We’re back from CTIA Wireless IT 2007. Tidbits you won’t find anywhere else, and news from the newsmakers. Hit read more for full HD coverage of the show.
Nokia
Nokia did not have any major new announcements at this year’s show. However, they did have the N81 on-show, promoting the upcoming launch of their N-Gage service.
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UTStarcom
UTStarcom was showing off their just-launched Sidekick LX, and also the G’zOne Type-S with Push-To-Talk, which will launch next month on Verizon Wireless. We did confirm the bad news about the Type-S, existing Type-S owners will not be getting PTT via a firmware update, they will be forced to buy a new phone.
The SMT5800 will also be launching next month on Verizon, and we’ve pointed out the SMT5700 debacle during our on-site coverage.
HP
HP had their upcoming iPAQ lineup on-display, including their upcoming PDA/Phone iPAQs.
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Kyocera
Kyocera had a couple prepaid phones that have picked up new names, but none were new announcements.
Research-In-Motion
RIM was showing off the CDMA version of the Pearl on both Verizon and Sprint. The Sprint version features a tweaked home screen that gives better access to Sprint features like Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation.
Networks In Motion
NIM didn’t have much to show off, but we did confirm that AAA Mobile will be getting an update next quarter. The update will match the features in VZ Navigator, such as online sync of locations, with an upcoming AAA Mobile web site.
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Microsoft & Samsung
Microsoft had a range of new and current Windows Mobile devices, including the i-mate Ultimate line. Samsung also shared the booth, showing off the BlackJack II.
One controversy we poked up at the show was regarding A-GPS on the BlackJack II. A-GPS was working fine with Live Search Mobile over at Microsoft’s booth, to which AT&T started to panic over when we asked them about it. AT&T has said the BlackJack II will not have GPS in any form, indicating AT&T’s intentions to lock it out before release, instead of the device simply lacking the capacity.
{mospagebreak title=i-mate}
i-mate
i-mate also was touting their Ultimate line. Unfortunately, lighting quality was sub-par on their booth, so if these pictures look bad, click up one page to see the same phones at the Microsoft booth…
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Sprint
Sprint was promoting a booth that turned out to be, over-promoted. The booth wound up being just for selling ads that run on their web site.
Verizon Wireless
While Verizon in past years has touted devices at the fall show, this year they had not a single device on display.
Ericsson
Ericsson’s booth also had nothing new to announce. However, they did for the first time promote Sony Ericsson devices at the Ericsson booth. Relations between Ericsson and Sony Ericsson haven’t been perfect, which is why it was noteworthy that the two ventures were jointly promoting their offerings.
{mospagebreak title=Conclusions}
Every year we’ve covered CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment Expo, we’ve noted its decline. Last year’s show was about as bad as it could get. The good news is, this year’s show was much better than shows in recent years. The move back to Moscone improved things, and the show served its purpose of being a stop-gap in the middle of the year.
We were ready to write off CTIA Wireless IT completely after last year, but CITA has saved the show, and we’ll be back next year with full coverage.
