Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. The Sprint Rumor, made by LG, has seen launch-delays and stock shortages since before it was even available to Joe-cellphone-shopper. Now, it seems that Sprint (NYSE: S) has hit another wall with the LG Rumor – leading the struggling carrier to halt sales of the uber-popular handset until the problem is fixed.

The Sprint LG Rumor was apparently shipped with a less-than-finalized version of the firmware. Engineers use a special debug command that is built into the firmware’s boot-up process. Unfortunately, this debug mode was left intact and accessible by Joe-cellphone-shopper with a combination of key-presses during the startup process. Even more unfortunate is the fact that this debug mode causes the firmware to self-destruct and wipe itself clean from the phone’s onboard memory – requiring nothing short of a trip to the factory for repairs/reflashing.

Sprint has stopped selling the LG Rumor until the problem can be fixed and applied to its stock of Sprint LG Rumor handsets. Current LG Rumor owners can expect an OTA (Over-The-Air) fix once Sprint and LG have plugged the hole in the current firmware.

Sprint had better get and stay on top of this issue right quick. The LG Rumor has the potential to boost Sprint’s subscriber numbers, but only if they can keep the handset stocked and problem-free.

Just don’t go pressing random keys while your Sprint LG Rumor is booting up, ‘kay?

[Via: PhoneScoop]

The boys over at Engadget Mobile spotted this interesting advert on Yahoo! today. Like so many yuppy mid-lifers that have gone under the knife in search of vanity and youth, the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95 you see pictured here just looks a bit strange. It’s an N95, that much we’re sure of. But, take a look at the edges of the device – they look strangely beveled for some reason.

Clicking on the ad takes you to Nokia’s USA Nokia N95 page, so we’re assuming the “8GB expandable memory” claim is referring to the microSD card slot. The Nokia N95 8GB NAM should be an all-black handset without a microSD card slot, so this ad is most likely referring to the already-launched Nokia N95-3.

Sloppy advertising aside, what’s with the tweaked look of this Nokia N95-3?

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

It seems Steve Jobs may be just as tired of waiting in long-lines at the local Starbucks as we are. Wouldn’t it be great if we could use our media player or cellphone to wirelessly order a cup of coffee ahead of time and simply stroll into the brick-and-mortor shop to pick up our cup of joe. Well, good, ole’ Stevie is on it. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) just filed a patent application on December 20 for a method whereby a media player, PDA, or cellphone could be used to place a wireless-order at a particular store – doing away with the dreaded “queue.”

iPhone users are already able to wirelessly download music from iTunes’ catalogue at all Starbucks locations, and this technolofy would take the Apple-Starbucks relationship to the next step. USPTO patent application #20070291710 outlines a system that is capable of logging orders and notifying the customer when the order is ready for pick-up. The system would also track customers’ shopping habits and purchases.

Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device–such as an iPhone–would chime or blink to let the thirsty one know it’s time to scoop up the order at the counter.

The iPhone may be set to take on a new role – transitioning from a cellphone/media player phenom into a life-assistant for your daily activities. We’ll have to wait and see just what Apple does with this new technology.  A patent application doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple will be putting the new tech into their future lineup, but if it does pan out, we couldn’t be happier. There’s nothing worse than waiting in line (trust us, we know a thing or two about lines).

[Via: Forbes]

Not that we don’t love the random doo-hickeys that The Sharper Image stores and catalogues try to sell us – ionic air purifiers, chair massagers, and alarm clocks are cool and all, but they don’t exactly hit the top of our “must-have” gadget-list. Still, TSI does very well for themselves by convincing a lot of people that the ionic air purifier is a $400 necessity for any truly “modern” home. And, as such, the crap-boutique has started to offer, of all things, mobile phones. These Chinese-sourced, generic handsets range from barely acceptable to downright nasty – with three out of four handsets proudly showing off their “The Sharper Image” branding.

First up, we have the AMOI N810 Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional smartphone. The AMOI N810 is the most powerful handset in TSI’s lineup, and boasts a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, touchscreen (it’s a “Professional” WinMo device, after all), and an integrated GPS receiver. Unfortunately, the powerhouse of TSI’s mobile phone stable (branded as the Sharper Image 101TSI) is a lowly tri-band jobby with a GPRS data connection – a bit disappointing, given its $499.95 price-point.

Then there’s the LG Chocolate rip-off (as only the Chinese knock-off market can do). Like the original Chocolate, the TSI-branded Sharper Image 005TSI is a music-oriented handset with a sleek, shiny black finish and touch-sensitive music control on its face. Unlike the Chocolate, however, the 005TSi rocks a touchscreen display in lieu of the slide-out keypad. And, with a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and microSD card slot, this $299.95 is TSI’s most worthy cellphone offering.

Rounding out the bottom of this barrel, we see the Sharper Image 008TSI black slider that should never have been, and the 007TSI super-generic silver flip-phone. Neither handset will be giving any mainstream offering a run for their money – with little more than a VGA camera, pitling little display, and some expandable memory storage (via microSD), the 008TSI and 007TSI redefine “low-end.” The Sharper Image 008TSI will run you $249.95, while the Sharper image 007TSI costs just $169.95.

The Sharper Image is emphasizing the “unlocked” status of all their branded handsets, hoping to lure those not “in the know” into getting a device that’s capable of working on almost any GSM network. It’s just too bad these mostly disappointing handsets are, well, so disappointing. Who wants a handset with  “The Sharper Image” plastered in bold, white font on the front-face? Anyone?

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Vince from Slashphone got his hands on a Helio Mysto, check it out:

Earlier this month we saw an all black 6300 come out of Asia, Singapore we thing, and now an all black 6500 Slide comes out of the wood work. Could 2008 be the year Nokia (NYSE: NOK) pulls a Samsung and makes all their devices blacker than black? With a 3.2 megapixel camera, dual LED flash, S40 and a solid stainless steel body this is a model to watch as one of Nokia’s best sellers.

What peaks my interest is why the back plate of the black model doesn’t say Carl Zeiss anywhere while the silver (original) 6500 does. One would think that would be a blow to the marketing people or that this model might not be a final retail unit.

[Full gallery at Mobile 01]

We’ve already seen the very, very brief video demonstration of the upcoming iPhone firmware. This time GearLive, the folks who broke the news, went one step further proving it’s not a Photoshop scam, but a real thing. What follows is a short video demonstration of the new iPhone firmware’s features. Enjoy!

Is this the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) 9000? No one knows and this is all the information we really have. Notice the standard microUSB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack on the side.

[Via: Boy Genius Report]

With all those highly advanced phones, we thought Japanese won’t buy into all the iPhone hype. And while we’re not sure whether Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) will be able to repeat its success from the U.S. market, we’ve spotted a Japanese guy who seemed so desperate to get an iPhone that he made his already uber-cool Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) W52S slider look like Apple’s handset. As you can clearly see from the image above, the end result is a weird device to say the least, and we can only hope at least he likes it… Cause we don’t.

[Via: SEFanatics]

I’m really having a hard time understanding why Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and other handset manufacturers don’t inform us via press releases about the new colors of their devices. In my eyes that’s an additional media coverage they would get. Not that we’re not publishing it anyway, it’s just that would make our lives much easier.

Anyway, the Nokia N82 has been spotted in titanium white color. Actually, it’s just the light titanium colored back of the device that is different from the original N82. It’s available now for all our readers that live in Singapore and are using Singtel’s services…

UPDATE: It seems this is the same Nokia N82 our Stefan got. Nothing new here folks…

[Via: Cell Addict Blog]