Hasta La Gadget!

Tonight was the coming-out party for the best cameraphone in the US, T-Mobile’s upcoming 8-megapixel Samsung Memoir. I got some time to play with it and compare its photos to a dedicated digital camera, and I really like what I saw.

As we reported earlier, the Memoir is a non-smartphone with a touch-screen interface, 3G Web browsing speeds, and a super-duper camera. During my hands-on time, I focused on checking out the camera.

According to Samsung’s Kim Titus, the Memoir is one of Samsung’s first phones to use the interface from Samsung’s dedicated digital cameras. Kick it into camera mode and turn it sideways, and it feels a lot like a digital camera.

I took a bunch of photos with the Memoir and compared them to shots taken with the Canon PowerShot SD870IS, an 8-megapixel dedicated still camera with excellent image quality. With outdoor shots, you have to zoom in to the pixel level to see any real difference between the two cameras, which is truly impressive. At that level, you see that the Memoir’s shots are ever so slightly brighter and less defined than the Canon’s – but it’s a tough call for an unpracticed eye.

Sprint has added a dedicated Pam Pre page to its Web site, outlining in decent detail the nitty-gritty functions of the upcoming Palm Pre. (A Palm Pre preview is here.)

The new bit? Tethering, which means that a Sprint user will be able to connect the phone to a PC to use as a modem. Palm also somewhat clarified its plan to get Outlook onto the phone via Direct Push technology, which requires Exchange Server 2003 with SP2 or Windows Exchange Server 2007 ; there’s also POP3/IMAP support for Gmail and other services.

Unfortunately, Sprint hasn’t listed a price for the Pre yet. But they have said that service plans will be similar to those for the Samsung Instinct: a $69.99-per-month plan with 450 minutes and unlimited data, an $89.99-per-month plan with 900 minutes and unlimited data, and a $99.99-per-month plan with unlimited voice and data.

Sony Ericsson has announced two new handsets for its CyberShot and Walkman lines, both of which feature quad-band GSM/EDGE radios, FM tuners with RDS, and stereo Bluetooth for listening to music wirelessly on the go, according to Phone Scoop. The 5-megapixel C903a Cybershot model includes a number of features that are usually the domain of dedicated digital cameras, including Face Detection, Smile Shutter, and image stabilization. It also includes a tri-band UMTS/HSDPA (850/1900/2100) data radio, an a-GPS chip, and a 2.4-inch LCD; look for this one sometime before June.

The other new model is the W395, a Walkman phone with dedicated music controls, “high-quality stereo speakers” (we’ll see about that), and an accelerometer for motion gaming, according to the report. The W395 also includes a 2-megapixel camera and comes with a 1GB microSD card in the box for storing or transferring photos and music. This one should show up by the end of March; stay tuned.

Garmin has announced the Windows-Mobile-powered nuvifone M20, the second handset in the nuvifone series after the G60, in a preview ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. The nuvifone M20 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and sports a 2.8-inch touchscreen full VGA (640-by-480-pixel) LCD, 4GB or 8GB of storage, and an HSDPA 7.2 3G data radio.

In addition, the handset features the same level of satellite navigation as Garmin’s standalone units, according to the company. It comes preloaded with maps and points of interest for North America as well as Eastern and Western Europe. It also features Connected Services, a suite of online applications and data from Garmin-Asus that adds location intelligence to navigation, phone and browser functions, for real-time traffic information, White Pages, weather, flight status, local events, and movie times.

Finally, the nuvifone M20 works with Ciao, a location-based social networking service that keeps owners in touch with their friends and family. No word yet on pricing or availability; expect an announcement from Garmin sometime in the first half of this year on that front.

Beginning today, February 11th, Research In Motion’s next-generation BlackBerry Curve 8900 from T-Mobile is now available for $199.99 with a two-year contract and data plan after mail-in rebate, the carrier said in a statement.

The 8900 is a significant upgrade from the previous model on T-Mobile, the 8320. While the 8900 still lacks a built-in 3G cellular radio—a flaw that will become more and more important as T-Mobile finally rolls out its 3G data network in more cities—the handset gets just about everything else right.

The handset includes a GPS radio, UMA Wi-Fi calling for T-Mobile’s Unlimited Hotspot service, a 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, and a beautiful, high-resolution LCD screen. There’s also a faster 512 MHz processor inside (compared with 312 MHz for all the old Curves and Pearls) to handle the increased resolution and other new features.