We have heard from multiple sources that the much-awaited Android 2.1 OS upgrade due to start today, has been delayed. We’re told a last minute bug late last night was found. There is no new ETA. We’ve reached out to Verizon for confirmation.

UPDATE: Changed from a Whisper to a post as we added an image confirming this.

Thanks, ukno!

We’ll be brief: we never had any issues with the screens on the first two Nexus One devices we received (T-Mobile). Well, both displays behaved the same way, and any shortcomings weren’t due to a manufacturing or color temperature problem, put it like that. When our AT&T unit showed up, everything was fine. We thought. Though when we started to use the device at night out and about the city, the black levels seemed to be really, really sub-par. It’s like the hue is completely purple/red. We’ve confirmed that this is happening to more than just our device, and we’ve reached out to Google and will update this with their response. Hit the gallery for some more comparison shots!

Note: The photos below were shot with both unit’s brightness levels set to the same positions. The T-Mobile unit is on the left, AT&T on the right.

Click on over to our Google Nexus One Screen Comparison gallery!

A reliable source has just let us in on how Verizon Wireless will be rolling out the Android 2.1 update to your Motorola DROID, and it looks like quite a few of us will be waiting for quite a while for our update. Our source details the following:

• At noon EDT on 3/18, 1,000 users will receive notification of the update
• At 11:59 PM EDT on 3/18, 9,000 more users will receive the update notification
• After the first 10,000 users receive the update on 3/18, there will be a 24-hour period when no additional upgrades will be delivered
• On Day 3 (3/20), 200,000 users will receive the update notification at 11:59 PM EDT
• This schedule will continue each day thereafter until the update has been delivered to all users

And here are a few conditions needed for the update to be applied:

• An OTA download requires 40% or more power availability
• If the device is not connected to an external power source or 20% or more power if it is connected to an external source
• If roaming, the customer will not receive the update

For those who are actually going to wait for the OTA version of 2.1, instead of grabbing it off the net and putting it on your media card, you could be waiting a while. Let the updates begin!

Nothing like a late day ninja check-in. A trusted source has come through with a Verizon memo outlining an early upgrade program for those users looking to upgrade from a feature phone to a smartphone a bit early. Our source indicates this promotion is for Sam’s Club and Target kiosks and is only available in certain locations… but hey, an early upgrade is an early upgrade. The move is aimed to rope feature phone users into a more luxurious, and expensive, smartphone with the accompanying data plan, but that doesn’t mean those ready to upgrade can’t take advantage. Terms of the deal include:

• Available in Northern California Region, Central Texas, Upstate New York, and Ohio/Pennsylvania
• User can not already have a 3G smartphone
• User will not be eligible for another upgrade for 12 months
• Customers can’t already be eligible for a standard upgrade
• Can’t be combined with other offers
• $29.99+ data plan required
• New 2-year contract must be signed

Any takers? Larger image after the break.

One of our Apple connects recently hit us up and broke down some important iPad figures. According to him, Apple stores received around 300-350 (on average) reservations for store pick-ups on day one, and now sit at around 700 reservations so far (72 hours in). This doesn’t count people who pre-ordered the device online, just those that wish to physically go into an Apple store and pick up their reserved unit on launch day.

The figures that we’ve seen floating around of about 150,000 pre-orders, we’re told, are extremely accurate thus far but obviously don’t include people’s store reservations. We have also been told Apple’s flagship 5th Avenue store in New York now holds around 1600 reservations for iPads, with 800 in the first day, and about 400 a day since.

Lastly, store reservations seem to be split around 50% for the 32GB unit, 30% for the 64GB unit and about 20% for the 16GB, which is what, “Apple was expecting.”

