We all knew that the iPhone was going to start hitting more third-party retailers at some point, but we just didn’t think it would be this soon. RadioShack, or The Shack, has announced that it will be carrying the iPhone 3G and 3GS in select stores in Dallas-Fort Worth and New York City at the end of this month. The company expects to have the iPhone available nationwide in 2010. So, for now, you’ll have to settle with Apple Stores, AT&T retail locations, Wal-Mart or Best Buy if you want to nab one. Come to think of it, there really is no shortage of suppliers so if you’re finally going to be eligible to upgrade or you want to pick one up on a whim, you can add another to the list of iPhone retailers to choose from. But just remember where all this Shack nonsense started, ok?

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Shortly after the official announcement for the BlackBerry Curve 8530 coming to Verizon, Sprint customers were asking, “When are we getting ours?” It looks like a Sprint version may be coming around about the same time as Verizon’s 8530. There is no date for sure, but a Sprint spokesperson said that it is definitely coming and will be packing Wi-Fi and EV-DO, too. The price point should be about the same as Verizon’s, we’d imagine, though we’re hoping they give some kind of incentive for grabbing one of these over a Tour, which can currently be had at Best Buy for $99. If nothing else, this could appease all the trackball haters. Let’s just change the hue on that puppy, alright?Read

Canadians with a ravenous appetite for all things BlackBerry should take note that Rogers Wireless has begun selling the BlackBerry Bold 9700 on its website. Available for $299.99 on a 3-year with voice and data, the Bold 9700 is also being offered for $599.99 with no strings attached. As for when HSPA newcomers Bell and TELUS will be offering up the 9700, the latest word is that both carriers will offer the device the day they launch their new networks. For Bell, that’s the 4th of November with TELUS following the very next day.

Thanks, ILLIONAIRE!

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Are you thinking about jumping on the new Storm2 BOGO deal, selling one on eBay and canceling a line? Well, we already made it pretty clear that doing so really isn’t all that profitable, but just in case you were thinking of pulling something similar to this in the future, we’re hearing Verizon is stepping it up in the ETF department. The rumor is, that starting November 15, Verizon is going to raise its ETF for high-end phones, such as the Storm2 and Droid, to $350. The ETF would then decrease by $5/mo. We haven’t confirmed it yet, but it certainly makes sense because of how easy it is to rip a carrier off by purchasing a new smartphone on contract, canceling the line, paying the termination fee and selling the phone for twice or three times what you paid.  If it pans out, we really can’t blame Verizon for trying to recover the subsidies they’d lose on early contract terminations. Scammers beware!

Motorola’s DROID might be the new darling of the Android world, but other manufacturers are still kicking about and pumping some great offerings. Yesterday Sprint pushed out one such device and that’s the Samsung Moment. It might not be benefiting from the insane amounts of hype that the DROID is enjoying, but it does have a 3.2″ AMOLED touchscreen display, sliding QWERTY keypad, 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, 256MB RAM and a speedy 800MHz processor running on top of Android 1.5. At $179.99 after a $100 MIR, the Moment comes in at $20 cheaper than the DROID, a price we can’t help but think Sprint is already considering slashing.

[Via Engadget Mobile]Read

If you’re not drooling over the DROID and Android 2.0 right now, you either have a heart of stone or you’ve been living under a rock. Motorola’s come-back device goes on sale November 6 for $199, but you know what the deal is at Verizon retail stores — mail-in rebates. Want to avoid the lines and the MIR? Head to Best Buy between October 29 and November 6 to and pre-order your Droid and you’ll be killing two birds with one stone: you know you’ll have a device with your name on it when it hits stores and you won’t have to wait around for your rebate card in the mail. This looks like a win-win situation to us boys and girls. Thoughts?

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For Verizon fans, the biggest and most anticipated device coming from Big Red is the Droid, and many of you have come to rely on your pals at BGR as your one-stop-shop for Droid news, info and pics. Now we’re bringing a little more to the plate with Verizon’s holiday lineup. Most of this stuff is old news, so we won’t bore you with what you already know, but it is interesting to see how Verizon is gearing up its employees to handle the busiest time of year. In one slide, Verizon says, “No matter what customers want. They can find it here.” Unless they want the iPhone, we guess, right?

