out / slide up keypad that looks like a cross between a Sidekick and an HTC Tilt, with navigation accomplished by way of a 4-way dpad and an optical joystick. The handset also sports a custom "panel interface" that appears to provide TouchFLO-like icon-based navigation. No word on price, but we should see it launch in "select markets" by the second half of 2008. Nice!

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The FCC outed the Nokia 3555 a little while back, and it even told us it would house the 1700MHz band for T-Mobile’s not-launched-yet-but-promised-coming-soon 3G network. We’ve got a hold of the Nokia 3555 slide for T-Mobile, and if all goes according to plan we can expect a March release. The specs are not mind-blowing, but we’ll break it down for ya’ anyway! VGA camera, A2DP Bluetooth, speakerphone, myFaves, microSD slot, voice dialing, and a couple other standard features. Pricing info wasn’t provided to us, but we’re willing to guess it won’t cost you $8M in stolen Sidekicks.

If some of our tipsters are to be believed, you very well might be able to mosey on down to your local T-Mobile shop and pickup a BlackBerry 8820 on March 5th. We’ve been told the unit will be identical to the AT&T version, but this time around it will support T-Mobile’s Hotspot@Home service (obviously!). We haven’t got our thumbs on the pricing info just yet, but believe you me, you’ll have it when we’ve got it!

Thanks, faithful tipsters!

Ready for another plain EDGE slider on T-Mobile? Well, there seems to be a "secret" 3G band buried deep inside, but for now, it’s all EDGE! T-Mobile just launched the Samsung t819, and the specs are pretty mid-range. Its got Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, MyFaves support, T-Mobile Address Book support, microSD slot, and a pretty small 220 x 176 display. The "coffee brown" t819 should be available from T-Mobile directly and T-Mobile stores starting today.

We had the opportunity to spend a bit of quality time with LG’s new Viewty handset today at CES. After a bit of menu and feature exploration, we can say that this is a pretty nice high-end feature phone. The Viewty’s biggest claim to fame is it’s optical lense and imaging features, which allow for 5 megapixel shots, 120 frames-per-second video capture, auto and manual focus, an 800 ISO mode, and onboard image stabilization. We don’t have any hard data to prove this, but image quality felt on-par (or perhaps even a bit better than) the camera on the Nokia N95. The menu system is classic LG: simple and straightforward. Haptics feedback provides ample tactile response from the touchscreen, and everything felt nice and quick. Overall, it gets our stamp of approval. Hit the gallery, guys!

Click on over to our LG Viewty hands on gallery!

The big news at the Motorola booth, in addition to the Motorola Z10 of course, is the Motorola E8. We gave a bit of an "advanced preview" late last year, but today we got a chance to get the official run-down from the friendly folks at Motorola. The biggest attraction of the E8 is the contextual keypad. Depending on what application you’re working with, the keys display different information. If you’re in the media player, you get play / pause / etc., whereas switching over to the phone app makes those same keys display a numeric keypad. It’s clever little bit of trickery that, if not groundbreaking, certainly kept us entertained. The haptics rumble provided ample tactile feedback, and the device feels as good in hand now as it did back when we first played with it. We’re going to see a limited international launch sometime during the first quarter of this year, with worldwide availability (including the US!) to follow by year’s end. We’re diggin’ it, no joke, though the crippled EDGE radio might be cause for a bit of concern in this 3G age we live in. We see plans for future upgrades, right Moto? Check out our Motorola E8 pics in the gallery!

Click on over to our Motorola E8 hands on gallery!

Motorola made a big splash here at CES this year, launching a couple of great mobile handsets. The Motorola Z10 is a super high-end handset, sporting the company’s patented banana-slider design. The big news, however, is the phone’s on-board video editing suite. Using the rear-mounted camera, users are able to shoot video and store it to the on a microSD card. Video capture is nothing new, but the real magic happens once the movies are on-board. The Z10 features the most sophisticated video editing software we’ve ever seen on a mobile handset. You can combine clips, add transitions, overlay text, and drop narration or MP3s over your new masterpiece. Once its all done, you just simply us the built-in YouTube client that allows you to upload the flicks directly to your online account, provided, of course, you’re in a 3G coverage area. It’s a real well-made handset that we have absolutely zero hope of seeing on American soil, at least in the forseeable future…lucky Europeans. They always get the 2100MHz band love. Hit the gallery for the hands on shots!

Click on over to our Motorola Z10 hands on gallery!

What happens when you cram 8 gigs of storage into a Nokia N95? Oh, and how about some American 3G support? Yeah, we thought you’d like that. Bigger screen? Sexy black case? Not bad at all. The US version of the Nokia N95 8GB has been rumored for quite a while, but this is the first we’ve seen of an actual working version. The screen is up to 2.8 inches from the peasent version’s 2.6 inches. The device of course sports 8 gigs of internal memory, though it does away with the smaller version’s microSD slot in the process. What you will get, however, is honest to God support for American 3G bands. Not freakin bad. We prefer the external finish of this one to the original’s as well, so if you can stomach the $749 price tag, we suggest you wait until later this quarter and buy one of your very own. Just remember since the 8GB is internal, the transfer speeds are much slower than you’ll get on an external microSD card. Hit the gallery!

