Albeit a tad bit late, the T-mobile BlackBerry Pearl 8120 is finally seeing the OS 4.5 Update that was promised so long ago. Starting tomorrow, March 13, T-mobile Pearl owners will be able to get their hands on RIM’s OS and finally have a glimpse into what HTML email means on their handheld. Along with the HTML email for BIS accounts, music / video streaming, free / busy calendar look up, remote search for emails on server, attachment download / document editing, wireless software updates, myFaves 1.5, an updated UI, Wap 2.0, Voice IT policy controls, BlackBerry Maps enhancements, and GSM / EDGE toggle capabilities will be included.

Pearl 8120 owners will be able to download the OS 4.5 update from http://www.t-mobile.com/bbupgrade sometime in the morning. As usual a high-speed Internet is recommended for the download and you will need to backup your existing device information prior to updating the OS.

That’s right people, it’s getting closer. We can almost taste it now in fact. The CDMA answer to the BlackBerry Bold 9000 and Curve 8900 has just popped up in a new round of live shots, this time a bit more clear than the last round. We also get a pretty clear glimpse of the back this time around, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Apparently the faux leather on the Bold battery cover isn’t polarizing enough so RIM decided to up the ante. Yikes. What do you guys think — love it, hate it or who cares just give me a sexy new CDMA BlackBerry already?! Hit the jump for the shot of the back.

Over at Korea Samsung has announced two new mobile handsets with full-touch screen features. One of these new Samsung mobile phones is the S5600 which combines stylish designs and intuitive user interface.

The Samsung S600 does not only feature a slim, compact and sophisticated design but more importantly is loaded with enhanced multimedia features. Most notable feature of the Samsung S5600 is the Touch Wiz user interface which lets users customize and personalize their phone. It features mobile widgets which can be fully dragged and dropped on its menu screen for easier and faster access to the phone’s various menus.

As an added feature to its touch screen capability, the Samsung S5600 also included a “Gesture Lock” feature that enables users to unlock the phone and access menu directly by assigning letters to specific functions of the phone. To activate this menu options, users just need to draw the letters on the phone’s touch screen.
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Aside from the 5730 XpressMusic phone, Nokia has also announced the new 5330 xpressMusic handsets. This new music phone boasts of instant access to music, a standard 3.5 mm jack that provides crystal clear sound and an extended battery life that gives 26 hours of playback time. In addition, the Nokia 5330 also features online sharing through Ovi, Facebook and MySpace.

The Nokia 5330 is a slider phone with 2.4-inch True Color TFT display, a numeric keypad and dedicated touch music keys for music play/pause, forward and rewind functions.

For its web browsing features, the Nokia 5330 supports mark-up languages including HTML, XHTML, WML as well as the following protocols - WAP, HTTP, HTTPS. Likewise, it supports SMS, EMS, MMS, audio messaging, IM, and cell broadcast.

Other key features of the Nokia 5330 include aGPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, LED Flash and full-screen viewfinder. The phone supports video recording at 15fps-9fps, 5x digital zoom, video white balance modes with automatic, daylight, tungsten, flourescent and other settings.
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T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced the availability of the new T-Mobile Shadow. Featuring a more rounded and compact design with two new color options, support for T-Mobile Unlimited HotSpot Calling, and increased processing power, the new Shadow is the perfect device for sharing life’s special moments.

Available exclusively from T-Mobile, the Shadow is designed to significantly reduce the complexity often associated with many feature-rich devices, while maintaining the powerful calling, messaging and picture-sharing capabilities people crave to keep them connected.

The Shadow is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 and is the first Windows-based phone to provide support for T-Mobile’s Unlimited HotSpot Calling service, which provides great mobile coverage at home and unlimited nationwide calling from Wi-Fi networks, including T-Mobile HotSpot locations across the country.

We just got a tip that Orange UK would be the first carrier in Europe to launch a Pay As You Go BlackBerry device. Here’s the deal: it’s an exclusive-colored BlackBerry 8120 (Indigo, which is available on T-Mobile USA, might just be an UK exclusive) that will sell for £145. What about the monthly fee? A laughable £5/month. A pretty awesome deal that we’re told launches tomorrow. You can also most likely look for the PAYG service to color-up the rest of the BlackBerry devices Orange UK offers over time, provided this goes well. We guess we were right about BlackBerrys coming in boxes. Any Orange folks out there interested in picking up one of these?

