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Not feeling the black-on-green look of the Sony Ericsson TM506 that popped up on the FCC's website? No problem, we're hearing that T-Mobile will be offering their mid/high-end 3G clamshell in a more subdued black-on-black and black-on-white color scheme.

The alternate color offering should have the Sony Ericsson TM506 (codename: Bella) toting the same aGPS, web-feeds reader (RSS, podcasts, news), and 2 megapixel camera that we're expecting in its more brightly colored counterpart. Oh, and let's not forget the Sony Ericsson TM506's support for dual-band 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) frequencies - specifically, the 1700Mhz and 2100Mhz bands that T-Mobile's AWS 3G network requires.

Pricing and availability? You wish. More on that later.

[Via: CellphoneSignal]

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T-Mobile is celebrating their Sidekick LX Tony Hawk Limited Edition hiptop with a completely revamped sidekick.com. Visitors to the overhauled website will be thrust in to "Tony's World," where the Sidekick fan can interact with different "neighborhoods" and explore the Sidekick LX's capabilities.

And, for the curious among you, T-Mobile has apparently hidden some "easter eggs" in the Flash-based virtual world. So, head on over to Sidekick.com to check out the new "Tony's World" and pick up a limited edition Sidekick LX Tony Hawk for $299.

Or just check out the new website for kicks. It's worth a look.

Tony's World 

Sprint's entry-level clamshell stable is going to be adding a new handset to the lineup. With numerous Sanyo Katana variants already picked up by the No. 3 US wireless carrier, we're not surprised to see this latest Sanyo Katana Eclipse headed to Sprint.

The FCC has just unveiled the newest slim flip-phone from Sanyo. The Sanyo Katana Eclipse features a modest spec-sheet listing a 2 megapixel camera, EVDO, GPS with Sprint Navigation, Bluetooth, microSD card slot, Sprint TV, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Other than that, details are slim.
Of course, pricing and availability aren't yet known. We'll keep you updated as we learn more about Sprint's upcoming Sanyo Katana Eclipse.

FCC

[Via: CellphoneSignal]

T-Mobile has yet to release their latest Sidekick with user-swappable and customizable shells, but that doesn't mean you can't get your eager hands on a Sidekick 2008 today. Leave it up to Craigslist to have a not-yet-released handset up for sale before its official launch.

If you've got the bankroll and the desire to get first-crack at the Sidekick 2008 Gekko, hit up the Craigslist ad.

But, before you blow your summer job paycheck on a pre-release Sidekick 2008, just be warned that this looks to be trial device given to field testers.

[Via: HipTop3]

LG's full QWERTY keyboard equipped messaging phone, KS360, will be hitting Europe this week. We're still not sure which markets nor how much it will cost, but we do have all the specs. Let's briefly go through them, shall we:

• Network: GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz
• Display: 2.4-inch QVGA (240×320 pixels) 262k-color screen
• Camera: 2 megapixel
• Memory: 15MB internal, expandable with microSD cards
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• Other: Media player, FM radio
• Battery: Li-Ion 800mAh
• Dimensions: 101.5×51x16.8 mm

The KS360 will be available in a range of colors, including titanium and bright blue, white and soft pink, black and red, and black and silver… In a nutshell, the phone is designed as a youth's messaging device of choice, or at least LG hopes that will be the case.

[Via: slashphone]

I'm not sure should we trust the image above or not, but apparently the upcoming low-end Sony Ericsson J132 will come with the standard 3.5 headphone jack. Maybe it's me, but I do want to believe the Swedish-Japanese company will finally opt for the logical way and join other handset makers which have been shipping phones with 3.5mm audio jack for years.

A month ago when it was announced, Sony Ericsson hasn't mentioned such a feature in the official release. It's good to see them going this way, and we can only hope they'll do the same thing with all of the upcoming Walkman phones. After all, it's only natural to sell music-centric phones with standard 3.5 headphone jack, don't you think?

[Via: Unwired View, image from Kraj]

Virgin Mobile, always looking to offer new hardware to its customers, has announced that they will be picking up the LG Rumor for its SMS text messaging users in Canada.

The 17.8mm thick vertical slider features a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and speakerphone. But, the LG Rumor's dual keypad and slide-out QWERTY keyboard design takes the lion's share oft the limelight. For text messaging aficionados, a physical QWERTY keyboard is a nice addition to the numeric keypad on the front face of the device. And, now Canadians on Virgin Mobile Canada's network can get their own LG Rumor, in Black, for $79.99 on a 3-year plan, or $199 to purchase outright. Buy the LG Rumor online before July 31st and you get a $25 activation credit.

