Excited about what T-Mobile’s next big phone is, you know, the G2 that is being so heavily teased? If you are then listen up, as a lot on this seemingly awesome upcoming phone has come out today, and as we said in the title, things are looking really good.

First off, design. As you can see in the top pic, this is a very worthy successor to the G1. Not only does it pack a slide out full QWERTY keyboard in a clearly much thinner design, it will also have according to the site Cell Phone Signal (who picked up a whole bunch of specs on the phone)  a 3.7 inch Active Matrix OLED screen– in other words, a really sharp screen. Other specs Cell Phone Signal have gotten their hands on include a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus (which would be similar to the iPhone 4 and Samsung’s Galaxy S phones), a 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor (the same as all the other top smartphones are running, like the HTC EVO 4G, HTC Droid Incredible, and Motorola’s Droid 2 and Droid X– this should keep everything running smoothly), WiFi, GPS and the ability to turn the phone into a mobile hotspot (again, like those other top Android phones. And who wouldn’t want to share these crazy fast 3G speeds with their other WiFi  devices?). All this atop what appears to be latest and great version of Android, Android 2.2 (also known as “Froyo”).

T-Mobile still has yet to confirm any of this, so for now we gotta consider all of this to be just rumors (though the photos have been spied on T-Mobile’s servers, so they seem to be legit), but let’s all hope they make this all official and get it out in the world real soon. We’ll make sure to keep you in the loop as soon as we learn more.

Additional info and pic from Engadget

One of the growing must-haves for any teen going back to school is a new cell phone– and for more and more teens that cell phone is a smartphone like an iPhone, Android or BlackBerry.

A couple of weeks ago, AT&T and RIM (the makers of the BlackBerry) released the next generation of the BlackBerry platform, the touchscreen slider BlackBerry Torch with the all new BlackBerry 6 OS. So, if you’re going back to school and on AT&T, is this new BlackBerry better than other phones like the Samsung Captivate and iPhone 4? Does BlackBerry 6 have enough to keep the BlackBerry in the game with iOS, Android, webOS and the upcoming Windows Phone 7? For all those answers and more, read on for our full teen review!

As we did with the intro post on the Torch, we’re gonna break this review down into two parts– hardware and software.

Hardware

If we had to describe the Torch on a hardware level it’d be this– good, but not good enough for a 2010 flagship phone.

Plain and simple, the design of the Torch is great– perfect size screen, thin yet sturdy casing, and that expected, awesome BlackBerry keyboard we’ve seen on so many devices through the years. It just feels right when you’re holding it, both in your hand and in your pocket. And just to really focus on the keyboard as a lot of people are worried that it won’t be as good as older BBs like Tour’s or Bold 9700′s– don’t worry, it really is just as good. I’ve been typing on an iPhone screen the last 3 years and there was really no “learning curve” from when I first picked up the phone. Texting and BBM-ing from this keyboard are just perfect.

And while we love the design and appreciate the removal of the annoying SurePress screen on the other touchscreen BlackBerry– Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm series– we really wish RIM up’ed the screen resolution to be on the same level as the iPhone 4, HTC EVO 4G, Motorola Droid X, and Galaxy S (Samsung’s Epic 4G on Sprint, Captivate on AT&T and Vibrant on T-Mobile) phones. While the Torch’s screen is definitely usable, there is a noticeable difference of a lower quality when you switch from looking at one of the aforementioned phones to this.  Considering that there is a lot of talk about Apple adding iPhone 4-like Retina Displays to the iPod Touch soon, we believe a lot of people will be noticing this difference a lot more.

Another major downer on the Torch is it’s lag. In our tests we noticed a lot of freezing and general slowness. Whether we were in an app, in a message or the browser, or just trying to switch from BBM to Facebook, the Torch just didn’t seem capable of handling the load. Like the screen, a big reason for this could be the much underpowered processor on the Torch– a pathetic 624 MHz compared to the Droid X, EVO, iPhone 4 and Galaxy S phones 1 GHZ processors (a major and very noticeable difference in speed). For a flagship phone, this is yet another disappointment, and honestly, when you’re trying to position this as “the best BlackBerry ever” and an “evolution of the smartphone”, it needs to be able to keep up with the best everyone else offers.

