Cell phones

In their long history together, LG and Verizon Wireless have given us more than their share of quality handsets. From high-end handsets like the LG Chocolate Touch to simple models like the VX5400, we've been mostly pleased with what we've seen. The new LG Accolade VX5600 is closer to the latter, but it also meets with our approval.

It's not our pick for a camera phone, but it has an easy-to-use design, good performance, and a feature set that focuses on the essentials. And at $50 with service, or free online with an additional discount, it's … Read more

Based on recent leaks, a pair of HTC handsets, the Supersonic and Incredible, appear all but ready to ship. The Google Android smartphones have appeared in the wild and they look like final products.

A handful of pictures of the Incredible trickled out early last week from a Twitter user known as DevDroid. As you can see in the image, the handset is black with red accents. Though the color scheme doesn't resemble anything else HTC has done lately, it does have an air of Verizon Wireless about it. According to rumors, the Incredible runs Android 2.1 with … Read more

Dubbed as a handset for blue- and white-collar workers, Sprint took the wraps off its latest Nextel Direct Connect device, the Motorola i890.

The i890 offers the standard Direct Connect push-to-talk features as well as Group Connect, Direct Talk, Direct Send, and Next Mail. In addition, you get a 2-megapixel camera with fixed focus, 4x digital zoom, and video-recording capabilities. Not just for work, the Moto i890 also touts a built-in MP3 player, external media controls, and stereo Bluetooth.

Unlike some of the clunkier Nextel devices, the i890 has a sleek clamshell design (3.9 inches tall by 1.98 … Read more

AT&T sprang into action on Monday and introduced a quartet of new Quick Messaging phones as well as a set of services designed to bring smartphone-like experiences to mass-market phones.

These services will first debut on the Samsung Strive (see below) and include three tools: AT&T Address Book, AT&T Mobile Share, and next-generation messaging. The latter simply brings a reply-all feature to text messaging, enabling users to respond to up to 10 contacts at once, while AT&T Address Book allows you to sync and back up your phone's contacts to an … Read more

Sadly, the U.S. is often behind the times when it comes to handsets and mobile technology. Our European and Asian brethren usually get first dibs on all the cool gear, and sometimes, we won't even see it at all. Sure, we can get some of the fancier Sony Ericsson and HTC phones unlocked, but few U.S. carriers actually pick them up. Still, some of the phones do support U.S. bands, so that's an upside. Take a look at our slideshow of phones you can't get from a U.S. carrier to drool over and … Read more

For its Xperia X10 smartphones, Sony Ericsson designed a new user interface from scratch. Called the User Experience Platform (or UXP), it sits on top of the Android OS for the Xperia X10, X10 Mini, and X10 Mini Pro.

Last week, Nicole Lee and I took an in-depth tour of UXP with George Arriola, Sony Ericsson's head of human interface design, at the company's lab in San Francisco. On the whole, we liked what we saw. UXP is clean, easy to use, and attractive, and we like that it lets the basic Android framework shine through.

For the … Read more

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

It wasn't so long ago that the cell phone world was just transitioning to 3G technology. But now, just as we're getting settled, the ever-restless industry is moving on again. Fourth-generation technology, or 4G, is gaining traction and carriers are promising even faster data speeds.

So what is 4G? To start, think of wireless technology as a family that gets faster with each generation. Second-generation (2G) networks were faster than the original first-generation wireless technology; third-generation (3G) is faster than 2G; and 4G is faster than 3G. Speed is important for data transmission (not so much for voice) because a faster network lets you do more with your phone. The 3G networks that we use today allow us to stream video, download music tracks and other large files, and surf the Web on full HTML browsers. Think of it like moving from a dial-up Internet connection to cable or DSL--suddenly you could do more with your computer and do it faster.

That's why it's easiest to think of 4G not in terms of what it is, but rather in terms of what it can do. While 3G offers data speeds of about 1.5 to 2 megabits per second (Mbps), 4G will double that--and it could go even faster. It's important to remember, however, that promises are just that. As any iPhone user can tell you, 3G speeds can vary widely in everyday use, so 4G performance won't always be perfect.… Read more

Cricket Wireless has just introduced a brand new basic phone in its lineup, the Samsung Stunt. The phone is identical to the Samsung Stunt that launched with MetroPCS not too long ago. Though it's pretty basic, it does offer a few niceties like Bluetooth and voice command. The price is rather nice as well--it's $99.99 without a contract.

If the Samsung Trill looks familiar, we don't blame you. It is almost the spitting image of the Samsung Trance from Verizon Wireless, except for the navigation keys. The Trill is also from U.S. Cellular, so it won't benefit from the Verizon V Cast Music service. Still, it's a pretty good music phone thanks to its affiliation with Bang & Olufsen. It has 3D surround sound technology and we have to say, it offers good music for a relatively simple phone. It also has a 3.5mm headset jack, stereo Bluetooth, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. … Read more