Courtesy of T-Mobile and its newly announced G-Slate tablet by LG, several videos showing off Google’s new tablet-only OS have surfaced. Honeycomb will power the next generation of Android tablets, and it appears to offer some huge benefits over previous versions of the OS, which were designed with smartphones in mind. We really like what we’ve seen from Honeycomb so far, and we can’t wait to see more on the show floor. In the meantime, hit the jump for a handful of great videos that really give us a taste of what’s in store from Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

DROIDForums.net is reporting that Verizon Wireless has given the end-of-life nod to the following devices:

• Gateway LT2016U (netbook)
• Motorola Devour and DROID
• Nokia Twist
• BlackBerry Tour 9630
• Samsung Knack, Smooth, Intensity, and Saga

Looks like Big Red is making room in their handset lineup for some of the new hotness due out this summer. Anything on this list surprise you?

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We understand that BlackBerry Tour owners might feel like the forgotten redheaded stepchildren of the Verizon BlackBerry family now that the Bold 9650 has arrived, but word has it that Verizon will begin pushing out an OS update for the Tour starting at 6pm EDT. Apart from an assortment of fixes relating to the recently introduced Push-to-Talk feature, the move to 5.0.0.732 should also go a long way to fix other niggles including issues with data reception. We’ll be sure to holler back once the update is live, but if you happen to spot it before us, don’t be shy to send us a tip.

UPDATE: Looks like the wireless update is now available.

Thanks, George!

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Ah, a Tour owner’s dream. The BlackBerry Bold 9650 started life out as the BlackBerry Tour2. It then went through a late-stage metamorphosis and received a memory upgrade and name change for a couple of different reasons. One of the reasons is to utilize a positive product name RIM has built (the Bold line), and another would be to prevent hundreds of thousands of angry BlackBerry owners from practically taking over the entire city of Waterloo, Canada. You see, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 is what the Tour should have originally been, and by releasing a Tour2 under a year from the original device’s debut would be straight up insulting. RIM killed two birds with one stone by renaming the device to be a Bold, continuing a successful device brand, and also trying to not completely obliterate an existing handset (even though the Tour 9630 will certainly be end-of-life’d very, very quickly). So is the BlackBerry Bold 9650 the best in the biz? You’ll see soon enough, after the jump of course.

We have been playing with the BlackBerry 9650 on and off for a couple months, and now that we have an official unit from RIM and Sprint, we’re able to effectively judge the handset. Instead of doing a traditional review, we figured since the device really hasn’t changed so dramatically from the original BlackBerry Tour, we’d put our likes and dislikes into different sections.

Likes:

• Durable, solid construction and hardware.
• Great keyboard as always.
• Sounds great as a phone, great reception, perfect voice performance with calls.
• Much faster than the original Tour 9630, no real slowdowns or hangups in the OS, and a much speedier overall experience thanks to a newer and faster processor.
• Wi-Fi — obviously.

We love the solid hardware that RIM has been known for. It definitely shows in the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and it’s a real work powerhouse.

Dislikes:

• The raised trackpad, menu, send, BlackBerry, back keys (they are raised up beyond the keyboard and are a little too high).
• The terrible music speaker on the phone. It’s on the left side, and is a single speaker with a single opening in the case compared to 3 openings in the BlackBerry 9700 case. Sound sounds muffled, and the volume is pretty low. Overall, it’s kind of disappointing. Note: the speakerphone sounds great, we’re talking strictly about music/audio playback.
• The camera lens is still recessed so it can collect dust and isn’t cleaned easily. It would have been great for RIM to make the entire cover go over the camera lens so it would be flat and thus easily accessibly/wipeable.
• The phone is large in size and feels pretty outdated compared to sexier, even on carrier alternatives.

At the end of the day, this is what the BlackBerry Tour should have been. RIM’s hardware roadmap seems to be 1-2 years behind other mobile smartphone powerhouse manufacturers (that is being generous), and the BlackBerry Bold 9650 demonstrates this. The device is incredibly solid, but it’s overly large, especially when compared to a sleeker, sexier BlackBerry Bold 9700 sitting next to it. With phones that are pushing CPU speed barriers at 1GHz and beyond, RIM’s using an estimated 500MHz CPU here with 512MB of RAM and no internal storage. And that’s not exploring the truly ancient operating system that powers it.

