ctia

Do non-iPad tablets stand a chance?

NEW ORLEANS--A year ago, tablets were on the rise, and the industry forecast looked promising for expanding a market that Apple essentially pioneered. So why aren't non-iOS tablets doing better? That's the question posed at CTIA 2012 by All Things D's Walt Mossberg, who moderated a panel exploring the topic.

"Here we sit in May 2012, and it's still heavily an iPad world in tablets," Mossberg said, suggesting that Android tablets (and presumably Windows Phone and BlackBerry tablets, too) are hitting a dead end.… Read more

HTC gives cold shoulder to 3D phones at CTIA

NEW ORLEANS---It feels like August in New York down in the Big Easy, but as far as HTC's concerned there's still a lot of frost to go around. All the cool breezes though are blowing toward the future of 3D technology on smartphones. … Read more

Mozilla CEO pushes for HTML 5 over mobile apps

NEW ORLEANS--Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs believes that mobile users want more choice and are ready to be freed from the shackles of app ecosystems.

Speaking today at the CTIA show here, Kovacs said that just like consumers moved from the walled garden of AOL when the Internet first went commercial, they are now ready to move from the walls erected by Apple and others in the app market places. He said that new standards, such as HTML 5, will help set mobile subscribers free.

"In the early days of AOL we were within their walls," he said. "… Read more

Sprint phones get smarter about Wi-Fi, battery usage

NEW ORLEANS--Many Sprint Nextel customers aren't proactive enough when it comes to taking advantage of speedy, power-efficient Wi-Fi networks, but the company is aiming to change that.

Sprint has been quietly rolling out an "intelligent client" called the Sprint connection optimizer designed to help phones locate and remember Wi-Fi networks. The software, which has already been rolled out to the original Samsung Epic, is making its way through the various smartphones via an over-the-air software update.

While Wi-Fi clients and assistants aren't exactly new, they are typically used by the more tech-savvy crowd. Fared Adib, head … Read more

Sprint runs through shutdown of Nextel iDEN network

NEW ORLEANS--Sprint Nextel is preparing to bid adieu to the Nextel side of the business.

Sprint executives today ran through its Network Vision upgrade plan, which includes the decommissioning of its Nextel iDEN network. The company has already shut down 1,900 cellular sites and plans to turn off 9,600 sites by the end of the third quarter, Bob Azzi, senior vice president for networks at the company, said here today. The entire network will go dark by the middle of the second half of next year, he added.

By shutting down its Nextel network, Sprint can reuse the … Read more

Sprint's Tri-Fi Hotspot will do LTE, WiMax, 3G on May 18

NEW ORLEANS--Sprint has gone to great length to explain to its investors and the press how it's consolidating its various network technologies into one. Its latest 4G hot spot is a perfect example of the concept in practice.

The 4G LTE Tri-Fi Hotspot, made by Sierra Wireless, will support three of Sprint's data networks: 4G LTE, 4G WiMax, and 3G.

I got my first glimpse of the Tri-Fi Hotspot a few months back at CES, and despite all the jokes I cracked about a data three-way, it isn't a very sexy device if you're not looking … Read more

HTC Evo 4G LTE shipping May 18 for $199.99

NEW ORLEANS--Mark your calendars for May 18, Sprint customers. That's the day that the HTC Evo 4G LTE goes on sale for just about $200 with a new, two-year contract.

If you didn't preorder the device on May 7, you'll have about a week to make your move with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone.

A variant of the CNET Editor's Choice winner HTC One X, the Evo 4G LTE features a 4.7-inch HD display, a dual-core Qualcomm Snaprdragon S4 processor, an 8-megapixel camera, Beats audio integration, and HTC Sense 4.0.

Sprint'… Read more

Cricket Wireless plans to launch 10 phones by October

NEW ORLEANS--Cricket's booth was a still, calm field of familiar phones here at CTIA, but come summer, things will be chirping once more for the prepaid carrier.

Between July 31 and October, Cricket plans to launch "upwards of 10 devices," according to Cricket spokesman Greg Lund. You can bet a fair number of them will feature the all-you-can-download Muve Music plan.… Read more

Want a global LTE phone? Clearwire may have the answer

NEW ORLEANS--Clearwire, often seen in the industry as the odd duck of the wireless providers, may actually be on the unlikely path to offering a globally compatible device.

At least that's what CEO Erik Prusch believes. With major carriers in China, India, and Europe supporting the same spectrum band and variant of LTE, it's possible that a phone running on Clearwire can hop on to international networks with little fuss.

The advent of LTE was supposed to bring a universal standard to carriers. But the wide variety of technology standards and different spectrums has left the carriers as … Read more

Wide range of new smartphones kick off CTIA day 1

NEW ORLEANS---The steady drumbeat of mobile phone news picked up tempo today at CTIA. Matching the rising temperatures in the Big Easy, hot handsets were unveiled or shown to us for the first time.

We also laid our hands on interesting mobile security solutions and on a collection of compelling accessories. Read on for some highlights of what the CNET gang uncovered on site. … Read more