Nokia has not abandoned the MeeGo OS it’s been jointly developing with Intel, but the former company’s decision to focus on Windows Phone for its smart phones looked like bad news. Intel isn’t throwing in the towel, though: CEO Paul Otellini says it’s looking for a new partner to keep the dream alive. “We will …

Microsoft and Nokia may have spent much of Mobile World Congress trying to convince attendees of the meritsof their fresh, new partnership, but the harder step will perhaps be urging Nokia’s loyal Symbian developers to shift alliances. There’s nothing like free stuff to help change one’s mind. To that end, Nokia will be giving away one E7 smartphone and one …

Even as Nokia makes its deal with Microsoft, it still has older Nokia phones to sell. This Nokia X2, for example, is a candy bar QWERTY phone that still runs on Series 40, and has just showed up on T-Mobile USA’s prepaid site. Features include a 2.4-inch display, text and multimedia messaging, e-mail, Opera Mini, a microSD card slot, and …

After a less than perfect start to its Android efforts, Sony Ericsson has hit the ground running in the new year. The company already has introduced four new smartphones since January and CEO Bert Nordberg told CNET at Mobile World Congress that Sony Ericsson is aiming to be the No. 1 Android player in the world. That’s a lofty goal …

BARCELONA, Spain–There are many reasons why I love Barcelona: the food, the wine, the art, the architecture–and of course, the mobile phones. You didn’t know Barcelona was a hotbed of activity for the mobile industry? Well, for a week every February, the GSM (Groupe Speciale Mobile) Association hosts the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest trade show and conference for …

Sometimes it feels like we’ve seen every iPad case in the universe–and then there comes a weird new design that takes iPad culture to an even deeper level. Enter the Joby Gorillamobile Ori and Yogi cases, both of which transform–in different ways–into some positions that even made us blush. Joby Gorillamobile Yogi and Ori iPad cases in all their poses …

Shortly before the calendar struck 2011, gamers and movie fans alike were treated to something special: a new “Back to the Future” adventure for PC and Mac. It was, by most accounts, a terrific game. Now it’s time for iPad owners to get their, er, McFly on: Back to the Future: Episode 1 HD ($6.99) has arrived. And it’s the …

BARCELONA, Spain–Later this year you’ll be able to pay for clothes, taxi fare, and dinner with your mobile phone and leave your credit cards and cash at home. Visa is planning a commercial rollout in the U.S. in the second half of this year of a service for allowing allow people to turn their existing smartphones into electronic wallets. It …

Google’s Android stand at Mobile World Congress has been getting men of a certain age and scruffiness hot under the collar all week with its giant green robots and collectable pin-badges. But women? INQ CEO Frank Meehan thinks Android still isn’t androgynous enough. “If you go to a nightclub in any city in the world, the pretty girl has an …

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 …