The handset itself just straight up feels outdated. It’s a logical choice for a CDMA user, but we can’t help but feel like this device really doesn’t belong in a 2010 lineup. This is a great BlackBerry, and if email is your life, great. If not, there’s not too much we can say the BlackBerry 9650 offers over competitors on Sprint or Verizon. HTC’s EVO 4G and the HTC Droid Incredible (yes, they are two Android handsets) are miles ahead of this device, and unfortunately we’re not sure we’d recommend this handset over one of those except in extreme scenarios.

When you think of push-to-talk you might conjure up images of construction workers on job sites wielding yellow ruggedized handsets. However, recently Verizon rolled out push-to-talk to its business-centric BlackBerry Tour handset in an attempt to bring PTT to new industries and work places. The adoption rate for this $5 monthly service has apparently a bit sluggish amongst Tour owners, as Verizon is reportedly launching a new promotion that will allow 9630 owners to add the PTT service to their line…for free. The free price tag is not a short-term gimmick either, as the $0/month figure is valid for the lifetime of your handset (*cough* trackball *cough*). Interested Tour owners can download the PTT software and activate the service prior to the promotion end-date of June 30th. The leaked slide did not indicate whether this promotion extends to current customers who already pay for the service, or if it will be extended to other BlackBerry handsets. We’ve sent some feelers out and will let you know what we dig up.

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With Verizon soon to be carrying some hot new smartphones from HTC and RIM, the carrier has decided it no longer has a need for the HTC DROID ERIS and BlackBerry Tour 9630. In an internal memo sent out during the week, Verizon informed employees that the DROID ERIS will reach end-of-life at the end of May while the Tuh-Tuh-Tuh Tour (it’s been a long time, eh?) will hit the same brick wall in June. They’ll be around only as long as their stock holds up, so in case you’re dying to have either for your collection or just because you don’t share our compulsive need for the latest and greatest, we’re sure you’ll be able to finagle yourself one hell of a deal.

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It looks like our initial report of a May release for the successor to BlackBerry Tour 9630 is spot on, as an internal website where Bank of America employees can order new handsets shows the device listed as coming to Verizon in May. Not only that, but the site also seems to confirm what we and others have been hearing about it being promoted to a full-fledged member of the Bold family. Whether or not the device will keep the model number 9650 is still in question, but can easily see it being Christened as the 9750 in order to keep RIM’s naming conventions in tact. Of course the fact that it looks nearly identical to the Tour 9630 would be just as confusing to some, but at least it’s better than having two different device names sit within the 96xx line. Anyone else thinking this sucker is a due for an official outing at WES?

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BlackBerry users with a penchant for schmoozing and climbing up both corporate and social ladders are probably squealing with excitement this morning LinkedIn for BlackBerry has finally been released. Offering the most commonly used features such as network updates, messages, invitations and connections, the app also has the ability to integrate with the stock BlackBerry Calendar, Contacts and Messaging apps. LinkedIn for BlackBerry is available for Bold, Curve and Tour users running OS 4.3.0 and above and is available OTA here.

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When it was first leaked it earned something of a reputation for being moody, but Verizon is clearly confident that BlackBerry OS 5.0.0.591 will serve Tour 9630 users well because it’s now pushing out the software OTA complete with Push-To-Talk capabilities. A truncated change-log is available after the jump, but first we have one simple question for you. How’s it feel?

