Details are scarce right now, but you can make of it what you will. Sprint hasn't been in the best of situations since it acquired Nextel in 2005, and while this move may not be seen by everyone as definitively negative, it certainly is worth noting. The flagging carrier sold off "nearly all" (around 3,300) of its wireless communication towers to TowerCo for some $670 million in cash. According to Sprint Nextel's Bob Azzi, the move to lease rather than own these network facilities will enable it to "better focus on its core business of providing communications services to consumers, businesses and government customers." He continued by noting that the transaction "provides Sprint Nextel with additional liquidity [for] greater flexibility in managing the company." Whatever you say, sir.

[Via InformationWeek]

We know, we know -- this one's going to be a doozie, but it's something that just has to be done. For folks out there too far from the reaches of GSM or simply unwilling to cough up the requisite dough to pay for AT&T's comparatively pricey plans, we figure Kevin's question will hit very close to home:

"What is the best alternative for the iPhone / iPhone 3G? I am looking for a touchscreen phone that has most of what the iPhone can provide, such as media and decent web browsing. I am also looking for a device with a lower cost (with or without a new plan). Could you please help point me in the right direction?"

Feel free to dish our your best options for GSM and CDMA, particularly if you've wondered this yourself and found your answer. Keep it civilized down there, alright? Got a question you'd like to pose to Engadget's fine, fine readers? Shoot it over to ask at engadget dawt com and hope for the best.

Baby steps. When it comes to Palm's mainstream businessphone line, that seems to be the name of the game, and the new Treo 800w is certainly no exception to the rule. So is it new enough, advanced enough, and badass enough to do the duty while still being sufficiently incremental to satisfy even the most easily-agitated suit? Engadget Mobile reveals all in the full review, so click on!

Conspiracy theories tend to run rampant when a phone (or any object of desire, for that matter) that's produced in absolutely enormous quantities dries up in retail locations. Are they really sold out? Is the retailer trying to work prospective buyers into a frenzied lather? Is the CEO sleeping on a bed fashioned of gilded iPhone 3Gs? The answer to that last question is very likely "yes" either way, but for their part, AT&T and O2 have both come out to promise customers that they're putting handsets out in retail just as quickly as they possibly can, with AT&T additionally noting that it's shipping out direct fulfillment orders on a "first-come, first-serve basis" with lead times currently running around two weeks -- in other words, "ship us some more frickin' phones, Apple." Seriously though, how's Apple going to come even close to keeping up with the next round of national launches when they're so woefully behind on the existing ones? And more importantly, if these execs would just sleep on queen-sized iPhone beds instead of king-sized ones, just imagine how many more happy customers we'd have out there?

Read - O2
Read - AT&T

We've already seen the iPhone 3G got unlocked to function on any carrier (and you can already buy unlocked versions in several countries), but we haven't seen a locked handset get unlocked via software only, and the folks at gsmphone-unlocking have the first video we've seen of Steve's newest baby doing the SIM swap dance without any adapters. Yep, there it is, going from Rogers to Fido. Sadly, the video is more of a shameless ploy for publicity than actually useful information, and until we're told otherwise, we're just going to assume that they've just gotten hold of an early copy of the Dev Team's unlocking tool -- which should be free to the public sometime soon. So, you know: video after the break, but feel free to ignore the obnoxious phone numbers and URLs.

Sure, it was already possible (if complicated) to jailbreak a first-gen iPhone running the 2.0 software under Windows, but this is the one-click tool all you crazy cats with those extra G's need if you don't have a Mac -- too bad no one's come up with a better name than "pwn" yet. Please, people. Let's do better.

PS.- As usual, you run the risk of totally destroying your phone mucking around with this stuff, so don't say we didn't warn you.

Update: winpwn.com is down already, mirrors in the comments!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

One of the longest-running -- and certainly most fascinating -- soap operas in the entire wireless world, the seemingly endless patent drama between Nokia and Qualcomm, has finally drawn to an amicable (dare we say anti-climactic) close. After just a single day of arbitration, the two firms have basically agreed to a patent swap, allowing Nokia to use all of Qualcomm's patents and vice versa. Furthermore, Nokia is just stone-cold handing over a bunch of patents it holds related to GSM, WCDMA, and OFDMA, which presumably means companies that are currently licensing those patents can get ready to start writing those checks to Qualcomm. What's more, Espoo's dropping its anti-competition claims against Qualcomm in Europe -- but beyond that, specific terms (read: cash money) weren't disclosed beyond the typical PR pleasantries that both sides are happy with the outcome. If this means we finally have to retire our Nokia-Qualcomm starburst graphic, we're going to pout like little children, so we can only hope these two lovebirds find something else to squabble over in the not-too-distant future.

