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Nokia may have announced a dismal earnings report this week, but two of its latest N-series phones have cleared the Federal Communications Commission. The Nokia N9, as you may remember, showed a bizarre twist in the company's Windows Phone 7 plans by sporting the latest version of the MeeGo OS. The N5, on the other hand, is a Symbian-based smartphone, and probably won't land at a U.S. carrier. Also on the list are the previously mentioned HTC Puccini Tablet, the BlackBerry Bold Touch, and the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro.

Because the FCC has to certify every phone … Read more

Almost three months after it shelved a controversial cell phone radiation law, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is keeping the issue alive, but adopting a different strategy for doing so.

At its meeting tomorrow, the board will vote on amended legislation that would require retailers in the city to post informational notices on radiofrequency (RF) exposure and offer fact sheets to consumers that request them. Proposed by Supervisor John Avalos, the revamped "Right to Ordinance" won unanimous approval last week from the board's City Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee.

An Avalos spokeswoman told CNET that the … Read more

It was a busy week of new reviews, so it was only today that we had time to peruse the Federal Communications Commission's database of new phones. The list was long, but we pulled together the highlights below. Sony Ericsson and RIM had a lot to offer, with two handsets each. We saw the Xperia Ray, which Sony Ericsson announced last month, and a BlackBerry Torch 2. LG also came through with the MS910 Bryce for MetroPCS, and Huawei offered the Sonic for T-Mobile, which shows that the company is making further inroads to a major U.S. carrier. … Read more

Ever since the upcoming smartphone grabbed the spotlight at CES in early January, the tech press has been waiting for the Motorola Droid Bionic to make its official debut with Verizon Wireless. Armed with 4G (LTE) support and a dual-core processor, the handset had a lot to like and (at least for the time) it offered features that we'd never seen before. Verizon and Moto made initial promises of a second-quarter launch, but as of last Thursday that window has passed. And now we're getting word that the Android smartphone might finally go on sale in late early August. … Read more

Editors' note: This is the third of a three-part series on issues related to cell phone radiation. Revisit Tuesday's story on the inconclusive state of research on cell phone radiation, and Thursday's story about the trouble with federal safety standards, or click here for a roundup of related coverage.

When my sister--a mother of four--was shopping for a new cell phone last summer, she wanted to know: what's the safest cell phone in terms of radiation?

At first, I simply directed her to CNET's Quick Guide: Cell phone radiation levels, which shows the specific absorption rate, … Read more

Editors' note: This is the second of a three-part series on issues related to cell phone radiation. Revisit Tuesday's story on the inconclusive state of research on cell phone radiation, look for Monday's story on what consumers can do to reduce their radiation exposure, or click here for a roundup of related coverage.

Steve Filippone, a 65-year-old New Jersey resident who sells indoor air filter equipment, is concerned about what his cell phone could do to his body. That's why he recently downloaded an app from a company called Tawkon that estimates the amount of cell phone … Read more

Editors' note: Updated June 1, 2011.

We do a lot of top products lists here at CNET, and manufacturers are usually pretty excited to see their products on those lists. But this is one "top" list that manufacturers probably aren't too thrilled to find their products on.

As we note in our intro to the list, for a phone to pass FCC certification and be sold in the United States, its maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe, the level is capped at 2 watts per kilogram, whereas Canada allows … Read more

Throughout my seven years of reviewing cell phones and covering the wireless industry for CNET, the issue of a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer has surfaced every few months. And as my colleague Marguerite Reardon explains in her comprehensive feature, the debate isn't going away anytime soon. Indeed, research abounds on the subject, and there are plenty of voices on both sides. Some say there's nothing to worry about, and others recommend proceeding with care.

One voice on the cautionary side is Dr. Devra Davis, the author of the 2010 book "Disconnect: The Truth about Cell Phone Radiation, What the Industry Has Done to Hide it and How to Protect Your Family." An epidemiologist and environmental health researcher, Davis is a founding director of the toxicology and environmental studies board of the National Academy of Sciences and founder of the Environmental Health Trust. Davis argues that cell phone use can have very real effects on health, and that cancer is only part of the story.

A few months ago, I interviewed Dr. Davis after reading her book. Though I can tell you a lot about cell phones, I'm not a scientist, and frankly, I wasn't very good at science in school. Yet, I approached the subject with a genuine curiosity, and I was glad to see that Davis breaks down her arguments in a manner that's easy to follow. The material is accessible and digestible, even if it's a bit scattered in places. And though the book's title is over the top, Davis takes a more measured tone inside. She's no alarmist, but she forcefully advocates that more research is needed. And while she does use a cell phone regularly, she also suggests that cell phone users take small steps to reduce radio frequency (RF) energy.

Q: What is the one thing that you want readers to take away from your book? Davis: If we fail to pay attention to experimental evidence, we're treating people as subjects in an experiment with no controls. And if we say that we'll accept that cell phone radiation is harmful only when we have enough sick or dead people, then we're dooming three generations to illness.

The chapter that I think is most important is the one that discusses the effects on male reproductive health. A phone in a pocket may be linked to lower sperm count. This is not a confirmed association, but I've talked to several urologists who have begun to advise men that they should not keep the phone in their pocket if they're concerned about libido or impotence. That's not to say that they're the cause of impotence; like everything else in health, it's multifactorial and there can be multiple explanations.

How did you first become interested in this issue? Davis: About six years ago my grandson was born. I saw the incredible enthusiasm he had toward a cell phone, and I began to wonder about its safety. Later, I worked for Dr. Ronald Herbermann at the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh. I was stunned by what I found. … Read more

The strange tale of San Francisco's "Right to Know" ordinance finally came to an end last week when city officials permanently shelved the legislation in its current form. Indeed, it was a quiet end to a groundbreaking law that drew not only worldwide interest, but also the fervent opposition of the wireless industry.

Passed almost a year ago, the ordinance would have required cell phone retailers to display a cell phone's Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) at the point of sale and make available consumer information materials on cell phone radiation. The law (PDF) was the first … Read more