According to them, the device actually failed in early diagnostic testing a whopping 4 out of 5 times (which is supposed to be extremely rare for RIM devices). The only other handset that failed, we’re told, is the BlackBerry Pearl Flip. What’s even more interesting, is that the BlackBerry slider our guy saw was Sprint branded. Want to go one step further? We’ve been told there is also a GSM/HSPA version and that the model numbers are BlackBerry 9900 and BlackBerry 9930. Lastly, it looks like the HSPA version of the device will support 850/1900MHz UMTS bands which would make it compatible with both AT&T and Rogers’ 3G networks.

Could Sprint be gunning for an exclusive on the brand new BlackBerry form factor? Our bets would be yes.

P.S. Our guy didn’t see the word “Bold” anywhere in relation to the sliding BlackBerry device.

The first is that one of our connects has informed us that the mythical OS 5.0 upgrade for the BlackBerry Tour 9630 will be released within the next “2-3 weeks.” It will also contain a Push-To-Talk feature that will run over Verizon’s data network for a $5/month fee. This ties in nicely to our second bit of info… We’ve heard that the BlackBerry Bold 9650, or BlackBerry Tour2 9650, or BlackBerry Whatever 9650x will launch unfortunately around May. It will also include PTT.

One of our T-Mobile connects just blessed us with some HTC HD2 unboxing shots. With a looming release date, it should help cut down on some of your healthcare costs. You know, for those of you that have been hyperventilating since the official announcement. Hit the jump for the shots!

We don’t have a whole lot to go on, other than a couple of emails that were bounced around by some curious customers and some rather knowledgeable reps, but it certainly looks to us as if Verizon has begun training — at least some of its employees — on an EV-DO variant of the Google Nexus One. A tentative release date has not yet been communicated trough the chain of command, but apparently this sucker will be sold in Big Red’s retail stores across the country once it’s available. Again, this is about as confirmed (or unconfirmed) as it gets, and we’re merely passing it on to our readers because…well, we love you guys and gals to death. Don’t come kicking in our doors if it doesn’t exactly pan out.

Thanks Kappy!

Our source said that this is a pretty telltale sign of the devices not performing well on Big Red as, “we make a ton of money off people not sending those rebates in.” We’d agree. So, if this all pans out, starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to pick up a Palm Pre Plus or Palm Pixi Plus on Verizon for $149.99 and $79.99 respectively, with instant rebates out the door.

One of our ninjas just dropped some tantalizing and blurry details for us to feast on. We’ve been informed that T-Mobile will be releasing the Motorola CLIQ XT on March 10th, the HTC HD2 (listed as “Dark Handset” on the screen capture) is confirmed on March 24th, and a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook, complete with T-Mobile broadband access, on the 24th as well. Our connect also mentions the launch of Even More 1.5, but no details were given. Looks like it is going to be a pretty busy month for the number four carrier in the U.S. Hit the break for one more shot!

Thanks, Taliban!

This isn’t confirmed, but with RIM rumored to be exploring sliding-QWERTY devices for a pretty long time, one of our BlackBerry connects dropped some info on us and we wanted it to share it. Here’s what we know:

• It’s a portrait-oriented slider. While most people assume a device with slideout keyboard would end up being something like HTC’s devices, we’ve been told this particular handset is more like the Palm Pre in terms of layout.
• The phone will run BlackBerry OS 6.0
• The rumored device will 100% support Wi-Fi 802.11n
• The resolution unfortunately has not improved, it is still 360×480.
• No word on if this will have a touch screen, but we’d assume so, and our source alluded to this possibly being what the rumored BlackBerry Magnum/Dakota evolved into. Not saying there won’t be a Bold-like device with touchscreen, optical trackpad, and physical keyboard, but this might be released first.
• If it does have a touch screen, this could in fact be the mythical BlackBerry Storm slider — picture a Storm 9520 with a slide up Bold-esque keyboard.
• The phone will not be a Verizon exclusive — it’s supposed to be a GSM/HSPA device.

That’s all we’ve got for now, folks. What are you thinking? Does this remotely interest you, or could you care less about the hardware at this point and just hope that RIM can make some pretty big strides as far as their OS is concerned?

