It's still anybody's guess when the Touch Diamond will actually launch on Sprint, though the latest rumors suggest that it has once again been moved up to September 2 after initially being pushed back to October. The fact that promo materials are starting to show up would certainly support that theory, too, now wouldn't it?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Don't worry, you throng of dual-band Samsung smartphone fanboys and girls out there -- Verizon hasn't forgotten about you. It's been a little while since we've heard anything about the i770, but a new slide shows that Big Red's positioning it (or trying to, anyway) for Q3 availability, which just happens to be the very quarter that we're currently in. It features GPS, quadband GSM (which is strange -- typically Verizon's dual-band devices only do GSM on non-North American bands), WiFi, a 2-megapixel camera, EV-DO, and possibly biometric security, though that particular feature is currently marked down as "tbd." Next up in the global stable is the u810, a stylish clamshell with a microSD slot, 2-megapixel cam, and not bloody much else -- not really a great choice for the globetrotting businessperson, so Verizon might have the frequent pleasure traveler in mind here.

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

We're not sure if it's coincidence or if there's some concerted effort to push out overdue Windows Mobile 6.1 updates all of a sudden, but for whatever reason, Verizon's XV6800 is joining the AT&T Tilt this week in offering an official upgrade package for the first time. Could've come a little quicker, honestly -- Sprint beat 'em out the door by a country mile -- but let's just thank our lucky stars that it finally happened, shall we?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

It leaked ages ago, but the Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade for your beloved Tilt is now ever so slightly more legit now that it's made an official appearance on HTC's support site. The big draws here are Video Share support, reconfigurability for the push-to-talk button, and all the other spoils that come with the WinMo 6.1 we know and love, tolerate, or hate, depending on your disposition.

[Via MobileBurn and WMExperts, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Looking for the Touch Pro in a slightly less conspicuous package? HTC (who else?) thinks it has the answer in the S740, the first thorough revamp of the S710 of old. The basic concept is the same -- wrap Windows Mobile Standard into a candybar package with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard -- but the S740 takes design cues from the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro for a thoroughly 2008-ish look. The feature list has naturally been refreshed, too, with 7.2Mbps HSDPA on the 900 and 2100MHz bands (read: screw you, North Americans), quadband EDGE, a 3.2-megapixel fixed focus cam, WiFi, GPS, and a 2.4-inch QVGA display. And, you know, if all that isn't enough to impress your snobby friends, just slide open that keyboard, say "boom," and watch the jaws drop. Look for it to filter across Europe starting next month.

We've been slipped a handy little document that indicates the dates that Sprint is currently targeting for the release of a few of its fall hotties, and although we already knew some of this stuff, it's always good to have some corroborating evidence in these situations. First up, the Motorola Renegade V950, i365, and Samsung M220 and M320 are all still apparently locked for September 2, as is the Touch Diamond. We've heard a groundswell of concern from tipsters that the Touch Diamond may have been bumped out to October -- it certainly wouldn't surprise us, given our jaded, overwhelmingly pessimistic personalities -- but here's hoping, anyway. It also looks like the just-released Katana Eclipse in silver will be getting pink and black siblings come October 16, along with an "LG LX600 Messaging Handset." We're not sure what the LX600 might be beyond what a confidentiality-bound FCC filing tells us, but the Rumor is getting a little long in the tooth, so it could conceivably be replacement device or a slightly higher-end QWERTY set that would sit somewhere above the Rumor in the lineup.

If you're looking for pictures from every conceivable angle of Sony Ericsson's first foray into the danger-fraught tar pit that is Windows Mobile, well, here you go. In fact, Smape goes so far as to take a look at both the black and metallic versions of the X1 (but don't get to attached to the metallic one just yet, seeing how it might have gotten the axe in some markets), noting that they're assembled exceptionally well and exude a premium look that's rarely seen in the WinMo realm. Unfortunately, they've dinged the keyboard for the same crappy feel observed elsewhere, something we're all hoping gets fixed by the time it hits production in a couple months' time. With that wild panel interface, you might expect some pretty miserable performance when you have the thing going at full tilt; fortunately, though, Smape reports that lags occur "only occasionally," which is better than "frequently" or "always" as far as we're concerned. Camera performance is said to be better than the Touch Pro's, though both HTC and Sony Ericsson (via HTC, ironically) still have plenty of time to tweak that via a well-placed firmware update or two. At any rate, we're definitely looking forward to seeing this thing finally materialize so the Touch Pros and X1s of the world can start duking it out in those rough, dog-eat-dog professional trenches of the world.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We thought it was funny in a nerdy, chortle-quietly-to-ourselves sort of way when we realized that HTC would essentially be competing with itself this fall in the very upper echelon of the Windows Mobile market by releasing the Touch Pro and making the X1 for Sony Ericsson. Now it seems that they're adding at least one more player into the mix -- just for sport, we suppose -- if DigiTimes' claim that the contract for Palm's Treo Pro has gone to HTC is correct. Recently, Palm has favored Inventec over HTC for many of its models -- though the on-again, off-again relationship with Peter Chou's company stretches all the way back to the Treo's early days, so there's definitely some precedent. That, and the fact that HTC seems to really know what it's doing lately.

