Believe it not, the smartphone that looks the most like a MacBook isn’t from Apple. The HTC Legend($TBA) is a new Android 2.1 handset featuring an Apple-like unibody aluminum design, as well as a 3.2-inch AMOLED screen — not as roomy or sharp as the one found on the company’s Google-branded Nexus One, but no slouch, either — a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, a 600 MHz processor, and the requisite Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Today at Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona, Microsoft launched the Windows Phone 7 Series OS that looks to ditch all the work of versions past. Starting from scratch is no easy task but they have manager to Windows Mobile and brought a product that the masses may actually want to use (including us). Don’t look for the Start button because there isn’t one. Instead, the design is more like that of the Zune HD interface, but with much more depth. Along with the newly crafted home screen and user interface experience, there’s also robust Xbox LIVE and Zune integration, and freshly improved social networking tools.

More photos and information after the jump

Much of the focus is on social networking, but Xbox LIVE is looking to be a legit addition — LIVE games, avatars, and profiles. The Zune integration looks to be a carbon copy of the standalone device’s features (including FM radio).

Expect the 7 Series army to be a large one with carrier partnerships including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and  hardware partners including Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm.

Vertu’s V Collection Bluetooth Headset is the epitome of excess. The headset resides inside a black resin and premium grade stainless steel pen case. As for the headset itself, it features an articulating earpiece element and an ear loop constructed out of titanium memory-metal.

Credit: acquiremag.com

The BlackBerry Pearl 8100 was, and still is, a lovely little phone, QWERTYfied, pocketable, and rocking that little milky trackball that gave it its name. There’s finally a true successor coming down the pipeline (the flippy 8230 not really counting) though it ditches the iconic pearl for a now-standard (and hopefully more reliable) touchpad. There’s a similarly swoopy SureType keyboard and the overall dimensions look very much the same, meaning this should fill the tiny BlackBerry void once again — whenever it ships.

Credit: engaget.com

Sure, the design of the BeoCom 2 is polarizing, but you can’t help but be intrigued by its unconventional shape. For the holiday season, Bang & Olufsen is updating the phones in a number of colorways in which a unique process was devised that uses a strong lacquer that is used on cars to avoid scratches during the finishing phase of the automobile.

Credit: acquiremag.com

Not about to be outdone by baseball, pro basketball is getting in on live streaming to mobile phones.
The National Basketball Association will announce its first set of applications that let fans watch games live on a mobile device Thursday. NBA League Pass Mobile will be available for download for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android phones starting Friday, the third day of the league’s regular season. BlackBerry users will have to wait a bit longer, the league saying that application will arrive “by the end of the year.”

Credit: news.cnet.com

The NBA follows Major League Baseball, which introduced its iPhone- and iPod Touch-compatible live streaming application in July, and a beta version of an Android app Wednesday.
The NBA’s application will cost $39.99 and let users watch up to 40 live games per week via their smartphone, though local TV blackout rules will still apply. The app also has an option to watch some games on demand for up to two days later and comes with game alerts and live stats.
Currently there is not added benefit if customers are already subcribers to the NBA’s League Pass TV package. But bundling the two is something the league is looking at for the future, said Bryan Perez, senior vice president and general manager of NBA Digital.
Besides the live streaming app, the NBA already has its Game Time and Game Time Lite apps on Apple’s App Store, the Android Market, and BlackBerry App World. The Lite version is free and comes with scores, stats, standings, and team schedules. The $9.99 Game Time includes some on-demand video, game highlights, live game alerts, stats, and access to an NBA Twitter feed.
Perez said the league has made an aggressive push into mobile this year, mostly because it knows who its fans are.
“We have one of the younger demographics of the major sports leagues,” he said. “As we look to the future of our fan base, they’re consuming content in a much different way, and in many ways the mobile phone is the connection to the world for the youth market. If we want to cultivate fans and be innovative, we need to follow our fans where they’re going.”

Here it is Storm2 chasers… the press release we have all been waiting for! And it looks like you won’t have to wait long now to pick up a BlackBerry Storm2, with availability scheduled for October 28th – this Wednesday. As previously posted, Verizon Blackberry Storm2 pricing comes in at $179 on a 2yr contract after a mail-in rebate, but there’s no mention of a BOGO promotion or upgrade incentive for Storm1 users… at least in the press release (if any of these promotions do exist, could be they’ll roll into action in the near future). If you haven’t done it yet, be sure to check out our BlackBerry Storm2 Review. Press release below.

As for why the Verizon press release was delayed beyond RIM/Vodafone’s announcement of the BlackBerry Storm2, no official reason was stated, but judging by the looks of the press release the official argument might be that they were waiting for the release of OS 5.0 for the Storm 9530, so original Storm owners were taken care of prior to the Storm2’s launch.

Credit: crackberry.com