Home
News

Smartphones of CTIA Fall 2009: 10 Groundbreaking Gadgets

The world's top handset makers showed off their latest and greatest at the recent International CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2009 show. Check out these 10 up-and-coming handsets from HTC, Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, RIM and Palm.
asacco
By Al Sacco
Managing Editor, CIO

Nokia N900

Why It’s Hot: Nokia’s latest smartphone is the Finnish handset maker’s first handheld to run the flashy Maemo operating system.

OS: Maemo

Radio: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA 900/1700/2100MHz

Carrier: NA

[
Beware the 9 warning signs of bad IT architecture and see why these 10 old-school IT principles still rule.  | Sign up for CIO newsletters.
]
Display: 800 x 480

Memory: RAM: 256MB; ROM: 768MB

Processor: 600MHz

Camera: 5MP

Price/Availability: Available for preorder now for $649.00. Device is expected to be released by “end of October.”

Other Notable Feature(s): Maemo browser, powered by Mozilla, supports Adobe Flash 9.4; stereo Bluetooth; and A-GPS.

HTC Imagio

htcimagio_2-100350264-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: HTC’s brand new touch-screen-based Imagio device is one of the first official “Windows phones,” meaning it runs Microsoft’s brand new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

OS: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional

Radio: EV-DO, 1X RTT capable (Rev. A capable); GSM Quad Band (GSM/GPRS/EDGE); UMTS/WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA

Carrier: Verizon Wireless

Display: 480 x 800

Memory: RAM: 256 MB; ROM: 512 MB

Processor: 528MHz

Camera: 5MP

Price/Availability: $199 with new two-year service agreement.

Other Notable Feature(s): Global phone capabilities; high-quality camera; large, high-resolution display; GPS, Wi-Fi; touch screen; and accelerometer.

Motorola Cliq

motorolacliq_3a-100350265-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: The Motorola Cliq features MOTOBLUR for a “fully customizable” home screen to position e-mail, messages and calendar information anywhere you please, along with social networking services like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

OS: Google Android

Radio: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA 900(1700 or 1900)/2100MHz

Carrier: T-Mobile

Display: 320 x 480

Memory: RAM: 256MB; ROM: 512MB

Processor: 528MHz

Camera: 5MP

Price/Availability: Pricing NA. Device ships Nov. 2; Pre-order for existing customers starts Oct. 19.

Other Notable Feature(s): Slider-style; touch-screen; full QWERTY keyboard; GPS; Wi-Fi; and stereo Bluetooth.

Samsung Moment

samsungmoment_4-100350266-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: With a blazing processor and AMOLED screen, Samsung’s Moment packs some serious hardware.

OS: Google Android

Radio: CDMA (Frequencies NA)

Carrier: Sprint

Display: 3.2″ AMOLED screen

Memory: RAM: 256MB; ROM: 512MB

Processor: 800MHz

Camera: 3.2MP

Price/Availability: Starting Nov. 1, $179.99 after rebate and with two-year service agreement.

Other Notable Feature(s): Slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard with four rows of buttons; touch screen; Wi-Fi; and A-GPS.

HTC Tilt2

htctilt2_5-100350267-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: Runs the brand new Windows Mobile 6.5 OS with HTC’s signature TouchFLO 3D UI, and sports a high-resolution touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard.

OS: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional

Radio: GSM Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz); UMTS tri-band global 3G (850/1900/2100 MHz)

Carrier: AT&T

Display: 480 x 800

Memory: RAM: 288MB; ROM: 512MB

Processor: 528MHz

Camera: 3MP

Price/Availability: Available “in the coming weeks” for $299.99 after rebate and with new 2-year service agreement.

Other Notable Feature(s): Large touch-screen and full QWERTY keyboard; GPS, Wi-Fi; advanced speakerphone with dual speakers and noise-cancelling microphones; and accelerometer.

Samsung Behold II

samsungbeholdii_6a-100350268-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: T-Mobile’s upcoming Android device sports an impressively vivid and bright 3.2″ AMOLED screen and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which employs a “cube-menu” for home-screen-based navigation.

