PhoneTalk

CTIA Roundup

By Joni Blecher Follow me on Twitter
Friday, March 30, 2007 (permalink)

Now that the show is over, it's easy to look back and point out some overall trends that came out of CTIA that we should be seeing this year. Here's my wrap-up:

Pretty, shiny, phones: It seemed as if at every turn a manufacturer showed off a shiny cell phone. While they sure are pretty, they can be a bit of high maintenance since you're constantly wiping fingerprints and other smudges off the handset. Still, there sure were some pretty phones like the LG Shine, Sony Ericsson Z750 and the Nokia N76.

Stereo Bluetooth: Many cell phones announced at the show have stereo Bluetooth. So what is that? It's exactly what you think: the ability to use Bluetooth-enabled headphones and listen to music in stereo. The exciting news about this is that I'm looking forward to seeing more Bluetooth-enabled headphones coming out soon. Plus, it means no one is taking music too lightly or considers it a passing trend. Music and phones seem here to stay.

2.0-megapixel camera: Last year we heard a lot about 1.3-megapixel camera phones. This year it was 2.0-megapixel camera phones. There are already a few cell phones with this functionality available such as the Samsung SPH-M610. You could say cameras on cell phones are improving, but does it really mean it's time to give up the old digital camera? Maybe not, we'll just have to see how well these cameras do with capturing images first.

Mobile entertainment: If you haven't figured out that cell phones aren't just for making calls, welcome to CTIA 2007. From having the ability to watch TV on a cell phone via Verizon Wireless's Mobile TV to Sprint Nextel's commitment to music with adding the UpStage music phone to its line-up to Sony Ericsson's Picture Blogging application on cell phones, you really should never be bored anywhere so long as you've got a cell phone in your pocket.

There you have it. Those are some of the bigger themes we saw at the show this year. You can expect to see some of these features on cell phones now and even more availability throughout the year.

Tags: New at CTIA