Gizmodo: ctia07

Pantech Concept Phones Make Rare Appearance at CTIA

Jason Chen — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:40:29 EDT

Much like the members of Rage Against the Machine, it's a big deal when Pantech's concept phones make an appearance in public together. Unlike the members of Rage, however, these phones don't want to stab Zack in the face. The Pantech people tell me that it's rare that all the concepts are gathered up in one place, let alone shown off to the public, So this is a treat.

As for the phones themselves, they're all pretty out there. Each one uses unique manufacturing techniques, textures, form factors and designs that won't make it to market in its current shape. It's more like the automotive industry, where designs are tested out and integrated into the somewhat mundane products that actually make it to market. – Jason Chen

Hands-On: Lifepop Mini '80s Boombox

Brian Lam — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 20:52:07 EDT

This little vinyl boombox gets pretty loud considering the 9v powerpack and the quarter-sized speakers. Another gem found in the WTF section of CTIA. The kit comes with a minijack adapter, a keychain, and the pouch itself can hold a cellphone or Shuffle, but controlling the device while inside would prove to be challenging. $25.

If only I had a matching G.I. Joe-sized LL Cool J action figure.–Brian Lam

Boombox [Lifepop]

CTIA 2007 Roundup

Travis Hudson — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 17:40:08 EDT

Our two reporters are home, recovering from all of the cellphone madness at CTIA 2007. While they sleep and dream of anything not related to cellphones, check out some of the goods from the show:

• HTC Shift & HTC Advantage
• Helio Ocean Gallery and Video: Every Friggin Detail, Right here
• Sony Ericsson's W580 is All Glowy and Beautiful
• Samsung Upstage and Even More Details
• Kyocera M1000 Folds Out for Some QWERTY Hotness and Kyocera's Booth is Badass
• Hans-On With the Smallest Flip-Phone Ever

CTIA 2007: BlackBerry Babe

Brian Lam — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 03:54:41 EDT

Lady: "Sir, do you have a BlackBerry?"
Me: "No, they're just too big these days."

Seriously, guys, what's a fine girl like this doing with a chubby 8xxx series Blackberry. Helio Ocean gonna steal your woman.

Note: Large bounty paid for anyone who can secure me a Blackberry suit before Halloween.–Brian Lam

CTIA 07 [Gizmodo]

Wafer-thin MoGo Bluetooth Headset

Travis Hudson — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:20:10 EDT

Remember the Mogo Mouse? You know, that extremely small, Bluetooth mouse that could store and charge in the PCMCIA slot? MoGo went ahead and made it even smaller, took out the mousing capabilities and attached a speaker/mic for the MoGo Bluetooth headset. The uncomfortable-looking earpiece can fold in and out for easy storage. Like the MoGo mouse, the Bluetooth headset can also store in a PCMCIA or ExpressCard 34 slot, which makes absolutely no sense given that this isn't a laptop accessory. Oh, well. The MoGo mouse was pretty damn expensive, so I would expect this to be also. –Travis Hudson

Ultra-thin MoGo Headset [Cool Hunting]

Hands-On With the Smallest Flip-Phone Ever

Jason Chen — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:25:27 EDT

Despite Jesus promising I'd shove these Pantech models down the old pantaloons, there wasn't much in the way of features or looks to warrant an unpantsing. We save that for only the items on top of the consumer electronics totem pole.

That said, the C3b still is the smallest flip-phone in the US—now Bluetoothed—and the other models are pretty, if a bit short on high end features. Have a look at what your parents will be choosing from when they demand their free (or nearly free) phone on signing with AT&T in Q2 2007. – Jason Chen

LG Puts Google Apps on Phones, Larry and Sergei Hope for Date with Prada Girl

www.gizmodo.com — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:32:35 EDT

LG has signed a worldwide deal with Google, which will give their phone users worldwide instant access to Google mobile apps, further dispelling the recent rumors of the GPhone.

This comes just weeks after the Korean giant signed a similar deal with Yahoo! And then you've got Larry and Sergei's kiss-up with Samsung. The other Korean giant and Google got into bed together at the beginning of the year. How long before one of the cuckolded parties pulls out of their deal with the immortal words, "There were four of us in this relationship"?

