Last week, RIM officially announced BBX, its next-gen operating system that will marry the QNX-based OS currently found on the PlayBook with the BlackBerry OS that’s powering all of the company’s smartphones at the moment. RIM gave no indication of when BBX will be inside shipping devices, but back in August we heard mumblings about the first smartphone running the new platform coming in the first quarter of 2012.

Its name, or codename, is Colt. BlackBerry Colt. This will apparently be the high-end flagship that RIM has needed for a long while. Here’s a render of what the Colt might look like:

The phone that ends up being released may not be identical to what you see in the image above, but it will be close. As for specs, we have a whole bunch of them neatly leaked for your convenience.

A single-core 1.2 GHz processor (as seen in the Bold 9900) was used in the first testing phase, but a dual-core CPU is currently inside prototypes, so that may be the chip the Colt ends up shipping with. There will also be a touchscreen (at least 4-inch) with a resolution higher than 900 pixels and two cameras, one at the front and one at the back. The Colt will be thinner than the Bold 9900 and 9930, but will have a similar unibody outer stainless steel frame, no physical buttons, a similar battery to that found in the PlayBook, and new transitions which should make the UI feel fluid.

According to N4BB, the BlackBerry Colt will be out in mid-2012, which certainly seems like a delay from the previously rumored Q1 release date. By the middle of next year, the aforementioned specs may simply look outdated, at the current rate in which the mobile market moves, in which case RIM’s future will look even worse than it does today. But you have to remember that all of the above is filed as a rumor, so in reality anything can happen. One way or the other, we’re looking forward to BBX hitting the streets.
[UWV]

Recommended for you:

Samsung’s recently announced Galaxy S II HD LTE will be available in South Korea from tomorrow. As the name goes, this Galaxy S II variant sports a high resolution 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD display supporting a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and supports LTE band for faster internet speeds.

As for other features, it comes with a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, HSPA+ and Rev. A support, 8MP camera, full HD video recording, TV-Out support via MHL, 16GB internal memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC and 1850mAh battery.

Galaxy S II HD LTE will retail for 800,000 won ($708).
[SH]

HTC Radar 4G, a Windows phone 7 Mango powered smartphone is coming toT-Mobile. Announced via T-Mobile’s facebook account, HTC Radar 4G will be available starting on November 2nd while it’s price is set to $99.99 with a 2-year contract and after $50 mail in rebate.
HTC Radar 4G itself is a Windows phone 7 ‘Mango’ powered phone comes with a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 pixels touchscreen display. It is packs a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB internal storage. Other features including a 5MP rear facing camera and HSDPA broadband connectivity.
[LAM]

About a couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile decided to announce that it would be selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, alongside an own-brand 7-inch Android-powered tablet called Springboard. The Springboard is made by Huawei and was leaked right before the official unveiling.

When it announced these tablets, T-Mobile left out all details about their pricing and release dates. Today though, the carrier has subtly let us know when the tablets would arrive on the market, by adding this information to the their respective Web pages. The prices though continue to remain a mystery.

T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available on November 2, which is shaping up to be a pretty big launch day for the magenta carrier. The HTC Radar 4G will also be released then, and earlier today a leak indicated that the LG Doubleplay will join it.

The T-Mobile Springboard will be out a bit later, on November 9, and, as you can see, the carrier promises that it will come with a “sweet price”. Let’s hope so, since so far subsidized Android tablets haven’t been very aggressively priced.

If you’d like for T-Mobile to send new information about either of these tablets directly to your inbox, go here for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and here for the Springboard.
[UWV]

Hope you Fido customers/potential customers are liking QWERTY smartphones. The LG Gossip was added last year and Fido is following it up with the upcoming release of the LG Gossip Pro. We’re hearing a November release and this will be available for $40 on a 2-year or $250 outright.
[MS]

Still mulling over that smartphone purchase? Well, not to confuse you all the more, but Sprint just dropped the HTV EVO Design 4G into the mix. Design 4G what? Okay, naming convention aside, this handset actually is looking pretty tasty considering the price.

At the center is a 4-inch qHD (960540) touchscreen, supported by HTC Sense UI, which is laid on top of Android 2.3. The phone’s processing is powered by a 1.2Ghz Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU and while there is no mention of on board storage or RAM, we do know it sports two cameras (a 5-megapixel for capturing HD video and another for video chats), 4G connectivity, world phone support and mobile Hotspot functionality. All this is wrapped inside of an aluminum unibody, though HTC hasn’t made mention of the slimness in the press release and rightfully so, since the DROID RAZR has set a new bar.

The HTC EVO Design 4G hits Sprint retails outlets (web and stores) on October 23rd for $99.99 after a 2-year contract and $50 mail-in-rebate.
[GR]

What big, wireless brother wants, big, wireless brother gets. With its pay-as-you-go subsidiary already packing this particular piece of mobile kit, ’twas only a matter of time before Sprint got its hands on the Transform Ultra. Officially announced for the third place carrier today, Sammy’s Droid Charge with a QWERTY twist packs the usual array of mid-range specs. The 3.5-incher runs Android 2.3 atop a single-core 1GHz processor, with a VGA front facing / 3 megapixel rear camera, 512MB RAM, 2GB of storage and 1500mAh battery in tow. It’s no next gen, 4G beastie, but sometimes you just need a workhorse to get things done. Pricing and availability have yet to be released, although we’re sure that bit of crucial info’s right around the corner. Official presser awaits you after the break.
[EG]

Introduced by Sony Ericsson in August as a slightly different Xperia Neo, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V is now available in the UK, where Play.com is selling it unlocked.

Play is asking £259.99 (about €300 or $415) for the Neo V – a good price considering the handset’s features, which include a 3.7 inch scratch-resistant display with 854 x 480 pixels, Wi-Fi, DLNA, HSDPA, GPS, 5MP rear camera with 720p video recording, front-facing camera, and a 1GHz processor.

The Xperia Neo V currently runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. However, like all the other Xperia smartphones released this year, it should be updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at some point.
[UWV]

Samsung will soon release a new clamshell phone for China running Android OS. The SCH-W999 will take over from last year’s SCH-W899 and will allow users to use the phone either as a regular candybar or as a clamshell. As for the known specs, the phone will have two OLED-based displays with the same 800×480 WVGA resolution, Bluetooth 3.0 and dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and will weigh just over 200 grams.
[SH]

There are also mobile phones that are created and designed to attract a certain type of consumer. Apart from phones designed for the typical consumer, there are also phones that are geared for use by professionals, for the outdoors type and many others. Those with money to burn usually look for a mobile phone that not just anybody can have or afford, just for the sake of it. Luxury mobile phone brand Vertu has provided a new model for the rich to ogle at with the new Vertu Constellation.

The Vertu Constellation is a unique phone that oozes with luxury and elegance based by its looks. Most of its body is surrounded by black alligator skin bordered by precious metals for a body. And for those who don’t know, Vertu is Nokia’s division for its luxury cell phones. And because of this, the Vertu Constellation runs on Nokia’s proprietary Symbian OS.
The Vertu Constellation comes with a3.5 inch AMOLED touchscreen coated with a luxurious sapphire crystal surface. It also comes with an 8MP camera with a twin LED flash and HSPA+, Wifi and Bluetooth support. Since it is a luxury phone, the Vertu Constellation comes at a steep price. The price may start at around 1,000 UK Pounds or around US$1,590.
[GG]