MobileCrunch seems to have acquired some new information about the rumored Samsung Galaxy Q. The Q will purportedly be an Android 2.2 powered, quad-band, GSM phone complete with a 7.2 Mbps HSDPA radio running on the 900 MHz, 1900 MHz, and 2100 MHz frequencies. The device will be driven by a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, and sport: a 3-inch Super AMOLED display (with multitouch), Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, 16 GB of internal storage, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, and weigh in at 3.8 ounces. The devices spec sheet closely resembles that of the Galaxy S, with improvements/additions to the operating system and camera(s). Looks like the Epic 4G will have some company in the high-end, Android, full-QWERTY market place!

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We have just received our very own Samsung Captivate device and have put together some first impressions as well as some great photos. The Samsung Galaxy S is launching in some form or fashion on practically every U.S. carrier, and AT&T’s model, the Captivate, is pretty action-packed. As far as specifications, the device is powered by a 1GHz CPU, 2GB 16GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel camera, Super AMOLED screen, and Android 2.1. As far as the hardware goes, the device is very, very thin, but comes across as feeling pretty cheap thanks to a, well, really cheap plastic casing. Samsung tries to add a little pizazz with the textured back battery cover, but honestly it gets lost in a sea of mediocrity. The display is top notch, though, very readable and usable in sunlight, with great colors. The blue default color scheme on here really pops with the contrasting deep black. As far as size, 4 inches of display seems like the perfect compromise between the gargantuan DROID X and EVO 4G and the smaller iPhone-sized handsets.

The Captivate seems very snappy, and it isn’t as molested as we’d figured it would be. You know, when mixing AT&T and Samsung together, well, we don’t tend to get pleasant thoughts about that collaboration. We’re not saying there isn’t enough AT&T-branded apps and content in here to make Andy Rubin nauseous, we’re just saying it’s more tolerable than we thought, and that’s a good thing for everyday usage. We’ll get started on our full review, but in the meantime check out some pretty pictures!

Click on over to our AT&T Samsung Captivate hands on gallery!

Update: After playing around a bit, it looks like AT&T has blocked the installation of non-Market apps, and we can’t find Google Navigation on here. Neither of those are big surprises, but hey, a guy can dream, right?

Update 2: We have received word from some AT&T sources and readers, and Google Navigation is actually supported on the Samsung Captivate. You have to update to the latest Google Maps through the Market, then enter an address to get driving directions to, and then you can click Navigate. There isn’t a separate Google Navigation application, but it can most definitely be accessed.

It looks like Bell won’t be the only Canadian carrier to offer the Samsung Wave. According to MobileSyrup, Rogers dealerships from coast to coast have begun receiving display units. So far pricing and a release date have not been communicated to employees, but with Bell expected to launch the Bada smartphone on July 8th, we can’t imagine that Rogers will be wanting to take its time.

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Lost in the hubbub surrounding smartphone powerhouses like the DROID X and iPhone 4 is the fact that the average person simply wants a phone that makes calls. To satiate this need, and throw in a few extra feature for good measure, T-Mobile today announced the immediate availability of the LG Sentio. An affordable device that brings to the table a 3″ touchscreen, 3 megapixel camera, visual voicemail and 3G connectivity. A UI with a set of customizable widgets as well as Social Buzz, an application that will not only handle your social media needs, but email as well. The LG Sentio from T-Mobile is available for $69.99 with an Even More plan, or $9 per month with Even More Plus.

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Did we nail it or what? Today Rogers announced the creation of chatr, the low-cost wireless brand we exclusively told you about last week. Created to serve what Rogers calls a “niche” market that is not currently served by its flagship and value brands Rogers Wireless and Fido, chatr will offer no contract voice and text plans as well as unlimited talk and text plans. Data is not a part of chatr’s game plan. According to Rogers, the big draw of chatr is not only its great plans, but that for the first time it gives urbanites who simply want to make calls and send texts affordable service from a “network they can trust.” We were pretty curious about the timing of this launch, what with WIND Mobile now being half a year old and Mobilicity having only been on the scene for six weeks, so we asked Rogers about it. Surprisingly, they were adamant that they could not care less what their competitors are doing or where it is they are operating. They were quick to point out that chatr has been one year in the making and that it actually designed to mimic business model that allowed MetroPCS to go from a small time carrier to the 5th largest in the United States. Sadly this was about as much extra information as we could squeeze out of Rogers. As much as they want to get chatr up and running today, they’ve still got a few more things to do behind the scenes before it launches by the end of summer. This means that they can’t get into specifics about when the network will launch. But as we have said before, thanks to our connects we know that Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Ottawa are a lock. Anyone planning to wait with baited breath?

