AT&T’s teaser site for the Dell Aero has gone live and we can now fill in a few more gaps in our knowledge about this forthcoming handset. It’s looking every bit the renamed Mini 3 we thought it was, so click here and here to get a closer look at the body of the device.

The official web mouthpiece confirms a 3.5-inch screen with nHD resolution — which may or may not signify the same 640 x 360 as on the Brazilian and Chinese versions — and one definite point of departure, a 5 (rather than 3) megapixel camera on the back.

Claimed to be the lightest Android smartphone yet, the Aero will also come with WiFi and GPS built in, though its biggest attraction will undoubtedly be the thoroughly tricked out Android UI, which promises Picasa, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitpic integration right out of the box.

Check out the gallery below for some hints of what that will look like.

Link to article: Dell Aero is ‘the lightest’ Android phone yet, poses for pictures

How this site should look in a mobile browser (Opera Mini is demonstrated here).

Thanks to Crowd Favorite and Carrington Mobile, Eternal Code is now mobile-device compatible.

Link to article: Eternal Code is now mobile-internet compatible!

Look, it’s pretty clear that Windows Mobile 7 will be revealed by Microsoft at Mobile World Congress. We’ve been feeding on a veritable feast of WinMo7 rumors for several months now all pointing to Steve Ballmer’s keynote scheduled for 3PM Barcelona time (9AM in New York). Now Adobe has issued a statement apparently confirming what we’ve already heard: Windows Mobile 7 will not support Flash. Unfortunately, the actual quote carried by Phone Scoop doesn’t mention Windows Phone 7:

Microsoft and Adobe are working closely together. While the newest version of Windows Phone won’t support Flash at initial availability, both companies are working to include a browser plug-in for the full Flash player in future versions of Windows Phone. More details will be shared at Microsoft MIX next month.

Of course, the “newest version of Windows Phone” is technically 6.5.3 — a WinMo update recently announced (but hasn’t shipped) and presumably still works with Flash 10.1 beta (but isn’t guaranteed). And since we can’t find the Adobe statement on any of its usual press channels, we can’t say for sure this quote is related to Windows Mobile 7. Still, we don’t doubt the accuracy of Phone Scoop so don’t get your hopes up for Flash in the initial builds of Windows Mobile 7 Windows Phone 7 Series devices.

Update: Sorry kids, we have independent confirmation: Windows Phone 7 will not support Flash at initial launch.

Link to article: Adobe confirms no Flash in Windows Mobile 7

Theresa had a contract with Helio/Virgin Mobile that ended this month, putting her in a position to negotiate. She writes that by comparison shopping and politely asking for the customer retention department, she and her girlfriend were able to knock $35 per month off the bill for their family plan. Here’s how she did it.

Just thought I’d share a success story about the power of being a smart, polite, well-informed consumer!

My girlfriend and I have a family cell phone plan with Helio (now owned by Virgin Mobile) and our two-year contract ended this January. We like our service, but we wanted to pay less. Our company was already offering a new phone or $20 off our bill per month, but I thought I could do better.

So we started shopping around. We found a comparable plan at metroPCS that would cost us about $30 less per month. I didn’t want to end my service, but I know it’s important to be well-educated about other offers.

I called Helio to see if they could give me a better deal. They offered me $25 off my bill each month instead of $20–not enough for me. They also offered free extra minutes, but I explained that we don’t use up the few minutes we do buy each month, so that wouldn’t help us. The customer service rep said they couldn’t offer me anything more and I ended the call.

I called back a little while later and asked to speak to customer retention. Apparently that’s the magic word! I was soon connected to a friendly, helpful customer service rep. I explained that we like our service, but found a better deal elsewhere, and we were thinking of cancelling. She quickly escalated their offer to $35 off our phone bill each month! We got to keep the service we like while paying much less, and we didn’t even have to commit to a new one-year contract. My only regret is that I didn’t try to hold out for even more.

Keys to my success, which I’ve learned from Consumerist
1. I was unfailingly polite but firm in what I wanted.
2. I had researched my options and was able to back up my threat to cancel with proof of a better offer.
3. I didn’t give up before reaching someone with the power to give me what I wanted.
4. I didn’t jump at the first offer I received.
5. I was nice to the service reps–after I got the final offer, I even asked to speak to the manager to praise the woman who had helped me.

Link to article: Save Serious Money On Your Cell Phone Bill By Making One Phone Call

The first and only time I saw Windows Mobile 6.5.3 in action, it was a grim scene. But according to Mary Jo Foley, the OS, which is now shipping on a single device, it’s more than a questionable makeover.

6.5.3′s changes fall into two categories: the UI updates, which are piecemeal changes to 6.5 standard, and the platform updates, which fix some—some—of 6.5.x’s core shortcomings. Here’s the full list:

Ease of Use features

* Capacitive touchscreen support
* Platform to enable multitouch
* Touch controls throughout system (no need for stylus)
* Consistent Navigation
* Horizontal scroll bar replaces tabs (think settings>system>about
screen)
* Magnifier brings touch support to legacy applications
* Simplified out-of-box experience with fewer steps
* Drag and drop icons on Start Screen

IE Browser Performance

* Page load time decreased
* Memory management improved
* Pan & flick gestures smoothed
* Zoom & rotation speed increased

Quality and Customer Satisfaction features

* Updated runtime tools (.NET CF 3.5, SQL CE 3.1)
* Arabic read/write document support
* Watson (error reporting) improvements and bug fixes

While it’s not the most riveting set of updates, these features are nothing to scoff at, if just for the addition of capacitive screen and multitouch support. Of course, with Mobile World congress less than two weeks away, Windows Mobile 7 is on everyone’s mind, and if it shows (we think it will) it’ll obviously be the star of the show. Just don’t expect to see Microsoft disowning their current mobile platform quite yet, or really, anytime soon.

Link to article: What’s In Windows Mobile 6.5.3