NEW ORLEANS–From a user point of view, ZTE’s head of the North American business, Lixin Cheng, prefers the Windows Phone OS over Android. “In my personal experience, the iPhone, of course, has a well-polished user interface experience,” Cheng told CNET. “And then Windows, and then Android.” But for the small-time phone manufacturing company, which has …

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Galaxy S III is a looker 3:54 NEW ORLEANS–Samsung’s newest flagship smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III, crossed the pond and landed in my hands at CTIA 2012. Quite a few commenters on CNET’s live blog expressed their disappointment, saying that the Galaxy S III is an evolution, not a revolution, that they wish it …

NEW ORLEANS–What if there were an accurate way for your phone to help you time your commute on a given morning? “Take Highway 280 today instead of 101; there’s an accident” for instance, or “It will take you 10 minutes longer than usual today, so you’d better leave by 7:30 in order to make that 8:30 meeting.” Unfortunately, our phones …

NEW ORLEANS–As you may already know, I’m a big sucker for Bluetooth gadgets. That’s why when I spied the Monter ClarityHD Micro from a far at CTIA 2012 I couldn’t resist checking them out. Squarely targeted at the same audience who think the Jawbone Jambox is groovy, this wireless speaker is small, super-portable, yet built to belt out loud tunes. …

Now playing: Watch this: HTC Evo V 4G, Virgin Mobile’s first 4G phone 1:59 NEW ORLEANS–As Sprint readies its 4G LTE launch, the unveiling of the HTC Evo V 4G spreads the 4G WiMax love to Virgin Mobile, one of its no-contract brands. The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset has some high-flying features not often seen on no-contract networks, …

NEW ORLEANS–For those whose hearts go aflutter and fingers go a-flying for QWERTY keyboards, Kyocera’s newest Android Ice Cream Sandwich handset (yes, you read that right — it has ICS), the Kyocera Rise, may be up your alley. The phone manufacturer announced the handset at CTIA 2012. Along with the slide-out keyboard, it also sports a 3.5-inch LCD touch-screen display …

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson Stephen Shankland/CNET AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson recently made some public statements about Google that the Web giant says don’t really pan out, according to 9to5Google. During a panel discussion put on by the Milken Institute last week, an audience member asked Stephenson why there’s such a delay in updating Google’s operating system on devices carried by …

Screenshot by Joe Aimonetti/CNET A notification banner, first noticed by MacRumors, which bares a striking resemblance to iOS notifications introduced with iOS 5, appears to only be a placeholder. It is vaguely titled “Default Title for English” with a message of “English – This is a test message description.” The message appears when you log in to your icloud.com account …

NEW ORLEANS–ZTE is virtually unknown in the U.S. and, at least for now, that seems to be OK with the company. The Chinese company, the fourth-largest handset vendor despite its minimal presence in the U.S., is focusing on building up its relationship with the carriers and supporting their needs, said Lixen Cheng, president of ZTE’s North American business, in an …

NEW ORLEANS — Kyocera isn’t a stranger to making water-resistant phones. Since 2008, the manufacturer has released 16 devices, all of which can withstand a good splash or two. Today, the manufacturer announced its newest addition to the lineup: The Kyocera Hydro. Unlike the Kyocera DuraPlus, which is aimed for an enterprise demographic, the Hydro is made to please a …