Windows Phone 7

ZTE to bring Windows Phone to U.S. by year's end

NEW ORLEANS--From a user point of view, ZTE's head of the North American business, Lixin Cheng, prefers the Windows Phone OS over Android.

"In my personal experience, the iPhone, of course, has a well-polished user interface experience," Cheng told CNET. "And then Windows, and then Android."

But for the small-time phone manufacturing company, which has been steadily trying to plant a presence in the United States, releasing Windows Phone devices hasn't been easy.

In fact, the majority of ZTE handsets run on Android. Along with the ZTE Orbit, which is available in the U.… Read more

New phones and services herald start of CTIA

On a sultry New Orleans afternoon today, AT&T took over a century-old Garden District mansion to open the 2012 CTIA. Yes, the annual wireless confab doesn't formally open until tomorrow morning, but the news already is coming fast and furious. And though I don't arrive in the Big Easy until tomorrow either, a big CNET team is on the ground by the Mississippi. Here are the highlights of what they saw today. … Read more

Samsung Focus 2 hands-on: A fast, affordable Windows phone

NEW ORLEANS--AT&T's Samsung Focus 2 made an appearance today at an AT&T event before CTIA 2012 officially kicks off on May 8.

Like the carrier's other low-cost Windows Phone, the Samsung Focus Flash, the Focus 2 is also priced at $49.99 after a two-year contract. Unlike the Focus Flash, the Focus 2 runs on the carrier's 4G LTE network.

Here in New Orleans, AT&T's LTE network has been a solid performer so far, so we have high hopes for the Focus 2's speed.

It satisfies aesthetically as well. … Read more

AT&T's Samsung Focus 2 LTE Windows Phone priced to sell

NEW ORLEANS--AT&T and Samsung must be selling enough of the "Focus" family of Windows Phones to be inspired to do it again.

The day before CTIA kicks off, the two partners took the wraps off the Samsung Focus 2, a $50 Windows Phone outfitted with LTE.

The phone also features a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and a 5-megapixel camera that can support 720p HD video. A front-facing VGA camera is also onboard.… Read more

Nokia, execs hit with class-action suit over disappointing Lumia sales

Nokia has been hit with a class-action lawsuit charging the company with making promises it couldn't keep.

Law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit (PDF) against Nokia and its executives in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of those who owned the company's shares between October 26, 2011, and April 10.

"The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants told investors that Nokia's conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not," the … Read more

Microsoft hopes Windows Phone summit can shrink the app gap

Windows Phone OS may not have the market share or the apps, but one thing I will say is that Microsoft is finally going after developers with more vigor. This time it's to the tune of a developer summit on June 21 and 22.

Microsoft is serious about closing the gap separating its Windows Phone application Marketplace from Android's Google Play and iPhone's App Store. The San Francisco location couldn't be a better spot to tap into Silicon Valley's software-development mojo.

It isn't that the Redmond giant hasn't tended its app garden, which … Read more

Best smartphones for under $100 (roundup)

When it comes to picking out a smartphone that'll cost you less than $100, there's plenty of good news to go around. Constant sales on older-model phones mean that carriers are giving away great handsets in exchange for your two-year contract commitment.

Thanks to pitched smartphone and carrier competition, more excellent handsets launch at less than $100, too, and I'm not talking about phones labeled $99.99, even though many of those, like the Nokia Lumia 900, offer great value in their own right.

Here's my current crop of favorites, in no particular order.… Read more

LG Fantasy: The Windows Phone that could have been?

LG's future with Windows Phone 7 is up in the air at the moment, but a prototype of a device the company had reportedly planned to launch has surfaced.

The folks over at Windows Phone 7 tracker WP Central claim to have gotten their hands on the LG E740 "Fantasy." The device, the blog claims, was in prototype mode in late 2011, but was eventually shelved early this year.

According to WP Central, the device comes with a 4-inch TFT LCD display and a 1GHz processor. It offers 8GB of onboard storage, 512MB of RAM, and 3G … Read more

Former Nokia exec says Nokia's in trouble, Elop is to blame

Here in the U.S., the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows phone has sold better than Nokia expected, but significant profit loss elsewhere has led to some vocal -- and colorful -- opinions from a former Nokia executive.

Speaking exclusively to CNET UK, Lee Williams, who served as Nokia's senior vice president of Symbian Series 60 OS from 2006 to 2009, paints a portrait of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as a cost-slashing leader who lacks long-term vision.

Williams goes even further to accuse Elop of sacrificing Nokia's fat and healthy cash cow -- Symbian -- for the chance at "US cultural magic," at the expense of the company's Finnish identity.… Read more

Nokia answers your burning Lumia 900 questions

A software glitch and stock shortage amount to a rockier start than Nokia could have wanted for its flagship Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone. Today the company issued a press release via e-mail answering common inquiries about the device.

One of the most pressing questions is when the glossy white version will be available. The good news is: starting yesterday.

However, Lumia 900 handsets have reportedly been in short supply in some AT&T retail locations across the U.S. So if your online outlet or brick-and-mortar store is out of the phone in black, cyan, and white, you'… Read more