Could today have been a more exciting day? AT&T certainly thinks so, which is why it just announced it’s informing both Apple and the FCC of its network’s readiness and willingness to allow VoIP apps to operate over its 3G network. IPhone included. Wow. That’s a pretty awesome move, and totally out of left field. Hit the jump to check out AT&T’s press release.

AT&T EXTENDS VOIP TO 3G NETWORK FOR IPHONE

DALLAS, October 6, 2009 – AT&T today announced it has taken the steps necessary so that Apple can enable VoIP applications on iPhone to run on AT&T’s wireless network. Previously, VoIP applications on iPhone were enabled for Wi-Fi connectivity. For some time, AT&T has offered a variety of other wireless devices that enable VoIP applications on 3G, 2G and Wi-Fi networks. AT&T this afternoon informed Apple Inc. and the FCC of its decision.

In late summer, AT&T said it was taking a fresh look at VoIP capabilities on iPhone for use on AT&T’s 3G network, consistent with its regular review of device features and capabilities to ensure attractive options for consumers.

“iPhone is an innovative device that dramatically changed the game in wireless when it was introduced just two years ago,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO, AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets. “Today’s decision was made after evaluating our customers’ expectations and use of the device compared to dozens of others we offer.”

AT&T allows customers to download or launch on their wireless devices a multitude of compatible applications directly from any lawful Internet website. Additionally, because AT&T uses GSM technology, the most pervasive and open wireless technology platform in the world, we support customers using any GSM phone that works on AT&T’s frequencies.

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Not super excited about the November launch of Bell’s HSPA network? Fair enough, but we think you’ll change your mind once we tell you what The Globe and Mail is reporting: both Bell and TELUS are going to be selling the Apple iPhone next month. Apple, Bell and TELUS declined to speak to the matter when asked, but the fact remains that not only does this make sense considering the fact exclusivity deals are already starting to fizzle out in the UK, but for the simple fact that if The Globe and Mail says its going to happen you can confidently bet your bottom dollar that it will happen 99 times out of 100. If not, we’re going cancel our subscription for our Canadian office. Rogers, we are awaiting emails from your PR people.

Thanks, Scott, and everyone else who sent this one in!

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You know as soon as you hear the name ‘Corby’ that you’re not in for the most exciting handset, but it appears that what was once thought to be a single device — the Corby S6350 — is actually an entire line. Early this morning, Samsung announced both the CorbyTXT B3210 and the CorbyPRO B5310. The CorbyTXT, available in Europe this month, touts a full-QWERTY keypad, 2 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, and interchangeable faceplates while the CorbyPRO (available in November) sees the TXT’s specs and raises it a touchscreen, sliding QWERTY keypad, 3 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 3G. No word on availability here in the Wild West but we have a feeling no one will be losing any sleep waiting for Sammy to ship these guys across the pond.

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In the run up to the launch of Windows Mobile 6.5, manufacturers and carriers are trying to tantalize fan bases with new and exciting products. Unfortunately there really hasn’t been anything we would deem “wow worthy” up to this point (announced officially, that is), though Samsung seems to think its short-term strategy is all that. First off, Sammy finally got around to announcing the OmniaPRO B7330, a low-end full-QWERTY number with a 320×320 display, 3 megapixel camera, FM tuner and 7.2Mbps HSDPA/2Mbps HSUPA connectivity. Second, it announced that the OmniaLITE B7300 will ship with WinMo 6.5 as with all Omnia models shipped after 6.5 goes live. Third and lastly, Samsung announced that later on in the year at a time not specified, Samsung will release WinMo 6.5 upgrades for the Omnia II i800, OmniaPRO B7320, and OmniaPRO B7610 alongside “a set of customized strategies to differentiate and expand sales of each model by appealing to a broad spectrum of user groups.” We haven’t a clue what Samsung has in mind in terms of customization, but we do have this nagging feeling that it won’t exactly knock anyone’s socks off.

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Well boys and girls, welcome to the final installment of Carrier Wars — the series of features in which we call upon our readers who represent each of the four major US wireless carriers to report the 3G speeds they’re experiencing across the country. It’s been quite a trip but the fourth and final carrier, T-Mobile USA, is now accounted for, which means its time to line everyone up side by side and see where the chips fell. So sit back, relax and hit the jump to see how your carrier stacks up against the competition.

To quickly recap where we’re at right now: AT&T was first up and recorded a pretty respectable average download speed of 933kbps, besting next in line, Verizon Wireless, by a solid 232kbps. The nation’s number three carrier, Sprint Nextel, was next to bat and it knocked one out of the park. Sprint set the bar quite high with an average download speed of 1361kbps, leaving T-Mobile with quite a hill to climb should it manage to register an upset. Tmo has the newest 3G network with the least amount of congestion however, so number four could definitely swoop in and surprise us all, Right? Right? Yeah, not so much.

