Yeah, the HTC Touch Diamond is a fine phone, but if you’ve ever handled one you’ll notice that the angled back is a bit of a polarizing force. It looks sharp, but causes some problems when you attempt lay the device firmly on a flat surface. Ever the masters of 1000 variations on a similar theme, HTC looks poised to release another version of the Touch Diamond that sports a flat back to replace the angled edges on the current version. Codenamed the HTC Victor, this new handset looks to be functionally identical to the Touch Diamond, save for a new casing on the rear of the phone. It is certainly not the most aesthetically pleasing thing we’ve ever seen, but as far as function goes, we’re happy to see carriers provided with a set of choices. What do you think? Love it or hate it? Couldn’t care less?

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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.

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How’s this for a little community activism? Following a massive public outcry against their criminally high data plan for the upcoming iPhone 3G, Rogers has announced a revised tariff that is much more consumer-friendly. The new plan is being offered on a promotional basis, and offers 6GB of data for $30/month. Sure, it’s nothing close to the unlimited data offered by AT&T for the same amount of scratch, but it’s a sizable improvement over last week’s stats. It seems as if the promotional plan is valid for anyone that activates a new iPhone 3G on a 3-year contract before August 31st. Even so, you might want to go start camping out at your local Rogers dealer, especially if rumors of diminished shipments hold true for launch day. This should make everybody happy.

[Via Engadget]

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Looking for your AT&T fix for the remainder of 2008? We’ve got you covered. The carrier has a number of exciting new handsets planned for the coming months, which should be good news for both the carrier and consumers. Everyone loves selection, right? Right. First up, AT&T is planning to release the BlackBerry Curve 8320 (yeah, we’re scratching our heads too), and the BlackBerry Bold by the end of Q3. On the Windows Mobile side of things, AT&T is planning to drop the Samsung BlackJack III, which should see Windows Mobile 6.1, a 528 MHz processor, 3MP camera, aGPS, and more. Look for a new Pantech Duo sporting Windows Mobile 6.1, GPS, HSDPA, and a 528MHz processor. They also alluded to an HTC Tilt replacement, tentatively dubbed the Tilt II, which should feature a Qualcomm 528 MHz processor, aGPS, HSDPA, 256MB ROM/ 128MB, and more. Touch Pro anyone? Expect to see all three of those by Q4 of this year. Excited yet? Yeah, we thought so, but why stop here. AT&T is also planning a slew of Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrades for existing handsets. The current Pantech Duo should see 6.1 by October, while the BlackJack II, Moto Q9h, and AT&T Tilt will get the royal treatment by July.

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If you’ll recall from our recent review of HTC’s new Touch Diamond handset, we were initially a bit underwhelmed by the performance of the company’s new Touch FLO 3D touch screen interface. The unit that HTC sent us was remarkably sluggish, responding rather tepidly to our best efforts and wrangling it into submission. Turns out we weren’t alone in our observations, and it seems there was some basis to our claim. According to HTC, the test units were sent out with a pre-release version of the ROM that had been let loose without some much-needed final adjustments. Acknowledging their error, HTC recently distributed the official ROM to us. We’re happy to report that the new firmware breathes life into the handset’s interface. Sure, it’s not the most responsive phone we’ve ever used, but everything seems to move much more quickly, making the Touch Diamond a wholly usable handset, which isn’t something we would have said about the first version of the ROM. Furthermore, HTC plans to have yet another ROM revision out by the end of this month, so anyone that might have been turned off by our initial impressions should certainly consider giving this one another look.

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Rumor though this may be, we wouldn’t be too surprised to see the Samsung i788 hitting AT&T sometime in the near future. The handset is essentially a Blackjack III, sporting a form factor that will be more than familiar to current Blackjack I and II owners. The i788 is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device, complete with touch screen, HSDPA, GPS, WiFi, Samsung’s bizarro optical mouse pointer, and more. Unfortunately, it appears to retain the current Blackjack’s keyboard layout, which ranks as one of our least favorite amongst current generation QWERTY handsets. Even so, we can imagine more than a few people jumping at the gate to get their hands on one of these bad boys. No promises that this will actually land AT&T, but recent reports of carrier-branded versions of the handset in the wild lend credence to the possibility. Time will tell.

