RIM has finally confirmed pricing and availability for the BlackBerry PlayBook, which is set to go on sale in the US and Canada on April 19. Three versions of the 7-inch PlayBook tablet will be available - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB - with prices starting from $499.
Samsung is having a big event tomorrow at CTIA and many are presuming that the company will unveil its new Galaxy Tab 8.9. These pictures confirm this as presentation panels were snapped earlier today by PocketNow. The new tablet looks to be running Honeycomb with Samsung’s own UX on top of it.
Since Sprint and Kyocera jointly announced the Echo Android-based device last month, we've had a hands-on look at it, and confirmed its arrival for April 17th at a price of $199. The Echo is the first smartphone to feature dual touchscreen displays in an attempt to be a tablet-smartphone hybrid. Kyocera today launched an Android developer program to entice developers to optimize apps for this unique display layout.
SlashGear has arrived at CTIA Wireless 2011, the yearly expo of what's going to be hot in the North American mobile arena, and there's already a mass of new devices we're eagerly looking forward to. Sprint and AT&T jumped the gun this morning, with the Nexus S 4G and news of the upcoming LG Thrill 4G and HTC HD7S, but they're just the tip of the cellular iceberg.
Sprint has demanded US regulators look closely at the proposed AT&T takeover of T-Mobile USA, warning that the deal would "alter dramatically the structure of the communications industry" and lead to a negative impact on "innovation and robust competition." If approved, Sprint says, the combined carrier would be three times its own size, and have hitherto unseen control over backhaul and other access systems. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has pulled out from an upcoming CTIA 2011 panel, pushing out a FAQ in which it attempts to placate customers confused by the acquisition news.
More details after the cut
Hardware specs on two of HTC's other devices for CTIA 2011 have emerged, with the guts of the HTC EVO 3D and HTC EVO View 4G both apparently leaked. According to BGR, Sprint will be officially announcing the EVO 3D with a 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 autostereoscopic 3D display, a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 8660 processor, twin 5-megapixel cameras on the back for shooting 3D photos and video, and an HDMI port for outputting 1080p HD regular video and 720p HD 3D video.
![New Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 teaser confirms rear camera [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/samsung_galaxy_tab_8-9_teaser_1.jpg)
The fast-approaching Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 has made a fleeting appearance in a new teaser video from the company. Promised for later this month at CTIA 2011, there are no specs revealed for the new tablet but its brief sighting is enough to confirm a rear camera with flash.
Video after the cut
With Nokia's Windows Phone strategy now not expected to bear fruit until early 2012, it looks to be all Symbian this year. The company isn't holding back, though; according to its CTIA 2011 invitation, via The Nokia Blog, the Finns will "spotlight our latest solution for US consumers" at the tech show later this month.
Lexar Media announced today that it is releasing two new professional SDXC memory cards, including one that is the industry's first to boast a 128GB capacity. Both the 64GB and 128GB cards should come to the delight of photographers and videographers as they are high-capacity and high-speed.
![Odd British Man Totes Mobile in Barcelona [EXCLUSIVE]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/mwcctia-820x420.png)
So I was standing there, minding my own business in an oddly calm moment during the several day madhouse that was Mobile World Congress 2011, and there they were, a man who could only say "Action," and a man who had clearly practiced his news voice for many many years. They were standing along the main drag of the convention (the whole convention is a big L shape, they were near the entrance,) and were doing multiple takes of the scene you're about to see (completely and totally exclusively behind the scenes, of course.)
A new HTC Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone has been tipped to make its debut at CTIA 2011 early next month, on its way to an eventual release with T-Mobile USA. According to TmoNews' source, the HTC Doubleshot is a lock-in for the phone show, though they're not able to share any details beyond the (code)name and the expectation that the Doubleshot will pack Gingerbread.
That Sprint has ambitious plans for CTIA 2011 was obvious; the carriers hefty 2.5hr presentation at the show was evidence of that. According to the latest leaks, however, there should be no shortage of devices to fill that slot: an EVO View tablet that's tipped to be a CDMA version of the HTC Flyer, according to Engadget's anonymous source, together with a Samsung Nexus S 4G.