Half of the would-be buyers are probably holding out for the N97 at this point, but for what it's worth, the first S60 5th Edition device is ready to rock in the UK this month. Starting January 23, 5800 XpressMusics will be shipping for £249 (about $377) -- while Moscow residents are already totally over with it and onto the next great thing, by the way, and North Americans can keep right on lusting for a few more months. Love that launch stagger.

[Via All About Symbian]

LG finally figured out how to do a watch phone that doesn't make us physically ill, and fortunately, the company's CTO happened to be sporting one at the press conference today. Head on over to Engadget to check out the very device that -- let's face it -- will probably be on your wrist later this year.

If you thought Vodafone or Telefonica would somehow emerge as a big winner in China's 3G spectrum launch... well, yeah, think again. China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom have now been armed with licenses for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA (UMTS and HSPA that is), and CDMA2000 / EV-DO, respectively, meaning the world's largest carrier will be rolling out China's homegrown 3G standard -- not to say Unicom's or Telecom's footprints will be anything to sneeze at, either. In fact, in the long term, it's suggested that Unicom and Telecom will actually be able to grow faster since they're using standards that other countries have actually heard of, but for the next few years, Mobile's still the safe bet if you absolutely, positively must have the most insane Chinese coverage available.

[Via mocoNews]

Now that we have serious buy-in from a major phone manufacturer to bring watch phones to market, we're just going to go ahead and say it: the Dick Tracy era has begun. LG's just announced that the GD910 will start production later in 2009, featuring 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Bluetooth, speakerphone, video calling, voice recognition, an integrated music player, and a touchscreen in case those three side-mounted buttons don't cut it. We hope to have a hands-on shortly!

Been holding on to that now-antique EDGE device to keep from extending your contract with AT&T? Well, if you've been experiencing some sluggishness -- and not just general EDGE sluggishness, mind you -- you might have more to blame than just those recent outages. Open for Business reports that AT&T has been quietly lowering EDGE signal strength to give more 3G love to all you iPhone 3G and Bold users. To add to the shadiness of the situation, AT&T reps are all offering up the same solution -- buy a 3G device. Unsurprisingly, AT&T's Mark Siegel has denied Open for Business's claims, and says that the mega-carrier is not requiring anyone to switch to a 3G phone. We'll put on our Sherlock Holmes outfits and try to do some digging, but it's not like we actually expect these guys to admit to a move that would definitely lead to a lot of backlash.

[Via MobileBurn]

If you took a Touch Diamond and put it one of those tumblers you had when you were a kid that you use to polish cool-looking rocks you found in your backyard, you'd probably get something like this. The Iolite -- not "Lolite" as we'd previously thought -- appears to rip the Touch Diamond's basic form factor from this tiny lil' image that's been leaked on Expansys, but steps down to a WQVGA display from VGA. On the upside, Europeans still get their 7.2Mbps HSDPA fix, TouchFLO 3D and AGPS make it through unscathed, and the 3.2-megapixel cam carries over. No official announcement on this one, but seeing how the radio is Euro-focused, we'd expect it at MWC next month.

[Via Cellpassion]

3.5's the magic number with Pharos' new Windows Mobile-based offering: 3.5-inch display -- wide VGA, no less -- and 3.5G data. The Traveler 137 rolls deep with the best HTC has to offer (owing in no small part to their ODM partnership with Inventec, we figure) with 512MB of Flash, 256MB of RAM, AGPS, 7.2Mbps HSPA on T-Mobile USA (seriously!) and European bands, WiFi, 3-megapixel cam, and the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure. Kinda sounds like a keyboardless X1, doesn't it? Look for it to hit retailers this quarter for a nickel under $600.

It's been tough getting out of the starting gate for Sony Ericsson's X1a (that's the Americanized version of the X1), particularly when you realize that it was supposed to ship en masse way back on Black Friday of last year. Oh sure, a select few have managed to procure one of the QWERTY-packin' WinMo powerhouses, but we've heard far more complaints about "no stock" than tips on excess inventory. Now, however, SonyStyle.com has the handset listed as in stock, with an estimated ship date of tomorrow. Furthermore, UnwiredView is reporteding that many of Sony's retail locations are also well stocked with the unlocked smartphone. Of note, SonyStyle is offering up the X1a in silver, but there's always spray paint if you're lusting after a black model like the one we tried out.

[Via UnwiredView]

We'd never pegged the S740 as the kind of phone HTC would be looking to bring to the New World; it's an oddball by modern Windows Mobile standards, shucking the touchy, feely trend for a traditional numeric keypad that reminds us of a simpler, more innocent time. Miracles can and do happen from time to time, though -- and on that note we give you the S743, a dead ringer for the S740 that's had its Euro-friendly 3G gutted and replaced with HSDPA 850 / 1900 for North American use. It's got WinMo 6.1 Standard, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, and faceted styling inspired by the Touch Diamond, but the S743's real claim to fame is its slide-out QWERTY keyboard for those moments when triple-tapping and predictive text just aren't going to cut it. Look for this sucker to invade US retailers some time this quarter.

When you're reviewing a phone dominated by an unusually weighty image sensor that dominates the spec sheet, you can bet that cam is going to get an extra-thorough rundown. MobileBurn put Sony Ericsson's beastly C905 slider through its paces, and as you might expect, it produced some pretty awesome pictures -- as cellphones go, at least -- with a full-featured camera interface that seems to throw some validity behind the handset's Cyber-shot branding. There was some weirdness with vivid colors that seemed to be a fault of the review unit, and the geotagging functionality didn't really work, but if you just want to produce decent images that you can blow up and plaster to a dorm wall, this sucker should do the trick. A xenon flash, HSDPA, and serviceable signal and sound quality all conspire to make it a workable choice dubbed "Highly Recomended" by the site. Alright, yeah, count us in.

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.

The first time an unruly kid acts up in school, you just throw him in detention. The second time, you tell him to find another institution to be educated at. The same theory apparently holds true in the mobile realm, as Orange has had just about enough of the BlackBerry Bold's inexplicable hang-ups. A recent writeup over at the Telegraph has it that the carrier could be mulling the outright removal of the RIM handset from its lineup entirely. Why? Because of "ongoing technical issues" even after the phone was pulled once and re-released with an updated firmware. It's also noted that return rates for the Bold were well above the average, which is a surefire way to get yourself yanked from the lineup. We'd say that Orange loyalists better get their Bolds while they still can, but then again, maybe that's not the best idea after all.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Ready for a little AWS 3G action via USB stick? Oh, yeah? Then have a look at what just landed in the FCC's database: Huawei's UMG181. The USB mobile broadband modem should operate just fine on T-Mobile's US network, pulling down gigabyte after gigabyte onto your laptop and / or desktop. Outside of that, details are remarkably scant, but we reckon it won't be long before it's up for sale on the carrier's own site.

Pardon us a second while we fan away some of this sweat, but Sony Ericsson's C510 Kate is looking mighty, mighty fine. DailyMobile has graciously hosted up a gaggle of hands-on images, and we're not sure if it's the brushed aluminum or the brushed aluminum, but something about this thing definitely has a hold on us. Swoon over the images yourself -- they're waiting for ya right there in the read link.

[Via SEMC Blog]