If you’re currently using every other Android device besides the Motorola DROID, you might have thought that Google was holding out on that navigation love. Luckily, and just in time for your holiday travels, Google Maps Navigation has just been made available for Android 1.6. Now your myTouch 3G, Motorola CLIQ  and T-Mobile G1 can better help you in getting around your in-laws’ town for turkey day with GPS voice navigation, automatic re-routing and Google’s new Layers feature for navigation. Unfortunately for Hero and Eris users, you’re left out in the dark until HTC and your respective carriers crank out that 1.6 Donut update for your phones. We’re crossing our fingers for you that it hits before Christmas.

Read

All of you Verizon Windows Mobile fanatics who are suffering from Android envy can cheer up. Verizon Wireless has just announced that it will be releasing the Samsung Omnia II, on December 2nd for $200 on contract (after $100 mail-in-rebate). Let’s review some of the specs, shall we? The Omnia Deuce II has a snazzy 3.7″ WVGA AMOLED touch-screen and will be running Windows 6.5; add to that Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev. A, a 5.0 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Xvid and Divx video support, microSD card slot, and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI — a pretty nice package. How about it? Is this the handset you’ll be hoping to get for Chrismakwanzakah?

Read

Thanks to a China Mobile press release, the details that we leaked back in August about Dell’s Android-powered Mini 3i are now confirmed. According to both sources, the Mini 3i will pack a 3.5” nHD (640×360) display, Quadband GSM/EDGE, 3 megapixel camera with zoom, auto-focus, flash, and video capture, Bluetooth, GPS navigation, and microSD expansion (up to 32GB). Dell’s first serious smartphone venture will be available to China Mobile’s 500 million strong subscriber base in “Red Passion” and “Oiled Bronze” variants later this month. Full press release after the break.

China Mobile Becomes First to Sell Dell Mini 3i Smart Phones

The Mini 3i, in Red Passion and Oiled Bronze colors, will begin arriving across China later this month

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, serves more than 500 million subscribers

China Mobile will soon become the first mobile operator to sell the Mini 3i, a sleek and slim new multi-touch smart phone from Dell designed to leverage the power, flexibility and applications of China Mobile’s new OPhone and Mobile Market platforms. Available in Red Passion and Oiled Bronze colors, the Mini 3i will begin arriving through China Mobile’s nation-wide channels (its authorized stores) by the end of this month and Dell direct to follow.

The Mini 3i runs China Mobile’s flexible OPhone open source platform, and includes the latest in popular entertainment including pre-loaded 139Mail e-mail, Fetion chat and digital maps for navigation. A large 3.5-inch widescreen creates a big-screen experience, making photos and videos bigger and more intense. The Mini 3i is also compatible with a range of consumer applications, e-mail platforms, and office productivity software.

“People today want to carry their lives with them – they want to discover, capture and share new content as they roam around the world,” said Michael Yang, vice president and general manager for Greater China Consumer of Dell. “We believe Dell’s year-long development collaboration with China Mobile will amplify those experiences better than anyone else in the industry.”

“This signals an important milestone in the long term partnership between China Mobile and Dell,” said a China Mobile spokesperson. “We are excited for Dell to be among the first manufacturers to introduce new technology based on the OPhone platform. We look forward to working with Dell as it brings innovative new products and services to add value to our customers’ lives.”

The Mini 3i is the result of a year-long collaboration with China Mobile and further illustrates Dell’s ongoing investment in smarter and more mobile products. China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile service provider with more than 500 million subscribers, teamed with Dell earlier this year to develop a new product for the rapidly growing base of mobile broadband users in China, embedding 3G technology in the Dell Mini 10 netbook.

With the recent launch of the OPhone platform, industry analysts are estimating that the current base of 180 million mobile broadband users in China will continue to grow at a rapid pace. The Mini 3i is specifically engineered to give those customers a smart phone that delivers fast, easy and fun access to the internet, e-mail, chat, music and video.

