July 1 - 11:00am EDT   Microsoft has picked the ad firm that will represent its "Pink" smartphone interface, sources said Wednesday. AdWeek hears that a contract bid has been won by McCann Erickson's TAG group, trumping others. The leak doesn't include any details of what "Pink" involves but adds that McCann already handles advertising for Windows Mobile, supporting the phone connection. [full story]

April 23 - 3:00pm EDT   The use of the iPhone online has accelerated to where it's now outranking Symbian in terms of sheer traffic, AdMob's March 2009 metrics report shows. Tracking access worldwide based on ad requests, the firm says OS X iPhone grew to represent 38 percent of smartphone traffic and just slightly edged out all Symbian phones, which have fallen to 37 percent. Both are sharp changes from February, when Symbian held a comfortable lead at 43 percent while the iPhone had just crossed the 33 percent mark. [full story]

April 17 - 7:20am EDT   T-Mobile this morning finally confirmed the existence of its 2009 update to the Sidekick LX. The new model is the first ever to support 3G and draws on HSPA to allow both faster web browsing as well as to enable video streaming directly through the browser as well as Internet radio and video uploading. GPS is also new and exploits Danger's connection to Microsoft to let users search for nearby locations (including fuel and movies) using Live Search. [full story]

April 9 - 1:40pm EDT   T-Mobile at mid-day announced a special event for April 21st in New York City. The company provides no other details and, unlike previous invitations, doesn't hint as to the general direction of the gathering. The last event held by the company in this manner was in September of last year, when the company introduced the G1 as the world's first Android phone. [full story]

April 8 - 5:15pm EDT   A new handset built by Sharp has shown up for testing on the FCC website and is expected to be the previously leaked 2009 Sidekick LX. Other hints that point to this include the Danger logo being present on the FCC label, and the device's support of the 1,700MHz AWS spectrum, or the same band T-Mobile uses for its 3G network. T-Mobile is the carrier of previous Sidekick models. [full story]

February 12 - 3:00pm EST   T-Mobile's next-gen Sidekick is now being claimed as real and has received additional details. Now referred to as just the Sidekick 2009, the messaging phone is described by an anonymous source for Hiptop3 as having a "more grown up," upscale feel and should have a new version 5.0 of Danger's Sidekick operating system. A set of lights along the top edge of the display contribute to the phone's effect, while the keys are closer to being flush and are flat rather than curved. [full story]

January 28 - 4:30pm EST   Danger and its hardware partners may be preparing a major update to the Sidekick LX that turns it into an advanced media and social networking device, a survey given to a Hiptop3 reader suggests. When asked about smartphones, the reader says she was reportedly presented with an image that shows an Sidekick LX 2009 that centers on an unusually sharp, 854x480 3.2-inch display. It would also have other hardware firsts for Sidekicks, including 3G data, GPS with turn-by-turn navigation and a 3.2-megapixel camera with both flash and video capture. [full story]

November 24 - 11:15am EST   Microsoft is in the later stages of developing a phone of its own that will rely on performance to drive sales, a rumor floated by the Inquirer today claims. The Windows Mobile developer is allegedly developing a phone that would use one of NVIDIA's Tegra processors as its heart. The feature would likely involve the APX 2500 chip and theoretically give the Microsoft device 720p video playback and advanced 3D visuals that are absent on other phones. [full story]

September 19 - 2:25pm EDT   T-Mobile's upcoming Android phone has been spotted today courtesy of a blog entry from someone with access to the phone ahead of the carrier's official debut on the 23rd. Previously only shown in a handful of indoor shots, the G1 is again an exact match for prototypes Google has used to demonstrate the phone and is described by the Google worker using the phone as the production version of the HTC Dream. The phone revolves around its touchscreen but opens as with a Sidekick to expose a full keyboard. [full story]

September 11 - 11:45am EDT   T-Mobile's previously rumored self-run app store has been confirmed by the company at the CTIA expo but will be significantly more limited than either previous estimates or versus similar stores from Apple and Google. Company mobile product development chief Venetia Espinoza and devPartner Community Program head marketer Sue Schmitz explain that the software will initially rule out Android and Sidekick phones in a bid to simplify the rollout and see what works. [full story]

July 30 - 1:15am EDT   T-Mobile on Tuesday unveiled a new version of the Sidekick, and with it, a completely customizable shell design, which users can choose from a number of pre-designed colors and templates, or create their very own personalized device. Available by default in black or green, the Sidekick can be detailed with personal photos or graphic art, as well as a host of text, shapes, icons, and logos. Once the design is finalized, T-Mobile will ship the finished product to the customer, while the design remains online for others to view. [full story]

July 29 - 2:35pm EDT   T-Mobile's Sidekick 2008 has already been unpacked just a day before its official release and had its pricing revealed through a leak at the TmoNews forums. The images confirm all the details slipped out previously, including the 2-megapixel camera, extra-wide LCD, and replaceable backplates that involve both art patterns as well as sports logos. Video recording is also known to be built-in. [full story]

July 24 - 11:00am EDT   Microsoft has held its first concrete meetings to design a Zune-branded cellphone, according to an unconfirmed but allegedly credible leak from jkOnTheRun. The device is well away from completion but is intended to use multi-touch input and would use a variant of Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft's first major overhaul to its smartphone platform since 2005. Windows Live services will be a major focus along with the Zune's emphasis on media playback. [full story]

July 17 - 9:40am EDT   T-Mobile's Sidekick 2008 now has a solid release date, says a new document leak through BGR. The rebranding of the Gekko has now been confirmed and should be introduced through T-Mobile on July 30th, likely replacing the normal Sidekick LX outside of the Tony Hawk Edition. [full story]

July 11 - 7:55am EDT   Further leaks of T-Mobile's Sidekick Gekko suggest the phone may be given a new name as well as much more varied customization than originally thought, Hiptop3 says. Reports passed along to the site suggest the device may be renamed the Sidekick 2008 when it launches soon, although the backs of the new devices simply read "Sidekick" and don't provide immediate clues as to any specific name. The messaging slider phone has also been codenamed the Aspen in earlier leaks. [full story]