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Nothing is constant in the cell phone world and carriers are no exception. In the past five years, we’ve seen Sprint scoop up Nextel, AT&T Wireless merge into Cingular, and Cingular become the new AT&T. And I won’t even mention the small regional operators that disappeared into the folds of a national carrier.

The latest carrier casualty is Alltel, which , as of last Friday, merged with Verizon Wireless. Like any corporate marriage, there are plenty of details to sort out so this one won’t be completed for some time. But if you’re a customer of either carrier, I’m sure you have questions on how the merger will affect you. So, to help you understand how the merger will proceed, I’ve created this handy FAQ that expands on Verizon’s own FAQ on its Web site. If you have any additional queries, please send them on and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Q: When will the merger be completed?

A: It will be a few months until Verizon and Alltel are one company. For now, Verizon is the legal owner of Alltel. Once the deal is done, Verizon will outpace AT&T as the largest U.S. wireless carrier with an expected 78 million customers.

Q: What will the company be called?

A: Verizon is the buyer here so the Alltel name and branding will disappear starting in the second quarter of this year. Most current Alltel customers will become customers of Verizon automatically.

Q: How much is the deal worth?

A: Verizon is paying $5.9 billion for Alltel and assuming $22.2 billion in Alltel debt for a total acquisition worth $28.1 billion.

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Originally posted at Dialed In Podcast

The TwoStep comes in purple and two other colors.

(Credit: Samsung)

Pardon us for not telling you about this last week, but we were pretty busy with all the cell phone news at CES. On Friday, however, Samsung announced that its new TwoStep was coming to U.S. Cellular.

Why …

The Palm Pre takes Best of CES.

(Credit: Palm)

Though cell phones are just a small part of CES, the category made a big splash at this year’s show with the first cell phone to win CNET’s Best of CES award. But the Palm Pre was not the only device in Las Vegas; new devices also debuted from Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and LG, to name a few.

In the smartphone category, the obvious star was the Palm Pre, which scored a hat trick by winning not only the aforementioned Best of CES award, but also the Best of CES award in the cell phone category and the People’s Voice Award. The Pre restored a bit of faith in Palm and more importantly, pushed the capabilities of a smartphone. The Pre promises to offer true multi-tasking on a phone and dazzles with its unique user interface, design, and features.

In addition, the Palm Web OS and App Store will only expand the Pre’s (as well as future Palm Web OS devices) uses and capabilities. By raising the bar, Palm has certainly sent a message to its competitors and we suspect they’ll step up and respond, which is always good for us since it will bring more innovation.

While the Pre might have grabbed much of the CES spotlight, it wasn’t the only smartphone to debut at the show. T-Mobile announced the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 and T-Mobile Shadow, while HTC introduced its HTC S743 smartphone. Nokia also announced that it will bring a U.S. version of the Nokia E63 to market in the coming weeks, and we finally got some hands-on time with the Nokia N97. Looks like 2009 is shaping up to be another action-packed year for the smartphone space.

Motorola earned a Best of CES nomination with its Surf A3100 smartphone. The touch-screen device offers multimedia features in an eye catching design. And better yet, it puts a nifty and user-friendly spin on the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating.

Moto also introduced the Renew W233, a phone made from recycled water bottles, and the rugged and tough Tundra A76r for AT&T. We got a close look at both models. And though it wasn’t introduced in Las Vegas, CES gave us our first opportunity to handle the style-centric and posh Motorola Aura….

Originally posted at CES 2009

Cell phones and smartphones are just a small part of CES, but that doesn’t stop the various manufacturers from making their presence felt. The largest companies like Nokia, Motorola and Samsung build impressive, glitzy booths that are larger than most homes. Inside you’ll find their latest models on …

Originally posted at CES 2009

The iBooster’s cradle securely holds your iPhone.

(Credit: Kent German/CBS Interactive)

Wilson Electronics may not have the flashiest products or the glitziest booth at CES, but it does offer some of the best cell phone signal amplifiers around. At the show the company announced the iBooster, a new …

Originally posted at CES 2009

The W508 has a flip phone design.

(Credit: Kent German/CBS Interactive)

Sony Ericsson’s new C510 Cyber-shot and W508 Walkman phone don’t break a lot of new ground, but they’re certainly worthy of attention. In many ways they resemble other Sony Ericssons that came before them–the W508 …

Originally posted at CES 2009

Nokia shows its MD-8 speakers

(Credit: Kent German/CBS Interactive)

If you’ve followed me at CES over the last couple of years, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for cell phone speakers. It’s an odd passion, I know, but I like how they make your music …

Originally posted at CES 2009

Sprint may have the Palm Pre, but T-Mobile wasn’t a wallflower at CES. The carrier announced five new cell phones that span the range of usability. In the smartphone category there’s the T-Mobile Shadow and the Rim BlackBerry Curve 8900, the Nokia 7510 is a mid-range handset and …

Originally posted at CES 2009

Add new songs to your iPhone over 3G.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

Though the addition of DRM-free music is grabbing the most iTunes headlines, there was more music news at the Macworld 2009 keynote on Tuesday.

Apple Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller also announced that beginning …

The iPhone: coming soon to Vermont.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

Vermont may have gorgeous scenery, maple syrup and civil unions, but up until now it hasn’t had the iPhone. Since the Green Mountain State is one of the few states to lack native AT&T service, Vermonters have …