Popular Mini 3i Features:

• Entertainment: Access to China Mobile’s Mobile Market suite of services, games, productivity tools, wallpapers, ringtones and applications. Discover China’s popular Internet sites including 51.com, Kaixin and Renren.
• Customization: Personalize MP3 ring tones, icons and shortcuts. Run widgets on the home screen: sports, stocks, news and weather tickers.
• Navigation: GPS navigation.
• Search: Search contacts, appointments and e-mail from the home screen.
• Camera: 3 megapixel camera with zoom, auto-focus, flash, video capture and photo-editing capabilities.
• A 3.5 inch, widescreen (16:9), 640 x 360 display that’s ideal for viewing photos and videos.
• Popular Messaging: Support for the wide range of messaging platforms and services, including e-mail, IM, MMS and SMS.

Dell Mini 3i OPhone Specifications:

Form Factor: Tablet/PDA
Dimensions: 58.35 x 122 x 11.7
Display: 3.5” nHD, 640×360
Bands/Modes: Quadband GSM/EDGE
Weight: <105g (grams)
Bluetooth
GPS
Micro SD (up to 32GB)
Connector: Mini USB

What’s that sound we hear in the distance? It’s probably cash registers at AT&T going wild as today, the new BlackBerry Bold 9700 is publicly available for sale. The device was offered up to Premiere customers starting at the top of the week, but since general availability is this morning, we have to ask… are you going to hit an AT&T store and grab RIM’s finest? Or maybe you’re on T-Mobile and snagged one already? Let us know in the comments!

It might not be fancy or scream “look at me”, but Verizon’s now-available BlackBerry Curve 8530 is a smartphone that gets the job done. Kitted out with a 2.5″ display, 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 256MB of flash memory, the Curve 8530 is also the first full-QWERTY BlackBerry from Verizon to feature RIM’s new optical trackpad and OS 5.0. Other than that, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Stereo Bluetooth, support for microSD cards and dedicated multimedia keys round out the rest of the phone’s features. Of course at $99.99 on contract there are a lot of better smartphones that are similarly priced, but for BlackBerry lovers fond of Verizon and always looking to save a bit of coin, you can’t really go wrong. Plus it comes in two colors: Black and Smoky Violet (imagine the color of your grandmother’s ugliest pant suit). Yay?

Read

So far, all of the Black Friday leaks we’ve seen haven’t been all that friendly to smartphone lovers, but according to our sources, Wirefly will be picking up the slack come Friday with the following deals:

Verizon BlackBerry Storm2: $0.99 for new subs / $29.99 for existing VZW customers (Friday only) followed by $9.99 / $49.99 until Monday

AT&T BlackBerry Bold 9700: $0 / $29.99 (Friday to Monday)

Sprint Samsung Moment: $79.99 / $99.99 (Friday to Monday)

If none of those phones catch your fancy, there are still some savings to be had as Wirefly will be waiving activations for AT&T and Verizon phones until Midnight on December 1st.

Read

Alright, here we go… We’ll be giving away three of the five Motorola DROIDs in our stockpile in this particular contest, and here is what you will need to know if you’re interested in entering:

We realize that a lot of you have been waiting for an iPhone competitor and that Apple’s device gets a decent portion of the spotlight (you can debate whether it is warranted or not in the comments), but since this is one of the first real alternatives for some people, we thought it would be great if we could help shine some light on the passionate and excited DROID-lovers out there. We’re looking for the best, funniest, strangest, most daring, and even dumbest videos possible featuring you or your friends, and the reasons why you think you deserve to win.

You could go to an Apple or AT&T store and read them the riot act on why you think the DROID is better than the iPhone (removable battery, the network, QWERTY keyboard — whatever) and capture this on camera, you could show us your current phone situation and plead your case, you could shave a BGR and Motorola logo into your head on film — we’re not joking. Whatever you want to do, we are willing to look at. Within reason.

