There’s good news for everyone charging their phones in Europe. It looks like there’s a phone charging standard coming to all those European handset owners. The European Commission has received today confirmation for that micro-USB charging socket from the most important names in the mobile business. Nokia, Sony, Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung and Texas Instruments are all going to play ball and we should expect them to launch devices ready to be charged via a micro-USB charger sometime next year. On the long run the micro-UBS standard could be adopted by other markets too since CTIA, OMTP and the GSM Association also support it. Can’t wait for the day when I won’t hate myself for forgetting a certain phone charger! What are your thoughts on this?

via Yahoo

Tags: Apple, Apple, charging, ctia, Ericsson, European Commision, GSM Association, LG, LG, micro-USB, Motorola, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Nokia, OMTP, qualcomm, Research In Motion, RIM, Samsung, Samsung, Sony, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Standard, Texas Instruments

Besides all those regular phones you’ve seen at the CTIA 2009, one must have caught your attention in particular. The Elektrobit hybrid cellular-satellite phone or the “Satellite-Terrestrial Device” will be launched later this year.

The phone is small enough to fit in your pocket although it is capable of making satellite calls. Besides its sizes, the phone will offer you the following features:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
• Touchscreen support
• GPS
• WiFi
• Quadband GSM/EDGE and Dual-band North American 3G
• Terrestar 2.2 GHz
• Bluetooth
• 3.0 MP Camera with autofocus and flash
• 100 MB Internal memory + MicroSD
• 4.7 x 2.5 x 0.6

We have no prices yet but we’ll keep you posted once we find out more about the Elektrobit hybrid handset.

via Elektrobit

Tags: Cellular-Satellite, ctia, Elektrobit, Hybrid, Uncategorized

We already knew about the one-of-a-kind transparent keypad on this slider phone, but the multitouch feature is definitely news to us.  And get this, it’s not just the display that’s multitouch but also the transparent keypad, which can be used to navigate the GD900’s S-Class 3D interface by finger scrolling like you would on the display. The gestures are taken a bit more further and specific applications can be customized to open up with gestures.  For example, drawing a ‘W’ with a finger will launch the browser and the famous “Apple pinch” for zooming in and out of pictures is tucked in too.  Other specs that have been revealed now include quad-band GSM, dual-band UMTS with HSDPA support, an 8-megapixel camera, handwriting recognition, and the S-Class 3D UI.  Watch the video below to catch the GD900 in action.

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Tags: Cell Phones, ctia, GD900, LG

Christmas has come and gone already and we now have a new release date of April 9 for the Xenon to appear on AT&T, but that shouldn’t stop LG from showing the GR500 off at the CTIA 2009 and us from bringing you another peek at this QWERTY-packing slider, right? So, here we are with a fresh batch of pictures courtesy of AVing. The specs have been gone over many times already but for those emerging from under a rock, the LG Xenon is a Quad-band EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA device that has a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD slot, Bluetooth and USB 2.0, WiFi, and a widget-based UI to go with its haptic touchscreen display. Let’s hope they stick to the release date this time.  Continue reading for a few more pictures…

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Tags: Cell Phones, ctia, GR500, LG, xenon

HTC has officially unveiled the Snap at the CTIA, a smartphone made to go into combat against those popular Berries. The Snap is only 12mm thick and has a full QWERTY keyboard.

So let’s go straight to the hot stuff, as I am sure you’re curious about the specs:

• Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor, 528 MHz
• Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard OS
• QWERTY keypad with dedicated messaging, email and Inner Circle hotkeys
• 256MB ROM, 192MB RAM
• microSDHC support
• Dimensions: 4.59″ x 2.42″ x .47″ (LxWxT)
• Weight: 4.23 ounces
• Display: 2.4″ (diagonal) QVGA (320×240)
• 1500 mAh battery
• HSDPA/WCDMA 900/2100 MHz or HSDPA/WCDMA 850/1900 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Wi-Fi (b/g)
• GPS/aGPS

The phone is expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2009 but we don’t have any prices just yet.

via Press

Tags: BlackBerry, ctia, HTC, HTC, Mobile News, qualcomm, RIM

That hot HTC G2 phone has been blessed with the FCC approval. The U.S. version of the Magic will come with 1700/2100MHz band of HSPA, WiFi with UMA for Hotspot@Home, a 5 megapixel camera instead of the previously announced 3.2 megapixel version and all the other specs we’ve seen in its Vodafone brethren. Don’t expect us to tell you when the G2 is actually coming or how much it’s going to cost as neither the FCC nor HTC have leaked any such details. Maybe the upcoming CTIA will reveal more info.

