The FCC approved, on Wednesday, a plan to auction the 700Mhz wireless frequency spectrum. The auction will take place as the current 700Mhz block is abandoned, on Congressional decree, by TV stations switching to digital broadcasts. Large tech companies have requested that 60Mhz of this block be auctioned by early 2008 and is expected to raise US $10 billion. Complete digital broadcast conversion should open up more spectrum by 2009.

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We’ve been waiting on O2 (NYSE: TEF) to drop the XDA terra for some time now. The re-branded HTC P4350 (Herald) has started to ship from O2 and clinches the coveted “World’s First” title for O2 – as the first to ship a mobile device with Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional. Head over to O2’s website for a rundown on the specs, which include a 2MP shooter and a spring-loaded sliding keyboard. You can expect to pony up $382 (with contract) and $710 a la carte. It’s a pricey sucker, but being the first kid on the block with the newest toy always comes at a cost.

via: unwired

By now, everyone and their grandma is expecting the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) iPhone to launch on Cingular/AT&T (NYSE: T) with a 40 minute battery life. First, Dvorak starting talking smack on the iPhone. Then we get “reports” straight out of the component integrator, FoxConn, that the iPhone’s design falls short in terms of performance. But, would Apple really launch a product with such critical flaws? According to MacScoop, a source “we can trust but we can’t name now says,” that the reports are unfounded; Apple’s iPhone is healthy and ready to go.

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Eldar of Mobile-Review reviewed the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E90. Right now it is only available in Russian, but videos and pictures know no tongue:

For all you E90 addicts: I was at the S60 Summit and checked the firmware version

This is a picture I snapped on my N95 at the Museo del Prado in Spain while the security guard wasn’t looking. The man is Caesar Augustus.

The history of the Roman Empire is something that has always fascinated me, even as a little boy. I remember my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and seeing these 3 meter tall men who looked powerful, honorable and simply perfect. Around that time I started (more like attempted) body building, but that isn’t important right now. What is important is that the philosophy of the Roman empire was to understand, learn and return to Rome the various cultures of the countries they conquered. Knowledge was a currency more valuable than any material wealth. Learning was celebrated.

Before the S60 summit took place Phil Schwarzmann contacted me and asked if I would like to go. I wanted to, but it is something I couldn’t afford. This wasn’t important to Phil, he had a list of several bloggers whom Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was going to invite on an all expense paid trip just to attend. I just happened to be on that list.

Matthew Miller from ZD|Net and Michael Jerz from My-Symbian were nothing but names who I would often see in blue and underlined. I met Rafe from All About Symbian in Las Vegas during the 2007 CES, but our brief encounter lasted less than 15 minutes. After 3 whole days I can safely say that these men are no longer hyperlinks, but they are my friends.

Matthew is an American like myself who has lived on both sides on the coast. His love for mobile extends beyond S60, but he is committed to owning an E90 one of these days. He has a podcast called Mobile Tech Roundup where he talks about everything from cell phones all the way up to tablet pc’s.

Michael Jerz is from Poland and his love for mobile also extends past S60. I played with UIQ for the very first time on his Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) P990i. He owns a red Nokia E90 that is practically his third arm. His summit coverage isn’t up yet, but I bet it has something to do with the thousands, yes thousands, of pictures he took. He has been writing about communicators since the first one was introduced.

Rafe is from the UK and lives in the country side about an hour away from London. He wants to see Symbian remain the mobile leader regardless of whoever builds the UI on top. His website publishing days began back in University, similar to myself, when PSION owned all of Europe. We had fun bashing each others pronunciation of words, but I’ll always be envious that I don’t know how to speak proper (UK) English.

Darla Mack and Steve Litchfield were invited to the event, but couldn’t make it. I deeply regret not getting to spend a few days with you guys. Darla and I met at CES 2007 and spent a day together in New York for the Evening with S60 event. I have yet to meet Steve, but I’ve been watching his "Smartphones Show" podcast since starting Ring Nokia.

When I accepted Phil’s invitation to Spain I did it because I wanted to see Spain. Selfish I know, but I’m known for being an asshole so I may as well say it. What ended up happening was I got the opportunity to make friends with people who have the same fire in their hearts that I do when it comes to mobile phones. The location of the S60 summit quickly became irrelevant after the first hour of hanging out with my fellow writers.

Nokia really does live up to it’s ad slogan of connecting people and I want to take the time to thank them for it. Thank you to Phil for the invite and thank you to Matt, Rafe and Mike for the great couple of days in Madrid. Like the Roman’s, I’m going to take everything you have taught me and incorporate it into my writing style and point of view about the mobile industry I proudly consider myself a part of now.

I can not emphasize how awesome the event was and how sad I am that Steve and Darla couldn’t make it. Expect my coverage to go up sooner rather than later, I’m still recovering from the massive 9 hour shift in time zones.

The time has come. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N75 and N76 are finally available. The former is available via Cingular/AT&T (NYSE: T) with or without a contract, while the later one still has to be picked by some carrier. Nokia decided to additionally sweeten the deal for the N76, by bundling it with the music from Travis. Now, let’s jump-in to the comic…

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Nokia (NYSE: NOK) choose not to cover touch at the S60 summit. Reasons weren’t given, but I don’t really mind. I can understand that any company would rather wait to demo something that would amaze people rather than show off something that wasn’t ready.

I did manage to take a picture of this powerpoint slide however:

First bullet under "Smart Simplicity"

It exists.

We all know Phil from the Voice of S60 and See into S60, but did you also know he runs a blog about Finnish politics called Finland for Thought and the podcast Radio Free Finland?

I’ve always wanted to know more about the people behind the logo. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is just a 5 letter word in blue to most, but with over 50,000+ employees have you ever thought to stop and ask yourself who the staff responsible for your favorite phones and features really are? This is one of the reasons I started Ring Nokia, to give true fans that kind of information.

Here is ~ 9 minutes about what Phil is all about. It begins in Swedish, but the English kicks in at the one minute mark:

Following Verizon Wireless and Sprint, Bell Canada jumped on the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) 8830 bandwagon. BlackBerry fans in Canada should look forward to summer, when the carrier will make the new BlackBerry available to its customers. Frequent fliers will certainly benefit from this “world edition” device, as it works on both CDMA and GSM networks. Plus, it packs all the business features of the “standard” BlackBerry device. More information is available on Bell Canada’s site.

Still not convinced that the BlackBerry 8830 is the right device for you? Check out splash pages from Verizon and Sprint. (via: Engadget, BoyGeniusReport)

Gizmodo writes about the new app being developed for the iPhone. Apparently, the application called “iPhone flirt” should bring online dating to the iPhone users. However, it’s more likely than not that this is a fake. The first thing we notice on the promo image are the old headphones. Also, we’re not aware of any released iPhone APIs — making any iPhones apps impossible. Plus, where are the iPhone development tools? MacWorld has more info on the subject.