Smartphones

This post was last updated at 12:28 p.m., PT.

As much as the news of the HTC Evo 4G launch is making the rounds this Friday morning, so is another story about the 4G smartphone.

According to Android Central, Google I/O attendees, who all received an Evo 4G, started reporting problems where they weren't able to write to the storage card, which subsequently led to crashes and other issues.

Though a simple reboot or swapping out the card resolves the problem, HTC will be providing a more permanent fix via an over-the-air update. An HTC representative … Read more

As you probably know the HTC Evo 4G for Sprint is available starting today, and one of its enticing features is the ability to make video calls with the front-facing camera and Qik's video chat app, but it's been unclear whether there would be a fee to use the service.

Well, now we know that the standard service will be free on the Evo 4G and will offer such features as unlimited VGA quality video chats, live sharing to the Web and social-networking sites. However, you can upgrade to the premium service for $4.99 per month and … Read more

Happy Friday, everyone! Or should we say, happy HTC Evo 4G day? That's right, this is the day many smartphone fans have been waiting for, as America's first 4G smartphone is now officially on sale.

The HTC Evo 4G can be purchased through Sprint as well as other electronics retailers, including Best Buy and RadioShack, for $199.99 with a two-year contract. The smartphone requires a $69.99 Everything Data Plan and a $10 Premium Data Add-on.

Though we don't necessarily agree with the mandatory $10 fee, and battery life could be better, the Evo 4G is … Read more

AT&T surprised us a couple of days ago by totally reformulating its 3G data plans for smartphones. Starting Monday, the word "unlimited" will no longer exist for new smartphone accounts. Instead, the carrier's introduced cheaper, tiered plans that will save light data users money while making hard-core users pony up more for what they're using.

The move, not surprisingly, is eliciting mixed reactions. Some consumers welcome the idea of paying less per month because they simply don't use that much data. Others liked being able to pay a certain amount to not have … Read more

Just as it has done for the past three years, a new iPhone should play a major role at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next week. And when CEO Steve Jobs takes the stage on Monday to give his keynote address, I'll be there, along with CNET reporter Erica Ogg, to bring you all the details.

Until that time, I'm happy to speculate on what the new iPhone will offer. Although this year has been a little different because of a well-publicized leak of an iPhone prototype in April, few details about new devices emerge form Apple's labs before a formal unveiling. But that won't stop us from putting together the various clues to make our own guesses.

What we won't see 4G or not 4G? First off, an important clarification is in order. Though some have called the new handset the "iPhone 4G"--and we refer to it as such in informal conversations around the CNET office--we do not expect it to run on a 4G network. It will be the fourth-generation iPhone model, but because it should operate solely on AT&T's network (more on that later), its fastest data speeds will continue to be 3G. AT&T will begin testing its 4G LTE network later this year, but commercial deployment won't begin until 2011 at least. So check back then for a faster iPhone.

Verizon: I also have to repeat what we've said already. There will not be a Verizon iPhone this year. And if you don't believe us, just consider that Verizon spokesman John Johnson told Beet.TV on Wednesday that the carrier has no plans to carry the phone in the "immediate future."

Yes, it's a carefully worded statement, which means that it's very possible that we'll see a Verizon iPhone at some point in the future. Yet, when that will happen--if happens at all--is unclear. This fall has been suggested as a time frame, but I think that's unlikely. I predict that Apple will wait until Verizon rolls out its own 4G LTE network, which should begin later this year. There's also the matter that AT&T's exclusivity contract won't end until 2012, but that could change at any time.

Design Pictures of the new iPhone have been all over the blogsphere since Gizmodo paid $5,000 for a prototype of the new iPhone that an Apple engineer allegedly lost.

From what we can tell from the pictures, the device will be marginally heavier with a flat back, sharper corners, and an aluminum border around the edge. Indeed, that's a break from the iPhone 3G and 3GS, which have a curved back and wobble slightly when resting on a table.

I'll save my opinions until I see the actual handset and get it in my hands, but a boxier shape would put it more in line with the iPad and some Google Android devices, such as the HTC Incredible. According to Gizmodo, the new iPhone also should have a higher resolution display, a flash and a larger lens for the main camera, split volume buttons (a new camera shutter perhaps?), a micro-SIM card slot (like the iPad), and a possible noise cancellation microphone.

We'll reportedly see a front-facing video camera, as well, with support for iChat video calling. Mobile video calling has been around for several years, but the bandwidth-hogging service has never caught on with consumers because its expensive and unreliable. Remember that AT&T offers its Video Share application on a limited number of phones, but the service isn't available everywhere, and the carrier hasn't promoted it aggressively.

Apple, however, has a knack for repackaging existing technologies and reaping broad consumer interest. And even though a video-calling service would dump even more data on AT&T's strained network, it would complement the expected high-definition video features (see below). But then again, the new camera could just be for self-portraits. … Read more

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world.

Q: I saw that the long-awaited Interphone study finally came out. I'm concerned about the issue and was looking forward to the findings. Given its mixed results, have you changed your position on cell phone radiation? - Jose

A: As you note, Jose, the International Agency for Research on Cancer finally published the results of its Interphone study on May 17. The $24 million study attempted to determine whether long-term cell phone use leads to an increased risk of … Read more

When Motorola announced its i1 smartphone at CTIA 2010, the rugged Android device was slated for release with Nextel; however,  barring any last-minute announcements, it now looks like Boost Mobile will be the first carrier to offer the i1.

The Motorola i1 will be available from Boost Mobile stores, as well as Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile retail locations, starting June 20. The Motorola i1 is the first push-to-talk Android device and it has a 3.1-inch HVGA touch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

It looks like the smartphone will launch with Android 1.6, … Read more

As iPhone rumors and buzz reach a fever pitch with the approach of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7--where many believe Steve Jobs will unveil the latest addition to the iPhone family--new pictures of a possible white next-generation iPhone have surfaced online.

The recent photos supplement earlier photos of an alleged "iPhone 4G" in white.

However, as the Powerbook Medic blog points out, we wonder if these photos indicate that the next generation iPhone is indeed ready to be released, noting that the serial number in these pictures is "XXXXX," which is typical of … Read more