Skype mobile heading to Verizon smartphones on March 25th

We knew it was coming, and now we have a concrete date. Starting this Thursday, March 25th, Verizon Wireless customers with one of nine select smartphones (Motorola Droid and Devour, HTC Droid Eris, various BlackBerrys) and data plan will be able to use Skype over the 3G network. As we heard before, Skype-to-Skype calls will not affect your VZW minutes, and now you've got the option to use the app for cheaper international dialing using the mobile app. Full list of compatible devices after the break, a list we're hoping gets expanded in the not-so-distant future.

HTC EVO 4G, Nexus One, and Droid face off on the charted field of battle

HTC EVO 4G

Google Nexus One

Motorola Droid

Android OS	2.1 with Sense UI	2.1	2.01
Carrier	Sprint	All2	Verizon Wireless
Network technology	1x / EV-DO Rev. A / WiMAX	Various (including 3G)	1x / EV-DO Rev. A
Processor	1GHz Snapdragon	1GHz Snapdragon	550MHz TI OMAP 3430
RAM	512MB	512MB	256MB
Screen size	4.3-inch	3.7-inch	3.7-inch
Resolution	800 x 480	800 x 480	854 x 480
Touch	Capacitive multitouch	Capacitive multitouch	Capacitive multitouch
Physical keyboard	--	--	Slide-out landscape QWERTY
Internal storage	1GB	512MB	512MB
Expandable storage	microSD	microSD	microSD
Rear camera	8MP w/ LED flash	5MP w/ LED flash	5MP w/ LED flash
Video recording	1280 x 720	720 x 480	720 x 480
Front camera	1.3MP	--	--
Battery	1500mAh	1400mAh	1400mAh
WiFi	802.11b/g	802.11b/g	802.11b/g
HDMI out	Yes	--	--
Kickstand	Yes	--	--

As you've probably noticed, we have something of a propensity for charts -- hey, organization is key to a well-balanced life, right? Since we last tackled an Android device faceoff, the sheer number of competitors has branched out far and wide, but despite the propagation / fragmentation, including today's unveiling of the HTC EVO 4G, three clear frontrunners have taken most of the spotlight for being the pinnacle of the Android experience: the aforementioned, HTC / Google's Nexus One, and the Motorola Droid. Here, the latter device is looking a bit long in the tooth, but that physical QWERTY keyboard and its volcanic rise to prominence gives it some strong staying power. Cold, hard data isn't going to tell the full story, but until you can get to try each of these yourself -- all at the same time, if you're lucky -- it's a great place to start.

Notes:
¹ A purported 2.1 upgrade has been promised and delayed more times than we care to count anymore.
² The Nexus One is currently available unlocked for T-Mobile, and on track to hit Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T's 3G network.

HTC EVO 4G vs. HD2 and Desire... fight!

Now that the excitement of the EVO 4G announce has finally worn off, it's time to get down to more practical matters -- in a street fight, would the WiMAX-powered beast hold its own against an HD2 and aDesire, for example? We had all three in a room just now, and here's what we've got to say:

• It feels significantly beefier than the HD2, but in reality, it's not -- it's just a single millimeter thicker. The brushed metal back of the HD2 is a little sexier, but just by the tiniest of margins; it's hard to argue with soft touch and a kickstand, obviously.
• We would've never noticed this without the Desire next to it, but the EVO's text is pretty huge, a side effect of the fact that it's running the same resolution on a screen 0.6 inches larger. It's not annoying, really, but it struck us that they could've comfortably fit quite a bit more information on the screen without getting cramped. The Desire's display is more vibrant, too, but that makes sense -- we're indoors under artificial lighting and the Desire has AMOLED on board.
• The EVO's got touch-sensitive buttons below the display that function much like the Nexus One's, but no worries: they work quite a bit better. We think this might be because there's more touch-sensitive bezel real estate below the keys; on the Nexus One, you've got to be far too accurate for comfort.
• Interestingly, this is the first EVO we've seen today with a silver earpiece grill -- Sprint's have been red. We've confirmed with HTC that production devices will be silver.

