Sure, we try to front as world-weary cynics, but when we pinged our folks at Nokia for a statement on that suspiciously-awesome slide about a previously unseen touchscreen interface and device concept, we were totally hoping for a "oh, our bad, that's a real phone and it's awesome and it's being released in the States tomorrow." Naturally, that was not the case. Here's what Nokia had to say on the matter:

"The story you sent over was from a non-public presentation that discussed some UI enhancements - NOT a new product. The form factor shown was a generic form factor and not meant to showcase a new device / product."

So, yeah. They're not really going to fess up to a lot here, but if we were to read between the lines we'd say these "UI enhancements" are much more likely to get real and official someday than whatever vaguely-hinted-at device was shown off beneath them. Maybe. Reading in further, we'd say it's a little odd that Nokia's demonstrating to investors its "best in class touch" capabilities by using a mockup interface on top of a mockup device, but perhaps that's why we were never so good with "the monies."

If you're anything like us, you've been waiting for Android to work its way onto basically every device you own, so this video of the plucky open source OS getting busy on an HTC Touch is an encouraging glimpse of the future. Work has actually been going on for a while now, but this is the best we've seen so far --it's all there, including a custom soft keyboard, and it looks like it runs pretty well, although we're told there are some issues with scaling the UI to QVGA and that GPS, Bluetooth and USB aren't operable yet. The hack is actually available, and you don't have to be too daring to try it out -- all it takes is a restart to go back to WinMo. Who's taking the plunge?

[Thanks, Justin]

Last we heard from Cellular South, it was making waves by offering to pay early termination charges in order to hook new subscribers. Now, it's trying to lure even more paying customers in with the launch of the HTC Touch Diamond. The carrier, which serves much of Mississippi and portions of surrounding states, is now offering the touchscreen-based handset for $199.99 on a 2-year agreement, or if you're not really down with a data plan, it'll cost you a stiff $449.99. We're also told that a few new service plans have emerged, with family plans starting at $50 and packing in 700 to 1,400 nationwide minutes along with unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling with other CS users. Also of note, the Total Unlimited plan includes unlimited talk, text, mobile web and email for $80 / $100 per month for featurephones / smartphones.

[Via phonescoop]

Not that you can't snag an HTC Touch Diamond in Canada right now, but those loyal to Rogers are still waiting. As of this moment, we still can't locate the WinMo 6.1-based handset on the outfit's website, but MobileSyrup has it that the phone will soon be released for as low as $199.99 on a 3-year contract (with a minimum $45 voice / data plan). Oddly enough, we're also told that it'll be available with voice-only plans for $449.99 (3-year), $549.99 (1 to 2-year) and $599.99 (month-to-month), while a data-only plan is available on the $499.99 handset (3-year). Weird, we know -- which makes us all the more anxious to hear this gibberish from the horse's mouth.

Remember that white Sega Game Gear that you always read about -- maybe even saw in a picture -- but never managed to actually find in real life? In the minds of average Game Gear owners, it reached near-legendary status; it didn't matter that the white wasn't necessarily any better-looking than the black, the sheer rarity of the darned thing made it an object of pure, unadulterated lust. Yeah, well, that's pretty much where we are with the white Touch Diamond right now -- we know it exists, but finding one is nigh impossible, and that alone makes it a thousand shades of awesome as far as we're concerned. Taiwanese site ePrice has some hands-on shots up and we think we're loving the look of the prism effect in the new color along with the two-tone action up front; yes, we'd like to see it launch everywhere, but a certain (perhaps nostalgic) part of us wants it to stay impossibly rare.

[Via Daily Mobile, thanks Daniel]

Still clutching your trusty XV6900, are you? Not heading out in a few hours to secure yourself a Storm? If you're the mettlesome type, you can surf on over to PhoneNews and suck down the latest and greatest (and unofficial) software update for the Verizon-branded HTC Touch. Version 3.14.605.1 reportedly takes your Windows Mobile to 6.1 and adds in gpsOne, VZ Navigator and Opera Mobile. Don't forget to backup your smooth jazz and whatnot before diving into the unknown, though.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

The long, agonizing wait for Alltel to come clean with this gem is over. Starting today, subscribers can phone up the carrier with questions about the Touch Diamond and receive a response other than "Whatcha talkin' 'bout Willis?" 'Course, it's no shock whatsoever to see this Windows Mobile 6.1-based handset surface on the soon-to-be-Verizon's network, but those who've been waiting patiently will be utterly stoked to know that you can now plop down $249.99 (after all rebates and a 2-year agreement) in order to take one home.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Bad news, Sprint users. That HTC Touch Pro you've probably been waiting for won't be ready for your soft, delicate hands on Sunday. According to an undisclosed contact at the carrier, the outfit is expected to "slightly delay [the] launch of the Touch Pro by HTC to ensure it has adequate inventory in all channels before making the device commercially available." If you're looking for specifics, we're told that consumers can expect the handset "in select national retailers by the end of the month and then in all Sprint sales channels (including online at www.sprint.com and Sprint stores) by early November." It's not that next month is really that far away, it's just that next month isn't on Sunday. Bugger.

