smartphones

With the official launch of Windows Mobile 6.5 underway, Sprint got in on the action and announced the upcoming availability of its first Windows phone, the Samsung Interpid.

The Intrepid will be available starting October 11 for $149.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Aimed at business users, the smartphone has world roaming capabilities, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and support for Sprint's EV-DO Rev. A network. The Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional phone also features a 2.5-inch touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard.

There are plenty of apps and services on the device … Read more

On Tuesday, Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC unveiled its fifth Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphhone, the HTC HD2. It will be the company's first Windows Mobile phone to rock HTC's Sense user interface, which debuted on the HTC Hero. The HD2 will also be powered by Qualcomm's new 1GHz Snapdragon mobile processor and boasts a 4.3-inch WVGA (480x800) capacitive touch screen. Other highlights include Bluetooth 2.1, a 5-megapixel camera, and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.

The HTC HD2 will be available through select European operators later in October and will ship to other regions of … Read more

Full Web browsing is not just for smartphones like the iPhone. AT&T is now bringing full HTML Web browsing to "dumb" feature phones, as well.

The company announced four new handsets in the past few days that all come embedded with a full HTML Opera Mini mobile browser it calls att.net. The company says the new browser will make the mobile Internet browsing experience faster, more location-aware, and easier to use.

The browser will offer users three different ways to access the Web. There is a home screen that allows subscribers to browse Web sites … Read more

With the launch of the first round of Windows Mobile 6.5 devices just a day away, AT&T threw its hat into the ring and announced two of its own Windows phones, the HTC Pure and the HTC Tilt2.

The Pure is a rebranded version of the HTC Touch Diamond2, which we took a look at earlier this year, and sports some design changes and, of course, the new features of Windows Mobile 6.5. This includes the Microsoft's MyPhone backup service, an improved Internet Explore Mobile browser that offers Flash Lite support and better navigation tools, … Read more

On Sunday, T-Mobile continued its commitment to the Open Handset Alliance and introduced its fourth Google Android device, the Samsung Behold II.

The Behold II is scheduled to launch later this year, though a specific release date and pricing were not announced at this time. It's the first Android smartphone by Samsung to be released in the United States and joins the carrier's other Google devices, which include T-Mobile G1, the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G, and the upcoming Motorola Cliq.

Just like HTC and Motorola, Samsung has put its own spin on the Android operating system by using its … Read more

Just a couple of weeks after Google released its Android 1.6 SDK to developers, T-Mobile began its official roll out of Android 1.6 (aka Donut) to T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G owners on Thursday.

The update will be delivered to customers over the coming days, and though it's not considered to be a major upgrade to the operating system, Android 1.6 does bring a number of new features and enhancements and fixes a bug that would reboot the phone after dialing 911.

Highlights of Donut include:

On Thursday, Verizon Wireless premiered the HTC Imagio, the carrier's first Windows Mobile 6.5 device and the first smartphone to support its V Cast Mobile TV service.

Known in inner circles by its codename, the HTC Whitestone, the Imagio is being billed as a multimedia smartphone and also works with V Cast Video on Demand and V Cast Music. Verizon typically has not made these services available on its other smartphones, such as the HTC Touch Pro2, in order to focus on the business benefits of smartphones, so the Imagio is a nice change of pace.

To make … Read more

Most new smartphone users are now consumers, a dramatic change from just a few years ago when the gadgets were primarily in the hands of business types, according to a survey released Wednesday by research firm CFI Group.

The survey "CFI Group Smartphone Satisfaction Study 2009" found that smartphone users are no longer just reading e-mail or scheduling appointments but also surfing the Web, streaming video and music, downloading games, and snapping pictures. Smartphones are now seen more by consumers as minicomputers than as cell phones, according to CFI.

Predictably, Apple's iPhone is credited with igniting the … Read more

Well, how's that for timing? Just after posting a story about Motorola Cliq presales,T-Mobile dropped the official details on pricing and the availability date for the Cliq. Motorola's first Google Android smartphone will be available online and in T-Mobile stores starting November 2 for $199.99 with a two-year contract and qualifying voice and data plan.

Presales will start on October 19 and run through November 1, and devices will be shipped as orders are received. You can register for updates at T-Mobile's Web site.

Now that the questions of availability and pricing are settled, the … Read more