CTIA show

As CTIA comes to a close, we pause to select the best products from the show. The scene in Las Vegas was much quieter than in past years, and it lacked any high-profile announcements like the Palm Pre. But, there were a few products that deserve recognition as the Cream of the Crop from CTIA 2009.

Best phone: Samsung Impression

(Credit: Kent German/CNET)

For the third year in a row, Samsung takes the title of the best phone in CTIA. While the Samsung Impression can't quite compete with the hype of last year's Instinct or 2007's Upstage, it is the most practical of the three. And in a year where messaging phones were all the rage, it stands out in a crowded field as the one of the best-designed messaging phones we've seen in a while.

The keyboard is spacious and tactile, and while the handset isn't quite sexy, it has a pleasant, minimalist shape that feels nice in the hand. Yet the Impression's biggest draw is its gorgeous active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display. As Samsung promised, the display is positively brilliant with bright colors and vibrant graphics. Features are decent, even if they're not groundbreaking.

Inside you'll find a 3-megapixel camera, a full HTML browser, Bluetooth, Samsung's TouchWiz interface, 3G support with access to Cellular Video and AT&T Music, a personal organizer, AT&T Navigator, and a speakerphone. No, that won't knock your socks off; in fact, you might even see it as somewhat boring. But as we said before, the Impression's story is more about functional features and an intuitive design rather than flash and glam. And at a very quiet show, it deserves its prize. The Impression will be out soon with AT&T; we should have a review shortly.

For more on the Impression, see our photo gallery and video.

Best smartphone: HTC Snap

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

Aside from rising importance of applications, the other theme of CTIA 2009 was messaging. We saw a slew of new messaging devices debut at the show, and it extended to smartphones. While the Nokia E71x and Samsung Propel Pro were nice additions to AT&T's lineup, the HTC Snap stood out for its Inner Circle feature.

With a simple press of a button, Inner Circle brings e-mails from a preselected group of people to the top of your in-box so you can read and reply to them immediately. The capability isn't the wave of the future, but it does help prioritize your e-mails based on your preferences.

In addition, HTC, once again did a nice job on the design. The Snap is a beautifully constructed and sleek smartphone. The QWERTY keyboard also features good-size buttons for easy messaging. Finally, don't be fooled by its diminutive size, as it's packed with features, including Windows Mobile 6.1, push e-mail, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, and a 2-megapixel camera. We look forward to checking out the U.S. version of the Snap, the HTC S522, when it's released in the summer.

Nokia Messaging comes to the Nokia 5800 in May

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

In conjunction with the Web 2.0 Expo and shown in action at CTIA 2009, Nokia announced that it has added Windows Live Hotmail support to Nokia Messaging.

Nokia Messaging is a free, downloadable application that lets you access up to 10 personal e-mail accounts on a Nokia device, all of which organized under a single icon. The app also supports Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL Mail, among others.

In addition, the Hotmail integration, the company also said it will add Nokia Messaging support to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic starting in May. Currently, the app is available on 20 Nokia models worldwide, including the Nokia E71, Nokia E65, and Nokia N79, and will work on the upcoming Nokia E55, Nokia N97, and Nokia N86 8MP.

(Credit: DataViz)

DataViz announced on Thursday that it is now offering Documents to Go Standard Edition version 1.0 and a beta version of RoadSync through the Android Market. The two applications will give T-Mobile G1 and HTC Magic owners the capability, for the first time, to work with Microsoft Office documents and get support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

Documents to Go has long been available for Windows Mobile and Palm devices, but now Android users can finally have the capability of viewing, editing, and creating Word and Excel documents through the productivity suite. The suite's editing capabilities are vast, including support for track-changes, multiple zoom levels, bold, italics, underline, bulleted and numbered lists, embedded pictures, insert and delete rows and columns, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, save, and save as. You'll be able to use your smartphone's touch screen, trackball, and keypad to perform such tasks.

The app supports native Word and Excel files from Microsoft Office 97, 2000, X, XP, 2003, and 2007 for Windows (and 98, 2001, 2004, and 2008 for Macs), and files can be opened whether they are transferred via Bluetooth, USB, memory cards, or as an e-mail attachment.

More good news for the corporate set is the availability of RoadSync. Though available only in beta right now, the app finally brings direct push synchronization with Exchange Server 2003 and 2007, and the beta supports push e-mail, attachments, and contacts.

Both applications are available now through the Android Market. Documents to Go Standard Edition will be offered for a special introductory price of $19.99 (regularly $29.99), while RoadSync beta is available as a free download until May 31, 2009.

LG Lotus with ATSC Mobile TV

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

LG Voyager showing local TV

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

Aside from showing off its latest handsets, LG also took the opportunity at CTIA 2009 to demonstrate Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) mobile digital television on some of its phones. ATSC is the new digital television standard that is replacing NTSC, and LG has been helping to develop a mobile version of the standard in the form of embedded chips.

