smartphone

SIM card spotted in Palm Pre

We were really hoping that Palm would announce the HSDPA/GSM version of the Pre during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but that didn't happen. The folks at PreCommmunity managed to get some time with the device, and in a quick shot that showed the back battery cover off, a Vodafone SIM (subscriber identity module) card was spotted.

The fact that it has a Vodafone SIM card indicates that this is a GSM version of the Pre. So even without an official statement we know that Palm doesn't only have the CDMA version ready. Just why the … Read more

Apple is top of mind for execs at MWC

BARCELONA, Spain--iPhone maker Apple isn't at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 along with the rest of the mobile phone industry, but the company's growing success is definitely top of mind for key executives in the mobile market.

The iPhone and Apple's successful App Store got more than a passing mention on Tuesday during a panel moderated by The Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg.

The panel which included three of the most powerful CEOs in the mobile industry--Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, the second largest mobile operator in the U.S.; … Read more

Universal cell phone chargers coming soon

Update: This story has been updated to clarify that Apple was not named in the list of handset makers that have agreed to use a new universal charger standard.

BARCELONA--After I've spent years scrounging through drawers looking for the right charger and kicking myself every time I forgot my charger while traveling, the mobile industry has finally decided to make one device that can juice up any cell phone.

On Tuesday, the GSMA trade association announced at its 2009 Mobile World Congress here that it has brokered a deal with the world's leading handset makers to come up … Read more

Vodafone snags Android-powered HTC Magic

To our disappointment, there hasn't been a ton of Google Android news to come out of GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 so far. Huawei announced on Monday that it plans to start selling Android devices later this year, but other than that we didn't see a T-Mobile G2, and Samsung already said it would not show its Android phone at the show as it has been delayed until the second half of 2009.

However, we did get one device announcement. The bad news is that it's not for the U.S. market. On Tuesday, Vodafone said it … Read more

Skype strikes deal with Nokia

BARCELONA--Skype is racking up deals with mobile handset makers here at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009.

On Tuesday, the company, which is owned by eBay, announced a partnership with Nokia, the largest cell phone maker in the world, to put the Skype Internet calling software onto its phones. Nokia will initially offer Skype on its high-end smartphones, the N-series. The N97, Nokia's flagship device that goes on sale in June, will be the first to have Skype embedded. The Skype feature will start shipping on the device in the third quarter of 2009.

Skype will be integrated into the … Read more

Cisco brings Web conferencing to more smartphones

BARCELONA--Smarrtphone users will soon be able to participate in Web conferences using the hosted WebEx tool right from their phones.

Cisco Systems, which owns the WebEx Web conferencing service, announced Tuesday at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 here that it is making a version of its WebEx client software available to several smartphones including Research In Motion's BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900, and BlackBerry Storm. It will also be available for the Nokia E71, Nokia E75, Nokia N97, and other Nokia E series and N series devices, as well as for the Samsung Blackjack II.

The new functionality … Read more

Acer introduces eight new smartphones at GSMA 2009

Weeks prior to the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 here in Barcelona, there were plenty of rumors as to what Acer would reveal at its scheduled Monday press conference. We knew they'd be smartphones but there were varying opinions as to how many and what type. Well, all the speculation can stop now as the company finally took the wraps off the devices on Monday night.

Speaking at Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo, several Acer executives, including CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci, announced that the company would bring more than 10 smartphones to market in 2009 and showed off … Read more

Photos: Acer at GSMA 2009

On Monday night, Acer held a press conference during GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009, where the company unveiled eight new smartphones. Full details of the event and the new devices are coming soon, but in the meantime, check out our photo gallery of the event, which was held at Antoni Gaudi's Casa Batllo.

LG kicks off Windows Mobile deal with LG-GM730

LG Electronics made a number of announcements at GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009, one of which was its alliance with Microsoft to make Windows Mobile the primary operating system for the company's smartphones. As part of the agreement, LG said it would create a tenfold increase of Windows Mobile devices in 2009, and it got things started with the introduction of the LG-GM730.

LG expects to ship the GM730 during the first half of 2009, so unfortunately, it will run Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition. But the company said it would release a Windows Mobile 6.5 version … Read more

Huawei to launch Android handsets

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to a Huawei executive as James Chen. The executive's name is Edward Chen.

BARCELONA--Chinese handset maker Huawei Technologies said Monday at the GSMA Global World Congress 2009 here that it plans to start selling phones using Google's Android operating system later this year.

Details about the upcoming phones are still scarce. But the company said it's partnering with a design consultancy company. The device is still in development and is expected to hit the market in the third quarter of this year.

Huawei is a large telecommunications equipment maker … Read more