Hey, kids. How’s it going today? The fun doesn’t seem to want to end for me at CTIA, which is great for you, folks. I sat down with Sony Ericsson and they showed me a slew of devices that made me drool. It’s been quite a while since I lusted over any SE device, T68 ring a bell? So to see the K850, W910, Z750 and W960 in person was a real treat. Let the visual feast begin. → Read More
Here’s a sneak peek at the Rumor, which I’m told arrived yesterday to the folks at Sprint. We’ll have a full review in the coming weeks. It’s tiny, feels so good in my hands and has a great keyboard. Nice job, LG. → Read More
I’m so thankful I found something worthwhile from this trip to San Francisco. Behold the N810 Internet tablet. It’s awesome. A very nice form factor that makes the N800 look like a fatty, fat, fat, fat. I wants it, too. → Read More
I won’t lie. This phone is hot. I want it. I must have it. The babes will flock rather than run like they normally do. Yes, I know I cracked jokes about the Luxury Edition earlier, but it’s such a sexy piece of hardware. The faux snake skin isn’t half bad and the diamond-cut plating is well done. I really, really want it and it sort of makes me sick to my stomach. → Read More
Ok, folks, I’ve been wandering aimlessly for the last few hours and don’t have much to show for it. There isn’t much in terms of hardware (Blackjack II was the biggest announcement) unless you get your rocks off on external modems. There aren’t even any booth babes! It’s mostly apps touting a new way to view your e-mail, watch TV, get on MySpace or something else just… → Read More
Available the first half of next year, Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 will allow IT departments to remotely administer mobile phones, allowing them to do cool tricks like "turn off a phone’s camera and prevent the use of unauthorized messaging services." For the end user, it’ll be similar to how you’re able to connect to your workplace PC… → Read More
Morning sports fans, I’ll be hopping over to the Moscone in a bit to bring you all the joys from CTIA. Strap in and keep all arms and legs inside the vehicle, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. → Read More
I’ve just returned from Seoul, S. Korea and now I’m in San Francisco to cover CTIA next week. If anyone is interested in grabbing a drink and talking gadgets or you have some products to show then drop me a line, peter ha at crunchgear dot com. → Read More
Viacom announced today that MTV Networks, BET Networks and Paramount Pictures have made significant changes to each of their mobile portfolios and they’ll soon be taking over the world. OK, I made the latter of that up, but they are trying to gain a bigger presence in the mobile content market. MTV Networks already provides Sprint with VOD (video on demand) content that includes MTV, Country… → Read More
The Philips Xenium NRG — apparently Zorbiantium SPRFLY was already taken — is the first “commercial” mobile phone to use Techitium’s BackuPower system which allows phone users to add a little AAA battery to a phone to get a bit more juice without charging. The old fella at their booth wouldn’t let me take pictures, but it basically looks like a white Walkman… → Read More
In a conference with Cingular/AT&T about their new service, Video Share, a mobile-to-mobile video chat service reminiscient of video chat in Europe. The service is rolling out this summer. The best part? They’re partnering with WWE and Napster for some video and music hotness. Also, we’ll be seeing a new phone from Apple – something called the iPhone – officially… → Read More
BlueAnt has a few hot devices out this CTIA. The first is the Supertooth Light, a $99 car system with mini microphone and comparatively easy set up. The Supertooth mounts to your sun visor and lasts 15 hours of talk time or 800 hours of standby, which means it can hang out up there until the next presidential administration. → Read More
The MoGo Headset got a little buzz last month and now it looks like it’s reaching that important shipping stage. This headset is a mere 5 millimeters (440 kilometers or .333 yards) thick and there are plans — plans, mind you — to embed them into handsets themselves where they nestle, quietly, recharging. Best of all? The press CD came with this sassy photo of the Lady of MoGo, a… → Read More
Sony Ericsson’s first HSDPA-enabled phone is set to hit our shores Q3. The Z750 clamshell will also be SE’s first mobile phone to feature the next-generation Java umbrella standard, Mobile Services Architecture. The new Java platform will support instant messaging, all facets of mobile banking, which leads me to believe that AT&T will be the carrier of choice. Who cares about all that… → Read More
I don’t usually get excited about headsets, but the Plantronics Pulsar series has produced a few strong stereo headsets and the 260 is the latest of the bunch. The headset comes with noise-isolating earbuds and a tiny little Bluetooth dongle with microphone. The headset will sell form $109.95 and includes inline answer buttons and fast forward/rewind buttons right on the unit. It also has an… → Read More
