It ain't a magic bullet, but it looks like the RAZR 2 could end up being a big part of Motorola's turnaround after all -- a turnaround ironically necessary thanks to the company's over-reliance on the first gen RAZR. Though Motorola still ended up posting third quarter losses totaling $138 million in its mobile device division (compared to earnings of $843 million just one year prior), fourth quarter projections beat analysts' estimates, sending stock prices skyward in the process. A couple interesting bits from the report: the company's enterprise mobility group (think Q and the like) saw sales rise some 47 percent from a year ago, and remember that RAZR 2 we mentioned? Yeah, turns out Moto's nearing the magic one million mark already, with over 900,000 units having been sold. 'Course, it certainly doesn't hurt that all four national US carriers and several regionals have picked it up.

Those new handsets rolling out of KDDI's labs already have plenty of ways to get music bought and stored, but they're about to get one more thanks to an agreement with Sony. The basic idea is that KDDI phones and Sony portable and home systems with digital music capability will be able to exchange music, and while handset-to-PMP interchange doesn't seem particularly useful, we can definitely get behind an initiative to let users immediately move tracks purchased on their phones to their Sony mini systems when they get home. There isn't any detail here on just how the DRM is all going to play out, but with Sony taking a step back from the online music store biz as of late, it's entirely possible that the purchases will come exclusively from KDDI's end. Look for free software upgrades to enable the action starting this December.

[Via mocoNews]

According to a Boy Genius Report that shows an alleged leaked advertisement, Rogers could be launching the iPhone on its network on December 7th. You're gonna need to take this with a big grain of salt though: the depicted iPhone doesn't show the Rogers logo on the actual iPhone, a red bow effect awkwardly cuts through text on the iPhone, and some comments point out that the Rogers logo is drawn incorrectly. We're leaning towards Photoshop job at this point -- what happened to the trademark dispute? -- but if it's true, Canadians could be looking at paying $499.99 of their dollars plus signing up to a three year contract in order to pick up their own iPhone. Is the border really that far?

[Thanks, Rich]

History buffs and cellphone aficionados, take note: a couple of wireless picturephone prototypes (circa 1993) have recently been acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and should soon be available for all to gawk at. Reportedly, the institution joined with Daniel A. Henderson to get ahold of the two devices and related documentation, which were built to take advantage of a picture / video receiving technology known as Intellect. Notably, this ain't Mr. Henderson's first time donating wares with varying levels of historical significance, as he's also responsible for the Casio Z7000 and Atari Portfolio that are on display. Interested in checkin' the duo out for yourself? Go on and circle summer 2008 on your calender.

It's that time of year again -- that magical time when Japanese carriers pull out all the stops and deliver a mind-numbing swath of new models at once. KDDI au's rocking seven all-new models for its fall / winter '07 collection, perhaps most notably the Infobar 2 candybar that bubbled out of its ongoing concept design program. All told, we have entries from six manufacturers here spanning the candybar, slider, and clamshell (naturally) form factors, so it pretty much goes without saying that KDDI customers should have no trouble finding the phone of their dreams in this motherlode. Forge on for a closer look at each of the new models.

It seems the wireless industry is at a bit of a crossroads here where cellphone users are starting to retire and their needs are changing drastically. They may not need nearly as many minutes as they did in the workforce -- but as pretty much anyone who has ever touched a cellphone can testify, it's virtually impossible to give up the habit once you've started, particularly now that some folks are phasing out their landlines. Japanese carriers have been catering to this unique segment of the market for a while now and their US counterparts are starting to get into the swing of things with devices like Verizon's Wireless Coupe. AT&T really doesn't have any phones that it's specifically marketing to seniors just yet, but it's moving in that direction with the introduction of its "Senior Nation 200" plan offering 200 anytime minutes, 500 night / weekend minutes, and unlimited mobile-to-mobile for 30 bones a month. Sounds like a good deal for anyone that needs a light plan, but young'uns need not apply; AT&T is actually verifying that you've hit the 65 mark at the cash register.

Okay, so, iPhone nano -- what do you picture? An identical clone of the original scaled down by a third? Yeah, us neither, which is why we're calling out this alleged iPhone nano spy shot as a fraud. We're not disputing that it's real -- in fact, we'd be surprised if it was a Photoshop job, considering how skilled the knockoff manufacturers have become at producing iPhone clones -- we just refuse to believe at this point that Apple would inject zero innovation into the design of the iPhone's baby sib. For what it's worth, though, gadgetzone.nl says that its source absolutely insists that the shots are real and came from within Apple, which of course explains the Brand X monitor and PC keyboard in the background. We'll believe it when Steve shows it, guys.

[Via Unwired View]

Update: It's a media player. Rock on. Thanks, Deniz.

Coincidence or not, Apple has stiffened up the requirements to pick up a new iPhone shortly after announcing that 250,000 or so of the 1.4 million it sold in Q4 went to unlockers. In an admittedly intriguing move, Apple has decided that it will "no longer accept cash for iPhone purchases," and moreover, each individual will only be allowed to buy two (on plastic, of course) in an effort to "stop people from reselling them." More specifically, spokeswoman Natalie Kerris stated that the company is "requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers," so don't even bother bringing the greenbacks if you're lookin' to grab an iPhone from Apple.

[Image courtesy of PCWorld]

We here at Engadget Mobile tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there, we've gathered up all the raw info you may want (but probably don't need). Enjoy!

Phones
Read - Samsung SGH-T819
Read - Samsung SGH-P180
Read - Samsung SCH-W390
Read - Samsung SPH-i325
Read - LG MS25
Read - LG KM500D

Peripherals
Read - Huawei E220
Read - Huawei E270

An under-the-radar class action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel is winding its way towards a settlement this week, and it contains a pretty huge concession by Sprint: the company will unlock phones for both current and former customers, and will begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network. The settlement was tentatively approved by a California judge on October 2, but hasn't had a final approval hearing yet, according to Sprint -- but it's still a huge win for US consumers, who haven't been able to buy mainstream unlocked phones from any of the major carriers. Of course, since Sprint's network is CDMA, unlocked phones will only work on other CDMA carriers like Verizon -- and there's no guarantees those companies will be happy about it -- but at this point we'll take whatever we can get.

It's not available for a few months yet, but far be it from that little snag to stop a few enterprising individuals to get their paws on a MOTOROKR E8 early (and, of course, being close to the country of manufacture probably helps). The lack of 3G is a real dream killer for us, but that wild keypad still looks like it could be a winner. Enough tactile feedback? Only time'll tell.

[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]