Crave

For the past few years at the CTIA show, CNET has chosen our favorite products, and here in Orlando, Florida, we're glad to do it again. Products are selected on a variety of factors including design, features, and innovation in three main categories: best cell phone, best smart phone, and best cell phone accessory.

Sometimes our picks become big winners when they're introduced, and sometimes they don't live up to our full expectations, but our 2006 picks fared pretty well over the last year. And without further ado, we present CNET's Cream of the Crop for CTIA 2007:

Samsung Upstage phone side

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung Upstage MP3 side

(Credit: Samsung)

Coolest cell phone: Samsung Upstage
Samsung and Sprint hit CTIA in full force when they announced the U.S. version of the Samsung Ultra Music the day before the show began. The Upstage earns points not only because it's completely innovative but also because it's actually a decent phone too. The unique dual-sided design successfully integrates a cell phone and an MP3 player into one device. You can listen to music, watch streaming video, take pictures, and yes, you can make calls too. It has its quirks to be sure and it's not for the gadget-phobic, but on the whole it's a sleek, satisfying device with admirable performance. Just be advised that during your first couple sessions, a dose of patience is needed. Again, it's not perfect, but it's a very positive step in a new direction. Indeed, it just makes us excited for the next-generation model. For a full report on the Upstage, read our review. We liked Sony Ericsson's slick new Walkman phone, the W580.

HTC Advantage

(Credit: HTC)

Coolest smart phone: HTC Advantage
To be perfectly honest, 3GSM World Congress stole a lot of thunder from CTIA 2007 when it came to introducing new smart phones. The event in Spain saw the debut of the HTC Vox, Motorola Q q9, three new Nokia E series phones, and much more. So what did that leave for CTIA? Well, not much. But that's not a bad thing since many of the companies announced plans to bring these models to the United States, including what we think was the coolest smart phone: the HTC Advantage. OK, we know the Advantage is more than just a smart phone, but we have to reward it for its innovation.The portable gadget features an 8GB hard drive, Windows Mobile 6 Professional Edition, a 5-inch VGA touch screen, and a magnetically connected full QWERTY keyboard. In addition, it's stacked with all the wireless connections you'd ever want (quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS/EDGE; 3G (UMTS/HSDPA), Bluetooth 2.0, and Wi-Fi. We're really looking forward to checking out this device when it's released in the summer. Also worth a mention is the much-coveted and now U.S.-bound Nokia N95.

Cardo S-800

(Credit: CNET)

Coolest cell phone accessory: Cardo S-800
The Cardo S-800 is our pick of favorite accessory due to one simple factor: it fits a lot of features in one tiny package. The lightweight 0.38-ounce Bluetooth headset is stylish and compact, with a lot of brainpower inside its petite form. Some of the more interesting features include a battery status indicator, a headset location buzzer, a missed call indicator, and even a "hot-dialing" button that lets you call up to three of your favorite contacts. As for sound quality, the S-800 also has a dual-microphone system that cancels out background noise. We look forward to reviewing the headset first-hand later this year.

Kyocera E5000

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Honorable Mention: Kyocera E5000
We have to admit we were impressed with Kyoccera's offerings this year.That's not to say the company hasn't done good work before, but at this year's CTIA it struck a brave new path. Of the five phones it introduced in Orlando, a couple featured completely new stylish designs that stood out from the cell phone crowd. And while some of the new handsets are indeed thin, Kyocera is not blindly chasing the thin phone crowd with another Razr look-alike. Instead, they're being a bit more creative, and that's why the Kyocera E5000 earns an honorable mention. Its stainless body and S-shaped hinge thin profile make it quite the looker, and it looked even better in Kyocera's fancy booth. The promised features aren't bad either, with a music player, a microSD card slot, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and stereo Bluetooth. We're a bit concerned about the usability of the flat keypad, and we don't know how well it will perform when it hits the streets, but we can say one thing: it sure is pretty,

Gallagher does CTIA

(Credit: www.nndb.com)

