Phones

CTIA 2006 cream of the crop: Where are they now?

In the cell phone world, few trade shows are bigger than the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) show held twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The spring event is the bigger of the two, and this year, it'll be in Orlando, Florida. At the 2006 CTIA in Las Vegas last year, we chose several products that we thought would be a big hit. Now, a year later, let's see how well our picks did.

Coolest phone: Sony Ericsson K790a Our initial impression: "...It's attractively designed in a sleek candy bar package. But … Read more

CTIA 2007 preview

Spring is in the air and here at CNET we turn to thoughts of cell phones. Every year in early spring the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) throws its premier cell phone trade show of the year. As the biggest (and we mean big) mobile gathering in the United States the CTIA show bursts at the seams with the latest and greatest in cell phones, smart phones, accessories, and services. And this year CTIA returns to the South with a show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, March 27-29. I'll be there along with CNET editors … Read more

Phone of gold, diamond from the desert

Over-the-top phones are the province of no particular region, but this one is appropriate at least because it comes from a country that's immediately associated with luxury: the United Arab Emirates. Dubai-based Touchmate has created a mobile phone in gold or silver finish with a crown-jewel diamond from, of course, Swarovski.

Other than its casing, which features a floral pattern on the back, the "Diamond Cam Mobile" seems fairly ordinary with a 1.3-megapixel camera, color screen and 128MB of memory, according to Gearfuse. But Touchmate begs to differ, boasting that its TM-M800 handset is "the … Read more

Pharos GPS Phone gets official

Today, Pharos announced the official availability of its Pharos GPS Phone , which we covered back in January. You'll have a choice of two flavors: the Pharos GPS Phone 600 ($699.95) and the Pharos GPS Phone 600E ($599.95). The difference between the two is that the 600 ships with maps of the North America and Pharos' Ostia Navigation, while the 600E does not. Umm, we'll wait till we've finished our official road tests to give the final verdict on the Pharos GPS phone, but as I said in my earlier blog, I just can't imagine … Read more

Cigarette phone packs real smokes

We'd think this was a gag gift were it not coming from Asia, which is notorious for its nicotine-addicted societies. A Chinese company is marketing a working GSM phone that, according to Gearfuse, actually holds a half-pack of real cigarettes in a case on the back of the handset. The phone itself has a camera, color display and MP3 compatibility. And if you're willing to spring $175, you can get the "luxurious VIP kit," which includes a lighter and pack of Chonghwa smokes, as well as the phone, in a commemorative box.

Software updates coming to a Sidekick 3 near you

Attention T-Mobile Sidekick 3 owners! There are changes coming to your precious little messaging device, and you're not going to know when or how they will happen, but they're coming.

Have we freaked you out a little? Well, don't worry. These changes are a good thing.

Starting today, T-Mobile is sending out over-the-air software updates (Release 3.4) that will bring a number of new features to the device. The four most noteworthy enhancements are as follows:

MyFaves support: This service gives you unlimited calling to five contacts. You can choose any five U.S. numbers, regardless … Read more

China may get solar phone next month

China isn't exactly known for its environmental sensitivities, so we were somewhat surprised to hear that it could be the source of one of the first mass-market solar phones. Then again, if there's a chance for a successful new industry, Chinese entrepreneurs are likely to be somewhere nearby.

Shenzhen-based HTW Electronics says it will introduce a mobile phone in China next month that's essentially covered with solar cells that charge its battery, according to Mobility Site and Unwired View. The handset needs to be exposed to direct sunlight to absorb the solar energy effectively--not ideal for phones … Read more

Can a phone really be gender-specific?

Trends are a funny thing in technology. Even when major changes are under way, such as the convergence of phones and media players, companies will grasp onto old notions like grim death.

Case in point: the Philips 598, a so-called music phone that Slashphone says was created particularly for female consumers. The supposedly gender-specific features: "women's diary and calendar, buying list, discounts manager, price table, personal card info, body weight index and basal metabolic rate measurement." So are we to believe that shopping, more shopping and dieting compose most of a woman's day?

Even when the … Read more

Ringtone roundup

Each week, Crave tracks the most popular ringtones.

The Gym Class Heroes continue their surge up the charts as their delightful "Cupid's Chokehold" has broke into the top five of Billboard's ringtone chart. The alternative hip-hoppers saw their song rocket from number 19 to six last week, and it moved up to the fourth-hottest ringtone this week.

Chris Brown's "Poppin'" remains at the top of the list, and is once again followed by Buckcherry's "Crazy B****" and Rascal Flatts' "What Hurts the Most."

Since I've been tracking ringtones, … Read more

Protect your delicate skin from those mean, nasty cell phone rays

Anti-aging products are everywhere. Most of them merit nary the blink of an eye on Crave, as we choose to focus on personal technology, not personal vanity. Sometimes, however, the two intersect. We recently read on Textually that the French cosmetic company Clarins has launched a new product specifically geared toward protecting one's skin from the effects of cell phone radiation. Really? I knew cell phones gave you brain tumors and killed sperm, but apparently now they can give you wrinkles, too. In other words, your Prada phone might be killing that youthful glow! Quel horreur!

But never fear. … Read more