After taking a week off, we’re back with the weekly wrap up of all the happenings and highlights of this weeks forum activity!  We here at TMoNews know that not everybody has the time to devote to rummaging through all the goodies that are contained in the forums (though if you do, you really should – you’ll find some good gems in there!), so that’s what I’m here for – to give you readers the cliff notes version of events!

What with all the talk lately about this Google Android device that’s supposedly coming out, why don’t we start off with something a little different?  How about the unboxing of the Sony TM-506!  Forum contributer TeXan has brought us some very nice shots of this highly anticipated return of Sony Ericsson to the T-Mobile lineup!  That’s not all of the SE506 news that I have to fork over today though, though this next bit of news may come as a bitter aftertaste to the joy that was those photos.   Poster j1980 first brought us news that possibly the SE506 will not be able to be used as a tethered modem. We are not sure if this is something that is set in stone at this point in time, but I thought it fair to bring it to our readers’ attention.

From one topic of debate right into another!  While we had been under the impression that T-Mobile would not be getting any HTC TouchFLO device (i.e. the Diamond or Touch Pro at this point in time) this year, TmoJoe has tipped us that perhaps we will be getting the  Touch Pro some time this year.  I sincerely hope that this is true, as I would love to have the Touch Pro.

How about a couple of Tips and Tricks!  In case you haven’t been to our fine forum in awhile you may not have noticed that we now have a new Tips and Tricks section.  There is not much in there right now, so if you have any cool tips (or tricks!) that you use drop on by and share with us!  Probably the ultimate tip and trick that I can share with you was put up by bk1, and it’s something that can save you International callers boatloads of cash.  Head on over and read all about using the UMA service (that’s hotspot calling for those playing along) to make International phone calls on the cheap.

All right, all right…..so right now I don’t think that I can make one of these weekly wrap up’s without having some mention of the upcoming Android device!  There has been a flurry of information come out over the past few days, and most of it has already made it’s way to this site.  You may have already read about those Dream/G1 pictures that surfaced recently, well head on over to the forum and see what some of our readers think about them.  It doesn’t look like everybody’s all too impressed.  Then of course there was the news about the presale, which not too many of our contributors cared for.  But, you’ve got to take the good with the bad, right?  Right.  So, to keep from ending on a bad note you may recall the Top 50 Android applications file that was floating around that didn’t actually have 50 applications in it, but only 46.  Well, those of us over in the forum had been wondering what the other four apps were, and fbarkon was the one that gave us the link to the answer.  If only all questions could be answered so easily!

One last bit of information to pass along before closing out.  We here at TMoNews would like to let everybody know that some of us will be taking the next couple of days off to celebrate Labor Day with our families and friends.  We need to have at least one day away from sitting in front of a computer monitor!

Well, that wraps up this weeks edition of the weekly forum wrap up.  Why not come on over to the forum, jump in and participate!  That way you don’t have to wait for the next edition of the weekly update!

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No writing required for this, enjoy:

Update: Sorry guys I’m having trouble blowing the pics up, click on them twice…

Via Engadgetmobile

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Today, Androidguys, among our most favorite people to communicate with have given us something if you’re like me, you’re going to be using as wallpaper on your desktop/laptop/phone…seat covers in your car.

That’s right, it the Android G1 logo…<cheap halo effects take place.>

I know todays news hasn’t been received well and we knew that would be the case. I can’t imagine anyone believes we thought it would go over well and you all know that we wouldn’t post it if we didn’t think there was at least a shred of truth.

So while wallowing in misery if you aren’t in a 3G area for the presale, you can at least enjoy one more step closer to d-day by taking that logo and tattooing it to your forehead.

Many thanks to Scott and his team at Androidguys!

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The good news is that this is today’s Android announcement but the bad news, is . . . well pretty bad. We get information regarding the Android launch and we take a lot of it at face value. We’ve always tried our best to be accurate and sure of our info, corroborate it and this time we’re confident enough. I must emphasize that none of this is 110% concrete and is of course subject to change.

