There's no telling what sort of crazy behind-the-scenes negotiations had to take place in order for our good friend Boy Genius to get his hands on the very first retail T-Mobile-branded BlackBerry 8220 we've seen in the wild -- and let's be honest, the whole unboxing takes on a sexier tone when there's an element of intrigue to it, doesn't it? Mr. Genius flatly pans the thing for having a pair of awful screens and a prototype feel (despite the fact that he's got a final production unit), so odds are the Bold owners out there aren't going to be throwing fits of jealousy any time soon. To top it off, the contents of the box are about as exciting as flannel underwear (we guess it's cool that RIM saw fit to throw in a pair of headphones), so don't expect too much. At least it'll be available in a few colors, right?

Welcome to Incrudo country, gentlemen. Out here, we grow chest hair as bushy as the tumbleweed, and we like our phones built thick. We're not talkin' no ordinary thick, either, no sir -- give us 2 to 3mm of solid titanium casing here. We like our phones heavy, too; a half pound sounds about right. We didn't get these burly muscles wrasslin' cattle just to tote around a Samsung X820, if you know what we're saying. Make it look like a brick, because it's built like a brick. Just like us, because we're men. Incrudo men.

[Via Unwired View]

T-Mobile USA's busy with... ahem, another launch at the moment, but Italians on TIM now have access to RIM's first and only clamshell (TIM, RIM? Coincidence?). The Pearl 8220 is ready for shipment to the Mediterranean villa of your choosing for 269 (about $372), though TIM's only offering black at the moment -- so maybe T-Mobile's taking so long because they have to prepare some specially formulated dyes for that red version. Or something.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Now that Sony Ericsson's mighty X1 has earned the FCC's love and affection, you won't be an outlaw for using one in the States -- but unfortunately, you won't be a speed demon everywhere, either. The version that just nabbed approval here is the X1i, and anyone familiar with Sony Ericsson's naming scheme can tell you that an "i" means a phone's not really meant for North American consumption; in this case, we're lucky to squeak by with UMTS Band II support, which means we'll theoretically be able to pick up some of AT&T's 1900MHz signal. On 850, though, you'll be stuck with EDGE. Of course, a true global launch has been in the cards for the X1 from day one, and we're not worried that we won't see a more 3G-rife model getting torn down by the feds -- this just ain't it.

So the good news is that T-Mobile has decided to keep right on taking pre-orders for the G1 through October 21, just one day before the handset's official launch. The bad news, though, is that it doesn't mean you'll be getting your Android on come October 22. Turns out that the initial allotment of G1s set aside for pre-orders is now sold out completely, and any names taken between now and launch will be allotted phones being shipped "at a later date." It's not clear if a "later date" means a week, a month, or a decade after the 22nd, but for the sake of everyone involved, we hope its the former.

Update: T-Mobile's site says that pre-orders taken from here on out will be delivered "as early as November 10," so it looks like you early birds are going to have a nice little period of exclusivity. Thanks, everyone!

Outside of China, TD-SCDMA isn't going to do you very bloody much good -- but inside China, it's just about the best thing going right now for 3G data. That makes devices like this here ZTE U990 particularly useful if you happen to be in the area, offering the People's Republic's oh-so-special flavor of high-speed wireless in an attractive package loaded with Windows Mobile 6, GPS, and EDGE roaming. The U990 also happens to be ZTE's very first Windows Mobile device, a surprising revelation for a manufacturer that currently sits at number six in the world for production volume. Look for it to launch into the retail chain "soon" -- which in corporate doublespeak could mean "tomorrow" or "2010."

[Via wmpoweruser.com and cellular-news]

We've long since known that RIM's BlackBerry Bold was AT&T bound, but in case you haven't noticed, the rumored October 2nd release date has come and went, and there's nary a Bold on any of AT&T's store shelves. According to RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis, the handset is still undergoing testing at AT&T, suggesting that it wanted to avoid the complaints that arose when the newest iPhone hit in July. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel remained mum on the subject when asked, only affirming that the handset would eventually be available this year. Ah well, you've been looking for a reason to vacation in Chile, haven't you?

[Via phonescoop]

If you recall, Motorola's 5-megapixel ZN5 was slated for release last month, and sure enough, some units are starting to slip out -- enough units, in fact, that we now have ourselves a video unboxing out there somewhere. The packaging seems... dare we say, awfully ordinary for a phone that rests at the top of Moto's featurephone pyramid, especially considering Kodak's much-ballyhooed involvement, TV-out, WiFi, and a ModeShift morphing keypad. S'pose it's just the contents we really care about anyway, though, right? Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, CrossBow]

In what can only be described as the fastest and most exhilarating one minute, twenty-two seconds of our lives, RIM and Vodafone have thrown together a promotional video for the upcoming Storm that touches on most of the handset's high points: mobile music, GPS, desktop-grade browsing, streaming video, expandable memory, and -- get this -- voice and data ("it can do two things at once," we're triumphantly told). Now, bear in mind this is a Vodafone video, not Verizon, so that "two things at once" claim probably isn't going to hold water when you're hooked up to Big Red's EV-DO Rev. A -- but the remainder of the factoids in the flashy, seizure-inducing commercial should apply. Follow the break for the covertly-shot material, if your sensitive eyes can take the kind of sensory punishment that only this much primary color and enterprise compatibility can deliver.