• Average download speed: 786kbps
• Median download speed: 748kbps
• Average upload speed: 177kbps
• Median upload speed: 136kbps

According to the speeds experienced and recorded by our readers, T-Mobile slides into the number three slot having bested Big Red by 85kbps. On the upload side of things, T-Mobile comes in dead last with an average speed of 177kbps, just short of the equally pathetic 180kbps put up by AT&T. Of note, T-Mobile was definitely the most consistent carrier our readers tested — the speed test results were very level compared to the sharp peaks and deep valleys found in other carrier’s test results. In fact, trimming the download data to omit oddities as we did with the three other carriers barely affected T-Mobile’s numbers at all: Dropping the top and bottom five results left us with a download average of 767kbps and cutting the top and bottom 10 yielded 773kbps.

All things considered, Tmo has poured a lot into its 3G network — despite being insanely late to the party — so these results are somewhat disheartening. Subscribers shouldn’t despair, however. T-Mobile has no intention of getting caught with its pants down twice and it is already hard at work developing its 4G network, which will reportedly be deployed not long after the big boys’ LTE setups get the green light.

Let’s take a quick look at everything lined up nice and pretty:

Average Download Speed

1. Sprint: 1361kbs
2. AT&T: 933kbps
3. T-Mobile: 786kbps
4. Verizon: 701kbps

Average Upload Speed

1. Verizon: 322kbps
2. Sprint: 267kbps
3. AT&T: 180kbps
4. T-Mobile: 177kbps

There you have it folks — the final act of Carrier Wars is officially a wrap. While these numbers shouldn’t be considered absolute or scientific, they certainly give an accurate representation of each carrier’s 3G network speeds as experienced by our readers. So what does everyone think? Did the carriers’ performances land where you thought they would or were you surprised by our findings? Hit the comment section and be heard.

Again; for those interested, here is the data collected for T-Mobile.

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carriers’ 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carriers as experienced by those readers who performed speed tests and shared their results. Stop whining.

It’s Saturday and we’re in the midst of a company picnic that involves copious amounts of alcohol and plenty of good old fashioned debauchery, but we thought we’d take the time to let all the BlackBerry lovers out there know that Canada’s Bell now allegedly has the BlackBerry Bold 9700 in its system. Upon seeing the handset in inventory, it’s easy to jump to conclusions and assume that the new Bold is about to ship to dealers (and that Bell’s HSPA network overlay is about to have its switch flicked). We should caution you though, that it’s pretty standard for all Bell devices to show up in the inventory system as many as four months ahead of launch. Translation: sit tight and keep the faith.

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Ever since it was first announced at CES, people have been clamoring for a GSM version of the Palm Pre. About a month back we got our wish, but unfortunately the GSM Pre as we knew it did not include US 3G. We say ‘knew’ because the Wi-Fi Alliance recently certified a new variant of the Palm Pre, the P100UNA, complete with 850/1900MHz UMTS/HSPA. Wooo. Ordinarily we would assume this is a good indication that the Pre will be hitting up AT&T or Rogers after Sprint and Bell’s respective exclusivity periods are over, but considering that TELUS is about to make the move to HSPA we can’t help but wonder if perhaps the Pre will be one of its first smartphones.

[Via PreCentral]

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What a long strange trip it’s been, mobile fans. Our Carrier Wars series has managed to tons of conversation surrounding the state of wireless carriers here in the US. Sure a lot of it is senseless banter, but beyond that there are legions of subscribers who are genuinely interested in learning what kind of performance BGR readers from across the country experience on their respective carriers. We told you each of the big four here in the US would be covered and sure enough, here we are at the last stop: T-Mobile USA. While T-Mobile’s 3G network is still in its infancy — albeit horribly late in the game — subscribers are often quick to sing Tmo’s 3G performance praise. Well T-Moblers, it’s your time to shine. If you have a 3G-ready handset and happen to find yourself in a covered region, we want to know what kind of speed you’re seeing. Remember, an ideal report includes handset model, AVERAGE download speed, AVERAGE upload speed and a link to a screenshot of your test. Feel free to throw your maximum speed numbers in there as well but they don’t concern us. Ok — hit the comments section and get to work!

Well the numbers are in folks, and we’re pretty surprised to reveal that AT&T’s 3G network might not be the travesty many thought it was. Don’t get us wrong — it is in fact abysmal in countless areas across the country. According to results recorded by our readers however, it’s also pretty solid in many areas. Some quick background: Yesterday, we posted about how terrible AT&T 3G is for us in the NYC area. We then asked readers to let us know where they are, what phone they’re using and results of an AT&T’s 3G speed test. Many complied — so why not take a look at the numbers?

After going through the comments and weeding out speed tests from other networks and chatter, we were left with about 200 results as of just after 11:30am this morning. Readers posted from all around the country using a variety of different phones. Generally, the bulk of the results came from iPhones and BlackBerrys, and locales were in and around major cities for the most part. Here’s what we found:

• Average download speed: 933kbps
• Median download speed: 840kbps
• Average upload speed: 180kbps
• Median upload speed: 215kbps

As you can see, things might not be so bad after all. An average download speed in the mid-900s is actually pretty respectable, comparatively. Upload speeds are a disaster on the the other hand, but we know they’re limited for the time being so not much can be done there.

