Smartphones

Samsung gave us a lot of look at the GSMA World Congress and we've rolled them up here in a Samsung slide show. The company unveiled a long list of handsets, with the star attraction being the new Samsung Soul. As the company's "flagship product" for 2008, the Soul offers a sleek slider design (not that Samsung gives us much else these days) and a unique navigation touchpad with icons that change depending on the feature you're using. We gave it a test run, and it seemed to work pretty well, though a thorough shakedown … Read more

Google's Android platform has emerged as one of the sleeper hits of the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona. Though it exists only in prototype, show attendees are flocking to the Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and ARM booths were demos are available. The TI booth was was packed to the gills when I passed by, so I headed to the ARM booth instead. There, I got a short demonstration of a prototype. As my colleague Maggie Reardon reports, there's not a lot to say at this point. The welcome screen featured a plain black background with a series of generic … Read more

New phones are flying at us from all angles at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, and Samsung has added to the line-up with a range of handsets aimed at both the chic and the cheap. The G400 joins the E251 alongside the ladylike L310, L320 and L170, plus there's the no-frills J150 and J700.

First up in this smorgasbord of Samsungs is the all-metal, all-folding G400, with a tagline of "Dual Touch Chic." This refers to the two touch screens that control this phone. The inner QVGA screen displays up to 262,000 colors on its 56mm (… Read more

The folks at Sony Ericsson were pretty strict about letting us try out the interface of the new XPERIA X1, but we were still able to get close enough to have a few good impressions. (See more photos here.)

Sony Ericsson has always been pretty hot when it comes to handset design, and the X1 is no exception. Looking at it, you forget that this is a Windows Mobile PDA-phone because, very often, the products in that category are pretty clunky. The keypad slides out at an angle, and the keys look pretty well spaced-out for typing.

While the "… Read more

Almost every U.S. T-Mobile customer wants to know when the carrier will be activating its 3G network. After all, it is the only major carrier in the United States not to offer 3G. Though it has slowly begun introducing 3G-capable handsets, the carrier has remained maddeningly vague on when the service will activate.

But a news conference at the GSMA World Congress, T-Mobile CEO Hamid Akhavan dropped a few hints. When I asked him when the magic day will come, he didn't give an exact date but he did promise it would happen by this summer. Akhavan said … Read more

Hey, go take a walk, why don't ya? That is, with Nokia Maps 2.0. Nokia announced at GSMA 2008 that its newest version of the mapping and software application is now available in beta form, and it brings a number of enhancements, including more advanced pedestrian navigation. This makes complete sense to me, given that cell phones and smartphones make for better handheld navigators than in-car GPS. Of course, I realize not everyone lives in a place where you can walk to your destination, but for those who do, the new features of Nokia Maps 2.0 are … Read more

At GSMA 2008 Mobile World Congress, Microsoft announced that its MSN Direct services is now available on Windows Mobile devices. A technology preview allows you to get instant, at-a-glance updates on weather, top news stories, stock updates, sports scores, and more. The service will also automatically refresh the content so you have the latest information. You can download the free technology preview in one of two ways: by pointing your mobile Web browser to http://phone.msndirect.com or by downloading the MSN Direct client to your PC, then synchronizing it with your mobile device. Just be aware that using … Read more

LG Electronics wasn't just about flash and touch screen phones at GSMA Mobile World Congress this year. The company also launched the LG KT610, a Symbian smartphone with integrated GPS to meet the needs of its business customers. The KT610 sports a candy-bar-style form factor that opens up to reveal a 2.4-inch screen and full QWERTY keyboard. There's also a small display and alphanumeric keypad on the exterior of the phone. Inside, the machine is running Symbian OS 9.2 (S60 3rd Edition) and is HSDPA capable. Push e-mail, a full Web browser, and multimedia capabilities are … Read more

HTC just made its smartphone/mobile computer/Frankenstein device, the HTC Advantage, even more powerful with an update that brings more memory, new software, and an improved keyboard.

Introduced at GSMA, the HTC Advantage (X7510) now includes the TouchFlo software (a la HTC Touch) for easier scrolling of e-mails and Web pages. Plus, it will boast a new Today screen, based on a new version of the Windows Mobile operating system, with one-touch access to messages, calendar, and contacts.

While the interface enhancements sound great, we're more excited at the mention of the new operating system. The Advantage X7510 … Read more