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The poor T-Mobile Dash has been pulling duty ever since October 2006, and while it's received a minor face-lift and Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade over the years, it's definitely time for the smartphone to retire. More importantly, T-Mobile customers need and deserve something more up-to-date, and it looks like the T-Mobile Dash 3G is set to deliver.

First announced for the carrier on June 17, T-Mobile revealed on Wednesday night that the Dash 3G will be available starting July 8 for $169.99 with a two-year contract. For that price, you get a number of welcome additions, such as GPS, a better camera, and 3G support. In addition, the smartphone's design is way better than Sprint's variation. But does the device deliver in performance?

Find out in our full review of the T-Mobile Dash 3G.

T-Mobile Dash 3G photos

HTC Ozone

(Credit: Verizon Wireless)

The HTC Snap is making its rounds to the various carriers. First Sprint, then T-Mobile, and now Verizon Wireless.

Rebranded as the HTC Ozone, the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone will be available online starting June 29 and in Verizon stores on July 13 for just $49.99 with a two-year contract and after a $70 mail-in rebate. This is an incredible deal especially when you consider that unlike the Sprint version, you're getting world-roaming capabilities and wait for it, wait for it ... integrated Wi-Fi.

In addition, the Ozone will support a number of Verizon services, such as VZ Navigator and Visual Voice Mail. The messaging-centric smartphone features a full QWERTY keyboard and supports Microsoft Exchange synchronization and other popular e-mail services (Yahoo, Windows Live, AOL). Other highlights include EV-DO Rev. A support, a microSD expansion slot, a 2-megapixel camera, and stereo Bluetooth.

T-Mobile Dash 3G

(Credit: T-Mobile)

For those of you who don't care about a certain phone from a certain fruit-flavored company, you might be interested to know that T-Mobile announced on Wednesday the upcoming availability of its latest smartphone, the T-Mobile Dash 3G.

The Dash 3G is T-Mobile's take on the HTC Snap, which debuted at CTIA 2009. The carrier expects the smartphone to ship nationwide in July, though it did not release a specific date or pricing at this time. Sprint also announced that it will offer the HTC Snap on June 21 for $149.99 with a two-year contract, so we assume T-Mobile's pricing will be similar.

While behind Sprint, we're just happy to see a replacement for the old T-Mobile Dash. As the name suggests, the handset supports T-Mobile's 3G network and also includes GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. The T-Mobile Dash 3G will run Windows Mobile 6.1 and also offers a full QWERTY keyboard and support for personal and corporate e-mail.

In addition to the Dash 3G, T-Mobile also said that it will reveal more details about its news Google Android device next week. Perhaps, we'll see the official unveiling of the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G?

HTC Snap

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

Sprint's summer of hot phone releases continues. In addition to the Palm Pre and just-announced RIM BlackBerry Tour 9630, the carrier has confirmed that it will offer the HTC Snap on June 21 for $149.99 with a two-year contract. (This news surfaced last week, but I'm just catching up after being out for a couple of days.)

The Snap, which debuted at CTIA 2009, is a messaging-centric smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard and a feature called Inner Circle that lets you prioritize messages based on your preferences. It also offers Microsoft Direct Push Technology for real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server, as well as support for POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts.

Aside from the messaging options, the Windows Mobile 6.1 device includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD expansion slot, and more. The HTC Snap for Sprint will also be available from Best Buy for an unsubsidized price of $519.

(Source: Information Week via Phonescoop)

Motorola A4500

(Credit: PhoneScoop)

While the Verizon Wireless and Apple talks are dominating headlines these days, the iPhone isn't for everyone and it looks like there might be two other noteworthy devices that are headed Verizon's way. More specifically, two QWERTY smartphones from HTC and Motorola.

The first handset, the Motorola A4500, is almost a lockdown for the carrier, considering that it was outed by the FCC. As PhoneScoop points out, the A4500 has similarities to the Motorola Q9c/Motorola Q9m but adds quad-band world roaming, Wi-Fi, a 2-megapixel camera, and a fingerprint scanner. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device will also offer stereo Bluetooth and EV-DO support.

