Just weeks after Palm's Pre sunk to CAD $149.95 on Bell, the outfit's first-ever webOS phone has now stooped to just CAD $99.95. That still requires a 3-year contract, of course, but man -- a single bill for a smartphone like the Pre? Anyone tossing out guesses on how long it takes Sprint to follow suit (and embarrass the Pixi)?

[Thanks, David]

You know what's worse than showing your Bitter Beer Face to the world after you passed on Apple's iPhone and let AT&T enjoy the spoils? Raising your early termination fee to stratospheric heights. Just over a year ago, we honestly though this whole ETF thing was headed in the right direction, as most of the major carriers (VZW included) sought to prorate contracts in order to lessen the charge as one's contract drew closer to an end. Now, however, Big Red is evidently gearing up to pull a 180, with the slide above showing a $350 ETF for "advanced" devices (read: probably anything deemed a smartphone). The newly hiked rate will go into effect on November 15th, and while that $350 will decrease by $10 per month over the life of the agreement, this pretty much guarantees that you won't be adding a line, disconnecting and then flipping that phone on eBay.

We're just about a week away from the Orange iPhone launch, and if you folks across the pond were wondering what the deal was going to cost you, you now have your answer thanks to a dizzying but thoroughly helpful series of tables that lay out the costs of the phones, plans, and the various accoutrement to be included. Those willing to sign up for 24 months can get an 8GB iPhone 3G for free for a minimum of £29.36 ($48) per month, but step up to the £122.34 ($200) monthly plan with unlimited everything and you'll get a 32GB 3GS gratis. Meanwhile, on a pay as you go plan that same 8GB 3G will cost you £343 ($561), while the 32GB 3GS is a rather more painful £539 ($881 -- haven't you figured out the conversion rate yet?). You know what that means: contract ahoy.

We'd hypothesized that neither Sprint nor T-Mobile wouldn't be able to hold out long at the positively ridiculous $349.99 on-contract price point they'd both set for the HTC Touch Pro2 out of the gate, and it looks like at least one of the two might finally be getting the hint. Sprint's now rumored to be bringing the beastly smartphone down to $199 after mail-in rebate, which would match Verizon's current pricing -- a move Sprint simply had to make, especially considering that the carrier typically positions itself as a value brand. Hopefully this rumor pans out, in which case T-Mobile will be looking pretty silly if they hold out at $350; if they capitulate, that'll put all of the currently-released US Touch Pro2s under the magic $200 mark and put a ton of pressure on AT&T to stay in line by the time it drops the green flag.

[Thanks, Guy]

Counting down the moments with your besties until T-Mobile USA opens up the pre-order page for Motorola's first-ever Android device? Might as well do something more productive in the meanwhile, particularly since the aforesaid carrier has just announced plans to charge $199.99 for the CLIQ on a two-year agreement. Without a doubt, that's quite a bit more than the $0.00 we gently expected (okay, not really) it to run, but it's pretty much par for the course these days. Existing T-Mobile customers that are interested in getting ahold of this thing (in Titanium or Winter White) early can pre-order one from October 19th through November 1st, while newcomers and procrastinators can get theirs in-store starting on November 2nd. So -- you in, or what?

Hey, thought that $99.99 Amazon deal for a Palm Pre was really snazzy? Well today, Walmart appears to go one better by cutting the smartphone's price down to a staggering $79.99 (on contract and with mail-in rebate). If prices keep going this low, you can probably expect the Pixi to show up for about nothing (zero, zip, zilch) sooner rather than later. If you've been looking for a deal to get into the Pre, this is it... but too bad if you dropped $200 a few months ago.

[Via everythingpre]

Gearlog has scooped pricing details on AT&T's entry into the up-and-coming femtocell market, the 3G MicroCell, where it's currently undergoing a public market trial in Charlotte, North Carolina -- and basically, it's a decent deal as long as you don't want unlimited calling. Stores are charging $150 for the unit itself and service is free (similar to Verizon's model, though Verizon charges $100 more upfront and the unit doesn't do 3G); if you want to tack on unlimited calling, you're paying another $20 a month unless you have some combination of AT&T landline or DSL service at your address. $20 is properly insane, though in exchange, the carrier throws you a bone with a $100 rebate on the device. All they've got to do is drop that unlimited service down to $10 a month to bring 'em in line with Sprint and T-Mobile and put some pressure on Verizon, which still doesn't offer any unlimited add-on.