Google Maps, Gmail, and Blogger will all be preloaded onto 10 LG handsets, and Google search will be available just by clicking an icon on the cell's application menu. What looks almost certain is that the phones, which will be available in the next quarter, will be marketed as LG-Google handsets. In completely unrelated news, Laura Ocaña is still not returning Larry and Sergei's calls. – Ad Dugdale

LG Phones To Bundle Google Apps [GigaOM]

CTIA's Showstopper Event: Great Shrimp

Brian Lam — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 23:56:45 EDT

Showstopper, a common event at big gadget shows, finished a few hours ago. One of the best things about this particular Showstopper event was the food. Team Gizmodo finished off about two dozen shrimp in less than 15 minutes. (Team Gizmodo = Jason and me.) Then I got hives.

Alongside the food, there are tables that vendors set up to demo their gear. I didn't find much that we hadn't seen already at the show, unfortunately. I'd think that Showstopper should have an easy time filling the small room with cellphones and cool stuff, like that we saw at the Pepcom event the night before. But it's hard to follow up a similar event with the same devices. But let's be positive: The shrimp cocktail was second to none. –Brian Lam

CTIA [Gizmodo]

Motorola Packs its Longest-lasting Battery Inside New H680 Bluetooth Headset

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:42:13 EDT

The problem with most Bluetooth headsets (aside from the fact that they make you look like a cyborg) is that they die out after a few hours of use.

Motorola is addressing both issues with the H680, a new Bluetooth headset they claim lasts for eight continuous hours and eight days of standby. Style-wise, I like the subtle look, though I think the Jawbone beats it in the design department. However, if they price it right and the battery lasts as long as they claim, it'll be worth a gander. It's expected to debut in Q3 of 07. – Louis Ramirez

Press Release

Motorola CTIA Roundup

Travis Hudson — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:00:40 EDT

Unfortunately, for us, Motorola has produced a bit of a yawner at this year's CTIA show. Motorola showed off the S9 Bluetooth headset, which we have known about, the H9, which is simply an update to the Motorola H5, the RAZR maxx Ve, which has been lingering for a couple months and lastly and coolest, the ROKR Z6m. Think of this as a regular RAZR broken in half and converted to a slider phone. One out of four isn't that bad, but I would have liked to see more. –Travis Hudson

Kyocera's Booth is the Coolest at CTIA 2007

Brian Lam — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 19:23:27 EDT

Kyocera had the classiest CTIA booth around, composed of faux grass, wood, river-washed stones, and red structural beams. But their phones are kind of irrelevant — they need a real flagship phone. And the S-hinged clamshell, the E5000, possibly their best of show, won't cut it. (Jump for a photo and specs.) This CTIA, so far, has been all about Sony Ericsson, Samsung Upstage, Helio's Ocean, and the HTC Shift. –Brian Lam

Nice looking, but a 1.3 MP camera? Exactly.

Kyocera E5000
This elegant, slim handset features an iconic, patent-pending sculpted "S" hinge design made of stainless steel that is certain to stand out amongst a crowd. With a superior entertainment experience that includes high-speed 1xEV-DO for music and video on demand* (MOD/VOD) and a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recorder, Kyocera's E5000 is that "must have" device for pop culture junkies and fashionistas alike. Audiophiles will love the dedicated, touch-sensitive external controls for the integrated music player and stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) capability. To ensure space for a large collection of media files, the E5000 includes a microSD™ memory expansion slot for storing up to 2GB of extra music, pictures or movies.
While E5000's technical capabilities impress, the "S" factor and sheer beauty of this handset set it apart. Extensively tested for durability and strength, the innovative "S" hinge strikes the perfect balance between style and usability. Leaving no detail unchecked, the hinge also influences other design elements of the phone including the number pad and rounded edges of the handset.

"When I tell people what I do, I constantly get asked what the next revolutionary design element is going to be for mobile phones," said Tyneski. "With E5000, I truly believe that we have conceived an iconic, revolutionary look that will be immediately recognizable and instantly equated with high fashion and style."

A dual-band digital handset with a 2-inch QCIF+ internal TFT display, Kyocera E5000 will be available from global CDMA carriers in Fall 2007.

CTIA 07 [Gizmodo]

Helio Ocean Gallery and Video: Every Friggin Detail, Right Here

Brian Lam — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:45:59 EDT

Now that I've seen it, what can I say about the Helio Ocean? For starters, its not as huge as I thought it would be with the triple layer of LCD, 9-key, and QWERTY. It's nice, with a lot more functionality than a Sidekick III (never mind the 3G network access), but I wouldn't call it as stylish, not even next to Helio's other handsets. It has the buddy finding, a new browser, and a nice dual sliding setup. For more impressions check out John Biggs' post at crunchgear.com, and for lots of videos, keep an eye on Vincent Nguyen's slashgear.com.

Release? We're thinking May.–Brian Lam

Video of the slides after the jump. (Give YouTube a few minutes to catch up, though.)

Helio Ocean [Gizmodo]

LG VX8700 Official for Verizon

Jason Chen — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:59:51 EDT

The LG VX8700 Shine flipper gets official for Verizon, as we saw before. It's a part of the Shine family—the daddy Shine isn't making it to the states—but the entirely-covered-in-steel baby is. We're much more excited for Prada and Prada-like phones from LG, but some people love the Shine. – Jason Chen

LG Announces New Clamshell Music Phones [Digital Trends]

Thunder Super Radio HiFI Phone—What the...

Travis Hudson — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:20:08 EDT

Hidden in the deep crevices of the CTIA show, gems like this one can be found. From the front, this phone looks like a fairly normal candybar phone. Flip her over and find one hell of an odd boombox attached to the back. It is a TV/FM/AM radio tuner complete with a digital display and giant, shiny speaker. For more of the normal, and no-so-normal (like this) cellphones stay tuned to all of our CTIA coverage throughout the week. –Travis Hudson

Is it a HiFI? No it's just a cellphone [Gearfuse]

Kyocera M1000 Folds Out for Some QWERTY Hotness

Travis Hudson — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 16:40:15 EDT

Kyocera is jumping on the low-end QWERTY bandwagon with the M1000 announced today at CTIA. This candybar style phone opens to unveil another screen and a QWERTY keyboard similar to that of the LG VX-9800.

Texting freaks should love this phone, but for anyone else it may be worth a pass. It is a pretty average or even low-end phone. It does support EV-DO, which is a plus, especially for lightening-fast IMing or text messaging. I'll see if I can con our intrepid reporters on-site at CTIA to go give the M1000 a little grope. Until then, jump for a picture of the device closed.

–Travis Hudson

Kyocera's M1000 QWERTY Messenger Launches [Mobileburn]

Sanyo SCP-7050: Stubby and Ugly, but Durable

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:25:35 EDT

Not too many cellphones can take a kick in the face, but as the folks at CNET found out, Sanyo's new SCP-7050 for Sprint is military tough, meaning it'll withstand any type of cellphone torture you throw its way. The $149 phone has a 2-inch display, but lacks a few modern features like a camera and music player. Built-in GPS and push-to-talk make up for some of that slack, but otherwise, we have to agree. The 7050 is better off in the callous-filled hands of the outdoorsy type. – Louis Ramirez

Sanyo SCP-7050 [CNET]

Even More Samsung Upstage Details

Jason Chen — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:10:56 EDT

We just got done talking to Sprint about their latest (and some would say best) music phone, the Samsung Upstage. Here are some previously unreleased details that may have not been found here (or anywhere else).

• It's cheap: Only $149 with contract. That's way low for a music phone with this kind of featureset.

• Unfortunately, the Upstage won't play any other form of DRM (the songs from Sprint aren't DRMEd, actually, which is nice). So your iTunes, Zune, Napster, and other form of DRMed music won't be able to be played on this.

• It comes with 64MB built-in memory, but will accept 1 and 2GB flash cards.

Jump for some more bullets, and a shocker!

• The Upstage will not be able to use music you've downloaded from their 1.4 million track repository for MP3 ringtones. In fact, from what Sprint said, you can't use MP3 ringtones at all. Ouch. We blame the RIAA for this inability to use music as a ringtone in a music phone.