via FCC

Tags: Android, ctia, fcc, G2, HTC, HTC, Magic, Mobile News, T-Mobile, T-Mobile

RIM’s official app store, the App World, is reported to be ready to be launched on April 1. Is it just an April Fool’s Day prank or is it the real thing? Will RIM use the CTIA Wireless show to officially unveil its own application universe? We have less than a week to go and we’ll be able to tell you more about the App World and the CTIA. What do you think? Excited to get applications for your new Berry?

via Business Week

Tags: App World, BlackBerry, ctia, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Research In Motion, RIM

Dan Schulman, Virgin Mobile’s CEO said that Virgin is thinking about adding some touchscreen handsets to its current lineup. He failed to mention what models he was referring to and how much the phones will cost but we’re probably going to have some official announcements soon. What he did ad is that the new smartphones are targeted at low to middle-income youth on prepaid. Maybe the upcoming CTIA will reveal more about Virgin Mobile’s intentions.

via Crave

Tags: ctia, Dan Shulman, Mobile News, touchscreen, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Mobile

We have one more Samsung handset in the works, the U490 Trance. It’s not a high-end device but rather an entry- to mid-level phone. The phone will arrive from Verizon Wireless and it will probably sport the following features:

• Slider form factor, hidden touch-sensitive buttons on face
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• 1GB internal memory
• microSDHC support up to 16GB
• 3.5mm stereo audio jack
• large speaker on the back
• Mobile Web 2.0 browser
• No EV-DO support

The phone will arrive sometime in Q2 but you might see it at the CTIA if you’re going to attend it.
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Tags: ctia, Mobile News, Samsung, Samsung, Today On Mobilewhack, Trance, U490

According to Forbes Opera is getting ready to sign deals straight with U.S. wireless carriers and thus it will skip handset manufacturers. Opera already has agreements with European carriers and its mobile browser is installed on Vodafone and T-Mobile phones. CTIA Wireless is supposed to unveil the upcoming deals between Opera and these U.S. carriers. We have no idea what carriers we’re talking about here but we’re going to find out this April.

via Forbes

Tags: ctia, Mobile News, Mobile Software, Opera, T-Mobile, T-Mobile, usa, Vodafone, Vodafone

The HTC Maple seems to be on its way to the CTIA in Las Vegas. The phone will offer you a full QWERTY keypad, trackball nagigation, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, a Qualcomm 7228 processor running at 528MHz, 156MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, a 2 megapixel camera and Windows Mobile 6.1. There’s still no price for the Maple yet but this HTC phone should definitely arrive by May.

Tags: ctia, HTC, HTC, HTC Maple, Mobile News

The CTIA Wireless Trade Show is just over two weeks away and people say the HTC Maple is going to be unveiled in Las Vegas. The HTC Maple will come with a 2.4-inch QVGA display, Windows Mobile 6.1, 128MB of RAM, 256MB ROM and a 528MHz Qualcomm 7225 processor. There’s nothing official just yet so we’ll be holding on to this rumor waiting for CTIA to confirm it.

via DigiTimes

Tags: ctia, HTC, HTC, Maple, Mobile News

T-Mobile USA is definitely launching the G2. Question is when? According to some hot rumor, T-Mobile’s second Android phone is coming officially at CTIA. We’re about three weeks away from the event and we’re already wondering what other handsets we’ll get to see. The G2 was bound to arrive anyway. And by April that Cupcake update should be available too!
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Tags: Android, ctia, G2, Google, T-Mobile, T-Mobile

You knew it was bound to happen, didn’t you? Today, CTIA announced the new Camera-Phone Based Barcode Scanning White Paper, using input from the nation’s leading carriers. The white paper is meant to help define, develop and promote an open system for camera-phone 2D barcode scanning in the US market. It will also help companies with the necessary information on technologies that will be supported in the code scanning development and implementation process.

Use case examples, recommended architectures, growth, technical support and a deployment time table are all a part of the white paper. After this, the team will also develop Marketing Best Practices Guidelines, and RFPs for a Central Registry.

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Tags: barcode, cameraphone, ctia, Mobile News, whitepaper