Truth be told, we were blown away by some of the results. Several users posted download speeds above 2,000kbps with the fastest result skewing our data a bit at 3,663kbps (from Austin, TX) [UPDATE: the commenter who posted this result made a mistake, as pointed out below (he was on Wi-Fi). The numbers have been updated with his 3G speed test results]. Speaking of skewing, we did notice that the median download speed was noticeably lower than the average speed, so we decided to trim the results a bit and see what would happen:

• Average download speed, top and bottom five results discarded: 920kbps
• Average download speed, top and bottom 10 results discarded: 914kbps

Dropping the top and bottom 10 results delivers an average speed that is slower by almost 20kbps. Long story short, there were definitely more people on the low end of the spectrum than on the high end.

So in the end, what have we learned? There are areas where AT&T’s 3G service is definitely solid. There are even areas where it’s blazing fast. Unfortunately, it looks like there are many more areas where the carrier’s 3G service is less than adequate — we had several results in the double-digits which is flat out atrocious. People complain far louder than they praise of course, so until AT&T can step up its game in major cities where service is lacking we’ll continue to hear about how bad things are far more often than we hear about how good they are.

As for the iPhone 3GS actually seeing anything close to 7.2Mbps any time soon… Yeah, we’re not holding our breath.

Here is the data, if anyone else wants to play with the numbers. [Updated data now available]

Disclaimer: The results of these tests are not collected in a controlled environment and therefore should not be considered to represent a concrete indication of the above carrier’s 3G network speeds and/or performance in general. These results merely provide the average 3G network speeds of the above carrier as experienced by those readers who perform speed tests and share their results. Stop whining.

Since the iPhone 3G was released over a year ago, AT&T customers in many regions have experienced the slow and painful decay of what had once been an incredibly solid 3G network. The bottom line is that AT&T’s network is now so congested in many populated regions that it’s become a sick, laughable joke. Now, don’t get us wrong. In many areas AT&T’s 3G service is still rocking and rolling according to countless subscribers — we just wish we could find those areas. Here in and around NYC, continued woes have prompted us to perform several speed tests over the past few weeks to get a handle on exactly why calls are constantly dropped (if they’re even connected to begin with) and why data seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. The screenshot above shows the results of one such test. Arrows and cheeky thumb’s up aside, the image is not doctored. 38… kilobits… per… second… average… download… speed. Imagine a carrier with the cojones to advertise “the nation’s fastest 3G network” when even one speed test result could be that abysmal.

To be fair, the screen capture above represents the worst result we saw during our tests. What was the best, you might be wondering? 384kbps. Yes that’s kilobits, not kilobytes. Our typical results were in the low 300s — still quite pathetic — and all of our tests were performed with either an iPhone 3GS or a BlackBerry Bold. These results, mind you, follow AT&T’s claim to have recently added 75 new cells in the NY Metro area. Now, when you’re a carrier whose flagship handset includes an “S” for “speed” in its name and it’s capable of download speeds up to 7.2Mbps, you better be on top of your game — especially in a densely populated region like NYC and the surrounding area. 384kbps isn’t going to cut it and 38kbps most definitely isn’t going to cut it. Yet the company continues to carry on about current network speeds and its plans to roll out 7.2Mbps HSPA.

So now, people, it’s time for roll call. If you’re on AT&T we want to know where you are, what phone you’re using and what kind of speeds you’re getting when you test. Extra points if you link a screenshot. Oh and just for fun, this is from an iPhone 3GS on Rogers earlier this afternoon:

Ever since we first messed around with an HTC Hero a few months back we’ve been dreaming about it. Unfortunately we weren’t able to snag one from HTC, but one of our ninjas came through and the one we got (no offense) is so much better — it’s the Teflon Don white version! Instead of that soft-touch rubberized coating, the white variation has a Teflon-based coating which apparently holds up better to nicks and scratches while providing a luxurious-feeling finish that’s pretty much fingerprint and smudge free. Because this isn’t a final device, there’s no box, but do we really care? Nope. While we bang through the review, bounce over to our gallery to check out some flicks!

Click on over to our HTC Hero gallery!

Well lookie what we have here. One of our ninjas just hit us with the skinny on a big announcement from up North scheduled to hit the wire tomorrow. How does a 7.2Mbps HSPA embedded netbook for $299.99 CAD with a 2-contract sound? That’s right, Rogers is apparently ready to announce its first 3.5G embedded netbook offering tomorrow and it’s all set to attack that fresh (kind of) new HSPA network. The netbook, an HP Mini 110, will feature an Intel Atom processor, up to 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and a keyboard that is 92 percent the size of a standard laptop keyboard. It will also require a data plan of course, starting at $25 CAD per month plus fees. If you decide to snag one of these puppies however, we definitely recommend going for one of the bigger monthly plans as $25 only gets you 500MB per month. At 7.2Mbps, or somewhere close at least, that’s just not going to cut it. Hit the jump for the full release.

Rogers Introduces Canada’s First 3.5G Embedded Netbooks

Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks offer built-in mobile broadband technology for the ultimate access to your online world

TORONTO, ON – July 10, 2009 – Another innovation first from Rogers was announced today with the launch of mobile Internet ready netbooks.  Canada’s fastest network is now the mobile Internet service provider for the first 3.5G embedded laptops in Canada – exclusively from HP.

