Dialed In

RIM teases with new BlackBerry 10 image

Perhaps the dream of RIM shipping its BlackBerry 10 OS isn't a fantasy after all. The company today posted a teaser image of its upcoming handset via a new micro site. … Read more

AT&T opens four new LTE markets, covers 160 million

AT&T flipped the switch on four new LTE markets in its expanding 4G network.

Starting today, customers in Auburn, Ala.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Nashua, N.H.; and Wilkes-Barre, Penn., will begin to see LTE coverage.

These additions bring AT&T's LTE count to 113 markets with coverage extending to over 160 million people.

AT&T still trails behind Verizon, which claims coverage of over 440 cities and 200 million residents.

AT&T helps you track your city's progress in an infographic below.

Samsung outs more details on Galaxy S3 Premium Suite upgrade

Samsung last week unveiled the first group of new features coming to its Galaxy S3. Now, it has unveiled the second group.

The company earlier today updated its blog with more new features coming to the Galaxy S3 through its Premium Suite upgrade. The handset's camera features are getting a lot of attention in the new update. The Premium Suite upgrade adds a low-light-shot feature, ensuring better picture-taking in dark environments. A Best Face feature allows users to take five pictures consecutively and then choose which to keep. Samsung has also added a camera feature that tells users how … Read more

BlackBerry 10 won't be PlayBook redux. Here's why

Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 is no PlayBook, and that's a good thing.

There's concern that RIM's next-generation smartphone operating system may fall flat on its launch, an expectation driven largely by the example of the company's critically lambasted tablet. AllThingsD, citing an analyst from Wedge Partners, says the same issues that hamstrung PlayBook sales will hurt BlackBerry 10's prospects as well.

The comparison is an easy one to make, but I don't buy it.

Of course, RIM and BlackBerry 10 face more than their fair share of challenges, and it remains to … Read more

Huawei opens shop in Nokia's backyard in Europe expansion

Nokia is getting a new neighbor.

Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei said today it wants to expand into Europe, and plans to build a smartphone center in Helsinki, Finland, just minutes away from Nokia's own headquarters in Espoo -- facilities that Nokia just sold off as it seeks to right its financial ship.

Huawei said in a statement e-mailed to CNET it plans to invest 70 million euros ($90.3 million) in the facility over the next five years, and will double its work force in Europe to 14,000 over the next three to five years.

Huawei's … Read more

LG: Nexus 4 supplies beset by 'huge demand'

Struggling to get your hands on the elusive Nexus 4 smartphone? LG says that's because it's so popular, citing "huge demand" when CNET UK asked about the phone's gloomy supply situation.

The LG-built Nexus 4 went on sale in mid-November, but sold out in half an hour. It was briefly back in stock last Tuesday, but by the next morning the 8GB version was already out of stock again. I contacted LG with a few inventory-related questions.

When asked whether LG knows why Google is running out of Nexus 4 stock, Andy Coughlin, the head … Read more

Motorola updates Android Jelly Bean plans

Good news to anyone who's hungry for Jelly Bean: Motorola recently modified a customer support page that outlines the various devices expected to receive Android updates.

The Motorola Droid Razr HD and Droid Razr Maxx HD are the latest to see the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, both of which are reflected on the support page. Looking ahead, the Atrix HD will be next in line to see the update, slated for later this month.

Moving into the new year, the Electrify M and both versions of the Xoom tablet should see an update prompt in Q1. As … Read more

Samsung Galaxy Muse takes on the iPod Shuffle

Samsung's latest Galaxy announcement, the pebblelike Galaxy Muse, is a stylish $50 media player that attempts to divert some of the iPod zeitgeist to Samsung's flagship phones.

Plug it into the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the Galaxy S3, and the Galaxy Muse syncs with the smartphone, so you can access just your music without bringing the entire phone with you on a jog.

Available in the familiar Pebble Blue and Marble White options, the Galaxy Muse offers 4GB of storage and delivers up to 6 hours of music playback. While it might be easy to dismiss it … Read more

QWERTY BlackBerry 10 phone will launch before June

No need to hit the panic button on Research In Motion yet; its BlackBerry 10 phones aren't facing any major delays, CNET has learned.

A report from Forbes, citing research firm Detwiler Fenton, said the Blackberry 10 devices wouldn't hit until March, and that the QWERTY version wouldn't come until June.

The bit about a June launch is inaccurate, according to a person familiar with the company's launch plans.

RIM is expected to unveil its devices on January 30, with a launch coming roughly four to six weeks after, so the first BlackBerry 10 phone may … Read more