We’ll pick the three most amazing videos we receive and post them in a follow-up post. Here are the official rules:

• To enter, please submit your video by uploading it to a video sharing website like YouTube, Vimeo, whatever your choice is. You may password protect the video if you would like, just be sure to give us access.
• Please email the link to your video to droidvideo at boygeniusreport dot com — if you email us an actual video attachment, we will delete it and not count it.
• This contest is open to anyone in the U.S. over the age of 18 years old.
• By submitting a video to the BGR DROID giveaway contest, you assume all responsibility and liability for your entry and indemnify BGR.
• This giveaway will run for one week, until Friday, November 27th, 2009. We will announce the winners sometime shortly after that.
• Feel free to talk about your submissions or ideas in the comments!

[Via CrackBerry]

Read

We’ve just received a full spec list for the very blurry Motorola Motus and it’s pretty interesting. Why, you ask? Besides AT&T 3G support, the specs are pretty similar if not identical to the Motorola CLIQ. Our connect didn’t flat out tell us that the handset would be hitting AT&T, but hey, we can dream right? Here are the full specifications for the Motorola Motus:

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Tri-band 7.2Mbps HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100MHz)
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash
• 256MB RAM
• aGPS
• Wi-Fi
• 3.1″ capacitive 480×320 display
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Weight: 133g
• 1400mAh battery
• microSD slot
• Qualcomm MSM 7201A CPU
• MOTOBLUR

Last but not least, we’ve been told the Motus is not a slider but a unique “flip” phone. That’s all we’ve got for now, but we’ll keep you updated as always.

Thanks, Daddy G.!

Not too much to say here other than an OS update for the Verizon BlackBerry Tour 9630, 4.7.1.61, has started to trickle out. Although it’s already available to download from Verizon’s website and through BlackBerry Desktop Manager, we’ve been told that a handful of users will receive on-device update notifications throughout the night with general OTA availability tomorrow. No change log has been released. Let’s just hope that it’s not much longer until OS 5.0 drops for your beloved tuh tuh tuh TOUR (yeah, we remember).

If there was ever a contest for blurriest photos taken post-haste, this image of a Motorola CLIQ look-alike, rumored to be called Motus, takes the cake. There isn’t much to be said or gathered about the Motus so far, except that it looks like a CLIQ with a flat keyboard and no D-pad for navigation. Said to be coming out in Q1 2010, rumors also peg this device as packing Android 1.6 and a 5 megapixel camera, so it’s not as if anything terribly special is going on. Unfortunately, the image is far too blurry to really make out the left side of the keyboard and what the bright yellow spot is. Maybe image stabilization should be standard on camera phones now.

Thanks, Vitala!

Read

Sony Ericsson has us scratching our heads just one day after we spent some time with its new XPERIA X10 smartphone. During our lunch meet-up, SE told us it was hoping to work with U.S. carriers in getting the X10 into the pockets of Americans on the cheap. We’re still hoping that SE will make this happen, but a new rumor would see the X10 retail for a whopping $879 when it hits the market during the first quarter of 2010. We know that SE is hoping to get back on the relevance map and turn a profit while it’s at it, but a sky-high price tag on a device that failed to knock our socks off probably isn’t going to cut it with consumers.

Read

Well kids, Google has just released some serious information about the much anticipated Chrome OS at today’s webcast, so grab some popcorn and buckle up, ’cause here we go. Google Chrome OS has a radically different approach to computing, and assumes that most of what you want to do on your computer involves your web browser and internet connectivity — and when we think about it, are they so wrong? Those of you who were expecting an Android type interface are going to be sorely disappointed, as the Chrome browser, in a nutshell, is Chrome OS. So let’s just get this out there right now: this isn’t going to be an OS designed for video editing, Photoshopping, or 3D modeling. This is a lightweight conduit for access to online information and utilities. No doubt all of this has piqued your interest, so hit the jump to check out the full story.

