Though it has its shortcomings, the Palm Treo 650 offers solid performance and adds some key features to maintain its reign as smart-phone leader.

You might be familiar with the CoPilot Live, a $299 software and hardware add-on for mobile PCs that turns that smartphone into a GPS unit. Its tiny GPS receiver communicates with the phone via Bluetooth, and the maps are stored in a flash memory card. Now the CoPilot Live's maker, ALK, has released a special version for the Motorola Q, and Mobility Today has reviewed it. According to reviewer David Ciccone, it looks like ALK has another winner on its hands, with this unit performing quickly and effectively:

This weekend I made 6 trips with numerous different changes in my route to see how the CoPilot reacted. Pleasantly suprised this unit responded quickly and effectively... CoPilot for the Motorola Q is now my #1 choice for navigation.

Get thee hence, ALK! Time for us to try this one out for ourselves. – Charlie White

CoPilot Live for the Motorola Q [Mobility Today]

Product Page [ALK Technologies]

 
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Click here for directions, and enter in 142468 to join our Skypecast with T-Mobile execs Sam Bell and Jeff Folino.

 
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The RIM BlackBerry 7130c is an excellent phone and e-mail device for consumers and professionals alike; plus, it's one of the best-designed BlackBerrys we've seen to date.

The Nokia 9300i includes handy features for corporate users, though some of them could use work.

Filed under: Cellphones

It's been a crazy few years for the once unknown Taiwanese OEM known as High Tech Computer. Although still not a household name like Sony or Samsung, HTC has leveraged its strong ties with Microsoft to offer tantalizing products that have made us early-adopters stand up and take notice, and now the company feels that it's in a strong enough market position to ditch the Qtek brand and begin selling phones under its own name. The Qtek phase-out was announced as part of HTC's official unveiling of the 3G Hermes Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone -- now known as the TyTN -- as well as the compact, UMTS-capable Breeze smartphone -- which is now called the MTeoR (yeah, we're noticing a MOTO-like naming trend too; see the rebadged STRTrk for further proof). In announcing July's European launch of these self-branded handsets, HTC reemphasized its dedication to the many carriers selling its products under their own names, but this development certainly bodes well for the company's overall name-recognition; imagine, instead of lying and telling people we have a Treo because Sprint-branded-UTStarcomm-PPC-6700-based-on-the-HTC-Apache sounds so nerdy, we may one day be able to proudly proclaim "Oh, it's an HTC." [Warning: PDF link]

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

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Part of the Nokia Communicator line of smart phones, the Symbian OS-based Nokia 9500 also offers integrated Wi-Fi and a VGA camera.

It looks like Gigabyte is starting a whole like of smartphones with the g-Smart monicker. This new Computex-revealed g-Smart i120 runs on the now-common Windows Mobile 5.0 and has a 240x320 pixel, 2.4-inch touch screen interface, but lacks a QWERTY keyboard. The navigation pad is to the right of the number keys, but instead of a "t" shape, the buttons are located in the corners—strange for nav-buttons.

Some of its other features: 256MB internal memory, 64MB RAM, miniSD support, FM tuner, TV tuner, 2.0 megapixel camera, MP3/AAC playback and Java support. For connectivity, the i120 has 802.11g, Bluetooth, IR, and mini USB (1.2 only).

No word on availability or pricing. – Jason Chen

GIGABYTE g-Smart i120 [Sogi via Slashphone]

 
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With EV-DO support, increased memory, and enhanced multimedia capabilities, the Palm Treo 700p makes a powerful smart phone even better. Sure, it’s not perfect, but the solid performance and new features make it worth the upgrade.

The RIM BlackBerry 7130e brings the consumer-friendly and compact 7100 series to Sprint, and it offers some nice features for the mobile professional.

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, NTT DoCoMo, GSM, GPRS, UMTS

Having already conquered the US and much of Europe, Canada's most famous contribution to consumer electronics is poised to take over yet another Asian market, when the ubiquitous BlackBerry hits phone-mad Japan this fall. Coming hot on the heels of KT Powertel's introduction of the 7100i in South Korea, wireless giant NTT DoCoMo has announced that it is partnering with BlackBerry-maker RIM to offer customers GSM / WCMDA "worldphone" versions of the addictive handhelds -- which is yet another step towards the carrier's commitment of having an all-GSM-enabled lineup within the next two years. Besides the traditional push email functionality that we've come to know and love, nothing much is known about the specifics of these upcoming foreign models, like how the pocket-sized BlackBerries will manage to pack in the thousands of keys necessary to represent all those Japanese glyphs.

[Thanks, Gina]

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Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Cingular, GSM

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The RIM BlackBerry 7100i is a great all-in-one device for Nextel customers who want instant access to e-mail and voice calls.

As the hypefest running up to the May 31 release of the Motorola Q continues, there was a reviewer’s event yesterday where members of the press corps were allowed to paw and fondle the lusted-after smartphone. Here’s a shot from the unboxing event, where the diminutive Q looks smaller in the hand than we thought.

Verizon Wireless snagged an exclusive on the Motorola Q, but that probably won’t last for long. As we reported earlier this week, the highly-anticipated smartphone will be available directly through the Verizon Wireless website next Wednesday and in stores sometime next month at a price of $199 after an instant $100 rebate.

Motorola Q is Here! [Mobility Today]

 
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The Motorola Q lives up to much of the hype by offering good call quality, an excellent multimedia experience, and the essential productivity tools, all wrapped up in a sexy little package.

The Samsung SCH-i830 offers some nice features for the mobile professional, such as dual-mode functionality and a full QWERTY keyboard, but poor performance and outdated features put it behind the competition.