The camera on the Torch was pretty good, and while it wasn’t iPhone 4 or EVO 4G-esq (particularly with video, which looked decent at best but nowhere near the great quality on those other phones); it did take some pretty solid shots that should be more than enough for capturing some fun at a party or at a game. Here are a couple of comparison shots we took between the iPhone 4 and Torch at a Yankee game last week, the Torch pix on the top, iPhone 4 pix on the bottom (click on pix for bigger shots).

Call quality on the phone (for the times when you actually use your phone as well, a phone) was pretty solid, with us hearing who we called clearly and vice versa. Speakerphone however, was like the screen– definitely usable but not the greatest, with calls sounding really distorted when on a high volume. Oh, and for some reason the Torch kept giving me an EDGE signal at the Yankee game while my iPhone 4 was giving me 4-5 bars of 3G. Data on the Torch during this time was still good with Facebook checks and BBMs going through fine, but when loading up our site and ESPN, the iPhone was noticeably faster.

Now that hardware is out-of-the-way, let’s move on to the next big piece of this phone– software, mainly BlackBerry 6 OS.

BlackBerry 6 OS

Like the hardware, the new BlackBerry 6 OS provides a mixed bag. It kind of is a minor jump instead of a complete re-do like Windows Phone 7, and that in it of itself is both a good and bad thing. If you’re used to a BlackBerry then you’ll feel right at home when you pick up a BlackBerry 6 OS device. Menus, layouts, folders– it really is the exact same as BlackBerrys’ of the past. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing– a lot of people interested in the Torch already are used to the BlackBerry and not having to learn something radically new is always nice. Plus when you add in some new features like that much improved web browser (which is finally good! Pages now load like you’d expect on an iPhone or Android and is not at all like the horrible browser seen on older BBs. Though this browser is not always as smooth as those others, but hey, one major improvement at a time!), the “new” OS really is not that bad for current BB users. We also really like the new Social Feed, which lets you easily organize your Facebook, IM (such as AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger), Twitter and RSS feeds (to automatically download the latest headlines from your favorite websites straight to your phone) into one easy to use and easy to manage place. You even can update your statuses on many of them at once (like what we’ve seen on Microsoft’s now dead KIN). Oh, and BrickBreaker with a touchscreen is a lot more fun.

All that said, not everything was so great with the new OS. For one, the onscreen keyboards were pretty bad. Be it in portrait or the wider landscape, thank goodness there is a slide out physical keyboard. The keys on both are way too close and the little letter overlay (where the letter you press gets highlighted above your finger) was really hard to read make it hard to make out what key you pressed. We also constantly found ourselves accidentally pressing the send key during texts and BBM’s before we were done (the onscreen send key looks just like any regular key on the keyboard with no significant differentiation in design or layout beyond an icon with a green outline instead of a letter). We also ran into a lot of trouble running apps off the BlackBerry App World, and many of the apps we tried out didn’t even work properly as they need to be specially redesigned for the new touchscreen (and though we were able to use the trackpad in these apps, for a GPS or photo app you really would love to pinch and zoom).

Again, with all the basic “must haves” like BBM, great messaging and a solid browser down, BlackBerry 6 OS should be fine for most current BB users—we just see too many other flaws for it to be on the same level as Android and iPhone.

Wrap Up

Well, if you’re on AT&T and looking for a back-to-school smartphone is this the phone for you? Considering your options, including getting a Captivate or iPhone 4 for the same price, we’d really recommend looking at those over this. Remember, this is a 2 year contract you’re signing up for, and if we’re seeing a lot of lag and problems today, who knows how it will keep up a year and a half from now. For current BlackBerry owners who are used to the OS or those who like/need the BBM and great texting without a  big App Store or high-res screen, you should be more than happy with this.

