Verizon dropped a “save the date” into our inbox this afternoon, asking that we reserve some time on May 22 at CTIA for a “special announcement” from COO Marni Walden. We were actually planning on skipping CTIA this year as the wireless tech conference has become a waste of time over the last two years, but this certainly means we’ll be in attendance. The question is, “What kind of announcement are they going to make?”

Big Red has been quiet this year in terms of device announcements, even managing to remain completely silent on the Samsung Galaxy S4 since its unveiling. There have been rumors of a May 30 or even May 22 launch floating around, so the timing of this announcement works. But why host an entire event to announce that they are carrying the GS4? Samsung already told us it’s coming, they just wouldn’t give us a date. Seems unlikely, right?

Will they announce a network change? More on their LTE rollout or even VoLTE? First VoLTE phone? What about the end of contracts with smartphone plans? Could we see their oft-rumored HTC One variant codenamed DLXPLUS?

Verizon, you have grabbed our attention.

Verizon has a Special Announcement to Make on May 22, Any Guesses? is a post from: Droid Life

In somewhat of an expected move, CTIA The Wireless Association, has announced that they will move away from their 2-event yearly mobile series of events in 2014 and instead create one “super” mobile show to kick off the Fall season. In the past, and in 2013 as well, CTIA has always thrown two mobile events – one in the spring and another enterprise-focused event in the Fall. With both shows steadily dying over the last two years, CTIA’s focus will change somewhat for 2014 and onward. 

This new “Super” Mobile Show will act as the Fall preview mobile event (first show in September of 2014) for any company looking to kick off the holiday season. It’s also going to attempt to be the king of wireless shows in the U.S., after CES of course.

The move makes a lot of sense, as we are starting to see September turn into the ultimate holiday preview month. Just this past year we saw almost a dozen major mobile announcements within a two or three week period during the month. And with CTIA’s oddly timed Spring (usually May) and late Fall (usually October) events continuing to become less and less meaningful each year, this may be a strong play. For example, I was at CTIA MobileCON in October, yet you probably didn’t even know it as there was absolutely zero news out of the event. It was merely a way for press to schmooze with PR reps and eat plenty of San Diego’s fine food.

This doesn’t affect most of you, but hopefully it will give us a new event with some meaning to cover as we head into Q4 of each year going forward.

CTIA to Become Single “Super Mobile Show” in Fall of 2014 is a post from: Droid Life

When I saw that CTIA had booked the 4 CEOs from the top 4 U.S. carriers to get on stage and banter about the industry, I immediately penciled it into my schedule. They ran a similar keynote last year, but with the AT&T and T-Mobile merger still up in the air at the point, it was missing T-Mo’s CEO. With that merger now squashed, this will be the first time that all 4 will gather. It’s moderated, but it should make for some entertaining commentary.

CTIA 2012 Keynote Day 1: Battle of the U.S. Carrier CEOs is a post from: Droid Life

This week, CTIA Wireless 2012 is poppin’ off in New Orleans and we are here to cover anything major that comes out of it. Think of this wireless show as a mini-CES that focuses on mobile only, rather than the TV, computer stuff and overwhelming amounts of spam products. It should be a decent show, with Verizon already announcing the DROID Incredible 4G LTE – a device that we should have our hands on before too long. Samsung, HTC, Qualcomm and most of the other players you have grown accustomed to will also be around in some capacity, showing off their latest products. Galaxy SIII in the building? We’ll see.

Keynotes begin tomorrow morning to open up the event, followed by an afternoon session that should be a blast. We get the CEOs of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint all on stage together to banter about the industry, LTE and more. Wednesday’s keynote includes Spotify, Visa , EA and Firefox – Thursday’s is former President Bill Clinton.

The press events kick off this afternoon, so don’t be surprised if the press releases start trickling out this evening. Again, if it’s big, we will try to bring it your way. In between the oysters, po boys and local brews, of course.

CTIA Wireless 2012 Happening This Week in New Orleans, We are Here to Cover It is a post from: Droid Life

We sat down with the folks at QuickOffice yesterday at CTIA to preview the newest version of the tablet and smartphone app dubbed version 5.0. It’s a pretty massive upgrade that introduces a variety of features for the business travel in all of us.

Along with some UI tweaks that add to the polish, QuickOffice is including a new sharing feature. That’s right, you will be able to share your work with colleagues on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. They also tossed in some additional cloud services to help round out their portfolio – most notably are Evernote and Catch.

They told us to expect the update in mid-November at the same prices you are seeing right now.  More pictures after the break.  

QuickOffice 5.0 Update Coming in November: UI Tweaks, Document Sharing, and More Cloud Options is a post from: Droid Life

Even though the Samsung/Google event has been postponed to a later date, we are still here at this year’s fall CTIA show to find out what is in store for the rest of the mobile year. The first keynote starts in about an hour and half, followed by a whole batch of meetings with some of your favorite app companies. Still no word on if Verizon plans to unveil any of their latest and greatest handsets, but if they do, we will be on it.

Keep it here for coverage…

Fall CTIA Week is Go, Even Without the Big Ice Cream Sandwich Unveiling is a post from: Droid Life

Samsung has announced that the product launch event scheduled for CTIA this Tuesday, October 11 has been canned. Rumor has it the announcement was postponed out of respect for the late Steve Jobs, who passed away Wednesday evening.

Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.

Update:  Kim Titus from Samsung just released a slightly longer statement:

Samsung and Google have decided to postpone the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event during the CTIA in San Diego, previously scheduled for Oct. 11. Under the current circumstances, both parties have agreed that this is not the appropriate time for the announcement of a new product. We would ask for the understanding of our clients and media for any inconvenience caused. We will announce a new date and venue in due course.