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Good news for Koodo customers who have spare HSDPA phones lying around, as the Canadian carrier today announced that it is now fully supporting HSDPA handsets. Koodo, a value brand owned and operated by Telus, was launched in mid-2008. One of its main selling points is the “Tab” payment system. With the Tab, customers are able to get a new phone at a discounted rate and pay for it in monthly increments. When the balance is paid off, customers start earning a positive balance on their Tab which can be used towards the purchase of a new handset. Koodo didn’t single out any HSDPA devices in its press release, although for now it looks like the only HSDPA phone being offered is the Nokia 3710, which is priced at $25 on a Tab, or $125 outright.

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We told you last week that we’d be seeing more of the Nokia N9, and sure enough, a short little video overview of the device was published today. We’re not exactly sure how much there is to be learned from the video considering we know that the N9 will never ship with S60 (the OS it is seen running in the film), but at least we have video evidence that Nokia still knows how to make a solid piece of hardware. Hit the jump to check out the N9 in action.

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After away slaving for many months, AT&T announced today that it has completed its 3G network upgrades in the New York City region. Now a 7.2Mbps network that relies heavily on the urban-friendly 850MHz band, AT&T says that the reworked network should deliver “improved 3G wireless voice and data connectivity and performance, especially during peak hours.” To support these claims, AT&T notes that call quality has improved 47%, while data speeds have gone up 25%. So tell us, AT&T users in NYC. Have things improved, or are things still as bad as they ever were?

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The Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant has been a long time coming, but today an official release date and pricing were finally announced. As of July 21st, T-Mobile will be selling the Vibrant for $199.99, that price of course assuming a new 2-year contract. T-Mobile might have a bit of a tough sell on its hands considering that AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and even U.S. Cellular will be offering the Galaxy S in one form or another, but T-Mobile has a trick up its sleeve: anyone who purchases a Vibrant will get a free copy of The Sims 3 Collectors Edition, and a 2GB microSD card pre-loaded with Avatar. Triple win, right?

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AT&T is no longer the only American carrier to officially have a variant of Samsung Galaxy S coming soon, as T-Mobile has finally gotten around to admitting that it will be releasing the Android 2.1 smartphone under the name Vibrant. Sporting a chrome bezel that is reminiscent of the first three generations of iPhone, the Vibrant has the same 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 4″ WVGA Super AMOLED display, and 5 megapixel camera as the Galaxy S. No word yet on a release date or pricing, but we imagine we’ll learn next week, be it by press release or leak.

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Thanks to one of our Northern connects, we’re now able to confirm that the Samsung S8500 Wave will be launching in Canada on July 8th. To be available through Bell, the Bada-based Wave’s notable features include a 3.3″ WVGA Super AMOLED display, 5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture, 1GHz processor and TouchWiz 3.0. The launch memo we were forwarded mentions a retail price of $299.95, though clearly that is just a holder as the actual price has yet to be finalized and will not be passed along to employees until the 28th of June. Anyone interested?

Thanks, J.!

There’s good news today for Canadians who are looking to replace their ageing Nokia E71s, as it was officially announced that the Nokia E72 will be coming to Telus. The E72 builds upon the feature set of its predecessor with a 5 megapixel camera, optical trackpack, 600MHz processor and 10.2 Mbps HSDPA connectivity. Pricing and a release date were not announced, although our friend at Mobile Syrup have it on good authority that it will launch on July 11th, most likely for $50 on contract or $330 outright. Anyone thinking of picking one of these bad boys up?