The Torch isn’t a bad phone, and I really see it as the best BlackBerry yet. However, if this is RIM’s way to fight off the rise of iPhone and Android, I’m not too excited for the future of the iconic brand. The Torch and BlackBerry 6 OS do a good job at narrowing the gap with the iPhone and Android (mainly with the much improved browser), but it still is underneath it all just the same old BlackBerry we’ve seen before.

The BlackBerry Torch is available now for $199 with a new 2 year contract and $15 or $25 a month data plan from AT&T.

Well, BlackBerry users– what do you think, is this your next phone?

A few weeks ago T-Mobile launched a new teaser page touting an upcoming launch of their all new HSPA+ phone, or a phone that has access to T-Mobile’s latest and fastest 3G network with 4G-like speeds (up to a whopping 14.4 Mbps, or faster than many of us even get in our homes!). Today, T-Mobile dropped some more clues on what this mysterious but already awesome phone might be– and while we still don’t know what exactly it is, when it’s coming, or how much it will cost– we do now know the name. Everyone, say hello to the T-Mobile G2.

That’s pretty much all T-Mobile wants to share today (though now we do know that it will be an Android running phone with close Google ties– maybe even being the phone to launch the next version of Android, version 3.0 aka Gingerbread? While that is purely my own guess at this point, I could see that happening considering T-Mobile’s mention of the G1 and how it was the first Android phone. To me it’s only fitting that Google’s next big leap be the next generation of the G1, and 3.0–  which is said to be coming before the end of the year– has all the promises of being that next big thing in Android). In meantime, we’re all gonna have to sit tight and wait it out for the next few weeks until T-Mobile decides to share some more. You can also sign-up  today at T-Mobile’s “teaser” page to get emailed once more details become available.

Moving on in T-Mobile Android news, Motorola and T-Mobile today finally announced pricing and release for the upcoming Motorola Charm (Android with a BlackBerry-like design as you can see in the pic above). This is very good news for anyone looking for a cheap but solid smartphone and doesn’t need/want all the bells and whistles of phones like the myTouch 3G Slide and Vibrant. The Charm will be launching just in time for school– next Wednesday August 25th– for a very solid $74.99 with new 2 year contract and data plan. For a full recap of what the Charm is, see our previous post here.

Not a bad day to be a T-Mobile user indeed. So, anyone else wanna throw in their guess what the mysterious G2 is?

Sprint users we gotta hand it to ya– it must have been tough watching all these new smartphones get announced and released but only for carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. But don’t worry if you’ve been eying that new Samsung Epic 4G phone for school this year as Sprint and Samsung have just announced that you should be able to get your hands on one just in time for school when it launches August 31st for $249.99 with a new 2 year contract and data plan (in addition to Sprint’s $10 “premium data” 4G charge) and after an $100 mail in rebate (and yes, it is $50 more than Sprint’s other 4G phone the HTC EVO 4G).

Just a brief refresher for those who don’t know, the Epic 4G is Sprint’s second 4G phone (the first being the EVO 4G) and a part of Samsung’s line of high-end Galaxy S smartphones (like the AT&T Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant and Verizon Fascinate). In terms of design and specs, it perfectly matches up with what you’d expect from Sprint for their second 4G phone, packing a very impressive feature list including:

• 4 inch Super AMOLED multitouch screen and 1 GHZ Hummingbird processor–Like all the other Galaxy S phones, these should mean that not only does everything look great, but runs great too.
• Android 2.1 with Samsung’s customized TouchWiz 3.o interface– We’re kind of upset this doesn’t launch with Android 2.2 (I mean, the EVO 4G has already been running it for weeks), and all Sprint so far is saying with regards to an update is that it will happen “in the coming months.”
• 5 megapixel camera with flash, autofocus, and 720p HD video recording on back AND a VGA front camera for video calls– Similar to the iPhone 4, just here video calls can be made to other users (like Skype, Qik, EVO 4G, or even iPhone 4 users with apps like Fring) over WiFi, 3G, or 4G.
• WiFi, GPS, 3G, and 4G– Including support for the latest and fastest wireless N WiFi networks.
• 3.5 mm headphone jack and 16 GB microSD card included in the box– And Sprint and Samsung have also teamed up to introduce the Samsung Media Hub so you can buy or rent movies or TV shows and watch them right on that gorgeous screen over 4G. Basically, your good to go right from the start as far as media is concerned.

