Smartphones

In recent months, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint have done a pretty good job updating its smartphone lineups, but T-Mobile seems to be lagging in this area. Aside from the T-Mobile G1 and the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip, we haven't seen anything new and there are some aging Windows Mobile smartphones that need refreshing, namely the T-Mobile Shadow, T-Mobile Dash, and the T-Mobile Wing. Well, it looks like at least one of those devices will soon have a replacement.

Phone Scoop spotted the T-Mobile Shadow II on FCC's Web site Tuesday, complete with specifications and a … Read more

One analyst thinks that if it wasn't for the iPhone, smartphone growth would have slowed to a crawl last quarter.

Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company released some data Tuesday, as captured by MacNN, and said he believes that Apple's iPhone accounted for virtually all the sequential growth in the market during the third quarter, which totaled 28.6 percent. That's when Apple launched the iPhone 3G and sold 6.9 million units, putting it in second place among all smartphone vendors with 16.6 percent of the market.

At first glance it seems a bit of … Read more

Nokia has released new versions of its mapping and navigation service along with a new messaging service in an effort to build out its mobile services.

The upgraded Nokia Maps offers new features, such as high-resolution aerial images and 3D landmarks. The new software also allows users to share their location using GPS. Nokia has also tied the latest version of Nokia Maps more closely with its PC-based service Ovi. And the new Nokia Maps allows users to plan their journey ahead of time on their PCs and sync the information with their mobile phones for when they're on … Read more

Twenty-four hours after teasing us with news of a major product announcement, Nokia officially took the wraps off its mystery smartphone on Tuesday at the Nokia World 2008 conference in Barcelona, Spain. And despite some close guesses, no one got it quite right, so without further ado, let us introduce you to the Nokia N97.

Part of the company's high-end N series of multimedia computers, the N97 trumps all previous models with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard and a tilting 3.5-inch touch screen (anyone else reminded of the AT&T Tilt or Sony Ericsson Xperia X1?). Yes, there's the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, but the N97 includes phone capabilities and is designed for the "needs of Internet-savvy consumers."

For example, the smartphone provides easy access to a number of social-networking sites, and the Web browser supports streaming Flash videos. The N97 also introduces something Nokia calls "social location," which uses the capabilities of the integrated A-GPS sensors and electronic compass to automatically update users' social networks, or let them share their location via photos or videos with friends.

The Home screen can be personalized with widgets of favorite Web and social-networking sites. Finally, the N97 is fully compatible with Nokia's Ovi Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and the N-Gage gaming platform--though these services have yet to fully launch in the United States.

The Symbian-based smartphone also features a music and video player, a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and a whopping 32GB of onboard memory that can be expanded with a 16GB microSD card.

The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone is HSDPA-capable handset, but it currently supports only the 900/1900/2100MHz bands (AT&T's 3G network runs on 850/1900MHz, while T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100MHz). There is integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, however. … Read more

OK Crave readers, I need your help. The CNET Prizefight ring is setting up for a few final battles before the end of 2008, and one contender just waiting for its chance in the spotlight is the RIM BlackBerry Bold. Now usually, the editors make the decision about which two devices to compare, but frankly, I'm having trouble choosing the right competitor. I've got some ideas, but thought it would be nice to get your feedback as well.

I've already received a lot of reader e-mails wondering how the Bold stacks up to the iPhone 3G. However, … Read more

In the tech world, it's rare that a new product remains a complete secret from the prying eyes of gadget enthusiasts and bloggers, but somehow Nokia has done it. On Tuesday, in conjunction with the Nokia World 2008 Conference in Barcelona, Spain, the Finnish cell phone manufacturer will reveal a new device, and it's a complete mystery.

According to Robert Scoble, Nokia executives have been bragging that "the Internet has no clue" what it's about to announce, and that all guesses, including a new touch-screen cell phone (Engadget Mobile thinks it could possibly be a … Read more

Verizon Wireless is giving its customers a bit of an early holiday gift by cutting the price on the Samsung Omnia, which debuted less than a week ago. Originally priced at $249.99, you can now get the touch-screen Windows Mobile smartphone for $199.99 with a two-year contract and after a mail-in rebate.

Unfortunately, this drop comes a bit late for anyone who already ordered the Omnia online, but since the device won't hit stores till December 8, you'll save yourself 50 smackers. For more information on the smartphone, check out our full review of the Samsung Omnia.… Read more

Samsung and wireless technology provider InterDigital have reached a settlement in their long-running patent dispute involving 3G and 2G technologies, InterDigital announced Monday.

Under the agreement, Samsung will receive a royalty-bearing license to cover all of its 3G products through 2012. The agreement, which also resolves a dispute over Samsung's royalty obligations for its 2G sales, will also include products built on WCDMA and cdma2000 standards and related extensions.

The parties did not disclose the terms of the agreement, however, a report in the Wall Street Journal cites a telecom analyst who puts a value of $400 million to $… Read more

Well, Verizon Wireless is certainly kicking off the holiday season with a bang. In just the past couple of weeks, we've seen the release of the RIM BlackBerry Storm, the Samsung Saga, the HTC Touch Pro, and now, the Samsung Omnia.

The Samsung Omnia will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract and will be available online and through business channels first starting November 26. The Windows Mobile smartphone will then make its way to stores on December 8.

Verizon's Omnia offers a lot of the same great features as the unlocked GSM version, which we reviewed in … Read more