For a company that tends to concentrate on candybars and the occasional slider for its smartphone stable, a double shot of S60 flips in the American market is pretty much a bumper crop — and that’s exactly what Nokia’s delivering, officially announcing its own availability of the N75 and the N76 today.

Notice we say “its own” availability; the N75 has been livin’ it up in AT&T’s lineup for a few weeks now but it’s been nigh impossible to get one contract-free from the carrier, so Nokia’s direct sale is a welcome one for folks that just want to buy one outright. Side by side, the N76 solidly whips its stablemate in the looks department, but bear in mind one critical fact: 3G data lurks underneath the N75’s hood.

Pick up the N75 for $429.99 and the N76 for $499.99 starting today from Nokia (including the flagship stores in New York and Chicago) and its distributors.

As rumored, the big new device that’s Palm’s Jeff Hawkins has chosen to announce at the D conference today is the Palm Foleo, which the company is billing as a “mobile companion.” Boasting a 10-inch widescreen display and a full-size keyboard, the device is intended to be used in conjunction with your smartphone, with any edits to documents made on one device automatically reflected on the other thanks to the device’s Bluetooth connectivity. The device also promises to turn on “instantly,” boasts built-in WiFi, and should last about 5 hours on a single charge. The pricing and release info leaked out earlier also look to have been spot on, with it now officially set to be released sometime this summer for $500 (after a $100 mail-in rebate). We’ll have plenty more pics of it shortly, but for now you can check out one more after the break.

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JAVOedge releases the Samsung Port to 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Adapter!

JAVOedge’s Cingular Blackjack / Samsung i607 to 3.5mm stereo headphone adapter is all you need to listen to music on your Blackjack / i607 port equipped device.

Eliminate carrying or buying special made Blackjack/i607 port headphones for travel and convert it with this adapter to use standardized 3.5mm headphones!

Compatible with:

AT&T Blackjack, Cingular Blackjack, Samsung i607, Samsung i600, Samsung SGH-D807, Samsung SYNC A707, Samsung Upstage, Samsung SGH-M620, Samsung SGH-M610, Samsung SGH-T509, Samsung SGH-T519, Samsung SGH-T629, Samsung SGH-T809, Samsung SGH-U740

See more of Cingular Blackjack Accessories by JAVOedge.

The folks at WOM World have kindly hooked me up with a Nokia N95, Nokia’s flagship smartphone multimedia computer, and I’ve been playing with it almost nonstop for the past few days. Although the N95 software is a bit rough around the edges(there were moments when the phone froze up or experienced severe visual tearing and “Out of memory” errors occasionally popped up), the hyper-connected N95 shone as an excellent hardware platform for the next generation of mobile computing. And, with a few free applications, I was able to make the N95 do some pretty amazing things.

The N95 is without a doubt the most connected smartphone out there. Aside from the usual menagerie of bands (850,1900,etc) and bluetooth, the N95 also has broadband-speed 3.5G HSDPA(useless to us US residents unfortunately), 802.11g Wifi, an integrated GPS(a first for a Symbian smartphone) and even an FM radio. Although the N95 is a fairly capable smartphone/rudimentary PDA in its own right, it truly shines when coupled with a high speed connection. Since cheap and ubiquitous 3G is quite a ways off for those of us in the US,I’ve been using the N95 coupled with a WiFi connection. WiFi hotspots are getting more and more common, and as free municipal WiFi begins to take off, it is not unreasonable to assume that soon we will all be getting online wirelessly wherever we are.
There have already been numerous excellent reviews of the N95, so I won’t bore you with another one. Instead, I’ve tried to look at how, using only existing hardware and software, it is possible to experience a glimpse into the future of mobile, pervasive communication. As one of the most advanced mobile devices to date, the N95 is certainly qualified to deliver such a glimpse. What is now cutting-edge will soon be mainstream. In the near future, we will:

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Keep in mind that like all things Google Mobile, BlackBerry users have the upper hand getting software updates before anyone else. If you point your mobile brower to http://google.com/gmm with your GPS enabled BlackBerry device, you’ll be prompted to download and install the latest Google Maps Mobile. This new release provides software support which would allow Google Maps to use the GPS module built-in to your device to improve your Google mapping experience.

GPS, or Global Positioning System, is a feature on many mobile devices and peripherals. Google Maps for mobile combined with GPS provides a faster, easier way to access local information when you’re on the go. The BlackBerry® 8800 smartphone from Cingular is the latest open GPS experience with Google Maps, and we want to spread the word. Here’s why we’re so worked up about GPS:

After reading and hearing about this one, I momentarily considered returning to a GPS enabled BlackBerry device - retiring my Nokia N95. Hopefully other handheld are supported soon.

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A number of reader reports and a Google Groups message board posting indicate that CNBC is reporting that the iPhone will be released on the 20th of June.

Actually, On the Money last night on CNBC, the telco Analyst said they had been given the confirmed date of the 20th. Not sure where this official release is, but they specifically said iPhone release date was finally released and it was to be the 20th.

According to CNBC, the iPhone will be “in stores” on that date. Apple’s iPhone had been officially targeted for “late June”. iPhone sales/support training runs from May 30th - June 20th, giving more credibility to the June 20th date.

Video: Video clip of segment on CNBC. Information from an “AT&T phone store”.

An AP story tried to confirm the June 20th date, but was unable to get confirmation:

Siegel said he did not know where the June 20 date came from.

Clerks contacted at eight AT&T stores in New York said they had been told the iPhone would launch on dates ranging from June 11 to June 22.

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Microsoft is receving some unusual attention for a decoration in its corporate offices. A user of Flickr recently uploaded a photo of the company’s “iPod Amnesty Bin,” found in the Zune headquarters, apparently encouraging employees to abandon Apple’s media player in favor of Microsoft’s competitor.

The bin has drawn the ire of voices such as Macworld UK, which suggests that it is emblematic of “child-like and unrealistic behavior,” a view aided by the lack of iPods in the Flickr image. The Zune has not sold as well as expected; it has in fact sapped the profits of Microsoft’s entertainment division, which is in otherwise healthy shape thanks to the Xbox 360 console.

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We always discuss handy gadgets that fit in your pockets; cellphones, digital cameras, game systems. But, like many of you, we got our love of all things gadgety via a lovely line of toys from the early-to-mid ’80s: Transformers.

That’s why we find it exceedingly fitting that the script for the new Michael Bay Transformers film, opening July 4th, calls for a handful of gadgets that transform into small robots. What’s really fun is that action figures of these little guys are in the works, and herein we bring you photographs of the (supposed) prototypes of these action figures, mostly because there isn’t much happening until CES next week, and because we can.

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So, maybe Amazon’s acquisition of Digital Photography Review was no aberration. Word is the Seattle online retailer has eyes for another online review site: iLounge, a specialist site about Apple’s iPod music player and related software such as iTunes. No details, no confirmation, but the deal would make sense. Amazon has always provided more information and feedback, on its own site, to encourage purchasers to make the plunge. And Jeff Bezos’ internet store has long rewarded web publishers for linking to products listed on Amazon. It’s sensible vertical integration for Amazon to acquire some of these affiliates. Particularly since many review sites will otherwise run contextually matched Google links, which tend to pay better.

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These days, PDAs / Phones don’t ship with handy dandy desktop charging and syncing cradles. If you miss having one, JAVOedge sells cradles for various devices. They sent me their Treo 750 desktop cradle to try out.

Even though it says it’s for the 750, it works just fine with my Treo 680 which you can see in the following images…

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