[Thanks, Marios S.]

The bad news is that it looks like Sprint mucked a bit with the Touch Diamond's stellar trademark interface; the good news, though, is that they don't seem to have mucked with it much. A handful of pages from Sprint's upcoming headliner HTC release have leaked onto the web, showing Sprint Music Store integration with TouchFLO 3D, a dedicated Sprint TV tab, and automatic screen orientation, among other gems. Now all you've got to do is release the actual phone and we'll be all set -- right, Sprint? Right?

The uncertainty of trying to predict exactly when -- and where -- Sony Ericsson's beastly X1 would launch has come to be one of the more entertaining dramas in the mobile world this year, but it looks like Vodafone's ready to shut down the rumor mill. The Windows Mobile superphone has now been slapped with an "expected" launch date in October for Voda's UK audience, which means we can probably expect it in at least a few other European locales in the same timeframe. Americans (of both the South and North variety), Asians, Africans, Australians, and Antarcticans, though -- well, there's no telling where you guys stand at the moment, so hang tight.

[Via CoolSmartPhone]

The secret sauce to extending any phone's shelf life by at least a few months seems to be adding a new color or two into the mix (the Curve comes immediately to mind), and smartphones are no exception to the rule. It falls short of the lime green CDMA version's sheer wackiness, but AT&T's apparently getting ready to re-launch its venerable Motorola Q9h in gray, which is kind of like the original black except... you know, lighter. Seeing how Windows Mobile 6.1 is now official on this one, it comes as no surprise that these gray ones are showing up with the update preloaded; it's always a nice touch when you don't need to christen your new purchase with a hastily-installed update, isn't it? It's unknown what we'll be charged for the pleasure of owning one of these, but we'd assume it'll fall in line with the current version at $100 after rebate.

Well we've gotten our hands all over Palm's new Treo - the Pro - and we've documented it all on film... er, disk. Here's what were liking so far - no more recessed screen (finally!), that HTC-licensed task manager, and the extremely slick packaging. Honestly, we think Palm might have one up on Apple with the presentation this time around. Also of note: the new modular power adapter (which Palm tragically forgot to throw into our box), earbuds you might not be ashamed to sport, and no install CD -- it loads when you hook the phone up to your PC. Check it all out in the gallery below (as well as a few size comparisons with the iPhone 3G), and we'll have pics of that power adapter just as soon as they courier it over. No, really.

Update: Palm has -- in fact -- couriered over the accessories they forgot the first time around, and we've added some new pics. Huzzah!

Update 2: We'll be doing a full review on the device, so stay tuned for that in the near future.

Well you can't say you didn't see this one coming -- between the leaked shots, more leaked shots, and those -- yes -- leaked press materials, this was only a matter of time. That's right: Palm has gone and gotten all official with its latest and greatest smartphone, the now-familiar Treo Pro. The new Windows Mobile device is being sold unlocked (!), and features an HSDPA cell radio (tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM), GPS, 802.11b/g, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, a 2-megapixel camera, support for microSDHC cards up to 32GB... and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack! No word on price or actual street date, but we can't imagine that's too far off. Hit the read link and take a tour of the new device, or watch the totally radical -- and long, and detailed -- video after the break.

Now that the Treo Pro's been uncovered, the sleek black handset just can't stay out of the spotlight -- it's popped up today in several more high-res shots, a quick hands-on video, and even what looks like official press photography. Specs are still up in the air -- we're hearing there's a 400MHz processor and 128MB of RAM behind that 320 x 320 screen and original Xbox-looking exterior, but we won't know for sure until this thing gets official, which we're guessing will happen within the week. Video after the break.

Read - Lots of hands-on shots
Read - Slashgear post with press photography

No longer does Windows Mobile alone a capable smartphone make. The platform's core is as relevant, powerful, and well-supported as ever, but that's not the problem -- the real issue is that it's just plain hard to look at. The days of WinMo looking even remotely modern in its stock form are long gone, and top-tier manufacturers clearly recognize that; everyone from ASUS to HTC has taken matters into their own hands to craft custom skins that kill off as many of the ancient visuals as possible while still holding onto everything that makes Windows Mobile great.

Enter the Samsung i900 Omnia, a phone that submits to design direction forced upon the industry largely by the iPhone -- full touchscreen, no keyboard, you know the drill by now -- and does pretty much everything in its power to overcome WinMo's limitations to make it competitive in the year 2008. Did Sammy succeed? Read on.

Thanks to the good folks at Wireless Imports for the hookup!