• You can download tracks both over the air (OTA) or on your PC, and the service will remember which tracks you've downloaded.

• The OTA versions are more compressed than the ones from the PC—which has standard MP3 compression—so if you wanted to, you could download a higher quality version of the song later for free (see above bullet).

• You can use the phone in USB Disk mode along with their own proprietary music manager service.

• Head to sprint.com/upstage to sign up for their 4/1 launch.

And finally, when we asked Sprint how this compares to the upcoming iPhone (since they are both music-centric phones), Sprint gave us four ways in which they're different. Here they are, in bullet point form.

• It's much cheaper. $149 vs. $499

• It's smaller.

• It has OTA music downloads.

• The touchscreen feature on the iPhone will be hard to use for the majority of users.

– Jason Chen

Upstage [Sprint]

iPhone and Me at CTIA: Like Ships Passing In the Night

Brian Lam — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 10:40:12 EDT

People have been asking, but I didn't see the iPhone on display at CTIA. According to Yahoo news it was here, but only for a few minutes before being whisked away back to Cupertino. AT&T Chief Operating Officer Randall Stephenson whipped it out on stage at the CTIA keynote, only to be burnt to a crisp as 10,000 flash bulbs went off simultaneously.

Then, who but FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, got a grope...and bystanders said his eyes grew wide, and he started hissing "precious" into the piano-glossed mike. Or something like that.

Maybe Steve J. has more influence than he thinks as far as getting the FCC to stop leaking us gadget news so regularly. Then we could go back to the tradition of announcement and launch of Apple gear on a single day, instead of this long drawn out process we've been going through lately. By the way, contrary to popular mainstream press, no one is talking about iPhone at this show. There are no clones, and none of the phone makers seem depressed...except Palm...and Motorola. Hey, look...aren't those the two companies that might combine forces? Yes, Palm's outdated OS meets Motorola's oversold design from 2002 or whatever. Can't wait for the synergy to synergize! –Brian Lam

CTIA 2007 [Gizmodo]
iPhone at CTIA [Yahoo News]

ZenZui: Microsoft's New Web Navigation Interface For Phones

www.gizmodo.com — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:02:52 EDT

Probably thought out by some interior designer with one too many sake shots inside him, ZenZui is both the name of a new Microsoft-backed startup and a new interface for phones designed to "transform how people engage, consume and interact with Web content through a revolutionary mobile user experience and information ecosystem."

Or in other words: "OMFG! We must do something about that iPhone-thang! Pronto!"

ZenZui's Zooming User Interface organizes Web and user content in 36 tiles arranged in a virtual desktop grid. The desktop can be panned and zoomed in or out using the cellphone's touchscreen or numeric keypad. Then, when you activate one of the tiles, it will show you a small interface, which appears to follow the same directional pad control for user interaction. The interface looks rather sleek and zoomtastic, I have to say, but you'll be the judge after you see the video demonstration, right after the jump.

The idea was originally patented at Microsoft Research labs, although to me it looks inspired by Don Hopkins' pie menus and the Nintendo Wii Channels. The system will require the participation of carriers and content providers, but beyond Kayak.com, OTOlabs, Avenue A | Razorfish, and Traffic.com, there's not much more detail.

The press release babbles on about social connections and digital content sharing, but I don't know if this is just marketing drone speech or if ZenZui will offer the users the possibility to share their bookmarks and content using a centralized server or some kind of peer-to-peer messaging. You can clearly see a "Rate tile" button on the screenshots in the gallery, so there may really be some kind of social bookmarking/recommendation system in place.

We will know more from CTIA, when Brian and Jason get their sticky paws all over it. – Jesus Diaz

HTC Shift (UMPC) Gallery, Impressions

Jason Chen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:30:00 EDT

Although the HTC Shift was encased in glass—as manufacturers are apt to do now—we still got some nice shots of it in all its Vista-running, 30GB hard drive having, wireless connecting glory.

