The last time we heard about Bell and Telus (NYSE: TU)’ plans to jump over to HSPA (3G) before moving to LTE (4G),  the two Canadian carriers were eyeballing a 2010 switch, but rumour has it they’re trying to get onto the GSM bus this fall in order to support the iPhone as soon as possible. A Telus spokesperson stuck to their guns for 2010, and given it’s generally prudent to adopt a “later than sooner” outlook for release dates of this magnitude, I’d tend to agree with the date. Still, wishful thinking and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s ability to light a fire under a carrier’s ass dictates the sooner Telus and Bell can pick up the iPhone, the better. We had heard Rogers (NYSE: RCI) and Apple weren’t on what you’d call friendly terms lately, so it’s entirely possible that the iPhone is looking to spread out its wings a little bit, even if it’s only out of spite.

[via The Star]

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Say what you will about Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) products being over-hyped hunks of aluminum and silicon. At the end of the day, Apple is laughing all the way to the bank. It seems demand for the latest iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, is still out-pacing supply by a fair margin. The shortage has prompted Apple to bring back their iPhone availability tool, which allows iPhone hopefuls to check iPhone inventories at their local Apple Store before hopping in the car.

iPhone 3GS availability in California

Daily checks on Apple’s iPhone availability tool indicate that iPhone 3GS shipments are indeed coming fast and hard. But, Apple just doesn’t seem to be able to replenish some iPhone 3GS inventories fast enough to keep shelves stocked. The entry-level White 16GB iPhone 3GS is apparently selling out the fastest in many California Apple Stores. The White 32GB iPhone 3GS is also proving to be one hot ticket – there are more White 32GB iPhone 3GS’s with red dots than Black 32GB iPhone 3GS’s. The Apple Store in the Beverly Center, Los Angeles is even showing (at the time of this writing) an across-the-board depletion of iPhone 3GS inventory!

Ye old iPhone 3GS hopefuls, take heed. Check iPhone 3GS availability in your ‘hood before making the trip to your local Apple Store. Lest you get there to find out your iPhone 3GS has been sold-out for a couple days.

Apple iPhone 3GS availability tool

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A little over a year ago, we heard about TerreStar working on a satellite-capable Windows Mobile handset, and have simply been awaiting on a satellite launch to for the phone to play with. Well, that puppy will be in orbit on July 1st., shortly after which the phone will be available on AT&T (NYSE: T). The pricetag will purportedly be in the $700 range unsubsidized, and will hopefully cost less than $1/minute, which is the current going rate for satellite calls. That’s not too crazy, considering it’s going to space, but you’ll also have quad-band GSM and dual-band WCDMA to rely on if you happen to be within the reach of terrestrial networks. The phone will be sold primarily to local and federal government officials who need coverage in remote areas, so don’t expect it to be available in retail any time soon.

[via PCWorld]

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J2ME is the most highly deployed application platform that exists today. Any mobile phone with a color screen and two soft keys, even the one that has been living in that back of your desk drawer since Clinton’s second term, probably has support for J2ME applications. Some of the best J2ME apps are Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps, Google Mail and Opera Mini and … well that’s all. Making money off writing J2ME applications is close to impossible, just ask any developer. Smart phone operating systems are where the cash money is, but don’t tell that to Nokia (NYSE: NOK), who just released version 2.0 of their Java runtime for S60.

It’s beta, so excuse the bugs, but it only runs on S60 5th Edition, and from the first two comments from Tommi Vilkamo’s blog post, people are complaining about the large amount of internal memory the installation requires. This new version is supposed to allow one click installs, reduced application load times, and increased performance. Fascinating, but what about making those engineers work on something important like the next version of Symbian or making Ovi suck less?

Is there something wrong with today’s J2ME engine? Not really!

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Scott Weiss, User Interface Technology Manager for The Symbian Foundation, recently said that S60 5th edition, the version that you see on current touch devices shipping from Nokia (NYSE: NOK) such as the N97 and 5800, is a temporary solution and things will change rather soon.

Back in April, the Symbian foundation blog said these two things will be included in Symbian^4 which is supposed to be feature complete this time next year, and be final by the end of 2010:

• A new “Orbit” extension library for Qt, which contains more than 50 widgets tailored for mobile user experience, and which will provide a replacement for the existing “Avkon” widget set.
• A new “Direct UI” interaction and navigation logic, combined with finger-optimised layouts offering excellent touch and hybrid-device user experience.

Krzysztof Choma, who is now unemployed, but used to be a Senior Software Engineer at Nokia for 3 months, and before that a Senior Software Engineer for Symbian for 2 years, confirms that the decision to kill Avkon, which is the codename for Nokia’s flavor of S60, has not yet been made and goes through the pros and cons of switching to Direct UI. The pros for taking Avkon behind the barn and putting a bullet in it’s brain are many: it’s old, maintaining it is costly and starting from scratch to compete with Palm (NSDQ: PALM) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is tempting. The cons: developers would have to rewrite their applications. Well boo hoo!

Direct UI, the replacement for Avkon, is built on top of Qt from what I can tell, and creating a Hello World application in Qt on Symbian takes 10 lines of code, where as for Avkon you have to import multiple classes and create several files.

Conclusion after all that technomumbojumbo: Touch versions of S60 are still going to look like the same S60 from 2002 when the Nokia 7650 came out, and Symbian is not going to be competitive, in the UI/UX department, until the end of 2010. Expect devices with the new UI to probably hit in 2011. When Steve Jobs said the iPhone was 5 years ahead of it’s time, he was not kidding.

