If these fine specimens look familiar, well, they should -- one's already been announced (albeit on a different carrier) and the other two have been thoroughly scooped. Motorola's CES haul includes the eco-tastic Renew W233, a simple candybar destined for T-Mobile that features a neutral carbon footprint and components made of recycled water bottles; the Tundra VA76r, a rugged 3G flip with push-to-talk that previously launched on Rogers and has its sights set on AT&T this time around for a January 13 release; and the headliner of the bunch, the SURF A3100. The WinMo 6.1-based SURF -- alias A3000, alias Atila -- features a full 2.8-inches of touchscreen adorned with a custom skin designed by Moto, 7.2Mbps triband HSDPA, a 3-megapixel autofocus cam, AGPS, and support for microSD cards up to a purely theoretical 32GB in size. Though the radio is fully equipped for North American action, no stateside launch is in the cards just yet; for now, you'll find the SURF in Asian markets before the quarter's out.

[Via Phone Scoop]

Okay, yes, we were mad skeptical that the Agora would ever see the light of day, and you know what? This is one situation where we're absolutely delighted to be proven wrong. Kogan's homegrown Android handset just got pictured in the wild -- the first time we've seen anything but a render -- on its way to a supposed CES debut. Rest assured: if it's really going to be meandering around Vegas this week, we will hunt it down.

Following a good half year of courtship while the regulatory miscellany ran its course, Verizon's finally ready to take the plunge and call this $5.9 billion deal done. The combined juggernaut will amass a staggering 78 million subscribers, putting it roughly 3 million ahead of its closest rival, AT&T, though it'll do so at the cost of assuming some $22.9 billion in Alltel debt. Ultimately, the merger means some positions at Alltel headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas will get axed -- but hey, AT&T Mobility HQ's just a stone's throw away in Atlanta, so Verizon's headcount loss could ultimately be AT&T's gain.

[Via Phone Scoop]

The writing's been on the wall for most of 2008, but it's now very, very official: UIQ is dead. The company's parents are unwilling (and / or unable) to pump any additional money into the failing software outfit, and considering that S60 has inherited the throne within the Symbian Foundation, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have abandoned the platform, and all of its employees have been warned of impending layoffs, there's really nothing left for UIQ to do than sell off its assets piecemeal to the highest bidders. We'd still give our right arm for a shot at a Paris, and with this fire sale coming on at UIQ HQ, who knows -- we might just have that shot after all.

Update: The bankruptcy filing is now official.

[Via Esato]

So, it didn't quite land before midnight as some had hoped, but we're sure you were partying too hard to notice. The Dev-Team just launched its long-awaited iPhone 3G unlock, dubbed "yellowsn0w," and while they're still working out a few kinks (terming this release a 0.9 beta release), reports are already pouring in of successful unlocks. It's also been confirmed that this release will work with the iPhone's latest v2.2 firmware, and in fact requires that the phone be updated to v2.2 to run at all -- much to the chagrin of folks who've held off on that update at the Dev-Team's behest, we're sure, but hopefully all will soon be forgotten in the new year... already freer than the last! Hit up the read link for download instructions and caveats.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Unfortunately, it seems yellowsn0w might be living up to its beta status, with plenty of commenters and others across the interwebs reporting problems getting "unlocked" iPhone 3Gs to pick up their preferred carrier. As always, proceed with caution, and prepare some loose papers that need weighting just in case.

We've already seen it go down unofficially, but we've received word from HTC today that Android's coveted "Cupcake" branch of updates and fixes -- or at least a majority of it -- will likely be making it to the G1 in the future as a legitimate over-the-air push. HTC isn't involved in deciding what updates get pushed to the G1 or when, but given the update cadence so far and the G1's support for Cupcake's capabilities, the company believes that it's just a matter of time before T-Mobile makes it happen. The timing is still a big question -- HTC's more or less out of the loop on the schedule, and it's up to Google and T-Mobile to figure out how it's going to play out. We'll keep you updated as we find out more!

Update: We pressed HTC spokespeople to give us a little more to go on, but got the standard "we can't comment on rumors or speculation" line. T-Mobile, Google, your move -- you've got plenty of folks waiting. A belated Festivus gift, perhaps?

Without a doubt, 2009 is destined to be the year of The Android. Samsung just announced its ticket to the party with a Q2 launch of its Android phones on both Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in the US. Apparently, the touch-screen device will be an adaptation of the Omnia (Korea's 800 x 480 pixel version please) and Instinct. In other words, a rectangle with a full-screen display and minimal set of buttons just like every other touchscreen device out there. In case you missed it, this game is no longer about the hardware.

