CTIA 2008: Day 2 wrap-up

Day two of CTIA 2008 is over, and it was quite a breather compared with day one. Our feet actually did not hurt at the end of the day! Here are some highlights from day two of the show.

Nokia kicks off the day by announcing two new basic CDMA/AWS handsets: the Nokia 1606 and the 3606, both of which are probably set for the entry-level to midtier market. Next, Senior Editor Kent German talks up the Samsung Alias, which we knew about before, but was officially trotted out at CTIA.

Sanyo also put out a few new devices, namely the Pro-200 and Pro-700, both are push-to-talk phones using Sprint's QChat service. It also introduced the Katana LX, which promises to be a shinier successor to the Katana II, plus it has a translucent OLED display. UTStarcom snuck in with a new basic handset as well--the CDM7126 is a AWS capable phone that will be available to both Cricket and MetroPCS in different designs.

On the smartphone front, rumors swirled around a phone that's not even at the show. Senior Editor Bonnie Cha waxed about the potential BlackBerry 9000 as well as a GPS-equipped BlackBerry Pearl 8110. And, as far as movie tie-ins go, the only product of that nature is the Iron Man branded LG Shine, which is clad with, we kid you not, a solid 18 karat gold battery cover. It won't be available for retail, and will only be available to a select few who are lucky enough to win it via movie-related contests. Which is fine, because we probably won't be able to afford it anyway.

In other news, Yahoo unveiled an upgrade to its OneSearch product, which CNET Download.com editor Jessica Dolcourt had the pleasure of trying out. Also, Vodafone CEO tells us something we already know--that the mobile Internet is for real and that consumers want it--not just some dumbed down version of the Web.

After the big Samsung Instinct announcement yesterday, Kent German wondered if the Instinct can truly take on the iPhone's dominance, and we invite you to chime in to provide your thoughts.

Rounding out the second day are SMS 2.0 (the capability to text in color), cell phones you can't have, and a pair of cute Samsung speakers. Stay tuned tomorrow as we try to wrap things up and let you know what we thought was the cream of the crop.