End users are still in for a bit of a wait, but tinkerers, devs, and 1337 hax0rz should soon be able to get their hands on FIC's Linux-based Neo1973 handset. The device, getting thrown together courtesy of the OpenMoko project with the goal of open-sourcing both the phone and the platform, will drop first in $250 "Hacker's Lunchbox" trim (for the aforementioned hackers) late this month featuring a seemingly bombproof plastic box to hold your GPLed bundle of joy and its dev tools. This fall -- September, if OpenMoko's prediction holds up -- the retail version will follow on for $350 with a variety of bundled accessories (though not the pictured car mount, which'll run an extra $75), faster processor, and possibly a cam or integrated WiFi. Why not both, FIC? Go crazy!

[Via LinuxDevices.com]

   Between Vertu and the 8800, Nokia gives the world plenty of ways to flaunt its surplus cash -- but not enough for Japan's members-only CELUX department store, apparently. The ultra-exclusive "shopping club" will be offering unique versions of the Nokia 7360 -- a member of the chic L'Amour Collection -- for just a couple weeks this month. The new variants come in pink (a slightly different scheme than the regular version for us common folk) and black. No word on pricing, but c'mon, it's just a color change... it'd better not be much more than the standard-issue piece.

[Via Hypebeast]

If you're an avid T-Mobile USA data user (handset-based, that is), you may be aware that the GSM carrier has started to become very stingy in the last year or so on which pieces of software can have full access to the Internet (factory apps and browsers on branded handsets) and which cannot (all others). There have been quite a few knowledgeable T-Mobile users paying for the carriers' "t-zones" or "T-MobileWeb" handset browser service but then using third-party apps like Opera Mini, Google Maps and others to get 'full access' to the web and download larger and larger amounts of data. Well, rumor (and some proof) has it that T-Mobile caught on to this quite a while ago and has started blocking certain ports on its branded phones to disallow data access for just about all applications beyond the standard xHTML browser found on its phones and other T-Mobile-branded apps. The "port blocking" seems to be coming in regionally as well, as opposed to nationally. Nothing new about the concept, as all carriers cripple branded phones (some much worse than others). But, here, It appears that T-Mobile wants heavier handset-based data users to upgrade to a $20 or $30 unlimited data plan instead of trying to get all that bandwidth from a $5.99 plan meant for light handset usage without third-party software. If you find that T-Mobile's only allowed ports and proxy won't work for you soon on its EDGE network, be prepared to be frustrated -- and then ready to make an upgrade (or carrier switch) decision.

   If you're an Alltel Wireless customer using the nation's largest network and any of its handsets, you may be interested to know that the CDMA carrier has made AskMeNow's "intelligent mobile search" service available to customers -- for a fee, of course. AskMeNow's service lets information junkies ask just about anything so that an accurate answer can be retrieved. You know, so you can win that next television trivia game at 1:00am in that Henry Hudson's location down the way. The service is available via SMS to all Alltel subscribers with text messaging capability at a rate of $0.25 per question or $1.99 per month for unlimited questions. Also, an actual application can be downloaded if you're the proud owner of an Alltel BlackBerry, Palm and Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone -- but it'll set you back $3.99 per month that way.

   It may not be the world's smallest anymore, but make no mistake, folks: Motorola's Miniblue H9 is really small. Of course, manufacturers have pretty much perfected the miniaturization of Bluetooth circuitry to the point that headset design has been more a question of aesthetic design for some time now -- so is smaller necessarily better when it comes to these suckers?

Some may remember the H9 better as the H5, the alias it'd been given when Moto teased us with it the first time around over a year ago. Nothing seems to have changed other than the name, which is just fine by us -- the original looked good, and more importantly, it was microscopic which seems to be the angle they're going for here.

   No documentation was provided with the unit we had, but as with all Bluetooth headsets, the controls are pretty dead simple: a large, multifunction button on the headset's face along with two volume controls on either side. The multifunction button was a bit too "clicky" for our liking, but we'll hold final judgment for when we get our hands on a production example.
   We had no trouble pairing the H9 and sound quality was fine on both ends, though the included bud was far too large to properly fit into our ears. This caused two problems. First, the thing stuck way too far out from the side of our face, making us look silly -- quite the opposite effect of purchasing such a diminutive headset. Second, it had a tendency to slip out of our ear. Bear in mind, here, that the only thing holding it in is the grip it has on the sides of your ear canal, so a properly fitted bud is crucial. We're assuming the production model will include a variety of sizes to fit ears big and small.