[Via ModMyGphone, thanks Neerhaj]

Great googly moogly, we wrote about this very application like fifty weeks ago. Fifty, people! Of course, with the drawn-out SlingCatcher drama, lengthy Sling product cycles aren't a terribly big surprise, so we should just all thank our lucky stars we're going to be getting our hands on SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry before the year's out. The app officially enters its public beta cycle come December 30 for the Bold, the Curve 8320 / 8900, the Pearl 8120 / 8220, and the venerable 8820, piping your home teevee right to your handset and usurping any semblance of productivity your BlackBerry otherwise stands for. A 3G or WiFi connection is "strongly recommended" -- which we take to mean "go ahead, give EDGE a whirl" -- but BlackBerry OS 4.5 is a hard and fast requirement, so make sure you come equipped with the goods if you want to waste some quality time in front of the small screen when this goes live.

Well this has been a long time coming. It seems that the iPhone Dev-Team has finally done the impossible -- they've gone and unlocked the iPhone 3G. The hack isn't out yet (the team says they're shooting for a December 31st release), and it requires that you've got a baseband of 2.11.07 or earlier, but when it drops, the crew seems fairly confident it will result in freedom from carrier oppression. The team is packaging the app -- formerly codenamed "yellowsn0w" -- into a user-friendly app a la PwnageTool and QuickPwn. Of course, you know how this cat and mouse game goes by now, so don't be surprised when Jobs and company come calling with an update that adds toast making to the official menu, but breaks your breaks all over again.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Okay G1 owners, so here's the end-all answer to your data roaming quandaries. For those not caught up, there has been quite the hubbub going around about the G1's inability to not suck down data whilst traveling aboard. Allegedly, the handset would continue to digest pricey bits and bytes overseas even after users had selected that data roaming be disabled. Now, T-Mobile has issued an official response (posted in full after the break) to clear things up, and the gist of it is this: for users with a bone stock G1, the "Off" selection in data roaming should work fine, but third-party applications can essentially override this command and wreak havoc on one's phone bill. From the horse's mouth: "Some third-party applications available for download on Android Market require access to the internet and have the ability to turn on data roaming when in use. Customers are informed whether an application will use this feature prior to downloading, but should also be aware when traveling outside the country."

The Open Handset Alliance just made a major score with 14 more members: AKM Semiconductor Inc., ARM, ASUSTek Computer Inc. (previously rumored), Atheros Communications, Borqs, Ericsson, Garmin International Inc., Huawei Technologies, Omron Software Co. Ltd, Softbank Mobile Corporation, Sony Ericsson, Teleca AB, Toshiba Corporation and Vodafone. That's not quite everyone that matters, but pretty darn close. Were we to climb not-very-far onto the limb of conjecture, we might posit that Garmin might be looking at Andoid for its much-delayed nuviföne, or some sort of followup, while the emergence of an ASUS "Eee Phone" or a XPERIA X1 running Android (Sony Ericsson may very well be the biggest win here, consumer-wise) would be welcome moves from those manufacturers. We'd say at this point the holdouts are starting to stick out more than the actually OHA members, which spells good things for the industry no matter what specific hardware is the fruit of this relationship... but seriously guys, build us some more Android phones.

As mobile service providers ramp-up for the WiMAX vs. LTE battle, LG just announced a significant milestone: the world's first 3GPP LTE chip for cellphones and data cards. While theoretically capable of 100Mbps/50Mbps download/upload speeds, LG's 13 x 13-mm chip was able to demonstrate 60Mbps down and 20Mbps up, under what we can only assume to be controlled (read: optimum) conditions -- easily besting existing 7.6Mbps HSDPA networks. Great, too bad this isn't the year 2010 else we'd have a national LTE infrastructure (right!) and we'd all be driving plug-in hybrids (sure).

P.S. We don't know what those thin handsets are flanking the chips, but we doubt those are functional LTE devices. LG said that it used a "test terminal running Windows Mobile" to demonstrate its new chips. Could be data cards but we think we're seeing a volume rocker along the side. Check another pic after the break.

Oh, snap! Out of seemingly nowhere, Google has revealed the Android Dev Phone 1, a SIM- and hardware-unlocked G1 designed to be sold exclusively to hard working developers. The handset ships with a system image that's fully compatible with Android 1.0, and obviously, it complies with any SIM card and can "flash custom Android builds that will work with the unlocked bootloader." In other words, the mobile should seriously appeal to devs who live far, far away from areas blanketed with T-Mobile coverage. In order to get one, you must first register as an Android developer on the Android Market site (which involves a one-time $25 setup fee); once you're in, you simply surf over and nail the "Purchase" link. For $399 (including free shipping in the US of A), this swanky G1 -- custom back and all -- can be yours, and it's scheduled to ship in 18 international markets soon. Would it be too much to yell "snap!" again?

[Thanks, Ryan]

Lo and behold, Verizon's taken a break from releasing low-end Nokias for just long enough to officially release its first Storm update -- which just happens to be the same one that's been floating around on the interwebs for a few days now, 4.7.0.75. Anyone unwilling or unable to connect to their PC to nab the update can wait until 9:30 Pacific this evening, when it's said that an over-the-air version of the same software will hit the airwaves. Best of luck, upgraders!

[Via CNET]

Update: We've given the update a shot, and Mac users should be warned that there doesn't seem to be a good way of shoehorning the goods on to the phone at this point -- probably better off to wait for the OTA.