Smartphones

Sony Ericsson usually sneaks in a couple of phone announcements shortly before the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), and this year is no exception. Indeed, with Barcelona's cell phone extravaganza just three very short weeks away, the company unveiled a new multimedia handset Thursday called the Vivaz.

Though we have yet to hold the Vivaz in our hands, its slim, candy-bar design is appealing. The tapered ends give it a streamlined look, and we like the four color choices (cosmic black, moon silver, galaxy blue, and Venus ruby). Its most prominent feature is a 3.2-inch touch screen that … Read more

Apple and Nokia each control big chunks of the worldwide mobile market and are duking it out for more.

In the final quarter of 2009, Apple's iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPhone operating system reigned in markets in Western Europe, North America, Latin America, and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and nearby countries), according to an AdMob report (PDF) released Thursday.

Meanwhile, Nokia's mobile devices and the Symbian OS led in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe,

AdMob sells text and banner ads to publishers on mobile platforms; as such, it tracks and measures which phones and mobile devices are used … Read more

Joining the other carriers, Alltel added the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 to its lineup. It's available now for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, with a one-year contract and qualifying Smart Choice Pack (rates start at $69.99 per month for unlimited data, e-mail, and Web access).

Though more of an entry-level device, the Curve 8530 offers plenty of features, including Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, and GPS. The smartphone also has a 2-megapixel camera, 256MB Flash memory (expandable up to 32GB via the microSD/SDHC slot), dedicated media controls, and optical trackpad.

The RIM BlackBerry Curve 8530 for Alltel … Read more

Palm didn't make quite as big of a splash at CES 2010 as it did the previous year, but the company still had plenty of news to share, including the introduction of the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus.

Both WebOS devices will be launching on Verizon Wireless on January 25 and bring improvements over their Sprint counterparts. The Palm Pre Plus is the more exciting of the two, offering double the memory, a more streamlined design, and a better keyboard than the original Pre. Meanwhile, the Pixi Plus didn't receive a makeover, but it did … Read more

Other than "stop the presses!" the next best thing a journalist can say is that a colleague is "on assignment." It sounds so mysterious and important and I was glad to be able to say it this week about Bonnie. Ms. Cha had to miss Dialed In this week because she's off to a Nokia press event in New York City. We don't know exactly what will happen, but Ovi should take front and center.

Without Bonnie and Skype Nicole, Jason and I managed to hold down the fort with talk of bling-worthy phones, … Read more

It was just last month that Skyfire pushed out its latest mobile browser build for Windows phones. Now Skyfire is paying Symbian Series 60 phones their due. On Wednesday, the Opera Mobile competitor releases Skyfire 1.5 for Symbian S60 phones (third edition) and a beta for fifth-edition handsets.

It's smooth scrolling from here on out.

Like Skyfire 1.5 on Windows phones, the Symbian version takes some of the jerkiness out of scrolling up and down a page. That's in addition to giving the browser interface a fresh lick of paint, as Skyfire did with that Windows … Read more

Late last week, Rhapsody finally pushed out a beta of its new app for Android devices. The service was aiming to launch the new feature before the holidays, but finalizing the software for public consumption took a bit longer than expected.

The Android version is noticeably different than the one for the iPhone--for a few reasons. Most notably, due to the parameters of each OS, the Android app will run in the background while you use other functions of your device (the iPhone does not allow such activity at this time). Also, Rhapsody for Android has a noticeably darker look … Read more

It would be nearly impossible to write about the forthcoming Zagat iPhone app without comparing it with Yelp's newly released update. For starters, Zagat To Go 3.0 for iPhone will have augmented reality when it comes out (we received a sneak peek.) As with Yelp's "Monocle" feature (video), first introduced as an Easter Egg in Yelp 3.0, Zagat To Go's augmented reality search option will layer a business' location over the real-world view that you see through the camera lens of an iPhone 3GS (and 3GS only--this is typical of augmented reality technology.)

And then there's this goody: Zagat To Go lets registered users submit their ratings and quippy remarks about a business directly from the iPhone app--or from their table. While Yelp's iPhone app gives you 140 characters, Twitter-style, to write a quick tip, the app will only let you begin a draft for a rated review to finish up later from a computer. Zagat To Go throws 240 characters your way and lets you submit your witty ratings then and there.

Zagat To Go 3.0 one-ups Yelp one more time by introducing an optional offline mode (you'll get to it in the settings.) You'll need a whole heap of stable Wi-Fi to download the 104MB content. It took us a whopping 25 minutes and 14 seconds over choppy public Wi-Fi after a few self-aborted attempts. Our data connection has been too strong to stress test how well the app handles searches offline, but we'll follow up a little later on when we can get our iPhone to a dark tunnel or cave.… Read more

In case you haven't heard, it's all about unlimited plans these days as both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have revamped their calling and messaging options. And Tuesday, as if to prove it enjoys a challenge, U.S. Cellular unveiled changes of its own.

Beginning January 19, new and existing U.S. Cellular customers can select an individual unlimited voice calling plan for $69.99 per month. Families also get an option with an unlimited voice plan for $119.99 per month. That option includes up to two lines of service, with additional lines at $49.99 … Read more