   Possibly the coolest part of the H9 was not the headset itself, but its charging base. The thing is seriously built like a tank. It's heavy, and we couldn't really figure out what made it that way. Circuitry? Solid plastic? Lead weights? Who knows, but needless to say, it's not tipping over if you don't want it to. The H9 fits snugly up top with rubber guides to make sure the sensitive bits don't get roughed up.

Production H9s should be hitting the streets before too long, and assuming Motorola doesn't price itself out of the market, this one could be a winner -- just as long as we get some buds that fit. Y'hear, Moto?

   While skins to make your Pocket PC look like a little more like the iPhone are nothing new, they've got nothing on this full-on interface change an enterprising programmer created for his E-TEN M600 smartphone. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to pretty up the exterior of the device, but it does manage to successfully emulate some of the iPhone's more notable bells 'n whistles, including its trademark finger-touch scrolling, its slide-to-lock feature, and its now-familiar menu system, all of which was apparently written in PPL (Pocket Programming Language). It also appears to have had the not unexpected side effect of bringing down its creator's site (linked below). Possibly as a result of past brouhahas, it seems that the software won't be going very far beyond that one lucky E-TEN anytime soon, although you can check it out in action in the video after the break.

   Now that the mobile world has had a little time to digest Microsoft's latest offering, we thought we'd take this opportunity to circle back, put our ear to the ground, and have a look at some of the press Windows Mobile 6 is generating. LAPTOP Magazine spent most of its time with a Standard device ("Smartphone" in the Windows Mobile 5 world), and although the OS bears a striking resemblance to its predecessor in pretty much every respect, the review manages to focus on the positive: Office document viewing, improved stability (our apologies if we just jinxed anyone), and the modestly improved Pocket Internet Explorer. PC Magazine took a more critical view of Microsoft's failure to revolutionize its mobile platform, passing on correcting some of its more serious flaws -- the lack of true process management possibly the biggest -- but still calls it "the best mobile operating system out there," giving it big props for smooth Vista integration and little efficiency boosts like the email client's SmartFilter. CNET draws the same conclusion about Windows Mobile 6 being evolutionary rather than revolutionary, pointing out that many basic tasks still require more clicks than they should, but the bundled Office apps were a crowd pleaser. As far as we're concerned, the biggest news here is not the software but the new (and varied) hardware that's being launched to run it -- at least until Microsoft gets serious about a next-gen mobile UI, anyway.

Read - LAPTOP Magazine (3.5 / 5, '...less intimidating and more approachable...")
Read - PC Magazine (4 / 5, "...doesn't disturb the OS's underpinnings or solve some of its deeper problems...")
Read - CNET (7 / 10, "...brings a collection of noteworthy improvements...")

   Modeo hosted a little shindig tonight to unveil some of its future DVB-H plans and show off some kit. The big news is that the FCC has approved Modeo's request to boost signal power by 10 times in urban markets and 20 times in rural areas, giving the company a much easier path to coverage rollout and better signal quality. Modeo also mentioned that while it's currently testing service in NYC only, it has designs already in place for moving into the top 30 markets in the US. We also got our hands on upcoming DVB-H SD and mini-PCI cards, with the SD cards up and running in a myriad of Pocket PC devices, and the mini-PCI card running smooth -- though rather pixelated -- video on a Dell laptop. The next move for Modeo is to get channel changing time under 2 seconds, continue to improve video quality, add PVR and mediacasting capabilities, and stick interactivity into the programming. Modeo's software partner Penthera already had most of those capabilities up and running on demo units, as you can see in the gallery below, so it looks like most of this stuff will be all ready by the time a commercial launch happens. When that might be is anyone's guess. Modeo is still looking for a retail partner, and they made it pretty clear that Qualcomm's MediaFLO model of hitching onto mobile providers is exactly what Modeo would like to be doing -- unfortunately for Modeo, nobody's signed up yet.