Smartphones

Shipments of Android smartphones are expected to climb to more than 1 billion units annually in 2017, more than twice the 470 million Android phones that shipped last year. Market research firm Canalys on Tuesday issued a new report containing its smartphone forecast for the next five years. Android is clearly the big winner, and Continue Reading →

BlackBerry’s next flagship smartphone, the all-touchscreen BlackBerry A10, will launch during the holidays, CNET has learned. The BlackBerry A10 is the successor to the Z10, and further builds upon the company’s burgeoning lineup of devices. The A10 will occupy the highest tier, moving the Z10 and keyboard-equipped Q10 to the midtier. The lower-end Q5 will continue Continue Reading →

On Wednesday, Samsung is announcing a new variant of its Galaxy S4 more suited to the great outdoors. The phone has a high degree of dust and water protection (IP67), allowing it to be submerged in water up to a meter (about three feet) deep for up to 30 minutes. Inside, the phone has the Continue Reading →

If today’s move to offer free mobile service by an upstart mobile company gets the heavy adoption its creators expect, it may shake up the mobile ecosystem and force the big telecom companies to lower their rates and offer better deals to customers. It’s a big if, but that’s what seven-month-old FreedomPop is hoping for Continue Reading →

It’s fair to say that things couldn’t have got any worse financially for Taiwan’s HTC after it posted a mere $2.88 million in profit in Q1 2013. But it appears the worst may be over as the phone maker took its first step back to respectability after announcing NT$29 billion (US$ 970 million) in revenue Continue Reading →

As part of a shift to lower repair costs, Apple has begun replacing iPhone 5 screens at its retail locations. The new display replacement service is priced at $149 and can be purchased with or without AppleCare+. Changes to Apple’s repair policies first surfaced last month, where a town hall session revealed that Apple would Continue Reading →

Verizon is close to taking the lid off a four-year, $1B extension of its NFL rights. The deal, which will allow Verizon to stream every NFL regular-season and playoff game to mobile phones, should forever obliterate the distinction between sponsor and media-rights deals. Its previous deal gave Verizon subscribers access to live games schedules from Continue Reading →

There’s no question that we spend a lot of time staring at our phones, but just how much? Well, on average, it’s about an hour, according to a new study from Experian. Interestingly, nearly half that time is spent talking and texting, with email, social networking and Web browsing each outpacing playing games. Watching video, Continue Reading →

At long last, it’s finally arrived. Twitter launched Vine, its popular video-recording and sharing app, on Android as it passed 13 million registered users worldwide. It includes much of the same functionality as the iOS version, allowing users to shoot concise, six-second videos that loop automatically on playback and include sound from the handset’s built-in Continue Reading →

The federal telecom regulator is introducing mandatory new rules that will allow Canadians to cancel their cellphone contracts after two years, without incurring any cancellation fees, even if they have agreed to a longer term. That surprise move, which is aimed at making it easier for consumers to benefit from pricing competition, was the highlight Continue Reading →