PhoneTalk

The HTC Droid Eris is available today for Verizon Wireless. The second smartphone running Google's Android OS also sports HTC's Sense experience, which will allow users more customization of the device and the ability to access text messages, e-mails, phone calls and even Flickr streams and Facebook updates from a single contact card. The Google smartphone will also sport a 5-megapixel camera, WiFi, a 3.5mm headset jack, GPS with a digital compass, a pre-installed 8GB microSD card for storing pictures, tunes and more. To get a closer look at the HTC Droid Eris check out Verizon Wireless' demonstration video below.

Tags:	In The Know	Verizon Wireless	Cell phone plans	Smart phones
	Business Use	WiFi	GPS	HTC
	Android	Google

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This week our Question and Answer series comes from "Ask a Merchant," a new feature launched on LetsTalk.com that can be found in the middle of cell phone detail pages. This week's featured merchant is LetsTalk's Merchandising Manager for T-Mobile Michael Cera. He answers questions about text message signatures and tech terms. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

Does the BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile have text message signature? - Justice

No, there is not a signature for your text message. There is the option to do it for your emails, but not text messages.

I’m looking at the T-Mobile Dash 3G, can you tell me what 3G Data Technology is, what Wi-Fi calling is, what Sync means and it means when a cell phone has Windows Mobile 6.1 OS? – Melissa

3G data technology means you can access the Internet on your cell phone at faster speeds than the normal EDGE network. Wi-Fi calling is very similar to a Voice over IP calling system such as SKYPE. However, for some cell phones that have the ability to do Wi-Fi calling on T-Mobile, you are able to use a T-Mobile Hotspot to make calls using Wi-Fi as opposed to your normal minutes. Lastly, Windows Mobile 6.1 is just the operating system for the phone. Similar to a PC’s operating system, it is a smaller scale operating system set to work on your mobile device.

Tags:	Text messaging	BlackBerry	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	WiFi	Q&A	HTC

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Windows Mobile 6.5, the update to Windows Mobile 6.1, was released today. There aren't a whole lot of advancements found in this smartphone OS update, but there are a few noteworthy ones listed below.

• Along the lines of customizations, people can now create more personalized themes for their Windows Mobile phones. You can find out more information on how to do that by clicking here. 
• Windows Live has been enhanced to include new feeds and improved photo sharing to sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr. We should note that many non-smartphones already offer similar photo sharing features. 
• There's an icon to access Windows Marketplace for Mobile for purchasing and downloading apps directly to the phone. 
• Windows Internet Explorer mobile browser has gotten a facelift with support for Adobe Flash Lite2. This will improve the mobile web surfing experience. 
• If you're interested in picking and choosing specific content for backup, such as pictures, appointments and contacts, check out My Phone. It's a free service that lets you sync this info to a web site so that all is needed is an Internet connection to see and manage your data. If you're someone who tends to lose your cell phone a lot, check out the Premium package (it's free until November 30th and after that can be purchased for $4.99). In short, if you lose the phone in the US, it will locate it for you on a map found on the My Phone site. This service is available for people who have Windows Mobile 6.0, 6.1, and now 6.5. 

There are some new cell phones coming out that have Windows Mobile 6.5 loaded, which include: HTC Pure and HTC Tilt 2 for AT&T, HTC Imagio for Verizon Wireless, and the Samsung Intrepid for Sprint (it should be available on October 11th). If you have a Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 running on your existing Windows Mobile smartphone you will not be able to upgrade it to Windows Mobile 6.5. However, if some Windows Mobile 6.1 phones are eligible for updates, however, there's no announcement of when that will be. Here's the list of eligible smartphones:

HTC Dash

Samsung Jack

Samsung Mirage

Samsung Omnia Pro

HTC Ozone

HTC Snap

HTC Touch Pro 2

Pharos Traveler 137

Finally, here's a peak at what the new interface looks like on the HTC Tilt 2:

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Samsung	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	GPS	HTC

