Good news for Sprint Android users! Your HTC Hero or Samsung Moment will hop, skip and jump right over Android 1.6 and 2.0 this Spring and go straight to Android 2.1. Phone Scoop has confirmed with Sprint Communications Manager Caroline Semerdjian that the updates will indeed be coming. There is no solid release date, but Sprint expects to see the update hit customer handsets early in the 2nd quarter 2010.

Now the only question is whether this update will push hardware resources or if it’s been stripped down or optimized for use in the Hero and Moment. Will features like live wallpaper or Google Navigation be left out?

After announcing a horrible quarter and giving a pep talk to his employees, Rubinstein seems to be in that “what if” phase before the acceptance phase comes. Right now, only about half of the phones shipped by Palm are selling, so devices are beginning to pile up.

Now, the Pre Plus is a good device, but we wouldn’t go so far as to say it would do better than the Droid if it was released first. While webOS is slicker and more intuitive than Android, the Droid is faster and has access to many more apps. You also get free-turn-by-turn directions and a larger screen for surfing the Web.

So what do you think? Would the Pre have fared better if it arrived sooner on Big Red?

PC World via MobileCrunch

We love devs and hackers. Why? Because they treat us to goodies like this. Before dying of impatience and waiting until the end of the year, an Australian techie put up some videos of the Windows Phone 7 experience. Before you take a peek below to see the demos, do note that the official release is still a long way to go and so many things can change until then. At least you get a little taste of what it might be like now, right?

TechAU via SlashGear

When the BlackBerry Tour 9630 ($49.99) was released last summer, we called it the best smart phone on Verizon. And it really was. The device was snappy and we liked the build and keyboard. There’s also no denying every BlackBerry out there is packing the most solid and reliable e-mail service on any smart phone. It also has great call quality and battery life, two important features that are often overlooked on most smart phones in favor of UIs, applications, and media.

The Tour has a comfortable keyboard that allows us to type fast and comfortably with good feedback. The screen is sharp and bright, and the trackball below is a nice rubbery black (so that you don’t get the cruddy brown trackballs anymore. Overall, this is a solid smart phone in terms of build, services and applications available through BlackBerry App World and is easy to see why it made it to Editor’s Choice.

Charging against the Tour is Motorola’s new Devour for Verizon. It is Verizon’s third Android handset after the Droid Eris and the Motorola Droid ($24.99). It comes with Motorola’s Motoblur user interface which aggregates all of your social networks, e-mail and media services into one place. It should go without saying that Android’s winning features are its open platform, syncing with Google services, and the wealth of applications avaiable for it.

We were definitely big fans of the Devour’s hardware and design: it’s sturdy, sleek and fits well in the hand. The sliding mechanism gives us a satisfying click when opening and closing it. The keyboard, however, was a little mediocre and we feel like the layout could have been better. For some reason, the capcitive touchscreen wasn’t always responsive to our touch commands and some events were being missed – always a nuisance for touchscreen devices.

This is all going to boil down to a matter of preference because BlackBerry fans will always root for BlackBerry, and Android fans may just give this one to the Devour. The Tour just screams business while the Devour is more playful and social. If you’re in either camp, grab your beers and your giant “We’re #1″ gloves and tell all your friends to vote below!

Which smart phone is better?opinion

A few weeks ago, BBLeaks got its hands on snapshots of the new BlackBerry slider device. It looks like a new direction for RIM with a QWERTY/touchscreen hybrid. Now, the same folks who brought those images say they  have BlackBerry OS 6.0 screenshots. From what we can tell based on these screens, RIM may be focusing on touchscreen-based interfaces. While the images show that BlackBerry is still keeping with its style and design, the layout and arrangement of widgets signal a move toward the future. Will this be enough to catch up with the likes of Android, Windows Phone 7, and webOS?

We’re already on Game 4 and so far the games have been relatively one-sided. The iPhone 3GS knocked out the HTC Touch Pro2, BlackBerry’s Bold 9700 stomped all over the Pixi and the Motorola DROID pretty much steamrolled the BlackBerry 8530. Today we have a slightly closer match-up between the HTC HD2 for T-Mobile, and Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm 2. The HTC HD2 isn’t available yet, but it will be hitting T-Mobile stores on March 24, just a week away. The Storm 2 has been available for quite some time and many BlackBerry fans are saying it is what the original Storm should have been.

Who will win this battle of the touchscreens?

The BlackBerry Storm 2 has been getting mixed results from the BlackBerry community, but overall it has been doing quite well with its owners. The screen is very clean and vivid and the Storm 2’s touch input is leagues better than its predecessor. Typing on it is faster than the original Storm and its overall performance is quite snappy by comparison. As an added bonus, the camera and camcorder are actually quite good.

Of course, you get all the goodness of BlackBerry e-mail support on the crisp 3.3-inch display. It also has access to BlackBerry App World and comes with built-in Verizon V-Cast with Rhapsody. Music fanatics will be glad to know that the Storm 2 supports up to 16GB microSD cards so you can carry a good chunk of media around with you.

Up against the Storm 2 is the HTC HD2. Now while it isn’t available yet, we’ve done a hands-on of the unlocked version and we were quite impressed. The T-Mobile version was also shown off at an NYC event just a few days ago and we gave our impressions of it here.

The HD2 has a gorgeous and enormous capacitive touchscreen. The 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 display is perfect for reading books (it comes with a Barnes & Noble app) or watching movies (Transformers and Transformers 2 are included with the 16GB microSD card, and it has the Blockbuster movie app). Its soft keyboard is a pleasure to use since it is large and spacious – something that you’d expect from a screen that huge.

