smartphones

Ever since the HTC Touch Pro2 was announced at GSMA 2009, everyone's been wondering when will the smartphone be available and which U.S. carrier will offer it. There's still no official word, but you know that never keeps tech community from sniffing out the details.

Now, thanks to a leaked ROM, multiple sites are reporting that the HTC Touch Pro2 will be headed to T-Mobile first. The test ROM, posted at xda-developers, shows the listed device as "RHOD21000" with the CID "T-MOB010" and language as "USA." To fuel the fire even … Read more

AT&T and T-Mobile customers have gotten their fix of BlackBerry goodness with the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve 8900, respectively, but Verizon Wireless and Sprint subscribers are wondering when they'll get that same kind of QWERTY love. Well, we can't say when it'll happen but it looks like the love will come in the form of the RIM BlackBerry 9630 aka BlackBerry Niagara.

The Boy Genius Report managed to snag an early (not final) version of the dual-mode (CDMA/GSM) BlackBerry 9630 and posted some initial thoughts about the smartphone. In the report, BGR states … Read more

Q: I want to know how to upgrade a jailbroken iPhone's firmware to 2.0 or 3.0 from version 1.0. Presently, all I can do is listen to music, text, and make calls--I can't install applications. Meanwhile, my others friends have it all because they are on AT&T. I am begging for a way to upgrade to 2.0 or 3.0. - Ishan

A: First off, the iPhone OS 3.0 is available only to developers at the moment. It won't be released to the general public until this summer (Apple hasn'… Read more

Skype's latest mobile beta for Windows Mobile phones graduated to version 3.0 on Tuesday. Skype 3.0 beta for Windows Mobile integrates two big features from the desktop version--file transferring and SMS. Both are welcome additions that bring the mobile VoIP application much closer in line with the newly updated desktop version, Skype 4.0 for Windows.

The SMS feature has been seamlessly added as a shortcut icon on the contact list page (it's the black circle encasing a tiny cell phone), but you can also initiate a text message by selecting "Send SMS" from … Read more

As he has been doing in public speeches and interviews in the last year, Michael Dell has again stirred up speculation about what his company has planned in the handheld market.

In a speech he gave in Tokyo Tuesday, the chief executive of Dell was slightly more specific than he has been in the past on this topic.

"For the last three years, we have integrated 3G radios into our notebooks," said Dell. "We already have agreements with many mobile carriers around Netbook devices, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that we would have smaller … Read more

VANCOUVER, B.C.--That innocent-looking mobile phone you use to call your mother and check e-mail represents the next frontier for malicious hackers, though it eluded researchers who stood to earn $10,000 for exploiting a smartphone at the CanSecWest security conference this week.

TippingPoint Technologies, which sponsors a Pwn2Own hacking contest each year at the event, was offering the prize money for each successful exploit of an iPhone, BlackBerry, and phones running Google's Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian operating systems.

On Friday, a researcher in Italy wanted to participate in the contest remotely and was told he had … Read more

This was originally posted at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Updated: Amid weak fiscal third-quarter results reported Thursday, Palm Chief Executive Edward Colligan said that the company is well positioned to launch the Pre and promised a road map of smartphones and an application ecosystem built on the company's new WebOS. Bottom line: Palm envisions an entire product line built on the WebOS.

Palm didn't put a date on the Pre launch, but said the device and its software were "being polished up" and being certified from Sprint as the company prepares to ramp up manufacturing. … Read more

Virgin Mobile's CEO said Tuesday that the Mobile Virtual Network Operator plans to introduce touch-screen handsets. Speaking at the Dow Jones Wireless Innovations conference, CEO Dan Schulman didn't give any specifics, but he said that the handsets would be part of a move to "smarter" phones.

As an MVNO carrier with a core prepaid business, Virgin Mobile focuses on low-end and basic models for making calls and sending messages. Over the past 18 months, and particularly after its acquisition of Helio, the operator has offered more multimedia handsets and messaging-centric devices with full keyboards. Yet, like … Read more

GSMA 2009 was clearly a snoozer, in terms of Google Android news, but with the CTIA Spring 2009 just a couple of weeks away, there's hope for some announcements at the show. While we can't say for sure, here's something that might interest you.

According to HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou, the smartphone manufacturer plans to release at least three Android devices in 2009. Keep in mind, this number includes the HTC Magic, which was announced at GSMA for the European market, so we're looking at a minimum of two more.

This information came to light … Read more