What is to be expected at the CTIA 2009

To some people April the 1st is the best occasion to play a prank on someone and get away with it, to others it´s the day when CTIA 2009 takes off and nowhere else, but in the Entertainment Capital of The World, Las Vegas.  With our sixth consecutive live coverage of the event just ahead, we´ve got ants in our pants casting about what we are about to see there. There is a ton of leaked information and rumors that have been going around for months now. We´ve compiled these so you can get a sneak peak at what is to be expected, squaring away all phones into groups by leading carrier and then sorting the list out in keeping with the relative likelihood of these phones being announced at the event, top to bottom.

Well, bear in mind this article is based on information that´s still being kept under wraps and we cannot entirely stand behind it, we will as likely as not see these phones, so heads up, you´ve been warned.

Verizon Wireless:

There were a relatively small number of phones introduced by Big Red last year. We´ve managed to dig out some information on about a dozen likely add-ons to their product catalogue this year. There is a distinct possibility that the HTC Touch Diamond will be announced soon. As we have already mentioned in previous articles, it´s expected at the end of March 2009. Falling under the same group we have BlackBerry Niagara which has already caused quite a stir, the on-the-budget Samsung Smooth and Samsung Trance, the latter designed with music buffs in mind. We certainly hope to see the Motorola A455, also known as Rush 2 and the Motorola Rival making their first appearance in front of the cameras. Moreover, coming across a bunch of accessories for the LG Versa (such as gaming keypad, Wi-Fi module etc.) won´t come as a surprise, given it has already managed to grip the attention of quite a few people.

It´s less likely we get to see or eventually play about with either the 5-megapixel Casio Exilim C721 camera phone or the BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230or witness an official announcement, from the carrier and Nokia, abouta 4G device coming out in 2010. Along with these, we have recentlyreleased some exclusive information on Samsung Alias2.There is a sporting chance of the phone putting in an appearance at theexhibition; especially given its predecessor was officially dubbed Alias at the last year´s show. There is distinct possibility that we come to see the LG Voyager’s successor, the rumor has it’ll hit the market by the name VX11000 plus other two phones by the same manufacturer  LG VX9200 (in fact an upgrade of enV2) and VX7100. Now, throw the Verizon Hub 2 to the starters…  How does this sound like?

HTC Touch Diamond Preliminary Specifications | News
Casio Exilim C721 Preliminary Specifications | News
BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 Preliminary Specifications | News
Samsung Smooth Preliminary Specifications | News
Samsung Trance Preliminary Specifications | News
Motorola A455 Preliminary Specifications | News
LG Versa Specifications | Review
LG VX11000 News
LG VX9200 and VX7100 News
Verizon Hub 2 News | Review of the first Hub
BlackBerry Niagara Preliminary Specifications | News
Samsung Alias2 Preliminary Specifications | News
HTC Cedar Preliminary Specifications | News


A fat chance we have of witnessing the official release of HTC XV6175 with but just a few words going around that it actually is HTC Twin, HTC Cedar or HTC Whitestone. Well, what the heck, why not?

АT&T:

There is quite some information on the new phones that are to supply deficiencies in the Ma Bell´s product portfolio, QWERTY keypad phones for the most part. We do hope we get to sit in on the Nokia E71x´s announcement, since all we have been able to do for quite some time now is merely see spymaster shots of the gadget. Actually, we´ve recently caught that most disturbing whiff of the phone being put on ice for another two months. Aside from the Nokia E71x, we are keyed up to see the Samsung A877, also known as Impression or Jackfrost. It is a QWERTY keypad side-slider featuring a 3.2-inch touchscreen. We believe we´ll see these hitting the party as well - LG GT365 Etna, that´s already being sold in Canada by Rogers, going by the name of Neon there, the LG Xenon and the 5-megapixel LG CF750 (Secret) that´s already on the market as well (by Rogers under Secret TU750), with information on it dating back to last October.

The rumor has it that the 8-megapixel Sony Ericsson C905a will be hitting the shelves sometime this June, whether or not it is to be officially announced at CTIA 2009 by the carrier or its retail sales in Latin America will be held up is still anybody’s guess.