[Screenshot above via SlashGear]

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The proof is in the tweet from Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Conversations:

Will the keyboard still suck? Yes.

Will the UI reach closer to iPhone parity? Hell no.

Will Nokia issue a press release saying how awesome it is that new software can be downloaded wirelessly to expand the features of their flagship multimedia computer? Maybe.

[Via: Nokia Experts]

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Robin Zhu, who is now the Founder and the Creative Director of RIGO Design, used to be the Visual UX Lead for Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) between 2004 and 2008. He plans to launch a personal site on September 9, 2009 (09.09.09) to showcase his portfolio, but Chinese site hxxland managed to get a sneak peak.

Remember the supposed leak of Windows Mobile 7 screenshots? Robin’s “concept art” looks remarkably similar. I’m of the few who think Microsoft can stage a come back, especially after looking at what they’ve done with the Zune HD. We can only hope that some sort of talent can cross pollinate between the Zune and Windows Mobile teams. Having Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Palm (NSDQ: PALM) compete over the best new UI is one thing, having the big boys, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft, duke it out is another thing all together.

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Looks like BGR has managed to get his hands on an internal document/memo from Bell. Yesterday it was dummy devices and promo materials, today we have this! You can check out full details of the document after the jump… But for now a confirmed launch of the Bell BlackBerry Tour will come July 17th, with full retail set at $699.95. Expensive for sure, but keep in mind that’s full retail. If you’re willing to sign your life away for three years, you may be able to get the Tour for somewhere in the $200 – $250 region. We’ll see.

Again, contents of the document after the jump >

Effective date  July 17, 2009

Offer description

Go places with the newest global BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) smartphone. The BlackBerry Tour 9630, features not only 3G technology, but also a 3.2MP camera, high resolution screen, GPS capability, and support for popular applications such as Facebook®. This next generation global smartphone gives you the power to do more of the things that matter to you.

The feature highlights and available services of the BlackBerry Tour 9630 are:

• Global smartphone: Get voice coverage in over 200 countries and data functionality in over 150 countries.
• High resolution screen: The HVGA (480×360) screen along with an integrated lens design offers a clear, brilliant view that stays bright and vivid over time.
• View & edit attachments: Enjoy the flexibility of working on Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)® Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® files from just about anywhere.
• Organizer: Integrated address book, calendar, memo pad and task list – Email, message and place phone calls directly from one centralized address book. Set up meetings using the calendar and easily add attendees through the address book.
• GPS Nav & BlackBerry Maps: Access Turn by Turn Navigation and 3D moving maps. Locate nearby businesses and services using the Local Search feature.
• Rich Multimedia: 3.2 MP camera with flash, auto focus & image stabilization. Surf the internet at 3G speeds and view the pages in full HTML format.

The BlackBerry Tour 9630 box includes:

• 3G BlackBerry® Tourâ„¢ 9630 global smartphone.
• Travel charger.
• Micro USB cable.
• Removable battery.
• Stereo headset.
• Quick Start guide.
• BlackBerry desktop software CD.
• User guide.
• SIM card.
• BlackBerry holster.

The table below outlines the pricing and agreement rebates for the BlackBerry Tour 9630:

BlackBerry Tour 9630    36 Month / 24 Month / 12 Month / 30 Day
Suggested Retail Price     $699.95 / $699.95 / $699.95 / $699.95
Agreement Rebate ISPR   $200.00 / $150.00 / $50.00 / $0.00
Client Price    $499.95 / $549.95 / $649.95 / $699.95

Always refer to the latest Pricing Grid for complete and most up to date pricing information.

The table below shows the English and French description and the SKU of the BlackBerry Tour 9630:

Description     SKU
English French
RIM, BlackBerry, Tour, 9630, Black -HL  RIM, BlackBerry, Tour, 9630, noir -HL   68194

Key Dates:

• SKU opening: ready for ordering on Product Zone on June 30, 2009.
• Shipping date: will begin shipping to all stores week of July 13, 2009.
• Dealer launch kits:  begin shipping the week of July 6, 2009.  If you have not received your launch kit by July 17, 2009, please contact your Regional Manager. Please ensure that mock mobile phones are displayed in time for July 17, 2009.

• Stay connected almost anywhere in the world.
• Communicate quickly and easily with a full QWERTY keyboard.
• The Tour’s evolved form factor is sleek & equipped with the latest BlackBerry features and most recent software (4.7).
  • Enhanced browsing (improved web page rendering).
  • Faster attachment downloading.
  • Improved multimedia capabilities (more media formats supported).
  • Geo-tagging functionality (attach location to photos taken).

Reasons to buy the BlackBerry Tour 9630 smartphone:

• The BlackBerry Tour is a global smartphone allowing clients to bring the full power of the industry’s leading mobile email and messaging solution in over 150 countries.
• The BlackBerry Tour’s view & edit capabilities of attachments lets clients enjoy the flexibility of working on Microsoft® Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® files from just about anywhere.
• The BlackBerry Tour allows clients to surf the internet at 3G speeds and view the pages in full HTML format.

Reasons to sell the BlackBerry Tour 9630 smartphone:

• The high-resolution screen makes video playback sharp and smooth. These features make it easy to wow prospective clients by playing a video clip or by browsing through pictures.
• The BlackBerry Tour’s rich multimedia including a 3.2 MP camera with flash, auto focus and image stabilization allows clients to take the perfect picture anywhere.
• The BlackBerry Tour’s organizer allows clients to stay organized with an integrated address book, calendar, memo pad and task list. Clients can email, message and place phone calls directly from one centralized address book.

[Via: BGR]

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