This little bundle of plain-vanilla familiarity is seemingly the first live picture of Palm's upcoming Treo 800w for CDMA networks, known internally as the Zeppelin -- you know, the obsolete airships that had a tendency to spontaneously combust. Specs on this one are starting to shore up, with Windows Mobile 6.1, EV-DO Rev. A, GPS, a 320 x 320 touchscreen (still novel by classic WinMo standards) and a typical Treo look and feel that doesn't diverge terribly much from Palm's tried, true, and well-worn formula. Sprint's looking solid to pick it up come late July, but with those HTCs around the corner, just how much love at the register is this thing gonna get?

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Buried underneath the hoopla surrounding the announcement of ASUS' Lamborghini-branded ZX1 at CeBIT, the more mellow P560 was also announced, featuring pretty much every spec the average WinMo buyer could want these days in a package that speaks far, far less about the car you're driving (or wish you were driving, anyway). HSDPA, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel autofocus cam, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, GPS, microSDHC slot, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, and Microsoft's freshest build of Windows Mobile Professional -- 6.1, that is -- all have managed to find their way into the P560's unassuming shell. Not bad, though the €500 (about $772) price tag could scare a few folks away when it launches next month.

[Via Navigadget]

Looks like Virgin Mobile USA and Helio parent SK Telecom didn't bother to get their stories straight before turning to the press over recent rumors that they've been talking marriage. Right on the heels of an SKT statement that talks of a Virgin Mobile takeover were "groundless," Virgin Mobile has come out with a super-brief statement saying something quite to the contrary -- that the two are, in fact, in "preliminary discussions" over "possible strategic opportunities." That's about as vague and unhelpful as it gets -- a level of vagueness that's really only saved for situations where something big is about to go down, actually. The MVNO goes on to say that it's gonna stay mum on the subject at this point unless "a definitive agreement is reached," but at least we know they're chatting.

[Via mocoNews]

Following a new round of partnership announcements back in February, LiMo Foundation today added 8 new members, bringing the grand total to 40 -- and perhaps most notably, Verizon Wireless becomes the first American carrier to team up with the group and the Foundation's final board member (in other words, they seem to be taking this initiative pretty seriously). Other new players include South Korea's SK Telecom, France's SFR, Sagem, chipmaker Infineon, and Mozilla, suggesting that there'll be plenty of mobile Firefox support for LiMo's nascent platform. LiMo represents the largest Linux-based threat to Android's plans for world domination, having announced its initiative some time before Google while collecting a veritable who's-who of world players from NTT DoCoMo to manufacturers like LG and Motorola -- and with the depth of Verizon's commitment to this, evident by its nabbing of an actual board seat, we wouldn't be surprised to see LiMo-based products actually go beyond its Any Apps, Any Device initiative and get real on the carrier's official lineup.

We've just received an official statement from AT&T regarding the presence of an "iPhone Black" on its model selector earlier today: "The reference to 'iPhone Black' was simply a temporary placeholder used over the weekend for a scheduled catalog update. It was meant to temporarily distinguish the various iPhone models-4GB, 8GB and 16GB-but was never reassigned. We're changing the site now." Makes total sense, right? Three models of iPhone, two placeholders: iPhone and iPhone Black. You know, because "Black" has so much to do with memory capacity, and is easier to remember than 4, 8, or 16GB -- never mind the fact that we have good intel suggesting that the next-gen device is glossy black.

Also, AT&T, we know those cigarettes are yours, so you can stop telling us you were "just carrying them for a friend." We're not stupid, you know.

Hey, do you guys want to hear our AT&T impression? It's pretty awesome. Okay, okay, here it goes: "Great news, we're offering free WiFi to iPhone users! Wait, no we're not. Yes we are! Oh, no, wait, cancel that." Pretty spot-on, right? Sadly, it looks like we might need something else to rag on shortly, since an AT&T spokesman started clearing the air with the New York Times late last week. The bottom line -- for the moment, anyway -- is that AT&T has "long planned" to offer up its WiFi hotspots as a free value-add for the iPhone and all of the other WiFi-equipped devices in its arsenal, but that the brief enabling of the feature thus far and the mention on AT&T's site were results of human error, and the company isn't prepared at this point to commit to an actual launch date or details on how the service will work. Hey, at least we know we're not just suffering from some brutal hallucinations now.

[Via TUAW]

You'll never believe this, but it looks like Cupertino might be getting ready to drop a bomb this summer -- a 3G bomb, in fact! The latest beta release of firmware 2.0 for the iPhone has apparently revealed a preference screen that allows users of the new model to disable the 3G radio and fall back to GPRS / EDGE because the faster service "decreases battery life." Gotta pay to play, as they say. The ability to disable 3G service in favor of improved standby performance is a pretty common one in modern phones, so we're not surprised to see it here -- just a little disappointed that Apple hasn't incorporated enough fairy dust to magically make the problem go away.

