smartphone

Photos: Smartphones of CTIA Fall 2008

While the fall CTIA show has never been known for big handset announcements, 2008 brought a number of debuts, including a handful of smartphones. From the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 and the HTC Touch Pro to the Velocity 103, check out all the new models in our photo gallery.

Fall CTIA 2008 smartphones gallery

AT&T beefs up location-based services and A-GPS network

GPS and cell phone integration is an increasing trend as more handsets come equipped with the technology and location-based services get more advanced. AT&T, it seems, is particularly committed to the idea.

At CTIA Fall 2008, the carrier announced that it has deployed assisted GPS technology (A-GPS) to its network to speed up the time it takes a GPS-enabled mobile to get a fix on a user's location by using cell tower triangulation.

In addition to the A-GPS network, AT&T also revealed that it will launch several new location-based services to give its customer a … Read more

Peek e-mail device for sale now at $99

It was supposed to start selling at Target stores on Monday, but Peek decided to get things started a little early. The e-mail-only device, called the Peek, appeared Thursday on the start-up's Web site.

And it looks like it was a smart idea. Silicon Alley Insider notes that two of the three colors already appear to be sold out. (That would be black cherry, and aqua blue, though boring old gray, er, "charcoal gray," looks like it's still in stock.)

We've already gone over what we think the limitations of the Peek are (see CNET … Read more

RIM announces 'lifestyle' apps for BlackBerry

SAN FRANCISCO--In what looks like an attempt to compete toe-to-toe with Apple's iPhone, Research in Motion announced a slew of new integrated application deals on Thursday to make its e-mail-optimized smartphone more appealing to consumers.

E-mail was the killer application that catapulted RIM's BlackBerry device into near cult status in the corporate world. And now the company is trying to win the hearts and minds of consumers, not only with new phones--like the flip-style Pearl 8220, which was announced on Wednesday, or the BlackBerry Bold, which recently launched in the North American market--but it's also loading BlackBerry … Read more

TiVo control coming to BlackBerry

TiVo and Research In Motion are teaming up to enable BlackBerry users to remotely schedule recordings of TV shows on their digital video recorder, the companies announced Thursday.

Under the partnership, BlackBerry users will be able to use their smartphones to review television schedules and set their TiVo DVRs to record select television programming.

"TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone--anytime, anywhere--and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers," Jim Balsillie, Research In Motion co-CEO, said in … Read more

Roger that: Sprint intros push-to-talk RIM BlackBerry Curve 8350i

Along with a number of other handset announcements, Sprint and Research in Motion introduced the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8350i at CTIA Fall 2008 on Wednesday. This should be particularly sweet news for Nextel Direct Connect users, who haven't seen a new BlackBerry model since the RIM BlackBerry 7100i, which was introduced back in 2006.

There's plenty more good news. In addition to supporting the iDEN network for use with Direct Connect and Group Connect push-to-talk services, the BlackBerry Curve 8350i also features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and GPS. The smartphone will run the latest BlackBerry OS 4.6 … Read more

Dialed In 48: CTIA's in town

On this week's show, we're joined by special guest CNET News Reporter Maggie Reardon, who is in town for CTIA Fall 2008. We discuss all the latest news and announcements from the show, including the debut of the HTC Touch Pro, LG Lotus, and RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220. Plus, we talk about everyone's obsession with text messaging and why the U.S. carriers keep jacking up the prices. Stop it already! Listen now: Download today's podcast News Full coverage of CTIA Fall 2008

Fixes coming for iPhone 3G

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 gets September launch date, but not in U.S.

Why? Why must you tease, Sony Ericsson? On Wednesday, the cell phone manufacturer announced an official launch date for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, but only for certain markets. Naturally, North America is not one of the lucky ones. No, only the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden will be able to get their hands on the hot Xperia X1 come September 30, while the rest of us admire from afar and continue to wait it out.

Sony Ericsson did say that the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone will make its way to other markets across Europe, Asia, and Latin America … Read more

Sprint first to offer HTC Touch Pro

Unlike last week's slip up, Sprint managed to keep this bit of news under wraps and announced on the opening day of CTIA Fall 2008 that it will offer the HTC Touch Pro starting October 19. The ultimate replacement for the Sprint HTC Mogul, the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone will go for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates.

The Touch Pro is similar to the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint but has three major differences: 1) the smartphone features a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard; 2) it has expandable memory; and 3) the 3.2-megapixel camera … Read more