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LG dropped three new Verizon phones this week. Here's one of them, the enV3. Two screens, QWERTY, messaging, Email, Web - you know the deal. $129 on contract.

 

As if June wasn't busy enough already, two more of the mobile industry's heaviest hitters just announced launch events for later this month.

Samsung is "unpacking" a new device on June 15th and has a fancy website and contest to tell you all about it.  Funny how Samsung Unpacked sounds a lot like Nokia's Pass the Parcel promo, but anyway ... They've also got a doozy of a tagline in, "Discover overwhelming power and performance. The new Samsung mobile phone. Unpacked before the world at three launch events, in London, Dubai, and Singapore."  A little birdy told me that they'll also be unpacking the phone in New York City on the 15th.  Could it be the i7500 Android device?  The Pixon 12 ultra-high res cameraphone?  We shall see - and apparently we'll get some clues as soon as this Friday when the phone's specs are revealed online.

HTC just dropped me a line regarding a Global launch event scheduled for June 24th in London.  What's going down there?  "At the event we will be celebrating a global announcement and welcome you to learn more about the future of HTC design."  I'm guessing they'll be taking the wraps off of the HTC Hero.  Given that I also got an email today from T-Mobile hinting at their next Android phone ("T-Mobile is planning to offer the follow-on device to the T-Mobile G1 early this summer. We'll have more details to share on this exciting Android-powered device later this month... stay tuned."), I think we might be seeing the official launch of HTC's custom user interface for Android - think TouchFlo 3D, but for Google's mobile OS - and that it might wind up on T-Mo's "MyTouch."

We'll admit, we were wondering how the Palm Pre stock levels were going to look at Best Buy stores around the nation, primarily due to the rampant rumors about short-term supply shortages.  An equally inquisitive employee posting on EverythingPre's forums has leaked several screenshots of estimated inventory levels across the nation - some good, some bad.  Stores in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas seem to be well-off, while others in Massachusetts are shaping up to get a few devices.

As this article was going to press, a tipster informed Engadget Mobile that the "On Order" number didn't mean, well, devices that are on order; rather it was how many devices the manager had requested.  Based on the numeric amounts, I don't buy that theory.  People don't request 12, or 16, or 9 devices; they typically give rounded numbers.  At any rate, the inventory screenshots give a good idea as to how many devices Best Buy's around the nation will carry.  Prepare for long lines!

Source: EverythingPre

The KS360, the compact QWERTY slider mobile phone, was a big success for LG, however it was firmly aimed at the person who used their phone for leisure purposes, both in terms of features and design.  This business-shaped hole in LG’s range has now been filled, as at the end of last week the company launched two new phones, the GW520, a more mature-looking touchscreen handset with a sliding QWERTY keyboard, and its non-QWERTY friend, the GT505.

Unusually for a Korean phone these days, the GW520 doesn’t have a pretty name, but what it does have is a strong line-up of features, espeically for a phone occupying the mid-range.  Obviously, the keyboard is going to be great for messaging, so LG have included push notification for social networking sites (although they remain coy about exactly which sites) and Microsoft Exchange, plus IM, email and of course, SMS.  Additionally, there’s a 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA and an accelerometer for auto-rotation of the 2.8″ touchscreen.

The GT505 is a touchscreen mobile phone, but instead of a QWERTY keyboard, it increases connectivity by adding Wi-Fi and GPS.  Again, the phone is a 3G handset with HSDPA but it gains a 5 megapixel camera over the GW520’s 3 megapixel, plus an increase of 0.2″ screen size, bringing it to 3″.  All the push alert systems found on the GW520 are also reprised on the GT505 too.  Pricing has yet to be announced on either of these social networking mobile phones, however both will be available during the coming month.

Post from Dial-a-Phone, UK's no. 1 for Mobile Phones.

Noah gets an early loaner of the HTC Touch Diamond 2 - the unlocked European version. His verdict? If you don't need a hard QWERTY board, TD2 is probably the best Windows Mobile phone currently available.

The much hyped Palm Pre is just days away from release and things are getting downright weird. Check out the picture of this nut who got a huge Palm Pre tattoo on his arm in order to win a free device.

PreCentral.net is running the campaign.

Personally, I'm going to wait until the next version of the Pre to get my tattoo.

Noah gets an early loaner of the HTC Touch Diamond 2 - the unlocked European version. His verdict? If you don't need a hard QWERTY board, TD2 is probably the best Windows Mobile phone currently available.

It's the LG enV Touch - aka Voyager 2 - for Verizon. High-res toucshcreen, 3.2 MP Camera, full QWERTY, and Dolby Mobile sound. Noah gets it out of the box, for you, before it hits the stores.