Tuesday was a big big day at Smartphone Experts. Not only did we havecomprehensive coverage of the new iPhone 3.0 software announcement(andmore keeps coming here) at The iPhone Blog, over at CrackBerry.com we had one of thevery first hands-on with the BlackBerry “Niagara” 9630. If you add in late developments like someadditional Windows Mobile 6.5 featuressneaking out at WMExperts andanticipation that the Nokia E71 will finally hit AT&Tat Nokia Experts, you make for a fairly exciting week in the smartphone world.

Read on for the Best of SPE!

Android Central

We’re still in all sorts of limbo in the Android world. Firstly, the “cupcake” update is currently looking like it may beunlikely to land on the T-Mobile G1. Secondly, we want more devices! The good news on that front isHTC has plenty lined up for 2009, we may seeMotorola produce some Android smartphones, andSamsung also looks to be getting in on the Android actsoon too.

There looks to be plenty of great new Android features on the horizon, too. Withcircular zoom,video recording, andlive foldersall on tap, the Android platform is definitely not standing pat.

CrackBerry.com

Niagara Niagara NIAGARA! CrackBerry Kevingot his hands on the BlackBerry “Niagara” 9630 this weekand despite an early-beta OS which made using the device difficult, gave the hardware a thorough hands-on review. CDMA users will be in for a real treat when this device gets released. Also emerging on the net this week was a spy shot of theBlackBerry “Gemini.”On the apps front,Pandora has finally (finally!) come to BlackBerryand theopen beta for SmrtGuardis causing quite a stir.

Nokia Experts

There are some amazing devices coming soon running the S60 operating system and Rafe and Steve had a chance to spend time with the compellingSamsung OMNIA HD. 3rd party application support is a strong part of the S60 platform and someof our favorite free and priced appswere highlighted this week. While you have been able to watch YouTube via the web browser, there is now adedicated YouTube clientfor S60 devices. We’ve been anxiously looking for Nokia to come to US wireless carriers and it looks like thefabulous E71 may be coming to AT&Tthis next week.

PreCentral.net

The release date wait-a-thon for the Palm Pre continues withApril looking less likelybut “first half os 2009″ still solid. Meanwhile we’ve finally pinned downhow much RAM the Palm Pre hasand perhaps even theOriginal Device Manufacturerfor the device. We’ve also confirmed that the Pre will getfree updatesthat will be easily applied. The big news, however, has to be that Palm the company really and truly is hanging on by thethinnest of threadsand needs the Pre to be a big success to stay alive — hopefully the insurance payout for awarehouse robberywill arrive soon, because Palm could use the cash.

The iPhone Blog

Previously ontheiPhoneblog.com: This past Tuesday, Apple unveiled iPhone 3.0, which includes system-widecopy/paste(text, formatting, links, and pictures),MMS(picture, contact vCard, audio, location),stereo Bluetooth, system-wideSpotlight search(email, events, contacts, and apps),Push Notification Service,tethering, pervasive landscape keyboard, and a host of other features, gave the App Store subscription pricing and in-App purchases, and developers P2P connectivity and perhaps most transforming — Dock port andBluetooth connectivity for accessories. The first beta is already out and general release is promised for “summer 2009″. With 100 new features and1000 new APIsannounced in total, check our massiveiPhone 3.0 news roundupor listen to ouriPhone Live! podcastcoverage for more.

Meanwhile, rumors of3rd and even 4th generation iPhone hardwareare running wild with specs includingOLED screens,multi-core GPUs that can work as CPUs thanks to OpenCL,faster Internet speeds(802.11n and/or 3.5G HSPDA+ networking), and ahigher megapixel camera with video recordingand editing built in. Anyone still think we’re crazy for predicting aniPhone HD?

TreoCentral

At TreoCentral welearnedthat the Sprint Treo Pro finally went onsaleon Sunday, March 15th, asexpectedafterbeing delayed. Plus Dieteranswered your Treo Pro questions, and Annie reported on whatInfoworldandCNETthink of the Sprint Treo Pro. In other news, PalmpostedtheirQ3 FY09 resultswhich were grimas expected. Palm seems to be virtually bleeding money and awarehouse robbery of $5 millionsure didn’t help. But we hope that the Pre will revive Palm when it’s releasedwithin the next 15 weeks.

WMExperts

We’re now a week removed from the launch of thelong-awaited Sprint Treo Pro, which finally saw the light of day. Speaking of phones, the Verizonre-released the Motorola Q9C. We’ve also gotten a pretty good look at whatSprint has plannedfor the next several months, andmore specs on a number of HTC phoneswe hope to see in the near future.

We saw a decent amount of Windows Mobile 6.5 news as well.Widgets were confirmed,thehoneycomb menu is out, and we got an hourlongvideo rundown of 6.5at the MIX09 conference in Las Vegas.

The week also saw the release of anative YouTube application, some furor overwhy there aren’t any capactive touchscreens for Windows Mobileandpoked a little fun at our friendsat The iPhone Blog.

This is a story bythe iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored byThe iPhone Blog Store.

Best of SPE, 22 March 2009