The True Google Phone May Be Coming Soon

TechCrunch is hearing some veeeeeery interesting talk about a true Google Phone: Not just an Android device, but a phone designed top-to-bottom by Google to fulfill their dream of exactly what Android can be. It's a resilient rumor. More »

Sidekick Is Back, Y'all

You didn't think a little data loss was going to stop Sidekick, did you? Sales of the unexpectedly risky handsets have resumed, at discounted $50 and $150 prices for the 2008 and 2009 models, which is still too high. [Engadget]

How to Trick Your Cameraphone Into Taking Non-Crappy Shots

Today's Lifehacker Top Ten list shows a half-score ways to get the most out of that most humble of lenses (short of the iPod Nano): The cameraphone. From DVD-laser macro lenses to editing tricks, it's a great guide. [Lifehacker]

LG's GD910 Watch Phone Hits UK in August

LG's finally set a date on their GD910 touchscreen watch phone, and it ain't July, like Akihabara News said. According to T3, it's in August, and will be exclusive to Orange for a little while. [T3]

Is Dell Working On An Android Smartphone?

Is this Dell's first cellphone? That is at least what one man and his blurry camera seem to think. More »

Sony Ericsson Idou Smartphone Appears With Whopping 12 Megapixel Camera

Set to debut in Europe this October, the Sony Ericsson Idou is a full-touchscreen smartphone with a 3.5-inch display and GPS. More »

If You Steal Somebody's iPhone and Don't Know How to Use It, You'll Go to Jail

Shoe designer Sayaka Fukuda was mugged by two men who made off with her purse and iPhone. After reporting it to police, she noticed a strange email in her outbox. Guess what happened next? More »

This Rugged Motorola Corporate Has Buttons You Can Actually Click While Wearing Gloves

Despite this giant corporate phone's ruggedness, push to talk, camera and barcode scanner, it is unremarkable. But I am excited to see it has buttons you can use while you wear gloves. Rare! [Motorola via BGR]

Yahoophone Canned On Advice Of New CEO's College Daughter

Valleywag just discovered that Yahoo (with Motorola and AT&T) was working on a Yahoo Phone with Yahoo apps, but canned it partially because new CEO's college-aged daughter preferred another phone instead. [Valleywag]

Why Obama Doesn't Use a Cordless Phone (And Neither Should You)

I hate cordless phones. So when Gizmodo reader ournextcontestant asked why Obama was using a corded phone instead of a cordless phone in this photo, I felt it was our duty to explain. More »

TiVo Gets Text Message Scheduling via kwiry

kwiry, the web application which enables commands via text messaging, has now added support for TiVo Scheduling. The service is open to any phone capable of texting and no web connection is needed. More »

Apple Patent Shows Nifty Keyboard Gestures for the iPhone

While many non-imminent Apple patents can edge into the realm of wishful thinking, this one is pretty doable: useful little gestures for the iPhone, which are received over the phone's onscreen keyboard. More »

Modded Cell Phone Analyzes Blood to Detect HIV, Malaria, and More

Scientists at UCLA modded an ordinary phone into a portable blood analyzer that can detect diseases at a very low cost. The hack could save lives in poorer areas that can't afford expensive equipment. More »

Nokia E63 Available for Pre-Order for $500

Amazon is now listing Nokia's BlackBerry-ish QWERTY E63 phone as available for pre-order. The unlocked 3G phone can be reserved for $500, though there's no word on release date. More »

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Appears on the FCC with 3G Support

The flashy Nokia 5800 XpressMusic all the pop stars were into popped up on the FCC's site with a nice little treat: built-in 3G support for its US release. More »

New Nokia Smartphone Patent Features Swiveling Widescreen and QWERTY

A new patent from Nokia shows a pretty interesting new design: a full widescreen that can swivel behind a QWERTY keyboard so only half the screen is visible. More »

The Top 10 Android App Downloads: Pac-Man Pronounced King of Apps

Analysts Medialets found the top Android apps based on downloads, rating, and number of comments. It's a slightly limited mix of games, social networking, and audio tools, but Android's still just a baby. More »

Giz Tip: Don't Hire A Hit Man via Text Message

Oklahoma native and rebellious speller Tonia Mullins, in a spectacular act of self-incrimination, used text messages to contact a hit man to "take care" of her lover's wife. Mullins conspired with her beau, Army soldier Michael Andrew Crawford, to have the poor Mrs. Crawford killed and her insurance money used to buy Mullins and her beau a nice house. Thankfully, Mullins was far too stupid to actually hurt anybody, and the text messages are absolutely priceless. More »

iRiver Cell Phone Is Pure Aluminum and Touchscreen Goodness

While everyone is trying to emulate the iPhone's look, iRiver keeps playing their own metallic tune: Following the design of the beautiful Spinn—although more conservative than their experimental products—the new iRiver cellphone also has a brushed metal look, featuring both a pad as a controlling device and a large touchscreen, which supports handwriting recognition and multiple dictionaries. More »

Sony Ericsson Claims 20MP Photography, HD Video Recording in 2012 Phones

At the behest of Sony Ericsson, the newest, dumbest megapixel war is officially upon us — and this time it's in cell phones. In an ambitious presentation about the future of handset technology, the company made a point of throwing out a target for 12-20MP for it's phone cameras, along with the capability to record HD video, to be met in 2012. We've seen that compact HD video recording is attractive and plausible, but years of relentless digital camera advertising has taught us that tons of megapixels does not a decent camera make. More »

