Fired up to capitalize on some of the hype Sprint has managed to drum up for the Instinct down in the States, Samsung's taking its iPhone fighter north of the border for a promised intro later this summer. Bell Mobility is the lucky partner (seriously, Telus, you probably should've hustled Samsung a little harder for this one), launching at price points ranging from $149.95 up to $449.95 for a three-year contract all the way down to zero commitment. Features and software look like they're all carrying over from their stateside cousin, although the UI's looking just a little bit less Sprint-ified (read: no yellow tinge). Nice.

[Via MobileSyrup]

Update: There are rumors that Telus is slated to pick it up, too, but we haven't seen anything solid just yet. We'll let you know.

Update 2: Yep, Telus is down with it -- exclusivity be damned! Thanks, howi!

Hey Canadians: looking for a quick, easy, cheap (well, sort of cheap) way to show some national pride? We think we've got just the ticket, and so does Bell. Turns out they'll be launching the m530 music flip with Canadian Olympic Team branding next month for $99.95 CAD (about $99) on a three-year plan or $299.95 CAD (about $298) prepaid. You're not going to blow anyone away with the features, though -- unless your friends and family are blown away by barn-burners like 1.3 megapixel cameras, stereo Bluetooth, and somewhat unattractive external music controls.

[Via Mobile In Canada]

Considering that the last time Sprint's Airave was even relevant was when a smattering of folks bought one in Denver and Indianapolis, like, last September, here's a quick refresher on what this thing does. Similar to T-Mobile @home, this box plugs into one's broadband connection and essentially acts as a mini cell tower within your house, which will certainly make folks in a fringe zone with no option for Roam Only (feel our pain, Instinct owners?) quite happy. For whatever reason, the carrier has dilly-dallied around with this thing forever, and even if whispers prove true and it launches on July 15th for $99 (on top of a monthly fee for unlimited minutes, we hear), we have to wonder if anyone will even bite. Two more shots in the read link.

LG and Samsung just love throwing down the touchscreen gauntlet on American carriers lately -- one only need look at the Dare, Instinct, Vu, Voyager, and Glyde to figure that much out. Thing is, none of those devices really fall into the smartphone bucket, much less the coveted "superphone" one. That might just be where the recently-announced Samsung Omnia comes into play, though, which is now rumored to be destined for AT&T with a gaggle of features in tow: Windows Mobile 6.1, 5 megapixel camera, HSDPA, at least 8GB of internal storage, and support for AT&T Mobile TV. If it turns out to be true, that's got to steam LG, who's presently sitting atop the AT&T Mobile TV food chain with the Vu -- but hey, if that means they're going to set to work with another range-topper above this one, we're all for it.

Looks like Sprint's gargantuan marketing blitz for the Instinct is in the process of paying off, because the carrier has announced that the Samsung device has become its best-selling EV-DO device ever in the first week of availability. Long-term popularity will depend largely on word of mouth as early adopters decide whether they made the right purchase, of course, but it's a promising sign for a company that hasn't had a ton of good news to report lately. They're reporting that the overwhelming popularity has led to shortages in some areas, but go on to assure us that "Samsung has increased efforts to deliver new supplies of Instinct on a daily basis and manufacturing plants are operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand." Here's our question, though: Sprint makes a point of saying that it's their best-selling EV-DO device, so what's their best-selling device regardless of technology -- the Sony Z-100, perhaps, also known as the baddest cellphone of all time?

It looks like the folks at Samsung are keeping the fires burning with a batch of new handsets announced at the Singapore Telecommunications Exhibition. First on the block is the 3G, J800 Luxe slider, a mid-range phone with a 2.2-inch 176 x 200 display, two megapixel camera, FM tuner, A2DP support, and a slot for microSD cards. The electronics-maker is also offering the L700, a fairly unexciting candybar with a 2.1-inch screen, HSDPA, a choice of colors (pink, silver, and gold), and pretty much all the other features listed for the previous phone. The most interesting offering from this set is the Symbian-based L870 that we've seen previously, which the company claims is still on target for its August release. No word on pricing or release dates for the two new models, however.

[Thanks, Craig]

There's nothing quite like leaked information on a phone expected to be given away for free on contract to get the blood pumping, is there? It turns out that the freshly FCC-approved SCH-u430 from Samsung will end up replacing the lowly u410, offering the same VGA camera and 160 x 128 primary display as its predecessor but enjoying a restyled shell that should at least get an occasional glance from passers-by in the Verizon store. Or maybe not -- there always seem to be at least a few models available for free after rebates and whatnot, and we're struggling to see what would attract anyone to this particular model. Brand loyalty or that trick analog clock display, perhaps? No word on official pricing (geez, it better be free) or an availability date yet.

T-Mobile's still doing its darndest to keep its fragmented 3G network launch on the DL -- the carrier can't deliver a wide footprint just yet, and it look like it doesn't want to put customers under the false impression that it can. A great way to make sure no one cares about your high-speed handsets is to make sure they're all totally anonymous, low- to midrange devices with minimum shelf appeal, and what can we say, T-Mobile? Mission accomplished! PC Magazine has devoted some quality time to checking out all four of the 3G models currently offered -- the 3555 and 6263 from Nokia along with the t819 and t639 from Samsung -- and it looks like they've managed to develop a really potent power user repellent with the lineup. The 6263 scrapes by with the most generous review of the review, but even it is hampered by a lack of HSDPA (meaning 3G data's capped at a theoretical 384kbps) and a measly 1.3 megapixel camera. Clearly, T-Mobile wants these phones viewed in exactly the same light as the remainder of its consumer-class models, and we'll give 'em that much, they've done a bang-up job in that regard. Maybe too good, in fact.

Read - Nokia 3555
Read - Samsung t819
Read - Nokia 6263
Read - Samsung t639

There's a lot of hoopla today over a Wall Street Journal piece stating that Google's first Android device has been pushed back to late 2008 for release -- yet the article fails to mention that this is right inline with what Google has been saying for quite awhile now. Admittedly, the fresh-faced mobile competitor probably is finding itself somewhat mired in carrier demands, which doesn't seem unexpected given the broad swath of partners it's collaborating with and the open source nature of the project, but as phone release schedules go, it hasn't veered off the path much. The breakdown is something like this: from what we've been told, you can expect an Android-powered handset before the new year (i.e., HTC's Dream driven by Google's OS), followed by a crop of higher profile phones showing up in early 2009 (as previously stated by companies like LG and Samsung). So... feel free to switch off the alarms anytime you like.

[Via GigaOM]

The 3G handset selection is still tres weak down on America's number four, but it's not all gloom and doom -- things are looking considerably brighter on the WiFi end of T-Mob's tech spectrum. The carrier has announced today that it is adding the Samsung t339 flip and Nokia's stainless steel 6301 candybar (unbranded version shown) in support of its HotSpot @Home UMA calling action, and while neither device comes as a surprise, the 6301 should end up generating at least a little buzz as the first candybar dumbphone on T-Mob to pony up the 802.11 sauce. Notably, it also features a QVGA display, reasonably decent 2 megapixel cam, and integrated FM radio -- all told, a far cry from the HotSpot @Home lineup's humble roots in the Nokia 6086 and Samsung t409. Both new models are available starting today.

Remember that not-entirely-innocent looking prehistoric creature that won your heart immediately upon viewing Samsung's optical illusion promotional vid? Apparently quite a few folks demanded to see more of the Soul dinosaur, so Sammy hoisted him up onto a truck and proceeded to drive around a few English towns. Catch the sub-2 minute journey (reactions included) just after the break.

[Thanks, Claudio]