The HP Mini 110 netbooks now available include embedded mobile broadband technology to connect to the Web over Rogers 3.5G wireless network across Canada – three times faster than any other – offering customers the freedom to choose when and where they enjoy a true broadband Internet experience. With download speeds up to 7.2 Mbps, Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks deliver the ultimate convenience and productivity for work or play online with just a few clicks – no need to search for WiFi or wired access.

“Just as voice communications have long expanded beyond finding a pay phone or waiting until you get home to make a call, as the Internet evolves from a source of information to an enabler of communication, mobile Internet ready netbooks are the perfect companion to our richly connected lives,” says Mansell Nelson, Vice President of Business Product Management, Rogers Wireless. “Rogers is proud to lead this innovative new product category and now offer our customers an even wider selection of wireless products to meet their mobile needs.”

The HP Mini 110 is available for $299.99, exclusively at Future Shop and Best Buy stores across Canada with a two year plan. Wireless data plans for Rogers mobile Internet ready netbooks start at just $25.00, plus $6.95 system access fee and other fees a month for 500 MB.

HP Mini 110 Series PC

• Featuring a 10.1-inch display and a keyboard that is 92 per cent the size of a standard notebook PC, the HP Mini 110 starts at 2.57 pounds and measures just over one-inch thick.Powered by an Intel Atom Processor, the HP Mini 110 supports up to 1 GB of memory and comes equipped with a 160 GB hard drive.

“Whether it’s for business or personal use, Canadians want a fast connection to the Internet whenever and wherever they happen to be,” says Jeff Cates, Vice President of Consumer Marketing at HP Canada. “Through this first-of-its-kind offering in Canada, HP wants to continue to deliver the technology our customers need to meet the needs of their increasingly mobile lifestyles.”

The Rogers 3.5G HSPA network is now available in more than 25 of Canada’s top markets from Victoria to Halifax, reaching more than 75 per cent of the population. For more information on current coverage areas, please visit www.rogers.com/coverage.

For the past two weeks, the Android scene has been all Hero this, Sense that but apparently there are a few other players in the Google game trying to make a name for themselves. Enter Vobis Computer’s HIGHSCREEN PP5420, the newest Android handset to hit the street complete with an IRS tax form sounding name. In terms of specs, the PP5420 is not exactly cutting edge but it’s still sharp enough to go toe to toe with the majority of its competition: Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band 7.2Mbps HSPA connectivity, a 528MHz processor, 256MB ROM / 128MB RAM, 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen display, 3 megapixel auto-focus camera, Wi-Fi, aGPS, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR and a 1080 mAh battery. The cost? $500ish unlocked.

[Via Unwired View]

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Right on cue, HTC has announced its latest Android device in the Hero. With many of the Hero’s specs being the same as the Magic, the handset does manage to beat out the Magic with its 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, 3.5mm headphone jack (finally!!!), improved battery life and Adobe Flash support. But what makes the Hero really exciting is the fresh new GUI overlay. Much like with TouchFLO 3D for Windows Mobile, the new HTC Sense UI gives Android a much needed injection of style and functionality by allowing users to keep the content that matter to them — such as weather, contacts, photos, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and bookmarks — at their fingertips.

Another feature found within Sense is Scenes, which essentially allows users to switch from “work to weekend mode” (think of it as Modes on Nokia’s Eseries but sexier) and also helps organize emails, texts, photos, Facebook updates, call logs and more per contract entry much like Palm’s webOS. The Hero’s dedicated Search button features Spotlight-like search, meaning finding the contact, email, app, Tweet and more you’re looking for couldn’t be more simple. One last thing — the Hero is coated in Teflon that not only feels soft to the touch and thus easier to grip, but also protects the devices paint job from your greasy hands.

The Hero will be available next month in Europe with Asian availability coming in the later summer months (Orange UK has already announced it will be carrying the Hero in graphite for as low as £0 on contract this July). As for North Americans, well, we’re just going to have to wait for a little while longer. Hit the jump for the complete specs, some pics and a video.

• Android with HTC Sense
• 112mm x 56.2mm x 14.35mm, 135g
• Qualcomm MSM7200A 528MHz processor
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band 7.2Mbps HSPA/WCDMA
• 512 ROM / 288 RAM
• 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touchscreen
• 5.0 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Gravity sensor
• Digital compass
• WiFi 802.11b/g
• GPS
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR + A2DP
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• microSD
• 1350 mAh battery
• 420 minutes talktime / 750 hours standby (WCDMA)

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Rogers subscribers who happen to be fans of Windows Mobile will be pleased to learn that Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X1 is now shipping to retail outlets across Canada and will be available within the next few days. Finally. With a price tag of $249.99 on a 3-year contract with a voice and data plan of $45 or more, it’s not exactly clear to us just who is going to want to snag a device that was announced on February 10th of last year — especially considering hot new WinMo devices like the HTC Touch Pro2 and the, umm, Xperia X2 are just around the corner. Then again, maybe we’re just too picky.

Thanks, Treatz!

Think your $99 Nokia E71x from AT&T is all that? It might very well be, but you might just change your tune and turn green with envy as Nokia’s Conversations blog has just posted a video of its successor, the E72, to YouTube and it looks to be quite a nice update. A 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, optical trackpad, 3.5mm headphone jack and S60 FP2 are all we know about the device at this point in time, though we’re sure there’s plenty more to come in the near future. The video has since been removed from YouTube, so hit the jump for a couple of up close and personal screen caps.

