We're still trying to figure out exactly how Nokia intends to position the N85 slider in its Nseries lineup, and frankly, the FCC documentation that's been outed for it isn't helping much. Seems there are two versions of the thing: one with no 3G -- likely for China -- and another with WCDMA on the 900, 1900, and 2100MHz frequencies. That little dose of 1900 in there will be enough to give owners partial access to 3G while out 'n about in the colonies, but by and large, the phone appears destined for Europe where 2100 (and to a lesser extent, 900) is the name of the game. Both do quadband EDGE, so at the very least, you'll be able to roam the better part of the globe and get some semblance of coverage -- just don't expect it to be particularly speedy everywhere you go. To be fair, Espoo's been getting pretty good about crafting special versions of its hottest handsets that are ripe for North American use, so we're not giving up hope just yet that there's a third version floating out there.

[Via Cell Phone Signal]

For you axe-slingers who blame your inability to write a new song on the inability to afford a simple, portable recorder, your excuse is officially lame. TASCAM's ingenious GT-R1 affords musicians the ability to simply plug their guitar and / or bass directly in and record using the built-in amp simulator and effects. Better still, the stereo condenser microphones up top allow users to record ambient noise, vocals, off the cuff jam sessions or anything else for that matter. The unit captures in MP3 or WAV format (16- or 24-bit), includes an SD card slot (1GB bundled in) and a USB 2.0 port for offloading files and charging the battery. Newbies can even queue up an MP3 and jam along, and the integrated metronome / chromatic tuner are just icing on an already über-sweet cake. Word on the street has a price of around €200 ($308), which actually sounds like quite the bargain from here.

[Via Engadget Deutschland]

If you're the type of person looking to drop $600 to $800 on a photo viewer, you've probably got some pretty specialized needs for the thing, and Epson aims to please. A followup to its P-3000 and P-5000 photo viewers, the new P-6000 and P-7000 from Epson sport 640 x 480 4-inch LCDs, which have been newly enhanced with "Photo Fine Premia" tech to handle 94% of the Adobe RGB color space. The 6000 and 7000 models sport 80GB and 160GB of storage, respectively, and download shots up to 35% faster than before. The interface naturally allows you to browse through, sort and zoom in on your beautimous photography, supporting both JPEG and RAW files, and there's even a bit of PMP functionality for when you're bored of all that. They should be out in September for the aforementioned $600 and $800 price points.

For those that have actually waited around and saved their heart for BenQ's MID, we applaud you. Nearly a full year after we initially saw this thing crop up, we're just now receiving word that a launch is imminent. Finally redubbed MID Aries2 (after simply going by BenQ MID for all these months), this handheld computing device will reportedly "be launched in Europe this quarter." Unfortunately, that's all the details we're given, so until we see a finalized specifications sheet, we'll just assume nothing has changed since the last update.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Will]

Movistar's Chilean outpost has now become -- somewhat surprisingly, may we add -- the very first carrier in the world to launch the BlackBerry Bold and put it into subscribers' hands. The carrier's making sure everyone knows what a coup they've managed to pull off, too, proudly proclaiming "FIRST ONES IN THE WORLD" with a red banner draped across the Bold's image on Movistar's site. Pricing seems a little high at 299,990 Chilean pesos (about $588) on a two-year contract, but hey, you've gotta pay to play; just how badly do you want to be one of the first people on the face of the planet (John Mayer notably excepted) to put this thing to use?

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Details are really light on this one at the moment, but Germany's Der Spiegel apparently has it on authority that Deutsche Telekom is working on an e-book reader of its own, a move that follows a similar initiative from France Telecom's Orange division. Apparently, Deutsche Telekom's offering, dubbed News4Me, will be tailored specifically to delivering an "individual electronic newspaper" to users, with its content and layout able to "adapt constantly to the way that you read" -- we'd assume it'd boast some other standard e-book reader functions as well. Unfortunately, there's no indication at all as to what the device itself will be like, but Deutsche Telekom is reportedly set to begin conducting tests with "a few dozen" customers in Berlin sometime this fall -- assuming it's able to line up deals with newspapers and other content providers before then, that is.

[Via Crunch Gear]

Do you cheer for the underdog? Would you love to see VIA unseat Intel in the battle for the hearts and minds of netbook market share just because Intel's, well, Intel? Good, then you'll love this highly emotive video produced by VIA showing its meager 1.3GHz Nano processor kicking Intel's 1.6GHz Atom to the curb in a 1080p HD video test. We'd be more suspect of the results had we not already seen VIA clean Intel's house in the head-to-head benchmarks. Now pull up a seat ringside and get ready to sputter along with the Atom-based netbook -- video after the break.