Of course, perhaps the juiciest tidbits on all these slides is the one featured above with the new 85xx series Curve with Wi-Fi, which is called the Curve2 for Verizon, and the time line below with the private sale. What could that possibly be? Unfortunately there is no release date for the Curve2, but at least Verizon customers can rest assured that it is indeed coming. You guys didn’t think that was going to stay at T-Mobile for long, did you? Hit the jump for the additional slides and images of the Curve2!

We’ve been following T-Mobile’s Project Dark ever since it was a little twinkle in the eyes of Robert Dotson’s crew, but now the day has come for it all to become official. There are a lot of different options to chose from, but for simplicities sake we’re going to focus on the two biggies. Individuals will be able to get unlimited talk, texts and web for $99.99 with Even More (Contract) and $79.99 with Even More Plus (no contract). We admit that the plans aren’t anywhere near as good as we or anyone else had initially thought, and no doubt a lot of people who sign a contract aren’t going to be thrilled at paying a lot more than their contract-free counterparts, but hey, at least another major carrier has entered the unlimited business for the second time. Now where are those new handsets at?

Thanks, Achilles!

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Businessmen and women have been able to get their hands on it for the past 10 days, but starting today AT&T will sell the HTC Tilt2 to us regular folk. The second Windows Phone Windows Mobile 6.5 handset to be offered by AT&T after the Pure, the Tilt2 is available for $299.99 on a 2-year contract after a $50 mail-in rebate or $499.99 contract free. But we have to ask for the sake of stirring up a little Sunday discussion: Considering the fact that all four carriers in the US offer up the Tilt2 in one form or another, why pick AT&T over Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon?

Thanks, Alexander!

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Your mileage may vary, but it appears that Sprint’s telesales has begun offering up the HTC Hero a few days ahead of schedule. We called telesales ourselves to check out the matter and were told that we could order up some Android goodness tonight for $279.99 on a 2-year before a $100 MIR. We’ve already given you our thoughts on the device and if you can deal with a little bit of lag here and there, it’s off to the races starting right now.

Thanks, JayTV and everyone else who hit us up!

Those of you who have always wanted a Kindle 2 from Amazon but never pulled the trigger citing its cost have little excuse not to break out the plastic this morning. The 2nd generation E-Book reader has benefited from a price drop. Shedding $40 off of its price tag and standing firm at $259, Amazon shouldn’t have too much of a problem obtaining a decent boost in sales. Of course there’s the fact that it only has a CDMA radio and can’t download books while abroad, but that’s just a sacrifice you’ll have to make… Or will you? No, because Amazon has announced that come October 19th, it will be selling the Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless. Awful name, yes, but a good enhancement as its GSM radio and AT&T SIM card will let jet setters grab the latest Murakami while in one of the “100 countries and territories” it will receive service in. You’ll be charged a fee of $1.99 on top of the price of the book for the international download, but what’s $1.99 these days anyway?

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Microsoft is having a hard time containing Windows Mobile 6.5.  First, the HTC Pure hits retail shelves in advance of the October 6th unveiling, and now Windows Marketplace for Mobile has also reportedly launched prematurely. If you are already running Windows Mobile 6.5 on your handset or were amongst the savvy folks that scored an HTC Pure this weekend, you can now enjoy the ease of browsing and buying applications through Microsoft’s first mobile phone marketplace. Your pleasure will be limited as the marketplace reportedly only contains 34 applications, most of which have a higher price tag than the 99¢ price point that dominates Apple’s App store. Let’s hope that Microsoft is working overtime today to beef up the numbers and trim down the prices of the applications in their fledgling Marketplace. Otherwise, well, you can use your imagination.

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While it might not be intended to be so, it’s generally an exceptional event if a given phone isn’t sold before its launch date by various carrier outlets. Case in point: the HTC Pure. We know over the past few days some AT&T locations begun receiving stock of the customized Touch Diamond2, but now word is that some of those locations are selling the Pure ahead of what is assumed to be its official release date of Tuesday. Overall, the Pure doesn’t appear to be packed with any surprises other than the disappointingly non-existent 3.5mm headphone jack. As we exclusively told you, the Pure is indeed going for $149.99 on a 2-year after a $100 MIR meaning that a lot of WinMo junkies are going to have a touch decision between the more affordable Pure and the better spec’d Imagio.

