Ctia2009
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Opera locks down agreement to bring Opera Mini to Virgin Mobile USA
Opera Mini has definitely seen a good deal of face time here lately, but it's looking to up its presence even more by inking a new partnership with Virgin Mobile USA. Starting April 14th, Opera Mini will be available as a free application download on select devices -- Slash, Arc, Shuttle, Super Slice and four others -- for Virgin Mobile USA prepaid customers via the VirginXL download storefront. Going forward, the browser will come pre-loaded on other "select" Virgin Mobile USA phones. So, one carrier down -- who's next?
Jabra intros HALO stereo Bluetooth headset, SP200 speakerphone
Jabra's making the wireless music game just a little bit more interesting today with the announcement of its stereo Bluetooth HALO headphones, featuring six hours of playback time on a single charge, AVRCP support, Jabra's Noise Blackout circuitry for improved clarity when making calls, and micro-USB charging. Conveniently, the HALO folds for storage, which also toggles the set's power. Staying in the Bluetooth theme, the company is also showing off its SP200 speakerphone -- a great way to avoid the fuzz, we figure -- with 10 hours of talk time, 23 days of standby, and active noise reduction. The HALO hits in May for $129.99; the SP200, meanwhile, gets real in April for $59.99.
REDFLY Mobile Viewer removes the need for Mobile Companion
Given that REDFLY can't sell its Mobile Companion for free-after-rebate, we're not at all shocked by this move. If you'll remember, we actually heard that Celio was looking to dabble in software back at CES, and now the company has selected CTIA to showcase its REDFLY Mobile Viewer. Available as a free download today in beta form, the Windows-only program essentially turns any PC into a Mobile Companion by blowing up smartphone applications on a bigger screen. The software works with all current REDFLY-compatible handsets, and it gives users the ability to surf their WinMo desktop at 800 x 480, 800 x 600, 1,024 x 600 or 1,024 x 768 resolution. We're struggling to see how Celio is going to monetize this, but who knows, maybe it's just in it for the fame.
AT&T's Samsung Propel Pro hands-on
AT&T's Propel Pro ups the ante not only in build quality and material, but the new set is also reborn as a proper smartphone thanks to the inclusion of Windows Mobile 6.1. Though like its predecessor, we find a QWERTY keypad for the much loved messaging features, a 3 megapixel camera, and a well thought out and put together metal housing -- though the latter does add heft to an already chubby device. So, what do we like? Well, the display is right on, the keypad is solid, and the $149 price tag is definitely going to win it some fans looking for a messaging device that'll do a bit more. The heft on the other hand is a bit much, and we're still troubled by the almost square form factor, but what do we know, people loved the Samsung Propel. We'll take some more time to get to know it tomorrow and hopefully add a little video to the mix -- and some decent lighting.
PrimeTime2Go brings full-length TV episodes to BlackBerry Bold, Curve 8900
Ah, so the rumors were true. As BlackBerry App World descends upon the masses today, a particularly unique service is launching alongside of it: QuickPlay Media's PrimeTime2Go. Unlike options from Sprint and AT&T, this alternative delivers video only over WiFi, though this arrangement does enable it to work on all carriers. The app will bring full-length television shows to certain BlackBerry smartphones, and with deals inked with NBC, CBS and MTV, we'd say the selection should be pretty good. As for details, it'll run users $7.99 per month, though it will only operate (initially, at least) on the BlackBerry Bold and Curve 8900, sold by AT&T and T-Mobile, respectively. So, is this the break that mobile TV has been waiting for? Or is this yet another option that better get used to being shunned?
AT&T's Samsung Impression hands-on with video
With AT&T's Samsung Impression packing things like quad-band GSM, dual-band HSPA for the Americas and a supremely useable QWERTY keypad, we're suitably impressed. All that magic aside, the screen, a fairly giant 3.2-inch AMOLED number, is where the big draw for us lies. The display is completely stunning and viewable from just about any angle, the keypad is pretty much right on, and the set just feels like money to hold onto. Coupled with a reasonable 3 megapixel cam with digital zoom and geotagging support, and we're expecting this to be a wildly popular device at its $200 price point. We tried to capture the beauty of the Impression with vids -- we've taken the leap from VGA -- and pics which you'll find right after the break.
Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 hands-on with video
We had a few minutes with Sprint's Samsung Instinct S30 at CTIA this evening and while we couldn't dive in to find its deepest darkest secrets, we did get in a quick tour. This handset is well balanced in hand, perhaps even a tad on the light and "plasticky" side for our taste, but hey, we only had scant minutes to tour before the mob descended. The touch screen seems up to Samsung's "Please Touch" theme for this year's CTIA, the haptic feedback adding nice, ah, feedback when in use by reassuring the lab mice in us that our input was doing something. Follow on for a gallery and a quick video tour of the UI and a 360 view of the set proper.
