smartphone

While many were thrilled to finally learn the price and release date of the Palm Pre on Tuesday, some of that excitement was deflated by the fact that Sprint's $199.99 price tag came only after you sent in for a $100 mail-in rebate. Fortunately, Best Buy isn't taking the same approach.

The consumer electronics retailer has announced that it will offer the Palm Pre for $199.99 outright. You will, of course, still have to sign a two-year contract with Sprint, but at least you won't have to deal with the hassle of a mail-in rebate. … Read more

As if June wasn't packed enough with new smartphone launches, there are rumors that the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 may just hit Verizon Wireless stores in the same month.

BlackberryOS.com says it received a tip from an "insider" (a senior-level Verizon employee, apparently) who says Verizon has been training its tech support on the Storm 2 all week and that they've been told to be ready to support the smartphone by the end of May. Though the tipster could not give a specific release date, she said it would be out by the end of … Read more

By now, most of you know that Palm and Sprint finally announced that the Palm Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract on Sprint's Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan.

The Pre's price was one of the key pieces of information missing when I did a basic comparison of the Pre and iPhone 3G (with OS 3.0) back in March but now that we have it, I thought it'd be a good time to revisit the topic … Read more

Sprint Nextel and Palm announced on Tuesday an official release date and pricing for the Palm Pre.

The Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and with a two-year contract on Sprint's Everything Data plan or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plan. In addition to Sprint stores, the Pre will be sold online and at Best Buy, RadioShack, and some Wal-Mart Stores.

Accessories for Palm's Web OS-based smartphone will also be available June 6, including the Touchstone Charging Kit (Touchstone dock and Touchstone back cover), which will retail … Read more

Intel's Medfield is the chip that will drive the chipmaker's smartphone strategy in 2011 and beyond, according to an Intel executive speaking recently at an Intel investor meeting.

Slides (accessible on Intel's Web site) shown by Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, at last week's Intel investor meeting map out the road Intel will take to the mainstream smartphone market. (The slides were highlighted on technology sites such as Engadget and UMPC Portal).

Intel's Medfield was first disclosed in December.

Chandrasekher showed a slide that put Medfield in the mainstream smartphone … Read more

If you're a T-Mobile G1 owner who has been patiently waiting for your Android 1.5 update, we hate to be the ones to tell you that you're going to be waiting just a bit longer.

T-Mobile USA announced on Monday that it's still finalizing the build to "ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery" so it has delayed pushing out the over-the-air update by one week. The carrier said it expects all G1 owners to have the Cupcake update by early June.

You can check out T-Mobile's official statement here.

(Source: Phonescoop)

As if the first week of June wasn't packed enough with potential smartphone announcements, here's another one to throw into the mix. According to The Nokia Blog, the North American version (NAM) of the Nokia N97 will ship on June 2.

The Nokia Blog reported on this after it learned that the Finnish cell phone manufacturer contacted one of its North American distributors with the date. The N97 is available for preorder now from Nokia's Web site for $699. If you order now, Nokia will also throw in a free Nokia Bluetooth headset with your purchase.

While many cell phone fans are awaiting the launch of the Palm Pre and details of a new iPhone, there's another segment of the community that's waiting for something else: more Google Android phones.

Their arrival seems imminent with a T-Mobile-branded HTC Magic passing through the FCC and now the Samsung I7500 getting the official stamp of approval. Also, there are rumors of a Motorola-manufactured T-Mobile G1 v2 slated for October. And let's not forget that Sony Ericsson, HTC, and Samsung have more than one Android device slated for 2009.

While the prospect of new hardware is … Read more

This post was last updated on May 15 at 11:28 a.m., PT.

Earlier on Thursday, we reported on the Singapore HTC Magic launch and learned from our friends at CNET Asia that HTC has two more Google Android devices planned for the year. Great to hear, but was there more immediate good news that flew under the radar?

In Damian Koh's hands-on report of the Magic, right there in the sixth picture, plain as day, is Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support on the HTC Magic (kudos to CNET News reporter Stephen Shankland for noticing).

Koh also writes, "… Read more