And of course, this is the only Galaxy S phone to offer a full slide out QWERTY keyboard (as well as a Swype keyboard for when you wanna type on the screen), which also really helps to differentiate itself from the EVO 4G.

So if you’re choosing between the EVO and Epic is the Epic worth the $50 more? It’s a tough call, as on the one hand you’ve got the EVO available today with Android 2.2 and all the latest features like Flash 10.1 support when browsing the web (as well as an even bigger 4.3 inch screen and a higher-res 8 megapixel camera on the back and 1.3 megapixel camera on the front); but on the other you’ve got that full physical QWERTY keyboard and a smaller design that may not feel so ginormous when you stick it in your pocket. Regardless of which you choose though, both look to be great choices and it doesn’t really look like there is a “wrong” one.

But we wanna know Sprint users– if you’re up for a new phone, are you gonna wait a couple more weeks to go with this keyboard packing beast or instead go for the $50 cheaper and already available EVO 4G? Share your  thoughts, dreams and plans in the comments.

Wow, if your on Verizon and looking for a new phone before school starts this great news for you– today, after countless rumors, leaks and pix over the past few months, Verizon and Motorola have finally come clean to announce and release the Droid 2, the next generation of the insanely popular Droid phone that truly put Android on the map. If you’re replacing such a popular phone like the first Droid was, this new one has to be insane right? Don’t worry dear readers, from what was finally confirmed today, Motorola and Verizon look to have another winner on their hands.

Before we go any further, I just want to clarify that this is the replacement for the initial Droid that launched late last year– the also new (and very popular) Droid X is still going strong and on sale. Anyways, so what is in this new Droid 2?

• Sleek design with 3.7 inch multitouch screen and an improved full slide out QWERTY keyboard– After the great success that was the first Droid, Motorola knows not to mess with a good thing, and the Droid 2 sticks to that same great design. That being said, one of the biggest issues with the initial Droid was it’s “only ok” physical keyboard, which while definitely useable, was not near the awesomeness of keyboards found on other devices like BlackBerrys. The Droid 2 looks to fix that problem, offering a redesigned keyboard with more raised buttons for a better feel and the elimination of big gold directional pad in favor of simpler arrow keys for bigger letters. These should make the typing on the physical keyboard a whole lot better.

The original Droid’s keyboard on left and the new Droid 2′s on right

And if you don’t want to use the physical keyboard, Motorola is throwing in their custom Android keyboard (as seen on the Droid X and a keyboard that looks great to use), as well as the very popular Swype keyboard– meaning that no matter which way you want to text, there is most probably a keyboard here for you.

• Android 2.2 with MOTOBLUR right out of the box, with Flash 10.1 support!– The Droid 2 is also the first phone to run the latest version of Google’s increasingly popular Android OS right out of the box (phones like the original Droid, Nexus One and HTC EVO 4G have all currently received the OS via update, with other phones like the Samsung Galaxy S line and Droid X said to be getting their own updates soon). What’s also great about this is that with support for Flash 10.1, the full web finally comes to your phone. Wanna watch a video on the real ESPN.com and not the mobile site? You can. Wanna play a Flash game on Miniclip? You can. When it comes to the full internet, Android and the Droid 2 finally bring it to a phone (though some sites like Hulu have blocked mobile OS’s like Android from accessing their site, so I guess most of the internet works). And on top of all of this Motorola has put in their latest version of MOTOBLUR, so connecting and updating your social networks are even easier.
• 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor– To make sure that things run speedy and smoothly.

