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This week: more leaks of HTC device specs, iPhone 3.0 vs Windows Mobile, and much more.  Listen in!

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Here's some Friday fun for you: Tilt Mobility says the have some internal docs from AT&T showing the specs on many of the upcoming HTC Smartphones in 2009.  We recognize more than a few of these from the massive HTC leak and adding to its credibility is that these specs seem to line up pretty well with the previously leaked details on said HTC devices.

The "SuperStar" running an nVidia AP16 with an monster 3.7" screen sounds pretty tasty to us. We are a little surprised to see "Captain" and "Chief#W" here, could one of them just be another word for "Maple?" Anybody seeing anything else in this list that gets you pumped?

Update: Er, the Tilt Mobility story no longer says that all these phones are slated for AT&T, which makes more sense.

Oh, Dell, what are we going to do with you? For months and months and months (and months) we're teased by rumors that you might be getting back into the smartphone business. And time and time again, we see nothing.

Now comes word from Barrons [via Giz] that Dell's been shot down by the carriers for producing a couple of prototypes that were too "Dell-like."

(Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw) Wu says that he understands that Dell built prototypes using both Windows Mobile and Android, but that the carriers knocked the offerings for “lack of differentiation” versus current and coming products from HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola and others. He adds that the unveiling of the Palm Pre didn’t help, “generating interest from carriers as a viable competitor.”

Wu says that Dell's going back to the drawing board and could well be making acquitisions to try to get the job done.

Hey, it's touch to top what HTC's doing these days. And there's certainly tons of excitement surrounding the Pre. But shouldn't Dell have a little more to show by now?

When we learned of GrandCentral's relaunch as Google Voice, one of our first thoughts was, "Uh, oh. The carriers aren't going to be happy about this."

But let's turn a little closer to home, shall we? What about Microsoft's fledgling My Phone service, which currently is in beta testing. Yeah. Feel the light bulb click on.

Quick review: My Phone syncs your phone's contacts, text messages, calendar appointments, tasks, photos, videos, music and documents to the Microsoft cloud. They're then available on the Web. You can also go from the Web back to your phone. Contacts and calendar sync require use of your one Exchange ActiveSync connection.

Google Voice? Save for not syncing photos, music and documents, it's got My Phone beat across the board. Check out our previous post for everything that's coming. But it's not a sync service. It just is. All of your data [SMS, phone calls, voicemail] pings it first, then hits your phone. Yeah, you're going to have to give yourself up to The Google to take full advantage of Voice. Some of us already have sold our souls given in taken full advantage of the services Google offers. [Edit: If you're going to be using Google Voice, you're already going to have a lot of your PIM data in their cloud, right?]

And, at least for yours truly, here's the kicker: It'll be possible (with a little third-party help - thanks, Seven!) to totally enter the Google cloud and still have Exchange ActiveSync left over for business matters.

So what say you, fair readers? We realize it's not quite an apples-to-apples fight. But does the prospect of Google Voice on your device make My Phone a non-starter?

File it under a extremely vague, but we picked up on an FCC filing via Engadget on what might very well be the HTC Cedar. The filing is from HTC for the CEDA200 smartphone tuned to the CDMA network. In the filing, HTC requests that all internal and external photos, test setup photos, and user manual be held confidential by the FCC until July 30, 2009.

This confidentiality request falls in line with the speculated second quarter release for the Cedar. Still no telling if this is the Cedar, but one thing is for certain: With the leaked Sprint roadmap and leaked spec sheet, it's going to be an interesting year for HTC.

Here's some WinMo spotting for you: in alternate reality series Kings on NBC, America is ruled by Al Swearengen and his Queen uses none other than the Verizon Q9m.  US readers can scrub towards the end of the show on Hulu, but be warned, the phone plays an integral part in unveiling some infidelity (Scandal! Intrigue!).

An alternate reality where Verizon doesn't unceremoniously dump a relatively innovative and cool custom Windows Mobile Standard Today screen can't be all bad, right?

Thanks to Chris for the tip!

While the 65-minute video from the MIX09 Windows Mobile Seminar concentrated heavily on developer and marketplace information, it did cover some new information about the Windows Mobile 6.5 appearance and interface. The first semi-surprise was that honeycomb is out of the Start Screen. The decision was made to go for larger icons that translated to easier targets for your fingertips. The fact that the honeycomb pattern wasn't well received had a role in the decision as well. That said, the icons are still in the same pattern. It's just that the chrome has been changed a bit.

The Today screen can be navigated by moving or sliding the selector bar or spinning the background until the appropriate choice appears in the stationary selector. The Today Screen reminded me of Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard's slider panels. Key difference being the touch screen navigation.

The unlock screen will show you the time your next appointment. The unlock slider can be tapped to show a summary of your notifications. If you want to go directly to email or SMS messages, simply slide the icon to unlock and you're taken directly to that messaging app. It's a nice feature that will give you the functionality of a slide to unlock feature and the convenience of unlocking your phone directly to your messaging screens.

Appearance-wise, Windows Mobile 6.5 seems to have improved since the first screen shots surfaced. Without the honeycombs (or the loveable grey crowned crane), WM 6.5 comes across a touch more professional.

All of the sudden, it seems that Microsoft and YouTube are all buddy-buddy.

Most of note for Windows Mobile users is that a native mobile app has finally been released. Just head to m.youtube.com in your favorite mobile browser and hit up the link therein.

Also worth a mention is that YouTube, which as every smartphone owner knows uses Flash to feed its Web content, apparently is using Silverlight for its dedicated March Madness college basketball channel. Or, as el jefe put it, "You got Silverlight in my YouTube!  You got YouTube in my Silverlight!" Point, Microsoft! Now, if MS will finally get Silverlight on our phones ...

In what amounts to a direct shot across iTunes' bow (or it's a direct imitation of, depending on who you ask), Samsung is now offering movie downloads to customers in the UK and Germany. [via Engadget]

You get the option to buy or rent a DVD-quality flick, plus a mobile copy. For example's sake, The Dark Night's going for £16.99 (about $25 U.S.) to buy; £3.99 ($6 U.S.) to rent. The selection isn't half-bad, but we wouldn't really recommend trying to watch a movie on something smaller than an Omnia. But, hey, they're your eyes.

Check out all the fine details at www.SamsungMovies.com.