Designed to suit the needs of seniors seeking a mobile phone that feels safe and easy-to-use, the Doro PhoneEasy 410gsm also offers a large color display, lighted keys, amplified sound, and several other eagerly awaited features.

According to a recent survey from research firm Synovate, 74% of people over 65 years of age in the United States have access to a mobile phone, but 29% still feel intimidated and hesitant of new technology. Doro of Sweden offers stylish phones with award winning ergonomic designs that will have more seniors talking.

Research also shows that a flip phone offers assurance and convenience by eliminating the worry of making calls unintentionally and the hassle of locking and unlocking key pads. Working with design specialists at Egononomidesign in Stockholm, Doro created the award-winning Doro PhoneEasy 410gsm to meet the demand for phones that adapt to senior users, rather than expecting seniors to adapt to tricky phones.

The Doro PhoneEasy 410gsm has more functions than previous mobiles from Doro, but is just as easy to use:

• Send and receives text messages.
• Connect hands-free with Bluetooth.
• Hear every word with amplified sound.
• Enjoy peace-of-mind from the nifty emergency button that calls and texts a designated family member or friend with one simple push.
• Relax with FM radio as your mobile entertainment, something senior citizens asked for in Doro's research.

comScore MobiLens released their finding for October 2009 and January 2010. Motorola was the top handset maker (22.9 percent market share), while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 43.0 percent market share. The two most popular uses for phones was texting and web browsing.

42.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones in an average month during the November to January period, up 18 percent from the August through October period. RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 43.0 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, rising 1.7 percentage points versus three months earlier.

Apple ranked second with 25.1 percent share (up 0.3 percentage points), followed by Microsoft at 15.7 percent, Google at 7.1 percent (up 4.3 percentage points), and Palm at 5.7 percent. Google’s Android platform continues to see rapid gains in market share. Google’s Android jumped to 7% in January.

The water, dust and shock resistant CASIO G'zOne Brigade is available today from Verizon. Geared for workers in tough conditions such as construction, public safety and utilities the clamshell Brigade has a QWERTY keyboard; an HTML browser; and Document Viewer, Push to Talk and microSD.

The CASIO G'zOne Brigade n Matte Black with a unique crocodile texture exterior for enhanced grip. The Brigade has a3.2 megapixel camera with flash, video capture, auto focus and LED light.

The CASIO G'zOne Brigade is water, shock, dust, immersion, vibration, humidity, salt fog, altitude, high and low temperature storage, and solar radiation resistant conforming to MIL-STD-810F.  It is Field Force Manager capable and offers text to speech so that users in the field cna listen to text messages and emails.

There have been reports that Verizon and Microsoft are working on a "Pink" series of "Zune-Like" phones for teens and twenty-somethings with a text messaging social-networking focus, the Turtle and Pure.

Marketing material shows the phones as "Making your network more social."

Gizomodo called one phone the Turtle, a vertical slider, " a messaging phone, basically--one part Pre, and two parts Sidekick."

The second phone called the Pure is a slider phone. Sharp is the maker of the phones, the Sharp PB10ZU and the PB20ZU

Gartner has publihsed their worldwide mobile report.  Although there was a slight decline in total sales and single digit growth, the market is considered positive due to increased strong smartphone growth and low-end handset sales. RIM's BlackBerry was 19.9% and Apple's iPhone was 14.4% of the world smartphone market.

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 per cent decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units, an 8.3 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008.

"The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. "Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 per cent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4 and 19.9 per cent of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively."

Sony unveiled the Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro, has a QWERTY keyboard along with a touchscreen to give a user more input for messaging and entertainment.

Just like flagship phone Sony Ericsson Vivaz, announced in January, Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro allows consumers to produce and broadcast their best experiences in HD video. The open platform also allows users to personalize their entertainment experience by downloading great applications through PlayNow and the Symbian Developer Community.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro features the new design philosophy 'human curvature', which will become a consistent feature of the Sony Ericsson portfolio going forward. Designed to mirror the shape of the human body, and at the same time delivering a precise and compelling way of interacting with the phone, Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro is instantly recognizable.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz pro Specs:

• Full slide-out keyboard for faster typing..
• Stay in touch through email, Twitter, Facebook, blogging and chat.
• View everything on the 3.2" 16:9 wide touchscreen.
• Capture the action in HD resolution - upload to YouTube via Wi-Fi.
• PlayNow - immediate online access to applications, games and music.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ pro supports UMTS HSPA 900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100 and GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900.

The comScore MobiLens  for September and December 2009. has been released.

The report showed Motorola to be the top handset manufacturer with 23.5 percent market share. RIM's BlackBerry smartphones had the lead in smartphone platforms with 41.6 percent market share.

