Yeah, T-Mobile didn’t exactly get sexy with naming the myTouch 3G refresh, but hey, with a name so horrible from the beginning, we guess we can’t ask for much. While the name stays the same, the refreshed myTouch 3G definitely brings the slowly-aging device up a notch or two. Here’s a recap of the specifications for the new model:

• 3.5mm headset jack and updated music player
• More memory, with 288MB of RAM and an included 8GB microSD card
• Swype soft keyboard
• Preloaded applications including Barcode Scanner, Music Player, myAccount and Visual Voicemail

The new device is available starting today in T-Mobile locations as well as telesales for $149.99 with a new two year activation, and comes in both white and black color options. Merlot never had a chance.

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Having been on sale in other countries for almost two weeks, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 has finally made it to American soil. Now available from T-Mobile, the Bold 9700 is the first BlackBerry to have AWS 3G. Other features include a HVGA+ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, optical trackpad, and support for HotSpot @Home and Visual Voicemail, but anyone keeping tabs on Waterloo’s latest surely knows those specs by now. So how much will the Bold 9700 set you back? $199.99 on a 2-year contract (Even More) or $449.99 outright via Even More Plus with the option to finance the device at $22 per month over 20 months. Now then, how many of you are going to be picking this up?

P.S. Nice job with the device pic, T-Mo.

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While many tech geeks who fancy Verizon will be spending the majority of this week debating whether or not to pull the trigger on either the DROID or DROID Eris, today Verizon quietly started selling the LG Chocolate Touch, a non-smartphone with mass market appeal. Equipped with a 3″ touchscreen display and 3.2 megapixel camera, the Chocolate Touch also features support for VZ Navigator, V CAST Music/Video, Visual Voicemail and EV-DO Rev. 0 connectivity. Also of note is a convenience key that leads directly to social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter as well as the inclusion of Dolby Mobile technology, something which is claimed to deliver “audio quality that rivals MP3 players.” Of course with only 1GB of internal memory and no microSD card in the box users will be forced to drop some extra cash if they wish to listen to more than 250 songs, but at $79.99 on contract after a $50 rebate, what do you expect?Read

We wanted to give AT&T’s latest OS for the BlackBerry Bold some time to breathe before announcing it to our readers yet again. Can you blame us? As you may recall, AT&T first released this new OS on August 25th and then pulled it a week later due to a “software issue affecting the interaction between the device and network enhancements being deployed.” Hopefully this time around we’re in it for the long haul and readers who weren’t quick enough to snag 297 last time around can now start enjoying visual voicemail like everyone else. Remember, once you’ve upgraded your OS, you can avoid dealing with CS by activating visual voicemail yourself. Well, Bold owners, what are you waiting for?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Ah, the Samsung Instinct HD. We know practically everything about it short of when it is going to launch and how much it will cost. A gaffe from Best Buy last month led us to believe that the Instinct HD would be dropping no later than the 26th however, and now an alleged internal Sprint memo has seemingly confirmed this. Okay, technically the memo says the handset will be launched on the 26th and available on the 27th, but what’s one day, really? Packing a  3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with video capture, Wi-Fi, accelerometer, HD video-out, visual voicemail and a “PC-like web experience”, the Instinct HD is expected to go for between $99 and $149 on contract, meaning it will compliment Sprint’s new Any Mobile, Anytime plan in terms of affordability and features. Hit the jump for the full text from the alleged internal memo.

Short Description of Product:

The Samsung Instinct HD is the premium follow up to the award-winning, record-selling Samsung Instinct. The Samsung Instinct HD is designed for people who want a stylish and cutting edge touchscreen phone with enhanced multimedia features, accelerometer and a 5MP camera with Hi-Res viewing and TV out capability.