• 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash, face detection, and DVD quality video recording– Sure it’s not an 8 megapixel camera like on the Droid X and EVO 4G, and it doesn’t record HD video like the iPhone 4, but all the above features (particularly face detection) look to make the Droid 2 a pretty decent camera. Honestly, I’m a little surprised and disappointed that this wasn’t at least updated to record HD video considering the first Droid had pretty much the same camera– though again it still isn’t the worst (at least videos are DVD quality, unlike the BlackBerry Torch which doesn’t even reach that high). The Droid 2 also sadly lacks a front facing camera like those on the iPhone 4, EVO 4G, and Epic 4G.
• 3G, WiFi and GPS– With support for WiFi N. Verizon also allows you to use this as a mobile hotspot for up to 5 devices, though that privilege will run you another $20 a month.
• 8 GB of built-in memory with an additional 8 GB on an included microSD card– For a solid total of 16 GB (equivalent to the $200 iPhone 4). You can also swap the microSD card out for one with up to 32 GB of storage to give you a whopping 40 GB of storage.

All in all, not bad and looks to be a very worthy successor to the first Droid.  If you’re on Verizon and looking for a powerful, sleek phone that also has a full QWERTY keyboard, this may be the perfect phone for you. Oh, and like AT&T did with the iPhone 4 launch, Verizon is letting anyone who has an upgrade between now and the end of the year (December 31st to be specific) be able to upgrade to any new phone (Droid 2 or otherwise) now with no penalty (usually if you upgrade before your contract is up you need to be a lot more for a new phone– such as instead of paying $200 for a 16 GB iPhone 4 with a standard upgrade, an AT&T user without that upgrade would need to pay $400) . So if you want a new phone but aren’t sure you have an upgrade, now would be the perfect time to check.

The Droid 2 is available now for $199.99  after $100 mail in rebate with a new 2 year contract and $30 a month unlimited data plan from Verizon.

So– anyone looking to make this their new phone, or are you going for a different Droid?

Remember that BlackBerry Slider from a few months back? You know, the one that looked like a mix between a Palm Pre, BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Bold? Well, it’s real and is the new flagship phone from BlackBerry launching next week (August 12th) with the all new BlackBerry 6 OS on AT&T. So what’s in it and does it have the potential to match up with the EVO 4Gs, iPhone 4s and Droid Xs of the world? Read on for all the info.

Since there is a lot going on here, we’re gonna break this into two parts– the phone and the new BlackBerry 6 OS. First, the phone.

The Phone

We knew a while back when those rumored shots began leaking that BlackBerry was looking to make a big splash to try to keep up with the rapidly growing iPhone/iOS and Android– and it looks like from here they’ve succeeded. Here the specs:

• BlackBerry 6 OS– Which offers a whole slew of new improvements over the ever so old BlackBerry 5 OS that’s been on BlackBerrys for the last few years. But we’ll get to more on this in a bit….

• Sleek design with 3.2 inch multi-touch screen and slide out QWERTY keyboard– As we said in the intro, a mixture of the Pre, Storm and Bold– and this is a very good thing. At around the size of Bold 9700 (read: the perfect size of not too big, not too small and very easy to fit in a jeans pocket) and packing that same awesome 9700 keyboard and trackpad (why this is needed with a touchscreen we’re not sure), the Torch definitely is a looker. And while the screen– which is not only smaller but much lower resolution than that of the iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S, EVO 4G and Droid X– may be a slight downer by today’s super-smartphone standards set by the incredible 3.5 inch iPhone and amazing 4.3 inch Droid X and EVO 4G screens, at least you can relax knowing that at least it’s not a SurePress screen like the Storm’s and is a “normal” one as you’d expect on any other touchscreen phone (meaning now you can just tap the screen to do something, not have to click it in. All I can say to this is that it’s about time).
• AT&T 3G with WiFi N and GPS– Yes, this is another AT&T exclusive for now. Oh, and like those other new smartphones, the Torch also can connect to the latest and fastest WiFi N networks.