Kyocera Zio M6000 hands-on: you get what pay for

It's totally unfair to Kyocera that we played with its new Zio M6000 mid-tier Android smartphone mere hours after our first look at the HTC EVO 4G, but while we were excited to see a cheaper phone with an 800 x 480 screen, the end result is pretty disappointing. The device crams that resolution into a 3.5-inch screen, which wouldn't be so bad if the capacitive touchscreen element wasn't so low-end. It seemed both unresponsive and lacking in accuracy -- at times we had trouble even dragging open the notification tray. We were told that we were looking at a prototype of the device, but the crumminess seemed pretty uniform across multiple Zios we tested. The device also seemed just generally sluggish -- we'd think the 600MHz Qualcomm processor could handle Android 1.6 just fine, but perhaps there's some optimization left to do. Kyocera told us that the phone is easily upgraded to 2.0 or 2.1, based on carrier wishes, and that they don't have any plans for skinning it. Ironically, running 1.6 on this high res display actually ends up looking worse than a regular low-res screen, due to the blurry icons and UI elements. The cheap looking capacitive touch buttons aren't much out of the norm for Android, but interesting the phone doesn't have any haptics to let you know if you've clicked one. Meanwhile, the haptic feedback for touchscreen typing is cranked to 11 and significantly unhelpful.

In one final negative note, the phone takes one of the worst pages out of the Palm book and put plastic doors over not only the USB plug but the microSD slot and side-mounted headphone jack as well. On the plus side: this is an incredibly thin and light phone, and we doubt the price (less than $200 or so unsubsidized) probably will be beat in the US for a while. Expect to see it on a low-end CDMA carrier (like Virgin Mobile or Cricket) near the middle of the year. Check out a video after the break!

Dell Aero first hands-on!

Here she is, folks -- Dell's first-ever Android device destined for a Stateside release, and AT&T's second overall handset (the first being the Backflip) with a Google-based operating system. At CTIA's MobileFocus event, we were able to brush up against a fully functional Aero (shown beside a Mini 3, just for your information), but we left without seeing the actual home screen. The closest we came to witnessing Android 1.5 boot up was the typical AT&T intro screen, and once that popped up, our presenter promptly popped the battery out in order to stop what would've otherwise been a truly momentous occasion. We begged and pleaded for a few interface shots, but Dell insisted that AT&T was holding an invisible gun to its head in order to keep the screen dimmed. We were told that the interface was still being tweaked, and the carrier simply wasn't ready for the world at large to take a peek.

Outside of that, we learned that this will indeed be the planet's lightest Android phone ever when it ships (believe us, it was light), and while v1.5 will be onboard, Dell seemed confident that 2.1 (and beyond) would be made available shortly after launch. We were also told that it would ship with a 5 megapixel camera (a step up from the Mini 3's 3 megapixel shooter), an undisclosed amount of internal storage, a new color / design scheme (the one you see here will be the only shade available at launch) and a 2GB microSD card bundled in at purchase. You'll also find a good deal of AT&T baked into the OS, but it's not like you should be surprised to hear of carrier meddling. Finally, we were informed that pricing would be set by AT&T, and that it would be shipping "soon" -- far sooner than "six months from now" -- from both AT&T and Dell channels (though not available unlocked from the latter). There's also the possibility that Dell could arrange some sort of Aero / Mini 10 combo deal for those looking to really sink their teeth into a hefty AT&T contract, but there's nothing substantial to go on just yet in that department. Enough chit-chat -- give the gallery below a look to see what's coming your way.

BlackBerry Pearl 9100 surfaces yet again, this time with specs

Rumors of a low-end BlackBerry Pearl 9100 have been swirling (or at least slightly agitating) as far back as November of last year, but it looks like we're now finally starting to get a clearer picture of some of the phone's actual specs. As we'd heard previously, this one comes equipped with a SureType keypad (noQWERTY version to be seen yet), and a trackpad instead of a trackball. According to Tech Digest, it will also boast 3G connectivity, along with a 3-megapixel camera, and a design that's said to be a "fair sight sleeker" than current BlackBerry Pearls. Still no indication of pricing or availability, unfortunately, but it seems like this one is getting about due for a release.