Mobile World Congress news is already starting with new smartphone releases. Samsung announced the launch of Samsung Monte (S5620) a new full touch screen device for "style-conscious mobile users" that is part to the Samsung "S" series of phones.

The Samsung Monte come with its own "full Monty" of features including

• TouchWiz 2.0 Plus User Interface (UI) with social networking integration for Twitter and Facebook.
  
• HSDPA connectivity.
• Wi-Fi.
• GPS.
• Google Latitude
• Google Sync.
• Exchange ActiveSync
• 3 inch WQVGA touchscreen display ("with 16:9 landscape viewing")
• Gull Internet browser.
• 3.2MP camera with face detection, smile shot and panorama shot.

We have not been able to figure what operating system it uses. Most likely it is Samsung's own proprietary OS.

This Valentine's Day,  Verizon Wireless would like all used cell phones donated to HopeLine Verizon Wireless' phone recycling program.  The forgotten and lonely phones can join other phones with similar backgrounds to help domestic violence survivors get a new start on life.  A perfect match!

HopeLine makes it simple to donate old phones.  Customers out shopping for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for their special someone can visit their local Verizon Wireless Communications Store and drop their old cell phones in the HopeLine bin. 

In the sales area, Verizon is offering many buy one get something free deals like, Verizon  buy the Palm Pre Plus or Palm Pixi and get a Palm Pixi Plus for FREE until February 14.

The candy bar Palm Pixi Plus from Verizon, the little sister to the Palm Pre Plus, has some pluses including high-end features. The Palm Pixi Plus has been well-reviewed but called an entry-level cuddly phone.

ABI Research confirmed IDC's belief that the world mobile handset market improved. Nokia maintained it's lead followed by Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

"2009 may have started with a whimper but by 4Q-2009 the global mobile handset market ended with a pretty reasonable bang," says Jake Saunders, Vice-President for Forecasting at ABI Research. "We estimate 336.5 million handsets were shipped in 4Q-2009, up 15.1% QoQ." Competition continued to squeeze handset ASPs. In 4Q-2009, shipment-based ASPs were down 2% to US$117.55.

"Obama's stimulus package certainly helped save the mobile handset industry"

"Obama's stimulus package certainly helped save the mobile handset industry," Saunders notes. "Renewed consumer confidence in the second half of 2009 meant that shipments for the whole year only shrank 4.5% to 1.153 billion. Dire scenarios were mooted in early 2009. There is cautious optimism about 2010 despite the fragile nature of the global recovery. ABI Research forecasts shipments to expand to 1.2 billion handsets in 2010."

According to IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker,  the worldwide mobile phone market grew 11.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09), ending five consecutive quarters of retrenchment. In its first quarter, Motorola shipped 2 million Android units worldwide. Its DROID and CLIQ/DEXT devices were shipped to more than 20 countries

Vendors shipped 325.3 million units in 4Q09 compared to 292.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008. Vendors shipped a total of 1.13 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2009, down 5.2% from the 1.19 billion units shipped in 2008.

IDC anticipates that the worldwide mobile phone market will rebound in 2010.

 "In 2009, the mobile phone market, like many others, contracted due to economic pressures. But as the year progressed, demand for mobile phones increased each quarter while year-over-year declines progressively decreased," adds Llamas. "Economic recovery mixed with pent-up demand will create positive conditions for handset vendors in both developed and emerging markets in 2010. Meanwhile, key handset vendors expect to exceed their 2009 shipment levels with refreshed portfolios, leveraging interest in touchscreens, messaging devices, and converged mobile devices."

Sprint announced the upcoming availability of  the new LG Rumor Touch, successor to the  LG Rumor with a QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen, 2 MP camera/camcorder, 3G, GPS, Sprint TV

The LG Rumor is a full QWERTY keyboard device that is one of Sprint's most popular messaging devices. LG Rumor Touch will give consumers the latest in touchscreen technology to keep them in touch while on-the-go.

The LG Rumor Touch boasts a large 3-inch WQVGA touch screen, 2 megapixel camera and camcorder, MicroSD card slot supporting up to 32GB, Google Search and 3G data capabilities operating on Sprint's EVDO Rev. 0 network - keeping customers in the middle of the action with instant access to update their Facebook status, upload a picture to Photobucket or find the coolest hangout with its built-in GPS.

The LG Rumor Touch also offers access to Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV, Sprint Music and Sprint Mobile Email with personal and corporate calendar features. LG Rumor Touch will be available in blue in the first quarter, with more color options coming later in the year.