The only downside, if you can consider it one, is that it’s running Windows Mobile 6.5. HTC did a fantastic job of skinning it with Sense UI, but it still feels like you’re on a system designed for three years ago. With Windows Phone 7 coming later this year, committing to a two-year contract with this phone might spark a little regret and envy after just a few months. WinMo 6.5 is certainly a capable OS, so we’re still suckers for this phone because of the hardware, but we’d be hard pressed to recommend this over waiting for Windows Phone 7.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, we’re talking now! Who do you think should win this battle? The poll is below, you know what to do.

Now all four carriers will be rockin’ the Nexus One which means we’ll start seeing these things crop up everywhere, right? Not so fast. Google still has a long way to go with marketing the device and most of our friends still haven’t heard of the Nexus One. Sprint says that the phone, like all the other carriers, won’t be available in retail outlets so customers will have to purchase it online via Google’s website. As far as pricing and release date, nothing is set in stone but it’s probabl safe to take a cue from the other carriers.

Fared Adib, Sprint vice president of product developmentnt says, “While a pricing plan has not yet been determined for Nexus One, we are confident that it will be consistent with Sprint’s commitment to deliver more value than our competitors and keep pricing simple.”

Be sure to check back with us as we keep you updated!

via Sprint

After all, T-Mobile is already cranking up its 21Mbps HSPA+ network and Verizon has made its 4G/LTE plans very clear. If WiMax is going to thrive and Sprint is going to move forward, churning out these handsets now could make a huge difference in the technology’s future. Later this year, Sprint is planning to launch WiMax in several new markets, so having handsets equipped for the new technology will make it easier for consumers to dive right in.

via Wall Street Journal

Last night, we attended an event hosted by HTC for its coming HD2 for T-Mobile. There was food, drinks, live music and a lively crowd gathered in honor of the new Windows Mobile 6.5 device. We were also given a glimpse of new features and apps that would be exclusive to the T-Mobile model versus the unlocked version we tested a while ago. What did we learn and what can we expect? See below for some details and images of last night’s party!

There isn’t anything we haven’t already seen before in terms of hardware, but what makes the device we saw last night unique is the addition of software and apps that are exclusive to the T-Mobile version. For starters, the 16GB microSD card that comes with the device is preloaded with Transformers and Transformers 2. Pretty handy if you ever find yourself getting bored during your commute. If those particular movies aren’t your style, there is also a Blockbuster application which puts a variety of movies at your fingertips.

Are you a bookworm? There’s a Barnes & Noble application which allows you to purchase and download books over-the-air. On the large 4.3-inch screen, the books look gorgeous and you can select tap or swipe to flip pages.

If you’re a traveler and find yourself on Wi-Fi equipped flights a few times a month, you’ll also be happy to know that purchasing an HTC HD2 gets you free GoGo in-flight Wi-Fi for six months on your device. Not too shabby and a great cure for boredom for you jet-setters.

Overall, the device was impressive. The on-screen keyboard is large and roomy because, well, the screen itself is large and roomy. The biggest issue is that the device is running Windows Mobile 6.5 and Windows Phone 7 is on the horizon. Why buy a phone with soon-to-be-somewhat-extinct software? HTC’s user-interface is gorgeous and makes the phone very usable, but unless you’re perfectly okay with committing to a two-year contract while you watch Windows Phone 7 sneak up on you, we’d say you might want to give this some serious consideration before purchase.

In the meantime, check out some snapshots of the device and party below!

As March Smart Phone Madness moves along into game three, we’ve seen the iPhone 3GS topple the HTC Touch Pro2 and the BlackBerry 9700 handily beat the Palm Pixi ($0.01). Today’s match up is Verizon’s Motorola DROID against the same carrier’s BlackBerry Curve 8530. One features a large touchscreen with one of the latest builds of Android, the other has a time-tested operating system and e-mail reliability like no other. Who will win today’s battle? Let’s take a further look!

It started with a tremendous ad campaign from Verizon: the Motorola DROID ($24.99) was touted as an industrial robot meant to do work – “DROID DOES” was the campaign slogan. Its build quality is rock solid and the form factor leaves no room for cuteness. The DROID runs Google’s Android 2.0, with a 2.1 update on the way very shortly, and has a large 3.7-inch 854 x 480 high resolution display. If there has been one complaint about the DROID so far, it’s the keyboard. The keys are a litle cramped and flat and it sometimes takes a little longer to crank out e-mails compared to a BlackBerry.

Of course, running Android 2.0 means all of those apps from Android Marketplace are at the tip of your fingers. Whether you need apps for work, play or social networking, the always growing Marketplace will have just about everything you need.

Attempting to topple the DROID is BlackBerry’s Curve 8530. It features everything you’ve come to expect from BlackBerry: push e-mail, a stable operating system, a comfortable keyboard and BlackBerry Messenger. (We feel that BBM is worth mentioning here because some folks buy a BlackBerry for that very reason.) The 8530 has all the big boy features at a dumb phone price, making it that much more attractive.

The only thing about the Curve 8530 is that its build doesn’t feel as solid as we’re used to on BlackBerry, but it is lightweight which is a bonus. The screen resolution isn’t the highest, but if you’re a messaging machine the last thing you’re concerned about is whether your wallpaper looks crisp and vivid. The Curve 8530 was built to do work and makes sure that communication, whether it’s e-mail, instant messaging, BBM or SMS, is handled efficiently and comfortably.

This is going to be a really tough battle, so we’re counting on you readers to spread the word and get the vote out! On one hand, we have a gorgeous phone with a capable and open operating system. On the other, we have a hard-working messaging machine that means business. We’re pulling our hair trying to decide ourselves, so how about a little help out here?