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Take this for what you will, but one of our ninjas tipped us off to an iPhone ad currently being Portugal by wireless carrier Optimus, which is a subsidiary of Orange. According to the ad, Optimus is going to be offering the iPhone 3G with a monthly tariff on both post and pre-paid accounts. Yep, you read that one correctly. While AT&T has explicitly said that they will not be offering the new iPhone 3G with any sort of pre-paid options, it looks like other carriers are reserving the option to provide the handset without a lengthy contract. The ad doesn’t give any indication as to what we might expect the unsubsidized pricing to be, but we’re working hard to dig up that info. Unfortunately, we’re not expecting any miracles here on the US side of things, as AT&T has been very explicit about the contractual requirements of the iPhone agreements. Remember when the rest of the world was madly trying to import American iPhones? Things might be going the other way this time around.

Thanks, António!

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If you managed to stay awake through the beginning of today’s WWDC Keynote, which was no small feat, you’re probably already aware of the big news. Apple has officially announced the next generation iPhone. The iPhone 3G sports many of the enhancements that have been rumored for months, including 3G data, GPS, updated design, better battery life, and much more. It will also be much cheaper, launching at $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB. The 8GB will be available in black, and the 16GB will launch in both black and white. The new phone will ship with iPhone firmware 2.0, which will include support for Apple’s new “exchange for the rest of us” dubbed MobileMe. The phone looks like a fantastic update to the existing model, but sadly won’t be available until July 11th. Honestly, this killed our morning. What good is a shiny new iPhone if we can’t get our hands on it? Seriously. Hit the link for the official Apple page. Thoughts? Disappointment? Anger? Excitement? Bewilderment? Let us know, as we’ve got plenty of time to discuss the thing before it actually launches in July. Did we mention that this killed our morning? Right.

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Hardware Design:

Let’s get the good stuff out of the way first: this is a sleek, well balanced, attractive handset. It sits well in your hand and feels almost perfectly weighted. There are certainly smaller and thinner phones out there, but HTC has struck an impressive balance between usability and efficiency of design. The hardware button layout is a far cry from the “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” ethos of the Kaiser/Mogul/etc, with 4 hardware navigation buttons (Home, Back, Call Answer, Call End) complemented by a touch-sensitive scroll wheel that doubles as a 4-way D-Pad serving as the main navigation options. A power button on the top and volume keys on the left side of the phone round out the hardware keys. The back of the device reveals the 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera lens and, well, not much else. Our handset is the European version of the Diamond (more on that in a bit), and as such sports a secondary VGA camera for video calls next to the earpiece on the front of the phone. Sadly, this feature will most likely be omitted from any American iterations of the phone. All told, the physical design of the phone is by far one of the best selling points, with a effective compromise between small and usable. While this isn’t specific to the Touch Diamond, we really wish HTC would reconsider their all-in-one min-USB jack. It’s great for charging and file transfers, but especially considering the media-centric appeal of the Diamond, we would appreciate a 3.5 mm headphone jack, as the current configuration limits you to the HTC-supplied headphones unless you’re willing to deal with a cumbersome adapter.

