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HTC is releasing a new phone on CDMA carrier Sprint next month. This phone is the HTC Evo 4G and it seems to have some of the most advanced specs on the market today.

The specs of the HTC Evo 4G include:

• Snapdragon processor
• 4.3” 800x480 resolution screen
• 8MP camera
• Android 2.1 OS
• WiMAX data connection

This device will be hitting Sprint stores and online from Sprint’s website on June 4, with preorders being taken right now. The current pricing for the device will be $299.99 with a new 2-year contract, with a $100 rebate to be deducted from this price. The price without a contract is unknown at the moment, but it will undoubtedly be much more than the contract price (as all unsubsidized phones are).

The price for the plan that the phone requires will be set at $69.99 plus $10 for what they call a “premium data” plan, which would make the total be at least $80 before taxes and other carrier fees. This ~$80 plan would include unlimited texts, 450 minutes, as well as unlimited mobile-to-mobile. Additionally, an optional $30 monthly fee can turn the phone into a mobile Wifi hotspot for up to 8 people/devices at a time.

Hands-on video with the HTC Evo 4G from Techcrunch below.

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Nintendo, the company behind the ever popular DS handheld system and the casual gaming console, the Wii, has taken a hit in profits lately and it's not because of the usual suspects. No, it's not Sony or Microsoft - it's Apple.

The company has seen profits drop from $3.03 billion to $2.48 billion as of late. While Sony and its PlayStation 3 system was responsible for the previous drops, this time around it's Apple with the iPod Touch/iPhone, and the more recent iPad.

Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, informed his employees to treat Apple as the company's most significant threat from now on. This is due to Apple's easy methods for customers to purchase digital game downloads from the iTunes App Store.

The digital downloads are much easier for customers to check stuff out and buy it immediately, versus the old way of going to a physical store and buying a cartridge/card/disc. Even if it's not that, the DSi will require a Wi-Fi signal to get digital downloads versus the iPhone or iPad 3G, where just a cell signal can get downloadable content.

Nintendo will need to change delivery methods to have a fighting chance against the App Store.

While some hardcore gamers don't see casual gaming on the iDevices or even the Wii sometimes as 'real gaming', it's hard to deny that casual gaming attracts a much bigger audience. Apple has just made a huge impact on how it all reaches the mainstream.

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Gizmodo, a high-profile gadget blog, had gotten access to an iPhone 4 prototype last week, which was reported as a lost iPhone in a bar. While this prototype has been in their possession, there have been some new information regarding the next generation of iPhone hardware.

The prototype phone was hidden in a case that disguised it to look like an iPhone 3GS, but once the case was uncovered it revealed a completely flat unibody device with a back that seems to be made of glass or ceramic or shiny plastic. The device also has metal edges rather than a bezel like on previous models. This looks closely resembles that on the unibody MacBooks, the iPad, and the iMac.

The specs of the new hardware include:

• 940x640 resolution display
• Front-facing video camera
• Camera flash
• Secondary mic for noise cancellation
• Micro SIM instead of regular SIM (like the iPad)
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, Mute, and Volume buttons are metallic
• 16% larger battery due to other components being shrunk in size

It’s also been reported that this iPhone prototype was running iPhone OS 4.0 before the official announcement earlier in the month.

The story of how Gizmodo acquired this prototype involves an Apple engineer who was field testing the device and some beers from a local bar near the Apple HQ in Cupertino. The phone got left behind, which then found it’s way to a person who had tried to find the owner, failed, and sold it to Gizmodo for $5,000, who then ran their exclusive story.

Many ethical questions can be raised from this case, which at this moment has just involved the Santa Clara County police department, who will determine if criminal charges will be filed against Gizmodo.

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Microsoft has revealed earlier this week their new social-networking oriented phones, formerly known as "Project Pink", the Kin 1 and Kin 2.

The Kin 1 is a simple palm-sized portrait QWERTY slider that contains a 5 megapixel camera. The Kin 2 is a landscape QWERTY slider with a whopping 8 megapixel camera. Both of these powerful social networking phones will be dropping exclusively on Verizon in May.

The Kin phones should not be looked at as 'smartphones', with a lack of an application store like the Apple iPhone and other such functions like basic calendar and instant message functionality. It is really aimed at being a social-networking devices for teenagers, much like what Danger's Sidekick device did a couple of years ago. This does not come as a surprise, as Microsoft acquired Danger in 2008.

The Kin platform is focused on two core features - “The Loop” and “The Spot”. “The Loop” will be a 3 pane homescreen featuring news/social feeds, contacts, and access to the phone/browser. “The Spot” will be a little circle at the bottom of the screen to share content on social sites, with drag-n-drop access from “The Loop”.

All device activity, from texts to pictures to videos, will be synced with an online cloud, like the Sidekick series. The cloud backups will be browser based to ensure it’s cross platform. With unlimited cloud storage, a login with a Windows Live ID at kin.com lets users see all synced media.

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