Update: Google released a second statement:

“We believe this is not the right time to announce a new product as the world expresses tribute to Steve Jobs’s passing.”

While this is definetly sad news, it does not necessarily mean the release date has changed, just the announcement. Samsung and Google were expected to announce Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the long-awaited Galaxy Nexus, which just saw a massive leak.

In a span of ten minutes, news of the Galaxy Nexus has most likely both made and then ruined your day, lets hope the wait won’t be that long.

Cheers to everyone who sent this in!

Samsung and Google Postpone Galaxy Nexus CTIA Event (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Not that any of you are surprised by this, but we now know for sure that Ice Cream Sandwich will be unveiled next week at Samsung’s Unpacked CTIA event.  The Android Developers Youtube channel was just populated with the event you are seeing above which is titled “Android ICS Launch.”  Did you need any further proof than that?  October 11 is the day folks.  And then we’ll also finally know which Nexus we will see first, so that tech sites can stop attempting to call each other out.

Cheers John (comment)!

Android Youtube Channel Confirms Ice Cream Sandwich Launch Next Week is a post from: Droid Life

(Click for full version)

The Galaxy Nexus (or Nexus Prime) that made a brief appearance last night in Samsung’s teaser video for their CTIA event next week, has been polished up and presented to us in a shiny little package from one of our readers.

It’s obvious that the screen has a slight curve to it, but we are also getting a nice look at those odd dock notches on the side which are just down from Samsung’s famous side lock switch.  You can see the bottom hump that was included in the Nexus S and Galaxy SII, plus a possible camera housing on the other side of it.  The grey metallic color is a nice surprise after seeing black phone after black phone for the last year.

This phone needs to get here now.  Sexy doesn’t even do it justice.

Cheers Greyhaven7!

Beautiful Galaxy Nexus Render Created from Samsung Teaser is a post from: Droid Life

Last night’s Nexus-fest that started after Samsung posted a teaser to their CTIA event has already created enough talking points to take us through to next Tuesday.  The video did not give us much, but as with any teaser, folks spotted what they believe to be hidden messages like the one we are about to talk about.

The topic of the video was the idea that some things are just better when they are put together:  candles and wine, cookies and milk, newspaper and coffee, etc.  So when G+ member Joe Lancaster paused it when the new Nexus showed up, he noticed an extra shadow or outline behind it that he believes may be a tablet of some sort. His idea – that the Nexus that will be unveiled will also have the ability to be docked inside a tablet.  

Seem crazy?  Yeah, pretty much, but let’s talk about it.  See those 3 pinholes on the left side?  Those look like docking connectors of some sort.  It certainly seems odd that a phone would dock on the same side as its lock switch, but the MHL port is likely on the bottom so they needed to move them somewhere.  The logistics of it all seem impossible, but with a “better together” theme, we should keep our minds open to all possibilities.

With that said, Samsung could simply be referring to Ice Cream Sandwich which is the merging of a phone operating system with one from a tablet.  And the shadow that looks like a tablet behind the Nexus is just a visual opportunity for that idea to be displayed.  That’s a pairing that Google has been talking about for quite some time.  It could also mean that Samsung and Google are just better together among other things.

Interesting idea – and this is why we love teasers.

And the video one more time because it’s that awesome.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  Joe Lancaster, Phandroid

Nexus Prime Will Sport Tablet Docking Mode? is a post from: Droid Life

We already know that Samsung is holding another of its Unpacked events at CTIA in just a couple of weeks, but details have yet to be released.  Whatever it is though, is sure to pack some sort of gaming or big-screened-multimedia punch.  The nominees for CTIA’s “Hot for the Holidays Awards” have been announced with a mysterious and unannounced Samsung product listed under the “Gamer & Entertainment Enthusiast” category.

If you look at the other items listed, you will see two of their tablets, so this could be the 7.7″ Tab that has yet to land in the states or as a few other sites have suggested, is the Galaxy Nexus.  Rumored to have a 4.65″ HD screen (Super AMOLED HD?), you would almost think that the next Nexus would have found its way into the “Gadget Guru” category – or would that have made it too obvious?  A big HD screen on a phone does scream, “Play games on me!” though.

Then again, wouldn’t Google want to unveil the next Nexus and not Samsung?  While I would love for this to be the Ice Cream Sandwiched Verizon beast, I’m not willing to put a ton of money on that, just yet.  The good news is that we will be there to find out.

Update:  Galaxy Tab 7.7 just cruised through the FCC.  Would not be surprised if this is the device they announce.

What do you guys think? Any guesses?

Via:  CTIA, GSMArena

Cheers Jim!

Mysterious Samsung Device Up For Gaming and Entertainment Award at CTIA, Any Guesses? (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Samsung just announced their October 11 “Unpacked” event for CTIA, which has us wondering what could be in store.  They already announced the Samsung Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 at IFA just a month ago, so what could be next?  Well, let’s think about the timing.  We know that Ice Cream Sandwich is due some time in October.  We know that there are rumors of the new Nexus device, possibly the Galaxy Nexus, that could be out by the end of October or early November.  Or maybe they will announce this other Verizon Sammie device that everyone wants to refer to as the DROID Prime, which they think will just be a SGS2 variant?  A lot of questions that we will see answered next month in person.

Thoughts? Would you rather have the Galaxy Nexus or a Verizon SGS2 variant? (That a dumb question?)

Samsung Announces New Unpacked Event for October 11 at CTIA is a post from: Droid Life