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Several more companies on Monday agreed to sign their names to the Long Term Evolution (LTE) framework for the next generation of wireless technology.

The largest handset maker in the world, Nokia, was joined by Sony Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, NEC, and NextWave Wireless. Part of the agreement on LTE means the companies will agree to license their patents "on fair and reasonable terms," which means keeping royalties for handset patents below 10 percent of the handset sale price.

"Today's announcement is a step towards establishing more predictable and transparent licensing costs in a manner that enables faster adoption of new technologies," Nokia's Ilkka Rahnasto said in a statement.

These five are only the latest to join as the emerging LTE technology gains momentum. In November at the Mobile Asia Congress in Macau, the GSM Association threw its support behind LTE. A few weeks later, Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 wireless operator in the U.S., said it would use LTE for its 4G wireless network. AT&T, the largest mobile operator in the U.S., also has indicated it will use LTE.

News.com's Marguerite Reardon contributed to this report.

In filings with U.S. regulators, Nokia on Thursday estimated that the growth rate for sales of its handsets in Europe had shrunk to 3 percent in 2007 from 16 percent in 2006.

What's more, the company said its growth rates had cooled in the Middle East and Africa (to 19 percent from 68 percent in 2006), North America (to 6 percent from 13 percent), and Latin America (to 10 percent from 15 percent), Reuters notes.

The global picture wasn't quite as wearying for Nokia: 2007 sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew by 34 percent, and in China, sales grew by 34 percent, offsetting the drops elsewhere. Nokia said emerging markets generated almost 60 percent of handset-industry sales volume last year, and 55 percent in 2006.

In light of sales-growth predictions released by Gartner in February and Sony Ericsson's announcement on Wednesday that slowing demand in Europe for its midpriced and high-end phones would ding its first-quarter results, the estimates from Nokia don't seem terribly surprising. Gartner predicted that handset sales growth in 2008 would slow to 10 percent worldwide, with market saturation in North America and Western Europe doing the most to slow sales momentum.

From here on out, global-growth forecasts for 2008 aren't likely to be even that optimistic.

Cell phone maker Sony Ericsson said on Wednesday that demand is slowing in Europe for midpriced and high-end handsets, and that slowing demand will hit the company's first-quarter results, notes a story by Barron's Tech Trader Daily.

Sony Ericsson also said component shortages for midpriced phones had hurt sales, which the company expects will reach 22 million phones for the quarter, with an average price of $187. At least one analyst, who previously had predicted 9 percent over the year-ago quarter, told Tech Trader that that number is well below expectations. He had forecast sales of 26.5 million handsets--almost 17 percent more than the figure presented by Sony Ericsson--and now says sales likely will be 10 percent below those of the year-ago quarter.

Considering the current economic climate, though, Sony Ericsson's warning does at least parallel data released in February by Gartner, which predicted that handset sales growth in 2008 would slow to 10 percent worldwide, with market saturation in North America and Western Europe doing the most to slow sales momentum.

Sony Ericsson W380a

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Sony Ericsson dropped three new cell phones today, including a new Walkman handset for North America. The W380a has all the usual Walkman phone accouterments and it offers a high-resolution camera, stereo Bluetooth, and an FM radio. The flip design is interesting, though I'm going to have to see it in person to give my honest verdict. On the front face is a camera lens and what appears to be touchy-feely music control, but the external display seems to be hidden when the backlighting is off. It's also rather thin, a sign that Sony Ericsson is now fully onboard the thin phone bandwagon. And while the world is lacking in purple phones, I realize it may be a but much for some users. If that's you, the W380a also comes in a more subdued silver.

Sony Ericsson also released the W890i Walkman handset and the K660 Cybershot model. Both are quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phones, but the W890i is optimized for European 3G networks. You can check out all the new models in our Sony Ericsson slide show.

We're No. 1!

Nokia remains the king of the cell phone world and it shows no signs of being pushed from its throne anytime soon. According to figures that IDC released yesterday, the Finnish mobile giant held a 38.6 percent worldwide market in the third quarter this year, an increase from 34.8 percent during the same period a year earlier. As for phone shipments, Nokia shipped 111.7 million devices in the third quarter. That's a big jump from 88.5 million devices in the third quarter of 2006, mostly because of increases in the entry-level market.

Samsung came in at a distant second with a 14.7 percent market share. That figure put it above Motorola, which held the No. 2 spot last year. IDC said Samsung benefited from high sales of its Ultra Edition handsets.

Meanwhile, Moto saw its market share drop from 21.1 percent last year to 12.9 percent this year. While the company was the only manufacturer to show a drop in shipments (53.7 million to 37.2 million), Moto was able to grow over the second quarter of this year in part because of its Razr2 line.

Though Sony Ericsson is a small player in North America, it held onto the No. 4 spot with a market share of 9 percent. IDC singled out the W580 and W200 as particularly successful models. LG also grew, from 6.5 percent to 7.6 percent, but it remained as the fifth-largest cell phone vendor. It shipped 21.9 million phones in the third quarter of this year, compared with 16.6 handsets in 2006.

Sony Ericsson W910

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Sony Ericsson showed off a slew of sparkling new cell phones today including a Cyber-shot model for the North American market and a Walkman handset that could challenge the iPhone at its own game. We don't have pricing for any of the new phones just yet but they should be ready for sale in the second half of the year. See all of the phones in our slide show.

The Sony Ericsson W910 and W960 Walkman handsets are catching the most attention. They combine all the usual music features and high-end offerings of other Walkman but they raise the bar by adding a few remarkable extras.

