Virgin Mobile deals the Kyocera Wild Card

Virgin Mobile is officially dipping its toes into smartphone water with its latest offering, the Kyocera Wild Card. Of course, how deep into that particular pool both companies are going is a question for the ages. The Wild Card isn't exactly the most robust phone you'll ever get your hands on, though the flip-phone does offer a QWERTY keypad, dual screens, a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth integration, and a WAP browser. The hitch is that you'll have to view that browser on a 128 x 160 screen, which is painfully, embarrassingly small -- though they do throw in Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man to keep you distracted. Hey, for a price point of $99, you could do way, way worse. The phone is available now from your friendly neighborhood Virgin Mobile dealer.

HTC Polaris gets specs leaked, renamed the Touch Cruise

The next step in the HTC Touch line -- the GPS-equipped Polaris -- has been re-christened the Touch Cruise, and has gone and gotten its juicy specs all leaked out to the internet. In addition to having improved TouchFlo capabilities, like rotation and zoom, the new model will sport a quad-band GSM radio (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900), tri-band UMTS (850 / 1900 / 2100), HSDPA and HSUPA data connectivity, a 400MHz MSM7200 Qualcomm CPU, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM, a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 QVGA display, 3-megapixel camera (plus secondary, 0.3-megapixel camera), WiFi, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot. Apparently, the design of the device hasn't been finalized, though it will likely feature four buttons and a navigation wheel (similar to the pics up above). Mouth watering? Eyes tearing up? We understand. The Cruise is expected by the end of November, so go easy on your credit cards till then.

More details surface on Sony Ericsson's W890i

The new Sony Ericsson W890i we saw late last month is getting a bit more fleshed out as the weeks trickle by. If you believe the spec sheet, it'll be available in maroon as well as the black pictured above, comes packing quad-band GSM, UMTS, and, wait for it, HSDPA at 850 MHz. How can this be? A Sony Ericsson handset with HSDPA that'll work on AT&T in the US and Rogers Wireless in Canada is a like a cellular dream come true. Sadly, internal memory disappoints at only 40 MB, though it can be bolstered by shelling out for some Memory Stick Micro (M2). Not much else new can be gleaned but we're hoping for pricing and a launch date soon.

HTC shipping out 50000 mobiles with Google OS?

Another day, another Gphone rumor. This go 'round, a UBS analyst is reportedly confirming that HTC "will ship about 50,000 cellphones running on a mobile operating system made by the Mountain View, California-based search giant by the end of this year." If you'll recall, this definitely isn't the first time we've heard these two names mentioned in the same sentence, but interestingly enough, analyst Benjamin Schachter actually suggested that the first batch wouldn't "be for sale" -- rather, they'd be used exclusively by developers "to understand how the software works." These reports also help substantiate the belief that Google will likely be focusing on software, and furthermore, Mr. Schachter insinuated that he wouldn't be too awfully shocked if another handset maker (such as LG, imagine that) also jumped in to provide hardware. Whatever the case, we'll be waiting in tense anticipation for a developer-led unboxing -- if this hubbub proves legitimate, of course

Hands-on with the T-Mobile Sidekick LX

The full-scale launch doesn't come until the 24th, but current subscribers can get their grubby paws on Danger's latest and greatest starting today. Needless to say, the Sidekick LX is the best Hiptop to date; we were pleasantly surprised with the handset's build quality, the blue shell with chrome trim looks pretty slick, and the bright, crisp widescreen display is simply glorious. Can't get to the store just yet? No worries, we've got you covered with a bunch of shots that should make the day fly by just a little quicker!

Is the Shadow set to be T-Mobile's new hot brand?

We just got a little update for all you out there waiting on the upcoming T-Mobile Shadow. Here’s what we heard…The T-Mobile Shadow is actually going to be a brand, just like how T-Mobile has the Sidekick brand. There will be a Shadow II, possibly even LEs. The device is marketed to twenty-somethings who might have outgrown the Sidekick, but still want to stay connected and in touch. It’s called "The Official Phone of Fun." The actual launch for it will take place on October 31st, and it should retail for $149 after a $50 mail-in rebate after a two-year agreement. Awesome pricing! T-Mobile has been in a tizzy lately with new data plans, so why should this be any different? They’re on track to launch a $9.99 unlimited email plan, just like the BlackBerry, but for the Shadow. We heard the plan will actually launch about a week before the device does. On the tech side: Windows Mobile 6 Standard with an "exclusive" interface that takes advantage of the scroll wheel / d-pad, Wi-Fi, yet no UMA support, a 2 megapixel camera with no flash, and a spring-assisted slider like the T-Mobile Wing. Inside the device, we’re looking at a TI OMAP 850 201MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 256MB Flash, a 240×320 screen, and a 20-key keypad that uses predictive text. Colors we reported we also on track, with Brown and Sage Green gracing the color spectrum here. We were told the Sage Green looks a little feminine, so watch those colors when you’re picking up your brand new T-Mobile Shadow, fellas.

Jobs praises Nokia's 3rd party app scheme, but he has it wrong

In chatting up Apple's sudden change of direction today on the whole native iPhone SDK issue, Steve Jobs did a little name dropping by mentioning that he digs the way Nokia does things with S60's support for third party applications. It seems apparent from the get-go that Steve has every intention of offering apps through some sort of official, money-generating conduit -- iTunes, we'd wager -- and with that comes the promise of digital rights management, authenticity verification, and all those nasty little technologies that set the hacking community ablaze. To that end, Steve mentioned that he digs Nokia's approach of requiring that apps be digitally signed so they can be traced back to their developers, an effort to stem "viruses, malware, privacy attacks" that he thinks will flourish on a "highly visible target" like the iPhone. There's a problem, though: there's no telling when the last time is that Steve touched a phone not of his own creation, but we've used S60 devices pretty recently (like, today) and we have it on good authority that you can disable certificate verification for installed apps. Think iPhone users are going to have that option? Probably not. Apple's still visibly concerned about keeping the iPhone under its perceived draconian control (even though it's been busted wide open time and time again), and we've no doubt that trend will continue in full effect with the SDK. It's a huge, landmark upgrade from the web-based SDK developers have now, yes -- but we'd recommend Steve screw around with an N95 for a while before he heaps any more love on the way Nokia goes about its business.