Nokia aiming for one Maemo device in 2010

In light of successful Nokia N900 sales and positive feedback over its Maemo platform, it appeared as if all hope for future Symbian S60 smartphones was abandoned. Not so fast Maemo lovers! A source came forth to Reuters claiming “direct knowledge of Nokia’s 2010 product roadmap” and stated that Nokia would only be manufacturing one Maemo device in the coming year. A Nokia spokesperson declined to comment but did say, “We remain firmly committed to Symbian as our smartphone platform of choice.” So, what do you think? On one hand we have Maemo, a new platform in need of development in order to improve touchscreen capabilities, and on the other hand we have the tried-and-true Symbian S60.

Black Friday Smart Phone Deals

Well, we’ve scoured the internet to bring you some of Black Friday’s best smartphone offerings. If lacing up those sneakers and strapping on those elbow pads for some day-after-Thanksgiving deals is your bag, then there are some pretty nice options out there for you. However, for those of you looking to find big savings on popular smartphones, you need go no further than your computer desk – take a look at Wirefly’s deals below to find out what I mean. In any case, there’s a lot of money to be saved. Which device tickles your fancy? Check out all the steals-and-deals below:

Amazon:

• AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8900: $0.01 with new AT&T service plan
• AT&T HTC Pure: $0.01 with new AT&T service plan
• Sprint BlackBerry 9630 Tour: $49.99 with new Sprint service plan
• Sprint Samsung Moment: $79.99 with new Sprint service plan
• T-Mobile BlackBerry 9700 Bold2: $149.99 with new T-Mobile service plan
• Verizon BlackBerry 9550 Storm2: $149.99 with new Verizon service plan
  

AT&T:

Friday: Starting on Black Friday (no given time) you can check out www.att.com/holiday09 for “vaule packed” holiday savings through “Cyber Monday.” From store opening to noon ALL devices will be $50 off. AT&T is also said to be pushing out some hot deals via its Twitter and Facebook pages – so you might want to check them out periodically on Friday. For the thousands of current AT&T customers, sadly it doesn’t look like there's too much in store for you this Holiday season. That is unless you are due for an upgrade, in which case you might want to give HTC's trade-in program below a little gander.

Saturday: Saturday is the 24-hour BlackBerry Sale

• Pearl 8110 or Curve 8310: $0.00 with 2-year agreement and minimum plan of $69.99 a month.
• Curve 8320 or Curve 8900: $99 with 2-year agreement and minimum plan of $69.99 a month.
  

Sunday: Free Solstice, Neon, Magnet, Karma or Propel quick messaging device. Unlimited messaging or data required, plus 2-year service agreement.

Cyber Monday: 1 Cent Sale, device offers rotate every three hours.

• Nokia E71x: $0.01 with 2-year service agreement- Sony Cybershot: $0.01 with 2-year service agreement
• BlackBerry Curve 8900: $0.01 with 2-year service agreement
• Pantech Reveal: $0.01 with 2-year service agreementSamsung Jack: $0.01 with 2-year service agreement
  

Follow this link for more AT&T information.

Best Buy (stores open at 5 a.m.):

• Sprint Palm Pre in Black: $79.99 with 2-year contract
• Verizon LG Chocolate: Free with 2-year contract
• BONUS: Best Buy’s wonderful Black Friday Shopping Tips
  

Radio Shack:

• BlackBerry 8520 Curve: $0.00 with 2-year agreement
• LG Xenon: $0.00 with 2-year agreement
  

Verizon Wireless:

• Gateway LT Netbook: $299.99 after $100 mail-in-rebate
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip: $9.99 after $100 mail-in-rebate (also buy-on-get-one free)
• HTC Ozone: $9.99 after $100 mail-in-rebate (also buy-on-get-one free)
• LG Glance: $0
• LG Versa: $29.99 after $50 mail-in-rebate (also buy-on-get-one free)
• Mifi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot: $49.99 after $50 mail-in-rebate (Black Friday only)
• Motorola Entice: $19.99 after $50 mail-in-rebate (also buy-one-get-one free)
• Motorola VU204: $0
• Nokia 7705 Twist: $29.99 after $50 mail-in-rebate
• Samsung Smooth: $0 after $50 mail-in-rebate
• Free LG HBM-210 Bluetooth headset with purchase of LG enV3 or enV Touch.
  

Wirefly:

• Verizon BlackBerry Storm2: $0.99 for new subscribers and $29.99 for existing Verizon customers (Black Friday only)
• Verizon BlackBerry Storm2: $9.99 for new subscribers and 429.99 for existing Verizon customers (Sat. Nov. 28 – Mon. Nov. 30)
• AT&T BlackBerry Bold 9700: $0 for new subscribers and $29.99 for existing AT&T customers (Fri. Nov. 27 – Mon. Nov. 30)
• Sprint Samsung Moment: $79.99 for new subscribers and $99.99 for existing Sprint customers (Fri. Nov. 27 – Mon. Nov. 30)
  

Walmart:

• Verizon HTC Droid Eris: $30 after a $149.99 instant discount and signed 2-year contract

HOLIDAY DEALS

T-Mobile:

• Motorola CLIQ: $149 with 2-year service plan
• BlackBerry Bold 9700: $149.99 with 2-year service plan
• Samsung Highlight: $49 with 2-year service plan
  

HTC:

HTC is enacting a trade-in program this Holiday season. When you purchase an HTC Tilt 2, HTC Touch Pro 2, HTC Imagio, Pure or HTC Ozone you can send back an eligible trade-in to receive a $100 rebate from HTC.

Privus Mobile's Greg Smith talks about the Apple App Store approval process

The Apple App store practically created the mobile application market, but has been scrutinized for it's unpredictable approval process. Privus Mobile president, Greg Smith, sat down with TechVi to talk about what Apple could do to make that process easier for mobile application developers.

Samsung Omnia II to hit Verizon Wireless Dec. 2

Tis’ the season…to launch your smartphone! Verizon Wireless adds yet another device to its ever-growing lineup with the announcement of Samsung’s Windows Mobile 6.5 device, the Omnia II. The Omnia II will be stocked and ready to go at your neighborhood Verizon Wireless store on Dec. 2 for $200 with standard 2-year contract and $100 mail-in-rebate. Let’s review some specs:

• 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED display
• Virtual QWERTY (no physical keyboard)
• Samsung TouchWiz 2.0 interface
• 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus
• 3G, WiFi and GPS capabilities
• 8GB internal storage
• 800MHz processor

From reviews, it seems you will either love or hate the TouchWiz UI. So, who’s planning on putting an Omnia II in their own stocking this year?

T-Mobile offers more contract-free options with T-Mobile Complete

T-Mobile is slowly revealing new contract-free options just in time for the Holiday season and I have to say, I really like what T-Mobile is doing and I hope other carriers follow suit. It seems T-Mobile Complete will offer four handsets, two of which are said to be the BlackBerry Curve 8520 and the BlackBerry Pearl. These BlackBerry devices will be sold for $299.99 and $149.99 respectively, and you can pick them up at your neighborhood Best Buy or Walmart. The device comes with the one month service – making it perfect for Holiday gift giving. The recipient, or yourself, will then have the option to use a T-Mobile Even More Plus plan. These contract-free plans start at a mere $50, although for the BlackBerrys you’ll probably need the $80 plan. Remember, it’s still a prepaid phone plan so you will need to make sure it’s paid for at the beginning of each month to continue service. We’ll let you know when we hear more - but you might want to add the BlackBerry Curve to your Holiday shopping list for Uncle Phil, because you know he won’t upgrade that free-with-contract clamshell and its 1998 monophonic ringtone all by himself.