Thanks, David!

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Excited about the upcoming Samsung B7610 Louvre? Well wait just a tick, because we’ve got some interesting news to report. Yesterday Samsung slipped up and pictures of the Louvre were briefly published to its press gallery. Apparently Sammy referred to the Louvre as we know it as the Omnia Pro, a device that we have been hearing about since late April. Truth be told, we wouldn’t be all too surprised if this were the case considering all of the known specs of the Louvre match up with the rumored specs of the Omnia Pro. And speaking of the devices specs, a more detailed list has surfaced that makes the device look even more promising:

• 3.5-inch AMOLED resistive touchscreen display w/ WVGA resolution
• 800MHz processor
• 5.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash
• Sliding QWERTY keypad
• 2 UIs (Pro & Media w/ dedicated button to switch between them)
• TV-OUT
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• MicroUSB
• Divx/WMV/H.264 accelerations
• GPS/WIFI/HSDPA/HSUPA/Bluetooth
• FM Radio
• DNLA support
• 1GB internal memory with microSDHC up to 32GB
• 1500mAh battery

The Louvre/Omnia Pro is believed to be on track for September or October. There are some reports that the device is currently running quite slowly because of a very buggy ROM however, so rumor has it the launch might be pushed back a month. September is still quite a ways away though, so we’re hoping Samsung can sort any issues out in time. Until then, hit the jump for a few more press shots.

[Via Unwired View]

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Read – Specs

HTC has been seriously the little (now big) engine that could. Does anyone even remember what the T-Mobile Pocket PC (Wallaby) looked like? Now the number one Windows Mobile manufacturer in the world, they show no signs of stopping — they even added Android to their portfolio. But let’s be honest, you’re here to check out the much-awaited update to the viciously popular HTC Touch Pro, the HTC Touch Pro2. So let’s get to steppin’, hit the jump and find out what we really think of the TP2.

Design:

Design is always going to be subjective, right? But you can most of the time appreciate a phone’s industrial design even if it’s not something you’d drop a wad of cash on. The Touch Pro2 is probably one of the sexiest Windows Mobile devices we’ve ever seen. Rounded edges, chrome bezel, huge screen, minimalistic buttons — all great things. What’s even more exciting, however, is that the design is completely functional. There’s not one single thing the designers did that gets in the way of real usability and let’s face it, this device is really the high-end corporate user’s dream device, so there shouldn’t be any complaints in this department.

Hardware / Keyboard:

It’s really exciting to watch newer products being released but it’s a little bit more exciting to see evolutions of previous handsets morph into something else. HTC told us that people really missed not having the tilting screen of the HTC TyTN II so they incorporated that back in. Additionally, people thought the HTC Touch Pro was a little too small and cramped, so they practically made the Touch Pro2 a HTC Touch HD with slide-out QWERTY. And oh man, what a slide-out QWERTY it is. Shaquille O’Neal himself (also a very happy TweetGenius user, might we add) would have zero problems typing on this thing. The keys are very, very spacious and have a great feel to them. It’s a plastic feel which is totally fine (even if they are really made out of aluminum), because it’s a quality feel. Something Palm should learn a thing or two from.

On a different note, have we mentioned how absolutely incredible HTC’s new soft keyboard is? Anyone using an HTC Magic or who has installed a non-Google build on their Android device (not a Google version) will know what we’re talking about. It’s almost as good as the iPhone’s keyboard and this is coming from using it on a resistive screen. Really top notch stuff here.

Screen:

If there was a such thing as the world’s greatest, the Touch Pro2’s screen would surely be in the running. It probably wouldn’t win, though. It’s really something HTC has no control over, but the fact that this is a resistive screen as opposed to a capacitive screen is a major strike against it. Really, they can’t do anything about it since Windows Mobile practically makes you use a fingernail to hit menu options. Once you accept the screen is resistive, though, it’s a damn good one. Unlike the Touch Pro where the screen wasn’t as responsive as everyone wished, the Touch Pro2’s screen is incredibly sensitive and responsive — paging through screens, sliding through TouchFLO menus and the like are all smooth as butter.

The actual resolution of the display is 800×480 and it’s a whopping 3.6″ measured diagonally. In addition to being highly responsive, it’s vivid, bright, clear and crisp.

TouchFLO 3D:

We have touched on TouchFLO 3D in many different sections of this review as you have read and will read below. But, to focus on just TouchFLO 3D, a lot has been added since the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro. For starters, it’s finally landscape! If that wasn’t enough, HTC has gone ahead and built upon the Touch HD’s TF3D by adding in a Stocks page, revamped Weather page and a new Calendar page. All extremely welcome additions.

Phone:

What good is a phone if the phone doesn’t work? While voice calling in very old versions of Windows Mobile was a pain in the ass, Windows Mobile 6/6.1 has made it bearable. Luckily HTC’s TouchFLO interface makes it rather enjoyable. Anyone who has used a recent HTC device knows this pretty well, but on the software side, everything is cleanly laid out. Your recent call log is integrated with the dialpad, and you have the option to flip between a standard voice call and a video call. Don’t get excited; that’s for international users only because it’s a carrier-supported feature.

