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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.
... Read More
Cell phones weren't the only items giving off heat on the CTIA conference showroom floor this week. There was also the sizzling of a virtual mobile world, a preview of Guitar Hero Mobile, and really neat motion-sensor games.
Take a look at what was new and interesting in the latest video.
GestureTek Mobile has bestowed the powers of movement-based navigation, popularized by the Nintendo Wii, upon cell phones. The one crucial difference: no Wii tennis elbow.
Since the technology in GestureTek Mobile's EyeMobile Engine is purely optic rather than hardware-based--unlike the accelerometer that tells iPhone when to jump into landscape mode--wrist motion is powerful and specific.
Here's an example from the demo: just click the soft key to zoom in on the map, and tilt the phone back and forth to zoom in and out. Do it again holding the scroll button to activate the motion detection, and tilt the handset from side to side to scroll around.
The zoom, scroll, and slow controls initiate motion response.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The demo also included games on Japanese phones, offering a glimpse of the future for us North American slackers. In one game, I rotated the phone in all directions to guide my sky-diving character through clouds to a landing target, all the while avoiding flying objects and collecting apples for points (apples?!). In a bowling game, I held down the center key to produce a digital bowling ball and whipped my arm upward to release it. It turns out that my GestureTek bowling score is pretty true to real life.
While those cool 3D games won't be available in this continent for a while, some technology, like the map I tested, is already available for Windows Mobile 6 and selected models for Verizon, Alltel, and Cellular South, with more to come. In Japan, advanced phones are already sporting 3D games made with the EyeMobile Engine tilt technology.
Today bluepulse, a free mobile social network, announced a platform shift that will give smartphone users access to the free service for the first time. Bluepulse is now Webware.
The bluepulse in-box stores incoming and outgoing messages, and status updates.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Until now, the strictly-mobile social network installed on JAD and JAR downloads to Java and Symbian cell phones, but wouldn't run on smartphones like Pocket PCs or Palm Treos. Migrating to a wholly Web-based app opens the door for smartphone users to take advantage of the service's instant messaging and social discovery mash-up.
In addition to making the switch to Web, bluepulse also adds an all-in-one message in-box and out-box that stores status updates, text messages, and friend requests in a single location, much like a Facebook feed. Another feature, group friending, applies the transitive property to help users connect to their friends' friends, thus extending their network.
Adding friends can now also be accomplished en masse through invitations to Facebook, AIM, Hotmail, Yahoo Messenger, Gmail, MSN, and MySpace contacts.
Users can join bluepulse by pointing their mobile browsers to http://www.bluepulse.com.
Digby has partnered with well-known retailers like Barnes & Noble and Fossil to create a downloadable shopping app that lets you purchase goods from your (RIM 4.1 or above) BlackBerry smartphone.
Digby has done a good job minimizing typing and fast-tracking purchases with select retail partners. Simply scroll through the brand list, clicking deeper within the stripped-down interface to see items and special deals. You can set the alert function to nag you to buy a gift before an important occasion. You'll have to do much of that buying on faith, though--there's no built-in functionality to preview an item or research product ratings for items, at least none that I perused.
When the purchase is nigh, enter your locally-stored password and Digby will do the rest, passing the transaction along to the vendor to process. Credit card information is password protected and stored, encrypted, on the device.... Read More
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