We've heard stories about companies banning the use of certain kinds of products, such as cameraphones or digital audio players, since they could potentially be used to snap pics of or download classified info. But in what must be a first-of-its-kind case, Samsung has actually banned employees from using one of the company's own products out of industrial espionage fears. Ki-Tae Lee, CEO of  Samsung Electronics Telecommunications Network, has apparently warned employees not to pick up the company's SGH-B570 cellphones, because the music-playing phone's 8GB capacity "is more than enough to steal all confidential data about our company." No word yet as to whether Lee is also banning Samsung's various thumbdrives, USB hard drives and audio players, which can also be used to slurp company data. Also, we have to admit to being just a little disappointed that all of the company's confidential data can fit on a single 8GB cellphone. What does that say about Samsung's R&D capabilities?

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Sony Ericsson keeps cranking out the high-style musicphones, and the V630i looks to be the latest edition to the line -- for UK Vodafone customers, that is. The phone, which eschews the Walkman branding used in other recent music-centric models, includes 10MB of internal memory, Memory Stick Micro support, a 176x220 display, 2 megapixel camera, trimode GSM support, and A2DP for Bluetooth stereo output. In sum, it reminds us a lot of another recent Sony Ericsson, the W810i, which has a similar feature set, but lacks A2DP (and that alone, of course, makes this one a new fave).

[Thanks, Goku]

As much as we'd like to blame other parties for the long wait for Palm's Treo 700p (and we will, we will), there's one source for at least some of the wait: the FCC. According to public filings, the smartphone just cleared the government agency, paving the way for its impending rollout. Of course, Palm did file a confidentiality request with the FCC, so we're not entirely clear exactly when this baby got the thumbs up, but the important thing is that it did, which means nothing (short of mobs at Sprint and Verizon's stores) should stand in your way if you're planning on picking one up very soon.

Now that Verizon has started boasting of its exclusive deal to sell the Motorola Q (at least until Sprint pumps out their version), what's VZW's next move? Why, to deny that they smartphone is coming out anytime soon, of course. According to Brighthand, a Verizon spokesman stated that the company does not have a "launch event scheduled for next week." Hey, we'll parse that one a bit. Maybe Verizon's shipping it without an "event." Or maybe the spokesman was out of the loop (wouldn't be the first time). Or, more likely, he was just doing his job, issuing a denial in an effort to maintain some sense of suspense, and the Q will indeed show up next week, with some kind of event. But just in case, don't start camping out in front of VZW stores just yet, m'kay?

We've been seeing warnings about guns disguised as cellphones for so long that we long assumed the weapons were urban legends akin to the stories about telemarketers building a database of cellphone numbers and Bill Gates sharing his fortune. Turns out, however, that the guns do indeed exist, and apparently originated in Europe around 2000. And now, according to the New York Police Department, they may be making their way across the Atlantic. According to the New York Post, The NYPD has issued a warning about the hidden weapons, and has circulated a description of them to station houses. There's no word that any of the weapons have actually been seen in NYC, but police are being told to be on the lookout for them at locations such as courthouses. So, if you're heading downtown for jury duty and don't want to endure getting your brand new Walkman phone taken apart because it looks suspicious, you may want to just leave it at home. Oh, and Bill, we're still waiting for our check.

If you were hoping to play Sprint and Verizon off of each other and try to get a better deal on the Treo 700p, the jig is up. Verizon's pricing is now out, and the company is charging the same price as Sprint for the new Palm-based smartphone: $400 (with a two-year contract, that is). Calling plans with unlimited data start at $80 a month, and if you want to use your Treo as an EV-DO modem with your laptop (which we suspect you just might), be prepared to add an extra $15 a month. And, no, it still doesn't have WiFi.

In yet another twist to the unfolding telephone spying story, two reporters from ABC News were apparently told by a "senior law enforcement official" that their cellphones were being tapped so that the government could track down their confidential sources. The reporters were warned to get new cellphones as quickly as possible if they wanted to maintain their sources' anonymity. We, of course, follow that advice and get new cellphones all the time. Not because we think anyone is listening in, but because we just have this compulsion we can't shake. However, if the Feds want to listen in on our calls and find out who's been leaking all of that juicy Treo info, they can feel free. Trust us, they'll be very surprised by what they learn.

