The first word from AT&T concerning the Samsung Captivate suggested we’d have to wait a few months to get our hands on it. Well, it looks like “the coming months” has been updated to July – July 18th to be exact.  That’s the day that AT&T Mobility will release the Captivate, the carrier’s first top-tier Android phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S variant will sell for $200 with a two-year service agreement, and will require a data plan (DataPlus costs $15 per month for 200MB of data useage); the price is at checkout, no rebate required.

Of course, third party retailers will almost certainly begin offering the Captivate for less shortly after the handset is released, so if you’re looking to spend less on the new AT&T Android phone, we’ll post other retailers’ prices once they’re available.

Learn more about the AT&T Samsung SGH-i897 Captivate…

Although AT&T appears to have stopped selling the Samsung Epix smartphone – it no longer appears as an available option on the Shop section of their web site – a Windows Mobile 6.5 update for the Messenger class handset has been released.

The update flashes the ROM of the Epix with an updated version of the Windows Mobile Professional operating system.

The updater file along with installation instructions can be found here.

Remember that ROM updates clear a smartphone’s memory and return it to factory specs, so be sure to sync and backup your data before performing the update.

More AT&T Android news.  The iPhone carrier will release its first 1GHz Android OS-powered smartphone, the Samsung Captivate, “in the coming months.”

The announcement came today via an AT&T Mobility press release, without any price or availability details.  However, the carrier did give us some important information about its first high-end Android phone. 

Essentially a Galaxy S, the Samsung Captivate is powered by a 1GHz Hummingbird CPU (Samsung’s Snapdragon alternative), features a 4-inch AMOLED touchscreen display, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 7.2Mbps HSPA 3G mobile data connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, a 5MP camera with 720p HD video recording, and 16GB of “expandable memory.”

We’ll keep you posted.

It’s been months since we updated you on the HTC Desire, a Snapdragon-powered Android OS smartphone originally thought to be headed to AT&T.  That may still be the case, though a home at AT&T is as yet unconfirmed. What is confirmed is that the Desire is indeed headed for the U.S.

We’ve just received word from an HTC PR rep that the Desire will arrive in the United States “via select regional operators beginning this August.”  It’s currently unclear what exactly is meant by “regional operators,” but if the Desire remains a GSM/UMTS handset when it arrives stateside, it’ll have to come via AT&T, T-Mobile or a similar network.

This year is gearing up to be a good one if you’re an AT&T customer looking for Android-powered phones.  The thus-far-Android-shy carrier will be supporting and/or selling at least two top-tier Android handsets within the next few months.

First, Google will launch an AT&T 3G-friendly version of the Nexus One later this year.  And as if that weren’t enough for Android fans, new information suggests the wireless carrier will also launch its own version of the HTC Desire in or around June.

The Desire is a recently-announced Nexus One sibling powered by the same 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. Other features include a 3.7” AMOLED touchscreen, 576MB of RAM, GPS, a 5MP autofocus camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Android 2.1.

Because of its close relationship with Apple, AT&T remains the only one of the major four U.S. wireless carriers to not offer Android phones to its customers.  That will change on March 7, when AT&T launches the CLIQ variant, the Motorola Backflip.