CTIA show

In addition to the Samsung Mondi and Instinct s30, Samsung announced its plans to add mobile-connected applications to future TouchWiz cell phones and smartphones at CTIA 2009.

The company said it has been working with Yahoo, Google, and AccuWeather.com to bring one-touch access to Yahoo OneSearch, Google search, and worldwide weather information right from the home screen of your mobile.

The new apps will come preloaded on select TouchWiz devices and will be available through the widget tray, such as the one found on the Samsung Omnia. However, it doesn't stop there.

Samsung said it will release an SDK (software development kit) next month to professional developers so they can create and submit their own mobile applications to sell through the Samsung Rich Connected Application storefront.

In addition, Samsung will offer a Web-based tool for casual users and hobbyists to create their own widgets, and service providers will have the opportunity to add carrier-specific services to the TouchWiz widget tray. Current widgets include messaging, calendar, games, music player, clock, and alarm clock.

(Credit: Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)

By now, you've probably heard that Samsung revealed the Samsung Mondi and Samsung Instinct s30 during a press conference on Tuesday night, one day before the official start of CTIA 2009. At the end of the event, there was a Q&A session and one of the questions that came up was the status of Samsung's Google Android devices.

Unfortunately, the company didn't have much to say, other than what we already know. (Hey, I'm just passing along the message, so don't shoot me, OK?) Samsung said it is absolutely committed to the Open Handset Alliance but it's company procedure not to talk about any specific products until closer to launch, blah, blah, blah. Samsung did emphasize that there are no delays and that it's on track to release its Android devices during the second half of 2009.

You can usually rely on Samsung to drop a load of new phones every trade show, and CTIA 2009 is no exception. After announcing several new phones for AT&T and a WiMax-enabled device, Samsung on Tuesday evening unveiled a successor to the Samsung Instinct. The Instinct S30, which comes almost a year to the day after its predecessor, offers minimal feature and design upgrades. Be sure to check out our Samsung Instinct S3 photo gallery.

As you might expect, the Instinct S30 is all about the touch screen. The 3.2-inch display supports 262,000 colors and 432x240-pixel resolution. You'll recognize it from the original Instinct, along with the menu interface and virtual keyboard. Below the display are three touch controls for navigation while a camera lens sits on the rear face. The candy bar shape has a few more curves than its older sibling, and it's just the tiniest bit thinner, but it's about the same otherwise.

The new Instinct looks much like its predecessor.

(Credit: Samsung)

Features include a 2-megapixel camera with video recording, voice commands and dialing, a full HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth, PC syncing, a personal organizer, a music player, a 600-contact phone book, GPS with Sprint Navigation, support for Sprint's Visual Voicemail, and a speakerphone. The S30 is compatible with Sprint's EV-DO Rev. 0 network, which means you'll get Sprint Power Vision content, the Sprint Music store, and Sprint TV. While 3G is great, we're miffed that the S3 isn't also EV-DO Rev. A like its predecessor.

Inside, the S30 offers instant messaging and Outlook calendar syncing out of the box. That means you won't have to add them later via an upgrade. The e-mail should be about the same, though we wouldn't mind seeing an interface upgrade or two. You'll be able to get POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail directly on the device.

Samsung also is promising that the S30 will be more open to developers, who will be able to access the core Java application programming interface. Available features will include messaging, multimedia, contacts, calendar, and Bluetooth. As part of the program, Sprint is creating an Application Developer Program.

The S30, aka the SPH-M810, will be available April 19 for $129 with a two-year contract. Like with the Instinct, you must choose a Sprint "Simply Everything" data plan, which start at $69 per month.

Update: The $99 Simply Everything plan includes unlimited voice, data and messaging, but it is not required for the Instinct S3. The lowest Simply Everything plan, which is $69 per month, includes unlimited data and messaging, but 450 anytime minutes.

Samsung Instinct S3--photos

Samsung kicked off CTIA by announcing a WiMax touch-screen device. At an event at the swanky Wynn Encore Hotel, Sammy showed off the Mondi, which crams laptop- and Netbook-worthy features into a compact design.

The Mondi's 4.3-inch display dominates the Mondi's real estate, leaving room only for a camera lens and a couple of physical controls. Samsung promises that the Mondi will have a customizable interface with widgets that can be dragged around at will. The operating system is Windows Mobile 6.1.

The Mondi's slider design hides a full QWERTY keyboard, a navigation toggle, and an Internet Explorer browser shortcut. It doesn't offer a dedicated row of numeric keys, but a fair number of symbols are surfaced directly on the keyboard.

Samsung Mondi hands-on photos

Features are quite plentiful. Besides the WiMax Mobile Internet Access, you'll find Wi-Fi, GPS with support for Route 66 Navigation, Microsoft Outlook and Windows Mobile Office, 4GB of internal memory, Bluetooth, a 3-megapixel camera, a video player, messaging, and Push e-mail (POP3, IMAP, and SMTP), instant-messaging and a personal organizer. The Mondi does not have a cellular radio for making calls.

Clearwire will provide the WiMax service. We'll fill in Mondi's exact availability details as soon as the press conference is over. And of course, we'll have photos, video, and more specs.

Just a few weeks after it introduced its first smartphone, the RIM BlackBerry Curve, MetroPCS went even more high-end (relatively speaking) by adding its first touch-screen device, the Samsung Finesse, aka the SCH-r810 resembles Alltel's Samsung Delve. It offers a large, 262,000-color display with a virtual QWERTY keyboard and numeric dialpad. Just one physical control below the display completes the Finesse's front face.