Read [Nokia] Read [July 11th]

It might not have the raw power or good looks of the upcoming Samsung Captivate, but the HTC Aria is the best Android smartphone offered by AT&T. On sale as of Sunday, $129.99 Aria offers specs which include a 3.2″ HVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor, 512MB ROM / 256MB RAM, and Android 2.1 with Sense UI. We don’t imagine it will be breaking AT&T sales records anytime soon (or ever, for that matter), but at least it’s more of a spirited effort than the BACKFLIP.

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There’s little in the way of proof that the following specifications are accurate, but according to one of Android Central’s “tried-and-true” tipsters, we now have the tentative specs for the Samsung Galaxy S Pro. Software wise, the Galaxy S Pro is said to be presently running Android 2.1 with Samsung’s TouchWiz 3.0 overlay. In terms of hardware, you have a WVGA Super AMOLED display (possibly the same unit found on the non-Pro Galaxy S), 5 megapixel camera with 720p video recording, front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 8.2 GB of internal memory, and a custom 1GHz Cortex A8 processor. As for radios, it’s said that the Galaxy S Pro will run on both Sprint’s EV-DO and WiMAX networks, with a space for a SIM card indicating that we’re looking at HSDPA roaming for Europe and Asia. GPS isn’t mentioned but is surely a given, and the Wi-Fi chip will support the b/g/n protocols. Where build quality is concerned, the tipster did single out various components as feeling “plasticy”, although with the unit in question being a prototype, we won’t let that worry us just yet.

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Even though it was the first carrier to bring Android to Canada, Rogers has always had a bit of a tough time convincing Canadians to ditch their beloved BlackBerrys and iPhones in order to get their Google on. Recently it released the Acer Liquid e, a curious little device that many people know nothing about. We managed to snag one shortly after launch and gave it a spin, so if you are curious to know our thoughts on it click on through to  check out our Acer Liquid e hands on!

First and foremost, let’s get one thing out of the way. This isn’t a phone that’s intended to be a flagship or hero device, and that’s immediately evident when you pick it up. Made entirely out of plastic and measuring out at 115mm x 64mm x 12.75mm and weighing 135g, the phones does feel quite cheap in the hands. Not poorly built; just cheap.

On the whole, the device performs very well. This is despite the fact its Snapdragon processor has been underclocked from 1GHz to 768MHz. Acer did this to help preserve battery life, but it appears to have made little difference. It really only took one work day to drain the battery, and even then we only touched the thing a handful of times.

Call quality is above average, with not a whole lot of background noise and minimal hiss whether using the earpiece or speakerphone. The phone has great reception and consistently pulled down data at just over 3Mbps in during our speed tests. Those two things are great, right? Yup. They sure are. Except that it in no time at all the phone gets so hot that you could fry an egg on it.

The Liquid e ruins Android 2.1 aka Eclair with the assistance of a few customizations. Some of them, such as the bookmark and photo album widgets, are useful, but for the most part they’re complete and utter crap. Sorry, but we just don’t see a reason why anyone should have to have a phone with junk like urFooz (look it up) pre-loaded. Thankfully not lost in all of this customization nonsense is the ability to install non-Market applications.

The 3.5″ WVGA display should please most people. Text is very sharp and there is no shortage of vibrancy to images. This isn’t to say it is without its share of issues. During our time with the Liquid e we noticed something that we feel we shouldn’t have: 112 dots which happen to be the sensors responsible for mapping where your fingers are. Granted not everyone will have good enough eyesight to notice the sensors (they’re fairly small), but if you do, it will irritate you to no end. Our device also had a dead pixel straight out of the box.

And then there’s the camera. It has a 5 megapixel sensor with autofocus. In ideal lighting, the camera does a good job with pictures with fairly accurate colors, if not a bit heavy on the red. The autofocus is fairly fast and you won’t need to wait a lot of time between pictures. If you find yourself in a lot of low-light environments, you might as well bring a pencil and sketch book because the photos the Liquid e produces without an abundance of light is quite horriffic. The Liquid e also has video capture capabilities. The resolution of the videos is only VGA, though they’re pretty decent.

Normally we fret over what to say in our conclusion knowing that our word carries a lot of weight. But in this instance, it’s not hard at all. Instead of signing up for a 3-year contract and getting the Acer Liquid e, we strongly recommend that you take that $49.99 and put it into something more exciting like a Government Savings Bond. Yeah.