Google has said flat out they designed the Chrome OS with three things in mind: speed, simplicity, and security, so we are going break down some of the finer points they touched upon under these pretenses.

Speed

Several times Google engineers stated that turning on your Chrome OS powered netbook should be like turning on a television; hit the power button and within a couple seconds you should be browsing. They have been focusing on this and working hard to improve upon it. Currently Chrome OS’ cold boot time is 7 seconds to the login window, with an additional 3 seconds for user login making for a total boot time of 10 seconds. Not bad. Google is hoping to have that time shaved down even further by the time they are ready for release.

Simplicity

Your information is stored in the cloud. No user bits are going to be stored on the modest solid state hard drive that all Chrome OS netbooks are going to come with. While this may be a terrifying prospect to some, it does afford Google some flexibility to rework the traditional computing work flow. There are no application updates to be installed, no backup solutions needed, and no maintenance operations to perform. When you login to the could you can be sure that your Chrome OS netbook is up to date, patched, and ready to go. The main interface, to the shagrin of many we’re sure, is also very simple in that it’s a Chrome browser window. You can customize shortcuts and favorites, but the foundation UI isn’t going to blow anyone’s socks off with eye candy.

Security

This was really getting hammered upon. Security is accomplished in two main ways: architecture setup and the cloud. First and foremost there are three partitions setup on the Chrome OS’ SSD drive, a root partition (which is read-only and holds the OS), a user partition (which by default is encrypted), and a swap partition. When you boot Chrome OS it checks the integrity of the OS and if it finds that your OS has somehow been corrupted or compromised by maleware, it simply re-downloads a fresh copy of the OS from the intertubes. All on its own. Again, your information is in the cloud and the system is technically stateless, so the OS can be restored at point in time without any detriment to user data.

We know that a lot of you have some burning questions and want to see the UI in action, so have a couple videos queued up. Go ahead, we know you’re curious.

We can file this one under rumor of a rumor — you’ve been warned — so please, proceed with caution. DigiTimes is reporting that Apple’s yet to be announced tablet device will be delayed until the second half of 2010 due to a last minute design change, specifically, the use of a 9.7″ OLED LG display. The report goes onto say that the delay is a strategic move by Apple due to the current cost of the OLED panels, which currently wholesale for around $500 a pop. The price of LG’s panels are expected to drop significantly in late 2010 as they revamp their production line with newer equipment. The report is oozing with speculation on release dates, price, manufacturer, and potential future models, so we’ll let you check out the dirt for yourself.

[Via Gizmodo]

Read

Guess what, Sprint Hero users? The update that you have all been so patiently waiting for has finally arrived. No, we’re not talking about anything as big Android 2.0, but a bug killing maintenance release. Available OTA and coming in at 3748377 bytes, firmware 1.56.651.2 fixes that pesky SMS issues which caused significant battery drain as well as enables the device to play friendly with DST. So far we’re not noticing any other changes (we wish there were an official change log we could take a peek at), but if you spot anything, be sure to let us know. We love hearing from you.

Thanks, Mark!

Although initial reviews have concluded that it’s far from perfect, today marks the first day of availability of the Nokia N900 in the United States. Available through Nokia’s flagship stores in Chicago and New York City for $649 (as well as at nokiausa.com), the N900 has also been spotted on various online shops such as Amazon for a little over $500. At that price it’s all very tempting — especially if you’re a die hard Nseries fan that wants to get a glimpse of the future with this Maemo 5 business– but that’s a decision you’re going to have to make on your own.

