- David Pogue is awesome, but he didn't exactly write a review.  He's kind of an Apple fanboy.  But he's still rad.

- 3G is no joke: The new iPhone sports much faster data speeds than the old one, provided that you use it within AT&T's 3G coverage areas.

- 3G eats batteries: Uncle Walt couldn't quite get 4.5 hours of talk time out of the new iPhone's battery thanks to all of that high speed, power-hungry 3G nonsense.

Want more on iPhone 3G?  I've got two choices for you: 1.  Wait until I get mine Friday and start posting about it.  2.  Read Walt Mossberg's review, David Pogue's review, or Edward Baig's review.

It seems like it's all shaping up as suspected.  The new iPhone is the old iPhone with a slightly different housing and faster - if more power hungry - cellular radio onboard.  iPhone software 2.0 will run on both the old and new iPhone, meaning that current owners (like me) don't need to upgrade in order to enjoy the App Store and other new software.  The question for current iPhone owners, then, is whether or not 3G data speeds are worth the extra coin both up front and each month.

A. At this point you can't buy the first version unless you get it used or off ebay or something - Apple has stopped making and selling it, and they're only going to sell the new 3G version.  They'll do almost exactly the same things, though - the 3G version will have faster data and a slightly different body, but the software should be almost exactly the same on both the first version and the 3G version.  Hopefully the new 3G version will be "better" in terms of price and voice quality, and if you have 3G coverage from AT&T, you'll be able to get faster Web and Email speeds.  But in terms of features and software, they should be basically the same.

How does it feel to win Kyle...?  

"Shock, actually.  I never even thought I would win anything.  But nice because my old Sprint phone needs to be upgraded and, being a student, funds are hard to come by"

Thank you to Samsung!

- As everyone and their Moms either complains about AT&T's newly raised iPhone plan rates or scrambles to offer a discounted "All-In" voice and data plan, T-Mo continues to offer the best values in the business when it comes to good ol' fashioned voice plans.  The new additions of UMA-based services like HotSpot@Home and T-Mobile@Home have increased the carrier's cost-effective offerings for home and mobile voice calling.  It stands to reason that T-Mo's data services should continue their tradition of putting some bang behind your buck.

- Totally unsubstantiated rumors are flying around regarding a 5MP cameraphone from Samsung and a "Knock your socks off iPhone killer" coming from T-Mobile in Q4 of this year.  Love those pie-in-the-sky rumors, right?  Seriously, though, you've gotta thing T-Mo's got something cool in the works as a flagship 3G device.

Sorry for the bad Olympic pun there ... I was just reading about US sprinter Tyson Gay's leg injury over on SI.com.

Seriously, though, it looks like Verizon's going all out to win the touchscreen wars on sheer volume of choices alone.  With Voyager, Glyde, and Dare already on the market and Thunder coming soon, that's four VCAST phones with touchscreens - two with full QWERTY boards, as well - in a variety of shapes, sizes, and feature sets to appeal to all but the most die-hard iPhone fanatic shopping for a new high-end cellie this summer.  Of course, you never know how these things really are until you get one in hand ... but my money's on RIM to do right by their first keyboard-less BlackBerry, however strange an idea that may be.

A.  Voyager is bigger to carry around but much easier to use.  If you want a small, cool phone that you'll use mainly only for calls and texting, Glyde will work and I love how small it is.  But if you plan to also use the Web and the VCAST music and video features, you might find Glyde frustrating - I know I did.  Check 'em out in person, as I personally think Voyager is really too big to carry every day.  But if you don't mind the size, Voyager's touchscreen and larger keyboard are a little easier to use.  Web browsing on Glyde was particularly frustrating because of the screen.  I'll try to do a comparison video soon.

While Crave didn't go so far as to actually download and view any of the 5MP photos they took with ZN5 (seems this was a restricted hands-on, and not a full review situation - the Crave blog does show one full-res ZN5 photo provided by Motorola), they did laud the cameraphone's start-up speed and shutter speed, saying "taking pictures was ... very fast with little to no shutter lag."  There's no onboard 3G, but you can upload photos to Flickr, Facebook and other web sites via WiFi, and the Xenon flash also seemed to work well in Crave's tests. 

Oh, and speaking of Verizon, I got word today that we may be seeing another VZW handset or two thrown into the pot before Summer's over.  So Happy Friday and Happy July 4th from your friends at PhoneDog and LG!

The launch of the SE F305 gaming phone drew a few, "Hmm ... I thought a PSP phone was coming," comments from the media, but it seems that Sony may be looking to keep the PSP brand all to their selves.  The Marketing Week article cites an industry source as saying, "the relationship between Sony and Sony Ericsson has become 'frosty' and he adds that Sony has learned from its 'strategic error' of giving its Walkman branding to Sony Ericsson."

SE's profits were off almost 50% in Q1 of this year, and they've fallen into fifth place in the global handset market.  Whether or not Sony's looking to distance themselves from the Ericsson partnership remains to be seen, but a well-executed PSP phone could prove a big hit.  Look for it in time for Christmas '09, if Marketing Week is to be believed.

Users need to use Safari on iPhone to get to Google Talk. When you navigate away from the page on your web browser, status is set to unavailable, and the session restarts when you return. So, it's not as integrated as a downloadable app, but it'll do for a quick fix.

You can select from a list of the people you talk to the most, search your contacts, and manage multiple conversations.

$149's a nice price, but a three year contract?  Ouch.

MMS isn't a new technology by any means, but the first-gen iPhone doesn't have it.  Conventional wisdom says that Apple would just as soon have you use their Mobile Me online service, and not MMS messaging, for your photo sharing needs since Apple charges $100/year for Mobile Me.  But AT&T is laying out all kinds of cash to subsidize iPhone 3G's new, lower price, and they'd stand to recoup some of that money by way charging for iPhone MMS messages.

It's worth noting that the new iPhone plan does not include messaging of any sort (the "old" iPhone plan does).  Current AT&T messaging plans start at $5/month for 200 messages.  As with everything else iPhone 3G, all will become clear when the next-gen of Apple's mobile handset goes on sale July 11.

I am personally grateful for the free Samsung Mobile Charging Station service, which I coincidentally took advantage of yesterday at one of the 51 charging stations in Los Angeles at LAX.

In addition to MSP, power thirsty and travelers desperate for a little battery boost can take advantage of Samsung's generosity at the following airports: JFK, LAX, LaGuardia, Orlando International and of course, Dallas/Fort Worth.

iPhone 3G will be available for $199 for the 8GB model and $299 for the 16GB model. These prices require two-year contracts and are available to the following customers:

• iPhone customers who purchased before July 11
• Customers activating a new line with AT&T
• Current AT&T customers who are eligible, at the time of purchase, for an upgrade discount

Existing AT&T customers who are not currently eligible for an upgrade discount can purchase iPhone 3G for $399 for the 8GB model or $499 for the 16GB model. Both options require a new two-year service agreement. In the future, AT&T will offer a no-contract-required option for $599 (8GB) or $699 (16GB).

Current customers can also wait until they become eligible for the upgrade discount. Current AT&T customers who are upgrading to iPhone 3G will pay an $18 upgrade fee and new AT&T customers will pay the standard $36 activation fee.

Voice, Data and Text Messaging Plans

• AT&T NationSM Unlimited: Includes unlimited Anytime Minutes for $129.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 1350: Includes 1350 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $109.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 900: Includes 900 Anytime Minutes and unlimited Night & Weekend Minutes for $89.99 a month.
• AT&T Nation 450: Includes 450 Anytime Minutes and 5,000 Night & Weekend Minutes for $69.99 a month.

iPhone 3G goes on sale at AT&T retail stores at 8 a.m. local time on Friday, July 11.

Looks like that July ship date is now looking more like August - even mid-August according to Boy Genius Report.  RIM showed Bold off at a press event in New York City Wednesday night (which I couldn't attend because I'm headed out to Montana for a wedding and mini-vacation, thankyouverymuch), and a RIM representative made it clear that the Bold was planned for an August launch all along.

"We didn't say anything about 'July' or 'August.' It will become available in August. So we're still on track for [availability] this summer," said Erik Van Drunen, RIM's PR manager, according to BetaNews.com.  Van Drunen also denied knowledge of purported overheating problems with the device.    "I don't know where that's coming from at all, but it's probably from somewhere in the blogosphere," he said. 

Dang those bloggers.

Set up to help web developers create more function-rich, user friendly and relevant applications, the initiative is designed to drive the use of data services on mobile.