Oh, Nuvifone, how you disappoint us. Over here at IFA we just managed to get a Garmin rep to whip out his Nuvifone prototype for a quick look, but sadly, almost a year after the device was first announced, there really wasn't anything new to see. We still aren't allowed to take video of the interface, or really see much of the phone other than the home screen, and when the rep tried to show us how the Nuvifone kicks the iPhone's ass in navigation, the Nuvi promptly crashed -- so at least those two have that in common. Not that we should be surprised, Garmin mentioned last month that the phone had been delayed into 2009, but we're quickly running out of patience, as well as any scrap of remaining hope for this thing to actually matter when it does arrive. Peep the gallery for a little bit of iPhone 3G versus action.

Don't worry, you throng of dual-band Samsung smartphone fanboys and girls out there -- Verizon hasn't forgotten about you. It's been a little while since we've heard anything about the i770, but a new slide shows that Big Red's positioning it (or trying to, anyway) for Q3 availability, which just happens to be the very quarter that we're currently in. It features GPS, quadband GSM (which is strange -- typically Verizon's dual-band devices only do GSM on non-North American bands), WiFi, a 2-megapixel camera, EV-DO, and possibly biometric security, though that particular feature is currently marked down as "tbd." Next up in the global stable is the u810, a stylish clamshell with a microSD slot, 2-megapixel cam, and not bloody much else -- not really a great choice for the globetrotting businessperson, so Verizon might have the frequent pleasure traveler in mind here.

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

Back in the early days of Engadget, everyone -- including us -- thought mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) were totally poised to be the next big thing. And why not? You get to be a wireless carrier without having to operate your own infrastructure (which is by far the most expensive, difficult part). Just what the doctor ordered for the big, stodgy wireless carriers, each struggling to balance differentiating themselves while trapping their customers in their walled content and services gardens.

Little did we all know that the differentiation most of these MVNOs had in mind was slapping their lame brand on some existing phone that people could get sooner, cheaper, and often with a better plan on one of the major carriers. Even Helio, the one MVNO that managed to keep gadget nerds' attention for more than 30 seconds, couldn't ride the Ocean to the land of success, writing off its half-billion dollar 2.5 year run for $39m in Virgin Mobile USA stock.

Let's take a look at the last five years in dead American MVNOs. For a graveyard of well over billion dollars, you'd sure think it wasn't so damned shabby.

Amp'd Mobile
Began service: December, 2005
Ended service: July, 2007
Network: Verizon
Amount invested: reportedly $350 - 400m+
Backgrounder: Despite backing by MTV and Universal Music Group (and a ton of VCs), CEO Peter Adderton managed to run this MVNO straight into the ground in little more than a year. It didn't help that the people running Amp'd couldn't get thousands of their "customers" to make good on their bills, strangling what little income the company did have. Way to go. Amp'd's mobile content still lives on, though -- ever catch Little Bush on Comedy Central?

Well, they're here. Nokia's latest and greatest N-series devices just hit the market like a trio of well-aimed bricks -- or at least that's what Nokia's hoping. We got to spend a little bit of hands-on time with prototypes of the new devices, and while we came away slightly impressed, we were nowhere near E-series impressed. Here's our biggest problem with the lineup: the only one worth talking about is the N85. Other than minor screen size disparities, the 16GB built-in memory of the N96 and the fresh candybar form of the N79, these three phones are pretty much exactly identical on specs, and yet the N96 manages to be inexcusably bulky, while the N79 sports an inexcusably terrible screen -- we're hoping that was just the prototype being funky, but we saw two versions with the same problem. The N85 isn't exactly the pinnacle of thinphoneness, but its amazing OLED screen and more refined design make the N96 look like more of a rough draft than a sibling. On the interface side, the phones are much more responsive to S60's new motion and transitions, but Nokia has oddly chosen to disable the Navi Wheel scrolling in all three phones -- a weird move, but we can't say we blame them, we haven't had a single good experience with Navi Wheel since Nokia introduced it. In all, we're not exactly thrilled about Nokia's prospects for winning over the masses with this new series of devices. Sure, Nokia will protest that it's going after the high-end users, but 5 megapixel cameras, GPS and WiFi are no longer the differentiators they once were, and users have begun to expect thinner, sexier devices at prices far below the N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag.