Read

Today we hit up Sony Ericsson’s shindig in NYC for some one-on-one time with its XPERIA X10, and so far (it’s a non-retail prototype) it looks like SE has a decent device on its hands. Of course, we all know the X10 is running Android 1.6, but SE has created its own UI, or UX as it prefers to say (short for User Experience), called Nexus. Like other UI overlays for Android, Nexus focuses on social media integration, entertainment and simplifying contact info by aggregating user information. Two very unique applications that SE has integrated into Nexus are Timescape and Mediascape. Timescape is much like viewing your contact information on HTC’s Sense UI and Motorola’s MOTOBLUR: you can view your contact’s email, SMS, Facebook and Twitter updates all in one place. Mediascape allows you to access photos, video and music from your phone as well as YouTube and PlayNow, SE’s music store. The great thing about Timescape and Mediascape is that they recognize connections between your contacts (like facial recognition), music and media and it makes suggestions on how you can communicate or get a guide to new media. Now that we’ve got the software aspect out of the way, hit the jump to see not only what think of the device itself, but quite a few pretty pics and a video overview!

Our initial impression of the XPERIA X10 is mixed. The screen is a vivid and crisp 4″ capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 480 x 854 while the device itself is both light and thin. It also packs smartphone basics like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS, 3.5mm headset jack and a rather impressive 8.1 megapixel camera. The device feels nice in the hand, although those with small hands might think it’s rather large. Still, it’s not cumbersome by any means. When running through the screens, we did experience a bit of lag even though the X10 is running the 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. And while SE has added its own UI over Android 1.6, it still feels like a bare-bones Android device. The UI is very functional and it gets the job done, but it’s not as attractive as HTC’s Sense UI. We’re not quite sure what it is about the XPERIA X10, but we’re just not feeling that “wow” we got with the Droid, for example.

SE says it’s working with U.S. carriers to get the XPERIA X10 subsidized in the States, but in the even that doesn’t happen it could be another expensive device that might be overlooked in the Americas – we’ve got our fingers crossed that AT&T or T-Mobile will pick this up. There’s no word on when this will be released, but with all the press and fanfare we’re thinking it shouldn’t be much longer.

Just a quick  little heads up for our Canadians brothers and sisters that at this moment may or may not be doing battle with polar bears on glaciers the size of Manhattan — TELUS has released the BlackBerry Storm2. Retailing for $599.99, the Storm2 is also available at the subsidized price of $199.99 provided one is willing to take on a 3-year contract with a minimum of a $50 voice and data plan. So what’s it going to be, Canada? Yay or nay?

Read

According to the Maemo marketing team, it looks like it’s already in motion. Apparently Nokia still has some Nseries devices in the pipeline which will still use S60 as the operating system, but after those are out of the factory, it seems like Maemo will be the OS of choice for Nokia’s Nseries. That doesn’t mean that Nokia has plans to ditch Symbian altogether yet, as the enterprise-friendly Eseries and new Xseries will still run Symbian for the foreseeable future.

Read

Haven’t had your fill of Android handsets yet? Neither have we. T-Mobile just hit us up with a Samsung Behold II and here are some first impressions:

Physically the unit feels pretty good to hold, albeit a little cheap. The weight is good, but the choice of a glossy plastic makes it feel a little chintzy to us. The back cover has a certain depth to it and it’s pretty darn cool, but we can see it scratching really easily if you’re not careful. As far as the front of the device, the buttons are surprisingly pretty easy to press despite their intimidating layout, and the 5-way navigational circle is also pretty friendly. Now for what we don’t like…

Samsung needs to learn that it isn’t 1999 anymore, and re-skinning most of Android’s decent but not great UI elements isn’t a good idea. We literally feel like we’re in downtown Seoul when the display is on — neon blues, neon orange, neon yellow — all on a black background which really doesn’t make for the most appetizing phone interface. Additionally, you can no longer press the Menu key to unlock the display once you turn it on, you’re forced to press a dedicated unlock / lock key on the side of the phone. Awk. Ward. While the paper specs on the phone (capacitive screen, 5 megapixel camera, AWS 3G, etc.) are definitely competitive, at first glance, the user experience seems to be way too involved for the average user. It’s not friendly by any means and the price point of $199 seems borderline laughable with other devices available at this time. On and off T-Mobile.