[Via Mac Rumors]

We'll caution you -- this could all just be one big misunderstanding (or a case of the fat fingered admin), but Motorola's newly launched CLIQ is currently listed for $0.00 on contract over at T-Mobile (and $399.99 with no strings attached). Available in both Winter White and Midnight Titanium, the outfit's first-ever Android phone can't actually be added to one's cart (trust us, we tried... repeatedly), but if these figures are right, we can surely say that the barrier to entry on higher-end smartphones will soon be demolished. Giddy yet?

Update: Aw, seems like someone on the other end already caught wind of the slip-up and yanked it. So, can we take that as confirmation?

HTC's been on somewhat of a hot streak here lately, but word on the street has it that the aforesaid outfit may not be able to ship all of its forthcoming handsets on time. A new Wall Street Journal report on falling revenue in the HTC camp notes that an undisclosed amount of delays, a larger-than-anticipated drop in contract orders and lower-than-expected sales in China could lead to drooping income in the short term, and some analysts are pointing out that the company's average selling price per phone is sliding due to looming Android competition from the likes of Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Aside from the Touch Pro2 that'll probably never, ever land on Sprint, HTC has about a gazillion other rumored handsets on the horizon, but it's hard to know for sure which "product launches" are expected to be stalled. So, is HTC secretly retooling a smattering of its handsets in order to stay one step ahead of SE and Moto? Or are old fashioned supply chain inefficiencies to blame?

With all signs (and by "all," we mean "all") pointing to a new Storm joining Verizon Wireless' lineup in the not-too-distant future, it's just about the perfect time to start discounting the current model in hopes of working that inventory down before the inevitable launch of numero dos. Starting today, VZW customers can snap up the SurePress-equipped Storm 9530 for $99.99 on contract, which is a full Benjamin less than it has been since debuting last November. If you're looking for a word of advice on the situation, here's ours: hold out for the next revision -- you'll thank us later.

[Thanks, Cara]

Rogers must know a good thing when it sees it, because it's essentially copied AT&T's modified plans for providing deeper subsidies to more customers looking to upgrade to an iPhone 3G S in the next few weeks. The details are just a little bit different though: with Rogers, the new deal is that anyone who bought an iPhone 3G between July 11 and September 30 of 2008 -- and has averaged CAD $100 or more a month on their bill -- will be able to nab the 16GB or 32GB for $199 and $299, respectively, on a three-year contract. Buyers between July 11 and December 31 of last year or who didn't manage to average $100 a month will get the less heavily-discounted prices of $449 and $549, while any customer will be able to waltz in and spend $699 or $799, a princely sum indeed.

The original plan was to offer mildly subsidized prices of $399 and $499 for the 16GB and 32GB versions of the iPhone 3G S to AT&T customers who weren't currently "upgrade eligible," but the carrier's having a change of heart, ostensibly in response to... you know, people wanting to pay less. The new plan is to let anyone with an upgrade date in the months of June, July, August, or September get in on the fully discounted $199 / $299 price points, which should cover a good number of existing 3G owners. Unfortunately, the way the upgrade date is calculated is black magic involving your monthly bill, your credit rating, your contract, and your astrological sign, so you'll need to log in to AT&T's site or call up a rep to figure out the full deal; we're told customers should start to see those new discounts reflected on their accounts as of tomorrow. And don't worry -- anyone who's already preordered will be receiving a full refund for the difference.

We'd say that Best Buy's phone pricing is never a set-in-stone indication of the price you'll pay direct from the carrier, but it's probably pretty safe to assume from these tags that everyone -- Rogers, Best Buy, Future Shop, you name it -- will be charging within a few bucks of CAD $149.99 ($135) for your choice of the Dream or Magic when the Android sets launch on June 2. That's not too terribly bruising on the pocketbook, but that's going to be on a three-year contract with a minimum $45 voice / data plan; if you step down to a two-year deal, you jump all the way up to a whopping $449.99, and a contract-free purchase is going to set you back $599.99. Tell you what, Rogers: give us both the black and the white Dream for $450 on a two-year and you've got yourselves a deal. Sound good?