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The HTC Ozone might look a lot like a couple of other smartphones currently available; namely the HTC Dash 3G and the HTC Snap. Each model is a little different. See what sets the Ozone apart by watching the video below.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Verizon Wireless	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	International	Business Use	Bluetooth	HTC

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Sprint announced that it will be offering the HTC Hero smartphone based on Google's Android OS starting in early October. The smartphone will be loaded with quite a few features including, WiFi, 3G connectivity, integrated GPS, Sprint TV, a 5-megapixel camera with the ability to record videos. The Hero will come with a 2GB microSD card and will accept up to a 32GB microSD card. Additionally, it will have access to popular social networking sites such as FaceBook, Flickr, and Twitter. Although, this smartphone lacks a tactile QWERTY keypad, there's a full QWERTY touch keypad on screen. To make the most out of the touch screen experience, the Hero will have a fingerprint resistant coating.

Currently, Android phones are only available from T-Mobile so it looks like Sprint will be the second carrier to offer a Google cell phone. Here's what the HTC Hero looks like, only it will have a Sprint logo in the upper right hand corner.

Tags:	In The Know	Sprint	Smart phones	WiFi
	Video	Bluetooth	HTC	Android
	Google

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Sprint announced that the HTC Touch Pro2 would be available next week. The latest Windows Mobile 6.1 phone from HTC is an update to the HTC Touch Pro. The new model sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, touch screen, the TouchFLO 3D interface, and of course 3G connectivity over Sprint's network. This phone is also a true world phone working on both CDMA and GSM networks. It will have an Opera browser and access to Sprint TV service. A nice plus is that the smartphone has a 3.5mm headset jack, which is a departure from the occasional proprietary headset jack found on some HTC smartphones.

Tags:	In The Know	Sprint	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	Business Use	HTC

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The HTC Dash 3G may run the same OS as the original Dash, but this model has quite a few upgrades that are worth checking out. Most notably: It sports 3G connectivity. Take a closer look at what else it has to offer by watching the video below.

Tags:	Phone Smarts	Windows Mobile	Smart phones	Business Use
	WiFi	T-Mobile	HTC

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T-Mobile announced the availability of the next generation Android smartphone, the myTouch 3G. The new Android smartphone sports a 3.2-inch touchscreen, virtual keyboard, 3.2-megapixel camera, and enhanced video capabilities for easy viewing of YouTube videos on the myTouch 3G. Since the smartphone supports WiFi, you can always watch videos streaming over a WiFi network. The big news about the next generation Android cell phone is the enhanced customization features provided by Sherpa that features GENIE (Geodelic ENgine for Interest Evaluation), a learning engine that automatically customizes itself to the user’s preferences. Through behavior and user feedback, the application learns a person’s likes and dislikes, prioritizing recommended retailers, restaurants and attractions. It's kind of like when TiVo recommends shows based on what you're already recording.

The myTouch 3G will be available for pre-order to existing T-Mobile customers on July 8th, with the smartphone becoming available later in the summer.

Tags:	In The Know	Cell phone plans	Smart phones	WiFi
	T-Mobile	HTC	Android	Google

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The HTC Dash, which was first announced at CTIA a few months ago, is already getting an upgraded version. The new model, the T-Mobile Dash 3G, will look a bit like the original version but will have some added connectivity options such as WiFi and 3G connectivity for faster web surfing speeds. Good news is that you won't have to wait long for this Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone, since it will be available in July - that's just a few weeks away.

Tags:	In The Know	Windows Mobile	Smart phones	WiFi
	T-Mobile	HTC

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First announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year, HTC showed off the HTC Touch Pro 2. There are quite a few enhancements made on this cell phone, but what's most interesting is that unlike the previous model - this one is a GSM cell phone. So if you're trying to guess a U.S. carrier - it would have to be T-Mobile, AT&T or sold unlocked. To see other enhancements, check out the video below:

Tags:	In The Know	AT&T Wireless	Windows Mobile	Smart phones
	International	T-Mobile	HTC

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