Huawei M660: Upcoming Portrait Mode QWERTY Android

Feeling a bit let-down by the Huawei-made T-Mobile Prism? We've just heard about a new Android from the company, and while we can't promise that the hardware will be much better than the Prism's (though it would be difficult for it to be worse), the Huawei M660 has the advantage of a more interesting form factor. 

Instead of a dime-a-dozen full-touch slate, the M660 will be a non-sliding, portrait-orientation QWERTY phone. Regardless of what's under the hood, just the novelty of that design will earn the phone some attention; while it pops-up once in a while, on models like the Motorola XPRT and Titanium, it's definitely one of the rarer Android configurations, with only a few things like clamshell models any harder to come by. 

The M660 just hit the Bluetooth SIG, where it's revealed to be a CDMA device with frequency support that points to MetroPCS. That carrier is a friendly face for Huawei, already offering a handful of its lower-enddevices. With Android 2.3 on-board, the M660 is likely going to be aiming low, as well, but we might just end up with an 800MHz or even 1GHz processor, making the handset quite a bit more attractive than if it was running at 600Mhz. 

We've yet to see any sign about just when the M660 might launch, nor for how much. 

HTC Sensation 4G ICS Update Coming "Very Soon", Says T-Mobile

With Ice Cream Sandwich already available for international versions of the HTC Sensation, T-Mobile users have been rightly curious as to when their own Sensation 4Gs might be seeing a similar release. Delays getting the update out had started taking a nasty turn last month, with some users accusing T-Mobile of intentionally withholding the updateto drive sales of new ICS models. The carrier firmly rejected that claim, and pointed to the need for adequate testing before the update could be released. It looks like that day may end up being quite soon, with T-Mobile announcing today that it's finished testing the Sensation 4G's ICS update. 

According to the carrier, the smartphone's ICS update should "be available very soon". Sadly, today's news doesn't go into anything more specific than that, but if testing really is totally completed, an OTA release within the course of week doesn't sound too unreasonable. 

A leaked roadmap from late last week suggested that T-Mobile was planning the Sensation 4G's ICS update for June 16, when it would release the code alongside the ICS update for the Amaze 4G. It's pretty hard to marry the idea of waiting another six weeks with the news that testing on the update is already done, so we're inclined to think the information conveyed in that leak may have been off. 

Nokia Announces 808 PureView Launch Markets

Symbian may not have the clout of Android or iOS, but even with that choice of operating system,Nokia's still drawing a lot of attention to its 808 PureView thanks to the handset's beast of a camera. About a month ago, we saw the 808 go up for pre-order in Italy with an expected arrival of something this month. Today Nokia's officially confirmed that the phone will see initial retail availability during May, as well as just where the handset will first arrive. 

Rather than Italy, Nokia says that initial shipments of the 808 will have it going up for sale in Russia and India. The manufacturer didn't share the price points at which it's hoping to make the phone available in those nations, but the pre-orders we've already seen put it just a smidge under $800. It's also not clear just how quickly the 808 will move on to additional markets, and if it will indeed launch in any more before the end of May. 

In a separate announcement, Nokia reveals that it's renewed its agreement with Carl Zeiss, which makes the optics used in the 808. That ongoing partnership means we should keep seeing Carl Zeiss lenses in future Nokia phones, including when it eventually brings the 808's imaging tech to Windows Phone. 

Google Brings New Carrier Billing Options To Google Play Store

Android has offered carrier-based billing for some time now, letting you purchase apps without using a credit card tied to your Google account. Over the years, it's brought the feature to users on more and more carriers around the globe. That trend of extending access to the service continues today, not with the addition of another carrier, but by increasing the scope of just what you can purchase through carrierbilling. 

Access to these new abilities is restricted by region and carrier, but if you're in the US or Japan, you may find that you can now bill all sorts of purchases made in the Google Play store through your cellularprovider. T-Mobile subscribers in the US get the broadest access, covering all digital content Google sells. The selection is just a bit slimmer in Japan, with only movies covered in addition to apps. According to Google, Sprint will soon join T-Mobile in the States with the same sort of expanded access. 

Obviously, this is good news to users who would rather not pay by credit for whatever reason, but are the rest of you happy to see it arrive? Would having all your phone-related expenses on one bill simplify your life, or are you quite content with the way things are now? 

BlackBerry 10 dev alpha unit unveiled: 4.2-inch screen, 1280 x 768 resolution

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. In this instance, it just leaves us wanting more. The image you see above is RIM's official dev unit for its just launched BlackBerry 10 platform. If it looks familiar, that's because you've seen it not too long ago when leaks of the much anticipated device began to hit the world wide rumor-mongering web. Waterloo's still keeping us in the dark as to the glorified guts this austere fella's packing, but it did confirm these alpha units will feature a jaw-dropping 4.2-inch, 1280 x 768 display that bests the 720p panels found on other similarly-sized handsets -- there's no word yet on if it's PenTile, though it likely doesn't matter much at that resolution. We've also learned the device sports 16GB internal storage and 1GB of RAM. No, this isn't your mother's BlackBerry and for good reason too, as the beleaguered mobile titan's got quite a bit of its continued prosperity riding on this QNX-based slab. Wondering where its QWERTY cousin is? We are too, but without any official announcements, you'll just have to stay tuned to see what fruits this week's BlackBerry World will bear.