Word has it that the much awaited BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be arriving in a whole bunch of other countries, including our beloved US. The Germans have it better though since they have already received their Curve, but it would be interesting to see whether the 44th President of the United States will jump on the BlackBerry bandwagon with the Curve 8900. Just to recap, the Curve 8900 will come with the following :-

• 480 x 360 resolution display
• 512MHz processor
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• Quad-band EDGE
• GPS navigation
• Wi-Fi connectivity

Darn it - our friends across the pond have it better yet again with T-Mobile Germany releasing its BlackBerry 8900 today, offering a much more improved performance over the original BlackBerry Pearl. This new Curve model will feature the following just in case you forget what it offers :-

• 480 x 360 resolution display
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• GPS navigation
• 3.2 megapixel camera
• DivX and XviD support

Our sister site Uberphones have caught a glimpse of the upcoming O2 XDA Zest, and discovered the following features available :-

• VGA display
• HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity
• 3 megapixel camera with autofocus
• Bluetooth support
• 256MB internal memory
• 128MB RAM
• microSD memory card slot

OpenMoko's upcoming GTA02 Android-powered handset will somewhat resemble their previous effort, the Neo FreeRunner. Word on the street has it that the GTA02 will feature the following :-

• 2.8" 640 × 480 touch screen display
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Bluetooth support
• Three-axis accelerometer
• 400-500MHz processor
• 128MB RAM
• 256MB NAND Flash
• A-GPS or GPS
• 4-in-1 laser pen

Sprint is finally offering the HTC Touch Pro for $299 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a two-year contract. Sounds good, although some of you might not take up the package since the rebate requires you pick up the Everything plan, Data Premier add-on, or PRO Pack add-on. Of course, most people getting this phone in order to take advantage of its features will definitely make full use of the data function, making it a no-brainer to pick up one of those mentioned data plans. Are you going to get yourself a HTC Touch Pro for the holidays?

Just when you thought the world has turned upside down with the insane price of a BlackBerry Bold, Rogers in Canada shows the world they have some cool heads there, making this smartphone available for just $199.99 - and it is accompanied by a $50 gift card, to boot! This promotion will end on November 27, so if you're living in the Great White North and want to pick up a new phone for yourself this holiday season, you can't really go wrong with this offer - presumably you're all right with a 3-year contract.

The HTC Opal has landed on FCC shores, and from what we can gather, it features 850/1900 GSM support and EDGE capability, so there really isn't any good reason for any of us to wet our pants here. Guess the HTC Opal will be but an entry level smartphone, and we can continue to mourn the fact that the HTC Touch HD is not going to make it to US shores - legally, at least. No idea on when the HTC Opal will be released though, nor how much will it cost.

The BlackBerry Bold costs only $169.41 to manufacture, and customers who have already picked one up will surely give themselves a good kick in the pants knowing that they paid a whole lot more for it. For instance, those living in Canada and are using the Bold thanks to Rogers would have forked out around US$337, and this even after tying yourself down to a contract. Imagine just how much more you are paying for the Bold if it came as a contract-free handset? Well, RIM still has to make money somewhere, but this leaves us wondering just how much is the average profit margin for the smartphone industry where hardware costs are concerned.

BestBuy.com is now offering the BlackBerry Bold without a contract, although you will need to pay through your nose for it - they're asking for $679.99 if you want to bring this puppy home and show it off to your friends and family. This is a stark contrast should you decide to ink a 2-year deal with AT&T instead, paying less than half at $299.99. Which option will you go for?

Those living in the UK who are looking forward to the HTC Touch HD will only be able to get it from Orange UK, and folks who want to bring one home will have to fork out £79.99 for an 18 month contract that requires a minimal charge of £40 each month from early next month onwards. This package also includes the option of anytime mobile Internet browsing, although you are capped at a mere 250MB across the span of a month. Bummer. As for friends living in France and Romania, Orange will also make the HTC Touch HD available in both countries a few months from now.

HP is back with a couple more smartphones from their iPAQ range - this time round we have the DataMessenger and VoiceMessenger handsets. The former somewhat resembles the HTC Touch Pro with its slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and will come with a 2.8" display, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, Wi-Fi and HSDPA support, quad-band GSM, aGPS, a 3.1 megapixel camera and a microSD memory card slot. As for the VoiceMessenger, you will find a smaller 2.4" display and a SureType keyboard of sorts. You ought to be able to pick up the VoiceMessenger and DataMessenger for €399 and €499, respectively, this coming November via Vodafone if you're residing in the Netherlands.

Word has it that RIM will be rolling out its BlackBerry 9220 and 9900 smartphones sometime in the second half of next year - or at least that's what a Rogers Wireless roadmap says. Guess it will be a busy time for RIM, and hopefully these new releases won't tank like the BlackBerry Pearl Flip but instead pull up their share prices. AT&T and T-Mobile USA will follow Rogers' footsteps sometime next year as well, so now would be a good time to save if you want to get a new smartphone.

Procrastinators, sit up and pay attention! Those who own HTC devices that are currently running on Windows Mobile 5 will only have a few more days left before HTC pulls out the free Windows Mobile 6 ROM upgrade from their website. Halloween is the deadline, so users of the HTC S621, HTC S620, HTC P4350, HTC P3300 and HTC Advantage had better start downloading lest they wallow in a sea of regret (or purchase a brand new Windows Mobile 6 device).

RIM stocks have taken a battering of approximately 10%, hitting the $50 region after analysts from Pacific Crest Securities issued a pessimistic outlook on poor sales of the latest T-Mobile BlackBerry 8220. Do you think the impending BlackBerry Storm will be able to help RIM get back on their feet? Guess the BlackBerry Pearl Flip ain't really what the market is looking for, which means those market research guys at RIM ought to beef up that department with a little bit more savvy folk who are in tune with what the market wants.