Nokia E71x graces us with its presence
Our time with it was all too brief, but we had just a few moments to play with a SIM-less E71x last evening -- and yes, we're pretty sure this blacked-out beauty is going to sell like Canadian bananas when it launches on AT&T in the next few weeks, especially at that enticing $99.99 price point. Anyone who's handled an original E71 will know exactly what's going on here: slim, sexy, totally usable keypad, and WiFi. Too bad they weren't able to cram in a 3.5mm jack on the E71x to complement the addition of S60 3.2, but hey, we're just going to count our sub-hundred-dollar blessings and move on.
Samsung Instinct S30 in the wild
Samsung's officially announcing the Instinct S30 for Sprint as we speak, but why wait for all that jazz? We spied a dummy unit in the flesh out and about in Samsung's mobile charging center here at CTIA, and while we would've preferred it not be behind a thick plate of glare-tastic glass, we'll take what we can get. Notice that little "Exclusively at Sprint" tagline at the bottom there? Coincidentally, the same phone is being shown alongside its Samsung-branded full touch siblings -- the Memoir, Impression, and Verizon Omnia -- on a big ol' banner outside the show floor, so it really doesn't take rocket science to gather what Sammy's theme is going to be here at the show.
Windows Marketplace for Mobile, now in super-cheesy video form
Look, we're certain Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile will be a rousing success, with loads of developers set to announce apps this week at CTIA and interesting features like full-refund returns and apps certified to run on specific devices. And we'd be totally excited to point out that this teaser video shows off the interface in action, including a charmingly illiterate app review and carrier-specific stores. But honestly, here's a better question: if Microsoft is really serious about how cool is it is to be not-cool-enough, is a totally mediocre teaser with a relentlessly corporate electrorock soundtrack and hyperactive informercial narration really the best way to sell this thing? Discuss. Video after the break. [Via 1800PocketPC; thanks Saijo]
Sierra Wireless, Wavecom to demo EVDO Fastrack Extreme
Not sure if you heard, but Sierra Wireless and Wavecom recently changed their respective Facebook statuses from "It's complicated" to "Married." Crazy, right? Here in Las Vegas, the two will be on hand to showcase their first product created in collaboration: the EVDO Fastrack Extreme concept. Said device will reportedly be streaming video of the CTIA show floor via an integrated Sierra Wireless MC5727 PCI Express Mini Card. We're told that the device is aimed for use in a broad range of applications, including everything from video surveillance security systems, multimedia kiosks, navigation database synchronization and broadcast feeds. Sadly, neither company decided to dish out an image, but there's a decent chance we'll see it slinging video around the CTIA floor.
Ericsson's F3607gw wake-on wireless HSPA module offers remote kill switch and recovery for laptops
The big CTIA Wireless show in Vegas continues to crank out mobility news with the launch of Ericsson's F3607gw HSPA/GPRS/EDGE broadband module. The Windows 7 lovin' module's unique "wake-on wireless" feature allows your laptop to sleep until important messages or security updates are sent over the air. Combine that little trick with F3607gw's embedded GPS and your laptop is ready for a host of location-based services like traffic alerts, public safety warnings, and geo-fencing. Of course as we've already seen, the module works with Intel's Anti-Theft Technology so you can remotely disable (via SMS) the laptop you left behind at happy hour. The module can even send its location data to a central server for recovery. Once recovered, a second SMS will unlock your portable and make all your data accessible again -- your dignity, however, will be lost forever. Expect to see the first portables and theft-recovery services featuring the new module sometime after the F3607gw is released in June. Full press release after the break.Update: Dell, LG, Lenovo, and Toshiba have all signed on as customers with products expected by "mid-second-half" of 2009.
Ericsson squeezes out 56Mbps from HSPA+
And here we were envious of the 21Mbps HSPA+ service currently offered by Telstra in Australia. Now we hear that Ericsson will be demonstrating its 56Mbps HSPA multi-carrier MIMO technology at CTIA (using a router, not handset) later this week with scheduled deployment set for 2010. By the end of 2009, Ericsson claims that it will support 42Mbps commercial deployments. All this assumes that carriers hold steady with HSPA and don't jump straight to LTE or WiMax... ok, LTE.
Microsoft announces Windows Marketplace partners, tweaked policies, designer WinMo 6.5 themes
Details are starting to come into focus on some of the finer points of Windows Mobile 6.5's launch later this year after February's announcement at MWC, and if you had to boil the news down to just two words, they'd be "pretty" and "support." As "pretty" goes, it's been announced that Microsoft has partnered up with Design Museum London and the Council of Fashion Designers of America to offer designer themes for 6.5-based devices -- colors, wallpaper, and the like -- with the first designs coming from fashion dude Isaac Mizrahi. If that's not good enough for ya, the company will be releasing a Theme Generator later this year that'll let you customize colors of UI elements on your device, pair it up with wallpaper culled from your own photo collection, and send the batch straight to your phone. Over to the "support" front, over 25 companies will be announcing their full support for the Windows Marketplace at CTIA this week, including EA Mobile, Facebook (pictured), Gameloft, MySpace, Namco, Pandora, and Sling Media. To help improve the Marketplace's public image, Microsoft is tweaking some policies, too: developers will now be able to issue unlimited updates to their apps free of charge, and users will have up to 24 hours to "return" apps they don't like (very cool). Notably, Facebook's new app will be available in April, offering direct video uploads straight to your wall if you're into that sort of thing (you know who you are). Finally, Microsoft's issued a clarification regarding upgrades from 6.1 to 6.5: devices that are already out in the marketplace with a minimum of 128MB of RAM and a 400MHz processor or better are theoretically capable of being upgraded -- it's all up to licensees to decide whether they want to go to the trouble of offering the upgrades to their customers. Let's hope, shall we?