According to sources, the PRESALE launch of the Android device will be to customers in 3G capable areas ONLY. Thats right, the morning of Sept 17th when you wake up and go to order that magical and mystical device, if you aren’t in a 3G area, you might not want to be around anything you can throw. Keep in mind that being in a 3G market, doesn’t mean your area will have 3G coverage as the entire market may not be covered.  For example, being in the Miami market doesn’t guarantee 3G capability right away for the suburbs. As of right now, your home zip code will have to be in an area with 3G coverage to be eligible.  We are NOT sure if this news is specific to the 25 launch cities we’ve discussed previously or to those cities that are already publicly launched. So again, take this with a grain of salt. Just know that we are working tirelessly to confirm this information and hopefully refute it. Right now its the most up to date info regarding the launch.

Update: There is nothing that says non 3G residents won’t be able to order the phone post presale. This news is presale ONLY.

On another note its looking like the pricing scheme for the device is still likely to be tiered with eligible customers only getting the best possible pricing. It was considered at one point that all customers were eligible ala 1st gen iPhone but new information points to otherwise. This morning Androidguys published a pricing scenario and it matches up with the best of our knowledge. We have been working closely with these guys trying to ensure that only the best information flows to you, the readers and we trust in these guys and you should too.

• Invoice Price: $399
• New customer price: $200 + $35 activation fee (2-year agreement, no mail-in rebates to mess with)
• Full discount for upgrades: $200 + $18 standard upgrade fee
• Partial upgrade cost: $350 + $18 standard upgrade fee
• Pre-Sale upgrade for full discount: $150 + $18 UF
• Pre-Sale upgrade for partial discount: $300 + $18 UF

Info courtesy of Androidguys: read the article here.

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Ok, todays Android news…thats right, there is news but its not really about the phone so bear with me. Today has a little more of a focus on the marketplace that will support the Android system. Like Apples app store, Android will for those who have lived in a cave the last 2 weeks or so support the open handset alliance. In other words, developers will be able to place their own applications into the android “market.” Ignoring for the moment that T-mobile has its own plans to open their own infrastructure to developers and concentrate on the notion that Android will its own support system. Just as that OTHER phone does.

Details are very fresh but the official Android developers blog today posted the first of what is sure to be many many more details about the upcoming marketplace. There are a few highlights to look at it, such as the rating system that is best described as similar to youtube. Another note is the speed by which developer should be able to get applications on the store: “register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it.”

It also sounds like at launch applications will be free with developers being given information on payable opportunities soon thereafter. Its a quick read so I suggest heading over to the Android developers blog here and start getting excited all over again. Oh yes, in my quick reading I didn’t notice, but there are quite a few references to gps in those pictures, so hmmm we got it right. Thanks forum people!

Have I mentioned our own Android forums before, I’m pretty sure I have but I’m plugging them again anyway. So shameless plug happening and besides, those guys catch things I miss in my hurry to get stuff posted so they rock.

Thanks to the tipster who got this to us!

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P

Welcome back Sony Ericsson, you were missed! We posted the Sept 3rd release date earlier this month and yes we know this isn’t the most anticipated phone around town these days. However, for those of you in cities lucky enough to have some 3G goodness, this just might fill your needs. Recapping:

• 2.0 megapixel camera
• myfaves compatible
• 1700/2100 mhz 3G band and Tri-band 850/1800/1900 mhz
• Some other stuff most phones have like a calculator and an address book! Oh and it has text messaging! Picture messaging too!

