April 2, 2009 8:01 pm

CTIA 2009: AT&T Sends a Message

One of the big annual cell phone conventions–CTIA Wireless 2009–is going on this week in Las Vegas, and thusly we’ll be covering some of the more interesting tidbits here at End User over the next few days. We’ll start with AT&T’s announcement of its spring lineup, which goes heavy into smartphone and mobile messaging with all phones offering some form of full QWERTY keyboard (either slide-out or integrated into the front). Already well known and well regarded, the ultra-thin Nokia E71x is the U.S. variant of the E71 (previously available as an unlocked phone) will make a stab for the corporate BlackBerry set with its Microsoft Exchange support as well as 3G/Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS navigation (check out Engadget and The Boy Genius Report for some hands-on photos).

But AT&T is trying to broaden the its smartphone reach to beyond the corporate world with its five other messaging phones. Most interesting might be two handsets from LG–the Xenon (top right) and the Neon (bottom right)–which both have touchscreen displays and slide-out QWERTY keyboards. The Xenon is the more upscale of the two (and AT&T says it’s to be featured in MTV’s upcoming reality/adventure series, The Phone, which was filming around Seattle a few months ago), and it has a widget-style touchscreen interface and its 4-row chiclet keyboard mimics standard PC keyboard layouts. It also runs on AT&T’s 3G network (with access to its various broadband multimedia services) and provides GPS functionality for use with AT&T Navigator turn-by-turn directions. The more youthfully colorful Neon features a 3-row button-style keyboard and it lacks the 3G speeds, but it also shares the Xenon’s other features–2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth stereo music streaming, and MicroSD memory expansion. The Xenon is expected on April 8 (hands-on at Laptop Mag), with the Neon’s arrival date still to be determined (hands-on at CNet).

The rather iPhone-like Samsung Impression also includes a slide-out keyboard, and it’s one of the first phones to feature an active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) screen that offers the best of both worlds–good, vibrant color and less power consumption. Wired’s Gadget Lab offers more on this technology:

They draw less power, which means phones can run longer on a single battery charge. OLED-based displays also do not need a backlight so the screens can be thinner than an LCD panel leading to overall slimmer phones.

The Impression also boasts a 3-megapixel camera/camcorder, 3G HSDPA connectivity, and GPS functionality, and it will be available starting April 7 (hands-on at Laptop Mag and Gizmodo). AT&T also is releasing the Samsung Propel Pro–a corporate-leaning, Windows Mobile 6.1 version of its Propel A767 slider/QWERTY handset–and the Samsung Magnet, which is aimed at heavy text messaging users who aren’t fussed with needing 3G speeds (hands-on at Engadget).

–Agen G.N. Schmitz