While it is set to go on sale November 22nd, business customers on AT&T have been able to order the 9700 starting yesterday morning. If you got in early enough, there’s a good chance your unit shipped out the same day just as ours did. Here’s a quick unboxing for anyone desperately waiting for their BlackBerry 9700s to arrive, and you can always re-read our BlackBerry 9700 review in case you really want to tear your hair out. Also, if anyone else picked up an AT&T unit, or even a T-Mobile unit for that matter, we salute you, friends. BlackBerry fiends need to stick together…

P.S. We’ve been told most AT&T store locations actually have BlackBerry 9700s in stock as of now, but they’re not supposed to sell them until the 22nd.

Click on over to our AT&T BlackBerry 9700 unboxing gallery!

We and everyone else that has managed to get some hands on time with the Motorola DROID came to the same two conclusions — it’s a damn good smartphone, but its camera couldn’t focus for beans. Overnight, however, our tips line was literally flooded with reports that the DROID’s autofocus camera was finally doing its job and, well, automatically focusing. First reporters were humorously utterly convinced that their wiping off the anti-glare coating on the lens was responsible for the improvements, but as more and more people starting chiming in it became increasingly apparent that someone, somewhere was hard at work behind the scenes pushing out a silent update ahead of the oft-discussed OTA update due out on December 11th. Such a silent update is a bit of an odd move, but to be perfectly honest, it could go either way. We’re not convinced it improved our camera performance as we never had an issue focusing. Our issue was even though the boxes went green to signal a “lock” our pictures still came out blurry. But we’re curious; how many of our readers with a DROID have experienced a tremendous improvement in camera performance?

Thanks to everyone that sent this in!

Read

Uh oh… we’re not sure if you’re ready for this, guys. Since we were the first ones to take you up close with the Motorola DROID, we thought it would be fitting if we ran the hands down best Motorola DROID giveaway — we’ll be giving away (5) brand new Motorola DROID handsets for Verizon Wireless. Motorola doesn’t answer our emails and Verizon declined (nicely), so we paid for these out of our own pockets. We’re going to make the contests fun and exciting but don’t worry, you won’t have to jump through hoops. Plus, there is word in the BGR BlackBerry Messenger group that we’ll be giving away some BlackBerry 9700s shortly? Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Just to be super, super clear… dropping a comment here doesn’t enter you into any of the giveaways. It does, however, tell us how excited you guys are about them, and we’ll have more information shortly.

Looks like AT&T is adding a few new handsets to its lineup for the holiday buying season as today, Ma’ Bell announced it will be carrying the BlackBerry 8520 and the new LG Shine II, all now added to its “best in the world smartphone lineup.” The Shine II is a 3G slider phone with a 2.2″ screen, stereo Bluetooth, Java 2.0, and a November 22nd release date. The Shine Part Deux will also set you back $119 with a 2-year commitment. Switching gears, the more familiar BlackBerry 8520 will boast the now-standard specs of: WiFi, a 320×240 display, 512 MHz processor, 256 MB of memory, and a 2 megapixel camera capable of video recording. The exact release date of the updated Curve was not specified but rather listed as within “the next few weeks.” Any takers?

Read 8520

Read Shine II

The BlackBerry 9700 isn’t the only announced handset that is being released today, and for those of you who prefer a phone with a bit more of that international appeal, may we present to you, the Nokia E72. Let’s recap some of the specs for those of you who may have forgotten: 10.2Mbps HSDPA, integrated compass, A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, S60 3rd Edition, improved email functionality, and a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera. The Nokia USA store and Amazon are still listing the E72 as “pre-order” but we are hoping to pick up a unit or 12 before the day is out. Anyone out there longing for this new Nokia handset, or have other recent devices stolen all your lust?