• Camera
  • Smoother operation in both camera and video applications.
• Calling
  • Improved Bluetooth® functionality for last number dialed.
  • Enhanced functionality for Voice Activated Dialing in both French and English.
  • Improved missed call log now shows missed Call Waiting calls.
  • Upgraded Call Waiting caller ID and call timer.
• Messaging
  • Improved functionality for reading, sending, forwarding, and deleting SMS messages.
  • Corrected in-box display when device is used with a holster.
• Media
  • Better video streaming functionality.
  • Enhanced display for MMS messages containing both video and text.
  • Improved multitasking ability while streaming and downloading videos from www.youtube.com
• Basic Operations
  • Improved operation during charging.
  • Simplified key-lock functionality. A password is no longer needed unless a security timeout has occurred.
  • Improved GPS connectivity when using third-party mapping applications.
  • Push to Talk-capable

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It was mentioned in one of our whispers and now it’s here: Verizon has released a Push-To-Talk application for its fleet of BlackBerry smartphones. Free to download but requiring a monthly fee of $5 to use, Verizon’s BlackBerry PTT app allows for unlimited nation-wide calls to other PTT devices. Other key features include:

• Make group calls with up to 50 participants.
• Use Presence to see who’s available for Push to Talk calls.
• Manage Push to Talk contacts for your entire company online.
• Access email and the Web while you’re on Push to Talk calls.

For the price, we’d say it’s definitely a good deal if you have a lot of family/friends/co-workers that have a PTT capable device, but for everyone else it’s $5 that could better be spent on a pint. Now if only this app were released alongside OS 5.0…

Thanks, to everyone that sent this in!

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CrackBerry caught a quick screen shot of the BlackBerry Facebook account attempting to… actually, to be honest, we’re not sure what exactly they are trying to do. The post has been removed, but it read: “The BlackBerry Tour 9650 is coming! Check back soon for official news!” We’re a little perplexed as to why RIM didn’t go with the Tour2, like the Storm2 and why the announcement was made via their Facebook account (and on Apple’s Tablet day?). In any regard, any Tour 9630 owners feel a little shafted by the existence of the 9650? If RIM offered 9630 owners an upgrade — similar to the upgrade offered to Storm 1 owners — would you take it? Trust us, we’re not saying they will…

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Verizon seems to be planning on expanding its prepaid line-up and options for current and would-be customers by throwing BlackBerry into the mix. Word is that within the next three months, prepaid BlackBerry plans will become available, though we’re not sure if all devices would be included. Rumor is that the plan adds $35 on top of the voice package, which isn’t so bad when compared to other carriers and most post-paid plans. We’ve also received word that the prepaid bundles would match Verizon’s older ones, and that phones would run somewhere between the subsidized price and full retail cost. We’ll be sure to keep you guys updated on this as news comes our way!

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According to one of our trusty sources, Best Buy locations that sell out of BlackBerry Tours will not have their stock refilled. Oh why, oh why, could this be?

Another year, and even more devices, products, and services to look forward to. Things will be smaller, more advanced, faster, and some new markets might even be defined, but for now, check out the top 10 posts of 2009 (by traffic):

1. Motorola DROID hands on

2. BlackBerry vs. iPhone 3G: yeah, we definitely went there

3. Android 2.0 screenshot walkthrough

4. BlackBerry 9700 Review: Part 1

5. Nokia E71 Review

6. BlackBerry Curve 8900 hands on

7. Palm Pre Review: Part 1

8. T-Mobile’s Walmart roadmap: the wrap up

9. BlackBerry Tour hitting Verizon Wireless in July?

10. Motorola Calgary live photos: Verizon’s second Motorola Android device

Thanks to all our readers, connects, ninjas, and writers!

UPDATE: The above posts are listed by traffic, even if they weren’t published in 2009. Since most people expected just 2009-published articles, we’ve listed those after the break.>

1. Motorola DROID hands on

2. Android 2.0 screenshot walkthrough

3. BlackBerry 9700 Review: Part 1

4. Exclusive Apple iPhone 3.0 screenshots leak out

5.BlackBerry Tour Review: Part 2

6. Palm Pre Review: Part 1

7. T-Mobile’s Walmart roadmap: the wrap up

8. BlackBerry Tour hitting Verizon Wireless in July?

9. Motorola Calgary live photos: Verizon’s second Motorola Android device

10. A handful of FireFox tweaks that will double your browser speed