OS: Google Android

Radio: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz; UMTS Dual-Band Global 3G 1700/2100 MHz

Carrier: T-Mobile

Display: 3.2″ AMOLED Screen

Memory: NA

Processor: NA

Camera: 5MP

Price/Availability: NA

Other Notable Feature(s): A-GPS; Wi-Fi, and up to 16GB of expandable memory via microSD card.

Palm Pixi

palmpixi_7-100350269-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: The Pixi is just Palm’s second device, after the Pre, to run its webOS operating system.

OS: Palm webOS

Radio: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A

Carrier: Sprint

Display: 320 x 400

Memory: NA

Processor: Qualcomm MSM7627 (600MHz app processor; 400MHz Modem processor)

Camera: 2MP

Price/Availability: Pricing details NA. Expected for release during 2009 holiday season.

Other Notable Feature(s): Touch screen; full QWERTY keyboard; GPS; interchangeable battery covers for use with Palm’s Touchstone to “wirelessly” charge. Limited edition “artist series” battery covers available.

Samsung Intrepid

samsungintrepid_8-100350270-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: This brand new, Windows Mobile 6.5 candy-bar-style device has both a full QWERTY keyboard and a touch screen with stylus.

OS: Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional

Radio: CDMA 1900MHz; EV-DO Rev. A capable; Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900; UMTS Tri-Band Global 3G 900/1900/2100MHz

Carrier: Sprint

Display: 320 x 240

Memory: RAM: 256MB; ROM: 512MB

Processor: 528MHz

Camera: 3.2MP

Price/Availability: $149.99 after rebate and with two-year service agreement.

Other Notable Feature(s): Stereo Bluetooth; Wi-Fi and Microsoft’s Tellme voice-powered search and text message application.

BlackBerry Curve 8520 and Bold 9000 in WHITE

whiteblackberrys_9-100350271-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: RIM spices up the Curve 8520 and Bold 9000, with new makeovers.

OS: BlackBerry OS

Radio: 8520: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz; 9000: Quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, Tri-band UMTS/HSPDA 850/1900/2100MHz

Carrier: 8520: T-Mobile; 9000: AT&T

Display: 8520: 320 x 240; 9000: 480 x 320

Memory: 8520: 256MB app memory; 9000: 128MB

Camera: 2MP

Processor: 8520: 512MHz; 9000: 624MHz

Price/Availability: 8520: $129.99 after rebate and service agreement, availability NA; 9000: $199.99 after rebate and new service agreement, available Oct. 18.

Other Notable Feature(s): Bold 9000 is a 3G, GSM device with RIM’s best keyboard ever. Curve 8520 features RIM’s new optical trackpad for navigation.

Samsung Mondi (SWD-m100)

samsungmondi_10-100350272-orig.jpg
Why It’s Hot: Though not really a smartphone—Samsung’s Mondi is a “Mobile Internet Device” (MID)—this gadget was a nominee for CTIA’s Best MID, and it’s the most advanced WiMax-enabled handheld in the United States, according to Samsung.

OS: Windows Mobile 6.1

Connectivity: WiMax; Wi-Fi

Carrier: NA

Display: 4.3″ touch display

Memory: 4GB (Internal)

Processor: 800MHz

Camera: 3MP

Price/Availability: roughly $450

Other Notable Feature(s): Designed for use with Clearwire’s Clear mobile WiMax service; touch-screen; Wi-Fi; GPS; and HDMI TV out.

Next read this

, Managing Editor

Al Sacco was a journalist, blogger and editor who covers the fast-paced mobile beat for CIO.com and IDG Enterprise, with a focus on wearable tech, smartphones and tablet PCs. Al managed CIO.com writers and contributors, covered news, and shared insightful expert analysis of key industry happenings. He also wrote a wide variety of tutorials and how-tos to help readers get the most out of their gadgets, and regularly offered up recommendations on software for a number of mobile platforms. Al resides in Boston and is a passionate reader, traveler, beer lover, film buff and Red Sox fan.

Recent stories by asacco: