Sony Ericsson is betting big that its Xperia Play will offer a new way to bring gamers and phone users together, but it’s not the first time that the company has tried to do so. Seven years ago, just as Sony Ericsson was getting into a groove with notable handsets like the P910 and S710, …

Losing a cell phone is never an ideal scenario, but Sprint is now offering smartphone customers an additional protective measure if their handsets go astray. Starting today, Android and BlackBerry users who sign up for the carrier’s Total Equipment Protection plan not only can get a new phone, but also they’ll be able to wipe their missing handsets. The service, …

I spent time today playing with NextWorth, a Web site that will tell you the trade-in value of many electronic devices. The site covers everything from MP3 players to video games, but I went straight to cell phones, of course, to see how much I could round up for the handsets we have sitting around the CNET offices. All you …

If you cover the wireless industry, you’re never far from the ongoing debate over whether cell phones are harmful. And the debate usually goes something like this: the scientific community produces a study that explores the issue, and then the wireless industry rushes to interpret that study to its advantage. Such was the case with a report published yesterday in …

Another Mobile World Congress is in the bag, and as the CNET crew leaves Barcelona we can take stock of the mobile madness that was. It was my fourth year attending the show, and I can report that 2011 was one the busiest I’ve seen, with a ton of new smartphones and tablets. It was a lot to handle, but …

BARCELONA, Spain–Though we’ve seen enough new smartphones from Mobile World Congress to last us a while (or at least until next month’s CTIA), we used the last day of the show to check out what ViewSonic and its trio of parrots had to offer. The company that has brought us so many displays is making a further push into the …

Samsung Galaxy S 4G hands-on (photos) +4 more See all photos Samsung’s little Android family (photos) +7 more See all photos BARCELONA, Spain–Samsung usually arrives at a trade show with all guns blazing and Mobile World Congress was no exception. Not only did the company show off its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II, but also it displayed …

BARCELONA, Spain–Sony Ericsson got the ball rolling at Mobile World Congress when it announced its long-rumored and it-was-hardly-a-secret Xperia Play. As the “PlayStation phone,” the Xperia Play combines a cell phone and a gaming device like few other handsets have. Though we posted out initial hands-on impression shortly after the unveiling, it was difficult to get serious time with the …

Hands-on with the LG Optimus 3D (photos) +9 more See all photos BARCELONA, Spain–Yes, I’ve been pretty skeptical about the concept of a 3D cell phone. But to my surprise, the LG Optimus 3D actually delivers what it promises. It won’t be like watching 3D on the big screen–and frankly, there’s no reason that it should–but it offers an experience …

Sonim XP3300 Force Sonim BARCELONA, Spain–Sonim added another rugged handset to its burly lineup today when it revealed the Sonim XP3300 at Mobile World Congress. Like its earlier XP3 and XP1300 Core, the XP3300 is built to withstand just about anything. You can submerge it in 6.5 feet of water and drop it from 6.5 feet onto a concrete floor …