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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Let’s face it. Unless you’re really into BlackBerrys and have your heart set on the Bold 9700, you don’t really have a whole lot of choices for a new candybar QWERTY smartphone. But that’s just fine with us, because Nokia’s E72, the successor in every sense of the word to the much loved E71, is now up for pre-order on Amazon. No, it’s not some crappy Euro version that likes to play “football” and drink tea; this is a real red meat eating, red, white and blue NAM edition. It’s unlocked, $469, comes in any color you like so long as it’s Zodium Black and seems destined to sell a lot of units. Why? Because Nokia has discovered just how easy it is to move handsets through fire sales.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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After a week of teasing from various Verizon Wireless employees, VZW has just kicked off a one day-only sale on each and every handset it offers. The special Twitter-sourced sale provides a $25 discount on any handset, be it a BlackBerry Storm, HTC Touch Pro2, Casio Exilim or anything else your heart desires. So how do you get in on the action? Just hit the read link and enter the promo code TWITTER25 if prompted — that’s it! Let us know if you plan on taking advantage of the deal and if so, which handset are you planning to snag?

Note: VZW is reporting that the link below is working for some people but not everyone. If you’re having problems, sit tight — we’ll update with a new link as soon as it’s available.

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Remember when we announced the Peek Pronto and how funny it was that anyone would even consider a messaging-only device? Who would possibly want that in the company of BlackBerrys and iPhones? Well, Amazon has struck up a deal that some may find to be pretty hard to pass up: lifetime service with no monthly payments. If you have it in you to fork over $300 for the Peek Pronto, you can enjoy a lifetime of email (Exchange mail included) and all the text messages you can handle. Assuming your Peek doesn’t get lost, stolen or broken, you really are set for life — though we’re not exactly sure what happens if Peek, umm, ends up going away.

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Following news that Amazon chopped pricing on the Palm Pre to an attractive $99.99, Walmart has swooped in to undercut the massive online retailer — albeit just for the long weekend. Truth be told however, we’re not sure what an extra $20 is going to do if the jump from $200 to $100 wasn’t enough incentive for those debating whether or not to take the leap. What’s more, the deal involves a $100 mail-in rebate whereas Amazon’s $100 price is out the door. Whatever the case, if you’re okay with a smartphone that will cost you $80-$100+ per month, that extra $20 entry fee should hardly be keeping you from snagging a Pre. Walmart’s deal is good through tomorrow so if the hassle of a rebate is worth saving $20 to you, better act fast.

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Palm’s had a pretty rough go over the last week or so — what with its earnings in the last quarter having been pretty dismal and the report that Verizon has possibly decided against carrying its flagship device leaking out. That doesn’t mean Palm is done putting up a fight in the weeks and months ahead, however. For now, the name of the game seems to be price drops as Amazon has lowered the price of the Pre to a very attractive $99.99, no rebates needed. Of course to get the Pre for a Franklin you’re going to have enlist for a 2-year stint on the S.S. Hesse, but at least you’ll be able to circumnavigate the globe. Oh wait, you’re actually pretty confined since Sprint’s Pre isn’t a world phone, but at least you won’t see any combat beyond Carrier Wars.

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Have you been pondering the idea of switching to AT&T lately but you haven’t been able to find the motivation needed to actually take the plunge? Well say hello to your push. Today, for one day only, Amazon.com is offering every single AT&T handset outside of the iPhone for 1¢ — that’s right, 1¢. Whatever it is your little heart desires — be it the BlackBerry Bold or Curve 8900, the Samsung Impression or Eternity, the LG Xenon or Neon, or anything else — is available for a single penny today. The pricing applies to new customers and requires a new 2-year contract of course, but come on… A penny. Amazon is also offering to waive your activation fee (normally $36) as well as provide free 2-day shipping. Any takers?

