One of our most-solid BlackBerry connects has just dropped word that internally, RIM is starting to work on OS 6.0.

We can’t reveal details about the OS at this time, but in addition to molding what is OS 6.0, we also know that RIM is working on OS 5.2 which should debut sometime this year. Logical upgrade paths? Definitely. Let’s hope it won’t just be more evolutionary RIM madness, though. More as we get it…

Related posts:

1. BlackBerry Curve 8910 actually not meant for just Asian markets? We haven’t confirmed this yet, but one of our...
2. Verizon BlackBerry Curve 8530 Review With today being Thanksgiving and most blogs closing shop...
3. Colorware now offering BlackBerry 9700 option, ours gets done early Who said the weekend has to be uneventful? Colorware...

We’d say so! From $59 to $7,000, if you want an Apple product, there’s a pretty darn good chance you’ll be able to pick something in your price range. Simply brilliant.

Read

Related posts:

1. Apple ‘iTablet’ details leaked Hours ahead of Apple’s top secret product launch of...
2. Apple’s one-day shopping event: we were right the second time If you’ve been dying to grab some Apple gear...
3. Apple phasing out iPhone 3G in favor of 8GB 3GS? Filed under: Handsets , Rogers Wireless , GSM ,...

Posted up in our comments under our Motorola Sholes Tablet article is supposedly another never-yet-seen Motorola Android handset. This is also apparently a full touchscreen device that features an 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash, 3.8 inch display, 800 MHz processor and has a sleek black, rounded appearance. Another picture after the break for you to enjoy while we send out our connects for more information…

Thanks, yard!

Related posts:

1. Sprint’s upcoming mobile phone inventory leaked? HTC WiMAX handset leads the pack Some thought Sprint was teaming up with LG to...
2. Android 2.1-equiped Motorola Sholes tablet spied in China as XT701? No sooner do we get brief corner glimpses of...
3. Second Verizon Android phone to be an HTC, Motorola Sholes makes an appearance Filed under: Handsets , HTC , Motorola , Verizon...

Who said the weekend has to be uneventful? Colorware went live recently with their BlackBerry 9700 colorizing service, and if you’ve been contemplating a lime green handset, there’s no better device to get colored up than the Bold 9700. We were lucky enough to get two of our units done earlier this week and we have a couple shots of one of them for you. As always with Colorware, you can buy a new device from them which will ship already customized, or you can send in an existing phone and let them do their magic.

Related posts:

1. BlackBerry Bold 9700 now available from T-Mobile Having been on sale in other countries for almost...
2. Colorware to let you dress up your own Curve 8900 Alright, all you BlackBerry-modding freaks, grab your screwdrivers and...
3. BlackBerry Bold 9700 Review: Part 2 Yes, yes y’all. We’re back with Act 2. Following...

More or less the same device as T-Mobile’s (and soon to be AT&T’s ) Curve 8520 , the 8530 differs a bit: it adds GPS into the fold and runs on EV-DO Rev. 0 networks. We’ve been putting it through our patent-pending stress test this week, so hit the break to check out our thoughts. Hardware Believe it or not, this phone is built surprisingly well, and despite weighing only 105g, the 8530 feels solid enough to make us feel confident that dropping it won’t result in tears .

The rubberized sides coupled with textured faux carbon fiber plastic battery cover provide for a nice grip, and there are no creaks and moans. The keypad is more or less the same keypad as seen on the 8300 Series and 8900 and is really easy to adjust to. Some people might be put off by the clickity-clack noises it makes while one types away, but we found this particular model to be much more quiet than the aforementioned devices. We don’t think we need to say anything about the camera other than its a fixed-focus 2 megapixel affair.

Okay, we lied, we do have something to say. Having a poor camera is bad, but having a poor camera with no flash seriously sucks. We mean, come on — even the bloody Pearl Flip had a flash. The one minor hardware issue we did have with our review unit is that the trackpad wobbled. This didn’t negatively impact navigation, although feeling it move and hearing it click with every movement of our thumbs started to really get on our nerves.

A/V Calls made on the 8530 sound pretty good, but we did notice the earpiece gives off more of a hiss than most handsets. The speaker, while a bit muffled and somewhat limited in range is quite nice considering the price of the phone and we were able to crank it up high without any complaints. Apart from the occasional YouTube video linked to in an email, watching videos isn’t something we’re really into with this device. We’re not only saying this because we’re afraid that Sergio Leone would rise from the dead and kick our butts for watching something like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on a 2.5″ display, but because at that size QVGA just isn’t enough. Listening to music on the 8530 isn’t a bad experience (unless you use the included headset).