• 5 megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and video recording– Another downer here– for some reason video recording is not HD like on the also 5 megapixel iPhone 4, instead you can only record in VGA (or the quality of video that phones from a 3 years ago took in).
• 3.5 mm headphone jack and 4 GB of built-in memory with another 4 GB on microSD card– This should be great for those looking to take advantage of the much updated media functions in BlackBerry 6 OS (which we’ll also get to in a second). You can also swap the microSD card out for one with up to 32 GB of storage for a total of 36 GB.

But the hardware is just one part of this very promising phone. Now let’s move on to the other big part software.

BlackBerry 6 OS

As we’ve seen from Android, iOS, webOS and the soon to be released Windows Phone 7– a phone is nothing without some really great software, and RIM looks to have made some great improvements in this department as well. And we’re talking really big improvements, such as:

• New web browser– It’s no secret that the old BlackBerry browser just flat-out stunk. It was horrendous in every way– slow, pages didn’t load right (and when they did they looked horrible)– just really, really bad stuff. Now in BlackBerry 6, RIM has put in a whole new web browser running the same WebKit tech found on the iOS, Android, and webOS browsers. In short, what once stunk is now finally really good (RIM actually called this phone the Torch after a company they bought a little while back called Torch that specialized in making WebKit browsers). And yes, there is pinch-to-zoom here.

• Improved home screen and menus– Everything from notifications to app layouts have been redone here, and they look really great. Notifications are really easy to access with all you have to do is tap on that new BBM, email, or other new message and a menu will drop down (just like with the Android notification bar), and there you can see all the latest messages and more. Apps also now are categorized in a “pages” type way as seen on Android and iOS (just here apps are in categories), and you can either flick between some of those categories (like media, messaging, etc.) on the home screen or tap and pull up the full list of apps. All in all, some more very nice and promising improvements.
• Updated Media Player with wireless Media Sync– You’d think we’d already have seen this on the iPhone… but seriously this is truly an awesome feature. Whether you use iTunes or Windows Media Player, the Torch and BlackBerry 6 can allow you to sync your latest music and videos wirelessly from your computer to your phone over your home WiFi network. All this plus improved media controls (like a Cover Flow-esq way of going through albums) has the makings for a much nicer media experience.

• Social Feeds– Think of how Palm or the KIN took all your social networks– Twitter, Facebook, MySpace– and put made them a core part of the OS and you get an idea of what RIM added here. The new Social Feeds basically takes those three social networks and throws in support for AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger, and of course BBM and allow you to not only view them all in one place, but to update them all at once. Between this and the new media features, it’s pretty clear that RIM is really going for more than the normal business user here.

On top of that you get a new Universal Search feature like that on iOS which allows you to easily search not just all the content on your phone but the web as well, and standard BlackBerry staples like BBM, great email and messaging, and the App World. For a full video recap of all the new BlackBerry 6 features, check out this video:

Now for those BlackBerry users wondering if your device will get some of these new upgrades, unless you got a Bold 9700, Bold 9650, or Pearl 9100 (the new Pearl with 3G that’s yet to come to the US) you look to right now be out of look with no guarantee of an upgrade being on your horizon.

The new Torch with BlackBerry 6 OS will be coming out next Thursday, August 12th, for $199.99 with a new 2 year contract and data plan on AT&T, and you can sign up for an email alert when it becomes available from AT&T’s site here.

So AT&T users– which phone would you rather get to head back to school with– iPhone 4, BlackBerry Torch or Samsung Captivate? Let us know in the comments.

Just in time for the beginning of the Back to School shopping season (something we’ll have covered down to the smallest details over the next couple of weeks to make sure you head back to school with all the right tech), Amazon has announced an updated version of their very popular Kindle.

This 3rd generation Kindle comes with a whole bunch of updates and improvements to help it put up a better fight with some competing eReaders on the market (*cough* iPad *cough*), and while I’m still not sure it is better than a Barnes and Noble Nook or iPad, Amazon has made the choice between the three a lot tougher.

So what’s new in this latest Kindle? A lot actually.

