Isaiah's Tech

According to the latest news, Verizon is set to launch a sexilicious handset. The HTC Whitestone - originally thought to be the Touch Diamond 2 way back when - will actually be launching as the HTC Imagio - one of the names that were trademarked in July. It's scheduled to hit Verizon on October 6th - the same day Windows Mobile 6.5 gets released. The Imagio is set to have: a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU, 512MB of ROM, a 5MP AF camera, aGPS support, and 256MB of RAM. Although it's not mentioned this handset should have a microSD card slot.

On a side note, Verizon looks like they will also be releasing another handset in October. The HTC Predator looks like it will be running Android and will be available sometime next month (October).

[WMExperts, WMPowerUser, Boy Genius]

We know that the HTC Whitestone (right side) is coming to Verizon and it will reportedly hit the US carrier in Q4 (September / October) of this year. The Whitestone is similar to the HTC Touch Diamond 2, but it does have some different features. The Whitestone will have: a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 5MP AF camera, aGPS support, 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, a 528MHz Qualcomm CPU, and WinMo 6.1 on-board - possibly WinMo 6.5 when it gets released though.

Telstra Australia will be launching the HTC Leo / Firestone. We don't know the price or when it will launch, so just wait for it.

HTC Whitestone To Verizon: WMPowerUser
HTC Leo To Telstra Australia: WMPowerUser

China Mobile has just announced another Windows Mobile handset that they will release. They're calling it - possibly just a codename - the HTC Qilin, which looks surprisingly like the HTC Whitestone that we know and love. It almost looks the same, but the specs are almost identical. The HTC Qilin is reportedly going to have: a 3.6-inch touchscreen WVGA display with a 480 x 800 resolution, a 5MP AF camera, 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, a TI OMAP 3430 600MHz CPU, GSM/EDGE/GPRS TD-SCDMA connectivity, WiFi 802.11 g, and aGPS support.

I don't know what's with the WiFi support, since it is being launch in China. This handset will be running Windows Mobile 6.5 and will be available by the end of the year - possibly a December launch.

Update on August 25th: According to The Unwired, the HTC Qilin will be released as the Dopod T8388

[WMPowerUser]

The HTC Whitestone that is looking amazing has just got FCC approval. You can check the official FCC filing here. The Whitestone is going to be released on Verizon and it has: a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen display, a 5MP camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, aGPS support, a Qualcomm 7600 528MHz CPU, and it is going to be running on Windows Mobile. We don't know when Verizon will release this, but we know that this is a CDMA / EVDO handset.

[Engadget Mobile]

Similar to the HTC Whitestone render that we saw last week, this is another one and it looks slightly better. No more silver / white frame in this render, this time it's sporting a carbon fibre frame, according to WMPowerUser. It looks sexy, even with the Verizon branding on it. However, the HTC logo is not located on the handset in this photo.

[WMPowerUser]

Five days ago, we saw new photos of Verizon's HTC Whitestone / Touch Diamond 2. It looks like it will have: a 3.5mm headphone jack, a kickstand, a 3.6-inch touchscreen display, and a 5MP camera.

Yes, we've heard that Sprint would launch the HTC Touch Pro 2 on September 3rd, but the latest rumour says that it will be on September 8th. Just in case you forgot, T-Mobile launched this handset today for a whopping $349 USD and Verizon and AT&T's are on the way as well.

HTC Whitestone: WMExperts
Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2: Phone Arena

As you may or may not know, the HTC Touch Diamond 2 is going to be launched by Verizon as the HTC XV6975 - or could this actually be the Whitestone? Whatever it is, above is the new rendered form of it. It looks quite different from the Touch Diamond 2 that we all know and love, but it looks sexy. Like I said, this could be the Whitestone, since the specs are a little bit different from the Touch Diamond 2. This handset has: a 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen display, aGPS support, a 5MP AF camera, a Qualcomm 7600 528MHz CPU, 512MB of ROM, 256MB of RAM, GSM / CDMA connectivity, and it will also run WinMo 6.1. It will, of course, be upgradeable to WinMo 6.5. If you remember, the Touch Diamond 2 has a smaller 3.2-inch touchscreen display. Anyways, the release date for the Touch Diamond 2 / Whitestone / XV6975 on Verizon is said to be September / October.

