Windows Phone 7

LAS VEGAS--Every January, CES sets the tone for the year with a bonanza of new, thrilling smartphones touting the best and brightest technology. This year proved no different, with more than 21 new smartphones to behold.

More than a few were instant hits, like the Motorola Droid 4, a 4G LTE handset with Verizon, which has a sleek body and a keyboard that's reminiscent of a MacBook in miniature. There's also the Sony Xperia S, which won our admiration for its slick, cutting-edge design and its reality display; and the HTC Titan II, an LTE Windows Phone sequel … Read more

LAS VEGAS--With Windows Phone 7, we've spent a lot of time waiting.

We started by waiting for Microsoft to upgrade from the stodgy Windows Mobile. Then, we waited for the first Windows Phone 7 (WP7) handsets before waiting again for decent apps. And finally, once we had all of those things we waited for WP7 to really take off.

Granted, we're still waiting on that last point, but at CES 2012, Nokia may have shown us the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.

On Monday, during an afternoon crowded with other press conferences, Nokia pulled in … Read more

LAS VEGAS--2012 may mark Microsoft's last major CES keynote and presence, but with two successful Windows Phone announcements, it's going out with a bang.

CNET named both the HTC Titan II and the Nokia Lumia 900 finalists for the Best of CES award in the smartphone category, both supporting 4G LTE. Out of four total candidates, the Lumia 900 took the prize.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Pretty soon, pointing out 4G LTE on a Verizon smartphone will become an exercise in redundancy.

From now on, nearly every smartphone, wireless hot spot, tablet, and Netbook that Verizon offers will come with LTE guns a-blazing. Yes, Virginia, that includes Windows Phone and BlackBerry devices, too.

There will be the occasional exception, however. For instance, phones on Verizon's push-to-talk network are 3G-only for now, and will remain that way until further notice.

Verizon's clear, unyielding stance on 4G--"a hard requirement," according to Verizon--may partially explain why it has picked up only one Windows Phone so far.… Read more

Nokia used the Consumer Electronics Show to hold a coming-out party for its new phone: the Lumia 900.

It's based on the Windows Phone platform, will use AT&T's 4G LTE network, and boasts a 4.3-inch AMOLED screen that's designed for rich media experiences, the company said at a launch event today in Las Vegas. (By comparison, the Apple iPhone's screen size is 3.5 inches.)

But the company's announcement wasn't as far-reaching or as detailed as some customers might have hoped: there's no word yet on on the Lumia 900'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--HTC should be feeling pretty proud of itself right about now.

This morning at CES, the smartphone maker managed to bag two U.S. firsts. Not only was its Titan II the first to announce the world's first 4G LTE Windows Phone, but it also contains the highest-megapixel smartphone camera we've heard of stateside, a 16-megapixel whopper.

Just after the smartphone was announced today, I got a chance to get eye-to-eye with the Titan II. At first blush, it looks nearly identical to the original Titan, which is new to the scene in its own right. There … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Listen up, you LTE lovers across America. The HTC Titan is getting a faster brother.

The cleverly named HTC Titan II, announced this morning at AT&T's CES press conference, is almost identical to the Windows Phone handset we got in November, but with two major new features.

The first is support for AT&T's growing 4G LTE network. The second is a rear-facing camera capable of capturing a whopping 16 megapixels, double what we're seeing on most high-end camera phones out there right now.

Beyond that, there's still the same hulking build (5.2 inches by 2.7 inches by 0.4 inches), 4.7-inch WVGA Super-LCD screen, and Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Tomorrow, the CES press conference machine will whip us up into a lather and new phone announcements will zing out fast and furiously.

While we don't always know precisely how the cards stack up, a combination of leaks, press day schedules, and common sense provide more than a hunch of how the game will play out.

Phones you can bet on I would put money on these, and I'm not a gambling woman.… Read more

The Microsoft executive who oversees software design for Windows Phone admitted that the mobile operating system was redesigned in response to Apple's iPhone.

"Apple created a sea change in the industry in terms of the kinds of things they did that were unique and highly appealing to consumers," Joe Belfiore told The New York Times. "We wanted to respond with something that would be competitive, but not the same."

Despite being an early player in the smartphone sector, Microsoft's effort was hobbled by software that featured complex on-screen menus that borrowed design cues from … Read more