Buy the LG Rumor for Virgin Mobile Canada here.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Verizon not long ago launched their LG VX10000 Voyager as an answer to AT&T's Apple iPhone. The touchscreen revolution had just gotten underway and Verizon had to scramble to get its own touchscreen offering on the table. But, with a squishy pressure-sensitive touchscreen and clunky UI, the LG Voyager failed to cash in on the touchscreen-craze created by Apple's multi-touch toting iPhone.

So, now that the iPhone 3G has been launched on AT&T and dozens of GSM carriers worldwide, Verizon is preparing a refresh of the LG Voyager. Last we heard, the LG Voyager is due for a refresh that would have it working with Verizon's upcoming Visual Voicemail system. But, it was unclear whether the refresh would be a hardware redesign or simply a firmware update.

Turns out, the LG Voyager will be getting a mid-cycle refresh courtesy of a revised firmware offering from Verizon. The new LG Voyager firmware will not only enable Visual Voicemail on Verizon's network (for a monthly service fee, natch), but will also bring a couple UI enhancements.

Here's what to expect from the LG Voyager firmware update:

• Drag and Drop Icons on the homescreen (like Verizon's LG Dare)
• Copy and paste
• Drawing pad
• Visual Voicemail

And, to help cut down on power-supply costs and bulk, Verizon is including a new wall-charger with all new LG Voyager purchases. The new wall-charger features a USB port into which the USB data cable/charging cable can be inserted - making your USB cable both a portable USB charging cable and a wall-charger. Unfortunately, current Voyager owners are going to have to shell out a few extra bucks for the redesigned charger.

We're also hearing that the LG Voyager (or related iteration) could be due for a hardware revision that would future-proof the next-gen variant with 4G LTE compatibility. This particular rumor is strictly hearsay and should be taken at face value. But, considering that Verizon's LTE network isn't going to get off the ground until 2010 at the earlist, it makes sense that Verizon would offer their flagship touchscreen smartphone with 4G data connectivity.

Current LG Voyager owners can take their handsets in to their nearest Verizon Wireless dealer for the free firmware update, once it goes live, of course. New LG Voyager purchases will come pre-installed with the new firmware.

We're expecting the LG Voyager firmware refresh to be released in August, alongside Verizon's official launch of their Visual Voicemail system.

[Via: MobileRoar]

Marketing and hype are keys to getting the consumer excited about the next big handset. Apple, HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia all know that you have to get the market hyped up about an upcoming product launch if you want to sell boatloads of handsets. And, it seems Sony Ericsson is also getting in on the fun.

The Japanese-Swedish mobile phone manufacturer has launched a new web portal to highlight the past three years of Sony Ericsson Walkman phone history. Sony Ericsson is pushing their Walkman phone lineup's media-playing prowess ahead of their new Walkman-branded mobile phone launches. The new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone portal urges visitors to return to the website on July 22 at 10am CET in anticipation of a "new chapter" of Walkman phones.

Unfortunately for Sony Ericsson, they've got one of the leakiest product pipelines in the industry. We're looking for Sony Ericsson to launch one of, if not all, of their recently leaked handsets. The 5 megapixel camera-toting Sony Ericsson W902 (Patty), the lower-end Sony Ericsson W595 (linda) with a 3.2 megapixel camera, and entry-level Sony Ericsson W302 are all on our radar as possible candidates to be launched on July 22 - which would make for a nicely rounded product lineup from Sony Ericsson.

Head on over to the new Sony Ericsson Walkman phone website and brush up on previous chapters of SE Walkman handset history. Now we wait for July 22 to roll around.

Sony Ericsson Walkman 

[Via: ixplora]

Sometimes rumor and speculation meet up at the intersection of reality, making our day all that much better. Today, we're getting word that the Sidekick Gekko will indeed be named the Sidekick 2008. More so, the Sidekick 2008 will be hitting T-Mobile on July 30.

Internal T-Mobile documentation outlines the Sidekick 2008 as being differentiated from the rest of the Sidekick lineup (like the Sidekick LX) by its launch-year branding. As we've been expecting for quite some time, the Sidekick 2008 will pick up with the Sidekick iD left off and offer user-swappable (and customizable) shells. HipTop fans will find a 2 megapixel cam and a 2.6-inch WQVGA display rounding out the low-end-but-still-decent feature-set.

Expect to see the Sidekick 2008 launching on T-Mobile at month's end.

[Via: BGR]