China Telecom launching Palm Pre, BlackBerry handsets this summer

We've been hearing that China Telecom would be grabbing hold of Palm and RIM's respective stables of smartphones since early last year, but at long last we've some official quotes to prove those whispers correct. According to a new report over at the Wall Street Journal, Chairman and Chief Executive Wang Xiaochu has affirmed that it will offer an undisclosed amount of BlackBerry devices in China this May, while Palm's Pre (no word on the Pixi) will hit this July. These deals could certainly bode well for the carrier; as it stands, it's going up against China Mobile -- which already sells BlackBerry handsets -- and China Unicom, which is home to Apple's iPhone. Unfortunately, pricing details weren't available, but we're guessing those will pop sooner rather than later.

Samsung S8500 Wave to cost 380 euro in Germany, ships in May

The Samsung S8500 Wave, the first phone with the new Bada OS and also the first with Samsung's Super AMOLED screen popped in a couple of German sites and ladies and gentlemen, we have a price and even a target availability date.

The Samsung S8500 Wave has a Cortex A8 CPU running at 1GHz and packs Samsung's home-brewed OS, Bada. Another mouth-watering feature is the 5MP camera that can capture 720p videos at 30 fps.

And of course, the screen. Yes, that screen. The Super AMOLED screen on the Samsung S8500 Wave is 3.3" big with WVGA resolution and the best viewing angles in the business. It also has the deep blacks typical for AMOLED and great sunlight legibility (not quite so typical for that technology).

For a more in-depth look at the Samsung S8500 Wave, you cancheck out our preview, complete with head-to-head video comparing the Wave screen to that of the iPhone and a few HD video samples.

As for the price - the German Amazon has the S8500 Wave at 430 euro (580 US dollars) and Geizhals lists four retailers that offer it as low as 379 euro (510 US dollars). Geizhals sets the shipping date sometime in May.

iPhone font created out of 540 apps and a love for the arcane (video)

No, we can't give you a clear reason why this particular chap did this particular thing, but good gravy, look at the pretty pictures! We've come across an iPhone-inspired font that looks to have been created by collating and color coding a vast collection of apps in order to properly represent the English alphabet. There's not much info given beyond the app count and the fact it required an architect with "too much free time" on his hands, but we're not going to begrudge a visual attraction when we can get one. You might be able to get the typography for yourself by contacting the author at the source link, or you can skip past the break to see it on video -- if you're careful enough you should be able to spot the world's greatest mobile app making a guest appearance.

Nokia Nuron for T-Mobile review

When the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic was released a little more than a year ago, we thoroughly panned it in our review -- put simply, it felt undercooked and uncompetitive in a world where webOS, iPhone OS, and Android were all realities, regardless of Nokia's existing smartphone dominance through much of the world. More than a year later, we're now presented with the Nokia Nuron, a pretty close relative of that first S60 5th Edition device from back in the day; it's simply a carrier-branded version of the 5230, which itself is a lower-end variant of the 5800.

Despite its flaws, the 5800 has gone on to become a global success for Nokia -- but can the Nuron do the same in a market traditionally unfazed by Nokia's advances? More directly, has Nokia's first volley in the modern touchphone battle evolved enough to become a prime-time player in the States? Let's find out.

HTC Desire hits T-Mobile UK, black prototype spotted online

HTC's new flagship device is now almost certain to officially land on British shores ahead of its Sense-less elder brother, the Nexus One. T-Mobile's official online store is ready to take your order for the Desire right this minute, though it does come with the proviso that delivery may take up to seven days. That meshes almost perfectly with Amazon's April 1 delivery date, though the most exciting news might relate to pricing. At the high end, you can have the phone for free on £35 ($53) per month over two years -- nothing new there -- but at the £15 ($22) a month price point, you can have 300 minutes, 300 texts, unlimited (with an asterisk) internet and the Desire for £129 ($194). With Orange and Vodafone also confirmed as carriers, it's looking like a good time for Android lovers in the UK. In the meantime, a black prototype Desire has been spotted online, following swiftly in the footsteps of the silver Desire we saw setting Dutch hearts aflutter last week. It's not yet clear if or when it'll be making its way into retail, but the video awaits after the break in any case.