• Better screen– While the screen size remains at 6 inches, pages now turn faster (something that has always been a big problem with the Kindle since the very beginning), but this new Kindle offers a much better screen with 50% sharper contrast as well as improved fonts for better appearance of text. Sadly though, there still is no color screen, but the E-Ink screen on the Kindle means that it displays content as a book would– making it perfect for anyone doing a lot of reading outside (a place where devices like the iPad suffer because of their glossy screens).

• Sleeker Design– At 15% lighter and 21% lighter this makes the iPad seem chunky. Heck, Amazon has now made it even thinner than a pencil and lighter than a paperback! All while also improving the design of the keyboard and controls to make things seem more streamlined and simple (see top pic), a change I really think looks much nicer.
• Books download in 60 seconds– As has been with all the prior Kindles.
• Double the Storage– The new Kindle has 4 GB of built-in memory and holds up to 3,500 books– basically, don’t worry about EVER running out of room for that new Dan Brown novel.
• One month of battery life with wireless off, 1o days with wireless on– Not only do you not have to worry about size or running out of room, but you also don’t need to worry about charging this thing every night.
• Built in WebKit browser and the ability to share passages on Twitter and Facebook– Basically, you can also view the real web right off the Kindle, and while it should be great for getting the latest scores off ESPN, looking something up on Wikipedia, or going on Facebook, without color or video don’t expect this to replace your iPod/phone/laptop for your browsing needs (WebKit by the way is the name of the type of web browser used on devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android, as well as on the Google Chrome and Apple Safari browsers on regular PCs). Amazon also added the ability to share passages online via Twitter and Facebook, something which should come in handy if your working on a report with a friend or are group studying for a test.

The Kindle also come in a couple of different variations– either WiFi only or WiFi+3G connectivity options and a color choice of gray or white (with gray being the new default color and I gotta say, looks pretty nice. The white variant is only available on the WiFi+3G models for now). Yes the WiFi is new here and without question great to have and as with all prior Kindles, there is no contract or monthly fees to use 3G (which runs on the AT&T network)– which is now even more useful with that built-in browser. And with the no-contract WiFi+3G version being only $50 more than the WiFi only model, we really think it is the much stronger choice here (unlike the iPad where the difference between the WiFi and WiFi+3G is $130).

The new Kindle starts at $139 for the WiFi only model and $189 for the WiFi+3G version when it comes out on August 27th, and you can pre-order both now on Amazon.

Here’s our big question: Kindle, Nook or iPad if you’re looking to get an eReader for school this year? Each has their pluses and minuses– and we’ll have a post covering all of this and other back-to-school tech soon– but in the meantime with this new Kindle announcement, which one would you use? Sound off in the comments.

T-Mobile users this one is for you. Today, T-Mobile put up a teaser page for people to sign up to be notified about the launch of their next big phone due later this year, a phone that is capable of connecting to T-Mobile’s really fast 3G network (called HSPA+, and is capable of delivering 4G speeds similar to that of  today’s 4G networks such as Sprint’s). And T-Mobile’s official Twitter (@TMobile_USA) has thrown out a tweet last week saying that this phone is coming later this summer– so what’s going on?

This of course is huge just on the network side, as with more powerful networks come much more powerful phones– and T-Mobile has already begun upgrading their current 3G network to HSPA+, with areas all across the US– from LA to New York– already getting some of the fun, with the plan being to cover over 185 million people with this HSPA+ goodness by the end of the year. But what exactly is this phone that T-Mobile is hyping? While T-Mobile obviously hasn’t said anything yet, here are a couple of guesses on what it possibly could be.

