New cool gadgets near — no strings attached

When the biggest names in the wireless business descended upon Barcelona, Spain, two weeks ago, it became a competition to see which company could outdo the other.

At the 3GSM World Congress, the globe's largest wireless trade show, 55,000 people gathered to check out the thousands of goods in booths and makeshift storefronts inside airplane hangar-sized buildings. Items ranged from digital pets to the baddest music players around, to devices that appeared plain but had some of the most impressive technology looming underneath the surface.

There were too many items to note here, but here's a quick summary of some of the stuff that caught the most attention:

Sony Ericsson

W950 Walkman phone

Because digital music is such a hot topic, it's always interesting to see what new variation in a device is coming next.

Sony Ericsson unveiled at the show the W950, a high-end music player and phone. The orange and black device has a touch-pad screen that allows you to organize your albums with a drag of the stylus.

What could possibly be one of the coolest, yet most unnecessary functions, is that you can set the color of the screen to match the tone of the music. Maybe red for upbeat happy tunes and yellow for mellow.

The phone uses the UMTS platform, which provides high-speed network connections similar to DSL. What's impressive is the 4 gigabytes of memory, which can store up to 4,000 songs depending on the music format.

It also uses flash memory, which means the phone can be dropped without losing all of its data.

EF51 by BenQ/Siemens

It's clear everyone wants to create the next iPod.

The EF51 device would like to be a contender.

This music player conceals the fact it is a mobile phone by having a flap over the keypad. The flap has a series of buttons similar to the iPod's scroll wheel. To make a phone call, the user must flip down the flap to access the numbers.

The EF51 is expected to be available starting in the second quarter. The price would be determined by local markets.

Motorola Music Duo

If you can't beat the iPod, there's another tack — join it.

Motorola is offering the Music Duo, which allows users to listen to the iPod wirelessly and still be able to take calls from your phone.

The iPod sits in a cradle that provides Bluetooth connectivity. While listening to music with Bluetooth headphones (available from Motorola, of course), you can answer a call by switching over to the phone. When a call comes in, the music will mute, then resume after the call ends.

The Duo should be available shortly for an undisclosed price.

Motorola Rokr E2

The heavily criticized Rokr, introduced last year, needed a lot of improvement.

The first Rokr, which came loaded with iTunes software, made it possible to listen to songs purchased at the iTunes store. But it could hold only 100, not because of any physical limitation, but because Apple made it so.

The second Rokr, called the E2, doesn't have this limitation and it's not limited to iTunes music. The phone also looks more sophisticated and comes with a jack that can support some of those big DJ headphones.

The phone has a slot for an SD card, allowing for an additional 2 gigabytes of memory. It also has a 1.3 megapixal camera and comes loaded with Bluetooth.

It is expected to be available in the first half of this year. Its price has not been disclosed.

Nokia N92

A big theme at 3GSM was television. A slew of phones on display could play high-definition television delivered by a broadcast signal rather than streamed over the cellular networks.

Nokia was just one of the companies that weighed in on this concept. Its N92 is not a standout for svelteness, but is rather more bulky, like a portable TV.

It is a true multimedia device. Its large 2.8-inch landscape screen twists, folds and stands for easy viewing and video recording. It has a music player and a 2 megapixal camera. It also comes loaded with Wi-Fi.

The quality of TV is what makes it amazing. During a live demonstration, bobsledding at the Winter Olympics in Turin didn't seem too far away, with crisp images of athletes shuttling down the ice.

The device could launch as early as the middle of the year, but the TV functionally relies on broadcast networks called DVB-H, which is only now being built.

Samsung SGH-ZX10

and SGH-ZX20

Samsung highlighted two handsets to be offered by Cingular Wireless in the coming months.

The first is the SGH-ZX10, which will host Cingular's new video services on its high-speed UMTS networks. After its launch, Cingular plans to roll out the next generation ZX20, which will use the even faster HSDPA network.

The ZX20's clamshell design will let consumers download DVD-quality movies and interactive 3-D games. It also has a rotating camera to allow for video conferencing.

No word on exactly when either of these devices will be available or how much they will cost.

BenQ-Siemens EF81

If it's not the iPod that is being replicated, it's the sleek design of the Motorola Razr that everyone is trying to match.

At 15.9 millimeters, the BenQ Siemens EF81 is amazingly thin and is equipped for UMTS connectivity.

The phone not only has a slim physique, but it also has rare metals in its finish. The casing is made from magnesium, the keypad from stainless steel and the back cover from anodized aluminum.

In addition, the display is made of sapphire glass to prevent scratching.

The phone, which will be one of the first three devices to be launched under the new BenQ-Siemens brand name, is expected to go on sale in March. Prices have not been disclosed.

Motorola Razr V3x

Although many have tried, no one has been able to top it.

Now there's a new version of the Motorola Razr that everyone will try to match. The difference is the V3x has UMTS for high-speed connectivity.

The phone was awarded the coveted "Best 3GSM Handset of 2006 award" during the conference. Although it wasn't able to keep the ultrathin form factor of its predecessors, it still has the same appeal.

With UMTS, the phone is definitely higher-end than the original Razr.

It has a 2-megapixal camera, two-way video calling and video capability, and progressive downloading. A song or application can begin to play once it has been partially downloaded.

PaPeRo

This device is only a prototype, but it grabbed a lot of attention at the NEC booth.

It is man's new best friend, although it does not have to be walked or fed.

The personal robot, named PaPeRo, can recognize people, talk to them and send images by mobile phone. It can also play games and sing along with others.

The little robot has two big wide eyes (cameras), as well as four sensors on its head and five around its body that enable it to know when it has been petted or touched.

Even within the noisy convention hall, it easily recognized commands and talked in several languages.

The little guy, 15-½ inches tall, is potentially a perfect baby-sitter. Parents can check up on their children by calling PaPeRo and request that it stream video of their children to their mobile phone.

PaPeRo is not yet available.

Nokia 6136

The Nokia 6136 may have been the least flashy of all the devices at the show. But the basic black flip phone supports UMA, a fancy way of saying it can use unlicensed networks for calling.

That means calls can be made on wireless networks, or Wi-Fi, then switch automatically to cellular networks when the Wi-Fi networks get out of range.

The technology has two advantages. For the carrier, it can free up network time by switching users over to Wi-Fi networks. For subscribers, it can let them talk more without using their minutes.

The phone is so simple because it is meant to be rolled out to the masses. It's expected to hit the market this quarter for an undisclosed price.

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