VS750 confirms LG's love for WinMo Classic, starts torrid new affair with Verizon

Sure, all the talk lately is about Windows Phone 7 Series and all the things it can and can't do. But, in the months between now and its release, companies still have to make money, and so LG has turned to Windows Mobile Classic 6.5 to drive its VS750. We first heard wind of this Verizon-bound machineback in December, and now it's been spied by Mr. Blurrycam over at PhoneArena, apparently due for a mid-April release. The QWERTY slider is intended as a world phone, and its list of wireless support certainly sounds comprehensive: CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev A. 800/1900MHz, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/190MHz and UMTS/HSDPA. Why, it'll even include plug adapters for Europe, Asia, and Australia right out of the box. It's fronted by a 3.2-inch 800 x 480 resistive touchscreen, backed by a 3.2 megapixel camera, sports WiFi and Bluetooth, a microSDHC slot and, if our eyes don't deceive us, its case has more than a passing resemblance to the prototype unveiled on The Engadget Show a few weeks back.

KTF wants everyone to Bubi Bubi (video)

Look, Korea has a unique tech culture unrivaled by anything we've experienced in the West. But when Korean carrier KTF coaxes us into a "bubi bubi" dance grind, well, we just have to stare. What is it about a dumbphone that could prompt such behavior? B-U-B-I after the break.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 finally arrives in UK, T-Mobile will deliver it within 10 days

At long last, the protracted wait for Sony Ericsson's first Android phone is coming to an end. T-Mobile's web store has this morning added the Xperia X10 to its stable of mobile devices, though it requests 10 days' worth of patience before getting the handsets out to their impatient new owners. Pricing is surprisingly higher than that associated with the HTC Desire -- the £15 per month two-year contract that nets you the Nexus One clone for £129 ($194) requires a steeper £191 ($287) for the X10. Mind you, with that delivery delay dragging you into April, you might want to hold out a tiny bit longer to see what propositions Vodafone may have in store for prospective purchasers of the X10.

Official: Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus for AT&T 'in the coming months'

Yes folks, it's finally really happened. Today Palm announced that its dynamic duo -- the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus -- will be making their way to AT&T's network "in the coming months." We won't bore you with too many details on the devices, since you can read our review of the non-Plus Sprint variations here andhere, and the Verizon versions right here. What we will tell you is that at an undisclosed time, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus can be yours for just $149.99 and a deep-discount $49.99 (with a $100 mail-in rebate and two-year contract), respectively. The Pre Plus will be similarly equipped to its Verizon counterpart (16GB of storage, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1), and the Pixi should look awfully familiar as well (8GB storage, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1), though AT&T will be offering a variation with a blue back plate (in addition to the standard black and other swappable covers). Both UMTS / HSDPA devices will support AT&T's new Address Book service as a Synergy sync option, and will have free auto-connect access to the carrier's WiFi +20,000 hotspots. We don't know when we'll get our hands on these guys, but Palm will be showing off the AT&T-ified versions of the handsets at the upcoming CTIA... which we will of course be attending. It should be interesting to see if hopping on AT&T's network will move the needlefor Palm, let's just hope those "coming months" are, you know... pretty soon. Full PR and one more pic after the break.

Dell Aero is AT&T's second Android phone

Looks like Dell's finally entering the modern US smartphone market with a renamed Mini 3 called the Aero for AT&T. There's some serious Android UI skinning going on here -- it looks like a riff on what we've seen on the Streak / Mini 5 -- but that's all we know specs-wise at the moment. To be honest, we're somewhat concerned that this custom UI skin will be built on top of Android 1.5 or 1.6 instead of 2.1, and that AT&T will mandate a Backflip-style app lockdown -- until we get some hard details all we have is this tiny pic and our usual hope for the future.

