Category: Mobile phones
Switch view

A cool infographic shows the rise of Samsung to the top of smartphone food chain

by 112 comments

Over the past several years, Samsung has gradually risen to become one of the top ten most valuable brands, and one of the top dogs in the mobile realm.

To get a taste of how exactly they accomplished this, dutch site typhone.nl has created a nifty new infographic of Samsung’s evolution. Read more »

Chrome Super Sync Sports lets you play games with your smartphone as a controller

by 12 comments

A nifty new Chrome experiment has caught our eye recently, one which lets you and your friends use smartphones or tablets to control online games.

You and up to three other people can swim, cycle or run your fingers against each other in this nifty new way to have fun with your mobile devices. Read more »

Got a new Google Settings icon on your Android smartphone? It’s fine

by 48 comments

You may have been surprised today to see a new app icon in your drawer, the Google Settings, getting you access to previously unseen dashboard of settings.

While the more tech savvy among us might suspect some hidden malware is at work, what’s actually at play is a silent update to the Google Play Services app. Read more »

A preview of Ubuntu Touch is coming for Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei and Motorola devices

by 55 comments

After Canonical issued the alpha version of its mobile version of Ubuntu for the select Nexus devices (Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10), the company has now updated the list of upcoming devices bound to receive a developer preview of the OS.

The list includes devices from Samsung, LG, HTC, ASUS, Motorola and Huawei, which marks the company’s efforts to get its name out there by enabling more and more users to try out the touch-enhanced version of Ubuntu. Read more »

Kyocera DuraPro launched on US Cellular, a rugged flip phone that would cost you $100

by 30 comments

Kyocera Communications and US Cellular have launched the Kyocera DuraPro, which is a military standard 810G certified phone. After the launch of Cat B15 at MWC, DuraPro is the second rugged phone to be announced in a span of two days.

Kyocera DuraPro is said to be a water, shock, dust and vibration resistant flip phone, which is encased in non-slip Dura-Grip material for… you know, extra durability. The company claims the rugged device will withstand immersion in up to a meter of water for about 30 minutes. Read more »

One in three smartphones shipped in 2012 is a Samsung

by 54 comments

Samsung were busy doing their usual thing in 2012, which basically is flooding the market with (Android) smartphones. But did you ever wonder about the exact numbers? Well, Strategy Analytics has them for you.

Samsung’s 2012 global smartphone shipments are estimated at 213,000,000 devices. In terms of share, the Koreans had 30.4% of the entire smartphone market last year. Read more »

HTC One uses Broadcom’s new 5G WiFi modem

by 33 comments

The latest HTC flagship, the HTC One, holds inside it some impressive WiFi horsepower in the form of Broadcom’s new 5G WiFi chip.

The BCM4335 is slated to deliver more bandwidth and higher range, all at significantly lower battery costs. Read more »

Highlights of yesterday’s Asus event show Padfone Infinity and Fonepad announcements, skimp on the magic

by 17 comments

The Asus MWC event yesterday brought the Padfone Infinity and the Fonepad. It wasn’t very well organized for the press, but luckily, you can watch the highlights in the comfort of your own home.

Asus tried to spice the event up with a mini magic show, but that was mostly cut out of the video. What does that say about how engaging the performance was? Read more »

Play To arrives to Lumia phones with Windows Phone 8

by 13 comments

Nokia has announced that a beta trial of its DLNA streaming app Play To will be available for Windows Phone 8-powered Nokia devices.

Like similar streaming apps, Play To lets you wirelessly share photos, music, and videos to DLNA-enabled devices, including TV’s and receivers. Read more »

Nokia Lumia 521 bound to T-Mobile USA, WP8 for less

by 36 comments

The Nokia Lumia 520 was only announced this morning and T-Mobile USA is already claiming a piece of the action. The carrier will get a dedicated version of the phone – 521 – which differs only in the supported 3G frequencies.

The Lumia 520, or 521 in this case, is an upgrade over the current 510 – it runs Windows Phone 8 on a 1GHz dual-core Krait processor, with double the RAM (512MB), double the internal storage (8GB, there’s a microSD card slot too) and 720p video capture. You can check out our hands-on impressions from the MWC for more info. Read more »

Nokia integrates Maps and Drive into HERE location services, makes them available to all WP8 devices

by 87 comments

Maps and Drive have long been one of the staples of Nokia Windows Phone devices, and today they’re being rolled as part of Nokia’s HERE cloud location service.

Also integrated are the Transit and City Lens apps, which allow for quick access to public transit information and nearby POIs in addition to the cartography and navigation features provided by Drive and Maps. However, the services will no longer bear the Nokia branding. Read more »

Windows Phone Store now hosts more than 130,000 apps, Elop says

by 52 comments

At Nokia’s press conference here at MWC, CEO Stephen Elop announced that the number of available Windows Phone apps has reached and surpassed the 130,000 milestone.

Popular new additions include the WhatsApp cross-platform messaging client, as well as the re-branded HERE suite of navigation and mapping applications. Read more »

Enjoy Nokia Lumia 720 and 520 promo videos

by 65 comments

It’s the routine in action – moments after unveiling a product, the manufacturer publishes a set of promo videos, highlighting its strengths.

In the case of Nokia we’re now seeing two videos – one for the Lumia 720 and another one for the Lumia 520. These follow after the break. Read more »

Here goes the Huawei Ascend P2 promo video, enjoy

by 25 comments

Huawei just announced their Ascend P2 with the fastest LTE speed seen on a smartphone. The device sports a 4.7″ 720p screen, quad-core K3V2 processor, 13 MP camera, Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean and more.

And now Hiawei has uploaded a promo video of the Ascend P2, which focuses on its many traits – you’ll find it after the break. Read more »

Next-gen Xenon capacitors are the breakthrough cameraphones needed

by 81 comments

Xenon tubes have been powering the camera flashes for ages now, but with phones getting thinner every year, manufacturers have no choice but replace them with LED lights. What’s more, the performance of the few xenon flashes we’ve seen implemented in smartphones recently is underwhelming because the smaller the flash capacitor, the weaker the light output is.

A Singapore invention however has the potential to allow xenon flashes to reclaim some of the lost turf from LEDs. Researchers from the Nanyang Technological University have developed a revolutionary new type of capacitor, which is significantly smaller than the ones currently in use, while being equally powerful and even faster in recharging. Read more »