Smartphones

SAN FRANCISCO--Nokia took aim at smartphone rival Research in Motion Tuesday with plans to expand the number of devices that will automatically be capable of accessing Microsoft corporate e-mail.

On the eve of the CTIA I.T. & Entertainment tradeshow here, Nokia announced it will embed Microsoft Exchange Activesync on all Nokia phones that use the S60 Symbian operating system. As a result, 43 different models of Nokia phones will have easy access to Microsoft corporate email. Nokia will also add the Microsoft Exchange support to all new N-Series and E-Series phones that hit the market in the future.

Until … Read more

While the fall CTIA show isn't really known for handset announcements, Research in Motion paid no mind and started the show off with a bang by introducing the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 on Tuesday night. While much of the attention has turned to the rumored BlackBerry Thunder as of late, the Pearl Flip 8220 shouldn't be forgotten, as it's the first BlackBerry to sport a clamshell design.

The flip phone, which comes in black or red, measures 3.9-inches high by 1.9-inches wide by 0.6-inch deep and weighs 3.5 ounces. It features a … Read more

DeviceAnywhere, a global provider of end-to-end solutions for the mobile development, announced Tuesday its support for the iPhone 3G. This doesn't mean much for the average consumer, but this is good news for developers.

DeviceAnywhere is a service that lets developers access about 1,500 different mobile devices located throughout the world in real time. They can interact with the devices to ensure all development, porting, testing, and monitoring needs are met.

The service offers complete control over the devices as if they were in your hand. This is a solution that lets developers create software with different or … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Mainstream U.S. wireless-phone subscribers are finally using the mobile Web, and everyone from handset makers to mobile operators to application developers to advertisers is gearing up to get a piece of the action.

The growing trend is likely to be a hot topic at the CTIA's Wireless IT & Entertainment trade show, which kicks off Wednesday and runs through Friday at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

The show, which follows the industry's big gathering in the spring, is expected to attract more than 15,000 attendees, with some 250 companies exhibiting at the show.

The fall CTIA is really a show with dual personalities: one catering to a corporate information technology crowd and the other geared toward entertainment and advertising executives. This mix makes pulling out one central theme a bit of a challenge. But if a theme does exist at this year's show, it's likely that the mobile Web is finally taking off in the United States.

Out of the more than 255 million mobile-phone users in the States, more than 40 million actively use their handsets to surf the Web, according to Nielsen Mobile, which provides consumer research on the telecommunications and mobile-media markets. Nielsen analysts say the mobile Internet has hit a critical mass in the States, but it still has a lot of growth ahead of it.

Growth in the mobile Web is largely being fueled by faster networks. The major domestic cell phone operators have mostly completed building their 3G networks, with the exception of T-Mobile USA. And some, such as Sprint Nextel, are already moving on to a fourth-generation network.

As the 3G network footprints expand, and 4G services come online, users will get an even better surfing experience on their phones, which will lead to more adoption.

Craig McCaw, chairman of new nationwide WiMax network Clearwire, will be one of several speakers taking the stage Wednesday. Clearwire announced earlier this year that it's merging with Sprint Nextel's WiMax division. The venture has gained financial backing from major cable companies, as well as from Google and Intel. McCaw will likely give an update on the planned acquisition and talk about how his company has been growing its current WiMax service.

While faster networks are necessary to spur mobile Web usage, it's not the only element that's important to drive adoption. New multimedia and Web-capable phones that can operate on these faster networks are needed, as are new applications. To spur faster adoption, carriers have been talking about opening up their networks to get new devices and services on their networks more quickly.

During the opening keynote on Wednesday, CEOs from three of the top four wireless operators in the country will talk about how they are making their networks more open. Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon Wireless; Robert Dotson, CEO of T-Mobile USA; and Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel will sit down together in a panel discussion.

Also on Wednesday, Marco Boerries, executive vice president of Connected Life at Yahoo, will take the stage for a keynote address to talk about Yahoo's mobile initiatives. Although it's still early to call the major players, Yahoo has been positioning itself as a dominant player in the mobile market. Its Yahoo Mail is the most used site on the mobile Web, with 14 million unique visitors a month as of May 2008, according to Nielsen Mobile.… Read more

While we're expecting to see the HTC Touch Pro land at Sprint or Verizon Wireless (thanks FCC) later this year, it might just be that the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is also headed to AT&T. According to Engadget Mobile, a cached Google page revealed a teaser for the Touch Pro on the carrier's Web site.

Rebranded as HTC Fuze, the smartphone could be the replacement for the aging AT&T Tilt, shipping with the latest operating system out of the box and of course, sporting a fresh design. At first glance, the HTC Fuze … Read more

It's September, and that means it's time for the fall version of the CTIA wireless trade show. Thankfully, the CTIA fall show in 2008 will be right in our backyard at Moscone West in San Francisco, so we won't have far to travel. My colleagues Bonnie Cha and Kent German will be on hand to give you the low-down on the latest handsets, News.com's Maggie Reardon and Tom Krazit will be reporting on mobile news, and Download.com's Jessica Dolcourt will give you the scoop on all the latest software and applications for mobile. … Read more

While the official announcement wasn't supposed to cross the wires till next week, The Wall Street Journal went early with its story (please don't get me started on this) and published a review of the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

Yes, that's right. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is officially part of the Sprint family; not that it was a complete surprise. The HTC Touch Diamond, as well as the HTC Touch Pro (no announcement on this model yet), were long rumored for a CDMA carrier months before Wednesday's early coming-out party. So now that the floodgates are open, here is what we know.

There are a number of differences between the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and the unlocked version we reviewed in late June. First, it sports a purple/burgundy backplate to add more flash to an already sexy phone. The smartphone is also a smidge thicker and heavier at 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep and 4.1 ounces, but keeps the same 2.8-inch, 262,000-color TFT touch screen.

Of course, one of the highlights of the HTC Touch Diamond is the TouchFLO 3D interface, which provides a toolbar along the bottom of the screen where you can move left to right with the swipe of your finger to launch applications. Sprint's version is optimized so that you can access things like live TV, weather, e-mail, photos, contacts, and more.

In addition to the toolbar, there are several programs, such as e-mail, the camera, and music, where you can go flip through your files and messages by swiping your thumb/finger up or down the screen with a cool animated 3D effect.

Moving on to the features, the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, but rather than being content with the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the smartphone also ships with Dataviz's Documents to Go Suite and the Opera Web browser. We're sure many will be pleased with inclusion of these applications, which are arguably more robust than the former. Wireless options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (with A2DP support), EV-DO Rev. A, and GPS with support for Sprint Navigation. … Read more

A new Moto smartphone joined the Motorola Q9h in AT&T's lineup on Thursday. The Motorola Q Global is largely like the Q9h except it ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition and comes with a pinstripe design and metallic silver casing.

We're glad that some things remain the same as the smartphone continues to offer HSDPA support, integrated GPS, and Bluetooth. In addition, rather than the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the Q Global comes preloaded with the DataViz Documents to Go Suite and Opera Web browser.

Other highlights include support for Good Mobile Messaging … Read more

I finally got my iPhone 3G. Love it, hate it, this is all getting old. However, one of the things I do really notice is that although the phone seems very sturdy and scratch-resistant, it attracts fingerprints and shows sweat stains easily. I have the black model and it looks dirty all the time.

For this reason, the Power Support Air Jacket for iPhone3G caught my attention Thursday. It's one of hundreds of jackets you can buy for the new iPhone, but with one unique attribute: it's very thin (merely 1mm thick), and see-through. This means your iPhone … Read more