[Via Engadget Mobile]

Read

Today Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Spica i5700, a wallet-friendly Android smartphone that we’ve been keeping tabs on since September. On sale now in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States with availability in the Middle East and Asia coming shortly, the Galaxy Spica features an AMOLED touchscreen display, 3.2 megapixel camera, DivX support (a first for Android), 3.5mm headphone jack and an 800MHz processor. Oddly enough, official pricing was omitted from the press release, but last we heard it was to go for around 350€ or $524 USD.

Read

Having been on sale in other countries for almost two weeks, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 has finally made it to American soil. Now available from T-Mobile, the Bold 9700 is the first BlackBerry to have AWS 3G. Other features include a HVGA+ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, optical trackpad, and support for HotSpot @Home and Visual Voicemail, but anyone keeping tabs on Waterloo’s latest surely knows those specs by now. So how much will the Bold 9700 set you back? $199.99 on a 2-year contract (Even More) or $449.99 outright via Even More Plus with the option to finance the device at $22 per month over 20 months. Now then, how many of you are going to be picking this up?

P.S. Nice job with the device pic, T-Mo.

Read

If you’re desperately jonesing for a webOS device but hate those pesky sliders, today is your day, folks. It is the Palm Pixi’s first day of availability on Sprint. Going for $99.99 on a 2-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate, we have to be completely honest and admit that we would personally snatch the Pre over the Pixi, but you own a computer and have navigated to BGR all on your own, so we’re sure you can make a decision over what handset to buy. Let us know if you pick one up today okay?

Also, for those that don’t mind waiting, Wirefly is practically giving the Pixi away at $24.99.

Read

Better late than never, right? The BlackBerry Storm2 isn’t exactly rocket science. Usually companies whether it’s a car manufacturer, handset company, computer maker or others follow up on an existing product and label it “new and improved.” Just like clockwork, RIM has spit out another iteration of their BlackBerry Storm series and this time it’s the much-awaited BlackBerry Storm2 9550 for Verizon. Finally the handset packs everything you’d hope for in a BlackBerry as far as hardware specs are concerned: global roaming, Wi-Fi, a 3.2 megapixel camera, a decent processor, and 256MB of RAM. Since the screen is pretty much the most important part of the Storm as it’s the only navigation and text entry method, it is great to see RIM improve on their existing implementation and almost knock it out of the park. What’s funny is that the same way the Storm2 works is how it was initially described to us way back in July of last year, and we’ve heard that the original Storm was actually supposed to be more like the Storm2, but we won’t get too far into that as it’s unsubstantiated at this point.

We covered the BlackBerry 9520 a bit as we have been playing with it for a little while, but the screen has got even better with a retail unit and it’s less noisy and even more fun to use. Typing is pretty easy, and the unit in general feels great in your hand to hold and use. As far as market positioning for the Storm2, Verizon hasn’t made things easy for RIM lately. Many people have said that this is what the first Storm should have been, and while we agree, we don’t think it’s too late. If you have to have a BlackBerry and you want a touch-based phone, the Storm2 is an excellent choice. If you’re comparing it to other touchscreen handsets though, the waters get a little murky and you’ll have to make that decision for yourself. Hit up the BlackBerry 9550 gallery for more shots!

Click on over to our BlackBerry 9550 hands on gallery!

WebOS junkies on Bell and Sprint should set aside some time this morning for an OS update, as webOS 1.3.1 has gone live. Sitting pretty at 126MB, some very useful changes have been made apart from the usual bug fixes. iTunes is not supported, but Synergy now includes Yahoo! contact and calendar sync while Sprint users now have Yahoo! IM. Forwarding and copying of a single SMS/IM message is now a go as is the ability to set unique ringtones for new messages while videos shot in widescreen are no longer automatically panned and scanned  There’s a bunch more that we’re not even going to bother getting into, so for the few of you that get kicks out of reading change logs, there are some links you might want to check out after the jump.

Read – Sprint

Read – Bell