Cell phones, smart phones, and PDAs

Editor's note: This live event has concluded. For a brief rundown of what was announced, check out our summary post here. You can also read the transcript of our live blog below or replay our live blog in the Cover It Live module at the end of the transcript.

Today is D-Day for the announcement of the much-anticipated Verizon iPhone, or so hope millions of iPhone fans, who want another carrier option.

Verizon Wireless is holding a press conference in New York on Tuesday at 11 a.m. ET at Lincoln Center (That's 8 a.m. PT.) The … Read more

Verizon Wireless is making a big announcement in New York on Tuesday. Could the news be the long-awaited Verizon iPhone?

On Friday, the company sent reporters an invitation to a press event hosted by Lowell McAdam, Verizon's chief operating officer. The event, which will take place at Lincoln Center, is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET. (That's 1/11/11 at 11.)

CNET blogger Rick Broida received a tip earlier this week from an anonymous source, who said the Verizon iPhone would be announced January 11.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday afternoon that an unnamed … Read more

Have you ever noticed that your old flip phone held its charge for days, even weeks sometimes, but a half-hour spent surfing the Web or watching a video on your new smartphone and the battery is dead?

You aren't alone. As cell phones get more sophisticated, all those bells and whistles come at the cost of heavy power consumption. Sure, we all like the convenience of hitting Google on the go or getting turn-by-turn navigation on our smartphones, but when the battery life is drained almost instantaneously, those new features become a drag.

In this week's Ask Maggie … Read more

Editor's note: This live event has concluded, but as expected, Verizon took the stage to unveil a range of new 4G devices, including the LG Revolution, HTC Thunderbolt, and Samsung Smartphone. For a brief rundown of what was announced, check out our summary post here. You can also replay our live blog in the Cover It Live module below.

LAS VEGAS--Verizon Wireless will be hosting a press conference here Thursday afternoon at CES at which it's expected to introduce its first 4G smartphones.

The carrier, which is the largest wireless operator in the U.S. in terms of … Read more

Editor's note: This live event has concluded. For a brief rundown of what was announced, check out our summary post here. You can also replay our live blog in the Cover It Live module below.

LAS VEGAS--Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg will take the stage Thursday morning to deliver a keynote address here at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Verizon Wireless, the largest wireless operator in the U.S., will introduce its own version of the Apple iPhone. Will Seidenberg use his CES keynote to make the big announcement? It's unlikely, but … Read more

The Federal Communications Commission scored a major political win today as it announced a $25 million settlement with Verizon Wireless over so-called mystery charges.

While critics complain that the FCC has been dragging its feet on issues such as Net neutrality, the agency announced that it has not only forced Verizon Wireless to refund more than $50 million to consumers for overcharging them, but it has also gotten the nation's largest cell phone operator to pay another $25 million to the U.S. Treasury as a penalty.

The payment is the largest in FCC history and the settlement concludes the agency's 10-month investigation … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO - Motorola is taking on Research In Motion, the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone, with its new Droid Pro.

Motorola announced the new Google Android smartphone at a press event here Tuesday on the eve of the 2010 CTIA Enterprise & Applications tradeshow. Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha called the phone, which sports a 3.1-inch touch screen display and a QWERTY keypad, the first Android phone designed specifically for business users.

The company has added several features to the Droid Pro, which could make it a strong BlackBerry competitor. BlackBerry is still the No. 1 smartphone used … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--New 4G networks and cool wireless gadgets like the iPad aren't just for playing games and watching movies, companies large and small are looking for ways to leverage this technology to make it work for their businesses.

While many technology trends have traditionally flowed from the corporate environment into the consumer market (think e-mail and voicemail as just two examples), many of the latest trends in mobility over the past few years have originated for consumers.

The Apple iPhone and Google Android phones, and the mobile app craze that has followed, have predominately been focused on meeting the … Read more

When it comes to wireless services, sometimes unlimited doesn't really mean unlimited.

Wireless is a competitive business, and sometimes operators say almost anything to get consumers to sign up for their service. Over the last few years, outraged customers have forced wireless carriers to stop throwing around the "unlimited" term so freely. As a result, a lot of mobile broadband services note in fine print that they are not, in fact, "unlimited."

But what if you truly want to pay for an unlimited data service? Do any even exist? I have answered this very question … Read more