Image for illustrative purposes only.

Over the past several years Klausner Technologies, Inc. has been making headlines by suing large mobile companies, notably Apple and RIM, over alleged visual voicemail patent infringement on iPhone and BlackBerry devices. The company was founded by Judah Klausner — whose name sits atop the first PDA patent from 1978 (you can read more about him here). In 2009, Klausner Technologies named RIM in a lawsuit claiming ownership of several visual voicemail patents that RIM has filed and is now, obviously, making money from. Here is where the story takes a turn for the obscure…

RIM sent a letter to a small App World vendor — who asked to be kept anonymous  — claiming that the App World vendor may be responsible for the damages Klausner is seeking under Section 12 of the App World Vendor Agreement. A quick summation of Section 12:

Vendor shall indemnify, and if requested by RIM defend, and hold harmless RIM…from any third party claims, costs, damages, losses, settlement fees, and expenses…incurred directly or indirectly by a RIM Indemnified Party as a result of Vendor’s breach of this Agreement and/or as a result of any claim, suit, judgment, settlement, or cause of action…

The App World vendor in question provides a third-party visual voicemail service that is not native to BlackBerry OS, but rather a standalone service that one must sign-up for prior to downloading the application in App World. Now, to be clear: RIM was the sole company named in the suit filed by Klausner, and the suit covers RIM’s visual voicemail patent as applied and used in newer BlackBerry devices. Seems odd that a $38 billion company would try and drag a small software/service vendor into this legal battle where the patent in question has nothing to do with their product, no? We’ve reached out to RIM for comment and will update this when we hear back.

We’ve just been hit up by a source close to HTC, and let’s just say the Android invasion (of high quality Android devices, at least) has only just started. One of our connects let us know that while Google will be looking to sell an AT&T 3G-compatible Nexus One directly through their web store (just like we previously reported), the actual AT&T unit will be the HTC Desire. It will also apparently go to market on AT&T shelves as the HTC Desire as well. This will give AT&T users HTC’s Sense UI, but we’ve been told the physical attributes of the unit might change from the HTC Desire that we’ve all seen. Nothing major, just possibly some material/finish/color changes to the casing. We have been told to expect the HTC Desire to land on AT&T in the May to June timeframe.

Now, on to our boys and girls at Sprint. We have been told Sprint will be continuing their HTC Android tradition with the HTC Hero2. That device, will indeed be the HTC Legend, except it will apparently be slightly modified. Just like Sprint’s original HTC Hero was. Our contact hasn’t seen the device first hand so we can’t be sure what kind of changes are in store, though if history is any indicator, we don’t think a little more rounded and less edgy look would be outside the realm of possibility. We have no release timetable for the Sprint HTC Hero2 at this time.

Remember, this isn’t confirmed — the pieces fit together perfectly — but we felt it was worthy enough to warrant a post.

We just received a heads up that the above document is being circulated within AT&T locations, and in short, it seems as if the HTC Pure isn’t selling so well. We have been told that the reallocation of stock from corporate store locations to the Device Management group definitely means something is up, though without any quality-related issues with the return, we can only assume it’s due to the unit’s less-than-stellar sales performance. One of our other AT&T connects confirmed this has to do with the device not selling very well, and that AT&T would rather not have the product just sitting in the stores when they could replace it with other products that are apparently worth the shelf space. Our source went on to say that they have been instructed to “keep one or two units and send the rest to the warehouse.”

According to him, T-Mobile is in “final stages” of planning out their webOS device launch with Palm. Apparently the first device we’re looking at seeing is a Palm Pixi-like handset, but we don’t have much more to report on besides that.

Our connect has heard an April-May time frame. What about pricing? Well, it looks like the X10 will be priced at $199 or lower, with a two year agreement, of course.

