CTIA

Helio making waves with the Ocean

Yours truly is currently stuck in SFO for a mind-boggling eight hours, but that won't stop me from telling you about the latest in cell phone news. One of the hottest news items this morning is the release of the uber-sexy Helio Ocean, which is that Helio-branded QWERTY phone we mentioned in late February. This triple-decker wonder slides up to reveal a number keypad, and a separate layer slides sideways to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. At 0.86-inch thick, it certainly isn't the thinnest phone in the world, but we're willing to forgive its bulk for … Read more

Moto CEO drops out of CTIA keynote

Motorola CEO Ed Zander has bowed out of a CTIA keynote scheduled for Tuesday, March 27. According to RCRWireless News neither Moto nor CTIA have given a reason for the cancellation, but it sure seems a bit fishy--since he waited until less than a week before the keynote to cancel.

It's no secret that Moto has had its share of bad news lately. Billionaire investor and former TWA chief Carl Icahn has been banging on the company's boardroom door since January, after he acquired a 1.39 percent stake in the company. Besides demanding his own seat on … Read more

Nokia 6126 comes to Cingular

AT&T/Cingular at long last picked up the Nokia 6126 today. The midtier cell phone offers a flip-phone design, an attractive internal display, and decent features that include Bluetooth connectivity, an MP3 player, a microSD card slot, and instant messaging. On the whole it's quite similar to the Nokia 6133 from T-Mobile, except that it lacks an FM radio. The 6126 is $79 with service.

Verizon launches the LG VX9400

Verizon Wireless has jumped the gun and launched the LG VX9400 today, mere days before the 2007 CTIA show in Orlando, Florida, next week. The second V Cast Mobile TV phone after the Samsung SCH-U620, the LG VX9400 is definitely the more anticipated of the two, if only because of its cool swivel display. As a refresher, the VX9400 features a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, and EV-DO support. Of course, it also supports V Cast Mobile TV, Verizon's video service that lets you stream live television via Qualcomm's MediaFlo to your cell phone. … Read more

Will the BlackBerry 8300 debut at CTIA 2007?

Probably not, but damn, we wish it would. In our usual preparation for CTIA 2007, we've been talking with all the major phone manufacturers and carriers to see if we can get any dirt about upcoming announcements, and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has already told us that they won't be unveiling any new devices at the show.

The BlackBerry 8300 first got us drooling when it appeared on a Spanish tech site, and our admiration has grown ever since. According to the Boy Genius Report, which has a number of images and video for your viewing pleasure, … Read more

T-Mobile goes official with the Rizr Z3

We warned you last month that T-Mobile would be the first U.S. carrier to pick up the pretty Motorola Rizr Z3, and the carrier just announced that it would be offering the handset for sale today online and in T-Mobile stores. Moto's first entry into the slider design craze is a solid effort overall--it's much more appealing than the Razr and Krzr models, although the button layout is a tad cramped. The feature set isn't terribly impressive, but it hides a couple of nuggets including Bluetooth, a speakerphone, voice dialing, and a MicroSD card slot. And … Read more

CTIA 2006 cream of the crop: Where are they now?

In the cell phone world, few trade shows are bigger than the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) show held twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The spring event is the bigger of the two, and this year, it'll be in Orlando, Florida. At the 2006 CTIA in Las Vegas last year, we chose several products that we thought would be a big hit. Now, a year later, let's see how well our picks did.

Coolest phone: Sony Ericsson K790a Our initial impression: "...It's attractively designed in a sleek candy bar package. But … Read more

CTIA 2007 preview

Spring is in the air and here at CNET we turn to thoughts of cell phones. Every year in early spring the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) throws its premier cell phone trade show of the year. As the biggest (and we mean big) mobile gathering in the United States the CTIA show bursts at the seams with the latest and greatest in cell phones, smart phones, accessories, and services. And this year CTIA returns to the South with a show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, March 27-29. I'll be there along with CNET editors … Read more

Wishing for cell phones from CeBIT

It's now two weeks before CTIA and you know what that means--our European cousins kick off their own gadget blowout with the annual CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany. Like CES, this tech party covers all corners of the gadget world but you can bet cell phones will make an impressive showing. It can be quite exciting for a cell phone fiend, until you realize that few of the flashy handsets will make it to U.S. carriers.

That said, our colleagues at CNET UK have hit the ground running and already have posted photos of new handsets from … Read more