Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard that Apple has released a new iPhone and that this new iPhone has been having some problems with keeping a signal when you hold it in your left hand. Of course, any new iPhone– and particularly any new iPhone problems– brings out the rumors of Apple finally adding another carrier to their cell phone world, with most of the rumors focusing on a particular carrier that’s red and rhymes with Shmerizon.

Yes, the Verizon iPhone rumors are alive and hotter than ever; with many top, well-respected publications (like the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg) chiming in by saying that a Verizon iPhone is on the way– and really soon.

So what are these rumors and what do we think of them? Read on for the full scoop.

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Is that new iPhone that we’ve seen so many pix of over the last few weeks finally going to become official tomorrow? Are we finally going to learn when iPhone OS 4 going to drop? Will MobileMe become free for all? Are there going to be the long awaited updated Mac Minis and MacBook Airs? Will Verizon, T-Mobile and/or Sprint be announced as new iPhone and/or iPad carriers, officially ending AT&T’s exclusivity?  The answers to those pressing questions (which are some of the hottest rumors flying around– though again, before we get some hopes up, these are just rumors) and more should all be revealed in a few hours when Apple CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage for Apple’s annual WWDC conference at around 1 PM Eastern time tomorrow (June 7th).

It will no doubt be a big day no matter what Apple announces, so remember to check back here tomorrow where we’ll have all of Apple’s announcements broken down with everything you need to know. In the meantime, what are you thinking/hoping/wishing to see Apple announce tomorrow?

(And in case you were wondering, now would probably be the worst time to go and buy an iPhone 3GS).

If you’ve been waiting on an iPhone, you probably heard of Walmart’s dropping of the iPhone 3GS 16 GB’s price to $97 this week and went “wow, I can get double the iPhone than the 8 GB iPhone 3G and save $100! This is amazing!”

If I were you I’d wait before rushing out to the nearest Walmart, as you may have buyer’s remorse VERY QUICKLY. Why? Read on.

Now see there are 2 main reasons I would say NOT to buy it, and both revolve around Apple’s WWDC conference in a little over a week (June 7th). Here’s the first.

A new iPhone

One of the new iPhone 4 shots from Vietnam (seen running a supposed Apple test software. Pic from All Things Digital)

Let’s face it, it’s nearly a given that Apple introduces a new iPhone at WWDC. You’ve got tons of leaks (there hasn’t been a week that’s gone by since Gizmodo scored the first leak that there hasn’t been some talk and pix of a new iPhone– be it from the Czech Republic, Vietnam…), numerous references in the 4.0 beta software, the proper timing (the last two iPhone’s were also announced at WWDC, so its seems like now is the about the perfect time for new iPhones), and, of course, who else but Apple CEO Steve Jobs kicking off the WWDC festivities. The writing is clearly on the wall.

Now the latest rumors as to the specs of the iPhone include:

• white or black colors (with the white iPhone being fully white, not black on the front, white on the back as seen on the 3G and 3GS)
• 2x the screen resolution (to an incredible 960×640… or in simple terms, one of the best screens ever on a mobile device!)
• 2x the RAM of the 3GS with a processor like the iPad’s (to 512 MB, which should mean even faster apps, and of course, better multitasking!)
• 2x the storage, most likely to be 32 GB for the base $199 version, 64 GB for the $299. This would fall in line with what’s Apple’s done in the past. There are also shots of a 16 GB iPhone 4 floating around, so maybe Apple may have one at $100
• 2 cameras, including a higher res one on the back with flash. It’s rumored to be 5 megapixel, which is a nice bump up from the already decent 3.2 megapixel one on the 3GS
• and a front one for mobile iChat

All this plus a nicer, sleeker design as seen from the Gizmodo leaks, as well as a supposedly bigger, better and longer lasting battery.

Clearly Apple looks to maintain their awesomeness in the phone space, and if your looking to buy an Apple phone, this looks to be the one.

The 3GS is the new 3G

This leads me to my second point. If last year’s move is any indication, than the base 3GS (in this case the 16 GB) will move to $99, just like the base 3G (the 8 GB model) did when the 3GS was announced. If you don’t need the much more high powered iPhone, and wanna save the $100, Apple’s got room for you too. And you can still run 4.0 with all the new multi-tasking goodness.

