Over the weekend Neowin and other tech blogs reported that Windows Phone 7’s official kickoff would be on October 21 – and while this may be true for some parts of the world, it seems that those of us in the States will have to wait a bit longer.

Paul Thurrott, who has literally written the book on Windows Phone with cooperation from Microsoft, says that the U.S. launch date will be November 8.  Exactly what devices will launch that day – and on what carriers – remains unclear, but that information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks regardless of the launch date.

A few months ago, we told you about CloudFiles, which was then the only application which allowed access to Dropbox from a Windows Mobile device.  Now there’s another.

DroppedBoxx is a Windows Mobile Dropbox app from DK Development designed for touchscreen WM6+ handhelds.  All of the expected functions are there including uploading, downloading, sync, and photo upload.  You can also create new folders, attach files in your Dropbox to email messages, move files from folder to folder and more.  A recent upgrade to v1.1 added settings for camera resolution, two-way syncing of select folders, and an updated user interface.

The app sells for $2.50.  If you’re already familiar with DroppedBoxx, let us know your opinion of the software in the comments section.

Find out more about DroppedBoxx…

Prices have fallen quickly on the new 32GB microSD flash memory cards.  A few weeks ago, the 32GB microSDHC card from SanDisk was priced at over $170.  Today, you can get the card for under $100 at Amazon.com: it’s currently selling for $91 with free shipping.

We don’t expect this price to fall much more in the near future.  This may be about as good as it gets until there’s downward pressure from newer cards.

Modern Windows Mobile and Android phones are compatible with 32GB microSDHC cards. iPhones, of course, have no memory card slots.

Resources

• SanDisk microSD Product Page
• View 32GB microSDHC Memory Cards on eBay

Samsung announced today that their Galaxy Tab Android-powered tablet will be sold through all four major U.S. wireless carriers in the “coming months.” The 7” tablet will run the Android 2.2 operating system and be powered by Samsung’s 1GHz Hummingbird processor. 

Sprint and T-Mobile have already confirmed that they’ll begin selling the tablet, though we’ve yet to receive word from AT&T or Verizon Wireless. 

The 13-ounce Galaxy Tab features a 7” TFT touchscreen display, front and rear-facing cameras, and an array of wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, etc.).  Pricing information has not yet been released, though we expect competitive pricing vis-à-vis the Apple iPad.

Check out a promotional video of the Samsung Galaxy Tab after the jump.

With Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS set to launch in the next few weeks, we’ve been working on a new page devoted to the devices that’ll be running it.  The page has been available for a couple of weeks, but is now nearing completion.

Due to the timeline of Windows Phone 7’s development and release, much of the information we have on upcoming Windows Phones is incomplete (or sometimes barely existent).  But if you’re curious about Windows Phone 7 hardware, it’s a great place to learn more.

And we’ll be adding new information every day until WP7 ships; after that we’ll post additional products, photos and details as they’re made available – officially or unofficially.

Have information on a Windows Phone 7 device?  Please share it.

Learn more at the Windows Phone 7 Smartphone Information Center…

The only Android-powered smartphone on the U.S. market today with a front-facing QWERTY keyboard, the Motorola Charm, is now available for free at checkout with a new two-year service agreement at LetsTalk.com.  No mail-in rebate required and shipping is also free.

Amazon.com has the Motorola Charm for $0.01 at checkout with a service agreement. 

Learn more about the Motorola Charm Android Phone…

The direct Verizon Wireless price for the Moto Charm is $99 before a $50 mail-in rebate. 

Find Motorola Charm Accessories…

There’s currently a three-way tie for the best price on the new Samsung Fascinate: Amazon.com, WireFly and BestCarrierDeals.com are each offering the newest Android smartphone for $99 at checkout, no rebate required. 

Learn more about the Samsung Fascinate Android Phone…

The direct Verizon Wireless price for the Fascinate is $199 with a two-year contract. 

After weeks of offering little more than a grayed-out teaser image, T-Mobile has given the world its first official look at the G2, successor the first Android phone released in the U.S.

Like its predecessor, the G1, the T-Mobile G2 is an HTC-built slider with a QWERTY keyboard.  But the similarities pretty much end there.  The G2 will run Android 2.2 at launch and will be compatible with T-Mobile’s growing HSPA+ “4G” network.  It will also come with Google Voice as part of the base package, allowing users of Google’s phone management service full access out of the box. 

The G2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7230 which features a processor core running at 800MHz and an updated Adreno 205 GPU; the combination is supposed to offer about the same performance as the Samsung Hummingbird (Galaxy S) or TI OMAP3630 (Droid X, Droid 2). 

Other features include a 3.7” touchscreen display, a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording, the Swype software keyboard, and a pre-installed 8GB microSDHC memory card.

The T-Mobile G2 will be available for preorder at the end of the month, and will begin shipping sometime thereafter (October or November). 

Read the full press release after the jump…

Introducing the T-Mobile G2 with Google — the First Smartphone Delivering 4G Speeds on T-Mobile’s Super-Fast HSPA+ Network

T-Mobile, Google and HTC re-team to deliver the groundbreaking successor to the T-Mobile G1; Exclusive preorder for current T-Mobile customers begins later this month

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sept. 9, 2010 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today unveiled the T-Mobile^® G2™ with Google™, delivering downloads at 4G speeds¹, a blazing fast web browsing experience and tight integration with Google services. The G2 breaks new ground as the first smartphone specifically designed for T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ network², which covers 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas across the country. The G2 is an ultra-powerful smartphone designed by HTC and is the highly anticipated successor to the

T-Mobile G1, the world’s first Android™-powered mobile phone, pairing a large 3.7-inch screen with a unique hinge design that opens to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. Current T-Mobile customers will get exclusive access to preorder the G2 starting later this month.

“T-Mobile ignited the spark that set the Android world ablaze two years ago with the launch of the world’s first Android-powered mobile phone, the T-Mobile G1, which remains an important milestone for both T-Mobile and the Android operating system,” said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer, T-Mobile USA. “Now, with the launch of the T-Mobile G2, we are re-teaming with our partners at Google and HTC to provide T-Mobile customers with another first — the first Android smartphone designed to deliver 4G speeds on our new network.”

“One of the advantages of an open platform is the opportunity for developers to create rich mobile experiences and seamlessly get those experiences into the hands of consumers,” said Andy Rubin, vice president, engineering, Google. “From new services, such as Voice Actions, to mobile applications, developer-led Android innovation is flourishing. On Android Market alone, the number of applications available to consumers has grown from just 50 applications two years ago to more than 80,000 applications today.”

“Two years ago, HTC and T-Mobile worked together to deliver the world’s first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1. From that start, Android has grown to be the leading smartphone platform in the U.S., and one of the most popular globally,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “With today’s announcement of the G2, HTC and T-Mobile are once again bringing a breakthrough Android product to market.”

The first smartphone specifically designed to deliver 4G speeds on T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ network, the G2 is optimized for performance to provide customers with blazing fast access to a world of information through websites, applications, videos, file downloads and more. Built on Android 2.2, the G2 offers seven customizable home screen panels, including a dedicated panel with one-click access to your favorite Google applications such as Android Market™, which currently offers more than 80,000 applications.

The T-Mobile G2 delivers a powerful mobile data experience that is tightly integrated with Google Voice™, as well as packed with Google applications such as Voice Actions™ from Google, Google Goggles™ and more. It is one of the first smartphones in the industry to offer the new Voice Actions feature of Google Search™, which allows you to control your phone with your voice for calling contacts and businesses, sending messages, browsing the Web, listening to music and completing common tasks. It is also the first smartphone to offer integrated access to Google Voice™, allowing customers to create a new account using their current mobile number right from the home screen. Google Voice then automatically transcribes voicemails to text so customers can read them like an e-mail or text message from their phone or online. Additional pre-loaded Google services include Google Search, Gmail™, Google Maps™ with Places and Navigation, YouTube™, Google Talk™ and Google Earth™, among others.

Adding fuel to the G2’s speed is its Snapdragon™ MSM7230 mobile processor which combines Qualcomm’s new HSPA+ capabilities and second generation applications processor.  The Snapdragon MSM7230 offers an 800 MHz CPU and is optimized to deliver exceptional performance, long battery life and leading edge multimedia and web browsing — with download speeds faster than other solutions currently in the market.

The G2 delivers advanced smartphone features including an HD video camera for recording crystal-clear, high-definition (720p) videos that can be automatically uploaded to your Photobucket account and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus. The G2 also offers smartphone essentials such as easy access to personal and work e-mail, including support for Microsoft^® Exchange e-mail, contacts and calendar; social networking; and instant messaging. In addition, the G2 features a pre-installed 8GB microSD memory card with support for up to 32 GB, as well as a music player.

Additional features of the G2 include the following:

· Dedicated Quick Keys for one-touch access to your favorite Google shortcuts and applications

• Adobe FlashPlayer enabled Web browsing experience
• Pinch and zoom functionality for Web browsing and photo gallery

· 4GB internal memory with pre-installed 8GB micro SD card, with support for up to 32 GB of external memory

· Built-in 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo headset and Bluetooth support

· Swype^® text input for fast, accurate communication

Availability

The T-Mobile G2 with Google will be available in the U.S. exclusively from T-Mobile, and current T-Mobile customers will have the opportunity to preorder the G2 in limited quantities later this month. Additional availability details will be shared in the coming weeks. Visit http://g2.t-mobile.com to register for updates.

About T-Mobile’s HSPA+ Network

T-Mobile continues to expand its super-fast HSPA+ mobile broadband network, which now covers 100 million Americans in more than 55 major metropolitan areas. T-Mobile’s new HSPA+ network — which offers theoretical peak throughput speeds of 21 Mbps — offers today’s available 4G speeds to more people than any other wireless network in the country, with plans to reach more than 200 million people this year. For more information on where

T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network service is available, please visit http://t-mobile.com/coverage.

#  #  #

¹HSPA+ operates at today’s 4G speeds; not available everywhere.

² The T-Mobile G2 is designed for theoretical peak speeds of 14.4 Mbps

Samsung completes its Galaxy S deployment to the four major U.S. wireless carriers with today’s release of the Samsung Fascinate at Verizon Wireless.  The Fascinate is now available in the Verizon Wireless web store, and will be available in-store by the end of the week.

The Fascinate is an Android-powered smartphone with features similar to the other handsets in the Galaxy S family: the T-Mobile Vibrant, the AT&T Captivate, and Sprint Epic 4G.  The Fascinate doesn’t have the Epic’s hardware QWERTY keyboard or the Captivate’s 16GB of internal memory – but it does come with the Swype software keyboard and a 16GB microSDHC flash memory card. 

Other features include a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5MP camera, and Bluetooth 3.0.

Learn more about the Samsung Fascinate…

Some consider Samsung’s Hummingbird to be the most impressive processor in current mobile devices.  Hummingbird powers the popular Galaxy S Android smartphones (T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant, AT&T’s Samsung Captivate, etc.), and Apple’s iPhone 4, 5th Gen iPod touch and iPad are all powered by the A4 chip, a Hummingbird variant.  So today’s announcement by Samsung of their next-generation Orion dual-core processor gives us a good idea of what 2011’s high-end smartphones and tablets will look like, at least in terms of performance.

Samsung’s Orion is a Cortex-A9 dual-core processor.  Each application core runs at 1GHz, which – along with an updated GPU – allows the Orion to power full 1080p HD video playback and encoding, and to output that video to an external device over HDMI.  In fact, Samsung claims that Orion provides “5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation.”

Orion will begin shipping to manufacturers at the end of the year with mass production beginning sometime in H1 2011.

Read the full press release after the jump.

Press Release:

Samsung Introduces High Performance, Low Power Dual CORTEXTM – A9 Application Processor for Mobile Devices

TAIPEI, Taiwan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced its new 1GHz ARM® CORTEXTM A9-based dual-core application processor, codenamed Orion, for advanced mobile applications. Device OEM developers now have a powerful dual processor chip platform designed specifically to meet the needs of high-performance, low-power mobile applications including tablets, netbooks and smartphones. Samsung’s new processor will be demonstrated at the seventh annual Samsung Mobile Solutions Forum held here in Taiwan at the Westin Taipei Hotel.

“Consumers are demanding the full web experience without compromise while on the go,” said Dojun Rhee, vice president of Marketing, System LSI Division, Samsung Electronics. “Given this trend, mobile device designers need an application processor platform that delivers superb multimedia performance, fast CPU processing speed, and abundant memory bandwidth. Samsung’s newest dual core application processor chip is designed specifically to fulfill such stringent performance requirements while maintaining long battery life.”

Designed using Samsung’s 45 nanometer low-power process technology, Orion features a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores, each comes with a 32KB data cache and a 32KB instruction cache. Samsung also included a 1MB L2 cache to optimize CPU processing performance and provide fast context switching in a multi-tasking environment. In addition, the memory interface and bus architecture of Orion supports data intensive multimedia applications including full HD video playback and high speed 3D action games.

Samsung’s new application processor incorporates a rich portfolio of advanced multimedia features implemented by hardware accelerators, such as video encoder/decoder that supports 30fps video playback and recording at 1080P full HD resolution. Using an enhanced graphics processing unit (GPU), the new processors are capable of delivering 5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung.

For design flexibility and system BOM cost reduction, Orion integrates a set of interfaces commonly used in mobile devices to configure various peripheral functionalities. For example, with this processor, customers have the choice to use different types of storage including NAND flash, moviNANDTM, SSD or HDD providing both SATA, and eMMC interfaces. Customers can also choose their appropriate memory options including low power LPDDR2 or DDR3, which is commonly used for high performance. In addition, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver baseband processor is embedded in the processor to seamlessly support location based services (LBS), which is critical in many emerging mobile applications.

Orion features an onboard native triple display controller architecture that compliments multi-tasking operations in a multiple display environment. A mobile device using the Orion processor can simultaneously support two on-device display screens, while driving a third external display such as a TV or a monitor, via an on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface.

Orion is designed to support package-on-package (POP) with memory stacking to reduce the footprint. A derivative of Orion, which is housed in a standalone package with a 0.8mm ball pitch, is also available.

Samsung’s new dual-core application processor, Orion, will be available to select customers in the fourth quarter of 2010 and is scheduled for mass production in the first half of 2011.