LAS VEGAS-As usual, mobile phones formed a major part of the ongoings at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., LG Electronics, Audiovox Communications Corp. and others showed off their line-ups of advanced mobile phones, and several phone makers made news at the well-attended show.
In addition to two new push-to-talk mobile phones it announced Thursday, Audiovox Friday released a new camera phone, the CDM-8910, with built-in flash. The news comes shortly after Audiovox phones helped launch Sprint PCS’ new video messaging service and highlight the company’s goal to become the technology leader in CDMA phones.
“We will be moving from the voice- to the data-centric devices,” said Philip Christopher, Audiovox’s president and chief executive officer. “With a built-in flash and lightweight design, the CDM-8910 is perfect for people who want more features in a smaller handset,”
Audiovox at the CES show also unveiled its phone plans for the coming year, announcing its intent to launch megapixel camera phones as well as its first GSM/GPRS phones. Audiovox said it would release the CDM-8920, a camera phone with a resolution of 1 megapixel, with Sprint PCS by April. The company said it would sell a megapixel-resolution camera phone with Verizon Wireless, the CDM-8930, sometime in the second quarter. In July, Audiovox said it would enter the GSM/GPRS market with its new GX-28 camera phone through T-Mobile USA Inc. The company added it is also in talks to sell phones through GPRS carriers AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. as well.
In other phone news, Siemens released two new phones through AT&T Wireless, the C61 for $50 with a two-year activation and the A56i for $90. The company also said it will release its long-awaited SX1, which uses the Symbian operating system, in the United States sometime in the first quarter. The company said the phone is already selling in parts of Europe and Asia. The phone was originally scheduled to sell in the middle of last year.
In addition, the Federal Communications Commission has approved a CDMA2000 cell phone from Hop-on Inc., which the company is demonstrating at the CES show this week. The dual-band, tri-mode CDMA handset uses a chipset developed by VIA Telecom.