Pricing will be $79.99 on a new 2 Year Contract after a $50 dollar mail in rebate.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Attention roughnecks, do we have the phone for you? Dropped your phone in a puddle, kids got a hold of it, has it met a mug of beer (cough, cough me!)? Well do we have the phone for you, thats right Motorola is still making phones! Behold, the motoactive…really, we didn’t make that name up! Also know as the moto w450, there doesn’t seem to be much here feature wise to distinguish from the pack. We’ve previewed this phone before without much fanfare and we’re sure to see it overshadowed by other, more popular handsets. The biggest selling point of this phone is of course its “active” status aka “water resistant,”, allowing for a little less stress to the user when your phone falls, hits pavement and bounces into a puddle. We’re fairly certain of a Sept 3rd release date but of course, thats subject to change. Price is TBD, but we’re hearing between $30-50 dollars. Should be a nice little pick up for that clumsy Aunt who always calls you with phone questions. Really, I hope she doesn’t know I run this site and just said that.

Ongoing discussion of this phone continues here, and remember we have a beautiful calender of upcoming T-mobile handsets here.

Don’t worry Android lovers, as the date approaches we’ll return you back to your regularly scheduled Android programming.

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Ok, I know I know we’re putting Android stuff up all over the blog. I PROMISE non-android stuff is coming, we have a couple of exciting announcements coming up in the next week or so! For the moment however, I wanted to post this up because Jimbo831, one of our super forum members (and newest moderator!!!) took hours out of his time creating the best photoshopped look of Android to date. Here is Jimbo describing his approach:

“I was bored having several days in a row off work and decided to start a new project in Photoshop.  I’ve been so excited about the G1 coming soon and can’t stop wondering what it will look like, what features it will have, and just everything about it.  Because of this, I decided to do some calculations based on the reference sketches released by AndroidGuys the other day.  I used the overall phone size of 115mm x 55mm and the 3 measurements shown near the logos on the back of the phone to calculate the remaining measurements of the phone.  It may vary slightly due to calculations made, but if the sketches released are to scale, this will be a fairly accurate measurement of the device overall…”

There is alot more to read on what he did and how he got those measurements, so you should be clicking here.

Seriously, now is the time to head over to the forums and give Jimbo some massive Karma. Seriously, go now.

P.S. Remember we still have much love for you non-android fans, its unfortunate that this is dominating the news lately but for those that simply aren’t interested, stay tuned, we’re just getting started this week.

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Well, loyal Android fans, here is something to fill that daily Android fix. The Android guys are at it again with a laundry list of things we can expect from the Android phone, mind you this list is not “official” but oh well, Android speculation seems just fun anyway:

• 528Mhz Qualcomm 7201 processor
• Data kit for USB connectivity in the box
• 64MB Internal RAM
• 128MB Internal ROM
• 1GB MicroSD card
• 5 Row QWERTY keypad
• Trackball
• 3.1MP camera (no flash) 2048 x 1536
• Video playback files – H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP
• Dedicated YouTube Player
• Audio playback files – MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG
• Speakerphone (mono, natch)
• Ringtones (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
• HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML
• Bluetooth (class 1)
• Picture Caller ID
• POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email
• AIM, MSN, YAHOO, and GTALK messaging
• Quad Band (850, 900, 1800, 1900)
• 3G
• 802.11b & 802.11g
• UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL
• 1150mAh battery
• 5.6 oz weight
• Sync capable with Google Calendar
• Downloadable content via Android Marketplace
• Google Streetview with built-in compass

See the full list here: Androidguys

Update: There is some definite confusion going around with a bunch of articles floating around today about what the Android device will NOT include:

To clarify, bluetooth implementation will be included in the form of handsfree headset usage but not in the API set, or as I understand it it won’t be accessible for development via programming. Googletalk, or gtalk will also not be included in the first run of the Android software due to “security” and “implementation” concerns. Thats really disappointing to say the least considering I live on google talk.

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That’s right Tmonews lovers, yet another Android find to get you oooohing…ahhhing and in my case, a little drooling. Just kidding, but not really. Thats right, we are hailing the men over at Androidguys tonight for this super spy find. “Official” confirmation with the myfaves logo, T-mobile wording and behold “google” on the back! Nothing else really to write here, just enjoy one more drawing and the ever increasing anticipation of Android. All hail G1.

Androidguys, as the Romans did before Caesar, we salute you. Read their article here.

The conversation starts here, forum love.

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