We admit that we were skeptical when Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse launched Sprint ID at the fall CTIA show earlier this week. The service essentially gives Android users an opportunity to swap among five different thematic profiles. It sounds useful at first description, but we quickly wondered if the ID Packs–which contain the wallpaper, widgets, …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Intercept 1:34 SAN FRANCISCO–As long as we were in the neighborhood of Samsung’s booth at CTIA Fall 2010, we took an opportunity to get a hands-on look at the Samsung Intercept for Virgin Mobile USA. This is a prepaid option that is already available in Target stores, and which will start appearing at other retail …

Now playing: Watch this: Casio G’zOne Ravine (Verizon) 1:20 There’s something both comforting and impressive about rugged phones built to military specification. Thick rubberized plastic cloaks many-a-sturdy cell phone, imparting the knowledge that you can easily grip it, drop it, and spray it with water without damaging the calling functionality. The Casio G’zOne Ravine for Verizon updates the Rock before …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Transform (Sprint) 1:06 The Samsung Transform is one of three Android smartphones to have the new Sprint ID interface. Photo by Kent German/CNET SAN FRANCISCO–Sprint today unveiled the Samsung Transform, an Android smartphone running Android 2.1. It has a 3.5 inch HVGA touch screen with 480×320-pixel resolution. We haven’t had much time to play with …

Cisco Systems unveiled Cisco Umi today, its consumer-focused telepresence offering that lets people connect to each other using videoconferencing on their HD television in their living rooms. Cisco Umi (pronounced YOU-me) is a telecommunications system that requires a mix of Cisco hardware and hardware you’ll already need to own. The Umi service includes a Cisco-issued high-definition camera with an embedded …

Microsoft sure is drumming up excitement for its forthcoming Windows Phone 7 smartphones. In addition to next Monday’s big announcement in New York, a Microsoft team was here in San Francisco, showing off music apps as part of the Billboard Music Entertainment Live event preceding CTIA (see all CNET coverage). We got a private hands-on tour of Slacker Radio, I …

Google Goggles is now part of Google Mobile App for iPhone. Google It’s been almost a year since Google released a beta of its Goggles visual search app for Android phones, and now it’s time for a new milestone in the product’s life cycle: Google Goggles for iPhone. Google Goggles (spell that 10 times fast) creates a visual search out …

Mobile-browser maker Opera is set to announce today that it’s dunking a toe into the mobile-advertising sea. Opera’s new Open Mobile Ad Exchange service is a cloud-based ad platform that will work with publishers to place ads onto mobile-browser pages. While Opera is shopping the pages of its Opera Mini browser first, the company hopes to carry its advertising service …

The Samsung Intercept, Virgin Mobile’s first Android offering in its prepaid lineup, is available at Target stores starting today. Virgin Mobile will roll out the Intercept to customers through other retailers throughout October. In addition, you can nab the $249.99 Intercept from Virgin Mobile’s Web site by the middle of the month. Service plans go for $25, $40, and $60. …

AT&T announced new payment plans for GoPhone today that drastically cut costs to the wireless carrier’s prepaid phone service. The revised plans go into effect on October 3, and lower the price of using the Unlimited Daily Talk and Text and Simple Rate plans. Unlimited Daily Talk and Text users will now pay $2 per day for days they use …