Here’s an interesting story on the mobile front. Although Microsoft has made much hoopla over the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series, it hasn’t said a peep about the rumored Project Pink handsets. Now, according to Gizmodo, Project Pink is indeed coming and Verizon Wireless will be the first carrier to release handsets based on it.

Thanks to a tipster, Gizmodo received a ton of third party marketing material laying out the promotional plan for Pink. There will be two handsets coming out in the late April time frame – a vertical slider and a horizontal slider. Yes that means these are indeed messenger-oriented handsets.

Verizon appears to be at least the launch partner if not the exclusive provider for the new handsets. Social networking appears to be another key feature of this handset. As for apps – that’s a maybe?

No one is exactly sure since it appears these Project Pink handsets are NOT Windows Phone 7 handsets.. soo if they’re not, what the heck are they? Should be interesting to see over the coming months.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, Project Pink

Customers of Skype and Verizon Wireless will be thrilled to hear that the two companies have entered into a strategic relationship bringing the Internet-based calling solution to Verizon Wireless smartphones this March.

Called Skype mobile, the solution allows Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone customers with data plans to make and receive unlimited Skype to Skype voice calls to practically any Skype user around the globe. Other features include:

• Calling international phone #’s at Skype Out calling rates
• Skype IM support
• Remain always-connected

Some of the Verizon Wireless smartphones featuring support for Skype mobile include BlackBerry Storm 9530, Storm2 9550, Curve 8330, Curve 8530, 8830 World Edition and Tour 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR.

Make sure to check out http://phones.verizonwireless.com/skypemobile/ for more information about Skype mobile.

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, Skype, Skype Mobile

Motorola brings MOTOBLUR to Verizon Wireless with today’s announcement of the upcoming availability of the Motorola DEVOUR Android handset in March. In case you’re not familiar with MOTOBLUR, it’s Motorola’s unique content delivery service bringing together contacts, personal email, status updates from social networking sites, photos, and more into easily managed streams on the home screen.

Features and specs to the Motorola DEVOUR include:

• Touch-sensitive navigation pad
• 3.1 inch capacitive touch-screen display
• Pre-loaded apps including Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Google Search, and Google Maps with Google Maps Navigation
• Access to Android marketplace
• “Happenings Widget” – MOTOBLUR automatically pushes status updates, wall posts, and photo updates from social networking sites to the Happenings Widget. Users flick through updates and send out replies
• Universal inbox for texts, social networking messages, and emails
• Backup data to secure MOTOBLUR portal. Portal also allows users to use the built-in aGPS to help locate the phone if its misplaced. Remote Wipe feature clears information on the handset if it’s deemed lost
• 8 GB microSD card pre-installed
• Bluetooth with support for A2DP, HID, HSP, HFP, AVRCP and GAP profiles

No word on pricing as of yet.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola DEVOUR, Verizon Wireless, Android smartphone, MOTOBLUR

Starting tomorrow, Verizon Wireless will begin selling slotRadio+ microSD cards for a wide range of BlackBerry smartphones. These cards will feature 1000 popular songs from “top-charting Billboard artists” and will also feature 4GB of flash memory for personal storage.

There will be two versions of the slotRadio+ card – Billboard Hits featuring music hand-picked from today’s top artists in modern rock, dance and hip hop, Latin, and country, and Billboard Decades featuring songs from the 80’s, 90’s, classic rock, and oldies. 

Customers simply insert the slotRadio+ card into their smartphone and go to their browser to download and install the slotRadio+ application from http://m.slotradio.com. 

The new cards will support a wide variety of BlackBerry handsets including BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Pearl 8130, BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230, BlackBerry Storm 9530, BlackBerry Storm2 9550, BlackBerry Tour 9630 and BlackBerry 8830 World Edition smartphone. Each card will be available for $49.99 starting tomorrow at www.verizonwireless.com/accessories.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, slotRadio card, BlackBerry smartphone

Verizon Wireless mobile broadband customers now have a new way to connect to the Internet thanks to the newly introduced Verizon Wi-Fi service.

Available at no extra cost to Verizon Wireless mobile broadband customers, Verizon Wi-Fi can be found in thousands of locations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico including airports, hotels, bookstores, coffee shops, hotels, and other public locations.

In order to take advantage of Verizon Wi-Fi, customers will need to use VZAccess Manager 7.2 or higher software on their PC to connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot. Customers will then be able to free switch between the Wi-Fi hotspot and Verizon Wireless mobile broadband service.

Find a list of VW Wi-Fi hotspots by browsing http://www.verizonwireless.com/wi-fi

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless mobile broadband, Verizon Wi-Fi

Those of you that absolutely must have the new Motorola DROID next Friday will want to head over to Best Buy now to pre-order the handset. Best Buy will be selling the DROID for $199.99 along with a new two year agreement from Verizon Wireless.

