Seemingly unconvinced that enough people had said "hey, you spelled 'messenger' wrong" after the first model, archrival regionals Cricket and MetroPCS have both launched Samsung's Messager II with a 2 megapixel camera, EV-DO, and a pair of keypads: one slide-out QWERTY, one numeric permanently affixed up front. Admittedly, the name is no stranger than the "Vice" brand adopted by the phone's twin sister up in Canada, but isn't it kind of ironic that a phone with a full QWERTY keyboard be given a name that nearly everyone thinks is a typo? Find this sucker now on MetroPCS for $149 and Cricket for a hair under $200.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for Tuesday, August 4th, 2009:

• Following the G'zOne C731 Rock, Casio's C741 Brigade for Verizon has nabbed FCC clearance. Not much is known about the phone -- we can assume it'll be ruggedized to one degree or another -- but one interesting tidbit is the inclusion of VCAST TV support, something Verizon's been getting lax on as of late. [Via PhoneArena]
• Have you seen a white / silver Samsung i7500 Galaxy? Now you have. [Thanks, Ruben W.]
• China's regulatory peeps have had the good fortune of seeing a couple new Philips Xeniums in their midst, a K700 full touch model and an X501 candybar. Philips has yet to announce either unit, but you can bet they'll last until the next ice age on a single charge. [Via Unwired View]
• Microsoft's MSDN -- its official developer network -- has published a case study on porting an iPhone app to Windows Mobile. A year ago, you'd have been more likely to see case studies going in the other direction, but, you know, times are changing. [Via Tweakers.net]
• Digia put together a nice little web browser for UIQ called @Web, but then UIQ sorta went away -- so they're back at it again, this time on S60 5th Edition in beta form. S60 does a decent job browsing out of the gate, but @Web's got some interesting UI elements that might make it worth a look. [Via All About Symbian]
• We don't see much of it in the States, but Samsung's got a whole brand -- DuoS -- for dual-SIM capable handsets. Mobil.cz has dug up a new model in the series, a low-end candybar dubbed C3212 that'll run the equivalent of around $195 and go on sale in Russia later this summer before expanding to other European markets. [Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]
• Value brand Cricket is adding yet more value to its unlimited voice plans that start at a bargain-basement $40. The $40 price point now includes web access; $45 gets you unlimited email, backup, and 30 roaming minutes a month, and $55 ups the roaming to 200 minutes.

Looking for something maybe just a little less flashy than Motorola's Hint on Cricket? They've got your back now thanks to the inclusion of the TXTM8 -- pronounced "text mate," we think -- sourced from middleman / distributor / purveyor of fine goods PCD. There's not much to the phone other than its cute little shell and a sliding full QWERTY keyboard, but it does pack a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth support, and AWS CDMA (as all Cricket handsets do these days). Interested parties can inquire with the carrier for one of these now, running $139.99 contract-free after discount.

[Via Phone Scoop]

We didn't know the lowly MyShot had developed enough brand cachet to warrant a sequel, but sure enough, the MyShot II has gotten very, very real for value carrier Cricket. Like the model before it, the MyShot II packs a 1.3 megapixel camera and tops out with 1x data; in fact, the only real improvement here seems to be the styling, which arguably looks a little more modern. It supports AWS CDMA -- as all Cricket phones do these days -- and can be yours (hence the "My" in "MyShot") contract-free for $139.99 after rebate.

[Via Phone Scoop]

There's a lot of posturing and ego-inflating at the very highest levels of the US' wireless industry; AT&T had been the biggest provider until Verizon swooped in and bought Alltel, and we imagine that the new number two has been plotting its counterattack ever since. Of course, this kind of endless tit-for-tat acquisition game is an Alien vs. Predator-style "whoever wins, we all lose" scenario, since the end result is inevitably less competition and more Big Wireless (we just coined that term, and yes, you're free to use it). Anyhow, the popular buzz today is that AT&T is taking a serious look at Leap Wireless -- which owns the Cricket brand, the regional that's offering $40 / month unlimited -- on account of both companies mysteriously canceling appearances at a pair of investment conferences over the next week. It's mega-speculative at this point, but the move would certainly make sense considering the overwhelming popularity of cheap unlimited plans right now and AT&T's presumed desire to get back in the king's throne, wouldn't it?

It's interesting how some handsets make the rounds among the regional carriers without so much as a passing mention from the nationals, and that's certainly shaping up to be the kind of life the Motorola Hint is leading. Piling on to launches on Alltel and MetroPCS, it turns out that the Hint is also now available from Cricket; like MetroPCS, Cricket likes to do the whole no-contract thing, which means you'll pay $229.99 upfront for the pleasure of putting a 2 megapixel, EV-DO equipped QWERTY slider in your pocket with these guys. Any takers?

