Thanks to several leaks, we have a pretty good beat on what Motorola’s ATRIX 4G will retail for — $150 — and now, according to some new intel, we’re starting to get an idea of what the handsets accessories could cost. According to a page posted by online wireless retailer Fommy, the ATRIX’s HD multimedia dock — complete with HDMI-out and three USB ports — will set you back a very reasonable $59.95. If earlier rumors about the ATRIX 4G’s laptop dock turn out to be true, you can get yourself a 4Gish, dual-core, super phone complete with a multimedia and laptop dock for around $360 on-contract. While that isn’t a small amount of cash, it is much cheaper than purchasing a smartphone and netbook with the associated wireless contracts separately. What do you think? Do any of you plan on purchasing the ATRIX trifecta when available?[Via Gizmodo]

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Microsoft kicked off MIX 2010 this morning with a keynote that revealed some juicy details for developers waiting to dive into the Windows Phone 7 Series platform. As expected, Windows Phone 7 Series will make use of Silverlight for application development and XNA for game development. Features available for developers include:

• Accelerometer support
• Microsoft Location Service to provide developers with a single point of reference to acquire location information
• Microsoft Notification Service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an application is running
• Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)
• Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for the industry’s highest quality content viewing experience
• Multitouch
• Camera and microphone support

To get developers on board quickly and easily, Microsoft is offering a suite of free developer tools which include Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone 7 Series, a free add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC, XNA Game Studio 4.0, Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing, and a version of Expression Blend for Windows Phone. Microsoft is also stepping up its game in the app store department by offering a panoramic design (it will look sleek), try before you buy option, one-time credit card charges for app purchases, mobile carrier billing and ad-supported applications. Lest you think the app store will be a barren wasteland at launch, the list of application partners is impressive and include media moguls like Associated Press, gaming giants like NAMCO and EA Mobile, streaming media stars like Pandora and Sling, popular start-ups like Foursquare and Seesmic, and a host of others including Weatherbug, PopCap games, SPB Software and more. Anyone else get the feeling that Microsoft means business this time around?

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According to a rumor from the Wall Street Journal, Sony may be taking aim at the Apple iPhone, the Apple iPad and Microsoft’s Zune Phone Windows Phone 7 Series with two upcoming multifunction, multimedia-centric devices. Sony is reportedly developing a portable multimedia device bundled with online services that will rival the iPad. This rumored portable device will be part netbook, part e-reader, part gaming machine and will connect to the new Sony Online Service which will offer, music, movies, television episodes, and games. The bulk of the games available through the Online Service will be recycled PlayStation games and will be made available to wide range of portable and mobile devices. Sony promises to have this iPad killer in the hands of the masses sometime in 2010. The second and the smaller of the two multifunction devices is a smartphone, developed in conjunction with Ericsson, that will download and play PlayStation games. Sound familiar? It should as this idea of a PlayStation phone has been bouncing for almost three years now without any concrete evidence that the project has been moving forward. Will 2010 be the year Sony delivers the PlayStation phone and finally puts an end to this seemingly endless rumor? We hope so at this repetitive reporting is getting a bit long in the tooth.

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One of our connects hit us up with some changes Verizon Wireless is making to its calling plans effective January 18th. The details are coming in slowly but it looks like Big Red (not the gum) is ditching the all-inclusive Premium plan and renaming the current Basic plan to Nationwide Talk, and the Select Plan to Nationwide Talk & Text. A 30% drop in pricing on the unlimited minutes options for each of these plans is expected to accompany the name changes. Verizon also reconfirms the changes to the feature phone data plans which includes a new $9.99 data plan with 25MB and mobile email and a $29.99 unlimited plan with mobile email. Additionally, overage charges for the new $9.99 plan have been decreased from 50¢ to 20¢ per MB. All 3G multimedia phones, a category which has been expanded to include the enV3, Chocolate Touch and others, will now require a data plan of $9.99 or higher, like we reported. Verizon also added onto their prepaid plans, offering an new unlimited plan Talk & Text plan for $94.99 per month. Hit the jump for some highlights of the changes.

UPDATE: We’ve got shots of the new family plans as well as comparisons to AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile! It looks like Verizon’s new unlimited voice plans will run $69.99/month individually, with an $89.99/month option that will include unlimited text messages as well. As far as family plans go, Verizon seems to be coming in at $119.99/month for the first two lines, and $49.99/line a month after that with unlimited text and data options as well.

At a special event in Paris, France, Archos made its next-generation Internet Tablet official today. The Android powered multimedia device will outmatch the iPod touch with a Ti OMAP3 processor and a huge 4.8-inch touchscreen display with 800×480 resolution and 16 million colors. In addition to its fast processor and high resolution screen, the Internet Tablet will also include:

• HD video support (H.264, WMV, Mpeg-4 up to 720P)
• Archos AppsLib store with Archos 5-compatible Android applications
• Micro SD Slot (SDHC compatible)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
• GPS with 3D Maps
• Bluetooth 2.0 (mobile phone tethering capable)
• FM transmitter and FM receiver (RDS)
• Built-in speaker, microphone and leg stand
• support for a wide variety of audio/video codecs and image formats
• additional functionality available via optional accessories (DVR-Station, HDMI Mini-Dock, GPS In-Car Holder, etc)
• Pre-installed Android applications include DroidIn, Ebuddy IM, Twidroid, QuickPedia, and more
• Flash 10 support expected with Android 2.0 in Q1 2010
• 22 hours of Music playback time and 7 hours of Video playback with standard Lithium polymer battery