One of our connects hit us up with information on a new Verizon Wireless Buy One, Get One Free promotion. The BOGO this time around sweetens the deal by including all of Big Red’s Android and Palm webOS handsets. That means if you buy a Motorola DROID, a HTC DROID Eris, a Palm Pre Plus or a Pixi Plus you are eligible for a second handset of equal or lesser value for free. You can mix and match the above handsets with each other or step outside your comfort zone and pick up a Windows Mobile phone or a feature phone for free. The promotion starts tomorrow on the 16th, so if you are looking to score the latest Android or webOS handset from Verizon you may want to wait a day and find a friend who wants to go in with you on this offer. Like all BOGO offers, two year agreements are required.

We’ve been able to independently confirm the following details, though we don’t believe we have all of the information surrounding this announcement yet.

With that said, according to multiple RIM employees, RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis will be making a “huge” announcement on Tuesday in Barcelona. The announcement is said to be about (at least in part) BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express. We’re told this will be relaunched as a free and unlimited user BlackBerry Enterprise Server. You heard that right — a completely free and unlimited user BlackBerry Enterprise Server. We are under the impression BESX will use a user’s existing BIS data plan and not require the more expensive data feature, though this isn’t confirmed. Hit the jump for more!

Additionally, we’ve been told that “BlackBerry Shield for BIS “might get a shout out, too.” I don’t know what that service is, but maybe it’s a remote lock/remote wipe feature for BIS subscribers, or possibly ties into what we describe below? RIM employees have been touting this new BESX offering as an “ActiveSync killer” and while we’re sure it will help small businesses and other users hooked on ActiveSync, this might not help all that much if you still need that second server for the BES. The thing is, that’s kind of why we feel we don’t have the full story at this point — what if RIM is going to do something like a BES in the cloud for BIS users? Give them full OTA syncing, backups, remote wipe/lock, all while not requiring a dedicated BES server? That seems much more sexy to our ears and eyes, but again, that’s just speculation based on the limited amount of information RIM employees have shared with us.

We actually had a RIM employee go on record and give us a quote. When asked about thoughts on the announcement, the employee said, “Internally we are pumped about it. Perfect for SME, and people who are looking at using ActiveSync with other smartphones. It’s not quite RIM-like, giving software with unlimited users away, but a great move.”

Look for this new service (or services) to launch March 1st. More info as we get it!

One of our connects came through for us and provided launch documents for the Motorola Devour. As rumored, the Devour will launch in the indirect channel via authorized distributors on February 25th with a full launch in all channels to follow on March 15th. Unfortunately, Verizon has gotten wise to these anonymous leaks and has removed the pricing details from the launch documents but multiple sources have told us that Big Red is aiming for that sweet $99 price point. An exhaustive list of specifications and a few pertinent slides are after the jump. Enjoy!