Why buy from Best Buy you ask?

If you purchase from Verizon Wireless directly, you’ll have to mail in a rebate form for the $100 dollar credit which means the checkout cost will initially be $299.99. Buy the phone from Best Buy and Best Buy will instantly credit you the $100 dollars at the point of sale. No forms or checks to deal with. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Technorati Tags: Best Buy, Motorola DROID, Verizon Wireless

After a week or so of teaser announcements, Verizon Wireless officially unveiled the new DROID smartphone by Motorola – the first smartphone powered by the new Android 2.0 OS (which Google just recently released the SDK for). So let’s get down to the features shall we? According to VW, here’s what you’ll be able to do with the DROID:

• Multi-window browser
• Large touch-screen display  (3.7 inches) with an incredible resolution of 854 x 480
• Access thousands of apps over at the Android Market
• Voice-activated search delivered via Google
• The first device to feature Google Maps Navigation (Beta) which provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps. Use voice shortcuts and simply say “Navigate to [destination]” and you’ll be on your way. You can see live traffic, street view, or satellite imagery to view your route
• Built-in apps include Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk, Android Market, Calendar, Amazon MP3 store, and Verizon Wireless Visual Voice Mail.

The specs to the DROID are as follows (and according to BGR, this is absolutely the fastest Droid-powered handset yet!):

• Arm Cortex A8 processor 550 mHz
• 3.7″; WVGA (480 x 854 pixels); 16:9 widescreen
• 5 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, dual LED flash and auto focus
• Built-in music player with support for AAC, H.263, H.264, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA, eAAC+, OGG, AMR WB, AMR NB, AAC+, MIDI file formats
• Audio/video streaming support
• Video capture at DVD quality (720×480 resolution) up to 24 fps capture; up to 30 fps playback
• 1400 mAh Li-Ion battery with 385 minute usage time  and up to 270 hour standby time
• Email support – Corporate (Exchange 2003 and 2007), Gmail, IMAP, POP3, Attachment and browser document viewer (Microsoft Office and pdf)
• MMSG, SMS, IM, voicemail
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR support with HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP, PBAP, and OPP profile support)
• Synchronization support for Corporate calendar, email and contacts (Exchange 2003 and 2007), Google contacts, calendar and Gmail, Facebook contacts
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi
• microUSB connector
• aGPS along with Google Maps, Google Maps Navigation Beta, Google Latitude, Google Maps Street View, eCompass
• Built-in web browser
• 3.5 mm headset jack
• Speakerphone
• Advanced speech recognition, Automatic redial, conference calling, emergency dial, noise reduction, speed dial, vibracall, voice dialing, phone book
• Haptic feedback
• Light-responsive display
• QWERTY keyboard
• Measures 2.4 x 4.6 x .5 inches
• Weighs 6 oz
• Built-in accelerometer
• Network support includes: CDMA 1X 800/1900, EVDO rev A
• 16 GB microSD pre-installed; supports up to 32 GB microSD expandable
• Sensors include Proximity, ambient light and eCompass

OK.. enough about features and specs – what about pricing and availability?

The DROID will be available starting next Friday November 6th in the U.S. exclusively at Verizon Wireless Stores and online for $199.99 with a new two-year customer agreement after a $100 mail-in rebate. Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card which they can use as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

Customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide voice plan and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan. Nationwide voice plans begin at $39.99 for monthly access for 450 minutes and an Email and Web for Smartphone plan is $29.99 for monthly access.

Finally, if you want to see a preview of the DROID handset, makes sure to head over to the Boy Genius Report where they’ve got an excellent preview of the handset. Those of you waiting for a solid iPhone competitor to arrive for Verizon Wireless might finally have their handset.

Here’s a video of the DROID handset courtesy of Verizon Wireless:

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, Motorola DROID,

Get ready for the second coming of the Storm and this time, it might actually be a real storm rather than a tropical disturbance. Verizon Wireless and Research in Motion have announced the next-generation BlackBerry Storm2 will be available starting on October 28th. The Storm2 with BlackBerry OS 5.0 adds hundreds of hardware and software enhancements including a new “SurePress” clickable display and built-in Wi-Fi.