Screen:

As this is a Touch-Screen only device without a physical numeric or QWERTY keypad, the quality of the screen, both in regards to resolution and touch response, is going to determine a lot about how well the handset will perform under day-to-day use. We’re pleased to report that the quality of the display is fantastic, with a bright 2.8″ TFT-LCD with full VGA resolution. Pictures, videos, and web content look beautiful on this thing with a level of clarity not present in your average Windows Mobile handset. Web content looked particularly impressive. Opera and VGA resolution is a killer combo. Unfortunately, the actual touch-screen interface leaves a bit to be desired. Screen presses take an un-nerving amount of pressure to register, often requiring you to tap an icon more than once to register a selection. This, unfortunately, makes the touchscreen QWERTY keypad a bear to use with your bare fingers, and we found ourselves pulling out the stylus on more than one occasion to complete a sentence. The device also feels like it’s moving about a half a second behind your input, which could be contributing to the feeling of unresponsiveness. We hate to make the obvious comparison, but HTC is obviously gunning for the iPhone market with this one and, sadly, the screen just can’t compete with the way that Apple’s finest seems to effortlessly respond to your every input.

Connectivity:

This is where things get a bit tough to call. The Touch Diamond is technically a 3.5G device, sporting 7.2 HSDPA. Unfortunately, our test device is a European spec dual-band 900/2100 MHz HSDPA handset with tri-band 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/EDGE support. As such, our data tests were basically limited to whatever EDGE signal we could pull down off of the the 1900 MHz band. HSDPA was definitely a no-go, and at times we had trouble connecting getting an EDGE signal. We’ll give HTC a pass on this one, as any American carrier-supported device should be fleshed out with the appropriate radios, but it was a bit disappointing nonetheless. We’re happy to report, however, that Wi-Fi was dead simple to set up, and the Diamond seemed to hold its Wi-Fi signal pretty damn well. We had some trouble acquiring a GPS signal, though once we finally locked in Google Maps worked like a charm.

Sound and Call Quality:

Call quality is above average on the internal earpiece, and callers commented on the clarity of calls initiated from the Diamond. The speakerphone is decent in a quiet environment, but forget about making calls in that Aston convertible, as speaker volume leaves something to be desired. MP3’s sounded surprisingly good given the size of the speaker, but volume is definitely an issue.

TouchFLO 3D:

Here’s where things get interesting. HTC’s new Touch FLO 3D is, without question, the most aesthetically pleasing Windows Mobile skin we’ve ever seen. If you thought the HTC customizations on the original Touch and the Shadow were impressive, you’ll be blown away by the new version. The company has set a new standard for turning Windows Mobile’s corporate whitewash appearance into something you might actually call “attractive”. When we spoke with HTC in London last month, the company indicated that they would be rolling out Touch FLO 3D along much of their lineup, which should go a long way towards countering some of the “ugly” stigma attached to the Windows Mobile platform. Touch FLO 3D goes much deeper than the original iteration of the Touch interface, with just about every commonly accessed application receiving the 3D treatment. Contacts, weather, email, SMS, media, and more have all come under the 3D spell, and HTC’s meticulous attention to visual detail is abundantly apparent. While not technically a Touch FLO 3D application, the Opera browser with gesture support is particularly well implemented. It makes use of the touch sensitive scroll wheel, allowing you to zoom in and out with a simple swipe around the wheel. The browser also automatically reformats text columns to eliminate side to side scrolling while reading web content. It has some performance issues, but from a purely visual stand point we think Opera has developed a worthy competitor to mobile Safari, and we applaud HTC’s decision to circumvent the onboard Pocket Internet Explorer.

If HTC hopes to turn Touch FLO 3D into the next great mobile movement, however, they’re going to have to put some serious effort into improving performance. As we mentioned above, the touch screen interface often felt laggy and unresponsive. While some of this may be due to the actual screen design, we have a sneaking suspicion that the might be a more systemic issue in play here. The 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor should be more than sufficient, but for whatever reason it feels like the TouchFLO interface is just too much for the device to handle. Scanning through the home screen menu often takes more patience than we’d care to muster, and launching applications is frequently an exercise in frustration. Seriously folks, we really wanted to like Touch FLO 3D, but if this implementation is any indication we think HTC needs to perform some serious hardware tweaks before moving forward. It’s certainly pretty, but looks don’t mean much if the performance isn’t there to back it up. If pressed, we’d probably compare the Diamond to a Ferrari with a Chevy Cobalt engine. It’s that bad, folks.

