But Mike notes that AT&T is already OK with setting up Windows and Blackberry phones with data only plans (but not iPhones) and that a data/VoIP-only phone is what Google proposed to the FCC when bidding on wireless spectrum back in the day.

The initial post that there would be a Google phone — an in-house, top-to-bottom Google developed handset running android — was met with scepticism by the press. Most people quoted previous statements from Google’s Andy Rubin stating that they would not “compete with their own customers” by releasing a handset of their own. That mimes Microsoft’s strategy with PCs and Phones, versus their in-house designed Xbox and Zune hardware.

But there is a difference here, despite the quote from Rubin: Google does not charge for Android, so are these people customers or beneficiaries of the only real modern mobile operating system that they can licence. And Free. I mean, WinMo is currently terrible and costs money and Symbian is a joke. Blackberry isn’t up for grabs. And does Google care if they lose a few points of market share? I don’t think so.

This isn’t even close to their core business, except that whenever someone gets on the internet, Google stands to make money. In this case, Google wins not by licensing more OSes to be used on phones, but in the very act of getting more phones in the world, no matter what the OS or platform. Now that’s scary power. [Techcrunch]

The new name is not as tech-heavy of geektastic as Droid, but we can see the point. From here on out, things are going to be different (hopes Verizon/Motorola).

The image comes from the O2 web site, where the Droid is masquerading about as the Milestone for a presumably contract-free price of about $US595. Launch day is November 9, a mere three days after we Yanks get the coveted handset here in the States. No word on whether or not O2 scored an exclusive here or what, as there’s no mention of the phone popping up on other carriers’ web sites. [Slashgear]

Satio is the first Sony Ericsson handset to be based on the open platform Symbian Foundation operating system, so users can download and install new applications and content straight to their mobile handset. Looks like Sony Ericsson has cottoned on to this whole “app” concept.

What’s it got? A 12.1MP camera, touch features, Xenon flash, 3.5-inch 16:9 screen, ninth High Definition (nHD) gaming, and “mobile High Definition TV experience”. Huh?

It lands early November with an RRP of $1199.

The device, manufactured by Belkin, features your regular modem/router bits, including support for 802.11n, 4 ethernet ports on the back and a couple of USB charging ports. It’s a pretty stylish piece of kit, with lots of fingerprint friendly black glass. But the big selling point is the inclusion of a phone handset for VoIP calls.

You can get up to five additional DECT handsets, and BoB can support up to three separate phone lines as well, making it a great option for small businesses.

The base unit will set you back $369 outright including a single handset, or you can get it for 269 if you sign up for one of iiNet’s 24-month BoB contracts. Additional handsets cost $69 each, although if you happen to have a compatible DECT phone already, you should be able to pair it with BoB.

BoB (which apparently stands for “Broadband in a Box”, although it’s one of the weakest acronyms I’ve ever seen), is also OS agnostic, working with Mac, Linux and Windows flavours of software. It sounds like a pretty complete solution, so long as you’re with iiNet, that is.

[iiNet via Lifehacker]

These things are kind of all starting to look the same, but it’s running the Snapdragon platform, meaning it could be 1GHz, and is rumoured to have an 8MP imaging sensor. Let’s hope they’ve got the image processing sorted out, though.

[Mobil via Engadget]

But then you hit the software. And even though HTC’s TouchFlo interface covers some of Windows Mobile 6.1, it’s still there. The phone still has a stylus. It’s still a resistive touchscreen, so even though TouchFlo’s bigger buttons make using your finger easier, it’s still way too easy for the button to not respond or for you to press the wrong button with your finger.

Apparently people who buy the Diamond2 and Pro2 handsets will get a free upgrade to the more finger-friendly Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, but there’s still a chance that the telcos will block that, which would be an absolute disaster on their part.

Of course, I’ve only been playing with the phone for about an hour, so there is the slight possibility that I’ll grow to love it, but at the moment I’m finding myself frustrated at every turn…

According to PC World, FCC Chairman Michael Copps hinted that if they do discover unfavorable effects as a result of exclusive handset deals, they won’t be opposed to regulation. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar also rambled on, saying something about how if Microsoft and IBM had exclusive deals Google would have never existed. Um, what?

But there’s a twist! AT&T’s Paul Roth fired back at this line of thinking, mentioning that exclusive deals prevent the mobile handset world from completely devolving into a lowest common denominator mentality when it comes to new tech. Both sides have valid points, I suppose. So let the battle begin. [PC World]

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 spyshots we saw earlier this month got a little more meaty today as someone has allegedly leaked the mobile’s official specifications.

The specs present a slight increase over the pricey Xperia X1. Here they are from the mobile-review forums:

* 8.1mpx auto focus, VGA @ 30fps (MP4 HQ)
* 3.5 inch WVGA OLED (increased from 3.0 from X1)
* GPS, aGPS
* 3.5 mm headphone jack
* Accelerometer
* Faster processor
* 512 RAM
* Custom Windows Mobile 6.5
* XPERIA Panels are modified with plenty of innovative features (PS3 functionality)
* Upgrading to Windows Mobile 7 is supported by Xperia panels

Forums being what they are, this far from official. But, like I said, if they pan out then this is a bit of a boost from what users experienced with the X1. Hopefully this time around they won’t experience the associated price tag too. [mobile-review via BGR]

We got a quick, blurry look at LG’s upcoming enV Touch (aka Voyager 2) in April, and now we have the specs for this ho-hum handset:

- dual WVGA touchscreen displays
– full-QWERTY keypad
– stereo speakers
– Bluetooth
– microSDHC support
– 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, flash and Schneider-Kreuznach lens

Don’t get excited about release dates, because there aren’t any in the stack of user manual images whence these vanilla specs came. [Phonearena BGR]