The multimedia keys on the top of the device are a nice touch and we like the fact that syncing music with iTunes and Windows Media Player is simple with BlackBerry Media Sync. We just have one question: why does the music stop when you activate the camera? Software and Performance What’s there left to say about the BlackBerry OS… It’s as polarizing as abortion. So instead of getting up on a soap box and turning this review into an essay, we’re going to keep this short. The Curve 8530 we received was running OS 5.0.0.337 and straight out of the box it had 114.18MB of 256MB free. All of the typical Verizon apps like City ID, V CAST Music/Videos/Song ID, VZ Navigator and Visual Voicemail come pre-loaded.

Overall the 8530 runs smoothy thanks in part to its 528MHz processor, but it did seem to enjoy freezing up on three occasions. By freezing we don’t mean the device crashed and rebooted; it just sort of sat there and did absolutely nothing for a good 10-25 seconds.

We’re not sure if we were pushing the device too hard or if the OS has some flaws that need fixing, so we’ll just have to wait until the first maintenance release is doled out by Verizon to see if that fixes the problem. How’s the browser, you say? It’s still pretty sucky, and what suckiness remains isn’t exactly helped out by the QVGA display.

Thankfully RIM is hard at work on its WebKit-based browser as you’re reading this, but until then all isn’t lost because there are quite a few decent third-party browsers such as Opera Mini and Bolt! that are ready and waiting to be downloaded. Final Thoughts We’re really torn about the Curve 8530. On one hand we think it’s a great little smartphone that will please a large number of people at the somewhat decent price of $99.99 on a 2-year .

The only problem is that you can get something like the BlackBerry Tour 9630 with a better keypad, display, camera and international support for a few dollars more, if even that (we found a bunch of online retailers offering both the 8530 and 9630 for free on contract this morning). Of course the “upgrade” to the 9630 would come at the price of Wi-Fi and that oh-so-sweet optical trackpad. So what’s our final word? Go the your local dealer and take the Curve 8530 for a spin. If you like it, great. Go nuts and buy it. But if you don’t, by all means get something else. Just don’t say it’s not a capable smartphone.

Related posts:

1. Verizon now selling the BlackBerry Curve 8530 It might not be fancy or scream “look at...
2. BlackBerry Curve 8530 now putting Verizon through the rounds Right on schedule, the latest BlackBerry to grace the...
3. BlackBerry 8530 naturally coming to Verizon Filed under: Handsets , RIM , Verizon Wireless ,...

Sorting everything by price point didn’t make much sense as the average price of what’s listed is around $199 after rebate, so we sorted it by lust-factor. We’re working on a couple other Gift Guides but in the meantime, here’s our cell phone one.

It’s fine, you don’t have to gift wrap it LG enV TOUCH If your loved one drops your smartphone like a hot potato because it’s “too complicated”, the LG enV TOUCH may be the perfect gift. Featuring an external 3 inch touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, drop dead easy menu controls and an HTML browser that runs over an EV-DO Rev. A connection (read: fast), the enV Touch has made our most worthy list for moderately geeky folk this holiday season. Available exclusively at Verizon Wireless for $99.99 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 The latest BlackBerry in the Curve-series from Research In Motion is the BlackBerry Curve 8520, and it packs a punch for a pretty small price. Is it top of the line? No, but it can most definitely get the job done if you’re considering it as a gift for a young professional, recent college-bound individual, or even a mother or father. Everything is neatly packed into this QWERTY keyboard BlackBerry. Things like a 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, extra memory for installing applications and games, and a super long lasting battery round the feature-set Available from T-Mobile and AT&T in the U.S. starting at $129.99 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.

Sprint HTC Hero The second best Android handset in the U.S. definitely deserves some love, too, and whomever ultimately ends up receiving the Hero will probably be a happy camper. Featuring a great display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, and an intuitive user interface (read: it’s simple to use), there’s not a whole lot bad to say about Sprint’s Hero. The price is even attractive. Available exclusively from Sprint for $179.99 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.


HTC Touch Pro2 HTC’s update to their original Touch Pro is practically available on all major carriers in the U.S., and for good reason. If you’re the business type that demands a Windows Mobile handset and are big on conference calling while on the move, there isn’t anything better. It’s one of the most enjoyable phones we’ve ever used to talk on, and its call quality / conference calling / speakerphone is more or less unmatched. It’s a little pricey, though. Available from T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless for $299-$349.99 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.

Nokia E71x It’s not brand new, but it’s still one of the finest devices that handset-leader Nokia manufactures. What do you get in such a small package? 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi, GPS, a 3 megapixel autofocus camera, a decent QWERTY keyboard and an all black finish. The operating system that powers the E71x is getting a little dated, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a host of applications and games available for it. Plus, you can’t really beat the price. Available exclusively from AT&T for $49.99 with two year agreement after mail in rebates.

Aww, I love it! Motorola DROID There are no ifs, ands, or buts. Motorola’s DROID handset is simply the greatest Android phone to date, and from what we’re hearing, it’s a hot seller. If you’re looking for a gift for your anarchist, anti-establishment son, or maybe a husband that gets caught trying to jailbreak his iPod touch, then maybe they might enjoy an Android phone by Motorola. If you’re looking for a gift for a daughter, sister, or wife, the DROID might not be the best choice, however. Available exclusively on Verizon Wireless for $199 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.

Dude, fetch me a paper bag, I can’t breathe BlackBerry 9700. There isn’t much to it: if your loved one is a BlackBerry-addicted individual and demands the best, there really isn’t anything better. From the pocketable design to the always functional keyboard, global roaming and multimedia features, the BlackBerry 9700 has our vote for the best BlackBerry of all time. (Beyonce music video available for download separately). Available from AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. for $199 with two year agreement after mail in rebate.

iPhone 3GS Look, they’ve begged you each and every year, you might as well just give in this time. The iPhone 3GS is Apple’s latest smartphone straight out of Cupertino and it’s a beauty. With an unmatched user interface and practically limitless applications and games (just watch out for those iTunes email receipts), this is one iPod that will be sure to keep the kids, nephews, parents, and even grandparents quiet. And happy, too. Just make sure they’re wearing headphones because we’re heard enough Andrea Bocelli out off Grandma’s iPhone. Available exclusively on AT&T in the U.S. in both 16GB and 32GB sizes for $199 or $299 respectively with two year agreement.

Andrew Munchbach and Kelly Kodgkins also contributed to this article.

Happy holidays, y’all!

Related posts:

1. T-Mobile holiday deals: $50 off handsets — gift phones, pay with installments How about some holiday discounts?  Yes, please. T-Mobile is...
2. T-Mobile rolls out Windows Mobile 6.5 for Touch Pro2 and Dash 3G, Sprint waits for 6.6 ? Following closely on the heels of Verizon Wireless ,...
3. Walmart Offers $100 Gift Card With Any BlackBerry Purchase on November 14th – 21st [Dealzmodo] You'll be getting a shiny $100 gift card if...

On the bottom of the phone there is a black area that is used for finger and thumb swipes. At the middle of the are you will find a small ball (metallic). The ball looks like a trackball but it’s just a button used to call the cards user interface.

The screen is a touchscreen, with the same resolution as the iPhone, 480 x 320. The colors are clear and bright as can be.

Check out more photos of the Palm Pre below (Click to enlarge).

Why the Palm Pre could be an iPhone Killer? Watch Palm Pre video below

Related posts:

1. LG Xenon Cell Phone Review Introduction: Touch screen phones combining a QWERTY keyboard are becoming...
2. Palm Treo Pro Mobile Phone Review The Palm Treo Pro smartphone is the first Windows...
3. BlackBerry Storm 9530 Cell Phone Review It seems like the new BlackBerry Storm 9530 fail...

Touch screen phones combining a QWERTY keyboard are becoming more common nowadays. This offers consumers a wider range of capabilities which appeal to text messengers. The LG Vu has been around for quite some time now on AT&T’s lineup which gave the Prada-like appeal to U.S. consumers. Building upon the success of the Vu, the LG Xenon GR500 tried to take it to another level by offering a QWERTY and updated interface. All the while, it retains similar dimensions to make it a compact device without adding too much bulk to its frame. It is targeted those who want a QWERTY and like the ease of navigating via touch screen, but it not the successor to the Vu which is a little bit more stylish appeal.

The package contains:

• LG Xenon
• Charger
• USB Cable
• Quick Start Guide

Design:

We’re glad to see that the size of the LG Xenon GR500 to be similar to the Vu in terms of overall dimensions even with a slide-out QWERTY. This is great because you would generally see an overall size increase when additions are made to an existing device. Corners are rounded with a chrome border outlining the outside of the phone that gives it a nice contrast. Although the blue plastic material used for the body of the Xenon does not feel as cheap as the Vu, it feels durable due to the added weight (3.81 oz). And you won’t notice any bulge if you place it in your pocket because it almost has the same thickness (0.62”).

One of the few things that the LG Xenon GR500 scales back on this phone is the screen size. The 2.8” resistive touch screen has a resolution of 240×400 pixels with 262k colors. It’s quite responsive and we did not find ourselves to be constantly pressing something to perform an action. Colors are pretty well differentiated, although black levels are nowhere close to what some recent AMOLED screens produce. You can see whatever is on screen clearly when we placed the brightness to the highest setting even in direct sunlight.

The three buttons found below the screen are the send, end, and task manager menu button. They are flush with the surface, well sized, and have a good tactile feel making easy to press. Turning the volume up or down can be accomplished by the volume rocker which is found on the left side. Holding down the volume down key will place the phone on vibrate mode. You can lock the Xenon to prevent random button presses from occurring with the key on the right side. The dedicated camera button and microSD card slot are also located on the same side. We’re glad to see that LG decided to go with a microUSB port for charging and connecting to a computer. It’s even better because the USB cable packed in the box can charge the Xenon through a computer or plug adapter. On the back, you’ll find the 2-megapixel camera with an LED flash and the speaker phone next to it. Finally, removing the back cover reveals the battery (950 mAh) and SIM card slot.

You can find the four row QWERTY keyboard by sliding the phone from left to right. It’s a little cramped with no spacing in between each rectangular shaped keys, but they do provide a decent tactile feel. The navigation keys on the keyboard can’t be used to guide through the menus except to move the cursor when typing text. There are a bunch of dedicated buttons found on the QWERTY to quickly launch certain applications such as the phonebook, IM client, mobile e-mail, and web browser. We did not have any problems using the keyboard, but people with larger fingers may find it too small.

Software and Features:

At its core, the LG Xenon GR500 has the same interface that is found on the Vu with some additions to the home screen. It’s still not as good looking as the new S-Class interface that LG uses in their European counterparts. There are three icons on the top portion of the display that changes the layout of the home screen. You’ll find the contacts list, launcher for you favorite applications, and the default home screen. Widgets have become a staple; and the Xenon is yet another phone to make use of them. There are a total of only six widgets that you can drag onto the default home screen.: the analog clock, media player, memo pad, picture viewer, calendar, and world clock. Although not quite as polished as the TouchWiz interface found on Samsung phones, it gets the job done by giving it a personalized look. There isn’t too much room on the screen for all the widgets to be on at the same time; so you’ll need to pick and choose wisely. When placing one onto the default home screen, it has this jerky movement as you drag it. There are four icons on the bottom side of the display that are stationary. Pressing them will get you to your phone dialer, address book, messaging, and main menu. Once you select the main menu icon, it will give you the tabbed interface found on the Vu. Some animations are accompanied after you press a tab, but its nothing fancy looking about it. Navigating through the menus will be a breeze for just about anyone without any sacrifice in experience. Some applications will run only in landscape view like the mobile email program.

Somewhat less than some other similar phones, the Xenon can save up to 500 contacts. We were a little disappointed to see that you can’t store other pertinent information when you make a new contact. You’re only limited to a handful of things such as two phone numbers, an email address, and a short memo.

One of the main draws of the phone is its keyboard for messaging. Typing up a message can be completed by using the generic virtual keypad with or without the aid of T9 predictive texting. Unfortunately, there is no option for a virtual QWERTY if you place the phone in landscape. It’s not too much of a problem because the QWERTY does a fine job. The only problem we had with it was the lack of a shift button which means you have to constantly press the caps button instead.

Just like other non-smart phones we’ve seen recently, you’ll be able to set up specific email accounts. Providers such as Yahoo, AOL, and Windows Live Hotmail are some of the big names supported on the phone. If your specific provider is not listed on the application, such as Gmail, you won’t be able to use it.

Camera and Multimedia:

We were hoping to see LG upgrade the camera on the LG Xenon GR500, but it is stuck with the same 2-megapixel one found on the Vu. The interface is a simple one with four icons on the right side used to view the album, take a photo, turn on/off the flash, and options menu. You can modify some items such as the image size (320×240, 640×480, 1280×960, 1600×1200), brightness, color effects, and white balance. Images taken in low lit areas came out with bland colors, fuzziness, and poor detail. We were expecting photos taken in well lit outdoor areas to produce better results. Unfortunately, colors were still not reproduced accurately with a slight haze over the image.

We were hoping to see LG upgrade the camera on the LG Xenon GR500, but it is stuck with the same 2-megapixel one found on the Vu. The interface is a simple one with four icons on the right side used to view the album, take a photo, turn on/off the flash, and options menu. You can modify some items such as the image size (320×240, 640×480, 1280×960, 1600×1200), brightness, color effects, and white balance. Images taken in low lit areas came out with bland colors, fuzziness, and poor detail. We were expecting photos taken in well lit outdoor areas to produce better results. Unfortunately, colors were still not reproduced accurately with a slight haze over the image.

Videos recorded on the Xenon had similar results to the photos. The maximum video capture resolution is 320×240; making it useful for MMS. For some odd reason, audio from the video had a slight buzzing noise to it. The Xenon is a video share capable device, but we were unable to test this feature out.

Three different audio players can be used to listen to music – you can use the widget based player, music player, or audio player. The music and audio players utilize a similar interface displaying the artist, track name, and a time lapse bar. It is pretty easy to use with three icons on the bottom used to reverse, play/pause, or forward a song. The only difference is that the music player will display the album cover while the audio player will have a visual equalizer running as the song plays. Additionally, exiting out of the audio player will cause the music to stop while the standard music player will continue to play. Finally, the widget based music player will run in the background and also have a bar style equalizer running. You’ll find the usual set of AT&T music programs such as MusicID, XM Radio, and Make UR Tones on the phone.

We were impressed by the video playback on the LG Xenon GR500. After loading a movie trailer clip in 320×144 H.263 format, we watched in amazement how it played perfectly and without any slow down. The quality was equally impressive with great detail and color levels. The audio produced from the speaker was vibrant and audible. The accelerometer will turn the video in either portrait or landscape view if you rotate the phone. The interface is basically the same that is found with the music player. You can even take a snapshot of any part of a video and save it as a photo or set it as your wallpaper.

Internet and Software:

The LG Xenon GR500 is a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band UMTS (850/1900 MHz). You’ll be able to make phone calls if you take it out of the country, but does not support 3G access overseas.

Checking out web pages on the phone was a breeze thanks to its snappy web browser. Mobile sites load up very quickly while more complex sites like ours loaded up after a minute. Once it has completely downloaded everything, you can scroll smoothly in any direction. Pages are rendered correctly like what you would see on a computer. You are given an overall page view of a web site at first, but can zoom in by pressing the associated icon on screen. Additionally, you can open up two different windows and alternate between each. There wasn’t much slowdown when scrolling through longer sites, but you will notice the phone start to lag if you have both windows loading up large sites at the same time. You’ll be able to change the settings to an optimized display for single column viewing to eliminate the need to scroll horizontally.

For travelers on the go, using AT&T Navigator will provide good turn-by-turn directions while offering plenty of local points of interests. The Xenon’s IM client allows you to choose from AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger. Just with other recent phones, you can jump back to the home screen while the IM application runs in the background.

Out of the box, the LG Xenon GR500 comes with 74MB of free memory out of 180MB. Fortunately, it supports microSD cards with capacity of up to 16GB for memory expansion.

Performance:

Call quality on the LG Xenon GR500 was a decent experience with most conversations through the phone being easily understood. Although, there were times when voices sounded almost hollow with some slight background static noise. On the other end, callers said that they had no problems hearing our voice. Using the speaker phone also produced some distortion when there was silence, but we were still able to hear callers perfectly when placed on the highest volume. Callers did say that there was a slight echo when we talked and our voices sounded a little bit on the low side.

The Xenon is rated for 4 hours of talk-time and about 264 hours of standby. Surprisingly, those specs are better than the Vu which had a slightly larger battery. While testing out the phone, we had the brightness of the screen set to the highest setting. We managed to get out over 7 days of normal use before the battery was completely drained.

Conclusion:

So here we are again with another QWERTY phone. It works pretty well as a touch screen phone and as messaging device. The small form factor of the Xenon is great when pitting against larger ones like the Samsung Impression or AT&T Quickfire. With the inclusion of a widget based home screen and an eclectic mix of personalization options,  the LG Xenon GR500 does make some improvements over the Vu all the while retaining a similar design. It may be enough for some to consider buying, but it just does not warrant anything revolutionary. If LG bumped up some of the specs of the phone such as the camera and fine tuned the new interface; it could have been a stellar device for the U.S. market. Luckily though, it gets the job done in terms of being a good touch screen and messaging phone.

Related posts:

1. HTC Touch Diamond 2 Cell Phone Review The HTC Touch Diamond 2 is the same as...
2. Palm Pre Cell Phone Review The Pre cell phone is Palm’s latest. It is a...
3. HTC Touch Pro2 Cell Phone Review The HTC Touch Pro2 is the follower of Touch...