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SPH-M630
Read - Huawei V830s
Read - Huawei U1309
Read - Huawei C7100
Read - LG KS500
Read - Alcatel OT-S321a

Peripherals
Read - Huawei E160E
Read - ZTE AC570

Well we've gotten our hands all over Palm's new Treo - the Pro - and we've documented it all on film... er, disk. Here's what were liking so far - no more recessed screen (finally!), that HTC-licensed task manager, and the extremely slick packaging. Honestly, we think Palm might have one up on Apple with the presentation this time around. Also of note: the new modular power adapter (which Palm tragically forgot to throw into our box), earbuds you might not be ashamed to sport, and no install CD -- it loads when you hook the phone up to your PC. Check it all out in the gallery below (as well as a few size comparisons with the iPhone 3G), and we'll have pics of that power adapter just as soon as they courier it over. No, really.

Update: Palm has -- in fact -- couriered over the accessories they forgot the first time around, and we've added some new pics. Huzzah!

Update 2: We'll be doing a full review on the device, so stay tuned for that in the near future.

No longer does Windows Mobile alone a capable smartphone make. The platform's core is as relevant, powerful, and well-supported as ever, but that's not the problem -- the real issue is that it's just plain hard to look at. The days of WinMo looking even remotely modern in its stock form are long gone, and top-tier manufacturers clearly recognize that; everyone from ASUS to HTC has taken matters into their own hands to craft custom skins that kill off as many of the ancient visuals as possible while still holding onto everything that makes Windows Mobile great.

Enter the Samsung i900 Omnia, a phone that submits to design direction forced upon the industry largely by the iPhone -- full touchscreen, no keyboard, you know the drill by now -- and does pretty much everything in its power to overcome WinMo's limitations to make it competitive in the year 2008. Did Sammy succeed? Read on.

Thanks to the good folks at Wireless Imports for the hookup!

Sanyo handsets are like cats: you either love them or you just really, really loathe them with every fiber of your being. Sprint and Sanyo both seem to be pretty okay with that; clearly, not every phone in Sprint's lineup is going to be for everyone, and the Katana Eclipse is no different. Sanyo fanatic or not, though, our gripe list added up pretty quickly with this one, so would-be buyers might want to put it through a good workout in store before taking the plunge.

The phone's hinge design causes the upper half of the phone to rest behind the bottom half; that is, the intersection of the planes containing the two halves is not the center of the hinge (think MacBook, for example). We thought that felt a little weird against our face and made it more difficult to get a good seal between the earpiece and our ear. Also, the front of the phone -- arguably the most attractive of any Katana to date -- isn't the most user-friendly. The tiny external display was difficult to read even in a moderate amount of shade, and the music controls are nearly flush with the shell which makes actuating them trickier than it should be. Speaking of displays, the primary one is pretty small, leaving a huge gray bezel with no function whatsoever (don't be fooled by the white dots at the bottom, they serve no function other than to make you think that they're touch-sensitive soft buttons, which they're not).

It's not all doom and gloom, though. The dedicated speaker key is a nifty parlor trick, you've got a 1.3 megapixel cam in there, and it does stereo Bluetooth. Plus, it's a Sanyo, and we know that for a few of you out there, that's all that matters. For you guys, you'll be able to pick up the Katana Eclipse immediately for $99.99 with a new two-year contract.

We're going to confess a dirty little secret here: when we first started playing with the VE20, we didn't realize it was being branded and marketed as a RAZR. As we used it, though, it quickly became evident -- no one had to tell us this was a kindred spirit of the V3. For better or worse, the shape of the phone -- everything from the tapered upper edge of the display to the "chin" beneath the keypad -- looks and feels like an obvious evolution. You might call it a stepping stone in between the V3 and the V9, and considering that the V3 gets closer to its last breath on store shelves with each passing day (or so we hope), Moto and Sprint need something to slot in there beneath the mighty RAZR 2.

Call us insane, but for what the VE20 is, we liked it. It doesn't pretend to be a do-all, end-all superphone, nor does it try to wow you with its premium materials; it's just a decent midrange flip with what seems to be excellent build quality. The screen is exceptionally bright, clear, and rich, and the V9-aping secondary touchscreen is a nice touch (pun intended, of course). One area of concern: it froze up on us once, necessitating a restart, and the music app was completely broken in our tester. Our guess is that this'll be resolved in retail units or via a quick firmware update shortly after launch -- at least, it frigging better be.