Features include a 2-megapixel camera, speakerphone, personal organizer, messaging and e-mail, microSD card slot, Bluetooth, GPS, music player, full HTML browser, speakerphone, and support for 3G data networks. The Finesse is $350; MetroPCS does not require contracts.

Samsung is never one to be a wallflower at CTIA, but this year it arrived in Las Vegas with all cylinders firing. On Monday, two full days before the show began, Samsung announced not only the Propel Pro, but also its new Impression SGH-A877 and Magnet SGH-A257. Both offer full keyboards for messaging and e-mail. Check out our Samsung CTIA photo gallery for the beauty shots.

The Impression offers a candy-bar design with a large 3.2-inch touch-screen display. Samsung says that the Impression is the first phone in the United States with an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED), which results in a bright and clear screen. We'll have to see it in person to gauge if that's true.

Samsung Impression and Magnet--photos

Tip the Impression on its side and slide it up to expose the the full keyboard. It looks spacious enough and it offers arrow keys for navigating through the menus. Other features include 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.

The Magnet has a standard candy-bar design in bright orange. It's positioned as a low-end messaging phone and in many ways it looks the part. The display sits above the large navigation array and full alphabetic keyboard. Features include a camera, a personal organizer, and a speakerphone.

Pricing and availability for the Magnet were not available on Monday, but the Impression will be available April 7 for $200.

Getting a jump-start on CTIA 2009, AT&T Wireless announced on Sunday night the upcoming availability of two messaging-centric smartphones: the Nokia E71x and Samsung Propel Pro.

The two devices are expected to be in stores and online in the coming weeks, joining the carrier's four other new releases, the Samsung Impression, the Samsung Magnet, the LG Neon, and the LG Xenon.

The Nokia E71x has long been rumored for AT&T and is largely like the unlocked Nokia E71, which we reviewed in July.

The AT&T version comes in a sleek black and is currently the thinnest QWERTY smartphone on the market. The GPS-enabled device is compatible with AT&T Navigator for turn-by-turn directions, and it features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, HSDPA support, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The E71x comes with a very attractive price tag of $99.99, with a two-year contract and after discounts and rebates.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Propel Pro beefs up the offerings of the Samsung Propel with the addition of Windows Mobile 6.1. The slider phone comes in a cool silver-and-chrome color and also features a full QWERTY keyboard. It also has integrated Wi-Fi connectivity and a 3-megapixel camera.

The Propel Pro will be available on April 1 for $149.99 with the standard contracts and rebates.

The LG Lotus in purple.

(Credit: LG)

Remember not so long ago when almost every cell phone was black, gray, or silver? Then, thanks to the Motorola Razr V3, pink was suddenly an "it" color for cell phones. But gradually, red became the new pink, and now it seems that purple is the new red.

Though we don't agree just yet that a purple wave will sweep cell phone land, Sprint is pushing the line that purple is the new hot hue for cell phones. Indeed, two of its new cell phones introduced at CTIA Fall 2008 come in the color of the royals. The Samsung Rant is offered in purple, red, and black, and the LG Lotus comes in purple and black.

Previous purple phones includes the Sony Ericsson W380a and S500i, the Motorola W755, and the LG CU515. While those handsets appear to be laying the groundwork for a trend, time will tell if purple develops into a full-blown design fad. After all, that whole champagne thing never really caught on. Personally, I'm still hoping green handsets have their day.

What do you think? Is purple here to stay? What cell phone colors would you like to see?

The Samsung's Highnote's most prominent feature is its scrollwheel.

(Credit: Sprint)

Samsung has been spinning out new cell phones left and right since the start of the month, but it is using the CTIA fall 2008 show to showcase its newest and flashiest models.

One of its most promising handsets is the new Samsung Highnote for . Positioned as a music phone to replace the and the LG Muziq, the Highnote offers all the usual comforts of a Sprint music phone including access to the Sprint Music Store. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, a 262,000-color display, a 3.5mm headset jack (yay!), support for Sprint's 3G EV-DO network and Sprint TV, messaging and e-mail, Sprint's new One Click interface, personal organizer options, stereo Bluetooth, a Web browser, speaker-independent voice dialing and support for Microsoft Live Search.

But the real appeal of the Highnote comes from its sharp and sturdy design, which we had a chance to examine yesterday. Available in blue or red, the slider phone casts a slim profile (4.0 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.6 inch). Yet there's more to this handset than meets the eye. Similar to what we first saw in the Nokia N95, the Highnote has a dual slider design. Slide it up to expose the keyboard and slide it down to show stereo speakers. On the whole, it appears to work quite well.

The Samsung Highnote shows its speaker

(Credit: Sprint)

The navigation array is also worth a look. Inside a raised silver ring is a nifty, user-friendly scrollwheel that allows for easy menu navigation. Unlike the Upstage, the Musiq, and the LG Fuziq, all of which just teased us with something that just looked like a scrollwheel, you can actually move your finger all the way around the Highnote's wheel in a full circle. What's more, since it's not a touch control you also can use the wheel as a toggle by pressing in the traditional up, down, left, and right directions. A convenient OK button sits in the middle of the toggle.

The silver ring surrounding the toggle isn't quite what it seems, either. It's actually composed of four controls: a clear button, two soft keys and the Talk and End/power keys. yet, we had mixed feelings about these controls. Though we like their location and tactile feel, the individual buttons are thin and the whole arrangement seems a tad cramped. We'll save our final verdict until we give the Highnote a full shakedown.

The Highnote will be available next month for an affordable price of $99 with service. We'll have a full review just as soon as Sprint places a Highnote in our hands.