July 3 - 1:35pm EDT   The iPhone is currently the best-selling smartphone in Japan, at least at retail, according to a recent survey. Gathered by research firm BCN, data from 2,300 stores shows the 8GB iPhone 3G as the most popular smartphone, followed by its 16GB sibling. Ranking third in the survey is the NTT DoCoMo Aquos SH-04A, designed by Sharp; RIM's BlackBerry Bold ranks sixth, and a full four slots in the list are occupied by devices from HTC. [full story]

July 1 - 3:55pm EDT   Zer01 today kicked off the launch of its self-titled Zer01 Mobile cellphone service. Roughly as promised, the service uses custom software and a unique network trick to funnel both data and voice through a VoIP system rather than the usual network, bypassing most of the costs associated with running a usual cellular plan. To exploit the uncapped data, it now has built-in access to NetMovies downloads from the company's front-end app. [full story]

July 1 - 12:15pm EDT   Sprint today confirmed that its version of the BlackBerry Tour will run head-to-head against the Verizon model this month. The former will ship its Tour on the same day, July 12th, and for the same $200 on a two-year contract. It will also handle world roaming thanks to the addition of quad-band GSM and EDGE as well as European 3G, but it should bring access to Sprint-specific music downloads, TV streaming and a custom NASCAR app. [full story]

June 30 - 1:35pm EDT   After today's earlier news of the BlackBerry Tour smartphone coming to Verizon, two more sources have reported the device will soon be offered at another US provider, Alltel, as well as Canada's Bell. While no specifics are known about the Alltel release other than the photos that reveal Alltel branding on the phone, the Bell release of the new BlackBerry has been supported with more specific pricing details. [full story]

June 30 - 12:20pm EDT   Fluent Mobile says it has developed the first news app that highlights only content formatted specifically for mobile devices. Fluent News for iPhone searches a variety of sources, including the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal, using proprietary algorithms claimed to reduce search times and minimize bandwidth consumption. [full story]

June 30 - 7:15am EDT   Verizon today confirmed launch information for its version of the BlackBerry Tour. As spotted in leaks, the smartphone should ship both online and in retail on July 12th and will carry its expected price of $200 when tied to a two-year contract. The company hasn't yet detailed custom software but is likely to support VZ Navigator and already stresses the phone's dual-mode CDMA/GSM support for calling (and EDGE data) abroad. [full story]

June 25 - 12:00pm EDT   New data published by AdMob today showed that Apple's share of mobile web use has suddenly surged and now makes up more than two thirds of all mobile traffic in the US. In May, iPhone requests represented 69 percent of all traffic, a sudden jump from 59 percent the month before. By comparison, BlackBerries accounted for just 13 percent of traffic and Android phones represented 7 percent. [full story]

June 25 - 10:40am EDT   Research in Motion is potentially in trouble as discounts it has been counting on for its smartphones are about to end, according to Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu. Citing checks, he claims Verizon's popular buy one, get one (BOGO) promo for the BlackBerry Curve 8330 should end on Saturday the 27th and that it will effectively boost the price of a BlackBerry Storm as a result. Although less expensive than the original $199 launch price, the Storm will move to a fixed $149 price but won't qualify for a BOGO discount that took it down to $99, effectively giving buyers a free extra phone for the Storm's regular price. [full story]

June 22 - 3:45pm EDT   Rumors circulating about Motorola's first Android phones received support today through a leak of plans for their launches later in this year. The Wall Street Journal cites its usual sources "familiar with the matter" as saying that T-Mobile USA will get one of the first devices and that it will be a touchscreen device with a slide-out keyboard and an emphasis on Facebook and Twitter. Most other sources already know this as the Morrison (pictured) and expect it towards the end of the year. [full story]

June 19 - 9:40am EDT   Despite shipping 7.8 million BlackBerries and forecasting stronger sales, serious doubts exist about the BlackBerry's future, according to Needham analyst Charlie Wolf. Issuing a "hold" call on Research in Motion's stock, Wolf is concerned that the company's heavy dependence on home users for new subscribers -- 80 percent of the 3.8 million last quarter -- will leave it vulnerable to multiple new competitors, including the iPhone 3G S, the Palm Pre and multiple Android phones from HTC, Motorola, Samsung and others. He also worries that BlackBerry App World won't catch on and that greater choices with Apple's and Google's platforms will lead customers elsewhere. [full story]

June 19 - 9:05am EDT   The BlackBerry Onyx will be the second RIM phone to drop the trackball for an optical trackpad if a leak supports the claim. Sources for CrackBerry claim that the Onyx will have the same pad as the Curve 8520 (pictured) and that the QWERTY keyboard is being redesigned slightly to accommodate the new controls. Prototypes until now have only been seen with the trackball, which may be phased out altogether by RIM in the future. [full story]

June 18 - 4:40pm EDT   Research in Motion today reported results for its spring quarter that show the company's growth in smartphones cooling down. The company shipped 7.8 million BlackBerries between March and May, or exactly as many as it moved in winter. About 3.8 million of these, or just under half, were new BlackBerry subscribers instead of replacements. [full story]

June 18 - 4:10pm EDT   An unofficial report says all BlackBerry devices will get the proprietary BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) messaging service that allows owners of the devices to communicate with one another when the 5.0 version of the operating system for the devices is released. The updated BlackBerry Messenger will reportedly support avatars, integrate GPS functionality, including proximity sensing of other BlackBerry-toting friends, add the ability to group conversations by subject and get a homescreen shortcut for messenger contacts. [full story]

June 18 - 12:00pm EDT   Demand for smartphones has reached an all-time high thanks to iPhones and the Palm Pre but is hurting the BlackBerry as a result, according to new data from ChangeWave. A mid-June study from the research group has 14.4 percent of those tracked looking to buy some kind of smartphone within the next 90 days, a record high and a large jump from 11.2 percent in March. Of these, a full 44 percent now plan to buy an iPhone compared to 30 percent just three months earlier. [full story]

June 17 - 10:10pm EDT   T-Mobile this evening officially launched the Dash 3G. The new interpretation of the HTC Snap has native support for its carrier's 1,700MHz 3G network but replaces the stock Windows Mobile 6.1 phone's Inner Circle feature with MyFaves for free calling to five US contacts. It otherwise has the full feature set, however, including the 2-megapixel camera, GPS and Wi-Fi as well as one of the few navigation trackballs outside of BlackBerries. [full story]