Compared with the star-studded CES show, CTIA tends to be a little slim on celebrity sightings. But the show does manage to catch a fair share of somebodys. The presidential tag team of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton gave a keynote address this morning and then cruised the show floor with a stop at the Sony Ericsson booth. The Foo Fighters performed at an LG party, Hootie and the Blowfish jammed at the Alcatel bash, while Bonnie Cha and I caught Ludacris at a Sprint soiree. Yet the strangest performance came from self-proclaimed "comedy legend" Gallagher. He attended a Samsung press breakfast where he showed off a couple of the company's new phones and made a rather bad attempt at a Bluetooth joke. Unfortunately, it was only after I left that I thought of taking his picture next to the bowl of watermelon slices.

Nokia 5700

(Credit: Nokia)

Though the announcement didn't officially happen at CTIA, today Nokia unveiled an update to one of my favorite phones, the Nokia 5300 Xpress Music. Like its predecessor, the Nokia 5700 Xpress Music boasts a strong music-like portfolio but adds a twisting base straight from the Nokia 3250. The camera is also upped to 2 megapixels.

The microSD card slot can accommodate 2GB cards (that's about 1,500 tracks), and you can listen to your tunes via stereo Blueooth or connect your own wired headphones to the included 3.5mm adapter plug. Or for less private affairs, you can blare music over the 5700's stereo speakers or get one of Nokia's wireless speaker options. Supported formats include WMA, MP3, AAC, AAC+, and MP4 files, and though you can't purchase music over the air, you can connect the phone to a PC and transfer files. The optimized music player features album art, playlists, an equalizer, and audio visualizations.

We don't know about North American availability, but if Nokia has a heart they'll give us a chance to play with the device. But if a U.S. carrier picks it up, we'll only lend our support if that carrier doesn't strip it out any GSM bands. T-Mobile did just that with the 5300 and we're not happy.

CallWave sends voice mails to your phone

(Credit: CallWave)

Speech recognition technologies had a moderate presence at CTIA, and CallWave had one of the biggest announcements with its new Vtxt service. Designed for busy, on-the-go types, Vtxt eliminates the need to scan through long, dull voice mails by sending them to your cell phone. After someone leaves you a voice mail, you'll receive a text message containing the person's name and phone number as well as a summary of the voice mail. The summary is composed using a CallWave-developed algorithm that scans for what it deems as important words, while leaving out any pauses or words like "uh." At present, Vtxt doesn't use live operators to transcribe messages in full but CallWave said that option will be available in the future.

Though we didn't get a live demonstration of Vtxt, we did see an example of a message summary sent to a cell phone. When we compared the summary to the original voice mail, Vtxt did get the important details correct but it had more trouble with proper names. The service still is in a beta testing phase but customers of CallWave's existing products can sign up to try it out. There's nothing to download, instead you just go to the company's Web site and enter your phone number and other information.

We're eager to try Vtxt, especially after CNET's own Rafe Needleman raved about CallWave earlier this year.

Kyocera's Gateway works with music phones and MP3 players

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Beyond showing its slick new cell phones at CTIA, Kyocera also demonstrated its new Bluetooth Music Gateway. This nifty device receives music from any stereo Bluetooth phone or device and then transfers the tunes to your home stereo via a standard RCA cable. You can see it here with the Kyocera E5000 music phone. Though not the first such device on the market, it still caught our eye due to its compact design and simple, easy-to-use functionality. It's also reasonably priced at $79.99. Look for a full review from CNET in the next couple weeks.

The company also shows a Bluetooth adaptor that will let you stream music to the Gateway from a non-Bluetooth device like an Apple iPod Nano. And to make sure you can use the adapter with a variety of gadgets, it is available with 2.5mm and 3.5mm plugs. While the adapter alone is $34.99, by itself you can buy it bundled with the Gateway for $99.

Work it, work it ...

