CES - Cell phones and smartphones

Once an Apple engineer, Andy Rubin went on to co-found mobile computing outfits Danger and Android. He sold the former to Microsoft and the latter to Google, where he is now vice president of engineering. He's also the guy quarterbacking development of Google's Android mobile operating system and the Nexus One--the smartphone with which Google hopes to fundamentally change the way people buy cell phones.

In conversation with All Things Digital's Walt Mossberg Friday, Rubin talked about the mobile space, Google's plan for an enterprise version of the Nexus One, and its vision for the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--I've not been shy about admitting that I'm a big fan of Callpod's Chargepod. I've taken it on many trips and I love that I can charge my camera, cell phone, and MP3 player simultaneously. But not only that: leaving all those individual chargers at home saves room in my suitcase.

At CES the company raised the bar a bit higher, with the debut of the Chargepod V2. Like the first Chargepod, the V2 can power multiple gadgets at once, but it also includes adapters for powering your laptop (both Macs and PCs) and it … Read more

The spiffy Xperia X10 wasn't the only notable phone sitting pretty in the Sony Ericsson booth. We also checked out a few new models that range from eco-friendly to runway-worthy to just plain odd. Catch them in our Sony Ericsson CES slideshow, but read the highlights here.

Xperia Pureness Weighing in with more than a little wow factor, the Xperia Pureness has a transparent display on top of its otherwise ordinary candy bar design. It's certainly a conversation piece, but we're wondering just how it will perform in the real world.

Jalou If you're a slave … Read more

Sony Ericsson announced its first Android phone, the Xperia X10, in London two months ago, but I had to wait for CES to get my first look at the device on this side of the Atlantic.

As you'd expect, the Sony Ericsson stand at the massive Sony Electronics booth was crowded with people wanting to get a look at the handset. And there's no wonder why--the X10 is a sight to behold. Its slim profile and clean lines hit high on the beauty scale, and I enjoyed how sturdy and comfortable it felt in my hand. Front and … Read more

LAS VEGAS--On his first visit to CES as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski on Friday reiterated key policy objectives to free up more wireless spectrum and encourage competition in the TV set-top box.

Top on the chairman's list of issues to emphasize while chatting with Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro here at 2010 CES was the need for more wireless spectrum to be used by wireless broadband providers. He said spectrum scarcity is a key issue that he faces on a daily basis as he deals with communications policy. And he said it was crucial … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Motorola's new Backflip Android phone captured most of our attention at CES, but the company also displayed two recent touch-screen devices destined for the Chinese market.

The XT800 has an attractive slim design with a 3.7-inch, 16 million-color WVGA display. I handled it for a few moments and liked how solid the device is and how it fit squarely my hand. It runs Google Android 2.1 and sports a standard 3.5mm headset jack.

The feature set is respectable. You'll find two SIM card slots, a 550MHz processor, Wi-Fi, A2DP Bluetooth, a 5-megapixel camera with … Read more

Even though we first heard of the Casio Brigade at CTIA Fall 2009, we didn't get a chance to take a look at it until CES 2010. The Brigade is Casio's first foray into messaging phones, and like its other G'zOne handsets, the Brigade is military-certified to be resistant to shock, water, fog, dust, and more.

The Brigade is a hefty device that measures 4.44 inches tall by 2.21 inches wide by 0.97 inches thick and weighs 5.49 ounces. It's clad in a very thick rubber material, which adds to its durability. … Read more

We're all back together again as one big, happy cell phone family here in Las Vegas to cover CES 2010. There have been a few mobile announcements at the show, but the most talked about handset launched right before we got here. Yes, we're talking about the Nexus One. We dive into the Google phone as well as dish the details on the latest CES launches, including the Palm Pre Plus, LG Lotus Elite, and Motorola Backflip, all on this week's episode of Dialed In, Las Vegas edition.

LAS VEGAS--Palm's announcement at CES 2010 wasn't a complete surprise. Rumors of the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus for Verizon Wireless were floating around preshow for a few weeks, but that doesn't mean we weren't interested in checking out the products.

Luckily for us, Palm let us take a hands-on look at the devices this year (Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein even made a wisecrack about last year's restrictions at the press conference), and though they weren't quite the showstoppers that the Pre was at CES 2009, there were certainly things that … Read more