If you caught my review of the Samsung Messager III, you’ll know I characterized it as “one step forward, two steps back.” Though it offered an improved design over the original Messager and Messager II, it replaced its immediate predecessor’s 2-megapixel with a 1.3-megapixel shooter. So though you got a better design, you got fewer …

Sprint added another rugged phone to its stable today with the Sanyo Taho E4100. Made by Kyocera but marketed under the Sanyo name, the Taho is built to the usual military-grade standards. The flip phone shows a tough shell with rubber sidings that’s made to withstand dust, shock, vibration, extreme temperatures, blowing rain, and a 30-minute dunking in 3.28 feet …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Nexus S 3:55 The Samsung Nexus S arrived at CNET today, and as we kick the tires for our full review, we’re pleased to offer our initial impressions of the follow-up to the Nexus One. Design The Nexus S’s candy-bar design is fairly standard–it resembles many of its Galaxy S siblings–but it shows a few …

Though much of the wireless world is gathering this week in San Francisco at D: Dive into Mobile in San Francisco, it’s not the only industry gathering this week. Yesterday at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, execs from AT&T and Verizon Wireless discussed the ever-changing topic of data plans for smartphones. Verizon Verizon Wireless CEO …

Almost six years after it acquired Nextel for $35 billion, Sprint today announced that it was finally phasing out Nextel’s iDEN technology starting in 2013. The news isn’t surprising in the least–indeed, Sprint has floated the idea several times since 2005–but this is the first time we have a real timeline for putting iDEN out to pasture. The iDEN news …

Google and Samsung announced today the availability of Android’s latest worst-kept secret, the Nexus S. Though not officially positioned as such, the Nexus S is an update to the now-retired HTC Nexus One. Like its predecessor, the Nexus S offers the “pure Google” experience without a disruptive manufacturer skin. That means you’ll get direct access to a full set of …

Blame it on the holidays, but it wasn’t a busy week over at the Federal Communications Commission. Besides a couple of Sharp handsets headed for Japan, we found a new Samsung Android handset, the SHW-M190S. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency’s online database offers …

Though it’s not quite the end of the year, the new cell phone releases for 2010 are beginning to wind down. So as December lurches on, we take this opportunity to look back at the mobile year that was. Since January, CNET’s cell phone reviews team has reviewed almost 200 handsets. Some were fantastic, some were awful, and the rest …

On Call runs every two weeks, alternating between answering reader questions and discussing hot topics in the cell phone world. Almost every day we’re presented with a new study that tracks the success of various smartphone operating systems. Like so many pre-election polls, they make grand conclusions about which OS is ahead and which is not. And like so many …

Verizon Wireless grabbed headlines with its LTE announcement today, but MetroPCS always will be able to claim the first commercially available LTE in the United States. And today it expanded that coverage to CNET’s hometown of San Francisco. The “4G” service, which launches today, will overlay about 80 percent of the carrier’s existing CDMA footprint in the Bay Area. Indeed, …