We actually got to play with this last week, and definitely think that it's something to watch out for. The touchscreen works well, the keyboard is small but usable, and the sliding mechanism is solid and functional. There's also a mouse touch-pad on the right, as well as a front camera and connectivity up the wazoo. Seriously, it's the UMPC (they're not calling it a UMPC) for people unfamiliar with the platform. – Jason Chen

HTC Shift [Gizmodo]

Love at First Grope: Sony Ericsson's W580 is All Glowy and Beautiful

Brian Lam — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:18:39 EDT

Are Sony Ericsson's designers thieves? Because it looks like they stole the stars from the sky and put em into the w580 Slider. Meow.

We'd written about this midrange phone before, but it wasn't until *tonight* that I realized just how beauuuuutiful it is. It's the little things, really. Like the downturned bottom end; the orange-anodized aluminum back around the 2.0MP cam; and the faint glow on the buttons and sides. Utterly charming, especially when you consider the Sony Ericsson OS and the second gen Walkman software and MusicID. Highly recommended, even more so than its waifish older, skinnier sibling, the w880. and as Travis noted this morning, it IS coming to the US. First, even.

Stat smather after the jump.

The W580 Walkman® phone at a glance: Music Walkman® player 2.0 512 MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) (expandable) 12MB user free memory Music playback up to 20 hours FM Radio with RDS PlayNow™ TrackID™ music recognition software Disc2Phone Music Management Software Multiple Music Format Support (MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+) A2DP (Bluetooth™ streaming sound) Music Illumination Effects Stereo Headset Speakerphone Design & Lifestyle 14mm slim Compact slider design Flash theme Pedometer Active Applications Weight 94 grams Size 99 x 47 x 14 mm Imaging 2.0 megapixel camera 2.0" QVGA 262K TFT screen Picture Blogging Connectivity & Messaging Bluetooth™ 2.0 Java MIDP 2.0 Full HTML Browser with RSS Instant messaging USB Mass storage POP3/IMAP4 email Enabled for Java push mail Accessories In-Box: Stereo Headset HPM-70 USB Cable DCU-60 512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) Disc2Phone Music Management Software Aftermarket Accessories - including: Stereo Portable Handsfree HPM-85
Portable Speakers MPS-70
Snap-On Speakers MPS-75

Bluetooth™ Music Receiver MBR-100
Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-120
Availability and versions EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

Colours: Style White / Urban Grey

Standby time: up to 370 hours
Talktime: up to 9 hours

–Brian Lam

w580 [Sony Ericsson]

Samsung Deigns Americans Worthy of Their Slimmest Phones

Adam Frucci — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:30:00 EDT

Last month in Barcelona Samsung announced a line of super-slim phones under the Ultra II moniker, with all but one of them headed to overseas markets with no plans to release them stateside. Good news! Samsung has decided that brutish, lazy American consumers are now worthy of spending their hard-earned money on Samsung's sexiest line of phones, and now all four are slated to hit our shores.

The Ultra II line includes the U600, U700, U300, and U100. Huzzah for more consumer choice! No word on carriers or specific release dates, but we will, of course, keep you updated. –Adam Frucci

Samsung Sends Super Skinny Ultra II Cell Phones to USA [MobileMag]

Finally: Helio's Ocean Smartphone is Here

Brian Lam — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:00:53 EDT

Those maniacal bastards at Helio finally launched that smartphone we told you about a few weeks back. The Ocean's most remarkable feature is its double-slider: it's like a triple decker of LCD, QWERTY, and Dialpad. That also makes it kind of not-skinny at 0.86 inches, around the thickness of last year's Hiptop 3.

But I'm willing to overlook that because of the extremely useful OS upgrades and software they've included:

Update: Added more pictures.

There's an integrated IM/TXT/SMS/email interface that supports all the majors, including pop/IMAP/Exchange ActiveSync. Then they've taken their shitty browser and turned it into a full HTML browser with a mini map to it that gives a zoomed-out perspective of the entire webpage. No word on Flash compatibility, but I'm not holding my breath. Then there's the search bar that with one text field will bring back Yahoo, Google, Wikipedia, and local search results. Then there's Helio's Music service, GPS features, Playsforsure, and UP, which is a photo upload service that works with the 2.0MP cam. And the UI works in landscape and portrait. I hope the phone runs java apps, but it's likely it won't. $295, and it's all yours.