[Via Mobility Site]

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At a special event in Paris, France, Archos made its next-generation Internet Tablet official today. The Android powered multimedia device will outmatch the iPod touch with a Ti OMAP3 processor and a huge 4.8-inch touchscreen display with 800×480 resolution and 16 million colors. In addition to its fast processor and high resolution screen, the Internet Tablet will also include:

• HD video support (H.264, WMV, Mpeg-4 up to 720P)
• Archos AppsLib store with Archos 5-compatible Android applications
• Micro SD Slot (SDHC compatible)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
• GPS with 3D Maps
• Bluetooth 2.0 (mobile phone tethering capable)
• FM transmitter and FM receiver (RDS)
• Built-in speaker, microphone and leg stand
• support for a wide variety of audio/video codecs and image formats
• additional functionality available via optional accessories (DVR-Station, HDMI Mini-Dock, GPS In-Car Holder, etc)
• Pre-installed Android applications include DroidIn, Ebuddy IM, Twidroid, QuickPedia, and more
• Flash 10 support expected with Android 2.0 in Q1 2010
• 22 hours of Music playback time and 7 hours of Video playback with standard Lithium polymer battery

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet will be available in two models: an 8, 16 or 32GB Flash version and a 160GB or 500GB hard drive version. Prices start at $249 for the 8GB Flash version up to $439 for the 500GB hard drive version and it will launch on September 16th (directly from Archos and at Amazon.com). Also interesting is the Archos Phone tablet, which Archos only partially unveiled. The Phone Tablet will have a 1GHz processor, 3.5G HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity, a 4.8-inch 854×480 display and all the other goodies its non-3G cousin has. No release date for the Phone Tablet was announced but the January 2010 edition of CES would be a good place to launch, no?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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In what would certainly be an interesting move on Sony Ericsson’s part, Brand Republic is reporting that the upcoming Xperia Pureness will launch at £530 through various non-carrier retailers around the UK. We already knew that SE was targeting November for the Pureness launch but the price point, which is equivalent to $874 USD if accurate, had been unknown. Also unknown was the launch strategy, which supposedly puts the Pureness in the hands of consumers via retailers like Selfridges (high end department store, also sells the Moto Aura) and various Design Museum Shop (artsy specialty shop) locations. A bold move we suppose, but SE views the handset as ‘an iconic niche product’ not geared toward the mass market. This will be the first time Sony Ericsson has launched a phone in the UK without carrier support so it will be interesting to see how much product the company can move — though we don’t imagine expectations are incredibly high. As unique as the Pureness is, it’s still a £530 feature phone with the least impressive feature set we’ve seen in ages.

Thanks, Jeb!

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A triple dose of good news today for those who resent Apple’s stranglehold on the PMP market. Not only is the Zune HD now on sale starting at $219.99, but Microsoft has finally come clean and admitted that in the upcoming months it plans to bombard the Zune faithful and converts alike with apps such as Twitter for Zune and Facebook for Zune, and games like Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Vans Sk8: Pool Service and Audiosurf Tilt. Not only that, but Zune HD owners can also look forward to streaming HD video to the Xbox 360 as well as the ability to purchase and rent TV shows, movies and more. Microsoft, this is yours to mess up… Please don’t. Anyone have a shiny new Zune HD squarely in his or her sights today?

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Get those credit cards ready, Nokia fans. According to a notice reportedly sent out to several US distributors, Nokia’s first Maemo phone is scheduled to hit Nokia distribution centers on September 27th — just under two weeks from today. Assuming the communique is real and Nokia can manage to stay on target, we could see the N900 begin to ship to customers via distributors within the first few days of October. Though it’s not a surprise, the lofty $650 MSRP is sure to leave a sour taste in some mouths but if you want to be among the first to own a T-Mobile 3G-ready Maemo 5 handset, the early adopter tax is unavoidable. Hit the jump for the alleged notice to distributors.

