There have been lots of new mobile phones being announced over the last few weeks in the ramp up to the holiday shopping season. Samsung and Alltel have announced a new device that will be an Alltel exclusive called the Freeform.

The Freeform is a bar style phone with a four row QWERTY keyboard. The device will come in teal or burgundy colors and features a music player, stereo Bluetooth and multiple messaging features. The handset is GPS-enabled and can have up to 16GB of memory.

RIM makes some of the hottest smartphones out there with its line of Blackberry devices. The Blackberry is popular with business users and consumers alike and is one of the best selling smartphone lines in the world.

Alltel has announced that the Blackberry Tour is now available on its network and can be picked up in all retail stores and online. At the time of this writing, the device isn’t on their website. The handset supports the Alltel 3G network and works on 3G networks around the world.

When it comes to smartphone most of them have the same bar or PDA style form factor. Those preferring to use a clamshell style phone don’t have many options with the current crop of smartphones. Clamshells are preferred by some people because they are more compact.

Alltel has announced that the Blackberry Pearl Flip 8230 handset will be available on its network starting in early May. The handset is a full Blackberry smartphone with the clamshell style and a SureType QWERTY keyboard underneath.

When the PDA was the popular gadget to have, Palm was one of the most popular electronics makers around. After the demise of the PDA and the rise of the smartphone, Palm jumped into the smartphone business, but never proved as popular in the phone market as it was in the PDA realm with most users. Today Palm offers a line of smartphones including the Treo Pro that offer nice features.

Alltel Wireless has announced that it is now offering the Treo Pro smartphone as of today online and in retail stores. Alltel has beat Sprint to the punch with the Treo Pro, Sprint isn’t launching the smartphone until March 15.

I know many people who don’t care for smartphones, but send tons of text messages and email. For those people what they want is a phone that offers up a nice keyboard and is aimed at messaging. Alltel has introduced a new handset perfect for this crowd.

Alltel has announced that it is now offering the Motorola Hint. The Hint has features text fans will appreciate like a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a nicely sized 2.5-inch display. Dimensions of the phone are compact and it weighs only 4.23 ounces.

The LG Swift is another handset from Alltel Wireless. It earned it’s name due to the Fastap Press-to-Experience keys that make for faster composition of text messages. It combines six one-touch, easy-access keys with a standard alphanumeric keypad, giving you quick access to services and apps. Other specs include: External music controls, Alltel Navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, 1.3 megapixel camera, Up to 3 hours talk time. Alltell is offering the LG Swift for $49.99 with a 2-year contract.

The Samsung Hue II (SCH-r600) isn’t on Alltel’s website yet, but it looks like it also is on sale today too. The Hue II comes with changeable faceplates in a variety of colors. Some specs: A 2.2 inch internal display, Music player with external controls, GPS, Bluetooth, Email, 2MP camera with video recording, 54MB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot.

Users who are on the road a lot or find themselves out and about with their notebooks frequently are always on the lookout for hotspots for work and play. Alltel announced today that it was teaming up with Boingo Wireless to offer customers access to more than 25000 hotspots around the country.

The service is called Alltel Wi-Fi and can be purchased by anyone in the US as a standalone offer with unlimited Wi-Fi access for $19.99 a month or $3.99 per day with no contract. Alltel’s Wi-Fi plan also includes service in 100 airports across the nation.

Alltel Wireless and Motorola today announced the beginning of sales of a new music phone with an exclusive feature. The Motorola MOTOROKR Z6m is priced at around $130 after a new contract and rebate.

The Motorola MOTOROKR Z6m, making use of Alltel “Celltop” technology to access and organize information available on the phone, is loaded with an exclusive XM Radio Mobile cell. It delivers 20 channels of XM and costs around $8 a month. The Z6m is designed as well to be a music playing mobile, allowing up to 2GB of optional removable memory and support for audio formats like MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA.