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On Tuesday, Nokia kicks off its own Nokia World show in Barcelona, Spain. According to what I've been told by Nokia staffers, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will be dropping a huge bomb during his keynote address. The device is so secret that most Nokia employees haven't seen it yet.

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If you've read any reviews of the BlackBerry Storm, you no doubt have heard that the poor thing is a bit buggy. Heck, even The New York Times' David Pogue harshed on it. The initial batch of Storm's are running firmware version 4.7.0.65. Over the weekend, firmware version 4.7.0.75 became available, and with it a bunch of fixes.

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Some interesting news out of Finland this week. First up, Nokia announced that it will cease making mobile phones for the Japanese market. Second, the touch-based XpressMusic 5800 is now shipping in some markets.

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Apple released a QuickTime update that allows standard-definition iTunes movies to play over new MacBooks' DisplayPort to older displays, according to reports on Apple blogs. However, high-def movies are still blocked, which is unfair to owners of MacBooks and other systems by other vendors that use the same technology.

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Looks like developers have taken advantage of the SDK that Sony Ericsson made available for its Xperia X1 Windows Mobile smartphone. This week, Sony Ericsson added two more panels to the X1's user interface: one for Facebook and another for Microsoft's Windows Live.

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Forecasts for sales of the first Android phone from HTC have been all over the map. HTC now says demand is so strong that it is doubling the number it originally projected to sell.

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With just three days before Black Friday, the phone manufacturers and network operators are rolling out the new phones in furious fashion. The latest? Samsung and Verizon Wireless jointly announced the Omnia, Samsung's Windows Mobile 6.1-wielding, TouchWiz-toting, touch screen titan.

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It appears that the iPhone may get the ability to send and receive picture messages after all...but not from Apple. A Swedish company called Mobispine is working on an MMS application that would be available through the iPhone Apps Store. Too little too late?

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Now that the iPhone firmware 2.2 is available, reports are trickling in about new issues brought on by the upgrade. Among the problems are disabled third-party applications purchased via the iPhone Apps Store.

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I know everyone has the BlackBerry Storm on their minds, but I haven't had enough time to really kick the tires and give a good review. I have been handling the BlackBerry Bold for a few weeks, though, and keep on reading to see if it's been worth the multiple delays.

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The biggest improvement in the iPhone software Version 2.2 is in the Maps application -- particularly the addition of Street View. It's a slick implementation that gets a lot of information into a very small screen. You can figure out the new Street View and other Maps features easily, especially if you've already used Maps.

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Reuters posted a piece this afternoon about how Verizon Wireless customers are lining up at retail stores across the country to buy the new BlackBerry Storm. Apparently at one midtown Manhattan location, a "ruckus" broke out. Really? Over a cell phone?

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The latest version of firmware for the Apple iPhone became available overnight. The 246 megabyte download brings with it a host of new features for the iPhone, many of them for Google Maps. Still no MMS and still no cut-and-paste, however.

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This morning as I drove past the local Verizon Wireless retail store, I was surprised to see no less than 50 people waiting outside. I stopped and asked (just to be sure) what they were waiting for. They answered, "The BlackBerry Storm!"

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I'm still laughing. Nokia and ... Bruce Lee? Yes. In Hong Kong, a special edition of the Nokia N96 has been made available for sale, complete with Bruce Lee's image on the phone itself and other swag in the box.

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Some major developments have been occurring in Nokia land lately that are worth discussion. First up, a version of the Nokia E71 smartphone has been spotted with AT&T branding on it. Second, Nokia announced today that it is adding support for Lotus Notes to its S60 smartphones.

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Perception does NOT equal reality. Many technologies simply can't live up to their hype, while others languish in unwarranted obscurity. bMighty.com pumps up the hidden gems and takes the blowhards down a peg.

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Have you ever been shopping at Wal-Mart and just had to have a touch-screen smartphone? Well, you may be in luck, as the Boy Genius is reporting that the retail giant will be selling the iPhone 3G this holiday season.

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This is a stitch. British users of Google's new voice-powered search application are finding that the software isn't quite ready for prime-time. The issue? It can't understand the British accent. The outcome? Searches for "iPhone" are returning results for "sex" instead. Um, oops.

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According to AdMob, a firm that serves ads to mobile phones, the iPhone is the No. 1 mobile device in the world. But what does that really mean?

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Today LG and AT&T offered up the Incite for sale. The Incite is LG's first device that qualifies as a smartphone. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional to take care of all the business a professional might need to get done in a day. It also offers some things for the not-so-professional in you to pass the time.

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Last week we learned that Verizon Wireless was inviting its VIP customers to a special preview event featuring the BlackBerry Storm. The whole idea was to give those customers a chance to see the Storm ahead of the masses. Too bad no Storms were at the event.

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This evening the new Google application for the iPhone became available. Not only does it bring the new voice-powered search function, it also revamps the usability in a big way. Here is InformationWeek's first take.

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Reports suggest that iPhone firmware 2.2 will become available to users of the iPhone beginning Friday, Nov. 21. The iPhone Dev Team cautions that iPhone users who've jailbroken their phones skip it for the time being.

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It's been almost a month since Google, HTC, and T-Mobile unleashed the first Android-powered G1 on the public, and I'm sure there are plenty who are still on the fence. I've been putting the handset through the wringer for the last few weeks and found it's a good device with some ups and down. Is the G1 the right smartphone for you?

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CIO offers up eight reasons to pick the forthcoming BlackBerry Storm over the Apple iPhone 3G. At least one of them is invalid. What about the others?

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This week saw something ridiculous, like three different touch screen devices from Samsung hit the market or be announced. The Delve, the Behold, and the Eternity bring a mixture of media and smartphone-like features complete with touch screen input.

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The nation's third-largest provider of mobile phones and services has had a tough year. So tough, in fact, that it lost gobs of money in the most recent quarter and has told its employees that if they want to quit, they are more than welcome to leave.

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This is it, the final and official confirmation we've all been waiting for. If you're in the market for a touch-screen BlackBerry Storm, it will be available on Nov. 21

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Today, Nokia formally announced a new addition to its E Series business phones, the E63. What's more interesting is a new Nokia flip phone seen on the Internet that has a full QWERTY keyboard and some other interesting specs, such as support for U.S. 3G.

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The guessing game continues. A recently leaked internal Verizon Wireless document suggests that the much-anticipated BlackBerry Storm will be available on Monday, Nov. 24.

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iPhone users who've been drooling in anticipation of the new functions coming with firmware update 2.2 have something to cheer about. Word is, the firmware will be offered up in 10 days, on Nov. 21.

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Some eagle-eyed surfers spotted a Verizon Wireless staging site that spilled some details of the BlackBerry Storm. Among them was the price. The Storm will set you back $219 if you sign a two-year contract.

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The bane of the cell phone industry is that its software needs to be rewritten for every new model. And since new cell phones come along about as often as, ah, cell phone commercials on TV, that's a problem. The answer is virtualization -- break the dependence on hardware of a piece of software written for a particular device.

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Our friends at Crackberry are giving away 10 BlackBerry Storms to the most-dedicated fans. I was a big fan of the first touch-screen handset from Research In Motion, but these winners are far more dedicated than I ever could be.

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Users of the HTC G1 Android phone have come across a scary problem. Some of the handsets are interpreting words typed on the QWERTY keyboard as root commands -- and it is executing them.

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Finally. According to a new report from The NPD Group, the Apple iPhone 3G has surpassed the Motorola Razr V3 to become the top-selling handset in the United States.

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A quick announcement out of Palo Alto this morning... VMware plans to bring the metaphor of virtualization to mobile handsets.

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It was a historic week, as the Internet and mobile tech played a big role in the U.S. election. This week also saw Google being giddy with the white spaces decision, T-Mobile looking like it's on the upswing, and Sprint continuing to hemorrhage customers. But your mind may not have been focused on the mobile industry this week, so stick with me and I'll catch you up on what else went down.

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Analysts have confirmed the numbers. Apple did indeed surpass RIM in sales during the second quarter to become the second-largest provider of smartphones. It also surpassed Windows Mobile. But can Apple keep the momentum going?

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This is a sad day for Motorola. The beleaguered maker of mobile phones has lost the top spot in the United States to Korean handset maker Samsung. Motorola has steadily lost market share over the last year, and for the first time since 2004, is no longer No. 1 on its home turf.

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Using a 3G-enabled smartphone to serve as the wireless modem between the network and a laptop should be offered by every carrier and every smartphone. Alas, only a handful of phones can do this. According to AT&T's CEO, the iPhone will soon be one of them.

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Verizon Wireless, you're such a tease! People are dying to know how much the BlackBerry Storm is going to cost. What does Verizon Wireless do? It trots out an announcement about the Storm's global data plans, but not the cost of the device itself.

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Being able to tether a 3G phone to a laptop is a delight when you need connectivity. Now, a developer has released a tethering app for the Android-powered G1. The only problem is that it's not an official app, and it's a pain to set up.

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Just last week some coders figured out how to unlock the HTC G1 from T-Mobile's network. Now, some innovative tinkerers at the XDA Developers Forum have figured out how to gain full access to the G1's code and jailbreak it entirely. Full instructions for freedom inside.

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If you're in the market for a brand, spanking new BlackBerry, now hear this: Wal-Mart is selling the just-released BlackBerry Bold for free. Who knows how long that price will last, so you'd better hurry...

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What are all those lines for? Oh yeah, after what seems like ages, Research In Motion has finally released the U.S. BlackBerry Bold. The latest flagship phone is available now at AT&T phones for $299 with a two-year contract.

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According to some internal Research In Motion documents, the company is considering how to pitch prepaid BlackBerry services to carriers. The company already has launched prepaid services in some Asian countries. Would it make sense in the U.S. of A.?

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Every time Apple updates the iPhone's firmware, hackers find another way to crack it. Rather than adjust the software on the iPhone, Apple is employing a new tactic. User reports suggest that the Pwnage tool itself will not run properly on the new Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

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Apple may have hit a home run with the iPhone during the last quarter, but analysts are suggesting that Apple is prepared to slash production of the iPhone by more than 40%.

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