But here’s the thing, before being locked in a new 2 year deal now, why not just wait 2 weeks and see what Apple’s got planned. If Apple does introduce the new iPhone and lowers the 16 GB 3GS to $99 anyway (and which should be offered everywhere, like Best Buy, Apple and AT&T stores so you don’t need to find a Walmart if ones not near you), you really lose nothing, and may even have saved by not jumping the gun too quickly and being stuck with last year’s goods for 2 more years!

Though whatever you do, don’t buy an 8 GB iPhone 3G.

Wow, in summer already shaping up to be awesome for buying new phones with the releases of the EVO 4G and new iPhone, we can now possibly add to that list a new BlackBerry– that really cool touchscreen slider BlackBerry Bold 9800 we first saw a couple of months earlier.

The pix are much clearer than the ones we’ve seen in the past, and show off a couple of pretty big things, such as BlackBerry OS 6 (see above pic), the latest major update providing, among other things, a real web browser, improved media player (with its own version of Cover Flow), as well as a true multi-touch OS. Its worth noting here that the phone is also said to just be using a “normal” multi-touch screen and not the SurePress touchscreen seen on the Storm line.

The pic below is shot of the phone booting up to an AT&T screen, implying as Boy Genius Report claims, that AT&T is slated to get this monster new phone this summer!

RIM is still keeping quiet and hasn’t confirmed (or even said) anything about this phone so for the time being it’s still a rumor, but don’t worry– we’ll make sure to keep you up to date as we learn more.

Pix from TheBerryFix (here and here), and The Cellular Guru.

Rumored shots of the iPhone HD (aka iPhone 4– this pic from Twitter user TUDream)

We know that Apple is working on a new iPhone (both history and common sense tell us that– I mean, Apple has updated the iPhone every summer since it was released, and what makes this one to be an exception to that precedent). But here is something we didn’t expect to see so soon– pix of a supposed 4th Generation iPhone (the 4th iPhone, not necessarily an iPhone that runs on 4G).

This 4th iPhone (rumored to be called the iPhone HD), if these shots are to be believed, is made out of aluminum (or some metal like material), which would make sense seeing Apple’s new love of the material (used on Macs, MacBooks, iPod Shuffles, and of course the iPad), and packs a video for iChat videocalling (YES!). Also noticeable on these pix is the location of a SIM card slot, which, while not 100% confirming (again we still don’t even know if these are even close to what the 4th iPhone looks like), seems to indicate another AT&T or maybe even a T-Mobile release as well, but less of hope for Verizon and Sprint. Engadget has gotten a few pix of the device (said to be found on the floor of a bar in San Jose of all places– and wow, if this is real, somebody is gonna learn very quickly to stop drinking on the job), and it is said to be packing a rather odd 80GB of storage (which would be great but strange, considering the flash storage found in the past iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches are in capacities like 16, 32 and 64 GB so we’d think the new iPhone would double the current 3GS’s 32 GB to say 64, but hey, we wouldn’t mind an extra 16 GB).

Also of note, Boy Genius Report has said AT&T has told employees that they can’t vacation in June. Only other times they did this? The last iPhone releases.

All I know is, I really can’t wait for June.

While we are eagerly waiting to see what exactly Microsoft wants to share tomorrow, it appears that there are more and more signs of this being something focused on us. What do I mean? Look at the page Microsoft has set up with regards to the event– or better yet, look at the pic above. Somehow I don’t think this will be an event focused on the businessman. Also, take a look at this– the Microsoft Student Twitter that’s designed for “Representing the Student Experience team at Microsoft–we’re here to make sure students around the world have good experiences with Microsoft!” Out of all of Microsoft’s many Twitter feeds (such as for Windows Phone, Zune, Xbox, Office etc.), only it and the main Microsoft (@Microsoft) seem to mention this big event. Hmm… maybe this is Microsoft looking for the attention of a certain market?

