Dialed In

Dialed In 83: iPhone 3G S, Palm Pre, and more

This is one of our busiest weeks of the year, with the announcement of a new iPhone, the launch of the Palm Pre, and so much more, which makes this show one of our longest yet.

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News WWDC iPhone 3G S First Take iPhone OS 3.0 revisted All things Pre T-Mobile HTC Magic to be called myTouch 3G? $700 for Nokia's new phone. Are they nuts? Casio Exilim C721 is one tough camera phone Sony Ericsson announces C901, Naite "GreenHeart" phones … Read more

The 411: Read the fine print

Welcome to the 411, my Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

Hi, I currently have a samsung Instinct with Sprint and I qualify for an upgrade in July. I was looking at upgrading … Read more

Dialed In 82: LG, Sony Ericsson kick off summer of cell phones

June is here and, as expected, the flood of cell phone and smartphone news has already begun. LG and Sony Ericsson kick it off with a handful of new phones and GreatCall releases a new Jitterbug model. Plus, we give a preview of what we might see at WWDC 2009, and oh yeah, there's a little thing called the Palm Pre being released on Saturday. Get all the info here on Dialed In Episode 82.

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Rumor of the week WWDC preview

News Verizon releases LG enV3, enV Touch, Glance … Read more

Dialed In 81: AT&T speeds up (or at least promises to do so)

It's never dull in cell phone land, and this week is no exception. As we gear up for the June 6 release of the Palm Pre and the start of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, there is much more to talk about.

Bonnie, for one, has amassed a roundup of AT&T smartphone rumors and gives her take on whether Sony Ericsson will adopt Android. Nicole chimes in with some Samsung Jitterbug news and Kent catches us up on AT&T's 3G expansion, Nokia's Ovi Store, and a possible release date for the new iPhone. … Read more

The 411: Waiting for the Pre

Welcome to the 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

I am currently have an old Samsung phone and am with Sprint. I also have a Palm Zire and a 4gig iPod. I'd like to combine them if possible and stay with Sprint. The phone part is most important. Next comes an organizer/calendar and then a web browser. The MP3 player is really secondary. I'm leaning toward a keyboard as opposed to a touch screen. I've been looking at the Pre and some of the BlackBerrys and I keep hearing a rumor that Sprint is going to come out with the BlackBerry 9630 (Niagara). Do you have any suggestions? -- David, via e-mail.

Since you're familiar with Palm, you might want to consider giving the Palm Pre a shot. It's a different operating system from the older Palms--WebOS instead of Palm OS--but it seems to fit your requirements, and since you're already with Sprint, there's no need to worry about service transfer. Of course we can't tell if the Pre is any good or not yet, but if you can wait around until the second week of June, I definitely suggest doing so. BlackBerrys are also a good option, and I've also heard the same rumor about the BlackBerry 9630, but since I've heard positive things about the Pre's Web browser and media player, I would suggest waiting to see how the Pre shakes out before making a decision.… Read more

Dialed In 80: Busy summer ahead

This summer will be extremely busy for all of us here at CNET. Not only is the Palm Pre coming in June, but we're expecting iPhone news at WWDC, a new Nokia N97 for North America, the LG enV3 and enV Touch, and more. Phew! We discuss all that, go over our weekly reviews, and answer your questions, too.

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Rumors of the week BlackBerry Storm 2 could hit as early as June Rumor: Nokia N97 NAM to launch June 2

News On Call: A summer of cell phones … Read more

On Call: A summer of cell phones

Update at Wednesday, May 20 at 10:00 a.m. PST: A few readers have asked about the North America version of the Nokia N97. It should launch June 2.

Though summer is always a busy time for new cell phones releases, so far the summer of 2009 is shaping up to be a doozy. We expect a full load of new handsets over the next three months with June being an especially hectic time for high-profile models. To help you keep track of the news, here's a handy list.

Palm Pre After months of waiting (and plenty of rumors), we finally learned today that the Palm Pre will go on sale Saturday, June 6 for $200. Palm pushed its "first half of the year" deadline to the very end, but it appears they'll make it.

We're hoping to have a review unit by the time it hits stores so that we can give you the full scoop on this much-anticipated device. Indeed, we're very excited to finally be able to touch it. June 6 was a bit unexpected since Sprint typically releases new devices on a Sunday. But the date does give Palm a two-day jump on what should be the next incarnation of the iPhone. … Read more

Dialed In 79: Bring on the Android phones

This week, we take a break from the Palm Pre (well, almost) and talk about other happenings in the cell phone world, including new rumors of Google Android devices and the not-so-shocking news that the Garmin Nuvifone is delayed again. Also, we tackle what feels like a gazillion Samsung phones and oh boy, Kent's not too happy with Alltel. Find out why on this episode of Dialed In. Happy early birthday, Nicole!

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The 411: Dumb phones and calendar syncing

Welcome to the 411, my new Q&A column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have the same questions, too. At times, I might solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.

Maybe you can help. I'm not supertechy. I'm a mom who loves her Palm Pilot, but it's dying on me. I recently bought an LG Vu, and I love it. Problem: I simply want to phase out my Palm and put my calendar and phone book into my LG Vu. I would like to store it in the computer, just in case I lose or break my phone, then I won't lose my whole calendar. Can this be done? I'm reading conflicting things. I'm a working mom, so I'm too busy to use the I phone and get e-mails all day. I just want one device to use as a phone, store about 300 numbers, and use as a calendar...and I want to back it up on the computer. Please offer any words of wisdom if you could. -- Shirley, via e-mail

I already answered this on Dialed In, our weekly cell phone podcast, but I wanted to repost it here in case anyone has a solution to Shirley's question. As far as I know, there's no way to sync up the calendar on the LG Vu with the calendar on the computer--the LG Vu is not a smartphone, and is just not meant for that kind of personal information management. The only thing I can think of is to get a new phone with calendar syncing capabilities--since you're already a Palm Pilot user, you might be comfortable with the Palm Centro, which has the same operating system as the Pilot. If any of our readers have a better solution, please let us know. Thanks!… Read more