CTIA show

As CTIA comes to a close, we pause to select the best products from the show. The scene in Las Vegas was much quieter than in past years, and it lacked any high-profile announcements like the Palm Pre. But, there were a few products that deserve recognition as the Cream of the Crop from CTIA 2009.

Best phone: Samsung Impression

(Credit: Kent German/CNET)

For the third year in a row, Samsung takes the title of the best phone in CTIA. While the Samsung Impression can't quite compete with the hype of last year's Instinct or 2007's Upstage, it is the most practical of the three. And in a year where messaging phones were all the rage, it stands out in a crowded field as the one of the best-designed messaging phones we've seen in a while.

The keyboard is spacious and tactile, and while the handset isn't quite sexy, it has a pleasant, minimalist shape that feels nice in the hand. Yet the Impression's biggest draw is its gorgeous active-matrix organic light-emitting diode display. As Samsung promised, the display is positively brilliant with bright colors and vibrant graphics. Features are decent, even if they're not groundbreaking.

Inside you'll find a 3-megapixel camera, a full HTML browser, Bluetooth, Samsung's TouchWiz interface, 3G support with access to Cellular Video and AT&T Music, a personal organizer, AT&T Navigator, and a speakerphone. No, that won't knock your socks off; in fact, you might even see it as somewhat boring. But as we said before, the Impression's story is more about functional features and an intuitive design rather than flash and glam. And at a very quiet show, it deserves its prize. The Impression will be out soon with AT&T; we should have a review shortly.

For more on the Impression, see our photo gallery and video.

Best smartphone: HTC Snap

(Credit: Bonnie Cha/CNET)

Aside from rising importance of applications, the other theme of CTIA 2009 was messaging. We saw a slew of new messaging devices debut at the show, and it extended to smartphones. While the Nokia E71x and Samsung Propel Pro were nice additions to AT&T's lineup, the HTC Snap stood out for its Inner Circle feature.

With a simple press of a button, Inner Circle brings e-mails from a preselected group of people to the top of your in-box so you can read and reply to them immediately. The capability isn't the wave of the future, but it does help prioritize your e-mails based on your preferences.

In addition, HTC, once again did a nice job on the design. The Snap is a beautifully constructed and sleek smartphone. The QWERTY keyboard also features good-size buttons for easy messaging. Finally, don't be fooled by its diminutive size, as it's packed with features, including Windows Mobile 6.1, push e-mail, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, and a 2-megapixel camera. We look forward to checking out the U.S. version of the Snap, the HTC S522, when it's released in the summer.

As spring goes into full swing and April Fool's Day nears, the last event of the busy trade season is upon us. The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association show (CTIA) is the nation's largest event dedicated to new cell phones, accessories, and services. This year it runs from April 1 through April 3 in Las Vegas.

Of course, a large CNET crew will be on-hand to bring you all the news from the show floor. On the Reviews side, I'll be in Vegas with Bonnie Cha and Nicole Lee. We'll bring you details on all the new handsets, and offer you lots of eye candy with photos and video. Nicole will also give you the dish on new Bluetooth headsets. Jessica Dolcourt of Download.com will scout out services, software, and applications, while Tom Krazit and Maggie Reardon of CNET News will bring you the latest news from the business side.

Though we're expecting a full show, we're also expecting that CTIA 2009 will be a little quieter than in past years. That has certainly been the case at the trade shows we've attended so far in 2009. At both CES and the GSMA World Congress, only a handful of new phones appeared on the show floor.

But don't worry, because if CTIA is anything like CES or GSMA, there will be plenty of cool gadgets on display. After all, CES gave us the Palm Pre and GSMA saw the birth of the Sony Ericsson Idou. In Las Vegas, the Palm Pre will be on display again, even if we're not expecting Sprint to announce a release date and pricing. And while Sony Ericsson will not be unveiling any new models, we will see new models from Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Kyocera, and HTC.

Most eyes at CTIA, however, will be on Android. Rumors persist that HTC will deliver a second Android device for T-Mobile. Neither HTC nor T-Mobile are saying anything, but just three days ago the Federal Communications Commission approved a version of the HTC Magic that supports T-Mobile's 3G network. Without a doubt, a new Android device would satisfy anxious Android fans who have been waiting for an alternative to the T-Mobile G1. We thought that GSMA would offer a gallery of Android devices, but a Magic bound for Vodafone was the only such device to make an appearance in Barcelona.

Whatever happens, the CNET team will be on-hand in Las Vegas to bring you the latest news and the hottest devices from CTIA. Just don't expect any iPhone news, please. Sure, we may see some iPhone apps, but Apple is always a no-show at CTIA. We land in Sin City on Tuesday, March 31 and will be reporting through the end of the week. Check back often for the latest updates.

Unlike the Foleo, the Redfly doesn't have an operating system, storage, or processing power.

(Credit: Celio)

SAN FRANCISCO--When I first glimpsed the Redfly from Celio at this week's CTIA show here, I thought I was staring at a Palm Foleo.

But while both are "smartphone companions," there are a couple of key differences. First and foremost, the Redfly hasn't been shelved.

Also, although the Foleo was touted as a complement to a smartphone, it had its own Linux-based operating system and application development apparatus.

As noted in January, the Redfly looks like a laptop, but has essentially no processing power or storage of its own. Rather, it's designed to hook up with a Windows Mobile smartphone.

It takes all the applications and data from the phone (via a Bluetooth or USB connection) and adds an 8-inch screen, keyboard, and pointing device. PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets that barely show up on a 3-inch phone screen are much more usable. Also, as mobile browsers get better, Web surfing stands to be much better as well.

Palm co-founder Jeff Hawkins introduces the Palm Foleo at the May 2007 D: All Things Digital conference.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

It's price tag is still hefty--around $400. That's a lot for a device that doesn't actually hold any information. Of course, that might also be Redfly's biggest selling point.

Because all the Redfly is doing is acting as a remote display for the phone, no data actually lives on the device. That feature alone could justify the price for some businesses. While most laptops can't be remotely wiped, many smartphones can.

Marketing Vice President Brad Warnock told me his company still hopes to crack into the consumer market, but understands that it needs to get its costs down before that's a practical option.

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft still isn't quite ready to release its new mobile browser, but I did get an advance look at Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Mobile at a Microsoft event Wednesday night.

The biggest benefit will be the fact that it is the full IE 6 rendering engine, meaning that any page that renders properly in IE 6 on the PC should do just fine on Windows Mobile. Tim McDonough, a senior director in Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit, showed me the browser running the standard MSN home page.

The current version of mobile Internet Explorer, seen here, leaves a lot to be desired. A new version, based on the same rendering engine as Internet Explorer 6 for the PC, promises Flash support and other improvements.

(Credit: Microsoft)

I saw the browser running on Windows Mobile Standard--meaning on a non-touch-screen device. The browser makes good use of a D-pad controller to go from link to link, but it's still not as elegant as on a touch screen. I'll be interested to see how the browser works on a touch-based Windows Mobile device, but am still not expecting navigation to be up to the iPhone level.

Navigation may be better on the iPhone, but IE 6 will have some advantages, such as full Flash support.

"The market today is really at 'Can I see a page?' Very quickly we're getting to 'Can I do something?'" he said. "That's where we will really shine."

Another interesting option on IE 6 is the ability to quickly shift from a site's mobile page to its standard desktop version. Just because IE 6 can show the full site, doesn't mean that's always what people want. It's particularly true in Europe where even so-called "unlimited" data plans typically have data caps that can easily be reached by loading a lot of standard Web pages. IE 6 toggles between mobile and standard Web pages by sending a different user agent, depending on which page type a user wants to see.

McDonough didn't offer much of an update on timing for IE 6, except to say that "it's still this year."