With Sprint snagging the vast majority of the WiMAX limelight of late, we aren't going to complain with a similar network halfway across the globe yanking it back. Out of absolutely nowhere comes HTC's first WiMAX-enabled handset, the sure-to-be-delightful T8290. Reportedly, this bugger packs a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, 802.11g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, GSM and WiMAX radios and is expected to launch soon on Russia's Yota. Granted, we can't take this as hard truth or anything quite yet, but the images that reside in the read link are more than convincing. Oh, and HTC -- given that you're passing on the US with the Touch HD, do you think it'd be possible to get this over here for use with XOHM? We'd really, really appreciate it.

[Via Slashphone, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

This shouldn't be surprising at all to anyone even remotely familiar with HTC's tendencies, but the Touch HD is officially not ever shipping to America (unless you import, obviously). The news was dropped via a Tweet (of all things), but evidently, the outcry over what we figured was common knowledge has caused some windows to be rattled in the penthouse offices. Another official Tweet followed to thank everyone for "expressing their desire for the HD," with the author noting that "US management now knows there's a grassroots demand for high-end HTCs here." Really, HTC? You needed a flood of angry Twitter comments to understand that Americans would give their second born for a phone like the Touch HD?

[Via WMExperts, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We've received official word from HTC that they've been really overwhelmed by the "strong" demand for the HD in the States and other markets where no launch has been planned (with that insane display, it seemed like a no-brainer to us!). Sadly, due to the engineering time required to get a North American 3G version in the pipeline, they say they're better off just waiting until the next round of products launches -- hopefully with some extra bands in the radio this time, eh?

Read - Touch HD not coming to the US
Read - Thanks for the concern

Not even a fortnight after HTC's Touch HD went official in Germany, out pops a review from Deutschland calling it the best thing since sliced bread. Okay, so maybe our translation skills are a bit off, but one thing's for sure -- it was hailed as the first "iPhone killer to deserve that name." Right off the bat, reviewers praised the TouchFLO 3D interface for masking Windows Mobile, and of course, the expansive display was drooled upon numerous times. Additionally, critics praised the Opera browser while scolding Internet Explorer, and while it's hard to say for certain whether the battery life was remarkable, it definitely seemed to get their vote of approval. Of note, the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack was also loved, making us weep while thinking of what could have been with the T-Mobile G1. At any rate, it seems pretty clear that the Touch HD is going to rock some socks off, but we're trying to push it out of our minds until it becomes available on this side of the drink. Too bad that approach isn't working at all.

[Via WMPowerUser]

Read - Early Touch HD review
Read - Video showing off Stocks tab

Let's do a quick recap, shall we? So we pretty much know everything there is to know about Verizon's forthcoming BlackBerry Storm save for the price and release date, and so far as we can tell, Verizon's version of the Touch Diamond is still expected to be totally underpowered compared to Sprint's iteration. Now that we've rounded the tables, let's have a look at this image above. This here is Verizon's internal training schedule, and given that employees have to complete their Storm courses before November 2nd and their Touch Diamond courses before December 3rd, we'd say you now have a pretty good idea of when these two will be landing. Hey VZW -- think you could make that "Blocking Features Assessment" available to the public? We're guessing it'd be a real hit.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Hey, Bell, you can't let Telus hog all the spotlight over there with its shiny (literally) new Touch Diamond, now can you? Nah, 'course not -- we knew we could count on you! All signs are pointing to Bell launching its own version of HTC's hottest CDMA WinMo set this side of a QWERTY keyboard, possibly as soon as October 15 if sales reps are to be believed. Pricing is looking like $149.99 CAD on a three-year plan with a minimum monthly plan of $45, or $449.99 contract-free if that's how you prefer to roll.

The rock stars over at the Federal Communications Commission took some time out of their fiendishly busy schedules recently to grant approval to HTC's monster-spec Touch HD, revealing a model number of BLAC100 (the "BLAC" stands for "Blackstone"). EDGE 850 / 1900, check. WCDMA 850 / 1900, on the other hand -- yeah, not so much. Approval of the Euro piece doesn't really get us any closer to having a version with North American 3G bands, but okay, it's a start.

You've seen HTC's Touch Diamond, Touch Pro and Touch HD handled in separate instances, but CNET Asia took the opportunity to get all three of the handsets together for a little get-together. Atypical for most sibling relationships, these three seemed to get along fairly well, though we did overhear the Touch Diamond calling the Touch Pro "a fatso." Hit the read link for a few more looks.

[Via SlashPhone]