Feeling a bit down about having to deal with your already-old Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Q9h on AT&T (NYSE: T)’s network? Buck-up, sport. At least you can update your aging AT&T Motorola Q9h (codename: Norman) to the freshest Windows Mobile OS available. As far as being frustrated at the maddening pace of handset development (and subsequent obsolescence), you’ll just have to make peace with the fact that upgrading every year (at most) is a necessity if you want to stay up to date.

But, there’s nothing wrong with updating a less-than-new handset to the newest OS. Chances are, in fact, that a simple UI refresh will be enough to keep your inner-geek happy until you can go out and grab the new smartphone hotness.

MOTOMODDING has posted what looks like the official AT&T-branded Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM for the Motorola Q9h. The Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM bears all the markings of a legit WM6.1 ROM, but we still advise that all you Motorola Q9h owners proceed with caution.

And, with the Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM expected to be available for the Motorola Q9h in late July, it’s not too hard to imagine the ROM getting leaked a bit early – or late, considering July is almost over.

If you’re wary of installing unofficially official ROMs, stick it out for a bit longer. AT&T is bound to release the ROM any day now.

Find the AT&T Motorola Q9h Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM here. (You’ll have to register with MOTOMODDING)

You can also download the ROM from this mirror. (No subscription required)

[Via: WMExperts]

The wait is over, fellow Sidekickers. A new era of customizable and user-swappable Sidekick shells is finally upon us. Following on Sidekick 2008 live pics leaked to the web, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) has launched their highly anticipated T-Mobile Sidekick 2008 for HipTop fans across the US.

And, just like their Sidekick LX Tony Hawk edition launch, T-Mobile has whipped up a nifty, interactive website for the Sidekick 2008. Even if you’re not in the market for a Sidekick 2008, the webpage is worth a look.

Select T-Mobile retail locations are now carrying the Sharp-made Sidekick 2008. Eager Sidekick 2008 hopefuls can land their very own customizable Sidekick for $149.99 after 2-year contract. Each additional Sidekick shell will run $9.99 and a pair will cost $14.99.

Most notable in the Sidekick 2008 feature-set is the inclusion of the 2 megapixel camera with video capture. With Sidekick LX users finally getting jiggy with their OTA update enabling video capture and playback, it seems only fair that Sidekick 2008 owners get the same functionality out of the box.

Here’s a run-down of Sidekick 2008 specs:

Early hands-on reports indicate that the Sidekick 2008 definitely hits the mark as a low-end HipTop. Like its spiritual predecessor, the Sidekick iD, the Sidekick 2008 is the affordable HipTop for the hipper, younger (more so than the already young Sidekick demographic) Sidekick set. Unfortunately, build- and material-quality are in line with the Sidekick 2008’s billing as an entry-level offering.

And, with pricing just $50 less than an iPhone (on contract), T-Mobile might be left with more Sidekick 2008 stock than they had anticipated.

T-Mobile Sidekick

And another one bites the dust.

Following on ASUS’s confirmation that they’ve scrapped (or at least put on the back-burner) their plans to release the ASUS ZX1 Lamborghini, ASUS P560, and ASUS M536 smartphones, we’re hearing that Samsung has also put the kibosh on their upcoming, Linux-based Samsung i800.

The Samsung i800 was touted as Sammy’s first foray in to Linux-based mobile platformas – “The World’s first smartphone based on Access Linux Platform (ALP).” Samsung had planned to release the Samsung i800 on Orange’s network in the UK, but it seems that the handset was “withdrawn in order to… prepare a more competitive Linux mobile.”

Apparently, since Samsung announced their Samsung i800, advancements have essentially made the handset obsolete. That’s how it goes in the gadget world…

[Via: EngadgetMobile]

As expected, Boy Genius got his hands on the T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) Sidekick LX OTA update. BGR is confirming that, in addition to spell checker, play and share capabilities, an alarm clock, stereo Bluetooth (A2DP), Bluetooth file transfer support, the Sidekick LX OTA (otherwise known as an “update”) does indeed enable video recording and playback.

For you Sidekick LX owners out there, try to stay calm as the update is rolled out. In the meantime, enjoy the screenshots of the new Sidekick LX UI over at BGR.

Update:
It looks like the OTA update is finally starting to be rolled out to the masses. If you still haven’t gotten the update, just keep waiting. The Sidekick LX OTA update is random and will be delivered to your HipTop by the end of August (or so we hear). 

[Via: BGR]

In Russia, a 20-year-old sent out four hundred death threats saying “Death to Russian pigs and to you, freak!” to random phone numbers.

Authorities have reacted, catching the sender who was in fact Russian. His phone number was traced and he was arrested promptly. After he (Anton Shurubara) was caught, he said that he was joking around. “I wanted to see what people’s reactions would be,” he added.

The court placed him on one year of probation for racial hatred and a provocation to extremism.

Don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t see this as a joke. Not that I would be frightened, on the contrary. But why on Earth would someone do something like this is beyond me. Guess he deserves the punishment…

[Via: textually.org, image from thesmartpda.com]

Opera Software has recently released the latest “State of the Mobile Web,” based on aggregate and anonymous stats from Opera Mini servers. According to the web browser developer’s stats, six out of the most popular phones models for Web browsing with Opera Mini are from Nokia (NYSE: NOK), two are from Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE), one is from BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), and one is from Samsung. In the U.S., however, nine of the top 10 phones for Opera Mini are BlackBerries.

