Next week at CES T-Mobile and Motorola may unveil the successor to their 2009 handset, the Cliq.

A handful of images of the Cliq 2 made their way onto Cell Phone Signal's site yesterday. The photos show a device that looks nearly identical to its predecessor outside of a redesigned keyboard and a shinier bezel around the screen.

As you can see from the pictures, the phone will run Motorola's custom MotoBlur user interface, although the version of Android isn't certain. I would certainly hope for at least 2.2 Froyo, but wouldn't be surprised if … Read more

Seeing that it's already received the FCC's blessing, the HTC Evo Shift 4G is hardly a secret, but in the days leading up to the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show more details are leaking out about the Andorid smartphone.

Android Central yesterday intercepted an upcoming Radio Shack newspaper ad that points to a Sunday, January 9, release date for the Evo Shift 4G. You don't need a calendar to know that such a date makes sense. It's the last day of CES, after all, which would give HTC and Sprint the time to formally announce the handset … Read more

Oh, HTC, how you tease. The Taiwanese handset manufacturer posted a teaser site early this morning, dropping some clues as to what it might reveal at CES 2011.

On the site, HTC shows off three devices: the HTC Evo 4G, which was the first 4G handset in the U.S., the T-Mobile G2, T-Mobile's first 4G smartphone, and a third cloaked device that promises to be another 4G first and is set to debut on January 6.

Coincidentally, Verizon is scheduled to hold a press conference on the same day and has already confirmed that it will be demoing … Read more

Ford said today that AppLink, its application that enables Sync users to control their smartphone via voice, will be compatible with Apple's iPhone. AppLink will also be a free download for Ford Fiesta owners.

The effort is just the latest from Ford to bring mobile connectivity into the car cabin. With iPhone compatibility, AppLink will work with the most of the big platforms, including Android and BlackBerry devices. Ford is aiming to create an app ecosystem for its cars and use voice control for popular smartphone software.

Pandora, Stitcher and OpenBeak are the first Sync-enabled mobile apps. Ford plans … Read more

Verizon Wireless confirmed via its Twitter account today that it will launch new Android devices with support for its growing 4G LTE network at CES 2011.

We don't know exactly which devices the carrier will showcase at its January 6 press event, but potential handsets include the Droid Incredible HD or a Verizon-branded LG Optimus 2X.

It's also possible that we could see a Motorola tablet that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Moto recently began teasing a new Honeycomb-based tablet for the conference, which ought to be the same unit demonstrated by Andy Rubin at … Read more

Let's face it: CES is often about hype. New products, new promises, and a lot of very thick carpeting greets us every year, and as we sort out what impressed us most about the show, we can only hope that some of these gadgets actually deliver.

With CES 2011 just around the corner, it's a perfect time to take a look back at the year that was, and see how the biggest stories of CES 2010 fared. Some of them did remarkably well, including our best-of-show winner, the Panasonic TC-PVT25 Others, not so much (remember the Motorola Backflip?). … Read more

CES 2010 was a lightweight show when it came to cell phones and smartphones. That's often the case with CES, as mobile devices have to share the stage with bigger products like 3D televisions and futuristic robots. That's set to change at CES 2011 of course, but we wanted to take some time and take a look back at the phones of CES 2010.

We awarded the Best of CES 2010 in the mobile category to the LG Lotus Elite, because that was the most innovative handset we saw at the show. Even though it was really a … Read more

Though they're the star attraction at CTIA and Mobile World Congress, cell phones and smartphones have to share the stage at CES. The 2009 show, where the Palm Pre won Best of CES, was an exception, but in the past few years our favorite gadgets have been overshadowed--sometimes even literally--by giant televisions, robots, and Earth-shattering speakers.

CES 2011, however, is shaping up to be a much different show for handsets. Perhaps the economy is getting better, or perhaps manufacturers are just tired of not getting enough attention, but cell phones and smartphones should play a big role in Las … Read more

Tired of playing games using your smartphone's touch screen? Ready to take it to the next level? Then, you might want to take a look at this.

A Boulder, Colo.-based start-up called Orbotix has created a robotic ball, called Sphero, that you can control with your smartphone via Bluetooth. The idea is that the ball becomes the object in a game, and you use your smartphone to maneuver it through the various levels or command it to do certain actions.

For example, you can use it to solve a maze by rolling the Sphero around on the floor. … Read more