T-Mobile has been pushing in two directions recently. With their fledgling 3G network up and running in plenty of major markets, the carrier is trying to sell more connected, 3G smartphones, and some major manufacturers have gotten onboard. Motorola will launch their first Android device on T-Mobile before the holiday season, and Nokia has even launched their flagship Internet Tablet, the Nokia N900, with support for T-Mobile's 3G radio bands. From the carrier itself, the Fall CTIA 2009 show in San Diego was an opportunity to also show off some decidedly low-end offerings, including a new inexpensive all-touch phone and a low-end BlackBerry in a slick new color.
Motorola Cliq, eyeing the competition
 We got our hands on the Motorola Cliq when it was originally announced a month ago. As Motorola's big comeback phone, and the most important Android phone to hit T-Mobile's lineup, the Motorola Cliq had already piqued our interest. But at the CTIA 2009 show, things got even more interesting as Samsung announced their upcoming Samsung Moment for Sprint. Though the Samsung moment won't use any fancy interface enhancements, like Motorola's Blur, the device will pack a fast processor inside and will use a super-sharp AMOLED screen, making it a real competitor. Of course, the new Motorola Cliq is all about social networking, a smart direction both for Motorola and for T-Mobile. When the Cliq finally arrives, it probably won't be competition as much for Sprint's competing phone as it will be for T-Mobile's own Sidekick. Recent data woes aside, Sidekick users are probably looking for a big smartphone step-up right now, and the Motorola Cliq, with it's full keyboard and social networking backbone, could make for an enticing alternative.
Nokia N900 is unlocked for T-Mobile's 3G
 Though Nokia hasn't announced any official plans to sell the Nokia N900 through T-Mobile's own carrier channels, it's fascinating that Nokia would choose T-Mobile's 3G network, with it's unique radio bands and smaller footprint, as the main 3G network source for the U.S. version of their new flagship Internet tablet. Even without a carrier subsidy, Nokia is taking pre-orders for the Nokia N900 now, so eager T-Mobile fans will be able to snatch up the Maemo-powered tablet soon.
We got our hands on the Nokia N900 at the CTIA 2009 Fall show, and we were definitely impressed. The interface on the Nokia N900 is the best on any Nokia handset, much better even than the Symbian S60 touch interface running on the Nokia N97. What struck us most of all was the device's ability to multi-task. Our Nokia rep opened about a dozen separate windows and applications, and all seemed to be running smoothly in the background, even as we loaded more intensive tasks. You could play a 3D, accelerometer-enhanced game while the Nokia N900 was loading a Web page and performing countless other tasks. You can even start a kinetic flick-scroll with your finger, minimize the windows and watch the N900 continue the scroll in the background while you jump to another task.
Maemo has quite a future at Nokia, as the company's Vice President of Multimedia Solution, Jonas Geust, told us recently. The Nokia N900 is a worthy inheritor of the Internet Tablet brand, certainly a step beyond the power of the best smartphones Nokia offers. Currently, T-Mobile stocks plenty of high-end smartphones, but no U.S. carrier has stocked a Nokia Nseries device. This might be an interesting grab for T-Mobile, and certainly Nokia has been looking to make inroads into the high end of the U.S. market.
T-Mobile Tap and Nokia 3711
 We don't know much about the T-Mobile Tap, since the demo models we saw weren't able to power on. The T-Mobile Tap will be a mid- to low-end feature phone with a touchscreen interface. It reminds us of the Samsung Highlight in its target and design, though we could have been fooled into thinking the device was an HTC Touch. Instead, though, the T-Mobile Tap is produced by Huawei, a Chinese company that has been selling phones through some of the smaller U.S. carriers, though they haven't made much of a splash among the largest 4 cell providers. The T-Mobile Tap will come with a 2-megapixel camera and will use GPS for turn-by-turn directions from TeleNav's GPS app. The phone will also get stereo Bluetooth, a Web browser and plenty of basic messaging options.
 In addition to the Tap, T-Mobile also gets the super-simple Nokia 3711. The Nokia 3711 is a 3G Nokia Series 40 phone with a nice range of features thrown in for an inexpensive feature phone experience. There's a GPS sensor, which will work with Nokia Maps. The flip phone will also sport a 2-megapixel camera on the hood. The phone will also get the full complement of T-Mobile's web2go services, which includes simple Web browsing, e-mail and instant messaging.
 Finally, RIM was at CTIA 2009 showing off the BlackBerry Curve 8520 in white. There were no new changes beyond the slick paint job, but we like the new look, though we're suckers for phones in white. We know there are new BlackBerry devices just around the corner, probably launching before the holiday season, but neither RIM nor T-Mobile were discussing any future plans just yet.
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