The 5800 XpressMusic may be delayed for some people, but apparently, the boys and girls at the FCC aren't included in that flatly unlucky group. Nokia has passed a version of its first touchscreen S60 handset by the Fed's watchful eyes, and all's looking good except for one critical detail: this isn't the HSDPA 850 / 1900 version. We're sure it's coming, don't get us wrong -- but for the time being, this does us just about as much good as a Nokia with a resistive touch... ah, wait.

We think that phones like the Touch Pro and X1 sort of limit the market for pricey dumbphone QWERTY sliders, but be that as it may, LG clearly has every intention of making the Prada II one of its headline devices in the waning months of 2008. The rumored 7.2Mbps HSDPA 850 / 2100, WiFi, TV-out, an FM radio, and a 5-megapixel camera have all been confirmed to go along with the full keyboard for a launch in Europe in the end of October or beginning of November, running something in the range of €600 (about $816). Don't get us wrong, it looks alright -- but would this be your first choice of ways to part with the better part of a grand?

The BlackBerry Pearl 8220 runs neck-and-neck with the Storm for the title of "most leaked RIM device of 2008," but for what it's worth, T-Mobile is just now getting around to announcing a date and price for the most fliptastic phone in Waterloo's ever-expanding lineup. That's good news -- but perhaps the best news is that the launch date just happens to be today (for one of the two available colors, anyhow). The black version of the 8220 will be appearing online and in T-Mobile stores today, while the dark red will be following on a week later on Monday, October 20. Both will run $149.99 on a two-year contract.

Be sure to check out our hands-on impressions -- and a dazzling gallery of visuals to go along with them -- over on Engadget Mobile!

We'd been encouraged in previous spy shots that AT&T was intending to keep a clean, brand-free look on the front of the Fuze, but what were we thinking? That'd never sit well with the suits up on the 49th floor of AT&T's headquarters (we just made that up, by the way -- we have no idea how many floors AT&T's headquarters has), and sure enough, the latest batch of shots is showing a big ol' logo slapped on the upper right of the face. The poster says release is currently planned for early November, but we'd say that target is about as solid as one of those Jello rings you make in a bundt mold. We'll believe it when it's on the shelf, as they say.

[Via wmpoweruser]

If you're wondering why you don't have an AT&T-branded BlackBerry Bold in your hand at this very second, the answer might lie a couple thousand miles away where Orange has allegedly pulled all units off the shelves to hammer out some "software issues" that have plagued early devices in subscribers' hands. The whole situation leaves us to wonder whether carriers jumped the gun on validating early builds of the Bold's firmware in an effort to get it out into the market in a non-ridiculous amount of time, while AT&T may have chosen to play it safe with a longer, more excruciating battery of tests -- leading to RIM's swipe that the October 2 miss was all AT&T's fault. It's just a theory, and probably a pretty meaningless one since this Orange fiasco should apparently take a couple weeks to clear up at most, and we're still hearing occasional whispers out of the AT&T camp that they're still pushing for an October release over there. Chop chop, guys.

[Via Mobile Tech Addicts]

Just when we're all geared up to get crazy corporate with a bunch of Bold purchases, RIM has to go and make our lives difficult by reminding us that the Javelin / Curve 8900 is out there -- lurking -- just waiting to make a grand entrance sometime in the next few months. A new video posted to CrackBerry goes through the 8900's finer points, noting that the handset clocks in just a bit more compact than its big brother, features a slightly smaller, higher dot pitch display, and carries over an original Curve-style keyboard with spaced keys rather than the flowing design employed on the Bold (for what it's worth, the narrator seems to like both styles equally). Interestingly, it's noted that this prototype employs an older trackball design that'll allegedly be replaced with a more bulletproof design by the time it launches. The lack of 3G is going to be a dream killer for many, but we could see this one getting some retail legs underneath it if the price is right -- it's got WiFi, after all.

In fact, T-Mobile Germany is saying that it'll have the 8900 next month -- a claim we actually believe, since Germany is from the future. The trackball shown on its version of the handset is distinctly different than CrackBerry's, so it's looking like the claim of a redesign might hold water.

[Thanks, Alex]

Read - CrackBerry's Curve 8900 hands-on video
Read - T-Mobile Germany's Curve 8900 product page

We were sorta hoping HTC was going to get straight to work on its next batch of Android handsets post haste after getting the G1 out of the door -- you know, just to close the fashion gap with its WinMo line, if nothing else -- but the word on the street is that it'd like to spread the first-gen love just a little further and wider by hooking up its Dopod subsidiary in China. According to an unnamed Dopod source, the current plan has the G1 going to the Far East "possibly" in the first quarter of '09, featuring radios better suited for China's airwaves -- possibly TD-SCDMA, possibly just EDGE. For what it's worth, Dopod's corporate logo will up the G1's rugged good looks by a factor of ten -- seriously, isn't it awesome? [Warning: Subscription required]

[Via Talk Android]

There are, shall we say, certain "advantages" to driving a race car sponsored by global wireless behemoth Vodafone. Fame, fortune, and a free account (seriously, all the minutes and kilobytes you can eat!) definitely rank high on that list, but it all pales in comparison to this. It seems that Formula 1 wizard Lewis Hamilton has been gifted with a Voda-branded Storm, a great publicity play for the carrier -- particularly as he's sitting in front of a camera describing how "wicked" it is. Clearly, the video is little more than a PR stunt, but the phone genuinely seems to be his, and at least we can get a clear look at how fast, fluid, and pretty the interface appears to be. So, anyone know where he leaves that thing when he's out racing? Check the full action after the break.

