Latest cool ideas for wireless gifts

'Tis that time of year when you search high and low for the perfect gift for that special someone.

Although I can't help you in every department, a handful of new things are coming out in the wireless marketplace that might be just the ticket.

Last month, I attended a wireless trade show in San Francisco called CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment. It's the best venue for an overview of some of the coolest gadgets and applications that will hit mobile just in time for the holidays.

The show, attended by about 15,000 people, had a wide variety of stuff on display, geared toward everyone from the e-mail addict to the obsessive gamer, from the cool texting teenager to maybe, just maybe, your grandparents.

Phones: Dozens of new phones hit the store shelves this time of year. Do some research to see which is right for you, but I'll highlight a few that caught my attention.

First, there is the LG Voyager. The sleek, black phone with a large touch display is probably the closest thing in the U.S. market to the Apple iPhone (that isn't the iPhone).

The phone includes all the necessary high-end features, including a 2 megapixel camera, a microSD slot (up to 8 gigabytes of additional memory), a music player and Bluetooth capability. It also has a couple of neat extras the iPhone doesn't have.

The large external touch-screen comes with "VibeTouch," technology that provides tactile feedback (a little vibration), taking the guesswork out of knowing whether you correctly selected the item you intended to hit.

The phone also opens up horizontally, like a clam, to reveal a full keyboard and a second screen. This eliminates one of the biggest headaches of the iPhone — typing.

The Voyager, which went on sale Wednesday, is priced at $300 after mail-in rebate and a two-year contract.

Verizon Wireless is selling the Samsung Juke. I'm sure you've seen a gazillion commercials for these little numbers. The phones, available in red, teal and navy, are about as long and fat, but also as narrow, as a Snickers bar.

This phone is a music powerhouse first, and a phone second. I say that mostly because it comes with 2 gigabytes of internal memory. It's $100 after rebate and a two-year contract.

The Motorola Q9h, available from AT&T, is a major upgrade from the original Motorola Q, also a Microsoft Windows Mobile phone. Put simply, this is not a consumer device.

The slim yet wide and substantial device sits heavily in your hand and is for dedicated power users.

It has a supernice keyboard for big clumsy thumbs to fire off e-mails and even create or edit PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, and Excel spreadsheets with the highly popular Documents To Go application included.

The phone comes equipped with HSDPA, AT&T's fastest network, with download speeds up to 3.6 megabits per second. The Q also comes with the Qpak.

The Qpak — a first from what I can tell — offers the user a number of games, applications and other services free (for a year). This includes games such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Sudoku and more practical services such as Zagat.

The phone also has GPS, so you can add navigation applications. It has a 2-megapixel camera capable of taking not just photos, but also video (rare for a business device).

I don't know what this device won't let you do. Heck, it will even let you download the MySpace mobile application. The phone can be had for as little as $200 with a two-year contract and rebates.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are two new additions to T-Mobile USA's Sidekick family: Sidekick LX, built by Sharp, and the Sidekick Slide, built by Motorola. Both are slimmer and more mature-looking than the previous versions of the popular device.

One of the big perks is that both feature a customized MySpace application that allows easy navigation and interaction on the social-networking site.

The Slide was removed from the market for a short period because of a defect, but T-Mobile said the issue has been resolved and The Slide will return to store shelves again next week.

With two-year contracts, the T-Sidekick LX is $300 and the Slide is $200.

Accessories: The Solio is for that special someone on your list who is really hard to shop for.

The Solio Hybrid 1000 gives your electronics a little more juice when an electrical outlet is out of reach. The flat solar panel, with a convenient carabiner clip, will power most cellphones, MP3 players, and GPS units, making it a convenient accessory for the backpacker or traveler.

A fully charged Solio will power a standard mobile phone or give 10 hours of time on a MP3 player. That's one hour of bright sunshine equaling 15 minutes of talk time. (Sunshine? This is clearly not a device made for Seattle winters.)

Each charger comes with multiple "tips" that can be swapped out to accommodate all different kinds of devices that usually take different plugs. The Solio is about $80 and is available online at www.solio.com or at REI.

Games: Mobile gaming is another category with options that can meet most anyone's taste — from casual to constant gamer.

Here are a few that will get you started:

Nokia is relaunching N-Gage as a mobile application that allows much higher-quality graphics and richer playing features.

The application is a spinoff of the N-Gage device Nokia released in 2003, which looked more like a video-game controller than a phone.

N-Gage is expected to launch any day now.

Some of the games on the platform include: "FIFA 08," "Tetris" and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour."

One of the first devices to include N-Gage will be the N81, which, when held horizontally, has a large landscape screen, and dedicated controllerlike buttons. The high-end phone has 8 gigabytes of internal memory. Price and U.S. availability are undisclosed.

Next up is the mobile version of the highly addictive and best-selling console game "Guitar Hero."

The game, developed by Hands-On Mobile and Activision, challenges players to hit number keys on the handset in sync with colored notes that appear on a scrolling guitar board — much as it does in the console version. The mobile version will at first feature 15 songs, with new tracks available monthly.

Early songs include "Cherub Rock" by Smashing Pumpkins, ""Hit Me With Your Best Shot," by Pat Benatar, and "Paranoid," by Black Sabbath.

It's expected to be available soon on Verizon Wireless for a $10.99 one-time fee or a monthly fee of $3.99. Users with other carriers should have access by February.

"3D Tilt-A-World" gets a lot of attention because it is somewhat unusual for mobile. In the game, a silver metal ball rolls through a world full of mazes, paths and uneven surfaces. The ball's momentum is controlled by tilting the phone.

The game incorporates technology from GestureTek, which detects a person's motion by using the phone's camera. "Tilt-A-World" is available today on some Verizon Wireless phones.

Send a card: This is far and away the cheapest gift on the list and might also be most traditional. I'm thinking it's also one your grandparents might enjoy (that is, if they are high-tech at all).

Bellevue-based Vidiator is teaming up with Hallmark to provide animated cards featuring avatars that can be sent to another person's phone.

Connie Wong, Vidiator's chief executive, said Hallmark provides all of the content, and Vidiator uses its streaming video and avatar platforms to send the content to the consumer. The cards can be selected on the Hallmark.com site from the PC or the mobile phone.

The cards, which will include such Hallmark characters as hoops&yoyo, are fitting for the usual occasions: Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries.

The service, which is launching in mid-to-late December, in time for Christmas, can be delivered to any phone, and will be priced below $1.

Tricia Duryee: 206-464-3283 or tduryee@seattletimes.com