Nokia N79 and N85 at CTIA

Announced last month, the Nokia N79 and N85 were especially eye-catching at CTIA this week. The candybar N79 and the slider N85 are truly multimedia devices with 5 megapixel cameras with Carl Zeiss optics, HSDPA, dual-LED flash, WiFi and more.

You can also geo-tag photos with the A-GPS. The N85 has a few extra features as well such as video capture at 30fps, N-Gage titles, and even special gaming keys. A 2.6-inch OLED display is also included on this model, along with Bluetooth A2DP, FM transmitter and 8GB microSD card.

The N79 is a step down on the food chain, but it’s still nice with a 4GB microSD card, navigation access with 15 million points of interest by means of a Nokia Maps license that will last you three months.

Both devices are sturdy and possess a responsive Nokia keypad. Five exchangeable covers are available for the N79 and the N85 could be a good gaming device for short bursts. You can expect both of these models to make their debut in October at $488 for the N79 and $627 for the N85.

[via SlashGear]

HTC shows off HTC Touch Dual at CTIA Las Vegas 2008

There isn't much at the HTC Booth here in Las Vegas. In fact, there isn't even much of an HTC booth to speak of. Our favorite Windows Mobile smartphone manufacturer has gone the decidedly conservative route at CTIA Las Vegas 2008 and set up shop on a small piece of Las Vegas Convention Center floorspace.

HTC is showing off their HTC Touch Dual for the US market. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone has been floating around Europe with the Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional OS for a few months already, but this is the first time we're seeing it with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and available for US consumption. Fans of the HTC Touch that want quick access to a keypad for no-eye dialing will want to check out the HTC Touch Dual. The Touch Dual takes the tried and true formula of the Touch, and bumps up the OS and hardware.

The HTC Touch Dual rocks a 400Mhz processor, 2.6 inch touchscreen display, 256MB ROM/128MB RAM, Bluetooth 2.0, and microSD card slot - all powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional.
Of course, HTC's TouchFLO interface is overlaid on the Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional homescreen, which is a bit of a disappointment, given the sleek look of the new WM6.1 sliding panel homescreen layout. The smartphone is slightly thicker than the HTC Touch that has done so well around the world - the addition of a vertical sliding 20-key, SureType-esque keypad will do that.

We're looking for T-Mobile USA to offer the HTC Touch Dual as the MDA Touch Plus in the near future - most likely with a numeric 16-key keypad in favor of the 20-key setup that HTC is showing off at CTIA Las Vegas 2008. Pricing is not yet known.

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Sony Ericsson booth tour CTIA Las Vegas 2008

Sony Ericsson, not one to break the cone of handset-silence at CTIA Las Vegas 2008, didn't have anything new to show today. They won't have anything new to show tomorrow, or the next day. The booth was small, but they did have a live music show. An electronic music DJ and violinist make for an interesting duet, in a good way.

Unfortunately, the music show and the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 were the biggest highlights of the booth. Sony Ericsson's Cybershot cameraphones and cool Bluetooth watches made a showing, but the XPERIA X1 was the center of attention. And, this time, Sony Ericsson actually let me touch the Windows Mobile 6.1 superphone(!).

The Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 is an incredibly solid and slick handset. The slider mechanism is smooth and springy. The keyboard is a joy to use, it provides great tactile feedback. And, the display is just amazing. Having 800 pixels span the width of the display makes for some incredibly sharp images.

From the pictures, you don't really get a sense of the size (and heft, obviously), so let me tell you that it fits very nicely in the hand. It's not too light as to feel cheap, but not so heavy that you are burdened with another load in your pocket.

Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson is still tweaking their custom panel UI overlay on the newly announced Windows Mobile 6.1 OS. That meant the device was still slow to respond to some inputs, but this thing's got some serious potential.

The XPERIA X1's launch is still a long way off, so I'm not going to hold our breath for this thing any more. I've come to terms with waiting for this superphone to become a reality.

Click Here to watch photos of Sony Ericsson Booth at CTIA.

Alcatel shows off Playboy phone at CTIA Las Vegas 2008

CTIA Las Vegas 2008 is slow, at least from a hardware/handset perspective. There haven't been many new announcements and even less new hardware on display. Still, some of CTIA's exhibitors really know how to entertain. Take Alcatel, for example.


The Alcatel booth wasn't the biggest or glitziest booth on the show floor. Not by a long shot. They didn't have amazing hardware. They did have, however, was a Playboy phone and a bunch of hotties prancing around the booth. Unfortunately, it seemed as though I missed the runway show.

The Playboy phone is a Playboy-branded Alcatel OT-V770A mobile phone for the discerning bunny-lover in all of us. Cellatel is handling the licensing of the Playboy brand. It comes in your choice of Gold, Pink, or Silver metallic trim, and plays up its Playboy affiliation to the brim. The Playboy phone sports the same 1.3 megapixel camera, media player, full-screen video playback, 10MB onboard memory, and microSD card slot as the Alcatel OT-VV770A, with the addition of that Playboy logo and embossed metallic rear-panel.

It's not high in features, but at 10mm thin, it's got gobs of style. The Playboy phone was only one of 20+ handsets that were at the booth today. The new lineup ranges from sporty and rugged to stylish and refined - but Playboy got the lion's share of the attention. Click Here for Complete photos of Playboy phone at CTIA.

Not at CTIA: Nokia unveils 4 phones for the emerging market

At the Growing Together 2008 Conference in South Africa today Nokia released 4 devices. Is that a Prism? For the entry market?! Find out after the jump along with the other 3 devices.

The Nokia 5000 is a 90 Euro device with a 1.3 megapixel camera, 240×320 resolution 65k color 2 inch screen, dual band (one version to be 900/1800, the other 850/1900), 700 mAh battery all in a 11.1 mm thin package scheduled to come out in the second quarter of this year.

The Nokia 2680 Slide will cost 75 Euros when it comes out in the third quarter of this year. It has a VGA camera, again dual band with 2 versions like the Nokia 5000, 128×160 resolution screen, 860 mAh battery and it is a hair under 15 mm thin.



The Nokia 7070 Prism is the cheapest fashion phone I've ever seen out of Nokia coming in at only 50 Euros when it hits stores in the third quarter of this year. You'll get a dual band device, 128×160 resolution screen, 16 mm thin device, but with a ton of style. It looks like a clamshell version of the 7500.


The Nokia 1680 Classic is the 2680 in a monoblock form factor, but it is coming out in Q2.

For more detailed information about these 4 devices the PDF datasheets are avilable here along with more press quality [read: high resolution] photos.

[via IntoMobile]

Nokia at CTIA: N810 WiMAX announced, along with two low-end CDMA phones - Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606

The wait is (almost) over. Just as we expected, Nokia N810 WiMAX has been announced from the CTIA floor. However, don't expect it to hit the markets till summer, when it will be available in areas where WiMAX connectivity is available. No word whether the original N810 specs are changed or not (aside from WiMAX radio, of course).

In the other news, the Finish giant unveiled two new CDMA devices for the North America - Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606. The first, more powerful one boasts a 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash, stereo Bluetooth support, microSD slot. On the other hand, the 1606 model is the basic feature phone that neatly doubles as a flashlight, which will work even if the device is powered off. Both Nokia 3606 and Nokia 1606 are expected to be available in Q3 2008. No carrier partners have been announced.

[via IntoMobile]