We’ve just received word that Canada’s Fido Wireless has begun shipping out the first batch of Blackberry Pearl 8100 devices to its retail stores. A number of shops have already received their first packages, well ahead of the anticipated February 4th release date. The actual boxes are an oh-so-pretty baby blue color, similar to the current Bell Blackberry packaging. This is all well and good, but if you’ve been hankering for a Fido branded ‘Berry you’re still gonna have to wait. Their POS system still doesn’t contain any actual Blackberry plans, so reps won’t be able to activate the devices even if you find one friendly enough to give it a shot.

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After seeing the famous character “going iPhone“, we’ve heard Sony Ericsson will be releasing the Hello Kitty edition of its gaming-oriented phone - F305.

Aside from boasting cutely-painted case, the low-end clamshell will also come stuffed with Hello Kitty content like wallpapers and screensavers. Price is unknown at this stage and so is the exact release date. We do, however, know it will hit Russia and we’re guessing some other countries, too.

So if you’re a teenage girl or have a daughter that age who digs Hello Kitty, you may want to grab this special edition F305. It certainly makes for a great present.

Nokia has recently released firmware updates for two of its NSeries smartphones - N78 and N82. The N78 firmware has reached version 20.149.051.1 and among notable things updates Nokia Maps to version 2.0 and makes user interface more responsive. This includes faster transitions between screens.

As for the N82, firmware version 31.0.016 adds UDP (User Data Preservation), as well as an update to Nokia Maps, which in turn is more stable after the update. AllAboutSymbian has more details on this one.

Apart from the highlights mentioned above, new firmware versions also make sure overall stability is improved, as many of the known bugs have been fixed. Naturally, it is advised that you backup your device prior to hitting the “Update” button.

(via: Engadget Mobile)

Verizon Wireless customers now have a new option for enhancing wireless coverage inside homes where location, geography or structural conditions interfere with reception. Customers can purchase the Verizon Wireless Network Extender online, by phone or at select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, allowing them to enhance the signal inside their homes using any Verizon Wireless phone.

Verizon Wireless Network Extender – a “mini-cell site” manufactured by Samsung – is about the size of a wireless router box or small attache case and routes Verizon Wireless calls through the customer’s home broadband Internet connection. Network Extender is easy to set up and ready to use right out of the box and can provide coverage in an area of up to 5.000 square feet. The price is $249.99, plus local taxes, and there are no monthly fees.
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It was just a scant few days ago that we saw the first live pictures of the upcoming Verizon Wireless VX9600 Versa. Now we have a tentative release date for all you folks excited to see this modular LG Dare-Voyager hybrid hit the market. According to Best Buy Mobile’s inventory system, the LG VX9600 is slated for release on February 22, 2009. You can expect it to hit Verizon Wireless stores and website around the same time. Whether this modular phone will wow us with its “versatility” or be a good idea gone bad remains to be seen but at least we now know how long we have to wait to find out.

It was said in the previous chapter that the W230 can’t keep up with fast texters. This is the case throughout the device, the phone lags in every application, and even to just end a program, it will take few seconds.

In today’s software-demanding world, most phones should be able to install Java instant messaging clients and Java web browsers such Opera Mini. Motorola’s ultimate mistake was to leave Java out of the phone, and because of this mistake, users won’t be able to install any third-party applications or games.

The small low-quality 1.6″ display will mean that not much content is going to be seen without scrolling, and it’s easy to guess that the web browser will run better if a user just browses through wap-pages only.

The home screen fits a signal strength indicator, active call notification, battery level sign, among other usual ones, such as the new-message sign and the current profile. Just below that there is the current network, date, d-pad shortcuts, and soft key shortcuts.

The menu is divided in a 3×3 grid, with the following items:
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The BlackBerry Storm might have its faults, but I’ll give RIM one thing: they’re certainly cranking out these firmware updates at breakneck speed. Of course, no matter how fast they get the updates out, people will get impatient - which is why it’s always good news when a leak like this one occurs.

Sometime last night, OS 4.7.0.90 for the BlackBerry 9500 and 9530 (the GSM and CDMA versions of the Storm) found its way out of the code-crankin’ labs and onto the internets. A number of folks have already put their Storms into the petri dish for the sake of science, returning with positive results; initial reports claim an overall snappier UI (faster transitions and accelerometer detection), and an option to enable a full QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode. Remember, however, that this is a leaked (and presumably beta) version of the OS, so it doesn’t come without a fault or two - a few bugs are purportedly still lingering, including one that makes the camera a bit finicky about saving photos properly.

Download Link for BlackBerry Storm 9530 (CDMA)
Download Link for BlackBerry Storm 9500 (GSM)
CrackBerry’s Guide on Installation