We´ve heard Samsung BlackJack 3 will be released at the beginning of this summer, but we do have our doubts about it actually gracing the occasion in Las Vegas with its presence.

Nokia E71x Preliminary Specifications | News
Samsung SGH-A877 Preliminary Specifications | News
LG GT365 Etna Specifications | News
LG Xenon Preliminary Specifications | News
LG CF750 Preliminary Specifications | News | LG KF750 Review
Sony Ericsson C905a Specifications | News
Samsung BlackJack 3 News

Sprint:

We do expect to see quite a number of new phones on the part of the country´s third largest carrier. Two of them should turn out to be the Samsung Instinct S30, also known as Instinct Mini and Sanyo SCP-2700, both of them caught by the camera of a secret agent. What we are in for as well is the HTC Willow (a.k.a. Cedar) and LG LX370, as both have recently appeared on a leaked roadmap of the company. Along with this, we do expect to see the LG Lotus dolled-up in a new and sexier red color.

Speaking of which, we did see BlackBerry Niagara on it, scheduled to come out in Q3 2009. We are pretty skeptical when it comes to the release of Samsung Dash, because we highly doubt it if Sprint is to announce both the Instinct´s successor and its scaled-down version at the same time.

Samsung Instinct S30 Preliminary Specifications | News
Sanyo SCP-2700 Preliminary Specifications | News
HTC Willow Preliminary Specifications | News
LG LX-370 News
LG Lotus Specifications | Review
RIM BlackBerry Niagara Preliminary Specifications | News
Samsung Dash Preliminary Specifications | News

T-Mobile:

We know a thing or two about the upcoming T-mobile phones as well. What we consider the two most promising debutants to grace the-Mobile´s glass-case are the HTC G2 with a 5-megapixel camera and the Sidekick LX 2009. Speaking of the first, we just draw a conclusion using our horse sense; it has been spotted with the T-Mobile´s logo on it on several occasions. The second one has recently appeared on a questionnaire on smartphones and it´s about time it lent some variety to the Sidekick line. Besides, we do cherish the hope we come to see an announcement of the HTC Touch Pro2, because the latest news has it the phone does have a vital role to play in the company´s plans.

It´s long odds that T-Mobile may indeed showcase one of the Nokia´s XpressMusic models that have been recently announced, namely, the slider 5330. One of the versions of this phone features the necessary 3G frequency of 1700 MHz and a shot of the phone with the operator´s logo on it has been around for some time now.

HTC G2 Preliminary Specifications | News
T-Mobile Sidekick LX 2009 Preliminary Specifications | News
HTC Touch Pro2 EU Specifications | News
Nokia 5330 XpressMusic Specifications | News



MISC:

We´ve only taken up information regarding the major carriers this far, but there is a number of other things we consider most interesting. There´s been this rumor that Virgin Mobile is to supplement their product range with a touchscreen phone. Unfortunately, we do not have the slightest idea of what its brand might be. What about you?

Perhaps you still remember when information about the Motorola Evoke QA4 appeared on the manufacturer´s website, there was no indication as to what operator would be offering the phone. Since it´s a CDMA phone, we figure it would be probably Verizon, Sprint or Alltel or why not all the three carriers going for it.

We do expect to see announcements of new phones that are either to be sold freely without go-between carriers or without prior indication as to what the sales mediating operator might be. Come to that, both the HTC Mapple that features the WM Standard, trackball and QWERTY keypad and the US version of LG ARENA come to mind. Even if unlikely, there´s a chance of Dell showcasing their first smartphone and Acer putting on the US market some of the phones they announced at MWC 2009 this February.

The rumor has it that RIM is about to launch its own software application store online and namely, the BlackBerry App World. This certainly adds up, but we would be quite pleased with the opportunity to take a peek and have a brush with their upcoming phones.

Whatever happens at Vegas, being there to cover the event live, we will go the whole hog to keep you posted all the way. So, take a good rest on the weekend and brace yourselves. Should you have any insight on other phones or services about to be on display at CTIA 2009, you can either share the knowledge with us here or shoot us an email at tips@phonearena.com