Filed under: Handsets, Others, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA Welp, that didn’t take long. Just a few months after TerreStar announced that it had completed its first call on the new bird, the revived sat phone provider has now announced the first dual-mode smartphone for AT&T. Granted, we knew these two would be holding hands in the near future, but it’s still refreshing to see the Genus hit the landscape.

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, EV-DO, CDMA, Android Now that the Sholes has seemingly been gifted with a less bizarre, less reminds-us-of-a-shoe-insert name, pictures and specs of the so-called Tao are starting to flow en masse — just in time for a possible introduction at next week’s CTIA show out in San Diego (we can only hope, anyway). The first round of in-the-wild shots really didn’t reveal much of anything, but the cameraman has elected to apply just enough wide-angle this time around to give us a full-on view of the high-end Android beast in its closed position — and if this is what we’re going to be getting on Verizon shelves, HTC (and heck, even Moto’s own CLIQ) should be on high alert. So, who’d switch to Verizon for this

Filed under: Virgin Mobile Last year, MetroPCS kicked off the respectably ballsy practice of inviting competitors’ subscribers to bring their CDMA phones over to get flashed for use on its network, prompting Virgin — a carrier that plays in the same value space as MetroPCS — to take issue. Long story short, Virgin ended up filing a lawsuit against MetroPCS citing a couple claims: one, that MetroPCS is willfully interfering with Virgin’s customer contracts, and two, that the flashing ultimately results in a trademark violation since Virgin’s logo is still on the phone.

Filed under: Multimedia, Peripherals, Misc “Game changing” is thrown around way too frequently these days, but man, this thing just might be.

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA We’ve long suspected that the Storm 2 would be bowing in the next couple months, within earshot of the original Storm’s one-year anniversary — and new evidence suggests that even if we can’t get an actual device in October, we’ll at least be able to make clicking sounds with our mouths as we amble around a non-functional display unit (you laugh, but it’s our idea of a good Saturday night). Boy Genius Report has been slipped a Best Buy inventory screen — a familiar sight in the phone scooping world — that reports an in-stock date for Storm 2 dummies of October 25. Those dummy units can end up arriving before or after the actual phones, and considering that we’ve seen other evidence pointing to an October launch, this could be the real deal

Filed under: Software, HTC, T-Mobile, Android This is totally out of left field, but TmoNews (which tends to have a pretty solid track record when it comes to all things T-Mobile) is claiming that “select” G1s will be receiving Android 1.6 “Donut” starting… well, right about now

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Nokia, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA There’s a certain joy, an undeniable stress release associated with heaving your phone directly at a wall. Of course, your average handset isn’t likely to respond favorable to that kind of maneuver, so you might want to pick up something that makes boastful claims about its ability to stand up to shock, vibration, and all the other ails of an abusive relationship with its owner — something like the Motorola Barrage, for instance. The Barrage is a mil-spec 810F that can tolerate submersion in a meter of water for half an hour, dust, baking in the sun, and everything in between, giving Casio’s place at the top of the rugged food chain on Verizon a run for its money.

Filed under: Handsets, Others, CDMA Call it a cool idea, call it ridiculous, call it a one-off novelty — whatever the case, Verizon’s unique Razzle will be hitting stores next week.

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, GSM, EDGE, EV-DO, HSDPA, UMTS, CDMA, BlackBerry OS If you’ve had you eye on the Tour, we bet you didn’t forget they were going on sale today — but just in case you had, consider this your official reminder. Both carriers are now offering RIM’s latest and greatest CDMA BlackBerry for $199.99 on contract, so you’re probably not going to see a lot of defections between carriers this time around. Pardon us if we don’t shed a tear for the lack of exclusivity on this one.

Filed under: Handsets, RIM, Sprint, EV-DO, CDMA, BlackBerry OS We know you.