For those of you waiting for the successor to the beloved T-Mobile G1, the G2 is T-Mobile’s hotly anticipated sequel to the first ever Android phone that was released. Here are some official press release shots of the upcoming G2. Now all sources and leaks are pointing to a Sept. 29th release date and T-Mobile also has a teaser site for the G2 where you can sign up and receive information on the device as new pieces of information get sent to you via e-mail. I know a lot of people who are still using their G1 handsets like it’s the best thing ever made since rice and beans. Now if we can only get T-Mobile to confirm the release date…

Who woke up at the crack of dawn this morning to get to their nearest Sprint store for a chance to purchase the Epic 4G? If you did, let us know. We want to hear your experiences on this launch day. Have an Epic day!

Well lookie here. The leaks have just been slipping enough lately that I may just say, “It’s raining Windows Phone 7, Hallelujah”! Ok, maybe not, but there have been quite the few leaks to look into these past couple of weeks. First it was the unannounced Samsung phone that looked almost like an exact replica of the highly acclaimed i8910 Omnia HD, which later was revealed that it is the Samsung Cetus i917 due out for AT&T. Then it was the LG C900 who popped up next, which is also AT&T branded and due out in the near future. Today we have the latest Windows 7 phone leak, the T8788, an HTC built device which looks very polished like it is ready to start production. Of course the T8788 model name will change before it is ousted to the masses, but the unique feature about this particular device is the landscape slide-out speaker. When you first take a glance at it you obviously notice the device will slide out in landscape mode, but when you slide the screen up, there is no keyboard under the screen. It is a full fledged speaker underneath, which sort of reminds you of that other phone that also slid out a speaker back in the days. Being that there is a speaker instead of a full QWERTY keyboard underneath, nice 3.7 in. screen (as it seems from the photo), it sounds like this device will be heavily advertised to be media-driven. Word has it there is also a kickstand on the back for easy viewing for movies and video clips. So who’s going to connect their Bose desktop speakers to this once it comes out?

Source Engadget

RIM has finally updated all their lineup to trackpads which include the Curve, Bold and finally, the Pearl. As you may have heard, the BlackBerry Pearl name has been revived and renewed with the new 9100 model which includes incredible features from both the Pearl 81xx and the Bold 9700. In this review, we’ll explain to you why it’s one of the best candy-bar phones out as well as one of the most attractive and sleek smartphones out. Don’t like the BlackBerry name? We can change that. Read on…

Pricing & Features

Parents and teens can benefit with Rogers cheap pricing when it comes to signing a contract. You’ll only pay a price of $49.99 on a 3 year contract with a data plan which can be costly depending on how much you use, or you can always buy out the phone for $424.99 which is quite expensive.

For those who have handled and understood the old BlackBerry Pearl phones, you might have remembered the candy-bar style and the SureType keyboard. Well both are still available and very popular. New to the Pearl is the trackpad which is now available for every BlackBerry model. If you’ve owned the 81xx you might have noticed the dirty and stuck trackball. Well this isn’t a problem anymore. Also new is the upgraded 3.2 megapixel camera with a bright LED flash and 3G connection. Yes, we said 3G. Finally RIM has integrated 3G to the Pearl and boy we were glad they did. You’ll also get the standards WiFI, GPS, and Bluetooth technology all integrated to the 9100.

Design

What can we say about the new design? Well it’s a love or hate thing. I personally love the two-tone black and red color effect. I find it very sexy and a Rogers original signature design. I also enjoy the dark chrome color bezel that wraps the phone. On the left of the phone, you’ll find the MicroUSB vs the old MiniUSB in the 81xx along with a left convenience key and the 3.5mm headphone jack. On the right is the dedicated volume keys and the camera key and on the top of the phone is dedicated multimedia keys which can pause/play music as well as back forward button. The pause/play button also acts as a keyboard lock button. On the rear is the 3.2 megapixel camera and a bright LED flash.

Call Quality & Signal Strength

When it comes to BlackBerry. Call Quality is beyond superb. Nothing beats the clarity of what BlackBerry has to offer and the ability to enhance the audio quality by boosting the bass or treble when making calls is a great feature. I also found the speakerphone quality to be decent. You can’t really avoid echoing sometimes but that being said, it’s still better then most smartphones out.

With 3G available on the Pearl. Signal has been boosted much higher compared to the previous 81xx pearl’s. Not only do you get great signal but you also get great speeds when surfing the net and sending files through email or BlackBerry Messenger and other social clients. 3G should be a standard now a days and RIM has made the right choice and come through with that decision. While they might have been a tad late, they always come out good.

Messaging

The Pearl 9100 keyboard is what expected from a Pearl. The people who’ve had it before and love it will still love it, but those who hate it will absolutely hate it. SureType keyboard is what RIM calls it and what they do is instead of sorting the keys T9 style, they sort them like the QWERTY way but have 2 letters per keys. If you’ve used a QWERTY keyboard before, it’s not too hard getting use to. If not, it might confuse you for a while. This SureType keyboard comes to good use in the social clients that BlackBerry provides with the phone and there are a lot more social clients available on the App World.

Camera & Battery

When I first played with the BlackBerry 9100. I assumed it was just a 2.0 megapixel camera like the Curve. Why? Because there is absolutely no labeling of how many pixels the camera is. After using the camera, you realize that RIM has tricked you and that the camera is in fact an amazing 3.2 megapixel camera with a bright LED flash, even brighter then the Bold 9700. Pictures are the exact same quality though. It has auto focus and takes brilliant and vibrant pictures. It’s whats expected from RIM.