Finally a cell phone, you can shower with or wash in your dishwasher.  You can even take it out in the rain or with you on that ragging river trip. It you share your cell phone and never clean it, you could be getting sick from your cell phone.  In a study, it was found that cell phones are filthier than toilet seats.

Seal Shield announced the new SEAL CELL Waterproof Cell Phone. The product is the world's first cell phone to be washable and antimicrobial. The Seal Shield SEAL CELL phone is easy to clean. Regular cleaning in the sink or dishwasher can help prevent the spread of germs, viruses and bacteria, which are known to harbor on frequently touched surfaces.

The SEAL CELL has been created to help reduce the risk of worldwide cross contaminations, including H1N1, Norovirus and the "superbug," MRSA. Dr. Charles Gerba, University of Arizona, tested numerous common surfaces and found cell phones are the highest carrier of bacteria with 25,000 germs per square inch, or 500 times more bacteria than the average toilet.

Unlike any other cell phone, the Seal Shield SEAL CELL phone combines Seal Shield waterproof technology and SILVER SEAL technology for antimicrobial protection of the product, making it dishwasher safe and resistant to mold, mildew and odor causing bacteria.

The SEAL CELL(TM) is Dual SIM, Dual Holding Quad Band GSM compatible and features a 2.0 megapixel camera with video and torch light, GPRS, MMS, background noise elimination, walkie-talkie function, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and a ruggedized touch screen. The SEAL CELL(TM) is waterproof to international IPx7 standards and is completely dishwasher safe. The phone also contains SILVER SEAL technology for antimicrobial protection.

Another feature phone being shown at CES is the Samsung Corby PRO that features a full, slide out QWERTY keyboard that lets users send text messages and emails instantly without sacrificing style.

 The Samsung Corby PRO also meets the needs of business users by offering a variety of entertainment and multimedia capabilities including push e-mail services, conversational SMS and access to Facebook and MySpace. The Corby PRO packs a 3MP digital camera, Wi-Fi access, 3G/HSDPA and quad band connectivity. Equipped with a 3.5mm ear jack and dedicated music keys, the Corby PRO offers the ultimate in multimedia and music entertainment.

The Samsung Corby PRO launched in Europe in November and will soon be expanded to other markets.

As CES Samsung is also unveiling the Samsung Corby.  The Samsung Corby runs on the Samsung's Touchwiz user interface and haptic feedback system, which gives users the ability to customize their Corby with applications and widgets. It has a 2 megapixel camera, colorful removable covers and a Cartoon UI. It has an FM radio and will work with removable microSD card up to 8 Gigabytes.

We think the Cartoon UI is more like a theme, the Samsung website says, "Cartoon UI theme adds quirkiness to your mobile."

The Samsung Corby features a substantial library of additional applications by providing access to Samsung's online widgets store.

The "one finger zoom" on the Corby lets users zoom in-and-out with one finger while the "smart unlock" feature allows users to unlock the phone easily by drawing a letter on the screen.

Corby users can instantly update their current status and access their friend's updates and live feeds via Facebook, MySpace and Twitter through a simple Pop-up SNS (Social Networking Service) notification feature.

The Samsung Corby also supports various community sites by integrating leading user-generated content sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Photobucket and other popular SNS sites. Photos and videos can be uploaded easily to these sites by using the Corby's communities solution.

The Corby comes with a selection of colored back covers in yellow, white, orange, pink and two additional back covers (called 'Fashion Jackets'), which feature a unique pattern design cover and a standard black cover. The interchangeable back covers let users change the style of their handset to reflect their personal style.

Nielsen studies television viewing and now is finding out all sorts of information about cell phone sand smartphones. 

About one of every seven American households (15%) owns at least one smartphone, according to survey findings from Nielsen's.  Nielsen's top mobile phones of the year are topped by the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry Curve, and Motorola RAZR which currently is the top recycled phone. 

The list covers phone currently owned and used. It will be interesting to see how the Wireless and Mobile News' Top Ten Best Coolest Smartphones of 2009 fair in the next few years with Nielsen's survey of cell phone owners.

Top 10 Mobile Phones in Use (U.S.) - January -October 2009
RANK	Device	Embedded Base of All Subscribers
1	Apple 3G iPhone 4.0%	4.0%
2	RIM BlackBerry 8300 Series (Curve, 8310, 8320, 8330, 8350i)	3.7%
3	Motorola RAZR V3 series (V3, V3c, V3m, V3i, V3i DG, V3)	2.3%
4	LG VX9100 (enV2)	2.1%
5	LG Voyager	1.7%
6	Samsung SPH-M540 (Rant)	1.5%
7	RIM BlackBerry 9530 series (Storm)	1.4%
8	LG VX9700 (Dare)	1.3%
9	LG Vu series (CU915, CU920)	1.3%
10	RIM BlackBerry 8100 series (Pearl, 8110, 8120, 8129)	1.2%
Source: The Nielsen Company

2009 will see a total of 1.2 billion mobile devices shipped, according to the latest data from ABI Research. That includes all categories of wireless devices including cellular handsets, MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), netbooks, mobile consumer electronics products, and cellular modems.