Taken at Israel Tech Ed last week, the video shows off both the Motorola Q and the Samsung i-320. The Q’s UI looks pretty responsive, and the screen’s quality is pretty good.

The Samsung’s keys also look interesting, with a BlackBerry-like dual purpose keys. Instead of horizontally dividing the keys, Samsung divided them vertically. You’ll have to watch the video to see what we mean.

First video of an Israeli Motorola Q? [Mobility Today]

 
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Either Motorola CEO Ed Zander is confused, or some spokesperson is going to get a whuppin’.

Contradicting Zander’s statements earlier this week, a Verizon spokesperson claimed that there is going to be no launch event next week. Perhaps Zander was using the announcement to force Verizon’s hand early, maybe as a result of the Q being delayed so many times.

Either way, the Q should be out fairly soon. They’ve even got a contest to win one.

Verizon Denies Motorola Q Launching Next Week [Brighthand]

 
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The specifications of the Nokia E62 are pretty much still the same save for added WiFi and USB support, but now Blackberry Cool has found out the smartphone will be released this summer through Cingular. It will also be compatible with BlackBerry through the “BlackBerry Connect” software for non BlackBerry devices.

Canadian readers can note there are rumors that Nokia’s been talking to Rogers about launching it through their channels. What’s with Canada anyway? We name our wireless companies something cool like “Sprint” or “Cingular”, you guys name yours after dumpy, balding middle managers.

Live from WES: Update on the Nokia E62 [Blackberry Cool - Thanks Douglas!]

 
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The marketing campaign for the Motorola Q is heating up. And by heating up, we mean it’s no longer nonexistent. Cashing in on The Da Vinci Code fever, Motorola is holding a contest where you can enter to win your own Q (not John de Lancie). This is only available in the US, so tough luck Denmark.

Find the Q [Thanks George!]

 
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Announced to the public just last month, Nokia's new best of breed multimedia device N93 has already received FCC approval—but as those of you who follow high-end phones already know, that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be seen in the US any time soon.

We can't wait to get our hands on this beast, with its 3.2 megapixel Zeiss lens and 30 fps MPEG-4 VGA video recording. Lots of internal photos like the one to your left are up on the FCC site awaiting your perusal. External photos and the user guide too, of course, but we know what you really like, you dirty dirty bird.

Nokia 93 [FCC.gov, via My-Symbian.com]
Nokia Announces Three New Nseries Phones: N93, N73 & N72 [Gizmodo]

 
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Word around the PDA-fire is that Palm is launching a Palm OS version of the Treo 700 on Monday. How do we know this? Some brightwads over at TechWorld posted, then yanked, a story about the smartphone.

The biggest deal is that this thing can act as a wireless modem via Bluetooth or USB. It has a 1.3-megapixel camera, 312-Mhz processor, and 128 MB of memory. Sprint and Verizon should be carrying it this summer. It will definitely be interesting to see how the sales folks differentiate these two phones from each other. "See, this one uses Palm, which is like Apple. And this one uses Windows, so you can play Quake 4."

UPDATE - We got ourselves a pic.

Read the whole story after the jump.

"Palm is launching a Palm version of its Treo 700 smartphone next Monday."(?) [WirelessDoc]

 
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We complained last Friday that Nokia's new Podcasting application doesn't actually podcast, and Nokia Podcasting Product Manager Steven Stewart wrote in this morning to address our concerns and explain the name craziness:

You are right... The first release will be cool mobile Podcatcher (with some advanced features exclusive to the mobile that you can't currently get from other dedicated mp3 players). But you ask that if it's a Podcatcher, why the name Nokia Podcasting?

The naming was intentional. In the near future, Nokia will offer a full mobile Podcasting solution with higher quality recording capabilities (and smaller file size), editing, uploading capabilities, and more.

The initial releases of the Nokia Podcasting Application are the first steps toward the best mobile podcasting solution. Hence our reluctance to rename the application every time a new feature is added. So the ultimate focus of the Nokia Podcasting Application is the world of Podcasting... search, discovery, preview, download, listen/watch, create, edit and uploading.

Hope that makes sense. We want to do this right so that the mobile podcasting experiences as easy and enjoyable as possible for both new users and advanced users. We are listening closely to what both listeners and podcast creaters are asking for, so if your team has any requests for features, let us know.

Good to know this is only the first step and that real podcasting is coming in "the near future", whenever that might be—we're guessing (hoping?) around the time that the N93 and N73 multimedia devices hit the market. Those of you who create podcasts or are thinking of doing mobile podcasts, what features are you looking for? Leave a comment or send us an email, and we'll be sure to pass your suggestions on.

Nokia Podcasting Application for S60 3rd Edition [MRKTNGman]

 
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Torq’s new GPS enabled device not only allows it to function as a navigation unit, there’s also a receiver onboard that allows it to support Traffic Message Channel (TMC) functionality. This means real time traffic conditions which allow you to make changes to your route accordingly.

Other features like GSM quad band (850, 900, 1800, 1900Mhz), Bluetooth 2.0, 2.8″ touchscreen display and a 1.3 megapixel camera make this pretty much the only device you have to carry out the front door. Its Windows Mobile 5.0 OS also allows portable Microsoft Office applications for working on the road. Torq, you had us at hello.

Torq N100 PDA with GPS on board [GPS News via uber gizmo]

 
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The UTStarcom XV6700 for Verizon Wireless has all the makings of a powerful Windows Mobile smart phone, but it's tripped up by wireless restrictions and mediocre performance.