Battery life on the BlackBerry 9100 is also quite good. While it isn’t as good as the old 8100 mainly because there is 3G now, it still performs very well and lasts longer then the BlackBerry Bold 9700, about 15 hours of surfing the web, taking pictures and doing some calling and texting.

Conclusion

With all the new phones being released this summer by Rogers it’s no surprise that this one attracts many teens, especially with the low price tag, it’s a steal for parents. While it may not be the hottest BlackBerry out, It does what it’s suppose to do. Messaging on a BlackBerry is a breeze, camera is superb, and the 3G speed helps out a lot. If you don’t got money for the Bold 9700 or Curve 9300 or just don’t like the size. You can be sure that you’ll enjoy this phone. I’d highly recommend this for those who don’t enjoy the wide BlackBerry’s or just don’t want a touchscreen smartphone.

Steve Jobs announced today that, as expected, Apple will be giving out free cases for those with iPhone 4′s who were affected by the antennae issues plaguing the device.

More to come shortly…

Reports from all over the web are hinting at some troubling new developments as we approach the official iPhone 4 release date of June 24th, 2010.
Bloggers on DailyTech, MacRumors, and Gizmodo (links below) are reporting that some users who have received their iPhones early have noticed a yellow discoloration at the bottom right and left hand corners of the vaunted “Retina” display.

Given the fanfare and promotion of the high-tech screens, Apple could be in trouble if many of the initial release iPhone 4′s have this discoloration problem- especially due to the current supply issues with the iPhone 4.

If you’ve got a discolored iPhone 4, let us know in the comments and good luck- you could be waiting a few days before there are enough phones to exchange yours under warranty.

In addition, iPhone 3GS users- including this author- have noticed a DRAMATIC drop in battery life while using the iPhone 3GS with the new iOS4 software.  Our own testing indicates a 25-35% drop in battery life using the new software with our iPhones.  Couple this with some added sluggishness (a result of the 3GS’ weaker processor as compared to the iPhone 4′s A4 processor)  and Apple might have to hurriedly push out a 4.1 update in order to rectify these issues.

UPDATE: See picture at the top of this article and Andrew’s post here: (http://smartphonenation.com/2010/06/apple-responds-to-iphone-4-reception-issue/)

Links:

http://www.dailytech.com/Early+Adopter+Woes+iPhone+4+Customers+Reporting+Yellowish+Displays/article18828.htm

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/23/some-iphone-4s-experiencing-display-discoloration/

http://gizmodo.com/5571143/some-iphone-4-screens-have-yellow-bands-and-spots

(Photo credit: Gizmodo)

High School and Post Secondary students are now being offered the new Rogers Student plan.

For $25 (plus Government Regulatory Recovery Fee), high school or post secondary students with a valid student ID can get.

• 50 Daytime minutes
• Unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 6pm
• Unlimited incoming and outgoing text messages

For more information on the student plan, you can visit rogers.com/student

Colorware, the company that has brought custom colored BlackBerries to the likes of BGR, has done it again. This time they’re offering the Nexus One for customization. In case you don’t know who Colorware is, they are dedicated to the likes of customization on your favorite devices such as BlackBerry, PSP, MacBooks, Nook, XBOX 360 and others. You can personally start pimping out your brand new Nexus One so you can stand out to that person you want to impress. Pricing for customization is at $185 and you have to send yours in for the customization. Now you would be Nexus Oneless but the world isn’t going to end at that very moment. Once it comes back you should be popular again for a couple more days. If you do not have a Nexus One and want to purchase one customized and have sent by Colorware themselves, the price will set you back $810. Now $810 is a lot of money, but if you’re rich go ahead, and if you’re not you can always purchase that brand new iPad….

We’ve all heard this phrase before, “I want it but I don’t want ATT”. The speculations and rumors are heating up about the latest iPhone news and Apple breaking their ties from ATT. Now while it is not a 100% guarantee that will happen is unknown. One of Hot Hardware’s inside sources feels very confident that AT&T will lose its iPhone exclusivity during Apple’s big announcement this week. The announcement should be made following the introduction of the iSlate/iTablet/iPad and iPhone 4.0. Now if this comes to be true, sales for Apple will sky rocket. Look what not having exclusivity in Europe has done to the profits they’ve made, A LOT. The question(s) that will be asked if that does happen is where will the iPhone go next? Will Apple sell the iPhone unlocked in their stores? Who will puchase one if it is unlocked? What about Big Red, can they handle the exsessive amounts of data the iPhone clogs uses if they get it? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, if ATT does lose exclusivity, who will walk into their stores now?

Source Business Insider

The folks over at the Google team decided to give us a couple of invites for their newest project, Google Wave, which is still currently in beta form. At this moment, you’re probably asking yourself what a wave is and I’m here to answer that question for you. Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Us folks here at SmartPhoneNation already have Google Wave and for the most part of our usage, it’s pretty neat. Here’s what Google Wave brings to the table:

• Live conversational email
• Options to add people to current conversations
• Organize events
• Live document sharing
• Meeting notes
• Brainstorming

So who doesn’t love contests, I know I do. There are only 25 invitations and you could possibly win one. To win an invitation, all you need to do is drop a line in the comment box on this post folks. Enter only once, duplicate entries will be excluded and winners will be notified shortly after we draw. Good luck to all.