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App stores abound at Mobile World Congress

BARCELONA--If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Apple's biggest competitors are laying on the love a little thick.

It seems like handset makers aren't just trying to match Apple in terms of developing cool new touch screen devices, but now they're all clamoring to develop their own version of an application storefront, where users can easily discover and download applications for their smartphones and developers can easily create and monetize those apps.

Rumors have been flying around that Nokia, the largest handset maker in the world, will unveil its plans for its own application store … Read more

Sony Ericsson launches Media Go

At the start of the GSMA World Congress on Sunday night, Sony Ericsson announced Media Go, a new service for transferring media files between your computer and your Sony Ericsson cell phone.

Premiering on the new W995 Walkman phone, Media Go will offer a number of services for the media-minded. Primarily, you can use it to transfer music, videos, photos, and podcasts to your phone through a USB cable.

You'll also be able to sync your phone's music library automatically, subscribe to podcasts, and auto-convert files for the best-quality playback. Once you've downloaded your media, you can … Read more

Sony Ericsson's W995 goes the extra media mile

Sony Ericsson opened the 2009 GSMA World Congress on Sunday night by announcing the W995 Walkman phone. As the premiere device for Sony Ericsson's new Media Go service, the W995 offers a wide range of multimedia features for both music and video. And yes, it makes calls too.

On the outside it sports a thin slider design in progressive black, cosmic silver, or energetic red. Its front face is dominated by a 2.6-inch display, which should lend itself well to watching everything from music videos to movies. You'll also find a desk stand (very nice!) and stereo … Read more

Hola, Barcelona!

It's the evening before the GSMA World Congress begins and I'm happy to report that almost the entire CNET crew has arrived here safe and sound. I'm here along with smartphone guru Bonnie Cha and CNET News' Maggie Reardon. Some folks from CNET UK are here as well, and we're just waiting for CNET's Ariel Nunez to arrive on Monday.

As Bonnie said in her GSMA preview, the Barcelona show will bring a lot of news. As the largest mobile phone show in the world, GSMA not only attracts people from across the planet, but … Read more

What we Craved this week

Lots of news in gadgets this week, which is welcome after the usual post-CES lull. If you didn't have time to catch it all in real time, we've helpfully compiled a list of some of this week's best stories. Consider it Crave's Valentine to you. <3

• In honor of the holiday everyone loves to hate, we here at Crave compiled a list of the gadgets we've loved and lost, or got so frustrated with we wanted to throw them against the wall. Check out the gadgets that broke our hearts.

• The Kindle 2 arrived … Read more

iPhone too pricey? Then think smartphone-lite

Smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone, are all the rage these days. But as the economy worsens, these sophisticated devices and the expensive data plans that are required to be purchased along with them, are out of reach for most cell phone users.

A new handset maker based in the U.K. says it is developing phones that will offer similar functionality at a fraction of the cost. INQ U.K., which is owned by Hong Kong-based telecom giant Hutchison Whampoa, is developing a set of souped-up feature phones that will be loaded with all kinds of Internet and social … Read more

Samsung delays Android phone

Well, here's the first disappointment of GSMA Mobile World Congress. Samsung will not be showing off its first Google Android smartphone at the show; in fact, we won't be seeing it at all until the second half of 2009.

Initial reports said Samsung would release its Android device some time in the second quarter of 2009, but according to an article in The Guardian, the head of marketing at Samsung's mobile division, Younghee Lee, said the company is "planning internally" for a release in the second half of the year. Lee added that Samsung is … Read more

Sprint posts Palm Pre specifications

On Thursday, Sprint stealthily posted specifications for the highly anticipated Palm Pre on its Web site. Of course, a lot of the smartphone's details were revealed at CES 2009 and the new information doesn't reveal anything earth-shattering, but we do learn a couple of things. First, the Pre will allow multimedia messaging. The integrated Bluetooth will also support the A2DP profile for stereo Bluetooth and dial-up networking (also via USB tethering). Finally, the device will offer about 7.4GB of user-available memory.

Now, some might take this as a sign that Sprint and Palm are prepping for an … Read more

Garmin-Asus unveils Nuvifone M20, more details about G60

Garmin-Asus is wasting no time on creating some pre-Mobile World Congress buzz. Last week, the companies announced their strategic alliance to collaborate on an entire line of Nuvifone GPS-enabled smartphones and revealed that it would debut a new Nuvifone model at GSMA 2009. We thought we'd hear about it on the opening day of the show, but on Thursday, Garmin-Asus took the wraps off the Nuvifone M20 and revealed full specs for the Nuvifone G60 (aka the original Garmin Nuvifone.

The Nuvifone M20 will run Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition with full e-mail support, document viewing, and Opera's HTML Web browser. The triband GSM (850/1800/1900)/dual-band 3.5G (HSDPA 850/1900) handset will also have integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Of course, navigation is a top priority and the Nuvifone M20 will come preloaded with maps and points of interest and will offer turn-by-turn voice-guided directions and automatic recalculation. To enter a destination, you can manually enter an address, search for a POI, or use an address from your phone's contact list.

Read more

Modu unveils new jackets

You remember Modu? That's the Israeli company that makes the tiny modular cell phone that we first saw at last year's GSMA World Congress. The concept is simple: insert the Modu into one of several "jackets" and it becomes a fully functional phone with real controls. Each jacket, which is really just a handset shell, will bring a different design and feature set. You can change them at will to match your mood and needs.

Well, just to show you that's it's really not vaporware, the company will be showing four new jackets next … Read more