It seems like those prayers are about to get answered, because here is the BlackBerry Pearl 9100. Also known as the BlackBerry Striker or the BlackBerry Status, this seems to be the newest phone in the Pearl lineup, but it won’t have the trackball from which the original Pearl derived its namesake.

In place of the trackball is the new trackpad that seems to be infiltrating the rest of the BlackBerry line. The features on this RIM prototype are said to include 3G connectivity, BlackBerry OS 5.0, integrated Wi-F, BlackBerry 9700-like styling, and the characteristic SureType keyboard.

Seeing how we already have the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, should we be expecting a flipping variant on the Pearl 9100 at some point in the near future? How about a vertical slider like the Palm Pre?

There was a video, but it has since been removed from YouTube.

Source: Salomondrin.net

This has been a very long time coming, but the Nokia E72 is finally available for sale through the official Nokia USA store and Amazon. Both sites are still showing the handset as avaialble for pre-order, but we hear that it’s ready to roll and shipments could go out as early as this afternoon.

Running our way through the spec sheet, you find a form factor that is quite similar to the Nokia E71 that preceded it, complete with a landscape display and full QWERTY keyboard. Among the upgrades are 10.2Mbps HSDPA, integrated compass, S60 3rd Edition, improved email functionality, and a five-megapixel autofocus camera.

The official press release says the phone is in stores now, but it makes no mention of price. Amazon has it listed at $469.

Source: BGR

We all know that Windows 7 is supposed to be more efficient than Windows Vista and that’s why a variety of netbooks are able to make the jump. If the original xpPhone was able to handle Windows XP, I guess it makes sense that it can do Windows 7 too. A name change might be in order though.

To make matters even more intriguing, ITG isn’t going to stick with just a single Windows 7-powered handset. Instead, it seems that the regular smartphone will get a 4.3-inch touchscreen, but a 4.8-inch and a tablet-style 7-inch version will also be offered. Thankfully, the 7-inch version takes a Bluetooth headset. That way, you don’t have to hold the monster up to your face.

All three variations get a 5-megapixel camera and dual GSM/CDMA support too, as well as Wi-Fi, optional WiMAX, Bluetooth, and GPS. Power comes by way of an AMD Super Mobile CPU and anywhere between 512MB and 2GB of memory. There are also SSD and HDD options for up to 120GB of storage.

Source: Gizmodo

That’s the good news and you can see the phone right here. It seems like it’s playing par for the course in terms of design, perhaps competing against devices like the HTC HD2 or even the Apple iPhone. I see a big touchscreen, a small number of hardware buttons, and some mildly rigid corners. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like it has that “Touch of Color” theme that Samsung uses for its LCD monitors and HDTVs too.

The bad news? The leaked picture does nothing to show us what the bada OS is all about. The phone picture has just a plain black screen, so we have no idea what the platform will feel like in comparison to Android or Windows Mobile. We’ll have to sit tight on that front.

On a side note, Samsung says that the development of bada will not impede the company’s usage of other smartphone platforms. As such, we may continue to see new Samsung phones with Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android in the future, as well as bada.

Source: Intomobile

It’s not like Samsung is new to the smartphone thing. We’ve already seen a variety of regular Windows Mobile phones, as well as handsets “upgraded” with Samsung TouchWiz, not to mention the Android offerings too. But that’s not enough for ol’ Sammy.

The new mobile operating system from Samsung is called bada, which is Korean for ocean. This name was meant to “convey the limitless variety of potential applications which can be created using the new platform.”

According to Samsung, bada will offer developers an easier way to create applications, giving consumers a “fun and diverse mobile experience.” Samsung bada will facilitate web-based services and “more sophisticated and attractive UI” designs.

There are no screenshots or any other specific information, but it sounds like Samsung could have something for us next month. You can check them out at bada.com.

Am I the only one who sees an inevitable partnership with Microsoft’s newer search engine? Bada Bing! Tony Soprano would approve.

