Finally, the teaser's over. The latest delivery to Engadget's UK penthouse is the Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset due out in the US on 8th November, and we took no time to extract the pebble from the transparent cylinder. In front of us are the two parts of the STONE: an earpiece of a breakthrough form factor that instantly makes you pity its rivals, and behind it is the accompanying portable charging base which serves as an external battery. The latter is equipped with a micro-USB port and an LED indicator -- simply green or red -- to show whether there's enough battery juice for one full charge. It's a pretty neat idea as this is the only feasible way to fit eight hours of talk time (or twelve days of standby time) into such tiny package: two on the earpiece and an extra six from the surprisingly light battery base -- our scale reckons it is just under one ounce. We also dig the auto-off function when you dock the earpiece and vice versa. Docking and undocking are pretty straight forward too: just snap in for the former, and poke your thumb through the bottom hole of the base to push the earpiece out. The generic click button hidden under the Jabra badge is easy to access and responds well. Above that is the invisible vertical touch strip for volume control and similarly it responded nicely to our strokes. What's left on the earpiece are the two LED indicators on the underside for Bluetooth connectivity and battery. So far so good, but what really matters is the ear-on experience and the audio quality -- listen for yourself after the break.

Remember the good old days with your virtual pets on your keyring? Well, how about an injection of life that actually roams around inside your phone? Some dude in China had this exact idea -- probably inspired by the waterproof LG GD900 Crystal in a fish tank -- and popped open the hollow keypad of his own Crystal, slapped in two unfortunate little neon tetras, squeezed in some water and snap! There's no mention on how long the poor things can survive in there for, but chances are PETA will be after your backside well before something goes wrong. We also went through the warranty paperwork, and honestly, we think this gentleman might be in a fishy area here. Video of the mod after the break, if you dare.

Seems as if The Boy Genius received a nice little care package courtesy of CTI-Miami. Its a black Motorola KRZR which is only now available. While the obvious features and specs have not changed, this is the sharpest looking K1 to be released yet. That is until the fiyah red one comes out, right? Click on for the rest of the unboxing pics

Everyone knows that Vodafone has an exclusive on the Treo 750, right? Well, if you can't wait and want to use your Treo 750v on Cingular (or the UMTS carrier of your choice), click on to see what we did. But before we get to that, we should also mention that we have BlackBerry Connect on the Treo 750, and yes folks, it does work. It works flawlessly! Click on for more pics!

Once again by way of the Boy Genius, we managed to get a first look at the 4.2 OS for the BlackBerry 8700 which now adds voice notes, Push-To-Talk, file explorer, .wav attachments, mp3 player, bluetooth file transfer, GPS support, among other very cool things.

As you can clearly see, Boy Genius was dead on: the model number you ask? 8800. QWERTY keyboard lover? You're so in luck. The codename on this model? Gamma Ray. Camera? Business users rejoice, none so far.

In a recent ALX file from RIM, it has the following entry:

"<os radio="GPRS" series="8800" Colour="True" Theme="Normal" JVMLevel="1.0" VoiceNotes="True" pttApp="True" Memory="Large" KeyboardType="Qwerty" Sound="Tunes8700g" SystemSize="normal" Bluetooth="True" MMS="True" ThemeSupport="Enhanced">GPRS/rimGammaRay.sfi</os>"

As a comparison, here is the entry for the 8100 (aka Pearl aka Stealth):

"<os radio="GPRS" series="8100" Colour="True" Theme="Normal" JVMLevel="1.0" Camera="True" VoiceNotes="True" pttApp="True" KeyboardType="Reduced" MMS="True" Bluetooth="True" Sound="Tunes8700g" SystemSize="normal" Backdrop="68M_240x260" ThemeSupport="Enhanced" VAD="True">GPRS/rim8100g.sfi</os>"

You will notice that the Gamma Ray does not have entries for Voice Activated Dialing (VAD) nor a Camera. This is preliminary, at best, and obviously subject to change; but it's also the first official mentioning of the upcoming BlackBerry 8800 from RIM (albeit, by accident). Click on for more shots than you can shake a WinMo phone at.

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

Ok fellow geeks, fanboys, nerds, phone fiends, and otherwise generally awesome Engadget readers. Excuse me if my typing is a little off I can't stop shaking. I just got a hands-on with the HTC Excalibur, and in all honesty, people are gonna have to watch out. This is the most responsive, fastest Windows Smartphone I have ever used. Everything was made to perfection. The device is metal and rubberized plastic which gives it a great feel in your hands, and the keys... oh my lord, the keys! They are firm but not hard, softly tactcile but not squishy. The touch bar is incredible: highly responsive and ingenious or, Boy Genius if you will. It also earns the right to be called a Q-killer because it basically kills the Q in size and usability. The EDGE performance is great -- no, it's not 3G, but the built-in Wifi helps make up for it. And the microSD and clear, great-sounding speaker don't hurt none, either. And now the moment you have all been waiting for, I give you KONG! Excalibur! Thanks be to E-Gadget.

[Click on for pictures of the Excalibur next to the BlackBerry Pearl (8100), BlackBerry 8700, and a Nokia N73. -Ed.]

