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We're really trying not to chuckle over this one, but swine flu is serious stuff. So if you've just got to know who's sick around you, Pandemy Flu Alert's got you covered. It'll tap into your phone's location services – GPS, tower location, etc. – check with the "Internet database" (whatever that is) and plot the nearest H1N1 report on a Google map. Handy for all you hypochondriacs out there. Says it works on all Windows phones. (If you actually try this, let us know in the comments.)

As for the other diseases you may have picked up over the weekend? You're on your own there.

H1N1 Pandemy Flu Alert [via]

Sure, T-Mobile getting visual voicemail is a cool thing. But what we're more interested in with this shot from TmoNews is the frakkin' launch dates! You can plainly see the Dash 3G (aka the HTC Snap) is set for launch on July 1 (that's a Wednesday). There's also a date for the Rhodium (aka Touch Pro 2) which is either July 12 or 22. And then Visual Voicemail, which everyone knows and loves from the iPhone, would launch July 16.

Stay tuned, folks. Hopefully we'll see an unmolested shot of the Touch Pro 2 launch date soonest. Thanks, David, for the updated pic!

This should come as a surprise to no one, given that it was painfully obvious in the Marketplace screenshots Malatesta broke over the weekend, but Microsoft apparently is in talks with carriers to have their own customizations in the Windows Marketplace.

As you can see above, it looks like AT&T will have its own little corner, and talks are under way overseas, too, according to Tweakers.net: (Apologies for the translation)

Microsoft wants to close deals with the major providers to the 'branded' versions. "Then about O2, Telefonica and Vodafone, large telco's," says Maarten Sonneveld, business group lead for Microsoft Mobile Netherlands. The providers may 'branded' versions use own ROMs of Windows Mobile devices.

Questions still remain as to what will actually be in the Marketplace upon launch. (For that matter, we still have no idea when the Marketplace and Windows Mobile 6.5 will launch.) We know of a bunch of developers who plan to be there from the outset, but the list of prohibited apps we found over the weekend has a lot of people scratching their heads. We'll just have to wait and see.

Via Unwired View

A long time ago (1985) in a faraway land (Germany) lived a man named Friedhelm Hillebrand. And he had a question: Just how many characters does the average person need to communicate?

Care to guess what the answer was?

Fast foward nearly a quarter-century and you can still see the fruits of Hillebrand's labor. Text messaging is as popular as ever (and often used more on phones than voice calls).

Anyhoo, the L.A. Times has a neat piece on Hillebrand and the birth of text messaging, as well as what the old guy's got up his sleeve next. Check it out.

Why Text Messages are Limited to 160 Characters

This one's had us scratching our heads all day upon reading about it. You can buy the Palm Treo Pro at Best Buy for $249 if you sign up for a "new 2-year activication" for AT&T service. Next stop: The nearest AT&T store. Nary a Treo Pro to be seen. What's up with that? Here's what AT&T had to say:

Treo Pro is a certified non-stock device. Our national retail partners are free to sell any of our certified devices, and set their own pricing. You would have to ask Best Buy if they are subsidizing or if Palm is discounting.

Odd, indeed. But we're not going to worry too much about it. The important thing is if you're looking for a Treo Pro on the cheap and don't mind digging in for two years, this might be the best way to do it.

Oh, bother. What do you do when one of your favorite artists stirs up an attack on your beloved mobile operating system? Why, you call his arse out on the carpet.

And so we shall, after the break.

Not that we really need more indication that the HTC Snap and Touch Pro 2 are headed to T-Mobile, but here you go. TmoNews snagged a couple of inventory screens that show the "Dash 3G" (aka the Snap), and the Touch Pro 2 (which may or may not still show up as the Wing II - we're hoping not).

And that's cool, and everything. More confirmation is good. But if anyone wants to shoot us some launch dates (July has been rumored) and prices, that'd be even better.

Via TmoNews (parts 1 and 2)