Source: MobileCrunch

Dr. Cooper was the lead engineer of the Motorola team that went on to develop the world’s first cell phone. It was a technological marvel at the time, to say the least, and it ushered in the everything from the Zack Morris to the RAZR. However, he finds that modern phones have gotten far too complicated and complex.

The now 80-year-old Cooper doesn’t like the inclusion of digital cameras, accelerometers, and MP3 players. He doesn’t like the complexity of the iPhone’s touchscreen or App Store. He’d much prefer a dedicated device just for phone calls.

He said during a conference in Madrid that “whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well. OUr future I think is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing that will improve our lives.”

While I think we all appreciate Dr. Cooper’s contribution to our now ubiquitous digital lifestyles, I think we all agree that he’s behind the times. Specialist devices? Sorry, we’re all for convergence now, right?

Source: Gizmodo

While the first Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 got its juice from Windows Mobile (with the Panels UI overlay), that’s taking a dramatic change for this smartphone. Sony Ericsson is offering the XPERIA X10 as its first ever Google Android phone. It’s not just regular old Android, though, since you get Sony Ericsson Timescape and Sony Ericsson Mediascape overlays.

The features are pretty much in line with what we had heard through rumors up until this point. Power comes by way of that peppy 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Running through the spec sheet, we also find quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, tri-band UMTS HSPA, aGPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 4-inch WVGA touchscreen, microSD expansion, and 8.1 megapixel camera.

From what I can see, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 will not have the hardware QWERTY keyboard like the X1. Instead, you’re going with a full touchscreen interface not unlike the iPhone and HTC Hero.

Source: Slashphone

Are the two phones identical? Not exactly. Naturally, the biggest difference will be the swap from Verizon’s CDMA to a Europe-friendly GSM radio. The Motorola MILESTONE will still get the Google Android platform too, of course, but the MILESTONE gets a multitouch display to boot. For the record, the Motorola DROID doesn’t do multitouch.

There is a tradeoff involved. While the Motorola DROID will happily guide you around town with Google Maps Navigator and the whole turn-by-turn GPS thing, the Motorola MILESTONE will not. In its place, Europeans get their directions from MOTONVAV.

The Motorola MILESTONE is currently slated with a release through Italy and Germany first. Look for it on November 9th through The Phone House, O2, and Vodafone.

Source: BGR

We already knew that Bell would be picking up this smartphone next week, but we figured it would just be another phone in the lineup. Well, it’s graduating to a slightly elevated status as the official phone of the Olympics. I’m guessing that Bell will be supplying some VANOC and other officials with the device.

If you decide to buy the Samsung OMNIA II from Bell, they will provide you witha free download from Samsung called Wireless Olympic Works (WOW). This is designed to give you real-time information regarding the 2010 Olympics as it happens. Or, you know, you could visit any number of news sites.

As a refresher, the Samsung OMNIA II gets Windows Mobile 6.5, Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, 480p video recording, and memory expandable up to 48GB.

Source: Mobilesyrup

Both Telus and Bell are going to be launching their HSPA networks very shortly and they’ve got quite a few fantastic handsets lined up for the launch, including the Bold 9700 and the iPhone 3GS. Let’s not forget about Dave Wireless and Wind Mobile too. Well, Rogers is fighting back with some more affordable options.

Some of these are new, some of them are not, but they’re all web-happy cell phones that will cost you less than $100 on a three-year contract. The smartphones “Webphones” are some pretty heavy hitters too.

The cheapest of the bunch is the LG Eve. Featuring a 3-inch touchscreen, a 5-megapixel camera, Google Android, GPS, and Wi-Fi, this phone is $49.99 on contract.

Other highlights include the white BlackBerry Bold 9000 ($99.99), Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 ($99.99), Nokia N86 with 8MP camera ($99.99), and the HTC Magic ($79.99).

Source: MobileSyrup