smartphone

The largest cell phone operator in Japan said Friday that it has stopped selling Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold because the phone overheats while the battery is being recharged.

NTT DoCoMo began selling the Bold in Japan last week. And so far it has sold about 4,000 devices. Of those devices, NTT DoCoMo says it has received complaints from about 30 users that the phone's keyboard area had heated up, Reuters reported. The company said it doesn't know of anyone getting burned from the overheating nor has it received any reports of the phone catching on … Read more

Bonnie and Kent are back from a busy week at the GSMA World Congress in Barcelona. Android news was limited to the HTC Magic, but new multimedia phones debuted from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia. On this week's Dialed In we recap all the events of the show and discuss the latest developments elsewhere in the cell phone world. And of course, we'll dish on the latest reviews and take your questions.

News GSMA wrap-up LG Versa rumors … Read more

Intel CEO Paul Otellini commented on competition with Nvidia, the economy, and the possible fate of its flash memory factories on Wednesday at a tech conference in San Francisco.

Otellini began by speaking to the fact that the global economic downturn has depleted inventories of chips. "I don't think there's much inventory out there. It's hard to imagine that there's a significant drop below this." He made his remarks at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference 2009, which was streamed live.

And moving quickly to the next generation of chip technology is critical … Read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer knows not to blink.

On the desktop front, Microsoft is not discounting the approximately 1 percent market share gain Apple has garnered in the past year, bolstering its position as the No. 4 player in operating systems behind Linux, said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, during a midyear update with analysts Tuesday.

"We're very focused on both Apple as a competitor and Linux as a competitor," Ballmer said.

And concerns regarding Google's open-source mobile operating system Android are not far behind.

"I think the dynamics with Linux is changing somewhat," Ballmer … Read more

We're all slowly making our way back to the States and back to our regular schedules now that the Mobile World Congress show has come to an end, but before we completely close the door on GSMA 2009, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what was (and wasn't) revealed at the show. After all, MWC often lays the groundwork for what we'll see in mobile space in the upcoming year.

For all intents and purposes, Microsoft provided the most news at MWC, as the company previewed the latest version of its mobile operating system … Read more

One of the cool (and painful) things about GSMA Mobile World Congress is that you get to see some of the best mobile devices available around the world. I say painful because often these products aren't available in the United States and probably never will be, unless you find them online and buy them unlocked for a hefty price.

If you're a glutton for punishment or just plain curious, then take a look at these international Windows Mobile smartphones that I saw while touring the Microsoft booth.

The GMSA Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona could have been a great place for Google to demonstrate progress establishing Android in the industry, but instead the open-source operating system showed only a slightly larger toehold.

Google has high hopes for Android, which the company launched in an effort to spur smartphone development, mobile use of the Web, and new search advertising. Although Android certainly isn't vaporware, and Google's clout makes the effort a serious challenge to other operating systems, so far Android's potential exceeds its real-world presence.

The biggest Android news from the show was the debut of the HTC Magic. This new Android model is the second Android model from the Taiwanese company; the first, HTC's Dream, is better known as the T-Mobile G1. … Read more

I'm sure I'm just setting myself up for disappointment one of these days, but I've come to expect big things from HTC at trade shows, whether it be CTIA or Mobile World Congress. The company has consistently delivered some of the hottest product announcements at these events, so can you blame a girl for thinking such thoughts?

Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 (well, maybe a little, but I'll get to that in a bit) as HTC debuted several new handsets. The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer kicked off the show by debuting the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2, which replace the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro.

I stopped by HTC's booth on Wednesday to have a look at both smartphones, and I was impressed with the design improvements and enhanced technologies. The Touch Diamond2 probably wowed me more than the Pro2 because of its extremely thin and solid design. The device doesn't feel as plasticky with its brushed metal face and sides. Also, I can't tell if it's the sleeker design, but the screen pops out that much more and grabs your attention.

HTC has also worked on the user interface, providing a new Start screen where you can easily access your applications. It's also customizable and features more user-friendly icons. The touch-sensitive toolbar is a cool little feature. I didn't think it'd make that much of a difference but it definitely makes it easier to zoom in and out on Web pages and e-mails.

The Touch Pro2 is a monster, and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way. It's bigger than the Touch Pro (4.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick versus 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.7 inch thick) but again solidly built. The navigation buttons along the bottom are smaller than I like, but that's a relatively minor complaint.… Read more

LG had a rather action-packed Mobile World Congress, making several product announcements including the high-end LG Arena multimedia phone and choosing Windows Mobile as the primary operating system for its smartphones. As a result, the company's booth was buzzing with a steady stream of visitors, and we stopped by ourselves to take a look at some of the company's offerings.

The one thing I came away with is that LG loves its touch screens. Everywhere I turned, there was a touch screen staring back at me. Not that I'm complaining, but it got to the point where … Read more