Full Description of Product:

The Samsung Instinct® HD is the fastest, most advanced model designed in the Instinct portfolio of Samsung touchscreen phones. The Instinct HD includes an accelerometer that syncs to the user’s movements to create an intuitive experience that engages the senses in an extraordinary way. The Instinct HD is equipped with a 5.0 megapixel camera to deliver razor-sharp clarity for pictures and video. The Instinct HD also possesses WiFi capabilities for fast Web and content access, no matter where the device is being used. With incredible multimedia and browsing performance, the new Instinct HD lets users watch movies, play games, surf the net, check out social networking sites, upload and download content, record and play videos in Hi-Res, and much more — even faster than before. The large 3.2″ HGVA display with accelerometer and improved web browser gives you a great PC-like experience so your favorite sites look and load just like they would at home. It also has WiFi and comes with a 5MP camera with TV out capability, so you enjoy viewing your photos and videos right on your home TV. This fully loaded, premium touch screen takes you to the cutting edge of technology.

Please describe what differentiates your product/service from competing products/services:

• Full Touchscreen with Accelerometer
• Record & Play Videos in Hi-Res
• PC-like Web experience
• WiFi Capable with 3.2″ sharp and clear display
• 5.0MP Camera & Camcorder with TV out

When was product launched? If not currently on the market, when is product launch date?:

9/26/2009

Is the product currently on the market?

No

If no, when will it be available?

9/27/2009

Where can the product be purchased?

Sprint retail stores, Sprint.com, select wireless

What is the product’s price range?

$99-$149

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Happy Tuesday, BlackBerry fans — it looks like AT&T has a little present for you this morning. We’re getting a bunch of emails from readers letting us know that AT&T’s upgraded Bold OS is alive and ready to rock, just like we told you it would be. For those of you who were too lazy to have visual voicemail set up early — or just too busy to deal with customer service — things just got a whole lot easier for you. So what are you waiting for? Let us know if the upgrade is available for you yet and if so, let us know how it goes in the comments section.

UPDATE: As we should have mentioned initially, once you’ve upgraded you can activate the visual voicemail option yourself from within the Manage My Account section on the AT&T site. One of our readers, Tarun, was kind enough to send in a screenshot, which is found after the break.

We just got a tip that while the upgraded BlackBerry Bold OS for AT&T won’t be released until Tuesday, the feature code for Visual Voicemail for BlackBerry handsets is in the system. You know what that means, right? If you’re running a Bold OS that has the Visual Voicemail icon on it, you can call up your friendly AT&T customer service rep, ask them to add the Visual Voicemail feature to your account, and you should be good to go. We’ve confirmed this with one of our Bolds — let us know if you get it going.

Before we forget… this is a free feature for all BlackBerry Bold users.

Updated with additional information after the break.

Here are some quick features that the BlackBerry Visual Voicemail system will provide:

• Store up to 40 voicemails for up to 14 days
• Archive voicemails to device memory or on a microSD card
• Forward voicemails as an MMS to other users or an email address
• Save phone numbers in your Visual Voicemail inbox to your address book
• Setup your voicemail including greeting right from the application itself

For the record, we’ve been aware of this one for quite a while, but it looks like Visual Voicemail for Blackberry is coming on the very near horizon for current AT&T Blackberry customers. An eagle-eyed tipster alerted us to the presence of a new feature option in the account management system that allows current ‘Berry users to add Visual Voicemail to their account. The system doesn’t allow you to complete the request, returning an error message if you attempt to add it, but it’s a solid indicator that the carrier is preparing for its release. Even better is the current price point in the OLAM system: $0.00. Free Visual Voicemail doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? We’re still not sure when AT&T plans to make this thing fully official, but any day now is a pretty good bet. And we’re also not sure on that free pricing, but we’ll see!

Thanks, Mjkamdar!

You didn’t think your pals at BGR would leave you hanging, did you? Last week we whet your ‘Berry appetite with the news that BlackBerry Bold owners on AT&T had a treat coming their way courtesy of OS 4.6.0.219. That’s right, we’re talking about the impending addition of BlackBerry Visual Voicemail. You knew we weren’t going to let our ninjas off the hook that easily and now they’re back with some exclusive screenshots for all you addicts to feast your eyes on. Once again, we’re looking at OS 4.6.0.219 on an AT&T Bold and now you can get the full picture of BlackBerry Visual Voicemail in action. As for when you can expect an official roll out; patience dear readers, patience. We’re still waiting on a confirmed date but we’re hearing it might become available sooner than you might think – at least for some customers. Hit the jump for more shots.