[Via Crave]

Nokia's simplistic 3606 has been out and about for awhile now, but it's brand new to Cricket Wireless airwaves. The aforesaid carrier is now offering up the 3606 in branded fashion, bringing along a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, music with external control keys, a microSD card slot, 700mAh battery and a 2-inch 220 x 176 internal display. The pain? $139.99 after all applicable discounts.

[Via MobileBurn]

We had a chance to check out the ginormous, hand-built recreation of Samsung's Messager on site in Chicago this week, and yep, we can confirm it -- this is one big phone. Be that as it may, we're still a bit surprised to hear that it's Guinness Record-setting big, but we guess Cricket's angle here is that the Messager is fully functional. There was a healthy line to use the phone when we stopped by; folks were given the option of making a call (over speakerphone, naturally) or sending a text message, but seeing how the display was just as functional as the rest of the phone, we wouldn't want to call up any numbers we didn't want half of the city of Chicago seeing. Follow the break for video of this beast in action -- and after seeing the amount of footwork involved in simply dialing a number, let's all hope phones never actually get this big, shall we?

Regional carrier Cricket has set about breaking the Guinness record for the world's largest cellphone, crafting a giant Samsung Messager out of wood, metal, lights, wizardry, and love. It'll be officially unveiled tomorrow, but in the meantime, we've been treated to some behind-the-scenes footage of the 8th Wonder Of The World's creation. Follow the break for video, and don't forget to head on over to Engadget to post your caption.

Chris: "Leaving out the microSD slot was purely a design decision."
Don: "Hey, anybody remember where we put the world's smallest cellphone?"
Paul: "yo, david, can we meet up for this fight tmrw? me and my philistine buddies got totally wasted last night, got giant hangover. thx."
Joe: "Sure, Cricket has a bigger network, but Boost Mobile has better ringtones."
Josh T.: "And yet... the display is still cramped."
Nilay: "Finally, we will crush the iPhone!"
Thomas: "Hold on, let me walk over to my inbox"
Jacob: "The good news? Grandma will be able to see the buttons. The bad news? She won't be able to dial a number without an oxygen tank."

The "ultra-simple CDMA set with AWS support" category is getting pretty well-stocked the past few months courtesy of carriers like MetroPCS, and Samsung's helping to fill the shelves with another one on Cricket today. The SCH-r211 offers little more than what you can gather from the product shot -- it'll do data sans 3G, and that 128 x 128 display isn't helping matters either -- but more importantly, it runs just $89.99 contract-free, and it's available this very second.

As we'd heard back in August, the scrappy little VE240 candybar from Moto is destined for a pair of regionals -- Cricket and MetroPCS. It's got stereo Bluetooth, MP3 support, expandable memory up to 4GB, and that's about it; nothing to get terribly excited about, but the light spec sheet should keep things affordable. It's available now in Cricket's Tulsa market with wider availability coming to both carriers in the next few weeks.

Nokia 1606's isn't a new creature, but it is a new member of the quickly expanding Cricket family. The AWS-capable flip phone pretty much sticks to the basic, boasting just a 160 x 128 resolution display (internal) / 96 x 32 pixel monochrome LCD (external), a voice recorder, 3.5-hours of talk time (11 days in standby) and weighs just 2.68-ounces. If that's enough to suit you, head to nearest Cricket shop and hand over $129.99 plus any applicable taxes.

[Via phonescoop]

Remember that SCH-R550 that appeared in the FCC's lair back in June? It's okay, we know you don't, but Cricket is looking to jar your memory by introducing it as the Samsung JetSet. The AWS-compatible handset packs a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth capabilities, built-in multimedia player, a microSD card slot and little else (but we suppose that's the point). This feather-weight morsel of a clamshell can be picked up now for $199.99.

Cricket Communications is well known for offering contract-less / prepaid options for wireless users who'd rather not be shackled down by any given carrier, and today we're checking out yet another option for those still not satisfied by current offerings. The PAYGo service, which is being launched initially in Cincinnati / Dayton, Savannah / Hilton Head and Houston, offers customers the ability to pay for three varying levels of usage on a per-day basis. The Cricket EZ, UTStarcom CDM7126 and Samsung MyShot can be activated on the plan, which only charges you for days you make or receive calls / text messages. For $1 per day, subscribers get unlimited local calling along with voicemail, caller ID and three-way calling, while the $2 per day plan adds unlimited text / picture messaging; the $3 / day plan throws in limited US long distance, international texting to 100+ nations and mobile web / directory assistance.

[Via phonescoop]

Just because MetroPCS' unsolicited advances to Leap got rejected doesn't mean it can't check its damaged ego at the door long enough to get some other business put away. The two regionals sat down recently to hammer out a pretty comprehensive package of collaboration, throwing in a new 10-year roaming agreement, a spectrum swap whereby Leap gets coverage in San Diego, Fresno, Seattle, and parts of Washington and Oregon while MetroPCS picks up Dallas / Fort Worth plus some Louisiana and Florida territory, and a mutual agreement to drop any pending litigation against one another. Can't you just feel the love in the air?