1. T-Mobile Blaze (aka HTC Vision)

After almost two years, T-Mobile finally killed off the T-Mobile G1 today. This was one of the biggest cell phone launches in recent years (and particularly big for T-Mobile), as it was the first phone to run Google’s Android OS. Now it would make sense to give a great phone like that an encore and this phone would definitely do that. With Android, a 1 GHZ processor, 3.7 inch screen, sleek design, and full slide out QWERTY keyboard it looks to be the perfect replacement for the G1. And if you look at the pic at the top, it does have some resemblance to T-Mobile’s mysterious phone. (Pic via Engadget)

2. iPhone 4

I’ve always thought that T-Mobile would get the iPhone before Verizon, as AT&T and T-Mobile share the same GSM tech for their networks (HSPA+ is a 3G network based on that GSM tech), and the rumors for T-Mobile to get the iPhone soon are getting much, much stronger over the past couple of weeks (some people even saying that we may see a T-Mobile iPhone before the holidays). That being said, we’re still talking about an iPhone rumor and while I doubt it’d be too hard for Apple to squeeze in the proper 3G band for T-Mobile’s network (the iPhone 4 already supports pretty much every other flavor of 3G network out there, be it in the US and Canada, Europe, China, Japan etc.), it still is just a rumor so take it as you will.

Plus, the pic on T-Mobile’s site shows a little bump in the lower left, add that to the fact that Apple currently lists the iPhone as a HSUPA device (meaning fast 3G but not as fast as HSPA+) seems to point to a not iPhone 4 device. Though who knows– it really can’t get much bigger for T-Mobile than to kick off it’s faster network with an iPhone…

Those are my guesses, and we’ll of course make sure to keep you completely up to date as we learn more about this mysterious phone. In the meantime, what do you think T-Mobile will use as the first phone on their HSPA+ network? You think it will be the Blaze and if so and what we know so far is accurate, you like what you see? What type of phone would you like to see T-Mobile launch as their first HSPA+ device? Let us know in the comments.

Info from Tmonews via Boy Genius Report

T-Mobile users looking to pick up T-Mobile’s latest and greatest Android phone listen up: while there have been some rumors that T-Mobile will be launching their version of the Samsung Galaxy S (aka the Captivate on AT&T and Fascinate on Verizon) tomorrow (the same day as the Droid X for Verizon goes on sale), we’ve just received the official word– July 21st for $199.99 with 2 year contract and data plan. Not bad for a phone that includes that 4 inch Super AMOLED screen, 1 GHZ Hummingbird processor, 5 megapixel camera all atop Android 2.1.

And if waiting 6 days to by directly from T-Mobile isn’t your game, you can go try on some jeans and score one for $150 and have it ship tomorrow.

So T-Mobile users– if you’re looking for a new Android phone, are you gonna go for a phone like this, a myTouch 3G Slide, or wait it out for the Motorola Charm?

UPDATE: Well what do you know, it looks like T-Mobile has in fact bumped up the Vibrant’s release date to today. You can get one now from T-Mobile’s site here for that same $200. Enjoy T-Mobile users, and let us know if you get one and how you like it!

Yes you read that right– jeans. American Eagle, in a really awesome yet very out of the box attempt to draw more people to its stores is running a promotion from July 21st until August 3rd, where all you got to do is try on a pair of jeans and you get a card to redeem a free phone online. Yes– just walk in, try on some jeans (you don’t even need to buy them!), and walk out of the dressing room and you’ll get the redeem card. That’s it.

And we’re actually talking about some really good phones here– phones like the HTC Aria, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Palm Pixi Plus for AT&T; the Palm Pre Plus, Motorola Droid and BlackBerry Bold 9650 for Verizon; or the Android packing Motorola Cliq XT for T-Mobile and BlackBerry Curve 8530 for Sprint– along with a bunch of other phones like the LG enV 3 and Samsung Alias 2, all for that awesome price of free (there are even deals for other phones like $10 off the HTC EVO 4G, $80 off a myTouch 3G Slide, and even the new T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant for $150, which isn’t even available yet from T-Mobile’s site).

Now there are some catches in a deal like this– you need to sign up for a new 2 year contract, and if you’re getting an Android, Palm, Windows Mobile phone or BlackBerry you will also have to sign up for your carrier’s respective data plan– but hey, free phones! Oh, and to make the deal EVEN BETTER: if your order your phone and pick your plan by September 30th American Eagle will give you an additional $25 gift card (and thus another reason to head back to their store).

So, who else all of sudden needs to go check out some new jeans?

For all the info check out American Eagle’s site here.