[Via UMPC Portal]

Aigo's MID (more formally known as the MID P8860) just arrived in the anxious hands of UMPC Fever, and of course, it uploaded a number of photographs so we could all share in the joyous unboxing experience. Granted, you've already seen so many in the wild shots that you aren't apt to be surprised, but we're rather impressed with just how nicely everything was arranged inside of the subtle black box. We'd totally have to debadge it (is the Atom sticker really necessary... really?), but other than that it's not a half bad item to have residing in your rear pocket. More shots in the read link.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Jenn]

Amazon's been pretty cagey with Kindle sales numbers, except to say that it sold out the first batch in 5.5 hours and that more are finally arriving. Still, you can't keep a secret forever, and TechCrunch says they have it on good authority that Bezos and Co. have sold some 240,000 Kindles since November. Adding it all up, that's good enough for $100M in total revenue so far -- which is about what Wall Street's been predicting. Of course, that's chump change compared to the $1B annual business some analysts think Kindle can be, but you gotta start somewhere -- and a quarter-mil out the gate in the first year ain't bad at all.

In further evidence of our rapidly eroding civil liberties, the Department of Homeland Security disclosed today that US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have the right to confiscate and search a traveler's laptop or other electronic device without any suspicion of wrongdoing. The rules -- which we reported on in February -- allow for searches of hard drives, flash drives, cellphones, iPods, pagers, and video or audio tapes, and specify that the agencies can "detain" belongings for a "reasonable period of time," (i.e., as long as they please). Additionally, the DHS can share the data found with other government agencies or private entities for translation, decryption, or (astoundingly vague) "other reasons." The DHS says the policies apply to anyone entering the country -- including US citizens -- and claim the measures are necessary to prevent terrorism. In other news, Big Brother issued a statement today guaranteeing a bonus for turning over family members suspected of crimethink to the Thought Police.

[Via Switched]

ASUS' R50A has been hanging around in "almost here" land for, like, ever. Over six months after we laid hands on it at CES, it seems the release is all but imminent as evidenced by its recent showing in the sprawling FCC database. Per usual, the agency did its best with that 1.3-megapixel point-and-shoot that it just can't secure funds to replace, and while we've certainly seen more invigorating dissections, this one isn't half bad considering the dearth of enthusiasm expressed by those doing the splaying. Wander on down to the read link for more dark, dingy shots of the internals.

[Via jkkmobile]

Want downloads on your Touch Diamond to exceed the pace of a molasses-covered snail when on North American soil? Well, if you already have a Touch Diamond, you're outta luck -- but future buyers have another version to look forward to that packs HSDPA on the all-important 850 and 1900MHz bands. We don't have any word on when this is coming, where it's going, or how much it'll run, but hey, it exists. That's a solid start.

Say what you will about the attractiveness (or lack thereof) of WiBrain's line of -- shall we say, unique -- UMPCs, but hardware wise, they're hard to bang on. The B1 just recently saw an update that added in a succulent SSD, and the all new I1 looks to share in that joyousness while also including two more tidbits we've been longing for. According to early reports, the I1 will feature a tweaked B1 design with a mildly updated casing, but the real fun is within; we're talking a 1.1GHz / 1.3GHz Intel Atom CPU, SSD options as roomy as 64GB, Windows XP or Linux running the show, 6-hours of battery life when browsing and a drool-worthy HSDPA module. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but we are told to expect a worldwide launch (yes, including North America) in October.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Jenn]

The next-generation Q1 Ultra may be due next year, but Sammy's trying to squeeze every bit of life it can out of the current iteration with two new flavors. Announced today, the Q1U-CMXP boasts an integrated HSDPA 3G cellular modem, while the Q1UP-V is a Q1 Ultra Premium featuring Vista Business. As for the former, it includes just about every connectivity option you could wish for: 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Ethernet and a WWAN modem that connects to the AT&T Broadband Connect network; outside of the one new feature, however, the specifications are the same as the standard Q1 Ultra XP model that was launched in May of 2007. Both newcomers (if you can call 'em that) are available as we speak for $1,499 and $1,449 in order of mention.

At this point, we've seen the Tube from everyone but Nokia -- heck, even Morgan Freeman got a chance to show it off -- and it looks like that trend isn't going to abate any time soon. Another round of in-the-wild shots of the supposed XpressMusic 5800 have popped up (yes, the latest prototype seems to have dropped the "XpressMedia" badge), showing off a pretty uninspiring keyboard that we can only hope has no bearing on the final product. Guess that's why they haven't announced this sucker yet, eh? We hope?

[Via The Nokia Blog]