Who's up for some quality time with the Bell version of the Samsung Omnia II? Howard Chui (for whom the infamous Howard Forums are named) takes us through a 10-minute unboxing of the 3.7-inch, 800MHz behemoth. His side-by-side with the Original Omnia is night and day -- you just can't beat that AMOLED screen. We're still not totally sold on Touchwiz II (though it's certainly better than Touchwiz I), but we do like having different UIs to choose from. Peep the video after the break. [Howard Chui via wmpoweruser]

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Yeah, you read that right. Not the iPhone. Not the Pre. Not a BlackBerry. Not that newfangled Droid. A Windows Mobile phone is the official phone of the 2010 Winter Olympics. And not just any phone, the Samsung Omnia II with its AMOLED screen and 800MHz processor, Windows Mobile 6.5 and all the trimmings. Not bad, eh? [Press release via Unwired View]

Let it never be said (at least today, anyway) that we forget about our Canadian brethren. The Boy Genius Report has it that the Samsung Omnia II (see our hands-on) will be available on the Bell network for $349.95 on the standard 3-year deal or $549.95 outright. This coincides with Bell launching its HSDPA network, so you'll have fast data speeds to go along with the Omnia II's fast processor. Huzzah.

It's been speculated for a while now that the Samsung Omnia would be coming to Canada on the Bell network. And that's now about as official as it gets, with the Omnia appearing on Sammy's Canadian Web site.

In case you need a reminder, here's what our neighbors to the north will be getting:

• CDMA with EVDO Rev. A
• Windows Mobile 6.1
• 240x400 touchscreen (that never ceases to stop looking weird)
• 5.0MP camera
• 8 gigs of on-board storage, upgradeable to 16
• 128 megs of RAM

And if that's still not enough, check out our own hardware and software hands-on videos of the Omnia.

Mobile Syrup via IntoMobile

Good news for our Canadian cousins who've been waiting for a Samsung Omnia. The Boy Genius Report says that Bell will launch the keyboardless phone the second week of April. No word on pricing.

And if you need more info on the Omnia, be sure to check out our hardware and software hands-on videos.

Congratulations, Canada. As we here in the U.S. continue to wait on a CDMA Palm Treo Pro, you get it on Bell. [via] Adding insult to injury, you can pick it up for a mere $99 after the standard three-year contract.

So those of us in the states will continue to wait for the Treo Pro on Sprint, and hope that those reported RAM issues will get cleared up soonest. Now, on the total speculation side: We can't help but notice that flag button staring us in the face. Anyone want to guess whether the Treo Pro will get the upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5 later this year?

In the Further Adventures of the HTC Touch Pro, Canadian carrier Bell has launched its CDMA version [via] for $239 (Canadian) with the standard three-year contract. (That extra year has something to do with the metric system, we think.)

Actually, you get another $50 off with new service, brining the price of the phone down to a very respectable $189 (again, Canadian), even with the extra 365 days of servitude.

That's all well and good. But here's our thing:

We're all aware that there are two flavors of CDMA Touch Pro floating around out there. Sprint, Alltel and now Bell have one — the Sprint version — and Verizon's on the other side.

The question remains: Why? Until the Verizon Touch Pro is officially released, and that should be pretty soon, the speculation will have to continue.

Hit up any of the above links, and listen to the most recent WM Experts Podcast (about 14:30 in), for our takes the speculated discrepancies, be they processor lawsuit, keyboard style or just your basic Verizon lockdown.

Update: Telus has it for $299ca after rebate. Thanks rileyfreeman!