That's left Windows Mobile device makers scrambling to try to better compete against Apple's browsing experience. To fill the gap, many are turning to Opera's Windows Mobile browsing, which offers better navigation and rendering than the current mobile Internet Explorer.

Samsung Highnote

(Credit: Sprint)

CTIA Fall 2008 started off with a bang yesterday with a slew of handset and service announcements, and is sure to be our busiest day at the show. Even prior to the show start, Research In Motion had announced the new BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 and Nokia mentioned that it will embed Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync in all Nokia phones with the S60 operating system.

Once morning broke on September 10, Sprint had let loose a series of handset announcements, many of which make up a bulk of its upcoming fall lineup. The Samsung Highnote is the quintessential music phone (complete with slide-out stereo speaker), the Samsung Rant is the basic messaging phone, while the LG Lotus is poised to be the fashionista handset with a full QWERTY for messaging, as well as external controls for its music player. All three of these phones will have Sprint's new OneClick user interface. Sprint also released the Motorola i576 for IDEN-lovers out there. Of course, the smartphone that a lot of people will be looking at is the business-focused HTC Touch Pro, also available from Sprint this year.

In other smartphone news, RIM followed up its BlackBerry Pearl Flip announcement with the BlackBerry Curve 8350i, which is a BlackBerry with push-to-talk functionality. Sony Ericsson will also finally launch the Xperia X1 soon, but only in the U.K., Germany, and Sweden. Last but not least, Velocity Mobile also makes an appearance with an announcement that it is shipping its first-ever smartphone into the market.

Virgin Mobile also finally made known its plans of incorporating Helio into its fold with the new Helio by Virgin Mobile branding. As a part of this, they also announced the Virgin Mobile Shuttle, which is the prepaid carrier's first-ever 3G handset. It has many of the high-end features of Helio handsets, but at a low price and without a contract.

Other news of the day include Yahoo announcing a social-networking app for the iPhone, Verizon announcements of new V Cast Mobile channels, the supposed "openness" of mobile networks, Real Networks adding video to its voice services, the rising cost of text messages, and how the tween market is shaping the mobile industry.

For a full rundown of the announcements, photo galleries, videos, and more, check out our CTIA Fall 2008 page

The One Click interface as seen on the Samsung Highnote. Here it's showing your latest horoscope as well as a news headline.

(Credit: Sprint)

Along with several new phone announcements today, Sprint has also launched One Click, a new user interface designed to be highly customizable and easy to use. The One Click interface consists of eight shortcut tiles lined up along the bottom of the screen, which then lead to any of 14 available applications. They include the texting interface, Web access, e-mail, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV Sprint Music, and other features. As you flip through the different shortcut tiles, you get a short little pop-up of that application's submenu, or a brief preview of the application itself. You can also customize the home screen to show brief news headlines.

We managed to get some hands-on time with this new interface, and I have to say I like it quite a bit. It's nice to have instant access to an array of favorite applications, a design aspect that so far has only been available for higher-end smartphones. One particular shortcut I found intriguing was the Google shortcut tile, which provides instant access to Google search, Gmail, as well as YouTube.

The One Click interface is only available for the LG Lotus, the Samsung Rant, and the Samsung Highnote for now, and Sprint says the Sanyo Katana Eclipse will get this new interface in November. The carrier hopes to roll out the interface to more phones in the future.

RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8220

(Credit: RIM)

While the fall CTIA show isn't really known for handset announcements, Research in Motion paid no mind and started the show off with a bang by introducing the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 on Tuesday night. While much of the attention has turned to the rumored BlackBerry Thunder as of late, the Pearl Flip 8220 shouldn't be forgotten, as it's the first BlackBerry to sport a clamshell design.

The flip phone, which comes in black or red, measures 3.9-inches high by 1.9-inches wide by 0.6-inch deep and weighs 3.5 ounces. It features a 65,536-color, 128x160 pixel external display and front-facing 2-megapixel camera, while you get a 65,536-color, 240x320-pixel TFT display on the inside. As part of the Pearl series, you get the SureType keyboard (groan) and trackball navigator. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 also comes equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack and an external microSD expansion slot.