Samsung's Super AMOLED-packin' Wave S8500 priced in Germany: €429

Samsung's world-beater -- you know, that Wave S8500 that debuted back at Mobile World Congress -- was revealed without one of the most vital statistics, but that's being remedied today courtesy of a product listing over at Amazon's German portal. The Bada-equipped device, complete with a Super AMOLED display that's supposedly viewable in broad daylight, has found a €429 MSRP across the pond, which equates to around $579 using today's highly volatile exchange rates. Granted, that's a contract-free (read: unsubsidized) price, but we're still going to hold out for a late-night session with the new OS before pinging our importer. Plus, those funky European AC adapters do nothing at all for us. Sorry.

Motorola makes i1 official, melds Android and push-to-talk this summer on Sprint

Right on cue, just after the aptly-timed teaser poster, Motorola signs on just the right dotted lines to make its i1 push-to-talk Android handset official. Let's run through the specs quickly, shall we? A 3.1-inch HVGA (320 x 480) touchscren, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and 4x zoom, WiFi, and microSD expansion -- no mention of the processor, so we'll have to find out on our own later. The OS version is 1.5 and, while there's oddly not a single mention in either the press release of fact sheet, given the official images and unofficial leaks, it's definitely got Motoblur. The browser of choice is Opera Mini 5 with support for Flash 8, and if you're worried about Mother Nature's wrath, the i1 meets Military 810F standards for handling averse weather conditions. iDEN lovers can pick up the call sometime this summer on Sprint, with price yet to be named.

Update: Motorola's just sent word that the i1 does not have Motoblur, despite the presence of the traditional green call / blue contacts buttons. That begs the question, then, of what exactly defines Motoblur here (is just the Happenings widget missing?), and what Android skin is on the i1 -- the press images here are definitely not showing vanilla 1.5. We're still awaiting a response to that, stay tuned.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 review

Of the world's largest phone manufacturers, perhaps none has taken a more twisted road to smartphone ubiquity than Sony Ericsson. It began its journey back in the pre-joint venture Ericsson days by throwing its weight behind Symbian, a smartphone platform that would ultimately become the world's most popular -- but it made a fatal error in supporting the doomed UIQ flavor that never saw even a fraction of the support its S60 cousin did. UIQ's untimely (but predicted) collapse last year left the company nearly rudderless and ill-equipped to deal with competitors like Nokia, HTC, and Apple, all of whom had long since embraced other platforms -- all with fighting chances of market dominance.

Left without a platform to champion, Sony Ericsson would ultimately continue supporting Symbian through its involvement with the Symbian Foundation and phones like the Satio and Vivaz... and it would ramp up support for Windows Mobile with the Xperia X1 and X2... and it would bring Android into the fold with the X10, all within a few months of each other. All told, Sony Ericsson enters 2010 actively supporting three unrelated smartphone platforms, and comments by CEO Bert Norberg at MWC in February lead us to believe that they'd be happy to take on a fourth (or more) if the opportunity presented itself. It's an odd strategy to be sure, particularly for a company that's struggling mightily and shrinking its workforce more than any other top-five manufacturer. How it intends to effectively compete on three different fronts without spreading itself hopelessly thin, well... that remains a huge question mark.

That said, the Xperia X10 is perhaps the most promising of Sony Ericsson's confusing crop of modern smartphones, combining attractive hardware with killer specs, Android, and an intriguing custom skin. Does it hold its own against modern competitors like HTC's Nexus One and Desire? And more importantly, can it keep Sony Ericsson from going over the brink? Read on to find out.

Official: Apple now offering iPhones contract free (updated: not unlocked)

We heard from 9 to 5 Mac that Apple was due to begin selling a contract-free variant of the iPhone in the near future "at list price." And guess what happened when we inquired to an Apple store? That's right folks -- you can now pick one up for $499 (3G), $599, or $699 (3GS). We've confirmed this info at no less than five stores, so you should be hearing the same message at your local Appletorium. Given the current unfriendly climate between Apple and Google, this could be seen as nasty jab, though the devices are still carrier-locked to AT&T, so you're not being given much freedom... and it's certainly not much of a statement. In many parts of Europe (France and Poland, for example) you can pick up the carrier-unattached device (and we mean totally unlocked), but that doesn't appear to be the case here.