An LG Netbook that is connected to a USB dongle with ATSC reception.

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

At the show, LG incorporated these chips in the LG Lotus and the LG Voyager, and showed off live local TV on both handsets. There is no real service fee involved, since it's basically receiving the television signal over the airwaves like you would with a rabbit-ear antenna. Reception would depend on broadcasters, and whether they would allow a portion of the channel capacity to be dedicated to mobile viewers. Broadcasters have already announced that they intend to launch mobile DTV across 63 stations in 22 markets some time in the near future.

This isn't restricted to just cell phones, of course. There's hope that this will extend to a new generation of handheld TVs (most of the existing analog models were rendered useless due to the digital TV transition), personal media players, in-car television without the need for satellite, USB dongles for use with laptops or Netbooks, and more. It'll be interesting to see what this new standard will bring to the table.

At its CTIA booth Nokia showed a new camera phone application that will allow users to get information about an object. Point & Find is a downloadable app that uses real-time image processing and recognition technologies to access information related to books, movies, DVDs and similar media content.

Point & Find with the Nokia N95

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)

Though Nokia officially unveiled Point & Find back in San Francisco at the Web 2.0 conference, I got see a demonstration in Las Vegas. The Nokia rep pointed an N95 at a poster for the movie Ice Age 3. You don't actually have to take a photo--all you need to do is point the camera at the poster. Within seconds we were able to watch a trailer and get information about the flick. As Ice Age 3 won't be in theaters until this summer we weren't able to get read reviews or get local show times, but Point & Find promises such capability for current films.

Beyond media content, Point & Find also can read bar codes, and it will support GPS data and text-entry search. Though Point & Find is primarily a consumer application, companies will be able to use the technology to market specific products.

Once downloaded, Point & Find and the related content sit directly on the phone so there's no need to connect back to a server to access content for most objects. Nokia says it will offer frequent updates to keep the database current, though we imagine that not everything in the world will be captured.

During our demo, Point & Find appeared to be intuitive and responsive. Since it's not an NFC technology there's no need to capture a specific bar code-like image on the movie poster. As long as you can frame most of the poster, you should be good to go.

For now Point & Find is available on the Nokia N95 and Nokia N95 8GB phones, though Nokia says more supported handsets are on the way. On the upside, the initial download and updates are free to consumers.

Virgin Mobile

(Credit: Virgin Mobile)

Helio's influence on Virgin Mobile continues to grow, as Virgin Mobile just announced the availability of the "Connect" social-networking dashboard and Opera Mini 4.2 to its prepaid customers. These features were previously available on post-paid devices only, like the Helio handsets. They will launch later this month on devices like the Shuttle, the Jax, and the X-tc. Do note that you'll have to sign up for a monthly or prepaid data pack plan. The price ranges from $5 for 5MB of data on prepaid plans, to $10 for 50MB on a monthly plan.

The "Connect" social-networking dashboard is essentially a one-stop hub for many social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and YouTube. You log-in once and have access to all of these networks without needing to manage them separately. You can see things like status updates, new messages, new invitations, new photos and videos, and more. Virgin Mobile customers can also use Connect's integrated RSS reader to catch up on all their latest news feeds.

Opera Mini 4.2 might not be new to most of you, but it will be new for Virgin Mobile prepaid customers. It's a better browser than most standard proprietary ones, so we're glad to see this improvement. You can sync your bookmarks and view pages in landscape mode on certain devices.

As spring goes into full swing and April Fool's Day nears, the last event of the busy trade season is upon us. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association show (CTIA) is the nation's largest event dedicated to new cell phones, accessories, and services. This year it runs from April 1 through April 3 in Las Vegas.

Of course, a large CNET crew will be on-hand to bring you all the news from the show floor. On the Reviews side, I'll be in Vegas with Bonnie Cha and Nicole Lee. We'll bring you details on all the new handsets, and offer you lots of eye candy with photos and video. Nicole will also give you the dish on new Bluetooth headsets. Jessica Dolcourt of Download.com will scout out services, software, and applications, while Tom Krazit and Maggie Reardon of CNET News will bring you the latest news from the business side.

Though we're expecting a full show, we're also expecting that CTIA 2009 will be a little quieter than in past years. That has certainly been the case at the trade shows we've attended so far in 2009. At both CES and the GSMA World Congress, only a handful of new phones appeared on the show floor.

But don't worry, because if CTIA is anything like CES or GSMA, there will be plenty of cool gadgets on display. After all, CES gave us the Palm Pre and GSMA saw the birth of the Sony Ericsson Idou. In Las Vegas, the Palm Pre will be on display again, even if we're not expecting Sprint to announce a release date and pricing. And while Sony Ericsson will not be unveiling any new models, we will see new models from Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Kyocera, and HTC.