As far as the hardware goes, calls we made and received came through loud and clear. Literally. The ear speaker on the TP2 is a little bit higher than you’d anticipate but you get used to it very quickly and it proved to work without any issues. Volume on the in ear speaker was sufficient enough to provide audible call quality on the streets of New York City and our callers could hear us quite well, too.

Messaging:

HTC has excelled at making Windows Mobile a more-usable platform. What in the hell would the world look like without it? What’s more interesting with the latest version of TouchFLO is the messaging integration. In addition to having phone calling, you’ve now got access to your entire communication history with all of your contacts. Once you click on a specific contact, you’re able to see all the recent calls, all recent emails, all recent text messages, and even Facebook updates all in a neat and clean interface. It’s rather remarkable.

Integration of these features isn’t just skin deep either — you can even click on a contact’s thumbnail image in an email and start a conference call that way as an example. Really cool stuff that’s incredibly useful.

Speakerphone / Conference calling:

This is one of the big selling points of the new Touch Pro2 — the speakerphone and Straight Talk. The brilliant part of HTC’s heavily-customized TouchFLO interface is what they’ve been able to do with conference calling. You can literally just hit 4, or even 5 numbers or contacts, and instantly, the Touch Pro2 will transform from a phone, to a mobile conference room and conference all parties together. You’ll also get options to individually drop certain parties from the call while it’s in progress. But, look, what good is some bad ass conference calling software without some business-grade speakerphone action? As soon as you flip the handset over so the screen is face down on your desk (or whatever surface really), the call will instantly change over to speakerphone. Ok, cool, we guess. Most speakerphones suck and you can barely hear them. Not here, though. Besides being super loud and clear for you to listen to, the Touch Pro2 has got dual microphones. One for noise-cancelling and one to actually pickup your voice for uh, talking. This makes for an absolutely wonderful conference calling experience — it’s the best we’ve ever used on a mobile phone. Plus, if that wasn’t enough, there’s a dedicated mute button right in the middle of the speaker so you can hurl insults and nasty words at your boss while he’s talking. While muted, of course.

Battery life:

The TouchPro2 ships with a large 1500mAh battery and it’s pretty good. HTC quotes talk time over a UMTS connection at a whopping six and half hours. Unfortunately, since our review unit is a Euro-spec unit, we weren’t able to participate in sexy 3G-calling voice tests. Their quoted EDGE talk times are listed at about eight and half hours, and we can pretty much say those numbers are incredibly close to being accurate.

On EDGE and Wi-Fi, our unit constantly got us through a full day of work. This included heavy email using a Microsoft Exchange Server with ActiveSync configured, a ton of web browsing using Opera and Skyfire, staying logged into IM with BeeJive for Windows Mobile, and some light to medium voice calling. On 3G, however, we’re pretty sure our battery life would have been reduced by at least 35%, let’s say. That’s an estimate, but a pretty conservative one. To make two paragraphs short: the Touch Pro2 has very good battery life but your usage patterns will obviously vary, thus your battery will as well.

Connectivity:

It’s pretty much a standard nowadays for any high-end device; quad-band GSM/EDGE, tri-band UMTS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 or higher and GPS. Unfortunately, the Touch Pro2 we reviewed didn’t have three UMTS bands, just two. These are the 900/2100MHz UMTS/HSPA bands that are incompatible with North America’s 3G bands. Since 3G is such a standard feature in today’s world, we couldn’t enjoy the TP2 as much as we’d have liked to. Don’t fret, though — when you get your own Touch Pro2 you’ll be pleased as punch with all the connectivity options loaded in here.

Minor annoyances:

There’s a few things that aren’t quite perfect here. The camera, while being a decent 3.2 megapixel sensor, didn’t get upgraded like the Touch Diamond2 did. We would have loved for a 5 megapixel shooter in here. Additionally HTC has removed the flash module. Handset makers don’t get it twisted — leave the motherloving flash in your phones.

This isn’t much of an annoyance since the hardware works quite well, but in fairness we figured we should point out that the Touch Pro2 actually runs more of the less the same internal hardware as the original Touch Pro did. It’s not a bad thing like we said, but anyone hoping for a major spec bump, you won’t really find it here.

Lastly, there isn’t a directional pad anymore on the front of the device. This isn’t the worst thing to happen, but it was really nice having that on the front part of the Touch Pro to make navigating a little bit easier. The trade off is that the screen is obviously larger which does help when using touch selections as opposed to hardware keys.

Conclusion:

It’s pretty apparent that there will be an HTC Touch Pro2 in your own carrier’s flavor pretty soon. In the U.S. alone, just from leaked photos and information floating around, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon will all get their own version of the device. What’s even better is that they will all be roughly the same. The keyboards won’t range from usable to world’s dumbest configuration (cough, Touch Pro, cough) and we have a feeling the physical exterior will be pretty close to the stock HTC units as well.