and I am glad to say that the Ocean is all that and a bag of chips. The device is smaller than a Sidekick 3 and has a number of unique features including GPS photo tagging, consolidated messaging and IM support, and an amazingly easy to use browser and UI. This is a sea change in the MVNO space, friends. Helio has gotten messaging for the masses right and is gunning for Sidekick fans. The phone… → Read More
This shine doesn’t have the “I can kill you with this thing” styling of the Korean LG Shine, but I suppose thin is in here across the pond and clearly that’s where LG is headed. This diminutive CDMA clamshell is pretty styling with punched metal buttons and brushed metal stylin’. Is it good for the road warrior. Nah. Would I kick it out of bed for eating toffee? → Read More
With CTIA in full effect and John full of Captain Morgan, phones are being released and announced every few seconds it seems. The latest batch includes two new LG clamshell-style phones: the VX-8700 and LX-570. The VX-8700 is part of the “Shine” series of phones LG has been working on and includes EV-DO, a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, microSD, and all that jazz. It also has… → Read More
I popped by Synaptics today, just on a whim, and was lucky to catch the LG Prada in its native habitat: lying, unloved, on a table. All that was missing was a credit card and some blow and we’d have an image of the phone’s true future milieu. But I digress. → Read More
What do you get when you meld Second Life with mobile ad serving with Japanese teenagers? eXplo. Read the rest at MobileCrunch… → Read More
One stand-out device I saw this evening was the Kyocera E5000, an oddly shaped cellie with a fluid, sexy aesthetic. No real info yet, but really the draw is the design. Look at that odd hinge. Look at the chrome. Sex in a clamshell, correct? Best of all, we got the hot scoop on a new U.S. carrier, Carrier Logo. It seems Kyocera is making this phone just for them and we’ll hound them all day… → Read More
Didn’t get a good shot of this UMPC under glass but it was quite small and promising. I’ve pretty much given up on UMPCs as a mainstream set of devices, but bless HTC for making a go of it again. This wee one has wireless, a 7-inch touchscreen, and supports WAN like UMTS and GSM. We’ll grabs some better photos when they take it out of its cryogenic case. → Read More
I was lucky to get my hands on the Samsung UpStage this evening and saw a mobile music phone with enough of a draw to warrant even, maybe, potentially, downloading from a mobile music store. Clearly the real draw here is the idea that you can literally turn the phone into a dedicated music player instead of relying on a half-assed piece of music playing software. In the flesh, the phone is quite… → Read More
Though BlueAnt is calling this a speakerphone, it’s just a full-duplex, high-performance speaker. Well, not just a full-duplex, high-performance speaker of course, but the Supertooth Light is for hands-free use of your Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices (up to five can be simultaneously paired with the unit). The $99 Supertooth Light features Clear Voice Capture and Digital Signal Processor… → Read More
on their site. The site offers a limited number of products at a deep discount. The Smack Auction reduces the price over time, but only until supplies run out. If you don’t buy before they’re out, you’re stuck. The key is to time it and buy just before you hit that magic, hidden number. The fine folks at Jellyfish are planning to offer phones and laptops at a considerable… → Read More
We’ve been seeing rumors of the Sprint UpStage aka the flippy Samsung M620 phone with a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other and now have word that it’s going to be called the UpStage and will be available come CTIA. We’ll probably have some good hands-on action with this in Florida, but from my experience with it in South Korea, I can say that the form factor is… → Read More
I’m off to Sunny Orlando tomorrow to check out CTIA for CG and MobileCrunch. If you’re in town for the show, drop me a line a john at crunchgear dot com or call me at 6468270591 for some red-hot cellphone conference drinking action. Otherwise, look for oodles of coverage next week and, with any luck, no downtimes. → Read More
on their site. The site offers a limited number of products at a deep discount. The Smack Auction reduces the price over time, but only until supplies run out. If you don’t buy before they’re out, you’re stuck. The key is to time it and buy just before you hit that magic, hidden number. The fine folks at Jellyfish are planning to offer phones and laptops at a considerable… → Read More
on their site. The site offers a limited number of products at a deep discount. The Smack Auction reduces the price over time, but only until supplies run out. If you don’t buy before they’re out, you’re stuck. The key is to time it and buy just before you hit that magic, hidden number. The fine folks at Jellyfish are planning to offer phones and laptops at a considerable… → Read More
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