Most eyes at CTIA, however, will be on Android. Rumors persist that HTC will deliver a second Android device for T-Mobile. Neither HTC nor T-Mobile are saying anything, but just three days ago the Federal Communications Commission approved a version of the HTC Magic that supports T-Mobile's 3G network. Without a doubt, a new Android device would satisfy anxious Android fans who have been waiting for an alternative to the T-Mobile G1. We thought that GSMA would offer a gallery of Android devices, but a Magic bound for Vodafone was the only such device to make an appearance in Barcelona.

Whatever happens, the CNET team will be on-hand in Las Vegas to bring you the latest news and the hottest devices from CTIA. Just don't expect any iPhone news, please. Sure, we may see some iPhone apps, but Apple is always a no-show at CTIA. We land in Sin City on Tuesday, March 31 and will be reporting through the end of the week. Check back often for the latest updates.

Teen panel at CTIA Fall 2008

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CBS Interactive)

SAN FRANCISCO - Cell phones have become almost as important to American teens as the clothes they wear, according to a nationwide survey of teenagers released last week.

The wireless trade association CTIA and Harris Interactive surveyed some 2,000 teens across the country and learned that teens feel that cell phones have become a vital part of their identities. They also believe that they can gauge a peer's popularity or status by the phone he or she uses.

Findings of the survey were presented on Friday at the CTIA Fall 2008 trade show in San Francisco. Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate, a mobile games publisher, moderated a panel with seven teenagers ranging in age from 13 to 18 years old.

Adolescents represent an important demographic for cell phone makers and mobile operators as cell phones have become an integral part of teens' lives. About four out of every five teens carry a cell phone. This is up from 40 percent of teens owning a cell phone in 2004. And almost half of the teens surveyed today say that having a cell phone is "key" to their social lives.

"Leaving home without my phone almost feels like leaving the house naked," said Brenna, 17, who participated in the panel.

Another recent survey conducted by Nielsen revealed that kids are getting cell phones even before they hit their teens. Nearly half of kids age 8 to 12 years old own cell phones in the U.S, according to the Nielsen report. And on average kids get their first cell phone between the ages of 10 and 11 years old.

While many teens view having a cell phone as important for practical things like getting a ride or for safety reasons, many believe it also says a lot about them as people. According to the survey, about 28 percent of all teens and 34 percent of kids 13 to 15 years old said that having the latest cool cell phone is absolutely essential. A mother of a 14-year old boy on the teen panel said the social pressure to have a "cool" phone is intense.

"Marcus has told me that he is embarrassed for his friends to see his phone," Deundra, Marcus's mother, said on the sidelines after the panel discussion had ended. "I've literally had to pull the car over to have a conversation about why he would feel this way. We've had many talks about the true importance and value of things."

Most of the teens on the panel agreed that Apple's iPhone is the coolest phone on the market. But none of them owned one, largely because the devices are too expensive and so is the monthly service fee from AT&T.

Jaimie, 17, appeared on a panel Friday at CTIA Fall 2008 to discuss teen cell phone use. A CTIA survey found teens text message at least as much as they talk on cell phones.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CBS Interactive)

Consistent with the findings of the survey, the teens on the panel said they text message as much as or more than they talk on the phone. And 42 percent of those surveyed say they could text blindfolded.

About a third of teens surveyed say they regularly play games on their phones and about 20 percent of them use their phones for social networking. The teens on the panel said they would be more willing to play games or surf the mobile Web, if those were no-cost activities.

About 59 percent of teens surveyed said they would be willing to provide personal information to wireless operators to receive targeted text messages. And roughly 40 percent of teens said they don't mind watching advertising if cell phone service is free.

The teens on the CTIA panel agreed with the results.

"We definitely like free," Brenna said.

But there are some services that some teens aren't too keen on. Roughly 36 percent of teens in the survey said they don't like buddy-tracking features that reveal their physical location to others. The teens on the panel also complained about poor battery life. Dean, 14, said he'd like phone manufacturers develop solar-powered phones.

"If they can do it for calculators, they should be able to do it for phones," he said.

According to the survey, teens also say they want phones that are waterproof and shockproof, are made of flexible materials that can bend, and have artificial intelligence that will provide answers to questions.

A few days before CTIA Fall 2008 began, the National Geographic Society announced a new effort to bring its content to mobile devices. The society will launch a WAP site next month that will offer photos, animal ringtones, articles from National Geographic magazine, and video from the society's television shows. Though exact content and the URL are still under development, mobile division vice president Aaron Kohn said that there also will be an online "green" guide with tips on eco-friendly products and shopping for sustainable fish.

Kohn confirmed that National Geographic is not looking to form an MVNO, but he said that the society is in talks with carriers and manufacturers to bring National Geographic branding to new handsets. That's good news considering our disappointment with the Cellular Abroad's National Geographic Talk Abroad Travel Phone. What's more, he said an National Geographic app for the iPhone is in the works.

At launch, all content on the WAP site will be free. Next year, however, the society plans to introduce paid content.