Expandability:

The Diamond sports a healthy 4GB of internal memory, all of which is user accessible. This leaves plenty of space of music, movies, and pictures. Unfortunately, there isn’t any sort of expansion slot, so once you fill up the internal storage your out of luck. Hopefully 4 gigs is enough to cover day to day use.

Battery:

There were some initial concerns about the stamina of the 900mAh battery. While it’s not going to win any awards for usage time, the Diamond stood up well under several days of heavy use, easily making it through a full day before running out of juice. HTC indicated that they had made some serious tweaks to efficiently accommodate the small battery, and whatever the did worked admirably.

Conclusion:

As we said at the beginning of the review, this is one of the most visually attractive Windows Mobile handsets we’ve used. The physical design is impressive, and the Touch FLO 3D interface is a thing of aesthetic beauty. Unfortunately, the performance issues we encountered would make us hesitant to put this into our regular rotation. We also couldn’t stop comparing it to the iPhone and how many things HTC “borrowed”. There’s the slide-the-button menu to enable or disable Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc., a lock button on the top of the device, an A-Z alphabet on the right side of the contacts application which works just like the iPhone’s, the double-tap in Opera to zoom in and out of pages, and others. We understand there are only so many ways to create a usable UI for a touch screen phone, but we still couldn’t help thinking of most of it as a fake iPhone. If HTC manages to clear up some of the performance issues with a future firmware update, we could possibly see the Diamond as a suitable contender, but as it stands, there are a number of other viable handsets that deserve a look if you’re in the market for a touchscreen device.

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Remember last year just before the initial iPhone launch? EDGE dropped off for a while and then came back with a vengeance. Prior to the iPhone waterfall that clogged up all of AT&T’s shiny new pipes, we were seeing data speeds of up to 200 - 250 kbps on AT&T’s EDGE network in the New York area. Then the iPhone dropped. Here we are again, getting close to the inevitable iPhone 2 release and oddly enough, AT&T’s 3G services started getting spotty yesterday afternoon in the New York area. Outages sometimes lasted several hours at a time. This morning however, 3G seems to be live again in and to the west of New York City. What’s more, it looks like HSDPA speeds have received a nice little boost since coming back up. For the past few months we’ve been seeing average download speeds between 500 - 800 kbps with a spike here and there. This morning’s tests however, are yielding between 1400 - 1500 kbps. Nice. We’re now hearing that AT&T 3G is still down to the north of the city so one can only assume we’re in the midst of some rolling upgrades. Enjoy it while it lasts people; the iPhone 2 will be out soon enough and AT&T’s networks will be hammered just like last year.

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Using Windows Mobile Live suite of applications on your Nokia S60 enabled handset is now possible thanks to, well, Microsoft. They’ve released an official version of Windows Live Messenger, Live contacts, Spaces, and Hotmail tailor made for Nokia devices, and the software suite automatically syncs your phone contacts with your Hotmail contacts. You can also send images and files direct from your handset by way of Windows Live Messenger. Installation is available immediately, directly from Microsoft.

[Via Gizmodo]

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Enamored with the HTC Touch Diamond but think that the lack of a physical keyboard is a deal-breaker? We might be one step closer to your perfect handset. Shots of the HTC Raphael were revealed to the world leading up to this month’s Touch Diamond press event, but when the 6th of May came and went without a QWERTY version of HTC’s next generation handset, many left a bit disappointed. Thankfully, help is on the way. The HTC Raphael will be branded in Europe as the T-Mobile MDA Vario IV, and should hit the ground running sometime during Q2 of this year. The handset will sport WiFi, Bluetooth, Tri-Band GSM with HSDPA, GPS, 460×640 screen, 3.2 MP camera, 528 mhz processor, and a slew of other features. No word on whether TouchFLO 3D will be integrated, but the impression we got from HTC in London was that their impressive new Touch interface would be offered on a variety of devices, and we see no reason why the Raphael shouldn’t be one of them. No word on pricing or specific drop date, but given the tri-band GSM status we’re not holding our breath for an imminent stateside release. Seriously though, when has HTC ever offered tri-band devices in recent years? What happened to all high-end devices having quad-band EDGE and tri-band UMTS? 