Ocean Specifications Form Factor - Dual Slider - alphanumeric keypad + full QWERTY keyboard Color - Black Dimensions - 4.33" x 2.20" x .86" Weight - 5.61 oz Display - 2.4 inch QVGA display, 240 x 320, 260K colors 3G Speed - EV-DO network support for fast multimedia downloads Talk Time - Up to 5.1 hours Memory - 200MB internal memory expandable via microSD™ with USB Mass Storage Mode Camera - 2.0 Megapixel, digital zoom, built-in flash Video Camera - MPEG-4 video recording Audio - Stereo Bluetooth® wireless technology Personal Entertainment Center - Supports: MP3, AAC, WMA, MPEG-4, H.264, VOD, MOD Additional Features - POP/IMAP Email Support Supports Helio Music GPS-enabled services and applications Photo caller ID,
Ocean Comes With
Battery + Charger
Stereo Headset
USB Cable
2.5 to 3.5mm Headset Adapter

Accessorize in Our Store
Car Charger
Carrying Case
Bluetooth® Stereo headset
Bluetooth® headset

Sony Ericsson W580 Walkman Phone has a Pedometer

Travis Hudson — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:40:32 EDT

Sony Ericsson has added the W580 to their repertoire of combination MP3 player cellphones. And in another giant twist of the year, Sony has also announced that they will be launching the phone Stateside first! A phone coming exclusively to the U.S.? Suck on them apples, Europe!

The W580 is a slider phone available in white or gray. It will include a 512MB Memory Stick Micro with further expandability options. Most interesting is that it includes a pedometer that can track steps walked and ran, speed, distance, and calories burned. No word on a price, but it will be hitting the States in Q3 of this year. –Travis Hudson

Press Release [Via Wirelessinfo]

Sprint's Samsung Upstage is Two-Face Without the Horrible Disfigurement

Jason Chen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:04:40 EDT

Just as we told you last night, the Samsung Ultra Music phone has been rebranded the "Upstage" and is taking its dual-sided music/calling to Sprint. The phone itself (see our grope and gallery of it from CES) has two faces, one with music controls and a larger screen and the back (front?) with a dialpad and a smaller display.

Since it's on Sprint, you'll be able to grab Sprint's entire catalog of 1.4 million songs and "sideload" it onto the phone. Each song will be available for direct download for 99 cents, but the phone itself doesn't support Napster or iTunes or any other DRM scheme.

One cool feature about this that we haven't talked about before is the caller ID announcement through the headphones if you're currently listening to music. Let's see the iPhone do that. – Jason Chen

Sprint Unveils New Music Phone [WirelessInfo]

Live from CTIA 2007: Giz at the Magic Kingdom of Cellphones

Brian Lam — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:01:50 EDT

Jason and I just touched down in Orlando, Florida, ready to cover the Disneyland of cellphone tradeshows, CTIA. It's warm, sunny, but also muggy and buggy. I think I ate a ladybug on cab ride over to the convention center. Protein.

We don't know what news'll hit tomorrow, when the show starts, but If the signage is any indication, the show looks to be interesting. What's this? A banner with a Verizon-branded Samsung u740 QWERTY clamshell? Nice.

So, whatever news comes up this week, we'll be on top of it for you. Write us requests for what you'd like to see. We'll get through the news and requests as fast as we can. (And maybe if we write our posts fast enough, we might have enough time visit the other Magic Kingdom. )

CTIA 2007 [Gizmodo]

Nokia N95 Coming Stateside

Travis Hudson — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:00:43 EDT

The cellphone orgyfest known as CTIA hasn't even started yet, and the big news is already surfacing. The Nokia N95 recently launched internationally, but now there is word that Nokia will be bringing the N95 stateside within the coming months. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Nokia will be selling the funky dual-slider direct on their website, unlocked. Unlocked is always good, but the ~~$700~~ $500-$600 price tag isn't. –Travis Hudson

CTIA 2007: Nokia N95 Coming to US! [Gearlog]
Related: Media Watch: Nokia N95 Commercial

HTC Shift is the UMPC for UMPC Haters

Jason Chen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:00:01 EDT

It surprises even ourselves when we say that HTC's Shift should be the UMPC device that makes us—who were mild on UMPCs before—a fan of the platform. Instead of using a split keyboard or a *shudder* on-screen circle pad, the Shift makes like the Advantage with its sliding and flipping screen. With the input problem solved, you can really enjoy the 7-inch touchscreen, 30GB hard drive, Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, and Windows Vista.

