Oh, and speaking of Verizon, I got word today that we may be seeing another VZW handset or two thrown into the pot before Summer's over.  So Happy Friday and Happy July 4th from your friends at PhoneDog and LG!

The launch of the SE F305 gaming phone drew a few, "Hmm ... I thought a PSP phone was coming," comments from the media, but it seems that Sony may be looking to keep the PSP brand all to their selves.  The Marketing Week article cites an industry source as saying, "the relationship between Sony and Sony Ericsson has become 'frosty' and he adds that Sony has learned from its 'strategic error' of giving its Walkman branding to Sony Ericsson."

SE's profits were off almost 50% in Q1 of this year, and they've fallen into fifth place in the global handset market.  Whether or not Sony's looking to distance themselves from the Ericsson partnership remains to be seen, but a well-executed PSP phone could prove a big hit.  Look for it in time for Christmas '09, if Marketing Week is to be believed.

Users need to use Safari on iPhone to get to Google Talk. When you navigate away from the page on your web browser, status is set to unavailable, and the session restarts when you return. So, it's not as integrated as a downloadable app, but it'll do for a quick fix.

You can select from a list of the people you talk to the most, search your contacts, and manage multiple conversations.

$149's a nice price, but a three year contract?  Ouch.

MMS isn't a new technology by any means, but the first-gen iPhone doesn't have it.  Conventional wisdom says that Apple would just as soon have you use their Mobile Me online service, and not MMS messaging, for your photo sharing needs since Apple charges $100/year for Mobile Me.  But AT&T is laying out all kinds of cash to subsidize iPhone 3G's new, lower price, and they'd stand to recoup some of that money by way charging for iPhone MMS messages.

It's worth noting that the new iPhone plan does not include messaging of any sort (the "old" iPhone plan does).  Current AT&T messaging plans start at $5/month for 200 messages.  As with everything else iPhone 3G, all will become clear when the next-gen of Apple's mobile handset goes on sale July 11.

Features...

• 2 megapixel camera with flash
• Large QVGA main and external display
• Stereo bluetooth
• GPS navigation

I am personally grateful for the free Samsung Mobile Charging Station service, which I coincidentally took advantage of yesterday at one of the 51 charging stations in Los Angeles at LAX.

In addition to MSP, power thirsty and travelers desperate for a little battery boost can take advantage of Samsung's generosity at the following airports: JFK, LAX, LaGuardia, Orlando International and of course, Dallas/Fort Worth.

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

• iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
• Customers activating a new line with AT&T
• Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount

Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Current customers can also wait until they become eligible for the upgrade discount. Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.

Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans

• AT&T NationSM Unlimited: Includes unlimited Anytime Minutes for $129.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 1350: Includes 1350 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $109.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 900: Includes 900 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $89.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 450: Includes 450 Anytime Minutes and 5,000 Night & Weekend Minutes for $69.99 a month.

iPhone 3G goes on sale at AT&T retail stores at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11.

Looks like that July ship date is now looking more like August - even mid-August according to Boy Genius Report.  RIM showed Bold off at a press event in New York City Wednesday night (which I couldn't attend because I'm headed out to Montana for a wedding and mini-vacation, thankyouverymuch), and a RIM representative made it clear that the Bold was planned for an August launch all along.

"We didn't say anything about 'July' or 'August.' It will become available in August. So we're still on track for [availability] this summer," said Erik Van Drunen, RIM's PR manager, according to BetaNews.com.  Van Drunen also denied knowledge of purported overheating problems with the device.    "I don't know where that's coming from at all, but it's probably from somewhere in the blogosphere," he said. 

Dang those bloggers.

Set up to help web developers create more function-rich, user friendly and relevant applications, the initiative is designed to drive the use of data services on mobile.

Offered by Alltel as of June 30th for roughly $20, plus an additional $20 off with mail-in rebate.

But now a photo of Paris in a new color scheme - black and orange - has surfaced over on Just Another Mobile Phone Blog.  So what gives?  It's possible that this is a photo of a prototype built before SE decided to scrap the project, and it's possible that SE's going forward with Paris and just wasn't ready to announce the handset last week.  Many a blog post, comment, and forum entry decried Paris' rumored specs as not being robust enough for a modern smartphone, so it could well be that SE brass sent the device back to its engineering labs for a processor transplant before deeming it ready for the marketing folk.

Another $10 each month will get you unlimited SMS/MMS/Email/IM messaging on top of all of those minutes.  Looks like a pretty good deal for anyone who makes it a personal practice to avoid contractual agreements like the plague.

The 3G enabled BlackBerry 9000 sports the biggest and brightest display of any other BlackBerry to date. Key features include a 2.0 megapixel camera, GPS, Wifi, media player with improved stereo speakers, super fast 624MHz processer, MicroSD slot and "push"/attachment viewer e-mail client.

The Blackberry Bold is expected to be released to the U.S market sometime in July 2008.  Carrier availability has not been announced, but it's safe to assume that AT&T or T-Mobile will release the phone first, being that they are the two largest GSM carriers

Alltel's calling the plan the Internet Anywhere Bundle, and it rings up at $10/mo. more than their 3G only Internet plan.  I guess it's a decent buy if you use 3G on your handset a lot, but also rely on the faster speeds of WiFi for moving larger chunks of data around with your laptop.

We'll have to see how this all shakes after that Verizon purchase of Alltel goes through.

I no longer have a Sprint Touch and so can't personally vouch for this file, but from the comments on the XDA Developers forum and over at Engadget Mobile, it looks like this is the real deal and "is a breeze to install."  Proceed at your own risk, kids.

What's Not Good: "Full HTML" Web browser is disappointing; No IM support; No calendar synching; No support for user-created ringtones or background images on menu screens; No phone as modem support on mandatory Simply Everything plan

Bottom Line: Sprint's new flagship media phone is a very good device, even if I wish they'd skipped the whole "Instinct vs iPhone" marketing campaign.  The Web browser needs work and mobile IM addicts will be left in the cold by Instinct, but otherwise Instinct offers solid support across a huge variety of features and excellent implementation of GPS-based navigation and voice activated commands in particular.  Though plans start at a hefty $70/mo, if you use the unlimited data, navigation, and Sprint TV it's actually a good value.  And you can't beat the $129 price tag.

Specs:
Make/Model: Samsung Instinct (M800)
Network: CDMA 850 / 1900
Data: 1x EV-DO Rev. A (3G)
Carrier: Sprint
Size: 116 x 55 x 12.4 mm
Weight: 128 g
Form Factor: Candybar with Full Touchscreen
Display: 3.2" Color LCD, 240 x 432 resolution, 262,000 Colors
Memory:  32 MB built-in, microSD card slot, 2GB memory card included
Notable Features: GPS with navigation; Support for Sprint Music Store, Sprint TV, Streaming music services; Voice control system; First Sprint EV-DO Rev. A device for consumers

• iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
• Customers activating a new line with AT&T
• Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount

Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Current customers can also wait until they become eligible for the upgrade discount. Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.

Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans

• AT&T NationSM Unlimited: Includes unlimited Anytime Minutes for $129.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 1350: Includes 1350 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $109.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 900: Includes 900 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $89.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 450: Includes 450 Anytime Minutes and 5,000 Night & Weekend Minutes for $69.99 a month.

iPhone 3G goes on sale at AT&T retail stores at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11.