CTIA Bits: AT&T, T-Mob Lead Handset Charge

Three vendors offer new AT&T devices, while T-Mobile taps Android

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

October 5, 2009

2 Min Read
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Just ahead of the start of the annual CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2009 show in San Diego this week, U.S. carriers have unveiled several new handsets that will be on shelves in time to catch holiday sales.

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has been the busiest of the big four cellular vendors, unveiling new phones and a deal with mobile browser maker Opera Software ASA . The No. 1 GSM operator in the U.S. is launching six phones in total today:

  • High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (Taiwan: 2498) is delivering two phones for the operator, using the new Windows 6.5 mobile operating system. The $300 HTC Tilt 2 is a 3G communicator-styled device with a QWERTY keyboard and 3.6-inch display. The cheaper HTC Pure also runs the new version of Windows and offers 3G connectivity, while sporting a touch-screen and 5-megapixel camera.

  • Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC) is providing AT&T with a $200 3G multimedia touchscreen phone, called Mythic, that offers mobile TV support, a music player, and AT&T's Navigator GPS application. The $99 Flight loses the touchscreen but adds a QWERTY keyboard and personal organizer functions, as well as a choice of shell colors.

  • Pantech Co. Ltd. is delivering two 3G Windows mobile phones for AT&T. The Impact has both an outer touch-screen and a flip-up display with a keyboard beneath, while the Reveal has a more traditional design but also features a full keyboard.

AT&T is also revamping its mobile browser with the help of Opera. The pair announced today that Opera Mini will power the att.net browser on AT&T phones, including some of the handsets unveiled today. The carrier says that the browser will offer users a "full HTML" experience.

T-Mobile International AG , meanwhile, is dipping into the Android well once again. The carrier has officially unveiled its long-rumored first Samsung phone based on the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) operating system. The operator has also started pushing down the latest update of the Android OS -- version 1.6, a.k.a. "Donut" -- to existing users.

For more about T-Mobile's current domination of the Android phone market, see The Android Shopping List.

— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung

About the Author

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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