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Sidekick 2009, HTC Snap and Touch Pro2 dated for T-Mobile?
The gang at TmoNews have it from a "trusted source" what's purported to be a list of tentative release dates for nearly a dozen T-Mobile phones. At the top on that list is the Sidekick 2009 (a.k.a. "Blade") for May 13th, followed by heavy hitters HTC Snap and HTC Rhodium (Touch Pro2) for July 1st / 22nd, respectively. Rounding out the list is a pre-paid Nokia 1661 for April 29th, a mysterious Sony Ericsson CS8 for June 24th, six Samsung T-series phones all debuting between May 6th and August 19th, and a big, fat "TBD" for the HTC Magic (Sapphire). Don't think these dates as gospel, but with less than six weeks until Blade's rumored to hit retail, we'll know soon enough if this list has any credence
HTC Snap hands-on
What the Snap lacks in flair, it makes up for in sheer, unadulterated function -- and having an utterly awesome keyboard certainly helps in that regard. It's easy to pass off HTC's latest portrait QWERTY handset as a bit frumpy from photographs, but trust us when we say that it's totally passable in person (some might even call it insanely attractive) -- think of it as the anti-8900, if you will. Pictured on the Snap above is the configuration screen for Inner Circle, which HTC also introduced this week. There's really not much to it -- you can add email addresses from your address book or from incoming emails, and when Inner Circle is enabled, only emails from those contacts will be visible in the Snap's unified account-agnostic inbox. It's a great idea for shutting out the electronic noise most of us experience in our day-to-day lives, and we're hoping this little feature finds its way to HTC's full WinMo lineup going forward. Follow the break for a video tour of the phone (and pay close attention, Yanks, 'cause it'll be coming your way as the S522 in the next few months).
HTC Snap snaps to life, coming to US as S522
Since the Excalibur and Cavalier, HTC's shown an unhealthy aversion for the immensely popular portrait QWERTY format -- until now, that is, with the introduction of the rumored 12mm-thick HTC Snap. The Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone features a 528MHz Qualcomm core, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, 2 megapixel camera, microSDHC expansion, and the requisite QVGA display, all paired with AGPS, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, WiFi, and HSDPA data. "What kind of HSDPA?" is the next logical question in that progression, and the answer is that you're looking at two versions of the device: one with 900 / 2100 for Europe and Asia, one with 850 / 1900 for North America (interestingly, the North American version won't be known as the Snap -- instead, it'll simply be called the S522). The new device also marks the introduction of HTC's "Inner Circle" feature, which can selectively pull emails from certain contacts to the top of your inbox -- the perfect way to ignore Terry from Accounting who's been on your case for the past three weeks about filing expense reports. Look for the Snap to launch globally this quarter, while the unlocked S522 hits "during the summer."
Nextar intros 5-inch SNAP5 / 7-inch SNAP7 GPS units
Warm on the heels of its T30 PMP, Nextar is getting official with two new GPS units in its ever-expanding SNAP family. Up first is the SNAP5 -- which predictably includes a 5-inch touch panel -- followed by the 7-inch SNAP7. Both devices check in at just 0.7-inches thick and feature stereo speakers, text-to-speech support, US / Canada Tele Atlas maps, an SD card slot, a built-in MP3 player / JPEG viewer, 2D / 3D map viewing modes, a rechargeable Li-ion battery and a magnetic docking station (hence the SNAP moniker -- get it?!). The duo is all set to debut at SEMA 2008 in early November, but they won't go on sale in the US until Spring of 2009; at that point, you can grab the SNAP of your choice for $299.99 / $349.99, respectively. Full release is after the break.%Gallery-35547%
Hands flailing wildly with JVC's Snap and Gesture HDTV
We've now experienced JVC's Snap and Gesture HDTV -- the display that replaces your remote by responding to audio cues like snapping/clapping, or visual ones with hand gestures -- and can confirm we are exactly the type of lazy couch potatoes this is not aimed towards. While leading a nation, signaling for a time out or expressing displeasure with another driver are best done with elaborate hand movements, we're a bit more thumb-oriented. Check out some lazily-snapped photos (auto focused, not manual) in the gallery.%Gallery-13064%
Samsung X820 takes a licking and keeps on ticking
Hey Motorola, just because you snapped it doesn't mean you broke it.[Thanks, Bilgin O.]
Samsung considering legal action against X820 video
We're not quite sure what to make of this one. A video kicking around the so-called Internet lately (see picture) depicts a rather cheery woman fatally wounding a SGH-X820, and apparently Samsung has taken offense. They're claiming the phone was probably pre-damaged to make the phone seem unusually easy to destroy, but let's face it -- the phone's 6.9 millimeters don't afford a ton of protection against this kind of abuse. At any rate, Sammy's "conducting a probe" to hunt down the video's origin and is suggesting that a little courtroom action might be in order. The frightening lesson here, folks, is that if you want to break your phone, don't do it on camera.Update: The Korea Times is reporting that Motorola created the video but may have never intended for it to enter the public domain, citing YouTube's statement that the video's copyright belongs to Moto and has pulled the video as a result. It seems unlikely to us that Motorola would put together a video like this for internal use, particularly if the phone was pre-damaged as Samsung is suggesting -- but who knows? We love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy.[Via textually.org]
