smartphone

This post was updated at 1:06 p.m. PST with the stock's closing price and comments from an interview with Elevation Partners Roger McNamee.

Christmas came early for Palm.

The struggling handset maker announced Monday that investor Elevation Partners has agreed to infuse Palm with an additional $100 million, in a move designed to provide a boost to its new product launches in 2009.

Shares of Palm soared on the announcement, rising as high as 49 percent in intraday trading Monday to $3.71 a share. And by the time the regular session ended, Palm finished the day … Read more

Good 'ol T-Mobile is in a giving mood this holiday season. On Thursday, the carrier announced that it has eliminated the $18 handset upgrade fee for its customers. It applies to all cell phones and smartphones offered by carrier, including T-Mobile G1, and doesn't matter whether you're upgrading your handset in stores or online. To be clear, this is not part of a holiday promotion and there is no specified end date. T-Mobile said it's the company's way of thanking its loyal customers, and we say cheers to that.

Join us for our last Dialed In podcast of 2009. In addition to the latest reviews and cell phone news, we'll give you a preview of Macworld and CES. See you in 2009!

Listen now: Download today's podcast… Read more

Though many people dread the approach of the holidays, I relish them. And it's not because I have a thing for eggnog (except when it's served with brandy). Rather, the arrival of December means the end of the very busy fall phone season. Between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, most manufacturers release a torrent of new phones in preparation for the holiday-shopping season. Though it's certainly interesting to see all the new models companies like Samsung, Nokia, and LG have to offer, following all those phones can be a little exhausting. Now, with CNET's holiday break just a week away, I have the time to reflect on what this year brought us in the world of cell phones. And be sure to tell me what you saw this year, as well.

iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1 Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't lead off with the two biggest phones of the year: the iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1. Though the 3G version didn't quite reach the stratospheric hype of its predecessor, buyers still stood in line at Apple and AT&T stores on its July 11 release date. And despite some well-publicized problems with dropped calls and shaky 3G connections, buyers still flocked to buy the iPhone; Apple sold 5 million handsets in the third quarter alone. Apple continues to add new features through software updates, and I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring. I just hope one of the new features is something basic like multimedia messaging. And speaking of Apple, MacWold 2009 is only a couple of weeks away. We may just see an iPhone Nano.… Read more

It's not quite the BlackBerry Curve 8900 (aka BlackBerry Javelin) everyone was hoping for but on Tuesday, AT&T added a new BlackBerry to its lineup: the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320. The smartphone, which comes in a sapphire blue color, is available for purchase now online and through the carrier's business sales channels for $149.99 with a two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate, but won't be in stores till early 2009.

A little late to the game but like the T-Mobile variant, the Curve 8320 for AT&T features integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b/… Read more

Hey, remember the Garmin Nuvifone? Yeah, I barely remember it either, but it's still kicking around and, in fact, the GPS-enabled smartphone just got FCC approval, bringing it one step closer to release.

According to FCC documents, the Nuvifone (strangely tagged as the "Calf" from Asus) will support North American 850/1900MHz 3G bands, which means AT&T customers would be feeling the HSDPA love on the Nuvifone and not T-Mobile, whose 3G network runs on the 1700/2100MHz bands.

The Nuvifone, which was announced almost a year ago, is the first smartphone for GPS manufacturer … Read more

It's been a while since Palm has caused a stir, but the company certainly has people talking with its planned January 8 CES event. As CNET News reporter Tom Krazit reported last week, it's expected that Palm will preview its new operating system, codenamed Nova, at CES 2009, and the rumors look to be true based on new information from a Business Week article.

According to Peter Burrows at Business Week, Palm will unveil Nova and the first of a family of products in Vegas, but it's not looking to go after the iPhone or BlackBerry. Instead, … Read more

First introduced at CTIA Fall 2008, the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8350i is finally available through Sprint. The Curve 8350i can be purchased online and through telesales now for $149.99 with a two-year contract; the smartphone will be in stores starting January 11. This is particularly good news for Nextel Direct Connect users, who haven't seen a new BlackBerry model since the RIM BlackBerry 7100i, which was introduced back in June 2006.

In addition to supporting the iDEN network for use with Direct Connect and Group Connect push-to-talk services, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, … Read more

As the holidays approach, we're thinking about more than gift shopping and spiking the eggnog; we're thinking about CES, which looms soon after New Year's Day. Though cell phones tend to play a supporting role at CES, I guarantee that we'll see a few new handsets debuting. Of course, Apple always shuns the event for its own Macworld--it runs the same week as CES--but most of the major players will be in Sin City. Since most announcements are shrouded in secrecy until the show opens, we don't have anything firm to report just yet. But … Read more