Following on from the Boy Genius Report’s earlier mock-up image of a BlackBerry Thunder, fan site BlackBerry Sync has today posted what it reckons are "exclusive shots" of RIM’s forthcoming (and would-be) iPhone-killer.

The shots, of which there are four (one replicated here for your viewing convenience), apparently show the Thunder’s media player application busy with both video clips and, a tad depressingly, the latest Leona Lewis album.

Anything else new here? Not a lot but for a reminder of what the tech world thinks it knows about the Thunder, click the Read more link below.

This, the Taiwanese blog, Apple Pro, would have us believe, is a case for the next MacBook Pro. Clearly taking its design cues from the MacBook Air, it's also said to lift its keyboard from the-world's-slimmest-laptop-currently-available^TM.

Otherwise it's the usual homage to alluminium. But those looking for more of the same may be in for a shock. Apple Pro says the Apple logo isn't backlit (say it ain't so!) What next? A plastic backed iPhone? Oh, wait.

[Pocket Lint]

It seems it's not just Government departments and MI6 officers that can be loose with personal data on laptops. The Register claims to have seen a letter from the owners of the Daily Mail, Northcliffe Media, to staff advising them of the theft of a laptop containing their names, addresses, bank accounts and sort codes.

That's right, that's same newspaper that just yesterday, ran a headline on "The bunglers of Whitehall", who lost discs containing the personal data of taxpayers. And it's the same tabloid that screamed "Oh no, minister!", when Hazel Blears committed another "data blunder". Her mistake? Er, having a laptop stolen ...

[The Register]

It's a tough job overcoming the failings of Windows Mobile, but HTC has done a better job than most in recent times with its seriously sexy and potent smartphones. From the well-engineered Touch and Touch Dual to the all-singing, all dancing TyTN II, it has a strong record. But times change, and with the iPhone 3G just around the corner, can HTC keep it up?

The Touch Diamond, with its new TouchFLO 3D interface, tries as hard as any handset out there to mimic the iPhone's sleek, swish, multi-touch design. And unlike many other Windows Mobile devices, TouchFLO 3D completely replaces the Windows Mobile’s front end, making the traditional list-based design of the Today screen is a distant memory. Even our favourite Windows Mobile shell enhancement, SPB Mobile Shell, doesn't go as far as that. 

If you're going to build a UMPC, you need Atoms but they could be in short supply, if a report in Taiwan's Digitimes is to be believed.

Production of the Intel processor that's currently fuelling much of the UMPC boom seems to have stalled, if LCD orders are anything to go by. With demand for tiny laptops booming makers of 7 to 10in LCD screens were expecting a bumper July but instead they've seen orders fall...

Following reports that a line has already formed outside the Apple Store in Manhattan in readiness for this Friday’s launch of the iPhone 3G, we thought we’d talk to some of the people in the queue outside Apple's flagship London store.

With the UK supposedly receiving a very limited stock of Apple’s newest smartphone and O2 limiting sales to one-per-customer, demand for the iPhone 3G is likely to be unprecedented. Alas, the typical British summer weather seems to be dampening shoppers’ spirits and we weren’t able to snag a single sound bite when we took our video camera down to the Regent Street Apple Store this morning. Watch the video after the cut.

In a couple of unexpected moves, O2 has today opened up its online shop doors to iPhone 3G pre-orders and updated its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tariff page to state that this price plan will now not be available until later this year.

In a apostrophe-starved email sent this morning to those who had previously registered their interest on the O2 website, the company said:

iPhone 3G is here and its [sic] free*.

The iPhone you've been waiting for. Order from 8am today.

As promised we are writing to you to keep you updated on the next steps to getting an iPhone 3G. We do, however, expect demand for iPhone 3G to be very high so orders will be processed on a first come, first served basis so that we can be fair to all customers. Orders will be limited to one iPhone 3G per customer.

So what does that asterisk after the 'free' mean? Explanation after the jump.

We've had the HTC Touch Diamond Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone in the Mobile Computer office for just over a week now and I'll be posting a full review in the next couple of days. In the meantime, I made a hands-on video report earlier today to show what the Touch Diamond looks like in a better context than a photo on a white background.

In the video I talk a little about the Touch Diamond's design (this is HTC's attempt to compete head-on with the iPhone) and more importantly, its TouchFLO 3D user interface. Now this slick Windows Mobile 'skin' has been widely criticised for being slow and HTC recently released a ROM update intended to fix it. So is Touch FLO 3D any snappier as a result? In a word, no...

An MSI Wind-a-like has turned up on PC World's website sporting an identical chassis and near identical specs. 

Customers are reporting that the only difference between the own-brand Advent 4211 and the MSI Wind is the battery. That and the price - a full £70 cheaper than the Wind U100!

At £279 with Windows XP it could be the bargain 10in UMPC of choice - especially as Asus's competing 10-incher, the Eee PC 1000, is also expected to be well over £300.

We've a full review of the MSI Wind here, and will be getting our hands on the Advent in a few days. Meanwhile click through for the full specs:

One week from today (11 July), the iPhone 3G will launch worldwide. In the UK the carrier will be O2, and it is offering a choice of tariffs – both monthly-subscription contracts and pay-as-you-go (PAYG). We know in fine detail the pricing of the various subscription plans and, thanks to an apparent cock-up last week by an O2 employee, we also have a good idea what the PAYG charges will be.

So why is O2 still being so coy about its PAYG plans? What is preventing the company from confirming (or indeed denying) the details of the leaked pricing structure? It’s not like such details pose a threat to national security, after all.

Well, because it’s a slow news day, we put in a call to O2 to see if it would finally admit that the pricing information was accurate. Its intriguing response is after the jump.