Smartphone

Nokia today began shipping its new C7 smartphone around the world.

The follow-up to the recently launched N8 smartphone, the C7 is Nokia's second phone powered by its new Symbian 3 mobile operating system.

The 3.5-inch glass touch-screen is an active-matrix OLED that offers 640x360 pixel resolution. The C7 offers an 8-megapixel camera that can shoot stills and high-definition video. Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity and 8GB of memory are part of the package as well.

But the real focus of the new phone is social networking.

The C7 can display multiple home screens to receive live updates from … Read more

Though AT&T took center stage with Microsoft to launch Windows Phone 7, T-Mobile got in on the action with the introduction of its first Windows Phone 7 device, the HTC HD7.

Available in mid-November--date and pricing were not given at this time--the HD7 brings the Windows Phone experience to an Evo-like package that includes a 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen and a kickstand. According to T-Mobile, the HD7 will offer the largest display on any Windows Phone 7 smartphone in the U.S.

Taking advantage of that fact, T-Mobile is bundling a number of entertainment apps on … Read more

HTC has flipped the switch on its new HTCSense.com Web site ahead of the launch of its new Desire handsets.

Designed to let users manage their Sense UI smartphone, the site provides you with the ability to locate a lost or misplaced phone using a map, as well as an option to turn the ringer up to full volume should you need to call the device. This will come in handy for those of us who tend to lose our phones in the cracks of a couch. If your phone is stolen, HTCSense.com will also let users remotely … Read more

A French fellow who goes by the handle Crazy Nawak e-mailed me some concept photos for a "multi-OS" smartphone from HTC that would allow you to switch between two operating systems. HTC already has the old HTC Touch Dual, but the "dual' in that phone stood for the combination of a slide-out keypad and a touch screen.

This fantasy model has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and runs both Windows Mobile 7 and Android 2.2 (see more photos here). Of course, plenty of people out there have already hacked Windows Mobile phones to run … Read more

Android continues to gobble up more smartphone customers, according to the new stats from market researcher ComScore.

Looking at the three months ending August, Android's market share rose to 19.6 percent in the U.S.--a gain of 6.6 points from the prior three months. Though Google's smartphone platform is still third among the top five, it was the only one to show growth in market share for the period.

Among the other major players, RIM was the leading smartphone platform with 37.6 percent of U.S. subscribers. Apple was next in line with 24.… Read more

As promised, U.S. Cellular is delivering a Samsung Galaxy S device this fall, and it will arrive on October 27 under the name Samsung Mesmerize.

The Mesmerize will cost $199.99 after an $80 mail-in rebate and largely resembles Verizon's Samsung Fascinate in design. Like the rest of the Galaxy S series, the smartphone features a 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen, 1GHz Hummingbird processor, Android 2.1, a 5-megapixel camera with HD video capture, and Samsung's Media Hub video store.

The Mesmerize will also come preloaded with Swype and a number of U.S. Cellular services, including … Read more

T-Mobile and Motorola are pushing out an update to the Motorola Cliq XT this week that is designed to improve the overall performance of the device.

While it's not the Android 2.1 update users have been pining for, it's recommended nonetheless. The 1.32.20 release is said to significantly improve common requests such as answering calls, opening apps, and downloading attachments from e-mails.

Other features include enhanced Bluetooth connectivity, updates to the Swype keyboard, and a fix for errors received in certain messaging scenarios.

The update to Android 2.1 is still scheduled for late Q3/… Read more

A software update is now available for the RIM BlackBerry Torch, and it should bring improvements to the overall performance of the smartphone.

The update (Release bundle v6.0.0.695, Platform v6.4.0.105/Application v6.0.0.246) will pushed out to users over the next week and a half and includes the following enhancements:

Quicker page loading and panning in the Web browser

Improved responsiveness after unlocking the phone

Faster launching, switching, and exiting of applications

Smoother transitions when switching between home screen panels

Faster rendering of thumbnails in the photo gallery

Smoother … Read more

Verizon Wireless is in San Francisco for CTIA Fall 2010 to discuss its LTE strategy, but a new report has surfaced to reignite rumors of a Verizon-bound iPhone.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is beginning preparations to mass produce a CDMA--the wireless technology used by Verizon, as well as Sprint--iPhone by the end of the year, which would allow Big Red to start offering the smartphone in early 2011.

Sources say that the CDMA iPhone would feature a similar design to the iPhone 4, but also said Apple is developing a fifth-generation iPhone with a different design.

Though … Read more