As expected, T-Mobile has now launched the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 slider to compliment the 5310 candybar launched back in May. Though the software and the phone’s raison d’être (music, that is) both mirror the slimmer 5310, the new slider turns up the heat a bit with a more capable 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and something Nokia calls the “music slider,” a sliding bar directly below the display that gives the user lightning-quick access to the music player and radio. Other features include a microSD slot (with 1GB bundled in the box), stereo Bluetooth, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and a standard issue quadband EDGE radio sans 3G — though we’d hardly call that a feature. It’s available starting today in white with silver trim or black with red trim for $99 on a two-year contract.

Wild colors are something we’re used to seeing on the Pearl range, but the Curve? The red one seemed to work out alright, so bring it on, RIM. The WiFi and HotSpot @Home-equipped Curve 8320 has now made its grand entrance on T-Mobile in “Sunset,” a color we’d suspected would probably happen once stores started… you know, getting them. Always seems to be a good indicator. Look for it starting today for $149.99 on the standard two-year deal.

T-Mobiles no stranger to Nokia XpressMusic series of funky little music phones, and the tradition continues today with the introduction of the 5310. This colorful candybar has some pretty solid street cred as a viable music player, too, with a microSD slot, svelte 9.9mm body and — most importantly — a real 3.5mm jack for the headphones of your choosing. You’ve also got a 2 megapixel camera and a QVGA display to play with, both of which’ll surely come in handy for entertainment while you’re waiting for data to pull down over the EDGE radio (sorry, T-Mobile, we couldn’t help ourselves). It’ll run $49.99 on contract starting May 28 in black with your choice of purple, orange, or red accents.

The next episode of the ubiquitous Pearl is now available in T-Mobile stores across the land, bringing the spec sheet in line with the features Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T customers have been enjoying for a little while now — a 2 megapixel camera, external microSD slot, and 3.5mm headphone jack, just to name a few. Unlike the 8130 for CDMA networks, the 8120 that T-Mobile and AT&T share adds a 802.11b/g radio, but the T-Mobile version packs yet a couple more tricks up its sleeve — you know, the ones you’d probably expect of any modern T-Mobile phone with WiFi, namely support for myFaves and (more…)

Right on time, T-Mobile has added another piece to the smartphone side of the HotSpot@Home puzzle with the 8820, featuring both WiFi and GPS in a single package — a somewhat rare combo from our friends at RIM, and a new, fresh answer to the 8800 and 8830 variants found on every other national carrier in the US (and, in the case of the 8800, on T-Mobile itself). The lack of a camera will be a detraction for some, but a boon for others given the device’s all-business roots — and naturally, no one’s going to complain about the microSD expansion, myFaves support, or the ability to hop on 802.11g networks for a little VoIP action, T-Mobile style. (more…)

Stay calm, nothing to get too excited about, but Nokia appears to be prepping yet another low-end flip for T-Mobile (we’d have preferred some S60-based superphone here — but then again, we imagine they’d have kept the lid a little tighter on the FCC documents if that’s what was going on). The 2760 is a phone Nokia pushes as an “emerging markets” device — yeah, it’s really low-end — and might be ripe to replace the 6103, rocking a tiny external display, Bluetooth, and VGA camera all wrapped up in a rather plasticky looking shell.

Perhaps demonstrating how wide the rift between T-Mobile Europe and T-Mobile USA really is, Germany’s Rheinische Post is reporting that Deutsche Telekom will announce tomorrow that its carrier unit will exclusively offer the iPhone in Germany. Details on the partnership are slim at best, but the two most important nuggets of information seem to be known: November 1 for €450 (about $612), which we assume is for the 8GB unit. Of course, the next biggest question is whether this’ll be an EDGE or 3G unit — and if it’s 3G, can we please get an HSDPA Enabler for $1.99? No?

GSM / WiFi handoff is a brilliant idea in theory — but to be usable, it’s gotta be seamless, unnoticeable, and virtually effortless for the user. So far, the national carriers have failed to deliver any solution — let alone a usable one — so how does T-Mobile stack up? The Phone Fairy recently dropped off a Nokia 6086 and Linksys WRT56G-TM router to have a go with T-Mobile’s just-announced HotSpot @Home service, and our initial impressions are fairly positive. In brief: setup was a snap, the phone’s basic but well-designed, GSM / WiFi handoffs were hit or miss, and for ten bones a month, it seems like a square deal. Read on for more, and don’t forget to peep the gallery!

For some odd reason — and a most fortuitous one for us — the rebate team never seems to quite get in sync with the launch team for a good percentage of handset launches, giving us tantalizing glimpses at the future of cellphones now and then, or at least a model name to go on. This time we’ve got all we could ask for out of this common snafu, since friendly tipster AJ managed to track down a rebate form for the much-rumored Sidekick ID on T-Mobile’s site that not only promises a handy $50 to whoever can navigate its tricksy questions, but also gives us a likely sounding April 18 launch date to mull over, along with our first full-on “press shots” of the phone. The cute, pared down exterior is further complemented by a selection of primary colors, as seen above, making this a likely pick for the budget-minded “I don’t need no stinkin’ EDGE data” fashionphone set. In fact, with prices like these ($99.99 after a $50 rebate), why not just buy ‘em all to mix and match with your outfits? You know you want to.

If you’re an avid T-Mobile USA data user (handset-based, that is), you may be aware that the GSM carrier has started to become very stingy in the last year or so on which pieces of software can have full access to the Internet (factory apps and browsers on branded handsets) and which cannot (all others). There have been quite a few knowledgeable T-Mobile users paying for the carriers’ “t-zones” or “T-MobileWeb” handset browser service but then using third-party apps like Opera Mini, Google Maps and others to get ‘full access’ to the web and download larger and larger amounts of data.

Even though Cingular has already brought us the Blackberry 7130c, we’ve still been itching to get our hands on the other versions, including the slick new 7130v, ever since we caught the FCC pictures of them a few weeks ago. Thankfully, it looks our wait might finally be coming to an end. The same forum that has been surprisingly accurate when it comes to blowing up RIM’s spot in the past is reporting that the “enterprise friendly” devices will be hitting the UK on T-Mobile and Vodaphone in July, with the T-Mobile US version hitting around the same time. We think waiting another month for our fix of EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and the ever-addictive SureType is far too long. Our Treo, on the other hand, is keeping its fingers crossed for an indefinite delay.