New Cellular Products To Watch At The Show

By Joseph Palenchar On Jan 6 2011 - 6:01am

LAS VEGAS — Many cellphone suppliers put the press on hold in the days before International CES, but others chatted up their plans for product introductions. Here’s what they’re planning:

Enspert: Besides entering the U.S. tablet market with an Android device (see p. 4, 130), the Korean company is entering the cellular market with an Android phone and a mobile hot spot. Details were unavailable.

GreatCall: The supplier of Jitterbug phones and prepaid service is unveiling the GreatCall mobile personal security service, available in February at $15/ month. It lets users connect to GreatCall’s emergency response staff around the clock seven days a week. Emergency operators can dispatch the appropriate help depending on the caller’s needs, such as the police, a tow truck, or a locksmith. The service is available with Jitterbug phones.

GreatCall said its service adds mobility to Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), which usually work only at home or near a home base station.

Novatel Wireless: The company is expected to unveil its first 4G USB modems for the U.S. market and first 4G mobile Wi-Fi hots spots, but details were unavailable.

Huawei: The company is bringing its Android 2.2 Ideos X5 touchscreen phone to the U.S. with 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, 5-megapixel camaera and 3.8-inch touchscreen. Details were unavailable.

Valups: The Korean company plans a secondquarter U.S. launch of the Tivizen Wi-Fi and Tivizen 30-pin dongle for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, said spokesman Sunny Kim.

Both products feature ATSC-M/H DTV tuner, with the Tvizen Wi-Fi sending the received programming via Wi-Fi to laptops. The dongle plugs into the 30-pin ports of the Apple products.

Both ship in the second quarter in the U.S. The Wi-Fi model is targeted to retail for $129-149. The dongle is targeted to retail for $99.

ViewSonic: The supplier of LCD TVs, monitors, business projectors and digital signage, and — most recently — tablets is unveiling its first cellphone and expects to offer multiple models in the U.S. this year.

The first phone is the Android 2.2-based ViewPad 4 with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4.1- inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, 720p HD video camcorder, mini HDMI output, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, assisted GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 and FM tuner.

It supports video chat over cellular data via a frontfacing camera. Other features include 2GB of embedded memory, 5-megapixel VGA camera, and video storage in the H.263, H.264 and MPEG-4 formats.

ViewSonic said it will come to market with any 3G or 4G air interface that carrier customers want. The company will market phones to carriers as well as market them as unlocked phones to retailers.

Vizio: The company’s first U.S.-market cellphone will be an Android model. Details were unavailable.