ctia

NEW ORLEANS--Clearwire, often seen in the industry as the odd duck of the wireless providers, may actually be on the unlikely path to offering a globally compatible device.

At least that's what CEO Erik Prusch believes. With major carriers in China, India, and Europe supporting the same spectrum band and variant of LTE, it's possible that a phone running on Clearwire can hop on to international networks with little fuss.

The advent of LTE was supposed to bring a universal standard to carriers. But the wide variety of technology standards and different spectrums has left the carriers as … Read more

NEW ORLEANS---The steady drumbeat of mobile phone news picked up tempo today at CTIA. Matching the rising temperatures in the Big Easy, hot handsets were unveiled or shown to us for the first time.

We also laid our hands on interesting mobile security solutions and on a collection of compelling accessories. Read on for some highlights of what the CNET gang uncovered on site. … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--After introducing its CUE touch-screen instrument panel at CTIA last October, Cadillac has returned to the 2012 wireless trade show with more services.

When CUE is introduced in the 2013 Cadillac XTS next month, buyers will be able to test the system on a new iPad app. According to Cadillac, the app will replicate many of the system's features and make them available anywhere.

XTS buyers in the United States will receive a new iPad loaded with not only the CUE app, but also the MyCadillac App and OnStar RemoteLink. And to help drivers get started, Cadillac dealers … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--If a new player in mobile payment has its way, PayAnywhere will soon be everywhere.

If you've heard of Square, then you pretty much already know everything you need to about PayAnywhere's point-of-sale product for mobile devices, which I saw for the first time at CTIA. The service consists of three parts: a credit card reader you can attach to a mobile device, a mobile app interface for customers and for merchants to manage, and a processing platform to tie it all together and offer analytics.… Read more

NEW ORLEANS--As you may already know, I'm a big sucker for Bluetooth gadgets. That's why when I spied the Monter ClarityHD Micro from a far at CTIA 2012 I couldn't resist checking them out. Squarely targeted at the same audience who think the Jawbone Jambox is groovy, this wireless speaker is small, super-portable, yet built to belt out loud tunes. … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--If you've got a mischievous pet with a habit of stepping out, you may be interested in Tagg, a pet-tracking system that uses GPS, data, e-mail, texting, and a handful of apps to help you keep tabs on your tabby.

The $99 starter kit comes with a passive tracking attachment for the collar, and an at-home unit that includes a short-range radio.

If Fido leaves the perimeter of your home, the collar tracker awakens. If he strays too far, up to five people will receive a text or e-mail alert. You can also keep an eye on your … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--Sure, Pal by Clarity isn't the sleekest or most high-tech phone on the market. It doesn't go on the Internet, it can't take pictures, and it definitely won't let you play a round of Angry Birds on its screen.

Instead, Pal was designed for an older demographic, and for less able-bodied users like paraplegics. It's produced by Clarity, an offshoot division of the mobile and Bluetooth accessory company, Plantronics.

Clarity has been around for 40 years, and it specializes in products for seniors for a good reason: according to Clarity, 35 million people suffer … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--We heard about the massive 13-inch Toshiba Excite 13 back in April, when we declared the thing too large to really be considered a portable device.

Now that I've seen the so-called tablet in its footlong glory, I can say with complete authority: as a tablet, it's insane; unwieldy and hard to handle.

That's perhaps why Toshiba envisions use cases that more or less keep it within domestic confines -- playing games, propping it on its included stand to use in the kitchen, watching movies in a room without a TV.

Get beyond its size and … Read more

NEW ORLEANS--When you're stuck in the tornado of a cell phone conference, it's sometimes hard to savor what you see. I had sought out the Nokia 808 PureView at Mobile World Congress. I mean, a 41-megapixel camera -- how could I not investigate?

However, it wasn't until I had spent some time digging into the mechanics behind the phone camera that I started to really appreciate what the PureView camera does differently.

Here at CTIA is where it began to click. I had a moment to actually peruse the camera menus and take the test shots I wanted to see how oversampling worked in a meaningful way.… Read more