CES - Cell phones and smartphones

LAS VEGAS--Officially, the Consumer Electronics show runs for four days. But the real action happens before the show, as the world's consumer electronics companies line up to tout their latest and greatest gadgets, products, and apps via a marathon of press conferences--every hour, on the hour.

This year was no exception: 2011's "day zero" yielded a data dump of unprecedented proportions from the industry's biggest names. We're still sorting through it all ourselves, but here's a photo overview--with relevant links to earlier stories--to help put it all into perspective. Among the recurring themes … Read more

Xbox 360 and Kinect owners will soon be able to enjoy easy new ways to wave their way through movies and music.

Microsoft this evening announced a spring software upgrade that will let Kinect owners use hand gestures and spoken commands to watch videos streamed through Netflix and the Hulu Plus monthly subscription service, effectively upping the stakes in the rivalry with Sony's Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3.

You'll be able to watch these "controller-free in the living room, the biggest screen in your home," Ron Forbes of Microsoft's interactive entertainment division told the audience at the … Read more

Jabra announced a slew of new products here at CES 2011, and three of them are made with the PC in mind.

First is the Jabra EasyGo for the PC. Announced less than a month ago for the beginner headset market, the EasyGo is now Skype-certified to be used with the computer. It comes with a handy USB adapter and will automatically connect to the headset. The EasyGo is slim with simple controls, and it promises the usual DSP noise-canceling technology. The Jabra EasyGo also has multipoint, so you can connect to your phone and your PC at the same … Read more

It was no surprise to see it, but Motorola officially showed off the new Cliq 2 today at its CES press conference. Actually the third device in the Cliq series after the original Cliq and the Cliq XT, the Cliq 2 offers a slider design with a physical keyboard and it supports T-Mobile's 4G HSPA+ network.

Running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and the latest version of MotoBlur, the Cliq 2 brings a midrange feature set that includes all the Android basics plus a few multimedia options. Inside you'll find a 5-megapixel camera with digital zoom and a dual … Read more

LAS VEGAS--AT&T gave us a sneak peek at the Motorola Atrix 4G this morning, but it was up to Motorola to announce the full details of the device at its CES press conference that ended a few minutes ago.

As we told you, the Atrix's biggest draws will be its Nvidia's dual-core Tegra 2 chipset, and support for AT&T's 4G network. Yet, a deeper dive shows some equally impressive features plus a unique accessory. We'll start with the device first.

The Atrix will offer a familiar smartphone candy bar design. Clad in … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sony Ericsson kicked off its CES experience today by announcing a new Android smartphone, the Xperia Arc. Though it's not the long-rumored PlayStation phone, the Android-powered handset offers an impressive load of features and a sleek candy bar design in midnight blue or misty silver.

Front and center on the Arc is the 4.2-inch, 16.7 million-color touch screen (854x480 pixels). Sony Ericsson is no slouch when it comes to displays so we're expecting a stunner here. The capacitive display also has an accelerometer, a multitouch interface, and a Sony Bravia engine.

Exterior features include three physical controls (back, home, and menu), a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headset jack. The Arc has a trim profile at 0.342 inch, but we're glad to see Sony Ericsson isn't trying to push it as "the world's thinnest smartphone." And even if it did, that race changes almost every day. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--New parents who skipped CES this year to stay at home with the little one, your timing was just a few months off.

Withings unveiled its Smart Baby Monitor at the show today, and says it expects the devices to start shipping in late March. (Pricing details are to be determined.)

The monitor, which looks like a cute, little-kid version of a spy gadget, is unlike traditional baby monitors in that it does not involve close-distance communication between devices. Rather, the high-resolution 3-megapixel camera with extra-wide lens (not to mention night vision with infrared LEDs and temperature and humidity … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Following up the success of the Droid smartphone series, Verizon and Motorola announced the Droid Bionic, a 4G-enabled phone that will be one of the first to run on Verizon's 4G LTE network.

In addition to waving the 4G flag, the Droid Bionic will also gain speed from two 1GHz processors. Other specs include a 4.3-inch qHD capacitive touch screen, an 8-megapixel camera, and a front-facing VGA camera. An HDMI-out connection makes the Droid Bionic compatible with TV monitors.

A feature that Motorola is calling "Mirror Mode" will simultaneously stream video to the TV while … Read more

Editor's note: This post was updated on Feburary 2, 2011 with new information on the G-Slate.

LAS VEGAS--The deluge of tablet news, 4G news, and tablet 4G news just keeps pouring in.

LG and T-Mobile today announced the two companies' long-awaited and oft-rumored tablet running on a Google operating system.

The G-Slate will use Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb, as its OS. Honeycomb is the forthcoming version of Android that purportedly was developed from the ground up for tablets. The tablet will also make use of T-Mobile's 4G network.

Specs and details: