Palm has issued another update for owners of the Sprint Palm Treo 800w smart device.

At issue is the device failing to detect many of the packaged accessories when connected to the device as well as charging issues centered on incomplete charging and charging a completely drained battery.  Palm regards this as a critical update and asks that all owners perform the update as soon as possible to prevent further issues.

Encyclopedia: Palm Treo 800w

Following up on the Windows Mobile 6.1 update released for the MOTO Q9h  a couple weeks ago, AT&T has released another version of the device with the addition of Windows Mobile 6.1, and GPS support through AT&T Navigator in a striking silver pinstripe color.

The device is otherwise unchanged from the original Q9h which features a landscape QVGA display, QWERTY keyboard, microSDHC expansion slot, Bluetooth with stereo audio support, quadband GSM/EDGE and triband W-CDMA support with HSDPA high speed data, 2.0 megapixel camera, speakerphone, and Opera Mobile browser.  Despite the branding, the device does not support the 2100Mhz band necessary for 3G roaming around the world and instead refers to the quadband GSM/EDGE radio.

The Q9 Global is now available from AT&T for $249.99 after a new 2 year agreement before an additional $100 mail-in rebate bringing the total to $199.99.

Encyclopedia: Motorola Q9h/Q9

The first images of the Samsung A837 clamshell have surfaced.

Image courtesy of Boy Genius Report

The Samsung SGH-A837 will be the first Mil-Spec certified device on the carrier when it launches on AT&T later this year to answer its direct competitor in Verizon’s G’Zone Boulder clamshell.

The phone will feature quadband GSM/EDGE access, dual-band W-CDMA with HSDPA packet data, Push to Talk support, A-GPS support with AT&T Navigator, a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder and support for AT&T Video Share service, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and six-person conference call support.

The phone is expected to launch on September 15th as per the most recent information available in retail sales channels, with Telesales expected to take orders starting Tuesday September 2nd.

Our most popular deal ever just got a whole lot better. Not only did AT&T cut the price of the prepaid Sony Ericsson Z750a (which works on any AT&T account) to $40, but they also threw in a $25 prepaid card. This effective cuts the price of the phone to $15.

This also makes it a new world’s record for the lowest price ever offered for a 3G phone, sold without any contract.

To get the deal (and we suggest you hurry, this is likely a clearance that won’t return), just follow the steps below. Keep in mind that AT&T only offers this deal on one page of their site, and that if you don’t follow the steps exactly, you won’t find it.

1) Click this link to be taken to the AT&T GoPhone home page.

2) In the middle of the screen, there will be a rotating image, offering different deals every few seconds. Wait for the one that that you see below. Click on “Get a refurb package today” as shown below.

3) Chose the Z750a from the list of available phones. Currently it is $39.99 with a $25 gift card.

4) If you do not see that, chances are you made a mistake, and are either in the regular AT&T store, or the regular GoPhone store. Start at step one and try again.

Update: Price has just risen to $69.99. The phone is still available without the $25 prepaid card for $59.99. To get that price, check our previous article on the deal.

We’d like to take a moment to thank you. While performing updates on our Phone Encyclopedia, we noticed that your edits had just surpassed the 10,000 mark. That means that viewers like you (and hopefully, including you) have made over 10,000 separate contributions to the largest wiki resource on the web for phones.

If you haven’t yet made a contribution, it only takes a minute (you don’t even need to register). Just pull up your favorite phone, think up a tip or trick (or even a download or update) that isn’t there, and click the Edit tab (it’s on almost every page, excluding the front page). It doesn’t have to be perfect, all edits are reviewed and improved on by viewers like you.

And, if you haven’t yet checked out the Phone Encyclopedia, take a look today! You may learn a lot about phones that you didn’t even think was on the web. Every phone that works in America today has its very own web site on the Phone Encyclopedia, so fear not, your phone is there for sure.

PhoneNews.com Phone Encyclopedia

As with many other recent stories, we’re all over UMPC coverage on PhoneNews.com. We believe that what you plug wireless data into, is just important as the data cards themselves.

Many have wondered why Apple hasn’t made a nettop/netbook. These low-cost, ultra-portable machines are battery-friendly, as well as being wallet-friendly. Apple’s first offering in the ultra-mobile arena (since the 12-inch PowerBook G4) has been the MacBook Air. This until has been shooting away from the netbook market, touting high performance and high thinness. And, it has succeded at that goal.

But it appears that there has been one salient thing keeping Apple from a netbook. And, the good news is, that change is about to pass. The first-generation Intel Atom has already hit the marketplace for awhile, coming down to the $349 price point (for an Acer Aspire One at BestBuy.com, which I reviewed elsewhere). However, the first generation of Atom is 32-bit. And, Apple has squarely put their entire product line in 64-bit territory.

The technical reasons, appear to be cemented in Apple’s forthcoming release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard will require a 64-bit Intel CPU, something which was well-examined in a recent article by AppleInsider. The article details that Apple is focusing on refining code to run on 64-bit processors, and that would actually slow older PowerPC G5 systems. As such, consistent with Apple’s policy of never releasing a software update that negatively impacts performance, it appears that Snow Leopard will only be released for Intel-based Macs.

While some may argue that it is likely for Snow Leopard to support first-generation 32-bit Intel Core Solo Core Duo processors, it’s clear those systems will not get most of the speed bump promised with Leopard. And, with that, Apple doesn’t want to release another 32-bit Mac. Instead, it appears that Apple would be best off waiting for 64-bit, dual-core Atom processors, currently going into fabrication.

Because of the bevy of Mac announcements that Apple appears poised to make before the holiday buying season, it doesn’t seem that Apple is prepared to announce a netbook. However, with a dual-core Atom, it does ensure that 2009 will be ready, sans supply constraints, to launch a netbook that will take full advantage of Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Probably the best part of all, is the ability to discontinue the Mac mini, and replace it with… the Mac mini. A netbook taking the place of the desktop Mac mini, and its price-point, would allow Apple to further its mobility position, and also embed the long-awaited WiMAX chipsets that Intel will offer at bargain prices.

In a post on the Android Developer Blog, developer Eric Chu has announced plans for the company to launch the Android Market, an integrated application store that will be built into the first wave of Android-based handsets beginning in beta form later this year.

The Android Market is intended to be more than a simple storefront as it will offer developers the chance to offer content in three steps: Develop. Upload. Publish.  This in stark contrast to the stringent requirements a potential developer/publisher has to go through to qualify for product to be listed on the Apple App Store for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The Android Market will also share some of YouTube’s features in offering a rating and commentary system for applications, as well as offer paid content, analytic tools for tracking popularity, multiple device support, versioning, and other features which will be enabled in a future forthcoming update after the first devices have been on the market for a period of time.

The English edition of the Chinese Economic News Service has filed a report regarding Palm’s recent contract sale to HTC for the manufacturing of the newest Palm Windows Mobile device in the Treo Pro 850.

The report also states that Palm is planning to offer a CDMA version of the device to be offered to Sprint and Verizon as a potential addition to their respective lineups, which has proven to be a surprise hit with reviewers ahead of its official launch next month direct from Palm as an unlocked device in the US compatible with AT&T’s 3G network.

Palm has had a rather covert history of depending on other device manufacturers for its recent devices with the Windows Mobile lineup being outsourced to both Inventec and HTC depending on model, with the 800w and 850 Pro both being manufactured by HTC most recently.

Verizon Wireless today responded to PhoneNews.com’s inquiries about the XV6800 GPS update. Unlike other HTC Titan variants (on Sprint, Alltel, and other foreign carriers), the XV6800 refuses to provided an open GPS port. This is necessary for applications like Google Maps, TomTom, TeleNav, and any other GPS application to operate and access location data.

The update does, however, add EV-DO Rev A, and will allow for forthcoming support of the VZ Navigator application. PhoneNews.com has analyzed the update, and found that Verizon uses a secure GPS API, which allows VZ Navigator to work, but blocks any other application from functioning properly. Verizon has not set a release date for VZ Navigator on the XV6800.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney commented on the modifications, and reasons for limiting GPS access:

“We have not blocked other applications from our version of the xv6800. It is standard for third parties to have to make changes to their applications to be compatible with Verizon Wireless devices.  Every carrier is different so what one does, doesn’t necessarily mean every one else can or will accept the same product.

We have a development program in place to assist third parties in making other GPS applications compatible with Verizon Wireless devices.  Additional third party applications will be available in the future.

We chose to introduce the device with what was available rather than wait until additional applications became available.”

It appears that, while Windows Mobile has its own GPS support already, Verizon expects everyone to add support for their new, private, closed GPS API. This would appear to make it impossible for any open source Windows Mobile application to make use of GPS on Verizon smartphones.

This morning, Nokia posted details about a forthcoming high-end clamshell with S60 and AT&T branding.

The Nokia 6650 is expected to replace the N75 clamshell and will feature an outer display with a user interface that is controlled by touch sensitive controls directly below for the most common functions.

The inner display will be a large 2.2 inch QVGA display like the N75, as well as a dedicated button for GPS services like AT&T Navigator, thanks to the inclusion of A-GPS support as well as a dedicated GPS transceiver.

The rest of the featureset is similar to the N75 with quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband W-CDMA access, the addition of Bluetooth with stereo audio support, 2.0 megapixel camera with flash and video recorder, microUSB port, microSDHC expansion slot, AT&T services such as Mobile Music,  Instant Messaging, and Push to Talk, FM radio with RDS, and Series 60 Feature Pack 2.

There is currently no timeframe for release at this time.