Specifications

• 3.1” Touchscreen with Slide-Out QWERTY Keyboard
• Bluetooth v2.0+EDR v2.0+EDR. Bluetooth Profiles supported: Headset, Handsfree, Stereo, Phonebook Access, and Audio/Visual Remote Control
• 3.0 Megapixel camera, Video Capture w/1-touch playback and easy uploading to YouTube, Dedicated Camera /Video Key
• V CAST Music with Rhapsody®
• Android 1.6 (Donut) OS with MOTOBLUR
• Integrated Google, Exchange, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter
• Push Email Support: Gmail & Exchange. IMAP and POP, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail also supported
• Google Calendar & Corporate Calendar  (supports Exchange 2003 and 2007protocol)
• 8GB microSD card pre-installed on-device. Up to 16GB microSD optional removable memory
• WiFi Capable (802.11 b/g)
• Bilingual Interface: English/Espanol
• aGPS capable for E911 emergency location/sGPS
• Speakerphone
• Advanced Speech Recognition
• Polyphonic and MP3 Ringtones. Embedded ring tones, vibrating alerts and silent
• Phonebook Contact capacity dependent upon optional removable memory
• TTY compatible
• Device Insurance Available : Advanced Device – Early Termination Fee of up to $350 applies
• Hearing Aid Compatibility = M4 T4
• Text, Picture & Video Messaging with threaded messaging feature
• Full Suite of Google Apps incl.: Google Maps with Street View, transit and Wikipedia information; GTalk with Presence; Gmail; YouTube™, Latitude, Google Calendar
• 1000’s of apps & 100’s of widgets avail. on Android Market
• HTML Web Browsing
• Photosharing: Facebook, Picasa, Photobucket and MySpace
• Visual Voice Mail Capable
• VZ Navigator capable
• Motorola Over the Air Software Updates
• All-Digital, 800/1900, CDMA EVDO rev A
• 3.1” HVGA, 320 x 480, 65K colors
• Memory (Flash/RAM): 512MB/256MB
• 3.5mm Headset Jack
• Dimensions: 2.4(w) x 4.55(h) x .61(d) inches
• Weight: 6.35oz
• Qualcomm MSM7627 processor with dedicated HW Acceleration
• SAR: Head: 0.45W/kg;Body: 0.72W/kg
• Usage Time -Up to approx. 340 min OR
• ƒStandby Time -Up to approx. 440 hours

We can’t reveal details about the OS at this time, but in addition to molding what is OS 6.0, we also know that RIM is working on OS 5.2 which should debut sometime this year. Logical upgrade paths? Definitely. Let’s hope it won’t just be more evolutionary RIM madness, though. More as we get it…

So, if our tipster is to be believed, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 on T-Mobile might be going on an end-of-life plan. What better device to replace the BlackBerry 8900 than the BlackBerry 8910? RIM sure knows how to slip in those minor refreshes…

After we whispered that AT&T might be requiring messaging plans when you purchase select feature phones, we were hit up by a flood of connects. Long story short, it’s true, and here’s the break down:

• Phones that require a messaging plan at time of purchase include: Pantech Reveal, Pantech Impact, Motorola Karma, Samsung Flight, Samsung Impression, Samsung Magnet, Samsung Solstice, Samsung Mythic, Samsung Propel, LG Xenon, LG Neon, and the LG Vu.
• It looks like the minimum monthly cost when buying a “Quick Messaging” phone is around $20. That’s a $5 200 SMS/MMS plan and a $15/month unlimited data plan. It doesn’t look like you can walk out of the door without paying less than $20/mo in features in addition to your voice plan.
• There are slightly different requirements if you have a family plan, so check those out in detail with your AT&T liaison.
• If you have an existing “Quick Messaging” device, you don’t have to do a thing. But, if you want to ever upgrade to a new device, you’d then be hit with the messaging feature requirement.

Not exactly the best news for those looking to keep their wireless bill pretty low (and straight forward). Catherine Zeta Jones, where you at?

Thanks, to all our connects that broke this down for us!

One of our connects just told us that Verizon Wireless has a “kick off” event in the beginning of every quarter that covers and goes over new things that are in the pipeline like devices, products, services, etc. for store managers. Except, this kick off is coincidentally on this coming Wednesday, and additionally, we’ve been informed there will be a “live webcast” that everyone attending will be viewing around 1PM ET. Use your imaginations and let them run wild in the comments — we’ll see if this turns out to be related to any sort of Apple product/s pretty soon!

Thanks, Eugene!

According to one of our trusty sources, Best Buy locations that sell out of BlackBerry Tours will not have their stock refilled. Oh why, oh why, could this be?

The information comes from a new tipster so we haven’t independently confirmed it. With that said, we have been told that with the rumored T-Mobile myTouch Slide coming up, T-Mobile will slowly be phasing out all Sidekick sales. Whether this means the Sidekick line will permanently disappear remains to be seen, but we wouldn’t put past Danger/Microsoft to replace them with the infamous ”Project Pink” devices.