LG's GD900 with (multi-touch?) transparent keypad gets S-Class UI
The recent glut of telephony news can mean only one thing: CTIA Wireless 2009 is getting ready to kick off in Vegas baby, Las Vegas. In the runup we have LG upping the hype on its 13.4mm-thick GD900 handset first outed in Barcelona at February's MWC show. This time, however, the 7.2Mbps HSDPA slider with world's first transparent glass (not plastic as originally assumed) keypad will be functional, running LG's new S-Class UI on the 3-inch display. We know that the GD900 features vibrational haptic feedback and that the transparent keypad seems to double as a touch-sensitive mouse pad (like that on your laptop) when surfing the internet or navigating the UI -- it also seems to support gestures like writing "M" to launch MP3 music player and multi-touch such as pinch to zoom on photographs. The GD900 will launch in Europe and Asia sometime in May. No US release announced so we'll have to make the most of our time with it this week in order to clear up all the mysteries presented by the Korean press release. One more pic showing an apparent finger-swipe rotating the UI after the break.[Via Akihabara News and Engadget Korea]
RIM to fire up mobile TV service for BlackBerry devices?
RIM's pleading the fifth at the moment, but the timing here sure makes this rumor one we'd love to believe. With BlackBerry App World launching on April 1st and CTIA opening up in a matter of days, it seems the perfect time for RIM to introduce its very own television service for BlackBerry devices. NewTeeVee has it from "multiple [undisclosed] sources" that RIM will announce a "full-episode television service" for BB users; the interesting part, however, is that it will supposedly download content via WiFi, leaving open the possibility for this to be carrier-agnostic. Granted, mobile TV initiatives have been far from successful thus far, but who knows if the CrackBerry crowd is the one sect willing to watch full episodes of The Cosby Show on a diminutive, low-res screen?[Via mocoNews]
Skype for iPhone coming soon?
We're still filing this away in the rumor folder for now, but we'll be honest -- this is totally believable. GigaOM has it on authority that a bona fide Skype for iPhone client will be launched as early as next week, and with CTIA kicking off on April 1st, we'd say the timing is just about ideal. Of course, we've already seen a variety of alternatives for bringing Skype and other VoIP apps to Apple's darling, but by and large, they've been supremely unimpressive. There's no word on pricing (we're crossing our fingers for free) or any other tasty tidbits, but you can bet we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more.
BlackBerry App World to launch April 1, says BusinessWeek
Mark your calendars, BlackBerry fans: BusinessWeek says RIM's going to launch the BlackBerry App World April 1 at CTIA. What's more, the company is apparently planning on going after Apple by courting developers with higher profit margins and the relative sophistication of the average corporate BlackBerry user, which explains that minimum $2.99 paid app price we saw a few weeks ago. An interesting move to position the new service, but we'll see if it takes hold with users -- anyone ready to blow their budget on 'berry software?[Via Boy Genius Report]
HTC's QWERTY-packin' Maple rumored for April release
Not that it's really far-fetched or anything, but the Chinese-language Economic Daily News is reporting that HTC's QWERTY-packin' BlackBerry rival is gearing up to launch at CTIA in April. Codenamed Maple, we're left to wonder about most of the details, but we do know that it'll arrive with some sort of Windows Mobile operating system and should draw loads of attention from faithful 'Berry users. Needless to say, we'll be on the ground in Vegas when the show kicks off next month, and we'll be watching intently for this thing to surface in official fashion.
Zer01 is the new, contract-less MVNO that will bring VOIP to the mobile masses
2008 marked the end for many a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), most going under in a flood of bankruptcies or getting consumed but their parent networks. It sure seems like no company in its right mind would want to wade back into that graveyard, but Zer01 is thinking differently, pledging to launch a new network within a network next month at CTIA 2009. Its services will be provided by AT&T, but it'll undercut the competition with a combination of a $69.95 monthly unlimited voice and data plan and a complete lack of contracts, as well as unlimited international calling (to 40 countries) for just an extra $10. What's the catch? The company will rely on a VOIP application for routing of all calls, and right now that app only works on Windows Mobile. That'll be a roadblock for many, and given AT&T's somewhat limited (and generally flaky) 3G data coverage we're a little concerned about call quality, but just the same can't wait to see how this one turns out.[Via Unwired View and PC Magazine]