Shipments of these devices will have nearly doubled in 2014 to a total of 2.25 billion, according to the firm's new forecasts.

"The next five years will see a shift in the breakdown between types of mobile devices shipped," comments industry analyst Michael Morgan. "Today, wireless handsets rule the roost, with other mobile devices accounting for only 40 million shipments and cellular modems only 60 million. While handset shipments did actually decrease between 2008 and 2009 due to the global recession, the other two segments in fact grew very aggressively.

"Handset sales are growing at only 4%, while cellular modem shipments are expected to grow by 40% annually, and ultra mobile devices by 67%. These newer categories represent very attractive market opportunities and new revenue streams for operators."

These developments put smartphones in direct competition with a variety of other device segments for consumer's dollars. As Morgan says, "The convergence period for cellular communications is coming to an end, and now we're entering a period of divergence. For many devices the technology is already in place, it's just the business and billing models that need to be built."

For those of you who will be online on Thanksgiving, we've listed the RadioShack deals on cell phones listed in their flyer. Their new motto is "Our friends call us the Shack."  The RadioShack website offers free shipping on orders over $50.00 . Be sure to use this coupon-link for $10 Off an Order of $85 or More + Free Shipping at RadioShack.

If these deals don't suit your smartphone or cell phone needs check out, Wireless and Mobile News' Top Black Friday, Weekend and Cyber Monday Cell Phone, BlackBerry, Android and Smartphone Deals Page.

Here are The Shack's Cell Phone, Smartphone, BlackBerry and Android Deals:

BlackBerry Curve 8520 T-Mobile (with 2-Year Agreement) - FREE.

LG Xenon Cell Phone (w/2-Year Agreement) - FREE.

Motorola CLIQ w/Motoblur (w/2-Year Agreement) - $79.99.

Motorola i776 Cell Phone - $69.99.

Palm Pixi Cell Phone (w/2-Year Agreement) - $99.99.

Palm Pre Cell Phone (w/2-Year Agreement) - $99.99.

Plantronics E210 Bluetooth Headeset- $19.99.

Samsung Impression Cell Phone (w/2-Year Agreement) - $29.99.

Samsung Instinct S30 Cell Phone (w/2-Year Agreement) - $0.00.

Samsung Mantra Cell Phone - $29.99.

RadioShack also has a trade-in program for old electronic devices including cell phones where you can make a little money on what you trade-in.

Pantech will will "Impact" AT&T messaging customers with the Pantech Impact in bright blue and soft pink. Impact features a high-gloss faceplate with a haptic response touchpad, two screens and a side-ways flip keyboard, along witht social and multimedia options. They claim it will "make managing your mobile life startlingly fun."

The Pantech Impact has the following "fun" features:

• Responsive Touchpad - Each time Impact's touchpad exterior is pressed, the phone responds with a gentle buzz.
• Options on the Outside - Play and control music, send texts, and make calls from Impact's touchpad without opening the phone.
• The World Inside - Flip Impact open to find a full QWERTY keypad, a large color screen and speakers, and also shortcut keys to IM, text, email and multitasking features.
• 3G Speeds - The nation's fastest 3G network makes surfing the web, checking your newsfeeds, and streaming music and video fast and easy.
• AGPS - AT&T Navigator provides voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions in real time.
• Video Recording and Picture Taking - Take and share pics and video clips using multimedia messaging and AT&T Mobile email.

The Pantech Impact is $99.99 after mail-in rebate at AT&T company-owned stores, and online at . (Pay $149.99 after two year agreement and receive a $50 AT&T Promotion Card. If you are a new AT&T customer, don't forget to use the he Wireless and Mobile News' $50 off online only coupon-link with the purchase of a new phone with a plan. Free shipping is included with online activation.

Mirror, mirror on my phone who is the most chic chick multi-tasker in the land? According to their latest news release it has to be the new LG Shine II.  AT&T will be offering the LG Shine II, the next generation "fashionably smart statement with its glossy exterior and versatile utility".

LG Shine II is a luminous device with polished round edges in an elegant slider design. LG Shine II has stainless steel construction and a  2.2" wide mirror LCD.  If you don't want to check your makeup, you can download and videos and watch them Java 2.0 support.

LG Shine II also delivers a  music player with customizable equalizer, music recognition and ringtone creator, and direct-to-device music download capabilities.