More so than the Advantage, the OQO2, or the Flipstart, the Shift can serve as a substitute for a laptop when you're out of the house, away on business trips—or hell, even at home.

When we played with it last week, we found the keys very comfortable, the weight fairly light (but heavy enough to be solid), and the touchscreen responsive. Current plans has it headed for a Q3 2007 release, which honestly isn't soon enough for us. We're ready to leave our laptops at home now. – Jason Chen

HTC

HTC Advantage Heads to the US This Summer

Jason Chen — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:00:00 EDT

The HTC Advantage—or what you've been seeing as the Athena or the Ameo—is finally going to hit US shores. Most of its features will be the same as before: 5-inch VGA, 8GB hard disk, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, QWERTY, Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, miniSD, and a detachable QWERTY keyboard.

Fortunately for us, it's going to be styled as shown above, with a jet grey/charcoal black finish and with a strip of clear plastic that can be used to see Windows Mobile five alerts when closed (a Windows Mobile 6 version/upgrade is coming down the line). Unfortunately for your wallet, you won't be getting a cellphone provider subsidy when you buy this—it's going to be offered direct from Amazon and other retailers this summer. Looks like carriers aren't ready to jump on this type of device just yet.

We've gotten to play with this thing twice, and can easily say it's definitely worth a look if you want the mobility of a smartphone but need a larger keyboard for text entry and a larger screen for better productivity. It's a good contender, but you should see what else HTC has up its sleeves. – Jason Chen

Product Page [HTC]

Pantech To Debut Five New Phones, Tease With International Models at CTIA'07

www.gizmodo.com — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 09:10:34 EDT

As expected, Pantech has finally decided to treat our Korean phone envy with five new models that will appear at CTIA 2007. All of them are nice-o but with their usual lame names: the C3b, C510, C600, C170 and the C150 pictured here, a nice candybar that comes with MP3 downloading, VGA camera, and Bluetooth stereo headphone support, which I have decided to rename the Pantswinger.

They will also show some of their latest releases just to keep us drooling, but until Jason gets them in his pants when he arrives in Orlando, we only have a few pix of these C-models and a few other naughty bits. They're right after the jump.

The Pantech C510 (from now on, the Greenrrrzr), approved last month by the FCC, has a 1.3 megapixel camera, external music player controls, slot for memory cards, Bluetooth support for stereo headphones and, ignoring Kermit's advice, a green brushed metal case.

The C600 (the Smlehphone) is a 850/1900 UMTS, quad-band GSM/EDGE phone, which comes with Bluetooth stereo headphones support and a Flash-based user interface. Apparently, it also comes with a time machine that the designers traveled in to steal a design from 1996.

The Pantech C710 (the Soundawhoompa) will also have the same features: 3G, a Flash UI, and a 1.3 megapixel camera, adding two «deluxe» speakers (which will either come with bacon and cheese or sound better than the normal speakers), a video sharing client and push-to-talk abilities, so you can pretend you are a secret agent using walkie-talkies. Hopefully, it will look better than this C600.

The Pantech C3b (the Tinynippleclamper), which they say is the smallest camera flip phone in the world, will be just like the current C3 but with added Bluetooth. – Jesus Diaz

Pantech showcases five new ha [ZDNet Korea]

Samsung Ultra Music Phone Re-Branded "Upstage"

Matt Buchanan — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:18:22 EDT

Sprint's dual-screen Ultra Music phone is launching at CTIA this week, but in addition to a new coat of paint, it will also be carrying a new, unfortunately lame moniker: "UpStage." Overwrought branding aside, I dug it quite a bit back at CES, and think it's one of the better music phones on the market, so it's definitely worth checking out when it hits Sprint stores. – Matt Buchanan

Flash demo [via Engadget]