[Via Engadget]

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In move that would be very welcome over here in the States, it looks like Orange France might be offering incentives to attract current iPhone owners to the next generation device. Apparently, the company is offering current iPhone owners a new 3G iphone for 50 Euros if they trade in their old device. Current users wishing to upgrade and hold on to their current handset can expect “generous subsidies”. Orange hasn’t released any official statement on the matter, so we’re not sure how widespread the incentive program may be, but if any other global iPhone carriers want to jump on the subsidy bandwagon, we’d be all for it.

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The long wait is over. HTC and Best Buy are finally getting ready to make the North American version of the HTC Touch Dual available to U.S. customers. The handset will be on sale at Best Buy retail locations, on the Best Buy website, and through any specialized Best Buy Mobile store. The big news here is that the Touch Dual will come complete with Windows Mobile 6.1, making it one of the first handsets on the market to sport the revamped operating system. Other highlights include HSDPA, 2 megapixel camera, and HTC’s soon-to-be-obsolete TouchFLO interface. Expect to shell out $549 before tax.

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Back on Wednesday we told you about AT&T’s plans to drastically improve its HSPA coverage by the end of June. Needless to say, the move is related to the impending release of the 3G iPhone that we all hate hearing about. If you recall, EDGE speeds more than doubled just prior to the release of the first iPhone so the timing of these HSPA upgrades only make sense. But wait, why is AT&T so keen on stressing the addition of HSUPA with speeds up to 800 Kbps? Clearly it has something to do with the upcoming 3G iPhone, but what could eat up so much bandwidth in that direction? Ahhh, how about video calling? Rumors surfaced a while back that the new iPhone will sport a front-facing camera and 1 + 1 = 2 last we checked. This people, will be the true test of Apple fanboyism - if it’s true of course. Video calling has been around forever and it has hardly been the rage that many thought it would be years ago. If Apple can manage to get people not only excited about video calling, but also actually using video calling, then Stevie really can do anything…

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The long, cold wait for an official HTC TyTN II Windows Mobile 6.1 build will soon be over. According to several sources, HTC is in the final stages of preparing an official firmware update. The revamped OS will be made available for HTC branded devices sometime over the next several days, with an AT&T version for the Tilt coming sometime after that. Nothing unexpected in the actual update, with threaded SMS, a Getting Started Wizard, and modest performance improvements topping the list of changes. We’d still recommend loading this one up, however, so stay tuned for the upcoming official launch.

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Here’s some good news, folks. AT&T has just announced that they will have full HSPA coverage across their entire 3G network by the end of June. Currently, 275 AT&T markets sport full HSDPA/HSUPA coverage. That number is expected to rise to 350 by the end of next month. If all this sounds a bit familiar, you’re probably on to something. The company embarked on a massive EDGE network upgrade last year, just prior to the release of the EDGE capable iPhone. It’s no secret that Apple’s new handset will sport a 3G radio, and the proposed USP improvements are no-doubt related to the impending launch. As excited as we are, we’d still love to see full 3G penetration across their entire network, but we’re guessing that might take a bit longer.