Manufacturer TechFaith flexes some serious ODM muscle in its native China, slapping together phones for a variety of name brands -- including Open Handset Alliance member Motorola. It's a curious coincidence, then, that TechFaith is running its mouth right now about crafting an Android-powered device that it expects to be ready for end users sometime in early '09. For the moment, the company's official line is that it's "still in talks with several interested customers" and expects to make an announcement about which company will be lucky enough to silkscreen its logo onto TechFaith's hard work at the end of November. With Android being a bit of a hot commodity right now, we can totally see any number of companies engaged in a bidding war here -- but unless Moto has something ready to go, like, yesterday, it sure seems like working with TechFaith now to get something out of the door on the double could be the right move. [Warning: Subscription required]

[Via Talk Android, thanks Chris]

It's just in beta at this point, but devs and techies far and wide are now invited to take a stab at coding up some magic for RIM's new touch-based user interface elements, orientation control, accelerometers, and virtual keyboards that are getting proudly shown off for the first time in the Storm. There's stuff in here for regular folk without a single programming bone in their bodies, too -- namely, a full-fledged emulator that appears to have all the features and functionality you'd expect the real thing to have. It's a gas to play with -- even more fun than that semi-functional G1 demo T-Mobile has up and running -- and it's a good way to test-drive the goods without laying out the cash first. Not to say you could even if you wanted to, since the phone's not dropping for another month at a yet-to-be-determined sticker price.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Update: Be sure to select Simulators v4.7.0 to get the goods -- otherwise you're going to go through some ridiculously long download, only to discover that there's no Storm to be found. Wouldn't that just suck?

Fresh off an extensive corporate decaffeination downsizing and a scaling back of its foray into music sales, it's a fair question to ask: just how ironclad is Starbucks' commitment to rolling out iTunes WiFi Music Store integration across its entire chain? We just happened to notice that the Starbucks page on Apple's site is now stone-cold gone, redirecting to the standard iTunes 8 stuff. You might say "no big deal, Apple's just playing down an agreement that's now been in place for a full year," but there's some other weirdness, too -- the company's iTunes WiFi Music Store at Starbucks FAQ, for example, still references the dead link. The partnership was kinda ill-conceived to begin with; getting access to the store meant hooking up to AT&T WiFi, which you wouldn't normally have configured unless you actually had an AT&T WiFi account. We haven't heard any official word here that the deal is in danger, but really, would anyone be welling up if it fell apart?

Seems that the bickering over which Canadian carrier would land the Storm has drawn to an end -- either that, or Telus is gearing up to jump the gun and just declare itself the preemptive winner in the hopes of elbowing Bell right out of the picture. Whatever the case, the CDMA giant now has a page up on its site encouraging folks to sign up to find out when the 9530 is available -- which according to Boy Genius Report's leaked press release, should be "just in time for the holiday shopping season." If that unnecessarily nebulous statement means November, that puts 'em right in line with Verizon to the south and Vodafone to the east; so much for preferential treatment on the home turf, eh?

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Update: What's this -- a truce? Could it be? Bell has now also announced that it's getting the Storm, so if there's any sort of exclusivity going on here, it's for an awfully short period of time. Thanks, everyone!

A storm's arrival typically isn't something to celebrate, but we're going to make a notable exception here seeing how the BlackBerry Storm is less of a destructive weather pattern and more of an incredibly hot smartphone -- arguably RIM's hottest to date. Fit to its business-savvy roots, the long-rumored handset comes equipped with the most comprehensive global roaming capabilities of virtually any wireless device you'll find anywhere, featuring EV-DO Rev. A, quadband EDGE, and 2100MHz HSPA for Europe. Beyond that, the Storm becomes RIM's very first touchscreen phone, mounting a 3.26-inch 480 x 360 glass display on a unique clickable surface so that the entire thing can be pressed downwards -- just like a real button -- for tactile feedback when making selections. It includes a full HTML finger-navigable browser, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities, Bluetooth 2.0, 1GB of on-board storage with an 8GB microSD card bundled in the box, 3.5mm headphone jack, automatic orientation and ambient lighting sensors, and a 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam with dedicated flash, making it a legitimate jack-of-all-trades that seems likely to be able to handle even the most chaotic personal and professional lives users can throw its way. It'll allegedly do 15 days of standby or 5.5 hours of talk time on either GSM or CDMA networks. No word on pricing yet -- we're told all will be revealed "in the coming weeks" -- but it'll launch on both Verizon and Vodafone in November.

There's no telling what sort of crazy behind-the-scenes negotiations had to take place in order for our good friend Boy Genius to get his hands on the very first retail T-Mobile-branded BlackBerry 8220 we've seen in the wild -- and let's be honest, the whole unboxing takes on a sexier tone when there's an element of intrigue to it, doesn't it? Mr. Genius flatly pans the thing for having a pair of awful screens and a prototype feel (despite the fact that he's got a final production unit), so odds are the Bold owners out there aren't going to be throwing fits of jealousy any time soon. To top it off, the contents of the box are about as exciting as flannel underwear (we guess it's cool that RIM saw fit to throw in a pair of headphones), so don't expect too much. At least it'll be available in a few colors, right?

Welcome to Incrudo country, gentlemen. Out here, we grow chest hair as bushy as the tumbleweed, and we like our phones built thick. We're not talkin' no ordinary thick, either, no sir -- give us 2 to 3mm of solid titanium casing here. We like our phones heavy, too; a half pound sounds about right. We didn't get these burly muscles wrasslin' cattle just to tote around a Samsung X820, if you know what we're saying. Make it look like a brick, because it's built like a brick. Just like us, because we're men. Incrudo men.

[Via Unwired View]