The second smartphone is the HTC XV6175. This is rumored to be the CDMA variant of the HTC Snap, which we saw debut at CTIA 2009. This news comes as Engadget Mobile says it has "unearthed" a rendering of the XV6175 sans Verizon branding, though it's not clear where the site found the image. While not very concrete, it wouldn't surprise us to see the smartphone land with the U.S. carrier. At CTIA, HTC said it would bring an unlocked GSM version of the e-mail-centric device, the S522, to the United States, but already there have been sightings of a T-Mobile-branded Snap and a Sprint variant.

As always, we must warn you to take these rumors with a grain a salt. We'll keep you updated with any new information or official confirmation from the carriers or manufacturers.

HTC Snap

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

The HTC Snap made its debut at CTIA 2009, where we learned that the U.S. will get its own unlocked version of the QWERTY smartphone, called the HTC S522, this summer. However, some blogs are reporting that T-Mobile may just get a model of its own to replace the aging T-Mobile Dash.

According to WMExperts, T-Mobile will offer the Snap/S522, but the smartphone will be stripped of HTC's Inner Circle e-mail feature. This functionality bring e-mails from a preselected group of people to the top of your in-box so you can read and reply to them immediately with a simple press of a button. In its place, T-Mobile will offer an Audio Postcard feature, which lets you can add audio notes to pictures and then send them to friends and family.

This information was submitted by WMExpert reader Conflipper who said he got a peek at the finalized ROM for the device and also mentioned that the internal name for the smartphone is T-Mobile Captain. Adding fuel to the fire, TmoNews reported on Tuesday that T-Mobile's version of the Snap will be released on May 13.

Other rumored devices on T-Mobile's road map? The T-Mobile Sidekick 2009 on May 13; the Sony Ericsson CS8 (possibly Sony Ericsson's Android device?) on June 24; the HTC Touch Pro2 on July 22; and a slew of Samsung phones. Though just rumors, we certainly hope they're true since T-Mobile's been dragging its feet in updating its smartphone lineup, when compared with the other providers.

(Additional sources: Engadget Mobile, Pocketnow.com)

HTC Snap

(Credit: HTC )

The Nokia E71x, the LG Neon, the Samsung Magnet--seems like messaging phones are all the rage at CTIA 2009 and now you can add another one to the list. The HTC Snap.

HTC kicked off the show Wednesday morning by introducing the Snap, its newest QWERTY device. We haven't seen one in this form factor from the smartphone manufacturer in a while (think back to the T-Mobile Dash) and given the design, it's no surprise that the handset is optimized for e-mail and messaging.

In fact, HTC thinks e-mail is so important it has created a new feature called Inner Circle that prioritizes your e-mails based on your preferences. By pressing the dedicated Inner Circle button, the HTC Snap will bring e-mails from a preselected group of people to the top of your in-box so you can read and reply to them immediately.

The new functionality was created in response to a Harris Interactive study that found 44 percent of U.S. adults are overwhelmed by the amount of e-mail they receive, and 55 percent of U.S. adults prioritize five or fewer people with whom they communicate via e-mail.

The HTC Snap offers Microsoft Direct Push Technology for real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server as well as support for POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. The smartphone's full QWERTY keyboard also features "extra-large domed keys" to provide for a better typing experience.

Moving beyond messaging, the Snap will run Windows Mobile 6.1 and comes with integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, 256MB ROM/192MB RAM, a microSD/SDHC expansion slot, and 2-megapixel camera/camcorder. The smartphone measures 4.5 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide by 0.4 inch deep and has a 2.4-inch QVGA nontouch display.

The HTC Snap is expected to be available in select channels during the second quarter of 2009 and will be rolled out worldwide during the second half of the year. Here in the States, we'll get our on own version of the Snap, called the HTC S522, this summer and it will support AT&T's 850/1900MHz HSDPA bands, though it'll be sold unlocked and not through the carrier. Pricing was not revealed at this time.

We hope to get a better look at the HTC Snap during the MobileFocus event on Wednesday night, so check back for some hands-on photos and video. In the meantime, you can check out some images of the smartphone below.

HTC Snap photos