This is an incredibly interesting summer, though. You’ve got this device, the Nokia N97, the Palm Pre, the iPhone 3G S, the Google G2, and a bunch more handsets to choose from. How will you make up your mind? Form factors are pretty similar with the aforementioned devices. Most have a physical QWERTY slide-out or flip up, and all have on screen keyboards except for the Palm Pre. We can’t say that one OS is better than the other for your taste and usage, but we can confidently recommend the Touch Pro2 as the best Windows Mobile device in the world. That might not make your decision any easier, but as long as you’re considering a Windows Mobile phone, the Touch Pro2 is going to be the reigning champ for a long, long time. Or at least until HTC releases the Touch Pro3.

Regardless of what phone you end up choosing, one thing is 100% certain, folks. It’s going to be a hot summer.

Okay, listen up. There’s a ton of Canadian BGR readers out there so we’re going to spend a moment letting you know what the real story is with the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S in the Great White North. Both Rogers and Fido will be carrying the new iPhone 3G S and just like in the US, it will be available as of June 19th — same pricing, too — the 16GB model going for $199 and the 32GB model going for $299. On the same day, the price of the iPhone 3G 8GB will drop to $99. Furthermore, the 6GB/$30 iPhone data promo will be back in full force (albeit for an unspecified limited time). iPhone users can tether as well, provided their plan offers 1GB or more of data which is fair enough because if you’re still on the 500MB plan as of today, you’re pretty much a sucker (we kid, sort of). As for MMS, a new iPhone value pack has the feature covered and will be offered when OS 3.0 launches on June 17th. This brings us to perhaps the best news — if you already have an iPhone 3G from Rogers or Fido and are not eligible for an HUP to snag an iPhone 3G S, you will be able to purchase one with no-contract pricing.

Happy, Canada?

Yes, yes, the much rumored $99 iPhone finally came to light. But what about those 16 giggers? One of our AT&T ninjas just hit us up to let us know that the iPhone 3G 16GB model is available for $149 on a 2 year agreement on AT&T. Since Apple seems to be only touting the 8GB 3G model for $99 on their site, we’re guessing this is a “while it lasts, bitches” situation. Seriously though, you’re not going to spring the extra $50 for a brand new iPhone 3G S 16GB model? Also we’ve been told AT&T stores can now pre-order the iPhone 3G S for customers starting immediately, just like Apple.com.

Any takers?

We all know that Bell is prepping to launch the BlackBerry Tour 9630 sometime in the near future, and now for the first time a document detailing the full specs of the hotly anticipated smartphone has leaked out. While the majority of the specs have been known for quite some time, there are a still few things that can be learned from the document. So take a peek because this is the real deal, people:

Size (L x W x D): 112 x 62 x 14.2 mm
Weight: 130 grams
Memory: 256 MB internal Flash memory
Expandable Memory: microSD located under the battery door cover
Battery: 1400 mAh removable/rechargeable cryptographic lithium cell
Battery Life: TBD
Keyboard: 35 key backlit QWERTY
Display: High resolution HVGA 480×360 pixel
Camera: 3.2 MP camera, flash auto focus
GPS: Assisted, autonomous and simultaneous GPS enabled with preloaded BlackBerry Application for e911 capabilities
Media Player: Video format support MPEG4; Audio format support MP3, AAC AAC+ etc
Bluetooth: Bluetooth V2.0; mono/stereo headset, hands-free, PBAP
Headset: 3.5mm stereo headset capable
USB Port: Enables charging and high-spead data synchronization via USB “A” to micro USB “B” cable
Network Support:
Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz
GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks
Single-band: 2100 MHz
UMTS/HSPA networks
Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz
CDMA/EVDO Rev A networks

Excited? Well you should be (remember how much we love it?), especially with a mid-July launch on the Bell network in the works. Now hit the jump to check out the rest of the document.

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Having long since been given the green light for sale in the US by the FCC, Sony Ericsson announced today that the unlocked W995a Walkman will go on sale July 6th at Sony Style locations across the US. Identical to the W995 Walkman in every way save for the inclusion of a tri-band UMTS/HSPA (850/1800/1900MHz) radio, the W995a is the type of device that we’d like to see SE continue to push out alongside smartphones like the Satio. Here’s why: a 2.6-inch QVGA display, 8.1 megapixel camera with auto focus, image stabilization and face detection, video calling, Wi-Fi, aGPS, FM radio with RDS, Media Go, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support and a 3.5mm headphone jack can all be yours, unlocked, for around $600. Pretty appealing, is it not?

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We’ve been hearing about Samsung introducing a 12 megapixel camera phone since the beginning of this year and this morning the device that many of you have been praying for has been announced in the M8910 Pixon12. With specs that include a 3.1-inch AMOLED touchscreen display (Samsung claims it has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1), quad-band GSM/EDGE / dual-band HSPA (900/2100MHz), Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, FM tuner with RDS and 150MB of internal memory that’s expandable to 16GB via microSD, it appears that the Pixon12 is by no means a one trick pony. It has pretty much all of the features that are expected from a high-end phone these days. Back to that 12 megapixel shooter…

If Samsung’s claims are right, it’s able to take a new pic after a 2 second respite while it saves the large image file and can shoot 720 x 480 videos at up to 30 fps. Other than that, features like Smart Auto and Touch Auto-Focus as well as easy uploading to Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, MySpace, Photobucket and Friendster through Samsung’s Share Pix make up the big selling points for the device. Pricing for the Pixon12 has yet to be announced, but we do know that it will be available in Europe come the end of June before it begins to make its way to other markets in August. Say what, Satio? Yeah, that’s right.