Oh, and one last thing. In the top pic, look at the green dot in the upper right. That phone looks very curiously like the supposed “Turtle” phone… In all seriousness, I know my interest has definitely been even more piqued for this tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see what it is exactly Microsoft has in store (who knows, maybe if we’re really lucky they’ll announce the Courier!).

There will be a live webcast of the event at Microsoft’s site here for those interested starting at 10 o’clock AM PDT (or 1 PM for those of us on the East Coast), and you can make sure that whatever Microsoft’s got planned, we’ll have it covered for you here.

Think Apple is the only one that can dominate a news week? Think again. Microsoft has sent out invites to the press about something to “share” this coming Monday, April 12th. What this “something” is? Here are a few guesses.

There is a lot of talk about Microsoft perhaps unveiling 2 new phones– not Windows 7 phones, but new phones that are similar to the Sidekick. In 2008, Microsoft bought a company called Danger, the makers of the hit T-Mobile phone series, the Sidekick. Now these new phones, codenamed “Project Pink,” are very teen-focused phones, meaning an emphasis on strong social network integration (such as via sites like Twitter and Facebook) and full keyboards. But instead of these phones continuing to run on T-Mobile, it looks like Verizon will be picking them up. Read on for all the rumored details.

The 2 phones rumored to be announced on Monday are codenamed “Turtle” and “Pure.” So what do we know about them so far?

According to CNET, unlike the Sidekicks, these new phones will be running some version of Windows Mobile (what kind is unclear) instead of the Java (or very basic) OS the Sidekicks run. This will also allow for things such as Zune integration, though according to CNET, don’t expect apps to be able to work both on Windows Phone 7 and the Pink phones, as they are still not the same.

A rumored shot of the “Turtle”

Gizmodo also has some even more info and pix on these phones. The Turtle is kinda like the Pre– a touchscreen with a full slideout QWERTY keyboard, which should be great for messaging. The Pure is in a design similar to that of the Sidekick’s or other touchscreen sliders’, basically a full touchscreen with a full slideout QWERTY keyboard underneath. Again, big focus here on messaging.

And here’s one of the Pure

Now, of course, there still is that question on apps, and if these really are running a different OS (or variation of an OS) than both the previous Windows Mobile and the upcoming Windows Phone 7, will developers need to make apps for 3 different Microsoft OS’s? If it’s that complicated, will they? All these questions and more are expected to be unveiled on Monday so stay tuned, this should be very interesting.

Top pic from Engadget

A rumored shot of the 4G packin HTC Supersonic for Sprint

Ok Sprint users– you can now think of this past week as an awesome one. Not only was it announced that you guys will soon be getting the Nexus One, but if these rumors are true– then we got for you something that will make that look like a toy. So what could possibly upstage news of the “Google Phone” coming to Sprint? Try the first US 4G phone! Yes, you read that right– a 4G phone!

As we know, for the past 2 years Sprint has been working hard on the rollout of their upcoming 4G network all across the US– already covering major cities such as Baltimore, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Seattle and Chicago (just to name a few); with others like New York, Boston and San Francisco said to be on the way in the “near future.” So with all that ever-expanding 4G coverage and only 2 data modems– like the Overdrive– being the only devices able to use it, it would make sense for Sprint to be preparing to launch a 4G phone to really kick off the 4G party (particularly with Verizon and AT&T beginning their 4G rollouts later this year/early next year).

So what could this first 4G phone possibly be? Obviously it has to be something insane, and from what this looks to be– we can definitely see this being it. Pix and info are pointing to an all touchscreen, Android 2.1 running phone called the HTC Supersonic (maybe the name has to do with the “super fast” 4G speeds?) to do the honors as the first Sprint 4G phone. The Supersonic is also said to be packing HTC’s latest and greatest version of it’s Sense UI (as we saw back at MWC), a 1 GHZ Snapdragon processor (as seen on the Nexus One), a 5 megapixel camera, and a 4.3 inch touchscreen (like on the HD2). All this in a very slim and sleek design as you see in a rumored shot of the device above.

