#CTIA 2013 Day 1+ News Round-up: Samsung Galaxy S(3), Kyocera Hydro, Nvidia

Today, at CTIA 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada, there were announcements from Sprint, new rugged smarpthones, new devices, cases and winners.

Sprint and Samsung announced that the Samsung Galaxy S III will offered on the Sprint and Boost networks with LTE connectivity.

Sprint announced new LTE (tri-band)connection devices - MiFi 500 LTe, Netgear Zing Mobile Hotspto and 341U USB dongle to be released this summer. The devices can use Sprint's 4G LTE network at 1.9GHz and 800MHz as well as Clearwire's LTE network at 2.5GHz.

Sprint will offer another BlackBerry other than the BlackBerry Q10 with a flagship product in time for the holidays. The new Sprint as You Go service was mentioned.

Rugged Waterproof Strong Smartphones

Icy Hot Kyocera - Kyocera put the Hydro XTRM and Edge on a block of ice. The Hydro EXTRM costs $29.99 from U.S. Cellular is water proof and shock resistant. The XTRM features 1.2 GHz dual-core processor,Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), 4.1" impact-resistant IPS touchscreen, 5MP camera and 1.3MP front camera.

The  Hydro Edge will be available from Boost in August.  It is waterproof and dust-proof. It features  Smart Sonic Reciever, 1GHZ dual-core processor, Android 4.1, 4" impact resistant screen and 5MP camera.

The Cat B15 Android smartphone with an aluminum case features a 4" touchscreen, 5Mp camera, front camera, dual-core processor and will survive a six-foot drop.

Fastest Mpbs in the West

Nvidia showed a prototype LTE-Advanced Nividia Phone smartphone that can download at 150Mbps using a Tegra 4i processor. Smartphones with the processor won't be available until 2014.

Tablet Projections and Protection

The SmartQ U7 Android tablet has a built-in TI DLP projector shows what is on the screen.

Tablet Protection - Mobelisk is showing it new MoGo a case for Android Talbes that makes it rugged, or adds orts, card readers, payment solutions, bar code scanners or a printer.

Big Winners

CTIA announced the 2013 B!G Idea Awards winners are:

  • The Mobile Visionary award went to Wayne Irving II, CEO & Chairman, Monster Offers.
  • The Ingenious Innovator award was given to Rip Gerber, President & CEO, Locaid.
  • The Commerce & Retail Commander went to Steve Abernethy, President & CEO, SquareTrade.
  • The Mobile Guardian for Enterprise IT & Security was awarded to Chris Hill, Senior Vice President, Advanced Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions, AT&T.

 Verizon Wireless announced 95% LTE coverage. It will also use LTE small cell products for Alcatel Lucennt and Ericsson, in the second half of the year.