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

Boy Genius apparently won't be satisfied with the BlackBerry news, so we've no choice but to give the public what the public wants. We received technical specs and a brochure on the BlackBerry 8703e on Verizon, which we couldn't post until today without compromising our source. Yep, it confirms everything. Nothing really new and exciting, except if you're one of those CrackBerry addicts that's been waiting impatiently on this for almost a year now.

Download [PDF]

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

So the Boy Genius has been digging deeper into all these rumors floating around about the supposed BlackBerry 8705 and 8800, and here's what we got: the BlackBerry 8705 will be a normal BlackBerry 8700 except with HAC (Hearing Aid Compatibility) and minor GSM Radio and component changes. No WiFi, nothing to email home about. We also got info on the next BlackBerry unit; the 8800 is code-named Gamma Ray (not 8200 as previously reported). The 8800 is basically the 8100 with a full QWERTY keyboard, and surprise, surprise as far as we can tell it will not have the pearl's camera. This can and might change, but as of now it will be thin, have a trackball, WiFi, microSD, and will not be released before the end of this year. The reason RIM has done away with the trackwheel on the side is because it was preventing them from making the devices thinner; they sure made 'em thinner now, but we're still not sure if that was the right move. We'll leave you with a quote from our man.

"RIM, I know you love how The Boy Genius has your stock above $80 per share for the first time since April. This is viral marketing at its best. Please look for all my scoops, and reviews here exclusively at Engadget."

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

The much awaited T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl (8100) will be officially released in T-Mobile retail stores on September 18th, with launch shipments to be received by August 28th. Now I present to you, my Engadget reading friends, pictures of the 8100 retail box!

Update: Boy Genius just sent us some new info stating that release is being bumped up into September 12th. Seems a little dubious considering the NDA'd announcement stated the 18th, but maybe they're trying to throw us off their scent.

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

RAZR MAXX? V3x? RAZR XX? Be confused no more, Boy Genius has provided us with a detailed review of Motorola's V3xx.

The RAZR XX is not as pleasing to the eye as the V3i when closed -- it most closely resembles the V3, and the only real change is in the camera lens. I guess they had to think of something to do, seeing as this phone could have been designed and put together in a day or so. I say that because the internal hardware is nothing new either, except this version sports USA 3G bands on 850/1900MHz while also coming equipped with quad-band EDGE. The software build is the same as the new MAXX, with a more straight-forward media finder, and little bit better layout. Keypad is nice, size is nice, but Moto has definitely lost its cut with this one (extremely bad pun intended). Click on for more shots!

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

It has been confirmed to me that RIM will have a BlackBerry with WiFi most likely in time for a Christmas release this year. The device is said to be an 8700-type form factor. Also confirmed is a QWERTY BlackBerry with built-in camera, and similar specs to the current Pearl / 8100, except with more RAM, a faster processor, and most likely an updated camera as well. This model is the BlackBerry 8200. The device is said to be the same size or very close to the Motorola Q. RIM is still testing out different hardware configurations and colors, but black seems to be the choice. I'm working on getting pics, so stay close!

[Man, Boy Genius is seriously in love with the BlackBerry these days! -Ed.]

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

I guess Pharrell really started a trend. Here we have a solid 18k white gold BlackBerry 8700g. If you can stand your service being reduced a little (due to the massive amount of, well, gold) and can afford the high price tag, call up your boy Jacob The Jeweler -- he made this flawless. I have never seen such craftsmanship.

[Click on for another pic! -Ed.]

We have to say, the Boy Genius is damned good. Ok, now that thats out of the way, Engadget Mobile would like present to you exclusive pictures of a Cingular-branded Treo 750. Yeah, that's right, that's the Treo Lennon, and as we found out before from BG, is coming to Cingy. Yes it has UMTS. Yes it has HSPDA. And no, it doesn't have a front facing camera for video calling -- sorry, we're gonna have to live with it. More pics after the break!

Field report tidbits from Engadget's resident mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

What do we have here? Four different SLVR models? Yep! That's right, from CDMA to GSM to WCDMA, the good folks at Motorola have you covered. Starting on the right the first is called the L7i which is simply an update to the L7, the way the V3i was to the V3. It adds a 1.3 megapixel camera, EDGE, more internal memory, the updated UI [though not Juix] and some other miscellany. Next we have a regular L7, you know the phone your grandparents use? The real star of the picture has to be the third L7 which is the 3G model. It has a front facing video conferencing camera (obviously), 2.0 mega pixel camera, world 3G bands, quad-band EDGE, and microSD as well. Finally we have the much rumored L7c that was just finally announced. It is indeed a SILVR SLVR, microSD card support, 1.3 megapixel camera, VCAST, and is coming to... Alltel! Just kidding. Verizon Wireless, holla at me baby!

[Once again, props to Boy Genius! Click on for more images.]

Field report tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, the Boy Genius.

Have you been frantically refreshing Engadget Mobile waiting for the next tidbit from The Boy Genius? Are you sweating profusely at the prospect of LG's US Chocolate launch? Boy Genius' latest insider tip is regarding none other than the highly anticipated LG8500 for Verizon Wireless. What'd he dig up? This bad boy will be available on August 14th, nationally. So there.