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Since we were the first ones to break the news about a touchscreen BlackBerry device, it’s only fitting that we follow up and give y’all the real lowdown on it! This is going to excite a lot of people, but anger many. Are you ready? The BlackBerry Thunder, as it is codenamed now, (all you "reporting" on it as the Storm are incorrect) will launch in Q3 of this year. It is a full touchscreen BlackBerry — no slide out keyboard — with only 4 physical keys. Those are the send / end phone keys, the BlackBerry menu key, and the back key. Here is the most interesting part, though: it will launch as a worldwide lifetime exclusive on Verizon and Vodafone! We’ve heard the unit will be a hybrid device with CDMA EV-DO Rev. C (for clarification, Rev C., known as UMB is practically dead. If the device will indeed launch with a 4G solution, our bet is on LTE), and GSM HSPA for traveling internationally. Verizon and Vodafone will have the same unit. Currently, the model number is the BlackBerry 9500, though it’s very early and that’s likely to change. This is HUGE for the Verizon lovers. For once they’ll get an exclusive device, but Verizon will have a sales quota for the device and if they don’t meet those numbers, we’ve heard the exclusivity will then dissolve and it’s over. This will be extremely interesting to see play out.

P.S. No, you morons, the image above is not real. Didn’t we go through this once before?

P.P.S. For futher clarification about the whole LTE thing, the chip might support it, but that does not mean the network will be ready by any means…OK?

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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.

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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.

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Ok, here’s the full scoop: T-Mobile’s 3G data network has launched in New York City as we all know. Officially according to T-Mobile, this does include UMTS/HSDPA data. T-Mo goes on to say that by the end of the year they expect most major metropolitan cities to have coverage, but for now, it’s just New York City. Press release after the jump!

T-Mobile USA Begins Commercial 3G Network Rollout

Company Launches UMTS/HSDPA Network in New York City on its AWS Spectrum;
Plans 3G Network Launches in Major Markets Across the Country in the Coming Months
 
NEW YORK and BELLEVUE, Wash. – May 5, 2008– T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced that the company has taken the first commercial step in the rollout of its third-generation (3G) wireless network by launching its UMTS/HSDPA network in New York City. T-Mobile plans to continue the rollout of its 3G network across major metropolitan markets through the year. By year’s end, T-Mobile expects its high-speed data network will be available in those cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services.

“The launch of our 3G network comes at a time when 3G phones and services are more affordable, capable and appealing to our consumer marketplace than ever before,” said Cole Brodman, chief development officer, T-Mobile USA. “We benefit not only from the economic scale of 3G, but also from the extensive commercial experience of 3G in our European markets. Today, T-Mobile USA customers already have among the highest adoption of data and messaging services in the industry. Through our 3G network, we look forward to delivering a rich portfolio of new and meaningful services to enrich our customers’ lives.”

T-Mobile’s 3G network supports voice and data services consistent with available service and handset offerings. The company today offers multiple phones that are able to operate on the UMTS network. The phones are designed to automatically connect to the best available network (3G or GSM/GPRS/EDGE) to provide the great call quality and rich communication services customers expect from T-Mobile.

Customers using a 3G-capable handset from T-Mobile will also experience faster data speeds when accessing the Web, or downloading content from the T-Mobile t-zones content portal, for example.
 
In the coming months, T-Mobile plans to offer its first HSDPA device, along with new and compelling data-centric, all-in-one devices that help make the most of T-Mobile’s high-speed data network.

The launch of the 3G network also enables T-Mobile to accommodate and serve more customers more efficiently through the use of its AWS spectrum, effectively doubling T-Mobile USA’s spectrum position, and laying the foundation for the company’s future growth. T-Mobile and the U.S. government, namely the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice, continue to work closely and effectively together to make available AWS spectrum that will give consumers access to the 3G network.

As the 3G service rolls out in targeted major markets, T-Mobile will continue to build upon its
T-Mobile® HotSpot Wi-Fi network — its wireless high-speed Internet offering that launched in 2003 — and its nationwide voice and data network, to empower customers to effortlessly stay connected using the best available network.