Google Adding Text Messaging To Gchat in Gmail

Those of you who use Gchat through Gmail can now send text messages to mobile phones. The function is experimental, so you have to go to the Labs tab inside of Gmail's settings (or click on that little green flask icon) to turn it on. Your messages will appear as a 406 number—once you've sent a text through gmail, that'll be your specific number. AIM's had this feature for a while, so it's not surprising that Google would implement it as well. Text your friends! See how it goes! [Webmonkey]

Sprint CEO: Android Is Not Good Enough for Sprint (Yet)

CEO Dan Hesse, whom you may remember from those classy black-and-white commercials on the teevee, recently told the National Press Club that as it stands, he doesn't think Android is "good enough to put the Sprint brand on it." Sure, he probably just meant that he'd like to see Android's kinks ironed out before Sprint puts out a handset of their own, since he has committed to support Google's OS in the future. It's a little surprising coming from Sprint, given their close ties with HTC, but once Android gets a little more polished, we're sure Sprint will jump into the fray. [Reuters]

Philips Luxe Bluetooth MP3 Player Is Simultaneously Bare-Bones and Feature-Packed

The sparkly, diamond-esque Philips Luxe mp3 player is a tale of contradictions. On the one hand, it's an mp3 player with a mere 2GB of memory, a scant 10 hours of battery life, a one-line LCD screen, and an expected price of around $90. On the other hand, it's a feature-packed Bluetooth 2.1 headset, providing 100 hours of standby time, an FM radio, and excellent sound quality. More »

T-Mobile G1's POP3/IMAP Email Is Down

Over on the T-Mobile forums, there's a massive thread about the G1's totally borked POP3/IMAP email service. Looks like receiving, sending, and even just checking email results in a nasty connection error for just about everyone (one user estimates 95%). A T-Mobile representative posted in the thread, and while it looks like they're actively working on the problem, there doesn't seem to be a fix yet. More »

Diseases Not Yet Associated with Cell Phone Use

A British Association of Dermatologists' study showed that the levels of nickel found in cell phones can cause dermatological problems for many cell phone users. As many as 33% of people are at least slightly allergic to nickel, and nearly half of the 22 cell phones tested had levels that could affect those poor souls. Luckily, the allergy causes friendly, non-fatal dermatitis: itchy skin and a mild rash, easily healed with a topical steroid cream. I feel like cell phones get a bad rap, since even jewelry can cause the same reaction, so here's an encouraging list of diseases you definitely won't get from your phone. More »

BlackBerry Bold Launches on AT&T October 27th! Probably!

Boy Genius Report, they of the relentlessly reliable spy-network at RIM, is announcing with a lot of certainty that the long-awaited BlackBerry Bold will be released on AT&T on October 27th. A late-October release date would be in line with this leaked AT&T press release and, interestingly, only one day off from this Best Buy leak. It's been a long road to the Bold's release, plagued with delays and quality concerns, so it's good to finally see that finish line. [BGR]

You Are Not Rich, Sophisticated, or Handsome Enough to Own the Tag Heuer Meridiist Phone

Watchmaker Tag Heuer has put up a teaser video for their forthcoming Meridiist phone, and boy is it a slap in the face to everyday Joe Sixpacks like you and me. More »

Art Lebedev Develops WiMax, Tri-Band GSM Handset

Earlier this month Russian carrier Scartel partnered with Samsung to bring a WiMax network to around 20 million potential customers in Moscow and St. Petersburg. They have big plans on expanding that network throughout the country, so it only made sense to turn to Russia's premier design team at Art Lebedev to develop a flagship headset to take advantage of the WiMax rollout. What they have come up with is a hot looking WiMax, Wi-Fi and triple-band GSM capable handset with a 850 x 480 screen (most likely touch), dual cameras, a five-position joystick and a microSD slot. Again, this device is only in the design stage and there is no word on what OS it will run, but things are definitely looking good for Russian mobile users so far. More »

LG Renoir Surfaces; Shows Off Touchscreen, 8MP Camera, Fingerprints

We brought you a shiny stock image of LG's Viewty successor, the Renoir, back in August, and today we're bringing you the requisite fingerprint-laden in the wild photos (with watermarks!). They give a more accurate depiction of this puppy's 8MP monster, complete with Schneider-Kreuznach certified optics, xenon flash and ISO up to 1600. There's a phone in there too, with quad-band GSM, a 3-inch touchscreen, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0, and Wifi. The Renoir will be available sometime in October. Maybe they'll take that plastic band off the outside by then. [Toys and Gadgets via BGR]

LG VX9600, Little Brother to the Dare, Passes FCC Testing

LG's VX9600 has finally gotten the go-ahead from the FCC and may appear on Verizon shelves everywhere soon. Though information is scarce, the phone will have Bluetooth, an MP3 player, a 2 megapixel camera and a 3-inch 480x240 pixel TFT touchscreen. Verizon is allegedly planning to market it as a lower-end, and thus cheaper, version of its iPhone contender, the Dare. Neither company has officially announced the phone yet so no word on pricing or availability. [Phone Arena]

Willcom Kuma Phone Puts the Cellphone Inside the Teddy Bear

Here's an idea: people gesticulating wildly with their hands-free headsets already look crazy—why not capitalize on our nation's love of all things crazy and cute by putting a cellphone inside of an, oh, i don't know, a teddy bear! So went a recent design meeting at Japanese firm Willcom apparently, who was showing their $500 Kuma (bear) Phone concept at the recent Good Design Expo in Tokyo. Kuma takes an embedded SIM card and has assignable speed dial points on each paw, which you dial by squeezing. And of course, to accept and hang up calls, you squeeze its ass. Of course. [Trends in Japan]