Click on over to our Nokia N95 8GB NAM hands on!

We had a chance to sit down with the fine people from Dash earlier today, and they were eager to show off their innovative new Dash Express GPS navigation unit. From our initial impressions, we think they have a real winner on their hands. The Dash Express is a dash-mounted GPS navigation unit with a twist. It sports the usual array of mapping and navigation utilities, with an interface that rivals some of the more established names for ease of use and sophistication. Where the Dash Express gets unique, however, is with their implementaiton of Wi-Fi and GPRS radios to create a dynamic environment that allows for real-time traffic and POI updates, and much more. The Express can be controlled via the onboard touchscreen as well as by way web-based interface. The web interface allows users to send commonly accessed points of interest, web feeds, and pretty much anything else directly to the device. The interface is slick and fast, providing an excellent end-user experience. The software also includes a set of plugins that work with Firefox, Outlook, and Internet Explorer so users can send addresses embedded in emails and web pages directly to the device by way of a right-click menu — no web-interface required. We’ll have more on this in the coming months, but check out the shots for now!

Click on over to our CES: Dash Express gallery!

While combing through our very special delivery one more time, we noticed something that looked a little out of place. There was a black rectangle box covering up something on the BlackBerry 8xxx slide. When we moved it, guess what was there? Yes, folks. The Rogers branding. While it isn’t the biggest news, this just confirmed something we already knew, and heck, who could resist posting an ultra-super-clear shot of the BlackBerry 8xxx? Enjoy!

We told you there are devices, as in plural, remember? The second exclusive Palm handset we’ve got the info on is codenamed the Palm Wanda. Think of it as a cross between the Palm Centro and the HTC Touch. No, like really, look at the backside on that thing! It looks to be a standard affair, running Windows 6.1, well, Standard. Hit that with a tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio (boo!) and some UMTS/HSDPA action, and you’ve got a Palm Wanda. A 2 megapixel camera, QWERTY keyboard, and GPS are also not left out of the equation. Vodafone said it themselves, this is the successor to the Treo 500v! You know we roll, after the jumpage!

Nope, we’re not talking about a tree here! It looks as if the HP Silver won’t be the only HP handset sporting some HSUPA action. You now have a pretty decent line, with the Standard version, and now the Professional one making the rounds. The HP Oak sports a nifty slide-out QWERTY keyboard with a traditional number pad on the front, in addition to integrated GPS and Wi-Fi. We’re not really judging here, but it looks like you might have some difficulty with that 1010mAh battery. Release date? Thought you’d never ask! September, guys. It’s a long way to go, and ₤260 couldn’t come soon enough. Whittle the HP Oak, so to speak, after the jump!

• title: hp oak

Ch-ch-check it out, y’all! The Nokia Dora in door numero uno! This bad beast is the successor to the Nokia E65. Improving on a bunch of missing features from the original version, you’ll now be able to enjoy things such as GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera. You’ve also got a front-facing video call camera, Wi-Fi, a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio with UMTS/HSDPA (3G bands are not specified), and you got your standard Bluetooth. Last thing? How about a 320×320 display. Sound good? We’re all looking at a Q2 release, and you can expect to shell out ₤280 for it on Vodafone. As usual, the full goods are after the break!

• title: nokia dora

This looks like the first BlackBerry Pearl 2 Vodafone’s going to get, and you shouldn’t have to wait much longer. We’re hearing rumblings of a…yeah, right! It’s right on the slide, and it’s a January release date! This particular model in the BlackBerry Pearl lineup is one we told you about, and that’s the BlackBerry Pearl 8110. This particular model incorporates GPS, but not Wi-Fi. Nothing looks out of place here, so you should fine the regular quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio in there, along with a 2 megapixel camera, SureType, and everything else. There doesn’t seem to be a price listed which is a little strange given the release timeframe, but we’re guessing it won’t hurt your pockets too much. Just remember what’s around the corner chaps…

• title: blackberry 8110

If you don’t feel like dropping some serious coin on one of the other Vodafone devices we’ve showed you, this little Windows Mobile phone might be just up your alley. Set to be priced at ₤120, it doesn’t skimp on too many of the necessities. You won’t find 3G here, but you will get Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, GPS, a full QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, and a decent 320×240 display. The only issue? You’ll be waiting until September to get your grubby mitts on this sucker right here! Check it out up close, after the jump!

HP has fell off for a little bit, but it looks like they might be coming out swingin’. Set to debut also in July, is the HP Silver. It’s a Windows Mobile 6 Standard device, that supports HSUPA! They’re using a 320×240 screen but with a "RIM SureType" keyboard. Virtual BlackBerry OS, anyone? GPS and Wi-Fi aren’t left out, and while it doesn’t specifically state there is Bluetooth, we’d wager on it being included. ₤250 for the HP Silver. Going once, going twice! Fullness after the break!

• title: hp silver