Smartphones

Editors' note: This post was updated January 7, 2011, with new phones.

LAS VEGAS--CES doesn't begin for two days, but we know already that new 4G phones will take center stage at the annual gadget fest in Las Vegas. Sprint beat its rivals to the punch by announcing the HTC Evo Shift 4G this morning, but T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless will have grand unveiling events of their own. It's a good thing, too, considering that U.S. carriers now can really refer to their networks as "4G."

We'll be watching Big Red particularly closely … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Samsung seems to be the only camera manufacturer really pushing forward with Wi-Fi in its cameras. It's launched a handful of wireless-enabled models over the past couple years, but they've been mysteriously hard to come by, so I haven't been able to review one. Hopefully that will change with the SH100.

The camera has built-in 802.11n wireless that can be used for connecting to your Wi-Fi network for automatic backups or viewing on DLNA-equipped devices; connect to other Samsung Wi-Fi cameras for sharing; connect to hot spots including those provided by Boingo (an account comes … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Merely a formality at this point, what with all the leaks and all, Sprint officially introduced the HTC Evo Shift 4G on Tuesday along with a new MiFi 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot from Novatel Wireless.

The HTC Evo Shift 4G will be available starting January 9 for $149.99 with a two-year contract. It's the third 4G smartphone for Sprint, behind the HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Epic 4G, and offers mobile hot-spot capabilities (for up to eight devices), a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a 3.6-inch capacitive touch screen.

The handset will ship running Android 2.2 … Read more

More and more signs are pointing to the HTC Evo Shift 4G's imminent release. The Android-based smartphone has already received FCC approval, then there was the Radio Shack advert, and now Wal-Mart has gone ahead an published a full product page on its Web site.

The page provides numerous images (see below) and a full list of specs, though it looks like it needs a bit of editing since it notes both a 3.7-inch display and 4.3-inch screen. Based on Wal-Mart's information, the Sprint-bound Epic Shift 4G will run Android 2.2 and feature an 8-megapixel camera, WiMax, and 1GB of internal memory with an 8GB microSD card preinstalled.

Pricing and availability date were not published by Wal-Mart, but Radio Shack's ad listed the phone as being available on January 9 for $149.99.… Read more

Verizon Wireless will use this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas as the coming out party for its 4G wireless network.

While many people have been crossing their fingers for news of a Verizon iPhone at CES, the big news from Verizon will likely be the company's announcement of several new 4G wireless products, including at least four handsets and a tablet PC, all using Google's Android operating system.

The carrier, which is the largest wireless operator in the U.S. in terms of subscribers, launched its highly anticipated 4G wireless network in December. But for … Read more

Chip sales have been a lot healthier lately than they were amid the downturn of 2009.

Semiconductor sales around the world hit $26 billion in November, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Though that's a slight decline of 0.9 percent from October, it's a hefty increase of 14.4 percent from November 2009 when sales were $22.7 billion.

For the entire year through November, sales jumped 34 percent to reach $271.8 billion, up from $202.8 billion for the same period in 2009.

"Despite continuing macroeconomic uncertainty, the semiconductor industry is slated to … Read more

TV maker Vizio is entering the smartphone and tablet business.

The company said today it will launch the Via Phone and Via Tablet, both of which will feature Google's Android operating system, Vizio's Via Plus technology to offer a unified interface across different devices, and an infrared blaster with a universal remote control app that can control Vizio TVs and other devices.

With a 1GHz processor and a 4-inch high-resolution touch screen, the Via Phone will offer 801.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, a MicroSD card slot, and HDMI output to play video on an TV. The phone … Read more

Samsung has sold 10 million Galaxy S smartphones since their launch in June, according to the company.

That means the Korean phone maker has reached its sales target for the Android-based phones, the company said yesterday in an e-mail to Bloomberg. The phones also helped Samsung boost overall sales and earnings for the third quarter.

Samsung hopes to double smartphone sales this year, driven by both the Galaxy S and the new Nexus S, according to Bloomberg.

Breaking down the results, the company sold more than 4 million Galaxy S devices in North America, around 2.5 million across Europe, … Read more

It's that time of year again.

In a few short days gadget makers, buyers, sellers, and those of us that pay very close attention to the industry, will be colonizing Las Vegas to see what sort of tech wonders await us for the coming year at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show.

When asking the people who spend every January schlepping between the massive Las Vegas Convention Center and other points along the Strip what to expect at this year's show, most will tell you they expect this year's show to be more "evolutionary" in nature. … Read more