[Via CrackBerry]

While it may not be Nokia's first touchscreen phone (anyone out there remember the 7710?), the 5800 XpressMusic is certainly the first to come out of Finland with a mainstream appeal. What we've alternately known as the "Tube" throughout much of its development cycle is the first production device to run S60 5th Edition -- the fourth major overhaul of Nokia's ubiquitous smartphone platform since 2002 and the first to support fingers, styli, and high-res displays. Speaking of high-res displays, the 5800 comes equipped with an impressive 3.2-inch 640 x 360 resistive touchscreen to go along with its 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, GPS, WiFi, 3.5mm jack, and a microSD slot with support for 16GB cards. It'll be available in three versions -- European HSDPA, North American HSDPA, and GSM only -- and ships this quarter in black, red, and blue for €279 (about $392) unlocked with an 8GB card thrown in for good measure. Music fans with voracious appetites for new tunes might want to hold out, though, for the Comes With Music-equipped version that follows on "early next year" at a to-be-announced price.

Just because you live in a tropical paradise doesn't mean you need to forgo a shot at the iPhone 3G -- heck, Hawaii has already proved that. There are yet more vacation havens within AT&T's expansive realm, though, and the carrier's about to throw two of 'em a bone later this month when it brings Apple's bundle of joy (or seething hatred, depending on your disposition) to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico's solid for 3G coverage -- but you may as well just leave the "3G" off "iPhone 3G" when you head over to St. Croix, seeing how there's no HSDPA to be found in those parts. Anyway, you'll be able to get "iReady" (AT&T's verbiage, not ours) on October 17.

Okay, bear with us here, because the road to this device is a winding one, to say the least: first, there was the Samsung i780 that launched in Europe. It was informally and unofficially branded the BlackJack III, thanks to its obvious resemblance to Samsung's own BlackJack series that has been a stalwart of AT&T's 3G lineup since its early days. More recently, we caught wind of an i907 that would be launching on AT&T's airwaves in the next few weeks; thanks to the model number's proximity to that of the i900 Omnia, it didn't take long for rumors to spread that it'd be an AT&T-branded version of the i900 -- but a counter-rumor claimed that it would actually take the form of the good ol' i780. A training pamphlet now circulating seems to have sealed the deal that this will, in fact, be a tweaked i780, which means we can expect Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, a full QWERTY keyboard, optical mouse, and HSDPA. What's more, the "Mirage" name we'd heard seems to have been tossed out for the way (way) cooler "Epix." Still no word on an exact release date or price, but considering the hefty specs we're expecting and the smartphone label, we're not exactly counting on a free-on-contract deal here.

It looked pretty good in silver, but it's looking even better blushed, isn't it? The alleged music-focused remix of the G705 has now made its second unofficial appearance, and while exceptionally little is known about the darned thing, we can pretty much gather that it'll do HSDPA, a 3.2-megapixel cam, and GPS. Of course, Sony Ericsson has a nasty habit of canceling leaked phones that look ready to be released, so we'll be holding our collective breath right up until the moment we see a press release.

[Via Unwired View]

Ruggedized handsets are all the rage at the moment, and T-Mobile's the latest carrier to bow to the trend with the MOTOACTV W450 from (who else?) Motorola. Moto's advertising the colorful flip by saying that it's ready for "the great outdoors or the corporate jungle" thanks to a rubberized coating, chin bar for clipping the thing to your carabiner as you're rappelling some sheer cliff in Tasmania, and Mayo Clinic's In Touch software built-in for learning how to treat your life-threatening injuries when you fall off. It's got a 1.3-megapixel camera, quadband EDGE, stereo Bluetooth, and microSD expansion up to 2GB -- not massive, but probably enough for a jog, unless you're some insane endurance runner. Look for the W450 today in your choice of alpine white / canary yellow or black slate / mandarin.

After missing its July release target by a country mile, we'd thought the Silver may have been canned -- but nope, she's alive and well, strutting her stuff for a few privileged hands around the world. The HSDPA 7.2Mbps handset with GPS and WiFi takes the original candybar Pearl's wildly successful format and applies a hearty dose of Windows Mobile Standard -- not a concept that's going to appeal to everyone, but for the S740 shoppers of the world, a totally viable alternative. So we know Vodafone has a keen eye on releasing this; anyone else?