Update: We're getting mixed reports on the unlock status of these phones. One store says yes to the unlock, while others are saying they're still AT&T-locked devices being sold off contract. We're digging for more info on this now, so stay tuned.

Update 2: It's looking like those initial reports of unlocked devices are inaccurate. It sounds like these devices are still locked to AT&T -- so you're just looking at an off contract pricing scheme. Which is also totally lame.

Samsung to announce Galaxy S smartphone, content initiatives this week

We've just received a veritable cornucopia of information around Samsung's supposed announcements out at CTIA this week -- and seeing how this is the biggest wireless show the US has to offer, you might imagine that the reveals are fairly US-focused while still hanging onto some global relevance. Here's what we know:

• The company's so-called "Smart Life" philosophy for smartphone design and differentiation -- something we've heard referred to as S Life in the past, including here at CTIA -- will be formally introduced. It won't so much be a product or a smartphone platform (as far as we can tell) so much as an overarching strategy.
• A 1GHz applications processor will be announced as the "new standard" in Sammy's premium smartphone segment for 2010; in all likelihood, this is the Cortex A8-based core announced in the middle of last year.
• A huge content push will be announced (US market mercifully included) with full-length movies and shows that are "optimized" to take advantage of the company's new Super AMOLED displays. You'll also see some book and magazine deals get struck for straight-to-mobile delivery, but it sounds like we won't get the straight dope on how it'll all work (and who's involved, exactly) this week.
• Kicking off S Life from the hardware side will be the Galaxy S, Samsung's big phone announcement for the week. As far as we can tell, it'll be an Android device taking advantage of Super AMOLED and the company's homegrown 1GHz core -- and it'll be available in the US this year.

That's all we've got so far, but Sammy's mobile prez J.K. Shin has a keynote tomorrow morning along with an event immediately afterward, so we expect to get this fleshed out in the next day or so. Stay tuned!

LG Remarq combines QWERTY, not being mean to the environment in one package for Sprint

Looking for a little more Lucky Goldstar to go with your eco-friendly leanings on Sprint than theSamsung Reclaim can offer? No problem -- look no further than the newly-announced LG Remarq, featuring a form factor decidedly similar to Sammy's entry without straying from the recycled casing and packaging that made the older device so easy for Mother Nature to get behind. It's got a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, IM capability, and microSD expansion up to 16GB to go along with a music player -- not mind-numbing specs by any stretch, but you'll only be paying a big, fat zero for it when it launches on May 9. Oh, and you'll be doing your little part to help the environment, too, which is really the only feature you should need to see on the spec sheet anyway -- right?

Motorola i1 first hands-on!

We're shmoozing with Motorola's team and Mike Rowe -- yes, the Dirty Jobs guy, who's been fittingly selected as the rugged i1's spokesperson -- and we're starting to get our first fleeting moments with Motorola's first Android-powered iDEN handset in the flesh. Believe it or not, it might be the best-feeling Android phone from Motorola to date, besting the CLIQ XT and Droid with a tasteful mix of black chrome and rubber around the edges; if it weren't for the lack of bona fide 3G, we could realistically see putting this in our pockets over, say, a myTouch 3G, Hero, or Behold II. We've been able to confirm that they've basically taken the UI look and feel introduced by Blur and subtracted... well, the things that actually make it Blur, namely the integration with Blur servers that brings social service aggregation into the fold. Will it appeal to the iDEN demographic? Hard to say, but Mr. Rowe certainly seems amped on it. Check out the gallery below!

RIM BlackBerry 'T' (Talladega?) slider launching next month?