Other highlights from the State of the Mobile Web, June 2008 report:

• People using Opera Mini viewed more than 3.2 billion pages in June, up 9.4% over May.
• In June, Opera Mini users generated more than 46.7 million megabytes of data for operators worldwide. Thanks to the Opera Mini’s built-in compression of data, the actual amount of data requested was 311 million MB in June.

Opera’s “State of the Mobile Web” highlights the browsing trends in the ten countries where Opera Mini is most popular — the United States, Russia, China, Indonesia, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, South Africa and Ukraine. Full report is available from here.

MonkeySee.com has announced that its how-to videos are now available for the iPhone/iPhone 3G users. Now, users of the Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s handset and the iPod Touch are able to get advice and instruction on nearly any subject imaginable.

In addition to learning the tips and tricks of almost 100 culinary connoisseurs like Todd Gray, owner and executive chef of award-winning Equinox Restaurant, visitors to MonkeySee.com can get step-by-step instruction for almost any topic or task imaginable — from knitting to grilling and even ‘how to use the Apple iPhone 3G.’ Because all MonkeySee videos prominently display a featured expert’s name, title, bio and link to their personal site next to the video player, viewers can rest assured that the advice they receive is sound and the instruction is from a credible source.

MonkeySee’s catalog boasts more than 8,000 professionally produced widescreen, as well as a number of user submitted videos.

Hop over to MonkeySee.com from your iPhone/iPod Touch and take it from there…

Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has announced, through its dedicated MobileMe Status blog, that they’ve completed restoring MobileMe Mail service and that they’ve managed to recover lost emails from the 1% of unlucky MobileMe Mail user accounts that have been out of commission since the service’s launch a few weeks ago.

MobileMe users still experiencing problems are encourage to make their problems known through Apple’s dedicated MobileMe chatline. And, with most of MobileMe’s Mail problems seemingly solved, Apple is working to improved other areas of MobileMe service.

“By completing this restoration of Mail services, we hope we have put the vast majority of MobileMe Mail problems behind us and can now focus on improving other aspects of this new ambitious service.”

But, there are still reports of MobileMe bugs that are affecting some users’ MobileMe services. IntoMobile can confirm that push-synchronization still isn’t fully operational.

Apple MobileMe

Wouldn’t you know it? Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s hottest (which is debatable) new iPhone color, White, has proven to be the most problematic. Sure, it hides finger-smudges that the Black variant so deftly emphasis, but what good is a fingerprint-free casing if it starts to crack?

Scattered reports are coming in that point to some White iPhone 3Gs developing hairline cracks (or worse) in their possibly ceramic-based casing. For some reason, Black iPhone 3G handsets aren’t as prone to developing these stress-fractures. Black iPhone 3Gs are also affected, but the hairline fractures are less noticeable.

Perhaps whatever additive is used to create the Black-colored iPhone rear-cover is serving to reinforce the casing itself? Carbon black is added to tires to help reinforce the otherwise weak natural rubber. The carbon-based nano-particles hep increase tensile strength in rubber. Could the Black-coloring in Black iPhone cases be serving the same tensile-strength boosting purpose? It makes sense, but only in speculation. In reality, we have no idea why White iPhones are cracking.

Unfortunately for those affected, Apple has not yet recognized cracked White iPhone 3G casings as a “known” problem. That means there won’t be any iPhone 3G swaps until Apple officially acknowledges that there even is a problem with their fleet of White iPhones. And, with Apple still struggling to keep their Apple Store shelves stocked with iPhones, it might take a while for Apple to start replacing defective units.

Still, keep your chin up, White iPhone owners, Apple’s customer service policies are usually on-point and they will replace your cracked iPhone. It’s only a matter of waiting for Apple to stock enough White iPhone units to meet new customer demand as well as demand for replacement units.

[Via: Macenstein]

Steve Jobs seems to think that the AppStore “is a grand slam,” and we can’t find any reason to not agree. With unrivaled platform integration and third-party applications that readily take advantage of the iPhone’s multi-touch interface and various sensors, the AppStore has proven to be a boon for iPhone, iPhone 3G, and even iPod Touch owners.

So much so that the AppStore boasted over 1,000 iPhone applications as of this past Monday – 1,001 iPhone applications, to be more precise.

Granted, a good deal of iPhone applications aren’t worth a second look. But, the shear volume of iPhone applications available from eager iPhone developers is an indication that iPhone application development isn’t going to be slowing down anytime soon. What we’re seeing is the ramp up to a diverse and expansive iPhone application portfolio that will eventually offer solutions to just about any iPhone owner’s needs or wants.

My personal iPhone 3G already has four homescreen-pages worth of iPhone apps (beat that!), and that number is likely to keep growing. Most of my apps were free, but I did manage to bite to the bullet and actually pay for a few apps. Turns out, it’s not that painful. As long as you do the research and make sure you are buying an application that fits your needs and that no free iPhone apps are available with similar functionality, buying an iPhone app can be highly rewarding.

Of course, it’s a little harder to justify spending upwards of $10 on an iPhone game. But, if you really have a need (like using Texas Hold ‘Em Poker to make your Friday night poker games more fun and convenient) for them, then by all means, hit that “Buy” button. Remember, you can share your iPhone apps and games with all your friends and family, so it might be a good idea to convince your friends to pitch in to buy a more expensive iPhone application. Hit up our “How To” to get the low-down on sharing iPhone applications between multiple iPhones.

The AppStore will likely grow larger and larger every month, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll be seeing ever-increasing numbers of truly useful applications. There will come a time when the AppStore is essentially saturated with so many different types of iPhone applications that the flood of innovative new apps will slow to a trickle. Just how long it will take to reach that point is the question here.