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SPB has released a Beta Update to their Mobile Shell 3.0, SPB Mobile Shell 3.0.1 Beta 1.  The update Beta fixes several "bugs" in the original and adds a few minor features. According to SPB, the release is not designed to add additional "standalone" features but rather to fix known bugs and add small features.

I installed the Beta update on the AT&T Fuze and the overall performance of Mobile Shell seemed to improve. The application felt more responsive to the touch. One fix was to resolve the tremendously slow screen rotation between portrait and landscape modes. The rotation speed was back to normal levels (maybe a hair faster) when you extend the keyboard of the Fuze. However, when you rotate the Fuze horizontally (without the keyboard extended) the screen no longer rotates. The fix is still in the Beta phase so I'm sure SPB will correct this.

A few of the more notable additions/fixes with the Beta include the addition of a "Show Today" widget; the addition of a "Remove All" command in the call log menu, and support for the "call" button in certain screens. From an individual contact screen, when you highlight the desired number to call and hit your "call" button the number is now dialed. In the original 3.0, the "call" button pulled up your dial screen.

There's no word from SPB when the update will be finalized and it's nice to see the prompt response SPB has made in addressing these issues. The SPB Mobile Shell 3.0.1 Beta can be downloaded here and for those interested, follow the break for the complete change log provided by SPB.

It's been more than a week since we first told you Microsoft had opened Windows Marketplace for Mobile to developers, brought you the first look at what's prohibited, and uncovered confirmation that Windows Mobile 6.5 will work on non-touchscreen devices.

Now, Microsoft officially has announced the Marketplace open for business on the Windows Mobile Team blog. Nothing new for the average user, however. No word on when the Marketplace (and thus Windows Mobile 6.5) will be available.

Just when you think the rumors of a possible Microsoft Zune phone has faded into the sunset, another one surfaces. This round can be credited to a Twitter update from the Microsoft Office 2010 team that hints "June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers." This alone is a fairly innocent statement and could simply mean a new Zune player could be launched.  As for why it's the Office 2010 team that is dropping hints, we can't say.

It's the second update on the same Twitter page that complicates things. The update simply states, "New product launch, that's all I'm allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre." The iPhone and the Pre are obviously smartphones, so it's tempting to put the Zune Phone back into the rumor mix.  Us, though, we're remembering how strenuously Microsoft has denied rumors of being in the hardware business and of the Zune Phone specifically.  So whatever it is, we're not expecting a 180 on this one (but a 360, or more specifically something to do with Xbox 360, doesn't seem crazy).

Regardless, June will be here before you know it and absent a "launch delay" we will all find out soon enough what's up Microsoft's sleeve.

[Read: Neowin.net]

Update: Yeah, NO.  Per Engadget, the tweets are not legit.  What, you thought a rumor with the words "Zune" and "Phone" within shouting distance of each other would actually pan out?

Mary Jo Foley lets us in on some possible info about this "Pink" stuff.  First, there's these reported specs for 'Chasis 1' which according to Foley "seems to be the the heart of the rumored “Pink” Microsoft phone and possibly other Windows Mobile 7 phones made by Microsoft partners".

In other words, Pink may be a prototype/demo unit/scaffold for developers to model their next-gen WM7 handsets on--so Microsoft is setting the bar on what the minimum requirements will be and what they envision the ideal handset would be like.  Sounds pretty plausible to our ears.  Now onto those rumored specs:

WM7 Chassis 1 Specification

Core requirements:
Processor: ARM v6+, L2 Cache, VFP, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (QCOM 8k, Nvidia AP15/16* and TI 3430 all meet spec)
Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)
Display:  WVGA (800×480) or FWVGA (854×480) 3.5” or greater diagonal
Touch: Multi-touch required
Battery: Sufficient to meet Days of Use LTK requirements.
Controls: Start, Back, Send and End are required (soft controls allowed as long as they are always present).

Peripherals:
Camera: 3MP+, flash optional, 2nd camera optional (VGA resolution sufficient)
GPS: aGPS required
Sensors required: Light Sensor, Compass (3 axis, 5 degrees, 100 Hz sample rate), Accelerometer (3 axis, 2mg resolution, 100 Hz sample rate)
USB: High speed required, 20 MB/s transfer rate.
BlueTooth: BT2.1 required, must run MSFT BT stack, CSR BlueCore6 or later recommended.
Wi-Fi: 802.11B/G required, must run MSFT Native Wi-Fi stack, Atheros 6002 or Broadcomm 4325 recommended.
Connectors: Micro USB and 3.5mm Audio required.

Options:
FM tuner:  If tuner HW is present it will be detected and supported by the Media application.
Haptics
SD Card (Micro SD recommended)
DPAD, qwerty or 12/20 key keyboards all optional

So we have an addition of a compass (iPhone is rumored to get that too), microUSB, accelerometer, light sensors, required aGPS, there's that ol' Multi-touch and some high end processors on board.  Gone is also anything less than VGA for resolution, which is something we welcome.

There we have it...think this all sounds legit?  Can you (and the market) wait till 2010?

A little while ago we told you about ChangeSkin, a utility that brings additional customizations to SPB's Mobile Shell 2.0. Well, the developers over at ChangeSkin has updated the utility to make it compatible with Mobile Shell 3.0. Follow the break for all the info on the update and some screen shots.

Earlier this year we reported on the Garmin Nüvifone G60, a collaboration between GPS giant Garmin and Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Asus. The G60 was first announced back in January of 2008 and slated for a third-quarter 2008 launch that would eventually be delayed until June of 2009. It now looks as if that delay wasn't the last one for the G60.

Engadget Mobile is reporting that the G60 has been delayed once again with an anticipated release sometime during the third quarter of 2009. The company is citing hardware/software complexities as the reason behind the pushed back release date.

The G60 was first thought to be a Windows Mobile phone but development has since gone the direction of Linux OS.  The Garmin M20 is a Windows Mobile based phone and is still slated for a Summer '09 release.

Chances are this won't affect you whatsoever, but HTC has already released a ROM upgrade for the Asian variant of the Touch Diamond 2. This is especially interesting because the phone is just beginning to make it to market worldwide, and already we're seeing a major fix. This one involves the radio, which is what allows the phone to, ya know, be a phone. And that's pretty important.

The upgrade is free, but make sure you have an Asian version of the phone before trying anything. And we've said it before and we'll say it again: Back up yer schtuff before flashing anything.

HTC Touch Diamond 2 ROM upgrade [via XDA]

Each week we bring you the best of SPE. This week, The iPhone Blog brings you a gigantic Birthday Bash Contest with a grand prize of a Factory Unlocked iPhone 3G done up, Colorware-style. Crackberry.com had the WES 2009 Conference covered six ways from Sunday, too. Meanwhile, Nokia Experts stood out as the single best place to find out all there is know about the just-released Nokia E71x. There's much more, so read on!