Icon (number of new messages in parenthesis):

Message list:

Menu:

One our tipsters sent us in these screenshots from his Bold, and what do you know, there’s a Visual Voicemail icon on his homescreen. He told us it errors out when he tries to launch it, but has anyone else seen this? The OS he is running is 4.6.0.219 and his carrier is AT&T. Additionally, he noted that BlackBerry Application Center modules are loaded to the device on OS install, but we informed him that without the Application Center service books, that thing isn’t going to launch. We’ll dig a little deeper into this one, but what’s the general consensus here? One more shot after the breakage!

Before you get uppity about having us call Klausner Technologies a patent troll, consider what they’ve been doing since their invention of the PDA: Suing everyone under the sun who has used visual voicemail. What else can you do when you’re no more than a one-hit wonder and your cheap Flash website offers nothing more than visual voicemail licensing information (which does nothing but give you their email address for inquiries)? After being successful with their suits against AT&T, Apple, and Comcast in the past, it seems they’re out for a little more cash and have targeted Verizon. With the prior success (read settlements) of past lawsuits, their action against Verizon was pretty much guaranteed $$$. While financial details of the settlement haven’t been disclosed, it’s pretty clear that Klausner is going to get a pretty penny looking at their history. We really don’t have a problem when people get sued over using someone else’s product without proper licensing (Nokia + Qualcomm) but we take major issue with patent trolls; they do nothing but act as a large speed bump to companies who are putting out technologies and services we like.

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Kicking things off with the LG Voyager, Verizon Wireless has just gone live with its visual voicemail service. No doubt inspired by the iPhone though Apple was hardly the first to introduce such a service (just ask its legal team), Verizon’s new service allows users to listen to voicemail messages by navigating through a visual representation of their voicemail inbox. In a nutshell, it marries voicemail and a call log. So what sets Verizon’s offering apart from third-party alternatives? For one thing, it’s cheap! At $3 per month, Verizon’s service is a fraction of the price of services like PhoneTag which charge $9.99 per month or more. Of course PhoneTag also transcribes voicemails and that is the core value of its offering, whereas Verizon’s service doesn’t quite go there. For your $3 you can store up to 40 messages for a maximum of 40 days and create up to 10 caller ID-based greetings. As for the implementation, the UI won’t be winning any American Design Awards any time soon but at that price you pretty much can’t go wrong. So if you’ve got a Voyager and you’re game to check out Verizon’s offering, the first thing you have to do is check your firmware version. VX10KV09 or later are ready to roll but if you’ve got something older you’ll need to drop by your local Verizon store for an upgrade.

[Via AppleInsider]

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If you haven’t yet heard of Fusion Voicemail Plus by PhoneFusion, prepare to be impressed. In a nutshell, Fusion Voicemail Plus centralizes all of your voicemail boxes and presents your voicemail messages visually on your mobile handset. Instead of receiving voicemails in separate boxes for your mobile number, home number, VoIP number, office number, etc everything goes to your PhoneFusion One voicemail box. The messages are then displayed visually on your handset a la iPhone. Each entry displays caller info and incoming number along with your number corresponding to the relevant phone service (so you know if the caller dialed your mobile number or home number for example). And did we mention that the service is completely free? Excellent. Phone Fusion has a long-standing history providing the Fusion Voicemail Plus service for Windows Mobile. The service is currently in beta for BlackBerry but expect a solid offering upon signing up. To get going, simply hit the read link and enter your info. You’ll see a message that your handset is not currently supported but you can then sign up for the beta. After Doing so, you’ll get an SMS on your mobile with a download link to snag the BlackBerry app. Beyond BlackBerry, Phone Fusion is also currently working on cooking up Symbian, Android, Linux Mobile, Palm and Java versions as well. Tie Fusion Voicemail Plus in with a voicemail to text service like SpinVox and you’ve most definitely got our vote for President.

[Via Press Release]

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