The W960i features a candy bar design and is the Walkman phone to have touch sensitive controls. You'll be able to use your finger or a stylus for menu navigation and music play but you'll have access to more standard buttons as well. In other highlights the W960i will offer 8GB of internal memory, an Opera browser, streaming video, world phone support, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.2-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi. Could it be Sony Ericsson's answer to the iPhone? It certainly matches many of the featues in Apple's upcoming device in a more traditional style. The W960i also is 3G ready but only for European networks. Darn.

The W910's has surprises of its own. With its "shake control" you can manipulate the phone's functions by moving the phone itself. According to Sony Ericsson you'll be able to skip music tracks by flicking your phone in to the right or left. What's more, you can reshuffle your playlists by shaking the W910 back and forth and you can even use the shake control to play games. Time will tell whether it is effective but it certainly sounds cool. The W910 has a slider design in red or black and offers a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and world phone support. It's a 3G phone as well but like the W960i it doesn't uses the 1900 UMTS band used in North America.

The Sony Ericsson K850 is a 5-megapixel camera phone that packs a lot of shooting power into one handset. And if it takes as good as images as its Sony Ericsson K790a predecessor then we should have a few complaints. The candy bar style is standard Sony Ericsson but it come in luminous green and velvet blue.

Sony Ericsson K850

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Camera features include an autofocus, a 16x zoom, a Xenon flash, a camcorder, a sliding lens cover, PictBridge technology for printing your photos and BestPic image editing options. You'll also find an FM radio, an expandable memory slot, Bluetooth, e-mail, text and multimedia messaging, an Infrared port, PC syncing, a music player, a WAP 2.0 Web browser, a speakerphone, USB mass storage support and personal organizer applications. The K850 supports three UMTS/HSDPA bands so it (thankfully) will compatible with U.S. 3G networks. Yet that will really depend on if a U.S. carrier picks up the phone, but we can only hope that AT&T and T-Mobile will have the good sense to do so. Yes, it makes calls too. We can't judge the all-important aspect of audio quality just yet but we can tell you the K850 is a quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) world phone.

Also on the camera phone side, the Sony Ericsson Z320 offers a 1.3-megapixel shooter, text and multimedia messaging, a speakerphone, basic organize applications and USB mass storage. There's no Bluetooth but the Z320 has a sporty flip phone design that's rather unique for Sony Ericsson. Available colors include crimson red or Atlantic blue. The Sony Ericsson K350 will have a 2-megapixel camera and a host of other multimedia goodies like a music player, Bluetooth, an FM radio and a speakerphone. It's also 3G but it will be optimized for European networks only.

Of course not everyone needs all the frills so if you want a cell phone for making calls Sony Ericsson hasn't forgotten you. The simple Z250 has a VGA camera, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging and organizer applications. The flip will come in black or white color schemes. Two versions of the Z250 will be available: a tri-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) model use in Europe and a tri-band (GSM 850/1800/1900) handset for calls in North America.

The S500 in mysterious green

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Sony Ericsson today released three new cell phones that aim to capitalize on the still-hot thin handset craze. Two of the new models should make it to North American shores, while one model features two dazzling colors rarely seen in the mobile world.

The S500 in spring yellow

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

The Sony Ericsson S500 features a 2-megapixel camera with a 4x zoom, a media player (though not a Walkman-branded one), a speakerphone, a memory card slot, and stereo Bluetooth. The S500 features a slider design that is 0.55 inch thick and is available in the very unique hues of mysterious green and spring yellow. We're not sure what's mysterious about the green, but it is quite lovely from what we can tell. Also look for color themes and illuminations that change to reflect the passing seasons and the change from night to day. The quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) phone should be out in North America by the third quarter of this year.

The T650 in midnight blue

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Somewhat related to the S500 is the Sony Ericsson T650. Sporting a more common candy bar design, the T650 is 0.55 inch thick as well but it comes in midnight blue and a shade called growing green. I guess the latter isn't as mysterious as the green of the S500. Features include a 3.2-megapixel camera with a 3x zoom, a media player, a memory card slot, and stereo Bluetooth. It's also a 3G phone, but it supports only the 2100 UMTS network that's not used in the United States. The triband (GSM 900/1800/1900) handset also should see the light of day by the third quarter of 2007.

Finally, the Sony Ericsson T250 is a low-end camera phone that offers a VGA camera, a speakerphone, text and multimedia messaging, an FM radio, and basic organizer applications. The simple candy bar form factor is 0.51 inch thick and sports a metal skin that comes in black or silver. Two dual-band versions will be available (GSM 900/1900 and GSM 850/1900), and it should debut in Europe and North American the second half of this year.

The company also introduced the P1 smart phone and a new Bluetooth headset, the HBH-DS970.

Sony Ericsson P1

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

Along with Sony Ericsson's other announcements today, the company unveiled its fifth-generation P-series smart phone, the Sony Ericsson P1. The P1 is 25 percent smaller than its predecessor, the Sony Ericsson P990i, but that doesn't mean it skimps on features. The smart phone is based on the Symbian and UIQ operating systems and has a 2.6-inch touch screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and push e-mail support for Exchange ActiveSync and BlackBerry Connect. Other goodies include a dual-function keyboard (like the one found on the Sony Ericsson M600i), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and VoIP support. The tri-band (GPRS 900/1800/1900; UMTS 2100) Sony Ericsson P1 is expected to be available in select markets in Q3, but no word on whether it will hit U.S. shores.