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Every year, CTIA puts on a technology fashion show featuring the latest handsets, accessories, wearable tech, and more. Billed as a "MUST SEE" event for media outlets, CNET TV starlette Veronica Belmont and I couldn't resist and grabbed some front-row seats to the Fashion in Motion show. We watched as some unenthusiastic models took to the runway showing off phones like the new Samsung Upstage and Sony Ericsson Z750, and did their best to make Bluetooth headsets look sexy. Yeah, no. Hey, I totally get that they're useful and functional accessories, but as we all know, fashion and function don't always go together. Granted, Bluetooth headsets have definitely come a long way in the looks department with semi-attractive models like the Aliph Jawbone but still, if you're not on a call, is it really necessary to walk around with it stuck in your ear? Don't even get cell phone editor Kent German started on that topic. *wink*

But you know what was the most disturbing thing I saw at the show? A product called eScent from Sensory Design & Technology of France. It's a little badge that you pin on your clothing, which releases a scent based on your "biological conditions." So if you're digging that guy or gal you've been eyeing across a room, it'll release one fragrance (they didn't specify what the scent was), but if you feel threatened, it'll send out a different scent. Umm, what?!

Windows Live for Mobile

(Credit: Microsoft)

We had a chance to sit down with the Windows Live for Mobile team this morning, and chat about life, love, and the pursuit of all things mobile. As you may remember, one of the new features of Windows Mobile 6 was the Windows Live integration, bringing with it improvements to contact synchronization, search, and instant messaging. And we should expect to see more integration of core applications in the near future, according to Matt Champagne, director of mobile product management for Microsoft. Already the team has released a local search client for the U.S. and U.K. markets so you can conduct searches for a variety of categories (hotels, restaurants, etc.) based on your location. From there, you can call directly to the business, view 2D and aerial maps, get driving directions, and view local traffic conditions. The company also has recommitted itself to the MSN Mobile portal and released a beta version featuring optimized pages with full graphics and deeper channel integration. While the new features are key, Champagne said it's just as important to bring these changes to the market faster, rather than keep it within Microsoft R&D department, and we couldn't agree more.

Sony Ericsson Z550

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

At CTIA we caught a few other phones at the Sony Ericsson booth that aren't in our Sony Ericsson line show. The Sony Ericsson Z550 is a flip phone with a vertically oriented external display (quite the trend right now). It sports a flip phone design, a form factor the company is becoming more comfortable with, and is available in sterling black or pearl copper. Features are mostly midrange and include a 1.3-megapixel camera, a memory card slot, a music player, a speakerphone, and an FM radio. As an tri-band (GSM 850/1800/1900), the Z550 is available in North America.

Sony Ericsson K810

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

We also spied the very cool Sony Ericsson K810 Cybershot. As an offshoot to the K800 Cybershot, the K810 offers all the usual Cybershot goodies such as a 3.2-megepixel camera, a lens cover, a Xenon flash with red eye reduction, and a new image optimization system you can use to fix exposure and adjust the contrast after you take your shot. You can save photos to the K810's memory card slot or upload them to a blog directly from the phone. Yet the coolest camera feature is a series of buttons on the left side of the keypad that allow you to change options like the image resolution and the self-timer without using the onscreen menus.

Other features include a music and video player, a TrackID for identifying unfamiliar songs, an FM receiver, stereo Bluetooth, and an infrared port. It runs on the GSM 900/1800/1900 bands but it doesn't supports 3G networks. And it won't be widely available in North America.

Motorola Razr Maxx Ve

(Credit: Motorola)

Aside from the LG VX8700, Verizon has also announced the availability of the Motorola Razr Maxx Ve today. Quite possibly the most appealing Razr on the CDMA front, the Razr Maxx Ve is built of metal and glass and is only 0.59-inch thick. Its features are dazzling as well, and they include a 2.0-megapixel camera, a music player with access to V Cast Music, stereo Bluetooth, V Cast Video support, 60MB of internal memory plus a microSD card slot, text and multimedia messaging, GPS capabilities with access to VZ Navigator, and of course EV-DO support for all that streaming content. It is available exclusively through Verizon for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement, after a $50 rebate. The Razr Maxx Ve will be available both online and in Verizon stores starting April 24.