I've talked about the HTC Mega before and what you see above is what it will supposedly look like. The HTC Mega has: a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display, GSM / HSDPA connectivity, GPS support, a 3MP camera, a Qualcomm 7225 528MHz CPU, and 256MB of ROM and RAM. It will be running on WinMo 6.5 and will have the new Touch FLO2D UI that we saw just over a week ago.

Last, but not least, is a picture of the HTC Tachi. This phone will be sold in China via China Telecom, under the Dopod brand name. It'll be running Windows Mobile.

[Unwired View]

Facebook will be changing their Home page layout. When i logged on today, i actually got a message saying that they will be changing the Home page layout, so it's good to see that Facebook is keeping its users up-to-date. This could be Facebook's answer to Twitter. I have a Twitter account, but i still don't know exactly what i can use it for. Twitter is basically made up of Facebook statuses and Facebook inboxes. Nothing else. Maybe i'm using it wrong or something, but i don't really see the point as to why its population is growing. I also don't know why this would be Facebook's "shot" at Twitter because Twitter is way behind Facebook in almost every aspect. If anything, Twitter should be trying to take Facebook off of it's throne. All of that said, Facebook has decided to take off the 5,000 friend limit and they've changed the overall layout of the home page. There is also word that instead of updating your home page about every 10 minutes, it will do so at a much faster pace (live updates?). If you want to read more about Facebook's changes, go to the links below.

Go Canada! RIM has released the app store for their Blackberries. It is called... wait for it... BlackBerry App World. Who needs an App Store or an Android Market when you've got the world. +1 RIM.

Just in case you cared about Windows Vista [still], Microsoft has released the Vista SP2 RC to the public. Everyone just do yourself a favour and get your hands on the Windows 7 beta because Vista is officially dead.

Some of HTC's upcoming phones have been revealed. Partially, that is. Some new leaks have revealed some new specs for 5 devices / phones, including: Whitestone, Firestone (supposed HTC Touch HD successor), Thor (or Thoth or Athena 2), Twin and Maple. Keep in mind that [i think] these are just codenames. Anyways, let's start it off with the Whitestone. This phone will have a 3.6-inch touchscreen, a Qualcomm 7600 528MHz processor, a 5MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.1 Pro (sucks). This will be available in September through Verizon. Next up is the Firestone which will have a 3.6-inch touchscreen, a Qualcomm 8250 600MHz processor, an 8MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.5 which is a slight improvement. This phone is said to be the HTC Touch HD successor, but i still prefer the Touch HD's looks over this one. This phone will be available in September also, but the carrier is unknown. The next device is the Thor. I call it a device because i'm not sure if it is a phone, seeing how it supposedly has a 4.8-inch touchscreen (could be a typo from Boy Genius Reports). Anyways, it has a Qualcomm 8250 1GHz processor, a 5MP camera and will also run on WinMo 6.5. Again, it will also be released in September, but the carrier is unknown. The Twin looks like it is the most basic phone out of all of the aforementioned ones. The Twin will have a VGA display (size unknown), a Qualcomm 7501A 528MHz processor and a 3.2 MP camera. Availability is unknown. The last phone on the list is the Maple which i've already talked about before. It will have a 2.4-inch screen, a Qualcomm 7228 528MHz processor, 2MP camera and will run on WinMo 6.1. It is scheduled to be released in May. This phone could also have the QWERTY keypad and "Inner Circle" that was also mentioned in my other post.

Facebook Redesigning Home Page (and picture): http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/04/facebooks-response-to-twitter/
Facbook Changes The Home Page: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/03/04/facebook-relaunching-home-page-news-feed-going-live-next-wednesday/
RIM's App Store (and picture): http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/rim-names-its-app-store-blackberry-app-world/
Windows Vista SP2 RC: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=2224
HTC's Lineup Partially Revealed (and picture): http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/03/04/htcs-2009-line-up-gets-specd/
HTC Firestone picture): http://i.gizmodo.com/5164375/htcs-2009-lineup-leaked-includes-touch-hd-successor