If you make most of your calls via cellphone, there's a good chance your call records aren't being provided to the National Security Agency -- if, that is, you're using Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile and most of your calls are between you and other cellphone users. Both companies say they haven't supplied data to the government, with T-Mob specifically stating that it was not involved "in any NSA program for warrant-less surveillance and acquisition of call records, and T-Mobile has not provided any such access to communications or customer records." If you're a Cingular or Sprint Nextel customer, well, it looks like you're in the same boat as the vast majority of landline users: those companies refused to deny participation in the NSA program.

NTT DoCoMo plans to work with Microsoft to build a music service based on Windows Media. The service would not allow direct downloads, but would instead require music to be transferred from a PC to a cellphone. The service would work with Windows Media audio from over 100 providers, and will launch this summer on the F902iS (pictured), one of DoCoMo's recently announced HSDPA-capable phones.

Cingular Wireless has pulled a ringtone that mocks Latin American immigrants from its site, after being contacted by an advocate from a group called the League of United Latin American Citizens. The $2.49 ringtone, called "La Migra," ridiculed Latinos, with wording such as "Step away from the telephone-o. I'm deporting you back home-o." According to reports, a Cingular exec was "nearly speechless" after listening to the ringtone.

Update: Thanks to Sascha Segan for pointing out that the ringtone was actually a bit of satire put together by Latino comedian Paul Saucido. You can catch Sascha's interview with Saucido here.

We've heard just about every date imaginable for the long-awaited launch of the Palm Treo 700p, so nothing will really shock us now. But according to CNET, the 700p is due to arrive next Monday, May 15th. That's nearly two weeks earlier than the last rumored launch date we heard about, May 28th, but is consistent with earlier rumors that pointed to a Sprint rollout next Monday. At this point, we won't be surprised if both dates turn out to be correct, with an announcement on Monday, and availability in Sprint stores on the 28th.

We tend to leave the cellphone behind when we're in the gym, assuming that callers would just as soon skip the conversation than listen to our heavy breathing as we struggle to actually burn some calories. But if Nokia has its way, more cellphones may find their way into health clubs. The company's new 5500 "sports phone" not only comes in a ruggedized, rubber-gripped shell, but it also features such sports-friendly features as an integrated pedometer and a database to track and monitor workout goals. The tri-mode GSM phone also includes a music player, text-to-speech engine for message-reading, and 2-megapixel camera. That camera may, however, be the phone's downfall; we've heard of some gyms banning cameraphones, and Nokia might want to consider a cam-free version to beat such restrictions.

We already learned just about everything we needed to know about Motorola's colorful V3im model at CTIA -- except for one thing: whether this phone -- which is now available in the UK from O2 for free with a contract -- would be iTunes-capable. Turns out it is, so podsters can start plotting out which playlists they want to put on their phones. Oh, and before you ask: yes, the 100-song limit is still in place -- though we all know what to do about that, right?

[Thanks, Arne]

If you're in Malaysia and you plan on spending any time behind the wheel, you'd better curb any temptation to read or send text messages while on the road. Declaring that "using the SMS while driving is more dangerous than talking on the handphone," government officials have mandated jail time for DWT. Having seen more than our share of distracted drivers, we'd have to agree -- even if we have a soft sport for our fans in Malaysia.

We've never had a whole lot of luck with predictive text-entry systems on cellphones, which is one reason we tend to get all hot and bothered every time we see a new, QWERTY model show up. But we're still intrigued by Microsoft's "Wild Thing" technology, which the company says uses artificial intelligence to translate keypad strings into useful text for searches. For example, if you want to search for Engadget, you would type 36423438, rather than having to perform multiple key-presses in order to toggle the correct character. Other abbreviations would allow you to search using abbreviations, such as TR SF for Thai restaurants in San Francisco. Microsoft is in talks with carriers and manufacturers to begin rolling out the service within the next year. We'll check it out, but our heart will still belong to QWERTY.