Key features of the BlackBerry Storm2 (model 9550) include:

• 3.25 inch 480 x 360 resolution display at 184 dpi
• Capacitive touch-screen with integrated functions (Send, End, Menu, Escape), and new SurePress technology
• 3G and global connectivity support
• Network Connectivity: EV-DO Revision A; UMTS/HSPA (2100 MHz); and quad-band EDGE/GPRS/GSM networks
• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi connectivity
• 256MB of flash memory
• 2GB of on-board memory
• microSD/SDHC memory card slot with 16GB card included
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, Image Stabilization (IS), flash and video recording capabilities
• Premium and easy-to-access phone features, background noise suppression technology, loud distortion-free speakerphone and face detection (proximity sensor) that prevents accidental clicks and blanks the screen while the customer is on the phone
• Media player for videos, pictures and music, plus support for BlackBerry Desktop Manager for both PCs and Macs, and BlackBerry® Media Sync, for easily syncing Windows Media® Player music with the smartphone
• 3.5 mm stereo headset jack and dedicated volume controls
• Bluetooth 2.1
• Built-in GPS
• Support for VZ Navigator, V CAST Music with Rhapsody
• Support for Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Connect tethering service
• Comes with BlackBerry OS 5.0 which includes typing accuracy and selection improvements, as well as usability and visual enhancements such as inertial scrolling, spin boxes that make it easier to set dates and times, gradient shading on buttons, and more use of animation
• BlackBerry Browser with faster JavaScript and CSS processing  and support for Gears and BlackBerry widgets
• Customers running BlackBerry® Enterprise Server 5.0 will gain the ability to set follow-up flags, manage e-mail folders, access remote files (Windows Shares), forward appointments, view calendar attachments, and more
• Removable, rechargeable 1400 mAhr battery that provides up to 5.5 hours of talk time or up to 11.2 days of standby time

The Storm2 will be available for $179.99 after a $100 dollar mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement on a voice plan with an Email and Web feature or an Email and Web for BlackBerry plan.

And in case you missed it, PC Magazine posted a review of the Storm2 here on their website stating:

“The second time’s the charm for RIM’s innovative click-screen smartphone; the Storm2 cures almost all of the original’s ills.”

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Storm2, Research In Motion

If you were watching the baseball playoff games this past weekend you probably noticed an interesting new commercial clearly poking fun at the Apple iPhone. The commercial starts with a series of statements emblazoned across a white screen (playing prodding at the stereotypical iPhone commercial) complete with cutesy music in the background.

“iDon’t have a real keyboard

iDon’t run simultaneous apps

iDon’t take night shots

iDon’t allow open development

iDon’t customize

iDon’t run widgets

iDon’t interchangeable batteries”

Everything iDon’t”

There’s a quick fade fade to black (along with some funky transition effects that look like they came out of a Transformers movie) and then you see:

I have to admit.. I was salivating to a certain extent at this point. I mean.. holy cow.. this is the first time I actually was excited about an Android-based smartphone – and guess what? It’s coming to Verizon Wireless.

Yes my hatred for AT&T is so vast that I’m quite willing to ditch my iPhone for something that is somewhat comparable.

If you head on over to DroidDoes.com (which redirects you to http://phones.verizonwireless.com/motorola/droid/?cmp=OTC-Droid-redirect1), you’ll see a web version of the commercial along with a list of features for the handset which include:

• Directions
• Videos
• Tunes
• 10K+ apps
• Multitasking
• High-speed
• Hi-res
• 5 megapixels
• Android 2.0
• Speech recognition
• Notification panel

Sweet huh? Want some more sweet stuff?

Head on over to the Boy Genius Report then. The awesome folks at BGR have published a hands-on with the new Droid phone (it’s from Motorola BTW) along with plenty of pictures.. and man.. I’ve got full-on drool going on here now.

Here are some comments in the hands-on:

• “It’s thin. Just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider we’ve ever seen.”
• “It is the fastest Android device we’ve ever used.”
• “Have we mentioned this phone flies? It’s the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive.”

Yeah I’m excited.. (the lil kid inside of me is jumping for joy right now at the sheer thought of moving back to VW)…

Ok.. enough.. go check out the Boy Genius Report and know that VW will be giving more info about the phone at the end of the month. Below are some pictures from BGR.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Motorola Droid, Verizon Wireless, Android Smartphone

First off – this is just a rumor. It’s not at all confirmed by Verizon Wireless but it certainly is interesting. The folks at PhoneArena have compiled a list of new phones that are supposedly due to come out over the next few months from Verizon Wireless. Without further ado:

• LG Chocolate Touch VX8575 – 4th generation Chocolate phone with a full touch-screen interface
• BlackBerry Storm 2 9550 due out in Oct to Nov
• Nokia Shade 2705 – the replacement to the Mirage 2605
• Nokia Twist 7705
• Palm Treo 800W – may not be coming out till February of 2010
• Motorola Entice (or Harmony) W766 – replaces the W755
• Samsung Rogue U960 – replaces the Glyde U940 due out in August
• Samsung U450
• Samsung Strut U440 – features a compact QWERTY keyboard
• Samsung Omnia II i920 due out by Christmas
• Motorola V860
• Samsung Convoy U640
• Casio Rock C731
• Casio Brigade C741

Again – these are just rumors.

[Check it out via Boy Genius Report]

Technorati Tags: Verizon Wireless mobile phones