LEAK: EVO 4G GETTING GINGERBREAD FRIDAY JUNE 6TH

After Sprint's website snafu outing its Android 2.3 intentions for the EVO 4G, sources uncovered evidence that points to June 6th as its release date. Better yet, if you're willing to manually check for its availability, you might even find a happy surprise this Friday.

In addition to Gingerbread, users will find SMS and Gmail fixes, along with a tweak to the phone's power management software. Hopefully you've got WiMAX, because this update is coming over-the-air.

AT&T DROPS UNLIMITED SMS REQUIREMENT FOR MESSAGING PHONES

AT&T has dropped its requirement that all customers purchasing “quick messaging devices” — or QMDs for short – subscribe to an unlimited texting plan. According to Fierce Wireless, AT&T implemented the rule in January 2010 before quietly discontinuing it sometime in February of this year. The unlimited texting plan was priced at $20 per month, and while it’s no longer mandatory, AT&T does recommend that customers purchasing a messaging feature phone continue to sign up for an unlimited plan. AT&T’s portfolio of QMDs includes the Samsung Strive, LG VU Plus, Pantech Impact, and Samsung Solstice II, among others. AT&T subscribers can also opt for a cheaper $10 monthly plan that provides just 1,000 text messages per month.

FACEBOOK ANNOUNCED FACEBOOK MESSAGES

Facebook announced Messages today. Facebook Messages incorporate email, Facebook messages, SMS, other chat clients. Eventually VoIP may also be in play. Instead of having some chats here and some texts there, every time you talk to someone it'll be come part of a stream of information.

And while you can collect it all at an @facebook.com email address, it's not mandatory. You can redirect your Gmail messages there, for instance. And yes, an iPhone app update is coming shortly that incorporates Facebook Messages.

Notable differences from regular email? There are no subject lines, no CC or BCC. You can send a message just by hitting the Enter key. It's going to feel like chat. A lot of times, it's going to be chat.

There will also be a threading solution, which records every type of contact you've had with a person in one place. It's a one-stop conversation shop, a way to tell the full story of a conversation.

Facebook will also introduce the Social Inbox, which sorts your personal messages, prioritizing notes from friends and setting aside people you aren't as close with. This is the killer function: as a default, you'll only see messages from your friends (and friends of friends). Junk—from people who are outside of your Facebook circle—will go into a separate folder. And you can move people from one folder to the other (which is nice for those of us whose family doesn't have Facebook). You can also choose to actively bounce any email that's not from a friend. [Gizmodo]

SKYPE 5 FOR WINDOWS RELEASED, BRINGS THE FACEBOOK

Skype 5.0 for Windows has been released.  The interface has been cleaned up and a new Facebook tab has appeared.  When the user logs into Facebook in Skype, the regular news feeds populate but also attaches Skype call and/or SMS buttons to those that have numbers listed in their profile.  Click the button and you are connected to that person.  You can add pictures to your contacts and don't forget about that 10-way calling feature.  Skype also has incorporated the call reconnect feature which reconnects dropped calls.  Click the download link to grab the new Skype. [Engadget]  [Download Skype 5.0]