T-Mobile International is following a common technology path across all of its markets in Europe and the United States, from GSM/GPRS/EDGE to UMTS/HSDPA. T-Mobile USA greatly benefits from
T-Mobile International’s 3G experiences in Europe, where adoption of non-messaging mobile data is growing dynamically; and with more than 120 million customers worldwide, T-Mobile International is able to generate significant global procurement synergies.

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Rogers wireless has just officially launched the Nokia N95 8GB, making them the first North American carrier to official support Nokia’s flagship handset. The phone will be available starting May 6th, which is next Tuesday for all you calendar-challenged folks, for $399 with a 3-year contract. Just shy of $400 isn’t too bad, but we wouldn’t sign a 3-year contract unless someone was holding us at gun point, so proceed at your own risk. Then again, this is one hell of a handset, and if official carrier support is your thing then this is pretty much your only option. For our readers up North, will you be scooping this thing up next week?

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If the contents of a leaked consumer survey from Garmin are to be believed, it looks like the answer is yes. Following a series of questions about user habits and preferences, Garmin drops a real bomb, asking survey-takers if they would be inclined to purchase a Nuviphone if it was offered by AT&T for a 2-year subsidized price of $499, requiring a $20/month data add-on that includes unlimited browsing and GPS navigation. $499 is, umm, a little high for an unproven device, but we’re certainly a fan of the $20/month data add on, especially considering this thing packs full HSDPA and GPS support.

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• 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!

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Were the spy shots and leaked specs not enough to hold you over until the official launch? We’ve got a bit more info on the upcoming HTC next generation devices. The new handsets will be called the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, and the HTC Touch Dual Pro. The Touch Diamond is the Diamond, the Touch Pro is the Raphael, and the Touch Dual Pro is apparently a refresh of the existing HTC Touch Dual. As far as specs go, we’re still not 100% clear, but the specifics floating around include (courtesy of WMExperts):

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Qualcomm MSM 7201A @ 528MHz
• 256MB ROM / 128MB RAM
• 7.2MB HSDPA / HSUPA (rev A EVDO for Sprint versions)
• 2.8" VGA screen
• WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• eGPS
• 3.1MP Camera with flash
• Forward facing camera
• 4GB internal flash storage (Diamond only) - Samsung MoviNAND
• TV out (Raphael only)
• Orientation sensor
• FM Radio
• microSD expansion
• 900mAh battery
• Diamond: 51 x 99 x 10.7mm
• Raphael: 51 x 99 x 17mm

No word just yet on when we can expect these to launch, but we have a feeling it will have something to do with May 6th.

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If these reports pan out, we could have a lot of happy Canadians on our hands by the end of the summer. According to two separate reports, both the iPhone and the Nokia N95 could be hitting Canadian soil by summertime. The Toronto Star seems to have it on good authority that the iPhone will be coming to Rogers in time for an upcoming promotional campaign including the LG Vu and HTC Touch. Notice a theme? The promo campaign is supposed to begin sometime between late May and early June. Could this all be timed to coincide with the next gen iPhone launch? Time will tell. On the N95 front, rumors point to a May 2nd release for the high-end handset.  If true, Rogers will be launching the N95 for $699 retail, with subsidies expected for new contracts. As always, these are rumors, but it’s high time both handsets were made official up North, so we wouldn’t be shocked to see at least one of these pan out.

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Sure, satellite phones are relatively common these days, but something like this certainly deserves a second look. The Elektrobit Satellite handset is probably the dopest satellite phone we’ve ever seen. For starters, this thing runs a full version of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, sporting the requisite touchscreen interface to complement its software. In addition to connecting to a satellite network for "always-on" access, the handset is also equipped to handle GSM networks, with an HSDPA data radio to challenge your standard handsets. Not too shabby. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 3 megapixel camera, and microSD slot round out the feature set. The keyboard doesn’t look half bad, and if Elektrobit can slot this in with competitive pricing as promised, we might just see a satellite phone fit for mass consumption by the time its scheduled 2009 arrival rolls around.

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