CTIA Preview: Android, WinMo 6.5, and Subsidized Netbooks, Oh My!

CTIA, the Wireless Association’s, twice-yearly show is just around the corner. Next week, I’ll be reporting from the show floor with news and hands-on, showing you everything from new handsets to apps, and perhaps even a netbook. When it comes to next week’s announcements, I’ve got some things I’ve got to keep to myself until then– along with a bunch of hunches– but I can tell you what I expect to see, and what we at LAPTOP are most excited about.

First off, expect to see more of Android, particularly in places (or with carriers) you haven’t seen it yet (personally, I’d love to see it on more MIDs– a la the Archos 5 tablet– as well). But not to be outdone, Windows Mobile 6.5 will also be a running theme throughout the event. It’s clear Microsoft hasn’t been able to release Windows Mobile 7 as swiftly as it would have liked, so in the meantime, there’s a lot riding on 6.5: the need to deliver a much-improved experience, stat, even with an upgrade that doesn’t exactly constitute a new version. Of course, WinMo’s momentum also rides on the number of apps it will support. We expect to see some at CTIA, but are curious to see how a mature Marketplace will look, in numbers and variety, compared to Android and Apple’s app stores.

But handsets aren’t all the hardware I expect to see there. I predict subsidized netbooks will be a theme. Nokia’s Booklet 3G, which we recently learned will be a Best Buy exclusive, will be on display. When it was first announced, we learned it could cost anywhere between $800 and $1,000– that’s getting into mid-range notebook territory, and is way, way past what you should expect to pay for a netbook. So, I’m really curious to know to what extent Best Buy will eat that cost. Because if it only absorbs a fraction of it and consumers are still expected  pay a large chunk of that cost (whatever it may be), there’s no way it can work; there are just too many excellent netbooks half the price, whose value proposition already makes more sense to consumers.

Stay tuned, and expect to read more about CTIA here starting next Tuesday. Until then, what would you like to see at CTIA? Sound off in the comments.