April 27 - 3:45pm EDT   MetroPCS COO Tom Keys today said it has tapped China's ZTE to make smartphones for its upcoming 4G cell network. While not revealing the full scope of the lineup, Keys tells Forbes that one of these will include a large screen and an "HTML-compatible" browser to take advantage of the faster Internet access. Whether or not the phone would involve a touchscreen isn't mentioned. [full story]

January 21 - 4:00pm EST   Rogers Wireless on Wednesday announced it has added a pair of rugged handsets to its offerings, with the Samsung Rugby A836 and ZTE Rock F165. Both are exclusive to Rogers in the Canadian wireless market with each offering unique features. The Rugby has a large external speaker, the ability to access 3G high-speed data networks and is compliant with the US military's 810F specification for resistance to rain, shock, altitude and temperature extremes. [full story]

June 18 - 4:10pm EDT   Sprint's long-delayed full rollout of its Xohm WiMAX Internet service should start in September, company chief technical officer Barry West said Wednesday at the WiMAX Forum's Global Congress event. The executive now claims that the 4G-class wireless network will start its normal, paid business in September with a first run in Baltimore; Chicago and Washington DC, which have also participated in early trials, will see their networks opened to the public sometime in the fall. Other cities should come soon after, West says. [full story]

February 7 - 10:50am EST   ZTE took its first fledgling steps into the world of US cellphones this morning with the release of the C88 on the MetroPCS network. The China-made clamshell is simpler than the D90 available through TELUS in Canada but is designed to offer more than just the basics: Bluetooth, a VGA camera, and Internet support for e-mail, IM, and the web are part of the core design. The C88 also holds 60MB of internal memory and comes preloaded with a variant of Sudoku to get the user started with mobile games. [full story]