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Ahh, Apple TV. The bastard child of Apple’s portfolio. Some live and die by it, some fall into a deep sleep upon simply hearing its name uttered but most just don’t care about it one way or the other. If you always found Apple’s set top offering somewhat interesting but couldn’t rationalize dropping $229 on the 40GB model or $329 on the 160GB model, a small overnight shake up may interest you. The aforementioned 40GB has now gone the way of the Dodo, leaving but one size to fit all. More importantly, the 160GB version that remains now sits at the $229 price point vacated by the smaller model. It’s nice to see the product priced more reasonably but the fact remains — subscription services like Netflix streaming and integrated options afforded by products like LG’s BD390 pique our interest far more than Apple’s offering will any time soon.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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The good news for Nokia notebook hopefuls this morning is that the much anticipated Booklet 3G is now available for pre-order in Italy. Of course most of our readers don’t live in Italy, but this simply means that Nokia is getting ready to begin pushing its first laptop out to market. The bad news, and it is in fact pretty bad, is the pricing: a whopping €699. In case you’re wondering, that works out to about $1,021 USD. Now as you may recall, we were definitely digging the Booklet 3G when Nokia finally detailed it in full earlier this month. A grand for a 1.6GHz netbook with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB hard drive is bordering on crazy though, even if it does actually come close to providing 12 straight hours of light usage on a single charge. The standard disclaimer of course, is that Nokia products are priced very differently for each region so odds are good that we’ll see a lower price point if and when the Booklet 3G hits US shores. Even if it drops down to $799-$899 territory however, Nokia may have a tough time moving product when similarly-spec’d netbooks can be had for $400. Will a $400 netbook come anywhere close to matching the styling, elegance or battery life of the Booklet? Absolutely not. Where the typical consumer is concerned however, we’re not so sure that matters.

[Via IntoMobile]

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The leaky online retailer eXpansys UK has potentially outed yet another release date for an upcoming handset. This time around it is the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2. According to the product page, the X2 is expected to arrive on January 11th, 2010 — a tad bit later than its announced Q4 2009 release. Pricing, well, is a ridiculous £604.99 ($1,010 USD) for an unlocked version from eXpansys. Expect the price to fall prior to launch of course, as a price that high would effectively kill any chance of success for this Windows Mobile handset. Sony Ericsson may be on a downward slide lately but it can’t be that self-destructive. Even with a price drop, is anyone excited by this phone or is it just another offering in a long line of Windows Mobile phones, soon to be overshadowed by the Android-powered XPERIA X3?

[Via Pocketnow]

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Yeah, that’s right. Oprah is pimping T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G with a promotion code in honor of the 24th season of her popular daytime talk show. Enter in “kickoff24″ during checkout and a cool $100 will be shaved off the price of the myTouch 3G, bringing the final cost of the handset down to $99. Sweet! The promotion code goes live today and will work through September 24th. If you want to jump on this deal, do so quickly as there is always a chance that the purchasing power of the Oprah army could clean out Tmo’s inventory before you know it. Then again, our savvy tech readers may want to pass on this newly-dubbed “Oprah phone” and wait for the Motorola Morrison to hit store shelves. Decisions, decisions.

[Via Phandroid]

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After yesterday’s shenanigans we’re not sure how long this offer will stand. Apropos, Pre hopefuls might want to jump on this new price point as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Palm made its second webOS-powered handset official this morning and we suppose there is no better way to celebrate than by buying the compay’s first webOS-powered handset — you know, just to ensure you aren’t eligible for 2-year contract pricing once the Pixi launches. Sprint has just cut the price of a shiny new Pre from $299.99 to $249.99 before the $100 mail-in rebate, meaning when all is said and done you’ll be out $149.99. Retail partners such as Best Buy and Amazon are still pricing the handset at $199.99 so for the time being, the new price is Sprint-only. Bottom line: if you were waiting to see how Palm’s first candy bar webOS phone would shape up before committing to a new contract and the Pixi doesn’t float your boat, Sprint just saved you $50.

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Have you been watching all the Palm Pre coverage in recent months with jealousy, just waiting for the right time to strike? Well boys and girls, that time may be now. From now until October 10th, Sprint has effectively knocked $100 off the price of a shiny new Palm Pre for customers coming over from another carrier. Here’s how it works: Purchase a Palm Pre on a 2-year contract before October 10th and port a number in from your old carrier. That’s it. Within your first three months of service, Sprint will issue a $100 service credit to your account. Call it a welcome present, call it an attempt to boost sales or call it whatever else you want — the bottom line is that you can now effectively score a new Pre for $99 after MIR and a service credit. Any takers?

UPDATE: Consider us amazed. As quickly as Sprint’s offer appeared, it’s now off the table. Sprint’s official comment: “After further internal review today, the offer of a port-in service credit of $100 to new customers who buy the Palm Pre has been pulled, because it was put into the system in error.” Umm, ok. Sprint says it will honor the promo for anyone who managed to snag a Pre during the brief period of time before the promo was pulled.

Thanks, E!

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