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Nokia and Vodafone today announced the exclusive launch of the new Nokia 6730 classic. This mid-level S60 3rd edition handset features quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, dual-band UMTS/HSPA, 2.2-inch QVGA display, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, GPS/aGPS, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0, 48MB of internal memory and microSD expansion. Vodafone will be the exclusive carrier and will start offering the 6730 classic across all markets in June. Pricing is yet to be determined but we highly doubt this handset will break anybody’s piggy bank — this little guy is destined to be a freebie on most contracts.

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AT&T announced that it will upgrade its current 3G network to faster 7.2Mbps HSPA technology. The network upgrade will begin later this year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2010. Along with the deployment of HSPA, AT&T is also adding 2,100 new cell sites, beefing up the capacity of the network by connecting current cell sites to a fiber-optic backbone, expanding coverage of the higher quality 850 MHz spectrum and increasing the availability of femtocells and microcells for improving coverage inside buildings. Along with faster speeds expect to see several new 7.2Mbps HSPA compatible modems and smartphones will be also introduced later this year. Although very much welcomed, this increase is only a temporary measure that will hold everyone until LTE is rolled out. AT&T plans to begin LTE trials in 2010, with commercial deployment beginning in 2011. Woo!

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Aaaaand we’re back with some more news regarding TELUS’ HSPA soft-launch. We’ve spoken to a few more people who have been able to confirm to us that TELUS is indeed going to be flipping the switch on parts of its HSPA network on September 2nd — though at this point in time we’ve been unable to get confirmation as to which markets this will occur in. All we know for now is that Vancouver will be one of the lucky markets and, if all goes to plan, the majority of the country will be able to bask in the glory of the new network by the end of October. In other TELUS network news, we know a lot of people have been complaining about a sudden uptake in network interuptions. We’ve been told this is to do with the fact that engineers at TELUS have had to reposition a lot of CDMA antennas to make room for the new HSPA equipment. Chalk it up to a case of no pain, no gain, we suppose.

That’s right, kids; it’s time for some more Rogers exclusives from your pals at BGR. We’ve just heard from one of our trusty ninjas and according to an internal Rogers announcement, the Sony Xperia X1a will be soft-launching nation-wide on June 9th. Before you get all excited however, you need to know that only stores with consistently high data sales will be taking part in the soft-launch. In other words, think big cities unless you happen to live in a small town that’s filled with mobile web addicts. As for the full retail launch, Rogers is still eying June 30th with an introductory promotional 3-year price of $249.99 (to settle at $299.99) and a MSRP between $649 and $749. Do we like?

Thanks, G!

The AT&T leakfest wraps up with two Motorola offerings. Be ready for names and relationships that will befuddle even the most ardent genealogist. First up is the Android-based Heron which we scooped back in April as the IRONMAN. From the slide, it appears as if the handset was meant to be a Windows Mobile device that was switched over to Android. The specs, which are subject to change of course, give the phone quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA/HSUPA, 2.6 inch QVGA screen, 3 megapixel fixed focus camera with auto-flash and aGPS. So the IRONMAN is also known as the Heron — pretty straight forward there. Hit the jump for more.

Next up is the Motorola Sawgrass which apparently is the QA1 “Karma” and showed itself on the recent AT&T rebate form. The Sawgrass will sport quad-band GSM, dual-band HSDPA, 2 megapixel camera, A2DP Bluetooth, aGPS, microSD expansion up to 32GB and a full HTML browser. This handset bears a rather striking resemblance to the Motorola Somerset, which of course was formerly known as the Alexander. Even the little known specs from the Somerset/Alexander (3.5mm stereo jack, A2DP, MMC support, and a camera) line up nicely with what we know about the Sawgrass/QA1 Karma. The only piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit is the camera — Alexander was supposed to sport a killer shooter but this little guy is only packing 2 megapixels. Hmm.

So there you have it folks, some messy names and a load of information on what Motorola is sending down the pike to AT&T.

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The boys over at Engadget Mobile managed to get their hands on what appears to be a slide deck showcasing just about every smartphone headed to AT&T this year. Some of the slides may be a bit off as far as launch dates are concerned but wow, what a lineup AT&T has in store for its customers. We have a few obligatory Windows Mobile devices — the HTC Fortress (Touch Pro2), HTC Warhawk (Touch Diamond2) and the HP iPAQ K3 which will run Windows Mobile 6.5. The expected BlackBerry offerings will include the Onyx, the Magnum, the Gemini and the non-flip Pearl 3G. AT&T is also expected to get the rumored Palm EOS in the latter half of the year and last but not least is the HTC Lancaster, an Android-powered QWERTY slider that steals its styling from the Touch Pro2 and makes the G1 look like a kid’s toy. Hit the jump for the individual slides with all the juicy details.

Read (HTC Lancaster)
Read (Palm EOS)
Read (HP iPAQ K3)
Read (BlackBerry Onyx/Magnum/Gemini/Pearl 3G)
Read (HTC Fortress/Warhawk)