If a finance industry report is to be believed, Google is planning to launch its own Android-based handset. An analyst claims the firm will sell the unlocked handsets directly through stores rather than via the traditional network subsidy route.

With Windows Mobile 6.5 launching today, manufacturers are unveiling their first handsets designed specially for the system. In the U.S. that includes three HTC models plus a new Samsung device.

Windows Mobile 6.5 won’t be Microsoft’s flagship mobile system for long, but it will be debuting with a bang. The firm says at least 30 devices, from 15 manufacturers, will be running the system before the end of this year.

A list of cellphone radiation emission rates shows there is a wide gulf between the best and worst performing handsets. However, there’s very little difference between the levels of the 10 worst handsets.

Whereas most electronic devices get nothing more than a model number, mobile phone producers like to create a memorable brand name which conveys the handset’s image. Here are some of the best examples of how they did it… and the times they failed.

T-Mobile has officially launched the HTC Touch Pro 2 in the United States … we hope you’re sitting down when you see the price.

Verizon has cut the price of all but two of the smartphones on its network to $99. It appears to be a combination of responding to recent iPhone price cuts and clearing the way for some major new models.

T-Mobile has officially confirmed it will carry a second Android-based handset in the US, the HTC-produced myTouch 3G. But the carrier says it has no plans to carry HTC’s Hero handset.

It’s getting cheaper and cheaper to get a phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard, and the new HTC Ozone from Verizon is making sure it stays that way.

The new phone from HTC, the Hero, is not only bringing with a customized version but Android, but it’s doing something the iPhone just can’t seem to do: using Flash integration.