Hang with us for a sec as we conjure up a speculative device from a sordid collection of rumors. By now we've all seen the leaked BlackBerry slider right? How about the "Mr. T" phone, heard of that? Maybe you've heard of it by its other codename of Talladega? The connection here is that all of these devices are thought to be one and the same although that's definitely not confirmed by any stretch.

Things got a bit more interesting today after a loose-lipped CEO of a RIM parts supplier (Woojeon & Handan) mentioned a brand new BlackBerry "T" phone launching next month during an interview posted on joins.com (a popular Korean news site). According to our translation or the Korean jibba jabba:

"The Canadian company RIM famous for BlackBerry smartphones is releasing a new model next month. Known as the "T," The new model is an ambitious product aimed at competing against iPhone's storm of success. Rim will present it ("T") as its flagship model to compete in global markets such as the U.S. and Europe."

Funny, we thought that the original Storm was RIM's answer to the iPhone. Anywho, Reuters picked up on the Woojeon & Handan interview today but shied away from mentioning the name or the "next month" timing, saying only that W&H would supply parts for a new RIM product to be released later this year. With any luck, we'll get a full reveal of the mythical BB slider next week with the kickoff of the big CTIA show.

Windows Phone 7 Series: the complete guide

After Windows Phone 7 Series' grand unveiling at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress last month, Microsoft has circled back over the last several days during GDC and its own MIX10conference to fill in many of the holes in this story -- in particular, details around the app development ecosystem and how third parties can take full advantage of it have been focal points. Of course, it makes sense: a modern smartphone is only as good as its software catalog, and Redmond's clearly keen to show that it knows how very true that is. XNA -- the technology that underpins Zune games and a host of Xbox content -- figures prominently into the equation, but Silverlight is a huge, unavoidable component as well, making development for WP7S devices a starkly different experience for studios and independent code monkeys than in versions prior. We're going to be periodically updating this post as we get new info on the platform, but for now, follow the break for everything you need to know -- so far -- about Microsoft's latest and greatest mobile platform.

i-Got-Control IRB1 dongle gives your iPhone / iPod touch universal remote functionality

No need to spot clean your spectacles, and no need to brush the cobwebs out of your dome -- you really are seeing yet another IR dongle for Apple's dear iLineup. Hot on the heels of New Potato's FLPR, ThinkFlood's RedEye mini and Power A's solution comes this: an all-too-similar way to convert your iPod touch, iPhone or forthcoming iPad into a universal remote. Functionality wise, there's really nothing here that the other guys don't provide, though the beefed-up database of over 40,000 IR codes should make setting up your system a breeze. Users simply plug this into their dock connector, download the free application from the App Store and then dial up whatever components they have; once loaded, the IR beamer should do the rest, nixing the need to keep those 40 remotes around. It's expected to start shipping any day now for $69.95.

T-Mobile USA eyeing iPhone launch this year or next?

We don't like to stir up the nearly constant barrage of "so-and-so is getting the iPhone" rumors unless we've got a great reason to do so -- and we'd argue that a Financial Times report involving statements from Deutsche Telekom's CEO qualifies. The British rag was chatting up DT's boss over the prospects of its American unit -- T-Mobile USA -- and stressed the company's long-term commitment to turning around T-Mobile's fortunes in the face of recent spinoff rumors, saying that it's all about rapidly building out a speedy 3G network as part of an effort this year "to lay the foundation for future growth."

Here's where it gets juicy: referring to the iPhone, the report goes on to say that "T-Mobile USA is hoping to start selling the popular smartphone later this year or next year" while focusing on Android in the meantime, as if Android is merely a stopgap measure to make it through to the singular device that can save America's number four carrier from going down the tubes. It's not clear whether FT got the chief exec making a statement to that effect on the record or it's merely gleaning this knowledge from other rumors, but the only way this would be able to happen is if the next iPhone were to come in an AWS-compatible version -- and that seems unlikely considering that AWS coverage represents a trivially small fraction of 3G subscribers around the world. Of course, wireless CEOs of all walks of life regularly make statements saying they'd be more than happy to carry the iPhoneif the opportunity presented itself, so this could be little more than off-the-cuff blather anyway