Moving onto features, the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE) Pearl Flip 8220 offers true world roaming, a speakerphone, smart dialing, and background-noise cancellation. Wireless options include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support. There's no GPS, but the BlackBerry Maps application is onboard to at least provide you with maps and text-based directions.

Supported e-mail solutions include BlackBerry Enterprise, Microsoft Exchange, IMB Lotus, Novell GroupWise as well as POP3 and IMAP4 accounts. There's also an attachment viewer for Word, Excel, PowerPoint files, PDFs, and JPG images.

(Credit: RIM)

When you're done working, you can enjoy MP3, WMA, AAC, MPEG4, WMV, and other music and video formats with the built-in media player. In addition, the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 has a 2-megapixel camera with flash and video-recording capabilities.

In all, there aren't a whole lot of surprises, as the smartphone keeps very much in line with the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120. Research in Motion was a little vague as to release date, but it will be offered by carriers worldwide sometime this fall and the company did confirm that T-Mobile will be one of the U.S. carriers. No word on pricing.

Now, here's the question: Will the flip-phone form factor work for BlackBerry? There's only been a handful of smartphones to come in the clamshell design, such as the Pantech PN-820, but they never seem to really take off. Will the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 be any different?

It's September, and that means it's time for the fall version of the CTIA wireless trade show. Thankfully, the CTIA fall show in 2008 will be right in our backyard at Moscone West in San Francisco, so we won't have far to travel. My colleagues Bonnie Cha and Kent German will be on hand to give you the low-down on the latest handsets, News.com's Maggie Reardon and Tom Krazit will be reporting on mobile news, and Download.com's Jessica Dolcourt will give you the scoop on all the latest software and applications for mobile.

The CTIA fall show typically doesn't have as many cell phone announcements, with most of the attention directed toward software instead. That doesn't mean there aren't new announcements, though; we're expecting some news on the smartphone front, as well as some sneak peeks at the fall lineup. Already we've seen news of the Palm Treo Pro and the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint get announced prior to the show.

The CTIA fall show (otherwise known as CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2008) will be from September 10 to the 12, so keep your eyes peeled for our full coverage of the show.

While the official announcement wasn't supposed to cross the wires till next week, The Wall Street Journal went early with its story (please don't get me started on this) and published a review of the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

Yes, that's right. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is officially part of the Sprint family; not that it was a complete surprise. The HTC Touch Diamond, as well as the HTC Touch Pro (no announcement on this model yet), were long rumored for a CDMA carrier months before Wednesday's early coming-out party. So now that the floodgates are open, here is what we know.

Word's out on the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

(Credit: Sprint)

There are a number of differences between the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and the unlocked version we reviewed in late June. First, it sports a purple/burgundy backplate to add more flash to an already sexy phone. The smartphone is also a smidge thicker and heavier at 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep and 4.1 ounces, but keeps the same 2.8-inch, 262,000-color TFT touch screen.

Of course, one of the highlights of the HTC Touch Diamond is the TouchFLO 3D interface, which provides a toolbar along the bottom of the screen where you can move left to right with the swipe of your finger to launch applications. Sprint's version is optimized so that you can access things like live TV, weather, e-mail, photos, contacts, and more.

In addition to the toolbar, there are several programs, such as e-mail, the camera, and music, where you can go flip through your files and messages by swiping your thumb/finger up or down the screen with a cool animated 3D effect.

Moving on to the features, the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, but rather than being content with the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the smartphone also ships with Dataviz's Documents to Go Suite and the Opera Web browser. We're sure many will be pleased with inclusion of these applications, which are arguably more robust than the former. Wireless options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (with A2DP support), EV-DO Rev. A, and GPS with support for Sprint Navigation.