If we saw the typical "Ships in 1-2 weeks" here or whatever, we wouldn't be sounding an alarm, but something is going on here. Both Apple's US and UK online stores are joining the O2 choir and are now reporting the iPhone as "currently unavailable" -- no 8GB, no 16GB, no nothing. It seems that Apple either significantly underestimated demand for the 2.5G models ahead of the 3G release that's still a few weeks (or months) down the road, or the 3G model is a whole heck of a lot closer than we could've imagined. Is anyone suddenly having a nasty case of "I only want what I can't have" syndrome and regretting that they didn't order one of these bad boys a day or two ago?

[Via GadgetKing, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Samsung Glyde was one of the most hyped phones on an American carrier in recent memory leading up to its launch, and there's one small problem with that: it's hard to live up to the fanfare, no matter how good (or bad) the phone might be. A common early complaint coming out of the gate seems to be the lack of support for Verizon's MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service, a service that the Glyde's main competition, the Voyager, supports. The UI's also getting panned for being a little more confusing that it needs to be; compounding matters is the fact that Phone Scoop describes it as a "push UI" on account of a fiddly touchscreen. For what it's worth, it seems that the keyboard is at least quite good -- so if you can put up with the negatives, the Glyde might still have a place in your pocket. Otherwise, the Voyager's still looking awfully good, isn't it?

Read - LAPTOP Magazine (2.5 / 5 stars, "...limited by a poor UI and unreliable performance")
Read - Phone Scoop ("The Glyde pairs a few of the best things from the physical and touch worlds")
Read - PHONE Magazine ("The Verizon Glyde isn't a bad cellphone, but it's outshone by its rivals")

Not long after spinning off from former corporate parent O2, Windows Mobile purveyor MWg is moving out of its Asian comfort zone to attempt to sell its wares over in Europe with a splashy press conference to kick things off -- and if the aggressive roadmap they're pursuing for the next year or so holds true, they might just have a fighting chance at making a splash up there. First up are the official European intros of the Atom V and Zinc II, HSDPA-equipped handsets that have been kicking around for a while now, but that's not even close to the interesting part. Looking deeper into '08 reveals a handful of HTC Diamond competitors, devices that are sporting a respectable 7.2Mbps down and 5.2Mbps up, and looking still deeper into the fourth quarter suggests that MWg intends to release its first Windows Mobile 7-powered device -- the Flame II -- with GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and "multimedia features" on board. That seems a little far-fetched considering that 7 hasn't been officially shown off and 6.1 isn't even in broad distribution to users yet, but we appreciate MWg's motivation here. We also see a Shift killer in the wings with Vista and a 3G data connection toward the end of the year, so all told, the future's looking bright for these cats if they can actually execute.

Late's better than never -- usually, anyway -- and a rumored release date finally stuck long enough for the BlackBerry Curve 8330 to make an appearance on Sprint's online store. In fact, as "mid-May" goes, May 9 is actually on the early side of things if you want to get technical about it, so we guess some kudos are actually due here. Sprint's asking $179.99 on contract with rebates for the pleasure of indulging in its latest mobile productivity tool, which you'll ironically be using to respond to emails during meetings that you're supposed to be listening in on. Funny how the world works, isn't it?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

One of the worst-kept secrets in Verizon's stable is finally getting official today; that's right, ladies and gentlemen, meet the Glyde from Samsung. Wearing CDMA guts underneath its F700 clothing, the fashion-friendly QWERTY slider offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash and autofocus, GPS, the full range of Bluetooth profiles, microSD slot, and a true HTML browser. Unlike its crosstown competition -- the LG Voyager -- the Glyde doesn't offer support for Verizon's VCAST TV service, but we imagine most folks will consider that a minor (read: nonexistent) inconvenience. Look for the phone to start circulating into retail channels this week for a princely $249.99 on contract after $50 rebate. Have a quick gander over on Engadget Mobile for a few shots of the Glyde doing what the Glyde does best -- posing for press photography, that is.

Historically picking function over form, Nokia continues to grapple with the true meaning of "sexy phone" -- but its latest two business-class smartphones are pretty much the closest thing we've seen to date. We've got the visuals all scooped up ahead of Espoo's official announcement, so head on over to Mobile for the lowdown!

Screen shots posted on Chinese site wretch.cc allege that iPhone firmware 2.0 has added support for Chinese handwriting recognition in addition to a revamped (albeit non-recognition) Japanese interface. While that's still light years from an Apple admission that not everyone is in love with the on-screen keyboard, it's one small step toward functionality that seems to make boatloads of sense -- in any language -- given the phone's generously proportioned touchscreen and its reluctant but unavoidable nomination as the Newton's spiritual successor. What isn't clear is how folks are expected to draw characters, seeing how there's no provision for an on-board stylus, the entire interface is designed for finger use, and we don't see many owner rushing out for a Pogo. However Apple intends for this feature to be used, the implementation looks pretty hot, capable of operating in both portrait and landscape modes. Sadly, it seems that Chinese is the one and only language supported at the moment; sure you don't want to let everyone in on the Graffiti-esque retro fun here, guys?

[Via Mac Rumors]

Yes, that's right, one lucky Engadget Mobile reader is going to walk away with a gorgeous, ultra-limited LG Shine worth more than the combined value of, like, every phone we've ever had. How exactly does one get in on this action? Head on over to Mobile for the scoop!