smart

We stopped by Motorola's booth today at CTIA 2007 and among other things, got an update on the whereabouts of the Motorola Q GSM and Motorola Q q9. Apparently, the GSM Moto Q won't be coming to the States because there isn't much interest. Ohhhh, really? I would have thought otherwise based on the number of reader e-mails I get about this device. Then again, we can understand how interest for the GSM Q would wane in the shadow of the faster, more powerful Motorola Q q9, which, by the way, has been renamed the Motorola Q … Read more

Last night at Pepcom in Orlando, Nokia demoed Real's recently-released version of Rhapsody for the N800 Internet Tablet. Or at least that was the plan: as I'm not actually at CTIA, I can't confirm that the demo ever really happened. What is certain, however, is that N800 owners who also subscribe to Rhapsody will now have direct access to the music service on their tablets (as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection available at the time). Users can search the entire Rhapsody catalog, browse their libraries, listen to playlists and Channels, and read editorial commentary--pretty much … Read more

At CTIA, Inrix announced its new traffic service, downloadable to Windows Mobile devices, which can even tell you what the traffic will be like in the future. We, having recently been stuck in a traffic jam and unable to find any information about it on the radio, will be quite happy with the service's reporting on current conditions. The app, called Inrix Traffic, shows real-time traffic flow and traffic incidents, such as accidents or construction, so you can get a good idea why you're going 5mph in a 65mph zone.

But Inrix has developed a substantial database of … Read more

Mercora has beefed up its streaming music service for smart phones, called M, and has snagged a deal with Microsoft to promote the service on its Windows Mobile site.

The service still offers more than 100,000 channels of music for streaming directly to any Windows Mobile 5 or 6 phone, but has added more than 7,000 podcast channels, CEO Srivats Sampath said.

Mercora will also be getting a temporary plug from Microsoft: Starting Tuesday, Microsoft will offer M as a free six-month subscription to all Windows Mobile users. The application can be downloaded from the Windows Mobile site … Read more

New Treos these are not, but Palm did have some news to share at CTIA 2007. Today, the company introduced a number of hands-free car solutions, including the Palm GPS Navigator Car Kit for the Treo 750 and the Treo 680, as well as some new cases (umm, yay?).

The Palm GPS Navigator Kit is specifically made for the new, slimmer Treos (other Treo owners can get the same solution from the Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition) and features a cradle with an integrated GPS receiver and a speakerphone--just snap your Treo 680 or Treo 750 into place, and you … Read more

Sony Ericsson's first tri-band HSDPA phone for the North America market seems to have some identity issues.

At first glance it's all about looks: it comes in pink and gray--er, Rose Pink and Phantom Grey--and has a nifty exterior display that's hidden until a call or text comes in.

But inside there's a lot of smart features, like push e-mail (it's Exchange ActiveSync enabled), live scrolling RSS feeds, and the ability to do broadband-speed uploads and downloads.

There's also a 2.2-inch screen, a 2.0-megapixel camera, media player, built-in FM radio (with RDS, … Read more

Well, dagummit! Foiled again. The lucky customers of Canadian carrier Telus are getting another cool smart phone for the picking in addition to the HTC Vox/S720: the HTC P4000. Also known as the HTC Herald and HTC P4350 (GSM version) among various circles, the P4000 will replace the UTStarcom XV6700 and features a slimmer design while keeping a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It also runs the latest Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition and has integrated Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, EV-DO Rev A support, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 2.8-inch touch screen. We're still awaiting final details on availability and … Read more

Our lucky, lucky neighbors to the north. Today, HTC announced the availability of the CDMA HTC Vox (aka HTC S720) for Canadian carrier, Telus, with a probable summer release for the United States. The GSM version of the Vox was officially unveiled at 3GSM World Congress, and as we noted then, the smart phone features Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, 128MB of flash memory, 64MB of RAM, a microSD slot, and a 2.4-inch display. Perhaps the most appealing thing about the Vox, though, is its compact candy bar-style design that hides a … Read more

Frankly, I'm not even sure what to call the HTC Advantage. I mean, this gadget is really in a league of its own. It's not an ultramobile PC per se (and HTC doesn't want to identify the Advantage as a UMPC anyway), and categorizing it as a smart phone would do it injustice. Maybe a smart phone on some serious steroids? While the nomenclature is up for debate, we do know a couple of things: it's tricked out with some sick features and it's actually coming to the States. Yes, we're actually going to … Read more