The VE20 is available today for $99.99 on contract after rebates.

It's not that Sprint's AIRAVE is minty fresh -- as a matter of fact, individuals in Indianapolis and Denver were able to pick one up last September -- but the device is brand new to the rest of the nation. The long-awaited CDMA femtocell (once dubbed the Samsung Ubicell) essentially acts as a super in-house signal booster, or, if you'd prefer, a mini Sprint tower sitting right beside your router. If the concept is ringing a bell, it's because you've certainly seen a similar setup with T-Mobile's @Home service. So, the real question here is can the AIRAVE really help your reception? And more importantly, is it worth the extra coin? Read on to find out.

Sprint's AIRAVE signal booster isn't officially on sale nationwide just yet (August 17th, for those curious), but for those anxious to pull the trigger (or merely mulling the decision), we've got a few hands-on shots to whet your appetite. The Samsung-made CDMA femtocell arrived at our doorstep today, and the packaging is about what you'd expect from Sprint: yellow, a hint of white, and more yellow. The device itself isn't too unwieldy, and it's certainly on the light side. There's definitely a port for hooking up a GPS antenna to keep users from taking this abroad and dialing up internationally (understandable, but what a bummer!), and everything else is pretty much par for the course. We'll be taking this thing for a spin here in a Sprint dead zone to see if it really lives up to the hype, but until then, feel free to peruse the gallery below.

After spending a few minutes with it, there's no question to us that the Touch Pro is HTC's most impressive handset to date (even if you count the Xperia X1). Okay, the phone is still a bit thick (roughly the same as a Tilt), and there's no 3.5mm headphone jack, but it's got a very small footprint and a very comfortably proportioned keyboard. We can also really definitely appreciate the lengths HTC is going to trying to make Windows Mobile a bit less doggish these days -- but were they to spice up the Touch Pro with a capacitive touchscreen and Android, HTC might just have a game-changer on their hands.

Relax, take your shoes back off and put down your car keys -- the Katana Eclipse still isn't released, so there's no point in running down to your local Sprint kiosk just yet. We do, however, have a full range of photography that should temporarily keep would-be buyers' heads from exploding for a dearth of information about Sanyo's latest American clam. The phone looks like it might be the most attractive Katana to date, and Sanyo owners tend to be among the most fiercely loyal around, so we think this one should get some good play at the cash register. Check out the gallery, and keep the drool off your keyboard for once, will ya?

[Thanks, Opie33]

As expected, T-Mobile has now launched the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 slider to compliment the 5310 candybar launched back in May. Though the software and the phone's raison d'être (music, that is) both mirror the slimmer 5310, the new slider turns up the heat a bit with a more capable 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and something Nokia calls the "music slider," a sliding bar directly below the display that gives the user lightning-quick access to the music player and radio. Other features include a microSD slot (with 1GB bundled in the box), stereo Bluetooth, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and a standard issue quadband EDGE radio sans 3G -- though we'd hardly call that a feature. It's available starting today in white with silver trim or black with red trim for $99 on a two-year contract.

We've been toying around with a 5610 for the past few days, and as a Nokia dumbphone, it definitely gets the job done. It feels rock solid -- slider mechanism included -- which is a good sign for anyone used to loose, creaky Nokias of old. Be warned: though the phone is advertised as featuring a 3.5mm headphone jack, it's only available when you plug in a bundled external dongle. That'd be alright for a normal handset, but since the 5610 gets slapped with the XpressMusic branding, we can't say we really approve. On the upside, the loudspeaker is seriously one of the loudest -- perhaps the loudest -- we've ever heard on any phone, ever. So loud, in fact, that it hurts your ears at max volume if you're within a foot or two of the thing.

Voice quality is a tad on the tinny side, but plenty loud and clear. The top row of keys can be a little hard to access with your fat fingers butted up against the bottom of the upper portion of the slide, but otherwise, the keypad's decent and very usable. The navigation keys are equally easy to use, though we would've liked to have seen the "music slider" concept taken further -- it should flip between any open applet, not just between your current screen and the music apps. Bottom line? For 99 bucks, we like it, but for 49 bucks, we'd love it. Whatdya say, T-Mob?

Update: Though T-Mobile's press materials indicate that 1GB microSD cards are being shipped with the phone, buyers and retailers alike are reporting that it's actually 2GB. No complaints here!