The Bold is still stealing the overwhelming majority of RIM's spotlight at the moment for a handful of pretty good reasons: one, it's actually been announced; two, it's 3G; and three, it falls in line with the traditional (and loved) BlackBerry form factor. Lurking in the shadows, though, is the KickStart, RIM's very first flip phone, and a device that could end up making a huge splash if it actually manages to launch at the sub-$50 price point that's been making the rounds on the rumor circuit. CrackBerry got a way-early peek at the 8220 version of the device, which follows RIM's typical naming convention by packing WiFi while an 8210 will hold up the GPS side of things (seriously, RIM, how hard can it be to do both?), and overall it seems that the R&D team did its homework from the quick impressions. The SureType keyboard is huge and apparently quite easy to use without making the phone excessively large, though the trackball rests deeper in the shell making it a bit trickier to operate -- you win some, you lose some. The QVGA display is said to be just shy of Bold quality (which is a compliment, considering the killer screen on the Bold), and it's always hard to argue with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Come on, T-Mobile, let's make this happen.

We know you're not really down with digesting any more catchphrases, but the technology formerly known as Ultra Low Power Bluetooth / Wibree is now being dubbed Bluetooth low energy. Now that we're clear on nomenclature, you may be thrilled to know that CSR showcased its recently unveiled BlueCore7 dual mode (Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth v2.1) chip at a Bluetooth SIG Medical Working Group meeting. According to onlookers, the handset was able to transfer data to another nearby mobile using just 3 frequencies rather than 32, resulting in an unquantifiable decrease in power consumption. Sounds like a winner on the surface, but we have this weird feeling that mass adoption of this tech is like, years away.

Sure, Apple alleges to have flipped over a million iPhone 3Gs at this point, but what does that mean? The devil's in the details, as always; yes, true, the first one took 74 days to reach that same milestone, but it was available in less than one-twentieth the number of countries and an even smaller fraction of carriers. Hell, the very definition of "sale" is under scrutiny here, with some suggesting that Apple's making reference to the number of phones it's sold to its carrier partners, not end users -- a metric that would make sense from Cupertino's perspective since Apple's payday technically ends there. We have some metrics on hand here that paint an interesting picture of the iPhone 3G launch that might be a little different than what you expect; head on over to Engadget Mobile for the scoop.

The tried-and-true Hamburger phone is still our fav (what, there a problem with that?), but Marc Schömann's baton-styled concept phone is very worthy of a look. Laden with LEDs and ready to be turned, users can dial up friends and family in painstakingly long procedures that involve all sorts of inefficient rotating maneuvers. Still, we can't help but adore the hat tip to yesteryear's rotary phones, though we have no doubts that this will never, ever see a retail shelf. Please, someone, prove us wrong.

[Via PhoneMag]

Happy 3rd birthday mister Walkman phone. To celebrate, Sony Ericsson is getting official with its W902 "Patti" (pictured), W595 slider, and W302 candybar Walkman handsets. We knew the celebration was coming with the exception of Patti making a last minute substitution for Alicia. SE's quad-band GSM/EDGE W902 is the all-singing, all-media workhorse with UMTS/HSDPA 2100 data, 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of M2 memory, and 2.2-inch, 240 x 320 pixel display. It comes bundled with a pair of premium HPM-77 headphones and the promise of a clear audio, bass-thumpin' experience similar to that offered by SE's W980. The W595 shares the same radios but packs in stereo speakers, 2GB of M2 memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera, motion sensing Shake control, and a stereo Share jack to split the music with a friend. The quad-band GSM/EDGE W302 neglects 3G entirely in favor of a low price tag and dreams of mass adoption. As such, it offers a number of middling specs like a 2 megapixel camera, 512MB of M2 memory, FM radio, and stereo Bluetooth. All three Walkmans will hit select markets in Q4.

A heaping handful of fresh alleged screen shots of S60 Touch's user interface are floating around, apparently yoinked off the platform's PC-based theme editor -- not as cool as if they'd been lifted from a Tube, granted, but still good enough to give us some clutch insight into where Nokia's taking this thing. As revolutionary as the move to touch control might be for S60 as a platform, the UI looks shockingly evolutionary so far; in fact, to the untrained eye, there are portions that are virtually indistinguishable from S60 revs of yore. That's good news (we suppose) for S60 diehards who aren't interested in learning a new paradigm -- and we're all for the VGA support here -- but it's bad news for anyone who was planning on having their noodles positively baked by Espoo's engineering manpower and massive R&D budget. Let's all just hold off on the negativity until Nokia gives us something official to ogle; for the time being, though, our boring UI-dar is definitely on high alert.

[Via Symbian Freak, thanks Misha]

Call it a hunch, but you shouldn't have to wait too awfully long (like, hours / days / weeks) to secure Nokia's North American E71 today. Said handset is now available at the company's flagship store in Chicago, complete with a QWERTY keyboard and US-friendly 3G. Eager to grab one? Total cost will be $483 (plus tax) in addition to a roundtrip ticket to Chi-town, considering the store won't ship to out-of-towners (or so we hear).

[Via IntoMobile]