smartphones

It's not the RIM BlackBerry Storm or the BlackBerry Bold, but it looks like the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 might be nearing its release date. Early unboxing videos and photos of the smartphone have started appearing on the Web, including those from the Boy Genius Report and PhoneDog.com, complete with T-Mobile packaging, so we'd say you'll see this sooner rather than later.

If you'll recall, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 was announced at CTIA Fall 2008 and is the first BlackBerry with a clamshell design. T-Mobile will be the first U.S. carrier to … Read more

RIM serves up its first touch-screen BlackBerry with the Storm for Verizon Wireless. Nicole is on vacation this week but Bonnie and Kent give you the full dish on this new smartphone, Nokia's fancy new music handset, more T-Mobile G1 news and the newest handsets for the fall season. And of course, we have our latest reviews and we answer your questions.

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News

Verizon officially debuts RIM BlackBerry Storm HTC Touch HD won't be coming to the U.S. T-Mobile taking more preorders for sold-out G1 Best Buy to carry BlackBerry Flip, Palm Treo Pro, T-Mobile G1 … Read more

We all knew it was approaching, but brace yourself, the Storm has made landfall. Tuesday night, Research In Motion and Verizon Wireless officially introduced the first touch-screen BlackBerry to the world: the RIM BlackBerry Storm.

Also known by its code name, BlackBerry Thunder, the Storm features a touch-sensitive display that's unlike that on any other touch-screen smartphone available today, thanks to RIM's own twist (more on this below). There are plenty of other highlights as well, including dual-mode functionality, support for Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A, integrated GPS, BlackBerry OS 4.7, and more.

Now, before you run out to the nearest Verizon store, we've got some bad news. Unfortunately, you won't be able to get your hands on the BlackBerry Storm quite yet (groan). A specific release date and pricing were not announced, but Verizon said the Storm would be out by the holiday season with "competitive" pricing. Obviously, we're not fans (and we're guessing you're not either) of such vague answers, especially in light of the RIM BlackBerry Bold delay.

RIM and Verizon did come by our office to give us a full rundown on the features, as well as some brief hands-on time with the device, so without further ado, here are all the details and our impressions of the RIM BlackBerry Storm.

Design Obviously, the touch screen is the biggest highlight of the BlackBerry Storm, but as we mentioned earlier, it's unlike any other touch-screen smartphone we've seen so far, including the Apple iPhone, T-Mobile G1, and Samsung Omnia.

Rather than provide haptic feedback (or none at all), RIM developed something completely new called ClickThrough, which consists of a suspension system that lies beneath the display, so that when you go to select an application or enter text, you actually push the screen down like you would any other tactile button.

Admittedly, it was a little weird when I first tried it. Given that with all other touch-screen devices, it's just a matter of lightly tapping on an icon or some similar action, it wasn't my first inclination to physically push down on the screen. My colleague Kent German also tried it out and had a similar reaction; while cool, the idea behind it took some explaining to fully realize the capabilities. Now, that's not to say we don't like ClickThrough; it just takes a little acclimation. Plus, it was responsive and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and accurate it was to compose messages and notes.

In terms of text extry, the BlackBerry Storm features a SureType keyboard when the smartphone is in portrait mode and then switches to a full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode. The Storm has a built-in accelerometer so it will automatically rotate the screen depending on if the phone is held vertically or horizontally (left- and right-hand support included). The letter/number keys also glow blue when you're typing.… Read more

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, and you may have already heard or received the official HTC tweet, but the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has decided not to bring the HTC Touch HD to the United States.

The tweet reads:

"sad news, US. we looked into it- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the states, it would be old news. we do have other cool stuff coming."

Hoping that it was some kind of hoax or miscommunication (or maybe it was just denial), we double-checked with our HTC contact, who confirmed the story. … Read more

Most of us will have to wait until October 22--or later, given that T-Mobile sold out--but if you have the right connections, you can get an Android phone now.

Google co-founder Larry Page flashed his Android phone briefly in a meeting two weeks ago with reporters, but they're trickling farther down the ranks at the Internet giant, too.

I snapped this shot of one Google employee surfing CNN.com with his Android phone while waiting for his chief executive, Eric Schimdt, to talk about energy at a San Francisco speech last week.

Android is the Linux-based open-source … Read more

Apple's iPhone 3G apparently created a summertime switch itch: 30 percent of all the smartphone's buyers bailed on their existing carriers in order to purchase the device, according to an NPD Group report released Monday.

AT&T has been the iPhone 3G's exclusive carrier in the U.S. since the smartphone was released in June.

According to the report, which covers June through August, 47 percent of those switching to AT&T to get the iPhone 3G came from Verizon Wireless, 24 percent from T-Mobile, and 19 percent from Sprint.

"While the original iPhone … Read more

If you've been sulking around the past few days after hearing that the T-Mobile G1 has already sold out through pre-sale orders, here's some news that might cheer you up.

T-Mobile announced Friday that it will continue to take pre-orders for the G1 through October 21, though the Google Android smartphone won't be delivered by the official October 22 launch date. Rather the carrier has a target delivery date of November 10. Here is the official statement from T-Mobile:

"Given the great anticipation and the heavy pre-sale demand for the T-Mobile G1 with Google, we nearly … Read more

On Monday, we reported on some rumors that Best Buy would offer the RIM BlackBerry Bold (in addition to AT&T) after the Boy Genius Report site posted some screenshots of the retailer's computer system showing an October 26 in-stock date for the smartphone.

Well, it seems BGR has uncovered more information that suggests Best Buy will also carry the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, the Palm Treo Pro, and the T-Mobile G1.

According to the story, the red BlackBerry Pearl Flip and the Palm Treo Pro will be available on October 26, though you can actually buy … Read more

Aiming to push its hardware beyond the corporate world, Hewlett-Packard will release a new version of its iPaq smartphone that will also be marketed to consumers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

We don't have many details yet (iPaq App Store?), but the latest iPaq apparently will sport a touch-screen and keypad and will run on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, according to sources cited by the WSJ. The phone will likely hit Europe by the end of this year, with a broader release to follow.

Though definitely better known for its laptops and desktop PCs, HP … Read more