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A bit of a fuss is being made today over the emergence of the Motorola A4500 at the Federal Communications Commission. But here's the thing: The new documents we're looking at – radio specs and a bunch of pretty pictures – were all submitted back in October and just made available today.

Now allow us to put on our tinfoil hats for a minute: We know the A4500 (or Napoleon, or Q9n – whatever) made its way into the wild after a brief production cycle for a government contract. Hmmmmm. Government contract, docs not made available until exactly six months after the first submission ... See where we're going here?

The long and the short of it is we're really not expecting to see this thing out on Verizon – or anywhere else – anytime soon, if ever. That said, we could also be dead wrong and so we reward you with more pictures after the break, just in case.

PhoneScoop via BGR

It's been quite a while since we've seen an update to Microsoft's Live Mesh mobile client, but we've got one for you now (and you Mac users get some fixes, too).

Here's what's on tap:

• The last location used in the folder synchronization dialog is now saved.
• Live Mesh News will displays the date and time for all news events.
• Improved the update experience
• Device status (online/offline) now properly displayed on the Live Desktop
• News now correctly displays the year.

And if you're as particular as we are, you'll also enjoy Microsoft moving to a single versioning scheme. Everyone should now be on V 0.9.4014.3.

Microsoft reportedly has begun a private beta called Microsoft Vine that will keep you and your friends and family in the know in case of natural disaster.

What we have here is a fairly sexy aggregator of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – 20,000 news sources, NOAA, Twitter and public safety announcements. When the fit hits the shan, you need to be able to alert others that you're OK. And Vine would do so via a desktop client, text message, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter.

However, "in the know" may be a bit of a misnomer. See, here's the thing about a natural disaster: Chances are if you're in one, you won't have power. And wireless carriers are getting better at generator backups (you should see the press releases we get anytime something bad's about to happen), but I can remember not having any signal – GSM, CDMA, landline or carrier pigeon – for several days after hurricane Ivan in September 2004. (Bad enough when you have family worried about you, and even worse if you're trying to get married that weekend.) So if the infrastructure's not there for you to get the word out, this could all be a moot point. (And Twitter integration could well prove to be the linchpin now – remember that.)

But this is 2009. This is post-Katrina. And we've learned from our mistakes. And Microsoft Vine could well be an excellent way to get word out that you're still ticking. Let's hope they open it up before the summer silly season.

Check out more about Vine over at Techcrunch

Update: You can learn more and sign up to get a beta invite at Vine.net.

We love our shiny phones. But, oh, do we hate the fingerprints that come with a glossy finish.

But apparently there's a matte back available for the Touch Diamond 2 that should eliminate the telltales signs that you've had your grubby mitts on the phone.

Above is the new back cover, which appeared in a Taiwanese forum. Slashgear says it can be had for about $35 US and would be sold as an accessory. At right is the original glossy back as seen by Dieter at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

And, no, we still don't have any release dates for the Touch Diamond 2 in the United States, so we'll all just have to keep thinking good thoughts.

So there we were, perfectly content with T-Mobile rolling out the HTC Snap/Captain/Dash 2 sometime soon, when this had to come along and muck up the works.

According to Engadget, what you see here is the HTC XV6175. And as you might guess from the excellent and memorable brand XV6175, that'd make it bound for Verizon. This is pretty much in line with what we've seen from that leaked HTC roadmap as the Willow, which we've also heard could make an appearance as soon as June.

No word on pricing or actual availability. Let's just hope it's quicker than Verizon managed to launch the Touch Diamond.

And is it just us, or does that rendering here look vaguely like a Treo 800w from the waist down?

As we get closer and closer to that inevitable date of July 13th (but probably earlier for some if they can find 'em in a store), more info on the 800w is being found.

In our forums, member Tawp has done some hunting and managed to find the new user guide for the 320x320 WM6.1 device.

http://www.sprint.com/cdma/assets/pdfs/phone_guides/palm/palm_treo_800_ug.pdf

(Sprint link is down; Mirror below)

We haven't gone over the manual with a fine tooth comb yet, but if we find anything that we don't already know (doubtful) we'll be sure to post it in the forums.

Thanks MinistrOfJustiz

--> Mirror for User Guide

Are you still using that old Motorola MPX220? Did your dog eat your Treo 750? Did you leave your HTC Dual on the roof of your car as you pulled out of the driveway? If you've wanted to upgrade your phone or have recently seen your  phone lose a battle with a lawn mower, we might have the answer to all your problems.

Recently at CTIA, HTC sported a mini Wheel o' Prizes and our own Dieter Bohn and our pal CrackBerry Kevin won an AT&T Fuze and a Touch Dual. Their win is your win, because the thing to do with these WinMo Wonders is to give them away! 

So, if you have an ancient (or not-so-ancient) phone or your phone has recently become unserviceable (a.k.a. destroyed) we want your story.

The rules of the contest are simple. Email us your story on how your phone isn't cutting the mustard or how it has been destroyed beyond all hope of use or repair.  Then tell us how a new Windows Mobile phone would improve your sad, sad situation.

Submissions need to be emailed to contest@wmexperts.com (.jpg images are welcomed in support of your case) with the subject line "WMExperts Giveaway" and must be received by 5:00 p.m. EST on May 11, 2009. Our crack editorial staff will review the entries and during the following week, we'll publish the top stories, announcing the winner that Friday (May 15th). The top winner will receive the Fuze, a runner up will receive the Touch Dual! 

So if you're still connecting your phone via a serial cable or your AT&T Tilt was found in the laundry room washing machine, now's your chance to win your very own AT&T Fuze or Touch Dual!

Once upon a time there were two processor manufactuers: Qualcomm and Broadcom. Qualcomm made some chips that looked a little too much like Broadcom's and the two stopped being BFFs, making everyone sad. In fact, Broadcom was so upset, it took Qualcomm to court and accused it of patent infringement.

This went on in and out of weeks and almost over three years. At one point, a mean ol' federal judge said Qualcomm couldn't sell its processors anymore, but the cagey lawyers found a way around that, and another judge said a ban just wasn't fair, and some of your favorite smartphones continue to be powered by Qualcomm.

Fast forward to today, and everyone's kissed and made up. OK, being paid $891 million would make me kiss and make up with just about anyone, too. And that's just what's been done, with the two manufacturers finally reaching an agreement in the case and agreeing to put down their swords, says Engadget. Full deets after the jump, but we're going to spend the rest of the afternoon coming to terms with the fact that it's over. It's really over.

For now.

OK, so the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 didn't exactly sell like hotcakes, at least in the U.S. Lack of carrier support (and a high unlocked price) will do that to a phone. And while there have been grumblings that SE was getting out of the Windows Mobile game, we're now getting a brief mention that an X2 is in the works from GigaOm [via] in a piece about Skyhook, a Boston wireless company. Emphasis ours

Once Skyhook was designed into the iPhone, Google folks took notice of Skyhook and started to develop their own competitive offering, which is being offered for free, while Skyhook charges for its offering. Morgan admits that the company has lost a couple of deals because of free offerings. For instance, the X2 edition of Sony Xperia phone (Windows Mobile-based) uses geolocation data from Google.

That's all we get. Assuming this isn't just a typo, it lends a little more credence to an early rumor that SE planned to continue the Xperia line with Windows Mobile. If it is a typo, then a whole lotta people are getting excited over nothing.