Now those are just some rumored specs on the device (remember– until we hear official word from Sprint or HTC that’s all we can say this is), but according to the Wall Street Journal, we shouldn’t have to wait to long for this to all become official as Sprint is expected to do so this week at CTIA (think of CTIA as a part 2 of the big cell phone shows along with MWC, just this is taking place in Las Vegas and with more of a focus for US phones. This was where the AT&T Samsung Impression was announced last year for example).

We’ll of course have all things CTIA covered for you when the event takes place this Tuesday through Thursday– so stay tuned and keep checking back!

Pic and info from Phone Arena

With the iPad launch nearing, things in this rejuvenated tablet market look to become much more interesting– and much more intense. Now there’s been word for a while of rumors of Microsoft making their own tablet– codenamed “Courier”– and recently more shots of what this device is have leaked out, and I, as someone who views the iPad as a possible the perfect school computer, and is really considering buying my own iPad once it comes out (though I might wait that little extra time for the 3G version)– would  really consider dropping those plans immediately for this. Yes, this looks to be that good.

The Courier truly is a very unique and very cool device– with dual multi-touch screens (reminds me of an open notebook), a very stylish and sleek interface (while rumored to be based off the Windows Phone 7 Series OS, this is not just plain copy of a Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7, but something different that looks to be perfectly designed for this type of device), a camera (something we all know the iPad is missing), and a special “Courier pen” that can be used for writing notes onto the tablet. Seriously check out this video of the Courier from Engadget:

Whether or not you like Microsoft or are “an Apple fanboy,” you gotta admit this looks amazing. There also is said to be a headphone jack for media playback, some really cool artistic apps for all you creative types out there, an eBook app (as seen below; maybe this is also Microsoft’s attempt to get into the very hot eBook game, as the iPad is Apple’s), and as you saw in the video, a dedicated website for uploading your work and sharing it with the world. I mean, imagine this– your taking notes in school miss a day. You upload this and your friends can come in and instantly fill in what’s missing (as well as save the notes if they needed). Projects and collaboration couldn’t have been made easier.

The web looks great here as well (exactly as you’d expect on your laptop or desktop)–  and if this thing can do some gaming like Windows Phone 7 Series, I’ll be the first to line up!

I’m really hoping Microsoft fesses up to this soon (as of right now, we still gotta categorize this as a rumor as of course Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged that this thing even exists), and before I and many others give in to the temptation and go for the the iPad. But seeing as the iPad goes on sale in only a couple of weeks– which tablet would you rather go with– the iPad, Courier or are you looking at some other tablet?

Pix, video and info via Engadget

Is this the BlackBerry Slider?

BlackBerry fans out there- brace yourself. What we’re about to tell you is pretty HUGE news. Like seriously HUGE.

As you can see in the pic above, pix are leaking out all over the web of this– a BlackBerry that isn’t just touchscreen and isn’t just a regular BlackBerry with a full QWERTY keyboard– BUT BOTH, in a sleek-looking slider design.

Unfortunately, all that we have to go on is the pix (thanks to a site called BBLeaks)– which look to feature a touchscreen (though no SurePress as with the Storm), the new trackpad, and of course that awesome slide out full QWERTY keyboard. All in a design that doesn’t look to be much thicker than a Curve.

The BlackBerry Slider– closed and with the Curve

Ok, now for what some of the rumors on what else could be in this mysterious device. According to Boy Genius Report, this phone will run BlackBerry OS 6.0 (today’s BlackBerrys like the Bold 9700 are on 5.0, hopefully this new OS begins to separate itself from the same old BlackBerry OS we’ve been seeing for years), as well as pack WiFi capability with wireless N, for getting onto the latest and greatest WiFi networks out there. The device is also expected to use GSM/HSPA, the tech for networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, unlike the Storm, which is a Verizon exclusive (though that does not necessarily confirm nor deny the phone, or a version of it, to any of the networks). Additionally, according to CrackBerry, the Slider will also be a part of the Bold line– not the Storm.

This is clearly in the very early stages of rumors (yes, just to make sure it’s all loud and clear– this is still a rumor), but a rumor that looks to be absolutely awesome and one were hoping RIM makes official ASAP. What you think– would you buy a BlackBerry if it was a slider like this, or do you prefer your BlackBerrys to remain the same in terms of design? Share your thoughts in the comments.