The Archos 5 Internet Tablet will be available in two models: an 8, 16 or 32GB Flash version and a 160GB or 500GB hard drive version. Prices start at $249 for the 8GB Flash version up to $439 for the 500GB hard drive version and it will launch on September 16th (directly from Archos and at Amazon.com). Also interesting is the Archos Phone tablet, which Archos only partially unveiled. The Phone Tablet will have a 1GHz processor, 3.5G HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity, a 4.8-inch 854×480 display and all the other goodies its non-3G cousin has. No release date for the Phone Tablet was announced but the January 2010 edition of CES would be a good place to launch, no?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Just like we told you late last month, the Samsung Rogue u960 and the Intensity u450 are now available from Verizon Wireless. The Rogue features a 3.1-inch 800×480 AMOLED touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3 megapixel camera with flash and camcorder, EV-DO Rev. A connectivity, microSDHC support, 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth, GPS and Sammy’s TouchWiz interface with new social networking widgets. The Intensity is Samsung’s new entry level offering with a 2.1-inch 176×220 color display, side slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1xRTT connectivity, 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, GPS, microSDHC support and a 2.5mm headset jack. The Rogue will set you a back $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and 2-year contract. The Intensity in “Grey” (yes, according to VZW the color is Grey, like Lady Jane) is $29.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract while the Flamingo Red version is free after a $79.99 instant online discount.

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To be perfectly honest, it’s hard to know whether or not we actually care about the possibility of LG’s upcoming GD910 watch phone touching down in the US. If the pricing comes in as high as had been rumored a few months ago — $1,500 or more — then the answer is most definitely no. If LG can manage to simmer down a bit and hit a more realistic price point… Well, it might be fun to play with for a minute. Whether or not the GD910 will officially hit US soil is still an unknown but its stroll through the FCC halls at least makes it a much more likely possibility. As far as frequencies covered in the FCC documents, don’t get too excited. GSM/GPRS/EDGE 1900 is all we’ve got so far but it still looks like there are still a bunch of documents that haven’t been released yet so maybe LG will surprise us with some US 3G. And maybe not. Hit the jump for the label as found with the patent app.

[Via Engadget Mobile]

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This freshly leaked little guy from LG isn’t exactly a marvel of modern design, but word on the street has it making its way to North and South America in the near future. Pogo Flipster* anyone? Apparently positioned as an update to the LG HB620T TV phone, the GM630 maintains the same look and shape but thankfully ditches that annoying little antenna. As far as known specs go, they certainly aren’t going to knock you out of your seat: GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth, FM radio, microSD slot, 2 megapixel camera and, of course, TV accessible via a dedicated button. Assuming it does in fact hit the US and it falls into the very affordable category, we can see some people snagging one as a cheap option for a MediaFLO-ready handset. Not any of you of course, but some people. Hit the jump for a few more shots.

*Two points if you knew what that was without looking it up.

[Via Unwired View]

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We showed you some spy shots and leaked both the release date and the pricing – now it is time to put an end to these pre-launch rumors and let Verizon have its turn. On Tuesday, Verizon Wireless officially announced the Samsung Omnia. Confirming what we had already leaked, the Samsung Omnia will be available online and via telesales starting on November 26th and will make its in-store debut on December 8th. The Omnia will retail for $249 after a $70 MIR with a 2-year contract. Hit the jump for a quick rundown of the specs.

Verizon Wireless Samsung Omnia specs:

• CDMA 800/1900 with 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0/1xEV-DO rev.A
• 3.2″ touchscreen with 240 x 400 resolution
• 128 MB RAM / 256 MB ROM
• 5MP camera camera and camcorder with flash and zoom
• GPS with VZ Navigator capability
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
• Bluetooth 2.0
• 8GB built-in memory with microSD/microSDHC expansion
• TV Out
• FM Radio with RDS
• DivX/XviD playback
• Opera 9.5
• Access to VZAppZone – downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers and more
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with TouchWiz
• Dimensions: 4.41” (l) x 2.24” (w) x 0.52” (d) with standard battery
• Weight: approximately 4.34 ounces
• Usage time: up to 346 minutes with standard battery
• Standby time: up to 464 hours with standard battery

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Developer Morten Hjerde was inspired by the upcoming Nokia Tube 5800 and built an interesting concept for an intuitive music player with some concepts that will surely be utilized in future media interfaces. Dubbed “Flat Music Player”, Hjerde’s design makes use of album artwork and the touch interface to create an experience that adapts so the user’s needs and eliminates antiquated text lists and menus. As he puts it, “The core idea here is to use the content itself as the interface.” As simple as it sounds, this concept goes great lengths towards making the user interface more streamlined and intuitive. So kudos to Hjerde; maybe if Nokia brings him on as a consultant we could see a music player on a Nokia handset some day that doesn’t look like it came from the first wave of MP3 players.

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