Sony has been busy working on its next-generation touch Walkman. The word on the street is that it will feature 16 and 32GB of storage and be the new spearhead music player at Sony.

It will go head-to-head with Apple’s iPod touch, as it features WIFI and is compatible with most popular music and video formats. A web browser is also integrated and this Walkman is also said to be able to download music from the Amazon store, and we expect some form of Sony online store as well. The touchscreen walkman also has FM radio. Oh, and it would be nice to have an SDK and a distribution platfotm too.

Palm, as a company, seems like it’s in the verge of a meltdown. The company bills on newfound hope for next year, as they take the stage during CES 2009 to unveil a completely new version of their operating system, currently codenamed “Nova.” Much of what it’s capable of is still unknown, but it is said that with this new smartphone OS, Palm aims to “bridge the gap between Research In Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry devices, oriented to work and e-mail, and Apple’s iPhone, oriented to fun.”

But while the Palm Nova OS sounds like something to look forward to, even executives themselves at Palm will admit that it won’t be a direct rival to the BlackBerry or iPhone platform. So how is this supposed to save Palm?

When was the last time you backed up all the data on your phone? For most of us, we can’t really remember. O2 wants to make sure you have an easy time doing so with its Bluebook service that allows you to store a backup copy of your messages and contacts online, and all of this can be done via a password-protected web page accessible from your cell phone.

This is a perfect customer retention tool, since users will probably find the hassle of changing networks a bitter experience when O2 has done all the backup job on your behalf. Have you given the Bluebook service a go? One can only wonder what happens if data over Bluebook gets hacked and stolen though…

AT&T will soon be offering a new S60 clamshell smartphone known as Nokia 6650( a handset that’s already offered by T-Mobile, but only across Europe.) in its retail stores across the US.

Here are the main specs and features of the new handset:

• Quad band GSM connectivity (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz)
• Dual band WCDMA/HSDPA connectivity (850 / 1900 MHz)
• 2.2 inch TFT internal display with 16 million colors and 240 x 320 pixels
• 1.36 inch external display with 262K colors and 128 x 160 pixels
• AT&T Navigator, dedicated GPS key
• Music player with external controls
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• Full HTML browser
• Email
• 2 MP camera
• Push To Talk
• Talk time: up to 4 hours
• Standby time: up to 14 days
• Weight: 3.95 ounces.
• Dimensions: 3.93 x 1.86 x 0.64 inches

Via Nokia

When Sony Mylo 2 was released on January 2008, it cost a hefty $300. But today Sony announced that will take off $100 from the mobile phone price, dropping the total to $200.

Sony Mylo 2 builds on the Mylo’s greatest feature, which I thought was Wi-Fi and expanded upon that for the Mylo 2. You still have the standard suite of IM clients including Skype so you can make VoIP calls. Well, the Mylo 2 now includes a slide out backlit QWERTY, camera, 2.5-inch touchscreen and widgets. Cool, I guess, but it’s a beast of a device. Much, much larger than the original. About three times the size.

Verizon Wireless and Photobucket, the Web’s premier standalone photo and video-sharing site, today announced the availability of a new mobile photo service on select Verizon Wireless handsets that enables Verizon Wireless customers to easily send photos from a mobile device to a Photobucket album.

The application will launch exclusively for Verizon Wireless customers and is available for download from Verizon Wireless mobile storefront by texting ‘photob’ to 2777, in the Community and Sharing category of the Verizon Wireless Get It Now catalog or by visiting photobucket.com/mobile.

To utilize the application, Verizon Wireless subscribers sign up for a Photobucket account – which can be created for free at http://photobucket.com – and enter their log-in information to link their Verizon Wireless account to their Photobucket online photo album. Once the accounts are connected, (more…)

MySpace is releasing his mobile application for the BlackBerry platform. You can download it here from your desktop or navigate here from your BlackBerry browser.

For those of you who still use MySpace, RIM has set up a page where you can find the latest applications from RIM and third party vendors along with tutorials, contests, news and other RIM-related happenings.