c

ZTE is certainly trying to get into the ground floor in the U.S. market this year, with two brand new handsets -- the C78 and the C79 -- debuting at CTIA, mostly for the entry-level market. The C78 is a fairly basic handset with a VGA camera and Bluetooth, while the C79 is a slightly more advanced clamshell with a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 player, stereo Bluetooth, and a microSD card slot. The C79 even features external music player controls right on the front surface. Check them out in our brief ZTE photo gallery.

UTStarcom didn't have much of a presence at this year's CTIA, but it did sneak in an announcement of the AWS-enabled CDM-7126 handset for both Cricket and MetroPCS. The Cricket version is dubbed the CDM-7126C and the MetroPCS version is dubbed the CDM-7126M. They're both about the same, save for the look of the front surface. As for the phone itself, it's a pretty standard device, made for the entry-level market though it does have Bluetooth as well. The front surface is pretty unique in that there are LED indicators for incoming calls and text messages, … Read more

Chinese manufacturer ZTE is making further headway in the U.S. market with two new simple phones, the ZTE C78 and the ZTE C79. The ZTE C88 for MetroPCS was its first ever handset offered in North America, and these two handsets are part upgrade, part downgrade. They're both among the first in the country to operate via AWS frequency bands, which theoretically let users have access to data and multimedia applications if the carriers allow. The C79 is the more advanced model; it's a flip phone with a MP3 player, a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, and … Read more

Verizon Wireless opened the floodgates today, introducing a number of additions to its cell phone and smartphone lineup, including the Motorola Q9c shown here.

Unlike the multimedia-centric Motorola Q9m, the Q9c goes after the road warriors with its integrated GPS and VZ Navigator support. In addition, it offers Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition with the Documents to Go suite, Bluetooth 2.0, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and 128MB Flash memory.

Being a more business-centric device, Verizon will not offer the more flashy lime-green version, which was announced for U.S. Cellular and Alltel. The Motorola Q9c for Verizon will be … Read more

CTIA 2008 is still one day away from its official start, but the news is already starting to trickle in. Motorola got a jump-start as it, as well as Alltel and U.S. Cellular, announced the addition of the Motorola Q9c to the carriers' line-ups, including a new lime-green version. Both providers will also offer a more traditional black version if you don't feel like getting too wild and crazy with your phone colors. (And how in the world did Moto settle on lime green?)

Looks aside, the Q9c for Alltel and U.S. Cellular is much like the … Read more

In the wake of science fiction great Arthur C. Clarke's passing last week at the age of 90, Popular Mechanics' Erik Sofge examines 10 futuristic movies that "got the science right, or will sometime soon."

Read more at Popular Mechanics: "The 10 most prophetic sci-fi movies ever"

Celebrities like Hulk Hogan and the Olsen Twins invade our building, plus Guitar Hero DS makes us regret Guitar Hero's very existence on this planet. Legendary sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke kicks the bucket and Britney Spears hits the small screen in South Park.

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This post was updated at 3:52 p.m. PST with more details.

Science fiction impresario Arthur C. Clarke is dead, according to published news reports.

And as of 3 p.m. PDT Tuesday, the Wikipedia article on Clarke has also already been updated with a banner across the top that reads, "This article is about a person who has recently died."

Clarke was the author, or co-author, of dozens of fiction and non-fiction books. But he will likely always be best known for his novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, which he later turned into a landmark film … Read more