Enterprise Mobility: 11 Notable Phones from Nokia, Samsung, LG and Kyocera Spotted at CTIA

Mobile handsets are always attention-grabbers, and both manufacturers and carriers used the opportunity of the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas to show off new releases from Nokia, Samsung, LG and Kyocera. For those who didn't get a hands-on look at the show, eWEEK has gathered a few of them here. Many of the handsets were geared toward consumers rather than enterprise users, and focused on texting and instant messaging. ABI Research recently released a report predicting that handset shipments would drop by 8 percent in 2009. Analyst Kevin Burden, author of the report, told eWEEK, "In these economic times, people are staying focused on the practical functionalities they need most." In regard to AT&T's introduction of six phones it will soon make available—the Nokia E71x, the Samsung Propel Pro, the Samsung Impression, the Samsung Magnet and the LG Xenon and LG Neon—Burden noted that the carrier was "simplifying the message and [focusing] on the applications that resonate most with users: voice, messaging and e-mail." Neil Mawston, a director with Strategy Analytics, additionally commented, "High-tier smartphones from the likes of RIM and Apple continue to sell well in the United States, but there is naturally always scope for operators to promote less-expensive models and open up the market to wider adoption."